Gerard Phillips is a Systems Engineer at Arista Networks, where he has provided deep technical and architectural support to customers across the full lifecycle of complex IP infrastructure since 2017 — from design and installation through to day-to-day operations.

At Arista, he combines his broadcast background with deep knowledge of Ethernet/IP switching and routing to support media and entertainment customers throughout EMEA and globally.

A recognized voice on the IP skills challenge facing the industry, he advocates for a balanced approach in which broadcast teams develop enough IP fluency to collaborate effectively with network and security teams — rather than attempting to absorb all disciplines into one role.

Gerard’s broadcast career spans nearly three decades, beginning as a Senior Design Engineer at Snell & Wilcox in 1995. Over 13 years there he developed deep expertise in composite decoders, de-interlacers, and motion-compensated standards converters.

He went on to hold engineering leadership roles at Snell Advanced Media (SAM), before moving into a consultant role focused on broadcast network architecture — representing SAM on the AIMS and VSF SVIP technical working groups and the SMPTE ST 2110 working group. He is a named contributor to the VSF’s TR-03, much of which formed the foundation of the ST 2110 standard.

He has served as an AMWA board member since 2017 and is Events Chair for the Royal Television Society’s Thames Valley Region, a role he has held since 2013.