{"id":877724,"date":"2025-12-16T22:15:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T04:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/16\/interview-paul-neville-director-of-digital-data-and-technology-the-pensions-regulator\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T22:15:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T04:15:23","slug":"interview-paul-neville-director-of-digital-data-and-technology-the-pensions-regulator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/16\/interview-paul-neville-director-of-digital-data-and-technology-the-pensions-regulator\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Paul Neville, director of digital, data and technology, The Pensions Regulator"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"content-center\">\n<ul>\n<li><i data-icon=\"1\"><\/i><\/li>\n<li><i data-icon=\"2\"><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"contributors-block\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Mark-Samuels-60px.jpg\" alt=\"Mark Samuels\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.techtarget.com\/contributor\/Mark-Samuels\">Mark Samuels<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n\tPublished: <span>05 Dec 2025 15:28<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"content-body\">\n<p>Paul Neville, director of digital, data and technology at The Pensions Regulator (TPR), is building strong IT foundations as part of a five-year strategy to help transform the organisation from a compliance-based to a risk-based regulator. He explains what that change will mean in practice over the next few years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a regulator, we\u2019ll obviously still have specific processes we expect people to follow, but we\u2019ll be much more concerned about the outcome that we\u2019re trying to achieve, and we\u2019ll make decisions based on that demand,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo make that shift, we need to understand our data. We need to have the right level of automation to explore information, measure outcomes, and deliver those outcomes with industry and other government bodies interested in pensions. We imagine a future world in which information flows between organisations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A historian by education, Neville entered the world of business as the internet boom gathered pace in the 1990s. Describing himself as a self-taught digital leader, he developed his skills in the commercial sector at blue-chip companies such as Sky and BT, and with startups and smaller businesses.<\/p>\n<p>His transformation work in larger firms focused on delivering big technology-enabled change programmes, centred on boosting customer experiences. Mid-career, he decided to apply those skills for public benefit and worked as a consultant for two major charities, Marie Curie and Macmillan, helping those organisations to transform digitally.<\/p>\n<p>Neville then turned to the public sector to apply his skills in another for-good area. He worked in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/252488547\/CIO-interview-Paul-Neville-director-of-change-and-ICT-Waltham-Forest\">digital leadership roles at the London Borough of Waltham Forest<\/a>, UK Export Finance and Enfield Council, before joining TPR in October 2023. Neville reflects on this final move.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was the opportunity to take all of that experience and deliver on a national scale and impact everybody, because almost everyone has a pension, and the opportunity to make that process work for the citizens of this country, and make a difference for people in retirement, is a massive issue,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecondly, the chief executive, my boss, Nausicaa Delfas, was setting up an opportunity to change, not only TPR, but the pensions industry, so the role felt like a chance to be a central part of that journey, because not every CIO gets to sit on the board of an organisation.\u201d<\/p>\n<section data-menu-title=\"Transforming processes\">\n<h2><i data-icon=\"1\"><\/i>Transforming processes<\/h2>\n<p>Neville reflects on the transformation journey at TPR, saying it\u2019s been an exciting ride: \u201cEveryone on the executive board is aligned on the fact that digital, data and technology are the key enablers for helping us change as an organisation, and also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366614240\/Government-resets-pension-dashboard-programme\">helping the pensions industry transform<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Late last year, Neville launched a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk\/en\/document-library\/corporate-information\/ddat-strategy\">digital, data and technology strategy<\/a>, a set of missions over a five-year plan to renew TPR\u2019s capabilities, embracing new ways of working, driving efficiency, automation and innovation. In March this year, he launched <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk\/en\/document-library\/corporate-information\/tpr-data-strategy\">the data component of the strategy<\/a>, which establishes a collaborative plan to drive adoption of new data technologies and standards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am proud of that strategic work,\u201d he says. \u201cThat effort includes strengthening our technology foundations, improving our capability in terms of automation, and making sure we have the skills in my team to develop the future. We\u2019ve hired quite a lot of people and also consolidated similar skills across the organisation, and that\u2019s enabled us to deliver more and save money on suppliers, because we\u2019ve done a lot in-house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Neville says the projects his team has worked on include delivering artificial intelligence (AI) tools that help increase automation. They\u2019ve also focused on improving cyber security and data governance to ensure safe and secure access to high-quality internal information.