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

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Ilya Pesahovsky, the Director of Software Engineering, AdTech at dailymotion. On the show Ilya chats to Andy about making the move into a management position. They also chat about the traits you need to possess to be a successful manager and they discuss the advantages of giving your staff autonomy at work and how best to retain staff. Iiya Pesahovsky is an experienced director of engineering with a demonstrated history of working in the AdTech and Cyber Security industries. He is a result oriented manager with leadership background. He specialises in building technology teams locally and internationally from the ground up. He’s a backend engineer and system architect at heart with over 10 years hands on experience. Show Notes: 1.09 From a confidence standpoint how did you manage the move into management. 3.21 Did you surprise yourself when you were thrown into the team lead position. 5.00 Is it a good thing to being thrown into the deep end of management? 6.37 What traits do you need to be a successful manager? 9.43 Being transparent and clear about what you’re working towards. 14.50 Giving people a sense of autonomy as a manager. 17.37 Talking about staff retention. 21.44 What does success look like for you? 23.01 Does seeing the success of others motivate you?

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Chad Pytel, the CEO & Co-Founder at Thought.bot. Chad tells Andy about founding Thought.bot. They also discuss the how technology is disrupting the education sector. Talks finally turns towards creating a niche of loyal customer. Chad is the founder and CEO of @thoughtbot, a web and mobile design and development firm with studios located in Boston, NYC, SF, London, Austin, Raleigh, and Washington D.C. In addition to helping clients realize their dream ideas and improve successful products, thoughtbot are the creators of paperclip, shoulda, factory_girl and Airbrake among other projects. Chad is also the host of the Giant Robots Smashing into Other Giant Robots Podcast. He has co-authored Rails AntiPatterns (Addison Wesley), Pro Active Record: Databases with Ruby and Rails (APress), and has presented at various conferences around the world. Show Notes 1.08 The sharing economy in the technical community. 4.38 Having a strong company vision is the key to success in business. 9.38 Why you need to have a genuine passion for what you’re working on. 11.46 The next generation viewing technology as a viable career path and an in-demand skill. 16.34 Technology as a force for disrupting education. 21.55 From a business perspective how valuable have your podcast been. 23.57 Proof on concept through content. 25.22 How to build a niche of loyal customers.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Oliver Christie, An artificial intelligence consultant, futurist and speaker. On the show Oliver chats to Andy about the use of artificial intelligence in the finance sector. Discussion turn to how A.I can be used to promote diversity in the hiring process. They also chat about the future direction of artificial intelligence. Oliver looks at how AI can impact the key aspects of business such as; acquiring and retaining customers, customizing products and services, and achieving profitability. Oliver then work with companies to develop the right solution which, at times, can fundamentally reshape how the business operates. Olivers experiences includes working in the Financial, Media and Transportation sectors, and using technologies such as IBM Watson, Microsoft Azure, Google Tensorflow, H2O.ai and Intel. Show Notes: 1.07 Oliver's Background and career development. 1.58 Big Data, A.I & high frequency trading. 3.34 What does automation mean for finance in general. 5.58 Technology as the career of choice for this generation and future generations. 7.18 The desire for more substance in your technology role and how this has lead to technologies open source sharing community. 9.14 A.I as a tool to increase diversity in business. 14.56 How can we use A.I to identify candidates that are a cultural fit for your company? 17.37 What other projects Oliver is working on at the moment. 20.19 Is it difficult to place a time scale on the projects you're working on? 21.41 What developments do you see happening in Big Data and A.I in the near future?

In this episode Andy Davis talks Robert Bluman, an editor and host of the podcast Software Engineering Radio and also a lead DevOps Engineer. On the show he chats to Andy about moving from a software engineering role to a DevOps engineer. He also discusses his role at Software Engineering Radio. Robert Blumen is a DevOps engineer at Salesforce with more than 25 years’ experience in software development, programming, architecture, and media production. His interests include software architecture, scalability, high availability, persistence, big data, and devops. Robert is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of California Berkeley. Show Notes: 1.09 The history of Software Engineering Radio. 2.27 The sharing community that has been built around the technical community. 5.25 The importance of having a strong team dynamic as well as a team with great technical skills. 7.11 What were the reasons behind you moving to a DevOps position. 8.21 DevOps as a cultural shift not a technical discipline. 9.24 Will DevOps evolve again? 10.58 Do you still work on projects around work? 12.02 Progressing into the managerial role? 12.37 Company’s creating paths for employees who don’t want to progress into management. 14.22 How have your responsibilities with software engineering radio changed since you started. 17.04 What’s the typical feedback you like to receive for software engineering radio. 19.23 Audience interaction with your podcast. 21.34 Generating revenue from podcasts. 23.14 Podcasts and there competitive marketplace. 24.55 Committing to producing content. 26.58 How long did it take Software engineering radio to grow?

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Dan Maunder, a CTO at Picsolve international. On the show they discuss the position and responsibilities of a CTO. They also talk about navigating your first leadership position and the differences between management and leadership. Andy asks Dan about his motivations. Conversation also turns too people management and Dan’s role at Picsolve. Dan is An accomplished Senior Technologist and Software Engineering Leader with extensive programme and platform transformation experience and outstanding skills in Product Development, Engineering and Quality Assurance. He possess over a decade of global experience in offshoring, outsourcing and blended cross-geographical software development models. His experiences have led him to value high ethical standards, collaboration, new ideas and dedication to “best practices” in all areas of expertise. He has an exemplary industry background that I feel allows me to operate in cross-functional positions utilising my comprehensive knowledge. Show Notes: 1.06 The management responsibilities of a CTO. 3.20 Managing what is and isn’t worth your time from a leadership perspective. 6.17 Looking externally for advice and feedback when you’re in a leadership position. 8.12 Where to look if you need advice in a leadership position. 9.28 Do you still find the time to get involved in technical activities. 10.34 Are you motivated by the outcomes of your projects or by the technology you’re working with. 12.27 Placing people at the centre of your leadership strategy. 15.35 Dan’s role at Picsolve.

