On this week's Digital Lighthouse, Zoe Cunningham is joined by Scott Ronan, Senior Director of Central Infrastructure at GXO. As the second special episode on digital leadership, Scott takes a deep dive into what it means to be a digital leader. Scott shines a spotlight on the importance of trusting, understanding, and giving autonomy to your teams, as well as predicting technology trends and working out how to build new technologies into your business strategy.

How to bridge business expectations and technology capabilities?

Digital Lighthouse Jen Dallas (Softwire)

On this week's Digital Lighthouse, Zoe Cunningham is joined by Jen Dallas, Head of Digital UK and Ireland at RSA Insurance. Jen talks about the work she and her team have done to develop customer experiences across their platform. She explores the RSA's use of user testing, research and leadership to help create huge efficiency gains, and what has been valuable for the RSA's position in the financial services sector.

Jen Dallas is the Head of Digital at RSA Insurance, where her current focus is on delivering ecommerce growth and strategically aligned, customer-centric product developments. She has spent the past 15 years honing her skills in the travel and insurance sectors, using her expertise to solve business problems through digital solutions, driving online adoption.

How the RSA is delivering great customer experiences to its financial services users

In our latest TechTalks episode, Zoe Cunningham is joined by Kyla Guru and Molly Graton, co-founders of GirlCon. We explore the story behing Girlcon, a Chicago-based tech conference for female/non-binary high schoolers to promote diversity in STEM fields. Recently it was help at Google Chicago, before becoming a virtual global event in 2020. Transcript available at: www.softwire.com/insights/the-story-behind-girlcon-the-international-tech-conference-for-women

The story behind Girlcon, the international tech conference for women

In our latest Techtalks episode, Zoe Cunningham is joined by Elin Sjursen, Design Director, and Michael Trueman-Hall, Senior Service Designer at Softwire, to talk about Service Design. It's a term that is interpreted in so many ways by so many different people, and is closely linked to Design Thinking. Let's explore the full definition and understand why it's so important for companies to consider this as part of their planning. Read more and get subtitles from: https://www.softwire.com/insights/what-is-service-design-and-why-is-it-important/

What is Service Design and why is it important?

In our latest Digital Lighthouse episode, Zoe Cunningham is joined by Kim Nilsson and Ole Moeller-Nilsson, founders of PeripherAi. This startup is helping founders of small and medium-sized businesses to create a scalable, predictable and efficient sales function, by integrating the human knowledge and the data insights within. We take a sneak-peak behind the scenes at why this startup's mission is so important and what it's taking for this startup to grow during turbulent times.

See the full transcript and more at: https://www.softwire.com/insights/peripherai-the-ai-startup-turning-business-data-into-sales

PeripherAi: The AI startup turning business data into sales

Joe Edwards, Technical Principal, and Daniel Waters, delivery principal at Softwire, share how to use DevOps to make your developers more productive. They discuss what they mean by productivity and DevOps, and why DevOps is particularly relevant for financial services.

To read the transcript, visit https://www.softwire.com/insights/how-to-use-devops-to-make-your-developers-more-productive

How to use DevOps to make your developers more productive

As a CTO, how can you create your own community of peers? Even if you're working with your team leads and C-Level colleagues, you may still feel lonely at times.

CTO Craft’s community brings together technology leaders from across the world and its founder, Andy Skipper, shares how it all started and how to build your own network of peers. Transcript available at: https://www.softwire.com/insights/cto-craft-building-a-community-for-ctos-and-digital-leaders/

If you’re interested in seeing more from CTO Craft, check out their upcoming events: CTO Craft Con Winter 2022 virtual conference (https://conference.ctocraft.com/) and CTO Craft Bytes – Networks for Tech Leaders: Creating, Using and Nurturing, a London-based in-person event (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cto-craft-bytes-networks-for-tech-leaders-creating-using-and-nurturing-tickets-443383260267), this November.

CTO Craft: Building a community for CTOs and digital leaders

Zoe Cunningham is joined by Sophia Lin, senior sales manager, and Sasha Burgoyne, head of academy operations at TechSwitch to talk about how people of all backgrounds can approach career changing into technology successfully. See the full transcript and more at: https://www.softwire.com/insights/what-routes-into-technology-are-available-for-female-and-diverse-career-changers

What routes into technology are available for female and diverse career changers?

