Louis Badcock, Chief Product & Technology Officer at World of Books Group, joins On The Pulse to trace an unconventional route into product and technology: from an experimental psychology degree, through John Lewis and Tesco, to the fast-scaling used-car marketplace Cazoo. The conversation covers what actually makes a strong product manager, why the “mini CEO” comparison gets overused, how World of Books keeps its teams close to the customer, and why Louis believes AI is about to reshape product and technology roles more than most people expect.

FIVE KEY MOMENTS

• 00:02:48 Louis explains how curiosity, not a computer science degree, took him from an experimental psychology degree into technology via John Lewis’s graduate scheme.
• 00:23:29 What Louis looks for in a great product manager: making good decisions without all the data, then explaining them in the language of the business.
• 00:42:14 Joining the online used-car marketplace Cazoo as it scaled from around 50 employees to roughly 3,000.
• 00:53:15 Fifteen months into his first CPTO role, Louis reflects on bringing product and technology together at World of Books Group.
• 01:04:25 Why Louis believes AI will change product and technology roles dramatically, and how leaders can prepare for it.

GUEST
Louis Badcock linkedin.com/in/louis-badcock-2865843

GUEST COMPANY
World of Books Group linkedin.com/company/world-of-books-group

HOST
Tony Mulcock linkedin.com/in/tonymulcock

HOST COMPANY 
Pulse Group https://pulsegroupsolutions.com/

SPONSOR 
This episode of On The Pulse is sponsored by Pulse Group.

Produced by Vertical Drop

What does the future of software engineering actually look like?

In this episode, Richard Burns is joined by Matt Whetton, Chief Technology Officer at Acquired.com, to explore how AI is transforming engineering teams, leadership, and the skills needed to stay ahead.

Drawing on more than 25 years of experience, Matt shares why he stepped away from the venture-backed world, what he's learned from leading engineering teams through periods of rapid growth, and why smaller, highly effective teams may outperform larger organisations in the years ahead.

If you work in technology, product, engineering or leadership, this conversation offers practical insights into how the role of engineers is evolving and what that means for the future of the industry.

Chapters

02:30 – Why Matt left the VC-backed world for a bootstrapped business
09:20 – Building smaller, more effective engineering teams
18:30 – The biggest differences between bootstrapped and VC-backed companies
35:40 – How AI is changing the role of software engineers forever

Connect with Richard Burns

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardmarcburns/
Pulse Recruit: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pulse-recruit/

Connect with Matt Whetton

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewwhetton/
Company: https://linkedin.com/company/10631317/

If you enjoyed this episode, please like the video, subscribe to the channel, and let us know your biggest takeaway in the comments.

Produced by Vertical Drop.

In this episode of On The Pulse, Tony sits down with Blake Moseley, VP of Product at JUUL, to talk about the career journey that's taken him from agency life in Australia to leading product teams in one of the UK's fastest-growing tech businesses.

Blake shares how working in agencies shaped the way he thinks about leadership, problem-solving and innovation, why agency talent is thriving in startups, and what it really takes to build high-performing product teams. The conversation also explores the realities of leading through constant change, hiring people who challenge you, and why the best leaders aren't afraid to admit what they don't know.

They also dive into the impact AI is having on product development, how it's completely changing the way products are built, and why keeping up with the pace of innovation has become both exciting and daunting.

00:00 – Tony introduces Blake and his journey from agency life in Australia to product leadership in the UK
03:15 – How working in agencies shaped Blake’s approach to leadership, problem-solving and innovation
08:40 – Why agency talent is thriving in startups and fast-moving businesses
13:10 – What it really takes to build high-performing product teams
18:25 – Leading through constant change and making decisions when things move quickly
23:50 – Hiring people who challenge you and why the best leaders don’t pretend to know everything
29:05 – The impact AI is having on product development and how it’s changing the way products are built
34:20 – Why keeping up with the pace of innovation is both exciting and daunting

Kavita Kapoor joins On the Pulse to share her non-linear journey from building one of the earliest web pages in the mid-’90s and working in Silicon Valley to leading product and technology across organizations including the BBC, Channel 4, Just Eat, micro:bit, and now Imperial College London. She discusses early experiences with bro culture and being told how to dress, the persistence that landed her a life-changing role at London 2012, and how securing a product manager title helped propel her into senior leadership. Kavita reflects on developing an authentic, compassionate leadership style, the challenges of fundraising as a female founder, and choosing values-driven work in higher education. She explains adapting product models to university governance, prioritizing cybersecurity, and her view of LLMs versus “true” AI, ending with advice on growth mindset, mentors, and continually challenging yourself.

