Accelerating AI

Episode 22: Beyond the CV: AI Recruitment, Fair Hiring and the Future of Education

Tue, 10 Nov 2026 23:49:39 +0000

The conversation explores the evolving landscape of recruitment, emphasising the shift towards skills-based hiring and the integration of AI in the recruitment process. Rami Albatal (Beamery) discusses the importance of understanding candidate capabilities beyond traditional qualifications and the ethical considerations surrounding AI in hiring. The conversation explores the transformative impact of AI on various sectors, particularly in job recruitment, education, and the future of technology. The participants discuss the implications of AI’s capabilities in automating tasks, the importance of adapting education to prepare future generations, and the potential of AI in enhancing human cognitive abilities.

Episode 21: From Hacked Fridges to Self-Improving AI: Risks, Rewards and Responsibility

Tue, 03 Nov 2026 21:10:29 +0000

The conversation discusses the implications of IoT devices being hacked, particularly focusing on the recent incident involving refrigerators. The hosts explore the broader risks associated with the increasing connectivity of everyday appliances and the need for improved cybersecurity measures. The conversation explores the rapid advancements in AI and its implications for healthcare, business productivity, and societal challenges. The speakers discuss the race to reach Recursive Self-Improvement (RSI) and the potential for AI to solve significant global issues while emphasising the importance of responsible innovation.

Episode 20: AI’s Growing Pains: Cybersecurity, Energy and the Anthropic IPO Debate

Sun, 01 Nov 2026 00:54:08 +0000

The conversation delves into the recent PHP vulnerability and its implications for cybersecurity, highlighting the role of AI in both creating and resolving such issues. The discussion also touches on the state of national infrastructure, the need for proactive measures in cybersecurity, and the challenges of energy supply in relation to AI advancements. The conversation delves into the implications of Anthropic’s impending IPO, the dynamics of AI investments, and the broader economic landscape influenced by tech valuations. The speakers discuss the potential outcomes of the IPO, the demand for AI services, and the impact of market fluctuations on investor sentiment.

Episode 19: From AI Theory to Practice: Conference Lessons, Adoption and ROI

Sat, 17 Oct 2026 12:15:53 +0000

With Lionel, Andy & Matthew. The conversation reflects on the recent Accelerating AI conference, highlighting its success, engagement levels, and the evolving landscape of AI adoption among businesses. The speakers discuss the need for practical implementation of AI, the importance of understanding its value, and the anticipation for future events.

Episode 18: Too Many AI Agents? Persistent Agents, Open Weights and the Future of Regulation

Sat, 17 Oct 2026 12:15:25 +0000

With Lionel, Andy & Matthew. The conversation explores the challenges and excitement surrounding the upcoming AI conference, focusing on the proliferation of AI agents and the need for persistent agents to manage them effectively. It also discusses the implications of open weight models, government regulation, and the future landscape of AI technology.

Episode 17: AI Agents That Never Sleep: Productivity, Privacy and the Future of Digital Assistants

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 17:01:16 +0000

The conversation explores the emergence and significance of always-on agents (like Meta Muse, Grok Bot & the recently announced OpenAI DOTS) in AI, discussing their capabilities, accessibility, and potential impact on user experience. The participants highlight the evolution from traditional chat-based interactions to more autonomous, persistent agents that can manage tasks and provide assistance in real-time. The conversation explores the implications of AI agents in personal and business contexts, focusing on their capabilities, risks, and the need for governance and ethical considerations. The participants discuss the balance between leveraging AI for productivity and the potential dangers of data privacy and autonomy.

Episode 16: AI for Business Leaders: Models, Strategy and the Future of SMEs

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 17:01:05 +0000

With Lionel, Andy & Matthew. The conversation covers the upcoming Accelerating AI Conference (13th October 2026 / Milton Keynes), the evolution of AI in business, preparing for the conference, the role of AI models, the future of AI and token usage, and the debate around open source vs. closed source AI.

Episode 15: When AI Leaders Beg for Regulation: Creativity, IP and the Future of Business

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 20:42:43 +0000

With Lionel, Matthew & Andy. The podcast discusses the unprecedented request for AI regulation by industry leaders and the implications of AI's rapid advancement. It also explores the quality and creativity challenges in AI-generated content and the impact of AI on businesses.

