Writing

Thanks to COVID-19, we’re all much more familiar with video conferencing. This is a note about the kit I’ve been using, and some suggestions on improvements. This is my set-up: My desk with cameras, lights and teleprompter Lighting Lighting is the single most important thing to get right. There are many tutorials on YouTube. I … Read more

There are many ways of running innovation processes and programmes. The following describes a broad approach — the result of many years, and many mistakes — that has been successful.

I gave a talk to the Innovation Stories conference in London with my round-up of CES 2019. This is a summary of what I talked about. Please get in touch if you would like a version of this talk or the detailed write-up. Getting good If you’re unfamiliar with CES, it’s an annual trade show … Read more

TL;DR — As the buzz about the threat to jobs from automation grows, I hear people claiming that computers will never work collaboratively, be creative or have intuition or empathy. Therefore, we are told, focus on these human skills and your employability is safe from the machines. This is bad for you. It’s bad for … Read more

Voice is the natural medium for delegation, but today’s voice assistants do not substantially offer it. Google’s announcement of Duplex is a step towards assistants that are good at delegation. The prospect of large audiences who are in the habit of delegating to machines creates a new surface for influence and trust. It is both … Read more

A version of this article appeared in a BIMA publication. With the opening of the first Amazon Go store in Seattle, unattended retail is suddenly headline news. For some retailers of course this technology may still seem like something out of The Jetsons, but it highlights an important truth about the modern retail experience that … Read more