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

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Ian Hayfield, DevOps manager at Ancoa. Ian is a DevOps evangelist and is a strong advocate of applying it’s methodology to business. His previous roles have seen him working for high profile names such as IBM. Ian’s previous roles have seen him diagnosis database issues and resolve them. He was also in charge of developing and deploying database RPMs, monitoring and host configuration. On this show Ian talks to Andy about Automating DevOps, how best to manage a DevOps team and having a DevOps team with a broad range of skills. They also discuss Ian’s background and career development and his transition into management. Show Notes: 1.10 The necessity for technologists to be multifaceted in their disciplines. 3.01 How do you decide what new skills you need to learn to keep developing? 5.18 How did the teamwork and learning dynamic work at IBM? 6.06 The advantages of “getting thrown in the deep end” as a learning process. 6.44 The skill of being aware of what is necessary right now in terms of your business needs. 7.45 Using Automation. 9.19 When we look at DevOps now is automation becoming a big part of it? 10.48 What was your background and how did you become a DevOps manager? 14.46 Internationally, do people look at DevOps from different perspectives. 15.59 When did you transition to a management position and what were your first experiences like in that position. 17.38 Management as a skill set unto itself. 21.43 What engages you more at work technology or the end goals of your project? 24.13 Technology as a product and the need to be business savvy. 25.45 What are you looking forward to seeing most technology-wise in the near future?

In this episode Andy Davis talk to Sina Jazayeri, Director of software engineering at inrhythm, founder of color code.Io and host of the drunk web podcast. Sina is a front end software designer and developer who focuses on performance, User Interface and User Experience. His podcast show is a series of conversations between web professionals while drinking more than necessary. Every episode features a different guest, a topic close to their heart and their favorite choice of drink. In the show Sina shares his best time management tips to keep on top of your busy work schedule and why it’s important to build trust and honesty into your people management skills. They also discuss stepping out of your comfort zone professionally and personally and how this can help your management career. Show Notes: 1.18 Managing your team, workload, external projects and podcasts. 4.14 How efficient you can be with your own time. 8.01 Trust and honesty in people management. 11.36 What activities are you engaging in now to keep learning and evolving as a manager. 18.00 Stepping out of your comfort zone and the difficulty of doing that because of modern technology. 22.59 The amount of variables involved in people management. 28.03 Just because we’re at work it doesn’t mean we can’t engage with them on a personal level. 32.31 Sina’s new project Color Code.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Leslie Coelho, who has recently become a technical architect at Netcel. Leslie is a reductionist at heart and enjoys turning complex problems into simple solutions. He also enjoys working with clients to deliver out standing products and achieve results. Leslie has come on the show to chat to Andy about technology and its impact on business. They also discuss the reasons to use emails or a phone call, how to not over-complicate things and education the new generation. Show Notes: 1.11 How did you first get into technology and what was it about computer specifically for you that got you really interested in them. 4.21 How did your career progress and where did your career start? 6.40 What big changes have you seen in technology since you started your career and what has stayed the same? 9.27 Have we become obsessed with speed in computing? 10.26 We expect so much more for our computers but we understand a lot less about how they actually work. 12.49 Is there a problem with the way tech professionals work now? 16.14 Different forms of communication in the office. 18.36 Thinking about what is the right tool for communication in the office. 19.23 Is A.I the most compelling space in tech at the moment and does it have the most chance of success out of all the other technological innovations at the moment. 24.15 The fear that A.I will automate us out of jobs. 26.21 The necessity for the education system to teach everyone some coding. 28.58 Is education going to be the next industry to be disrupted by technology? 30.36 Technology being present for innovation before the ability to mass distribute it. 32.52 What is it on a day to day basis that continually motivates you?

