Tom Playford
Chief Technology Officer at 9Barista
London, England, United Kingdom
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolTom Playford is a seasoned technology leader and entrepreneur with 13 years of experience building and scaling software and product teams, currently serving as CTO of Sparta. He founded and grew 10to8 from startup to successful SaaS business and later served as its Non-Executive Director, combining hands-on engineering with strategic product and commercial leadership. At Palantir he operated at the intersection of engineering, product and business across major clients in aviation, energy and banking, shaping deployments for high-stakes organisations. Tom brings deep technical pedigree—first-class M.Eng. from Bristol, PhD research at Cambridge Computer Lab—and a knack for design and photography that informs product sensibility. Known for energetic team leadership and an ability to thrive under pressure, he also advises early-stage ventures like 9Barista, reflecting a continuing appetite for building interesting things with brilliant people.
13 years of coding experience
14 years of employment as a software developer
Master’s Degree, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Master’s Degree, Electrical and Electronics Engineering at The University of EdinburghDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Technology, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Technology at University of CambridgeMaster’s Degree, Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Master’s Degree, Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering at University of Bristol
English, French
Github Skills (16)
python10
routers10
home-automation9
asyncio9
raspberry-pi9
asynchronous9
mqtt9
iot9
internet-of-things8
cronofy5
django4
rest-api3
celery-task3
rest3
redis-py1
Programming languages (1)
Github contributions (5)
tomplayford/aiohelvar
Apr 2021 - Jan 2023
Asynchronous Python library to control Helvar Lighting Routers
Contributions:7 releases, 1 review, 89 commits in 1 year 9 months
asynchronouspythonrouters
tomplayford/homeassistant_helvar
Nov 2023 - Jul 2025
Contributions:2 releases, 11 pushes, 1 branch in 1 year 8 months
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