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

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Ian West, Director of Digital Information at Project One. Ian talks Andy through his 15 steps any business should take to make their business GDPR defensible. Ian West is a business leader with proven skills in transforming, developing and realising maximum revenue and profit potential of business propositions in the Private & Public sectors. He has expertise in the complete market and business development processes from strategic planning, target marketing and solution positioning, whilst being focused on successful execution, exemplary deployment and exceptional long term service. Show Notes 2.32 How are we preparing for GDPR? 4.43 Why are people drawing parallels between GDPR and the year 2000. 7.17 Moving to Project One. 9.56 Understanding what your personal responsibilities are at a C-level when looking at GDPR. 11.19 Four key questions you need to answer to get to a defensible GDPR position. 19.26 If you don’t have a legitimate legal reason to be holding data, delete it. 20.57 How do you find a solution to your GDPR problems. 28.43 The six things that are the real thrust of a GDPR project. 38.13 Being in a GDPR defensible position and it’s difference to GDPR compliance.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Jeffrey Meyerson, host of Software Engineering Daily. On the show Jeff chats to Andy about the reasons behind starting Software Engineering Daily and the direction the show is heading. Jeff also shares some of his career advice for those starting a career in software engineering. Jeffrey Meyerson: After working for Software Engineering Radio for a few years and working at Amazon Jeff decided to form Software Engineering Radio as a full time career. The scope of software engineering is growing. If you use WordPress, Ableton or PhotoShop, you are a software engineer. If you use Facebook, you are a software engineer–you are helping build software. On a twenty year time horizon, there is no “opting out” of knowing how software works. But this is OK because learning about software is possible (and fun) no matter Show Notes: 1.07 How did you begin Software Engineering Daily. 2.14 How do you get the resources together to make a great show? 4.02 How did your career progress and how did you approach your career progression. 7.41 Using Software Engineering Daily to educate budding software engineers on the opportunities available to them. 11.18 Looking for a career that you actually enjoy. 13.00 What do the next few years look like for Software Engineering Daily. 16.45 What have some of the hurdles been when founding Software Daily. 19.37 What are some of the key lessons you feel you’ve learned on Software Engineering Daily. 22.56 Looking at podcast techniques using the Joe Rogan show as an examples. 24.39 Using podcasts to collaborate and connect with people and their links with the the open source tech community.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Andrew Graham, the C.O.O at Blippar. They talk about dismantling communication barriers in large companies, the role of a C.O.O and managing your own career progression. Andrew Graham is an experienced chief operations officer with a demonstrated history of working in the Financial Services, Technology, Digital marketing and advertising industry. Andrew is a Strong business development professional skilled in Corporate Finance, Business Development, Entrepreneurship, Strategic Planning, and Venture Capital. Show notes: 1.07 Cultural differences between the US, UK, other countries and the importance of effective communication. 4.39 When in your career did you get to the point where you had to liaise with various different departments and people. 7.26 Does it help to have an open dialogue before meetings to ensure both parties understand how each other is communicating. 9.09 Discussing the role of C.O.O. 12.17 The importance of having clarity of vision when working at a high level in a large company. 14.55 C.O.O’s and their role in start-ups. 16.20 Going to a position to add value to a company and learn at the same time. 18.44 Managing your career progression and talking moving companies. 21.28 Discussing people's approaches to working life when hiring staff. 23.58 Looking at the economic impact of having a broader set of industries contributing to GDP. 25.56 Was focusing on a product a motivator for you latter in your career after moving away from banking? 28.30 Would you encourage people early on in their careers to see out start-ups and small businesses? 32.09 When you look at the industry what technologies are exciting for you?

