Digitally Curious

We know that cybersecurity presents a huge risk to us both personally and professionally, but what can we do to stay safe? To answer this question I spoke with cybersecurity expert Raj Samani, who at the time of recording was Chief Scientist at McAfee, and is now at Rapid7 on the Actionable Futurist Podcast®.

As an international cybercrime expert, Raj has assisted multiple law enforcement agencies in cybercrime cases, and is a special advisor to the European Cybercrime Centre and is on the advisory councils for Infosecurity Europe and Infosecurity Magazine.

Cybersecurity threats now have the potential to completely cripple companies and complete supply chains and my discussion with Raj is accessible to audiences of all types, and contains advice for a board of directors, right down to students considering their career options.

In this wide-ranging discussion, we covered topics including:

• Cybercrime in a pandemic world
• How cybercrime has evolved
• How supply chains are now a target
• The Log4j vulnerability and what it means
• Are boards taking cyber threats seriously?
• Making the board uncomfortable about the risks
• Contextualising why cybersecurity matters
• Can AI help fight cybercrime?
• Actionable advice to keep safe
• How much security do you need?
• The industries most at risk
• Nation-states running social media campaigns
• What the FireEye acquisition means for McAfee 
• Criminals now have R&D departments
• IoT and APIs as the next threat areas?
• Children's toys are getting hacked
• Putting security at the heart of design
• Bletchley Park's role in cybersecurity
• The hot roles in cybersecurity
• Top 3 cybersecurity trends
• Do companies need a dedicated Chief Security Officer?
• 3 things to do today to stay safe

Raj provides us with actionable and practical advice on what to do this week to reduce your exposure.

Make 2022 the year you lean forward and take cybersecurity seriously.

More on Raj

LinkedIn
Twitter
McAfee Enterprise
Raj's Blogs

Resources mentioned on the show

Have I Been Pwned? website
Speakers for Schools website
NoMoreRansom.org
The Cuckoo's Egg book
Applied Cyber Security and the Smart Grid book
Dave Grohl Biography
Bletchley Park

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

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On this episode of the Actionable Futurist® podcast, we spoke with Steve Cadigan who has been at the forefront of global talent strategy and company culture for the past 30 years. 

He is most famous for scaling Linkedin from 400 to 4,000 in just 3 and a half years.

Steve also led the development of LinkedIn’s legendary company culture and was at the helm of the Talent function for its period of the highest growth and through their IPO.

He’s worked in 5 different industries and 3 different countries, and his focus today is to help leaders and organizations build winning talent solutions to compete in an increasingly complex digital economy.

Steve has just released his new book: “Workquake: Embracing the aftershocks of Covid-19 to create a better model of working”.

We had a fascinating discussion that I know you will enjoy and included topics such as

• Being more human in a digital world
• Who is getting the next phase of work right?
• How important is trust in organisations?
• How do we instil trust with a distributed workforce?
• Replacing those stolen coffee moments at work
• The more fluid world of work
• Building in social interaction with teams
• The rise of the third place
• The longer-term plan for home working
• Will we go back to 5 days in the office again?
• The professional workforce has tasted freedom
• Google's response to remote working
• Advice for HR directors
• Employee alumni groups
• The one thing that stood out in researching the book
• Your digital first impression
• The rise of the gig worker
• Actionable tips for this week

More on Steve
LinkedIn
Twitter
Website
Workquake - the book

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

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On this episode of the Actionable Futurist® podcast, we spoke with Mark Schaefer, someone I’ve known for nearly a decade. We first met in 2012 after he published the best selling book “Return on Influence” while I was the CEO of influencer platform Kred.

He’s also the author of the world's best-selling book on Twitter, The Tao of Twitter, as well as a raft of other books such as The Content Code about content marketing and “KNOWN” a book on personal branding. I was also fortunate to be featured in his “book “Marketing Rebellion" - an Amazon best-seller.

His new book, "Cumulative Advantage: How to Build Momentum for Your Ideas, Business, and Life Against All Odds" guides readers on a path that helps them stand out in a world of overwhelming information density -- when sometimes even being "great" is not enough.

Filled with motivating ideas and fascinating case studies, Cumulative Advantage is an indispensable and practical source of inspiration for every person with a dream that’s ready to take flight.

