UKTN | The Podcast

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Episodes

165

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

Each week, Jane Wakefield sits down with some of the key movers and shakers from the UK tech ecosystem for the UKTN Podcast. Learn growth strategies from both seasoned and up-and-coming founders, hear market sentiments from investors, and understand the tech policy affecting businesses across the country. The UKTN Podcast provides insight into the most influential people in the UK’s innovation economy, exploring their personal and professional journeys and hearing their views on the hottest tech topics of the day.

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60 recent

June 15, 2026Episode 100 min

If we don’t embrace AI, we’ll be embraced by it – Ian Murray, Digital Minister

The Right Honourable Ian Murray, MP and Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology discusses the challenges that lie ahead in implementing AI both in government and wider society. He explains why some projects were abandoned and how government procurement is now being refocused on frontier technologies. Murray talks about the practical applications of AI, from introducing AI tutors to help some of the most disadvantaged pupils and the call for edtech firms to help make that a reality to the ways the NHS is using the tech. The minister also discusses the “disappointing” decision from OpenAI to abandon its Stargate project but urges the sector to “concentrate on the 90% that is going really well”.

June 9, 2026Episode 934 min

Half the population has a uterus and the rest of you came from one - Yasmin Baba, Co-Founder and CTO, Amilis

Yasmin Baba discusses pitching her early-stage health tech startup to a room full of men, how she coped with bootstrapping by “being a minimalist with big dreams” and how she believes that better data can bring down the half a million plus women on gynaecology waiting lists. Plus, why, as a machine learning engineer, she never says she runs an AI business.

June 1, 2026Episode 837 min

Unlocking access to finance – Anna Wallace, CEO, CFIT

Anna Wallace, CEO of the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology discusses why so many SMEs fail to get the financing they need and what they can do to change this (listen to the very end to get this vital information). She also talks about how CFIT is helping to speed up the house-buying process and provide companies with a digital ID that could help combat fraud.

May 26, 2026Episode 735 min

If you want to get online, you need to prove you are human – Nick Pickles, CPO, Tools for Humanity

Tools for Humanity was co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman and provides ways to verify human identity with the belief that the only way to counteract fakery and misinformation is to prove our own humanity. The group’s chief policy officer Nick Pickles discusses the technology the firm uses, the new partnership the firm has just signed with Zoom, and his long history of policy-making, including working under Elon Musk at X. Plus we talk about how AI has created a new start-up culture and sense of urgency in Silicon Valley.

May 18, 2026Episode 629 min

The fast-moving future of digital payments – Iana Dimitrova, CEO, OpenPayd

Iana Dimitrova, CEO of OpenPayd, discusses how we are moving towards a world where AI agents will be making transactions without human intervention, her thoughts on the governor of the Bank of England’s comments about stablecoins threatening the very nature of money and how the firm is looking to expand to the US.

May 11, 2026Episode 534 min

Rethinking how we use AI – Louise Ballard, Co-founder, Atheni.ai

Louise Ballard, co-founder of early-stage firm Atheni.ai discusses how we move AI usage to the next level, from simply responding to questions to actually building systems that can really benefit businesses and organisations. She also talks about why the UK government’s plans to reskill 10 million workers in AI might be seriously flawed and how, as a 55-year-old female founder, she has navigated the tough funding environment.

May 4, 2026Episode 437 min

I wanted to talk about investing not diversity – Anu Adebajo, CEO, Newton Venture Program

Anu Adebajo, CEO of Newton Venture Program, discusses how we train the next generation of investors, the real solutions to a lack of diversity in the industry and how much of VC success is down to pure luck.

April 27, 2026Episode 330 min

The brave new world of AI marketing – Rebecca Sykes, Brandtech

Rebecca Sykes, a partner at Brandtech, discusses how AI is being used to transform marketing. The firm has worked with global brands and believes AI-generated content can revolutionise the creative industries. She describes the firm’s system as the nervous system of modern marketing, connecting cultural signals, media performance and sales data. She also discusses the rise of AI slop, and how brands make sure that AI doesn’t send them seriously off message.

April 20, 2026Episode 232 min

Not lost in Translation – Ed Crook, DeepL

Many people will have learning another language on their bucket list and with the help of AI that reality is creeping ever closer. Ed Crook, strategy and operation leader at German-based AI translation firm DeepL discusses how the startup is helping business get language nuance right, what it is like to build a startup in Germany and why he thinks there will always be a place for language learning in schools.

April 13, 2026Episode 130 min

Be the least intelligent person in the room - Varun Bhanot, CEO, MAGIC AI

Varun Bhanot, co-founder and CEO of Magic AI discusses the journey of growing one of the UK’s most successful AI firms, how the AI-enabled mirror his company devised is disrupting the fitness industry, what he learned from the 149 rejections he got when pitching the business and why his team consists are what he calls ‘interpreneurs'. Bhanot also explains how he juggles a young family with running his business and the role crop circles played in his marriage.