DevReady Podcast

Aerion Technologies

We started the DevReady podcast to help non-techs build better technology. We have been exposed to so many non-techs that describe the struggle, uncertainty and challenges that can come with building technology. The objective for the DevReady podcast to share these stories and give you the tools and insights so that you to can deliver on your vision and outcomes. You will learn from non-tech founders that have invested their time and money into developing technology. We will discuss what worked, what didn’t and how they still managed to deliver real value to their users. These stories are inspirational – demonstrating the determination, commitment and resolve it really takes to deliver technology. Throughout the DevReady Podcast we also invite subject matter experts to the conversation to give you proven strategies and techniques to successfully take your idea through to delivery and beyond. Enjoy the Podcast, it will challenge you, inspire you and provide the tools you will need ...

  1. 10 HRS AGO

    How to Build Products People Actually Use and Pay For | Ep 289 | DevReady Podcast

    In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew Romeo is joined by Abi Iyer, Director of Product Design at APAC, Zendesk, Head of Product Design at Lyrebird, and Investor at Startmate, to explore how product design drives real business outcomes. With a career spanning design leadership, startups, and medtech AI, Abi shares practical insights into building products that deliver measurable value. This conversation covers product strategy, user experience, startup execution, and the role of design in scaling modern businesses. Abi explains that the value of design depends heavily on the type of organisation and product being built. In high-volume consumer markets, design often supports marketing and sales outcomes, while in medtech and healthcare, it must prioritise empathy, usability, and seamless integration into complex workflows. He highlights how well-designed technology can reduce administrative burden for clinicians, improve work-life balance, and ultimately enhance patient outcomes. The goal is to create products that feel intuitive and almost invisible, allowing users to focus on their core tasks without friction. The conversation then explores Abi’s journey into design, beginning with his early ambitions in animation before transitioning into user experience, consulting, and product strategy. His exposure to commercial decision-making reshaped his understanding of design as a strategic lever for growth rather than a purely visual discipline. Andrew and Abi discuss how design contributes directly to engagement and revenue, with strong product design enabling businesses to increase adoption, improve retention, and drive monetisation. By linking design decisions to measurable outcomes, organisations can position design as a key driver of competitive advantage. A key theme throughout the episode is the importance of simplicity and usability. Andrew and Abi emphasise that effective product design focuses on reducing friction and enabling users to achieve outcomes quickly. They highlight the need for intentional trade-offs, where functionality and clarity take precedence over visual complexity. The discussion also reinforces the importance of observing real user behaviour, as there is often a disconnect between what users say and how they actually interact with products. Direct observation and usage data provide far more reliable insights for improving user experience. The episode also dives into startup thinking and product validation. Abi shares his experience transitioning into the startup ecosystem, including his involvement with Startmate as both an investor and mentor. He outlines a practical framework for early-stage founders, focusing on clear positioning, continuous iteration, and securing a first paying customer. He also breaks down research into generative and evaluative approaches, emphasising the need to balance idea generation with real-world validation. Ultimately, the conversation highlights that successful products are built by solving real problems, iterating quickly, and validating ideas through user behaviour and revenue rather than assumptions.   #ProductDesign #StartupGrowth #UserExperience #TechPodcast #DevReadyPodcast #ProductStrategy

    35 min

  2. 28 APR

    How Businesses Are Really Using AI in 2026-A Practical Guide to Scaling AI |Ep 288 |DevReady Podcast

