A mechanical engineer turned tech-wizz, Wayne Strydom is not your typical techie with roots set in coding or other IT discipline. He says it’s all about having the bigger picture in mind and understand systems and how they interact and function, and considering the success he’s had as the CTO & CIO @ Virtulab - we trust him. “Building teams based just on skill and talent is a recipe for failure! Surround yourself and your employees with characters, especially the kind that can stick it out when the going gets tough!” We sat down for a long, data-rich conversation with him, where dived deep into every aspect of his journey as a tech leader – from assembling and developing teams, all the way to his wishes which include a time machine and the possibility to see all press releases regarding tech development from the future. In short? An episode for the ages. Key takeaways from this episode: • Why building teams is much more than just matching needs to skills • How to lead teams by only asking the right questions • How a story is the foundation on which a product is sold Our Guest: Wayne Strydom LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayneatcgtech/ Website: https://thevirtulab.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/waynestrydom1 Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Developing high-quality service or tools does not guarantee success - you need to deliver it in a proper manner. That’s exactly what our guest Adam Dille, Senior VP for Product and Engineering at Quantum Metric is focused on doing, as he helps companies deliver tech that has the potential to solve everyday problems, as well as make our lives easier! His focus on continued product/service development is what drives the company forward, all the while helping ambitious startups meet the light of day. “The better your product is - the more the end-user will expect from you. And a true leader will always anticipate these expectations and figure out how to meet them” What we learned from Adam: • Asking the right questions will always bring you closer to a solution • Looking at data from various perspectives helps deliver a more complete product • Closely-knitted teams understand every single piece of the puzzle, even the ones outside their domain Our Guest: Adam Dille LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamdille Website - Quantum Metric https://www.quantummetric.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/quantummetric Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

For start-ups and established companies, it's never just about crunching and creating and pushing a product or a service out - that's why tech leaders must consider the short and long-term ramifications of every decision they make at every stage. We sat down with Vijay Venkatesh, a CTO and Product Development leader on various projects, shared his journey, and gave advice on finding the right balance in every aspect and process while leading teams in the tech world. • Key takeaways from this episode: • Quick ascent is all about adaptability and flexibility • Constraints can solidify teams and make them more efficient • Understanding the wishes and whims of customers and clients is a form of art Our Guest: Vijay Venkatesh LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/venkateshvijay/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vijayv Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

In our episode with Brian Roche (Director of IT @ Belfast City Airport), you can hear about his amazing journey which began with a job as a system administrator, then moving on to various positions in development and sales teams, before making the jump to executive positions. His goal and passion? To bring some simplicity to a world that is riddled with acronyms and complex structures - the tech world - and bring it closer to the average businessperson. Key Takeaways from this episode: • How education can help in the fight against cybersecurity threats • Why it’s important to mentor young techies, and teach them about giving chances • How technology can fail a business, and what leaders can do about it Our Guest: Brian Roche LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brroche/ Website: George Best Belfast City Airport https://www.belfastcityairport.com/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Phil Wood is a man of many talents, all cored in his unabating curiosity. What started off as the need to know how things function and what they’re made off, led him to learn and develop, and eventually become the Director of IT Services at one of the most prominent airlines – easyJet. In this episode, Phil shared his advice and experience, ranging from his unique leadership style with which he allows teams to lead themselves by letting them take the responsibility and giving them freedom, all the way to creating feedback loops that help not just a service or a product in work, but also future R&D. All worth its weight in gold, we boiled down the episode to the following key takeaways: • How to create high performing teams by allowing them to take on responsibility and authority; • Why are feedback loops important in the development process of a product or a service • How looking at the bigger picture and not just your product/service can help in ensuring end-to-end satisfaction for clients and customers. Our Guest: Phil Wood LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-wood-2089a13/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Marketing comes in many forms, everything from the big brand advertisements for the masses, to smaller campaigns specific to local needs. Well, Marvia has created a platform that does just that. i.e., activating local marketing potential for big brands (e.g., Domino's Pizza). The CTO of this company, Merlijn Bruijnes, joins us to tell us all about what they do. Merlijn also shares his journey to becoming a tech leader, lessons he has learned and tips for other tech leaders. Key takeaways from the podcast are: • The challenging transition from software developer to Tech leader (letting go of one's baby) • Helping large brands conduct marketing with a local flavor • Creating a learning organization (a win for the business and a win for the people) Our Guest: Merlijn Bruijnes LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/merlijnbruijnes/ Website: Marvia https://www.getmarvia.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/marvia Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