Episode 14: Could AI Become the New Currency? Tokens, Productivity and the Future of Work

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 13:49:30 +0000

The conversation covers a wide range of topics, including the role of the Silverstone Technology Cluster, AI applications, recent AI developments, 3D printing, human-AI interaction, AGI’s impact on business, ethical considerations, and the impact of AI on the economy and employment. The discussion also delves into the risks and dilemmas of AI reliance. The conversation delves into the impact of a global outage of AI providers, the emergence of AI tokens as a form of currency, and the concept of intelligence as currency. It explores the implications of a token economy on the workforce and business models, as well as the challenges of token consumption and the competitive advantage of SMEs in AI adoption. The discussion concludes with a preview of the upcoming Accelerating AI Conference, highlighting the focus on live demos, practical demonstrations, and regional collaboration.

Episode 13: Will AI Replace Human Connection? Digital Twins, Companions and the Future of Events

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 19:37:11 +0000

The conversation begins with an introduction and discussion about the upcoming Accelerating Conference and its partners. It then delves into the value of live events and the impact of AI on business and events. The discussion shifts to the importance of human connection in the age of AI, followed by the influence of AI on jobs and society. The conversation concludes with a focus on digital twins and cloning, highlighting the ethical and societal implications of this technology. The conversation explores the future of AI conferences, the rise of AI companions and twins, the era of wearables and connectivity, the role of AI in empathy and compassion, the value of human connection in the AI era, the impact of AI on design and creativity, society’s adoption of AI and its value, and the promotion of the Accelerating AI Conference.

Episode 12: AI in Business: Community, Content Ownership and Ethical Adoption

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 23:07:51 +0000

The conversation covers a wide range of topics related to AI, including the impact of AI on businesses, the challenges and opportunities of AI, the use of AI in marketing, and the ethical considerations of AI. The speakers also discuss the implications of AI on content creation, the rise of AI-generated content, and the potential impact of AI on human creativity and intellectual property.

Episode 11: Inside NatWest’s Accelerator: Business Growth, AI Adoption and Milton Keynes Tech Week

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 23:06:49 +0000

With Matthew, Andy & Debbie. Debbie Lewis from NatWest's Accelerator Programme discusses the evolution of the Natwest Accelerator, its digital transformation, and the support it offers to businesses. The conversation also delves into the upcoming AI conference and Milton Keynes Tech Week, emphasizing the importance of AI adoption and the diverse range of speakers and topics.

Episode 10: The AI Trust Problem: Watermarking, Regulation and the Future of Work

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 21:46:28 +0000

With Lionel, Matthew & Andy. The conversation covers a range of topics related to AI, transparency, regulation, and the impact of AI on businesses and industries. It also delves into the opportunities and challenges presented by AI, as well as the future of work and entrepreneurship in the AI era.

Episode 9: Is Your Business Ready for the EU AI Act? AI Governance for SMEs

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 14:24:58 +0000

The conversation discusses the implications of the EU AI Act and its impact on businesses, particularly SMEs. It explores the need for awareness, education, and policy implementation to ensure safe and compliant use of AI tools. The conversation also highlights the challenges and risks associated with AI adoption in small businesses. The conversation covers a range of topics related to AI governance, transparency, liability, and the upcoming AI conference. It delves into the challenges of AI regulation, the role of AI champions, the need for global AI standards, and the implications of AI-generated content. Additionally, it explores the liability of AI tools, the impact of AI on decision-making, and the details of the upcoming AI conference.

Episode 8: AI Hacked the Test: Security, Open Source and the Future of Regulation

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 20:54:55 +0000

With Lionel, Matthew & Andy. The conversation covers the topics of AI security, open AI, legislation and regulation, AI empowerment, open source models, AI education, and the AI skills shortage. It delves into the challenges and implications of AI security breaches, the need for legislation and regulation, the impact of open source models, the importance of AI education, and the growing skills shortage in the…

Episode 7: AI Tools for Daily Work: Copilot, Meeting Notes, MCP and Claude Design

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 20:10:22 +0000

The podcast episode begins with an introduction and plans for future episodes. The hosts then discuss their day-to-day experiences with AI tools, focusing on Microsoft Co-Pilot and AI productivity, note-taking and AI assistance, and the Model Context Protocol (MCP) for AI integration. They delve into AI reasoning and thinking capabilities, Claude Code for AI automation, Claude Design for AI creativity, and Canva AI for AI-generated presentations. The conversation delves into the evolution of LLM providers, the expansion of front runners in the market, the diversification of models, the future of SAS, and the human role in AI.

