Leon Butler, IBM’s UK and Ireland CEO, explains why most generative AI models aren't fit for enterprise use and stresses the need for transparent, trusted systems. He also discusses how recent acquisitions - including HashiCorp and DataStax - support IBM’s push to automate enterprise IT. Leon talks about other key IT areas, like data sovereignty an…

In this episode of Ctrl Alt Lead, Tom speaks with AWS CISO Chris Betz about the evolving AI landscape and its implications for cybersecurity. They discuss the challenges and blind spots security leaders face with AI agents; the importance of proactive security measures, and the differences in AI security between public and private sectors. Betz, wh…

With AI agents taking over the world, Oracle's launch of AI Agent Studio last week is exceedingly timely. UK country leader Siobhan Wilson joins Tom at Oracle Cloudworld 2025 to explain how it works, who can use it, and what it means for IT teams. Siobhan also discusses Oracle’s $5 billion investment in UK cloud infrastructure, why demand for AI ag…

In this episode Tom talks to GitHub's VP of Developer Relations, Martin Woodward, about open source's evolving landscape and funding models, as well as the role of AI in software development. We dive deep into GitHub's Secure Open Source fund, the importance of financial sustainability for open source projects, and how AI tools like GitHub Copilot …

A tobacco company that wants more regulation? Javed Iqbal, Director of Digital & Transformation at British American Tobacco, describes how clear rules, plus technology, can accelerate safer alternatives to smoking. He reveals how AI is driving breakthroughs in marketing insights, patent research and even tackling ESG issues like child labour; and d…

Healthcare has massive potential for tech-driven disruption, but adoption is - for good reason - cautious. In this episode Perran Pengelly, CTO of NHS partner DrDoctor, shares insights on the challenges and opportunities of modernising healthcare delivery. Perran explains the emerging model of hybrid healthcare, which could alleviate the mismatch b…

In this episode Tom talks to Karen Byer, lead project manager and chair of UK RISE at PA Consulting, about business resource groups' role in fostering inclusive workplaces. Karen shares practical advice for IT leaders on how to support informal groups, develop impactful initiatives, and create environments where everyone thrives - all while balanci…

The end of the year is peak sales time, extending from Black Friday in November to the sales in January. Mattie Toia, VP of infrastructure at ecommerce platform Shopify, explains how the platform handles this “peak of peaks." Tom and Mattie discuss the role of resilience, game-day simulations and the use of real-time data visualisation tools, as we…

In this episode, legal expert Jonathan Armstrong of Punter Southall Law breaks down the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and its implications for financial services firms and their suppliers. Jonathan talks about DORA's key requirements, the challenges of cross-border compliance, and how CIOs can prepare for these sweeping changes across t…

General purpose AI models are great if you want to discuss everything from geopolitics to baking with the same chatbot; but when you have hard limits on data and compute, you need a more focused system. Enter, small language models. This week Tom talks to Arm's Paul Williamson about what the rise of SLMs means for edge computing and the people who …

Multifactor authentication is better than nothing, but is it really just a false sense of security? With attackers increasingly knowing how to break MFA, whether technically or through social engineering, director Richard Richison switched his entire company of 1,600 employees over to a phishing-resistant process relying on biometric security keys …

Will Amazon's return-to-office mandate be a success, or will Andy Jassy's employees slap on a return label? Reed co-founder Mark Ridley and Dr Andrew MacLaren, Associate Professor of Team Communication at Heriot-Watt University, join Tom to talk all about the points for and against office vs remote work - and why hybrid might be not the perfect mid…

What effect will a protectionist President have on the global tech sector? Professor Grant Neeley discusses Donald Trump's stance on tech issues from AI to immigration, and what we can expect from his historic second term. The incoming President is critical of regulation, but has spoken out against Big Tech. He is anti-China, but pro-TikTok. He wan…

Acquiring new companies is a popular way to grow quickly, but it brings a host of technical challenges: from finding the right company, to due diligence, and finally integrating their systems. In this episode Ardonagh Advisory CTO Tom Clark discusses the role tech leaders must play at every stage of the process to smoothly bring new companies on bo…

BT consumes about 1% of the UK's total power, a massive amount for a single company. In this episode Tom talks to Clare Schramm of BT's "internal hyperscaler," the cloud services division, about how they are reworking software, hardware and partnerships to slash energy use. Clare talks about how and why BT has written sustainability metrics into al…

Culture is one of the most difficult things to build, even for engineers. In this episode, Admiral's Chief Engineer Pankaj Kane talks about how he built an engineering-led culture, and why he's made sure to remain separate from it. Instilling a culture through one of the UK's largest insurers was no easy task, so Pankaj launched it using a common v…

IoT sensors are common in infrastructure, but strangely rare in stately homes - where the predictive maintenance piece, at least, makes them incredibly well suited. Oxfordshire's Blenheim Estate, though, uses hundreds of sensors. I talked to Head of Innovation David Green about the organisation's modern approach. David explains how and why Blenheim…