    In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Anthony Sapountzis, CTO and Co-Founder of Aerion Technologies and DevReady.ai | AI-Powered App Planning for Non-Tech Founders , is joined by Gareth Rydon, Co-Founder of Friyay.ai, for their latest AI Roundup. As a leading voice in generative AI strategy and adoption, Gareth shares practical insights on how businesses can move from experimentation to meaningful implementation. The conversation explores real-world AI use cases, emerging tools, and the evolving role of AI across both business and everyday life. This episode is essential listening for anyone looking to understand AI adoption, AI tools for business, and how to build a sustainable AI strategy in a rapidly changing landscape. Anthony and Gareth unpack how AI adoption is shifting from individual experimentation to organisation-wide strategy. While teams are already seeing productivity gains from tools such as AI coding assistants and design platforms, the real challenge lies in scaling these benefits across the business. They highlight how hands-on experimentation, both in professional and personal contexts, is accelerating understanding and confidence in AI. The discussion reinforces the importance of moving beyond isolated use cases and towards a structured, holistic approach to AI implementation that delivers measurable business value. The conversation also explores how AI is becoming embedded in everyday life, including how children are using it for learning, creativity and curiosity-driven exploration. Anthony shares his experience with AI image generation safeguards, particularly around restrictions involving children, which Gareth supports as a necessary layer of protection. They also examine how rapidly evolving platforms such as Claude and Loveable are expanding capabilities and converging into broader, all-in-one solutions. This shift raises important questions about differentiation, product positioning and the long-term direction of AI tools. A key theme throughout the episode is the growing sense of overwhelm in the AI space. With constant updates and new releases, Gareth advises focusing on mastering a small number of tools rather than chasing every innovation. Both Anthony and Gareth stress the importance of filtering out low-value content and following trusted voices who provide practical, experience-driven insights. They also highlight that many discussions in the AI space lack depth, often relying on benchmark comparisons rather than real-world application, which can distract from meaningful progress. Finally, Anthony and Gareth share practical frameworks for working effectively with AI, particularly in development and problem-solving contexts. They emphasise the importance of clear communication, structured planning and iterative workflows when collaborating with AI tools. Techniques such as prompting AI to ask clarifying questions, managing context through branching conversations, and actively reviewing outputs are highlighted as essential skills. The overarching takeaway is that AI is most powerful when used to enhance thinking and decision-making, rather than simply accelerating execution. #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #BusinessGrowth #Automation #Startups #Tech #DevReadyPodcast

    41 min

  3. 21 APR

    The Future of Education: Why Traditional Schools Are Failing Students | Ep 287 | DevReady Podcast

    In this episode of the Ashish Alexander, Founder of Ripel Stream Media, Founder and CEO at RevLearn, and Event Host of Rebel Meetups, about the future of education, alternative learning models, and career readiness in an AI-driven world. Drawing on his personal journey and experience building Revlearn, Ashish explores the limitations of traditional schooling and shares a bold vision for a more practical, skills-focused approach to education. This conversation is essential listening for founders, educators, and anyone interested in education reform, career pathways, and preparing the next generation for real-world success. Ashish outlines Revlearn’s evolution towards launching an in-person high school with plans for future online expansion, designed to prioritise engagement, accessibility, and real-world learning. He discusses the financial and regulatory barriers involved in building a school, highlighting how bureaucracy often slows innovation across education systems. His model challenges conventional structures by questioning rigid subject requirements and advocating for educators selected based on practical expertise and teaching ability rather than formal qualifications. Positioned within the global rise of micro schools and alternative education, Revlearn aims to better align learning with real-world outcomes. The conversation explores how traditional education frameworks measure learning and whether age-based progression remains relevant. Ashish argues that modern learners can acquire knowledge when needed through accessible digital resources, reducing reliance on fixed timelines. He critiques the focus on university pathways, noting a growing disconnect between academic achievement and employability, particularly as AI reshapes industries. Revlearn’s approach balances foundational subjects with a skills-first mindset, giving students flexibility while ensuring core competencies are covered through more engaging and practical methods. Anthony raises the importance of structured education in developing resilience, discipline, and broad knowledge, which supports critical thinking and cross-disciplinary insight. Ashish acknowledges this perspective while emphasising that focused problem-solving can naturally lead to broader learning across related areas. He challenges the idea of a single career path or passion, encouraging exploration and adaptability as individuals discover multiple interests over time. This philosophy underpins Revlearn’s emphasis on early career exploration, helping students make informed decisions before committing to costly and time-intensive university degrees. #FutureOfEducation #SkillsBasedLearning #DevReadyPodcast #StartupMindset #CareerGrowth Ashish also reflects on the personal experiences that shaped his mission, including his struggles within a memorisation-based schooling system in India and the cultural pressure to follow a traditional academic path. His journey through university and into the workforce revealed a disconnect between education and practical skills, particularly for individuals with different learning styles, including those who are neurodiverse. Through Revlearn’s early initiatives, including a community-driven platform on Discord, he engaged directly with students and uncovered widespread gaps in career guidance. These insights, combined with high university dropout rates and misaligned career outcomes, continue to drive his commitment to rethinking how education prepares young people for the future.

