Beyond the Hype
Beyond the Hype is a monthly podcast from the Scott Logic team that takes a practical look at new and exciting developments in software development, including topics like Kafka, Kubernetes, AI, APIs, microservices, and micro-frontends. The show aims to cut through the buzz and excitement to guide listeners towards genuine value. Hosted by CTO Colin Eberhardt, each episode brings together friends, colleagues, and experts for demystifying discussions.
Episodes
Is AI taking the fun out of software development?
Colin is joined by Dean Kerr (Lead Developer) and Amy Laws (Developer) to discuss 'The Experiment' – a four‑week study exploring how AI really affects software development. Instead of synthetic benchmarks, the team tackled genuine issues in an open‑source project, alternating between AI‑assisted work and going completely 'cold turkey'. The contrasts were striking. Amy's AI‑free period exposed how
Vibe coding: Is this really how we'll build software?
In this episode of Beyond the Hype, Colin Eberhardt is joined by Remi Van Goethem to unpack the fast‑evolving world of AI‑accelerated software development. From everyday autocompletion to emerging multi‑agent frameworks, they explore how AI is reshaping coding practice and where human engineering judgement still matters. Remi shares his recent experience rapidly prototyping a planning application
Will sustainable AI ever be a reality?
In this episode, Oliver Cronk is joined by colleagues James Camilleri and Hélène Sauvé to explore the complex topic of AI sustainability. It's a conversation that spans the environmental impact of AI, from carbon emissions to water usage, and examines whether the industry narrative matches reality. They delve into the trade-offs between energy and water, the role of lifecycle analysis, and how a
Is Agile now a dirty word?
In this episode, Oliver Cronk is joined by Josie Walledge, Catherine Pratt and Dave Ogle to explore whether Agile has lost its meaning – or worse, become a dirty word. With years of combined experience, the panel reflects on Agile's evolution from a revolutionary mindset to a sometimes rigid and misunderstood process. They unpack common misconceptions, like Agile being synonymous with speed or cha
Will Low-Code and No-Code be disrupted or powered up by AI?
In this episode of Beyond the Hype, Oliver Cronk is joined by Ani Allen from OutSystems and Ryan Grey from Marra to discuss the evolving landscape of Low-Code, No-Code, and AI-assisted development. With backgrounds spanning neuroscience, enterprise software, and consultancy, the guests bring a rich mix of perspectives to a conversation that cuts through the hype. They explore the spectrum from N
Event-Driven Architecture: The only data integration approach you need?
In this episode, Oliver Cronk dives into the world of Event-Driven Architecture (EDA) with Tom Fairbairn from Solace and Scott Logic's Gordon Campbell. The discussion explores whether EDA has matured beyond the hype into a practical strategy for modern systems integration, or if it's just another architectural buzzword. Together, they unpack the core principles of EDA, its role in taming point-to-
Does innovation have to come at the expense of ethics?
Oliver Cronk is joined by Scott Logic's Sophia Ashley and Alix Dunn from the 'Computer Says Maybe' podcast for a wide-ranging discussion which poses ethical questions that are frequently ignored in the race for technological innovation. Together, they explore the intersection of technology and power, and examine whether society is unwittingly allowing technology to reshape our world without adequa
Should fully autonomous AI agents be developed?
In this episode, Oliver Cronk is joined by colleagues David Rees, Hélène Sauvé, Ivan Mladjenovic and Emma Pearce. Together, they delve into the practical applications and limitations of agentic AI and its implications for enterprise AI deployments. The team shares insights from the 'Infer' research and development projects, through which Scott Logic produced and open-sourced InferLLM (a local, per
Is architecture for AI even necessary?
In this episode, Oliver Cronk is joined by colleagues Jess McEvoy and James Heward, and Atom Bank's Head of AI and Data Science, Russell Collingham, to tackle the provocative question: "Is architecture for AI even necessary?" They explore the transformative impact of generative AI and the critical role of architecture in ensuring sustainable and scalable implementations. Russell shares Atom Bank's
Are enterprise browsers just about security?
In this episode of Beyond the Hype, Oliver Cronk is joined by Bradon Rogers from Island, along with Scott Logic colleagues Dean Kerr and Robat Williams, to explore the potential of enterprise browsers. They delve into the advantages of enterprise browsers over standard options like Chrome and Edge, particularly in terms of security and productivity. Bradon describes how enterprise browsers, built
Technology Strategies: Essential roadmaps or just hype?