IT professionals are perfectionists under pressure in a changing industry: a combination that leads to exhaustion, stress and burnout. In this episode, head of IT Jeremy Cooper tells Tom how he overcame the problem, and how he tackles it in his team. Jeremy talks candidly about his own experiences of burnout - from what caused it, to how it affecte…

Drowning in documents hundreds of pages long, the legal sector needs a safe, transparent way to speed up the way it works. Is generative AI, trained and prepared on legal data, the answer? In this episode Tom talks to Bruna Pellicci, CIO at Magic Circle law firm Linklaters, about how technology is changing the legal space and how her company built …

The National Grid was built on infrastructure laid in the 1950s. Now, as the UK's energy sector changes, CIO Sarah Milton-Hunt and her team are replacing that legacy with modern tools to last the next 70 years. Sarah talks about the factors affecting the modern utilities sector, like datacentre growth and the move to renewables, and how digital and…

Labour has won a thumping majority in the 2024 general election. Mark Ridley, fractional CIO and technical co-founder of Reed.co.uk, joins Tom to talk about what it means for the tech sector. What did Labour promise in its manifesto - and more importantly, what did it leave out? Tom and Mark talk about where the new government is likely to focus it…

AI, especially gen-AI, is all the rage. In this episode Tom talks to ex-Very Group CIO Matt Grest about how the online retailer implemented it - and why - at scale. Matt talks about how he successfully adopted gen-AI, how he brought colleagues along for the ride, and how IT leaders can clamp down on AI shadow IT. Become a member of Computing today …

A spin-out can be the defining moment of a leader's career. In this first episode of Ctrl Alt Lead, Tom Allen talks to Kellanova CDIO Lesley Salmon about the successful split from cereal giant Kellogg's. Lesley talks about how to spin out successfully, the pain points she encountered, and how she overcame them - plus, her thoughts on the AI revolut…

Broadcaster Richard Bacon catches up with us from his home in LA as he relaxes in what seems to be a rather nice situation for isolation. He talks us through his stella street of famous neighbours and recounts how only 18 months ago he was in a medically induced coma for double pneumonia. Throughout this conversation his son hacks at his newly bake…

Actress Leslie Ash (Quadrophenia, Men Behaving Badly, Holby City) joins Chris & Leon to talk about how she is dealing with isolation. Having had her fair share of trauma (she was hospitalised and bedridden for 3 months with the superbug MSSA) she is not as anxious as some about her time in lock down. She gives us a little peek into her life with fo…

Stand up comic, author and screen writer, the brilliant Shappi Khorsandi joins Chris & Leon for a lovely blather in what is approaching the end of the second month of lockdown. We talk about the trials of looking after kids as a single mum, how the tiniest of things can cause emotional breakdowns and how the sense of community has grown stronger as…

Made In Chelsea star, Candy Kittens business owner, TV presenter and all round top bloke, Jamie joins Chris & Leon on a phone call from his mum's house in the Cotswolds. Holed up with is Mum and his girlfriend, Jamie shares what life in isolation is like for him. There is some revealing insight into the pressures of fame and how this time can somet…

We only went and got top class actor Stephen Graham (Snatch, Boardwalk Empire, The Irishman, Gangs Of New York, The Virtues). Isolating at home with his wife and kids, he admits that after a gruelling few years of success and being away form home, he is valuing the time with his family. From letting his son cut his hair to meditation and his love f…

For this episode of the Corona Special High Anxiety Pods we welcome photographer, magazine owner and cultural icon Rankin. Holed up in his home in the Suffolk, Rankin tells us what it's like for a creative that NEEDS to take photos of people and not being able to do that. He explains the guilt of feeling helpless in the current climate as well as h…

Chris & Leon chat to writer, actor and comedian Isy Suttie about how she is dealing with her isolation madness, re-drafting her new novel, reading in the bath, boiling eggs, childcare and some truly exception accents... as well as some proper crap ones. We cover collective acts of communal kindness and comedy Corona Virus songs as well as some book…

Leon & Chris chat to singer songwriter David Ford. With seven albums penned in the last 15 years he is man that values craft over commercial and music over business. Having been voted 'Album Of the Year' twice in the Sunday Times and Word Magazine, the Guardian called him 'one of Britain's best.' We catch up with him as in isolation at home with hi…

Chris & Leon call on the legendary Rich Hall to see how he is dealing with isolation, and you guessed it... he's not over the moon or overly concerned (even though his wife has the virus.) We find out that he is home schooling the kids with lessons in basketball and US legal history and he is absolutely horrific at regional accents. Truly awful. He…

If High Anxiety had a home it would be during a world pandemic. Welcome to our home, take your shoes off, don't touch us and have a listen. Jumping on the isolation bandwagon, Chris & Leon spark up some transatlantic chats and phone some of our previous guests, seeing as everyone has a bit of time on their hands. This episode we phone in to the Ran…

