Digitally Curious

We’ve heard of “full-stack Engineers”, but what is a Full Stack CMO? To find out I spoke with Maya Moufarek, CEO of strategic growth consultancy Marketing Cube for the latest Actionable Futurist Podcast.Maya has over 15 years in the tech and direct-to-consumer industries with roles at Google, Amex, Cisco and LG and she is passionate about working with ambitious entrepreneurs and purpose-driven CEOs to deliver truly sustainable growth.She says she is proud to be multicultural and multilingual, having had the pleasure of living and working in Moscow, Paris, Amsterdam, New York City, San Francisco and here in London.We covered a lot of issues related to marketing in start-up companies, including:What it means to be a "Full-stack CMO” Understanding the human psyche to be a good marketerThe secret to building sustainable & profitable growth plansThe one common mistake that start-up CEOs makeThe specific characteristics of high-growth companiesAdvice for early-stage start-upsMore about MayaMaya on LinkedInMaya on TwitterMarketing Cube WebsiteThanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/orderYour Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew GrillFor more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com Andrew's Social ChannelsAndrew on LinkedIn@AndrewGrill on Twitter @Andrew.Grill on InstagramKeynote speeches hereOrder Digitally Curious

“Permacrisis” was the 2022 Collins Dictionary word of the year, and this year, people are seeking ways to adapt in an uncertain world.Accenture identified five emerging trends that will alter the power dynamic between brands and customers in the coming 12 months and beyond:1: Permacrisis and human adaptability2: What’s next for loyalty?3: The importance of work intangibles4: AI is now in people’s hands for creativity5: Digital wallets: a question of adoptionThis year, people are seeking ways to adapt in an uncertain world.​Emerging technologies are giving control to the people, with never-before-seen outcomes for businesses and individuals.Artificial intelligence lets people express their natural creativity, Web3 offers the chance to help shape the brands they love, and tokenization may soon hand them full control over their personal data.How will brands build trust and leverage new technologies for growth?Building on the 15-year legacy of Fjord Trends, this report—Accenture Life Trends 2023—has the same inspiring content. This year's report is rooted in life centricity and examines the ways in which people are adapting their lives and making use of emerging technology to meet their changing needs.To examine the report in greater detail, we spoke to Katie Burke,  Accenture Song’s Metaverse Continuum Global Content & Offering Lead, working with clients around the globe on their entry into the next wave of the internet.Sitting within Accenture Song’s innovation and thought leadership practice, she currently serves as the lead content writer for the annual Life Trends report, as well as leading Accenture Song’s ground-up innovation program, that explores technologies that are signalling on the future of humanity, future of interactions, and future of brands.Katie’s career has been at the intersection of humans, innovation, and creativity. She has created three metaverse experiences for Accenture since the start of the pandemic and has created two thriving digital communities, which is one of the key attributes of Web3.Resources mentionedAccenture Life Trends Report 2023Dom Price, Work Futurist at Atlassian PodcastDr Lynn Gribble on the opportunities for Generative AI in EducationSolid Project at MITMore on KatieKatie on LinkedInKatie on Accenture.comThanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/orderYour Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew GrillFor more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com Andrew's Social ChannelsAndrew on LinkedIn@AndrewGrill on Twitter @Andrew.Grill on InstagramKeynote speeches hereOrder Digitally Curious

What’s the future of finance?To answer this question I spoke with James Butland, Vice President of Financial Partnerships, EMEA for Airwallex.Airwallex was founded by four friends, Jack Zhang, Max Li, Lucy Liu, and Xijing Dai, in Melbourne, Australia in 2015 and was inspired by real-life experiences.Out of their love for good coffee, engineering-banking friends Jack Zhang and Max Li started Tukk & Co, a café in Melbourne. As small business owners, they recognised first-hand the impact of high foreign exchange (FX) fees and banking costs on their profit margins, and sought out to build a better solution for businesses operating cross-border, improving on the constraints of the current global financial system.Specifically they wanted to solve the pain points surrounding cross-border transactions and empower businesses of all sizes to operate anywhere, anytime.What's the future of the financial services industry?The financial services industry is undergoing a radical transformation, partly through the forces demanded by regulation, as well as the needs of consumers and small and large enterprises.New Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platforms can help to drive improved customer experience and business growth, and also could be the key to unlocking the future of the financial services industry.Increasingly companies are now investing in incorporating financial products and services into their core business models. To meet this rising demand for embedded finance, traditional financial institutions and challengers are increasingly offering BaaS options.But where do you start?James answers these questions and more, including how new banking platforms can empower a “talent anywhere” strategy for a reimagined workforce, allowing the best people to be hired no matter where they live, even if a company doesn’t have a physical presence in that country.More on JamesJames on LinkedInAirwallex websiteThanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/orderYour Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew GrillFor more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com Andrew's Social ChannelsAndrew on LinkedIn@AndrewGrill on Twitter @Andrew.Grill on InstagramKeynote speeches hereOrder Digitally Curious