In this episode, Oliver Cronk is joined by Technology Lead Andrew Carr and CTO Colin Eberhardt to delve into the evolving nature of technology strategy within organisations. As technological advancements accelerate, they question the relevance of a traditional long-term technology strategy and whether it has become an industry buzzword in itself. They explore the annual ritual of tech predictions
Is observability just the new name for system monitoring?
In this episode, Oliver Cronk is joined for a discussion on observability by Scott Rowan, Senior Developer at Scott Logic, and Daniel Gomez Blanco, Principal Engineer at Skyscanner and a member of the Open Telemetry Governance Committee. The conversation explores what observability means in modern distributed software architectures, how it differs from traditional monitoring, and the challenges
Will we ever be able to secure GenAI?
In this episode, Oliver Cronk, Doro Hinrichs and Kira Clark from Scott Logic are joined by Peter Gostev, Head of AI at Moonpig. Together, they explore whether we can ever really trust and secure Generative AI (GenAI), while sharing stories from the front line about getting to grips with this rapidly evolving technology. With its human-like, non-deterministic nature, GenAI frustrates traditional pa
Can we do better than 'carbon aware' computing?
In this episode, Oliver Cronk and David Rees from Scott Logic are joined by Hannah Smith, Director of Operations at Green Web Foundation, an organisation aiming to make the internet fossil-free by 2030. Together, they explore the potential benefits and limitations of 'carbon aware' computing, which involves scheduling computational workloads during times or in locations where energy sources have l
UK GOV AI: Is innovation guided by principles enough?
In this episode, Colin Eberhardt is joined by Jess McEvoy and Peter Chamberlin, who have both spent many years in senior roles within public sector organisations. Their conversation covers the excitement and concerns around AI, both from a citizen's perspective and for those building public services. They discuss the UK government's approach to addressing AI challenges with its pro-innovation mant
Are Data Mesh and Data Fabric just Marchitecture?
In this episode, Oliver Cronk, Andrew Carr and David Hope talk about the ever-changing world of data, with conversations moving from data warehouse to data lake, and data mesh to data fabric. They discuss the importance of data ownership and common tooling, and their view that data mesh is an approach rather than an architecture. Links from the podcast Data Mesh by Zhamak Dehghani Data Fabric as
Can technology sustainability really make a difference?
In this episode, Oliver Cronk is joined by experts including Jeremy Axe, Group CTO at DS Smith, and consultants Darren Smith and Katie Davis from Scott Logic. Together, they unpack topics like the energy usage and carbon emissions of IT infrastructure, the challenges in accurately measuring sustainability, and whether claims of 'green tech' are substantiated or just hype. The conversation covers t
Was the threat the CRA seemed to pose to open source just hype?
In this episode, Colin is joined by Rebecca Rumbul, CEO of Rust Foundation, and Mirko Boehm from Linux Foundation Europe. Between them, they have decades of experience in open source. They start by discussing the critical role open source has grown to play in the world of software and how this, along with its growing complexity, presents significant challenges. They then turn their attention to th
DevSecOps, a portmanteau too far?
In this episode, Oliver and Peter from Scott Logic are joined by Laura Bell Main, CEO and co-founder of SafeStack, for a lively discussion on DevSecOps. They touch on techniques such as "assume breach" and "shift left", and the relationship to DevOps, which is trying to solve a similar problem. However, much of the discussion focused quite simply on security and the challenges this presents, espec
WebAssembly – from the browser to beyond
In this episode, Colin Eberhardt is joined by Bailey Hayes from Cosmonic and Sean Isom from Adobe – between them, they have a wealth of WebAssembly experience and insights. They start by discussing the early days of WebAssembly, and where it all began, in the browser. They debate the infamous tweet that compares WebAssembly to Docker, and look at the future promise of the Component Model, which ai
Is generative AI coming for programming jobs?
In this episode, Colin Eberhardt is joined by colleagues Oliver Cronk, Chris Price and James Heward for a lively debate on whether the latest advances in generative AI are going to threaten our jobs – are we going to be made redundant by our own creation? The discussion starts with a quick summary of the latest advances in AI, and considers the nascent reasoning capabilities these models exhibit.
Y2Q: The end of encryption as we know it?
