Talking with Tech Leaders: Recent Episodes
Michael Phair
A series of informal discussions with leaders in technology – the senior managers, entrepreneurs and inspirational innovators driving tech-led change across the business world.
It’s often said that change is a constant in the tech sector. But it’s not constant: the big leaps in technology are coming faster than ever. Just think about the last few years. Cloud, mobile, AI – the pace of change is extraordinary.
Pete Dale knows all about digital transformation, not only in his role as Club Exec (think MD) at AND Digital Almeida, but from 20+ years spent in tech. In this episode of TWTL, he talks through his experience and his journey through the industry.
Together with host Michael Phair, he explores the theme of exponential change – how we can navigate the cutting edge, how governments and regulators struggle to keep up, how to harness the power of AI without losing control.
It’s vital listening, whether you’re curious about the evolution of digital technology at this incredible inflection point, or you’d like to hear why Pete would choose Trump as a dream dinner party guest...
Success in software development – perhaps in any sphere of technology – demands a fine balance of customer focus and engineering skill. Getting it right is easier said than done, with different skills, priorities and goals to wrangle into order. But our guest for this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders knows better than most how to find that balance.
Because Dwayne Pascal – Chief Product Technology Officer at flatfair – is an enthusiastic and passionate technical leader, well versed in managing multi-disciplinary teams in developing the kind of products across web and mobile that deliver business results. In short, an expert in the intersection of product and engineering.
Together with host Michael Phair, Dwayne chats through his career – charting his journey to his current role at flatfair, an innovative rental solution that protects landlords and cuts costs for tenants. They discuss the ins and outs of a product-led approach, how to balance technical innovation with market needs, and how the relationship between product and engineering might evolve in the years ahead. And, as with every episode, they finish things off with a few questions about Dwayne himself – his passions, interests and a few personal stories.
It's a bumper episode, so strap in and enjoy!
From senior manager in the NHS to tech founder & entrepreneur: it sounds like a leap from one end of the spectrum to the other. But, after 28 years working with the health service – a career culminating in roles as CEO and Board Member – that’s the move that Amanda Philpott, our guest for this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders, made.
When she personally experienced age-related hearing loss, she saw the dire need for earlier intervention – and an opportunity for an innovative solution. Having left her high-profile management role, she became a different kind of leader: a healthtech entrepreneur, improving public health from a different perspective, when she co-founded eargym with DJ Andy Shanks in 2020.
Talking with host Michael Phair, Amanda explains how hearing loss is continually overlooked as a workplace issue and discusses the potential for tech-enabled training to limit the social and cognitive impacts of the condition. She explains how the hearing tech platform is designed to tackle the hearing loss epidemic, by empowering users to test and train their hearing regularly through immersive games.
Amanda also shares many of the lessons gleaned from her journey as an entrepreneur and innovator, since leaving the NHS – from the challenge of founding a tech business to the overlooked crisis of hearing loss.
While this podcast has often touched on the topic of AI – it would be hard not to – rarely have we got so far into the nuts and bolts of how it works and what it can do. That’s because Neil Burnett and his team at Arria NLG are doing some incredible work in natural language generation, or the process of transforming data into human-readable text and valuable insight.
You may have heard of NLP, a catch-all term that covers speech recognition, machine translation, sentiment analysis and more. NLG is a subset of the field, which aims produce fluent and meaningful text that conveys the relevant information from the data source. Neil tells us how it works in practice, describes some examples of Arria’s work and talks through the ethical issues, privacy concerns and potential limitations.
Of course, we also hear about Neil’s own career journey, from his uni days to director level, and get to know a little bit more about this personal interests and life outside work. All in all, it’s a great listen: enjoy!
For this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders, we’re talking Architecture. And there are few more qualified to talk about the subject than Jem Anderton. As the Chief Architect at the Student Loans Company, he’s a member of the Technology Group leadership team, heads up a team of 25 architects and plays a key role in modernising an organisation with more than 8m customers.
