The Irish Tech News Podcast

Late last year MyCelsius launched their cooling bracelet in the UK and they are planning to launch it in Ireland this year. I recently caught up with Aonghus O’Donovan the CTO and Co-Founder of MyCelsius.Aonghus spoke about his background, how MyCelsius was founded, the technology behind MyCelsius, their plans to launch the Cooling Bracelet in Ireland in 2026 and more.More about MyCelsius:MyCelsius Cooling Bracelet is a groundbreaking innovation developed to support people affected by heat and hot flushes.  At the heart of what they do, they developed one of the smallest and most powerful cooling systems in the world.Founded with the mission to close the gap in women’s health innovation, the company has designed a stylish, science-driven wearable that brings comfort, confidence and wellbeing to women. 

In this week’s One Vision Podcast, we welcome back Sandeep Mangaraj, now co-founder of Aileron Group, to discuss lessons from building a company in a crowded AI market and why AI success is more about people and process than technology. The conversation covers executives rushing into GenAI due to FOMO, the importance of starting with desired outcomes rather than applying GenAI everywhere, and why mid-market institutions may benefit from faster time-to-decision, less technical debt, and faster learning cycles. The key question is whether firms can afford the downside of waiting. And the answer is increasingly: No.00:00 Welcome Back: Meet Sandeep Mangaraj 00:55 Building Aileron: Lessons From a Crowded AI Market03:49 The AI ROI Myth: What’s Actually Being Measured?05:28 FOMO vs Outcomes: Picking the Right AI Use Cases10:09 Falling Costs & Speed of Learning12:40 Who Owns AI Outcomes and Who’s Accountable When It Breaks?14:55 Third-Party Risk: Regulators, Vendors, and Dependencies19:51 “Can You Afford to Wait?”23:02 Closing: Act With Purpose in 2026Hot take:  The barrier to AI success isn't technology, it's people and process. #AI #Fintech #GenerativeAI #DigitalTransformation

We caught up with Jana Kominek Vecerkova to learn more about the EUSPA CASSINI Challenge, which is now looking for more interesting startup space ideas for future EU launches. See more details about the project here CASSINI Challenges competition is open | EU Agency for the Space Programme Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams   (webinar on the CASSINI Challenge call).Jana is a startup ecosystem builder with over 15 years of experience in entrepreneurship, product development, and project management. At the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), she supports space ventures as part of the CASSINI initiative, helping space ventures scale, secure investment, and transform bold ideas into market-ready solutions. As a serial founder, she has launched an acclaimed tech education program and a real estate micro-investment marketplace. Earlier in her career, Jana worked in Brussels managing pan-European projects, collaborating with public and private stakeholders. She holds an MSc in European Political Economy from the London School of Economics.

Jon Neale recently joined Kahoot!, Europe’s largest edtech to expand its education and business partnerships across the UK and Ireland. Jon is an expert in scaling edtech adoption across K-12, Further Education, and Higher Education, with over two decades of experience working in edtech. He joins Kahoot! following senior roles at Quizizz and Ed Before Tech. I recently caught up with Jon to find out more about Kahoot! and edtech.Jon talks about his background, what Kahoot! does, the UK & Ireland priorities for edtech expansion right now and more.More about Kahoot!:Kahoot! already partners with industry giants worldwide such as Disney, Sanrio (makers of Hello Kitty), TED, and Wikipedia, among others. The game-based learning platform is used by 97% of Fortune 500 companies and widely used by FTSE 100 to engage workforces.

Dive into the future of wealth with AI in Asia! 🌏🚀 Join Theodora Lau on the latest episode of One Vision podcast as she chats with Yves Roesti, Managing Partner & CEO Synpulse Group, about how AI is transforming the industry across APAC. From cultural nuances to regulatory challenges, they explore the intricate balance of human touch and technology, the unique challenges and opportunities in the region, the vision behind OpenWealth Association, and how AI impacts the future of consulting and wealthtech. 📍Hot take:“I actually think that junior consultants are uniquely positioned to be supercharged by the AI movement. The question to ask is, what skills do you need to have, in order to thrive in an AI-enabled world?  Being resilient, being creative, asking the right questions, being curious, and having empathy and having interpersonal skills.” Episode highlights  00:00 - Introduction and Welcome02:21 - AI Trends in APAC vs. US11:56 - OpenWealth Association18:00 - Future of Consulting with AI24:11 - Contrarian Views on AI 30:58 - Concluding Thoughts#AI #Fintech #WealthTech #Asia More about our guest 🌐Yves Roesti on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yves-roesti/ More about our host and One Vision Podcast 🌐Theodora Lau on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theodoralau/ 🌐Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence (book): https://www.bankingonaibook.com/ 🌐Unconventional Ventures (company): https://www.unconventionalventures.com/ 🌐Listen to all One Vision Podcast episodes by visiting: https://shows.acast.com/one-vision 