In this episode – the second of a two-parter – Oliver Cronk and Colin Eberhardt talk to Denis Mandich, CTO of Qrypt, a company that creates quantum-secure encryption products. Their conversation covers the perils of bad random number generation, which undermines our security protocols, and the growing threat that Quantum Computers will ultimately render our current cryptographic techniques useless
Quantum Computing: hype and not hype simultaneously?
In this episode – the first of a two-parter – Colin Eberhardt and Oliver Cronk talk to Denis Mandich, CTO of Qrypt, a company that creates quantum-secure encryption products. Denis is also a physicist and has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Quantum Computing. Their conversation covers the physics that underpins this technology, including the strange concepts of superposition and entangleme
ChatGPT and why it has set the internet alight
In this episode, Colin Eberhardt is joined by his colleague, Oliver Cronk, and Chris Booth from NatWest for a lively discussion about the much-hyped ChatGPT. They discuss the origins of this technology and the recent advances that contributed to its success. From there, they look at the new discipline of prompt engineering, and how this approach has democratised access to cutting-edge AI. They als
Blockchain is dead, long live blockchain
In this episode, Colin Eberhardt is joined by colleagues Oliver Cronk, Peter Chamberlin and Chris Price for a lively discussion about blockchain. They start by looking at the mechanics of bitcoin and the economic incentive model formed by proof of work consensus. From there, they discuss enterprise or permission blockchain, which leads them to discuss some specific use cases – for example, the oil
Is the metaverse built on foundations of hype?
In this episode, Colin Eberhardt is joined for a discussion about Web3 by his colleague Oliver Cronk, and guests Johanna Eiramo from the Finnish National Gallery, and Lilly Pencheva, a Blockchain & Web3 Specialist. As it's quite a challenging and volatile topic, we should state that the opinions raised in this podcast are personal views rather than the views of any current or former employer. In t
Most-loved language - does Rust justify the hype?
In this episode, Simon Martin, Chris Price and Rob Pilling share their interest and insights into Rust. This relatively new programming language has caught the attention of the development community, being voted the 'most-loved' language seven years in a row in the StackOverflow survey. They discuss a wide range of topics, including what it means to be a system-programming language, and what broug
Investing in Innovation and avoiding the Hype in Digital Government
In this month's episode, we tackle a wide range of topics relating to the role of technology innovation, and the perils of hyped technology, within Digital Government. Colin is joined by colleagues Jess McEvoy and Alex Segrove, who have both spent many years working in technology roles in the UK Government. They discuss how citizen-facing services have some challenging technology constraints simpl
Behaviour Driven Development: Hype? Or just misunderstood?
In this month's episode we talk about Behaviour Driven Development (BDD), a testing practice where system behaviours are captured in a human readable Domain Specific Language (DSL), which are automated and executed. Colin is joined by colleagues Daniel McNamee, Xin Chen and Jack Arnstein who bring their many years of testing experience to a lively debate on this topic. They discuss the essence of
Is multi-cloud a myth?
In this month's episode, we talk multi-cloud. This is a challenging topic, even the first step—nailing down what the term actually means—isn't easy. How does it differ from hybrid-cloud or poly-cloud? Does the term refer to the deployment approach for a single application or an entire organisation? We discuss the challenges of creating a multi-cloud architecture, dealing with multiple cloud vendor
Do you actually need a micro-frontend?
A relatively new architectural style for building web-based applications, micro-frontends are an extension of the popular microservices pattern where the vertical slice of functionality that a microservice provides is extended all the way to the front-end. With micro-frontends, you can more easily scale your development teams by composing applications from loosely coupled frontend components. In t
Microservices: are they the only architecture you need?
Microservices have become the standard architectural pattern for everything. It's a great and versatile pattern, but what people rarely talk about is the cost. You didn't think you got all that good stuff (polyglot, scalable, decoupled...) for free, did you? In this episode, we talk about the real-world impact of choosing this pattern and when it might not be the right choice. In this month's
Beyond the Hype – Coming soon from Scott Logic
Beyond the Hype is a brand new monthly podcast from the Scott Logic team, where we cast a practical eye over what is new and exciting in technology – everything from Kafka to Kubernetes, AI to APIs, microservices to micro-frontends. We look beyond the promises, the buzz and excitement to guide you towards the genuine value. We're an independent consultancy at Scott Logic, so there'll be no sales p
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