Tech Journeys Podcast

Tech Journeys Podcast with Sushil Kumar

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 07:21:00 -0300

Sushil Kumar is a Solution Architect at Capgemini with 22 years in the telecom industry. He's worked across India, Israel, China, and the US before settling in the UK 11 years ago. His background spans 3G, WiMAX, IMS, cloud, and AI, with stints at companies including Huawei, Ericsson, IBM, Dell, and Qualcomm.

Vincent asked Sushil about his proudest career moments, the future of AI, and what he'd do differently if starting over today.

Three key takeaways:

1. First principles still matter in an AI world. Sushil's view is that syntax and coding languages come and go, but the fundamentals of design, architecture, and logic don't change. AI helps with the surface layer. It doesn't replace the person who understands the system underneath.

2. AI is not free, and most companies don't treat it that way. He gave a concrete example of businesses burning through their entire AI budget in three months because they didn't understand token costs or when to use a cloud model versus a self-hosted one. His point: if you're not paying for the product, you are the product. That changes once the adoption curve plateaus.

3. Governance is the missing layer. Sushil argues that AI needs the same guardrails any architecture does: security, identity, explainability, and accountability. The question of who owns a fault when AI makes a decision is still unanswered at most organisations. Until it is, experienced people aren't going anywhere.

Contact Sushil Kumar via LinkedIn on: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sushil-kumar-28a8486/

Contact Vincent Uppelschoten via LinkedIn on: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Tech Journeys Podcast with Sushil Kumar

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 11:40:39 -0300

Vincent asked Sushil about his proudest career moments, the future of AI, and what he'd do differently if starting over today.

Three key takeaways:

Tech Journeys Podcast with Stuart Milligan

Wed, 17 Jun 2026 10:49:54 -0300

Stuart Milligan is a solution architect and principal at Midrange Dynamics, a Swiss software company that specialises in DevOps tooling and integration for the IBM i platform. Stuart has been building software for complex legacy business applications since 1987. He co-created XAnalysis, a forensic code analysis tool that became the world leader in its space before being sold in 2013.

In this episode, Stuart reflects on 30+ years of working inside large, complicated enterprise applications at banks, insurance companies, logistics firms, and retailers across Europe, America, and beyond. He shares what he's learned, what he keeps seeing go wrong, and where he believes the industry is heading.

Website: midrangedynamics.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartmilliganuk/

To learn more connect with and DM Vincent on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Arabella Bown | From Law to Product Leadership | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Wed, 17 Jun 2026 11:32:06 -0300

Arabella Bown is a lead product manager at Hyland, where she focuses on Alfresco's front-end governance and process portfolio. She started her career as a commercial lawyer before moving into tech without any formal IT background, building her way through legal technology startups and eventually into a large enterprise software company. In this episode, she talks about what it actually takes to add value in tech when you don't come from a technical background, how she's positioning herself in the AI governance space, and why confidence is the thing she'd go back and tell her younger self to work on first.

Connect via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/silverrocks/

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

From Developer to Strategist: How an MBA Shaped a Product Leader

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 09:10:38 -0300

Swaraj Verma is a product manager at Calnex Solutions, where he leads a portfolio of network and application assurance products. He started his career as a developer at Accenture, completed a Durham MBA in 2021, and has spent the past decade deliberately moving toward the strategic side of tech. In this episode, he talks about why he stopped chasing promotions and started focusing on craft, what the MBA actually gave him that a tech career didn't, and how his company is racing to keep pace with AI-driven demand for faster network emulation. He also shares why customer conversations are still what drives him, and what he would tell his early-career self.

This show is sponsored by The Consulting Launch Method, where I help experienced tech professionals build their own consulting business next to their day job without spending years figuring out the business side. We've helped clients go from first idea to first clients in 90 days, and 6 figures within a year.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Andy Perry | From Hands-On Architect to Strategic Advisor | The Tech Journeys Podcasts

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 11:35:14 -0300

Andy Perry is a fractional CTO and solutions architect with over 15 years of freelancing experience across enterprise architecture, M&A integrations, and technology strategy. In this episode, Andy shares how he approaches large-scale system mergers using a simple discovery-first framework, and why most cloud and AI transformations fail for the same reason: organisations replicate mess instead of fixing it. He talks candidly about trusting your instincts earlier in your career, and how he's now making the shift from technical doer to strategic advisor through board advisory roles and fractional CTO work.

