Blog

Thinking out loud, in public.

The latest thinking, practical business ideas and clear commentary on AI, cybersecurity and cyber resilience, shaped by audience questions and the challenges I see in the organisations I work with.

Filter by keyword

Latest articles

5 September 2026 · AI · ChatGPT · Risk · AGI
OpenAI Astra GPT 6: the hype, the risk, and the bit nobody’s actually verified yet.
OpenAI’s Astra just crossed a critical safety threshold. Here’s what leadership readiness actually looks like before that capability reaches your everyday tools.
Read the article →
28 August 2026 · AI · Copilot · AI tools
Microsoft Scout and the Shift From Answering to Acting
Microsoft Scout is Microsoft’s first step from AI that answers to AI that acts. Here’s what its two gate admin model tells you about getting agentic AI right, and why governance needs to come before capability.
Read the article →
23 August 2026 · AI · AI Policy · AI Strategy · Claude
Should Your IT Support Company Block the Claude AI Microsoft 365 Connector?
Why do IT support companies keep blocking the Claude AI Microsoft 365 connector over data security fears? Here's what it actually accesses, why some MSPs default to no, and how to make a governed decision instead.
Read the article →
21 August 2026 · Cybersecurity · Best Practice
The Safest Click Is No Click At All
That unsubscribe button at the bottom of a suspicious email feels like the responsible thing to click. Often it isn’t. Here’s the rule for knowing when to unsubscribe and when to just report, block, and delete.
Read the article →
18 August 2026 · Thinking · Not Thinking · Reflection
The Three-Day Lag: Why Your Brain Doesn’t Believe You’re on Holiday Yet
It took me a few days on a family holiday to actually feel like I was on one. The laptop was shut, the out of office was on, and some part of my brain was still running the same background processes it runs at my desk. That got me curious about why switching off takes longer than we think, and what the research says actually happens once it does.
Read the article →
15 August 2026 · AI · AI Policy · AI Strategy · Best Practice · ISO 42001
Five things every business should do before deploying an AI agent
Building AI agents and workflows? Here are five things every business should do before deploying, drawn from the world's first AI governance standard.
Read the article →
13 August 2026 · AI Strategy · AI Cost · Best Practice · AI Journey
What does your post-AI operating model look like?
Every business leader agrees AI will change how they work. Almost none have redesigned their business model to account for it. That needs to change.
Read the article →
9 August 2026 · AI · AI Skills · AI Training · Books
Why the problem with AI isn't AI
Most AI disappointment isn't a technology problem. It's a briefing problem. Here's why the ask matters more than the model, and what to do differently.
Read the article →
7 August 2026 · AI Strategy · People
I think therefore AI am
There's a question I like to ask that has nothing to do with technology.
Read the article →
5 August 2026 · AI Strategy · AI Policy
AI Blocker Diagnostic Next Steps
You've taken the diagnostic, whatever your results (good or bad) there are logical next steps as this article explains.
Read the article →
2 August 2026 · AI Strategy · AI Training · AI Policy
Do you think you are an AI Enabler or an AI Blocker in your organisation?
Most business leaders will tell you they support AI adoption in their organisation, and most of them genuinely mean it. The problem is that support and enablement aren't the same thing, and blocking doesn't always look like blocking. Sometimes it looks like governance. Sometimes it looks like caution. Sometimes, if we're honest, it looks like leadership.
Read the article →
1 August 2026 · OpenAI · AI Strategy
OpenAI Small Business Support
OpenAI have launched a dedicated programme for small businesses which it's worth knowing about.
Read the article →
30 July 2026 · AI Policy · AI Skills
What is an AI Lobotomy?
Most people hear "AI lobotomy" and think it means AI is making us less intelligent. It means the opposite and it could be happening in your businesses right now.
Read the article →
24 July 2026 · Carbon Footprint · AI Cost · AI Calculator
What's the real cost of using AI?
Every time you use AI, it uses electricity, produces a bit of carbon and drinks a little water. Almost nobody using it day to day has any real sense of how much.
Read the article →
22 July 2026 · AI Strategy · Best Practice · Claude
Uploading PDFs to AI is costing you money
If you're uploading PDFs to your AI tools, you're almost certainly wasting money. And the fix takes about a minute.
Read the article →
20 July 2026 · AI · People · HR
AI isn’t taking jobs. It’s changing them.
Don’t believe all the alarmist headlines! AI isn’t taking jobs. It’s changing them. There’s a difference, and it matters.
Read the article →
18 July 2026 · AI tools · AI Strategy · ChatGPT · Copilot · Claude · Gemini
Which AI should I use?
The most common question I get after an AI keynote is "which one should we actually use?" This is how I answer the question.
Read the article →
17 July 2026 · AI Journey · Stories · Communication
Let me tell you a story...
Since the earliest humans gathered around a fire, stories have been how we make sense of the world. Not bullet points. Not frameworks. Not slide decks. Stories. They're how we remember things, how we connect with ideas, and how we decide what to trust.
Read the article →
10 July 2026 · prompting
CRIT prompt framework
Most people using AI are getting about 20% of what it's capable of. Not because the tools aren't powerful enough, but because the prompts aren't. When I read "The AI-Driven Leader" by Geoff Woods, one framework in it stuck with me and I've used it ever since.
Read the article →
6 July 2026 · prompting · Copilot · WorkIQ
Creating a whiteboard sketch using AI
Use AI to quickly generate a whiteboard sketch which tells everyone a bit more about you and what you do.
Read the article →
4 July 2026 · AI · Cybersecurity · Updates
Thinking out loud, in public
There's a new section live on the Thought Provoked resource site, a blog, where I'll be sharing my latest thinking on AI, cybersecurity and business resilience as it happens, rather than saving everything for a talk or a book.
Read the article →

Never miss an article

Get new articles by email

Whenever I publish something new on AI, cybersecurity and cyber resilience, I'll send you a link. No newsletters, no selling, and one click to stop at any time.

Your address is used only to send you new articles. See the privacy notice.