00:00 Life Changing Call
00:50 Meet Kavita Kapoor
02:47 First Computers Spark
03:50 First Website Era
04:42 Seeing Internet Future
06:05 Silicon Valley Reality
07:22 Bro Culture Lessons
09:56 BBC Early Product Work
11:56 Breaking Into Olympics
15:07 Becoming Product Leader
16:26 Leadership Growing Pains
20:28 Finding Authentic Style
22:42 Comfort In C Suite
23:01 Microbit Global Scale
24:16 Side Hustles And Martial Arts
25:02 Funding Bias And Asia Network
25:56 Leaving Profit Driven Cultures
26:50 Choosing Imperial For Purpose
29:15 Elevation Over Transformation
32:02 Product Mindset In Universities
36:08 Governance Boards And Workstreams
39:28 Prioritising Value And Cybersecurity
41:26 AI Reality Check And Future Tech
47:20 How AI Changes Product Management
51:34 Leadership Advice And Mentors
53:27 Closing Thanks And Contact

In this episode of On the Pulse, Tony Mulcock (Pulse Group) sits down with Brigitte West, a senior product leader in health tech, to unpack her journey from studying medical sciences and founding an early beauty tech company to leading product, design, engineering, and clinical teams at executive level. Brigitte shares why she’s stayed focused on healthcare impact, how shipping real products (from early breastfeeding support tools to systems used in millions of NHS appointments) shaped her career, and what she looks for when hiring across regulated and non-regulated backgrounds. The conversation explores women in tech and self-belief, learning by doing versus waiting for permission, leading in scale-ups with ROI-focused “bets,” building international teams in India with autonomy and strategic context, and how AI is changing workflows, decision-making, and the boundaries between PM, design, and engineering.

00:00 Believe Before Ready
00:44 Podcast Welcome Intro
03:03 From Med Sci to Startup
04:53 Health Tech Calling
11:45 Impact Driven Product Work
14:58 Hiring for Motivation Balance
24:45 Women in Tech Mentors
29:28 Action Over Permission
34:29 Leading at Different Scales
36:09 Crafting Product Strategy
36:33 Org Design Follows Strategy
37:46 Aligning With CEO And CFO
38:38 Products As Portfolio Bets
40:07 ROI Mindset In Scaleups
42:11 Balancing People Process Politics
42:58 Planning For High Impact
45:00 Redesigning Work With AI Tools
48:29 Building Teams In India
54:46 Autonomy And Decision Speed
58:06 AI Experimentation Culture
01:00:52 Personal AI Workflows
01:05:38 Leading Through AI Change
01:07:14 Impact Over Frameworks
01:09:18 Advice For Aspiring Leaders
01:12:38 Final Thanks And Wrap

In the debut episode of On The Pulse, host Ricky Burns sits down with Fabrice Khullar, a product leader who has spent over two decades at the forefront of digital transformation for some of the UK’s most iconic brands. Currently the Director of Product, UX, and Optimisation at Boots UK, Fabrice’s career journey spans senior roles at Sky, Sainsbury’s, and Selfridges, offering a unique perspective on how product management shifts between pure tech and large scale retail. 

Fabrice pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to move from "delivery" to "discovery," how to handle the high pressure transition from individual contributor to leadership, and why the most important part of a product manager's role in the age of AI might be deciding what not to build. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Career Pivot: How Fabrice moved from journalism and project management into the early days of product development at Orange and Sky. 
• Retail vs. Pure Tech: The fundamental differences in managing products when your "customers" are right in front of you on the shop floor. 
• The Leadership Leap: Moving from leading a product to leading the people who lead products, and the "dirty word" every leader must master: politics. 
• The AI Revolution: What "vibe coding" means for the future of engineering and how product teams can use AI to accelerate roadmaps without losing the human touch. 
• Agentic Commerce: Why the future of shopping is about "stacking channels" and meeting the consumer in their increasingly messy, multitasking lives. 

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction to On The Pulse  

02:40 - Fabrice’s journey: From journalism to product management  

07:08 - Disrupting the industry: Lessons from Sky and Now TV  

11:49 - The unique challenges of product management in retail  

15:51 - Why "technical debt" is actually a product strategy problem  

22:22 - The transition into leadership: Moving from leading products to leading people  

35:53 - AI, vibe coding, and the future of engineering  

44:47 - The next decade of retail: Convenience, fragmentation, and agentic commerce  

53:16 - Closing thoughts and where to connect with Fabrice  

Connect with us:

• Host: Ricky Burns: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardmarcburns/
• Guest: Fabrice Khullar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabrice-khullar-4309153/
• Produced by: Pulse Group: https://pulserecruit.co.uk/
  
  

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