What a whirlwind year it’s been for us at Civo! Some of the highlights from the year have been announcing the total abolishment of egress fees, launching our UK sovereign cloud offering and opening our own event space in London, Tech Junction.

We’ve also made significant strides in sustainability through our collaboration with Deep Green. Our partnership allows us to repurpose the heat generated by our data centres to warm public spaces.

And this is just the beginning! We have a number of hugely exciting announcements planned for Civo Navigate. While I can’t reveal the details just yet, I can say that these upcoming announcements will continue to push things forward for us. So stay tuned – the best is yet to come!

What are the biggest challenges facing the cloud industry today?

The cloud industry is facing two major hurdles that we’re keeping a close eye on. First, there’s the issue of data sovereignty. With tightening regulations around data protection, businesses are increasingly concerned about where their data resides. We’re seeing a surge in demand for solutions that can guarantee data stays within specific borders. It’s a complex challenge, but one we’re actively addressing.

The second big challenge is market competition. Let’s face it, the cloud landscape is still dominated by a few giants, which can hamper innovation and limit your options as a customer. We’re particularly interested in the upcoming decision of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) based on their investigation into the cloud marketplace. Their ruling could shake up the industry and potentially create a more level playing field.

If the CMA does decide to intervene, it could open things up for a more diverse and competitive marketplace. We might see measures that prevent vendor lock-in, promote open standards, and foster true competition based on innovation rather than market dominance.

What are the key actions Civo is taking to be sustainable?

Sustainability is at the heart of what we do at Civo. We believe that the cloud industry has a responsibility to innovate not just in technology, but also in environmental stewardship.

One of our proudest initiatives is our collaboration with companies that are reimagining how we use the heat generated by data centres. We’re working closely with Heata, who’ve developed a brilliant system to use server heat to warm homes. Similarly, our partnership with Deep Green is helping to heat public swimming pools with the excess heat from our data centres. These projects aren’t just about reducing our carbon footprint; they’re about turning what was once waste into a valuable resource for communities.

Given the significant environmental impact of data centres, it’s our responsibility as a cloud provider to prioritise sustainability. Data centres are known for their high energy consumption and heat generation. As the demand for cloud services continues to grow, so does the potential for negative environmental consequences. It is why sustainability is a core part of our mission. We recognise that it’s not enough to provide efficient services simply; we must also actively seek ways to reduce our carbon footprint and positively impact the communities we serve.

By focusing on innovative solutions like heat reuse and renewable energy, we’re striving to set a new standard for environmental responsibility in the cloud industry. Being a responsible provider means considering the full lifecycle impact of our operations and continuously working to minimise our environmental footprint.

What is the firm’s biggest success?

Our biggest success has been challenging the status quo in the cloud industry. We’ve recognised that the cloud, as it stands, is broken – dominated by hyperscalers who’ve made it unnecessarily complex and expensive. Our mission has been to disrupt this model, and I’m proud to say we’re making significant headway.

Our greatest achievement lies in our relentless pursuit of simplicity and value for money. We’ve stripped away the complexity that’s become synonymous with cloud services, offering a streamlined, user-friendly platform that doesn’t compromise on performance.

But what I’m most proud of is how we’re changing the conversation around cloud services. We’re proving that it’s possible to offer high-performance, scalable cloud solutions at a fraction of the cost of the big players. Our growing customer base and their success stories are a testament to the fact that the market is ready for a change.

What’s your top tip for finding tech talent?

When it comes to finding tech talent, our philosophy at Civo is all about fitting square pegs in square holes. We’ve learned that the most successful hires aren’t just those with the right skills on paper, but those who align with our culture and are passionate about what they do.

We focus on finding the right type of person first, then worry about the specific role. We believe that skills and experience can be gained over time, but passion, cultural fit, and the right mindset are invaluable from day one.

My top tip? Engage directly with the tech community. This isn’t just about posting job ads; it’s about becoming an active participant in the spaces where passionate tech professionals gather.

Consider attending or even hosting hackathons, contributing to open-source projects, or participating in tech meetups and conferences. These events are goldmines for connecting with skilled individuals who are genuinely excited about technology and innovation. It’s not just about finding someone with the right skills on paper but also someone who brings enthusiasm and fresh ideas to the table.

Remember, the best talent isn’t always actively job hunting. By engaging with the tech community and building relationships, you’re creating a pipeline of potential candidates who already know and respect your company. This approach takes time, but it’s an investment that can pay off with high-quality hires who are more likely to stick around and contribute meaningfully to your team.

You are a prolific founder of companies. What is it that excites you about building a new business?

What truly excites me about building a new business is the opportunity to tackle new challenges and solve novel problems. Each venture presents a unique set of obstacles that require innovative thinking and creative solutions. It’s this process of identifying gaps in the market, conceptualising solutions, and then bringing them to life that I find incredibly invigorating.

With each new business, there’s an opportunity to push boundaries and make a meaningful impact. The thrill of problem-solving and the potential to create something that genuinely improves people’s lives or businesses is what drives me. It’s not just about building a successful company; it’s about the journey of learning, adapting, and growing through each new challenge we face.

Why is it important to simplify software development processes?

