Our 2022 Disruptive Trends Report highlighted that augmented reality and virtual reality will become a key tool to engage audiences in the next 3 years. So how can leaders apply immersive tech as an opportunity to give customers memorable CX? Joe Williams, Head of Immersive Tech at UK publishing group LADBible, joined us at Chief Disruptor LIVE last October to give us an insight into what it really means to work in the extended reality sector, and what opportunities can be grasped across industries.

Does our supply chain include Russia? Should we be in the metaverse? Do we have a ransomware recovery plan? Even, should top managers have landlines? 2 years ago, some of these questions would be laughed out of meetings or boardrooms. However, these questions of risk, whether that be financial, operational or political, now occupy the headspace of business and technology leaders. Our interconnected and complex world has seen businesses begin to rethink risk and, more crucially, how to manage it. In particular, over the last two years, emphasis has been placed on rethinking how to mitigate and manage technology risk; with tech and business leaders feeling ill-equipped to tackle the level of technology risk found in modern technology infrastructure. It is, therefore, a crucial time to consider a new technology risk management paradigm. Below, I lay out the fundamentals of this new TRM approach and examine how adopting a new approach could benefit your organisation.

The Superbowl is known for being the annual event of the year in the US, with a staggering viewership of 100 million back in 2019. That same year, the competitive gaming event ‘League of Legends’, run by EXCEL ESPORTS, surpassed the famous sports event, drawing in an audience of over 103 million. So, as the gaming industry grows to £228bn worldwide in worth, what is the future for digital sports, versus the traditional? At Chief Disruptor LIVE, we sat down with Co-Founder of EXCEL ESPORTS, Kieran Holmes-Darby, to hear about how the company was born in the local pub, what it meant to be digital-first, and the future of the gaming industry.

25 years ago, social media was an alien concept, involving only a singular platform: SixDegrees.com. Fast forward to 2022, and having a social media presence has not only become part of our daily lifestyle but an essential tool for businesses, if they want to stay in the competitive lane. MOB Kitchen is the social media born food company, whose 1-minute recipe videos now attract an audience of 856k followers on Instagram, and leads the example in how to successfully build an online audience. We sat down with the founder, Ben Lebus, to find out how he grew MOB Kitchen from nothing, and where he sought out new opportunities to grow with online platforms.

2022 has seen a monumental shift as organisations mitigate the risks of legacy platforms and seek to capitalise off the myriad of new capabilities and possibilities modern platforms present. For tech leaders at the start of their optimisation journey, mastering their data platforms can be a daunting challenge. Those further along their journey, face complex data ecosystems often plagued by rising costs, dwindling performance levels and limited observability. The route to optimisation is not always clear. It is, however, those little-known insights into how to maximise tooling, free up capacity and troubleshoot issues faster that can provide the key to these common challenges. Nimbus Ninety, in partnership with Unravel Data and Databricks, brought together technology and data experts to connect, share challenges and offer up actionable insights to master a modern data platform.

It’s not new information that 2030 is the deadline to save the state of the global climate. As the United Nations explained in 2017, “we are the last generation to prevent irreparable damage”. Yet, strikingly, our 2022 Disruptive Trends Report showed how sustainability is being pushed down businesses’ agendas. So where are organisations going wrong, and how can leaders foster a positive balance between people, profit but also the planet, before it’s too late? We spoke with Douglas Lamont, CEO of Innocent Drinks and the co-chair of The Better Business Act, to delve deeper into the challenges businesses are facing with sustainable practices, the concept of sustainable capitalism, and how potential legislation could increase accountability across industries.

From bot attacks to brute force cyber attacks to internal breaches, the types of fraud that plague organisations are complex and multiple. These fraudulent transactions, which can result in losses three times higher than the original amount and dent reputation and trust, mean effective fraud protection is crucial. However, the growth in online shopping and banking has revolutionised the need for seamless customer experience and meant employees are increasingly the gatekeepers of vast amounts of data and information. So how do retailers achieve real-time fraud prevention without hindering the digital experience of trustworthy customers? Over a glass of wine, Nimbus Ninety, alongside our partners Ping Identity, brought together experts from across customer experience and fraud prevention to uncover simple but smarter ways to detect anomalous activity in real-time.

New digital channels and the changing customer relationship has led to more customer and user interactions. Organisations are now tasked with ensuring every customer journey is frictionless and secure. Simultaneously, importance is being placed on understanding and managing complex user identities. In this new world, identifying users the moment that they interact with platforms and creating secure, personalised, omnichannel experiences is fundamental for creating customer loyalty and outpacing the competition. But what scalable approaches are available to organisations to power and weave together secure, simple and seamless customer and user journeys? Nimbus Ninety, in partnership with Ping Identity, brought together senior technology leaders to discuss how to create, test and optimise omnichannel experiences while enjoying a curated wine tasting.

A few years ago, we interviewed Ricky Knox, the founder of Tandem Bank, right when fintechs and challenger banks were really taking off. Ricky himself seemed to embody the disruption that was rippling through the industry. He was bombastic, unapologetic and had a message for the incumbents: “we’ll be eating your lunch.”

Hybrid working is here to stay. With it comes increased online activity, information technology requirements and security threats. Simultaneously, costs are being squeezed and the regulatory landscape is changing at pace and scale. We know uncertainty and turbulence will continue to impact organisations throughout 2022, but which trends will impact tech operations the most? In partnership with Tanium, we brought Nimbus Ninety members together to discuss what’s next for tech leaders in 2022.