BOSS-it

Thom Dennis is well known for his expertise in creating transformational change and is a sought-after advisor on a spectrum of leadership, diversity, inclusion and justice issues. Over the last 30 years he has been a coach and confidant to executives of many organisations, facilitated pivotal meetings setting strategy, purpose and vision, and devised and led culture change programs bringing lasting value. He has developed the skills of senior management in leadership, conflict resolution, communication and customer service and enabled change in many corporations in the US, South America, Europe, Africa, India and the Far East.Thom is the CEO of Serenity in Leadership Ltd, the premier culture remodelling, change and leadership specialists. He is an international speaker, voice over actor and Amazon #1 published author and has been featured on both BBC TV News and radio and as a thought leader in over 100 articles in industry leading publications in just the last year alone.  With over 30 years’ experience as an Executive Coach, Facilitator, Change Maker and Leadership Developer, he has been hired by global banking, pharmaceutical, energy and engineering brands such as Citigroup, Royal Bank of Scotland, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Conoco Phillips, Shell, BP, and ABB Automation to name just a few. He holds an MSc in Change Agent Skills and Strategies, is a Certified Facilitator accredited by the CQ® Center, a certified NLP Master Practitioner, a member of the International Association of Facilitators and a Fellow of The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. Thom served 17 years as an officer in the Royal Marines, has lived and worked in many countries and is the proud father of two and grandfather of five. His extensive travels for both work and pleasure have informed his understanding of different cultures, and he is working on a third book. When relaxing, he can be found delving into his library or combining his love for Nature and wild places with his curiosity in photography.

Mark talks to Zach Rattner,  the author of is his first book. Zach shows us the lessons he learned in his journey from an employee to a founder mindset. The lessons he learned are universal amongst entrepreneurs, but Zach gives us a unique spin, as his start-up is in one of the fastest growing areas in the business world - AI.https://growupfastbook.com

In this episode of the "Boss It" podcast, join host Mark Edwards as he engages in a compelling conversation with Philip Hall, a distinguished UK inventor deeply committed to advancing technology that could play a pivotal role in addressing the global climate change challenge.Rarely in one's lifetime does the opportunity arise to encounter a game-changer with even half the transformative potential that UltraClean brings to the table. However, the sheer enormity of UltraClean's impact can often prove perplexing for many, leaving them grappling with the full extent of its implications, or even wondering if it's too good to be true.Tune in as Mark peels back the layers of Philip's remarkable background, offering listeners a profound understanding of the groundbreaking innovation that is UltraClean. Join us for this enlightening conversation that sheds light on the future of climate change solutions.

Minter Dial is an international professional speaker, elevator and a multiple award-winning author. An agent of change who has exercised twelve different métiers and moved country fifteen times, he’s author of the WWII story, The Last Ring Home as well as 3 business books: Futureproof, Heartificial Empathy (2nd edition) and You Lead. 

In the 16th episode of the third season of the BOSS-it podcast, Mark Edwards delves into a discussion with Alan Schulman about the importance of creativity in digital software communicationAlan Schulman's background: Alan is widely recognised as an expert in digital creativity and content within the industry. He has held executive roles in both big four consulting firms and creative departments of holding companies. During his tenure as the Managing Director of Deloitte Digital, he became the company's first Chief Creative Officer and led their content supply chain practice. Alan has also held the position of Chief Creative Officer at Sapient and worked at McCann and FCB. Additionally, he is a board member of the American Marketing Association (AMA), an instructor for the Cannes Lions Academy, and a voting member of The Recording Academy - the institution responsible for the Grammy Awards.

In episode 15 of season 3 of the BOSS-it podcast, Professor Alexiei Dingle discusses with Mark Edwards the impact of AI on the software industry. They explore the key benefits that AI will provide, as well as the considerations that the industry needs to make in order to benefit from this emerging technology. Professor Alexiei Dingli Background: Alexiei is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with over two decades of experience in conducting research and working in the field of AI, aiding various companies in implementing AI solutions. Alexiei's work has been rated as World Class by international experts, and he has received several local and international awards, including those from the European Space Agency, the World Intellectual Property Organisation, and the United Nations. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications.  

Dr. Ulrich Kampffmeyer was an early pioneer in enterprise content management who pivoted to machine learning and AI. Dr. Kampffmeyer firmly believes that AI will redefine work. In this 54-minute podcast, Mark and Ulrich discuss many topics related to AI and the software industry.

