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Keith Churchill

Automation & Observability Architect for modern networks

I build data-driven network platforms, lead engineering teams, and turn operational complexity into automation, insight, and resilient service delivery.

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Builder | Leader | Innovator

I work at the point where networks, data, and automation meet. My best work happens when a business needs clearer operational insight, faster delivery, and engineering teams that can move from idea to production with confidence.

I have led network, infrastructure, automation, lab, and operational excellence teams across challenger telecoms and technology businesses. The common thread is practical transformation: make the system observable, automate the repeatable work, and give people the context to make better decisions.

proof-points

99.5% -> 99.95% Network availability improvement through data-led service assurance
Hours -> Minutes Product validation accelerated through an automation framework
300+ High-footfall sites onboarded during a national dark fibre rollout
30 Gbps Peak content delivery across major global platforms

career-history

CityFibre - Architect: Automation & Observability

September 2024 - Present

Defines architectural principles and strategy for Network Observability, Automation, and AIOps, reporting directly to the CTO.

  • Strategic contributor to the Network Management System programme across performance monitoring, capacity planning, and alert management.
  • Led consolidation of legacy monitoring tools into a unified tactical NMS platform.
  • Invited ConnectedNorth 2025 speaker on observability and data intelligence in modern network operations.

CityFibre - Engineering Manager: Operational Excellence

August 2021 - September 2024

Led Lab and Automation teams responsible for product validation, network equipment automation, and broader operational improvement.

  • Built two engineering teams from the ground up, hiring for technical depth and collaborative delivery.
  • Commissioned and deployed an automation framework that reduced product test cycles from hours to minutes.
  • Delivered the Universal CPE Private Cloud Platform as a strategic product enabler.
  • Developed Monthly Network Availability methodology for Board-level service reporting.

CityFibre - Senior Network Engineer

November 2019 - August 2021

Designed and evolved CityFibre's Core MPLS network with a focus on automation, mentoring, and data-driven service improvement.

  • Led vendor engagement and implementation of Path Computation Engine capability.
  • Trained and deployed machine learning models to detect GPON segments with poor optical signal levels.
  • Automated BAU network tasks including Metro Fibre and ENNI provisioning using Ansible.

Hybrid Access Technologies - Head of Infrastructure

November 2015 - October 2019

Led infrastructure projects, network architecture, platform delivery, and operational stability for a software-defined broadband bonding business.

  • Designed a resilient data centre network with dark fibre connectivity between dual sites.
  • Implemented multi-homed BGP, multicloud VPN connectivity, and OpenStack-based VNF delivery.
  • Migrated company websites from monoliths to Kubernetes-orchestrated microservices on Google Cloud Platform.

Optinet - Head of Software Services and IT Infrastructure

December 2014 - August 2015

Focused on infrastructure strategy, vendor management, and operational resilience during organisational transformation.

  • Renegotiated vendor SLAs during merger activity, improving service commitments and commercial terms.
  • Led infrastructure asset separation during divestment with finance and operational stakeholders.

Optinet - Manager: Network Management Services

March 2006 - November 2014

Led a geographically distributed team of 12 network engineers across South Africa, covering operations, monitoring, change, incident management, and planning.

  • Led the design and rollout of South Africa's first successful uncapped broadband ADSL network.
  • Delivered a national dark fibre rollout supporting 300+ high-footfall WiFi sites in the first year.
  • Built scalable backbone and data centre infrastructure hosting platforms including Google, Microsoft, Apple, Akamai, and CDNetworks.

skills

Network Architecture

  • MPLS
  • BGP
  • SDN/NFV
  • NETCONF/YANG

Automation & Observability

  • Ansible
  • CI/CD
  • OpenTelemetry
  • Splunk

AI & Data

  • AI/ML
  • Kafka
  • Snowflake
  • Data visualisation

Cloud & Platform

  • Kubernetes
  • OpenStack
  • Google Cloud
  • AWS VPC

Leadership

  • Team building
  • Budgeting
  • Stakeholder management
  • Operational excellence

personality

I am originally from South Africa and moved to the United Kingdom in 2015. Away from work, I report to the CHO - Chief Home Operator - and try to stay on top of the household backlog with varying levels of release confidence.

I enjoy exercise, cooking, and a good bottle of red wine. I make a strong pulled pork with roast potatoes, avoid oysters, and have a habit of using small automation experiments to keep learning at the edge of what AI and data tools can do.

references

Jaco Muller Matt Pick