The Technology Show with Natalie Haigh

Natalie Haigh

Candid conversations with the people building, leading and questioning technology. Hosted by Natalie Haigh and broadcast live on Voice FM 103.9, Southampton’s community radio station, every Friday at 1pm. Each episode is an edited, ad-free version of the week’s interview.

  1. 4d ago

    Expertise Without the Overhead (with Tim Day)

    Tim Day is the founder of FractionALL Services, a business built around experienced specialists who work with clients on demand. A former CFO and change leader, he began to rethink permanent corporate work after a difficult period. A three-day-a-week merger assignment showed him how focused, flexible expertise could work for both professionals and the businesses they support. Tim explains what fractional work means to him: people who join a business, take ownership and deliver change without the cost of a full-time hire. His network spans multiple disciplines, so a client can assemble the team its particular problem needs. He describes how a finance reporting project that once took months might take weeks when finance and AI specialists work together, provided training, information security and data protection are addressed as well. The conversation also turns to listening to people on the shop floor, building trust and leaving clients with the knowledge to keep improving after an engagement ends. Tim discusses Pinnacle Performance, the fitness business he co-owns, and its coaching app for 18 sports, where AI helps with check-ins while a person remains available for support. His message is to start with the problem, bring the right people together and build a lasting partnership. Guest: Tim Day, founder, FractionALL Services Recorded for The Technology Show on Voice FM 103.9, Southampton — broadcast 30 October 2026. Listen live on Fridays at 1pm. More episodes: thetechnologyshow.uk

    Expertise Without the Overhead (with Tim Day)

  2. Oct 23

    Learning Beyond the Blank Slate (with Anthony Basiel)

    Anthony Basiel is Academic Director at the London School of Intelligent Computing and Technology, works with York St John University and supervises PhD students at the Metanoia Institute. His interest in teaching began at YMCA summer camps in America, where he progressed from camper to counsellor, before becoming a primary school teacher. Seeing children who struggled in a conventional classroom concentrate for an hour in the computer lab convinced him that technology could transform education, leading to postgraduate study in London and a doctorate in learning technology design. Anthony explains why knowledge is not simply information to be transferred. Tacit knowledge grows through experiences, from responding to a painting in a gallery to learning through professional networks. He explores 360-degree video, augmented reality and role-play simulations that put learners inside a problem rather than leaving them to watch a lecture. In one healthcare example, nurses safely practise telling a family that someone is dying, then debrief in a Socratic discussion circle. AI can analyse thousands of words from the transcript and identify evidence of empathy, understanding and practical skills. The conversation also considers AI avatars that can continue a debrief while a human facilitator supports a distressed learner, and tools that turn a syllabus and marking scheme into a verbal practice partner. Anthony invites academics and industry to collaborate on blended learning research. His closing advice is to become a lifelong learner: keep asking questions, keep exploring and remain open to wherever the journey leads. Guest: Anthony Basiel, Academic Director, London School of Intelligent Computing and Technology Recorded for The Technology Show on Voice FM 103.9, Southampton — broadcast 23 October 2026. Listen live on Fridays at 1pm. More episodes: thetechnologyshow.uk

    Learning Beyond the Blank Slate (with Anthony Basiel)

  3. Oct 16

    Innovation Starts by Showing Up (with Ed Gould)

    Ed Gould is Creative Director and Founding Partner at Carswell Gould, the Southampton creative communications agency he has helped run for 33 years. He went straight into work from school rather than university, building a career across creativity, technology and business. About a decade ago, that experience led him and a group of partners to establish Venturefest South, a not-for-profit network designed to connect innovators, universities, investors and businesses across the region. Ed explains why inclusive networks matter. He has run Venturefest South's open-mic pitching for around nine years, welcoming ideas from children, older people and disabled founders as well as established businesses. He recalls two Innovator of the Year winners whose AI product went on to attract £2 million in funding, while arguing that five per cent growth across many local firms can be just as valuable as one spectacular success. Southern Creative Catalyst extends the same thinking to coders, designers, architects, music technicians and other commercial creatives. The conversation also covers dyslexia, changing attitudes to academic routes, the effect of AI on entry-level work and the need to retain local talent. Ed urges students to strengthen their cognitive and creative capabilities, reminds founders that a world-changing business can begin in a cupboard, and asks business leaders, freelancers and listeners to stop working in silos. His call to action is simple: show up, share ideas, build trust and help create the opportunities the region needs. Guest: Ed Gould, Creative Director and Founding Partner, Carswell Gould Recorded for The Technology Show on Voice FM 103.9, Southampton — broadcast 16 October 2026. Listen live on Fridays at 1pm. More episodes: thetechnologyshow.uk

