L-R: Simon Shaw, Anna Dick, Alastair Brown, Tripti Anil, Alan Jackson
October’s MD Tech Leader Talks, sponsored by Codurance, examined how businesses put AI into practice. Drawing on real-world examples and lessons from delivery, Manchester Digital brought together an expert panel to explore what it takes to move from ambition and experimentation to measurable results, as well as the decisions, foundations and trade-offs involved.
Simon Shaw, Delivery Director at Codurance, hosted the lunchtime session for tech leaders and introduced Codurance, which is a global software engineering consultancy that has run its Manchester office for 15 years.
He was joined on the panel by Anna Dick, Chief Technology & Product Officer at Capsule; Alastair Brown, Group Director of AI and Technology at Peninsula; Tripti Anil, Senior Leader, Data & Analytics at Kellanova; and Alan Jackson, Director of Client Solutions at Codurance.
Alastair Brown, Group Director of AI and Technology at Peninsula, speaking at MD Tech Leader Talks
Talking about discovering how AI can be used in projects, Anna said that Capsule's initial three months of AI exploration across all its business teams built appetite for further experimentation, but it also got a little out of control. Some things needed revisiting and tidying up afterwards, which is why guardrails matter. Her main message was that "AI is a capability, not the problem you're trying to solve.
Alastair stressed product discipline in order to understand the business driver and the outcome you want. At Peninsula, one initiative focused on giving customers richer answers and delivered over £1m in revenue. He said success depends on strong sponsorship and expertise from within the business, supported by clear frameworks and guardrails.
Tripti described spending three years building data foundations at Kellanova, focusing on "the right things at the right time" and bringing business teams along on the journey. They started with UK field sales as a proof of concept initially.
Alan described a consultancy project where they used AI to clear a compliance backlog quickly. Overall, it was a success, but also a warning. He added, “AI can get you past a roadblock, but it does not solve people problems”
Simon then asked the panel what are the most important points to deliver value. Several panellists highlighted the value of a "company brain", which is an up-to-date source of business knowledge, which is then connected to tools such as Slack and Claude for consistent results. Alan added, “If you have your team empowered to make decisions, you can really start to drive the benefits of AI.”
Anna Dick, Chief Technology & Product Officer at Capsule, speaking at MD Tech Leader Talks
Overall, the panel agreed that AI makes it easy to build prototypes quickly, but noted that it was important to question whether that was a good thing. Alan noted a gap between engineers' preference for "thin slices" to showcase a project, but that scope needs to be ambitious enough to show meaningful business impact. Tripti recommended delivering in increments and building internal champions.
Moving on to discuss measuring success, Alastair said "If you can't measure it, don't do it.” Anna described an AI agent that reviews support tickets and suggests code fixes, which then frees engineers for product work as well as how Capsule also rebuilt a long-neglected mobile app on a new tech stack in just two days. Tripti added the goal at Kellanova is more accurate forecasting, not just saving time.
Alan Jackson, Director of Client Solutions at Codurance, at MD Tech Leader Talks 26
For embedding AI into businesses in the future, everyone on the panel agreed that humans must stay in the loop, because people remain accountable and relationships cannot be automated. Governance, legal compliance and security by design were seen as essential, especially because AI models can drift over time.
The panel's message was that AI delivers real value only when it is built on solid data foundations, strong business sponsorship and disciplined product thinking. The organisations seeing measurable results are the ones that know why they are using it, measure its impact rigorously and keep people firmly in the loop.
We’d like to say a huge thanks to Codurance for sponsoring this Tech Leader Talks.
