DAVID THORPE

Senior Technical Product Owner

Telco · Digital Twin · Agentic AI · Data Architecture

“Obsessed with driving commercial value, mastering technical complexity and leveraging next-gen tech to optimise costs and customer outcomes.”

Engineering Heritage & Technical Foundation: Before architecting enterprise AI platforms and telecom digital twins, David built a rigorous ten-year technical foundation hands-on with physical copper and fiber network infrastructure as a BT Cable Jointer & Telecoms Engineer (1996–2006). This deep physical-layer grounding uniquely empowers his strategic product leadership — connecting ground-truth network engineering with cutting-edge cloud architectures, predictive analytics, and autonomous operations to deliver multi-million pound business impact.

£0M

Automated NOC Cost Reduction Pipeline

0%

Reduction in Field Fault On-Site Times

£0M

Fault Prevention Opportunity Pipeline

0+

Cross-Functional Dev Team Led

Email +44 7989 163258 LinkedIn Download CV

Core Competencies & Architectural Stack

A complex, flourishing technical ecosystem: bridging physical engineering with enterprise cloud data pipelines and autonomous AI decision systems.

Product & Agile

Technical Product Ownership (Scrum Alliance CPO)
Value Stream Mapping & OKR Frameworks
Multi-Million £ Business Case Creation
60+ Dev Governance & Cross-Functional Team Leadership
Executive & C-Suite Stakeholder Management

Data & Cloud

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Telemetry
Google BigQuery & Advanced SQL Pipelines
DBT (Data Build Tool) Transformations
Cloud Compute Optimisation (£2.5M Saved)
Enterprise Network Telemetry & Data Modeling

Emerging Tech & AI

Enterprise Agentic AI Platforms
Telco Digital Twin Architectures
Predictive ML Fault Cause Algorithms
Autonomous NOC Incident Systems
Global Keynote Speaker (DTW Copenhagen, Google)

Process Methods

Six Sigma Green Belt Certified
Cardiff University Lean 1C Certified
Continuous Improvement (CI) Delivery
Root Cause Analysis & Defect Elimination
Systems Thinking & Theory of Constraints

Virgin Media O2 · Quantified Track Record

Breaching the surface into tangible commercial value: delivering tens of millions in audited savings and operational transformations.

Virgin Media O2 · CTO Division

Product Owner – Digital Twin & AI

Current Role · 2023 – Present

Directing 60+ contract developers and internal engineers building Next-Generation telecom AI and Digital Twin capabilities on Google Cloud Platform.

£3M Delivered + £15M Pipeline

Aggressive commercial focus on automated NOC operations, eliminating operational manual friction.

Enterprise Agentic AI & Digital Twin

Designed and deployed autonomous agentic models mirroring nationwide fixed infrastructure.

Keynotes: DTW Copenhagen & Google

Chosen speaker representing VM02 at international technology conferences on autonomous network ops.

Virgin Media O2 · Change Division

Senior Data Product Owner / Fault Analyst

2021 – 2023

Engineered predictive fault models and automated remediation decision workflows leveraging SQL, BigQuery, DBT, Looker and Braze.

'Athena' Decision Engine (£6M/yr)

Conceived and led predictive analytics engine delivering £6M in recurring annual commercial value.

£2.5M Cloud Compute Reduction

Optimized BigQuery query designs and DBT pipeline architectures, significantly cutting GCP overheads.

£7M Proactive Prevention Opportunity

Proactive algorithmic fault detection stopping customer-impacting outages before they occur.

Virgin Media · CTO Division

Performance & Reliability Manager

2018 – 2021

Formulated fixed network operational standards and created company-wide telemetry systems adopted across executive leadership.

Network Quality Index (NQI) Design

Invented the NQI metric — transformed into a permanent Tier-1 executive metric across fixed network ops.

GCP Telemetry Migration (£6M/yr)

Ported the legacy NQI architecture into Google Cloud Platform with real-time diagnostic triggers.

Virgin Media · Network Expansion & Field Ops

Programme Manager

2013 – 2018

Directed complex multi-region field programmes governing 50+ FTE and 400+ operational personnel across national network expansions.

Prevented >£10M Capital Overspend

Enforced rigorous governance, audit protocols, and milestone controls across multi-million capital works.

Saved 16,000 Truck Rolls (£400k)

Automated bi-directional SMS platform for cabinet upgrades, slashing unnecessary field engineer visits.

Macro Leadership & Strategic Vision

Soaring above the operational day-to-day: driving cross-divisional alignment, multi-million pound business architectures, and industry keynotes.

Cross-Functional Governance (60+ Devs)

Orchestrating large teams of internal engineers, contractors, data scientists, and solution architects. Establishing Agile rhythms, OKR clarity, and sprint cadence that accelerate time-to-value.

£15M Value Pipeline

C-Suite & Multi-Divisional Buy-in

Translating complex technical architectures (GCP, agentic workflows, big data models) into compelling, quantified financial narratives that secure C-suite sponsorship and funding.

>£10M Spend Control

Global Keynotes & Industry Authority

Selected to represent Virgin Media O2 at premier international telecommunications forums, including DTW Copenhagen and Google Tech Summits, presenting production AI frameworks.

Industry Keynote Speaker

Education, Credentials & Next Horizons

A career powered by continuous learning: from foundational technical apprenticeships to cutting-edge Stanford Machine Learning.

CREDENTIALS

Certifications & Education

2025

Certified Product Owner (CPO) Scrum Alliance

2025

Machine Learning and AI Certification Stanford University (E-Learning)

2012

Lean 1C Certification Cardiff University

2012

Six Sigma Green Belt Virgin Media Internal Executive Programme

1998

Apprenticeship Level 3 in Telecommunications BT Engineering Academy

CONNECT & HIRE

Ready to elevate your technical product org?

Available for senior leadership opportunities, consulting, and advisory roles in AI, Digital Twin, and Telco Automation.

davidthorpester@gmail.com +44 (0) 7989 163258 linkedin.com/in/davidpthorpe Download CV (PDF)