Join Mark Edwards as he has an entertaining and informative chat with Bob Hoffman a very outspoken speaker on the subject of advertising. He has been CEO of three advertising agencies and since leaving that role has been unfetttered or hindered about his learnings from several decades. An Amazon #1 best-selling author Bob is happy to take on advertising delusions and layout some startling facts. The Ad-Contrarian http://adcontrarian.blogspot.com/

Hear what Danel learned about scaling businesses from analysing the cut-throat US election cycle, his AI prediction for the next 20 years, and finally what his favourite business book ever is (after reading hundreds of them). Contact Daniel Priestley here: www.linkedin.com/in/danielpriestley Buy Daniel’s latest book for £0.99 here: Scorecard Marketing: The four-step playbook for getting better leads and bigger profits: Amazon.co.uk: Priestley, Daniel, Carlson, Glen: 9781781337196: Books 

Ethical Hacker on the security flaws of software companies - with Ted HarringtonHear about the rapidly evolving techniques criminal hackers want to use to bring down your software company, and also, how to protect yourself against them.Listen to this BOSS-it episode now hosted by top M&A deal maker, Mark Edwards. Contact Ted here: www.tedharrington.com

How to do business process automation the right way - with Nick Gradwell Part 2Hear from one of the industry’s top experts about how he reduces his clients’ runnings costs and maximises their efficiency which drives revenue and cost savings. Plus, discover the number one pitfall software companies make when trying to automate their processes.

How to do business process automation the right way - with Nick Gradwell Part 1Hear from one of the industry’s top experts about how he reduces his clients’ runnings costs and maximises their efficiency which drives revenue and cost savings. Plus, discover the number one pitfall software companies make when trying to automate their processes.

"Blockchain tech insights for software execs - with Dr Christian de Vartavan Hear from an advisor to the UK government about the surprising ways software companies can use Blockchain technology to their benefit, also how companies who don’t use it are being left behind, and finally, hear Christian’s expert prediction for Blockchain going forwards (and how it’ll affect your software business). Listen to this BOSS-it episode now hosted by top M&A deal maker, Mark Edwards.Contact Christian here: https://projectis.co.uk/ "

Ransomware attacks, innovation mistakes, & cyber security - with Leon KupermanHear Leon’s personal story about the ransomware attack that struck when they were making between $750k-1m sales a day, the unorthodox ways he keeps his engineers happy, and the one innovation mistake that’s so common in the software industry. Listen to this BOSS-it episode now hosted by top M&A deal maker Mark Edwards. Contact Leon here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itexecutivecto/ & www.Cast.ai

Hear about the one thing about AI that our industry needs to urgently address, future areas he believes are worth investing resources into, and about the big machine learning study he did while working as a senior scientist at Xerox. Listen to this BOSS-it episode now hosted by top M&A deal maker Mark Edwards.Contact Luca here: www.sparkd.ai

In this episode of BOSS-it, Mark Edwards talks with Uli Erxleben, Co-founder and Managing Director of Hypatos. The conversation ranges widely over topics including IDP (Intelligent Document Processing), Neural Networks, Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) but ultimately, it's all about the humans who use the tech.Hypatos - Unusual OriginsMark shares a joke with Uli about the origin of the company name, Hypatos, which is not what he had thought. You'll need to listen to the podcast to understand more :)With studies in business administration, a Masters in Accounting & Finance as well as a PhD in Finance & Statistics, Uli explains his background is in business rather than tech. He goes on to explain Hypatos' offering, which harnesses visual pattern recognition, language understanding and artificial neural networks to make repetitive tasks, such as invoice processing, quicker and easier - and operatives more productive.A Focus on Semi-Structured DataHypatos focuses on high-volume use cases, where companies have many semi-structured documents -  Finance, purchase to pay, order to cash, travel expense reports, insurance claims, loan applications etcUli believes it's important that the software is fully integrated into companies' data workflows and also that it's human-centric - Made to assist human beings in their daily work, not to replace them.The Software Needs to Work in "Real-Life" ScenariosHe says it's critical the software is created for human beings, not just for "nerdy machine learning engineers" - believing that, just because something works in model format, doesn't necessarily mean it will work and add value in an organisation.  Links:https://www.hypatos.ai/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ulierxleben/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/markledwards/ https://www.bossequity.com/