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Eoin Woods, CTO at Endava. Eoin is a professionally qualified technical architect, with over twenty years of experience in the capital markets and technical software product domains. He has worked successfully across the delivery lifecycle from development engineer to manager and in architecture roles from application architect to lead architect to head of architecture. On the show he chats to Andy about the importance of continued professional development as an engineer. They also touch on the AI disruption of white collar jobs, the step up to CTO and exciting new developments in the tech industry. Show Notes: 3.10 Growing up with computers and technology. 5.35 Getting experience during university. 7.21 Code camp. 8.59 Incentivising companies to offer training. 12.34 Future disruption in white collar jobs. 14.07 The 2 things that attract Eoin to a company. 16.08 Find out where a job can take you. 18.28 The ability to keep learning as an engineer. 20.01 Getting distracted by the latest tech. 22.47 Taking the step up to CTO. 25.12 Exciting new technologies personally and for the industry. 26.27 Data automation. 28.42 AI impacts on the average working person. 31.31 Quickly re-skilling and learning new jobs.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Simon Halkyard, Talent acquisition partner at Shop Direct. Simon is currently responsible for the Analytics, Customer Management and Credit Risk Talent Acquisition functions at Shop Direct. Previously he was responsible for designing and implementing the Talent Acquisition recruitment strategy for Shop Direct's new London office, attracting, engaging and hiring world-class tech talent. On the show Simon discusses making the transition from agency recruitment to internal recruitment. He also shares his strategies for retaining staff, developing a positive work culture and navigating on-boarding interviews. Show Notes: 1.09 Making the transition from a recruitment agency to internal recruitment. 3.22 Building relationships with internal recruitment. 4.33 The pressure of working in internal recruitment. 5.12 Do you have to make a conscious effort to prove to the people you're hiring that you are interested in their sector. 6.15 Navigating technology and recruitment. 7.28 The difficulty of everyone having an opinion in recruitment. 8.02 How much are softer skills important now when hiring for technology roles. 9.56 Has working internally helped you develop better methods for on-boarding. 11.49 Examples of technology helping the decision-making process in business. 12.15 Not being naturally comfortable in the interviewing role. 13.08 Talking about retention when hiring internally. 13.58 What incentives are you using to boost retention. 15.14 Businesses offering incentives that are more important than money. 16.44 Changing work culture to enable more flexible working hours. 18.28 Talking about workplace culture. 19.40 Transparency, honesty and openness. 20.40 Encouraging employees to try new things and having a willingness to try and fail. 22.35 What in your professional life gives you the most sense of satisfaction.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Caroline Carruthers & Peter Jackson, the authors of the Chief Data Officer's playbook. The CDO’s playbook is a practical guide and a must read for data leaders building the foundation and value creation from data. In the show they discuss the role of a CDO and dispel many common misconceptions surrounding the title. They also chat about the difficulty some businesses have when trying to discern the ROI of their data teams and they chat about the direction that Big Data is heading in. Conversation finishes with talk about Caroline and Peter's first book. Show Notes: 1.54 The role of the CDO and tackling the common misconceptions around the role. 5.35 The pressure on the macro economy to invest in data. 8.06 Discussing why a disproportionate about of industry leaders are saying they’re not seeing an ROI in their data teams. 10.49 Navigating the lack of understanding some people have around the role of a data team. 12.36 Dissecting the head of monetization role. 14.30 Data transformation requiring a cultural. 16.13 Discussing the term “Data Driven”. 18.20 Relying on data 100% of the time to make business decisions. 20.21 How motivated were you to build professional relationships and buy into the sharing technology economy. 23.25 How did you both end up collaborating on a book. 25.43 Using Peter and Caroline's book as a way of formalsing an approach to Data. 28.13 When looking at the direction of Data where do you want it to move to in a business sense. 29.40 Who was the target audience of your book. 30.59 What’s been the most unexpected events to happen in the data space since you’ve started your careers. 32.09 The vast array of talent getting involved in data now.