Together with host Michael Phair, Jem chats through the journey to his current role – charting a 20-plus-year career across both the public and private sector, including the likes of ACCA, Heineken and Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council. He also discusses the discipline of architecture and talks about the challenges and rewards of building and leading teams. And, as ever, we get to know the personality behind the tech leader, with a quickfire round of personal questions too.
Jem is just the kind of tech leader we love speaking to – experienced, engaging and ready to share his insights. It’s a great listen: enjoy!
In our latest episode of Talking with Tech Leaders, our host Michael Phair chats with long-time colleague, client and friend, Jonathan McNamee – a seasoned pro and leading voice in digital strategy, continuous improvement and automation. They discuss the ins and outs of Jonathan’s career, tracing his path from Dublin City Universe to the likes of Salesforce, the Student Loans Company and the Test Factory.
They cover Jonathan’s work setting up a Student Loans Company outpost in Darlington – a contingency during the Scottish independence referendum campaign – as well as his foray into founding a gifting app. Along the way, they talk about leadership in the digital age: what it takes to manage teams, how to handle conflicts, motivating different personalities and much more.
And, as ever, Michael finishes off with a few searching questions to get to the person behind the leader. Packed with insight and opinion, it’s a great listen: enjoy!
If you asked an expert on Scottish tech for a list of the biggest success stories of the past few years, you can bet that Skyscanner (a true Scottish unicorn) and Current Health (sold to US retail giant Best Buy for $400m) would top it. Richard Lennox played a big part in both – working his way up to Senior Director at the former, before joining the latter as Chief Operating Officer.
We were lucky enough to talk to him about the lessons learned, the insights gleaned and his view on the Scottish tech ecosystem. And, as you might expect, he knows his stuff – so strap in for a bumper episode!
He takes us through his own journey in tech, from his formative years in education through to his most recent role. And, as his time with Current Health came to an end since we recorded this episode, he was kind enough to come back and discuss his plans for the future. Sounds like the first few lines of yet another Scottish tech story to us...
Our latest episode is all about the power of tech to do good for our communities, as we meet Kirsty McIntosh of the Scottish Tech Army. The charity was founded during the pandemic to bring tech-savvy volunteers together with third-sector organisations in need of support – on everything from managing websites to bolstering cyber security. With over 2,500 volunteers supporting 300 organisations (so far!), it’s vital work.
Together with host Michael Phair, Kirsty discusses the Tech Army’s activities, growth and impact – as well as her role as Head of Partnerships. As ever, we also get to know the person behind the role, charting Kirsty’s journey through the tech sector and into her current position as a tech leader. And, finally, Michael puts Kirsty on the spot with a few personal questions around her motivations and recommendations.
All in all, it’s a great episode – we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did producing it!
In this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders, Alan Mayberry chats host Michael Phair through his journey from the early days of his career in his hometown of Dunoon to the top tier of software engineering with Planet DDS today. It’s quite the journey, not only stopping off at the places you might expect, with roles at the likes of Brightree, Amec and Global, but also taking a few detours that might surprise, with a stint on a fishing boat and a role working on a cruise ship.
It's all a far cry from the challenges he’s faced in senior roles like Director of Engineering at Planet DDS. We hear all about scaling a SaaS business – how to strike the between meeting demand and chasing growth, between building a team quickly and maintaining a vibrant, positive culture.
And, as we always do, we’re keen to meet the human behind the leader – getting to know the real Allan with a few personal questions about his motivations, hobbies and dream dinner party guests.
In many ways, Hamish Grierson is the archetypal tech entrepreneur: sharp, single-minded and innovative. But, as this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders shows, that’s really just a tiny part of his story.
For starters, we chat through a career that is varied, to say the least – from studying international politics and paying his way through university with landscape gardening, to pursuing roles in advertising and starting a skiing business. As we said: varied.
A stint with the New Entrepreneurs Foundation put him firmly on today’s path. He talks about the lessons he learned and support he received, before co-founding Thriva Healthcare with two others in 2016.
