The Irish Tech News Podcast

In this week's show returning guest Shelly Palmer (CNBC, CNN, Fox5) dives with Rob and Brett into what it will take for corporations to stay relevant in the AI-age. This is a wide ranging discussion on the way AI-based commerce, agency and automation will disrupt many of our current industries and institutions. Not one to be missed! Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, and is a regular commentator on CNN and CNBC. Shelly is a prolific author. Along with his daily newsletter, his books include, the Amazon #1 Bestseller, Blockchain – Cryptocurrency, NFTs & Smart Contracts: An executive guide to the world of decentralized finance and Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV, the seminal book about the technological, economic, and sociological forces that have changing everything about the the business of television, Overcoming the Digital Divide: How to use Social Media and Digital Tools to Reinvent Yourself and Your Career, and Digital Wisdom: Thought Leadership for a Connected World.

Irish specialty coffee group, Coffeeangel, recently agreed a landmark deal with the Dunsany Estate in Co. Meath and Irish clean-tech company Bionua which will see it commit 5% of its profits over the next 5 years to buy biodiversity credits. This is the first time such a deal has been completed in Ireland and only the second time across Europe after Swedbank’s purchase of biodiversity credits in 2023. Ronan spoke to Karl Purdy, CEO of Coffeeangel & William Butterly, founder of Bionua. Karl and William talk about their backgrounds, how coffeangel and Bionua started, their landmark deal with the Dunsany Estate and more. More about the Coffeangel, Bionua and Dunsany estate landmark deal:  The first year of this deal with Coffeeangel will represent the removal and storage of a minimum of 80,000 kgs of harmful carbon from the atmosphere at Dunsany Nature Reserve, and the direct involvement in the protection and enhancement of its unique biodiversity habitat above and below ground which include some of Ireland’s most important flora and fauna.

In every work environment, from factories, hospitals, retail shops to elder care homes, the future workforce will include robots. Dr Harry Kloor, the founder and CEO of Beyond Imagination has blazed a trail toward building reliable, strong robots that can operate safely alongside human workers. Harry tells the Futurists how to design a robot for a variety of workplaces at an affordable price, and what type of artificial intelligence is best for autonomous robot workers. Harry also answers key questions: why insurability for robot co-workers is a challenge; how to create a friendly-looking robot;  the best places to put robots to work; why legless robots are superior;  robots for elder care; how hydraulic robots compare to electronic systems; and why it’s so difficult for a robot to open a bottle of soda. 

Where incumbents come together with fintechs, Fintech Week London is a city-to-city event spanning some of the most current themes in financial services. From artificial intelligence, ESG, and insurtech, to embedded finance, payments, and digital assets, what’s in store for this year’s festivities? In this episode of One Vision — FinTech Fuse! Theo chats with Raf De Kimpe, CEO of Fintech Week London on the past, present, and future of fintech events. Join us as we pave the way for a brighter future for the fintech industry. Change is a constant. ***  About Fintech Week London: https://www.fintechweek.london 

Founded in 2016, ZOMA specialises in cutting edge web design, content creation and digital marketing solutions; working across a range of industries including corporate, health and wellness, fashion, food and hospitality, tourism, sport and events, construction, property, agriculture, medical, and manufacturing. It is one of the leading Shopify partners and largest Wix partner in Ireland & UK; official Google Partner. ZOMA recently launched Munchd a new online food platform. Ronan recently spoke to David Kieran the Managing Director of ZOMA. David talks about his background, ZOMA, Covid, Munchd and more. Munchd is a new online food ordering platform, developed by Dundalk based ZOMA, that was built specifically to empower local restaurants and takeaways to maximise their profits, and ultimately offer more competitive prices to their customers. t is set to shake up the food industry with its game-changing 0% commission model and minimal 1.4% transaction rate on orders.

Yes, ESG is both complex and complicated, as Matthew Sekol wrote in his new book, ESG Mindset. But at the heart of it, it should not be difficult to explain — nor should it be controversial — why a business needs to go beyond pure financials, to build resilience — to better understand the risks and capture the opportunities — so that they can better adapt to a changing world. After all, it should be in the inherent interests of companies to build to last. Though the term might be nuanced, the intention and the result should not be.  In this episode of One Vision — FinTech Fuse! We chat with our wonderful friend Matthew Sekol about his new book, ESG Mindset, and how leaders can learn how to think critically about ESG to ensure their organizations remain resilient. *** ESG Mindset: https://www.esg-mindset.com/   *** About One Vision: One Vision podcast, hosted by Theodora Lau, brings purposeful innovation to spotlight. It is where impact meets innovation. One Vision is a convergence of minds that dream of a sustainable world for future generations galvanized by innovation. The new season, Fintech Fuse! features the powerful trio of women in fintech: Barb McLean, Stephanie Foster, and Theodora Lau. *** Unconventional Ventures: https://www.unconventionalventures.com/ Subscribe on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=6598548173482967040        Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaLj99yHUUGFTHLdJeZqaPg?sub_confirmation=1    

