Force Multiplier

Dr Michael J Jabbour: Wonder, Curiosity, and AI

Recorded in New York, Danny is joined by Dr. Michael J. Jabbour, AI Innovation Officer at Microsoft to delve into how AI is affecting parenting, the difference between education and training, and the importance of agency, presence, and comfort with ambiguity. We also get to hear Michael read from his recent children’s book series ‘The Giving Mind’, inspired by conversations with his daughter. If you like Force Multiplier, make sure to check out Danny’s debut podcast ⁠Sondership⁠, which shares Inspiring Stories from People with Purpose at Sondership.com Purchase ‘The Giving Mind’ here: ⁠https://www.amazon.co.uk/Giving-Mind/dp/1972829009⁠ Follow Michael on Substack: ⁠https://substack.com/@michaeljjabbour/posts⁠ Michael’s Website: ⁠https://www.michaeljabbour.com/ Chapters 01:08 From Medicine to Government Tech 04:47 Culture Shapes AI Adoption 07:16 Education Versus Training 15:57 Answers Are Free Now 19:00 Writing The Giving Mind 22:22 Michael Reads The Giving Mind 25:21 A Different Type of Human 28:09 Parenting and Hidden Influences 30:11 Are We Living in a Simulation? 33:53 Offline Time and Voice AI 37:57 Learning to Handle Ambiguity 45:36 Compiled Intent and Outcomes 46:57 Mourning Dead Skills 49:57 AI Sommelier and Harnesses 54:11 Platform Shifts and First Encounters 57:42 nebulaONE

Jenny Rae: The Data Free-for-All

In this episode of Force Multiplier, Danny is joined by Jenny Rae, CIO of Imperial College London. Jenny shares her career path from a business degree at Oxford Brookes, to roles at Microsoft and BT, leading to her joining Imperial as Director of Digital Products. The conversation explores where the topic of sustainability has gone when talking about AI, and touches on student trust, concerns about profiling, and a lack of a “golden” GenAI use case.  If you like Force Multiplier, make sure to check out Danny’s debut podcast Sondership, which shares Inspiring Stories from People with Purpose at Sondership.com Links: Watch AI Confidential with Hannah Fry: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002q76b/ai-confidential-with-hannah-fry [https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002q76b/ai-confidential-with-hannah-fry] Read ‘Hello World’ by Hannah Fry: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hello-World-How-Human-Machine/dp/1784163066/ [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hello-World-How-Human-Machine/dp/1784163066/] Title Chapters 00:14 What’s the change you’re trying to make 01:19 Becoming Imperial CIO 03:14 From Microsoft to BT 05:40 Meet Daisy AI 07:25 GenAI Vision at Imperial 10:51 Jobs Fears and AI Teachers 11:54 Governance and Ethics 14:38 Student Data Boundaries 17:28 Student Success Chatbot 18:47 Collaboration Beyond IT 19:20 Frictionless Tool Enablement 19:45 Change Management Over Use Cases 20:33 Everyday Productivity Wins 21:53 Humans Still Matter 22:59 User Centric vs AI First 24:27 Blade Runner Future Vision 26:35 Sustainability and AI Costs 29:55 Risks and Critical Thinking 30:54 Managing Humans and Agents 33:31 Robots and Autonomy Fears 35:45 Human Flaws and Trust 36:41 Augmenting Healthcare Decisions

