When your career in software stretches back to the days of COBOL and Pascal, it’s not surprising you have a lot to teach.

So, it is much to our surprise Ameer Ibrahim believes he still has much to learn.

“I haven’t had many breaks, it’s been non-stop,” jokes Ameer when discussing his winding career in software.

It’s a journey that starts with 14 years of plugging in G code and X code as a CNC machinist in Ballymena – all on nightshift.

A journey that navigates the Millenium Bug and Credit Crunch and arrives at All State. There he spends five weeks learning to code in COBOL – a language that predates audio cassettes and handheld calculators – before moving on to Citi Group.

It stops off in Sudan where he customises healthcare systems, returns to Northern Ireland at HighWire then Citi, then, eventually, Cranmore as technical support manager.

We ask which programming languages he knows after such a varied career.

“Well, all of them,” he says.  

Stupid question, we realise, as he rhymes off Python and Unix and SQL and Pascal and Java…

It was his father’s accountancy career that give him a fascination for mathematics, a fascination that inspired him to begin seven years of part-time study for a Computing with Mathematics degree.

“For my foundation year I spent a week in Reading,” he says. “That was my first contact with a computer – it was like touching a dead body.”

After his degree he took on a Master’s at University of Ulster, which led to his first IT job proper at All State.

“Last year I completed a postgraduate qualification in AI,” he says.

“I’ve got a qualification in cloud computing. I’ve done ITIL v4… what else, I have a Project Management Professional certificate – that was the most difficult. There was a four-hour exam.

“I’m now taking some additional Microsoft licences…”

Wait, wait, wait… what’s with all the qualifications?

“I love studying,” he says. “For me it’s like physical exercise. I’m always learning, I’m always on a course. I’m always busy. Very busy.”

And that becomes increasingly apparent as Ameer is also a well-known figure in the local Islamic community, a person people go to for advice.

He’s a football coach for ethnic minorities (Level 1 coaching certified plus a UEFA C Licence, of course), leader of Northern Ireland’s only Islamic Scouts group, and – wait for it – a marriage officiant (he’s married over 50 couples).

“Keep up with the trends,” he says, when we ask him about the advice he frequently gives.

“Always learn and practice. Don’t worry about money. Just get experience and learn. Studying will always be with you.

“But not just qualifications – learn how to behave, learn give and take.

“I encourage people to keep learning and to always stay active. “And to have a good diet. I have a qualification in that too.”