“Customers’ love to talk to the technical guy”
Probably one of the first things you notice is how popular David is at Shows and Seminars when it comes to demonstrating equipment. But let’s start at the beginning – a recent CPS promotion elevated David from Head of Engineering to Chief Technology Officer, a position well earned. David is probably the most all round knowledgeable individual across all products within CPS, built up through a career at De La Rue before joining CPS in 2016, when it purchased the hardware arm of De La Rue.
Deep Domain Knowledge
David has, over 30+ years, gained a deep and sustained knowledge of the global cash processing industry, which supplies central banks, commercial banks, CITs, and retail with sophisticated cash sorting machines. Today, the CPS portfolio is now data-rich, with sustainable options in the form of powerful but much more compact desktop machines. In an industry typically slower to evolve, CPS is positioning itself at the forefront of a digital transformation by building AI and data into their machines, both within the hardware and as additional powerful software by partner, ECM Software Limited. The Chief Technology Officer will be instrumental in many of these changes.
Global Experience
David’s career within the global cash processing industry has taken him to all corners of the world, gaining knowledge across continents and a deep customer understanding. Two years in a previous role as Head of Engineering for CPS was a time of product development road mapping, the strategic element providing an important stepping stone, and which was preceded by being Head of Technical Sales and Product Management, providing breadth of customer-facing skills, team management, and early product management expertise.
Comprehensive Skill Set
David’s story is one of learning and developing from the ground up, from an electronics and electrical education through to experiencing all aspects of the cash processing business, from product management to technical sales, from operational to strategic. There is subsequently a lot of David’s skill in all of CPS’s product portfolio, from the 7000i in the earlier days through to the sustainable V Series and the X Range. He is also known to have helped nurture a committed and skilled team of engineers who are always on call to assist customers wherever they are in the world.
Understanding of Central Bank Policy
With a depth of knowledge extending to the macro environment and wider world, David has acquired a great understanding of central bank policy and the pressures on central banks with the increasingly complex currency circulation patterns and how this can generate inefficiencies in the cash cycle, which the central banks alone are responsible for sorting. He also understands the paramount goal of maintaining the integrity of the currency.
Personal Insights
We asked David a couple of questions on which to finish:
Q: Having devoted a substantial part of life to this industry, were there any clues growing up that this route was predestined?
A: Without much of a deep dive, David recalls having a love of notes and currency as a child, combined with an innate desire to fix things; a combination that propelled David into well known company De La Rue, as a newly qualified electronics and electrical engineer.
Q: And in spare time at the weekends?
A: Here we’re likely to see David with his son Ben taking an old family-owned dinghy and outboard motor for a wander along Basingstoke’s forgotten canal and waterways. Swallows and Amazons aside, David is also seen visiting some of the great places in and around the South Coast and the City with his wife – a most welcome relief from an otherwise pretty heady international travel agenda.
For more on David’s professional career, find it on Linked In
David Hawkins as speaker at the Cash Sustainability Forum, Frankfurt