Episode 6: AI Costs, Agents and Governance: How SMEs Can Adopt AI Without Losing Control

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 20:08:07 +0000

The conversation delves into the impact of AI on rising hardware costs, consumer tech, and business infrastructure. It explores the use of AI models in cloud environments, optimising AI model usage, agentic loops, development teams, and the product development lifecycle and roadmaps. The conversation covers the themes of empowering non-developers, governance and risk management, and data privacy and security. It explores the shift towards empowering non-developers to create prototypes and solutions, the importance of governance and risk management in AI implementation, and the critical considerations for data privacy and security. The discussion provides valuable insights for SMEs looking to leverage AI and technology effectively while managing associated risks.

Episode 5: Open Models, Shadow AI, Vibe Coding and the End of SaaS as We Know It

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 19:30:48 +0000

The conversation delves into the closed source vs. open source debate, highlighting the challenges and risks associated with open source models. It explores the impact on enterprise and SMEs in AI implementation, as well as the security risks and shadow AI in businesses. The discussion also addresses the challenges of vibe coding and SMEs, emphasizing the need for a risk policy for AI in SMEs. The conversation delves into the SaaS industry, DIY software development, education and governance in AI, emerging markets for application security, regulation and standards in AI and software development, AI labs and open source debate, AI training and data privacy concerns, AI learning and reasoning capabilities, AI’s impact on medicine and drug development, and the dichotomy of AI’s potential and risk.

Episode 4: From AI Curiosity to Capability: How Businesses Are Actually Adopting AI

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 19:25:02 +0000

The podcast discusses the challenges of AI adoption, focusing on the transition from curiosity to capability and the ownership gap in AI adoption. It explores the findings and statistics related to AI adoption, highlighting the lack of dedicated time and projects for AI. The role of business leaders in driving AI adoption and the impact of AI on business operations are also discussed. The conversation delves into the practical applications of AI in automating mundane and repetitive tasks, the role of AI agents in transforming business operations, the pitfalls of badly implemented AI agents, common mistakes and challenges with AI adoption, and the importance of measuring the impact of AI in business. The speakers emphasize the need to start small with AI automation and highlight AI agents as automated employees that can enhance human agency.

Episode 3: AI Bubble or AI Utility? Fable 5, Sovereign AI & Starlink’s Power Play

Fri, 01 May 2026 09:00:00 +0000

The conversation delves into the controversy surrounding Fable Five, the implications for AI safety, the need for model diversification, and the economic and political implications of AI development. It also explores the concept of sovereign AI and the future of AI in the global economy. The conversation delves into the rise of Starlink as a revenue generation tool and its impact on the phone market. It then explores the debate on the AI bubble, the cost of using frontier models, and the influence of market forces on the value of AI. The discussion highlights the optics of intelligence becoming ubiquitous and its impact on changing business models, pricing mechanisms, and the decoupling in the labor market.

Episode 2: Reflecting on the Accelerating AI Conference 2026

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 09:00:00 +0000

The conversation covers a recap of the Accelerating AI Conference, the biggest takeaways, the shift in the AI journey and audience expectations, micro conversations and diverse AI adoption, businesses’ exploration of AI, global business AI adoption trends, appetite for AI and the future of work, and the announcement of a future AI conference. The speakers discuss the enthusiasm and desire for AI adoption, the shift from conceptual to practical AI usage, and the potential impact of AI on the future of work.

Episode 1: Why You Should Attend Accelerating AI Conference 2026

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000

The conversation begins with introductions and a discussion on the upcoming AI conference. The speakers then delve into the current landscape of AI adoption, the importance of the Accelerating AI conference, and the disruption and impact of AI on society and the economy. The discussion covers the excitement and concerns surrounding AI adoption and its potential impact on businesses and society. The conversation covers the importance of AI diffusion and adoption, change management, employee engagement, productivity and ROI in SMEs, framing AI as empowering, AI literacy and fluency, practical examples and use cases, excitement and expectations for the conference, regional relevance, event significance for businesses in Milton Keynes, and reasons to attend the event. The key takeaways include the crucial role of AI adoption and diffusion for economic resilience, as well as the importance of AI literacy and fluency for future-proofing competency.