Stuart talks with Ivan Wainewright and interviews Jon Fox from the Alzheimer's Society

Virtue & Virtuosity - Edition 2

We had a great response to last week’s podcast with Catharina Müller from the National Trust, and Tree Hall AuDHD from Charity IT Leaders. If you haven’t listened yet - really worth 30mins of your time.

This week’s episode features:

Stuart McSkimming - Podcast host, and independent consultant and experienced CIO with over twenty years experience in the charity sector

Ivan Wainewright - Industry veteran and Charity CRM expert

Jon Fox - Associate Director of Technology and Infrastructure at the Alzheimer’s Society. The UK’s largest dementia charity, involved in both research and front-line support.

We hear about Alzheimer’s using AI for call summarisation and sentiment analysis, and the importance of being driven by business needs over technology trends.

Listen at https://virtuevirtuosity.com, search for ‘Virtue & Virtuosity’ on your podcast player, or scroll down to the bottom of this newsletter for links to the latest episode on your chosen player.

AI & Technology News This Week

Away from AI, Cyber and Data security are never far from the headlines. This week we heard from the MOD that outsourced payroll systems with SSCL had been breached, with potentially ~270,000 personal records of armed forces personnel accessed. Charities aren’t involved in this - but it’s always worth considering your supply chain - are you carrying out annual checks on suppliers who hold sensitive data?

There’s also been a whirlwind of rumours around new AI-powered search engines hoping to unseat Google - if you haven’t yet tried Perplexity - it’s worth checking out, whilst on the Microsoft Bing / OpenAI front, there are rumours that an announcement could be imminent (or may have happened by the time you read this)

Virtue & Virtuosity Episode 2: AI to improve Customer Service

In the podcast this week I’m joined by Ivan Wainewright who knows a thing-or-two about how charities can deliver great customer experiences, having guided countless major charity CRM programmes in his time. We talk about how small technology features can be transformative in customer experiences, and also how keeping a focus on the business case and return-on-investment is critical.

We then have a fascinating interview with Jon Fox around how the Alzheimer’s Society are using AI to save time for assistants on their supporter helpline by using transcribing technology. We also talk about the use of innovative technologies to provide breakthrough solutions for people living with Dementia.

If you liked this interview - and are on the lookout for new challenges - they have a vacancy for a technology business partner (which, trust me, is one of the best roles in an IT team) - but be quick because it closes today (10th May)!

Links:

https://dementia.longitudeprize.org/

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are

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

https://virtuevirtuosity.com

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

And finally…

After even Katy Perry’s Mum got fooled by AI generated fake pictures of her at the Met Gala this week - we’re left wondering if there’s any point in buying nice outfits for summer parties and summer holidays, or whether you can just AI-them into the photos afterwards?

Coming up next week

We have a deep dive with Mary O’Callaghan and Rob Way from the British Heart Foundation on the progress they’ve made with AI initiatives. Make sure you don’t miss it - episode goes live on 17th May.

I’m really keen on feedback - this podcast is for you - for the sector - and from last week, we heard that you loved the way Caty kept things down-to-earth and practical. The aim of the podcast and associated newsletter is to demystify AI & Technology for a non-technical audience, and to share learnings across the sector - so please do comment online.

And don’t forget, drop me a line [email protected], if you’d like me to showcase anything you’re doing on AI in your charity, if you have a suggestion to include in the newsletter, or if you have a great story to tell in the podcast.

Podcast Links