Digital Surfing Daryn Smith

This week's guest is Peter Stojanovic, the Editor of HotTopics, a media business featuring insights from global C-suite executives, who are then connected via its calendar of invite-only events.


A science journalism graduate, keen runner and avid reader of biographies, he has sailed the English channel twice and is an expert in innovation, the future of work, and business leadership.


Peter has interviewed the likes of Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, and Nicola Mendelsohn, VP EMEA for Facebook, as well as chief information and technology officers of some of the largest organisations globally. He also supports Sky News in its election coverage reports.


In this episode, Peter and Daryn chat about all things AI, including how alongside climate change, it is the greatest current challenge facing mankind, the ethical issues AI raises, and the role of government and politicians in the regulation of AI.


It’s Peter Stojanovic!


Follow Daryn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darynsmith

This week's guest is Irina Chuchkina, the Chief Marketing Officer at Thunes, a global Fintech building modern payment infrastructure connecting developed and emerging markets.


An enthusiastic and long-term member of the Fintech community, she is a Fintech marketer with approximately 17 years of experience building world-class brands at the intersection of payments and technology, across Europe and Asia. 


A globe trotter, Irina is currently living in the UK, her 6th country. While living in Singapore, she launched the Singapore Fintech Club, and she has diverted her social addiction to LinkedIn and other professional networks.  


In this episode, Irina and Daryn chat about how the book “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon helped her elevate her standards through its suggestion of surrounding oneself with good sources of inspiration and intentionally exposing oneself to great things, how some of the best agencies have mastered the art of stealing or being inspired by successful campaigns, and how adding one's personality and value is essential for the principle to be successful.


It’s Irina Chuchkina!


Follow Daryn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darynsmith

This week's guest is Kostas Giannoukaris, Huble’s Vice President of Search Consultancy.


Born and raised in Athens, Greece, he’s a graduate of Economic Science from the University of Piraeus and worked at his father's business for a couple of years before moving to the UK to pursue a Master’s Degree in Marketing Analytics from the University of Southampton.


After graduating, he started working at The B2B Marketing Lab as a Digital Marketing Intern in 2014 and has remained with the company through its evolution into Huble after its merger with MPULL in 2020.


In this episode, Kostas and Daryn chat about managing client expectations for SEM, his expectations on paid media spend and activity in 2023, and what the effects of Google Privacy Sandbox will be on tracking via cookies and SEM.


It’s Kostas Giannoukaris!


Follow Daryn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darynsmith 

This week's guest is Tyler Vaughn, Director of Technology for Whitetail Properties, a real estate company that specialises in hunting-, ranch-, and farmland.


With a background in UI/UX design, product management, marketing technologies, and business intelligence, Tyler’s a certified product manager and has a master’s in business administration. 


This episode focuses on his approach to change management and onboarding non-technical people to new technological solutions, developing a training culture for distributed teams, and how as an introvert with anxiety, he still managed to succeed in client-facing roles.


It’s Tyler Vaughn!


Follow Daryn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darynsmith 

This week's guest is Rowan Reid, the Chief Information & Technology Officer here at Huble. 


With a background in Information Technology and over a decade of experience in web development and systems integrations, he’s passionate about using technology to solve complex problems facing people and businesses today. 


This episode focuses on his approach to keeping up with technological innovation, his interest in nuclear fusion, the importance of continuous improvement to adhere to ISO standards, and his views on the advancements in artificial intelligence and ChatGPT.


It’s Rowan Reid!


Follow Daryn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darynsmith 

Our guest this week is Singapore-based Annabelle Taylor, the head of Asia Pacific marketing, communications, and the digital team at Knight Frank. Directly managing her own team and working closely with local marketing teams across 13 countries, her primary responsibility is to create and deliver marketing strategies and tools that support the attraction, acquisition and retention of clients, and increasingly employees.


In this episode, we focus on the similarities in marketing the recruitment and real estate industries, her approach to lead nurturing for them, the importance of personalising your lead nurturing efforts, and which elements to include in lead nurturing campaigns.


It’s Annabelle Taylor!


Follow Daryn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darynsmith