In our latest Digital Lighthouse episode, Zoe Cunningham is joined by Hywel Carver, founder of Skiller Whale. This organisation provides deep coaching for tech teams, believing that learning that is core to how an engineering team operates and should align with business priorities. In our conversation, Hywel discusses why Skiller Whale came about and how to make the most of any tech training for your team. Read the full transcript here: https://www.softwire.com/insights/skiller-whale-why-companies-need-a-different-strategy-for-training-their-developers/

Skiller Whale: Why companies need a different strategy for training their developers

In our latest Digital Lighthouse episode, Zoe Cunningham is joined by Jason Souloglou, founder and CEO of SeeChange Technologies, a world-leader in real-time AI powered recognition systems, with expertise in making complex, state of the art AI technology simple to deploy and scale.

Jason speaks about how their AI technology services excel within the retail sector to support loss prevention and health and safety compliance, where AI can go in the future and how it can support positive social change.

Read the transcript and find out more at: https://www.softwire.com/insights/seechange-harnessing-the-power-of-ai-to-drive-positive-social-change

SeeChange: Harnessing the power of AI to drive positive social change

In our latest Digital Lighthouse episode, Zoe Cunningham is joined by Daniel Whitston, CTO of AutogenAI.

The adoption of AI tools is on the rise, with a large number of them utilising the large-scale language model, GPT-3. While these models can solve difficult problems, they tend to be trained on a large corpus of the entire internet and may not capture an individual company’s voice or values. Daniel discusses how CTOs can embrace and use AI large language models in their company, and shares how AutogenAI is bringing AI-generated outputs closer to company needs. Read the transcript at: www.softwire.com/insights/daniel-whitston-cto-how-ive-embraced-ai-and-large-language-models

Daniel Whitston, CTO: How I’ve embraced AI and large language models

In our latest Digital Lighthouse episode, Zoe Cunningham is joined by Anne Currie, Community co-Chair of the Green Software Foundation. Anne shares her experience and talks about the key pressing climate issues for the tech industry right now, the best things that tech teams can do to reduce their impact on the planet, and what research is saying about how the digital age has changed. Learn more by listening to the podcast or reading the full transcript at: https://www.softwire.com/insights/greening-your-digital-infrastructure-strategies-for-sustainable-technology-teams

Greening your digital infrastructure: Strategies for sustainable technology teams

Zoe Cunningham is joined by Aya Stead, software developer at Softwire to talk about neurodiversity in her role. She shares the ways she developed to look after her mental health, in the hope it can help other software engineers too. View the full transcript at: https://www.softwire.com/insights/navigating-neurodiversity-how-can-software-developers-support-their-mental-health-in-the-workplace/

Navigating neurodiversity: How can software developers support their mental health in the workplace?

Back in 2008, Herb Kim founded the Thinking Digital conference series. Little did he know that 15 years on, the event would still be going, having established itself as a popular fixture in the north-east tech calendar.

Herb joins Zoe Cunningham to talk about the importance of events, both for networking, and as powerful and serendipitous learning and development opportunities for anyone in the sector.

The discussion then moves on to tech leadership, with Herb explaining why he believes putting yourself at risk of genuine personal failure is one of the best ways to learn critical leadership traits.

Herb Kim – Why you need to risk failure to become a great leader

In our latest Digital Lighthouse episode, Sarah Hale, Senior Director of Engineering at Unity Technology joins Zoe Cunningham to talk gaming, career paths, and the importance of clarity when leading a team.

Sarah reflects on how she’s needed to evolve as she’s worked her way up to an engineering leadership role, while still regularly drawing on the skills she learnt early in her career.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone in a technical or engineering role thinking about where they’d like to go next in their careers, and for engineering leaders looking to learn from someone in a similar position.

The things I didn't expect I would have to do as CTO

If you’re not using microservices already, you’ve probably heard people raving about how amazing they are. If you’re tempted to dip your toes in the water, then this podcast with independent tech consultant, author, and former FT technical director for engineering enablement, Sarah Wells, is a must-listen.

During her chat with Zoe Cunningham, she talks about what organisations need to consider before diving into the microservices world (spoiler alert, it’s not just about tech), and the things you need to have in place before you take the plunge.

The discussion also covers situations where microservices may actually not be the most appropriate way of building software.

How to decide when you should (and shouldn’t) use microservices

Georgina Owens knows a thing or two about leading successful technology functions. Having held senior leadership roles in organisations across finance, telco and utilities, she now heads up the 300-person technology function at William Hill.