We had a fascinating discussion that I know you will enjoy.

Topics covered included:

• The  genesis of influencer marketing
• How we can all gain a cumulative advantage
• Why it's time for marketers to be humble
• The opportunity for TikTok
• How serendipity can play a huge role in your life and career
• Mark's view on the demographics for each social network
• How social media will fracture
• How we now live in a world of infinite media
• Harnessing the era of unintended consequences for marketers

Resources:

Azeem Azar's Exponential view
Benedict Evans Newsletter

More on Mark
LinkedIn
Twitter
Blog
His books

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

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In this episode, we spoke to Bret Greenstein who at the time of recording was Global Head of AI & Analytics for consulting firm Cognizant. He now leads PwC's US AI, Data and Analytics Strategy and Alliances. He has an additional role leading Generative AI for the firm.

Bret has worked for over 25 years helping clients to transform through the adoption of new technologies, including Generative AI, Data, Internet of Things, and Cloud, to deliver new business models and new ways of working.

He joined PwC from Cognizant where he was the SVP and Global Head of AI and Analytics. Prior to that he worked in IBM as a P&L leader for multiple software and services brands, and he was the CIO for IBM's Growth Markets based in China.

In this wide-ranging discussion, we uncovered new uses for AI, around the notion of "Evolutionary AI".

We also discussed how AI can help governments and countries prepare for the next COVID-19 pandemic, and Cognizant's involvement with  XPRIZE to launch the Pandemic Response Challenge, a competition to create AI systems that can help societies reopen safely in the wake of COVID-19. 

Cognizant’s work was based on data from Oxford and John Hopkins and provided data-centric strategies for governments that want to support healthcare professionals in the fight against future pandemics. 

We also covered:

• The difference between Artificial Intelligence, Artificial General Intelligence and Evolutionary Artificial Intelligence
• Bret's view on General AI and how far we are away from it in practice
• The importance of ethics and AI, and conscious bias
• What more can be done in schools to prepare students for a world dominated by AI?
• What Governments be doing to implement the sorts of solutions uncovered in the challenge to help our societies get back to a pre-Covid world
• The notion of "data credits" to encourage data sharing to solve broader problems
• How AI augments people’s decisions and finds meaning from the noise
• The suggestion that data and access to data should be an asset on a company balance sheet
• How AI can be used to develop better predictions for a range of business problems
• Some practical advice on what you can be doing to better understand the power of AI and in particular Evolutionary AI
• Bret's view on how AI can better connect with humans

My favourite quote of the episode was

"Climbers climb mountains, data scientists find meaning in data"

We've had a number of AI experts on the show, and this episode was one of my favourites because of the way Bret explained very complicated topics in an easy to understand way.

More on Bret

Linkedin

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

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In this episode, we spoke to Sue Walter who is the former CEO of Maggie and Rose, London's first and best-loved family members club.

Sue is no stranger to Member’s clubs, having been the CEO of the Hospital Club where we met back in 2011.

The Hospital Club was a club for creatives and was founded by Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen and Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics. It opened in 2004 and sadly closed in 2020.

Sue has had a diverse and interesting career having started in HR with the Metropolitan Police before being the HR Director at the Royal Opera House, worked for Universal Music, and joined the Hospital Club for the first time in 2002. She’s also worked in the Education sector and was Group CEO of the Coppa Club before joining Maggie and Rose at the end of 2019.

Sue is an amazing and inspirational leader and we had a lot to talk about including:

• The Maggie and Rose concept
• Adapting to the pandemic
• Developing a digital platform in 4 days
• Using the learnings from the pandemic
• Rapid product development by knowing your audience
• How the Maggie & Rose staff adapted to the changes?
• How  junior members respond
• Options for keeping the digital offering post-pandemic
• Sue's choose to challenge for International Women's Day (her answer will surprise you)
• The roles mentors have played in Sue's career
• Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen's influence
• Do women make better leaders and better boardroom decisions?
• Diversity of thought and the 2 tribes
• Why Sue believes we need men at the table to solve gender equality
• Advice for Gen Y, Gen Z and Gen Alpha
• Sue's favourite memory of the Hospital Club
• The secret of a great member's club
• The best piece of advice she’s ever received
• Advice you have for her 19-year old son
• Who inspires Sue and why?
• Challenges as we move out of lockdown
• Learning how to relate to each other again
• The best use of technology during the pandemic
• Managing a good work/life balance in 2021
• Sue’s biggest hope for 2021
• What Sue is reading at the moment
• 3 pieces of practical advice

