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  1. AI crawlers vs. web defenses: Cloudflare-Perplexity fight reveals cracks in internet trust

    A public war of words has erupted between cloud infrastructure leader Cloudflare and AI search company Perplexity, with both sides making serious allegations about each other’s technical competence in a dispute that industry analysts say exposes fundamental flaws in how enterprises protect content from AI data collection.

    The controversy began when Cloudflare published a scathing technical report accusing Perplexity of “stealth crawling” — using disguised web browsers to sneak past website blocks and scrape content that site owners explicitly wanted to keep away from AI training. Perplexity quickly fired back, accusing Cloudflare of creating a “publicity stunt” by misattributing millions of web requests from unrelated services to boost its own marketing efforts.

    Industry experts warn that the heated exchange reveals that current bot detection tools are failing to distinguish between legitimate AI services and problematic crawlers, leaving enterprises without reliable protection strategies.

    Cloudflare’s technical allegations

    Cloudflare’s investigation started after customers complained that Perplexity was still accessing their content despite blocking its known crawlers through robots.txt files and firewall rules. To test this, Cloudflare created brand-new domains, blocked all AI crawlers, and then asked Perplexity questions about those sites.

    “We discovered Perplexity was still providing detailed information regarding the exact content hosted on each of these restricted domains,” Cloudflare reported in a blog post. “This response was unexpected, as we had taken all necessary precautions to prevent this data from being retrievable by their crawlers.”

    The company found that when Perplexity’s declared crawler was blocked, it allegedly switched to a generic browser user agent designed to look like Chrome on macOS. This alleged stealth crawler generated 3-6 million daily requests across tens of thousands of websites, while Perplexity’s declared crawler handled 20-25 million daily requests.

    Cloudflare emphasized that this behavior violated basic web principles: “The Internet as we have known it for the past three decades is rapidly changing, but one thing remains constant: it is built on trust. There are clear preferences that crawlers should be transparent, serve a clear purpose, perform a specific activity, and, most importantly, follow website directives and preferences.”

    By contrast, when Cloudflare tested OpenAI’s ChatGPT with the same blocked domains, “we found that ChatGPT-User fetched the robots file and stopped crawling when it was disallowed. We did not observe follow-up crawls from any other user agents or third-party bots.”

    Perplexity’s ‘publicity stunt’ accusation

    Perplexity wasn’t having any of it. In a LinkedIn post that pulled no punches, the company accused Cloudflare of deliberately targeting its own customer for marketing advantage.

    The AI company suggested two possible explanations for Cloudflare’s report: “Cloudflare needed a clever publicity moment and we – their own customer – happened to be a useful name to get them one” or “Cloudflare fundamentally misattributed 3-6M daily requests from BrowserBase’s automated browser service to Perplexity.”

    Perplexity claimed the disputed traffic actually came from BrowserBase, a third-party cloud browser service that Perplexity uses sparingly, accounting for fewer than 45,000 of their daily requests versus the 3-6 million Cloudflare attributed to stealth crawling.

    “Cloudflare fundamentally misattributed 3-6M daily requests from BrowserBase’s automated browser service to Perplexity, a basic traffic analysis failure that’s particularly embarrassing for a company whose core business is understanding and categorizing web traffic,” Perplexity shot back.

    The company also argued that Cloudflare misunderstands how modern AI assistants work: “When you ask Perplexity a question that requires current information — say, ‘What are the latest reviews for that new restaurant?’ — the AI doesn’t already have that information sitting in a database somewhere. Instead, it goes to the relevant websites, reads the content, and brings back a summary tailored to your specific question.”

    Perplexity took direct aim at Cloudflare’s competence: “If you can’t tell a helpful digital assistant from a malicious scraper, then you probably shouldn’t be making decisions about what constitutes legitimate web traffic.”

    Expert analysis reveals deeper problems

    Industry analysts say the dispute exposes broader vulnerabilities in enterprise content protection strategies that go beyond this single controversy.

