Agile Digital Transformation

Tom Goodwin is Head of Growth at the UK fintech startup Just, the enforcement market integrator who is driving innovation in the debt collection sector.Debt collection is one of the industries which suffered a huge blow with the restrictions necessitated by Covid. Early on into the pandemic, however, Just got the idea of enabling part of the debt collection process to be done through a video call, and in January 2021, they won their court case which now allows this to happen.In this episode, we talk more in-depth about the court ruling, the impact it is having and will have on the industry, and the general state of digital transformation in debt collection.Links & mentions:fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-launches-guidance-firms-fair-treatment-vulnerable-customersaccountingweb.co.uk/tax/hmrc-policy/hmrc-receives-first-open-banking-paymentjustdebt.co.uk/whats-being-said/our-news/virtual-enforcement-decisionlinkedin.com/in/thomasgoodwinlinkedin.com/company/justjustdebt.co.uk

Brant Cooper is a renowned entrepreneur and keynote speaker, New York Times bestselling author of The Lean Entrepreneur and the CEO and founder of Moves the Needle.Dedicated to helping startups and entrepreneurs succeed with digital for over two decades, Brant truly has his finger on the pulse of the most common digital transformation trends and pains, as well as a less obvious but nonetheless important misconception about digital transformation: that digitization is all there is to it.In this episode, we attempt to bust this myth by showing how true digital transformation requires a change in mindset rather than just the adoption of new tools in order to truly transition into the age of the digital. We discuss the importance of a good balance between people and technology, adopting more people-focused approaches, and embracing uncertainty in business planning and decision making.Links & mentions:daretolead.brenebrown.combrantcooper.combrant@brantcooper.com

Steve Clark is the Head of Digital Growth at Tangent, a Digital Product & Design Agency from London, UK which helps renowned British and international brands realize their digital transformation needs.This episode focuses on Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) and how the field is being impacted by the rise of digitalization and e-commerce usage due to Covid. We discuss how customer experience must adapt in order to accommodate huge amounts of new users and new buying trends of customers, as well as how and why direct-to-consumer brands can differentiate themselves and take advantage of these newly emerging trends.Links & mentions:tangent.co.uk/idea/web-design-deja-vu-is-the-web-killing-creativitytangent.co.uklinkedin.com/in/stevenjc

Nick Christensen is the Head of SEO and Analytics at the UK brand performance agency Threepipe Reply and the Managing Partner of their specialist Amazon team Emergent.In this episode, we talk about how and why Threepipe formed Emergent and discuss the specifics of selling on Amazon. We take a look at the differences between Amazon versus other similar platform, the habits and needs of Amazon shoppers, and how the rise of data is necessitating more and more powerful marketing software. Nick also includes some key pieces of advice for brands that are getting started with or trying to grow their reach on Amazon.Links & mentions:n.christensen@reply.comthreepipereply.com

Florian Schwendner is the Director of Partner Management for Central Europe at the digital experience company Acquia which is based on the open-source Drupal CMS.In this episode, we talk about why businesses should opt for open-source technologies for their digital presence. We discuss Drupal as the top choice among enterprise open-source CMS, with companies such as Pfizer being strong supporters of the project, and why the market is moving more towards open solutions lately. We also break down the differences between a content management system and a digital experience platform, and take a look at what Acquia brings to the table as an open DXP.Links & mentions:acquia.com/resources/report/gartner-dxp-magic-quadrantacquia.com/resources/report/forrester-agile-cms-wavelinkedin.com/in/florian-schwendnerflorian.schwendner@acquia.com

Edmund Frey is the Chief Revenue Officer of Spryker Systems GmbH, a Germany-based commerce technology company that produces the Spryker Cloud Commerce OS.One of the most significant changes we're seeing lately in the digital industry is the explosion of e-commerce that began in 2020 with the Covid-mandated lockdowns. In this episode, we talk more about this, from the history of the evolution of e-commerce to the changes in commerce and customer experience in a post-Covid future. Edmund also shares some examples of how Spryker has empowered clients during this period and talks about how their business model is uniquely positioned to respond well to this rise in e-commerce.Links & mentions:linkedin.com/in/edmund-freyspryker.com

Mike Taylor is a project manager at Verum Capital, leading blockchain advisory firm based in Zurich, Switzerland which has been bringing the blockchain closer to global corporates, international institutions, governments and start-ups.In this episode, we discuss blockchain technology and how it has evolved and found new uses that address important real-world issues. Mike describes a few of Verum Capital's projects that he feels are especially impactful, such as their work for Georgia's Ministry of Justice. We close with a look at how the Covid pandemic is affecting blockchain adoption and what new use cases there can be in light of all the disruption of 2020.Links & mentions:modum.ioyoutu.be/RplnSVTzvnUarweave.orgverum.capitalinfo@verum.capitallinkedin.com/in/mikertaylor

Andrew Beaney is managing consultant at Box UK, an award winning enterprise software development company based in Wales, UK.In this episode, Andrew describes a project for a leading UK university which Box UK started working on just before the Covid pandemic hit and in which agile methodologies turned out to be extremely beneficial to the client's team. Kanban was chosen as the most suitable methodology for the project, with regular retrospectives and asynchronous communication being key factors of success, in particular the latter due to the pandemic and most people working from home. Links & mentions:linkedin.com/in/andrew-beaneyinstagram.com/the_travelling_post_ittwitter.com/a_beaneyboxuk.com

Monte Zweben is the CEO of Splice Machine, a data and machine learning company from California, and the host of their ML Minutes podcast.In this episode, we talk about the benefits of machine learning, with Monte giving some great practical examples of ML solving real-world problems across different industries. We also talk about the culture of innovation and experimentation in this field, focusing a little bit more on one of the latest and biggest recent trends in machine learning. We finish by addressing the changes in the digital industry due to the Covid pandemic and what potential impact they could have on machine learning.Links & mentions:iph.aijobcase.commlminutes.com/podcast/episode/4a3f02d0/10splicemachine.commlminutes.commzweben@splicemachine.com

Robert Craven is one of the UK's top experts and speakers on growing digital agencies and the founder of the Grow Your Digital Agency Initiative.Due to the nature of his work, Robert has seen first-hand how digital agencies have been affected by the Covid pandemic and he provides his deep and varied expertise in this episode. We cover the impact of the first wave of the pandemic and the key lessons learned there. We also take a look at how the accelerated digitalization which we've witnessed since early 2020 is opening up new opportunities for agencies, and if and when niching is still a viable strategy. We close with some practical tips for agencies to adapt to and succeed in the new digitalized business landscape.Links & mentions:conscious.co.uk/site/people/profile/dgilroygydainitiative.comrobert-craven.com