The V3 Hot Seat: Hotels.com vice president of technology Stuart Silberg

Stuart Silberg is vice president of technology at accommodation booking site Hotels.com, which offers customers a choice of more than 160,000 hotels, B&Bs and apartments around the world.

Customers can book these online or through multi-lingual call centres.

Stuart heads up a large tech team that is responsible for developing the Hotels.com applications and website.

Since he started with the company two years ago, Stuart has worked to improve its development methods and turn around the company's way of thinking to improve working processes, development timelines and productivity.

Silberg is the latest IT chief to take part in the Hot Seat, following on from the likes of Google UK head of enterprise Thomas Davies as part of V3's weekly insight into what makes those in the IT industry tick.

If you want to volunteer for V3's Hot Seat, or want to suggest an IT leader you think should take part, please email Rosalie.Marshall@incisivemedia.com for more details.

V3: What would be your dream job (apart from your current role, of course)?

Stuart Silberg: I'd probably want to be a pilot. I've always enjoyed flying and I've always liked planes, so it seems like a natural fit for me.

Which key web sites do you have bookmarked at work?

TechCrunch and V3 are at the top of my list for a great combination of tech news and industry insights.

Which mobile phone and/or tablet devices do you currently use?

My iPhone 5 is a key part of my life - I'd be lost without it.

Which person do you most admire in the IT industry?

It would have to be Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari. He helped to make technology accessible to the public at a time when only big corporations could afford it.

The way we use technology now is due to people like Nolan - he's a hugely inspirational figure in the industry and I admire him greatly for his ability to push boundaries.

Which technology has had the biggest impact on your working life?

Email has obviously been a real game-changer. In recent years, mobile technology has started to eat away at this though, bringing enormous possibilities with it. I find it exciting to see this evolution in such a short period of time.

What's been the highlight of your career so far?

My work at Hotels.com. We've built a new technology team almost from scratch, having implemented very pure agile [sofware] development methods and growing the team significantly as a result.

We're in a position where we're developing cutting edge technology, particularly with our mobile apps, which are now ahead of the curve instead of lagging behind. It's a dream tech job for me.

What was your first job in the industry?

I started off as a systems analyst for a national retail bank. My day job involved writing functional specs to centralise the banking system. Times have changed a lot since then - it wasn't the most fun of jobs, but it gave me a good grounding in the industry.