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The ITPro Podcast

ITPro

The ITPro Podcast is a weekly show for technology professionals and business leaders. Each week hosts Bobby Hellard and Jane McCallion are joined by an expert guest to take a deep dive into the most important issues for the IT community. New episodes premiere every Friday. Visit itpro.com/the-it-pro-podcast for more information, or follow ITPro on LinkedIn for regular updates.

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#381
Yesterday · 14 min· Video
SPECIAL EDITION: Scaling, ROI, and what’s next for workplace AI
For many companies, AI is now a fact of life. A growing number of those that were running pilots have now moved to production, bringing agents and other forms of generative AI into force in their organizations. Perhaps more exciting still, these projects are – finally – starting to demonstrate ROI. In this special edition of the ITPro Podcast, in association with SAP, Jane is joined by guest James Bates, head of industry and customer advisory at SAP UK and Ireland, to talk about AI investment, the importance of workforce skills, and how organizations can successfully scale their implementations. Highlights “AI largely to this point has been fantastic in terms of productivity use cases ... but if you think about the prospect of agentic AI and its ability to transform end-to-end processes, where actually you'll have agents really driving actions – albeit still orchestrated, I would stress, by people and people very much at the center of that decision-making kind of process – you’re right, there is definitely a lot of excitement about it.” “If you think about the sorts of processes and data that SAP and SAP's customers are dealing with … nearly right isn't good enough in our world. Actually, it has to be 100% right, which is interesting if you start thinking about the nature of probabilistic systems versus deterministic. And of course, large language models are probabilistic, and we're having to try and understand how we solve some of those challenges when it comes to the nature of data within an SAP kind of landscape.” “If we think about where customers are investing and working and deploying capabilities today, it's also in building some of the foundations around AI. So things like data, processes, skills, governance frameworks. And I often think actually that the organizations and customers that will win in the long term are those that are focused on building those initial foundations.” There’s still time to register for SAP NOW AI Tour UKI – click here to join SAP in Birmingham. Related content Special agents: the changing face of AI in business and how it’s driving ROI Download SAP’s The Value of AI report now
#380
Friday · 28 min
What UK tech can learn from a decentralized government
It’s been a summer of change in the UK. With Andy Burnham taking up residence in 10 Downing Street, the new prime minister has championed the government’s focus on a more decentralized approach to governing the UK – including a ‘Number 10 North’ in Manchester. With a proposed shift of power away from London toward other regions, could this approach work in the UK tech sector? In this week’s episode, we speak to Ben Bilsland, Head of Technology Industry at RSM UK, about the UK’s technology hubs and how a more regional focus could help the UK grow its technology sector. Related content UK government targets 'sovereign AI' gains with new £500 million startup funding scheme More from ITPro Visit ITPro.com Subscribe to the ITPro Newsletter Find us on YouTube
#379
October 2 · 19 min
NetApp Insight 2026: Can Novus and Keystone break the AI bottlenecks?
As we move further into autumn, conferences start to come thick and fast. This week was NetApp's annual Insight event, live from Las Vegas, where there was another chance to hear more about how smart storage, AI factories, and data readiness can empower enterprises. However, it’s been a challenging year for NetApp, with growing concern over the ever-rising cost of hardware and the rapid expansion of agentic AI pulling safety concerns into focus. ITPro’s news and analysis editor, Ross Kelly, joined the pod live from an unusually rainy Las Vegas to talk through NetApp’s announcements. NetApp Novus has AI factory bottlenecks in the crosshairs I can’t believe we’re still talking about AI data readiness NetApp CEO George Kurian: AI adoption
#378
September 30 · 36 min
SPECIAL EDITION: What enterprises need from a modern data center
The data center has always been the backbone of enterprise operations, but in the age of AI, modern infrastructure has to evolve. And there are many challenges for enterprises when it comes to their legacy infrastructure and what they need to consider for a successful refresh. In this special edition of the ITPro Podcast, Bobby Hellard talks with Dell Technologies senior director of global speciality sales, KC Funk on the evolution of the modern data center. From storage layers and AI readiness to security and the current threats data centers should prepare for, KC explains how Dell solutions like PowerStore can help. Three business benefits of Dell Private Cloud
#377
September 25 · 20 min
Rogue AI and unionization at Meta
The month of September is usually about the first flourishes of Autumn, but thanks to a cohort of AI companies, everyone is seeing red. Multiple reports of rogue AI agents hacking companies across the internet have led to calls to slow down the research and development of the technology. And, in an even more unbelievable turn of events, Meta is open to unionization across its workforce… On this week’s episode of the ITPro Podcast, Bobby Hellard, Scott Bekker, and Ross Kelly look at the recent spate of AI agent hacks and Meta’s deal with Prospect. Meta and prospect partnership Spanish gov hacked by AI agents Anthropic rogue AI agents
#376
September 18 · 17 min
Dreamforce 2026 and the dangers of AI