    “Some bot detection tools exhibit significant reliability issues, including high false positives and susceptibility to evasion tactics, as evidenced by inconsistent performance in distinguishing legitimate AI services from malicious crawlers,” said Charlie Dai, VP and principal analyst at Forrester.

    Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst and CEO at Greyhound Research, argued that the dispute “signals an urgent inflection point for enterprise security teams: traditional bot detection tools — built for static web crawlers and volumetric automation — are no longer equipped to handle the subtlety of AI-powered agents operating on behalf of users.”

    The technical challenge is nuanced, Gogia explained, “While advanced AI assistants often fetch content in real-time for a user’s query — without storing or training on that data — they do so using automation frameworks like Puppeteer or Playwright that bear a striking resemblance to scraping tools. This leaves bot detection systems guessing between help and harm.”

    The path to new standards

    This fight isn’t just about technical details — it’s about establishing rules for AI-web interaction. Perplexity warned of broader consequences: “The result is a two-tiered internet where your access depends not on your needs, but on whether your chosen tools have been blessed by infrastructure controllers.”

    Industry frameworks are emerging, but slowly. “Mature standards are unlikely before 2026. Enterprises might still have to rely on custom contracts, robots.txt, and evolving legal precedents in the interim,” Dai noted. Meanwhile, some companies are developing solutions: OpenAI is piloting identity verification through Web Bot Auth, allowing websites to cryptographically confirm agent requests.

    Gogia warned of broader implications: “The risk is a balkanised web, where only vendors deemed compliant by major infrastructure providers are allowed access, thus favouring incumbents and freezing out open innovation.”

  2. Tech employment holds steady as job growth slows and AI-driven roles surge

    The unemployment rate for technology workers changed little last month, according to an analysis of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) latest lackluster jobs report.

    Overall, US employers added just 73,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported Friday; that was well short of the 115,000 jobs expected.

    IT unemployment rose slightly from 2.8% in June to 2.9% in July, according to an analysis of jobs data by the nonprofit trade association CompTIA. The overall national unemployment rate inched up 0.1% to 4.2%. It has remained between 4% and 4.2% since May 2024, according to BLS data.

    US tech hiring had jumped in June, when 90,000 jobs were added. But that changed last month, as employers throughout the economy added just 54,000 tech workers to their payrolls — and tech industry companies shed more than 10,000 jobs, according to CompTIA’s “Tech Jobs Report.”

    Staffing reductions were concentrated in three primary areas: IT and custom software services, cloud infrastructure, and telecommunications, according to CompTIA.

    Compared to June, active tech job listings in July dropped 3% and new listings fell 8%. Highest-demand roles included software developers, systems engineers, tech support workers, cybersecurity, and network engineers. AI job listings remained flat, but CompTIA’s AI Hiring Index shows growing demand for roles needing AI skills.

    Kye Mitchell, head of IT staffing firm Experis North America, said tech jobs are rapidly shifting as AI and data innovation grow. Roles such as database architects and data scientists have surged by 1,069% and 215% year-over-year, respectively.

    Automation is also reshaping IT, creating demand for experts in machine learning, big data, and AI — and requiring new leadership roles in the finance and legal industries, with a focus on ethical AI. “AI is redefining both the entry point into tech and the evolution of existing roles,” Mitchell said. “For tech professionals willing to upskill and adapt, this is a moment of unprecedented opportunity to lead in helping to shape the AI-powered workforce of tomorrow.”

    While job postings for open tech positions dropped from June to July, they still totaled more than 440,000 postings. “In an environment where uncertainty is the norm, the latest tech employment data is a welcome mix of some reasonably positive measures, and then of course, some lagging measures,” said Tim Herbert, CompTIA’s chief research officer.

    IT consultancy Janco Associates, which has been less bullish on tech sector job growth, pegged the IT unemployment rate at 5.5%, but predicted that will drop by more than a percentage point in upcoming months due to an impending economic upturn.

    Janco CEO Victor Janulaitis expects openings for IT jobs to grow in late 2025, especially at smaller businesses preparing for new federal budgets and tariffs. He praised President Donald J. Trump’s budget bill, which was signed into law last month, as a potential shot in the arm for job creation and business profits.