Show resources

What sue is currently reading: The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov

More on Sue

Linkedin
Instagram
Maggie and Rose

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

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Braintrust is the new model for how work gets done, says founder and Chief Revenue Officer Gabriel Luna-Ostaseki on this episode of the podcast.

Braintrust is the first user-controlled talent network that connects organisations with highly skilled tech talent. 

In this fascinating discussion, we covered topics such as:

• Why the way we work is outdated and what needs to be done to fix it
• How the old hierarchical model is breaking down and the need for companies to flex and bend and be very, very agile 
• How Braintrust allows people to do work they love on their own terms
• How companies can now access reliable and highly vetted talent
• How Braintrust differs from other sites such as Fiverr and Doordash
• The new market for highly skilled independent workers
• How the way in which work happens will increasingly become networked versus work happening in the traditional command and control hierarchy 

Gabriel argues that the move to distributed work has been going on for 10 years but it just got accelerated by a decade in the last few months.

One of the most interesting parts of our discussion centred around how to best manage people when they are distributed, and how companies and managers need to move to asynchronous communication. He argues that this is one of the things that a lot of big corporates have had difficulty doing, they basically moved out of their offices, but then they just kept all the same meeting structure.

With “people are just sitting on zooms for 10 hours a day”, meaning they actually don't get the benefits of distributed work when you're synchronous but distributed. He says that moving spoken to written communication unlocks a global talent pool, versus people having to be within your two hour time zone. 

 He sees this as a huge unlock, especially if you're if you are talent constrained, if you're trying to find the best technical talent in the world, if you can now expand to a global footprint, that's huge unlock for large corporations. 

Another key topic centred around an HBR article that suggests introverts are better at managing remote worker than extroverts. Managers that are more like introverts that are really successful in remote environments that are empathetic, and that are focused on attention to detail, really clear communication, and, more servant leadership, where they're focused on helping their people to succeed. 

 If you’re interested in the future of work, and how distributed teams, backed by a distributed culture will be the ones to succeed post-pandemic then this podcast is a must-listen. 

Show resources

HBR article on Remote Managers having trust issues
Braintrust website

More on Gabriel

Gabriel on LinkedIn
Gabriel on Twitter @gabelunao 

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

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Today's guest is the founding member and drummer from 1980s pop sensation Scritti Politti - Tom Morley.

We had a fascinating discussion about how Tom moved from being a bonafide rockstar to become a "Rockstar Activator", motivating audiences and driving teamwork at events around the world through the use of music, instruments and a healthy dose of fun.

Tom's journey to corporate speaker is a great story in itself and helps set the scene for the 43-minute episode. 

For the last 20 years, Tom has been using his unique blend of storytelling and percussion to get teams focused and motivated and break down silos.

Fast forward to 2020 and like most people, his business was massively disrupted.

All of his USPs were gone overnight- rhythm, harmony, the safety of performing behind closed doors.

Instead of "going off and writing a book for 12 months", Tom looked at the objectives behind his events: energise, connect, get outside your comfort zone, and do something unusual

Tom explains why his events work - he brings out the "wild twin" inside all of us. 

We also discussed how Tom moved his business online, and how the first event we worked together on - The Podcast Festival on May 28th 2020 was a catalyst to shift gears in his online performance.

There are also a number of gems in this episode and only a real rockstar could name drop David Bowie!

Find out more about Tom at TomMorley.com

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

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Today's guest is Jeremy Thompson, who is Executive Vice President of Huawei UK, and oversees the development of Huawei's UK businesses.

Jeremy joined Huawei UK in 2012 as deputy managing director with specific responsibility for carrier strategy, business change, and key customers. Prior to Huawei, Jeremy worked for 20 years in senior management roles, including product leadership and telecoms joint venture development for BT group in the UK and other parts of Europe, including Spain and the Nordics.

