In this episode we are celebrating the career to date of Chris Kirby.

Chris has been speaking about how technology will change the automotive landscape since he published a white paper on the subject in 2017. Since then, he co-founded Tomorrow's Journey, an Enterprise SaaS platform that enables automotive brands to launch and scale fully digital solutions, working globally with the likes of Hyundai, Jaguar and Leaseplan.

Chris Kirby has a diverse career spanning multiple roles in the automotive industry including as a Strategic Advisor at Autofutura Limited, as the Automotive Director at WeCreateClarity and as the Head of Business Development at FGA Capital UK Ltd.

As well as speaking at events across the globe, Chris also hosts the Autocar Change Makers Podcast, where he regularly meets and engages with automotive industry leaders on the future of the industry.

In our conversation we talk about how he left school at 16 and how he had an early opportunity to demonstrate his leadership skills on the rugby field.

Chris shares how he somewhat fell into a career in the automotive industry. He found himself with a good manager in his first role in a Ford dealership, he worked hard and made good progress.

His father had been an entrepreneur and so he'd seen the reality of how hard that can be. Nevertheless he felt the need to step out of his corporate environment to be able to work on the significant change initiatives that he believed the industry needed.

Even though he went in with his eyes wide open to the likely challenges, external factors like Covid and difficult conditions for fund raising proved strong headwinds.

Chris explains his approach to navigating the ups and downs of start up life and is clear about what constitutes the right reason to become an entrepreneur.

I enjoyed and appreciated getting to know Chris better through this conversation and look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Connect with Chris

LinkedIn: Chris Kirby
Website: Tomorrow's Journey

About Andy

I'm an experienced business leader and a passionate developer of people in the automotive finance industry, internationally.

During over twenty five years, I have played a key role in developing businesses including Alphabet UK, BMW Corporate Finance UK, BMW Financial Services Singapore, BMW Financial Services New Zealand and Tesla Financial Services UK.

At the same time, I have coached individuals and delivered leadership development programmes in 17 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.

I started Aquilae in 2016 to enable “Fulfilling Performance” in the mobility industry, internationally.

Learn more about Fulfilling Performance

Check out Release the handbrake! The Fulfilling Performance Hub.

Connect with Andy

LinkedIn: Andy Follows
Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

Join a guided peer mentoring team: Aquilae Academy

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting
Email: hello@askeconsulting.co.uk

Aquilae
Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.

Episode recorded on 13 August, 2024.