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

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Andrea Cavalieri, the CTO at Newsflare. In the show Andrea discusses combining his tech background with content creation and his role in the media. They also chat about his leadership style as a CTO and they look at some of the lessons Andrea learned when running his startup. Andrea specialise in content creation, capturing viral content and news events that are either; too breaking, too remote or too local for traditional news networks to cover. Show Notes: 1.22 Andrea’s background in technology and media. 2.21 Making and distributing content. 4.18 From a technical perspective what are the desirable skills you’d need to be productive in that industry. 6.41 How do you ensure you’re always using the most appropriate technology and how do you recruit for them. 9.19 Finding people who have a fundamental skillset that can be applied to broader technical challenges. 11.04 Has content creation always been something that’s interested you and how much is it a motivator for you in your professional life? 13.10 Striking a balance between disruption and working as a business. 14.31 Do you wish there was more substance to content now. 15.50 Battling fake news as a startup. 17.10 We need a validation system to monitor news. 17.53 As a CTO are you as hands on as you used to be? 19.04 Morale and culture an important part of being a CTO. 19.51 Is it important for you to be hands on with your tech. 21.28 Are you used to the startup dynamic. 22.24 Taking ownership of a lot more of your workload when working in a start up. 23.39 Watching your team structure evolve as your team grows. 24.48 Do you take a sense of pride from the projects you’ve achieved and do you think it’s important to being transparent to your team about your failings. 26.03 Transparency in business as a tool to drive your team’s innovations.

In this episode, Andy Davis talks to Adrian Barrett CEO and founder at Exonar. They discuss the challenging world of startup’s, the importance of technological innovation in moving tech industries forward. They also chat about the vital role of customer feedback. They also touch on choosing the right approaches in business and picking the best technologies. Adrian is a specialist in creating and growing innovative businesses his previous roles have been the international VP of Lumeta and VP of eloyalty. Show Notes 1.45 The challenges of Entrepreneurship and startups. 4.45 The importance of a team dynamic and work culture when forming a start-up team and business. 6.45 The recruiting strategy at Exonar. 8.15 Discussing Investment in new employee’s. 12.00 Talking about innovation and technology within tech industries. 15.00 Areas where we can see opportunities for innovation outside of technology. 17.10 The importance of customer feedback. 20.10 The issues around overthinking problems. 21.30 Picking the right technologies and approaches in business. 23.20 What thought process were undertaken when starting your business.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Gerrit Niemeijer, CTO at Visible World Inc, about the changing face of office life, approaches to managing a tech team and the importance of maintain focus in your enterprise. Gerrit is a well-rounded technical executive who is specialised in innovative product development for the Media Industry. He has an in-depth understanding of Digital Video technology, Television Advertising technology, Cloud-based technology, and Big Data frameworks. He has built several development organisations and products from scratch. Deployed products with Cable Operators (MVPDs/MSOs), Broadcast television operators, Telco's, and Satellite Operators. Managed co-located teams as well as (internationally) distributed teams. Show Notes: 1.09 With modern advances in technology why do we need physical hubs to work from? 2.46 Is the 9 to 5 environment outdated? 7.12 What are your approaches as a manager? 9.43 The importance of keeping your goals in focus in a team. 12.46 Managing technical people & the change in technology over time. 18.24 Can we get lost in new technologies. 20.46 What behaviours have you always maintained that has kept you steady throughout your career? 22.24 Discussion on servant leadership.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Nikunj Patel, an applications delivery manager. This podcast focuses on the changing role of technology over Nikunj’s career. It also tackles the effect A.I and machine learning could have on our lives and how to apply technology to your business goals. It also touches on Nikunj’s career and what motivates him to keep working in technology. Nikunj is a software delivery manager with a passion for development, testing and quality assurance. He has 20 years’ experience delivering quality software through various techniques and methodologies. His professional aim has always been to produce high quality software efficiently with a high level of assurance, using various test techniques, making use of automation to its fullest. Show Notes: 1.16 What technologies do we need to start looking ahead at and considering investing in? 4.45 Getting better at delivering for customer demands. 7.16 Usually the most technically advanced demographics in our society are the most oblivious to online safety and how technology works. 9.19 How are you dealing with fitting technology to your business goals. 11.01 How has your role in technology changed over your career. 13.16 Is there a lot more expected from technical people in the 21st century. 15.37 How much creativity is involved in your projects? 18.22 How do you think A.I and machine learning is going to affect our lives. 20.04 Are we over valuing data. 22.02 What gives you a feeling of satisfaction when working on projects.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Bridget Kromhout & Tim Gross. On the show they discuss DevOps and its links with your company's culture, the best practices for building a well rounded DevOps team and some of the misconceptions surrounding the DevOps title. Bridget Kromhout is a Principal Cloud Developer Advocate at Microsoft. Her CS degree emphasis was in theory, but she now deals with the concrete (if 'cloud' can be considered tangible). After 15 years as an operations engineer, she traded being on call for being on a plane. A frequent speaker and program committee member for tech conferences, she leads the devopsdays organization globally and the devops community at home in Minneapolis. She podcasts with Arrested DevOps and blogs at bridgetkromhout.com. Tim Gross: is a technologist, operations engineer and product developer. He is currently a principal DevOps engineer at Density. His previous career in high-assurance architecture has driven him to develop an operations mindset for robust and observable technology. He has a proven nose for hunting down and eliminating technical debt and process inefficiencies in organisations of all shapes and sizes. Show Notes; 1.18 DevOps as the prime example of technical people needing a broader skills set to succeed in the 21st century. 4.08 Have you seen any organisational struggles erupt due to technological advances. 7.23 DevOps and its links with company culture. 8.32 Is there an element of misconception about the role of DevOps. 10.32 Who pushes the cultural change in a business when adopting a DevOps approach? 13.39 DevOps links with open source sharing tech communities. 19.53 Proactively looking externally for information to stop yourself working within a bubble. 21.07 Building and managing a DevOps teams. 24.16 Tackling industry stereotypes. 26.32 The influx of new personalities in technology. 31.11 Talking about culture, DevOps and Arrested DevOps.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Adrian Wigley, I.T Service Manager at ShawBrook Bank, about Adrian’s route into the I.T profession. They also discuss pros and cons of a university education and the increased responsibility faced by technical people in the 21st century. Show Notes: 1.10 Having multiple careers over the course of your life. 3.15 Did you feel pressured into obtaining a degree. 7.03 The push back when trying to enter the working world without a degree. 13.11 The imagined differences between candidates with differing levels of education. 16.13 Talking about the increased responsibilities of technical people in the 21st century. 19.39 Product managers and combining business skills and technical skills. 22.23 Adrian’s experience seeing the I.T profession from a technical and business viewpoint. 25.03 Where do you see your career heading in the future?