This show is sponsored by The Consulting Launch Method, where I help experienced tech professionals build their own consulting business without spending years figuring out the business side. We've helped clients go from first idea to first clients in 90 days, and 6 figures within a year.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Abhishek Mishra | From India to UK Data Architect at Flutter | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 07:43:55 -0300

Abhishek Mishra is a Senior Solution Architect at PokerStars (part of Flutter Entertainment), based in Leeds. He moved from India to the UK in 2018 and has spent his career evolving from software engineer to solution architect, most recently leading a cloud migration that delivered ahead of schedule and under budget. In this episode, he talks about that migration project, what made it work, and why he thinks people are too quick to chase AI and buzzwords instead of building solid fundamentals first. His core point: if you don't understand how systems work together, AI won't save you.

Tudor Stoicescu | Running a Compliant Side Consultancy While Employed | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 09:02:25 -0300

Tudor Stoicescu is Staff Product Manager and Product Line Director for identity management at Entrust, where he handles compliance and audits across the EMEA region. He built his early product career in financial services, spotting a market gap that let him grow a compliance intelligence tool from a $0 business to $2 million in a year and a half. Tudor also runs a side consultancy, working 5 to 10 hours a week with startups on product strategy, while keeping his day job as the priority. He shares his rule for balancing both: disclose the side work, protect your working hours, and budget specific time blocks instead of stealing spare moments. He also explains why product managers and engineers need to get better at selling their ideas, not just building them.

Deepankar Mathur | Building Secure AI Products While Running a Side Consultancy | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 09:56:07 -0300

Deepankar Mathur is a product manager at Mapp Digital, where he transitioned from solutions architect by taking ownership of the mobile push and SDK domains long before the title arrived. Alongside his day job he runs Workrush, a side consultancy he started in 2021 that has delivered projects for the UK Ministry of Defence, the University of Bournemouth and the University of Bristol. In this episode Deep explains why customer conversations shaped his career more than any technology choice, and why he wishes someone had told him early on not to fear talking to customers. He also shares his work on AI governance, including an open standard he published at aifeels.org, and his mission to make AI-built software secure and sustainable rather than vibe-coded and vulnerable.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Jaisal Surana | Closing the Digital Divide with Responsible AI | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 19:46:00 -0300

In this episode I speak with Jaisal Surana, AI thought leader, STEM advocate and AI solutions architect with 20 years in tech. Jaisal shares her journey from .NET developer to solution architect, and why giving back drives her work on AI risk frameworks, digital literacy and her co-authorship on a United Nations digital literacy programme. We discuss the growing risks of over-reliance on AI, especially for children, and why every user remains responsible for checking AI outputs rather than taking them at face value. Jaisal also explains where she sees governance heading next, from wearable device data to online child safety.

Laura Burrell | How AI Is Forcing a Data Center Redesign | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:23:50 -0300

Laura Burrell is a data center infrastructure specialist at Hammer Distribution, where she moved from a product management role earlier this year after earning her Certified Data Center Professional qualification. She and Vincent talk through how AI has reshaped the data center world: rack power draw has jumped from 5-15 kilowatts to 20-40+ kilowatts in under a year, forcing a rethink of cooling, power distribution, and rack design across the industry. Laura explains immersion cooling, where server racks lie flat and sit submerged in cooling fluid instead of standing upright with air or in-row cooling. She also shares her path from audio-visual integration into data centers, and what pushed her to make that switch. Laura was recently shortlisted for a Women and Diversity in the Channel Award and is starting to think about what a more advisory, consultancy-style role could look like down the line.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Ade Pycroft | Two Decades of Fiber Network Engineering | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 07:31:29 -0300