<\/p>\n<p>The team also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk\/en\/get-support-with-pensions-innovation\">recently launched an innovation service<\/a> to foster conversations with industry stakeholders. Neville says TPR is encouraging and enabling people and organisations to think differently about the services they deliver to their customers and the benefits they provide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s just a small selection of the things we\u2019ve done so far,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve got just under four years left of the plan. There\u2019s a lot more we want to do, but we have built the confidence, both internally and externally, that we are a different TPR and we can deliver. That encourages everyone in our industry to think differently as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section data-menu-title=\"Building foundations\">\n<h2><i data-icon=\"1\"><\/i>Building foundations<\/h2>\n<p>Neville says the transformation work enabled through the strategy so far is focused on building the right technological foundations at TPR.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to cyber security and data governance projects, his team has focused on service management initiatives that help TPR rationalise its application estate. The organisation has adopted an agile, product-based approach to deliver reusable capabilities for flexible services in key areas related to pensions governance within the organisation and externally.<\/p>\n<p>TPR is also making progress on automation, including in case management. He inherited a situation where cases were often managed on spreadsheets or via one-off technology solutions. In short, nothing was joined up. Neville is using automation, via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366547495\/Blundstone-taps-Microsoft-Dynamics-365-in-ERP-refresh\">Microsoft Dynamics 365<\/a>, to take a different approach.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Paul-Neville-TPR-PR-140x180px.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of Paul Neville, director of digital, data and technology at The Pensions Regulator\">\n  <\/p>\n<p><span><strong><span>\u201cEveryone on the executive board is aligned on the fact that digital, data and technology are the key enablers for helping us change as an organisation, and also helping the pensions industry transform\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span>Paul Neville, The Pensions Regulator<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re delivering a single case management system,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are working to make sure the process is streamlined, so we\u2019re thinking about the business process first. By taking that approach, we can deliver in an agile and iterative way. Where we\u2019ve already rolled that technology out, we\u2019ve delivered productivity savings of around 60%.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Neville expects the progress made through case management automation to be repeated in other areas. As automation takes hold in the organisation, he anticipates people will spend less time on paperwork and more time delivering better services.<\/p>\n<p>Given the developments in the technology sector during the past few years, AI is playing a key role.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are deploying AI to specific use cases,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve got a fantastic data science team, who are developing lots of very clever tools for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section data-menu-title=\"Embracing AI\">\n<h2><i data-icon=\"1\"><\/i>Embracing AI<\/h2>\n<p>Neville says the next two years will be spent honing these technology initiatives and delivering tangible results.<\/p>\n<p>Critical projects include implementing organisation-wide access to data via Dynamics 365 services and completing transformation projects in core areas, such as cyber security and data governance. It\u2019s these foundations and the application of emerging technology that will help TPR transform from a compliance-based to a risk-based regulator.<\/p>\n<p>Two years from now, Neville expects all foundational work, from case management to customer relationship management (CRM) systems, will be embedded within the organisation. On these foundations, employees will use AI-enabled tools to boost their working processes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat preparatory work will enable us in the future to create more customer-facing digital capabilities,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>One example of where TPR is applying AI is analysing online news sites to scan for potential risks in pension schemes. Neville saw AI could provide a helping hand to what is currently a manually intensive process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a great example, because many pension schemes don\u2019t have the same name as the provider,\u201d he says. \u201cThe technology does quite a lot of joining up behind the scenes to make that process work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another example is using AI to analyse Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) statements, which organisations must submit to comply with legislation. Once again, generative technology \u2013 in the form of OpenAI and Microsoft Azure technology \u2013 is helping TPR staff summarise lengthy prose and create insights as a basis for intervention when required.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose are just two examples,\u201d says Neville. \u201cWe\u2019ve got other risk tools that we\u2019re using. We are also rolling out Copilot internally, and we\u2019re in the middle of our plan for that technology. We\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366630693\/GDS-publishes-guidance-on-AI-coding-assistants\">trialling GitHub Copilot<\/a> for our developers, and they\u2019re starting to write test scripts, which is fun. We\u2019re still at the beginning of this work, as are lots of people, but these projects are a taster of what we want to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section data-menu-title=\"Solving challenges\">\n<h2><i data-icon=\"1\"><\/i>Solving challenges<\/h2>\n<p>Neville says the result of this work will be that the future TPR will have an operating environment that differs greatly from its traditional, manually intensive processes. Today, the organisation maintains a digital portal, where people send, for example, pension scheme returns as part of a large, intensive data upload. Neville foresees a better approach.