Streamlined processes allow developers to focus on what truly matters – creating innovative solutions and delivering value to users. By reducing complexity, we can significantly decrease the time to market for new features and products, which is critical in maintaining a competitive edge. Simplified processes also lower the barrier to entry for new developers, fostering a more inclusive tech community and allowing a wider range of voices and ideas to contribute to the field.

I’ve seen firsthand how simplified cloud infrastructure can empower developers to work more efficiently and creatively. Simpler processes often lead to more reliable and maintainable code, reducing technical debt and improving the overall quality of software products. In essence, simplification isn’t just about ease of use; it’s about enabling innovation, improving productivity, and ultimately creating better technology solutions for everyone.

What are you looking forward to at Civo Navigate?

What I’m looking forward to most is the unprecedented opportunity for our community to come together, learn, and share ideas in person. The energy of face-to-face interactions, especially after the challenges of recent years, is something I’m particularly anticipating.

What is new this year? 

I’m incredibly excited about Civo Navigate making its debut in Berlin this year. This move to one of Europe’s most vibrant tech hubs marks a significant milestone for us. We’ve significantly expanded our program, offering more workshops, talks, and networking opportunities than ever before. We’ve curated an impressive lineup of speakers from various backgrounds, ensuring a wide range of topics and perspectives.

But what truly sets this year apart are the announcements we’ve got up our sleeves. Without giving too much away, I can say that we’re about to shake things up in the private cloud space with a solution that brings together the best of public and private clouds. It’s all about simplifying complexity without compromising on performance or security.

We’re also venturing into new territory with an AI initiative that we believe will redefine what’s possible in terms of sovereignty and trust in AI applications. It’s an exciting step forward in our mission to empower businesses with cutting-edge, ethical technology solutions.

They’re just a taste of the innovation we’re bringing to the table this year, and I can’t wait to see how they’ll be received by the tech community.

What should attendees be excited about?

Attendees should be excited about the sheer concentration of talent and knowledge that will be present at Navigate Berlin. With some 40 talks, 10 workshops, and attendees from all over the world, the opportunities for learning and networking are immense. The chance to learn from peers and industry leaders in an intimate setting is invaluable.

Our keynote speeches by Kelsey Hightower and Frank Thelen are certain to be highlights – their insights into cloud-native technologies and entrepreneurship in the tech world are not to be missed. But beyond the formal sessions, I’m a firm believer in the power of community and peer learning. The hallway conversations, impromptu discussions, and connections made during breaks often lead to some of the most valuable takeaways. Navigate isn’t just a conference; it’s a gathering of a community passionate about cloud technology and innovation. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting in the field, there’s something here for everyone to be excited about.

How do you take your coffee?

Frequently!

Besides caffeine, how do you recharge your batteries during a working day?

While caffeine certainly plays its part, I find that the most effective way to recharge during the workday is through meaningful interactions with my team. I make it a point to touch base with colleagues across different departments regularly. These interactions aren’t just about work progress; they’re opportunities to share ideas, solve problems collaboratively, and often spark new innovations.

There’s an energising effect that comes from bouncing ideas off each other or working through a challenge together. Sometimes, a quick chat with a team member can provide a fresh perspective that reinvigorates my approach to a task. I also find that our team’s collective enthusiasm for what we’re building at Civo is contagious. Seeing their passion and dedication often gives me that extra boost of energy to push through the day. It’s not just about individual recharging; it’s about tapping into the collective energy and creativity of our team.

How do you switch off at the end of the day?

Work-life balance is critical, and for me, it’s all about family time. As soon as I step through the door, I make a conscious effort to leave work behind and fully engage with my family. Focusing on my loved ones not only helps me disconnect from work but also provides a different kind of fulfillment and energy.

Having a family-focused evening routine not only helps me switch off but also ensures I’m recharged and ready for the next day. It’s a reminder that while work is important, it’s the moments with family that truly matter and provide the balance needed to sustain a demanding career in tech.

The post A coffee with… Mark Boost, Civo appeared first on TechInformed.

The B2B sports technology firm aims to enhance sports technique coaching, commentary, and analysis with artificial intelligence and benchmarked by gold-standard athletes.

As its CEO and co-founder, Pedersen talks with TI about how the company integrates AI in sports to provide high-quality technique analysis.

The former CMO for air quality tech firm AirThings, and fintech firms InstaBank and Omny, also discusses the inspiration behind the venture, the process of developing the technology, and its potential impact on the sports industry.

The conversation with the Oslo-based founder also covers the firm’s recent seed funding round, amounting to $1.8 million, with investors including Magnus Carlsen, the highest-ranked chess player of all time, and ex-pro tennis player Dekel Valtzer, as well as Skyfall Ventures.

What inspired you to cofound Sport AI?

I’ve been playing sports my entire life and have a particular passion for tennis. I played juniors in New Zealand and NCAA college tennis in the States and continue to play today. My career has been in tech, so now, founding my own company that combines my love of sports with my tech experience is the perfect opportunity for me.

How does your sports background influence the technology?

