The Great Resignation. Quiet Quitting. Impostor Syndrome. These are popular terms that have reared their head in recent times, indicating a severe lack of happiness in the workplace. That’s where Coach Karina comes in. With almost two decades of experience, Karina Bognon (https://www.linkedin.com/in/karina-bognon-19153427/) has helped 1000s of individuals with professional and life coaching. With her background in recruitment, she had the honour of placing over 60,000 people in jobs.  And speaking of honour, The Agile CTO got to carve out at hour of her time to discuss all things Coach Karina, from her start in the corporate world at just 18 years old, to her dedication to helping individuals find their passion. In addition, she also talks about some other fascinating topics, including: - Her near-death experience in 2010 - Dealing with burnout - What it takes to have a growth mindset, and what it means - Metaphysics, why she finds it so fascinating and how it applies to her life She also gives employers some tips on how to encourage empowerment among their workforce, how to spot talent, and conversations around career progression, mentorship and even salary negotiations. If you are an employer or employee, this episode is for you. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

We had the pleasure of chatting with Karen Nadasen (https://www.linkedin.com/in/knadasen/) in a recent episode of The Agile CTO. Karen is regularly described as one of South Africa’s most inspiring women in tech. She is the current CEO of PayU South Africa (https://southafrica.payu.com/), a global financial technology company and payment service provider. She has many accolades, including the Regional Winner (SADC) of Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government 2018. Guy Coleman and Alan Haefele chat to Karen about her role at PayU SA, her journey as a woman in Fintech and inspiring the next generation. Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website (http://www.haefelesoftware.com/podcast).  Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

