In this episode, Oliver Cronk dives into the world of Event-Driven Architecture (EDA) with Tom Fairbairn from Solace and Scott Logic’s Gordon Campbell. The discussion explores whether EDA has matured beyond the hype into a practical strategy for modern systems integration, or if it’s just another architectural buzzword.

Together, they unpack the core principles of EDA, its role in taming point-to-point integration chaos, and how asynchronous processing can help smooth demand spikes. Drawing on real-world examples from finance, retail, and public sector projects, the conversation highlights the power and pitfalls of adopting EDA.

Whether you're navigating legacy systems, planning a cloud migration, or exploring AI integration, this episode offers a grounded perspective on when – and when not – to go event-driven.

Useful links for this episode

• Data engineering posts on the Scott Logic blog
• Tom Fairbairn's posts on the Solace blog
• Event-Driven Integration posts on the Solace blog

Oliver Cronk is joined by Scott Logic’s Sophia Ashley and Alix Dunn from the ‘Computer Says Maybe’ podcast for a wide-ranging discussion which poses ethical questions that are frequently ignored in the race for technological innovation.

Together, they explore the intersection of technology and power, and examine whether society is unwittingly allowing technology to reshape our world without adequate scrutiny or safeguards. As technological innovations continue to promote the atomisation and polarisation of society and the erosion of human agency, our guests consider what’s required to achieve the right balance of People, Planet and Profit.

From the global to the local, the discussion rounds off by providing practical advice on how you can promote a more human-centric approach to technology in your life and your work.

Useful links for this episode

• Computer Says Maybe podcast
• Defying Datafication with Dr Abeba Birhane – Computer Says Maybe
• The Human in the Loop: what's it like to work in the AI supply chain? – Computer Says Maybe
• Are we sleepwalking into tomorrow's AI challenges? – Oliver Cronk
• Gradual Disempowerment: Systemic Existential Risks from Incremental AI Development – Jan Kulveit, Raymond Douglas, Nora Ammann, Deger Turan, David Krueger, David Duvenaud
• The Planet as a Stakeholder
• The Responsible Business Map
• The Green PO
• Doing the Doughnut Tech

In this episode, Oliver Cronk is joined by colleagues David Rees, Hélène Sauvé, Ivan Mladjenovic and Emma Pearce. Together, they delve into the practical applications and limitations of agentic AI and its implications for enterprise AI deployments.

The team shares insights from the ‘Infer’ research and development projects, through which Scott Logic produced and open-sourced InferLLM (a local, personalised AI agent) and InferESG (which uses AI agents to identify greenwashing in Environmental, Social and Governance reports).

With real-world examples and expert perspectives, the panel provides a nuanced view of whether fully autonomous agents are hype or reality in 2025. They discuss the balance between human oversight and automation, and emphasise the importance of transparency and traceability in AI systems. They also consider the ethical considerations of self-building agents and the challenges of ensuring reliable AI outputs.

Have a listen to gain a deeper understanding of the evolving landscape of agentic AI and its potential impact on various sectors.

Useful links for this episode

• InferLLM on GitHub – Open-sourced by Scott Logic
• InferESG on GitHub – Open-sourced by Scott Logic
• InferESG: Augmenting ESG Analysis with Generative AI – David Rees, Scott Logic
• InferESG: Finding the Right Architecture for AI-Powered ESG Analysis – David Rees, Scott Logic
• InferESG: Harnessing agentic AI for due diligence – Scott Logic case study
• Beyond the Hype: Will we ever be able to secure GenAI? – Scott Logic
• Beyond the Hype: Is architecture for AI even necessary? – Scott Logic
• Draft classification for different types of Enterprise AI deployment – Oliver Cronk, Scott Logic

In this episode, Oliver Cronk is joined by colleagues Jess McEvoy and James Heward, and Atom Bank's Head of AI and Data Science, Russell Collingham, to tackle the provocative question: "Is architecture for AI even necessary?"

They explore the transformative impact of generative AI and the critical role of architecture in ensuring sustainable and scalable implementations. Russell shares Atom Bank's approach to building reusable AI components while navigating security and governance challenges. James emphasises the evolving role of architects in balancing innovation with practical constraints, arguing that architecture remains essential for mission-critical applications. Jess provides a public sector perspective, highlighting the need for a balanced approach to AI regulation and innovation.

The episode also delves into the geopolitical implications of AI, the importance of data sovereignty, and the potential for the UK to develop its own AI strategy. Have a listen to gain insights into the ongoing debate about the necessity of architecture in the AI era and the strategic considerations for leveraging AI effectively.

Useful links for this episode

• There is more than one way to do GenAI – Oliver Cronk, Scott Logic
• Are we sleepwalking into tomorrow's AI challenges? – Oliver Cronk, Scott Logic
• Building Effective AI Agents – Anthropic
• Fully Autonomous AI Agents Should Not Be Developed (PDF) – Hugging Face
• Will the US cloud soon be illegal in the EU? – CIO

In this episode of Beyond the Hype, Oliver Cronk is joined by Bradon Rogers from Island, along with Scott Logic colleagues Dean Kerr and Robat Williams, to explore the potential of enterprise browsers.