Hamish chats us through the Thriva story since then: the rounds of investment, supporting the health service through the pandemic and their plans for the years ahead. He also offers some wise words around founding businesses and entrepreneurship, overcoming imposter syndrome and achieving the right balance between professional passions and home life.
It’s insightful, fascinating and well worth an hour of your time. Enjoy!
For most of the tech leaders we’ve interviewed on this show, one career is enough. But Brian Reid, Director of Corporate Transformation & Workplace at the Scottish Government, seems to be onto his fourth or fifth career now.
In this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders, he tells us all about the story of his first career – with the 30+ years he spent with Standard Life, working his way up from entry level to executive level. He also discusses some of what he calls his shadow careers. First, as a Taekwondo instructor, guiding others on the tenets and principles still clearly important to him today. Then, as a wedding photographer, having grown from the “amateur who annoys the professional”, to doing a favour for a friend, to doing around 80 weddings.
And he also shares more about his role today, having swapped financial services and travel & tourism for the public sector. With host Michael Phair, he chats through how different (and not so different) it can be, as well as describing some of the transformation he’s driving there.
Along the way, we hear all about the discipline of project and change management – how methodologies could never be a one-size-fits-all solution, the role of technology and the qualities you need to succeed – and get to hear more about what makes Brian tick.
It’s must-listen stuff. Enjoy!
When we’re not Talking with Tech Leaders, we’re at our day jobs at Be-IT – Scotland’s largest independent Technology Recruiters. And, if you’ve heard anything about Be-IT, you’ve probably heard that we’ve recently celebrated our 10th birthday.
So, to mark the milestone, we’ve had a chat with our very own Tech Leader: our CEO, Nikola Kelly.
Having spent more than 20 years in the world of recruitment, she not only sits on the board of Career Ready and the Scotland IS Diversity & Inclusion group, but she has been recognised as the Young Star by Scottish Women in Business and nominated for both the APSCo Business Leader of the year and Businesswoman of the Year at the Scottish Women’s Awards.
We chat through her career journey and, along the way, chart the growth of Be-IT through Nik’s eyes – from the early days of the setting up a Glasgow office all the way through the pandemic and, in the last few months, our MBO.
We may be biased, but it’s a fascinating chat with an inspirational lady. Enjoy!
As you might expect, we are huge fans of CodeClan. After all, they’re in the business of bringing talent into Scotland’s tech sector, and that’s something that drives us every day in our recruitment day jobs. So it’s a real privilege to have CEO, Loral Quinn, as our guest for episode 29 of Talking with Tech Leaders.
We take a tour of Loral’s career, chatting through her brief roles in advertising and music management in London and, following her return to Edinburgh, her time with Aberdeen Asset Management. She tells us about her experiences of co-founding Sustainably, a charitable giving app which won multiple industry awards, including Richard Branson’s startup of the year 2019. And she shares some of her plans for the future of CodeClan.
Much like Karen Meechan in our last episode, Loral is someone passionate about closing the tech skills gap in Scotland. She tells us about some of the great work CodeClan are doing to do just that, with some fantastic stories of careers remade in the tech sector. Get listening and get inspired...
Let’s face it, a show about the Tech Sector in Scotland probably should’ve had Karen Meechan on a whole lot sooner. As the CEO of ScotlandIS, she has an insight and understanding of our world that few others do. She knows the country’s challenges, problems and priorities when it comes to IT & Digital jobs – which this episode well worth your time, all by itself.
But, it just so happens that Karen’s own story is pretty inspirational too. Having left school to jump straight into the workplace via a YTS (the modern apprenticeship of its day), she has truly worked her way up in tech – including spending almost two decades with ScotlandIS, taking on the mantle of CEO in 2021.
As she says, it’s the kind of role she never dreamed about as a child. But it’s a role we think she was born for: you simply won’t find anyone more passionate about the tech sector in Scotland. (Especially when it comes to opening doors to fantastic career paths for bright young minds.)
