The Tech Leaders Podcast

Gareth interviews Mark Rice who is CIO at global language services provider, thebigword. With almost two decades experience leading commercial and technology departments for national and multi-national companies, Mark's career spans industries including manufacturing, logistics consultancy and most recently language services, where he was promoted to CIo after 11 months! Mark is a product-led leader and talks us through this, along with his experience of implementing efficiency, managing conflict, screening prospective hires and engaging remote teams. We also cover the objectives of thebigword, who are on a mission to make the world a smaller place by breaking down language barriers, supporting global trade and helping people access goods, commerce and services in their own languages. Some amazing anecdotes and advice from a top-of-his game, tech leader. https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

Gareth interviews Peter Dowds, founder of Elder HQ, an alternative to residential care homes and one of the fastest growing companies in the UK, aiming is to reshape how society looks after their elderly. Following a stint with a global law firm and couple of business ventures, Peter got involved in the later-life care sector, having seen an opportunity based the high demand for care options, driven by a rapidly ageing population. They discuss Peter's experiences of growing a company and disrupting a well-established industry, the pandemic and his outlook for the future. https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

Gareth interviews Ryan Prince - co-founder and vice-chairman of Realstar Group, who runs a large portfolio of commercial properties across the UK, he founded concept developer, UNCLE, who mix co-working space with, amenity-rich living space, catering to millennial and Gen Z professionals in major UK cities. He also co-founded early-stage venture capital firm, iGabriel at the age of just 21. They unpack this, his experience of investing in early-stage businesses, and Ryan's predictions for the work-space sector in light of the proclivity towards remote-working following the lockdown.https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

Gareth interviews Vishal Chatrath, a serial entrepreneur with an inspirational story. They discuss his entrepreneurial endeavours and what it takes to grow, autonomous effective teams in the current climate. His current venture, Prowler.io are a research-led AI/machine learning start-up who build autonomous agents for games and decision-support simulations. They focusing on behavioural learning and simulation in virtual environments and use inverse reinforcement learning and deep reinforcement learning for capturing behaviour for abstracted decision making. Quite notably they are currently working on solutions to future-proof supply chains from disruptions like pandemics. https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

Gareth Interviews Luke Hakes who's one of the partners at Octopus Ventures, one of the biggest VC funds in Europe. Luke did a PhD in computational genetics and unexpectedly went on to join Octopus in the early stages, in what could be described as opportune circumstances. He has since had a fantastic career in venture capital, overseeing multiple success stories with some of the UK's most innovative tech companies. He currently runs a hugely successful health-tech portfolio, at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic. We break down his criteria for investing and talk about the importance of building human capital value and having faith in your team. We also discuss upcoming macro shifts and the potential opportunity and turmoil that may arise. https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

Gareth interviews Carwyn Jones MS, a Welsh Labour politician who served as First Minister of Wales, and Leader of the Welsh Labour party from 2009 to 2018. An advocate of technology and progress, Carwyn was instrumental in upgrading the connectivity and network infrastructure of Wales, and has recently been advising technology businesses on strategy and governance. We also cover the current challenges for businesses in these unprecedented times, his big decision to leave politics next year, and his upcoming book release which is now available to pre-order on Amazon. https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

Gareth interviews the CIO of Deliveroo Will Sprunt. Following graduating from Cambridge University, Will had an early taste of starting a business and then embarked on a career in data analytics, culminating in being promoted to his current role within popular food delivery service, Deliveroo. We cover lots of ground, including the importance of being bilingual (that includes being able to code) for creativity, his crash-course in entrepreneurialism and we unpack his impressive career trajectory. https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

Bruce Daisley grew up on a council estate in Birmingham. Twenty years on, having worked in radio and magazines, he’s held leadership roles game-changing technology firms like YouTube, Google and most recently was Vice President for Twitter EMEA. His 2019 book on improving work culture, “The Joy of Work”, was a Sunday Times number one business bestseller and also went on to be named The Financial Times - Book of the Month. Bruce also hosts a chart-topping podcast, “Eat Sleep, Work, Repeat" and often places as the top-rated speaker at conferences in the US and the UK. Bruce is a thought leader in the workplace culture conversation, which has been disrupted so much by recent events. https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

Gareth Interviews Kevin Goldsmith, CTO of London based, identity verification provider Onfido. An engineer by trade, Kevin cut his teeth at Microsoft in the 1990's, and was a member of the Windows Media, Windows CE, and Microsoft Research teams at a time when they were scaling into the global behemoth they are today. He was also the Director of Engineering at Adobe Systems for nine years through a similar growth trajectory and also the VP of Engineering, at Spotify where he led, both product development and streaming delivery during a crucial time. We cover the above along with his thoughts on quantum computing, technology innovation and keeping engineering teams motivated during a lockdown. https://www.bedigitaluk.com/

Gareth interviews Ed Dixon, CEO of Bayezian, a talent incubator who aim to bridge the gap between education and industry by providing vocational coaching and placements services within Data Analytics and Data Science. We discussed setting up a business in 2020,  Gareth interviews Ed Dixon, CEO of Bayezian, a talent incubator who aim to bridge the gap between education and industry by providing vocational coaching and placement services within Data Analytics and Data Science. We discussed setting up a business in 2020,  acquiring Talent in the current climate, and adapting to change. https://www.bedigitaluk.com/