What do the country's most successful IT industry players have in common? ZDNet Australia will try to answer this question during a regular series profiling the personalities that comprise the local technology landscape.

"I suddenly found myself staring out of a window on the 13th floor of Capitol Records in LA, wondering what on earth I was doing there," says Saxon Hill, now CEO of Australian managed security and professional services provider eSec.

In fact, Capitol Record's prestigious Hollywood and Vine address was the last place he expected to be, just weeks after completing a Masters in education and philosophy at the University of Chicago.

After handing in his last paper, he was left wondering how to get back onto the corporate treadmill when he found himself talking to a former associate.

"I had worked with this guy before, as a strategic consultant with Bain & Company," Hill said. "He told me he had been poached along with some other guys we had worked with previously, and basically I ended up getting the job through that connection."

However, Hill wasn't suited either to Los Angeles, or to an industry he describes in no uncertain terms as "dirty and corrupt".

"Even in business there is a certain minimum ethical requirement," Hill said. "And it simply doesn't exist in the music industry, basically anything was possible."

Rather than develop a taste for iniquity, Hill spent his time at Capitol Records working through the implementation of a LAN, and generally developing his IT skills.

"We were launching a Bestie Boys album, we had designed a fantastic screen saver to go with the launch," Hill explained. "It was suggested we make if freely available over the Internet, which no one really knew much about at the time."

An idea which in 2001 seems totally passé, was revolutionary in 1993. The free screensaver was a phenomenal success, and sparked a series of free publicity across the US. It also served to spark Hill's interest in the Internet.

"I was fascinated by the way this thing had ended up on desktops across the US," Hill said. "I wanted to become involved with it come hell or high water."

He came to work one day to find bullet holes in window of the neighbouring office, and decided to pursue his newly discovered penchant for online technology in Australia.

Within 12 months Hill found himself returning home to set up in ISP for Hutchinson Telecommunications.

Hill certainly never intended to end up in IT. Cajoled into taking computer science as an elective by his father, he was far more interested in history than hexadecimals at university, and eventually completed his honours in his preferred subject.

"I only really began to work at it in the last few years of my degree," Hill said. "I realised how much there is out there to learn and wanted to fit as much of it into my degree as I could."

While his studies were not to end there, he took a job with Bain & Company which saw him working across the whole spectre of industry, from clinical drug testing to real estate.

While he enjoyed the experience he wasn't totally satisfied with the time he had spent studying.

"I knew that the longer I spent working the harder it would be to go back to study," Hill said. "So I finally bit the bullet and blew my savings on a year's worth of education at the University of Chicago."

By the time he'd made his way back to Australia five years later Hill had managed to scratch the study itch, and was chasing a new goal.

"I wanted to find out what could be done with the Internet, I knew it was going to change the way we did business and I wanted to be part of that change," Hill said.

In October 96, Hill began as business development manager with eSec's predecessor. He soon oversaw the launch of a product that enabled developers to beef up their applications through an encryption tool.

"In order to launch the product we designed a payment gateway, just to give people an idea of the sorts of applications the tools was suited to. Next thing we were inundated with requests for payment gateways," Hill said, clearly still amused by the irony of the situation.

These days, while evangelising the importance of security services to the world, Hill is busily riding out the Tech-wreck storm which battered the recently listed eSec.

"All in all I am not too concerned," Hill says. "The whole market is in depressed, so at least I know we are part an overall trend. If we were down while everyone else was up - then I'd be concerned."

An arts/law graduate with an honours in History and a masters in philosophy and education, remains an unlikely candidate for the top job in a high tech industry.

"I've got a good nose for bullshit," Saxon says by way of explanation. As he speaks he sweeps both hands across the table in an emphatic gesture of which he appears totally unaware. "I don't know if researching history helped me develop that, or if it is more innate, but I know when someone is being sincere and when not to trust them."

ZDNet Australia is keen to profile the country's leading IT players. If you know of someone who's deserving of a profile - or even if you'd like to nominate yourself - please send an email with your contact details to Cass Warneminde

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