The ITPro Podcast is a weekly show for technology professionals and business leaders. Each week hosts Rory Bathgate and Jane McCallion are joined by an expert g...
Computer systems that can autonomously work on menial tasks have been the promise of technologists – and science fiction authors – for decades. While we’ve dabbled with the likes of robotic process automation and machine learning in the past, the arrival of advanced AI software has put these lofty ambitions back on the table.According to AI developers, new tools known as AI agents will free up workers as never before, with the ability to autonomously complete tasks based on pre-approved instructions and by contextually processing new data. What does all this mean for businesses, and how far can AI agents really go?In this episode, Rory is joined by Paul O’Sullivan, UKI CTO at Salesforce, to discuss the potential of AI agents in the workplace.
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33:58
Are most AI projects destined to fail?
How much has your company invested in AI? Are you finding it a revolutionary technology, or still waiting for the promised gains to materialize?As businesses seek to unlock productivity gains from AI, investment in the technology has continued to rise. All across the world, firms are buying AI products, undergoing digital transformation in preparation, or even fine-tuning AI to suit their bespoke use cases.But how much of this is going to pay off? And what do you do if your AI project fails on its own terms?In this episode, Jane speaks to James Hodge, chief strategy advisor, EMEA at Splunk, to explore where we’re going wrong with AI.
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28:24
Creating space for women in tech
International Women’s Day is here, a time for all those who care about women’s equality to celebrate the achievements of women both contemporary and historical and to focus on gender equality in our society.The tech sector still has a sizable gender divide, with only around one quarter of all tech roles held by women. Tech leaders need to enter into open dialogue over how to make tech careers more attractive to women and to empower women within their workforce.In this episode, Rory speaks to Elizabeth Barr, head of the Cisco Networking Academy in the UK, Ireland, and Nordics, to explore what International Women’s Day means in 2025 and how young women are entering tech.Women in tech think the industry has changed for the better, but there’s still more work to be doneWomen in tech are being forced out of work by the ‘motherhood penalty’The women returning to tech – and why they left“We are influencing generations to come”: Improving the picture for women in tech through cultural changesSupporting female founders in techThe company-wide benefits of mentorship in tech
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33:19
February rundown: Revenge quitting and Microsoft goes quantum
February is the shortest month of the year – but that hasn’t stopped this month from being packed full of dramatic tech news.Microsoft has made waves with Majorana 1, a first of its kind quantum chip that the tech giant says could open the door to usable quantum computers in years, not decades as previously thought.Elsewhere this month, Sam Altman made a series of public rebukes of Elon Musk, following an offer by a Musk-led consortium to purchase OpenAI for over $97 billion. And could the tech sector be staring down the barrel of widespread ‘revenge quitting?In this episode, Rory is joined once again by Ross Kelly, ITPro’s news and analysis editor, to discuss some of the biggest news for February 2025.
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17:43
The new era of cyber threats
The cybersecurity landscape gets more complicated every year, with emerging technologies such as AI and the shifting geopolitical landscape bringing extra chaos to any CISO’s desk.Though automated defense systems are a welcome feather in cap for any company, it’s not just the good guys who have access to the latest tools. Off-the-shelf frameworks to launch attacks are becoming more common and businesses can’t rely on any single service to be a silver bullet.What are the individual forces at play here? And how can security teams keep up?In this episode, Rory speaks with Kevin Mandia, founder and former CEO at Mandiant and current board member at cybersecurity firm Expel, and Dave ‘Merk’ Merkel, co-founder and CEO at Expel, to learn more about the current global cybersecurity landscape and what the future holds for security teams.Read more:State-sponsored cyber attacks: The new frontierThe new ransomware groups worrying security researchers in 2025Stopping cyber attackers from targeting the weakest links in securityStealthy malware: The threats hiding in plain sightWhy attacks against critical national infrastructure (CNI) are such a threat – and how governments are respondingWhy vendor breaches still haunt enterprise IT leadersLondon council claims it faces 20,000 cyber attacks per dayI love magic links – why aren’t more services using them?How to create a secure password policyMajority of firms using generative AI experience related security incidents – even as it empowers security teams
The ITPro Podcast is a weekly show for technology professionals and business leaders. Each week hosts Rory Bathgate and Jane McCallion are joined by an expert guest to take a deep dive into the most important issues for the IT community. New episodes premiere every Friday. Visit itpro.com/uk/the-it-pro-podcast for more information, or follow ITPro on LinkedIn for regular updates.
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