A Class Act: AI Builders & Founders
by Michael Young - CEO MBN Solutions
Latest episode
S3E3: From Chemical Engineer to AI Engineer at Legora with Google…
S3E3: From Chemical Engineer to AI Engineer at Legora with Google…
About this podcast
What does it really take to build and lead a world-class AI or data team?
I'm Michael Young, founder and CEO of MBN Solutions in Scotland. After two decades placing top talent across data, AI, and tech, I've seen what actually separates high-performing teams from the rest, and it's rarely what the headlines tell you.
A Class Act is where I bring you those stories.
Honest, experience-led conversations with the data and AI leaders making the hard calls right now: who they hire, how they build data science capability, and what real leadership looks like when the technology never stops moving.
No hype. No jargon. Just practical insight from people who've actually done it.Whether you're a data leader, a people manager, or hiring in tech, you'll walk away from every episode with something you can use.
New episodes twice a month. Follow A Class Act so you never miss one.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 29 episodes
- S3E3: From Chemical Engineer to AI Engineer at Legora with Google DeepMind Scholar Emma Rattray · 42 min · Season 3 Episode 3Emma Rattray picked chemical engineering at seventeen because she liked maths and physics. She’s now an AI engineer in Stockholm, working on a product thousands of people use…
- S3E2: AI in Customer Service: Sabio's Chief AI Officer Stuart Dorman on What Changed and What Hasn't · 52 min · Season 3 Episode 2Stuart is Chief AI Officer at Sabio Group, a CX consulting and technology firm that has spent two decades helping large organisations run their contact centres. He was working on…
- S3E1: What Does A Forward Deployed Engineer Actually Do? With Tom McLaughlin, Forward Deployed Engineer at The OpenAI Deployment Company · 59 min · Season 3 Episode 1Every AI company seems to want a forward deployed engineer. Yet very few can explain what they’re actually hiring for. Tom McLaughlin was doing the job before it became one of…
- Season 3 Trailer | Meet the People Building the Future of AI · 1 min · Season 3Season 3 of A Class Act is here. Every breakthrough in AI begins as an idea almost nobody believes in yet. But brilliant technology doesn't change anything until it survives…
- Agentic AI in Financial Services: From Demo to Production at Scale With Stuart Bell, Head of AI & Innovation M&G · 43 min · Season 2 Episode 15Most organisations adopting AI are bolting agentic AI onto the same old processes, then wondering why nothing actually changes. In this season 2 finale of A Class Act, Michael…
- A Look Inside How OpenAI Deploys Enterprise AI With Stuart McMeechan, EMEA Deployment Engineering Leader at OpenAI · 42 min · Season 2In this episode of A Class Act, Michael Young sits down with Stuart McMeechan, EMEA Deployment Engineering Leader at OpenAI. Stuart leads the team that OpenAI sends into the…
- The AI Leader’s Playbook for What Actually Works With Andy McMahon, Director of AI & MLOps Engineering at Barclays · 42 min · Season 2 Episode 12In this episode of A Class Act, Michael sits down with Andy McMahon, Director of AI & MLOps Engineering at Barclays, Oxford lecturer, and author of Machine Learning Engineering…
- The One Skill That Separates Good Data Leaders From Great Ones With Asia Faulds - Head of Data Science at Booksy · 35 min · Season 2 Episode 11If you run a data team, you already know that the hardest part of being a great data leader isn’t always the technology. In this episode of A Class Act, host Michael Young chats…
- Building the Future of Voice AI From Soundtracks to Synthetic Speech With Stu Kennedy, Edge, Realtime & AI Systems Consultant · 1 h 0 min · Season 2 Episode 10In this episode of A Class Act, Michael chats with Stu Kennedy, an Edge, Realtime & AI Systems Consultant, core HTMX contributor, and former film composer who worked alongside…
- The 4 Pillars of AI Adoption Strategy EVERY Enterprise Leader Needs with Lead Enterprise Architect at NatWest Group · 31 min · Season 2 Episode 9If 99% of executives say their AI rollout isn’t mature, so what’s actually going wrong? In this episode of A Class Act, Michael chats with Natalia Konstantinova, Lead Enterprise…
- S2E8: Nina Habicht [ Top 100 Women in Data & AI ] on the AI Funding Bubble & Founder Advice on Building AI that Lasts · 37 min · Season 2 Episode 8Nina Habicht has been building AI since 2011 and is one of Switzerland's Top 100 Women in Data and AI. In this conversation with Michael of MBN Solutions, she's direct about what…
- S2E7: Navigating AI Ethics in the Real World: Red Lines & Risk Tiers in Practice · 45 min · Season 2 Episode 7AI is moving fast. Most organisations are trying to keep up. But the real question isn’t “should we use it?” anymore, it’s whether you can deploy it without creating risks you…
- LLMs in 2026: What’s Happening and What It Means for Business With Richard Bownes, Head of AI Solutions at Vector8 · 42 min · Season 2 Episode 6What’s actually happening with LLMs in 2026 and what does it mean for business leaders? In this episode of A Class Act, Michael is joined by Richard Bownes, Head of AI Solutions…
- What Enterprise AI Really Looks Like in Practice Inside One of The UK’s Most Regulated Digital Banks With Russell Collingham, Head of AI at Atom · 30 min · Season 2 Episode 5What if you could sit down with the Head of AI inside one of the UK’s most regulated digital banks and hear the truth about what actually works and what leaders need to get…
- Hiring and Building Exceptional Applied AI Teams that Work with Andre Balleyguier of Snorkel AI [MUST LISTEN] · 53 min · Season 2 Episode 4In this episode of A Class Act, Michael Young, CEO of MBN Solutions speaks with Andre Balleyguier, AI Solutions Leader at Snorkel AI, formerly at DataRobot, and recognised by…
- Why Most Enterprise AI Strategies Fail And What to Do Instead with Eddie Short - Global Chief Digital, Data & AI Officer · 52 min · Season 2 Episode 3Most enterprise AI strategies fail not because the technology isn’t ready, but because organisations are still operating with 20th-century models. In this episode, Global Chief…
- Hiring for AI in 2026? What the Next Generation of Talent Actually Values with Google DeepMind Scholar Emma Rattray · 24 min · Season 2 Episode 2Every organisation is racing to adopt AI but capability isn’t just about technology. It’s about people. In this episode, host Shannon speaks with Emma Rattray, an AI Engineer…
- Season 2: Navigating the AI Landscape · 2 min · Season 2I’ve been in this market for nearly 20 years and in that time, I’ve helped place over 4,000 senior leaders in data, analytics, and AI roles around the world from the dot com boom…
- Turning AI from Buzzword into Real Business Results with Tom McLaughlin of Tomoro · 50 min · Season 2 Episode 1What if you could sit down with an engineer who’s building AI partnerships alongside the top companies shaping the future like OpenAI, NVIDIA, and Microsoft? That’s exactly what…
- How to Build Trust & Lead Teams in FinTech’s AI Era with Kent Mackenzie · 26 min · Season 1 Episode 9In this episode, host Michael is joined by Kent Mackenzie, Group Chief Operating Officer at Corlytics and former Deloitte Partner. Kent’s career has taken him from pulling apart…
