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

Sean McSharry is Head of UX at DXC Technology. Sean has a strong background in user experience, technology, business and leadership, working across many sectors, roles and countries. He has studied and worked consciously to glean the best approaches and methodologies from the best people from role to role, industry to industry, studying hard to be a better UX architect, technologist and leader at every step, leading to many successful senior roles. Sean is also a published author for Apress on programming-based books and a public speaker on UX, and has run and presented at a number of user groups.  During this podcast episode, we spoke about Neurodiversity in technology and UX, and the advantages of the alignment of UX and Autism, as well as Sean's experience in the industry after being diagnosed with Autism part way through his career. Whilst you're here, check out Sean's UX Sanctuary meetup group here: https://www.meetup.com/UX-Sanctuary/ andThe UX Sanctuary website here: https://uxsanctuary.wixsite.com/home. The UX Sanctuary was set up to be a global UX group for UX professionals, those who want to be UX professionals, project leaders, project teams and business leaders who want to understand and leverage UX.

Andrew's career journey started after graduating from a Computer Science degree, moving straight into a junior software development role with an IT Consultancy. Throughout his career, Andrew has been lucky enough to work as firstly a software developer, but then later as an Enterprise Technical Architect on many leading edge projects for "blue chip" organisations. Andrew's experience in IT ranges across primarily banking, finance, insurance and telecommunications industries, while also incorporating projects with a number of disruptive SMEs. More recently he has acted as CTO and Managing Director for FinTech disruptive start-ups and have provided CTO consultancy services to a select number of financial institutions. Andrew is one of three founding members of RTGS Limited, owner and operator of the RTGS.global cross-border liquidity network. As CTO, his role is to design and build out the RTGS.global platform, network and its capabilities. This includes their unique and patent pending liquidity lock and block capabilities. Previous to this he was Head of CBX at ClearBank, focussing on delivering innovation for ClearBanks Banking-as-a-Service proposition. During the podcast episode, we spoke about his new venture RTGS.global, some of the tech challenges when building ClearBank, including gaining the trust of the customers, especially when deciding to build the business in the cloud back in 2015.

Lorin Gresser is CEO of Dem Dx, an award-winning AI healthcare company based in London. The company’s CE certified clinical diagnostic platform, developed in consultation with over 200 medical experts, enables frontline practitioners to diagnose, identify necessary tests and present recommendations for further care before the patient sees a doctor. As a mature medical student, Lorin struggled to link the theoretical teaching from her textbooks and lectures to the actual patients she saw in clinic or on the wards. Their founding principle remains to better connect healthcare workers to the high-quality medical information that they require. The Dem Dx platform is 22% more accurate than Harvard-trained junior doctors, delivers 85% accuracy at first diagnosis, and reduces time to diagnose by 40%. During this podcast episode, we spoke about some of the amazing and innovative advancements of AI and healthcare, with Dem Dx positioning itself ahead of the curve. We also spoke about Lorin's leap into technology after her career in healthcare.

I sat down with Maximilian Nierhoff, Head of Business Intelligence at Fashionette AG and Ann-Christin Werner, Business Intelligence Analyst at Fashionette AG, to find out the development of the business, how they have recently made the whole company data-driven, some of the benefits of this and how they have created an assistance framework for self-service analytics. Fashionette AG operates an online retail store. The Company offers fashion accessories such as designer bags, shoes, and accessories, as well as sunglasses, watches, and jewelry. It's now the leading online store for designer handbags in Germany, since its foundation in 2008. Showtimes 0:55 - What Fashionette is, and how they fit into the world of technology. 2:05 - An introduction to Maximilian and Ann-Christin. 8:22 - The utilization of data to grow a business and some of the methods to implement this. 10:14 - What self-service analytics means at Fashionette, and why they have considered self-service analytics to be one of the most important building blocks to becoming a data-driven company. 12:55 - Defining data sets and their content, and then providing these data sets. 14:00 - How they have built meaningful and widely useable data sets. 19:40 - The insight into the assistance framework at Fashionette. 22:00 - The feedback of the real-use of the framework within the business.

Matt Craggs is Head of Operations at Floom. Floom is a curated online floristry website that offers quality and beautiful bouquets from a curated selection of independent florists, delivered same-day. Their hand-selected independent florists create unique floral arrangements that they have designed and uploaded to the Floom website themselves. Floom makes those products accessible by providing an alternative to traditional retail and offering their partner an eCommerce channel. Customers type in a delivery postcode, and select a bespoke bouquet to send in a matter of clicks. During the podcast episode, we spoke about the inner workings of the business, the fluctuating popularity around the seasonal time of the year, and how Matt and his team prepare for the dramatic increase in demand. We also spoke about burnout, mental health exhaustion, and the pressure to meet certain demands in some industries that Matt has previously experienced in other roles. Touching upon how is best to avoid burnout and advice for anyone who has reached the point of burnout.

Nina Monckton is Head of Data Strategy, Advancing Analytics & Data Science at AXA Health. Managing the Data and Analytics overarching strategy for AXA PPP healthcare and its customers by responding to opportunities using creativity, innovation, leadership and communication expertise to bring new strategies to life. A recognised thought leader in the delivery of successful big data analytics. Creates, leads, motivates and manages large technical teams. Nina was winner of the 2019 Women in IT Awards Transformation Leader for the delivery of a cloud EDW and online analytics platform for 2,000 external B2B users. Selected for Digital Leaders 100 in 2018 and an Oracle advanced data analytics and cloud analytics reference site. Responsible for creating a data lab that has identified £1.1 billion of potential savings and is helping to support better care for NHS patients.