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<figure>\n    We need to understand our data, and so does the industry. The firms need to provide better customer experiences for people, like you and me, who have pensions<br \/>\n   <\/figure><figcaption>\n    <strong>Paul Neville, The Pensions Regulator<\/strong><br \/>\n   <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThere won\u2019t necessarily be a scheme return like you see today, because we will have the information we need, and organisations across the industry will be more digitally enabled, so they\u2019re able to drive the kind of innovation and competition in the market that will benefit savers, people with pensions and employers that offer pensions,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>This new level of digital interaction will make it easier for TPR and organisations in the pensions sector to tackle some of the thorny issues of the day. One of these issues is adequacy, or the extent to which people save enough money in pension schemes for their retirement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to understand our data, and so does the industry. The firms need to provide better customer experiences for people, like you and me, who have pensions. By driving a customer focus, we think the industry will perform better,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe may even feel a bit like a fintech as an organisation, because we&#8217;ll be enabling innovation. Technology will produce the insights we need to work with the industry. So, we could be operating in a completely different world, which drives innovation and change for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Neville continues to seek ways to push transformation forward. He recently helped launch the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk\/en\/about-us\/what-tpr-does-and-who-we-are\/industry-working-groups\">Pensions Data and Digital Working Group<\/a>, which will help ensure TFP and the pension industry work together to embrace digital, data and technology and achieve the digitalisation and automation aims outlined in the five-year strategy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe working group has 15 members,\u201d he says. \u201cIt represents a cross-section of people from different parts of industry, so trustees, actuaries, lawyers, but also people from more technical backgrounds as well. It\u2019s about getting all kinds of people involved to help solve the problems and move to this new world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"DigDeeperSplash\">\n<h4>\n\t\t\t<i data-icon=\"m\"><\/i>Read more on CW500 and IT leadership skills<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366636205\/Interview-Erik-Mayer-transformation-chief-clinical-information-officer-Imperial-College\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero Images\/healthcare-doctor-stethoscope-ECG-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero%20Images\/healthcare-doctor-stethoscope-ECG-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero%20Images\/healthcare-doctor-stethoscope-ECG-adobe.jpeg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>Interview: Erik Mayer, transformation chief clinical information officer, Imperial College<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Mark-Samuels-60px.jpg\" alt=\"MarkSamuels\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Mark\u00a0Samuels<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366603134\/Women-in-data-Claire-Thompson-chief-data-officer-LG\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/German\/article\/files-data-management-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/German\/article\/files-data-management-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/German\/article\/files-data-management-adobe.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>Women in data: Claire Thompson, chief data officer, L&#038;G<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Mark-Samuels-60px.jpg\" alt=\"MarkSamuels\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Mark\u00a0Samuels<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366548332\/How-Qualtrics-is-driving-experience-management\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero Images\/Customer-experience-AdobeStock_323398101_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero%20Images\/Customer-experience-AdobeStock_323398101_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero%20Images\/Customer-experience-AdobeStock_323398101.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>How Qualtrics is driving experience management<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Aaron-Tan-Computer-Weekly-2025-140x180px.jpg\" alt=\"AaronTan\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Aaron\u00a0Tan<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/252521790\/CIO-interview-Simon-Liste-chief-information-technology-officer-Pension-Protection-Fund\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero Images\/digital-transformation-business-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero%20Images\/digital-transformation-business-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero%20Images\/digital-transformation-business-adobe.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>CIO interview: Simon Liste, chief information technology officer, Pension Protection Fund<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Mark-Samuels-60px.jpg\" alt=\"MarkSamuels\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Mark\u00a0Samuels<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366635393\/Interview-Paul-Neville-director-of-digital-data-and-technology-The-Pensions-Regulator\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Rubi Mischke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Mark Samuels Published: 05 Dec 2025 15:28 Paul Neville, director of digital, data and technology at The Pensions Regulator (TPR), is building strong IT foundations as part of a five-year strategy to help transform the organisation from a compliance-based to a risk-based regulator. He explains what that change will mean in practice over the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":877725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22316,45462,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-877724","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-interview","8":"category-neville","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=877724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/877725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=877724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=877724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}