Every office has its own unique culture and nicknames that have a habit of sticking. Some you may recognise, even if you did not know the nickname, like Patryk, also known as Postman Pat. Others, including Pinky and the Brain, will feature another time.
Today, meet ‘Human Gary’, also known as Gary Holmes. Our second line engineer who has a talent for moving beyond scripted talk and developing real, empathetic relationships with our clients. But that’s not why he’s called ‘Human Gary’ – we’ll get to that one later. Here’s the interview…
Building an IT Career
Gary, how did you get into IT?
I was always into tech as a teenager, tinkering with basic PC and network issues for friends, but my career path initially took me down the legal route. I was planning to become a solicitor or a paralegal and worked in law firms in Manchester and Cornwall. I then switched back to my first love, IT, and progressed in helpdesk roles before joining Aztek.
What made you apply for a job here?
More than anything, it was the opportunity for career progression and using technologies I hadn’t worked with before. We didn’t really have any Azure clients in my previous roles. We weren’t using Intune, weren’t using any cloud backup platforms – everything was just local, on-prem servers. It was nice to go into a company that was forward-thinking.
And there’s potential to really grow a career here?
They basically said: we will progress you and get you to where you want to be. We get access to a range of courses and testing kits to help with training, which has helped me move from first-line to second-line engineer. If there’s an area I want to develop, I can take kit home, set up a little infrastructure, build it, find ways of breaking it and fixing it. There’s always hardware to tinker with. You are also required to get certain certifications – for instance, 3CX advanced phone systems and Sophos Endpoint Engineer.
IT Support
You’re a second-line engineer. What does your role involve?
It is a helpdesk role sitting between tier one and tier three, dealing with issues that tier ones are unable to resolve because they need a bit more investigation and deeper technical knowledge. It involves both remote support and site visits, and covers everything from networking and connectivity through to cybersecurity and escalated end user PC support.
People have said that you’re good at communicating with clients. Is this true?
I think so. I try to get away from technical jargon when one-to-one with a customer on site. It’s about just breaking it down into plain English.
Our service desk operates at ITIL standards, so there is a set of guidelines for how engineers should communicate with clients. But, within that, it’s nice to add more personality to help build good relationships.
Office Culture
So, what’s the atmosphere like at Aztek generally? How would you describe the vibe?
There’s a good team spirit – especially when it comes to working together to solve problems. And we do a lot of socials and team building. Previously, we went abroad and just got to know each other out of the usual day-to-day environment. I’ve never known an employer embrace team building like Aztek does.
Okay, we need to talk about ‘Human Gary’.
[Laughs] Basically, Gosia, our Operations Manager, was accidentally called Gary by a client and the name stuck. But when I joined the business, she retired the name for herself and gave it to her cat, to avoid confusion. But people clearly were still confused, because they started calling the cat ‘Cat Gary’ and me ‘Human Gary’.
What conclusions do you draw from this?
That people clearly talk about cats too much in the office if they need to distinguish between Cat and Human Gary!
Life as a Dad
Out of the office, your world revolves around your son, Lincoln. What does a Gary / Lincoln day look like?
We try to stay out of the house as much as we can and away from screens. If the weather’s good, we will visit a National Trust garden, go swimming, or head out on quad bikes with friends. He also loves playing rugby, football and tennis.
I also like to teach Lincoln how to cook. He grew out of it for a while but then I won a 3 in 1 blender in Aztek’s end of year raffle. It has been great for helping him feel more independent in the kitchen, as it makes things simple and safe. Lincoln loves making pancakes with it. He creates them from start to finish and finds it so satisfying. We get through a lot of pancakes these days.
And technology?
That does come into it – he plays Roblox and Fortnite, like every other child. I always try to explain what’s going on if the Wi Fi is not working, or why the game is not booting, rather than just fixing the issue, so there is always an element of learning about technology.
Giving Back to the Community
Why did you get involved with St Petrocs?
I try to give back where I can. For me, that really started at Aztek with the Eden Project’s Sleep Out last year, which I took part in with Patryk and Simon. We did not get much sleep, but it was eye opening, and hearing from people who have experienced homelessness really stayed with me.
After that, I wanted to keep supporting the work St Petrocs does. I spent a couple of weeks collecting clothing donations from colleagues, friends and family. The response was amazing, and when I delivered everything, there was so much that the team almost could not take it all in one go.
Meet more Aztek people
See our staff profile with Jacob Ibbetson, who is on the 2026 Cornwall Chamber of Commerce 30 Under 30 shortlist and was awarded Highly Commended Digital and IT Apprentice of the Year at the 2026 Cornwall Apprenticeship Awards.
Inspired by Jacob’s journey? Find out more about careers at Aztek.
