With nearly two decades in aviation and deep expertise in Electronic Flight Bag systems, Adam Mather plays a pivotal role at Bytron as an EFB Subject Matter Expert (SME).

As part of our Commercial team, he supports customers and colleagues alike with regulatory guidance, product insight, and hands-on EFB knowledge.

We sat down with Adam to learn more about his experience, the projects that shaped his career, and what advice he has for those looking to follow in his footsteps.

What are your specific responsibilities as the EFB Subject Matter Expert?

I am part of the Commercial team, providing EFB industry expertise to support the Sales and Customer Account Management (CAM) teams. My specific responsibilities are as follows:

• Regulatory Updates – ensuring the skybook product continues to meet the various regulations our customers must comply with.
• Technical Liaison – ensuring any technical issues and requirements are understood by the different internal teams.
• Approval Guidance – supporting customers with their regulatory approval process.
• Requirements controller – validating customer requests are legitimate and in-line with our company roadmap.
• Market research – ensuring we remain at the leading edge with our product offering.
  
  
  

Did you have any aviation experience prior to joining Bytron?

I have been working in the aviation industry since 2006. I started off in Technical Publications, managing the authoring and publication of the Operations Manual and implementing an electronic document management system (EDMS) for a large European airline. One of the publication targets from the EDMS was the pilot Electronic Flight Bag (EFB), which is where I first gained experience with EFB.

At the time, the concept of the EFB was still in its infancy; it was essentially a means of replacing paper in the cockpit. The device used was a small, “ruggedised” laptop - a far cry from the sleek, connected tablets we use today.

Over time, I became increasingly involved in the EFB side of things and, most recently, spent eight years as the EFB Administrator for an airline based in the Middle East before joining Bytron in 2024.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed most in my career is seeing how EFBs have evolved - from ruggedised laptops designed for paper replacement to today’s tablets, capable of complex calculations, connectivity with ground and aircraft networks, and of course, providing pilots with timely and accurate OFP, weather, and NOTAM information.

What is the most exciting project you’ve worked on?

Shortly after getting into the aviation industry, I worked on the first European entry-into-service project for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Having never worked in aviation before and only having worked for much smaller companies in the past, it was amazing to experience and be involved in a project of this scale.

My role on the project was to develop the processes and procedures for the transfer of XML-based documentation from the EDMS to the Class 3 (Installed) EFB on the 787 which further broadened my EFB horizons.

Do you have a greater understanding of the aviation industry since joining the company?

Over the years I have worked with many different aviation software vendors but only ever from the perspective of the Operator. One of the main reasons I wanted to join Bytron was to expand my knowledge of how things work on the vendor side and since joining it has been fascinating to gain an understanding and new perspective on this part of the industry.

What is your preferred software you use and why?

The skybook ground portal and EFB app, because it is the industry leader when it comes to timely and accurate flight briefing information.

How did you get into your career?

By accident, is the short answer. I spent four years at college in Leeds studying Music Technology and Music Production.

When I left, I got a job in a scanning bureau, preparing hard copy documents for scanning and archival. From the prep department I moved into the scanning department, doing the actual scanning of the documents, and then to the finishing department, where the scanned documents were processed and packaged for delivery to the customer.

This got me into the management of electronic documents which ultimately lead to the Technical Publication role in the aviation industry.

What advice would you give someone starting out in your field?

This is a bit of a tricky one as there is no standard path to becoming an EFB Administrator. There isn’t a qualification you can obtain like with ATC or Dispatch for example.

I would say doing a course such as the Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) - The Paperless Cockpit Training Course offered by the JAA Training Organisation (JAA TO) would be a good start. This course covers existing regulations and guidance on EFBs, including practical applications.

From there I would say the best way to learn about EFB is through experience. Try and get a role at an airline, preferably in the Flight Operations department, and then go from there.

How do you keep up-to-date with newest practises in your role?

I think the two main ways are keeping up to speed with the regulations and speaking to airlines to understand their requirements and issues. These are the two factors that really drive the EFB part of the industry.

I am also part of the ARINC EFB working group which is also a good way to understand what is hot from an EFB perspective as they drive a lot of the policy making.

On top of that, attending conferences where possible and keeping up to date with all the industry literature.

What are you most proud of achieving?

I delivered a project to connect the iPad EFB to the Boeing 737 MAX Onboard Network System (ONS) which was a world first at the time. This enables the EFB to ingest real-time data from the aircraft which can then be used to facilitate functionality such as Airport Moving Map (Google Maps for aircraft!).

Going forward we are looking to connect the skybook app to the ONS. For me personally this is great as I have been able to carry over previous achievements to my new role with Bytron.

I am particularly pleased with this as I didn’t have a huge amount of knowledge of the subject going into the project, so I had to learn as I went along. It also required coordination between the Engineering, IT, Pilot and Safety departments which, from a purely project management perspective, was definitely an achievement.

 

If you'd like to progress your career, just like Adam?

Check out our careers site to see how you can join our team!