I understand sport deeply. I know what it means to learn, train, and strive for improvement. Our technology aims to open access to high-quality, objective sports data for everyone. Growing up in New Zealand, I and many others didn’t have access to top-tier technique analysis, which has been reserved for pro players with teams of experts. With advances in AI, particularly computer vision and machine learning, we can analyse techniques, compare them to gold-standard players, and provide immediate feedback for improvement.

Can you describe the process of developing and refining the technology?

As our name suggests, we rely on AI, specifically video analysis. The video can come from various sources like mobile phones, broadcast feeds, or cameras mounted at sports venues. We analyse the footage to understand the technique and compare it to a gold standard. This standard could combine the best players’ techniques or a specific player you want to emulate, like Roger Federer. We then provide immediate feedback on how to improve.

You were just at the US Open. Do you find yourself thinking about how AI would correct techniques as you watch sports?

Definitely, the opportunity to analyse techniques and improve training, data accuracy, and fan engagement across various sports is huge. It can even enhance product recommendations for sports equipment. For example, we can use our technology to help players choose the right tennis racket for their style rather than just imitating a pro’s choices.

What feedback have you received from your early users, and how has it shaped the product?

Technique analysis has traditionally been subjective, expensive, and unscalable. Our technology changes that by empowering coaches with data and giving players trackable improvement metrics. This benefits the industry, and our users will see its potential.

How has collaborating with other professionals in competitive sports such as chess contributed to SportAI’s success?

Collaboration has been crucial. One of our early investors is Magnus Carlsen, the world-renowned chess player and an absolute superstar who has heavily relied on AI to improve his game. He believes AI can significantly enhance training across all sports. Our team combines expertise in sports and technology, creating a strong, diverse foundation.

What are your priorities after the recent seed funding from Skyfall Ventures?

We’re focusing on product development and onboarding customers in three key areas: training and coaching, product recommendations for brands and retailers, and broadcasting. We’re partnering with forward-thinking brands to roll out our technology over the coming months.

Now, how do you take your coffee?

I prefer a large, milky coffee — ideally a large latte. However, I live in Norway, where everyone drinks black coffee without often having the option to add milk. So, adding milk these days is a bit of a luxury.

How do you wind down from your busy schedule?

Tennis and training are still big parts of my life. They keep me in shape and make me a better leader, team member, and family member because I stay in shape and still get to experience the sport. It’s good for mind, body, and soul.

Read: Transfer deadline: Using AI in sport to recruit football talent

The post A coffee with… Lauren Pedersen, CEO, SportAI appeared first on TechInformed.

After holding IT roles in the US military and aerospace industries, Kron moved into a senior cybersecurity role at the US Army’s Regional Cyber Centre, joining Florida-based Knowbe4 eight years ago, as a security awareness advocate.

Knowbe4 is a security awareness training and simulated phishing platform that helps organisations address the human element of cybersecurity. It boasts over 65,000 customers, which range from small businesses to big enterprises.

Earlier this month the platform acquired UK-based AI powered email security firm Egress to help it create an advanced artificial intelligence-powered cybersecurity platform. Knowbe4 also hit the headlines recently for unwittingly employing a North Korean hacker.

Tell us more about Knowbe4’s training platform and how the acquisition of Egress’s business will enhance it?

What our platform really tackles the human element involved in cyber security, which means a lot of training, a lot of education and simulations of phishing attacks. These give you a chance to practice what you have learned during training. If people  make a mistake, it’s not a problem , it’s a fail-safe environment – it’s not the end of the world if you make a misstep.

Egress is going to help us to expand our platform even more so we can do things with the emails – put more warning banners on things that say ‘Hey this looks like a phishing email because of this’…It gives them an idea to be more careful of that email.

Do you cover newer threats such as deepfakes?

We teach people about deepfakes; we educate people on the dangers of deepfakes, but we don’t generally generate deepfakes. We have an AI component within our platform that is very cool. It looks at what people are trained on, and it will choose the  templates relevant to individuals. AI does a really good job with personalising training packages.

Is email still considered the main vector for phishing attacks?

It’s interesting the attackers are starting to pivot. They are trying to get people out of email and onto other platforms such as WhatsApp or Teams. So, we have filters that look at email traffic but if you go on WhatsApp that’s going to be a whole lot harder to see. It’s a clever way of doing it – another evolution of tech in general and then exploiting it for bad.

Are you noticing an increase in attacks on targeted individuals?

Most phishing attacks have always been targeted spear-phishing attacks.  I don’t know that I’ve noticed an increase in it. But I have noticed that the way they carry out attacks is more advanced. For example, in the old days, you’d get an email from the CEO saying I need you to email $250K right away  – there’s always a sense of urgency… But when it’s followed up by a text message people let their guard down there’s an inherent trust. So, for the higher value targets that kind of effort is being put into this to make it successful.

With GenAI phishing appears to be getting more sophisticated – gone are the days of the badly spelt Nigerian Prince scam….

It seems like this when there are 6.4bn fake emails sent out every single day. A lot of these are caught by filters now. But the ones that make it through to people’s desktops are the higher quality ones. Because the bad ones are being caught, a side effect from filters is that people are being exposed to the higher quality ones. Which means the average person is going to be exposed to the more difficult-to-spot attacks.