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Martin Moran, Managing Director at InsideSales.com. They discuss how to keep your company’s vision in focus and ensuring there’s a creative curiosity throughout your team. They also touch on the ever changing technology landscape. Show Notes: 1.07 How did you go about founding your first company and the revolution in cloud computing? 5.53 The rate of change in technology and business. 10.01 Ensuring your business has a competitive curiosity and positive culture. 12.35 Allowing employees to have a creative space to work on projects. 14.10 What is necessary to survive in the current job market “Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable” 15.24 The importance of a clear vision when running a business. 19.20 Articulating your vision in a way that people can understand and how to manage that when times are tough. 22.16 Four disciplines of execution. 23.11 What is it that keeps you motivated?

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Raj Samani, a Fellow and Chief Data Scientist at McAfee. On the show they chat about how society values personal data and understanding the importance of personal security. They also discuss the importance of protecting ourselves online and how we are moving into a purely tech based future. Raj is an active member of Infosec community. He assisted in the RSA Wireless Survey for London in 2006. He also participated on the consultation committee for RIPA Part III Holds Ba(Hons) and an MSc in Infosecurity. Show notes: 1.22 What is it that has compelled you to get involved with the extra curricula activities around the tech industries. 3.26 Impacting change in the industry you operate in. 7.29 Education and online security. 10.43 Case study: Wannacry attack. 12.56 Understanding the reach of cyber and how it affects everyone. 15.02 Is education on cyber-security lacking. 16.06 Data as an asset and its value. 19.34 Is Data as valuable as we perceive it? 22.10 Balancing the excitement and flaws of working in Data. 23.30 The importance of protecting ourselves online and talking on the social network. 25.24 The wide-reaching effects of the technology industry is having on our day to day lives. 26.50 The risk and rewards of moving into a tech based world. 29.26 A green cross code for Cyber? Looking at online safety.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Deepak Rangayyan, Senior project manager of transformation at Kuoni Group. They discuss how best to manage your employee’s and how technology’s rapid growth is affecting the skills tech specialists need. They also chat about team dynamics. Deepak is an experienced Project and Key Account Manager. His main role involves Managing a portfolio of medium to enterprise projects. His specialities include; Business Development, Project Evaluation, Market Intelligence, Diversification Strategy, Procurement and Operations Management and Project Management. Show Notes: 1.10 Your thoughts and experiences as a project manager. 2.45 Is there a particular methodology you go through when you’re managing employees. 5.32 The fulfilling aspects of a role in management. 6.59 The projects that Deepak is currently working on and how the impact of technology on the workplace is affecting people’s skills. 12.51 Team dynamics and growth. 17.40 The continuing evolution of technical people. 24.02 What motivates you? Outcomes or technology?

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Szymon Rozga, the Head of Emerging Technologies at BlueMetal NYC. Szymon chats to Andy about his current project working with chatbots they also look at building a forward-thinking engineering team based around a positive work culture. They also discuss the move to remote working in the 21st century and the pros and cons this can have on a business. Szymon is a software engineer lead with years of experience with architecture and development of desktop, mobile and web applications. He is currently focused on building out technology delivery teams and growing delivery capacity and skill sets in Conversational UX chatbots and VR/MR technologies. He uses emerging technologies to create cutting edge experiences. Szymon is passionate about empowering engineering teams to constantly learn and push themselves and the technologies they are working with. Show Notes: 1.16 Do we still need to be working 9 to 5 in 2017. 4.26 Working remotely comes down to achievements as opposed to time in the office. 7.39 Culture as a driving force for working practices. 9.45 Work must be tailored to your lifestyle not the other way around. 11.11 Building a successful and diverse engineering team. 15.27 It there more expected from technical people now and how has that made things more difficult from a recruitment standpoint. 18.54 What were the most surprising and challenging things you found going into a management role. 21.43 How long have you been working on your current project and what other emerging tech are you looking forward to. 27.41 Looking at emerging technologies and deciding whether they’re actually in demand. 31.47 Outside of your field what are you personally excited about seeing come to fruition in the near future.