Tech Talks Daily

On Dec. 3, 1992, a 22-year-old Papworth texted "Merry Christmas" to Richard Jarvis, a director at Vodafone who was at a company Christmas party. It was the first time a cellphone user had ever received words instead of a voice call on their device. Papworth was a developer and test engineer for Sema Group, which was rolling out the world's first short message service (SMS) center for Vodafone U.K.

This noteworthy event later led to Papworth being featured in a Best Buy Super Bowl commercial, a Jeopardy! question, a book and the Museum of Global Communications. It also gave rise to an important new medium now used regularly by most Americans and employed by billions of people globally.

Neil Papworth discusses the changes he has seen since sending the first text message. Best known as the first person ever to send a text, Neil made his indelible mark on the world of communications – and the annals of tech and text history – early in his career.

In addition, Infobip recently revealed insights from their 30th Anniversary of the SMS report, so I invited Ivan Ostojic back on the podcast to join the discussion. In 2020, Infobip became the first Croatian company to reach unicorn status. In the past 12 months alone, over 5 billion people have used Infobip solutions and services.

Ivan shares insights from the report and discusses the future of SMS and other means of messaging for business purposes.

Tech Talks Daily Podcast Sponsor

Check out Flippa, who is the show sponsor in December. Find out more information at https://flippa.com/tech-talks

Arun Kumar is a regional director at ManageEngine, the enterprise IT management division of Zoho Corporation. With almost two decades of global experience in enterprise IT, Arun has a deep knowledge and peer network in the IT management industry. He has been working with ManageEngine since 2003. In his current role, he leads all channel and partner-related initiatives for the company in the United Kingdom (UK) and Asia Pacific (APAC) markets.

Arun joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share insights from their global survey around the empowerment and democratization of IT with 3,300 decision-makers from across IT and business decision-makers. On the topics of IT Leadership, Autonomy + Expectations we explore the relationship between IT and the C Suite, and levels of consultation. We also discuss the influence and importance of the IT department and how they collaborate with other internal teams.

We also talk abot IT Sovereignty and decentralization in UK companies versus the global average. Why companies are choosing to decentralize their IT, their motivation for doing so, and the levels of independence for IT decision-making. Finally, we discuss the perceived role of IT in preventing security attacks and how the UK compares with the global market regarding educating its workforce about security threats.

Tech Talks Daily Podcast Sponsor

Check out Flippa, who is the show sponsor in December. Find out more information at https://flippa.com/tech-talks

With a legal and finance background, Andrew Wilkins founded the first international wealth management platform, which he sold in 2015, going on to start an early-stage incubator, Fintecho. Futr.ai was born in 2017 when Andy and co-founder Lee Skyrme saw the massive opportunity to use cutting edge artificial intelligence to transform the way we access public services. Five years later, with the support of an amazing team and fantastic VCs, Futr is proud to include the police, the NHS, and many amazing charities and social services as well as private organisations as valued customers.

Over the past year, Futr has accelerated its work with a myriad of organisations as they have all implemented AI chatbots to ensure increased engagement with their end-users and deliver a seamless customer service experience. From government to business, their chatbots are used by over 1,000 organisations across the world.

We discuss their work with the NHS, various UK police forces (recently launching the first live chat support service for domestic abuse victims), UK housing associations and the charity CALM. I also learn how Futr is also now integrated with the social media profiles of the UK police divisions as well as CALM (among others), so they not only have access to real-time data, but past historical data as well.

Andy shares his knowledgeable insights into current AI chatbot technology as well as practical guidance based on a wealth of experience for implementing digital transformation in the future.

Tech Talks Daily Podcast Sponsor

Check out Flippa, who is the show sponsor in December. Find out more information at https://flippa.com/tech-talks

William McKnight has been recognized as the #1 global influencer in big data, cloud, and data center by Thinkers 360 and the #1 global influencer in master data management by Onalytica in 2022. He is the Founder and President of McKnight Consulting Group, which advises many of the Global 2000 companies, including Pfizer, Verizon, UnitedHealth Group, Dell, Oracle, and Scotiabank, on ways to grow their businesses with big data faster.

They've been recognized as one of the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies in the US two times and their clients in 14+ countries have reaped tremendous ROI and turned data into a real corporate asset. With over 30 years of experience, William is a highly sought-after speaker who has spoken on four continents for various organizations, including IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Bank of America, Orange South Africa, and SAP.

Listen in as we discuss personal data, who's watching you, and how they can use the data collected from you. We also discuss new analytic uses of master data management in the enterprise, how AI will significantly impact users and how organizations think about their data resources.

Tech Talks Daily Podcast Sponsor

Check out Flippa, who is the show sponsor in December. Find out more information at https://flippa.com/tech-talks

The brains behind Couchbase's leading data platform, CTO Ravi Mayuram, joins me on Tech Talks Daily to discuss how businesses can avoid the $8.75m cloud overspend revealed in the company's latest cloud evolution report. Ravi shares that even though companies now view the move to the cloud as inevitable, enterprises are still caught out by issues such as inflexible pricing plans, ineffective management tools, and data not stored where it needs to be.

We also explore how businesses can make the cloud live up to its promise and how new tech adoption impacts companies. Despite the current reputation of Web 3.0 being tarnished by Crypto-bros, NFTs, and Mega – Ravi believes there is definite potential for companies to explore blockchain technology.

We also talk about how businesses can unlock this potential and what it will mean for data. While it's no surprise that the decentralization concept has extended to the IT industry, business infrastructure must be in place to achieve the benefits. Finally, Ravi shares his thoughts on how the future of IT must mean managing data anywhere, including on the edge, a server, or the cloud.