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Gordon Davey, head of cloud architecture at Willis Towers Watson. They discuss tackling the common misconceptions around Cloud, innovation and how it’s driving the tech industry forward and how cloud technologies are increasing efficiency in business. Gordon believes the term Cloud Computing is now over-used and still misunderstood but he enjoys helping organisations understand how to use it effectively. He tries to simplify and raise awareness of what cloud computing can do for enterprises, and help them adopt the right Cloud solutions for their business. Show notes: 1.14 Common misconceptions about cloud computing. 3.32 Has cloud been around long enough that it has always been the focus of your career? 5.00 Who were the early adopters of cloud technologies? 6.02 The effectiveness and efficiency brought about by cloud. 8.30 Are you surprised by the amount of businesses that haven’t adopted cloud? 10.08 Cloud allowing you to collaborate with other technologies easily. 12.22 For you personally was technology always an interest to you and how did you become a Cloud architecture. 14.14 What innovations are coming in the near future for cloud? 16.06 Do you think the continued collaboration with other technologies is pushing innovation along. 17.27 Do you think innovation can be in some cases as a disruption? 19.28 What advice are you giving now to people who are wanting to start a career in cloud?

In this episode Andy Davis talks to David Morgantini, VP of engineering at TES Global. On the show today, he chats to Andy about the advantages remote working and of giving autonomy to your staff, trusting your staff to work flexibly and creating opportunities for your staff to excel. David Morgantini is a technical team lead with a decade of industry experience in hands-on software delivery. As a software craftsman and leader, he focusses on the pragmatic delivery of working software by adapting agile methodologies to the skills and needs of the team. Show Notes: 1.07 Looking for alternative paths for technical people who don’t want to go into management and going in to leadership from tech. 4.08 Do you think, from your experiences, people in tech are motivated by leadership roles. 8.32 Creating opportunities for people from a high-level position. 12.12 How KPI driven are you? 17.03 As a leader it’s important that the overall vision of a project or company should never change. 19.12 Impressing your company or teams vision initially to retain and gain talent. 22.33 Technology recruits being motivated by lots of different facets. 25.07 Trust in business and being flexible with your staff. 29.06 Building a work culture based on mutual accountability between colleges. 32.57 Is it difficult or necessary to correlate autonomy with ROI’s.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Andrew Tenzer, the head of group insight at Trinity Mirror. They discuss how best to make sense of data, the various compelling projects Andrew has worked on and the importance of company culture. Show Notes: 1.06 Talking about the data and insights profession. 3.16 The challenge of structuring data to make any sense out of it. 5.03 Getting lost in data. 6.38 Background and career progression. 9.50 Building your career foundations then moving to a more compelling role. 11.13 What research were you carrying out at channel 4. 13.10 The sense of accomplishment that comes along with working a job you enjoy. 14.28 Transparency & Leadership. 16.36 Company Culture. 17.40 The importance of the recruitment process. 19.05 Team dynamics and great communication as a precursor to success in business. 22.36 What are your day to day responsibilities? 28.13 The creative freedom available to you when working in insights.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Vince Russell, lead developer at Hawes & Curtis. Their talk focuses on getting into a constructive workflow as a developer, transitioning between a technical and management position and the changing hiring practices of tech companies. They also discuss the individual merits of university degrees as opposed to self-taught skills. Show Notes: 1.10 Is it impossible to get the product where it needs to be in development? 2.46 How much external consulting affects your work process when you’re working on a project? 4.28 Do you find being able to liaise between departments an important part of your leadership role? 6.09 How important is it for developers to get into a work flow? 11.20 Trying to reach a your personal “flow state” and how do you get into it? 13.21 Did you enjoy your transition into your management position? 14.31 Developing your management skill set. 16.03 Leadership in a creative environment. 18.51 Did you gravitate towards projects/ organisation you were personally interested by and do you feel that’s a strong factor in personal motivation? 20.12 Have you been more interested in the technology or outcomes? 21.43 The necessity of being outcome driven to be appealing to employers. 23.27 Self-starters, entrepreneurship and tech. 26.16 Why people need to learn how to code in the 21st century. 29.32 Organisations changing views on university educated candidates. 31.01 Considering up-skilling and what to learn next. 32.30 Finding the time to take on personal projects and staying motivated. 