Ade Pycroft is a senior telecommunications engineer and team leader at TXO, with nearly 12 years at the company (formerly Linx) and over two decades in the industry. Ade talks about leading a six-person team on a 20-month European fiber rollout that spanned Austria to Spain, and the customs delay that stopped his crew at the Swiss border with equipment "worth more than 50 grand." He shares why he'd tell his younger self to get Cisco certified before learning on the job, not after, since bad habits picked up early are hard to shake later. Ade also walks through his current project upgrading Virgin Media's fiber network across the UK, and explains why staying sharp in one specialization beats trying to keep up with everything.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Doug Hendry | How AI Turned Him Into an Executive | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 06:03:02 -0300

Doug Hendry is a solution architect at Chameleon Creative, where he builds Salesforce solutions powered by AI. He started his career as a service engineer, then spent decades working with Oracle databases and Salesforce consulting before AI reshaped how he works day to day. Doug explains how AI now handles discovery, documentation, and development work that used to take weeks, giving him more time to review decisions instead of doing the manual work himself. He also shares a lesson from a major UK charity project: keep your project scope tight, because it's easy to take on more than you can handle. Doug talks about the side projects he's building with AI, including tools to help his brother sort real opportunities from time wasters on event industry tender sites.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Aditya Keshari | Balancing Agile Delivery with Regulatory Deadlines | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 03:02:27 -0300

Aditya Keshari is a Solution Architect at Vodafone, working on marketplace solutions for enterprise customers across thirteen markets. In this episode, he talks about delivering a major cloud project in Germany under strict workers' council regulations, and how prioritizing MVP requirements helped his team hit a hard deadline without cutting corners. He also breaks down Vodafone's "build once, deploy many" approach to reducing customization costs across markets, and shares what he'd do differently if he started his career today: get certified in AI and TOGAF early rather than picking it up on the job. The conversation closes with his read on where enterprise tech is heading next, from self-serve platforms to AI agents built into everyday tools.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Yudhistra Bhardwaj | Leading Stakeholders Through Saudi Arabia and AI Change | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 06:06:48 -0300

Yudhistra Bhardwaj works as a Business Analyst and Product Owner at Capgemini, where he's spent five years managing stakeholders and gathering requirements across a range of client projects. In this episode, he talks through his seven months on the Aramco digital project in Saudi Arabia, and what it took to adapt to a new market, culture, and pace of decision-making. He also shares how he uses AI tools like Copilot to speed up his day to day work, from summarizing emails to analyzing metrics, while keeping the human relationship with clients front and center. Yudhistra's biggest takeaway: get your foot in the door early, because the theory you learn at university only covers a small slice of what the job actually demands, and a good mentor closes that gap faster than trial and error.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Manoj Shah | Databricks, Data Culture, and Career Clarity | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 10:07:13 -0300

Manoj Shah is a solution architect at The Law Society, where he's leading a Databricks implementation designed to centralize and clean up the organization's data. In this episode, he explains the medallion architecture behind the project and why fixing data quality matters more than ever with AI in the mix. He talks about the shift in his own thinking over the years, from chasing new technology to focusing on people, culture, and clear decision-making. One concrete takeaway: undocumented decisions come back to bite you later, so log the reasoning behind big calls while it's fresh. He also shares what's next for him, including a growing interest in enterprise architecture and a side project called Spelling.live, an app he built to help his kids with handwriting and spelling.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Prakash Singh | Moving From Cloud Engineering Into Product Management | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 10:13:00 -0300

Prakash Singh is a Product Manager at K2 Group, where he works with customers to identify problems and shape new product features. In this episode, Prakash traces his path from a junior product engineer role in India through an early bet on cloud infrastructure, and explains why that decision became the foundation for his move into management. He talks about the moment during COVID that pushed him to stop waiting for opportunities and pursue a master's degree in International Technology Management at Warwick University. Prakash also shares his view on AI as a productivity tool rather than a threat, and where he wants his career to go next: owning a product portfolio that creates impact at scale.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Yasmin Mohamud | Turning Illness Into a Mission for Digital Access | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 11:47:55 -0300

