Richard FordEvery podcast appearance, updated as new ones drop

In this episode, Tom Griffiths speaks with Richard Ford, founder of Vision Zero Connect, a technology company developing software platforms designed to help organisations improve sustainability performance and reduce energy costs across their building portfolios. Richard explains how his background in consultancy led him to recognise inefficiencies in the traditional approach to sustainability and energy management. After more than two decades working in the industry, he realised that businesses were often paying significant consulting fees for processes that could potentially be automated and delivered more efficiently through technology. This insight led him to establish Vision Zero Connect in 2017, with the aim of creating software solutions that simplify sustainability reporting and building optimisation. The conversation explores the company’s two core platforms. The first focuses on ESG reporting, helping organisations track and report their Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions while complying with different regulatory standards across global markets. The second platform is designed to optimise building performance by analysing operational data, identifying energy efficiency opportunities, and helping asset owners make informed investment decisions that reduce costs while maintaining long-term asset value. Richard also discusses the realities of building a software company without a technical background. He reflects on the steep learning curve of becoming a founder, navigating product development, and building a global business with offices in the UK, Europe, Asia, and Australia. A key challenge has been balancing ongoing investment in product development with the need to expand into new markets and generate revenue. The episode also highlights the financial side of scaling a technology business. Richard shares insights into raising capital from investors, the importance of annual recurring revenue (ARR) and client retention for attracting funding, and the role of strong financial leadership in managing cash flow and growth. Overall, the discussion offers a practical look at entrepreneurship in the technology and sustainability sectors, illustrating both the challenges and opportunities involved in building a global software platform designed to support the transition to more sustainable and efficient buildings. Contact Richard here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-ford-57892416

Most engineering leaders learn leadership the hard way. They get promoted from IC roles and suddenly find themselves managing people they used to work alongside. They default to command-and-control because that's what they've seen. They struggle with influence across teams they don't control. The transition is messy, stressful, and often unsuccessful. Richard Ford took a different path. He's the VP of Engineering at CyberCube , with a resume that spans a PhD in Quantum Physics from Oxford, developing IBM's computer virus immune system, and building the world's largest web hosting system at Verio. But his most valuable leadership training came from an unexpected place: 10 years as a university department head. This wasn't a detour from his tech career—it was the perfect laboratory for mastering engineering leadership. 🎧 Subscribe and Listen Now → The Academic Leadership Laboratory "Being a professor, being a department head specifically was the best training in the world for running engineering teams," Richard told me. "Because as a department head in a university, you have no carrot and you have no stick." Think about this constraint. His biggest reward? "I can give you a slightly bigger office next year." His biggest punishment? "I will give you a bad review, but it won't make any difference to your raise and it won't make any difference to your employment because you're tenured." This forced Richard to develop something most engineering leaders never master: pure influence without authority. "What you learn to do is manage by influence, to get people on the boat and make them want to come with you, and to build consensus," he explained. "And I think there's a lot of parallels with engineering where it's all about the people and it's about having influence across groups that you don't control." The academic constraint created the perfect training ground. No shortcuts. No positional power to fall back on. Just the fundamental skill of making people want to follow your vision. The Influence Toolkit Richard's academic experience gave him what he calls "a big grab bag of different techniques for getting people to come along, ranging all the way from 'Hey, let's try it your way' to really let them explore, give them a lot of freedom, all the way down to 'No, I'm calling the ball. This is getting done this week and this is what we're doing.'" The key insight: "You shouldn't just default to a style. You should look at the personal group that you're working with. You should figure out what is the most effective approach to get the result that we need to get as a team." This adaptability comes from understanding that "this sort of failure mode where we have a default style as a manager, as a leader, it is actually terrible. It's a snare." Instead of one-size-fits-all leadership, Richard developed situational mastery. By nature, he's "much more of a consensus builder and a group builder, but that's not my only style, and I can pull in whatever style the situation requires." The Partnership Mindset Academic leadership taught Richard something else crucial: how to think about working relationships. "I don't think of my employer as my overlord. They're my partner. We're doing this together," he said. "You want to find an employer and an environment that suits your skillset, that suits how you think about the world." This partnership mindset extends to his team management. "If you're not in the right environment, you'll never do the best work of your career. And what are we here to do? We're here to do the best work of our career because it's so fulfilling to be at the top of your game." The practical result: Richard gravitates toward environments that bring out his team's best work, not j