Jeremy's also previously worked in the USA and the UK for an IBM software company and consulting businesses. 

We spoke at length about Huawei's reaction to the recent UK Government decision to force UK mobile operators to remove all Huawei 5G equipment by 2027.

We also addressed a number of other issues:

• How early generations (1G, 2G, 3G etc) helped form the current 5G standards
• The inherent benefits of 5G for the UK and beyond
• How Jeremy has been leading Huawei through the current crisis
• How Huawei has embraced the Covid-19 lockdown
• What is next for Huawei in the UK
• How the telecoms industry will evolve towards 6G
• How standards are important to drive innovation
• How the current US-China trade war is bad for innovation

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

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@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
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On this episode, we spoke with James Cridland, Editor of leading podcast news site Podnews.

Podcasting is on the rise, with 96,500 new podcasts in May 2020 alone. In this episode we discussed a number of topics related to podcasting, including:

• Is Podcasting is on the increase?
• The half-life of a podcast series
• Is podcasting the new blogging?
• How Podnews started
• Producing a daily podcast and newsletter
• The future of RSS
• Apple's dominance in RSS standards
• Spotify as a competitor
• Is Google number 3 in Podcasting?
• Is the Joe Rogan/Spotify deal the first of many?
• Will we see the rise of "walled gardens"?
• Apple's dominance with podcast discovery
• IMDB as a podcast directory?
• The importance of measurement & monetisation
• Monetisation beyond advertising
• The future of corporate podcasting
• Private corporate podcasting
• What is the future of podcasting?

Quick fire round

•  Favourite Podcast
•  Favourite podcast app
•  Apple or Spotify?
•  Favourite length of podcast
•  The last podcast you listened to

Three things to take advantage of podcasting

• Subscribe to Podnews.net
• Listen to other podcasts
• Learn how to edit audio

More information on James can be found at jamescridland.net

The podcasts and products mentioned on the podcast are listed below

Podcast Festival - podcastfestival.events

The Bugle Podcast
Freenoter Podcast
Audacity
Adobe Audition
Hindenberg Journalist Pro

Sign up for the Podnews daily newsletter at podnews.net

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

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In this special edition of the Actionable Futurist® Podcast, we spoke with Dan Ziv, CEO of Touchnote, a digital company that is providing a creative way for personal communication which I think we’d all agree is needed even more during this very challenging 2020.

Dan runs a small company of 50 people, and we looked at how his company runs remotely, how he runs a company remotely and how his staff have responded to the challenges presented by the lockdown.

We also covered a range of topics relevant for employers of any size as well as employees such as:

• Dealing with your team during lockdown
• Changes in consumer behaviour during Covid-19
• Why consumers want more meaningful ways to communicate
• Changes in strategy post Covid-19
• Disruption as a result of Covid-19
• Business models now and in the future
• Communicating and motivating staff during lockdown
• Why efficiency and productivity is higher than ever
• The need for the team to take breaks while at home
• Redefining the work-home boundaries
• Using a "clock-in / clock-out" system while remote
• The "red cord" process to deal with major issues
• Adapting agile processes when working remotely
• Where agile does not work for remote teams
• Key learnings with remote teams - smaller is better
• What does the future of work look like?
• Will working away from home become the norm?
• Adapting your current work from home policies
• The 3 types of employees and how to accommodate them

1. Employees who want a clear separation between home and work
2. Employees who are fine with the work from home life balance
3. Employees who need flexibility depending on their life stage

• Offering a menu of options for employees
• In 12 month's time we will see the future of work really evolve?
• How working from home changes your perspective as a manager
• Getting work done as a CEO during Covid-19
• Setting your own boundaries as a CEO
• When work and home are the same place you need to force boundaries
• Empathising with your team during lockdown
• A global downturn will change business priorities
• Benefit of hindsight - preparing for Covid-19
• 3 things you can do this week

1. Hoard cash
2. Ensure your key employees are comfortable and secure
3. Work hard on mental and physical health

This was a really eye-opening episode to record and I know you will find many practical tips in the episode. Why not listen while out exercising during lockdown?

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
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Andrew on YouTube
@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
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