    31 min

  4. 14 APR

    How to Turn a Service Business into a Scalable SaaS Product | Ep 286 | DevReady Podcast

    In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew Romeo sits down with Danielle Marple, founder of By the Founder and Marple Co, to explore how service-based businesses can successfully transition into scalable software products. Danielle shares her journey from fractional paralegal services to building a SaaS platform designed to streamline partnerships, referrals, and business development. This episode is a must-listen for founders looking to move beyond trading time for money and into product-led growth. Danielle’s entrepreneurial journey began with a strong desire to step away from corporate life and experiment with building her own ventures. She quickly established a fractional paralegal and business development model, leveraging her network and offering high-value expertise on a flexible retainer basis. While this approach enabled rapid client acquisition, it also exposed a core limitation of service businesses, where revenue remains closely tied to hours worked. This realisation led Danielle to explore new ways to scale her impact and income. A key turning point came when Danielle identified the financial potential in referrals and introductions, where commissions and fees could significantly outperform hourly billing. However, managing these relationships manually proved inefficient and difficult to track. This challenge inspired her to develop a software solution that centralises partnership management, captures every interaction, and ensures accurate tracking of agreements and payments. Her platform addresses a widespread gap in the market, where businesses struggle to operationalise and monetise their networks effectively. The conversation also highlights the growing role of no-code tools and rapid prototyping in modern product development. Danielle built an MVP by translating her real-world workflows directly into a functional product, allowing her to validate ideas quickly and communicate clearly with developers. By focusing on solving her own operational challenges first, she created a product that delivers immediate ROI through improved efficiency and reduced reliance on additional hires. Her approach reflects a broader shift towards building practical, user-driven software grounded in real business needs. Finally, Danielle shares actionable insights for service-based founders looking to build products. She emphasises the importance of identifying repetitive manual tasks and consolidating fragmented tools into a single solution. She also highlights the value of startup ecosystems such as Blackbird and Startmate in building credibility, expanding networks, and accelerating growth. Rather than chasing external funding, Danielle prioritises customer value and sustainable revenue, reinvesting earnings back into product development. Her journey demonstrates how strong relationships, continuous iteration, and a clear problem focus can drive successful product creation. #DevReadyPodcast #SaaS #StartupJourney #NoCode #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship

    26 min

  5. 7 APR

    How to Build High-Performing Startup Teams That Actually Scale | Ep 285 | DevReady Podcast

    Claudia Barriga-Larriviere, Head of People at EatClub and Coach at Startmate, joins Andrew Romeo on the DevReady Podcast to explore how high-performing teams are built, scaled, and sustained in fast-moving tech startups. Drawing on her experience across incubators, scaleups, and high-growth environments, Claudia shares practical insights into people and culture strategy, leadership, and organisational design. Claudia’s journey into startups began unexpectedly after leaving corporate life during the global financial crisis, leading her into incubators like Pollenizer and the broader startup ecosystem. She reflects on the stark contrast between corporate environments and startups, where speed, ownership, and real-time decision making define success. This transition allowed her to discover her strength in bringing structure and clarity to fast-paced, ambiguous environments while supporting founders and first-time leaders through critical growth phases. Throughout the conversation, Claudia highlights the importance of accountability, clear systems, and strong team dynamics in startup success. She introduces key principles such as “done is better than perfect” and “always handing over”, emphasising the need to build processes that enable continuity and collaboration. High-performing teams, she explains, rely on a balance of builders, learners, and organisers working together with healthy friction, supported by diverse perspectives and strong communication. As startups scale, Claudia stresses the importance of systems thinking over reactive hiring. She shares how teams often slow down when they add more people instead of improving processes, and why smaller, well-structured teams can outperform larger, fragmented ones. Reflection, data visibility, and clear feedback mechanisms are essential to ensure leaders understand what is happening across the organisation and can make informed decisions quickly. Claudia also challenges traditional approaches to culture and leadership, advocating for “culture add” over “culture fit” and encouraging leaders to embrace discomfort through honest feedback and open communication. She emphasises that innovation is driven by creativity, which requires energy, balance, and supportive environments where people can thrive both inside and outside of work. Ultimately, building effective teams comes down to designing systems around real human behaviour, enabling sustainable performance, and fostering environments where diverse teams can succeed together. #startup #founders #leadership #teambuilding #culture #australianstartups #devreadypodcast

    55 min

  6. 31 MAR

    Why Most Projects Fail and How to Get Process Improvement Right | Ep 284 | DevReady Podcast

