In an engrossing evening, industry leaders from a variety of different backgrounds gathered at the Conjure office to engage in a captivating discussion that covered everything from the state of play in the UK economy, focusing specifically on the tech sector, to the mass hysteria over recent AI developments.
The atmosphere was electric with anticipation as these brilliant minds came together to share their knowledge and some of their frustrations with the current status quo. The event kicked off with an introduction to Conjure and shared some of our recent work. This worked up an appetite amongst the attendees for some intriguing discussion topics, as Desislava Genova from Dojo and Glenn Stewart from Labster stood up to give a presentation each on company structures and ways of working in the tech sector post-COVID.
They emphasised the importance of empowering employees to take ownership of their work, fostering a flat hierarchy, as much as the powers that be will allow, and embracing flexible working arrangements, along with them describing their own respective team structures. This brought about some lively discussion on the subject of remote working vs traditional office working, to which all seemed to eventually agree that a hybrid system is best for both the employer and employee, seeing as productivity has not seen a large drop, as many has previously predicted, and the flexibility it affords workers is something that cannot be taken away after having been experienced by the entire workforce.
We then moved onto the main discussion topics. Prior to the event, we asked each attendee to send in one pain point each that they experience regularly in their current position, be it specific to their role or a more company-wide issue. From this, everything from collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas between different disciplines to how to maximise the potential of AI technologies was brought up, and the conversations were rigorous and riveting.
The subjects of how to deliver an excellent customer experience whilst balancing more commercial initiatives instilled by shareholders and how to continuously win projects and retain staff in a struggling economy where public sector spending is flatlining were of particular interest to those who attended, as the point was made that it’s often creative industries and positions which suffer the most when times are bad.
In the spirit of fostering collaboration, attendees engaged in vibrant discussions over food & drink, forging connections all the way through. The mingling of brilliant minds created an atmosphere charged with inspiration, setting the stage for future innovation and breakthroughs. As the event drew to a close, a sense of collective motivation filled the room and when everyone left to go home, it was clear that this would be applied to each person’s role going forward.
Thank you to everyone who came along, we look forward to seeing you again soon!
