Our guest this week is Ron Kersic, a Digital Strategy & Innovation expert at ING who advises both internally and externally with startups and scaleups. In this wide-ranging conversation, we cover platforms and ecosystems, AI's impact on our relationship with computers (shifting from "oracle to muse"), and the importance of rethinking business structures, perspectives and mindsets. Ron also offers practical advice for founders and 'O types' on focusing their curiosity and embracing ambiguity as a strength in the modern business landscape.

You can find the Futuring Architectures Substack here.

00:00 Introduction to O Types Rising

00:22 Meet Ron Kersic: Futuring Architect

01:53 Exploring Ecosystems and Platforms

05:54 The Role of Technology in Business

11:14 Generative AI: A New Paradigm

21:25 Rethinking Organizations

24:52 The Value of Niches and Ecosystems

25:59 The Role of External Participants

27:31 Lessons from Airbnb's Ecosystem

28:52 B2B and Ecosystem Innovation

33:44 The Importance of Slowing Down

36:58 Embracing the O Type Mindset

39:16 Advice for O Types and Founders

42:25 Closing Thoughts and Reflections

In this episode of O Types Rising, host Jen Rice interviews Graham Glass, the founder, CEO, and CTO of Cypher Learning - an AI-powered Learning Management System in scale-up mode supported by $40 million in funding.

Graham shares his journey from childhood inspiration by English sci-fi to becoming a serial entrepreneur. He discusses the evolution of AI, the future of personalized learning, and how intelligent agents can revolutionize education. Graham also talks about what it takes to succeed as a founder, maintaining a distributed workforce, and the value of mentorship.

00:00 Introduction to O Types Rising

00:22 Meet Graham Glass: Founder of Cypher Learning

00:47 The Genesis of Cypher Learning

04:53 AI and the Future of Education

08:08 The Role of Humans in an AI-Driven World

14:17 The Personal Qualities for Success

24:33 Distributed Workforce and Company Culture

30:40 The Most Important Lesson Learned

33:10 Wrap up

In this first episode of O-Types Rising, host Jen Rice interviews John Durrant, co-founder of Human-Centric Engineering. We discuss the oft-overlooked people and relationship issues within software engineering, focusing on the importance of collaboration and empowerment for true value creation.

The relevance of this conversation expands far beyond software teams, delving into the value of self-organizing systems, the benefits of team topologies, and the need to balance specialists with generalists.

The episode also explores O-Types, individuals who thrive on curiosity and holistic thinking, and how their contributions can enhance organizational effectiveness at all levels.

00:00 Introduction to O-Types Rising

00:23 Meet John Durrant: Human-Centric Engineering

01:15 The Importance of Relationships in Engineering

01:54 Software is a Team Sport

02:59 No One Wants to Be a Cog in the Machine

04:44 Under-leveraged Potential of SEs and O-Types

07:35 Self-Organizing Systems and Trust

11:34 Team Topologies and Organizational Structure

21:31 The Drawback of Overspecialization

27:32 Balancing Curiosity and Focus

30:12 Unlocking Engineering Team Performance

34:28 Final Thoughts and Advice

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Resources:

https://humancentricengineering.substack.com/

https://www.humancentricengineering.com/

Reflections on Palantir re: "forward-deployed engineers"