    Innovation Starts by Showing Up (with Ed Gould)

  4. Oct 9

    You Don’t Need More Pipeline (with Sally Yates)

    Sally Yates is a go-to-market adviser at Reset & Co, helping growing B2B SaaS businesses find the real obstacle behind stalled growth. Her route there began unexpectedly on an asset-swap trading desk, before she moved into journalism, writing for publications and freelancing on subjects as varied as why Britons love sandwiches. She later crossed into agency and in-house marketing, using storytelling to humanise technical products and shape longer-term strategy. She explains why a request for “more pipeline” may conceal a different problem: buyers lack the tools to make a decision, CFOs receive the same material as CTOs, or product and sales are pulling apart. The conversation explores the 80/20 “land and expand” principle, the value inside existing customers and Natalie’s biscuit-fuelled quarterly reviews. Sally argues that maturing software companies need outcomes, proof and a clear product story, not another list of features. They also examine AI in marketing, from intent data and HubSpot workflows to automated adverts that risk sounding like everyone else’s. Sally sees AI as valuable for repeatable work and data analysis, but says human judgement, brand, point of view and storytelling still create distinction. Her advice is to diagnose before prescribing, prioritise the three changes most likely to move the needle, learn the new tools without following fashion, and remember the value of being human. Guest: Sally Yates, go-to-market adviser, Reset & Co Recorded for The Technology Show on Voice FM 103.9, Southampton — broadcast 9 October 2026. Listen live on Fridays at 1pm. More episodes: thetechnologyshow.uk

    You Don’t Need More Pipeline (with Sally Yates)

  5. Oct 2

    Start Small, De-Risk the Build (with James Harcourt)

    James Harcourt is a Director and Software Developer at Novatura, the agency he helped build with four friends after studying computer science at the University of Southampton. He originally planned to study marine biology, but a tour of the computer science department felt more practical, hands-on and exciting. While still at university, the group took on research, web services and startup work, then incorporated when a first contract appeared through a family connection. James talks Natalie through the reality of turning technical skills into a business: learning sales, marketing, legal and accounts; recognising that a team needs front end, back end, design and strategy; and building trust when clients are taking a risk on someone new. His advice is to start small, with a focused piece of work such as a design, audit, scope or specification, because good planning can identify 90% of the ways a project might go wrong before anyone starts building the wrong thing. The conversation also covers Southampton's tech networks, the University of Southampton student enterprise team, the Catalyst programme at the University of Southampton Science Park, Southern Creative Catalyst, strategic partnerships with other software companies, and Novatura's focus on growth-oriented SMEs, including automotive after sales, vehicle repair and garages. James's message for founders is to stay humble, ask for help, get off social media, take useful risks and create opportunities for other people too. Guest: James Harcourt, Director and Software Developer, Novatura Recorded for The Technology Show on Voice FM 103.9, Southampton — broadcast 2 October 2026. Listen live on Fridays at 1pm. More episodes: thetechnologyshow.uk

    Start Small, De-Risk the Build (with James Harcourt)

  6. Sep 25

    Dress Like You Mean Business (with Joana Meneses)

