This week, I had a fascinating conversation with St John Dalgleish, CEO of Perlon AI, about the reality of building AI-driven solutions that actually deliver results.

We explored how Perlon AI went from consulting to product, the challenges of scaling AI in diverse industries, and what the future holds for businesses using AI.

🌟 Some of my favourite parts of our discussion:

✅ Custom AI at scale: The challenges of tailoring AI models across 15 different industries while staying efficient.
✅ From consulting to SaaS: How Perlon AI transitioned from strategy consulting to a scalable AI product.
✅ AI adoption & scepticism: How businesses are embracing AI—and the fears they still have.
✅ The AI future: Where AI is heading in 2025 and how businesses should prepare.

Business Book Bonus:

https://www.hubspot.com/startups/podcast

https://mistral.vc/the-product-market-fit-show/

https://www.saastr.com/podcasts/

The Road to Conscious Machines by Michael Woolridge: https://amzn.eu/d/07iIzKN

James by Percival Everett: https://amzn.eu/d/gCDVYb2

On this one I had the pleasure of speaking with Paul Sherratt, founder and CEO of gloveglu – an innovative brand that’s reshaped the goalkeeping product category with products sold in 55 countries and over 1.1m followers on social media.

This conversation was a real lesson to me in entrepreneurial courage, strategic pivots, and turning challenges like Brexit and COVID into opportunities for growth.

Paul’s journey from a corporate career to creating a globally recognised brand is inspiring, and definitely a great conversation to start the new year with.

🌟 Some of my highlights from our discussion were:

✅ Leap of faith: How Paul managed the risk of starting again at 50, remortgaging his house to go all in on gloveglu.
✅ Turning obstacles into opportunities: How Brexit and COVID shaped his business strategy.
✅ Category creation: Building a market where none existed and the benefits of becoming the “category king” in a niche category.
✅ Scaling smartly: Leveraging existing B2B relationships before pivoting to a successful B2C model.
✅ R&D insights: The role that product development played, and how Paul used quiet periods to innovate and stay ahead of the competition.

Paul’s story is packed with lessons for anyone looking to scale a business, navigate uncertain times, or simply turn a great idea into reality.

On this one I was delighted to be joined by Erika Robinson, the UK General Manager of Constant Contact, a leading platform for small business marketing solutions.

This was a cracking conversation with Erika where we had a wide ranging chat discussing AI tools, career pivots, lean team leadership and some tips on how small businesses can give themselves the best chance of achieving those big ambitions.

🌟 Some of the most interesting parts of our conversation were:

✅Risk vs. reward: How to assess the financial and personal risks of a career pivot.
✅Emerging tools: The newest AI-powered tools and technologies transforming small business marketing.
✅Cultural alignment: Balancing a US company ethos with the expectations of UK customers and stakeholders.
✅Future-proofing your career: Staying adaptable and continually learning to navigate evolving career landscapes.
✅Lean team leadership: Scaling operations with a small team and external support while maintaining effectiveness.
✅Market differences: Understanding and adapting to the specific needs of UK small businesses compared to the US market.
✅Transitioning mid-career: Key differences between the corporate, entrepreneurial, and startup environments that shaped Erika’s leadership style.

A sneak peek for you here below with Erika giving some words of advice on how small businesses should start thinking about and experimenting with AI.