The ITPro Podcast

AI deployment is inextricably linked to the United States of America. Many of the major frontier labs are based there and the cloud providers that businesses depend on to access the latest models are majority American.
But all over Europe, businesses are considering questioning the extent to which their critical workloads should be dependent on the US.
In a recent edition of the podcast, we covered all things digital sovereignty. In this episode, we're zooming in on how this push for sovereignty is compatible with AI adoption for European businesses. What does ‘AI sovereignty’ mean in practical terms? And how can businesses isolate workloads from the wider world without falling behind?
In this episode, Rory speaks to In today’s episode, I’m joined by René Büst, senior director, analyst in Gartner's Emerging Market Dynamics practice, to explore how European CIOs can balance sovereignty, agility, and compliance.
Read more:
Can the UK achieve AI sovereignty?
EU businesses will flock to ‘region-specific’ AI platforms by 2027 – but cost could be a major hurdle
Will the future of AI be made in Europe? The EU thinks so
The second enforcement deadline for the EU AI Act is approaching – here’s what businesses need to know about the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice
What is the EU's AI plan?
AWS says only Europeans will run its European Sovereign Cloud service
Google is getting serious on cloud sovereignty
What the new Microsoft Sovereign Cloud push means for European customers

It’s long been said that good data is necessary before you can have good AI. But to an increasing degree, AI is also helping businesses manage, analyze, and generate their data too.
With AI code generation already well understood, businesses are also leaning on natural language processing and agentic AI to help their experts such as data engineers and data scientists automate their work more effectively.
What does all this mean for businesses looking to adopt AI? And how is the UK AI market maturing?
In this episode, recorded on the ground at Databricks AI Days London 2026, Rory speaks to Michael Green, UK&I managing director at Databricks and Richard Shaw, AVP Field Engineering at Databricks, to better understand how data and AI are converging.
Read more:
What is natural language processing?
‘A true vote of confidence’: Databricks announces $850m UK investment as firm looks to quadruple London office footprint
"We want AI to work for Britain": The UK government wants to upskill 10 million Brits in AI by 2030 – and the courses are free to access
The UK’s AI ambitions depend on channel partners
Microsoft says fear of falling behind is driving an AI arms race among UK businesses – and it's fueling record adoption rates
Databricks wants to train 100,000 people in AI across the UK and Ireland – here's how to get involved

In March the clocks change, Spring begins to show its face, and many companies enter their next financial quarter. But in cybersecurity, no such rays of sunshine are to be found.
In the past week, speakers from across the cybersecurity industry came together at RSAC Conference to warn about the latest threats facing businesses. Some warned that just as AI agents are becoming an opportunity for leaders, they’re also becoming a potential threat vector.
Also this month, Arm has unveiled its first in-house chip, the Arm AGI CPU. What does it mean, and is this a win for UK tech?
In this episode Jane and Rory welcome back Ross Kelly, ITPro’s news and analysis editor, to unpack some of the biggest news items from throughout March.
Read more:
Safe AI adoption rests on cybersecurity professionals, says RSAC chairman
Enterprises need to think of agents as ‘digital co-workers’ – and that means implementing the same security safeguards
Observability will be key to agentic AI safety, says Microsoft Security exec
The key risks security teams face in 2026
Tenable co-CEO Stephen Vintz says enterprises need to get serious about tackling the AI “responsibility gap”
Systems are deterministic, people are probabilistic – AI is both, and that's a headache for cyber teams

Apple made waves at the start of March with the launch of the MacBook Neo, its first budget laptop.
As RAM prices skyrocket, businesses are under pressure to make device purchases that count and that will future-proof their workers for years to come. Both Apple and manufactures in the Windows ecosystem are vying for enterprise money in the budget and pro segments – even as it becomes more expensive than ever to spec devices to 16GB of memory and beyond.
Where does the latest Apple release fit into the wider business laptop ecosystem?
This week, Rory speaks to Bobby Hellard, ITPro’s reviews editor, to unpack all things MacBook Neo, Windows laptops, and the future of business hardware.
Read more:
MacBook Neo: everything you need to know about Apple's £599 laptop
The MacBook Neo is another Apple master stroke, and it couldn’t have come at a better time
Low-budget devices are the biggest casualty of the RAM crisis
Give businesses more practical AI services and some return on investment before you go selling 6G
Lenovo wows at MWC with concepts for a modular ThinkBook and desktop AI-devices
AMD thinks ‘AI on the PC has crossed an important line’ – the rise of ‘Agent Computers’ will be the next big breakthrough
Are AI PCs becoming the norm?
Nobody asked for AI PCs, but they’ve been thrust upon us – at least Dell realizes it’s probably made a mistake

One of the most commonly-touted benefits of AI is its ability to cut down toil and give workers more time to focus on valuable tasks.
Few professionals could arguably benefit from this more than teachers, who spend many of their evenings and weekend hours completing paperwork and carrying out marking.
How is AI already being used to free up time for teachers, and what can we learn from exemplar organizations leading the way on this path?
In this special edition of the ITPro Podcast, in association with AWS, Jane and Rory are joined by Scott Hayden, head of teaching, learning and digital at Basingstoke College of Technology, to explore how the college has deployed AI to support its teaching staff.
Read more:
Basingstoke College of Technology
Perform Partners
Helping BCoT Secure $25K Credits to Accelerate AI Growth: How OGVA Enables Innovation in Further Education