Yasmin Mohamud is the founder of Kastan Mentoring, a self-funded initiative teaching digital skills to young people across Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti. After a career in the UN and a diagnosis of arthritis and lupus limited her mobility, she taught herself AI and machine learning from home and built a peer-to-peer mentoring model with no institutional backing. In two years, she has helped 500 young people access fully funded scholarships and training programs, including one participant who now studies cybersecurity through the University of the People. The conversation covers what it takes to build something from nothing, the size of the digital gap facing East Africa, and why she believes talent exists everywhere even when resources don't.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Anand Kumar Veeramachineni | From PhD Scientist to AI Product Manager | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 07:55:22 -0300

Anand Kumar Veeramachineni built his career in an unusual order. He earned a PhD in biotechnology from Monash University, spent years selling scientific databases to researchers, and now works as a senior product manager at Springer Nature, where he builds life science and experimental workflow tools shaped by AI. He talks about the confusion of translating academic research into a real job, including recruiters who told him to hide his PhD because he looked overqualified, and how that experience taught him to treat every career move as a chance to adapt rather than specialize narrowly. The conversation also covers what AI actually replaces (repetitive, reference-based work) versus what still needs a human, using lawyers and Einstein's need to prove his own theories as contrasting examples. Anand's main takeaway: a tool is only as capable as the person using it, so building real experience matters more than chasing whatever technology is newest.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Sam Strawbridge | Rebuilding Network Infrastructure for a Greener Future | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 06:46:14 -0300

Sam Strawbridge is a product manager at ITS, a UK infrastructure builder and service provider that operates across multiple metro areas. In this episode, Sam walks through his proudest project: redesigning the layer 3 routing architecture for ITS's direct internet access service to cut hardware and carbon emissions, then building a DDoS protection overlay on top of it with Cisco and EdgeHawk. He talks about starting his tech career later than most, moving through support, engineering, and product roles before landing in product management, and how a recent ADHD and autism diagnosis at 40 gave him new context on his own career path. The conversation also covers where the connectivity market is heading, with commoditization pushing value into overlay services like security and resilience rather than raw bandwidth.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Anthony Mashford | From Data Center Racks to Azure Expert | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 07:57:06 -0300

Anthony Mashford is a Cloud Solution Architect at NetApp, focused on Microsoft Azure, with a career that started in the military and moved through on-premises data centers before he found Azure back in 2012. He talks about a recent migration project that saved a customer a seven-figure sum annually, far more than the team originally predicted. Anthony also shares his honest take on AI: the technology should augment people, not replace them, and he backs this up with a story about a Cambridge choirmaster who compared AI to the invention of the piano. He's currently working towards another role at NetApp and he talks candidly about his corporate career, and why he never branched out beyond the Microsoft ecosystem.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Mohit Joshi | Domain Knowledge Over Code in the AI Era | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:59:14 -0300

Mohit Joshi leads AI transformation and architecture at Ernst & Young, where he's worked for three and a half years after 21 years in tech. He talks about switching from a commerce degree into technology against the odds in India, and building his career from database work up to solution architecture. Mohit explains why domain knowledge and strong technical basics matter more than ever now that AI handles routine coding. He also shares his fail-fast approach to testing AI on messy client data, and his view that AI should upskill junior programmers rather than replace them.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here:
https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic

Biswajit Roy | 18 Years Building Drupal and Acquia Expertise | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 10:08:13 -0300

Biswajit Roy has spent 18 years building a career in Drupal and Acquia, working his way from junior software engineer to global center of excellence head for a major IT services company. He has delivered over a hundred web solutions for Fortune 500 clients across retail, media, pharmaceutical, and government sectors, and has worked on projects in Sweden, Germany, Dubai, Sydney, and Hong Kong. Biswajit talks about starting his career during the 2008 recession on a salary of £60 a month, and shares the one thing he'd do differently: build his professional network earlier. He also makes the case for choosing a career path before finishing school and gaining hands-on experience before graduation, so new graduates have real value to offer employers.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here:

https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic

Paddy Gilliland | Building Agentic AI Systems Before AI Existed | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 02:14:36 -0300

