Rob Borley

I’m super excited about e001 of THE NEXT THING NOW PODCAST. This is the first episode of our BRAND NEW bi-weekly show. Each episode we will dive into the cutting edge of innovation, exploring: - New and Emerging Technologies - Disruptive Business Ideas - Trends at the Intersection In this conversation, myself and Kevin Smith explore: - the rapid advancements in technology, particularly focusing on AI for the workforce. - the emergence of diffusion language models and AI agents, the impact of these technologies on software development, - the role of citizen developers in shaping the future. The conversation highlights the challenges and opportunities presented by these advancements, emphasising the need for organisations to adapt and innovate in a fast-changing landscape. This episode: - The world is evolving rapidly with technological advancements. - AI is becoming a powerful tool in scientific research. - Microsoft's quantum computing breakthrough could change everything. - The convergence of technologies is creating new possibilities. - Diffusion language models may outperform traditional LLMs. - AI agents are transforming the software development landscape. - The workforce will need to adapt to AI's capabilities. - Citizen developers are emerging as key innovators. - Shadow IT poses risks in the age of AI. - AI reasoning is evolving, requiring new approaches. Watch the full episode now on YouTube—search ‘The Next Thing Now Podcast’ or I've commented the link to the video below. Once you’ve watched it let me know what you think.

@danielcberk True facts

Men should not stop to use the bathroom on a roadtrip.

@AntonioDups Ah the promised land of milk and honey

the day my tweets start to break 60 impressions i swear we're going platinum

I've been diving into OpenAI's piece on agent-first engineering with Codex. Worth a read if you're thinking about how agentic systems are reshaping how we build software.

@sweatystartup @SahilBloom Was going to say beer….. yours is more socially acceptable 🙂

@SahilBloom Having a few beers with friends

Complete this sentence with your hottest take: A lot of problems in life are solved by…

@themgmtconsult Exactly… only upside. Software will cease to be a majority vanilla utility and become part of what makes the organisation unique.

@robborley It is at risk if the incumbents will prove unable to adapt to the new world. I can see a scenario where migrations are ~0 friction and training is made easy and personalised... At that point, what's the switching cost really?

I see many smart people measuring the threat of AI by features: "Can an AI tool do what my software does?" This may work in retail-land, but for enterprises we need to add a secondary layer. There, a better metric of vulnerability is migration friction. In the pre-AI era, "Change Management" was the ultimate shield, in the sense that even if a better product came along, the cost of moving data and retraining 5000 employees made the switch irrational. AI is quickly changing the math: 1) "One-Button" migrations are reasonably promiseable now: LLMs are becoming elite at mapping legacy data schemas to new ones. With my team we even created a tool that reduces that effort by 70-80%. 2) Invisible re-training: AI-native interfaces are becoming so intuitive (or conversational) that "training" is becoming a relic of the past. It won't take nearly as much time as it used to. 3) Cost goes very much down: Very soon (if not already) the superior product is also the cheaper one by several orders of magnitude. This means the "effort" of switching is glossed over in favor of the bottom line. I'd like to issue a warning at this stage. If your product's value proposition relies on the fact that it is "too hard to switch," you are in the crosshairs. I believe the only true defense in the AI era is a product that evolves faster than the migration tools trying to replace it. Are you nimble enough to make that happen? Or do you think I'm full of 💩 and enterprise inertia will still hold more power than I'm presenting?

@rosschapman Pub is way better

When I started working life, Friday afternoons were spent at the pub. When I went remote, we started running virtual fun times. Sometimes, orgs would ship us treats. Don't underestimate the bonding that happens at these times. It's help you and everyone else be less of a dick

Interesting thought

Always

@suttontrust You needed new research to tell you this?

🚨New research shows children from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to benefit from a private tutor than more affluent peers. This is despite strong evidence that one-to-one and small group tuition improves attainment, with disadvantaged pupils standing to benefit most

@BTGuernsey First thing I do everyday…. What are the most impactful 3 things I can do today?

What is one habit that helps you stay organized in your business?

“The purpose of reading is not just raw knowledge. It’s that it is part of the human experience. It helps you find meaning, understand yourself, and make your life better.”

@danielcberk It feels like there are a lot of people trying to shortcut the process. Vibe coding is incredibly. I love it. It has its place. But building before thinking is not the way to go

I think vibe coding is awesome but the problem with building cool things before vibe coding wasn’t people’s inability to code, it was that most people simply don’t have cool ideas or the passion to solve interesting problems. AI doesn’t change that.

Who else it looking forward to the utopian future ? 🌈 🦄 ---- Watch the full episode of THE NEXT THING NOW PODCAST OFFICIAL: AGI by 2030 - loom.ly/glgx8mk?

A few times over the course of the year the impact of NON-DETERMINISTIC software has come up.... ---- Watch the full episode of THE NEXT THING NOW PODCAST OFFICIAL: AGI by 2030 - dootrix.com/the-next-thing…

There is lots of talk of an AI bubble and how it relates to the .com dats... ..... but not many are discussing that this time is different. This time we are building infrastructure. ---- Watch the full episode of THE NEXT THING NOW PODCAST OFFICIAL: AGI by 2030 - dootrix.com/the-next-thing…

2025 has be a year of many things... The arrival of THE NEXT THING NOW PODCAST is clearly a highlight for you all..... 😂 Catch up (or relive) the first 15 episodes. dootrix.com/the-next-thing… Thank you all for you support this year.

The incredible amount of investment that is driving AI right now is having a SPACE RACE like effect on huge numbers of adjacent technologies. --- Watch the full episode of THE NEXT THING NOW PODCAST. AGI by 2030 - dootrix.com/the-next-thing…

15 episodes in and some people haven't yet worked out what the major theme of 2025 has been...... 😂 ---- Catch up (or relive) the first 15 episodes of THE NEXT THING NOW PODCAST dootrix.com/the-next-thing… Thank you all for you support this year.

One year on and AI has transformed UKGOV 👀 --- To catch the full episode of THE NEXT THING NOW PODCAST take a look at this. OFFICIAL: AGI by 2030! - dootrix.com/the-next-thing…