And now AI is being used to increase the efficiency and the amount of people being attacked. It used to be you’d read one of these scams and the grammar and spelling were awful – what we’re finding now, is that the responses feel authentic. An English-speaking scammer can now turn something into German or American English. AI allows attackers to scale further.

Are we losing the battle?

I wouldn’t say that. But it’s still a tough thing to face. The technology is changing but the tactics remain the same.  They still know that if they get you in a highly emotional state, you don’t think thing through,  that part hasn’t changed.

Frauds can fool the best of us. How did Knowbe4 accidentally end up hiring a North Korean hacker?

I can’t talk about everything because it’s still an open investigation, but we want to be very upfront because we want other firms to understand that this is a threat and we’ve written a blog about it.

We were looking for someone who was an AI developer, and we received over 1000 responses which we got down to 30-40  candidates and went through this whole hiring process. After four zoom calls we ended up hiring someone with a great resume and they went through a background check, the whole nine yards. And we hired them, sent over the equipment, but then we sensed immediately, upon letting them into the network, that they were downloading hacking tools.

Were they able to breach you?

When we hire new employees, their user account only grants limited permissions that allow them to proceed through our new hire onboarding process and training. And the way we do it, the only thing he had access to start with was his training modules.

We’re a very security conscious company – so when we confronted him, he said he was trying to fix something with his router for Wi-Fi. That didn’t add up –  so within 25 mins he was shut off the network.

What was their modus operandi?

This guy was part of a North Korean gang. They used AI generated modified photos as his picture along with a stolen identity of a US citizen and because it was backed by the North Korean state – he had a lot of documents and ID matches.

The guy really knew what he was doing. Then they use VPNs to access the workstation from their physical location, which is usually based North Korea or China. From here it’s  picked up by a new person who takes it to an apartment building and operated by North Koreans working at an IT mule laptop farm.

The scam is that they are actually doing the work for us, acting as our employees and getting very well paid, and they give a large amount of these earnings to the North Korean government to fund their illegal programs.

On a lighter note, how do you take your coffee?

With cream and sugar.

What was the last piece of tech you bought for yourself?

A high-end video card so that I can play around with some of my own AI stuff at home. I’m working with LLMs to test them out and to see what’s going on behind the curtain.

I’m really fascinated by AI graphics – some of those GenAI tools are amazing. I’ve been looking at an AI video generator called Kling AI – which has just opened to the public. It’s hosted in China – which sometimes gives people reservations – but you can generate an image from a text prompt, a video from a text prompt or from taking the image in there and then prompting it to move and look around. It can generate some incredible stuff from just that 2D image. To me that’s fascinating.

The post A coffee with…Erich Kron, security awareness advocate, KnowBe4 appeared first on TechInformed.

TechInformed met Hill in June, at the London leg of Reply Xchange, an annual multi-territory set of events that bring together IT professionals, creative thinkers, and tech enthusiasts to explore the role of technology in reshaping industries.

Among the Reply clients present at this year’s event were HSBC, Schroders, easyJet, UK Ministry of Defence and car maker Aston Martin.

Gen AI dominated this year’s ReplyXchange. In terms of your clients, how many are at the PoC stage with this technology, and how many are using it on live projects?

We’re at the end of the beginning with Gen AI – it’s no longer considered something scary.

While not every customer is doing something, if you saw the numbers on my chart so far this year, just for the UK alone we’ve had 500 requests for pure AI. We will do around 5,000 projects this year, so even if 10% of these were pure AI and we didn’t take any more requests… it’s still a significant amount. I think by end of the year it will be around 25% pure AI projects, while it will influence others.

Where do you see Gen AI use cases dominating?

One of our customers is applying AI across their contracts which has led to savings in tens of millions.

When you look at the characteristics of an AI project the first involves consolidating data into one place; the second is then putting a model on top of that to understands what this data means. So, the customers that have done the first piece and have applied data on top of a large data set, they are the ones that a really going hard on this.

With sectors such as banking and finance, there seems to be a friction between governance and regulation when it comes to AI….

What we must look at is how to better understand what some of these things do using AI, and if we can understand them, then we can regulate them. If we regulate them, we have compliance and if we have compliance then we can have resilience.

While there is some trepidation in financial services, we are certainly seeing some customers in this area look at AI ‘reg tech’ and how they can understand really what’s happening.

One of the regulations, the BCBS 329, for instance, focusses on data lineage – understanding where the data has come from – that’s a great use case for AI because its quite a manual process – things hop from different systems or go through black box algorithms that we don’t understand. So, we have some pilots involved with how we can apply AI to understand data lineage.

In terms of use cases, which sectors are embracing Gen AI?

Certainly, Customer Service and Sales. They are the two largest because they are the most obvious use cases.

When we look at CX, one of the challenges is that human capital is expensive. But that’s not the real problem – it’s that we offshored it , which had some success in reducing cost but then involved producing scripts and so what we did was take the intelligence out of CX because its expensive in the form of people.

What AI and LLMs allow us to do is put that intelligence back in so we can take the drudgery out of CX, but more importantly, because we can hook up some of the data that the agent wouldn’t have acquired before they received a blind call, they are able to help customers more.