In this episode Andy Davis talks Richard Ashworth, the head of engineering at Goodlord. On the show they discuss the differences between working in a startup and corporate environment. They go on to chat about the role culture plays in a business and how to effectively communicate between teams. Richard Ashworth is an experienced software engineer and technical lead. Passionate about functional programming, agile methods and domain-driven design. Richard writes regularly on his blog at richashworth.com Show Notes 1.06 The necessity to be good at a broad range of technologies and skills in tech now. 1.56 How did your career progress in technology? 3.25 Picking up softer skills throughout your career. 5.23 Creating options for your staff to keep them engaged at work. 6.30 Why are people moving from finance to startups. 8.55 Having more autonomy in the startup market. 10.22 Culture shock when moving company. 11.54 How did you adapt to a new working environment? 12.51 Does the way you interact with team change when going from a big company to a startup. 14.37 Do you think there’s things a corporate organisation can learn from a startup. 16.13 How do you manage scale when you’re working in a startup? 18.29 Where do you acquire your business knowledge? 20.01 How do you approach on-boarding new staff? 22.41 The time constraints on management.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to David Burns, the chief technology officer at Yell. They discuss the advantages of having a Co-founder when starting a business venture, the trials and tribulations of beginning a startup and how to stay focused in the face of success. Show Notes 1.24 David's background and career progression. 6.10 How did your start-up materialise? 7.25 The importance of external feedback. 9.11 Did you have a Co-founder for your venture? 13.40 How a Co-founder changes the dynamics of a business. 14.35 Have you always been motivated by Tech or has the outcomes of projects been a motivator for you? 16.45 How hands on are you now working on the data bases? 18.12 What are the focuses for you that you have to be most concious of at this point in your business. 19.24 Balancing gaining new business and keeping up to date with technology. 20.50 Was there ever a point you thought you'd found a company or was it something that just happened? 22.10 The need to be motivated by sucess and ouctomes when starting your own business. 25.16 How do you manage your excitement and enhusiasm when scoring sucesses with your business. 27.00 Company culture how do you create one? How does it evlove?

In this episode, Andy Davis talks to Luke Wilson head of M.I at Mitie. On the show they discuss the newest trends emerging in the Data sector, the role of visualisation tools in Data and recruitment and skill issues in Data. Luke is an experienced insight leader, who has spent most of his career in analytics and data roles. He brings a wealth of expertise around how to use data to maximise business opportunities and profitability and is equally comfortable working directly with data or managing teams of analysts. Show notes 1.07 Talking the latest trends in Data and differing backgrounds of professionals working in the sector. 3.29 How new analysts are capitalising on the new visualisation tools and applying them to data roles. 5.01 How diversity in the Data sector is helping to visualise data. 5.29 Discussing the potential shortfall in analytics resources by 2025. 6.29 Changing skill sets required in technical disciplines. 8.11 The importance of learning and development. 10.44 Discussion of skill sets and aptitude for learning required for new employees and fresh starters in Data. 12.51 Outcomes of visualisation in Data. 13.32 Demonstrating the value of data. 16.20 Demonstrating the value of data: Case study. 19.09 Using you figures to grow your data team. 20.13 Discussing the role of communication and soft skills in data. 22.26 Communication and Belbin’s colour personality chart.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Matt Ryer. He’s currently an author, programmer and gopher and currently the Principle Engineer at Veritone. On the show Matt chats to Andy about the GoLang programming language, why it’s different from other languages and what are its advantages. They also discuss gamifying the coding process and they also talk about open source online communities Matt is a creative and agile hands-on leader who knows how to deliver world class products and services. He is the author of Go Programming Blueprints. Show Notes: 1.01 What made you want to learn GoLang. 3.09 Was there a particular project you were working on that made you start using GoLang? 9.33 GoLang’s advantages. 12.05 Do you think there’s been a lot of thought put into GoLang by Google and what do you think their aim behind the language was? 14.50 Have you met any of the people who wrote GoLang? 17.39 Meeting and collaborating with people in online communities. 19.39 Gamification of the coding process. 22.30 Measuring performance for code writers. 25.09 Different ways to micromanage teams. 27.32 Talking about line of sight coding. 33.33 GoLang generating momentum in the tech market. 38.19 What direction do you see Golang heading in? 41.47 What keeps you motivated and what are you striving for? 45.34 Talking about open source online communities.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Fame Razak, the Chief Technology Officer at AnalogFolk. Fame is an experienced Chief Technology Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. On the show Fame discusses whether the tech industry needs to change its approach to hiring. They also discuss if school curriculums are up to standard to teach technology to the next generation of tech professionals. They also chat about ways we can tackle the lack of diversity in the tech industry. Show Notes: 1.16 Our are hiring practices on point and are universities lagging behind the tech industry. 6.18 There’s more expected of technical people and aligning what you’re doing with the business outcomes of your company. 9.23 Talking out the outdated I.T qualifications taught in school. 12.08 The tech industry has moved so fast that publicly funded bodies can’t keep up. 15.02 How do we tackle the lack of diversity in the tech industry. 18.31 Corporate responsibility. 20.10 Guidance and giving people clarity on how to get where they want in life. 21.57 What approaches have you kept consistent throughout your career that has helped you succeed.