    “CFOs and CIOs are more optimistic,” Janulaitis said. “The number of unemployed IT pros is at 143,000, and the number of open IT positions is just under 244,000. Gas prices are lower, and the rate of inflation is around 2% versus the 9% peak several quarters back.”

    Most of the unfilled IT jobs the BLS reported are tied to AI, large language models (LLMs), blockchain, and what’s called “OmniCommerce” — integrated shopping across multiple channels, including brick-and-mortar stores, online sites and mobile apps.

    Despite his view that the broader economy could benefit from Trump’s spending plans, Janulaitis was critical of the BLS’s reporting methods. The agency last week released revised data for earlier months showing dramatically different job numbers, which Janulaitis said lack “integrity” and are “unacceptable.”

    “Adjustments at those levels of magnitude are not acceptable from any organization. It can only be due to poor data capture, poor infrastructure, incompetence, or political gerrymandering,” Janulaitis said. While Janco plans to continue to report BLS data, he said his firm is in the process of redoin” its IT Job Market forecasting models to include “other public and private data.”

    Trump himself was so outraged by the revised figures, which indicated a slowing economy, that he summarily fired the head of the BLS on Friday.

  3. Autotrader runs toward Macs, not Windows, for its digital transformation

    Autotrader has evolved from its roots as an automative magazine to become the UK’s largest automotive marketplace, a tech business that is now 100% using Apple products. 

    Autotrader isn’t the first to move to Mac; the opportunity to move from a Windows ecosystem to Macs is being seized by a rapidly growing number of enterprises in response to Microsoft’s push to drive customers to Windows 11 following the CrowdStrike disaster.

    Accelerating Apple adoption

    The company has shifted to Apple products over the last couple of years, after becoming a 60% Mac environment in 2023-24. “User experience is everything to us and is one of the reasons we choose Apple technology,” Lee Skade, enterprise IT engineer at the company, said in a short video clip explaining its embrace of Apple technology. (The video is available here.)

    At that time, Autotrader’s own internal data showed that 72% of all business employees would choose a Mac above all other devices, and 78% of millennial employees believe that access to the tech they like makes them more effective. We know data like that reflects findings at companies worldwide, from Cisco to IBM to Rituals, SAP, and elsewhere. With digital experiences becoming the primary employee experiences, these lights show the road.

    Autotrader gets this and as a title focused on methods of transport seems to understand that the direction is accelerating to become the norm, which is why since publishing that clip, the company has gone all in and now operates a 100% Mac fleet. 

    The transformation of IT

    To help manage and support its Mac fleet, Autotrader is now looking for a Senior Mac Engineer, a role in which it intends to help optimize the user and employee experiences Apple tech brings to any company making the migration. This isn’t seen as a reactive role for troubleshooting tech problems, but as a leadership position intended to nurture positive deployments of technology for real business challenges.

    This reflects one of the big trends in IT right now, particularly within Apple-based ecosystems in which the culture of IT moves away from support toward enablement. At this stage of the tech evolution, support should be seen as a business investment rather than a cost, Autotrader believes. “Tech’s not an afterthought anymore. Our people are driving what they want out of tech,” says Holly Redman, technology experience partner at Sync, which assisted Autotrader’s deployment.

    “We believe in consistent, high-performing, collaborative experiences (and let’s be honest, we love a good trackpad gesture),” said Autotrader Technology Resource Partner Claire Isherwood.

    It’s more than trackpad gestures, of course. Autotrader is a solid illustration of a company that understands that well-applied digital technologies can generate major business transformation. In this case, it has helped the title transition from a print business to become an all-points technology service. 

    How Mac shapes up for business

    The move to Mac implicitly empowers this. Apple Silicon, for example, supports the company’s development teams when building apps and services for its millions of users. These M-series processors easily handle the demands when building and supporting apps for multiple platforms. The video also explains who the adoption of Apple products benefits, how it helps the company in terms of sustainability, and how it enables a better corporate focus. 