AI safety has dominated the public discourse over the last month, with executives and founders of some of the most popular AI companies sounding the alarm themselves. And the topic was a key talking point at Salesforce’s annual event Dreamforce. Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff was joined on stage by Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, with both discussing the current state of AI and also Salesforce’s own AI offerings. ITPro’s news and analysis editor Ross Kelly joined the pod live from San Francisco to talk AI safety, Claudforce, Koa, and all things Salesforce Dreamforce. Highlights Nvidia_Koa SaaSpocalypse Dreamforce 2026
#375
September 11 · 21 min
AI's operational blind spots
Businesses continue to embrace generative AI at a rapid pace. From copilots and chatbots to autonomous agents, an exciting world of new technology is opening up. The race to adopt these AI tools isn't without its perils, though. The mantra "garbage in, garbage out" is even more poignant when these systems come into play, with the potential for a cycle of bad data presenting a real risk to organizations. On this week's episode, Tim Pfaelzer, SVP and GM EMEA at Veeam, discusses operational blind spots, what they mean for businesses, and how they can balance their desire for a technical edge with data governance. IT leaders are facing major work device blind spots – and it's putting security at risk | IT Pro AI-assisted software development means security teams need an ‘engineering-first’ mindset | IT Pro
#374
September 9 · 18 min
SPECIAL EDITION: TD SYNNEX talks about attaching services to products
In this special edition of the ITPro Podcast, host Bobby Hellard speaks with Stephen Ennis, VP Services EMEA at TD SYNNEX, about why attaching services to technology products has become a strategic imperative across the channel. Episode Highlights Outcome-driven solutions: Shifting from standalone product sales toward complete business outcomes that meet modern customer expectations. The services value cycle: Leveraging TD SYNNEX's framework across pre-deployment training, deployment integration, white-label 24/7 managed support, and circular IT end-of-life recycling. Predictable revenue: Building long-term customer relationships and driving recurring revenue by filling skills and service capability gaps. SPECIAL EDITION: TD SYNNEX talks MSP Evolve™ The Attach Imperative (Image credit: Getty Images)
#373
September 4 · 20 min
Agents on the frontline: How Box is using AI to supercharge cybersecurity
Findings from Box’s State of AI in the Enterprise survey show 83% of enterprises are now running agents in some capacity. These bots are enabling teams to drive productivity and efficiency, but as with any new technology, smooth integration can be a challenge - and security risk. Recent agent-related incidents in the tech industry have sparked concerns about long-term security implications. In this week’s episode of the ITPro Podcast, Ross Kelly and Bobby Hellard speak with Box CISO Heather Ceylan to discuss how Box is using agents internally, and how enterprises can adopt the technology in a safe and secure manner. Highlights “I think for security teams, we can finally, you know, start having the capacity to outpace these attackers. So we've got five core areas of investment for agents for our security team in particular that we've invested in over probably the last year, and we're starting to measure ROI on those right now. “So the first one is in the SOC. I think that's probably the most obvious choice where we've got a lot of operational work. We see the same kinds of incidents. We're automating the triage, we're automating the enrichment, the log correlation, things like that that take a lot of human effort. “But there's still human judgment in the end in terms of what gets escalated to be an incident and what doesn't.” “We're not going to be able to move fast enough. So, we have agents kind of built throughout our software development process, doing those security design and architecture reviews, and if you think about it, it’s way more powerful than a human can be because those agents don't just necessarily call out design flaws; they can enforce fixes for those flaws.” “Things are changing quickly. Sometimes it feels like you take two steps forward and then you read something in the news and you're like, oh my gosh, we need to rethink everything. “So I think a lot of security teams are really feeling that now and getting a little bit of fatigue from that.“ “One of the things that we're trying to carry across all of these that I wasn't really thinking about a year ago, but I'm thinking a lot about now is having that multi-model approach. “We're not in a place where most of the work we do, we can't be reliant on a single model. If you look at vulnerability discovery, we're moving away from being tied to any one specific vendor or any one specific model because you're going to get better results when you take a multi-model approach.” Links AI is getting better at security – and it's doing it faster than expected Top security teams use AI agents, says Hack The Box AI is changing team structures in cybersecurity and creating new roles – here are the jobs in hot demand Can AI fight AI? Where the security gap still exists in cybersecurity, and how MSPs can help
#372
September 2 · 8 min
SPECIAL EDITION: TD SYNNEX talks MSP Evolve™
In this special edition of the ITPro Podcast, TD SYNNEX’s Nick Such discusses how the MSP Evolve™ framework helps Managed Service Providers scale recurring revenue and navigate growing market pressures. The episode addresses key industry challenges, including security threats, talent shortages, and rapid technology changes. Episode Highlights Tailored Support: How MSP Evolve™ meets MSPs where they are rather than using a one-size-fits-all model. Core High-Growth Technologies: Leveraging resources across cybersecurity, hybrid cloud, and Destination AI. Six-Pillar Framework: Practical support to streamline operations, gain certifications, and drive measurable business outcomes.