Finance, meet Sustainability. On this episode of the podcast, I spoke with Andromeda (Andie) Wood who is Vice President for Regulatory Strategy for Workiva. She is an expert in the role of technology in corporate reporting, taxonomy design and data modelling, and holds a wealth of knowledge and deep understanding of the impact of EU and UK regulation on global firms, particularly in the areas of corporate transparency and ESG. There is an undeniable global shift towards greater standardisation in reporting ESG initiatives across markets.As it stands, corporate reporting comprises the financial statements and management reports of companies, including non-financial and corporate governance statements, as well as country-by-country reporting. Under the new directive, reports would also include sustainability information.While new standards consolidate several diverse formats previously used for reporting on ESG progress, Andie explains why transforming standards will cultivate a more hygienic reporting culture that will champion ESG results.We covered a lot of ground in this podcast, such as:Push for improvement: These new standards address a worrying lack of clarity on how to report on sustainability, including information on methodology requirements, to more accurately highlight failure pointsFuture-proof ESG reporting: They will help businesses to mitigate challenges and prepare for the unknown by implementing processes that establish flexibility and controlAcknowledging that ESG plays a direct role in top-line growth: New standards establish critical business success factors, highlighting the role of ESG and encouraging businesses to integrate it into the overall business strategyMoving towards international comparability: An incremental, but mindful, transition towards transparent reporting will help to build up a rich history of reporting across regions which investors can use to better judge business progress, both individually and competitivelyThis was an interesting podcast and introduced me to the link between finance and sustainability.More on AndieAndie on LinkedInAndie on TwitterAndie’s insights at WorkivaThanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/orderYour Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew GrillFor more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com Andrew's Social ChannelsAndrew on LinkedIn@AndrewGrill on Twitter @Andrew.Grill on InstagramKeynote speeches hereOrder Digitally Curious

The topics of Extended Reality (XR) and The Metaverse are becoming more and more popular. Once the sole domain of gamers, we are now seeing a range of corporate examples for XR, which are building interest in what's next for the space.To find out more, and understand what types of scenarios are right for these new platforms, I spoke with Thomas Bedenk from Endava.Thomas has over 25 years of experience in digital productions, focusing on Strategy, XR, and UX to support digital transformation across various industries. Past XR projects he led span from product design and training to marketing applications for internationally known brands. Thomas is a frequent speaker at international conferences, an advisor for start-ups, and a fixture at industry associations and events. His love for digital creation started when he was playing Pac-Man against his twin brother on the Atari 800XL, leading Thomas to develop his first own video game in 1996.We covered a number of topics including:The biggest challenge or opportunity in the XR space and what should businesses be doing to prepare for this?How the Metaverse has evolvedHow XR could be used for hybrid workingThe foundation of successful VR: Presence :  Agency :  SocialWhen VR is suitable - when something is Dangerous, Impossible, Counter-intuitive, or ExpensiveThe Importance of experimentation in XRThe IP issues around The Metaverse3 things brands should be doing to prepare for XRMore on ThomasThomas on LinkedInThomas on TwitterThomas at EndavaResources Mentioned"The Metaverse" By Matthew BallThanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/orderYour Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew GrillFor more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com Andrew's Social ChannelsAndrew on LinkedIn@AndrewGrill on Twitter @Andrew.Grill on InstagramKeynote speeches hereOrder Digitally Curious

Generative Artificial Intelligence or Generative AI - is a relatively new term that is being mentioned a lot when it comes to AI chat engines such as ChatGPT and AI-generated art from platforms such as Midjourney.One of the industries that is most intrigued by this technology is the education sector.Plagiarism has been a problem for years, but now a tool like ChatGPT can write a whole assignment in seconds, what does this mean for the sector?To find out more, I invited back Dr Lynn Gribble, Associate Professor at University of New South Wales in Sydney, who has appeared on the podcast twice before - back in Season 1 to talk about the Future of People Management and in Season 2, spoke about Thriving in Uncertainty during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.She’s back for Season 5 to talk about the impact of Generative AI tools such as AI on education – something I know Lynn and her peers have been debating since the ChatGPT was launched late in 2022.Lynn joined UNSW after a long corporate career in Learning and Development as well as Human Resources.Holding Masters qualifications in both Education with a focus on aligning personal and organisational values and Labour Law and Relations, Lynn’s PhD looked at the effects of retrenchment on humans.We spoke about a number of issues related to Generative AI and education:The issues around plagiarism, ethics and integrity when it comes to using Generative AI in an education settingHow industries outside of education might use this new AI technologyHow are universities coping with the introduction of these tools into the mixHow Generative AI has the opportunity to provide equality for those that struggle with literacyLynn's 3 actionable tips for better understanding the power of Generative AIMore on LynnLynn on LinkedInLynn on TwitterLynn at UNSWResources MentionedChatGPTGrammarlyThanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/orderYour Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew GrillFor more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com Andrew's Social ChannelsAndrew on LinkedIn@AndrewGrill on Twitter @Andrew.Grill on InstagramKeynote speeches hereOrder Digitally Curious

