The Tech Leaders Podcast

Joe Baguley is a CTO and leader who lives and breathes technology innovation. This week, he chats to Gareth about his journey from self-confessed ‘1980s computer nerd’ to CTO of Silicon Valley company VMware (...after 23 interviews).Joe’s colourful life has seen him through a spell at Imperial College, the Army Reserves and - most surprisingly - a course in standup comedy. All these things have led him to where he is today: an excellent communicator with a ferocious appetite for information. And when he’s not making strides at the forefront of the tech industry, he’s taking on charity motorsport challenges and racing electric bikes. Tune in to get the full, fast-paced story in his own words from a man who never seems to stop!TimestampsEmpathy in leadership (1.24)Overview of background (2.45)Key milestones (6.21)Groundbreaking change (90s tech boom) (9.15)Gadgetry (11.57)Motorsport as therapy (16.44)The future of electric cars (20.39)23 interviews in 2 and a half days for VMware job (22.59)Culture at VMware (26.09)Communicating in layman’s terms (29.54)How did the pandemic change things? (34.12)What is Joe most excited about? (38.00)Advice to 21-year-old Joe (40.22)Avoiding burnout (42.07)Recommendations (43.29)Outro (45.20) https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

“I know I’ve succeeded as a leader when I’ve made myself obsolete.” Striking words from this week’s tech leader, Anwen Robinson, head of UK & Ireland's cloud computing giant Infor. Growing up in the Rhondda Valley, Anwen paved the way for her own success, calling up Cardiff University and talking her way onto a Mechanical Engineering course…and being the only woman didn’t deter her either.From feeding punch cards into computers to teaching computer science via the medium of football, Anwen’s drive to lead and succeed has carried her up the ladder to lead one of the world’s biggest software companies. Here, she delivers her best advice for leadership and stresses the importance of curiosity to keep learning throughout life. Leadership (1.30) Young Anwen's unconventional path (2.35)Bags of drive and ambition (8.02) The importance of ‘stupid’ questions (10.42) Key milestones (12.59)First MD role (18.29) How to manage change (25.36)What makes a good salesperson? (28.49) Women in STEM (31.58) The Prince’s Trust (35.46) Anwen outside of work (39.26) Advice to 21-year-old Anwen (40.20) Takeaways (42.22) https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

Growing up on a council estate, Paul realised early on that he was fascinated by technology and dreamt of working for the RAF, however, following an early introduction to fatherhood Paul doubled down on a career in computing to provide for his new family. In this episode, Paul talks candidly about being fast-tracked into a leadership role, handling top secret government information in the defence sector, right through to helping save lives and tackle humanitarian crises, worldwide. Currently the Global CIO of Amnesty International, we unpack some of the amazing work Paul has been involved with and discuss why technology is such an essential component for non-profit organisations. Council estates, cars and fatherhood 2’21What inspired Paul to work in computing 3’23Cutting his teeth in the defence industry 4’10 The beach day that inspired Paul to join the RNLI 7’40How does technology help a charity like the RNLI 10’54Technology on a charity budget 12’10 Key moments and regrets in Paul’s career 13’54Landing the job at Amnesty International 16’55How does the IT department help in a humanitarian crisis 18’00 How working at Amnesty International opened his eyes 21’08Getting excited about future global technology 28’24The digital divide 30’38What advice would he would give to his 21-year-old self?  35’30 https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

This week’s guest is Josie Smith: Chief Architect for Digital at BT.From humble beginnings on the checkouts at Asda to overseeing business architecture and setting a "digital first" vision at BT, Josie has undoubtedly made her mark on the industry as a successful female leader. In this episode, Josie and Gareth explore architecture in the corporate world, driving AI first and building automation into BT's operations. They also chat about finding your "super powers", understanding your strengths and the importance of confidence and believing in yourself. Josie tells us about diversity and inclusion at BT and the need to ensure people have ample opportunity for coaching and mentoring to enable them to reach their full potentialAlong the way, they discussJosie’s favourite subject in school (2.01)Selecting IT as a career path (3.16)The leadership gender imbalance in tech (8.14)The Importance of a good mentor (11.29)Being a chief Architect at BT (16.20)What’s hot right now at BT (18.40)Evolution of BT (21.35)What is Josie most excited about? (23.59)Josie outside of work (25.59)Top Productivity tips (28.06)Advice to 21-year-old Josie (30.05)https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

From virtual-appointments, to artificial intelligence, to data management and fighting cyber-attacks, Dell's Arshad Farhad helps healthcare providers to see how technology can support their work.Arshad is Dell Technology's Chief Technology Officer in Healthcare and Life Sciences for Europe, Middle East and Africa. He's also working towards his doctorate in Federated Learning for AI (using ML and Data Science) to improve patient care using wearable and Internet of Medical Things sensors.In this episode, Arshad tells Gareth why technology is the future of healthcare and how medicine can be more effective if it is data-driven.Why Arshad is passionate about healthcare and technology (2.05)Arshad’s PHD journey and challenges (3.17)Healthcare in the next 5 to 10 years (4.35)Ethical dilemmas (8.35)Robotic surgery (9.53)Wearable technology in healthcare (11.30)How does the UK healthcare technology compare to other countries (15.41)The last 12 months in healthcare technology (19.17)Smart hospitals (21.00)What problems is the healthcare sector facing (22.28)How Dell is helping to address these challenges (25.09)Edge-based healthcare (25.40)AI healthcare (26.50)Data management (27.15)Data security (29.52)Cloud technology (31.30)Arshad's role as Chief Technology Officer (33.27)What Arshad believes makes a good leader (36.27)Leadership in the pandemic (37.34)Who inspires Arshad (38.27)https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