In this episode, John Williams, the CTO at Amplience, shares his super hot tips from his years of service. We get to talk about the problem in the market that Amplience is solving and creating robust systems that reliably get the job at hand done. The industry that Amplience sits in is the marketing space. It's created a system that provides personalized content for the myriad of devices and screen sizes people use, with a touch of personalization to make a brand really pop out for the target audience. The key takeaways from the podcast are: • Thoughts on creating an architecture that deals with extreme surges in real-time content creation. With the capability of handling high loads and baked in resilience to deal with parts of the system falling over • When creating workplace cultures, see everyone as equals with equal voices to speak up. i.e. freedom of speech in the workplace. • With the many voices chiming in, create an environment where the best ideas win. • Design systems with the vision of the future in mind. With resilience and expected levels of demand. Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

We all rely on it. Many of us use it without even realizing it. Some even joke it's in the base layer of the Maslows hierarchy of needs. If you haven't already guessed, it's the internet. You will be surprised to know that the fifth biggest economy globally (the UK) is lagging behind many other modern nations concerning internet coverage and bandwidth to people's homes and businesses. Well, the Strategy Director at CityFibre joins us on a discussion about how he and his team are working hard, working smart, and working fast to upgrade the nation's digital infrastructure. It cannot be stressed enough how important a resilient and fast internet is for a service-based nation like the UK. The key takeaways from the podcast are: • The reason why the UK is so far behind other developed nations • What CityFibre is doing to create a better, more resilient, and faster internet • The leadership and culture that is creating a high-performing and adapting organization to deliver quality results Our Guest: Clayton Nash LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claytonnash/ Website: https://www.cityfibre.com/ (CityFibre - The UK's alternative digital infrastructure provider) Twitter: https://twitter.com/CityFibre Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Here at IT Labs, we love disruptors. Particularly a disruption in a stuffy industry, drowning in its old ways. Guy Duncan from Tide joins us to tell the story of the company he is tech leading to create exactly that kind of disruption. Tide is a Fintech carving out a nice chunk of the market by focusing on customer needs (time, ease, and smooth service). We particularly touch and gravitate around Guy's leadership approach that encompasses Yoga and mindfulness. So the key takeaways from the podcast are: • All through the lens of a Yogi • The powerful art of finishing (the motto: "Stop Starting, Start Finishing") • The art of interpreting various industry trends and using them as a foundation for technology and product planning • The importance of setting the levels of abstraction in a business right, and how it improves performance and interoperability Our Guest: Guy Duncan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duncanguy/ Website: https://www.tide.co/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TideBusiness Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

In this episode, we speak to Anna Dick, CTO of an innovative startup call HIRING HUB. It provides a B2B service to help rate and track the quality of recruitment agencies. We speak to her about the exciting objectives and growth of the business. Also, the problems she and her team are working to solve in the recruitment space. The recruitment industry is a highly competitive market with varying levels of trust and the ability to deliver on the hiring needs of their end clients. Key takeaways from the podcast are: • How you don't need to come from a traditional software background to become a tech leader. • How HIRING HUB is aiming to address the diversity biases that are endemic in the recruitment process. Helping agencies see how well they are doing and what actions will serve them in getting better. • Overcoming the challenges of working remotely. Our Guest: Anna Dick LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-dick-b4bb434/ Website: https://www.hiring-hub.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/hiringhub Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)