Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) was honoured to recently welcome Bruce Sewell, Former Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Apple, to host its annual Professor Sir Roland Smith lecture.

Hosted online for the first time, the prestigious lecture was attended by more than 350 alumni, partners, students and specially invited guests, who joined to hear Mr Sewell’s valuable insight into life in Silicon Valley.

Introduced by Lancaster University Vice Chancellor, Professor Andy Scofield, and welcomed by LUMS Dean, Professor Angus Laing; Mr Sewell’s talk centred around the theme of digital transformation, and what developments are to come.

Drawing on years of first-hand experience of working at two of the world's best-known companies, Intel and Apple, Mr Sewell spoke about the opportunities presented through digital transformation, but talked through the challenges posed by significant change, security concerns and personalisation of data. Mr Sewell discussed how these form barriers for many organisations who are at real risk if they don’t embrace, and form a real appetite, for change.

He also discussed how important it is to get the right executive talent in place for digital transformation to be effective, and how many companies are left woefully unprepared if the right people are not in the right positions.

Professor Angus Laing, Dean of Lancaster University Management School, said: “We were delighted to welcome Bruce as our speaker for our annual lecture. As an alumni, Bruce has a personal connection to Lancaster and while we were disappointed we couldn’t welcome him back to campus, we were pleased to be able to open the event up to even more participants by hosting it online.

“Bruce’s reputation and valuable experience meant the event attracted a very large audience and participants seemed captivated by Bruce’s insights and the subsequent discussion around digital transformation - which has never been so relevant for organisations of all sizes. I’d like to extend my thanks to Bruce and everyone who was able to join us.”

Professor Sir Roland Smith, who sadly died in 2003, was one of the UK’s top business academics and a leading businessman with extensive links in the North West. His widow, Lady Joan Smith, funds and supports the advancement of Strategic Management within Lancaster University Management School. This lecture series commemorates Sir Roland’s significant contribution to the UK’s academic and business communities.