Paddy Gilliland is a solution architect with 30 years in the ERP space, and he's spent the last two years going deep on AI. He walks through a workflow engine he built 15 to 20 years ago for a wealth management firm, a project that turned out to be agentic architecture before the term existed, and explains how he's now applying that same thinking to real AI systems. Paddy shares three current projects: a regulatory compliance tool for small businesses, an AI system that triages his own inbox and drafts responses, and a webcam-based model that tracks fatigue and posture during work. He also talks about cutting AI running costs by 60% just by rethinking how information gets fed to the model. It's a grounded look at what serious, production-ready AI work looks like from someone who's been building deterministic systems long before LLMs made it fashionable.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here:
https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic

Omkar Uthale | 14 Years at One Company, Building AI Tools | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 11:50:24 -0300

Omkar Uthale is an Enterprise Architect at Gorey Limited, a small UK consultancy where he has spent 14 years moving from SAP through Salesforce and integration work to full enterprise architecture. He talks about the manufacturing client that pushed him into architecture for the first time, the strict on-site rules that came with it, and how he now builds internal AI tools for his company instead of buying them from third parties. Omkar makes the case that anyone entering IT today needs to learn AI orchestration, not just coding, or risk being left behind.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here:
https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic

David Toozs-Hobson | 30 Years Building Trust-Based Security Deals | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 05:47:26 -0300

David Toozs-Hobson has spent over 30 years in cybersecurity, starting as one of CyberArk's first partners and later founding Global Secure Systems, a security VAR he grew to 65 people before selling it a decade ago. He now works as a Solution Architect at Computacenter, where he's building out the UK's identity center of excellence. David talks about mentoring people with no industry background into senior roles, why he believes long-term customer relationships beat one-off deals, and why so many identity projects fail when companies skip proper discovery work. He also reflects on the cultural differences he saw running an office in Germany, where clients value partnership over price.

This show is sponsored by The Consulting Launch Method, where I help experienced tech professionals build their own consulting business without spending years figuring out the business side. We've helped clients go from first idea to first clients in 90 days, and 6 figures within a year. To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here:
https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic

Charles Jackson | Building a Solar Tech Startup Next to a Full-Time Job | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 05:31:24 -0300

Charles Jackson works full-time as a solution architect at a consultancy while building EcoIQX, a SaaS platform that helps solar installers manage projects from customer acquisition through the full delivery lifecycle. In this episode, Charles talks about why he'd choose computer science and cybersecurity if he started his degree over again, and why he thinks the biggest wasted years in his career came from not exploring different tech paths before university. He also gets candid about where EcoIQX stands after a year: the product is built, but he's still chasing his first client and looking for a business development partner to share the load. The conversation covers how he balances a demanding day job with a growing startup, and why he sees "creating optionality" as a smarter long-term strategy than betting everything on one path.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here:
https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic

Sumant Satpathy | From Nonprofit Salesforce Delivery to Chasing CTA | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 08:06:32 -0300

Sumant Satpathy is a certified Salesforce architect working as a senior Salesforce developer at the LTA, with most of his career spent building on the Nonprofit Cloud platform for organizations like National Trust and Cancer Research UK. He talks about the project that changed his career path, leading the Tennis Foundation's Nonprofit Cloud implementation for LTA, and how a technical lead role on a Cancer Research UK project brought him from India to the UK. Sumant shares his long term goal of becoming a Salesforce Certified Technical Architect, a credential held by fewer than 2,000 people worldwide, and talks about growing his audience through weekly Medium articles and university webinars on Salesforce careers.

This show is sponsored by The Consulting Launch Method, where I help experienced tech professionals build their own consulting business without spending years figuring out the business side.

