Principal-Led Advisory

Cloud, AI and platform leadership
for companies facing
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PaaS Technology Services helps ambitious medium-size and large organisations handle the technology complexity that comes with scale: cloud sprawl, AI platform pressure, infrastructure modernisation and transformation risk.

Leverage Tom Gilbert's 25 years of hands on experience building and leading cloud, platform and infrastructure teams in some of the world's most demanding technology environments, including HSBC, Barclays and Deutsche Bank.

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Tom Gilbert doing a keynote at Red Hat Summit with Jim Whitehurst

Tom's keynote at Red Hat Summit in 2019 with Jim Whitehurst. Jim was then CEO of Red Hat.

Experience at Enterprise Scale

PaaS Technology Services brings lessons from environments where technology platforms had to operate at global scale, under regulatory pressure, with real commercial consequences.

That experience was built in tier-one banking, but the patterns apply far beyond banking: companies modernising infrastructure, adopting AI platforms, scaling engineering teams, or trying to recover confidence in a complex transformation.

Platform transformation

Led at global enterprise scale

Led cloud, data centre, developer platform and infrastructure organisations across HSBC, Barclays and Deutsche Bank, supporting thousands of applications and globally distributed engineering teams.

Commercial impact

Converted platform strategy into business outcomes

Designed and led platform strategies that delivered material savings, including more than €400M in benefits from large-scale platform transformation in a previous role.

Operational resilience

Built for pressure, not just presentation

Built and operated platforms supporting high-volume production workloads, with availability, security, governance and developer experience treated as first-class requirements.

View LinkedIn Profile Read Red Hat Case Study Red Hat Innovation Award Watch 2019 Video

Public proof point

Red Hat, Microsoft and Deutsche Bank on the Fabric platform

A public video released with Microsoft and Red Hat covers the platform work behind Deutsche Bank's Fabric programme, which was recognised through a 2019 Red Hat Innovation Award.

Open video on YouTube

Where We Help

Three common moments when enterprise-grade platform judgement matters: scaling the foundation, making AI operational, and steering complex change before it burns time, trust or budget.

Scale the Platform

For companies whose cloud, infrastructure or developer platforms are becoming a constraint on growth, delivery speed or reliability.

Cloud and platform strategy
Operating model and governance
Architecture and workload placement

Make AI Operational

For organisations moving from AI experiments to secure, governed, production-ready platforms that teams can actually use.

AI infrastructure and hosting strategy
Security, control and platform guardrails
GenAI enablement and integration

Steer Complex Transformation

For leadership teams who need senior technical judgement on a programme, architecture, vendor decision, operating model or rescue plan.

Transformation review and rescue
Board and executive advisory
RFP, vendor and commercial guidance

Red Hat Summit 2019

Keynote with Jim Whitehurst on Deutsche Bank platform work.

Press release video Keynote replay

Red Hat Summit 2023

Keynote appearance while leading cloud and middleware at Barclays.

Keynote replay

Career conversation August 2021: a podcast discussion with Charlie Sell on technology, working through the pandemic, careers, leadership and advice for STEM graduates.

About the Founder & Principal

Previously at

HSBC Barclays Deutsche Bank

Managing Director at each institution

PaaS Technology Services is a principal-led consultancy founded by Tom Gilbert. It brings the judgement, operating patterns and technical depth learned in extreme-scale environments to companies whose technology ambitions have outgrown their current model.

Tom Gilbert has over 25 years of experience building and running world-class engineering organisations. He operates at the intersection of deep technical expertise and senior leadership — hands-on with code and architecture, equally at home in the boardroom.

As Managing Director at HSBC, Tom was Global Head of Cloud & Data Centre Services and Global Head of CTO Platforms — responsible for cloud platforms across AWS, Azure, GCP and AliCloud globally, the Bank's Developer Platforms and establishing a multi-cloud strategy and creating HSBC's AI and Data platforms teams.

At Barclays, he led an organisation of over 1,100 colleagues delivering infrastructure products across all public and private clouds, driving a large-scale private cloud transformation that migrated over 100,000 VMs and 100,000 containers whilst eliminating substantial technology debt.

At Deutsche Bank, Tom conceived, designed and built the Bank's hyper-scale PaaS platforms from the ground up — hosting thousands of applications and websites whilst saving the Bank over €400M. He was Deutsche Bank's first Distinguished Engineer and led the pioneering hybrid cloud programme that first brought public cloud safely into the Bank.

Technical Expertise

AI Platforms API Platforms Data Platforms AWS · Azure · GCP Kubernetes · Containers SRE · Observability Go · Ruby · Python · C · C++

Work with Tom

Ways to Engage

Clear starting points for leadership teams that need senior technical judgement without building a large consulting programme first.

Request a Platform Strategy Review

2-week diagnostic

Platform Strategy Review

A focused review of cloud, AI platform, architecture or operating model risks.

Advisory retainer

Transformation Advisory

Ongoing senior technical counsel for a programme, vendor decision, architecture direction or recovery effort.

Fractional leadership

Fractional CTO / Platform Leadership

Principal-level leadership for companies that need senior judgement before hiring a full-time executive or platform lead.

Executive session

Board / Executive Briefing

Short, high-leverage advisory for leadership teams making cloud, AI or infrastructure decisions.

Why PaaS Technology Services

The value is not banking experience for its own sake. It is hard-won judgement from environments where scale, resilience, security and commercial pressure all mattered at once.

Proven at Scale

Patterns and principles shaped in demanding environments with thousands of applications, strict control expectations and low tolerance for downtime — adapted for ambitious companies before complexity becomes drag.

Hands-On Technical Depth

Tom remains a practising engineer — writing code, designing systems and contributing to open-source software. Advice comes from someone who can sit alongside your team and do the work, not just describe it.

Commercial Acumen

Technology decisions only matter if they make commercial sense. Tom brings the experience of managing large budgets, delivering significant cost savings, and translating complex technical trade-offs into clear business outcomes.

Regulated Industry Experience

Deep familiarity with compliance, audit, risk and governance constraints when they matter — useful for regulated sectors, but equally valuable for companies growing into more serious operational scrutiny.

Cloud, AI and platform leadership for companies facing |