We’re delighted she could join us – it’s a fantastic and fascinating chat.
It’s always fun to consider how far computing has come, even in the space of one career. When Tony McClelland was getting started, programming was a skill you could learn with punch cards, industry ran on paper tapes and rendering cute cartoons involve a supercomputer and a sleeping bag.
Which is to say that Tony has some incredible experience. And he’s happy to share it in this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders. He talks about working on pan-European research before cheap air travel, shares stories of multi-million pound periscopes and shares some memories of Graham Technology – back in the days when they almost became a billion-pound firm and a Scottish Tech unicorn.
We touch on the culture that made Graham Technology (or Sword Ciboodle, as it was re-named) what it was, with another mention of the famous Golden Knob award – as mentioned by Adam Dallis in episode 10. Tony also tells us a similar story about one project that had a ‘Scapegoat of the Day’.
And we chat through his current role as CIO of the ACCA – what he calls the world’s smallest multinational, with 650 mostly based in Glasgow, and thousands of students and members right across the globe.
As ever, we also look behind the leader, getting to know what makes Tony tick, with a few searching questions on everything from book recommendations to dinner party guests.
For this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders, we’re talking all about the insights and values to be gleaned from the bits and bytes flowing through our everyday lives – to paraphrase our guest, Andy McMahon. The award-winning Data Scientist and Machine Learning expert takes us through his own career journey, from his academic roots with Imperial College, into the private sector with Streamba, Aggreko and now NatWest.
We explore data in depth, chatting through the power and possibilities of machine learning. As you might expect, we touch on what Chat GPT means for organisations like NatWest (and the threat is can represent for organisations like Samsung).
For those of us who aren’t Data Scientists or Machine Learning Engineers, he offers a brilliant breakdown of the different roles involved, as well as explaining the real-world impact of what can seem (to outsiders like us!) like an abstract area of tech.
We also cover his brief foray into television work, as a consultant for a discovery channel show at the crazy end of the science spectrum and chat about his incredible book, Machine Learning Engineering with Python.
Throughout it all, Andy is thoughtful, insightful and engaging – a perfect tech leader to talk to...
Just for a second, think about the biggest challenge you might face in your career. How’s about launching a digital TV service? Or integrating two colossal financial institutions? Or facing a year-long multi-million-pound high court case?
You might say that Scott Mackay – CTO, Technology Strategist and CRM Guru – has seen more ups and downs in tech than most. You might also say that would make him a great guest for episode 25 of Talking with Tech Leaders. And you’d be right.
With a career that includes so many huge developments at Sky, Barclays, ABRDN and others, it’s no surprise that this is such a bumper episode. But, with entertaining anecdotes, fascinating reveals and a few personal insights, it’s well worth your time.
If you have any suggestions, feedback or you’d like to take your turn in the TWTL hotseat, please get in touch with our host, Michael Phair at michael.phair@be-it.co.uk
Technical innovation is nothing without the human application. How the two elements work together is what the podcast is all about, which is what makes Simon Sear – Strategy & Innovation Expert – such a fascinating guest for episode 24.
Joining host Michael Phair, Simon discusses how his education in Psychology played a role in his early career, takes us through a few career highlights, including CIO at BP, writing books about the Euro, working with Enron (yes, that Enron), and starting SPARCK with BJSS.
He offers views and insights on everything from automation to team building, explains how people are just like cars (sort of ) and answers a few quickfire personal questions too. There’s even time for a story about a lost dog finding their way home. It’s all well worth a listen.
He says it himself – Bob Keiller doesn’t quite qualify for the ‘tech’ part of ‘Talking with Tech Leaders’. So it’s perhaps worth renaming this episode Talking with Values Leaders, or Talking with Storytelling Leaders. Whatever we’re calling it, it’s well worth listening to.
He chats through his career with host Michael Phair, charting his journey from Heriot Watt University, through a series of roles in the oil & gas sector. Bob describes how he led a $280millon MBO of the Halliburton division he managed, then sold it to Wood Group, becoming their CEO – responsible for more than 50,000 employees, before taking on chairmanship of Scottish Enterprise, Entrepreneurial Scotland and various trade bodies.
