Millions of people rely on Marks & Spencer every day, often without seeing the technology that makes it possible.
That kind of scale doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of teams who design, run, and care deeply about the technology that supports it.
That’s where Safira Adam and her teams come in.
Safira leads Digital & Technology Service Management at M&S. She’s spent two decades working across healthcare, financial services, and now retail, building teams that keep critical systems running at scale. Her perspective is shaped by running technology that people depend on. It comes from owning outcomes, building resilience into teams and systems, and doing the kind of work that keeps organisations moving day to day.
Like a lot of people in tech, Safira didn’t start out with a master plan. She fell into technology because it made sense at the time, then built her career from the ground up through IT support, service desks, and transformation roles.
That early experience shapes how she leads today. Service management, for her, is human work. It comes down to recognising when technology is doing its job well, and stepping in with clarity and calm when it isn’t.
A big theme in the conversation is crisis. Not in a dramatic sense, but in the way real organisations experience pressure.
When systems are under strain, leadership becomes very visible, very quickly.
Safira talks about staying calm, making decisions, and creating clarity for teams who need direction rather than noise. One thing comes through clearly. Culture isn’t what companies say they value. It’s how teams behave when pressure is high.
"Culture shows up in what people do, not what you write on a slide," Safira explains. At M&S, that means shared ownership, fast decisions, and a focus on doing the right thing for customers and colleagues.
Service management is often misunderstood. Too easily reduced to process, governance, or control, rather than the role it plays in helping teams operate reliably at scale.
That’s not the version being built at M&S.
Safira describes service management as an enabler. A function that helps teams move faster, not slower. A way to create consistency and reliability so engineers can focus on the work that matters.
A big shift is thinking about service from the customer’s perspective. Not just end customers, but colleagues across stores, distribution centres, and support functions. If thousands of people rely on technology to do their jobs, the experience matters.
AI also comes up as a practical tool rather than a headline initiative. In service management, that means improving how teams access information, reducing repetitive work, and spotting issues earlier. Over time, it helps systems recover faster, sometimes before people even notice there was a problem. The focus isn’t on replacing human judgment, but on giving teams better signals and more space to focus on the work that needs experience and context.
"We’re not here to block teams. We’re here to enable them," Safira says. "Service management should help people move faster, not slow them down."
One of the most tangible parts of M&S’s tech story right now is Manchester.
The company is growing its Digital & Technology hub in Salford Quays, creating space for engineers, service managers, architects, and technologists to build their careers outside London.
Safira discusses investing in the North West, where the talent is already present and the opportunity gap doesn’t need to be. The Manchester hub is about creating meaningful roles, strong communities, and long‑term career paths for people who want to work at scale without relocating.
If this sounds like the kind of environment you’d thrive in, you can explore open roles at M&S Digital & Technology on their careers page.
Safira talks about diversity as something that shows up in how teams think and work together. Different perspectives matter, especially when people are encouraged to challenge assumptions and improve outcomes.
At M&S, the goal is to build teams that reflect the communities they serve. When millions of customers rely on your systems, narrow thinking becomes a risk.
You can see that approach in how teams are hired, developed, and led. Expectations are clear, feedback is direct, and there’s a shared responsibility to keep improving how the work gets done.
Watch the full DevLab podcast episode below to hear Safira talk in more detail about leadership, service management, AI, and what’s next for Digital & Technology at M&S.