In her chat with Zoe Cunningham, she reflects on how you can successfully oversee teams at this scale, while instilling a culture that fosters creativity and innovation. There’s also a revealing chat about many of the unseen jobs a CTO must do to succeed.

Georgina Owens - How to lead a 300-strong technology team

In this episode of "The Digital Lighthouse," Zoe Cunningham welcomes Thomas Harris from MasterCard, delving into the transformative currents of digital innovation. 

Thomas shares the strategic intricacies of MasterCard's journey, and the broader impact on global markets, in a conversation that lights the way through the complex landscape of digital transformation, offering invaluable insights on navigating change with agility and foresight.

Thomas Harris on navigating digital transformation: Insights from MasterCard's journey

In this enlightening episode of the Digital Lighthouse, we sit down with Denholm Hesse, Chief Data Officer at BDO. 

With a rich background spanning over a decade in data management, including pioneering roles at Deloitte and Prudential, Denholm brings unparalleled insights into leveraging data as a strategic asset. 

Our conversation dives into the evolving role of data governance, the innovative concept of a data marketplace, and the critical importance of data quality and trust in driving business efficiency. 

Join us as Denholm shares his visionary approach to harnessing data's potential in turbulent times, illuminating the path for businesses aiming to thrive in the information economy.

Data as an Asset: Navigating the Future with BDO's Chief Data Officer, Denholm Hesse

In this special episode of The Digital Lighthouse, we are thrilled to host Rajani Rao, a luminary in the tech industry and a staunch advocate for the role of women in technology. 

As a principal technologist at Aveva and director of Women Who Code, Rajani shares her inspiring journey and the transformative work her organization does to break barriers for women in tech. Through her story, we explore the importance of diversity for innovation, the power of challenging assumptions, and how Women Who Code is shaping the future of technology by empowering women with the skills and confidence to succeed. 

Join us as we celebrate the achievements and contributions of women in technology, and shine a light on the path to a more inclusive and innovative future.

Empowering Innovation: Women Who Code with Rajani Rao

In this episode of The Digital Lighthouse, Zoe Cunningham is joined by Glen McCracken, the Head of Data and Analytics at ION, a leading firm in automation solutions for the financial sector. 

With a rich background in corporate finance and applied statistics, Glen delves into the pivotal role of data analytics in shaping business strategies and enhancing operational efficiency. His unique perspective, born from years of experience and a passion for innovation, offers invaluable insights into harnessing technology for better decision-making.

Data-Driven Decision Making with ION's Glen McCracken

Modernising legacy software and infrastructure is hard. Really hard.

Nobody wants to be lumbered in a clunky inefficient system. But “slaying the monolith” is easier said than done. 

Just ask Anthony Nolan. Increasingly hampered by its existing technology, the stem cell transplant charity was struggling to iterate and facing increasingly high levels of friction.

So what do you do? Build a totally new piece of technology? Or rewire the existing system? Turns out, it’s a bit of both. 

In our latest episode, Softwire’s Ben Below details how the organisation successfully embarked on a modernisation journey.

How Anthony Nolan modernised its legacy infrastructure

In this episode of Softwire Tech Talks, host Zoe Cunningham is joined by Nick Bates, COO of CTO Craft, and Yemi Olegbaiye, Client Portfolio Director at Softwire. Together, they discuss the importance of building strong tech leadership communities, navigating digital transformation, and fostering meaningful connections in the technology sector.

Building strong tech leadership networks in the Age of AI

In this episode of The Digital Lighthouse, host Zoe Cunningham explores the challenges and opportunities for women career switchers in tech with Sasha Burgoyne and Esme Chant from Softwire.

Join them as they discuss:
Why women career switchers need additional support in tech
Creating supportive workplace environments for career switchers
The value career switchers bring to tech organisations
The structure and benefits of the TechSwitch program

About Guests

Sasha Burgoyne is the co-founder of TechSwitch, an award-winning software development training programme for career switches looking to move into tech, as well as people looking to return to the workplace. She is also Head of Academy at Softwire which delivers training in DevOps and software development and has been part of Softwire’s DEI Working Group since its inception. 

Esme Chant is the D&I Lead and a People Advisor at Softwire. She has played a key role in enhancing inclusivity within the company by implementing practical solutions, such as neurodiversity awareness training, facilitating reasonable adjustments, and creating a D&I calendar to ensure that various identities are recognised and celebrated. 

