Latest posts
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From Engineering to Intelligence: How CPTOs Must Adapt in the AI Era
For most of the last two decades, the arc of technology leadership has been clear: build reliable systems, scale them, keep them secure and resilient, and ensure the product vision is tethered to engineering reality. But the rise of AI has bent that into something much less predictable. Organisations are discovering that the shift from…
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The New Technical Debt: Unmaintainable or Misused AI Models
Technical debt used to be easy to spot. You could walk into a development team and see it in the codebase, the lack of tests, or the patchwork of quick fixes that no one wanted to touch. It had a smell to it. You knew that every release took longer, and every new feature came…
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Fractional CPTOs and AI strategy: Guiding innovation without overreach
AI is now a permanent topic in the boardroom, but not every board has the right expertise to turn that conversation into a coherent plan. Your company may already be experimenting with AI models or exploring automation, but without a clear strategy and governance framework these activities can quickly pull you away from your intended…
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When Every Product Claims to Be ‘AI-Powered’: Cutting Through the Noise as a Technology Leader
Artificial intelligence has become the most overused phrase in the technology marketplace. From customer service chatbots to predictive dashboards, there is scarcely a product that has not been labelled as ‘AI-powered’. For a Chief Product and Technology Officer, this trend presents both risk and opportunity. The risk lies in being swept along by the marketing…
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The CPTO’s Role in Shaping Responsible AI Adoption
The surge in artificial intelligence has triggered a wave of excitement, anxiety and introspection across industries. Boardrooms are awash with talk of automation, productivity gains and existential risks, while product and technology teams wrestle with a shifting foundation beneath their roadmaps. Amid this transformation, the role of the Chief Product and Technology Officer has never…
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The Platform Dilemma: When small services businesses outgrow their own systems
After more than three decades advising and leading technology and product teams across sectors from Telecoms to Healthcare, I’ve seen a familiar story unfold time and again—particularly in smaller services-based businesses. It starts with a team building their own bespoke system, perhaps as a natural extension of their service model or out of necessity. What…
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A good plan for the future can make or break your Technical Due Diligence
When private equity firms evaluate a company for investment, understanding the company’s future plans is a vital part of the Technical Due Diligence (TDD) process. Investors are not just interested in the present state of the company but regard both the future plans, and the structure that surrounds them, as critical parts of the investment…
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Why is “Product” important in Technical Due Diligence?
An important dimension that a Technical Due Diligence (TDD) considers are the company’s products or services from a technical standpoint. This article explores what product evaluation entails, why it’s important, and the kinds of questions and evidence that investors seek during this assessment. What is Product Evaluation? Product evaluation involves a detailed analysis of a…