    In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew Romeo sits down with Maria Botev, Senior Business Analyst at ORIX Australia, to explore process improvement, business analysis, and continuous improvement in modern organisations. Maria shares her journey from hands-on operational roles to leading process and project frameworks in a corporate environment, highlighting the importance of customer-centric thinking, accountability, and structured problem-solving. This conversation is a practical guide for businesses looking to improve workflows, optimise project delivery, and build scalable systems that deliver real value. Maria explains that effective process improvement begins with clarity and alignment. Visualising processes through mapping inputs, outputs, stakeholders, and workflows helps teams understand how work is actually done and where inefficiencies exist. This approach allows organisations to focus on targeted improvements rather than attempting to overhaul entire systems. In larger businesses, success relies on stakeholder alignment and shared understanding, ensuring that every contributor is working towards the same outcome with clear visibility. The discussion also explores how to break down complex systems into manageable components. Maria introduces a layered approach to business processes, starting from high-level organisational goals and drilling down into detailed operational steps. By defining processes with clear start and end points, along with measurable inputs and outputs, teams can identify root causes more effectively and prioritise improvements with confidence. This structured method supports better decision-making while allowing room for creativity when testing and refining solutions. A key theme throughout the episode is communication and engagement. Maria emphasises the importance of simplifying complex ideas so that all stakeholders can participate meaningfully, regardless of technical background. She also highlights the value of mapping customer journeys early, using personas to understand user behaviour, needs, and expectations. This customer-first perspective ensures that solutions are relevant, usable, and aligned with real-world problems, rather than being driven purely by internal assumptions. The conversation further explores the influence of entrepreneurial thinking and emerging technologies such as AI in process improvement. Maria shares how her involvement in the Startmate community strengthened her focus on value-driven outcomes and practical execution. AI is increasingly used as a support tool for automating reporting, generating insights, and enabling better comparisons across projects. Combined with centralised dashboards and shared data visibility, these tools help organisations reduce duplication, align global teams, and make more informed decisions. Ultimately, the episode reinforces that continuous improvement is essential for business growth, with processes needing to evolve constantly to remain effective and competitive. #ProcessImprovement #BusinessAnalysis #ProjectManagement #ContinuousImprovement #AIinBusiness #DigitalTransformation #CustomerExperience #WorkflowOptimization #TechPodcast #DevReadyPodcast

    29 min

  7. 24 MAR

    How AI and Growth Hacking Are Transforming Startup Marketing | Ep 283 | DevReady Podcast

    In this episode of the Theo Moulos, CSO of GrowthHackers and CEO of GrowthRocks about the evolution of growth hacking, AI-driven marketing and the realities of scaling digital businesses. Theo shares insights from his experience building marketing technology companies, launching MarTech products and working with a global community of founders and marketers. Drawing on his background in psychology, computer science and business, he explains how modern growth strategies combine technology, experimentation and data-driven decision making. Theo begins by explaining how his multidisciplinary background led him into marketing technology and growth strategy. Early in his career he focused on applying engineering and agile development principles to marketing, encouraging teams to run frequent experiments and measure results quickly. GrowthRocks gained significant traction by targeting high intent SEO keywords such as “growth hacking agency”, capturing businesses actively searching for growth marketing services. This strategy helped scale the agency into a two-million-dollar business and positioned it within the global growth hacking movement. The conversation then explores what Theo describes as Growth Hacking 2.0, driven by the rise of artificial intelligence and digital transformation. Through initiatives such as Growth Hacking University and partnerships with the GrowthHackers community, Theo and his team expanded their reach across a network of more than 140,000 founders and marketers. He also shares insights from building and exiting several MarTech products, including the marketing platform Loops, and discusses the development of Growth OS, an AI-powered operating system designed to support scalable marketing and business growth. Theo explains how operational playbooks helped GrowthRocks achieve unusually high margins by standardising marketing processes and turning expertise into repeatable systems. These playbooks evolved into a platform that integrates marketing workflows, AI tools and automation. He emphasises that AI tools alone do not guarantee efficiency. Productivity increases when complex systems are simplified and structured so users can access powerful capabilities through natural language and guided workflows. Anthony and Theo also discuss how artificial intelligence is reshaping innovation by orchestrating software tools and APIs through natural language interfaces. This shift allows individuals and small teams to access advanced capabilities that previously required specialised technical knowledge. At the same time, expertise remains essential because professionals who understand the underlying systems can use AI more strategically and effectively. The episode concludes with practical insights for founders and startups. Theo highlights the importance of understanding the entire growth funnel, defining a clear North Star metric and adopting agile marketing strategies that rely on continuous experimentation. He also stresses that many startups fail because they exhaust resources on product development while neglecting distribution and marketing. Sustainable growth requires both a strong marketing strategy and founders who remain actively involved in building traction and guiding the direction of the business.   #DevReadyPodcast #GrowthHacking #StartupMarketing #AIinMarketing #FounderInsights #StartupGrowth

