Tech Beyond the Hype

Revealed: The Human Side of Digital Transformation and Why Leaders Can’t Ignore It

A whopping 70% of all digital transformation projects fail – according to Deloitte. With businesses everywhere having spent the past 2 decades investing time, energy and resources into transformation, something clearly isn't working.  

 

Guest Kamales Lardi joins me in this episode to share her insights on what we're getting wrong when it comes to digital transformation. For her, too many businesses are ignoring the key element that will determine the success of their transformation efforts – their people. Transformations should be grounded in purpose and values, which are then shared across the company to ensure that everyone understands and gets behind the process. 

From understanding generational preferences in the workplace to the role of technology in promoting work-life balance, this episode offers key insights into creating a successful digital transformation journey that is people-centered and future-ready.

Join us as we unravel the complexities of digital transformation and chart a more effective and inclusive path forward! 

Follow Kamales' work: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamaleslardi/
• Ted Talk: Revolutionizing The Technology Industry | Tedx Geneva - Revolutionizing The Technology Industry | Kamales Lardi | TEDxGeneva 
• Book : The Human Side of Digital Business Transformation - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Human-Side-Digital-Business-Transformation-ebook/dp/B0BKJRNCTL 

What does Innovation Look Like in the Age of Generative AI?

There's a lot of buzz around innovation, but what does it really mean? What makes a company good at innovating?

With over two decades of experience at Amazon, where he spearheaded innovation projects across various departments, guest Trent Gillespie offers invaluable insights into the power of innovation in today's business landscape.

In this episode, we talk about the pervasive nature of innovation as a hyped buzzword in the corporate world and shed light on common mistakes leaders make when attempting to generate new value for their organisations. Drawing from his wealth of experience, Trent unveils the inner workings of Amazon's innovation powerhouse, offering practical tips and strategies to help leaders replicate their success while minimising risk.

Trent provides best practices and real-world examples to explain how anyone can become an agent of continuous, sustainable change at work - and how to leverage Generative AI to succeed.

Whether you're a seasoned executive or an aspiring innovator, this episode is a must-listen. Gain the knowledge and tools you need to create long-term value through innovation in today's rapidly evolving world of work.

Follow Trent:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trentgillespie/
- Email: trent@d1innovation.com
- Day 1 Innovation: https://www.d1innovation.com/

Democratising Health: Redesigning Care with Artificial Intelligence

Could AI really transform an entire industry at the global level? On a mission to end cardiovascular disease across the world, visionary digital transformation and strategy leader, Richard Dasselaar has dedicated his life to unpicking the complexities of global public health and designing innovative ecosystem models that optimize healthcare outcomes and democratize access to care across the globe.

In this episode, I sat down with him to find out about the potential of Artificial Intelligence to revolutionize healthcare around the world, why we need to improve cardiovascular-related outcomes and how ecosystem transformation could make digital care accessible at a global level. We also discussed the challenges of leadership in the digital age and the importance of finding a middle ground between stakeholders of every generation to drive changes that are impactful and inclusive.


- Global heart health and the need for new solutions
- Digital transformation in health: what does that mean?
- The transformative potential of AI in cardiology
- Purpose-driven leadership and the importance of empathy
- The challenges of leading change in a multi-generational workforce
- The importance of short-term pragmatism in designing long-term solutions

Connect with Richard
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richarddasselaar/

Can we Avoid Burnout?

Sending emails before you’ve got yourself ready for work, a blocked-out calendar filled with back-to-back meetings and that looming deadline that’s made sleep more difficult than ever this week – sound familiar? As we adjust to the remote/hybrid world of work, maintaining boundaries between our personal and professional lives is difficult to say the least.

For leaders, the challenge of maintaining a motivated, positive working culture in this context is intensifying as layoffs persist, corporate restructures push ahead and a generalised state of uncertainty prevails.

In this episode, I sit down with Andrew Deutscher (Leadership Coach & Principal, Regenerate) to find out why so many of us are struggling with chronic stress and hear about strategies business leaders and managers can implement to work more sustainably and avoid burnout for themselves and their teams. 

