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also seeing significant investment in making office spaces feel safer and more secure through voice-activated and AI technology . With xcore . ai , our latest crossover processor for the AIoT , we ’ re making AI tech accessible to a wider design community that , until now , hasn ’ t experienced it or been able to access it . XMOS is making it easy and affordable for embedded systems designers in a huge range of sectors to incorporate AI in their products , through economical components , software development kits and more .
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside of the office ?
Because I always like to work with my hands ( I ’ ve never got out of that habit of taking things apart and making things ), I always have my own project going on , whether it ’ s DIY or some kind of woodwork . I ’ m not an expert so I have to learn how to do it properly , but it gives me a nice escape to be in that world for an hour or two here and there .
If you could go back and change one career decision , what would it be ?
I don ’ t tend to look back on anything with regret , but if I had to choose , I would have liked to have started my own company earlier . At the time , I felt I needed to do a stint in other people ’ s companies – but actually that ’ s not true . If you want to be an entrepreneur , it ’ s better to just get on with it and learn as you go .
What are the region-specific challenges when implementing new technologies in Europe ?
The excitement from the investment community is currently more muted . In China , however , semiconductor technology is just as exciting as FinTech is in the west now . It ’ s easier to raise capital in China for semiconductor tech than it is in the west , where attitudes are a little more conservative . That said , it is a cycle . With the focus on software , it has been taken for granted that hardware will be able to deliver , but we ’ re coming to the end of that assumption . Now , there will be an inevitable refocus on hardware , driven by the demands of AI .
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months ?
My role as CEO has not changed in terms of content but the manner in which I carry out my work has undergone a big change . The inability to travel , for example , has had a huge impact . Normally , I would spend a third of my time travelling – always meeting people – and while you may have an ‘ anchor ’ meeting that is the purpose of your trip , there are always other meetings you have around those . But those ‘ incidental ’ meetings often end up being the most important ones . Now though , all that has been replaced by Zoom , and it ’ s more difficult to convey empathy and earn people ’ s trust across video conferencing . Zoom facilitates more transactional conversations – not building trust .
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THERE IS A LIMIT TO HOW MUCH YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR WHEN YOU ’ RE A SMALL PART IN A BIG COMPANY , SO MY ADVICE WOULD BE TO JUST CRACK ON AND BE AN ENTREPRENEUR .
What advice would you offer somebody aspiring to obtain C-level position in your industry ?
There is a limit to how much you can learn about being an entrepreneur when you ’ re a small part in a big company , so my advice would be to just crack on and be an entrepreneur . And when you become one , you ’ ve got be hungry to learn and seek out new experiences to learn from . Also surround yourself with good coaches and mentors because every now and again you need people to ground you . We entrepreneurs do tend to be wildly optimistic at times , and coaches are key to bringing a level of sanity to our thinking . •
Technology in the west is a more mature business , especially with semiconductors .
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