    Autotrader joins a growing number of companies to have successfully moved from Windows hardware to Macs, from high street brands like Rituals to accelerating deployments at PayPal and Roche. Banks, most recently including Siam Commercial Bank in Thailand, are also migrating to Apple’s products.

    When they do so, they benefit from significantly lower software licensing costs and significantly more secure computing experiences. They also get to offer incoming and existing employees’ access to the tech they use at home, boosting productivity and engagement. None of these claims should surprise anyone, of course — they are all reflected in last year’s Apple-sponsored Forrester Research report which identified that the adoption of its products in business boost digital employee experiences, decrease support costs, improve security and bolster productivity.

    This is the reality that continues to drive change in enterprise IT.

    Long may it continue.

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  4. Enterprise buyer’s guide: How to select a learning experience platform

    In today’s fast-changing workplace, investing in employee development isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s a strategic necessity. But with hundreds of learning experience platforms (LXPs) on the market, each promising personalized journeys, AI-driven insights, and seamless integrations, choosing the right one can feel overwhelming.

    The best LXP for your organization will do more than deliver content; it will align with your business goals, adapt to the skills your teams need most, and foster a culture of continuous growth.

    Whether you’re upgrading from a traditional learning management system or implementing a learning system for the first time, making the right choice starts with understanding what really matters — not just in features, but in outcomes. Here’s how to navigate the crowded landscape and find the platform that fits your organization’s unique needs.

    What is a learning experience platform?

    A learning experience platform is a type of online software that helps employees find, take, and track learning and training content in a way that feels more personal and flexible than traditional training systems.

    “Learning experience platforms are digital solutions that personalize the learning and development experiences for individual employees,” says Zachary Chertok, research manager at IDC.

    Unlike older learning management systems (LMSes) that mostly just assign required training modules, LXPs focus on giving users more control over what they learn, when they learn it, and how it fits into their jobs.

    An LXP suggests courses, videos, or articles based on employees’ interests, roles, or skills needs, and even lets them choose content from many different sources. Many LXPs also include social features, such as discussion forums, leaderboards, and the ability to share knowledge with co-workers.

    LXPs make it easier for companies to deliver training, upskilling, and reskilling while people are working, Chertok says. They help keep employees engaged by offering many types of learning, including formal courses, informal learning, learning from co-workers, live sessions, on-demand lessons, and short, bite-size content.

    According to Gartner analyst Travis Wickesberg, AI is increasingly powering several important areas of workplace learning and skills development. One key tool is AI-enabled skills management, which uses various technologies, such as natural language processing and knowledge graphs, to create a constantly updated view of employees’ skills. This allows companies to automatically assess what skills a person has, what a job or task requires, and how employees can continue to grow in their careers, he says.

    Another important application is AI-based learning assistants, Wickesberg says. These systems help employees find relevant content, boost their skills, and create personalized learning plans based on their roles, current skills, career goals, and personal interests.

    Rather than following a one-size-fits-all training program, employees receive customized recommendations for courses or resources that match their individual needs and help them build the right skills at their own pace.

    A third trend is “learning in the flow of work,” which integrates learning directly into employees’ daily activities, Wickesberg says.

    Instead of requiring workers to leave their tasks to complete separate training, AI learning assistants or embedded training tools within different platforms, such as Microsoft Teams or Salesforce, can suggest quick lessons or helpful content exactly when employees need it. This makes learning more seamless and immediate.

    “[And] generative AI content creation tools help companies modify existing content or create new content using genAI,” he says. This makes it easier to keep learning resources fresh, relevant, and aligned to employees’ evolving needs.

    Era Singh, practice director at Everest Group, says a major trend in the learning space is the growing focus on skills-based learning.

    “Enterprises are increasingly looking for solutions that can dynamically tie skills to job roles, content, and career development pathways,” she says. “What it means is that these LXP vendors are using skills as the language to understand people and work. They are helping organizations gain visibility into the skills their people have, skills people will need in the future, and providing learning pathways to bridge those skill gaps.”

