The Insider : Recent Episodes
Ben Alexander
The Insider is a weekly podcast hosted by Tech Intellect showcasing stories from technical leaders across the globe. The podcast originated at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak when, in lockdown the world moved from the office to the spare room and remote working became the norm (hence the name of the show). Originally set up to share how technical leaders were working through the pandemic, the show has evolved into how technology will help us in the new world and what lessons can be learnt along the way.
On this weeks episode of The Insider I was joined by Laurence Bargery, Co-founder and CTO at accuRx,
accuRx have played a key role in communications throughout the pandemic and the business has grown a phenomenal rate over the past 12 months.
Growing at pace in technology is a huge challenge and we discuss the lessons learnt.
On this weeks episode of The Insider I was joined by Ana Jakimovska, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Culture Trip.
After a testing year in the travel industry we discuss the challenges faced leading a technology team in London and Tel Aviv.
On this weeks episode of The Insider I was joined by Ricky Doyle, Founder and CEO of Practice Labs.
Ricky is leader who strongly believes in empowering his team. In this episode we discuss how this has helped during the past 12 months.
The Insider is back!
And back with a cracking new episode to start the new season with Nigel Wilson, Director and General Manager at Scott Logic.
In this episode we discuss the challenges faced leading a growing consultancy through the pandemic that has resulted in opening a new office in Leeds this year.
On this weeks episode of The Insider (and last of the year) I was joined by Ben Brown, the Head of Engineering at Intuit.
Ben gave some great insights into initiatives that keep his team productive working remotely as well as how he will plan a "back to office" strategy.
Open and honest, Ben is a lovely guy who is really easy to speak with. Great way to round off the first series.
On this weeks episode of The Insider I was joined by Kirk Miller.
Kirk isn’t a Tech Leader, he’s an elite body transformation specialist. However, he works with a number of business leaders around the globe, many of which are household names.
The reason Kirk is so successful working with business leaders is he focusses on mindset and mental awareness before any diet plan or weights are lifted.
Currently many technical leaders are concerned for their teams wellbeing while working from home. This is something Kirk's clients are always talking about howeverin the world we live in today it is vital we are looking after our own mental first.
I have suffered from my own mental health issues in the past, Kirk was someone who helped me back into positive habits.
Different to the normal pod but an important message listeners can learn from.
On this weeks episode of The Insider I was joined by Simon Tarry.
Simon has recently left Ticketmaster after nine years, most recently as Director of Technology Strategy.
Simon is a great guy and we had a fascinating discussion around innovation, the skills shortage in tech and strategy to get your business working collaboratively.
On this weeks episode of The Insider I was joined by Amardeep Sirha, the Co-Founder and Head of Delivery at AmarTi.
Amardeep is actually my business partner after starting AmarTi earlier this year - who knew we were starting a business at the beginning of a global pandemic! :-)
I love Amardeep's story. She was a teacher for 8 years before moving into technology as a Business Analyst with Sky. She had never considered working in technology however discovered her skills from her teaching were transferable and has never looked back.
Amardeep is an advocate of diversity in tech and her story is something I believe many Tech Leaders can learn from.
Amardeep is also open to anyone who would like to discuss any of her points in more detail - amardeep@amarti.io
On this weeks episode of The Insider I spoke with Mat Barrow, Managing Director at X-Lab.
Mat has had a very busy 6 months! X-Lab have found themselves on the front line in the Covid response and the business has doubled in size. What has been really interesting is how the business has grown remotely but embraced diverse thinking from the team. This has come from hiring graduates with different backgrounds as well as team members all over the country.
In the episode Mat talks about the importance of looking after the team's mental health when growing at pace.
On this weeks episode of The Insider I spoke with Jason Englebrecht, Chief Technology Officer at Munich Re.
Jason is a great guy who is incredibly passionate about innovation. In this episode we discuss the importance of innovation both internally and externally and how to ensure your team is engaged and working in collaboration.
On this weeks episode of The Insider I spoke with Kevin Holditch, Head of Platform Engineering at FORM3.
FORM3 are a business with circa 80 Engineers working remotely in over 15 countries. This has been the hiring strategy over the past four years and enabled them to continue their fantastic growth through Covid with minimal changes.
On this weeks episode I was joined by Jonathan Rigby, Director of Technology at Expedia Group.
We covered a lot in the episode including the current climate and working for one of the world’s best known travel companies.
We also covered thought leadership. A topic Jonathan is passionate about and has actively highlighted in the past.
The Insider is back! This week I was joined by Pedro Vilela, Software Engineering Manager at Curve. In this episode we discussed the slowly going back to the office and the importance of collaboration in a fast paced environment.
This week I was joined by Derek Ewing, the CTO of KiteEdge.
In the episode we discuss how Derek moved from the corporate world to start up and the challenges faced when it comes to funding.
On this weeks episode of The Insider I was joined by Murray Foxcroft who is the CTO of ProArch.
In the episode we discuss the opportunities for businesses that embrace the new normal, how ProArch have helped their customers to develop a track and trace application and how it is hard to read into the daily covid stats.
On this weeks episode of The Insider I spoke with Chris Samiullah, a Technical Lead at Babylon Health.
In this episode we spoke about software engineers having a personal brand and how this can benefit your career.
Welcome back to The Insider where this week I was very lucky to be joined by David Germain, The Group CIO of RSA.
On this weeks episode of The Insider I was joined by Cristiano Meda who discussed agile transformation
Welcome to the second episode of the Insider with Richard Allen, Director at Infinity Works
On the 20th of March business’ were turned upside down by the news that the UK was officially entering into lockdown. Working from home became the new norm, Zoom calls skyrocketed and apps such as Houseparty and TikTok became staples in connecting with family, friends and loved ones.
Four to five weeks in and we are still adjusting to the impact. So what better time than now, when we are all stuck inside, to look behind the proverbial curtain and hear how companies within the tech industry are adjusting to the new measures and navigating work within COVID19.
To that end, Tech Intellect is hosting a new webinar series, ‘The Insider’, where we will be joined by leaders within the tech industry from companies of all shapes and sizes. We will touch on how they have been impacted, the challenges they’re facing, their predictions for the future and the opportunities to be taken. This will be followed by a Q&A session (questions submitted via Zoom chat).
Our first webinar will be taking place on Wednesday the 22nd of April at 12:30pm (GMT). Here we will be joined by Mark Kitching (Head of Technology at LADbible Group).
Mark has worked for a number of prominent companies such as Sky, where he spent 17 years as Head of Technology, before moving to LADbible and rebuilding their tech team from scratch. Elevating the team and rebuilding all three of their sites along with creating a new mobile app from the ground up.
LADbible Socials (Facebook, Twitter, Insta etc) now have around 50 million followers, and their websites have attracted 130 million visitors for this year alone!
Mark will share his experience of working within COVID19, advice for others within the tech sector and what opportunities he sees in the near future.
Places are limited, so don’t delay!