Through it all, there’s a golden thread around communications and culture. There’s nobody who better understands the importance of strong values and engaging storytelling as incredibly powerful leadership tools.
Plug in, sit back and enjoy.
Most Tech Leaders get started pretty early. Andrew Flegg was already getting to grips with rudimentary programming when he was still in short trousers. So it’s perhaps no surprise that he’s risen to become the Chief Technology Officer at Alfa Systems, the multinational asset finance software giant.
In this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders, we go all the way back to those beginnings, tinkering with a BBC micro in his childhood home, chart his progression from the University of Warwick and into the professional arena with Ford, IBM and now Alfa.
Along the way, we hear some advice and insights for new developers and aspiring leaders, discuss some of the challenges and expectations that come with being a CTO, and – as ever – get to know the person behind the job title a little better. Enjoy!
In a time when the NHS struggles under the pressure of squeezed budgets and the after effects (and continued caseload) of the pandemic, every pound saved counts. Dr Anas Nader and Dr Jing Ouyang saved it an estimated £40million – enabling almost 3 million hours to be staffed sustainably each year through Patchwork Health.
This episode of Talking with Tech Leaders offers the story of how that happened – how Patchwork went from two doctors' frustrations to a burgeoning start-up, and on to a growing business making a real impact.
Michael Phair from Be-IT leads the conversation, looking beyond the business to the founder, with a few quick fire personal questions to round things off. If you're interested in med-tech, start-ups, enterprise funding and incredible career journeys, we've got you covered.
The podcast title has never been more fitting: our guest for episode 20 of Talking with Tech Leaders is a leading thinker, leading innovator and leading academic. Bill Buchanan is not only Professor of Cryptography at Edinburgh Napier University but also an Officer of the British Empire – awarded in 2017 for services to cybersecurity.
Together with host Michael Phair, Professor Buchanan covers some big themes and ideas – cyber threats, digital citizenship and (don’t try this at home) sticking your fingers in light sockets. As Bill’s social media bio puts it, he is: “A Serial Innovator. An Old World Breaker. A New World Creator." – and this episode proves it.
In this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders, we spend more time than usual talking through our guest’s career journey. And there’s a good reason for that: Alastair Rennie has had an incredible career – with the likes of Lockheed Martin, Student Loans Company and Wescot Credit Services.
From the very start, he worked to harness the power of data – from his post-PhD consultancy analytical work, stress-testing bus chassis, to saving countless man-hours of manual calculation with Howdens. It’s still true today, as CIO with Research Data Scotland, working on the kind of data-driven innovation that can transform services and improve wellbeing.
For anyone looking for a future at the strategic end of management, there are lots of lessons to be learned and insights to be heard. And, as usual, we also get into a few more personal questions to find out more about the person behind it all. It’s well worth a listen.
Right now, we’re making plans for series 2, so if you have any suggestions or feedback, please email host Michael Phair at michael.phair@be-it.co.uk
Nick Lambert wants you to hold onto your own data. Right now, as CEO of Dock Labs AG, he’s harnessing the blockchain to create verifiable credentials – replacing the out-of-date and inaccurate records held by some third party (who are often more interested in making a profit than protecting your privacy).
And, in his previous role with MaidSafe, he worked on creating a decentralised data network – taking user data our of the hands of the tech giants.
Nick talks how he arrived at his current role - from working at the big blue to a small kayak company, then onto senior marketing and management roles. As ever, we pick his brain for leadership tips and business insights, as well as asking a few more personal questions.
Right now, we’re making plans for series 2, so if you have any suggestions or feedback, please email host Michael Phair at michael.phair@be-it.co.uk
Just as the digital revolution has changed the way we do our shopping, manage our money, and interact with each other (among other impacts), today’s tech has completely rewritten the rulebook for business. From internal communications and people management, to customer relations and product development, everything is touched by digital. Which all makes Digital Transformation one of those get-it-right-or-go-home kind of issues.