• Identifying toxic working behaviours that lead to overwork, chronic stress and burnout
• Leadership strategies to reinvigorate motivation
• Adapting leadership strategies around the hybrid/remote working world
• The value of rest and recovery to drive energy-inspired work
• Personal strategies for managing workload and mental health
• Sustainable leadership strategies
• Why most wellbeing programs and inclusion initiatives fail
• Why we need to acknowledge and value individual needs
• How to create a purposeful work environment
• Why organisations need to invest in employees' energy needs
• Best practices for fostering continuous learning and cross-departmental collaboration and support

Follow Andrew:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewdeutscher/

Forbes - https://councils.forbes.com/profile/Andrew-Deutscher-Founder-Regenerate/1dfb5cb1-4b1b-4123-b0ef-c450b3a7159f 

Regenerate - https://regenerate.works/ 

Blinkist 'Sustainable High Performance Habits'https://www.blinkist.com/en/nc/partners/andrew-deutscher

 

Optimizing for Impact with Blockchain & Analytics

As the world shifts towards a more sustainable future, businesses must prioritize impact alongside profitability. Mere lip service won't suffice as consumers, investors, and governments demand greater transparency around ESG and impact performance. In this episode, I chat to Fleur Heyns - founder of impact intelligence platform, Proof about the future of impact and ESG.  

 Listen in as we discuss how advanced technologies such as AI and machine learning are transforming the ESG space, and the opportunities for businesses to leverage impact data to drive long-term positive change. We also tackle the key challenges and opportunities of transitioning to a green economy, the distinction between ESG in public markets and private markets, and the brass tacks of ESG as a CEO, entrepreneur, and business.

Fleur and I dive into the importance of optimizing environmental and social data, discussing how reducing liabilities, disasters, and social responsibility issues are all crucial factors when it comes to ESG. We examine how ESG can become a value-add to a company when approached correctly, and how the focus of ESG has moved beyond a 'tick box exercise' to being a measurement of contribution. Additionally, we touch on the role of the SFDR Sustainable Finance Disclosure Requirements in creating a baseline for ESG data and a global checklist of 10 KPIs.

We further discuss how companies can gather data to optimize their environmental and social impact, and how investors can use this data to make informed decisions. Fleur shares her insights on how digital data in emerging markets can be greater than that of more developed markets, the importance of understanding data gaps, and how to use proxy data as an interim step to fill these gaps. Don't miss this insightful conversation on sustainability, impact in business, and the potential of digital financial market transparency.

 
Tune in to discover how cutting-edge technologies like big data, blockchain, and AI are enabling organizations to get clarity on their ESG performance and implement practical changes to drive positive, long-term change. 

 

Introducing Tech Beyond the Hype

Introducing Tech Beyond the Hype, TechTarget's latest original podcast series.

 

Tackling Business Problems with Data Science

In the digital economy, data is the new gold. As automations, Machine Learning and AI-powered tools become more ubiquitous, the amount of value we can extract from data is only ever going to increase. Despite this, most people outside of IT are data illiterate, with little to no understanding of how it all works in practice. On top of this, data-related scandals have left a sour taste for a lot of people, making it harder to get them onboard with new data and analytics initiatives at work. 

In this episode, I sit down with Sandi Ganguly (Data Science Manager at Microsoft) to find out about what data science teams do, how the role has evolved since he began over 20 years ago and why data illiteracy is becoming a problem for business leaders everywhere.

Cited Sources 

Data Scientist: The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century (Thomas H. Davenport and DJ Patil, 2012) https://hbr.org/2012/10/data-scientist-the-sexiest-job-of-the-21st-century  

Is Data Scientist Still the Sexiest Job of the 21st Century? (Thomas H. Davenport and DJ Patil, 2022) https://hbr.org/2022/07/is-data-scientist-still-the-sexiest-job-of-the-21st-century