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Companies need to rethink the way they motivate employees to accommodate the technlogical and societal changes that'll take place over the next fifteen years, says today's guest, Charles Towers-Clark. Having stepped down as chairman of the Pod Group at the end of 2019, Charles published a book called "The WEIRD CEO", which chronicled the fundamental changes he made to how he ran his own company. He's brutally honest about the change process he went through but says if CEOs don't address how they manage their employees, AI will do it for them leaving them with an outdated business. #JonnyWalks is taking a short break now because of Coronavirus. It turns out COVID-19 has disrupted the podcast telling the disruptove stories of SMEs who are making a difference. But with the help of our friends at BOOST&Co, we shall be back, bigger and stronger and determined to tell the story of how robust and brilliant innovators bounced back after this unprecedented crisis.

If the last few dramatic weeks have shown us anything, it's how fragile we are. This #JonnyWalks podcast has been all about disruption: new companies reinventing old processes to iron out old fashioned inefficiencies. But enter the scene, Coronavirus. What a humbling gamechanger. In researching this episode, Jonny located some apocryphal words from one of the world's greatest ever global entrepreneurs, Bill Gates, who made a TEDx talk on fighting global epidemics - FIVE years ago. Was the world listening? #JonnyWalks is proudly sponsored by BOOST&Co.

In this episode, Jonny heads to the Startup Nation to investigate a company who are making the impossible in medicine possible. Through artificial intelligence and machine learning, CytoReason are working with Big Pharma to find new targets to fight disease and improve drug development. They produce huge amounts of data, building disease models with it, so drawing parallels between what seemed unrelated diseases which doctors weren't able to see before. This is a remarkable story which offers human advancement to the world. #JonnyWalks is proudly sponsored by BOOST&Co.

Here's the mini-cast, part 2 of each month's record of Jonny's travels through the corridors of SMEs who are disrupting the big players and innovating with new processes and products. We return to "Furniture Central" in London's Tottenham Court Road for a shorter version of Jonny's interview with Keiran Hewkin, Lombok's Commercial Director, who with his partner, Paul Fielden have deconstructed then reconstructed "the way we think about buying furniture". Scroll back for the full interview with Keiran, Episode 3. It's really good! Then it's off to the Startup Nation, Israel, for an introduction to CytoReason, who use AI and Machine Learning to improve the efficacy of drugs. Their data will lead to better use of medication in patients and even cures for diseases. The full Episode 4 on CytoReason will follow in early March - but for a sneak preview we talk in this episode to Nurit Reder, who says after establishing themselves with no external investment - yes, they are entirely self-financing after just three years in business - they need to speed up Research and Development with a first round of fundraising. If they don't, someone will take their place at the top of computational biology. #JonnyWalks is proudly sponsored by BOOST&Co.

"Change the way you think about buying furniture". It's the mission statement of Lombok, who are unpacking the way a furniture manufacturer both retails and wholesales home furnishings. By swift making and delivery in modern designs, commercial director, Kieran Hewkin believes the company are on a path of disruption in dual marketp;laces and it's what attracted BOOST&Co to become their biggest investors. LISTEN to the Lombok story in the latest episode of Jonny Gould's SME Walkabout.

In this episode, we look back to the fascinating interview with Blighter's CEO Angus Hone and CFO Tracy Sambrook of Blighter Surveillance Systems and throw ahead to next month's focus on furniture at Lombok. Scroll back to Episode 2 for the full interview because my chat with Angus and Tracy was almost a real-time discussion about the security aspects of international affairs. Blighter have stepped into save Gatwick Airport from any future drone invasion, while their work with NATO and the US Military will help to ensure troops and sensitive buildings are kept safe in a world of rising tensions between Iran and the USA. I ask Angus if they've solved the Gatwick issue yet and Tracy about getting themselves in front of the security decision-makers faraway from their workshop and offices in rural Essex. Meanwhile, Lombok's set to be a fascinating discussion about their hybrid retail and trade furniture business. They're taking on the big guys with their ability to deliver furniture fast, which at the same time means they're disrupting and competing with the trade end of the business where landlords need sofas, tables and chairs right now! #JonnyWalks is proudly sponsored by BOOST&Co and is available where you listen to your podcasts.

Blighter Surveillance Systems moment is here. With their counter-drones, electronic scanning and ground radar systems protecting borders and perimeters across wide areas and coastlines in 35 countries and with tensions around the world. we scope the opportunities with CEO Angus Hone and CFO Tracy Sambrook, who also discusses the company's progressive approach to enable women to return to the workplace. #JonnyWalks is proud to be sponsored by BOOST&Co.

Welcome to the "minicast"! The slightly shorter wrap-up podcast which will compliment the bigger episode of Jonny Gould's SME Walkabout at the start of each month. We look back at Trilico, trading telephone call minutes (and to hear Rick Pearson's land speed adventure, check out Ep 1) and on the anniversary of the drone crisis which shut down Gatwick multiple times, we talk to the new management team at Blighter, Angus Hone and Tracy Sambrook about the growth of the company in these security-conscious times - and about how accomodating (or not) business has been in ensuring women can maintain their careers just as profitably as men.