    41 min

  8. 17 MAR

    The Hidden AI Security Risks Every Business Leader Should Understand with Mark | Ep 282 | DevReady Podcast

    In this episode of the Mark Vos, Founder and CEO of Cyber Impact, about the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and AI governance. Mark brings decades of experience across technology, consulting and enterprise risk leadership, including senior roles in Big Four consulting and as Chief Risk Officer and Chief Information Security Officer at Iress, a platform that supports the majority of Australian stock market trades. Drawing on this background, Mark shares insights into how organisations can safely adopt AI while managing emerging risks across security, governance and business transformation. Mark reflects on his journey as a lifelong technologist who entered the workforce during the early days of the internet boom in the mid-1990s. His career progressed from cybersecurity consulting into executive leadership roles that expanded his focus from technical security to enterprise-wide risk management covering operational, financial and reputational threats. This broader perspective eventually led him to found Cyber Impact, where he delivers fractional CISO services and strategic security guidance to organisations that require high-level expertise without a full-time executive commitment. The conversation then turns to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and AI-driven business transformation. Mark describes AI as the next major technological shift following the industrial revolution, electricity and the internet. He believes the pace of change will surpass previous technology waves and deliver profound impact across industries within the next decade. At the same time, he stresses that organisations must combine innovation with responsible governance, particularly as businesses face pressure from shareholders to deploy AI quickly to improve efficiency and competitiveness.   Anthony and Mark explore the technical realities behind AI systems, including how large language models operate as complex neural networks with billions of parameters. These systems are inherently non-deterministic, which introduces challenges for security and oversight. Mark explains that prompt manipulation and language-based interactions can create new cyber attack surfaces similar to social engineering. The discussion also highlights risks associated with AI agents that can execute tasks autonomously, access systems or interact with financial services without sufficient safeguards in place. Another major theme is the growing sophistication of AI-generated content such as deepfakes, synthetic media and automated decision systems. Mark notes that AI-generated images and videos have reached a level where even experts can struggle to detect them. Anthony adds that algorithm-driven social media platforms can reinforce misinformation by repeatedly exposing users to similar content. Both emphasise the importance of verifying information through trusted sources and maintaining human oversight when deploying AI in critical environments. The episode also examines the architecture behind modern AI systems, including context windows and memory management. Anthony explains how AI models rely on contextual information to understand conversations, which can degrade when the context grows too large. Mark describes techniques such as using sub-agents to handle specific tasks, allowing the main system to maintain stability and efficiency. Strong governance practices such as external guardrails, least privilege access and independent oversight remain essential to ensure AI systems operate within defined boundaries. Finally, Mark highlights the urgent need for AI governance frameworks at both organisational and societal levels. He believes the world currently has a narrow window to shape responsible AI policies before systems become too deeply embedded across industries. While rapid AI adoption continues to accelerate innovation and productivity, Mark remains optimistic that thoughtful regulation, industry collaboration and open public discourse can guide AI development in a positive direction. #AI #CyberSecurity #ArtificialIntelligence #TechPodcast #DevReadyPodcast #BusinessTechnology #AILeadership

    59 min
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5
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

We started the DevReady podcast to help non-techs build better technology. We have been exposed to so many non-techs that describe the struggle, uncertainty and challenges that can come with building technology. The objective for the DevReady podcast to share these stories and give you the tools and insights so that you to can deliver on your vision and outcomes. You will learn from non-tech founders that have invested their time and money into developing technology. We will discuss what worked, what didn’t and how they still managed to deliver real value to their users. These stories are inspirational – demonstrating the determination, commitment and resolve it really takes to deliver technology. Throughout the DevReady Podcast we also invite subject matter experts to the conversation to give you proven strategies and techniques to successfully take your idea through to delivery and beyond. Enjoy the Podcast, it will challenge you, inspire you and provide the tools you will need ...

Information

  • Creator
    Aerion Technologies
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    288
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    DevReady Podcast