Numen Technologies Limited, is an Irish technology company driven by a simple but powerful principle: privacy is at the heart of everything they do, and in the modern age of AI, this is so important. To find out more about what they do I caught up with  one of their co-founders Jeethu Rao.Jeethu talks about his background, on device SLM’s, current AI, moravec paradox, Chat GPT and more.More about Numen technologies Limited: Numen technologies was founded in 2020, in Dublin, Ireland and they specialise in on-device machine learning and care deeply about privacy. They also build ML powered products that are private by default.Numen build three products that put privacy first. Private LLM is an on-device AI assistant offering fully private, subscription-free intelligence on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Slop or Not uses models trained on millions of samples, optimised for Apple Neural Engine, to detect AI-generated text and images. Clean Links strips tracking from URLs and reveals what's behind shortened links and QR codes. Everything processes locally. No tracking.

Join Theodora Lau on this new episode of One Vision — the FinTech Fuse, as she hosts Elias Kruger, Managing Principal at Long-Range AI Consulting. Elias shares his journey from his role at Wells Fargo to launching his own AI consultancy. Discover insights into the transformative potential of AI, the importance of responsible implementation, the potential impact on training, and what the future might hold. Be part of the conversation and let's shape a responsible AI future together! 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome00:38 Elias Kruger's Career at a Big Bank05:06 Transitioning into Entrepreneurship07:02 AI's Impact on the Workplace11:46 The Future of AI and Responsible Use22:32 Hopeful Innovations in AI📍Hot take: You can't beat competition by simply cutting your staff. You have to innovate with AI, you have to grow with AI.#AI #FinTech #FutureOfWork #Innovation #ResponsibleAI #BankingOnAI #DigitalTransformation Find Elias Kruger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekruger1/ Find Theodora Lau on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theodoralau/ 🔗 Theo’s latest book: Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence: https://www.bankingonaibook.com/ 🔗 About Unconventional Ventures and the One Vision Podcast: https://www.unconventionalventures.com/ 

Founded by Stefan George, Martin Köppelmann, and Friederike Ernst, Gnosis, a web 3.0 company  has grown from a shared vision into a leading force in building open, community-driven systems. What began as an experiment in decentralised prediction markets evolved into a foundational ecosystem for coordination and governance. A decade on, Gnosis continues to demonstrate how DAO-governed infrastructure can create systems that are more transparent, resilient, and stable than centralised alternatives. By seamlessly integrating governance, payments, and blockchain infrastructure, Gnosis sets the standard for leadership and innovation in decentralised finance.I recently caught up with Friederike Ernst to find out more about a decentralised web 3.0.Friederike talks about her background, web 3.0, social media, crypto and more. More about Gnosis:As the world’s biggest banks and financial institutions have adopted and invested in blockchain, Gnosis’ renewed strategy and brand is driven by the belief that centralised financial institutions building on blockchain isn’t proof that the technology has value - it’s proof that institutions are trying to contain it. Instead, they plan to activate the new brand in a series of marketing campaigns to highlight that true progress in DeFi means that users, not intermediaries, hold the keys and reap the rewards of blockchain’s role in financial solutions.

🌟 New episode alert! One Vision — FinTech Fuse is back with a power-packed conversation with Jody Bhagat, North America President at Engine by Starling. We talk about the critical role of technology in transforming banking operations and delivering exceptional customer experiences. Whether you're grappling with legacy systems or eyeing the cutting-edge of AI, Jody's insights offer valuable guidance on modernization strategies and the transformative potential of technology. Check out this engaging discussion to learn how this dynamic industry can be both vital and cool! 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome01:39 Understanding Engine by Starling04:43 Challenges and Opportunities in the US Market06:13 The Importance of Modern Technology in Banking13:58 AI and Its Impact on Banking21:38 Strategies for Bank Transformation26:31 Looking Ahead: The Future of Banking29:46 Conclusion and Farewell📍 Hot take: Most banks and credit unions are spending 70 to 80% of their IT spend just on maintaining their legacy core, and it's providing little or no differentiation.#DigitalTransformation #AI #FinTech Find Jody Bhagat on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/digitalbusinessgrower/ Find Theodora Lau on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theodoralau/ 🔗 Theo’s latest book: Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence: https://www.bankingonaibook.com/ 🔗 About Unconventional Ventures and the One Vision Podcast: https://www.unconventionalventures.com/

ServiceNow is one of the world’s biggest SaaS and digital transformation companies is ServiceNow. When their Chief Experience Officer Amy Lokey was recently in Dublin, I caught up with her to find about what her job entails and how AI is being used by ServiceNow.Amy talks about customers user experience, how ServiceNow has embraced AI, how AI has influenced how ServiceNow use CRM’s and more.More about ServiceNow:ServiceNow helps organisations connect AI, data, and workflows on one platform. Work works better for everyone across every corner of the business. Their AI platform delivers apps that predict issues, automate processes, and make time for people-powered innovation.