AI safety pioneer Roman Yampolskiy believes that artificial intelligence presents a challenge unlike anything humanity has ever faced. He says we have just one chance to get it right. A single AI model can cause an existential crisis, and there are already more than 500,000 open source AI models available. In his view, the AI arms race is creating an infinite range of possibilities for catastrophe. Roman returns to The Futurists to share perspectives from his new book, Unpredictable, Unexplainable, Uncontrollable, delivering a devastating critique of the current state of safety in AI and an urgent call to action.  Roman Vladimirovich Yampolskiy is a Russian computer scientist at the University of Louisville, known for his work on behavioral biometrics, security of cyberworlds, and artificial intelligence safety. He holds a PhD from the University at Buffalo.

When this podcast first started in 2016 one of my first guests was Rory O’Connor the CEO & Founder Scurri. Four years later Rory appeared on the Podcast again, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then the e-commerce sector has grown and Scurri moved into new offices in Wexford town earlier this year.  I caught up with Rory to find out how COVID-19 impacted Scurri and their clients, the growth of e-commerce, Scurri’s new offices and more. More about Scurri: Scurri, officially launched its new state of the art European headquarters based in the heart of Wexford Town, last January. The Wexford born multi-million euro platform has opened a brand new operational base for over 100 workers with plans to recruit for 40 new roles across Sales, Marketing, Support and Engineering over the next 24 months.  Scurri is an innovative delivery management platform that connects and optimises the entire online ordering, shipping and delivery process for retailers.  Following the company’s launch in 2010, hugely successful enterprise Scurri has grown its global footprint, processing over €10.5 billion worth of shipments worldwide in 2023 alone. 

As one of the first flowers that bloom in spring, daffodils symbolize new beginnings, resilience, and prosperity. But what do the flowers have in common with fintech and rugby? In this new episode of One Vision, Theo chats with Sarah Kocianki, CEO of Fintech Wales, on her top priorities in growing the world-class collaborative FinTech ecosystem in Wales as she embarks on her new journey as the CEO of FinTech Wales. We explored the secret behind the prominence of female angel investors in Wales, as well as the impact of technology on work, talent, and culture of learning. Bonus question for our audience: What was the one term that we successfully navigated around in our conversation? Tune in to find out! *** About One Vision: One Vision podcast, hosted by Theodora Lau, brings purposeful innovation to spotlight. It is where impact meets innovation. One Vision is a convergence of minds that dream of a sustainable world for future generations galvanized by innovation. The new season, Fintech Fuse! features the powerful trio of women in fintech: Barb McLean, Stephanie Foster, and Theodora Lau. *** Unconventional Ventures: https://www.unconventionalventures.com/ Subscribe on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=6598548173482967040        Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaLj99yHUUGFTHLdJeZqaPg?sub_confirmation=1   

Energy storage is one of the fastest growing segments within the power sector. This growth is mainly driven by battery storage, but other forms of energy storage such as green hydrogen are also becoming prominent, all of which will prove crucial to unlocking Ireland’s full renewable potential.   By developing more energy storage capacity, Ireland can reduce dependence on fossil fuels more rapidly, ensure lights stay on and help reduce energy costs. Although battery storage is an established and proven technology, the potential of energy storage is not yet well known in Ireland.   Last September, a KPMG report commissioned by ESI and Greentech Skillnet outlined that the energy storage sector has a key role to play in helping Ireland reduce carbon emissions and provide cleaner, cheaper energy to Irish consumers. It also stated that the sector could create thousands of new jobs by 2035. One person who can provide insights into this is Bobby Smith, Head of Energy Storage Ireland and Ronan recently spoke to him. Bobby talks about his background, what Energy Storage Ireland does, the KPMG report commissioned by ESI and Greentech Skillnet and more. More about Energy Storage Ireland: Energy Storage Ireland represents over 50 organisations from across the energy storage supply chain, and their members include both private sector enterprises and state-owned companies such as Coillte and the ESB.