In this last episode of Season 2 BOSS-it podcast, Mark Edwards has a warm and engaging conversation with Sean Si, CEO & Founder of SEO Hacker.Early BeginningsSean Si introduces himself as a born-again Christian from the Philippines. He runs a 50 people digital marketing agency, one of the most-trusted and leading SEO companies in the Philippines.He founded SEO Hacker at just 21 years old with only about (1300 pesos) $65 capital and it's now grown, through grit, prayer, mentorship, book reading and podcast listening (including BOSS-it), to a $1 million company.From Failure to SuccessSean's route to setting up a business was anything but traditional. Having, in his words, "failed" at college, Sean was nonetheless able to land a job with HP.He stayed at HP only 5 short months because his 'side hustle' - SEO Hacker - was already earning him 8-10 times what his day job paid and, as Sean puts it, he "had to resign and jump on this opportunity before the train left."Evolution of Growing a Business‘Mom and pop’ startups often remain as ‘mom and pop startups’ for years, because change is difficult; it takes you out of your comfort zone and it also requires money.Many changes are required along the way, to ensure your company makes it through the first 5 years and beyond.SEO Hacker had no backers and has grown organically, meaning that, as founder, Sean has had to wear many hats along the way - even assuming all janitorial duties in his first office because he couldn’t afford to hire people to do it. Humility - You have to have a lot of humility as a CEO. In his book, "How the Mighty Fall”, Jim Collins (link below) explains how hubris & ego are the main reasons companies fail. You have to make sacrifices in order to succeed and be humble enough to do whatever it takes.Sean believes everything has “Divine Appointment” - You have a purpose, desire and reason for living. You have a burning “Why” in your heart. To find out what it is, you have to have faith.A jovial, friendly character, Sean's closing observation gives great insight into his positive attitude to life's ups and downs and where they may lead - "Almost getting kicked out of college, quitting my job - How lucky can a guy be..?!"Great to meet you, Sean Si!Links:https://sean.si/ https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/the-leadership-stack-podcast/id1470219705 https://www.linkedin.com/in/seansi/https://www.linkedin.com/in/seansi/?originalSubdomain=phhttps://www.instagram.com/sean.si/?hl=enhttps://www.facebook.com/seansi.speakshttps://seo-hacker.com/Jim Collins' book - How the Mighty Fall

BOSS-it host, Mark Edwards has a wide-ranging chat with CTO and author, Mark Herschberg, who, it turns out, has been a guest on 180 podcasts. No pressure there then for our host to ask some decent questions :-)Brief Bio for Mark HerschbergBack in the 90s, during the .com era, Mark was a software developer. At the same time, he recognised the skills required to be successful were leadership, communication and networking. These were skills that were not taught in college, so he ended up teaching them at MIT - for the past 20 years.Mark has followed these two careers in parallel and is still a CTO.Best Lessons LearnedMark says the best lessons he has learned came from a book called "Peopleware", by Tom de Marco & Timothy Lister – The essence of the book is that most software projects fail not because of technological (software) issues but for sociological reasons – In other words, because your team didn’t talk to each other and plan and communicate well, they messed up the project.  He outlines the most important things to do to avoid this scenario:1) Set the overarching goal – What are we trying to achieve? – Not just what it is but how it's positioned.2) Have a clear process - How are we going to work together? Have a clear idea for what happens when there’s an issue? – How do you raise that to your teammate? Where do we use Slack, versus an email or a meeting? Don’t leave this to chance.3) Agree the definition of “Done”? – You need a common definition so that everybody knows when a job is actually complete.Links:The Career Toolkit – Mark A Herschberghttps://www.thecareertoolkitbook.com/Download the career development kit: https://www.thecareertoolkitbook.com/authorPeopleware by Tom de Marco & Timothy Listerhttps://menloinnovations.com/The BOSS-it Podcast:https://www.bossequity.com/resources/podcastsmedwards@bossequity.comhttps://www.bossequity.com/