    An additional emerging trend is the integration of learning with broader talent functions. Rather than treating learning as a standalone activity, companies are bundling it with performance management, internal mobility, and other HR tools, Singh says.

    The goal is to create a total experience throughout the entire employee lifecycle — from onboarding to growth and retention, so learning is no longer isolated but embedded within other functions.

    “Another major trend that I’m seeing is a focus on social learning,” she says. “We are seeing a shift toward gamification, cohort-based learning, coaching, and mentoring to motivate and incentivize employees to learn.”

    In addition, data is becoming central to companies’ learning strategies. “The role of advanced analytics to track employee behavior and measure the learning impact on performance and costs is becoming pivotal,” she says.

    What to look for in an LXP

    “There are not really different types of LXPs,” says Wickesberg. “In fact, the vendor landscape for LXP providers has evolved and shifted in the last few years. With the spotlight on learning experience, many LMS providers have improved their learner experience and learning-journey capabilities.”

    This added competition has forced many of the original LMS providers to reinvent themselves or opt to build out new functionality around skills and talent development, he says. Some have also invested in new functionality that supports mentoring, coaching, and talent marketplaces.

    “We will likely see new partnerships and continued development in this space as LXP vendors look for new ways to add value for their clients,” Wickesberg adds.

    The LXP market is complicated, and as such, there are a lot of different use cases, says Katy Tynan, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research.

    Although organizations are using LXPs to deliver learning, they might also use them for things like onboarding, assessments, compliance training, and change management, she says.

    “So for features and functionality, it’s very much dependent on the use case that the organization buying the platform has,” she says.

    For some organizations, customized learning paths will be paramount; others will prioritize integration with enterprise software, advanced workforce analytics, or peer-driven training. It’s important for IT buyers to determine from the outset what features matter most to the business.

    Before you shop: Questions to ask yourself and your stakeholders

    Wickesberg says these are the basic questions you should ask yourself before you start shopping for an LXP:

    • What problem are you trying to solve?
    • What are your business outcomes or goals?
    • How will the new LXP integrate with and enhance your existing learning tools?
    • How will you measure ROI?

    A clear understanding of goals ensures the selected platform aligns with your company’s business outcomes, rather than simply offering trendy features.

    You should also consider who your learners are and what they need. This will help ensure the platform keeps people interested and meets their different skill levels, locations, and needs.

    It’s also important to understand the existing systems that your learning platform needs to integrate with. Integration with your human resources information system, customer relationship management systems, or LMS reduces manual work and keeps important learning and performance data secure.

    In addition, think about what types of content formats and sources are important for your company. Choosing a platform that supports the right learning formats, such as videos, articles, certifications, or peer-based learning, ensures that it works well with your current and future content plans.

    Also consider your budget range, and how your organization’s needs might grow over time. Understanding your budget and how the platform can grow helps you avoid unexpected costs and the need to replace it too soon.

    Key questions to ask vendors when shopping for LXPs

    Once you know your organization’s needs, it’s time to look at what different vendors provide. Ask these questions to better understand both the basic features and any extras they offer.

    • What makes your platform different from a traditional LMS?
    • How does your platform personalize learning for different users?
    • What types of content formats (videos, articles, podcasts, etc.) does your platform support?
    • Can your platform integrate with our existing HR, LMS, and other internal systems?
    • How do you track and measure learner progress, engagement, and skill development?
    • What reporting and analytics features are included?
    • Is your platform mobile-friendly and accessible across devices?
    • How does pricing work (per user, per feature, annual licensing)?
    • What support, onboarding, and training services do you provide after purchase?
    • How often is your platform updated with new features or improvements?
    • How easy is it for administrators to manage users, assign content, and create learning paths?
    • Does the platform offer skills frameworks, career development paths, or competency mapping?
    • What are your data security, privacy, and compliance standards (GDPR, SOC 2, etc.)?
    • Can we curate both internal training materials and external content from third parties?
    • Can you provide references, case studies, or customer success stories from similar organizations?