37.10 What are you most excited about in the tech world right now.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Mark Dodd, Head of Business at Consolidata and Co-Founder at Consolidata Labs. On the show Mark discusses the qualities that differentiate a good data professional from a great one. They also chat about why you need to be asking the right questions of your data sets to get the most value out of them and why business people are still hesitant to get involved in the technology aspects of their company’s. Mark Dodd is a data professional with diverse experience in building data solutions to client problems, particularly in the data management and analytics space. He has worked in IT for over 30 years in a large number of industries. He has always found delivering data solutions to be the most interesting part of his job. Statistical process control, data visualisation and finding unexpected insights from data are also things that engage Mark . Show Notes: 1.08 Differentiating a good data person and an outstanding one. 2.03 Having an understanding of the practical. 3.19 Jumping from industry to industry in a data career. 4.52 Do you think your business acumen flourished because of your love of data. 6.40 Are clients coming to you as a data professional to solve specific problems or do they want you to uncover things they don’t know. 8.19 From a client facing perspective, do the differing stages a company can be in, in regards to their data transformation, provide challenge and enjoyment for you. 9.52 Educating clients on data governance. 10.41 Understanding how to see an ROI in your data team. 13.50 The catch-22 surrounding data. 15.10 Data professionals expected to have a good technical understanding of what you’re doing as well as the business outcome they’re working towards. 17.54 Why business people don’t engage in technology. 19.15 Data visulisation. 20.34 Mark’s career progression. 22.00 When working on new challenges what were the things that spurred you on to succeed. 22.52 Working in data requires an element of creativity. 23.57 Are unexpected insights gleaned from data still a regular occurrence and are they exciting.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Massimo De Marco, V.P of Engineering and Product at Depop. They discuss the transition into management, exciting technology on the horizon and the need to have both technical and people skills. Massimo De Marco has worked at several company’s including the IG Group, Jagex and Time Out. In his previous roles he’s been hired to define and structure all development processes, from business requirements to delivery, and help the company scale up. Massimo has always seen it as his mission to build a positive work culture and processes around his team. He feels this is the key to ensuring businesses are capable of scaling up to the next level. Show Notes: 1.09 How did you first get involved in technology. 3.08 Skilling up, learning in tech & what do you learn? 4.56 What was the level of technology much different when you moved to the UK. 6.11 Getting involved in mobile. 7.42 Pursuing a career in mobile technology. 8.31 Talking about Massimo’s role and his transition into management. 10.36 The rewarding elements of running a team. 11.46 Technology employee’s as the product and the face of the industry. 14.34 Is it common that you employ people that aren’t always a perfect fit for the company? 15.39 Having good people skills, business skills and technology skills. 17.03 Which three things have you found the most challenging and which have you enjoyed the most. 17.36 What is it now within technology or your career that you’re striving for next. 19.00 Is it difficult to decide what new technologies to invest your time in. 20.17 Are you still as excited about what you’re doing now compared to when you started your career?

In this episode, Andy Davis talks to Bhaskar Dasgupta, the MD and Chief Operating Officer at UK export finance. On the show they discuss the importance of keeping your eye on the external factors that can affect your business, not losing sight of the practical applications of technology when running a business and the importance of continual learning and strategy development. Bhaskar Dasgupta: As the Chief Operating Officer of UK Export Finance, Bhaskar is responsible for the digital strategy, transaction management and operations for his department. Bhaskar’s mission is to ensure that no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance, he does this whilst ensuring no operating costs are paid by the taxpayer. Show notes: 1.10 The difference between thinking internally and externally in business. 3.00 What practices do you carry out to ensure you have a good understanding of external forces that may affect your business. 5.30 The importance of constantly having an outward view when going into the corporate world. 9.00 Bhaskar’s background and career development. 11.00 The importance of keeping technology in a space where it is usable and relevant to a business. 13.50 B2B Sales strategies. 14.40 Interview and job hunting techniques. 16.25 Discussion on the ability of candidates to be able to deliver in a working environment. 19.00 Continual learning in the tech world. 22.20 Approaches to leadership. 24.40 Why you should constantly be reiterating your objectives and strategies. 26.20 What motivations keep you oriented.