Adrian Ruddock from National Citizen Service, with cohost Janani Sridharan

Shutting Things Down - with Adrian Ruddock from NCS

From the title, you might think this is a season closer, not a season opener! But, with every shutdown comes a new beginning.

Today in the first episode of a new season, we hear from Adrian Ruddock who until a couple of days ago was the Exec Director of Digital and Data at NCS - the National Citizen Service. He talks about his experiences of shutting down an organisation, not just from the technical perspective but also from the emotional perspective.

We are also joined for this episode by a new co-host, Janani Sridharan, who tells us a bit about international development and her motivations for getting into the sector.

If you like this newsletter and podcast, and want it to stay free, please do consider reposting it on LinkedIn - we love watching our audience grow. Also do get in touch if you want to get involved, or sponsor anything.

AI and Charity News

It feels a while since I’ve written a section on ‘news’ - which means this isn’t really breaking news, but more the general ebb and flow of whats happened in the world of AI and Charities in the past few months.

Just as a recap we started this podcast in April 2024, when some organisations were just dipping their toes into the water on AI productivity tools, and others were trialing new ways to prove value in focusing AI on their charitable aims.

Fast-forward 15 months, and we can see that the productivity tools have been mostly proven to offer real value when paired with the right adoption approach, the right governance, and a focus on tracking how they are used. Whilst these are new technologies, the adoption cycle and approaches seem remarkably similar to other products we’ve seen in the past. For me, the jury is no longer out on these tools. If you haven’t yet rolled them out to key staff, now is a good opportunity - the business case is relatively straight-forward.

Agents

But - the more frenetic activity has now shifted to agents. For those that only need a TL;DR summary, agents are specialised AI tools that focus on a specific task, with some rules to keep them on track. Written like that, it doesn’t sound that revolutionary, but what is revolutionary is that they are so easy to write - you don’t need to be a developer to build your own one. Anyone can do it. Even you. Just write ‘Give me a step-by-step guide to writing my own agent’ into your AI tool, of choice.

If you want the slightly longer version on agents and their potential strategic impact, there are infinite numbers of reports out there, you could ask ChatGPT. I quite enjoyed this recent report from McKinsey (other consultancies exist have equally good reports!)

In the same way that that the early internet saw a plethora of websites and apps using the new technology to enable everything from insurance comparison to online shopping, to holiday bookings, we can also expect large numbers of agents to appear that use Gen AI to solve every niche problem imaginable. And as with the early internet, we can expect the majority of them to only be around for a few months.

How does this all relate to charities?

Well, if you’re in a Tech team, you’re probably worried about ‘Shadow Agents’. We all remember the ungoverned data chaos that derived from people ‘bringing their own software’ or heaven-forbid(!), writing their own Access database, or the fundraising team that pushed the innovation envelope a bit too far and created disproportionate risks with data.

So, Shadow Agents could be the stuff of nightmares for Audit & Risk committees: not only is there the worry of data leakage, but also there is poorly understood, and ungoverned decision-making using complex opaque multi-layered technical systems. It sounds like a rerun of the 2008 situation with CDO’s in financial markets… and we know how that ended. If you didn’t pick up the theme from this paragraph, it is that you’re going to need to pilot things, and you’re going to need to work hard on the governance. And of course, on my favourite topic, you’re going to need a good set of digital trustees or a tech committee.

That’s the worry-side of it.

But for every worry, there is a benefit - and the big big benefit is that agents offer the tantalising possibility that significant improvements in the way that charities provide services are possible. Think of the shift from 100% face-to-face assistance to multi-channel - and consider the advantages. In the same way that no-one would consider ever offering a purely offline service, in coming years, will any charity offer a purely human-intelligence assistance channel?

But, back to the podcast…

Season 3 Episode 1:

For the hundreds of staff at NCS, the last few months have been difficult. On 12th November 2024, it was announced in parliament, that the organisation which was funded by DCMS would be shutting down. Between November and March 2025, the organisation wound down its programmes with young people, and at the end of March, the majority of staff left the organisation.