And then with sales. One of our customers in automotive – I did hear a stat on our dashboard – that the drop out rate of car purchases has fallen by 35%. That doesn’t mean they are selling 35% more cars, but 35% more journeys are finishing end-to-end with Gen AI whereas, before some customers would drop out along the way, so it is reducing friction.

The Aston Martin case study which we saw there today, is focussed on the AI propensity model and how Gen AI is helping it target which deals in its pipeline are likely to convert.

Shield Reply is also doing some interesting work in defence, generating war scenarios…

Yes, that project is focussed on the digitisation of military scenarios for operational use/ practice. Some are done in the field; some are done in the classroom. Classic scenarios include rescuing hostages, defending airspaces and setting up exclusion zones.

As a training leader you typically need to change the scenarios that people play, and the planning cycle takes more time than the playing time  – so we’re trying to flip this on its head.

Each model will learn from itself but also the planners are still able to build their own models because there’s  a lot of data and a lot of variables.

Do you see areas where AI is going to create new job roles?

We’re moving from governance roles to stewardship roles with AI. There’s a subtle difference. With governance you are trying to control a process or regulation but for stewardship roles you are thinking more about taking care of something and shepherding projects through various processes. How will these things work? And when they do work, who is taking care of it? And who is responsible for driving the right motivations?

Stewardship roles are not classic IT management either. It’s taking a slightly different approach of how you want to manage something. It’s an interesting set of skills that people will need to develop. But they are very human skills.

Would these ‘AI stewards’ necessarily have to come from a tech background?

It depends on the context. In the call centre someone’s got to manage the way someone responds to text, emails and IBRs. That level of curation doesn’t need a tech background. But under the hood if you are looking at cloud and data and LLMs you’ve got to be techy. The idea that AI is simple isn’t true. All we really do with technology is abstract away, so it becomes more usable for more people. But we’ve still got all the complexity underneath. But things are getting more technical rather than less technical.

If you have a conversational interface –  fine –  but how do we check what it’s doing and whether it integrates and shares and is compliant in the right way?

What do you do to switch off from work?

I’ve two sons and right now I’ve been helping them with exam revision. I’ve been doing GCSE computer science and A Level Business Studies and Chemistry.

Don’t all the kids use ChatGPT to help with homework now?

We’re not encouraging it. The school where they go to has an AI test so that they can test whether it was written by an AI or not.

What else do you do to relax?

Run, walk the dog, do the housework and cook. I’ve also taken up yoga recently – that’s probably the only thing I do where I  have to switch off for half an hour without thinking about something popping into my head – mainly because I’m not very good at it – I have to concentrate, or I worry I might break something!

The post A coffee with…Jason Hill, UK CEO, Reply appeared first on TechInformed.

Storage giant NetApp serves diverse clients, including public sector organisations, banks, US government departments, energy companies, and even Formula 1 teams.

Caley, who nowadays opts for a white Americano, started his technology career working with databases in the NHS and as a technical designer at IBM.

The self-professed gamer, who owns a Steam deck and VR headset, also touched on AI’s impact on customers’ sustainability and cybersecurity goals, the intricacies of working with motorsport data, and valuable lessons from the recent CrowdStrike Windows outage.

Five lessons from the CrowdStrike Windows IT outage

What has motivated you to stay at NetApp for 24 years?

The culture at NetApp has always been great. It’s constantly evolving with technological changes like AI and cloud computing. I’ve transitioned through various roles, starting in pre-sales in the UK, moving to a global role in pre-sales, and travelling the world for about seven years.

Eventually, I shifted to a chief technologist role in the UK, then into pre-sales management, and now I’m the pre-sales director. The variety and the great culture have kept me here.

Have you felt the effects of increasing use of generative AI?

We’re seeing a lot of interest and projects starting to spin up around generative AI. However, it’s still new territory for many customers who are figuring out how to use and integrate it with private data securely. The challenge is to use this technology efficiently while keeping data secure and sustainable.

Which industries are handling it the best?

It’s varied. Gen AI has applications across numerous fields — customer experience, programming, research, technical writing, and more. No single industry stands out because many are finding diverse and innovative uses for it. It’s like a Swiss Army knife; you need to figure out the best way to use it for your specific needs.

How do you address sustainability concerns regarding the use of AI?

AI relies heavily on data, which requires significant storage and processing power. We certainly talk to a lot of companies and advise them on optimising their data to use less infrastructure, which in turn uses less power and cooling.

One big mistake is just putting all of your data into generative AI — you don’t necessarily need to because a lot of it could be junk or irrelevant. Tidying up your data before feeding it in and using less data means less infrastructure, less cooling, and less energy.

Is data security a major consideration when exposing data to Gen AI models?

It does introduce new challenges. You’re exposing private and public data to these models. You need to think of the ‘cyber resilience wrapper’ that goes around this because using so much data makes your firm a target for cybercriminals.

Companies have to consider many additional considerations in that respect, not just using data but also securing it and ultimately making it recoverable.

If generative AI becomes critical to business operations and companies do get attacked, any loss could massively impact regulations. So, they must be fully secure and recoverable.

