The DEX Show: A Show for IT Change Makers

In this episode, Tom speaks with Tania Benade-Meyer, founder of Unstructured, about the power of unstructured data, the shift from SLAs to XLAs, and what it takes to be an “enlightened leader” in 2025.From Starbucks’ gluten-free perception problem to Gen Z’s naturally inclusive leadership style, Tania shares research-driven insights into how perception, trust, and consistent action are reshaping the modern workplace—and driving better Digital Employee Experience (DEX). Along the way, you’ll get a masterclass in what great 21st-century leadership looks like: how social listening can predict human behavior, why XLAs reveal more than traditional metrics, and the tell-tale signs of harmful leadership—where words and actions don’t align.Connect with Tania Benade-Meyer: LinkedIn | Unstructured.coGet the latest edition of the Gartner Magic Quadrant here (https://nexthink.com/gartner-magic-quadrant-dex)Book your tickets for Nexthink Experience (Boston or London) here: https://nexthink.com/experience

Back AGAIN by popular demand! Here's episode 4 of Tim Flower's brand new IT mystery series, Parallel. Stay up to date with ALL new episodes of Parallel, as they're released, right here (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/parallel--6616391)The team at Zentech has been hard at work investigating a murder. This time it's actually time that's the victim, and everyone is a suspect - especially the VDI team. "The Foundation" makes another appearance, and the team gets closer to uncovering the source of many of their recurring IT issues, with the help of an AI assistant and a very persistent DEX team.Join us for episode 4, The Virtual Murder.Starring the Reality Bytes crew: Tim Flower, Tom McGrath, Meghan Brake, Oriana Ott, Sean Malvey, and Kathryn Shea.

Tom and Tim are joined by the brilliant Mrinal Rai—Executive Client Advisor at Pomeroy, longtime industry analyst, and award-winning graphic novelist.Together, they explore the future of Digital Employee Experience (DEX) through the lenses of creativity, AI innovation, and enterprise transformation. Mrinal shares his journey from analyst to advisor, his artistic inspirations, and his unique perspective on how empathy and digital adoption platforms (DAPs) are critical to achieving real business outcomes.Get the latest edition of the Gartner Magic Quadrant here (https://nexthink.com/gartner-magic-quadrant-dex)Book your tickets for Nexthink Experience (Boston or London) here: https://nexthink.com/experienceDownload Part 1, 'Transformation: Driving Adoption, Productivity, and Change in the AI Era',  free of charge right here Download Part 2, ‘The Experience Silo: HR, IT, and the Digital Workplace’ here

Back by popular demand once again! Here's episode 3 of Tim Flower's brand new IT mystery series, Parallel. Stay up to date with ALL new episodes of Parallel, as they're released, right here (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/parallel--6616391)In episode 2, we uncovered an invisible hand—a saboteur leaving undocumented changes and phantom scripts, wreaking havoc at Zentech. This week we’re shifting our focus to tell the story of something much quieter. Something… insidious even. It’s not a rogue script. It’s not a disgruntled ex-employee. It’s something much harder to pin down: Complacency. When people stop fighting back against the problems that plague them… what happens? For Zentech, it turned into a storm of security risks, failed patches, and crashing systems. And the trail led to a surprising culprit: the reboot button.Parallel is a fictional journey inspired by the popular murder mystery series Serial, which investigates the very real murder of a high school teenager who went missing after school one day. Parallel investigates the mystery of murdered enterprise productivity, now missing at the high tech firm.Hosted by Tim Flower, a 35-year career technologist who has spent the last 10 years helping IT teams understand how productivity is stolen, both from IT, and from the employees IT supports. It’s been a journey of seeing workdays gone wrong, systems gone haywire, and the lengths IT will go to for answers.This mission started out to answer one simple question: What’s been killing productivity at Zentech? Or, to get more technical about it, where do employees lose 24 minutes every day of their working lives? And what mysteries lie in the darkness of a complex enterprise, waiting to be discovered and eliminated.Starring the Reality Bytes crew: Tim Flower, Tom McGrath, Meghan Brake, Oriana Ott, Sean Malvey, and Kathryn Shea.