New Year, New Season! Welcome to Season 5 of the Actionable Futurist Podcast.To kick off the new season, I interviewed Sophia Matveeva CEO & founder of Tech For Non-Techies.Sophia argues that you don’t have to be a tech expert to found, run or work in a technology company at senior levels.Tech For Non-Techies is an education company and consultancy. Sophia has contributed to the Financial Times, The Guardian, and Forbes on entrepreneurship and technology, and hosts the top-rated Tech for Non-Techies podcast.Tech for Non-Techies teaches non-technical professionals how to Speak Tech and succeed in the Digital Age through corporate & individual training programs.As a non-technical founder, Sophia has co-created apps and algorithms that have been used by thousands, won App of the Day by Mashable, and was featured by Inc, the BBC, and more.She has also guest lectured at the University of Chicago, London Business School, and Oxford University, and led the Blackstone x Techstars accelerator at the University of Texas at El Paso.Sophia is a start-up mentor at the Chicago Booth Polsky Center of Entrepreneurship, and has advised leading accelerators including Chicago Booth’s New Venture Challenge and the Microsoft x London College of Fashion incubator.She holds an MBA from Chicago Booth and a BSc (Hons) in Politics from Bristol. She speaks English, Russian and French. Sophia also sits on the Board of the University of Chicago’s Alumni in the UK.We covered a number of issues related to being “Digitally Curious™” such asstarting a tech company without a technical backgroundthe need for digital literacy among senior leaderswhy it's important to build a bridge between technical and non-technical people?what it means to be a “digital collaborator”?These issues and more will be covered in Andrew's upcoming book, to be published by Wiley later in 2023.More on SophiaSophia on LinkedInTech for non-techies websiteTech for non-techies podcastSophia on TwitterThanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/orderYour Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew GrillFor more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com Andrew's Social ChannelsAndrew on LinkedIn@AndrewGrill on Twitter @Andrew.Grill on InstagramKeynote speeches hereOrder Digitally Curious

Environmental sustainability is often seen as just minimising the impact on a company’s business model. Environmental expert Trevor Hutchings from Gemserv argues that companies need to strive to become net-positive, giving back more than they take out. Trevor is Director of Strategy and Communications at Gemserv and spent much of his early career in the UK civil service, working in a number of government departments and with the European Commission in Brussels, including positions at the Department of Energy and Climate Change where he was responsible for major programs on energy efficiency and the low carbon economy. He went on to join the World Wildlife Fund, the global conservation charity, where he was Director of Advocacy, working to improve public policy on the environment. As well as his role at Gemserv, Trevor is chair of the Green Purposes Company set up by the Government to safeguard the green mission of the UK’s Green Investment Bank. He is also a Fellow at the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.We spoke about a topic that has been in the news lately - that of the “right of repair” of technical devices and the whole notion of sustainability.We also spoke about how companies can realistically move towards net zero, or even net positive.More on TrevorTrevor on LinkedInTrevor on TwitterGemserv websiteThanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/orderYour Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew GrillFor more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com Andrew's Social ChannelsAndrew on LinkedIn@AndrewGrill on Twitter @Andrew.Grill on InstagramKeynote speeches hereOrder Digitally Curious

My guest is cybersecurity expert Samantha Humphries. She has over 21 years of experience in cyber security, and during this time has held a plethora of titles, one of her favourites being Global Threat Response Manager. Sam has defined strategies for multiple security products and technologies, helped hundreds of organisations of all shapes, sizes, and geographies recover and learn from cyberattacks, and trained anyone who’ll listen to security concepts and solutions. In her current role, she heads up marketing and security strategy for Exabeam in EMEA.She authors articles for various security publications, speaks frequently at industry events and enjoys mentoring new practitioners and speakers. Sam also volunteers at community events, including BSides, The Diana Initiative, and Defcon Blue Team Village.We discussed all things cybersecurity, password security, privacy screens, the future of cybersecurity, diversity and inclusion, and the skills gap in Cybersecurity.More on SamanthaSamantha on LinkedInSamantha on TwitterExabeam websiteThanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/orderYour Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew GrillFor more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com Andrew's Social ChannelsAndrew on LinkedIn@AndrewGrill on Twitter @Andrew.Grill on InstagramKeynote speeches hereOrder Digitally Curious

As an international lawyer, author and speaker,  Susie has worked on some of the most challenging legal and political issues of our time including human rights and security, combating corruption in the developing world, protecting human rights at borders, the human rights impact of climate change on small island states, privacy, cybersecurity, disinformation, data protection and neurotech. Her experience includes both judicial, and oversight roles in the UK and internationally.She has particular expertise on tech ethics and neuroscience through the lens of human rights, bringing both legal skills and a background in philosophy to the key ethical questions of our time.Her new book “Freedom to Think: The Long Struggle to Liberate our Minds” is a fascinating read and is available from Waterstones, Amazon, Australia: Trade Paperback, and Hardback.More on Susie can be found on her website.You can purchase her book here.Listen to our updated podcast in April 2023 here.Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/orderYour Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew GrillFor more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com Andrew's Social ChannelsAndrew on LinkedIn@AndrewGrill on Twitter @Andrew.Grill on InstagramKeynote speeches hereOrder Digitally Curious