How did the CrowdStrike incident illustrate the risks of relying too heavily on a single vendor for IT security?

The CrowdStrike incident was interesting because it highlighted the reliance on single vendors for specific tasks within IT infrastructure. The FCA and the UK, for example, are introducing many rules about over-reliance on the cloud and warning financial services to be aware of this.

The DORA regulation has also arrived in Europe, making sure companies build protection mechanisms around that. If there is an outage in an environment, they’ve got the capability to fail over somewhere else and recover to keep on running to avoid these instances.

You can argue that the CrowdStrike incident was a wake-up call for many companies. Still, it will mean that we’ll start to see companies diversifying where they put their data and what technologies they use around it to ensure that they’re not reliant on single vendors.

How do motorsports teams exemplify strong data management practices?

We sponsor Aston Martin F1 and Porsche’s Formula E, and we’ve sponsored Ducati in Moto GP — I suppose someone on our marketing team must love racing.

Data in those sports is critical because every car and motorbike nowadays is almost like a mobile sensor array. They’re capturing video feeds and sensor feeds in real-time. All of that comes to the trackside, is manipulated to give the driver advice, and is then also passed to the design centre for onward processing and analytics.

Data is a huge driver of motorsports, and that’s one reason we work quite closely with those companies.

Although it doesn’t seem like it, you’d be amazed at some of the sustainability technologies they’re building into these cars. I think it’s good because those technologies will be in our cars five to six years from now, once they become commercialised.

Data comes into play when determining how much infrastructure you need to optimise. That’s a big part of what we do to help them be sustainable, at least on the infrastructure side.

How do you wind down and switch off at the end of a long day?

I’m a gadget geek. I enjoy playing with new technologies. My wife and I also enjoy walking with our two dogs in the Lake District, which is a great way to relax.

I’m into all kinds of gadgets, from smart home devices to gaming consoles like the Steam Deck and VR headsets. I can’t resist new and interesting tech.

The post A coffee with… Grant Caley, UK and Ireland Solutions Director, NetApp appeared first on TechInformed.

Wilson also discusses Dropbox’s collaboration with McLaren and how they’re helping the Formula One team navigate their data faster. He also touches on his passion for impacting the future of STEM with his involvement as a non-executive director at TeenTech, a charity that inspires young people, especially girls, to pursue careers in STEM.

Penning down his journey with a techie’s enthusiasm on his e-ink tablet — his solution for his penchant for physically writing notes — Andy Wilson proves an uplifting and insightful guest on this month’s episode of “A Coffee with…”

Still got a few sips left in your cup? There’s plenty more where this came from. 

The post A Coffee with… Andy Wilson, senior director, Dropbox appeared first on TechInformed.

Today Gon continues his passion for computing heading the digital transformation services firm, CI&T, in Brazil.

Gon co-founded the firm almost thirty years ago, enhancing customer experience for pizza takeaway Domino’s, improving charging experiences for car manufacturer Audi, and an AI-powered order recommender for food retailer Nestle Brazil.

Since 1995, he and his co-founder have ridden the waves of many an industry transformation, through mobile and cloud revolutions, to the current explosion in AI.

TI met Gon at a CI&T AI event hosted at the Tate Modern, where, along with trends forecaster The Future Laboratory, he spoke about the impact of AI on enterprises.

How did your relationship with computer science begin?

Very early. I began coding at the age of 11, and by 13 I was making money by selling software. I used to code games like chess and sell the software to tech magazines, earning money to buy better equipment.

This was around 1982 to 1983, at the beginning of the personal computing revolution. Finding information back then was very difficult because it was before the internet. I was in a very small city in Brazil, so the only access to information was through some computer magazines, which were quite rare then.

As someone self-educated, would you say that now is the time for businesses to make mistakes with AI to learn how best to use it?

Absolutely. This is a time of significant change, and companies must adapt. Learning about technology and consumer behaviour often comes from doing experiments, trying new platforms, products, and ideas. Given how fast things are moving, experimentation is key. Although many initiatives might fail, the main asset is the learning gained, which helps you figure out how new technologies will impact customers and strategies.

What challenges have you encountered with AI?

We’ve been playing with AI for more than a decade. In the early 2010s, around 2011-12, we were the first global partner of Google in AI. However, the foundational architectures were not mature enough for commercial applications back then.

The real impact came with the launch of GPT-2 in late 2019. Since then, I’ve spent about two hours a day studying and experimenting with AI, which required a disciplined review of my priorities.

Convincing people to move quickly to take advantage of opportunities was another challenge. AI is not just another tech hype; it requires concrete strategies and a safe environment for experimentation.

Launching our hyper-digital platform and integrating AI into everything we do has been part of our strategic response.

How are your customers experimenting with AI?

Many large companies need to see AI possibilities within a secure and reliable framework. Our role involves translating these possibilities without exposing companies to security and privacy risks. We’ve found short-term value creation in productivity enhancements, especially in IT environments, coupled with more aggressive, innovative projects for long-term learning.

Customers have seen a rethinking of legacy modernisation and interfaces, moving towards natural language interactions. Combining short-term gains with long-term learning and adapting strategies accordingly is key.