We've helped clients go from first idea to first clients in 90 days, and 6 figures within a year. To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here:
https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic

Portia Kgotleng | Pattern Recognition, AI Tools, and the Consulting Question | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 07:57:56 -0300

Portia Kgotleng is a Solution Architect at AWS, where she advises enterprise financial services customers on system design and ways of working. She traces her career path from production support through process engineering into solution architecture, driven by a natural interest in patterns and systems. Portia talks about how AI now speeds up her admin work and research, but she's clear that judgment and domain experience still do the heavy lifting on real architecture decisions. She also shares advice for her younger self: learn networking and security early, and speak up about your work instead of waiting for people to notice it on their own. The conversation closes with Portia reflecting on where she might apply her skills next, from financial literacy tools to community-focused tech projects.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here:
https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic

Peter Ogilvie | From Blue Chip Mainframes to Agency Life | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 11:35:22 -0300

Peter Ogilvie is a solution architect at Box UK, a multi disciplinary digital agency delivering everything from focused bespoke projects to large scale platforms for national and global clients, after more than 25 years across blue chip companies including IBM, NatWest, BT and A&P Pensions. He talks about delivering a high-stakes group pensions project in the early 2000s under brutal deadlines, the teacher who once told him he "wasn't logical enough" for computing, and why he now pushes students to stay curious instead of accepting early rejection. Peter reflects on his move from big corporate structures into Box UK's smaller, hands-on setup, and explains why he treats flexibility as more valuable than a fixed career plan. The conversation is a good reminder that careers rarely move in a straight line, and that confidence often matters as much as skill.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here: https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic

Rob Dickens | Using AI for Good and Staying a Builder | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 11:31:00 -0300

Rob Dickens is a forward deployed AI engineer at Cloudera, where he spends four years moving from solution architect into a hands-on, customer-facing AI role. He talks about a recent project with a humanitarian aid organization, where his team built an AI workflow that cut research time for crisis analysts working with time-sensitive information. Rob traces his path from Java engineer to machine learning consultant to part-time master's student, and explains how nearly a year in a management role away from coding taught him that building things matters most to him. He shares practical advice on pushing through the discomfort of career growth and reflects on how AI code generation is reshaping what it means to be a skilled engineer today. The conversation closes with his current thinking on personal AI projects and what the next stage of his career might look like.

James Levine | Leaving AWS to Build an AI Agency | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 15:13:08 -0300

James Levine left AWS after three and a half years as a software engineer, where he worked on using AI to cut open source bug and ticket backlogs from four digits down to single digits. He's now building an AI-focused software agency and raising a seed round, while also doing fractional commercialization work on the side. In this episode, James argues that engineers who go deep on a subject, rather than skip formal training, are the ones who'll stand out as AI takes over the easier work. He also makes the case that software engineers need to diversify their income streams over the next year or two while the job market recalibrates.

Pitambar Jha | Why You Should Build Before You're Ready | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 05:12:27 -0300

Pitambar Jha is a senior software engineer who moved from Nepal to London in 2021 and has just joined Vanguard after two and a half years at Item Group. In this episode, he talks about the project he's proudest of, a dynamic data grid plugin he built for Angular within a month of starting a new job, and the career lesson he'd give his younger self: stop trying to learn everything before you start building. Pitambar explains why he now treats every new project as a forcing function to learn on the job, using Kubernetes as an example of a skill he only picked up by needing it for something real. He also shares his long-term dream of building a community platform to help new developers avoid the mistakes he made, and the plan to eventually run a small book cafe once that platform takes off.

Mark Jones | From Microservices to Building an AI Memory System in Five Weeks | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 10:30:46 -0300

Mark Jones runs Radical Geek Technology Solutions, a business he built with his wife that helps organizations adopt AI. He started in IT infrastructure, moved into software development, and became an early adopter of microservices long before most companies caught on. That pattern repeated with AI: he built his own local infrastructure to avoid API costs and spent late 2025 building a memory system for AI agents called Ramba, using an unlikely research method: he put an agent on a platform called Malt Book and asked a million other agents what they wanted from a memory system. He shipped a working version in five weeks. Mark's biggest takeaway is that most businesses are far behind on AI adoption, and the advantage goes to whoever treats it as something to experiment with constantly rather than plan for years in advance.

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here: https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic

Chris Wilken | Turning a Retrenchment Letter Into a Consultancy | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 05:45:33 -0300

Chris Wilken spent close to 30 years in enterprise tech, including many years working with Avaya across South Africa, before a retrenchment letter pushed him to start his own business. He founded Ukuvela Group in October 2023 and grew it from four founders to nearly ten employees, doubling turnover every year by building a consultancy-led model backed by a wider network of partners. Chris talks about the identity shift from employee to business owner, why he believes customer experience comes down to treating people like people rather than running a script, and why investing in yourself matters more than waiting for a perfect plan. He also shares what he'd change if he started again: take a month to plan properly instead of launching the day after leaving his job.