This week’s guest is formidable entrepreneur, investor and CEO of Goodlord, William Reeve. After setting up his first business during the dotcom boom of the 90s, William moved on to set up pioneering media rental website LoveFilm.com in the noughties. Since then, he has co-founded Secret Escapes, as well as served on the boards of Nutmeg, Dunelm and Graze as a non-exec. Most recently, he founded Goodlord; an award-winning lettings platform designed to streamline tenancies. Having dipped his toe into all business sectors, William stands out as a tech leader with many strings to his bow. In this episode, he tells Gareth about his colourful career as an entrepreneur and the things he’s most excited about in the years to come. William’s take on the world situation right now (1.20)  Problem-solving at Goodlord (2.58)Early days at Mckinsey's - (4.30)Setting up a business (6.37)The dot-com boom (8.10)LoveFilm.com (10.05)Forecast for the future of online media (15.30)How does William assess which opportunities to accept or reject? (17.07)Joining Zoopla (19.52)Secret Escapes (23.16)Milestone moments (25.13)What is William most excited about in the future? (28.51)Outside of work/advice to 21-year-old William (30.18)How the workplace is evolving (32.38)Inspirational stories (35.29)https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

This week’s guest is Tim Neill, Mastercard’s Chief Risk Officer for Real-time Payments and Applications. After studying Police and Criminal Justice Studies, Tim came to the UK twenty years ago straight out of university and was offered a consulting role at Goldman Sachs. Cutting his teeth in London’s fast-paced trading environment, assessing risk, resilience and security for world-renowned banks,  Tim began specialising in the payments sector, culminating in his lead risk role at global payments provider Mastercard. Tim chats to Gareth at Mastercard’s London offices about his career journey, the UK’s global position in payments, the future innovation of real-time payments at a cross-border level and Mastercard's work to create a global standard for payments and how this is helping develop payment infrastructure in countries worldwide. 01:34 - Background05:12 - Tim’s role at Mastercard08:02 - Getting into payments as a specialism08:47 - Significant changes in the last 8 years10:55 - Getting more countries equipped with realtime payment services 14:40 - Plans to create a global standard of payments18:31 - Kenyan M-Pesa21:02 - What is MasterCard taking forward from the pandemic? 22:40 - Will innovation suffer from reduced workplace interaction?24:27 - Outside of fintech, what is Tim most excited about? 28:27 - Life outside of work31:18 - Advice to the 21 year old Tim32:18 - Tim’s inspirations https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

Brett Wigdortz OBE is a philanthropist, entrepreneur and founder of Teach First, an social enterprise charity addressing educational disadvantage in England and Wales. He was also recently re-elected as chairman of the board for the National Citizen Service, a UK government-backed training scheme for teenagers. Formerly an international journalist, Brett has spent time in dozens of countries and knows education inside out. As a founder and tech leader, he’s ambitious to find innovative solutions to education inequality and help lower-income children gain access to better schooling.  In this episode, Brett chats to Gareth about his work setting up a digital community of childminders at tiney.co, the differences in education around the world and long-term challenges faced by schoolchildren due to the Covid pandemic. Beginnings (1.10) Defining Education (4.32)Education and social mobility in the UK (5.55)Education in Finland (9.04)Long term impact of Covid (15.34) Setting up tiney.co (16.38)NCS work (20.53)What are North America doing differently? (24.40) Inequality in the UK (26.40) Outside of work (28.49)Combating childhood obesity with Bite Back (31.27)Links (34.38)https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

Ego Obi is Head of Operations for Sub-Saharan Africa at Google. An inspiration to many, Ego is an experienced tech leader and mentor, who has done some incredible work which has improved the lives of millions.  Originally pursuing a career in accountancy, Ego felt drawn to technology and systems, resulting in a career pivot, culminating in her being approached by Google to lead an amazing venture to provide world-class education and internet access to millions of people, across many emerging nations, globally.  Furthermore, Ego is a career coach and philanthropist with involvement in some amazing charities. In this episode, Ego chats to Gareth about her upbringing, what inspires her, technology as an educational force for good, and the enormous economic potential of a truly digital Africa. Where did it all begin? (1.38)Coaching women in tech (3.22)Joining Google at a pivotal moment (5.58)Google’s 20% project (7.50)Move into emerging markets and education (10.47)Removing barriers to internet access in West Africa (13.14)What is Ego most proud of? (17.10)Potential in Sub-Saharan African nations (20.18)Ego’s upbringing (22.58)What’s next? (24.08)Charitable endeavours (27.09)How has the pandemic changed Google? (29.05)Advice to 21 year old Ego (31.40)Inspirational reading (32.49)Links to Ego’s work (35.43)https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

Trenton is a renowned business leader and qualified leadership coach with experience training digital teams for nearly twenty years. His best-selling book Human Powered is a concise guide for cultivating a high-performance culture within digital teams through developing emotional intelligence and people skills. Trenton speaks to Gareth about his personal business journey, including his 15 years at Webcredible from embryo to exit.  He also talks candidly about the process of writing an Amazon bestselling book, how remote working sometimes creates workplace conflict; and his three crucial tips for successful remote meetings. Effective leadership (1.35)The journey of setting up a digital agency (Webcredible)  (3.48)Writing a best seller (16.09)Conflict in business teams (18.26)Remote working and  workplace conflict (19.57)Top 3 tips for successful remote meetings (23.28)EQ – emotional intelligence (25.50)Teaching children EQ (32.28)Team Sterka and leadership coaching (36.53)Get in touch with Trenton and team Sterka (41.00)https://www.bedigitaluk.com/