Mark Edwards talks with Martha Amram of Glynt.ai.Revisiting their previous conversation,Mark and Martha have an in-depth conversation, spanning exciting innovations in AI and Machine Learning, no-code platforms, the increasing demand for carbon emissions data and how companies can now make money from their data.BackgroundWith a PhD from MIT, Martha's background is in economics & finance. From there, she moved into the energy sector and for the last 8 years, she has been running Glynt, which captures energy data and turns it into a useful product.Right now, there’s a pressing need to record emissions in order that they can be reduced. Glynt.aiGlynt is the market-leading producer using AI of carbon emissions. They are at the forefront of not only change (reducing emissions) but also of making profit from that change. So, AI and data are absolutely critical.There’s now a big market in carbon credits - selling them directly, selling them as options and futures and embedding them into green loans - Sort of the Fintech of carbon emissions.Two Major Pivots for GlyntRealising that building templates didn't scale, they built a ML (Machine Learning) system to eliminate the need for templates, but also to avoid using expensive ML specialists. They created a system that could be operated by no-code users.Doing this, significantly reduced costs to the business and was an important strategic pivot for Glynt.Glynt's second pivot was coming out of Covid - in late Spring 2021 - Everybody was exhausted after 20 very difficult months and nobody had time to think - It could be called an "Enterprise Attention Deficit Economy", where people just wanted easy solutions to their problems. So, to address this attention deficit economy, Glynt simply configured their existing AI solution to focus on carbon emissions. The Future for GlyntThere’s now an underlying, new demand for carbon emissions data and the ability to make money from it.Glynt's extensible solution can produce Scope 2 & 3 emissions data. Having combined those two things and being an emissions data producer, they are simultaneously connecting everything to the financial market.Supplying data is Part A of contributing to climate change solutions, Part B is showing people how to profit from their own data - And this is where Glynt is poised to make a huge difference in accelerating the cycle of change.Currently, every CEO has an issue with reporting emissions data. Clearly this is a risk management challenge for them, and this is fuelling a huge demand for for carbon emissions data and for Glynt's services.Regardless of the size of the enterprise, the pressure is now on to have really accurate data today and to be able to report reductions tomorrow. Climate tech is now a huge market - with $40 billion a year spent on solar, wind and building in efficiencies.That complete market needs data to drive down next year’s data, next year’s reported emissions. Biggest Business Lessons LearntMartha's  approach is:"Get ready to be lucky" - What can I do now to be prepared to take that random call that’s gonna be the game-changer..? Where are my gaps?Take the big mission and break it down - Deliver your message so your team can take it forward, build a very tightly run organisation, particularly as everybody is working from home - Clear communication from the top and setting the culture is a ‘must have’. Links:https://www.linkedin.com/in/martha-schary-amram-b9164328/ https://glynt.ai/

In this podcast, Mark has an illuminating conversation with John Taylor of Action.ai, a company that offers the world's most advanced natural language technology, conceived by the best computational linguistics.Never one to shy away from a controversial question, Mark’s opening question, “Does AI really exist?”, doesn’t disappoint. Taking this in his stride, John says it does exist but the term is much misused. He agrees that "AI" is an extraordinarily broad term that has, unfortunately, been attached to just about everything in any context you can imagine.However, the current buzz is justified as the sector is at an extraordinary flexion point, where computational power and algorithms can be applied to use the tech in really useful ways - in healthcare, customer service etc.John notes that knowledge is building really rapidly - and its origins are in academia.Early Foray into EntrepreneurshipJohn started his entreprenuerial career early, setting up a small software company with a friend to pay university fees.That friend was Richard Tolcher, now Action-ai's CTO. Richard was brilliant technology-wise but also had a strong commercial awareness - an unusual combination. Their aim was to do something really pioneering - to create "Delightful Automation".The Vision: "Delightful Automation" John and Richard knew that the Big Tech companies - Facebook, Microsoft and Google - were going to launch automated customer communication with chatbots, and although this had potential, it wasn’t really going to work, in terms of the “Delightful Automation” John and Richard were seeking to achieve.It was going to make an impact but it wasn’t going to change behaviours and the way people interact.Their vision has remained constant since the early days but everything else has evolved over time and the business now looks radically different from Day 1.Most Important Things Learned from Running a Business John believes the most important element of the business is its people. And they need to be exceptional. Compromising on the people you hire is a poor economy. In the early days, when funds are limited, if you can find a way to hire those 4 or 5 great people, the difference to the business can be immeasurable.His approach was to try to run a capital-efficient business, understanding that if you want large, flashy offices, you will need to raise huge amounts of venture funding.  John acknowledges that it's harder to run a capital-efficient business but when funding does arrive, it’s a lot easier as you’re not sitting in offices where your overheads are huge, you haven’t made promises you can’t keep, lost track of consultants etc etc.He notes that there is a caveat though, as you can’t be so cautious that you can’t move quickly. You need to assess how much money you need to spend to get to market quickly - but it’s also about balancing spending as little money as possible in the first couple of years.Another critical ingredient is that you need to own your own IP and be able to prove that you do. It's simple enough to achieve but you need to be aware of the need to do this from the beginning.Getting smart people into the business sets the culture for the business. It's important you have a culture of integrity and aim to build long-term relationships.Thanks for your time and a fascinating conversation, John.Links and Contact:Email John: john@action.aihttps://action.ai/https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnjamestaylor/?originalSubdomain=ukmedwards@bossequity.comhttps://www.bossequity.com/