Dan Burns

Part of the IT Leaders 100 - a list of the most influential IT leaders in the UK in 2024.

With over 20 years of experience in IT and cybersecurity, Dan leads the development, delivery, and oversight of Next's Information Security programme, protecting the company's information system assets from cyber threats and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. He has a strong infrastructure background and a proven track record of implementing effective security solutions, managing cyber defence operations, and building high-performing teams.

Dan is passionate about his role and always strives to exceed expectations, learn new skills, and share his knowledge with others. His mission is to enable Next's business growth and innovation by providing secure and resilient IT environments.

How did you get into IT?

It's something I "fell into" after leaving school, I was scratching my head about what to do next and had always enjoyed playing around with computers, so decided "Hey, why not give that a go?" The rest is history

What do you consider your greatest IT achievement of the last 12 months?

Transforming how we work as a team. Several years ago we stood back and looked at our approach to cyber and decided we needed to work smarter, not harder. Since then we've been on a transformational journey to become more agile and threat focused. In the last 12 months we've really seen our efforts come to light and it's been a fantastic outcome.

How do you ensure diversity is taken into account in your IT recruitment?

We try to leverage as many different talent pipelines as possible and recruit for aptitude and attitude. Our biggest focus has been on early career development, so working with universities and local schools/colleges to try and raise our brand awareness with those interested in a career in IT/cyber.

Which technology are you currently most excited by, and why?

It may be an odd answer, but it's the ones we already have. Going back to my earlier point about ways of working, it's really driving us to think about the tools we have and how to make best use of them. Doing so is allowing us to start realising the huge potential some of these technologies have, which is a great place to be!

What would an outsider find the most surprising part of your job?

Hm, tough one. If they weren't in the cyber field probably the sheer volume of threats that an organisation like ours (or any other) actually faces off to each and every day - it's eye opening and scary!

What's your secret talent?

My youngest child has taught me the fine art of functioning without sleep. It's amazing how little you can work on once they have you trained...although I do miss being able to sleep like a "normal person" :)

What makes you laugh?

My kids... They come out with some of the best one liners and most random things - comedy gold!