This week, Bren and Lenno ask whether data leaders need to be in the code, or whether the job is something else entirely.

Lenno shares why vibe-coded output makes him want to understand code well enough to check it, and why a team of five pulls him closer to the detail than a team of 140 ever did. Bren, an accountant by trade, admits he's never written code and has always wondered when he'd be found out.

They land on the harder question. If specialist work and leading people are different muscles, why do so many companies still treat management as the only way up?

Their answer keeps coming back to trust, and whether your team picks up the phone when things go wrong.

Takeaways

• Leadership is an art, not a science
• Understanding technical aspects is crucial for non-technical leaders

Chapters

• 00:00 The Journey Begins: Running and Reflection
• 03:21 Navigating Imposter Syndrome in Leadership
• 08:12 The Balance of Technical and Non-Technical Skills
• 14:30 The Importance of People Skills in Leadership
• 20:11 Building Relationships in a Digital World
• 25:34 The Art of Leadership and Team Dynamics

This week, Bren and Lenno, ask what happens when we rename things that already had an established name. Yes, here's looking at you "super intelligence"...

Lenno tells the story of how a team renaming an SAP table in plain business terms made data easier to read and harder to build on. Whilst Bren recalls a business that had seven names for the same report.

The bigger question starts with governance and both discussion how agrees what the words mean and how much of it does a business actually need?

Their answer keeps coming back to one word.

Takeaways

• Terminology impacts understanding
• Standardisation is crucial for clarity

Chapters

• 00:00 The Weather and Personal Updates
• 01:22 Super Intelligence vs. Artificial Intelligence
• 02:35 Terminology and Governance in Data
• 05:51 The Importance of Standardization
• 08:38 Changing Terminology and Its Implications
• 10:21 The Role of AI in Data Understanding
• 16:03 Governance and Its Necessity
• 19:29 Bridging the Gap Between Data and Business
• 20:27 Curiosity and Communication in Data
• 21:27 Establishing Commonality in Terminology
• 25:35 The Dichotomy of Data and Business Needs
• 28:02 The Foundation of Data Systems
• 32:37 The Future of Data Governance
• 34:40 Closing Thoughts and Reflections

This week Bren is joined by guest Jamie Fry as Lenno is enjoying some well-earned time off. Jamie runs the Hawkfry Group, a consortium of senior cloud and data specialists, as the conversation dives into the real returns made on using AI.

Jamie puts a real number on it and explains where his teams lean on AI the most. But the real question is where does the human still have the biggest impact?

The discussion looks at the conundrum faced by AI speeding up the technical work but the human work being a bottleneck. And what should companies do to get started with AI?

It's a cracker as we learn the revenue uplift this year for the Hawkfry group from AI and why Jamie has taken more holidays now than the previous 3 years.

Hawkfry Group: https://hawkfry.com/

Jamie Fry Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fryjamie/

Takeaways

• AI enhances business efficiency
• Understanding client needs is crucial AI enhances productivity
• Understanding AI is crucial

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to Hawke Fry Group
• 02:55 Leveraging AI for Business Growth
• 06:35 The Importance of Problem Understanding
• 07:42 Measuring AI ROI in Projects
• 10:03 Human Interaction in AI Processes
• 11:23 Delivering Value Beyond Cost
• 12:50 Future-Proofing with Multimodal AI
• 14:59 Building AI-Driven Operations
• 18:29 Integrating AI into Business Operations
• 20:02 The Impact of AI on Work-Life Balance
• 22:14 Navigating Burnout and AI
• 24:44 Building a Supportive Work Environment
• 26:30 Rethinking Payment Structures in AI
• 27:45 Getting Started with AI