While The DEX Show often explores digital transformation and employee experience through a technical or strategic lens, today’s interview takes a more human turn — spotlighting the formative experiences that shaped one of the UK legal sector’s most passionate champions of service excellence, Midge Renganathan, Head of IT Service Delivery at leading law firm RPC.Midge delivers a moving, candid account of growing up, finding belonging, and discovering a unique talent for customer service and people leadership.Book your tickets for Nexthink Experience (Boston or London) here: https://nexthink.com/experienceDownload Part 1, 'Transformation: Driving Adoption, Productivity, and Change in the AI Era',  free of charge right here Download Part 2, ‘The Experience Silo: HR, IT, and the Digital Workplace’ hereGet the latest edition of the Gartner Magic Quadrant here (https://nexthink.com/gartner-magic-quadrant-dex)

Chris Sibold rejoins Reality Bytes to talk about what can only be described as a whiplash year for federal IT. Just eight months after his last visit, Chris dives into the incredible transformation sweeping across U.S. federal agencies—driven by budget slashes, workforce reductions, and a new digital imperative.Chris explains how government IT is now undergoing another 10 years of change—compressed into just a few quarters. From rising expectations around efficiency to existential questions around operational survival, this episode offers insights from inside the storm.Download Nexthink's exclusive report, 'The Cost of Doing Nothing: Why Public Sector (PS) Productivity Lags Behind Other Industries' hereRead more about Nexthink's FedRAMP progress here Download a free copy of the brand new Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for DEX Tools here (or head to Nexthink.com)Register for Nexthink Experience 2025 here

In this episode, solo Tom welcomes Mike McGarvey, Global VP and Digital Workplace CTO at Atos. Mike shares insights into the creation and evolution of the Experience Operations Center (XOC)—a real-time, proactive extension of traditional IT operations built on Nexthink Infinity.From Atos’ decade-long partnership with Nexthink to the shift toward DEX-driven business outcomes, Mike explains how the XOC is reshaping digital workplace strategy. Discover why now is the time for a new operational layer focused on employee experience, how the end of the IT incident is coming into view, and what the future holds for roles, skills, and workplace observability.Book your tickets for Nexthink Experience (Boston or London) here: https://nexthink.com/experienceLearn more about the XOC hereDownload Part 1, 'Transformation: Driving Adoption, Productivity, and Change in the AI Era',  free of charge right here Download Part 2, ‘The Experience Silo: HR, IT, and the Digital Workplace’ hereGet the latest edition of the Gartner Magic Quadrant here (https://nexthink.com/gartner-magic-quadrant-dex)

The crew reunites to unpack the second part of Nexthink’s landmark research series, The Science of Productivity. Titled 'The Experience Silo: HR, IT, and the Digital Workplace', the latest installment explores the growing overlap between HR and IT, revealing that 64% of IT leaders foresee a formal merger within five years.Tom McGrath is joined by Sean Malvey (report author as well as RB regular), Tim Flower, and Oriana Ott to discuss what’s driving this trend, what’s standing in its way, and what a future Chief Employee Experience Officer role might look like. Download Part 1, 'Transformation: Driving Adoption, Productivity, and Change in the AI Era',  free of charge right here Download Part 2, ‘The Experience Silo: HR, IT, and the Digital Workplace’ hereGet the latest edition of the Gartner Magic Quadrant here (https://nexthink.com/gartner-magic-quadrant-dex)Stay up to date with ALL NEW EPISODES of Parallel, as they're released, right here (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/parallel--6616391)

In this engaging discussion, John Hagel, a Silicon Valley veteran and author of The Journey Beyond Fear, challenges conventional views on digital transformation. He emphasizes that fear, not technology, is the biggest barrier to change. Hagel advocates for scalable learning over mere efficiency, urging organizations to foster passion and collaboration. He also explores innovative leadership mindsets and the need for educational systems to adapt, ultimately highlighting the importance of connection and creativity in driving meaningful transformation.

Back by popular demand! Here's episode 2 of Tim Flower's brand new IT mystery series, Parallel. Stay up to date with ALL NEW EPISODES of Parallel, as they're released, right here (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/parallel--6616391)Parallel is a fictional journey inspired by the popular murder mystery series Serial, which investigates the very real murder of a high school teenager who went missing after school one day. Parallel investigates the mystery of murdered enterprise productivity, now missing at one high tech firm.This mission started out to answer one simple question: What’s been killing productivity at Zentech? Or, to get more technical about it, where do employees lose 24 minutes every day of their working lives? And what mysteries lie in the darkness of a complex enterprise, waiting to be discovered and eliminated.  In our first episode, we uncovered the mysterious theft of productivity at Zentech. A rogue script, phantom processes, and employees caught in the crossfire. But what if this wasn’t just bad luck, or a simple system failure? What if it was deliberate? In this episode, we follow a trail left by a single vandal. A criminal that leaves no trace behind. One known only as 'The Undocumented Change.' What we uncover may change everything we thought we knew about Zentech's crisis—and possibly, about the very foundation of workplace technology itself.Starring the Reality Bytes crew: Tim Flower, Tom McGrath, Meghan Brake, Oriana Ott, Sean Malvey, Kathryn Shea, and Ella Drimer. Get the latest edition of the Gartner Magic Quadrant here (https://nexthink.com/gartner-magic-quadrant-dex)