In this episode, we sit down with Freddie Quek—Research Associate at Henley Business School, award-winning technology leader, advisor, and founder of #JoiningTheDots—to explore a question every tech professional needs to confront: What is our responsibility as technology leaders in a world where millions are still digitally excluded?

Freddie has led digital transformation across global organisations, including RELX, Wiley and Times Higher Education, where he helped develop the World University Rankings and SDG Impact Dashboard. Recognised by Computer Weekly and CIO 100 as one of the UK’s top technology leaders, he brings a rare blend of technical depth, social purpose, and strategic clarity.

Together, we dig into:

• Why 30% of the world being offline is not someone else’s problem.
• How digital exclusion shows up in everyday life — even for people who think they’re “tech savvy.”
• The Triple Bottom Line (Profit, Planet, People) and why it’s becoming essential leadership, not optional ethics.
• How AI and rapid technological change are widening new forms of inequality.
• What organisations, teams, and individual technologists can do today to make a measurable difference.
• Why solving this won’t come from charity — it will come from collective action across the tech sector.

Freddie also shares the story behind #JoiningTheDots and the newly formed NextPath Device Consortium, a sector-wide initiative helping the UK tackle device access, e-waste, and digital poverty at scale.

If you work in technology — in any role, at any level — this conversation will challenge how you see your influence and show you how to use your “superpower” for something bigger than your job description.

Most people treat interviews like an exam: tense, rehearsed, high-stakes. But what if the real key to performing well is the same thing that makes a great first date: connection, curiosity, and being your authentic self?

In this episode, Marylin Schlamkow returns to the show to share a fresh, more human way to approach interviews. Drawing on the surprising parallels between dating and interviewing, she breaks the process into three stages — before, during, and after — and shows how simple behavioural shifts can help you stay calm, build rapport, and show up with confidence.

We cover how to understand your values and principles, research effectively without overdoing it, create genuine two-way conversations, tell stronger stories, ask better questions, handle ghosting and rejection, and reflect in a way that actually improves your performance in your future interviews.

Whether you’re job-hunting now or preparing for a move, this episode gives you practical tools to interview in a way that feels more natural and produces better results.

You’ll learn:

• Why interviewing feels so much like dating (and how that helps)
• How to prepare in a calmer, more intentional way
• How to build rapport and create a real conversation
• How to talk about yourself without performing
• What to do after the interview, including ghosting, rejection, and reflection
• The one mindset shift that improves every interview

If interviews make you anxious or you simply want to show up as your authentic self and create a stronger connection, this one’s for you.

Most people think progressing into senior technical leadership is about becoming “good at everything.” It isn’t.

In this episode, Meri Williams breaks down the six skills that truly define modern technical leadership; the real capabilities behind roles like CTO, VP Engineering, Director of Engineering, and Staff-plus IC.

Meri has led engineering at Monzo, M&S, Moo, Healx and Pleo. She’s been an architect, a manager of 300+, a multi-time CTO, a board member, and a trusted advisor to CEOs. She’s seen what great leadership looks like, and what happens when the role and the leader don’t match.

Whether you’re already in the top seat or aiming for it, Meri’s Career Vectors Framework gives you a clearer way to understand where you stand and what to do next. Together, we unpack:

• Why leadership isn’t a “promotion” from engineering, but a career change
• What your company truly needs from you
• How your strengths match those expectations
• Where you’ll excel, where you’ll stretch, and where you may be miscast
• How to have honest, grown-up conversations with your CEO or manager
• How to evaluate a new role before you say yes
• Why you don’t need to be a “five out of five” in every dimension

We also explore how different shapes of technical leaders fit different stages of a company, and why talented people often struggle simply because they’re in the wrong context.

If you’re a Director on the rise, a VP looking for clarity, a Staff or Principal engineer exploring the leadership path, or a CTO sharpening your edge, this episode gives you a practical, visual way to map your capabilities to the role in front of you.

If you want to do the exercise yourself, Meri’s downloadable Career Vectors Framework is available at buildyouredge.org/downloads.