And that makes this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders a must-listen podcast. Having spent the last ten years or so with Standard Life and Phoenix, Andy Young has witnessed – and driven – the transformation of a venerable institution into a modern-day provider. As Group Head of Digital & UX at Phoenix Group, he has plenty of fascinating insights that it’s well worth hearing.
Gordon Weston is a geek. A highly successful and talented geek. A geek with an impressive track record of leadership in software engineering. A geek that we should all look up to. Above all, he's a geek that's proud to be a geek. And he says that, if you're a geek, then you should be proud to: "Get your geek badge out! Wear it with pride! This is what we do. This is what you love."
Gordon's a technology professional with plenty to be proud about – with a series of director-level roles under his belt, not to mention his current role at Head of Engineering Delivery at customer experience management giant, Merkle.
Talking with Be-IT's Michael Phair, Gordon charts some of his career highlights, offers a few hard-won pearls of wisdom for up-and-coming developers and leaders, and answers a few personal questions, too. For any aspiring tech leaders, this is a must-listen episode.
Charting Chris Leckie’s career isn’t just a tour of the biggest names in Scotland’s business landscape – Amazon, FanDuel, WoodMac, to name a few. It's also the story of the rise of digital design itself. From his first steps after graduating, working as a web developer in Dundee’s burgeoning digital sector, to becoming a senior leader with the biggest brands in the country, it’s an impressive tale.
In this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders, we go through that career in detail – discovering what he learned along the way – and find out about some of the principles and values that make him the leader he is today. We explore what UX really means (and how that’s changed) and dig a little deeper into his personal insights and advice.
Enjoy!
When the pandemic yanked millions from their offices, to work from their kitchen tables and spare rooms, it came with a whole new way of working. New habits, new tools. This was remote working.
Or, at least, that’s what we thought.
Our guest for this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders, Gary Walker, has a different view: this was not true remote working, just lots of the usual office-based approaches dragged into our homes. And, as the author of Ready for Remote, his is an opinion worth hearing.
Over the course of our conversation, we chat through his career – solving problems, leading teams and harnessing tech innovations – and talk about the ways we’ve got our approach to WFH all wrong. The green dot of constant availability, the interrupting pings and prods, the aimless update meetings. Instead, he offers a different vision of a more flexible, productive and healthy approach. It’s well worth a listen.
There’s not much about Project and Programme Management that Chris Green couldn’t tell you about. He’s delivered the kind of projects that transform businesses and (ultimately) save lives – leading programmes and portfolios with the likes of BAE and the NHS. Now, as the director of Pro PMs, he’s offering his expertise to a vast range of clients across all sorts of sectors.
In this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders, we take a deep dive into the world of project and programme management – exploring what makes a good PM, looking well beyond the rigid classifications of single methodologies and discussing every project should end with cake.
It’s a great chat with a fascinating character. Enjoy!
For some of us, getting insight from data can seem like a dark art – like looking through tea leaves for prophesies that no one else can see. Not so for someone like Marta Portugal, Director of Data Science at Forth Point and guest for this episode of Talking with Tech Leaders. Chatting with host Michael Phair, Marta offers us a glimpse into the world of commercial Data Science, and into the career of an amazing Data Scientist.
We explore how she got into the field in the first place, and how she progressed from her first roles in analysis to become Director with exciting start-up Forth Point. We also talk about the power and possibilities of data, as well as some of the ethical issues the sector is wrestling with. And, as ever, we also find out a little more about Marta herself, from her favourite tech to her personal motivation. It’s a great chat and a fascinating listen.
When we launched the Talking with Tech Leaders podcast, Colin Clive is exactly the kind of guest we had in mind. From an early age, he’s been elbow-deep in computing – programming with display models in high-street shops with his friends and creating a system to tackle the massive admin burden of his paper round. Since then, he’s charted a career path from technology development to senior leadership, with the likes of IBM, the Student Loans Company and, today, Webhelp.