We’ve heard of data warehouses, but what about data lakehouses?  It’s the merger of the minds in the latest episode of The Agile CTO, as hosts Guy Coleman and Harley Ferguson chat to Dael Williamson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daelwilliamson/), Databricks CTO for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Dael tells us more about data lake houses, his work in data, and helping clients navigate this data-driven, digital transformation. As one of the world's top 10 Fastest-Growing Private Tech Companies, Databricks is a unicorn business with 7 000 clients in traditional, commercial, and emerging businesses.  Dael tells listeners all about the work Databricks is doing to democratise data and AI, transform businesses and solve the world’s problems. He also touches on a number of other fascinating topics, such as: · His own journey into data science · Scaling your dev team · The importance of data and upcoming trends in the data space The conversation continues as Dael deep dives into his role at Data Bricks and he elaborates what he means by his sentiment, “disruption is coming in all layers to different businesses”. Join Guy and Harley as they find out more about what makes the passionate, well-informed, and successful Dael Williamson tick. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Google Charlotte Morley (https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotte-morley-a0349755/) and you’ll likely come across many articles about the entrepreneur’s success on Dragon’s Den. But it’s her start-up rental marketplace for kids, The Little Loop (https://www.linkedin.com/company/thelittleloop/) , that she’s most proud of (although, she admits that the den is a scary place!).  With The Little Loop, Charlotte hopes to make a difference in the fashion industry and help parents along the way. Charlotte has had a fascinating career trajectory from civil servant in Iraq for the UK Ministry of Defence to owning her owning kids clothing rental business.  In our latest episode of the Agile CTO, hosts Guy Coleman and Alan Haefele talk to Charlotte about her journey, including: · Coming face-to-face with four inimitable investors on Dragon’s Den · How she went from civil servant to business owner in just a few years · Her plans for the future of The Little Loop Find out all this and more. She also shares some juicy behind-the-scenes details from her time on Dragon’s Den! Want to learn more about The Little Loop and Charlotte’s goal for a more sustainable fashion industry? Check out the latest episode now. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Co-Founder. CEO. Acting CTO of Ziflow (https://www.ziflow.com/) . These are all titles Anthony Welgemoed (https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyw/) holds with pride. As the CEO of Ziflow, Anthony's role is centered around helping creative teams collect and collate feedback and reviews on multiple assets, from static graphics to digital banners, websites, videos, and audio. This helps streamline the approval process, especially when multiple people are required to provide feedback. In our latest episode, we talk to Anthony Welgemoed about his journey, why we should be using Ziflow and his key to success (hint: there’s no secret recipe!). Anthony shares some incredible insights on: · Technical challenges · Changing the game and moving towards automation · Where does Agile fit in? · The importance of sales and marketing · The key to success Keep connected with The Agile CTO at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Agile CTO in your favorite podcast player. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Rick Davidson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidsonrick/) is a man of many talents – game developer, career coach, online educator, psychologist, and unintentional game dev dad. He has been massively immersed in the gaming industry for over 20 years, working with small and large studios on some exciting things throughout his career. This includes IPs like Marvel’s Captain America and Nintendo’s Mario games. He also co-founded his own indie game studio, Inspirado Games before becoming a career coach at Gamedev.tv (http://gamedev.tv/) where he helps thousands of people achieve their dreams of making games for a living. In our latest podcast, Rick shares some incredible insights on: · Becoming an indie game creator · The importance of the gaming community · Forging your own path He also details his own journey from game developer to indie game studio co-founder, to qualified career coach. Other topics include Unreal Engine versus Unity, how consistency leads to success and the tips for software companies looking to transition into game developers. Also, find out what a game jam is and how it can help aspiring game developers. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Clint Hill (https://www.linkedin.com/in/clint-hill-86a61959/), QA Practice Lead, and Automation QA Ross Coetzee talk about the journey into testing in our latest Agile CTO podcast. They delve into their journey towards testing. Spoiler alert! They both stumbled into it by chance. For Ross, it was automation from day one. He loved problem-solving and programming, so a career in software development seemed natural. He started in junior roles, interning and accepting any job to get in the industry. His goal was to learn everything he could from the people around him. He eventually moved into team lead and mentorship roles before landing in Automation QA. Clint admits his journey to testing has been an interesting one. He started in support roles but noticed similarities in support and testing. Today, 12 years later, he is championing quality assurance as Haefele Software (https://www.linkedin.com/company/2134587/)’s Practice Lead. The moral of the story? Try as many things as possible. Be open-minded. Be curious. Find what you’re naturally good at and work out where that middle ground is. Your job is something you’ll be doing for a long time, so you’ve got to enjoy the hammer that you’re swinging. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Sometimes, it takes a risk to make a difference. Just ask Brendan McEnroe (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanmcenroe/) , the successful CTO of Trade Window (https://www.linkedin.com/company/tradewindow/) , the first blockchain company on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. He is also the founder of consultancy service DigitalTui and co-founder of software firm Block Zero. Brendan, a technologist at heart, clearly has his fingers in many pies, which he explains to us in detail in the latest episode of the Agile CTO podcast. He also shares his insights on: The value of the Agile philosophy in business The importance of a growth mindset How the Spotify model has helped his team achieve success His commitment to engineering excellence  He also chats a bit about his personal life – his big move to New Zealand (Australia has too many spiders!), what keeps him up at night, and his passion for electronic music. We also raise the question: could music and software development be intrinsically linked? Brendan weighs in on this fascinating concept and so much more. With over 30 years of industry experience, Brendan shares some of the things he has learned along the way, including how to embrace inevitable change or risk being left behind. Keep connected with The Agile CTO at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Agile CTO in your favorite podcast player. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Legends move toward challenges, not away from them. One such legend of the development world, Dane Mackier (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dane-mackier-a0b99670/), Co-Founder & CTO at Rapture (https://rapture.so/), carved out precious time from his meticulously planned routine, to speak with us. We got an inside look at what moving toward a challenge really involves. Join us as we talk with Dane Mackier (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dane-mackier-a0b99670/), Co-Founder & CTO at Rapture (https://rapture.so/), all about: Why he considers himself an influencer in the development space His company Rapture, what they’re up to, and how they’re changing His approach to selling to his customers Dane’s most controversial opinion  Keep connected with The Agile CTO at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Agile CTO in your favorite podcast player. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

We’re pleased to introduce a new segment that will be coming to The Agile CTO podcast that will focus on quality assurance (QA) and automated testing.  On this episode, we talk with the co-hosts of the new segment, Clint Hill (https://www.linkedin.com/in/clint-hill-86a61959/) and Ross Coetzee, to find out what will be discussed.  Join us as we discuss: -Why we’re bringing new voices onto the podcast -The backgrounds of Clint and Ross -What the new segment will be about Keep connected with The Agile CTO at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Agile CTO in your favorite podcast player. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.