Lailany Sierra: Human-Centric AI Transformation - Value, Culture, and Reskilling

In this episode of Force Multiplier, Danny is joined by Lailany Sierra, Strategic Operations & Transformation Leader, with experience across IMAX, Disney, and Chanel. Lailany discusses the change she wants to make through individual transformation: building resilience, adapting in volatile times, upskilling, and developing agency as technology reshapes work. She emphasises showing up by adding value, supporting collaboration, and considering human implications during digital transformation. The conversation warns that organisations often treat technology as an ROI investment while treating people as a cost, risking displacement, underinvestment in upskilling, and using AI to replicate existing dysfunction; successful transformation requires data, security, ethics, and alignment to customer journeys and Conway’s law. Lailany describes learning via structured courses (including an Oxford AI course) and creative studies, prefers Claude as a thought partner and Perplexity for sourced research, and advocates prompting for alternative viewpoints to avoid confirmation bias. She raises concerns about AI representation, pace, accountability, and societal/ecological impacts, while highlighting benefits like democratised access, productivity gains, and advances in life sciences and climate tech. If you like Force Multiplier, make sure to check out Danny’s debut podcast Sondership that shares Inspiring Stories from People with Purpose at Sondership.com 00:49 What’s the change you’re trying to make 02:16 Leadership and Adding Value 04:43 Human Centric AI Transformation 05:35 Why Tech Deployments Fail 09:28 ROI Versus People Investment 11:49 Conway’s Law and Org Design 15:21 Collective Intelligence With GenAI 16:00 Luxury Needs Humans 17:10 Reskilling and Learning Styles 19:43 Art Deco Inspiration 20:26 Choosing AI Tools 22:36 Low Cost Learning Paths 24:41 Avoiding Confirmation Bias 27:43 AI Risks and Representation 33:04 Democratisation and Breakthroughs 35:28 Climate and Sustainability Outlook

Dame Clare Barclay DBE: Educating Tomorrow

In this episode of Force Multiplier, Danny is joined by Dame Clare Barclay, President of Enterprise & Industry, EMEA at Microsoft and former CEO, Microsoft UK. Clare and Danny discuss how they see AI being used in education, and how this extends to future generations. She shares what she’s seeing across AI startups and enterprises, why skills and lifelong learning are the critical unlock, and what governments can do to drive productivity and inclusive growth. If you liked Force Multiplier, make sure to check out Danny’s debut podcast that shares inspiring stories from people with purpose - Sondership [https://www.sondership.com/] Referenced in this episode: Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, Ethan Mollick https://www.amazon.co.uk/Co-Intelligence-Living-Working-Ethan-Mollick-ebook/dp/B0CHHY2PS4 [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Co-Intelligence-Living-Working-Ethan-Mollick-ebook/dp/B0CHHY2PS4] Supremacy (AI, ChatGPT, and the race that will change the world), Parmy Olson https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supremacy-ChatGPT-Race-Change-World/dp/1035038226 [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supremacy-ChatGPT-Race-Change-World/dp/1035038226] 00:45 AI as a Lifter for All 01:31 Who Shapes the Outcome 03:18 Personalized Tutors in Education 03:26 Teachers Plus AI Support 05:26 Kids Using AI Wisely 07:01 Clare's Role at Microsoft 08:14 Government and AI Strategy 09:40 Skills and Lifelong Learning 11:47 AI Reshaping Organizations 13:33 Agents and Frontier Firms 16:57 Adoption Speed and Disruption 02:14 Enterprises Meet Startups 18:45 AI As Shock Trigger 19:11 Banking AI Benchmark Race 20:40 Startup Acceleration Era 21:41 Agent Costs And Value 24:11 Experimentation Culture Shift 25:14 Personal Agents In Practice 26:46 Satya And Microsoft Agents 28:44 Microsoft Culture To AI 33:35 Curiosity New Year Advice 34:14 Mum Learns AI Story

Dr. Laura Gilbert CBE: Leveraging AI and Human Potential

Danny is joined by Dr. Laura Gilbert, CBE, in a conversation that delves into the global inequalities that can be both created, and addressed by AI.   Laura highlights the crucial role of human motivation in deploying AI technologies, drawing on her wealth of experience working in Downing Street, and now as part of the Tony Blair Institute. The conversation also touches on the importance of open-source solutions and the unintended consequences of overconfidence.   Read the books Danny mentions: Black Box Thinking - https://amzn.eu/d/a7s6u2C [https://amzn.eu/d/a7s6u2C] Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution - https://amzn.eu/d/fmeOY9Q [https://amzn.eu/d/fmeOY9Q]   If you liked Force Multiplier, make sure to check out Danny’s debut podcast that shares inspiring stories from people with purpose - Sondership [https://www.sondership.com/]     01:15 Vision for a Less Unequal World 02:55 Motivations Behind AI Development 08:42 Cultural Impacts of AI 12:10 Predicting the Future 17:45 Optimizing for Better Decision Making 22:20 Government and AI: Real-World Applications 26:45 AI-Powered Vulnerability Detection 27:30 Human-Centric Tech Development 27:59 Become an Expert in your Own Right 29:29 Know What You Don’t Know 33:35 Open Source and Collaboration 37:43 Embodied AI and Robotics 43:00 Decide What You Care About