    10 leading learning experience platform vendors

    Here’s a quick summary of the leading LXPs as noted by experts and independent research.

    360Learning

    360Learning specializes in collaborative learning, allowing employees and subject matter experts to quickly create, share, and improve courses. It combines social learning with traditional training tools. You can create courses, assign hands-on projects, give and get feedback from others, and track how engaged people are. AI suggests learning materials, takes care of repetitive tasks, and keeps track of what skills people need to develop. Pricing typically starts around $8 per user per month for up to 100 users. Larger deployments may have significantly higher costs.

    Adobe Learning Manager

    Adobe Learning Manager is a flexible platform that helps companies train their employees, educate their customers, and support their partners. It uses AI to recommend the right courses, gamifies learning with badges and leaderboards, and encourages social and collaborative learning. It manages diverse content types and provides a consistent experience across desktop and mobile. Adobe doesn’t publish fixed prices publicly.

    Cornerstone OnDemand

    Cornerstone OnDemand is a complete learning platform that uses AI to create personalized training paths. It helps employees build skills, stay up to date with required training, earn certifications, and plan their careers, while giving companies detailed insights about their workforce. The user-friendly design enables mobile learning and integrates with major enterprise systems. Aimed at midsize to large enterprises, Cornerstone OnDemand offers customized pricing based on a number of factors, such as company size, selected modules, and specific organizational needs.

    Degreed

    Degreed focuses on skills-based learning, linking employees to content from thousands of sources, including courses, articles, podcasts, and videos. It provides skills tracking, personalized learning feeds, and LMS/content provider integrations. Degreed supports formal company training and informal self-paced learning where employees can explore topics on their own. Contracts are typically customized based on company size. Degreed is best suited to midsize and large organizations.

    Docebo

    Docebo combines the structure of an LMS with the flexibility of an LXP, offering an adaptable learning platform. It uses AI to suggest personalized content, create automated learning paths, and handle some admin tasks in the background. Key features include pulling content from different sources, tracking skill development, encouraging team-based learning, and offering training for partners and customers outside the company. Pricing is not publicly available.  

    EdCast by Cornerstone

    EdCast, now part of Cornerstone OnDemand, is a learning tool that personalizes content for each employee and integrates learning with their everyday work. It pulls together learning materials from inside and outside the company, offers AI-powered recommendations, tracks skills, and integrates with major enterprise tools including Salesforce, Workday, and Microsoft Teams. Pricing is typically customized and varies widely based on company size, industry, and integration needs.

    Fuse

    Fuse promotes continuous, on-demand social learning. Instead of just relying on formal courses, Fuse lets employees learn by creating, sharing, and talking about knowledge as part of their everyday work. It uses AI and machine learning to highlight expert knowledge from across the company and recommend helpful content when it’s needed. Key features include mobile-friendly access, learning through videos, conversations with co-workers, and detailed insights into how people are learning. Pricing is not available publicly.

    Juno LXP

    Juno LXP uses AI to create learning experiences that are personalized for each employee. It recommends courses based on each person’s skills and goals, pulling content from more than 120 providers, such as LinkedIn Learning and Coursera. Juno also allows employees to request specific learning content, and managers can oversee budgets and track progress with built-in analytics. The platform also offers group learning areas and guides to help workers plan their career paths. Pricing is not publicly available. Juno LXP is designed to support companies of various sizes, from small teams to large enterprises.

    LearnUpon

    LearnUpon blends the reliability of a traditional LMS with a modern, easy-to-use design. Suitable for organizations of all sizes, it lets companies train employees, customers, and partners all in one place. Key features include a modern, easy-to-use design; custom-branded learning sites; simple tools to build courses; certificates for completed training; automated workflows; clear reports; and connections to enterprise tools such as Salesforce and Slack. Pricing is not publicly available.

