Brendan served a four-year apprenticeship in the Irish Air Corps, specialising in autopilot systems. He later downed tools to become a full-time student at the University of Liverpool, graduating in 1991 at the top of his class and receiving the IEE Prize for his thesis on a voltage-controlled UHF oscillator. That same year, he joined Telecom Éireann, where he was responsible for ISDN field trials and went on to become a national expert in SS7 signalling. After four years in the consultancy wing, he returned to technology in 2004, focusing on Voice over IP and core architecture strategy. He is now a full-time author.