The Future Laboratory discussed the idea of ‘Protopian’ AI instead of utopian or dystopian AI – what does that mean exactly?

AI is huge, but we’re not going to see sci-fi level artificial general intelligence (AGI) in our lifetime. AI today is remarkably powerful in language manipulation and reasoning, but it’s far from AGI. The real concerns should be focused on algorithm bias, job displacement, and the misuse of AI, not on sci-fi fears.

We need to look at AI in practical terms and understand that we tend to overestimate short-term impacts while underestimating long-term effects. A ten-year period helps manage expectations and design strategies focusing on efficiency and customer experience.

The post A coffee with… Cesar Gon, CEO, CI&T appeared first on TechInformed.

Having left university after three months, an 18-year-old Brown stepped into a technology sales role and worked her way up to channel manager at eCommerce giant The Hut Group (THG).

While working at THG, she took a short stint to find love on TV, where she has since amassed a following of over 130,000 on Instagram. Now at 27, Brown joined Manchester-based SaaS startup Flowlio last year as the project management vendor’s commercial director.

How can your firm’s project management tools help businesses?

Flowlio has come on an insane amount since I came on board. It’s a project management SaaS solution that is cloud-based and open-source. It’s an enterprise-level end-to-end project management platform which helps simplify processes.

It lends itself well to local authorities such as housing, government, and healthcare where projects are unfortunately not run to the standard they should be.

We also offer a project management course. Normally, you pay a lot of money to do a course and just get given a manual. For ours, we’ll go into businesses, and for three days, they’ll bring ideas and projects they’re working on to the table, and they’ll get tangible feedback they can take back to the workplace.

It’s great because we can go into a business, train them up, and slowly integrate the software into their business over time and give them a new way to work.

As a young woman in a senior role, what’s your take on the tech sector? Any advice to pass on?

I’ve learned to build resilience. If I wanted to achieve something, I encouraged myself to put myself forward. At THG, I was part of its internal women in tech group, and I took it upon myself to deliver a talk on salary negotiation.

I’m not an expert, but I’ve always asked for more money. I didn’t realise until I spoke to other people that people don’t usually do that, especially women – I’m a commercially-minded person, so that’s probably why my head goes to money.

Whereas for those in tech roles, whether it is coding, engineering or anything, it’s just not where their brain goes. So, for me, I’ve realised how important it is to clue younger people up on that.

How do you balance your influencer work with your current role?

It’s crazy because when I was on [Married at First Sight], I spoke about being a woman in tech so much it almost pushed me to the point of being a bit comical. But afterwards, I was inundated with messages from young people, mostly women, getting into tech celebrating it and saying: ‘We don’t normally see a young voice that’s speaking about it and that’s passionate about it.’

Then I went to speak about my ADHD diagnosis online after the show, when I was diagnosed at 26, and I couldn’t believe the number of messages I got. I had parents saying, ‘My kids have ADHD, and this has been so helpful’. I honestly think people forget what influence they have online.

I’m so happy with where I am now because I’ve still got that influence to be able to show that in a positive way. It’s not just a social media influencer, but I have this business side of me, so I can take things from both sides.

How do you find switching off?

I find it so hard to switch off. I don’t take medication for my ADHD. I tried, but I just didn’t get on with it. They say if you want your personality that day, then don’t take it because it kind of dulls you down a bit.

It was great in the morning when I was getting stuff done, but there was one time I was driving home from work in floods of tears. It just pulled the essence and emotion out of me. So, I thought, I’ve done 26 years without medication and for me, I think I’m okay.

It’s amazing in some ways because it keeps me on my toes, and I’m constantly thinking of ideas and things, but then, on the flip side, it can be frustrating. It’s a constant battle.

Does having ADHD bring positives to your role?

Yeah, people say ADHD is a superpower. Tech roles lend themselves to those who are neurodivergent because of the higher focus and the detail-driven work and creativity. So, I think I kind of channelled that.

Sometimes, it’s extremely annoying, but I think it’s about harnessing the parts that can help you in the right way. I could get really frustrated with myself all the time because I have so many thoughts going on, and I can’t concentrate on one thing or focus. But, bigger picture-wise, it’s definitely helped me in the long term.

What can workplaces do to support neurodivergent people?

We’re in an era of self-diagnosis, which shouldn’t be undermined because some people don’t have the funds to go private or the time to wait for an NHS diagnosis. So, it’s not just those who have a diagnosis from a doctor who feels they have tendencies; there are people out there who feel they have tendencies.

However, there are still so many people who don’t come forward when they’re neurodivergent. They don’t say: ‘I’ve got ADHD’, or ‘I’m autistic’, or ‘I’m dyslexic’ because there’s still a bit of a stigma.

Employers need to create safe spaces for people, and make people feel comfortable to talk about it. You must do things with integrity. You can’t put [neurodiversity] campaigns or days in place to talk about this just to tick a box.

The post A coffee with… Sophie Brown, commercial director, Flowlio appeared first on TechInformed.

Now called Another Round, the business exploded during the Covid-19 pandemic, when lockdowns triggered a huge demand for online personal training. This sudden surge in interest inspired Cotton to explore ways of scaling the business and improve and personalise the fitness services they already delivered.

