In this episode of Smooth Scaling, Jillian Als, CMO at Queue-it, unpacks The Age of Online Trust report. She explores why reliability is the license to operate, how trust is earned in drops but lost in buckets, and what 1,000 consumers revealed about their expectations for fairness, transparency, and resilient digital experiences. For technical leaders, the findings confirm that every percentage point of uptime and performance directly impacts trust, loyalty, and long-term business growth.

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Jillian Als is Chief Marketing Officer at Queue-it, where she leads global marketing efforts to help businesses earn and protect online trust for billions of digital visitors each year. With 15+ years in B2B SaaS marketing, she’s known for her expertise in go-to-market strategy, demand generation, and brand development, as well as her passion for building happy, high-performing teams. A frequent speaker at industry podcasts and events like SaaSiest2025 and Funnel Vision, Jillian brings a deep understanding of consumer behavior and the link between digital performance, transparency, and loyalty.

This podcast is hosted by José Quaresma, researched by Joseph Thwaites and produced by Perseu Mandillo.

• (00:00) - Intro: Trust, Scale & a Special Guest
• (01:06) - The Meaning of Reliability
• (03:08) - Exploring Technical and Commercial Views on Reliability
• (04:53) - A Deep Dive Into the “Age of Online Trust” Report
• (07:13) - The Global Survey Methodology
• (08:13) - The Definition of Online Trust
• (10:28) - The Ongoing Importance of Trust Beyond Peak Events
• (12:33) - Key Findings: How Bad Experiences Erode Trust
• (13:54) - Gen Z’s Higher Trust Expectations
• (16:26) - Preference for Smooth Experiences Over Speed
• (18:45) - The Psychology Behind Informed Waiting
• (21:11) - How Trust Fuels Loyalty, Spend, and Advocacy
• (26:31) - Technical Takeaways From the Report
• (29:06) - Rapid Fire Insights on Scalability, Books, and Career Advice

In this episode of Smooth Scaling, Jose is joined by Praveen Thakur, Queue-it’s Head of Technical Engagement, APAC who shares what it takes to prepare for and succeed during high-traffic online events. From coordinating mission control rooms to navigating bot threats and post-event analysis, Praveen shares lessons learned from years of hands-on experience with retailers, ticketing providers, and government organizations. The discussion offers a behind-the-scenes look at the technical and organizational decisions that shape successful peak traffic events.

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Praveen Thakur is Head of Technical Engagement, APAC at Queue-it, where he works closely with teams across the region on technical integration, performance readiness, and post-event analysis. With over 13 years of experience spanning product engineering, consulting, and in-house IT roles, he brings deep expertise in cloud, DevOps, and distributed systems. He’s particularly focused on aligning technology decisions with business goals and building resilient, outcome-oriented teams.

This podcast is hosted by José Quaresma, researched by Joseph Thwaites and produced by Perseu Mandillo.

• (00:00) - Welcome to the Smooth Scaling Podcast
• (01:00) - What is technical engagement at Queue-it?
• (04:03) - How Praveen became head of technical engagement
• (07:09) - Preparing retailers for peak traffic events
• (15:11) - Scheduled events vs. 24/7 peak protection
• (18:21) - Why you might restrict traffic intentionally
• (20:48) - Inside a mission control “war room”
• (26:50) - Post-event evaluation & common mistakes
• (28:14) - Covering the full user journey
• (30:10) - How the bot landscape has changed
• (32:22) - There are no bullet proof solutions against bots
• (34:07) - Rapid-fire questions with Praveen Thakur
• (37:42) - Wrapping up the episode

In this episode, Barnaby Clark, CEO of Line-Up, reveals the engineering practices behind resilient ticketing systems that handle real-world demand. Barnaby explains how Line-Up rebuilt their platform from the ground up to meet the complex needs of live events, from unique inventory structures and API scaling to predictive load handling and third-party integrations. Barnaby dives into the evolving threat of bots, the nuances of asynchronous payments, and how to design for bursts in traffic without breaking the customer experience. It’s a practical look at infrastructure, performance, and the unpredictable nature of ticketing at scale.

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Barnaby Clark is CEO and Co-Founder at Line-Up. He has 12 years of experience designing innovative software products across diverse stacks, scaling and guiding cross-functional teams, building high-growth e-commerce platforms, and overcoming complex software challenges. Line-Up was shortlisted for Best Technology Provider at the British Media Awards, won Seedcamp London and has secured multiple funding rounds from angel investors, institutional backers, and corporate entities. Prior to Line-Up, Barnaby spent 5 years working on Mergers & Acquisitions and private capital fundraising efforts within the technology sector.

This podcast is hosted by José Quaresma, researched by Joseph Thwaites and produced by Perseu Mandillo.

• (00:00) - Introduction: Designing Scalable Ticketing Systems
• (00:45) - Barnaby’s Journey to Founding Line-Up
• (02:15) - Unique Scaling Challenges in Ticket Sales
• (05:08) - Breaking Down the Ticket Purchase Journey
• (06:41) - Read vs. Write Operations in Scalability
• (09:53) - Handling Sudden Traffic Spikes
• (12:11) - Predictive Scaling and Early User Signals
• (17:26) - Integrating Third-Party Ticket Sales APIs
• (20:02) - Payment Providers and Asynchronous Challenges
• (26:09) - Disaster Recovery and System Protection
• (30:35) - Tackling Bots and Fraud in Ticketing
• (35:04) - Rapid-Fire Insights & Recommendations