In this episode, we go through it all, chatting through his journey in tech, including the exciting (crocodiles!) year out he took travelling down under. He shares some of the experiences and wisdom he’s gathered along the way, and takes us through those challenging, dramatic days when the Covid-19 pandemic hit – when he and his colleagues at Webhelp shifted one of the market’s leading process outsourcing and consultancy businesses onto a home-based operation.
It’s well worth a listen. Please subscribe, tell your friends and, if you have a spare moment, drop us a review.
Adam Dallis has always been fascinated by computing. When most of us were playing video games, he was hacking high scores – so no matter how well his brother was doing, Adam always came out on top. Today, as Software Development Manager at Amazon, he’s putting that technical curiosity to good use on something a wee bit bigger than tetris.
We spend the tenth episode of Talking with Tech Leaders discovering how Adam got to where he is now, and what he’s learned along the way – from company cultures to leadership styles. Of course, we also round things off with a few more personal questions, and find out that there’s computing in the Dallis DNA, thanks to a truly Unreal Mum.
It’s a great listen that we’re sure you’ll enjoy. Please subscribe, review and tell all your friends.
Following on from our fascinating chat with Dave Kerr in episode 8, we’re talking to another of the founding members of Bridgeall (another of the three ‘titans’, as host Michael Phair dubs them) – Stephen Beer, Managing Director.
As ever, you’ll hear all about Stephen’s own journey through the tech industry – from his undergraduate degree and PhD in Software Engineering, his work with Oracle and his consulting roles through the years of energy sector deregulation and millennium bugs. Stephen reflects on his time running SimplyReserve – a hotel booking system perhaps too far ahead of its time – and discusses how Bridgeall has coped with Covid.
Finally, Michael and Stephen talk about a few more personal thoughts and reflections, from what he’s reading to his ideal dinner party guests. All in all, it’s another fascinating episode. Let us know what you think, and tell us who you’d like to hear from next…
When Dave Kerr finished his computer science degree and started off in his first job, it was a time before there was a computer on every desk. He’s spent a long time working in technology. Along the way, he’s led change in the public sector, navigated a deregulated energy sector and founded a SaaS business that brought innovation to libraries around the world.
As today’s host, Michael Phair, puts it, Dave has “started companies, sold businesses and he wears many hats”. Together, they talk through Dave’s career, discover what has driven him throughout it all and discuss what’s next – with smartcrowds, a company built to crowdsource great business ideas and turn them into reality.
It’s a fascinating chat full of good stories and valuable insight – please listen, subscribe and enjoy.
Episode seven of Talking with Tech Leaders shows – yet again – that you don’t always need to take the most obvious route to leadership and expertise.
Laura Casci, Head of Delivery for Scotland at BJSS, didn’t leave school with a bundle of qualifications, and she didn’t wait for the honours year of her degree, either. Today, she’s a true leader of the tech sector in Scotland – and this episode is all about the journey that took her there.
Together with Nikola Kelly, MD of Be-IT, Laura covers a range of topics, from dealing with imposter syndrome to standing up to bullying behaviour, and plots her path from roles in training, to working in testing, to consultancy.
She also talks about the impact of coronavirus on her business, and offers some fascinating insights into what’s next as we come to terms with a post-pandemic world, and discussing some of the expertise that goes into BJSS’s invaluable enterprise agile book.
Please enjoy, subscribe and share.
In this episode, we’re talking with Jenn Fenwick, a superstar of the executive coaching scene and the head of Rebel Road Coaching.
She’s not just coached all sorts over the years, but she also climbed up the greasy pole herself – having reached the dizzying heights of Global Talent Director, before following her passion into supporting others.
Chatting with Michael Phair, Jenn talks through her career, from school and university in her native New Zealand, to her progression through the ranks in talent management – largely in the pharma sector. She talks about the day she decided to take the plunge in coaching, having had her world turned upside down by breast cancer – “if my boob hadn’t tried to kill me, I’d still be on that track” as she puts it.