    Joana Meneses of Styling You Confident is a style strategist, and she's quick to point out that her work goes much deeper than colours and shopping trips. She starts with identity (how you want to be seen and what you want to communicate), moves on to personal branding, and only then gets to the fun part: the clothes. Her path there runs through 15 years in fashion retail, watching women lose confidence in the fitting room, and a patriarchal upbringing that told her women mattered less than men, a message she has been challenging ever since. Why is a stylist on a tech show? Because, as Natalie puts it, we buy confidence. Joana explains enclothed cognition (the idea that what we wear shapes how we think, feel and act) and tells the story of a client who moved from the end of the boardroom table, where she was the one asked to turn the TV volume up and down, to the side where decisions get made, and went on to lead a department. They also get into decision fatigue, the 'pretty or smart' messages many women grew up with, and why dressing one notch above the expected dress code is a useful rule of thumb. In the final part Joana shares practical tips for moving from a formal meeting to a relaxed networking event, explains why AI colour-analysis tools can get it badly wrong (lighting and what you're wearing in the photo both skew the result), and reveals that she worked only with men for her first couple of years in the business. Guest: Joana Meneses, Styling You Confident (stylingyouconfident.com) Recorded for The Technology Show on Voice FM 103.9, Southampton — broadcast 25 September 2026. Listen live on Fridays at 1pm. More episodes: thetechnologyshow.uk

    Dress Like You Mean Business (with Joana Meneses)

  7. Sep 18

    The Answer Is Already in the Building (with Paul Cook)

    Paul Cook of The Transformation Guide has spent 30 years in change management, and he's here to prove it isn't boring. His route in was unexpected: a maths degree, a first job as a statistician measuring the UK economy at the forerunner of the ONS, forecasting for a newspaper group, then five years at PwC during the 1990s wave of big enterprise systems, before going solo as a serial programme manager (a former boss once called him 'unemployable', which he took as a compliment). Now he teaches teams to do change themselves. His starting question is always the same: what is it you're actually trying to do? Using Natalie's own idea for a nonprofit as a live example, he shows change management in practice: explain it clearly, energise people and draw them in. He walks through the levers of change beyond technology (people, products and services, process, structure, customers and markets) and describes the strange split AI has created, with some people adopting it at astonishing speed while others simply aren't getting involved. Paul's central message is that the answer is already in the building. The people doing the work usually know what's broken, and ideas they help create are far more likely to land. He also explains why he built an AI version of himself as a coach, how he built his own CRM in an evening with Claude's help despite never having written Python, and why accountability can't be outsourced to consultants. Guest: Paul Cook, The Transformation Guide (thetransformationguide.co.uk), author of the weekly Change Brief newsletter Recorded for The Technology Show on Voice FM 103.9, Southampton — broadcast 18 September 2026. Listen live on Fridays at 1pm. More episodes: thetechnologyshow.uk

    The Answer Is Already in the Building (with Paul Cook)

  8. Sep 11

    Who Gets to Shape AI? (with Julia Stamm)

    Julia Stamm is the founder and CEO of She Shapes AI, and a sociologist at heart with a PhD in sociology and philosophy. She left academia because she wanted her work to have real-world impact, spent years in research management bringing people together across disciplines, and now advises and speaks on responsible AI alongside running She Shapes AI. Natalie asks the philosopher in the room about the headlines claiming AI labs are hiring philosophers. Julia's view: it's good to see, but research funded by the labs happens in a very particular context while public-interest research is drying up, and that skews the story we're told. She wants more nuance between the two dominant narratives about AI, endless abundance on one side and doom on the other. She Shapes AI began in 2024 to show that women are already doing groundbreaking, responsible AI work (they aren't absent, they're busy working), through awards, events and training for female executives. Natalie makes a confession about feeling judged for using AI to build software, which opens up a conversation about why women are often more sceptical of AI and judged differently when they use it. Julia argues that scepticism is healthy, that opting out of the conversation isn't the answer, and that using AI well depends on real expertise and judgement. There's also a strong case for pen and paper. Guest: Julia Stamm, founder and CEO, She Shapes AI Recorded for The Technology Show on Voice FM 103.9, Southampton — broadcast 11 September 2026. Listen live on Fridays at 1pm. More episodes: thetechnologyshow.uk

    Who Gets to Shape AI? (with Julia Stamm)
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Candid conversations with the people building, leading and questioning technology. Hosted by Natalie Haigh and broadcast live on Voice FM 103.9, Southampton’s community radio station, every Friday at 1pm. Each episode is an edited, ad-free version of the week’s interview.

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