I’ve been in this market for nearly 20 years and in that time, I’ve helped place over 4,000 senior leaders in data, analytics, and AI roles around the world from the dot com boom to big data. What I’ve learned is this: technology isn’t the hard part. Leadership and implementation is. That’s why we’re back with Season 2 of A Class Act, and this time, we’re calling it Navigating the AI Landscape - because right now, it really does feel like uncharted territory. In this season, you’ll ...

What if you could sit down with an engineer who’s building AI partnerships alongside the top companies shaping the future like OpenAI, NVIDIA, and Microsoft? That’s exactly what we’re doing today. In this Season 2 opener, host Michael Young sits down with Tom McLaughlin, Forward Deployed Engineer at Tomoro. Their partnerships with the pioneers behind the world’s most powerful models mean clients get early access and deep integrations that keep them months ahead of the curve. Tom’s journey has...

In this episode, host Michael is joined by Kent Mackenzie, Group Chief Operating Officer at Corlytics and former Deloitte Partner. Kent’s career has taken him from pulling apart ATMs as a curious young technologist, to leading Deloitte’s global FinTech and RegTech practice, and now to scaling one of the leading names in regulatory technology. You’ll hear: Why “you don’t need to have all the answers” is one of the most powerful leadership lessonsKent’s framework for building high-performing te...

What can AI teach us about leadership when you’re a decade ahead of the curve? In this episode of A Class Act: Conversations in Data and Leadership, host Shannon speaks with David Meikle, founder of BloxWeaver and former CTO at Lingo24. David reflects on the leadership lessons he learned introducing AI and automation into the translation industry nearly ten years before most businesses began facing the same challenges. From the fear of job loss to the need for psychological safety, David shar...

What would you do if your first day as CEO started with no funding and ended with national lockdown? That was the reality for Jude McCorry, now CEO of Scotland’s Cyber and Fraud Centre. In this episode of A Class Act, Jude joins Shannon for a conversation about her journey from Ireland to Scotland. She left a successful career in Ireland, landed in Scotland with no job, and rebuilt not just her career but a network, a reputation, and an organisation that now leads national cyber resilience ef...

She almost didn’t apply. Gillian Docherty is one of the most influential figures in Scotland’s data and AI landscape - but she almost didn’t take the job that changed everything. Recently named CEO of the Year at the DigiTech Awards, Gillian served as CEO of The Data Lab, Scotland’s national Innovation Centre for data and AI. She’s also a TEDx speaker and a vocal advocate for purpose-led leadership and inclusive tech. In this conversation with Michael on A Class Act, Gillian shares her journe...

What does it take to lead when the pressure is on? How do you inspire teams to stay aligned in the face of complexity, change, and uncertainty? In this episode of A Class Act: Conversations in Data & Leadership, host Shannon McKechnie is joined by David Goodacre OBE, a Senior Executive, Board Member, and experienced leader with significant experience in strategy, transformation, and operational delivery across the military and corporate sectors. David shares his real-world leadershi...

What does it really take to lead change not just in your company, but across an entire industry? In this episode of A Class Act: Conversations in Data & Leadership, Michael Young speaks with Stephen Ingledew, Chair of FinTech Scotland and a driving force behind one of the UK’s most respected fintech ecosystems. Stephen shares his 40+ year journey through financial services from traditional corporate roles to building a 250+ firm innovation cluster. Along the way, he unpacks what lea...

What does it take to lead with trust, earn credibility, and build exceptional teams in today’s data-driven world? In this episode, Michael Young sits down with Elizabeth Hollinger, a data and technology leader whose career spans actuarial roots, enterprise transformation, and building award-winning teams. From feeling out of her depth in her first technology project at Deloitte, to leading cutting-edge data strategy at Aggreko, Elizabeth opens up about the real lessons that shaped her l...

What does it take to build high-performing teams in today’s product and tech landscape - and how do you keep your own leadership evolving in the process? In this episode of A Class Act: Conversations in Data & Leadership, Shannon McKechnie, Managing Director at MBN Solutions, is joined by Adriana Ignat - a Pproduct Management and Design leader and an AI specialist, whose career includes more than a decade at Google and roles leading product innovation in high-growth, data rich M&A-dri...

What does it take to thrive across 35 years in data leadership? And how do you build high-performing teams – not just for now, but for the future? In this inaugural episode of A Class Act: Conversations in Data & Leadership, Michael Young sits down with a true veteran of the data world: Graeme McDermott, Chief Data Officer at Tempcover. From his early actuarial days to leading enterprise data transformations through five company acquisitions, Graeme brings insights into what makes a...

Welcome to A Class Act: Conversations in Data & Leadership. I’m Michael, and after nearly two decades leading data talent acquisition with MBN Solutions, I’ve seen firsthand that exceptional teams don’t just happen - they’re built. They’re crafted by placing the right people in the right roles, at exactly the right time. This podcast pulls back the curtain on what it takes to build and lead high-performing teams in today’s data-driven world. Each episode, we sit down with the leader...