Arthur Frankel is the founder of Solution Street and has over 25 years of professional experience solving tough business problems. His career has spanned the many changes in technology from large mainframe systems to PCs to client/server to web applications. Over the years he has worked with some of the largest and complex enterprise-wide systems for financial and telecommunications companies. Arthur was a Senior Principal for American Management Systems, Inc, and a Director of Software Engineering for FolioFn before starting Solution Street in 2002. Solution Street is a software engineering firm based in Herndon VA, that builds custom, web, mobile, and cloud systems and software for other businesses spanning a wide variety of different industries. During the podcast episode, we spoke about what it's like to build a company from the ground, and turning a passion into a long-lasting successful business. Showtimes 0:50 - The service Solution Street provides. 2:00 - How Arthur keeps up with the speed of developments in the tech industry. 3:28 - The importance of finding the right people to join your business. 6:57 - The digital transformation projects Solution Street has set in place. 8:53 - The supportive, family-like culture at Solution Street. 10:36 - Maintaining a company culture whilst working remotely. 12:00 - What the company was like in the early stages of the business and learning how to run a company. 15:57 - The pitfalls to be aware of when starting a new business from the ground. 19:32 - The key things to look for in an I.T. vendor. 23:05 - Specifying your skillset in the tech industry. 27:13 - The greatest technical advancement of the past decade.

Ben sat down with Thomson Staff & Heather Staff, the Co-Founders of Street Group, to discuss leading through innovation and the development of their new industry-dominating technology. Street Group is the new name for Agent Software, the team behind Spectre & Hello Again, and their brand new product Street.co.uk. Their mission is to elevate how agents and their clients manage the process of moving home. Street Group have three products, with one goal: To provide a seamless customer experience at every stage of their journey, enabling estate agents to achieve more by doing less using their automatic, personalised and highly targeted software. Spectre Sales is the UK’s No.1 instruction generation tool and has generated over £12 billion of property instructions since its inception in 2015. Spectre helps agents increase market share whilst saving time via automation. Spectre Lettings is the market leading solution for agent’s wishing to grow their lettings portfolio. Identify and automate communication with landlords when they are most likely to be considering a change of agent, such as before upcoming tenancy renewals. Street.co.uk, blending world-class technology with the expertise of your local agent. Coming Soon. During the Podcast episode, they discussed the benefits of growing up in the industry, the thought process behind their innovative products, the importance of finding and hiring the best talent to join your business, and how to keep these individuals happy and motivated once you’ve successfully found them. Showtimes 0:33 – Thomson & Heather’s deep understanding of the industry. 1:44 – Heather & Thomson’s route into the industry. 2:32 – How Spectre is changing the landscape of Estate Agency. 5:19 – A background of Street.co.uk. 8:30 – The technological revolution of Estate Agency. 13:01 – How the first version of Spectre was born. 16:28 – The importance of finding the right people to join the business. 20:52 – Keeping a collaborative culture in the business. 23:03 – The interview process, and how this is imperative to hiring decisions. 27:44 – How Street Group has continued to thrive in such a difficult time during a pandemic.

Chris has over 14 years’ experience within the Banking and Financial Services sector, working in key roles at Berenberg Bank and Fitch Ratings. As Head of Digital Transformation at Berenberg, Chris operates across the full product lifecycle, establishing agile and continuous improvement environments and leads onshore and offshore development teams to achieve on-time delivery of projects. Established in 1590, Berenberg is one of the oldest banks in the world, with its Head Office in Hamburg, Germany, and with a strong presence in the financial centres of London, Frankfurt and New York, it is one of Europe’s leading privately-owned banks. 1,600 employees carry the Bank’s long tradition of success into the future. Through its business divisions of Investmentbank and Corporate Banking, Wealth and Asset Management, Berenberg is able to offer a broad range of services into corporations, investment institutions and private individuals. Berenberg has a strong reputation based on first-class performance, and although the company has a long history it remains entrepreneurial in its approach. A combination of the meritocratic culture and flat hierarchy enables talent to flourish and progress at Berenberg. Showtimes 0:30 - An insight into Berenberg and Chris' role. 3:02 - The sheer quantity of data involved, and providing that data to clients. 3:30 - Chris's 15 years in the industry and progression throughout his career. 6:41 - The graduate intake at Berenberg and why it's such a great place to start your career. 9:50 - How Chris has developed his managerial style. 15:50 - The expectations of new employees in the banking industry. 21:00 - The biggest most recent technological changes in the banking industry. 24:40 - Focussing on the problem, not on the tech. 27:00 - Chris' advice and take home comments for people coming into the industry.

Seán Óg is Chief Technology Officer - Digital Savings at Investec, an experienced technology leader who understands what it takes to build high performing teams. He has cultivated a career largely based in the financial services industry, and began his career as a software engineer and has also built a successful start-up within a corporate environment. Investec is an international banking and wealth management group providing a range of financial products and services to a client base in Europe, Southern Africa, and Asia-Pacific. They bring an out of the ordinary approach to creating and managing wealth. Founded in South Africa as a small finance company, today they offer clients our services as a global bank and asset management group. During this Podcast episode, Seán Óg gives us insight into his career journey in technology, the mammoth challenge Investec has taken on in the last 12 months in going cloud-native, and how the organisation has responded to the challenges of 2020. Showtimes 0:55 - What is Investec and Sean's career journey into tech. 2:40 - How to accelerate your career with a 'work anywhere' mentality. 3:20 - The decision to move cloud-native at Investec. 9:33 - The risk to not make big changes and moving with the times. 10:10 - Some of the pitfalls when moving to cloud-native. 14:00 - New technologies used at Investec. 20:04 - Technical debt and onboarding. 24:50 - Sean's go-to resources and strategy when taking on new challenges. 29:13 - Breaking into the tech industry. 30:57 - Advice for people starting out in a tech career. 31:40 - Imposter syndrome.