The Big Tech Show

Conor McCarthy, Irish tech entrepreneur and Flipdish co-founder, recounts the company’s journey from a cash crunch to unicorn status. He discusses solving restaurant ordering headaches, surviving pandemic upheaval, balancing marketplace partnerships with direct orders, and Flipdish’s international ambitions. He also explores AI phone agents, automated marketing, and why deep integration is crucial for vertical AI.

Peter Tanham, technology entrepreneur and former Meta data policy executive, explores how AI is transforming cyberattacks. They discuss hidden vulnerabilities uncovered in major software, lessons from the 2021 HSE hack, and the risks facing healthcare, banking, transport and utilities. They also examine cheaper AI-powered fraud, automated cyber defence, and why public services must prepare now.

Emmet O’Neill, CEO of Irish children’s app company StoryToys, recounts its astonishing journey from near bankruptcy to partnerships with LEGO, Disney, Marvel and Netflix. He discusses the iPad-inspired career pivot, failed projects, painful staff cuts, and the email from LEGO that changed everything. Also covered: StoryToys’ Team17 acquisition, Netflix’s games strategy and AI’s role in app development.

Saoirse Hanley, a technology journalist covering consumer tech, joins a hands-on review of Apple’s folding iPhone Duo. They explore its gorgeous, crease-light display, pocket-friendly design, stiff hinge and surprising battery life. They also weigh the missing Face ID and telephoto camera, eSIM restrictions, unfinished software and eye-watering luxury price.

Sarah Friar, OpenAI’s CFO and former Square CFO and Nextdoor CEO, discusses the company’s Irish ambitions. She explores 450 new jobs, Ireland as a potential data-centre hub, and the country’s role in OpenAI’s European expansion. The conversation also covers rogue AI agents, cybersecurity, soaring infrastructure costs, revenue growth, and the economics of building safer AI.

Dave Hanratty, an Irish journalist and No Encore podcast creator covering film and pop culture, joins a lively critique of The Social Reckoning. They examine its cartoonish Mark Zuckerberg, fictionalized whistleblower story, muddled politics and awkward casting. Does Aaron Sorkin’s sequel offer meaningful commentary on Facebook, or merely recycle familiar scandals without the spark of The Social Network?

Darragh Nolan, a technology journalist at the Irish Independent, joins a lively debate on AI’s potential to destroy humanity, from Bill Gates and Geoffrey Hinton’s warnings to Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg’s optimism. They also examine Apple Watch Series 12’s readiness tracking and controversial listening features, then review Xiaomi’s Redmi phone, boasting a remarkable 10,000mAh battery and three-day endurance.

Mark Little, the Irish journalist, entrepreneur and founder of Storyful and Kinzen, reflects on Twitter, journalism and the internet’s lost spontaneity. He explores algorithmic control, Elon Musk, anonymity, child safety and rebuilding healthier online communities. Little also discusses AI’s risks, smarter moderation, Spotify, and why curated information diets may beat endless feeds.

Brendan McGuire, an Irish Catholic priest with an engineering and computer science background, advises Silicon Valley’s AI leaders on ethics. He recounts leaving a lucrative technology career for the priesthood, explores whether AI could possess consciousness or a soul, and examines warnings about human extinction, job losses, inequality, corporate power, and protecting vulnerable people from technology’s influence.

Alan Eustace, an assistant professor at Trinity College Dublin specialising in legal education and academic integrity, explores AI’s impact on university assessment. He discusses detecting authentic student work, research trails, declared AI assistance and oral exams. They also examine the risks to critical thinking and how universities may redefine learning and the value of degrees.