Thinking

Notes from insideconsequential change.

Written and recorded by the operators doing the work — drawn from live engagements rather than from the market.

On the situations (4)Archive (7)Podcasts (7)

On the situations we are called into

Article

16 September 2025

De-risking tech in your portfolio

In an era of tighter timelines and heightened scrutiny, private equity can no longer rely solely on traditional levers like multiple expansion. The bar for value creation has been raised. And while everyone’s talking about AI and automation, few are tackling the unglamorous, but essential, work of de-risking technology.

Article

25 September 2025

The Hollow Shell

When organisations rush to automate bureaucracy without asking the simple question “why does this process even exist?”, they don’t create efficiency, they create a monster. It’s not Frankenstein’s creature, stitched together from spare parts. It’s worse: a shiny, humming machine that knows exactly what to do… but nobody remembers why we’re doing it. That’s how you end up with institutional amnesia and organisations that look impressive on the outside but are hollow at the core.

Article

16 September 2025

What Investors Want from Legal Ops

Private equity’s interest in law firms, ALSPs and legal tech platforms continues to rise especially across the UK and EU mid-market. But today’s investors are looking beyond revenue and client relationships. They’re zeroing in on operational readiness.

Article

9 March 2026

AI Only Matters When It Moves EBITDA

Successful organisations are not more excited about AI. But, they are more disciplined about problem definition.

Archive: wider writing

AI, Chess, and the Quiet Optimism of Human Adaptability

Article

16 March 2026

AI, Chess, and the Quiet Optimism of Human Adaptability

Not long ago I taught my wife, Morgan, how to play chess. I explained the pieces, walked her through a few openings, showed her the odd trap that catches beginners. It all felt reassuringly familiar. I’ve played for years and assumed I had a comfortable head start.

Article

9 March 2026

AI is the answer! What is the question?

Whilst the headlines are competing on news of failed AI implementations and employee free unicorns, the uncomfortable truth is that most organisations will not fail at AI because the technology is inadequate. They will fail because they never properly defined the problem they were trying to solve.

News

23 October 2025

HealthTechX Sponsors

The HealthTechX Awards aim to showcase and celebrate the startups and scaleups that are leading transformation across the global health technology industry. Applicants are evaluated on factors including revenue growth, scale, innovation, future business prospects, and impact.

BML has been named one of the fifty fastest growing companies in South England

News

6 October 2025

BML has been named one of the fifty fastest growing companies in South England

LONDON, UK, 6th October 2025: Value creation specialist BML has been recognised as one of the fifty fastest-growing businesses in the South of England by the UK Fast Growth Index for 2025. Supported by global wealth manager and investment bank UBS, the Index identifies the fastest-growing companies throughout the UK.

Article

16 September 2025

BML ManAIfesto

A Pragmatist’s Guide to AI That Actually Works

The AI Slop Tsunami: A Route Back To Authenticity And Trust

Article

16 September 2025

The AI Slop Tsunami: A Route Back To Authenticity And Trust

Picture this: You wake up, check your inbox, and there it is; another email with a subject line so polished it squeaks. You just automatically send it to spam folder in any case using AI to check for spam. You scroll LinkedIn, and every post sounds like it was written by the same hyper-productive robot so you actively avoid the channel. Your phone pings with yet another “personalised” ad that knows your name, your cat’s name, and what you had for lunch last Tuesday. Welcome to 2025, where the internet is drowning in “AI slop.”

EthSecDevOps: Integrating Ethics as a First-Class Citizen in Product Development

Article

16 September 2025

EthSecDevOps: Integrating Ethics as a First-Class Citizen in Product Development

Software development has evolved from linear waterfall methods via Agile to integrated DevOps practices that prioritise speed, automation and collaboration. As the societal implications of technology have become more complex, ethical considerations must keep pace.DevSecOps advanced this model by embedding security into the development pipeline, promoting a shift-left mindset that detects vulnerabilities earlier and distributes responsibility across teams. As Red Hat puts it, “DevSecOps means thinking about application and infrastructure security from the start. It also means automating some security gates to keep the DevOps workflow from slowing down” (Red Hat, 2023).EthSecDevOps is the natural next step—treating ethics as a core element within this progression.

The Making Things Work podcast

Podcast

3 November 2025

Taking Leadership off Life-Support

Duncan Prior is joined by Natasha Wallace; Founder of the Conscious Leadership Company for a personal and insightful conversation.

Podcast

3 November 2025

Digital Water

In this episode, Duncan Prior sits down with Jim Junker, Aegion’s Senior Vice President of Technology and innovation, who joins us straight from Texas. The two take a walk down memory lane, discussing how they met during the challenging era of COVID-19. Jim discusses how the big decisions that companies have to make all involve technology and how solutions can make work better for staff and unlock their full capabilities as well.

Podcast

16 September 2025

Sustainable Work

Join host Duncan Prior as he explores the nexus of digital transformation, leadership, and environmental sustainability with Gus Schellekens, founder of The Sustainability Leadership Forum.

Podcast

16 September 2025

The Netflix of eLearning

Emil Reisser-Weston explains why learning needs to be attractive to change the culture of an organisation.

Podcast

16 September 2025

Eat, Sleep, Innovate

Co-author Paul Cobban talks about his book Eat, Sleep, Innovate - How to Make Creativity an Everyday Habit Inside Your Organisation.

Podcast

16 September 2025

Upgrading Humanity

Deborah Webster discusses what it means to be human in an age dominated increasingly by digital infrastructure.

Podcast

16 September 2025

Deep Dive into Digital Darwinism

Join host Duncan Prior in a dynamic conversation with Tom Goodwin, author of 'Digital Darwinism'.

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