#371
August 28 · 13 min
Google’s Spirit Airlines auction & TrendAI insider threat report
This week, Bobby Hellard and Scott Bekker talk with ITPro’s news & analysis editor, Ross Kelly, to discuss some of the top stories from August. That includes Google acquiring a treasure trove of data from a defunct airline in a bid to bolster AI products. The auction to acquire data from Spirit Airlines hit headlines this month as Google outbid another industry player looking to capitalize on a trove of information. We also discuss TrendAI’s insider threat report, which looked at how cyber criminals are building increasingly sophisticated insider threat networks.
#370
August 21 · 27 min
The key to a successful IT strategy
Poorly implemented IT strategies have a significant impact on businesses. From lackluster growth and financial losses to employee change fatigue, the risks are huge. With enterprises ramping up AI adoption, many are failing to learn the lessons from previous change programs and are diving headlong into projects. On this week's episode of the ITPro Podcast, Jane and Ross speak with Al Kingsley MBE, CEO of NetSupport, to explore how IT leaders can implement change, lead by example, and deliver successful transformation projects.
#369
August 14 · 24 min
Stopping supply chain attacks
Supply chain attacks are increasingly common and increasingly disruptive, but organizations still struggle to defend against them properly. In this episode of the ITPro Podcast, Jane and Ross are joined by Haydn Brooks, CEO of supply chain security firm Risk Ledger, to talk about what threats businesses are facing, what mitigation strategies could work well, and why cyber teams need to work together throughout the supply chain. Highlights "Most of the attacks that you find in in kind of the supply chain main are untargeted. So it's where you've had a threat actor launch a lot of attacks against a lot of different targets, they've breached a company without really knowing who that company is or was, and then they've basically passed that access on to somebody else, or they've gone on and leaked data or taken that company offline. And it's not really like a targeted attack against someone else, it's just that other companies who use that supply ... experience that as a supply chain attack, and very few of them are targeted. Where they are targeted, they are very hard to defend against because essentially, as the end target, I'm having to worry about an attack against somebody else, which I have no control over, being able to detect that and then being able to somehow respond to it as well." "I think actually the regulation has kind of followed the the movement that we've seen within the industry rather than the other way around ... we're seeing a lot of these regulations also requiring companies to be either taking threat intelligence from others or sharing threat intelligence with others, as well as reporting incidents. So all of the regulation and the way security teams operate is moving in that direction of being more open, sharing more to benefit for the wider industry." Links Cyber resilience in the UK: learning to take the punches DORA and why resilience (once again) matters to the board Securing the supply chain: Why zero trust and recovery readiness are non-negotiable Logistics firm supply chain breach hits Valve and other customers Former NCSC head says the Jaguar Land Rover attack was the 'single most financially damaging cyber event ever to hit the UK' as impact laid bare The LiteLLM supply chain attack this year could be the biggest ever Why supply chain resilience is under the spotlight Jaguar Land Rover “did the right thing” shutting down systems to thwart cyber attack
#368
August 7 · 23 min
Can responsible AI beat hallucinations?
Hallucinations are an eternal problem in generative AI in particular, and while it’s true that large language models (LLMs) require vast amounts of data, the quality of that information will affect the quality of the output. What can businesses do to ensure they’re using AI both effectively and responsibly? In this episode of the ITPro Podcast, Jane and Ross are joined by Amanda Stent, head of AI strategy and research in the office of the CTO at Bloomberg, to examine what responsible AI is, how organizations can use it, and what has been achieved at Bloomberg. Highlights "The (Bloomberg) terminal gives users access to more than 17,000 news providers, not just Bloomberg News, more than 1000 research brokers, more than 400 million documents from companies themselves, and billions and billions and billions of ticks – that's prices – every day for equities, bonds, commodities, derivatives, any kind of financial instrument you can think of. So, in that context, accuracy is paramount. If we hallucinate or do something that's otherwise incorrect, markets may move, and that might be bad." "We have guardrails that we run on every input to and output from a Gen AI system ... (which) are specific to financial services. For example, we don't want users to be injecting code into our systems. That's a generic guardrail, and we also are in the business of offering financial information, but not financial advice. So if you say. What's a buy case for IBM? We should give it to you. If you say, 'Should I buy IBM?' we should say, 'Nope, I can't answer that question because that's not something we're in the business of doing', and that's a finance-specific guardrail." "We have analysts using our AI systems to ... help them write their research reports more quickly, more easily to cover more companies, to understand the context of a company with its sector and its industry, to write on-demand reports for clients instead of a monthly or a quarterly report. We have portfolio managers doing the same thing, writing on-demand reports for clients using AI instead of quarterly reports. So these are some of the new ways in which people are using AI. But to me, traditionally it was about efficiency and signal generation. And today I think it's about effectiveness. So it's helping people become more effective in how they use AI." Links AI hallucinations, accuracy still top concerns for UK tech leaders as adoption continues This new technique could improve AI output accuracy by 80% – and tackle hallucinations once and for all The ITPro Podcast: Why doesn't more data produce better results? Bloomberg’s Responsible AI Research: Mitigating Risky RAGs & GenAI in Finance Bloomberg Survey: How London’s finance workforce is embracing AI on its own terms
#367
August 5 · 39 min
SPECIAL EDITION: Shifting from traditional MDR to an AI-powered agentic SOC
In this episode, brought to you in association with Arctic Wolf, Jane speaks with Nick Dyer and Carl Adasa about moving from traditional MDR to an agentic SOC.
