Tech Can't Save Us

Literal Humans
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Every week, hosts Paul David and Maya Dharampal-Hornby sit down with founders, CEOs, and innovators at mission-driven tech companies to discuss how tech can help solve the most pressing issues of our time— and how to avoid losing sight of the humans it affects.

  1. Reimagining groceries for the everyday shopper, with Andy Ellwood, Founder & CEO of Stretch

    4D AGO

    Reimagining groceries for the everyday shopper, with Andy Ellwood, Founder & CEO of Stretch

    This week on Tech Can’t Save Us, host Paul David is joined by Andy Ellwood, founder and CEO of Stretch, the first shopping intelligence platform built to help families save money and make smarter grocery decisions. Andy’s career spans private aviation, startups acquired by Facebook and Google, business development at Waze, and years spent coaching top founders and now he’s bringing that eclectic experience to one of the most universal, everyday challenges: buying groceries. Andy explains why the grocery industry is overdue for reinvention. Despite rising prices and endless choices, shoppers still lack the information parity they now expect in categories like travel, real estate, and healthcare. Stretch solves this by turning individual shopping lists into collective intelligence: shoppers enter their weekly items, and the app instantly shows which nearby retailers offer the best total basket price, often saving families $20–$40 per week. The conversation explores Stretch’s early traction, from thousands joining the waitlist to viral TikTok growth, and how the team is building a massive data moat by connecting cross-retailer pricing in ways the industry never had to before. Andy shares how AI and “agentic commerce” will transform shopping, why Stretch centers dignity and agency for families navigating rising costs, and how his background at Waze shaped his approach to scaling community-driven products. Find more about Stretch here: https://stretchformore.com Download Stretch on iOS or Android by clicking here. Follow Andy Ellwood here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyellwood/

    38 min
  2. Rethinking SME Finance with Dr. Serge Santos, Founder & CEO of Funding Alternative Group

    DEC 4

    Rethinking SME Finance with Dr. Serge Santos, Founder & CEO of Funding Alternative Group

    This week on Tech Can’t Save Us, host Paul David is joined by Dr. Serge Santos, entrepreneur, investor, and award-winning leader known as The Business Physicist. After deploying over $1 billion in capital during his investment banking and hedge fund career and achieving a multi-million-dollar exit with his previous company, Serge is now tackling one of the UK’s most persistent economic challenges: SME access to finance. Through Funding Alternative Group, Serge and his team are reimagining how small businesses secure funding when traditional banks say no. Since 2022, the platform has deployed £8M in SME loans and £18M in invoice finance, offering fast, flexible, and human-centred lending for businesses often shut out of conventional systems. Serge explains how open banking allows Funding Alternative to assess risk using real-time data rather than outdated statements, enabling decisions in hours instead of weeks when clients face challenges. The conversation explores the company’s biggest growth opportunities, the complexities of raising institutional capital responsibly, and how Serge applies his “business physicist” mindset to simplify complexity through rational, systems-based thinking. He also shares why culture is his “ultimate multiplier of success,” and why discipline, transparency, and trust sit at the heart of every funding decision. Find more about Funding Alternative here: https://fundingalternative.co.uk Follow Dr. Serge Santos here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/santosserge/

    35 min
  3. Quantum security and the fight against counterfeiting with Rob Young, Co-Founder & CSO of Quantum Base

    NOV 27

    Quantum security and the fight against counterfeiting with Rob Young, Co-Founder & CSO of Quantum Base

    This week on Tech Can’t Save Us, host Paul David is joined by Professor Rob Young, Co-Founder & Chief Science Officer of Quantum Base, a pioneering deep-tech company using quantum physics to authenticate products and stop counterfeiting at the atomic level. Rob explains how Quantum Base’s flagship technology, Q-ID, a tiny, printed tag containing “atomic-level uniqueness,” delivers provably secure authentication that’s impossible to clone and can be verified by anyone using a standard smartphone. With over half a billion Q-ID tags already produced, the company is tackling a global counterfeiting problem worth $2.8 trillion, including counterfeit medicines that cause more than 1 million deaths annually. The conversation explores Quantum Base’s journey from university research to becoming a publicly listed company on London’s AIM market, raising £4.8M to scale its technology across industries, from luxury goods and government documents to pharmaceuticals and critical supply chains. Rob also reflects on his 20-year academic career across Cambridge, Tyndall, and Lancaster, how a breakthrough in his PhD work inspired the origins of Q-ID, and why he believes quantum security must be accessible, affordable, and deployable at global scale. Find more about Quantum Base here: https://quantumbase.com Follow Rob Young here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qopto/

    33 min
  4. Solving the sales coaching crisis with John Richardson, Co-Founder & Director of Coaching at MySalesCoach

    NOV 20

    Solving the sales coaching crisis with John Richardson, Co-Founder & Director of Coaching at MySalesCoach

    This week on Tech Can’t Save Us, host Paul David sits down with John Richardson, Co-Founder and Director of Coaching at MySalesCoach, the fast-growing platform tackling a problem almost every sales leader knows too well: sales reps simply aren’t getting enough meaningful coaching. John explains why traditional sales management often fails to deliver authentic coaching, outlining the fundamental disconnect between holding reps accountable and creating a safe space for them to grow. MySalesCoach solves this by pairing salespeople with independent, specialist coaches, creating a personal-trainer-for-sales model that has already delivered 5,000+ coaching sessions to more than 100 sales teams. The conversation digs into how MySalesCoach matches reps to the right expert, how they measure coaching impact through baselines and ongoing evaluation, and why sales qualification remains one of the biggest skill gaps in the industry. John also shares insights into the company’s rapid growth, including £1.1M in recent funding, over £1M in ARR, and new AI-driven tools built to provide real-time sales support without replacing the human coaching experience. Find more about MySalesCoach here: https://mysalescoach.com Follow John Richardson here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrichardson11/