She’s full of great advice for leaders – both in general, and for those struggling with how to lead from home, on zoom calls (and in slippers). She even offers her actually-more-than-three top tips for leaders in the first 90 days of a new role.
It’s a great reminder that leaders are people too – even at the very top. Please share it, rate it and let us know what you’d like to hear about next.
In episode five of our Talking with Tech Leaders podcast, Michael Phair of Be-IT talks with globally renowned Agile coach, Scott Seivwright.
A born storyteller, Scott takes us through some of the highlights of his career – from rubber factory to pre-internet banking to leading member of the Agile community, letting us in on some of the insights and lessons he’s learned along the way.
They also discuss the biggest event in the Agile calendar – the huge, month-long Agile 20 Reflect Festival.
Scott is also the mastermind behind the biggest event in the Agile calendar – the huge, month-long Agile 20 Reflect Festival. It’s a truly global affair, with a vast range of events, talks and discussions hosted in Europe, South America, USA and beyond. (Visit https://agile20reflect.org to find out more and join in.)
It’s a great chat with a true leader of the Agile community. It’s not to be missed...
To finish off Talking with Tech Leaders for 2020, we have a special Christmas treat for episode 4. Michael Phair has handed over the interviewer's mic (MS Teams account) to Be-IT Managing Director, Nikola Kelly.
She's joined by Ben Stewart, Senior Engineering Manager at Skyscanner – someone tailor-made for this podcast. He's not just full of technical knowhow, but also has some real insight and fascinating observations to make about managing people, particularly in a year like we've just endured.
Together, they talk about managing work as a parent, grappling with the huge social issues that 2020 has brought (not just covid!) and – most importantly – how the hell you plan a remote Christmas party for your team.
You can read more about Ben at his blog (take a few minutes – it's great): benjibanjo.com and, as ever, if you want to know more about what Be-IT do, you can find out more at be-IT.co.uk
In the third episode of our Talking with Tech Leaders podcast, Michael Phair of Be-IT talks with seasoned technology leader, Andrew Doyle.Andrew has had a fascinating career to date – most recently serving as CTO of ARM. He tells the story of how he got there, starting from university, through to his early steps in a consulting environment, what he learned from his time travelling and the experience he gained through his MBA – among much, much more.
From the early impact of the internet to the internet of things, and from his favourite tech today to his ideal dinner party guests, Andy and Michael cover a huge amount of ground. Listen and enjoy!
In the second episode of our Talking with Tech Leaders podcast, Michael Phair of Be-IT talks with CEO of Sales Agility, Dale MurrayHaving taken over the Stirling-based software company in 2017 – at the impressively tender age of 27 – Dale has overseen some impressive growth for their flagship product, Suite CRM. Dubbed the world’s most popular open-source CRM, it has been downloaded more than a million times, has an estimated 4.5 million users around the world and is available in 69 languages. Impressive stuff!
Michael and Dale discuss the growth plans for Suite CRM, together with Dale’s meteoric progression from graduate intern to business leader in just a few short years. Of course, 2020 has offered plenty of challenges for tech leaders, but it’s also been a big year for Dale and his family, with the birth of his baby daughter Elsie. (Congrats Dale!)
Business, family, leadership, careers and tech: it’s a fascinating chat.
To kick off our new Talking with Tech Leaders podcast, Michael Phair of Be-IT talks with lockdown phenomenon, Dan Reed.
As well as Head of Platforms at Barclays, Dan is the founder of Career Dad – a father-focused podcast, blog and website offering advice and entertainment in equal measure.
Michael and Dan talk through the rise of Career Dad, Dan’s impressive career path and how working from home during the lockdown made him an accidental social media superstar – not to mention some serious tech-chat, from gadgets to gaming.
It’s the perfect introduction to our Talking with Tech Leaders podcast, with a brilliant mix of fascinating insight, light-hearted chat and plenty of tech. Enjoy!