    Valamis

    Valamis combines the structure of a traditional learning system with the flexibility of newer tools. Aimed at midsize to large organizations, it helps companies connect employee learning to business goals through tools such as skills tracking, custom content, and detailed reports. It supports online and offline learning and integrates with enterprise tools including Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, and Workday. Pricing for smaller deployments typically starts around $19,000 per year, with larger global implementations costing significantly more depending on customization and integration complexity.

    More on upskilling and training:

  5. Having it all: How to be a technology expert and a business leader

    In the most recent episode of First Person, we met with Eamonn O’Neill – CTO and Founder of Lemongrass. Eamonn told us he is as excited about tech today as he was decades ago when he got his first Spectrum computer, and suggested that this is the key to his success.

    You can view our interview here, listen to it here, or watch in the box below:

    The technologist business leader

    “I enjoy technology. And I like to position myself as a technologist,” Eamonn told us.

    “The cool thing about technology as an industry is that there’s always new things coming,” he said. “If you’re the kind of person who enjoys that it helps not just in your career, but in working day to day with people. It gives you a little bit of freedom when you tell people you’re a technologist to focus on trying to understand technology and explain it to other people.”

    Eamonn told us that he has seen a shift in the technology industry. Where once there were managers and there were doers, now technology leaders can be technical experts.

    “When I started out, there was a sense that to really progress you had to be a manager. You had to leave your toys behind and get on with the serious business of being a manager,” Eamonn said.

    “The truth is that a lot of very successful leaders are technologists who are very passionate about technology and about their product or their area. And that passion is really important. A technology company that doesn’t have that is very dry and rarely innovates and succeeds. The attitude of embracing change is in itself becoming more important.” (See also: How to be a great Chief Product Officer.)

    Building a career as a technologist

    You have to do the work. Understand the detail. As Eamonn puts it: read the manual. (See also: How to start a career in the age of AI.)

    Eamonn told us that his excitement about technology started in childhood. “I can see a direct line from when I got my first ZX Spectrum through to getting to computer club in our school and then into engineering.”

    “The reason I did engineering (at university) was that I wanted to learn how a computer works,” Eamonn said. “We did everything from generating the power to run a computer, through to programming it. All of the layers through machine code into more advanced programming languages that set me up really nicely for my first job.”

    Perhaps surprisingly from someone who was inspired by his personal computer, Eamonn found his passion in business software. He liked the scale of the impact he could have.

    “The thing I got a real kick out of, and it’s the same as we talked about with coding for the Spectrum, is when you can get a technology to work at scale, you get a real buzz when you see the reaction.”

    Of course with great power comes great responsibility, and as well as understanding the tech you need to see the greater context. Scale can go in two directions. Eamonn recalled a change made in good faith that led to delivery trucks blocking a motorway in Germany which reinforced that message.

    “One of our team made a change to the production system for a company in Germany. A defect that got in prevented delivery notes from being printed,” Eamonn recalled. “That slowed down the loading of the trucks, and the trucks were backing up on to a motorway. This closed the road and the police had to get involved.”

    The lesson to be learned?

    “The thing about enterprises is you see these huge scales of impact,” said Eamonn. “Hopefully you’re on the right side each time of that.”

    Agreed.

    From coder to founder and leader

    Eamonn told us that he transitioned from his initial role into contracting for IBM. He said he enjoyed the freedom contracting allowed, and that in turn inspired him to build his own organization.

    “Freedom encourages you to try things,” Eamonn said. “I set up a company with a few other colleagues back in 1998. And then we set up a consulting company that was doing the same sort of thing we were working on, but via ourselves and for customers in Ireland. It was really good fun. Tough, but you learn a lot doing that.”

    Eamonn sold that original company and then set up Lemongrass, his current organization. This time he knew that wanted to work in a company that was focused on technology.

    “We are very focused on the underlying technology for enterprises. Cloud, automation, and AI. These are all things that I enjoy doing,” Eamonn said.

    “We get to work with some of the biggest companies in the world. We get to influence bigger things,” Eamonn told us. And that works for him. “I still absolutely love to roll my sleeves up and learn the technology myself.”

    Before you go: Watch First Person and meet the most interesting people in IT.