• Season 2: Episode 15 - How Do Technology Leaders Drive Change for the Future Workforce
    Mar 24 2026

    In this week’ episode of the CTO Lens Podcast, David and Sophie begin by discussing the week's latest news, including budgets for AI and Quantum Computing, books being written using AI, Pokemon Go and Amazon’s new smart phone!

    Both then (as part of the leadership segment) discuss the future of the technology workforce, including the responsibilities that senior leaders have, how education may need to accommodate AI in a better way and what does the future workforce actually look like in 5-10 years from a technology standpoint.

    The episode concludes with the mid-episode game (titled Name That University) and a disaster diary entry all around effective objective setting!

    Link for London Tech Leaders Upcoming Events: https://luma.com/londontechleaders

    Link for London Tech Leaders Engineering Summit: https://registration.crowdcomms.com/londontech2026

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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • Season 2: Episode 14 - How Is AI Reshaping The Software Development Lifecycle?
    Mar 17 2026

    In this week’ episode of the CTO Lens Podcast, David and Sophie begin by discussing the week's latest news, including delayed Royal Navy deployments, airport face scans, bank apps showing other users' transactions and much more!

    Both are then joined by Andrew Murphy (Head of Engineering and Product at Wickes) to discuss how AI is reshaping the software development lifecycle. Andrew offers some fantastic insights into the pros and cons of recent AI implementation, how leaders are engaging with AI, and how he foresees the effects of AI in three to five years time (amongst a whole host of other informative conversation).

    The episode concludes with the mid-episode game (titled Battle of the Blanks) and a disaster diary entry which covers accountability at C-Suite level.

    Link for London Tech Leaders Upcoming Events: https://luma.com/londontechleaders
    Link for London Tech Leaders Engineering Summit: https://registration.crowdcomms.com/londontech2026

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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • Season 2: Episode 13 - Is The CTO Role Now More Strategic Than Technical?
    Mar 10 2026

    In this week’ episode of the CTO Lens Podcast, David is back and joins Sophie to discuss the latest in tech innovations and news.

    Both share insights on leadership, strategy, and the evolving role of technology leaders in organisations. From understanding the importance of strategic thinking to the future skills needed for CTOs, this episode offers valuable guidance for tech leaders aiming to make a broader impact.

    The episode concludes with the mid-episode game (titled Buzzword or Baloney) and a disaster diary entry which covers team conflict.

    Link for London Tech Leaders Upcoming Events: https://luma.com/londontechleaders
    Link for London Tech Leaders Engineering Summit: https://registration.crowdcomms.com/londontech2026

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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • Season 2: Episode 12 - Building The Fastest AI Machines on Earth
    Mar 3 2026

    In this week’s episode of the CTO Lens Podcast, Sophie Valentine is joined by guest host Samantha Burrows, in an International Women’ Day week special.

    They explore the significance of culture in leadership, especially for women+ in tech, and continue with news on the ethical implications of AI in defence, the future of AI and its potential economic consequences, innovative AI projects in the civil service, and some light-hearted tech updates.

    They are also joined by Jeremy Adcock and Josh Silverstone of Hartley Ultrafast. They are building the world’s fastest decision making machines, bringing artificial intelligence to the scale of single nanoseconds for the first time. This was a fantastic conversation and one not to be missed. Find out more here: https://hartleyultrafast.com/

    The episode concludes with the mid-episode game and Sophie and Sam discuss what International Women’s Day means to them.

    Link for London Tech Leaders Upcoming Events: https://luma.com/londontechleaders

    Link for London Tech Leaders Engineering Summit: https://registration.crowdcomms.com/londontech2026

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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Season 2: Episode 11 - Practical Cases of AI Working
    Feb 24 2026

    In this week’ episode of the CTO Lens Podcast, David Crawford and Sophie Valentine discuss various topics including social media court cases, recent AI trials and tribulations, and the emergence of Seedance, an app that can be used to generate Hollywood style videos.

    They are also joined by Otta Hilska (CEO of Swarmia) who shares insights on engineering effectiveness and the integration of AI tools in organisations, highlighting the importance of teams and the role of AI in enhancing productivity.

    The episode concludes with the mid-episode game and rather than a disaster diary entry this week, Sophie and David discuss the top five roles they would choose to build the perfect tech team in 2026.

    Link for London Tech Leaders Upcoming Events: https://luma.com/londontechleaders

    Link for London Tech Leaders Engineering Summit: https://registration.crowdcomms.com/londontech2026

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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • Season 2: Episode 10 - How to Get a CTO Role in 2026
    Feb 17 2026

    In this week’ episode of the CTO Lens Podcast, David Crawford and Sophie Valentine discuss various topics including their Valentine's weekend experiences, the viral success of their podcast clip on digital sovereignty, updates on the UK Online Safety Bill and the implications of AI in online safety, and discuss recent AI advancements in large corporations.

    They are also joined by Jon Sheehan (Co-Founder of Burns Sheehan) to discuss recruitment in the tech industry. They speak about the evolving role of CTOs, the challenges in the current job market, and strategies for positioning oneself effectively in a competitive landscape. They emphasise the importance of networking, patience, and understanding market dynamics while navigating career transitions.

    The episode concludes with the mid-episode game (titled "The CTO Winter Olympics”) and a disaster diary entry which is centered around becoming ‘an accidental’ CTO.

    Link for London Tech Leaders Upcoming Events: https://luma.com/londontechleaders

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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • Season 2: Episode 9 - Falling Back in Love with My CTO Role
    Feb 10 2026

    In this week's episode of the CTO Lens Podcast, Sophie and David discuss various topics including France getting rid of Zoom, AI robots and the recent AI Gold Rush. They also are joined by Lee Provoost (CTO of fintech company Flagstone) who discusses his journey of falling out of love and falling back in love with the CTO role.

    The episode concludes with the mid-episode game (titled ‘Touchdown Tech Leaders’) and a disaster diary entry which encompasses getting the board on side when it comes to technology.

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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Season 2: Episode 8 - Incident Response
    Feb 3 2026

    In this week's episode of the CTO Lens Podcast, Sophie and David discuss various topics including AI training initiatives, Apple's sales trends, digital sovereignty, and the future of driverless cars. They also delve into the importance of incident management and organisational culture with guests Joe and Hamid from Uptime Labs, also sharing personal experiences of IT outages. The conversation emphasises the need for resilience in tech organisations and covers the metrics that can help measure success in incident management.

    The episode concludes with a product angled mid-episode game (titled ‘Tech to the Top’).

    Find out more about Uptime Labs: https://uptimelabs.io/

    Link for London Tech Leaders Upcoming Events:https://luma.com/londontechleaders?k=c

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    1 hr and 4 mins