Tom has been a leading business journalist focusing on technology and telecommunications for the past 14 years. He is currently Business Editor of The Economist, based in London and was previously its Technology Editor, based in San Francisco and continues to be editor of The Economist’s quarterly section on technology, TQ. He waspreviously a technology journalist with The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Wired and Prospect. He holds a degree in engineering and computer science from Oxford University, UK.

He takes a particular interest in the social and cultural impact of technology and is a widely acclaimed author of four history books; "A History of the World in Six Glasses" (2005), "The Mechanical Turk" (2002), "The Neptune File" (2000) and "The Victorian Internet" (1998), two of which have been serialised as Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4. "The Victorian Internet" was made into a Channel 4 documentary, "How the Victorians Wired the World", and is a frequent commentator on public radio in America and on the BBC World Service.

Tom regularly provides keynote speeches at conferences or company events, which have included Coca-cola, Microsoft, RealNetworks, Starbucks, ADC Communications, Syniverse, the World Affairs Council meeting and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, to name a few. He also provides stimulating after-dinner or cocktail reception presentations around the subjects of his thought-provoking books, particular The Victorian Internet and The History of the World in Six Glasses.