Episode Highlights:
[00:00:01] Introduction and welcome
[00:00:32] Esme's background and DE&I role
[00:00:48] Sasha's role in TechSwitch program
[00:01:11] Discussion on supporting women career switchers
[00:02:30] Overview of TechSwitch program
[00:06:49] Career switchers' value in the workplace
[00:08:38] Softwire's workplace support initiatives
[00:10:42] LevelUp program details
[00:16:11] How to prepare for TechSwitch
[00:17:30] TechSwitch application process

Resources:
TechSwitch- www.techswitch.co.uk
Softwire - https://www.softwire.com/
Codecademy - https://www.codecademy.com/
Code Wars - https://www.codewars.com/

Supporting women career switchers in tech

In this episode of The Digital Lighthouse, host Zoe Cunningham is joined by Sasha Burgoyne, Head of Academy Operations, and Esme Chant, DE&I Lead at Softwire. Together, they discuss the importance of creating inclusive workplaces for employees with disabilities, sharing personal experiences and practical strategies for both employers and employees.

Building workplace inclusivity for people with disabilities

In this episode of The Digital Lighthouse - The Softwire Podcast, host Zoe Cunningham is joined by Richard G Brown, Founding CTO and Advisor to the CEO at R3. Together, they explore the practical applications of enterprise blockchain, digital currencies, and confidential computing. From scaling high-performance tech teams to navigating emerging technologies, Richard shares invaluable insights on how businesses can evaluate and integrate blockchain solutions for maximum value.

Digital privacy, blockchain and the future of finance with Richard G Brown

In this episode of The Digital Lighthouse, host Zoe Cunningham is joined by Kamales Lardi, CEO at Lardi & Partner Consulting, to discuss The Brain Code, how leaders can use neuroscience to break through resistance, foster trust, and build a truly human-centric approach to digital transformation.

How neuroscience can make or break your digital transformation journey

In this episode of The Digital Lighthouse,, host Zoe Cunningham is joined by Shaukat Ali Khan, Executive Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO) at NHS, to explore the future of digital healthcare, including the importance of leveraging AI in healthcare, balancing innovation with governance, and creating patient-centric digital transformations.

How the NHS is driving patient-centric digital transformation

In this episode of The Digital Lighthouse - The Software Podcast, host Zoe Cunningham is joined by Simon Wardley, Owner of Swardley Maps, to share how business leaders can better navigate digital transformation through visual mapping techniques.

Understanding your economic and technology landscape with Wardley Mapping

In this episode of The Digital Lighthouse - The Software Podcast, host Zoe Cunningham is joined by Ann-Marie Gallacher, Chief Information Officer at NHS 24 Scotland, to explore how AI and digital transformation are revolutionizing healthcare delivery while maintaining clinical safety and patient care standards.

Inside the AI-Driven Revolution at NHS 24 with Ann-Marie Gallacher

In this episode of The Digital Lighthouse - The Software Podcast, host Zoe Cunningham is joined by Ben Bilsland, a Partner and Head of Technology Industry at RSM UK, to dive into a wide-ranging conversation about the future of UK tech and macro trends shaping it.

Why London's Tech Ecosystem Is #3 Globally and Rising with Ben Bilsland

In this episode of The Digital Lighthouse, host Zoe Cunningham speaks with Catherine Stagg-Macey, executive coach, advisor, and host of the Unsaid At Work podcast. After more than 20 years in consulting and operations, Catherine has seen how traditional command-and-control leadership fails in fast-moving tech environments.

Together they explore why authenticity and vulnerability are not weaknesses but core strengths for today’s technology leaders. Catherine shares how letting go of the illusion of control, acknowledging challenges, and treating teams like adults can transform culture, build trust, and unlock better performance—even in turbulent times.

Discover
How to show vulnerability without oversharing: sharing “scars” rather than open wounds
Why authenticity builds stronger teams and reduces the burden on leaders 
Why “motivation” isn’t something leaders can inject, but a balance of clear direction and the right people
The difference between acknowledgement and toxic positivity—and why it matters
Strategies for motivating self-driven teams without micromanagement
How to handle difficult conversations when budgets tighten or uncertainty looms
Practical ways to co-create solutions with your team while retaining decision-making authority



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Why authenticity and vulnerability define great tech leaders with Catherine Stagg-Macey

The Digital Lighthouse is a podcast for CTOs and other tech leaders looking to navigate their organisation through endless disruption and turbulence. Packed full of real life stories and insights, this podcast serves as your guiding light - wherever you are in your journey and whatever challenges you face.

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