Off Script

Episode 50: The new age of tech job interviews and how to conquer them

June 23rd, 2025  |  Season 3  |  25 mins 27 secs

In this weeks episode, Josh and James discuss the challenges of securing a job in the tech industry, particularly focusing on the impact of ageism, evolving expectations for tech roles, and the influence of AI on the interview process. They cover the importance of communication skills, personal branding, and the need for candidates to be honest about their abilities. The discussion also highlights the necessity of adapting to the changing landscape of tech jobs and the skills required to succeed in interviews.

Episode 49: Navigating the AI discourse — Why can't we talk properly about AI?

June 16th, 2025  |  Season 3  |  29 mins 29 secs

In this weeks episode, Josh and James delve into the complexities of the discourse surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), exploring the polarising perspectives that dominate discussions. In a balanced debate, they emphasise the importance of understanding AI as a tool rather than a stand-alone entity, highlighting the need for responsible usage and ethical considerations in its development and implementation. They cover the reality of AI's impact on engineering and the necessity of maintaining a human element in the design process. This episode is a call to action for technologists to navigate the AI hype responsibly and to create strong governance around its use.

Episode 48: AI interoperability and MCP

June 2nd, 2025  |  Season 3  |  26 mins 49 secs

In this conversation, Josh and James discuss AI interoperability and the concept of MCP (Model Context Protocol). They explore the initial skepticism surrounding MCP, the process of building custom MCP servers, and the importance of permissions and security in AI integrations. The discussion also touches on the future of AI integration in various applications, particularly in shopping experiences, and the potential for these technologies to revolutionise how we interact with digital tools.

Episode 47: Behind the scenes of running a tech conference

April 1st, 2025  |  Season 2  |  21 mins 17 secs

conferences, css, curating a conference, cyber security, development, devsecops, events, front-end development, hosting, leeds, leeds international festival, organising, running a conference, shifting security left, tech, technology, web

How do you structure and run the perfect tech conference? What things are involved behind the scenes that attendees don’t see? What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own event?

We’re glad you asked! This episode is an All Day Hey! Special where hosts, Josh and James spill the beans on what goes on behind the All Day Hey! conference curtain, how we can collectively safeguard the future of events and what makes running a tech conference like this so special.

Join us in Leeds on Thursday, 1st May for this year’s All Day Hey!
Tickets and schedule at https://heypresents.com/conferences/2025

Episode 46: How to plan and run a discovery workshop

March 24th, 2025  |  Season 2  |  28 mins 4 secs

all day hey, conferences, cyber security, development, hey, meetups, web

What is a discovery workshop and how can they be used to work through problems in your business? In this episode, James and Josh discuss how they've run them in the past and offer some tips and tricks to getting the most out of these sessions.
Listen now for a brand new instalment of Off Script!

Episode 45: 2024 developer round-up

January 9th, 2025  |  Season 2  |  42 mins 2 secs

all day hey, conferences, cyber security, development, hey, meetups, web

It’s time to reflect and plan ahead! James and Josh look back at a tumultuous 2024 in tech and ask the big questions about where things are heading.

What were the highlights?
What lessons can we learn?
How do we prepare for 2025?

Listen now as we kick-off the year with a brand new instalment of Off Script!

Episode 44: Future of software engineering leadership - Part 2

December 11th, 2024  |  Season 2  |  22 mins 59 secs

all day hey, conferences, cyber security, development, hey, meetups, web

Part 2 has landed! For this outting of Off Script, Josh and James explore the ‘Future of engineering leadership’.

This is an episode born from Q&A discussions and ideas at the recent Off Script Live event in Leeds. Dive into the modern challenges and the future direction of leadership in software engineering.

Episode 43: Future of software engineering leadership - Part 1

December 3rd, 2024  |  Season 2  |  27 mins 56 secs

conferences, css, curating a conference, cyber security, development, devsecops, events, front-end development, hosting, leeds, leeds international festival, organising, running a conference, shifting security left, tech, technology, web

Dive into the modern challenges and the future direction of leadership in software engineering in this episode of Off Script!

Episode 42: Imperfect innovation

August 28th, 2024  |  Season 2  |  48 mins 8 secs

conferences, css, curating a conference, cyber security, development, devsecops, events, front-end development, hosting, leeds, leeds international festival, organising, running a conference, shifting security left, tech, technology, web

The historically popular development process of “move fast and break things” has got the biggest companies in the world far. In the age of AI, can we still take these risks in the name of progress or are the potential repercussions too great? Josh and James are joined by guest Jack Sails to discuss.

Episode 41: WWDC 2024 round-up

July 26th, 2024  |  Season 2  |  32 mins 20 secs

all day hey, conferences, cyber security, development, hey, meetups, technology, web, wwdc

Jack Sails (IMA) is back with James & Josh to discuss the recent WWDC24 Apple Developer conference. Was AI the word of the conference? Find out as they work through everything revealed this year and how it will affect their products going forward.

Episode 40: Shifting security left

March 27th, 2024  |  Season 2  |  24 mins 50 secs

conferences, css, curating a conference, cyber security, development, devsecops, events, front-end development, hosting, leeds, leeds international festival, organising, running a conference, shifting security left, tech, technology, web

Inspired by reading ‘Investments Unlimited’ and other books built around the principles of storytelling, James and Josh dive into DevSecOps and the bigger picture of shifting security left in this new episode of Off Script!

Episode 39: The beauty of side projects

February 28th, 2024  |  Season 2  |  22 mins 8 secs

all day hey, conferences, cyber security, development, hey, meetups, side projects, web

What do fish donuts, a passion for cooking and elaborate recipes have to do with productivity? Are you getting enough of a creative outlet around your busy schedule? Josh and James discuss the importance of side projects and how the variety they add to your week benefits your work-life balance and output!

Episode 38: AI risks

February 9th, 2024  |  Season 2  |  28 mins 34 secs

all day hey, conferences, cyber security, development, hey, meetups, web

What are AI risks? What do we need to consider when looking at our projects? Josh and James are are back for another episode of Off Script to dig deeper into this important topic!

Episode 37: 2023 developer round-up

December 22nd, 2023  |  Season 2  |  58 mins 31 secs

all day hey, conferences, cyber security, development, hey, meetups, web

t’s time for our annual review of the year! In this episode, James and Josh discuss the many twists and turns that the last 12 months brought in this 2023 developer round-up.

Thank you for listening this year. We’ll be back with more episodes in the New Year!

Episode 36: Tech leadership misconceptions

December 11th, 2023  |  Season 2  |  30 mins 13 secs

all day hey, conferences, cyber security, development, hey, meetups, web

Are all leaders extroverts? Does agile development mean there is no plan or documentation? Do leaders have to be the best developer? Following on from a recent in-person talk, James and Josh discuss more common tech misconceptions in the area of leadership.

Episode 35: Understanding emotional states

December 1st, 2023  |  Season 2  |  17 mins 35 secs

all day hey, conferences, cyber security, development, hey, meetups, web

Any team will have a variety of emotional states when responding to problems. How do you analyse, understand and make meaningful decisions based on these differences? In this episode, James and Josh discuss different methods of understanding a team’s characteristics and how taking these into account can lead you to getting the best out of everyone.