From April to June 30th 2025, a skeleton group of around 40 staff, mostly related to HR, Finance, Commercial, Technology and Data, led by Michael Devlin, the organisation’s CEO, carried out the statutory job of shutting down the remainder of the organisation.

For this week’s episode, our main interview is with Adrian Ruddock who led the Tech, Data and Digital teams at NCS right through until the end this Monday. We hear all about his experience of winding down operations in the organisation, from the practical challenges of maintaining morale and keeping staff, through to the importance of ensuring that all the different types of data the organisation built up, are all safely and securely archived or disposed of. A huge bit of work, closely coordinated between NCS and a dedicated group from DCMS.

Adrian shares his personal view of a journey with NCS over 11 years from the early days of the organisation through until 30th June 2025 when the organisation closed.

Janani Sridharan is a new co-host on the show, and as well as discussing the interview with Adrian, we also talk a bit about her journey within the charity sector, including an extreme approach to understanding the needs of beneficiaries.

Stay Tuned for more insights in future episodes

If you’re new to the podcast - then definitely take a look back at some cracking episodes in the previous two seasons. Whilst there is a storyline flowing through the episodes, they work in any order, so don’t feel obliged to listen to them chronologically.

If you’re keen for me to feature something going on in your charity, please get in touch - and do comment on anything in here, or in the podcast that you like.

Remember – follow on your favourite podcast platform, today, so that you don’t miss an episode.

https://virtuevirtuosity.com

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0G3vGA98kpk6biZqQVsSVL?si=005d3205859d4668

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/virtue-virtuosity/id1742994475

Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/ynvth-2fcfed/Virtue—Virtuosity-Podcast

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VirtueVirtuosity

Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/Virtue-%26-Virtuosity-id6126681

RSS feed: https://feeds.alitu.com/63115191

(please ask if you think there is somewhere I else I should be publishing, and I’ll endeavour to add it!)

About our host and guests

Adrian Ruddock

Adrian is an experienced Technology leader with a technical background of systems & business analysis, development and project / programme management. A proven track record over 18 years of delivering IT projects at various levels. Extensive experience working within the NGO / NFP sector. Confident at delivering change projects in complex organisations and working with stakeholders of all levels.

Janani Sridharan, Podcast co-host

Janani helps teams design technology use within programs in INGOs. She has lived and worked in rural areas, which inspires her community-centric approach. She is also a trained vocalist and teaches Indian classical music in her free time.

Stuart McSkimming, Podcast Host

Stuart is an independent consultant and founder of the sector-specific Technology consultancy, Virtue Chain . He is an award-winning leader with over twenty years’ experience in NFP/Charity leadership roles, predominantly in the technology/digital and transformation space. He is an expert in getting the most from teams and focusing organisations on strategic goals to get the most from Technology & Digital. He is passionate about organisations focusing on inclusion and finding ways to attract a diverse mix of top talent into their teams. He has worked as a CIO for two organisations – Shelter and Royal British Legion, and also a variety of roles elsewhere. Stuart is extensively networked in the not-for-profit sector both in the UK, and internationally, and is the Vice Chair of top membership organisation, Charity IT Leaders. Stuart enjoys regular public speaking, and also has been known to do stand-up comedy gigs occasionally.

Virtue Chain builds the link between enthusiastic and talented technology teams, and organisation strategic goals. By focusing on people, strategy, governance and decision-making structures, Virtue Chain can help your charity get the right leadership approach across Technology, Digital, Data, AI, and transformation. We use maturity models, and partnering approaches to help trustees, CEO’s and exec leaders see the potential for technology in their organisation, and understand where to start in turning ideas into action.

Get in contact with [email protected] if you’d like to chat. Typically the conversation starts from either a trustee, CEO or CTO level.

In case its not obvious, views expressed are Stuart’s own view, and don’t represent those of any organisations he is working with or mentions