Force Multiplier

In this episode of Force Multiplier, Danny is joined by Jenny Rae, CIO of Imperial College London.Jenny shares her career path from a business degree at Oxford Brookes, to roles at Microsoft and BT, leading to her joining Imperial as Director of Digital Products. The conversation explores where the topic of sustainability has gone when talking about AI, and touches on student trust, concerns about profiling, and a lack of a “golden” GenAI use case. If you like Force Multiplier, make sure to check out Danny’s debut podcast Sondership, which shares Inspiring Stories from People with Purpose at Sondership.comLinks:Watch AI Confidential with Hannah Fry: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002q76b/ai-confidential-with-hannah-fryRead ‘Hello World’ by Hannah Fry:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hello-World-How-Human-Machine/dp/1784163066/Title Chapters00:14 What’s the change you’re trying to make01:19 Becoming Imperial CIO03:14 From Microsoft to BT05:40 Meet Daisy AI07:25 GenAI Vision at Imperial10:51 Jobs Fears and AI Teachers11:54 Governance and Ethics14:38 Student Data Boundaries17:28 Student Success Chatbot18:47 Collaboration Beyond IT19:20 Frictionless Tool Enablement19:45 Change Management Over Use Cases20:33 Everyday Productivity Wins21:53 Humans Still Matter22:59 User Centric vs AI First24:27 Blade Runner Future Vision26:35 Sustainability and AI Costs29:55 Risks and Critical Thinking30:54 Managing Humans and Agents33:31 Robots and Autonomy Fears35:45 Human Flaws and Trust36:41 Augmenting Healthcare Decisions

In this episode of Force Multiplier, Danny is joined by Lailany Sierra, Strategic Operations & Transformation Leader, with experience across IMAX, Disney, and Chanel.Lailany discusses the change she wants to make through individual transformation: building resilience, adapting in volatile times, upskilling, and developing agency as technology reshapes work. She emphasises showing up by adding value, supporting collaboration, and considering human implications during digital transformation. The conversation warns that organisations often treat technology as an ROI investment while treating people as a cost, risking displacement, underinvestment in upskilling, and using AI to replicate existing dysfunction; successful transformation requires data, security, ethics, and alignment to customer journeys and Conway’s law. Lailany describes learning via structured courses (including an Oxford AI course) and creative studies, prefers Claude as a thought partner and Perplexity for sourced research, and advocates prompting for alternative viewpoints to avoid confirmation bias. She raises concerns about AI representation, pace, accountability, and societal/ecological impacts, while highlighting benefits like democratised access, productivity gains, and advances in life sciences and climate tech.If you like Force Multiplier, make sure to check out Danny’s debut podcast Sondership that shares Inspiring Stories from People with Purpose at Sondership.com00:49 What’s the change you’re trying to make02:16 Leadership and Adding Value04:43 Human Centric AI Transformation05:35 Why Tech Deployments Fail09:28 ROI Versus People Investment11:49 Conway’s Law and Org Design15:21 Collective Intelligence With GenAI16:00 Luxury Needs Humans17:10 Reskilling and Learning Styles19:43 Art Deco Inspiration20:26 Choosing AI Tools22:36 Low Cost Learning Paths24:41 Avoiding Confirmation Bias27:43 AI Risks and Representation33:04 Democratisation and Breakthroughs35:28 Climate and Sustainability Outlook

In this episode of Force Multiplier, Danny is joined by Dame Clare Barclay, President of Enterprise & Industry, EMEA at Microsoft and former CEO, Microsoft UK. Clare and Danny discuss how they see AI being used in education, and how this extends to future generations. She shares what she’s seeing across AI startups and enterprises, why skills and lifelong learning are the critical unlock, and what governments can do to drive productivity and inclusive growth.If you liked Force Multiplier, make sure to check out Danny’s debut podcast that shares inspiring stories from people with purpose - SondershipReferenced in this episode:Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, Ethan Mollickhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Co-Intelligence-Living-Working-Ethan-Mollick-ebook/dp/B0CHHY2PS4Supremacy (AI, ChatGPT, and the race that will change the world), Parmy Olson https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supremacy-ChatGPT-Race-Change-World/dp/103503822600:45 AI as a Lifter for All01:31 Who Shapes the Outcome03:18 Personalized Tutors in Education03:26 Teachers Plus AI Support05:26 Kids Using AI Wisely07:01 Clare's Role at Microsoft08:14 Government and AI Strategy09:40 Skills and Lifelong Learning11:47 AI Reshaping Organizations13:33 Agents and Frontier Firms16:57 Adoption Speed and Disruption02:14 Enterprises Meet Startups18:45 AI As Shock Trigger19:11 Banking AI Benchmark Race20:40 Startup Acceleration Era21:41 Agent Costs And Value24:11 Experimentation Culture Shift25:14 Personal Agents In Practice26:46 Satya And Microsoft Agents28:44 Microsoft Culture To AI33:35 Curiosity New Year Advice34:14 Mum Learns AI Story

Danny is joined by Dr. Laura Gilbert, CBE, in a conversation that delves into the global inequalities that can be both created, and addressed by AI. Laura highlights the crucial role of human motivation in deploying AI technologies, drawing on her wealth of experience working in Downing Street, and now as part of the Tony Blair Institute. The conversation also touches on the importance of open-source solutions and the unintended consequences of overconfidence. Read the books Danny mentions:Black Box Thinking - https://amzn.eu/d/a7s6u2CFall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution - https://amzn.eu/d/fmeOY9Q If you liked Force Multiplier, make sure to check out Danny’s debut podcast that shares inspiring stories from people with purpose - Sondership  01:15 Vision for a Less Unequal World02:55 Motivations Behind AI Development08:42 Cultural Impacts of AI12:10 Predicting the Future17:45 Optimizing for Better Decision Making22:20 Government and AI: Real-World Applications26:45 AI-Powered Vulnerability Detection27:30 Human-Centric Tech Development27:59 Become an Expert in your Own Right29:29 Know What You Don’t Know33:35 Open Source and Collaboration37:43 Embodied AI and Robotics43:00 Decide What You Care About

"What is the world you want to build?"In the premiere episode of Force Multiplier, Danny Attias sits down with Claudia Harris OBE (CEO of Makers) to discuss why the future of work isn't about code, it's about becoming a "fearless learner".Claudia shares her journey from McKinsey and Tony Blair’s Delivery Unit to leading Europe’s first coding bootcamp, where she proves that resilience and emotional intelligence are the true skills of the future. Together, they strip away the sci-fi fear of AI, reframing it as a "word calculator", a tool that requires human mastery, not just blind adoption.They dive deep into:* The 3 Stages of AI Adoption: Moving from Mastery (prompting) to Automation (efficiency) to Re-imagining (complexity).* The "Playground" Trap: Why AI "friends" who never disagree with us might be dangerous for human resilience.* Agency over Anxiety: Why we must stop reacting to tech trends and start deciding what meaningful work looks like.* The Optimist’s Case: Why this is the most exciting time to be alive, if we are willing to.00:18 The Change Makers: Transforming Careers01:28 Personal Passion and Professional Journey02:22 The Genesis of Makers: Coding Bootcamp03:17 The Importance of Fearless Learning04:05 AI and the Future of Work04:35 Claudia's Career Path: From McKinsey to OBE06:39 The Role of AI in Career Education07:24 The Impact of AI on Society and Work08:09 Building Skills for the Future17:46 Mastering AI: A Three-Tier Approach27:03 Balancing Personal and Professional Life27:52 The Privilege of Working in AI29:37 Conclusion: Embracing Change and Optimism