Downtime
The Third Half...
A substack you can lose yourself in...
Articles
Downtime
AI
The cost of a mile
Hedging your overhead certainty according to oil price
AI
Apocalypse selling: is it irresponsible to fearmonger?
Microsoft says white-collar work is done yet 80% of CEOs say AI has done nothing for them yet.
Wellbeing
The long weekend you need
Well hello there. I'm just back from Newquay having shown the world that even fat labradors like me can mount a surfboard - in the water too. I love Easter weekend at home. I try to do as little as possible as London is always quiet and I can potter away - if my family lets me... (Storm
AI
Quantum for CEOs
Just as you have your head around AI, quantum computing wants to have a pop at you as well. Our resident expert in quantum computing, Jonathan Loretto, schools us in what we need to know as CEOs… You know that feeling when someone explains something so genuinely world-altering that you
Wellbeing
The longest minute of my life
Ten years ago today, I had just returned from China on an assignment for the UK government, attracting investors to British technology companies. It was an intense, sprawling job and I arrived home on Saturday afternoon exhausted only to start a new job on Monday at Virgin Money. I knew if
AI
How Many People Can I Fire?
I gave a talk last week to a City CIO Club gathering on the next generation of skills leadership teams need to develop around AI. Afterwards, one of the CIOs in the room stood up: "We are on this right now, but only in the tech department. And actually mostly me. I am axing tens of
Leadership
Bring Out Your Jobs
The Executive Summary is building a jobs section into the newsletter. Board roles, C-suite appointments, senior leadership positions, NEDs and fractionals appointments. If you're trying to find the best of UK talent and LinkedIn is bringing you some very random and poor results, why not
AI
How are you using AI?
Where is AI already making you money and where is it just making you feel modern? I gave a talk on this in Edinburgh the other day to a brilliant group of people at SMT Network. Fast forward to the end to find out which types of AI your organisation uses today and where you might be
AI
The Software Tax
Would you rather have more hospital beds for people or the latest version of Windows? Ooh, tough one. As patients lie on trolleys in hospital corridors, teachers buy classroom supplies out of their own pockets and councils close libraries, the government is paying billions a year for
AI
Apocalypse Selling: Is it Irresponsible to Fearmonger?
Microsoft’s AI chief Mustafa Suleyman recently told the Financial Times that artificial intelligence will automate most white-collar work within 12 to 18 months. “I think we’re going to have a human-level performance on most, if not all, professional tasks. So, white-collar work, where
AI
Unmeasured Productivity: AI Investments are Flying Blind
Your People Are Already Using AI Microsoft research shows 52% of knowledge workers hide their use or AI from their managers. Data is flowing to external systems without governance. Contracts are being drafted, code is being written and emails are being sent through tools your IT department