Podcast
The CTO Lens
Hosted by London Tech Leaders · EN
A fresh look at what it really means to lead technology in today’s fast‑changing world. Hosted by seasoned CTO and thinker David Crawford, and co‑host, experienced product leader Sophie Valentine, The CTO Lens blends candid conversations with industry leaders, covers the latest tech news, and includes a whole host of personal insights and practical leadership lessons for the modern technology executive. From navigating roles, to understanding team culture, AI, tech strategy, and real‑world challenges, each episode offers both depth and everyday relevance. Whether you’re a current senior leader or aspiring to this role, The CTO Lens gives you perspectives that cut through noise - with clarity, humour, and a human touch.
26episodes
Episodes
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Season 2: Episode 12 - Building The Fastest AI Machines on Earth
Mar 301:12:05Tap to summarizeIn this week’s episode of the CTO Lens Podcast, Sophie Valentine is joined by guest host Samantha Burrows, in an International Women’ Day week special.They explore the significance of culture in leadership, especially for women+ in tech, and continue with news on the ethical implications of AI in defence, the future of AI and its potential economic consequences, innovative AI projects in the civil service, and some light-hearted tech updates.They are also joined by Jeremy Adcock and Josh Silverstone of Hartley Ultrafast. They are building the world’s fastest decision making machines, bringing artificial intelligence to the scale of single nanoseconds for the first time. This was a fantastic conversation and one not to be missed. Find out more here: https://hartleyultrafast.com/The episode concludes with the mid-episode game and Sophie and Sam discuss what International Women’s Day means to them.Link for London Tech Leaders Upcoming Events: https://luma.com/londontechleadersLink for London Tech Leaders Engineering Summit: https://registration.crowdcomms.com/londontech2026
Transcribe →Season 2: Episode 11 - Practical Cases of AI Working
Feb 2401:16:32Tap to summarizeIn this week’ episode of the CTO Lens Podcast, David Crawford and Sophie Valentine discuss various topics including social media court cases, recent AI trials and tribulations, and the emergence of Seedance, an app that can be used to generate Hollywood style videos.They are also joined by Otto Hilska (CEO of Swarmia) who shares insights on engineering effectiveness and the integration of AI tools in organisations, highlighting the importance of teams and the role of AI in enhancing productivity.The episode concludes with the mid-episode game and rather than a disaster diary entry this week, Sophie and David discuss the top five roles they would choose to build the perfect tech team in 2026. Link for London Tech Leaders Upcoming Events: https://luma.com/londontechleadersLink for London Tech Leaders Engineering Summit: https://registration.crowdcomms.com/londontech2026
Transcribe →Season 2: Episode 10 - How to Get a CTO Role in 2026
Feb 1701:13:44Tap to summarizeIn this week’ episode of the CTO Lens Podcast, David Crawford and Sophie Valentine discuss various topics including their Valentine's weekend experiences, the viral success of their podcast clip on digital sovereignty, updates on the UK Online Safety Bill and the implications of AI in online safety, and discuss recent AI advancements in large corporations. They are also joined by Jon Sheehan (Co-Founder of Burns Sheehan) to discuss recruitment in the tech industry. They speak about the evolving role of CTOs, the challenges in the current job market, and strategies for positioning oneself effectively in a competitive landscape. They emphasise the importance of networking, patience, and understanding market dynamics while navigating career transitions. The episode concludes with the mid-episode game (titled "The CTO Winter Olympics”) and a disaster diary entry which is centered around becoming ‘an accidental’ CTO.Link for London Tech Leaders Upcoming Events: https://luma.com/londontechleaders
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Season 2: Episode 9 - Falling Back in Love with My CTO Role
Feb 1001:06:30Tap to summarizeIn this week's episode of the CTO Lens Podcast, Sophie and David discuss various topics including France getting rid of Zoom, AI robots and the recent AI Gold Rush. They also are joined by Lee Provoost (CTO of fintech company Flagstone) who discusses his journey of falling out of love and falling back in love with the CTO role.The episode concludes with the mid-episode game (titled ‘Touchdown Tech Leaders’) and a disaster diary entry which encompasses getting the board on side when it comes to technology.
Transcribe →Season 2: Episode 8 - Incident Response
Feb 301:03:58Tap to summarizeIn this week's episode of the CTO Lens Podcast, Sophie and David discuss various topics including AI training initiatives, Apple's sales trends, digital sovereignty, and the future of driverless cars. They also delve into the importance of incident management and organisational culture with guests Joe and Hamid from Uptime Labs, also sharing personal experiences of IT outages. The conversation emphasises the need for resilience in tech organisations and covers the metrics that can help measure success in incident management.The episode concludes with a product angled mid-episode game (titled ‘Tech to the Top’).Find out more about Uptime Labs: https://uptimelabs.io/Link for London Tech Leaders Upcoming Events:https://luma.com/londontechleaders?k=c
Transcribe →Season 2: Episode 7 - Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff vs the Devil’s in the Detail
Jan 2701:05:03Tap to summarizeIn this week’s episode of The CTO Lens Podcast, Sophie and David cover a wide range of topics. They dive into the challenges facing the gaming industry, youth social media regulations, and discuss the balance between big-picture thinking and attention to detail in leadership during our leadership focused segment. The episode concludes with the mid-episode game (titled ‘Tech to the Top’) and a disaster diary, where the hosts reflect on whether Agile is still working?Link for London Tech Leaders Upcoming Events: https://luma.com/londontechleaders?k=c
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