In this episode Andy Davis Talks To Craig Ellis, the CTO at the go-ahead group. Craig has developed a varied skill set over a vast career working for institutions such as BT and Network rail. With a proven track record of developing technical and innovative departments globally delivering to challenging objectives. He’s also been at the forefront of next-generation networks from pre-sales to post-incident with extensive vendor and network assurance experience. He’s chats to Andy about negating the disruption caused to a business by the rapidly developing technology sphere. They also discuss humanising the interview process and workplace, differing approaches to leadership and the necessity to be multi-skilled in today’s tech market. Show Notes: 3:00 to 10:00 Kicking off a Career in Amsterdam. 10:00 to 18:00 Conversation and Technology Simplicity. 18:00 to 22:00 End-Users and Engaging Account Managers. 22:00 to 28:00 Real-Time Pressure: UEFA to Euston. 28:00 to 31:00 The Dutch Honesty, Management isn't for everyone. 31:00 to 34:00 Picking the Right Golf Club. 34:00 to 38:00 Digital Railway, Scalability and Disruptive, Bi-Modal Working.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Jeremy Keith, the Technical Lead and co-founder of the design agency Clearleft in Brighton. Jeremy has been writing on his personal site, adactio.com, for over fifteen years. He also written a number of books: DOM Scripting, Bulletproof Ajax, HTML5 For Web Designers, and most recently, Resilient Web Design which you can read for free online. He also created Huffduffer.com a site for creating your podcast of found sounds. On the show they discuss throwing your ideas and projects out into online technology communities, using forums and tech sites to get feedback on your product and getting over the self-doubt you can have about your project. They also touch on Jeremy’s career as a writer and how writing books differs from creating podcasts and blogs. Show Notes: 1.38 The open source nature of online technical communities. 7.44 Has the quality of open source software and information decreased due to the ability to share it so easily. 10.23 The positive effects of putting unfinished projects out to the tech community to get constructive feedback. 12.27 The pursuit of perfection never ends but we can switch our mindset to an agile way of thinking and constantly improve on our product. 13.26 You’ll always cause division when posting project on the internet but it’s a fantastic place to learn new skills. 18.27 How did you come about writing a book. 20.32 Comparing writing a book to blogs & podcasts. 22.06 How your motivations can help determine what medium will be most effective to share your views on. 23.22 What were your experiences when starting your own business. 28.38 Having the right approach to your business is essential to making your company succeed. 34.44 Staying on top of the tech marketplace and keeping an eye on what’s going on around you. 36.56 Technology advancing so quickly due to its sharing economy.

In this episode Andy James talks to James Rix, senior project manager at Romonet. James is Skilled at working across international locations and coordinating international teams to deliver high quality projects. He has an excellent technical understanding of building pathology, technical power and cooling infrastructure requirements in data centres, combined with a solution oriented approach to project management. On the show he chats to Andy about the challenges and rewards of managing teams in different countries. They also discuss navigating different cultural conventions in business and how technology is changing workplace dynamics. Show Notes: 1.06 Managing projects in various countries. 2.58 Addressing an individual in a meeting not the room. 4.14 Navigating different cultures. 5.45 Different approaches to doing business. 7.18 What are your company’s internal dynamics like. 8.19 How did your career take you to Asia? 10.30 Growing as a person and a leader in East Asia. 12.34 What are the current projects you’re working on? 13.52 What’s the structure of your employees? 14.44 How has technology changed the dynamics of your role? 17.59 Technically what type of people are you typically working with and have their roles changed due to the advancements in technology. 19.56 The data space as a compelling place to work. 22.07 What are you hoping the next few years bring for you and what does success look like for you? 24.22 Respect in the workplace and enjoying what you do.

In this episode Andy Davis talks to Brian Hills, Head of data at the data lab innovation centre. Data Lab aims to bring together industry, the public sector, universities, colleges, schools and the public to learn about and promote data science. In this episode Andy Davis talks to Brian Hills, Head of data at the data lab innovation centre. Data Lab aims to bring together industry, the public sector, universities, colleges, schools and the public to learn about and promote data science. In his role at the Data Lab Brian leads the Data Science team and was the programme Chair for DataFest17, the first festival of data innovation held in Scotland. His career in data spans many high profile companies including Hewlett-Packard and Skyscanner. On the show he discusses promoting data science, building a strong data science team and communicating data science successes to other parts of your business. He also chats to Andy about creating a brand for your data team and what attributes need to be present in a person to make them a good data scientist. Show notes: 1.09 The Excitement around Data. 1.55 The applications and outcomes of data. 2.45 Getting people involved in Data Science and promoting data science. 4.03 What is it you're hoping to achieve through your promotion of Data science? 6.00 What aspect of data are you most involved in? 8.17 How much has the data scientist's skill set evolved over the past few years? 9.44 Communicating the successes of Data science. 12.32 Disciplined leadership when working in Data Science. 14.36 When you're looking to recruit new team members what attributes do you look for? 16.23 Creating a brand for your team. 18.35 How have you managed to maintain your skills throughout your career?