Venturi's Voice: Technology | Leadership | Staffing | Career | Innovation

Carlos Rosão is Director of Software Engineering at NewStore, Inc. Carlos is passionate about growing companies, teams, people, and software and he has a demonstrated history of success in different countries, industries and contexts. He's a firm believer and practitioner of a continuous improvement mindset and of an iterative approach towards building customer-centric products. NewStore provides Omnichannel-as-a-Service for retail brands worldwide that want to accelerate their digital transformation. Built for speed and flexibility, NewStore allows brands to easily deliver amazing shopping experiences that store associates and consumers love. Its mobile-first, modular cloud platform includes POS, order management, clienteling, inventory, and native consumer apps. During this podcast episode, Ben sits down with Carlos to discuss how to build autonomous high-performing teams, and how mindset and the DevOps movement links with the idea of accountability to be high-performing.

Claudio Paolicelli is Senior Engineering Manager at Depop Claudio is a qualified and experienced developer with 7 years of commercial experience in Backend and Mobile Arena. During this period, he has developed and lead several web applications with Java and Spring Frameworks and mobile apps in Java/Kotlin.  Depop is the community-powered fashion marketplace to buy and sell unique fashion, with over 30 million registered users in more than 150 countries. During this podcast episode, Ben sits down with Claudio to discuss his new and exciting project within the education & tech space, they also spoke about the importance of interoperability and the exchange of information.

Nigel Finley is Software Engineering Manager at Committee for Children Nigel is a passionate and driven software developer currently working in React, Javascript, Node, and cloud-based architecture creating beautiful, accessible, and functional web applications. As a natural leader, Nigel rallies teams behind a common goal through his strong communication skills and charisma to deliver exceptional service and products. Founded in 1978, Committee for Children is a global nonprofit dedicated to fostering the safety and well-being of children through social-emotional learning and development. CFC is the world’s largest provider of research-based educational programs that promote social-emotional skills and prevent bullying and sexual abuse. Committee for Children has been working for over three decades to help create a world in which the whole child is not only nurtured, but celebrated. During this podcast episode, Ben sits down with Nigel to talk about Nigel's journey into tech and skills that helped him get to where he is now and what he has found helpful in developing his leadership style. As well as the challenges with motivating teams and imposter syndrome as a non-traditional techie.

Ben speaks to Erwin about how the engineering teams are set up within the organisation, how Erwin leads teams of teams and the importance of having a transparent career progression framework in technology and how employees want more from a role these days. Erwin is an engineering leader and entrepreneur with over 15 years experience in software development leadership and technology operations. A thoughtful and decisive leader who is willing and able to make hard decisions. He has plenty of experience in building highly efficient technology staffs that can grow in any organization.

Asif Ali is Head of Software Development at PrettyLittleThing.com Asif has over 12 years of extensive commercial experience working with web development technologies especially focusing on e-commerce projects. He is currently managing 12 Agile Software Development teams (45+ developers in 3 countries of various skills and expertise in Javascript, PHP, and AWS). PrettyLittleThing is a UK-based fashion retailer, owned by Boohoo Group and operates in the UK, Ireland, Australia, US, France, Middle East and North Africa. The brand's main headquarters are in Manchester, where we recorded this podcast episode. During this episode, Ben sits down with Asif at PrettyLittleThing HQ to discuss Asif's career to get to Head of Software Development, some of the key learnings Asif has found throughout his career, and his leadership philosophies when managing many teams in a fast-paced industry.

Martin Parton is CTO at Kin + Carta Europe Kin + Carta [ https://investors.kinandcarta.com/overview/default.aspx ] is a technology, data and experience consultancy that believes in using business as a force for good. They are at the forefront of a new class of digitally-native firms built to deliver Digital Transformation 2.0, and they choose to do so as a socially responsible business that champions inclusion, diversity, equality and sustainability. Martin is an experienced CTO, technical leader & consultant based in the North West and works globally with clients in all territories.  During this podcast episode, as Martin is a keen pianist, Ben sits down to discuss the relationship between music and engineering. They also discussed how Kin + Carta collaborates with clients to get the best outcome from a project.