It’s the end of Season two and what better way to finish than with BBC 6 Music DJ and all round professional curmudgeon Shaun Keaveny. To switch it up a bit we also brought in Alex Carter to add to the laugh salad, friend of the pod and also the occasional punch bag for Mr K. It’s a cracking episode with some good Hate Envelopes as well as a in dep…

This week Radio 4's John Finnemore (The Souvenir Programme, Cabin Pressure) lies comfortably back on the High Anxiety couch with Chris & Leon. John explains to us the problems he's had with insomnia throughout his life and the processes by which he tries to combat it. Tom Jones' nut bag comes up in conversation as does twitter followers, Leon's sup…

A bumper podcast episode this week! Not only recorded in LA, not only do we go in seriously deep in the anxiety stakes but we do it with a bona fide American icon... This week's star guest is Alexandra Paul; actor (actress...she prefers it anyway and her christian name could be confusing) star of Baywatch, numerous movies, health coach, vegan, eco-…

Chris & Leon manage to catch up with Patrick in his LA home that he shares with his wife Cat Deeley and their two young kids. For anyone that is interested in stand up, fame, ambition and contentment then this episode for you. Patrick talks with a great honesty about where he is at now in his career and his life. We touch on being a comedian in the…

Welcome back faithful angst riddled followers. It took a while but finally a new 5 episode season of the High Anxiety Pod is back. We'll release a new episode every fortnight to make you feel like there is more content than there actually is. Chris & Leon's first guest is a favourite of ours and I suspect yours.... ROMESH RANGANATHAN!!! He took tim…

The legendary Rich Hall is this week’s High Anxiety guest. From Saturday Night Live with Eddie Murphy and Billy Crystal through the Carson show, Letterman and turning down a role on Seinfeld, Rich Hall is the comedian’s comedian. His latest achievements are a string of critically acclaimed BBC4 documentaries about US culture and history. With nearl…

Rapper, Comedian, Writer, Actor Ben Bailey Smith aka Doc Brown is this week's gift to you. His soporific, gentle tone is like an aural massage popped, intermittently, by Leon and Chris. Ben is a fantastic guest with a smart angle on life as well as a huge creative output. He talks about his stand up career, how much he gives of himself to ‘show bus…

Amber is our first American guest on High Anxiety. She is a comedian and the author of the brilliant book Sober Stick Figure - we've even added a link so you can have a look at it https://g.co/kgs/qKg6ru Get the book and read it. It's the insanely funny story about Amber's struggle with alcohol. Yup, it's hilarious and about alcoholism. Amber is br…

Brimming with anxiety this week is Steve Mackintosh (Lock Stock, Luther, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, Memphis Belle). Steve is an actor with an insanely long CV (or Resumé for our Stateside friends.)Steve has been in the biz since he was a carefree, young nipper. He got married in his early 20s and managed to run a successful acting career alongside bring…

Actor, Musician and Dad - Rhashan Stone (Apple Tree Yard, Strike Back, The A Word, Agatha Raisin) joins Chris and Leon for Episode 6 of High Anxiety Pod. Rhashan talks about his anxiety as a black teenager in Norfolk in the 80s, his passion for music and authenticity and his shunning of any sort of social media.Less important things that we chat ab…

Want to know what Corporate Comedy gigs are? Interested in masturbation on the dark web? Do you know the difference between prostate and prostrate? Kerry Godliman is this week’s guest with all the answers. Kerry, as a successful stand up and actor, (Derek, Mascots, Bad Move, Carters Get Rich) shares her thoughts about age, depression and anxiety wi…

Bafta winning, potty mouthed, comedy wizard Ash Atalla (The Office, IT Crowd, People Just Do Nothing, Trollied) is this week's chatmonger. He moans a bit about the lonely life of a producer as well as talking about his numerous awards. He gives some bona fide good advice about producing top drawer comedy which is his speciality. His anxiety about c…

This week it's the turn of Marc Warren to face the Paxman style grilling from Chris & Leon. Marc has been in a tons of stuff from The Hustle, Band of Brothers, Snatch, Mad Dogs to big Hollywood movies like Wanted in which he stars alongside James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie. This last batch of epic name dropping leads to a particularl…

This week’s guest on the High Anxiety Pod is Danny Wallace: author, actor, presenter, journalist, screenwriter and ‘humorist’ (as stated in wikipedia). Danny talks about his experiences in Hollywood when his novel The Yes Man was made into a hit movie with Jim Carrey, his worries about the apocalypse, finding time to do everything and bemoaning the…

In the first of our High Anxiety Podcasts Chris & Leon talk to award winning writer, actor, comedian, songstress and novelist about the difficulties of finding time to write and create as a mother, crap building up in the house and how to deal with being recognised in Nandos. There's a bit of sweary stuff on occasion. @highaxietypod…