In this episode of the Entropy podcast, host Francis Gorman speaks with Richard Ford, CTO of Integrity 360, about the evolving landscape of cybersecurity. They discuss the growth journey of Integrity 360, the complexities of the cybersecurity channel, and the current threat landscape organizations face. Richard shares insights on the importance of cloud security, Zero Trust architecture, and the trend of consolidation in cybersecurity technologies. They also delve into the implications of AI in cybersecurity and Richard's personal journey with dyslexia, emphasizing the importance of understanding and leveraging unique perspectives in the tech industry. Takeaways Integrity 360 has grown significantly over the years, expanding its footprint in the cybersecurity market. The cybersecurity channel involves partnerships between vendors and service providers to deliver effective solutions. Organizations must prioritize cloud security to mitigate risks associated with misconfiguration and human error. Zero Trust architecture is becoming essential for protecting data and access in organizations. Consolidation in the cybersecurity market is a growing trend, impacting technology choices for organizations. XDR (Extended Detection Response) is evolving, with both closed and open models available for organizations. Generative AI poses risks to organizations, particularly regarding data security and privacy. Understanding the fundamentals of cybersecurity is crucial for professionals, especially in the age of AI. Dyslexia can be a superpower, allowing individuals to think differently and approach problems uniquely. Confidence and the willingness to push beyond comfort zones are key to success in cybersecurity. Sound Bites "It's been quite a long journey for myself." "Our role is to be a partner." "XDR is now very much where technology sits." "Consolidation of technologies is a growing trend." "Generative AI is like the new femme fatale." "Don't be afraid to do it in the first place." "Kids don't know how good they've got it."

After a brief interlude for an episode of LGBTQ+ rights, Elise is back with a second episode on the affirmative action decision, joined by Professor Richard Ford of Stanford Law School. Professor Ford offers his take on many of the same questions we put forward to Professor Stulberg: Is the diversity rationale still alive? What will the college admissions landscape look like after this decision? And how will socioeconomic status be used as an attempt to maintain diversity? He also walked Elise through the nuances of the majority opinion — namely, the Court refused to overturn Grutter and Bakke , leaving potential room for schools to continue considering race on an individual basis. Finally, Professor Ford spoke to the future of legacy admissions and what the optimal response to this decision would be from institutions of higher education. Cases mentioned: Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (2023) Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) Further reading: "Bias against Asian-American students is real. Affirmative action isn’t the problem." (Stacey J. Lee and Kevin K. Kumashiro, Vox ) "The SCOTUS decision on affirmative action in colleges, explained." (Fabiola Cineas and Ian Millhiser, Vox ) "The Supreme Court’s ban on affirmative action means colleges will struggle to meet goals of diversity and equal opportunity" (Adewale A. Maye, Economic Policy Institute )

Richard Ford, Chief Technology Officer at Praetorian joins Tech Transforms to talk about the cyber security threat landscape. Red team versus Blue team is a common and effective threat protection practice, but what could cyber security experts gain from team Purple? Listen in as Carolyn and Mark learn about the importance of managing your attack surface, implementing multi-factor authentication, and protecting against cyber phishing attacks. Episode Table of Contents [00:30] Our Biggest Cybersecurity Threat in the Last Quarter [07:39] Which Is Easier: Defense or Offense [16:40] Why Do We Need Single Sign-on [24:54] The Team Purple Idea Episode Links and Resources Richard Ford Praetorian The Clothes in the Wardrobe Sauces and Shapes Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking Game Changer Our Biggest Cybersecurity Threat in the Last Quarter Carolyn: So today our guest is actually an old friend, Richard Ford , who is Chief Technology Officer at Praetorian . For over 25 years, Richard has been able to design and implement NextGen product strategies and provide customers with the best threat detection available. Today, we're going to talk to Richard about the cyber threat landscape and what a good defense looks like. Richard: Hi, it's nice to be back on a call with you Carolyn, and Mark, it's good to see you. Carolyn: Yes, really good to have you today. So let's just jump right in. I want to know what your view is, what are our biggest cybersecurity threats? What does the cyber security threat landscape look like and how do we defend ourselves from it? So there's like three-part question there. Richard: So, we're starting with an easy question. I think the threat landscape is incredibly messy and I think that the most important part to think about is change. So if you think about just the last quarter or two that we've gone through you had, like log4shell someone we're all running around looking for log4j vulnerabilities. Then it's Spring4Shell, which wasn't as serious, but was still pretty nasty if you were impacted. The problem, we have this tremendous rate of change so the thing that was important to you yesterday may not be the thing that's important to you today. It's unlikely to be the thing that's most important for you tomorrow. So when we think about the threat landscape, the first thing to say is, if I give you an answer, it's like looking at a single, still image from a movie and telling you've watched the movie, right? Cyber Security Threat Landscape Richard: Then as soon as we go click, you know that threat landscape will change. With that said, I do think there are some common themes that keep coming back, right? So there's a threat we have around being desperately short of people. There's a threat around, we don't know what assets we have. Even if we did know what assets we have, we don't know what they're running. Then the business conditions are driving us forward so quickly that it's difficult to keep s