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here:
https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic

Marcel Bindseil | Bringing WebAssembly to the IoT Edge at Microsoft | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 07:54:08 -0300

Marcel Bindseil is a senior AI engineer at Microsoft in London, where he helps manufacturing and mobility customers build IoT solutions on cloud platforms. He grew up on the border between East and West Germany, planned to follow his father into engineering, and found programming hard at first before teaching himself the skills that took him to Berlin and then to Microsoft. In this episode he walks through his proudest work: remote control features for connected cars and elevators, and helping customers run lightweight Rust applications on edge devices with WebAssembly for lower latency and tighter security. He also explains how marathon running and competitive sport shaped his never-give-up approach, and why he sees the next challenge in AI as making it secure and usable for people outside tech.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here:
https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic

Mohammed Shahid | Migrating 150,000 Users to ServiceNow During a Pandemic | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 11:38:24 -0300

Shahid is a lead product owner for ServiceNow at a large multinational. His career started in broadband customer support and moved through service management, digital workplace technology and e-signature rollouts. In this episode he walks you through a six-month programme that moved 150,000 users from several tools and manual processes onto one ServiceNow platform, run entirely remotely as the pandemic hit, with the first release live in four months. His main lesson: a product is only as good as the process behind it, so fix broken workflows before you migrate them. He also explains why unlearning matters as much as learning in a tech career, and where he sees ServiceNow and AI taking his work next.

Massimo Berta | Solve the Business Problem Before Adding AI | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 05:28:09 -0300

Massimo "Max" Berta is a senior account solution architect at Automat-it and spent seven years at AWS, where he supported healthcare and life science companies. He talks through his work with Phytoform, a crop genetics company using machine learning to grow a tomato without the spiky top leaves, which made it easier to transport. He also explains why AI conversations with research companies centre on raw GPU capacity and cost, while retail and marketing clients care about model access and compliance. His core message is that every tech problem starts as a business problem. If your analytics already give you poor visibility, adding AI agents on top only adds complexity, so start with the simplest tools and add technology once the business need is clear.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here:
https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic

Babatunde Adegbite | Designing AI Agents People Actually Trust | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 12:36:46 -0300

Babatunde (Tunde) Adegbite is a senior software engineer at Constru, where he leads front-end architecture for AI-driven compliance and sustainability platforms. In this episode, Tunde talks through the project he's most proud of: a chat interface for an AI agent that drafts a plan, then stops and asks a person to approve it before going further, built for construction teams who are used to spreadsheets. He explains why simplicity matters more now that AI lets you build almost anything, and why judgment and fundamentals count for more than knowing the latest framework. He also gives a balanced view on AI-generated code: it has never been easier to ship, but shipping code you don't understand creates real risk when payments or personal data are involved. Tunde closes with his plans for EduPlanner, an education platform he co-founded to help Nigerian parents choose the right school for their children.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here:
https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic

Marc Mollins | Why a Tech Apprenticeship Beats University | The Consulting Launch Method Podcast

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 13:09:49 -0300

Marc Mollins left school 10 years ago to start a software apprenticeship, and today he is a senior consultant, lead Java backend engineer and team lead at CGI. In this episode he explains why he believes anyone skipping an apprenticeship in tech starts four years behind: university teaches best practice, while a real project team teaches you how to get work done against a deadline. He shares the advice he gives apprentices as a QA apprenticeship ambassador, which is to say yes to everything, and how that led him into a stint as a scrum master. Marc also walks through how he uses Codex and ChatGPT every day, acting as a code reviewer instead of pasting in a Jira ticket and accepting the result. He closes with his plan to become an engineering manager within five years and what his mentor taught him about bringing value.

To learn more connect with me on LinkedIn and message me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentuppelschoten/

Or download the Tech Consulting Business Operating System here:
https://windmillstartupcoaching.com/abc-infographic