    36 min
  5. Global bill payments through one integration with Rupert Shaw, Founder & CEO of BILRS

    NOV 19

    Global bill payments through one integration with Rupert Shaw, Founder & CEO of BILRS

    This week on Tech Can’t Save Us, host Paul David is joined by Rupert Shaw, founder and CEO of BILRS, a global bill payment platform that allows companies to offer everything from electricity and gas to mobile top-ups and TV subscriptions, all through a single API integration. Rupert shares how BILRS is tackling one of fintech’s biggest challenges: the “last mile” of cross-border payments. While many remittance companies have digitized the transfer process, billions of users still struggle to convert those funds into everyday bill payments. BILRS bridges that gap, giving economic migrants and their families direct control over how their money is spent, while helping businesses standardize complex payment systems across thousands of local billers. The conversation explores BILRS’s rapid global expansion into 20+ markets, its partnerships with major players like Al Ansari Exchange in the UAE, and how the company is leveraging embedded finance to deliver transparency, insight, and financial inclusion to underserved populations. Rupert also reflects on lessons from his 20-year career in mobile, gaming, and fintech (from EA to Ding) and how those experiences shaped his vision for a more connected and human-centered payments ecosystem. Find more about BILRS here: https://bilrs.com Follow Rupert Shaw here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rupertshaw

    40 min
  6. Disrupting Consumer Debt using AI with Jason Saltzman, CEO and Co-Founder of Relief

    NOV 6

    Disrupting Consumer Debt using AI with Jason Saltzman, CEO and Co-Founder of Relief

    This week on Tech Can’t Save Us, host Paul David is joined by Jason Saltzman, co-founder and CEO of Relief, the first AI-powered consumer debt resolution platform designed to help people tackle the overwhelming credit-card debt crisis. Jason shares how Relief automates the complex process of negotiating with creditors, helping users save up to 70% on what they owe, while restoring trust, transparency, and dignity to an industry long plagued by hidden fees and predatory models. Using AI, Relief analyzes users’ financial data, identifies optimal settlement strategies, and executes negotiations automatically, allowing anyone to access professional-grade debt relief right from their phone. The conversation explores Relief’s journey from a $15M Series A to a strategic partnership with National Debt Relief, the largest settlement company in the U.S., enabling the startup to expand nationwide. Jason also discusses his personal mission to democratize access to financial help, his early experiences with debt that shaped Relief’s ethos, and his broader vision for tech that delivers tangible, human-first impact. Find more about Relief here: https://www.relief.app/ Follow Jason Saltzman here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonsaltzman

    33 min
  7. Using AI to Solve Patient No-Shows with Dr. Benyamin Deldar & David Hanbury, Co-Founders of Deep Medical

    OCT 29

    Using AI to Solve Patient No-Shows with Dr. Benyamin Deldar & David Hanbury, Co-Founders of Deep Medical

    This week on Tech Can’t Save Us, host Paul David is joined by Dr. Benyamin Deldar and David Hanbury, the co-founders of Deep Medical, a healthcare startup using AI to tackle one of medicine’s most expensive and overlooked problems: patient no-shows. Deep Medical’s platform analyzes over a decade of appointment and social data to predict which patients are most likely to miss visits and why. Their explainable AI helps hospitals take early action, from sending targeted reminders to offering transport through partnerships like Uber Health, unlocking millions of new appointments and reducing health inequalities in the process. Ben and Dave share how a doctor and a data scientist came together (literally matched by an algorithm!) to build tech that makes healthcare more efficient, fair, and humane. They discuss the global scale of the problem, what it takes to earn clinicians’ trust in AI, and how their mission could help eliminate hospital waitlists altogether. Find more about Deep Medical here: https://deep-medical.ai Follow Dr. Benyamin Deldar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benyamin-deldar-951ab3153/ Follow David Hanbury:https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hanbury-686a3ab/

    42 min
  8. Purpose-driven tech for enterprise transformation with David Glennie, Founder & CEO of Voodoo Park

    OCT 23

    Purpose-driven tech for enterprise transformation with David Glennie, Founder & CEO of Voodoo Park

    This week on Tech Can’t Save Us, host Paul David is joined by David Glennie, founder and CEO of Voodoo Park, a purpose-driven technology company creating transformational solutions for the financial services industry. Under David’s leadership, Voodoo Park has become a certified B Corp, donates 10% of its profits to support women and girls worldwide, and has even founded the world’s first international trade union for software engineers. They discuss how the company’s latest innovation, Aime (a transparent, secure, and scalable AI platform), is helping enterprises use artificial intelligence ethically and effectively. The conversation also explores Voodoo Park’s mission to make enterprise AI more accessible, David’s journey from actor and musician to tech founder, and how businesses can balance innovation with social impact. Find more about Voodoo Park here: https://voodoopark.com Follow David Glennie here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidglennie/

    43 min
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Every week, hosts Paul David and Maya Dharampal-Hornby sit down with founders, CEOs, and innovators at mission-driven tech companies to discuss how tech can help solve the most pressing issues of our time— and how to avoid losing sight of the humans it affects.

Information

  • Creator
    Literal Humans
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    179
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Literal Humans
  • Show Website
    Tech Can't Save Us