Tech Talks Daily Podcast Sponsor

Check out Flippa, who is the show sponsor in December. Find out more information at https://flippa.com/tech-talks

Cybersecurity is now recognized as a critical priority for businesses around the world. However, cybersecurity threats are evolving as risks, and the responses necessary to mitigate them, change rapidly. As a result, staying ahead of bad actors is a continuous challenge, and businesses, despite their intentions, are only sometimes keeping pace.

To solve these problems, IT leaders must understand why. They need answers to questions such as, how is cybersecurity transforming? How are cyberattacks harming businesses? Where must investments in preventative training and tools be focused? Is cybersecurity being prioritized by leadership? And how does cybersecurity fit within an organizational culture?

In partnership with Sapio Research, Keeper's second annual Cybersecurity Census report maps the transforming landscape of cybersecurity based on these expert insights. It provides leaders with a forensic assessment of their businesses' threats and details the urgent strategies necessary to overcome them.

Darren Guccione, CEO & Co-founder at Keeper Security, returns to the Tech Talks Daily Podcast to share insights from the report.

Tech Talks Daily Podcast Sponsor

Check out Flippa, who is the show sponsor in December. Find out more information at https://flippa.com/tech-talks

Ben Uprcoft, VP of Technology at Oxbotica, joins me on Tech Talks Daily. Today's guest has extensive experience in perception systems for field robotics ranging from commercial passenger vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, draglines, haul trucks, and underwater platforms to unmanned aerial vehicles.

At Oxbotica, Ben is responsible for technology development and our team of skilled engineers, balancing state-of-the-art algorithms with real-world system implementation to achieve intelligence in self-driving platforms - on and off road.

Ben's previous life was as a tenured academic in Computer Vision and Robotics at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia where he focussed on machine learning for field robotics. He led the Robotics and Autonomous Systems group of over 150 postgraduate students, postdocs, and academics.

Today, we explore delivering safe and sustainable AV technology that will reshape the future of transportation and mobility. I learn more about Oxbotica's software, Oxbotica Driver, which brings flexibility to its fleet customers and partners, such as the Ocado Group, enabling a unique last-mile delivery service.

We discuss how Oxbotica is accelerating the adoption of its full-stack Oxbotica Driver by revolutionizing last-mile delivery not just in the UK but in the US, as the company plans to go global and work towards its mission of 'Universal Autonomy.'

Earlier this year, the all-electric AppliedEV vehicle, driven by Oxbotica, completed a journey in Oxford with no onboard driver, marking the next step in commercializing AV technology. The target for the first public on-road business deployment with Ocado Group, with a goods delivery variant, completing customer orders will be from 2023 onwards.

Mike McCarron is a partner at PwC, where he helps C-suite executives in a range of industries drive transformation across all aspects of business operations through IT strategy and governance. Mike has spent his career advising and supporting leaders as they navigate technology, investments, and operations. Prior to PwC, he was a CIO at Bain Capital, GE Capital, and Fidelity, among other companies.

In today's episode of Tech Talks Daily, Mike discusses why so many CIOs struggle to make an impact (and turnover in the role is so high). He also reveals why so many companies treat technology simply as a series of risks to be managed, not as a key lever of corporate strategy. We also explore why corporate boards should create tech subcommittees, and he reveals the two years in the military (when he was in his early 20s) that taught him more about leadership than any other experience.

It is estimated that the sportswear industry is worth approximately $33bn, and counterfeiting is a growing issue, especially during globally renowned events such as the World Cup which has already seen multiple seizure operations of counterfeit merchandise. Connected garments are the future of sportswear.

Innovations in sportwear such as 'smart' numbers and invisible digital triggers which can be scanned with a smart phone. These innovations exist to boost consumer engagement as they have the power to unlock exclusive content such as match day information, quizzes and competitions for fans. They are also used to prove authenticity of the garments.

Michael Colarossi is the vice president of Innovation and Product Line Management for Avery Dennison RBIS. In this role, Michael is responsible for RBIS' portfolio of products and solutions, product line strategies, and technical product innovation. He also leads the division's sustainability, social, and product compliance efforts.

Listen in as we discuss how digital solutions can help brands and consumers, especially from a sustainability point of view, and stop fake merch.

Aaron Goldman, CMO, Mediaocean joins me in a discussion about "The Golden Crunch Point". As we are all aware, we are entering that time in the marketing calendar where for many brands, the majority of their revenue and sales are made – the Golden Quarter. These three months have always been huge but this year it has been amplified with the continued unpredictable headwinds of cost of living, changing consumer confidence and a potential recession. The crunch point for brands is that, while retail sales are expected to be lower this year - while consumers are more cautious of what they spend their money on - they still to need to make revenue. Aaron discusses "the four must haves" brands and retailers need for their Golden Quarter campaigns this year to entice new and existing customers outside discount and deals. With $200 billion in annualized ad spend running through its software, I also learn more about how Mediaocean provides foundational solutions to connect brands, agencies, media, technology, and data.

About Mediaocean Mediaocean is the mission-critical platform for omnichannel advertising. With more than $200 billion in annualized media spend managed through its software, Mediaocean connects brands, agencies, media, technology, and data. Using AI and machine learning technology to control marketing investments and optimize business outcomes, Mediaocean powers campaigns from planning, buying, ad serving, and creative personalization to analysis, optimization, invoices, and payments. Mediaocean employs 1,700 staff across 30 global offices and supports over 100,000 people using its products