They delve into the advantages of enterprise browsers over standard options like Chrome and Edge, particularly in terms of security and productivity. Bradon describes how enterprise browsers, built on a Chromium foundation, offer a familiar user experience while integrating robust security features and application delivery capabilities.

The discussion also covers the challenges of using consumer-grade browsers in corporate environments, the benefits of desktop container technologies, and the potential for enterprise browsers to simplify security and enhance user productivity. Join the panel as they consider whether enterprise browsers will transform the way organisations manage and secure their digital workspaces.

Useful links for this episode

• Emerging Tech: Security — The Future of Enterprise Browsers – Gartner
• Web browsers: Reimagining remote work needs at the enterprise level – CIO
• The rise of the enterprise browser and what’s next for secure browsing – VentureBeat

In this episode, Oliver Cronk is joined by Technology Lead Andrew Carr and CTO Colin Eberhardt to delve into the evolving nature of technology strategy within organisations.

As technological advancements accelerate, they question the relevance of a traditional long-term technology strategy and whether it has become an industry buzzword in itself. They explore the annual ritual of tech predictions and strategic planning, and whether it is practical or performative. They also debate the balance between addressing technical debt and fostering innovation, the influence of analyst-driven hype, and the critical decision of buy versus build.

There’s a lot of hype to navigate around, but they bring their range of experiences to bear in providing a nuanced perspective on how to create effective technology strategies that genuinely add value – by aligning technology strategies with business goals.

Links from this episode

• How to build an effective technical strategy – LeadDev
• Better than a secret weapon: 5 steps to a winning technology skills strategy  – TechUK
• The Tech:Forward recipe for a successful technology transformation – McKinsey

In this episode, Oliver Cronk is joined for a discussion on observability by Scott Rowan, Senior Developer at Scott Logic, and Daniel Gomez Blanco, Principal Engineer at Skyscanner and a member of the Open Telemetry Governance Committee.   The conversation explores what observability means in modern distributed software architectures, how it differs from traditional monitoring, and the challenges of implementing observability at scale. The discussion touches on practical aspects of implementing observability and how this approach can lead to faster problem detection and resolution, as well as cost savings by reducing the volume of less useful data collected.   The rise in popularity of observability has gone hand in hand with the rise of microservices and event-driven architectures. But although it’s a relatively new kid on the block, is observability hyped or a necessary evolution in managing modern software systems?

Links from this episode

• What is Observability? – The New Relic perspective
• What is Observability? – The Dynatrace perspective
• OpenTelemetry website
• OpenTelemetry introduction at CloudNativeCon

In this episode, Oliver Cronk, Doro Hinrichs and Kira Clark from Scott Logic are joined by Peter Gostev, Head of AI at Moonpig. Together, they explore whether we can ever really trust and secure Generative AI (GenAI), while sharing stories from the front line about getting to grips with this rapidly evolving technology.

With its human-like, non-deterministic nature, GenAI frustrates traditional pass/fail approaches to software testing. The panellists explore ways to tackle this, and discuss Scott Logic’s Spy Logic project which helps development teams investigate defensive measures against prompt injection attacks on a Large Language Model.

Looking to the future, they ask whether risk mitigation measures will ever be effective – and what impact this will have on product and service design – before offering pragmatic advice on what organisations can do to navigate this terrain.

Links from this episode

• Prompt injection explained, with video, slides, and a transcript – Simon Willison's Weblog
• Spy Logic on GitHub
• Spy Logic – Doro Hinrichs and Heather Logan
• How the tables turned – My life with Spy Logic – Kira Clark

In this episode, Oliver Cronk and David Rees from Scott Logic are joined by Hannah Smith, Director of Operations at Green Web Foundation, an organisation aiming to make the internet fossil-free by 2030. Together, they explore the potential benefits and limitations of ‘carbon aware’ computing, which involves scheduling computational workloads during times or in locations where energy sources have lower carbon emissions.

With the simplicity of ‘carbon aware’ being at odds with the complexities of managing the electricity grid, they move on to discussing ‘grid aware’. This concept goes beyond carbon intensity to take into account factors like grid stability, demand patterns, and energy sources being curtailed.

Ultimately, they consider just how marginal the gains are likely to be. With global emissions from cloud computing already exceeding those from commercial flights, is ‘carbon aware’ a distraction from getting to grips with the scale of the challenge we face?

Links from this episode

• Green Web Foundation

• What software engineers need to know about how energy grids work - Green Web Foundation (thegreenwebfoundation.org)

• Full Grid Aware Research on GitHub

• Sustainability topic on the Scott Logic Blog

In this episode, Colin Eberhardt is joined by Jess McEvoy and Peter Chamberlin, who have both spent many years in senior roles within public sector organisations.

Their conversation covers the excitement and concerns around AI, both from a citizen's perspective and for those building public services. They discuss the UK government’s approach to addressing AI challenges with its pro-innovation mantra, and whether this creates the right environment for success. They also touch on the need for global cooperation when tackling what are increasingly becoming global challenges.

Links from this episode

A guide to using artificial intelligence in the public sector 

National AI Strategy (PDF)

A pro-innovation approach to AI

Prime Minister's speech on AI: 26 October 2023

The Bletchley Declaration – November 2023

Policy implications of artificial intelligence (AI) 

A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation: government response 

AI Safety Institute - Third progress report