Brian Robinson is Managing Director Dept UK, Dept Agency. Brian is leading an award winning team across our multiple offices in the UK. Helping clients to meet their goals across Digital Marketing, Commerce and Design and Technology. Their teams bring together the best of Data, Creativity and Technology to create experiences that people want and that businesses need. Dept are an international digital agency with over 1,500 experienced thinkers & makers in 13 countries across Europe and the Americas. One agency uniting creativity, technology, and data. Helping their clients reinvent & accelerate their digital reality by creating experiences that people want and businesses need. During this podcast episode, Ben sits down with Brian at Dept's Manchester offices to discuss how Dept is helping companies that aren't digitally mature, how to move into digital sustainably, and the ongoing work that Dept continues to provide once the project is released.

Sam Mason is Head of Web Development at Alphageek Sam is an MSc International Business Graduate with a background and BSc in Computing. Alphageek is an end-to-end digital agency, specialising in bespoke solutions which are individually tailored to client specifications. They are based in the East Midlands and work on projects locally, nationally and globally.  During this podcast episode, Ben sits down with Sam to discuss the growth of the business and the culture fostered by the team.

Mairead O’Connor is Partner and Engagement Manager at Equal Experts. Mairead is responsible for managing the relationships with Equal Experts largest clients. She works with high performing software development teams to quickly and effectively solve business problems. Motivated by fairness and equality Mairead chooses to work with organisations which actively build diversity into their working culture. Her experiences reading computers science at Cambridge university placed these issues at the forefront of her mind. Since then she has worked tirelessly to increase diversity in the contractor market. Show Notes: 0.31 Are we as busy as we think we are? 2.07 The difficulty of delegating responsibility as a leader. 5.01 Studying at Cambridge University. 7.42 Being aware of your own biases when recruiting technical talent. 9.00 Hiring people with multiple years of experience. 11.54 Creating equal opportunities in technology. 13.48 Driving new behaviors in the workplace. 15.45 What did you find most exciting about taking your first leadership role? 17.43 Approaches to changing culture. 21.10 Underrepresented groups working as contractors. 23.16 Busting the myths surrounding contractors. 25.44 Are technical people this generations rockstars? 32.11 Mairead reflecting on her time at university. 33.35 Has the advice you’ve given changed over your career? 37.08 Advice for young starters in tech.

Yasar Ahmad is Global VP Talent at HelloFresh, Inclusion and Diversity Leader & RL100 Member. Yasar is currently the Global Vice President of Talent at HelloFresh. Previously, Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Zalando focussed on Technology Hiring and prior to that the Director and Head of Strategic Hiring at Wipro and Wipro Digital. An accomplished people leader with experience in various HR roles, with a passion for Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Inclusion and Diversity and learning and development and employers branding. A member of the RL100 and committed speaker on industrial challenges and creating human-shaped experiences.  Owen Choi is Team Lead Talent Acquisition - Tech at HelloFresh, Product Management, Design, Analytics focus. Owen has been working in the IT industry for 5+ years with a focus on helping talented individuals connect with companies. He took the opportunity to join HelloFresh to expand his understanding of the industry and progress his career with a forward thinking, diverse company. Connecting people and helping a company grow and improve has always been a passion of Owen's. HelloFresh is on a mission to change the way people eat, forever. From their 2011 founding in Europe’s vibrant tech hub Berlin, they’re evolving from the world’s leading meal kit company to the world's leading food solutions group. HelloFresh delivered 227 million meals and reached 6.94 million active customers around the world in Q3 2021. With more than 15,000 high-performing and ambitious employees across the globe from New York to Berlin, London to Sydney and Tokyo to Milan enjoy a number of benefits including flexible working arrangements, discounts on our boxes, health and well-being and learning and development programs. During this podcast episode, Ben sits down with Yasar and Owen to discuss their new Talent Acquisition function - TA 4.0, and what this means for the business.