Meet Beau Brooke – Managing Director, Kindleworth Technology
My career journey: From tech enthusiast to Managing Director
Looking back, I think it was a case of preparation meeting opportunity, although I didn’t know it at the time. School and I never quite found our rhythm together, so at 17, I was job-hunting instead of preparing for university. Through a family connection, I heard about a law firm looking for junior support staff. I jumped at the interview opportunity, showcased what I could do, and well – the rest is history. As it turned out, my hobby for tinkering with electronics, building computers, and setting up servers was exactly the kind of experience I needed to get my foot in the door.
Throughout my career, I’ve enjoyed diverse roles – from applications and support to escalation and coordination. I worked in IT teams at law firms in the UK Top 50, AMLaw Top 50 and UK Magic Circle, which provided me with a deep experience of delivering technology services to lawyers and law firms. This was invaluable when I made the move to supporting law firms as my external clients.
In 2015, I joined Kindleworth, and haven’t seen the clock move slowly since! For around five years I provided direct support to the boutique law firms we launched into the market and later managed the relationships between our clients and their IT Managed Service Providers. In late 2020, we founded Kindleworth Technology to address the gaps we had experienced when trying, and failing, to find IT Managed Services Providers that could deliver the style of service our law firm clients needed.
Looking forward, I’m excited to further demonstrate our position as the leading technology partner for high-performance specialist law firms while offering exciting and diverse career opportunities for those that choose to join us.
Leading with trust and empowerment
I’d describe my leadership style as delegative, focussing on trust and empowerment. I believe in hiring ambitious and talented people, providing them with clear objectives and context behind their importance, and then giving them the autonomy to achieve those goals.
Given how we operate and the clients we work with, trust and accountability – both within the team and with our clients – are crucial. Trust enables the delegative approach to work effectively, while accountability ensures we continue to deliver market leading results. We prioritise quality and consistency above quantity in almost every scenario.
This approach has worked well for us so far, but as we continue to scale, we recognise the need for flexibility. Thankfully, I have access to brilliant mentors and supportive colleagues in our management team, so these decisions aren’t having to be made in isolation.
My key advice to law firms: Technology is a journey, not a destination
Technology, and specifically information security, is an ongoing process rather than a one-time solution. Historically, the legal industry operated on three-to-five-year review cycles. However, given the current pace of advancement and the rapid release of features in systems like Microsoft 365, firms now face a constant need to adapt.
What worked effectively last year may already be outdated today. The traditional model of periodic assessments simply cannot keep pace with the evolving landscape or capitalise on emerging capabilities. This disconnect is one of the primary reasons for our frustration with the traditional Managed Services Provider model, which often involves a relatively static scope of services locked into long-term (2+ year) contracts.
Law firms that have embraced continuous improvement models find themselves not only better protected but also more adept at leveraging new tools that enhance both security and productivity. This advantage is particularly evident during the current AI boom. While forward-thinking firms can readily leverage their data and knowledge resources, those that have fallen behind technologically must first address fundamental infrastructure gaps before they can utilise these emerging capabilities. Many struggle with legacy systems that lack compatibility with modern APIs and integration frameworks – essentially requiring them to establish a new baseline before realising any benefits from cutting-edge tools.
Opportunities and challenges: The road ahead for the legal sector
The most pressing challenge in our sector is the widening technology gap between firms. A boutique firm and a Magic Circle firm often face the same client expectations, but their budgets, resources and support models differ significantly.
The most exciting opportunity for us lies in properly supporting and implementing tech (not just AI(!)) that improves legal service delivery, drives efficiency, or generates improved margins. Our approach to navigating these challenges centres on three core strategies:
- Commitment to continuous improvement – Ensuring our clients don’t fall behind the technology curve by fostering discussion and implementing smaller incremental upgrades rather than major overhauls.
- Developing a Maturity Roadmap – Allowing firms to build capabilities incrementally while ensuring each component integrates with future additions.
- Investing in our people, processes and partners – Recognising that even the most powerful technology delivers little value if adoption or understanding is poor. We focus on ensuring our clients can effectively leverage both existing tools and future additions as part of their daily workflows.
Life beyond work: What keeps me grounded
I’m lucky enough to have two young daughters (3 and 1), so most of my free time is spent with the family at the moment, trying to disconnect from my phone and emails! They’ve given me a fresh perspective on what’s important in life, which has taught me the value of being fully present – whether that’s with the girls at home or focused on delivering what’s needed for the law firms we support!
