Ctrl Alt Lead

Tom and Penny break down the latest developments shaping the technology landscape, starting with a sharp global tech stock sell-off forcing organisations to rethink how they measure value from AI. We also explore the realities of AI use at scale, from token pricing to emerging challenges like model ‘looping’; how extreme heat, public discontent and increasing scrutiny of water usage are putting da...

This special news-focused episode focuses on three major stories from the last week. First is the UK government’s proposed social media ban for under-16s, and the wider regulatory shift it represents. Rather than targeting content or companies, the government has opted to place the onus on young people. While enforcement remains uncertain, we're seeing a more interventionist approach to technology...

The World Cup brings more than global attention; it also drives a sharp rise in cyber threat activity. Darren Anstee, CTO for security at NetScout, sets out how DDoS attacks increase around major sporting events, often starting months before kick-off and peaking during live matches. Attackers test defences early then target critical services once the tournament is underway. Darren also highlights...

AI coding tools aren't just about writing code faster. In this episode, OpenAI's Head of Developer Experience Romain Huet explains why tools like Codex are becoming general‑purpose work agents that can handle documentation, reviews, backlog reduction and even operational tasks — and the effect this dramatically compressed time from idea to production will have on the developer ecosystem. We also t...

Mobile scams are no longer isolated or opportunistic. Drawing on global research and collaboration across the mobile industry, the GSMA's Head of industry Security Samantha Kight explains how scams have overtaken traditional crime in profitability, with social engineering now more effective than technical exploits. As generative AI lowers the barrier to entry for this attack path, legacy networks...

Speed is one of AI’s easiest wins and one of its biggest traps. In this episode Bastien Parizot of Reckitt explains why faster execution alone is not a business case for AI adoption. At Reckitt, AI initiatives live or die by a simple test: can they deliver higher‑quality outcomes? “If it’s faster but not better,” Parizot says, “it’s a lot of investment for not really making our business better.” P...

In this episode of Ctrl Alt Lead , Penny Horwood is joined by Ajay Pancholi, IT Infrastructure Lead at Carlsberg Britvic and founder of the AI Security, Ethics and Governance UK community, to explore why organisations need to rethink how they approach AI. Pancholi argues that AI should be treated as critical infrastructure , not “innovation theatre”, warning that most enterprise risk sits outside...

In this episode, Penny Horwood hears from Fabrizio Pilotti, CIO of Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team, about how cutting-edge technology is transforming modern Formula One.  Fabrizio sets out some of the ways that vast data volumes, AI, and machine learning are reshaping race strategy, engineering, and operations, whilst also providing an opportunity to enhance fan engagement through increased d...

Recorded at Oracle’s AI World Tour in London, UK country leader Siobhan Wilson tells us what AI actually means for IT leaders right now. She unpacks Oracle’s push to embed agentic AI across infrastructure, data platforms and applications, arguing that the real shift is from chasing AI hype to delivering measurable outcomes at speed. We also covers major UK‑specific investments, including sovereign...

Lloyds Banking Group is one of the UK's biggest financial services companies, with an estimated one in two British citizens acting as customers. In this episode Tom speaks to Peter Brown, engineering lead at Lloyds, about how the bank has applied AI at massive scale across retail banking, complaints and internal operations. Peter explains how AI tools support colleagues and how they were built wit...

Demands on technology professionals are changing constantly, but hiring hasn't kept up: people still look for coding ninjas rather than recruiting the skills that will really make a difference in the AI age, says E.ON's emerging technology lead Kara Flook. In this episode, Tom and Kara discuss her journey from a dance background to a career in technology, as well as the growing importance of soft...

In this episode of Ctrl Alt Lead, host Penny Horwood is joined by Debbie Janeczek, Global CISO at ING, to explore what cyber resilience really means for a global financial institution operating in an increasingly volatile threat landscape. Drawing on her background in military intelligence and financial services, Debbie discusses how ING is moving beyond compliance to embed resilience into the way...

Penny Horwood is joined by Kiran Mahil, CIO of Retail Products at Nationwide Building Society, to explore how digitisation and automation are reshaping retail banking while preserving trust, fairness and accessibility. Kiran explains her role overseeing Nationwide’s core banking platforms, retail products and technology strategy, and outlines how the mutual’s values influence its approach to digit...