#366
August 3 · 26 min
What the OpenAI rogue bot story really says about the state of AI security
OpenAI and Anthropic both revealed this month that their "highly advanced" agents broke free of containment during a cybersecurity training exercise. Both businesses said this shows how advanced their AI agents are but is that the whole story? This week, Jane and Scott are joined by news editor Ross Kelly to discuss the biggest story of July, plus Jane's takeaways from AMD Advancing AI.
#365
July 31 · 15 sec
Non-episode announcement
There's no ITPro podcast episode today, instead we will be putting out the episode you'd normally have in your feed today on Monday. Then we'll be back to our normal Friday routine. Thanks for listening!
#364
July 27 · 19 min
SPECIAL EDITION: The cloud hangover – why UK IT leaders are taking back control
Organizations have been rushing to the public cloud, often without much thought given to strategically placing workloads. Over the intervening years, however, IT and business decision makers have learned that while public cloud can be useful for some applications, there's no one size fits all and AI has brought this to even greater focus. What's the role of private cloud in managing workloads effectively and how can businesses strategically choose what path is best for them? In this episode, in association with Redcentric, the ITPro Podcast is joined by senior product manager for cloud, Darren Adcock, and senior technical architect, Paul Jenner, to discuss the legacy of cloud investment and how organizations can manage their workloads better. Highlights "In many respects, the cloud hangover is kind of a consequence of various factors that people maybe didn't take into account when they moved into cloud... maybe we've got the wrong cloud in use for the wrong application. Maybe we're seeing overspend. Maybe we're seeing just poor customer performance." "It goes back to the early adoption of public cloud being a one size fits all. We've got to move to cloud, we've got to move everything to cloud without necessarily spending the time to think what's most appropriate to move to cloud, what's the most appropriate to keep on private cloud." "Generally, if you re-architect when you move to cloud, then you are more likely to get a cost-effective outcome. If you don't re-architect, the chances are you are just moving a cost to somewhere else where it actually might be more expensive to run than if it was on private cloud." "It's about a sensible view of your workloads of the requirements for those workloads against the capabilities and constraints of each of those clouds and choosing the right environment." Resources https://www.redcentricplc.com/ https://www.redcentricplc.com/managed-services/cloud/ https://www.redcentricplc.com/managed-services/cloud/private-cloud/ https://www.redcentricplc.com/sovereignty/
#363
July 16 · 26 min
Why doesn’t more data produce better results?
Data is treated as a source of untapped riches for businesses, promising a world of better insight and easier management. What’s less discussed is how it’s possible to drown in this ocean of information – more data sometimes just means more noise, and this is as true in IT as in any other profession. Why doesn’t more data produce better results? Is there a better way forward? And what does this mean for the end users? On this episode of the ITPro Podcast, Bobby Hellard and Ross Kelly talk to Fernando Castanheira, the CIO of Riverbed. Castanheira's career has struck a balance between tech and finance, and how data is used to power businesses. He talks us through the mismatch between the amount of data available and how it's being used.
#362
July 10 · 13 min
The Evolution of Digital Twins
Digital twins have been a key tool for organisations to create virtual replicas of operating environments. From transportation to manufacturing and oil & gas, they help simulate performance and prepare for ‘what-if scenarios’. But they’re evolving. On this week’s episode, Bobby talks to ITPro’s news and analysis editor, Ross Kelly, to ask what exactly a digital twin is and how they are evolving since the arrival of generative AI. The term ‘digital twin’ is even taking on different meanings; in some cases it’s not just a virtual replica of a factory floor, for example. We are now seeing digital twins of people, with Forrester describing them as ‘Digital Doubles’. Gartner also predicts that some organisations will begin creating ‘Digital Twins of Customers’ as a way to simulate how customers might respond to specific scenarios. Does your business need a digital twin? | IT Pro Are AI digital twins a match made in heaven? | IT Pro

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