The answer, he discovered, lay in developing the firm’s own AI-powered fitness training solution capable of crafting what Cotton claims are fully personalised workouts for healthcare and fitness professionals to deliver in person or online.

Backed by the former CEO of health and fitness chain PureGym, Peter Roberts, VOR has raised over £1 million in funding and claims to offer personalised workout plans in under half a second to improve efficiency, client engagement, and business growth.

While no customers have been announced yet, Cotton reveals they have three confirmed, with most interest coming from mainland Europe, the US and Asia.

How did you get into cage fighting?

I was a mixed martial arts (MMA) fan from the age of 16, and I chose to go to university in Nottingham because it was the best scene for fighting at the time. I didn’t take it as seriously while I was in college, but I learned a few bits and gave it a proper go when I was in my early 20s.

Later I set up my own fitness company after moving to London, using the strength and fitness elements of MMA and applying these to people who wanted to get fitter. That gave me a good first taster of start ups and forecasting.

What have you learned from MMA that you bring to your current role?

Fighting teaches you quite a lot of resilience, you literally get knocked down and you must pick yourself back up again. It’s also a mental game and it taught me the pain of failure and of regret. If you give up on something, you will think about it every day for the next ten years.

I remember losing my second amateur fight when I hadn’t been training properly and I got obliterated by this guy who had trained and so that was a turning point for me. I went on to win my next three fights and turned pro. There’s no quit in me anymore!

Tell us more about VOR – Another Round’s first foray into the B2B fitness market…

We started out wanting to remove that huge administrative burden personal trainers (PTs) face by creating a programme for the trainers which they would then check over and send to the client.

Rather than trying to replace anyone – which a lot of the AI tools do – we wanted to incorporate it into the important work that gyms and personal trainers already do, so that they can focus on engagement and the human elements such as motivation.

At the end of the day, a personal trainer ensures you exercise effectively and safely, an algorithm doesn’t. We see VOR as a tool to unlock human potential, to not only make trainers’ lives easier but to accelerate and enhance what every trainer is capable of.

What kind of AI are you using and how are you applying it?

We’ve built the code from scratch – this is not an LLM plug-in or a gen AI product that has scraped a broad range of workouts off the internet. To the untrained eye, a workout from ChatGPT might look like it’s safe and effective but, as trainers, we look at these quite often and know that they’re wrong. We are putting decades’ worth of experience into ensuring the right programmes are chosen for the right person.

With the programme we’ve developed we start going through it in the same way a personal trainer would when they take on a new client and ask a list of questions. We’ve designed a hierarchy of priorities based on the amount of time a person is committed to training, access to facilities; any injuries and personal goals etc and we start to build out those processes – ironing out contradictory goals, making this more personalised and more sophisticated.

Who is the tech lead on this project?

I met our CTO Jesse Shanahan, three years ago when she was building AI for start ups. She’s an astrophysicist and AI developer capable of simplifying absurdly complex concepts.

The platform uses theoretical physics to create an algorithm that helps marry up different inputs that are stacking up versus what that means in terms of the length of a workout, and it creates a programme for the user from scratch – without having to use existing templates.

What are the advantages of this level of personalisation?

The beauty of the tool is that it removes some of the limiting negative biases that exist around diet and exercise, for instance, the assumption that men do weights, women do cardio.

The platform agnostically looks at a person and designs a programme that gives them what they are asking for and helps them hit those goals. If a trainer tries to tweak that programme too much, the platform will red flag it first to ensure that those negative biases aren’t reinforced, which is an issue with AI.

How will the tech integrate into a gym’s existing offerings?

The platform is an API integration, so we work with gyms that have the technology or if they don’t, we work with them as a third partner. Gyms don’t need to advertise the fact that they have VOR – they could just market it as a new AI product for trainers… we’re in it for the impact, not the glory.

We will integrate the engine into an existing technology’s automation capabilities – and allow customers to choose what questions they ask. The engine also knows the layout of the gym, where the kit is situated and where the machines and dumbbells are.

Our first projects are in some of the bigger gym chains but we’re also working on offerings for the smaller players – independent gyms and freelance trainers. They may not have an API to integrate with, so the idea is to form partnerships and integrate into existing coaching tools.

What do you do to switch off from work?

I don’t know if I really do switch off. I train, I read business books and then trashy stuff on my kindle like Jack Reacher just to get to sleep. Any sort of fiction and some old classics.

How do you take your coffee? 

I love a good black filter or a cappuccino.

The post A coffee with… Max Cotton, founder and CEO of Another Round & VOR appeared first on TechInformed.

In this episode, Fisher delves into the critical need for data literacy and AI literacy to unlock the true potential of data and AI. He shares impactful use cases of data and AI, including efforts to address domestic violence, and advocates for the responsible use of existing data over the collection of more.

Tune in to hear Fisher’s perspectives on the tech industry and his vision for the future of data.

Still got a few sips left? Check out some of our previous episodes, including Zoom, eBay, and Lush Cosmetics.

The post A coffee with… James Fisher, CSO, Qlik appeared first on TechInformed.