Access Group runs a vast, acquisition-led IT estate while supporting mission-critical services such as NHS payroll. Tom speaks with regional technology director Rolf Krolke about how the organisation designed a scalable reference architecture that delivers resilience, flexibility and near-zero downtime across private and public cloud environments. Rolf unpacks the practical realities of active-act...

 Alexandra Ebert, advisor to regulators like the FCA and IEEE, as well as chief AI and democratisation officer at Mostly AI, joins Tom to discuss the modern AI landscape. She warns that too many organisations are rushing to “get more GenAI” without doing the groundwork, arguing that AI needs to be a strategic capability rooted in solid data foundations and alignment between technology and business...

In this bonus episode Tom Allen sits down with Katia Gil Guzman, a founding member of OpenAI’s Developer Experience team, to explore how AI coding is evolving beyond the hype. Katia explains why OpenAI actively discourages “vibe coding” for anything beyond small experiments, arguing that enterprise-ready AI tools should behave more like software engineers - producing pull requests, following proje...

Cyber attacks and crisis response are daily realities for security professionals, but the demands of  defending critical systems and services from cyber attack can exert a heavy toll on cybersecurity practitioners at all levels. A combination of the "always on" nature of cybersecurity, the urgency of the task and some of the personality traits often found in cyber teams mean that difficulties are...

When John Seabourn asked his team how AI made them feel, the answers ranged from "excited" to "concerned," but the word that stood out most was "efficient". In this episode of Ctrl Alt Lead , John - CDIO of global environmental consultancy APEM Group - joins Tom to unpack what that word really means in a world where technology can accelerate renewable energy projects, yet consumes vast amounts of...

Queen Mary University of London CIO Rachel Bence joins Computing ’s Penny Horwood to discuss how the university is embedding sustainability into its IT strategy — from using waste heat from high-performance computing to warm student halls, to running datacentres powered by recycled energy. Rachel shares how a focus on sustainability aligns with Queen Mary’s mission of inclusivity and social mobili...

Banking is known for its monolithic, legacy IT systems, but new challenger banks have a different approach. Cynergy Bank's CDIO Rana Bhattacharya joins Tom to explain how the bank is blending the latest tech with a modern mindset. By adopting Flutter and a microservices architecture, Cynergy has been able to build once and deploy across iOS, Android and the web, improving productivity while stream...

Tom speaks with Steve Capper, Chief Digital & Information Officer at Carnival UK, whose brands include Cunard and P&O Cruises. Formerly a multi-award-winning leader in the engineering and construction world, Capper explains how the leap into the cruise industry revealed unexpected parallels, from large-scale refits to complex logistics, but with one major difference: everything moves. Steve lifts...

Paul Smith, CIO of Amnesty International, offers a rare glimpse into what it means to lead technology in one of the world’s largest and most complex nonprofit organisations. With operations in over 150 countries, Paul’s role goes far beyond the usual CIO remit: from safeguarding whistleblowers in war zones to supporting campaigners in politically sensitive regions, all while working under tight bu...

Technology still plays second fiddle to steel and scaffolding in many people’s view of construction, but that image belies the truth behind the industry's impressive digital progress. In this episode of Ctrl Alt Lead Matt Sharp, CDO at RLB, talks about how he launched his IT team as a separate digital consultancy to serve clients beyond construction, how it became revenue generating in the first y...

In this episode of Ctrl Alt Lead , Tom speaks with Joanna Drake, CIO and now also CTO at THG (The Hut Group), about the company’s radical IT modernisation journey. Facing rapid growth, fragmented storage, and escalating demands for AI and machine learning, Jo led a transformation of THG’s global infrastructure with zero downtime. She discusses the strategic decision to partner with Pure Storage, t...

Every tech vendor is trying to crack AI, but does that match up to how it's being adopted on the ground? In this episode Tom and Alex Rutter of Google Cloud talk about the difference in approach from IT leaders - focusing on governance, compliance and integration - and business leaders - eager to move quickly and pushing for quick, transformative wins. Alex outlines how Google's prioritisation of...