Making tech solutions relatable

Sally Eaves: My example is always that people know about the phone in their pocket because phones are such an implicit part of our everyday existence. We need to find ways to make complicated subjects relatable so people feel that they matter and are relevant to them.

I often take people on a journey in my talks and ask the audience about how food ends up on their plate, and what tech might have been involved in that specific journey. I ask the audience to think about what could have made that process better. I think that is a good way of making it tangible, with food being a great example because it's something we all share as an activity. Taking these familiar contexts and using them for tech awareness is a useful tool for advocacy. A recent lost suitcase experience of mine also provided a great real-life example to show the benefit of applying blockchain tech!

The more we can personally and publicly share pilot successes, or tangible case study examples, the better, especially with blockchain, as a lot of content has been more conceptual than actualized. That's my focus with the keynotes that I do.

I travel so much because you need to be out there spending time with people, being open to questions, and learning yourself from the different views people have about the tech and change.

Online is a fantastic channel, but if we bring that together with face-to-face time, it becomes the perfect combination and builds community.

Geertjan Wielenga: You mentioned that you're passionate about education. Quite a few people come to tech from languages or creative disciplines. What's the connection between those areas and IT, AI, and all of these tech topics? Traditionally, those are completely separate worlds.

Sally Eaves: They are often treated as separate worlds. I'm a very big believer, though, in creative imagination and I feel that diversity of perspective and experience is incredibly important in all we do. If we can harness that creative confidence with the ability to build things for the future using tech, that becomes a very powerful combination.

I very much advocate for science, tech, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) learning. In many schools, from a UK perspective, I fear the arts are being squeezed out and I also see this internationally too. You can only access certain opportunities, like music lessons, for example, if you can pay for them, whereas they used to be embedded in the curriculum. I'm so concerned that we are going to have a lost generation to the arts if we don't address this now.

With curriculums, it tends to be a 10-year cycle with changes in focus and the time it takes to make changes if agreed. This is one of the reasons that I founded Aspirational Futures and have set up community-based hubs where people can go and learn about tech like blockchain, AI, and robotics, but equally, they can go and play an instrument, paint, or sew.

I think we need that fusion of different experiences to learn from and to socialize at the same time.

I wrote a piece recently about the beauty of algebra. Rather than saying someone is good at mathematics and they're not so good at something else, we should be more open. I think sometimes we put people into prescriptive "boxes" too early and we take away the vital time for experimentation and keeping options open.

We have to be able to imagine what the potential future can be. We need teams that are made up of people with different skills and backgrounds to achieve the best results and maximum innovation. We have some major global challenges to address collectively. Through my work with the UN and integration with the SDGs, I see this fusion as a critical way of designing, developing, and delivering the change that we need.

Geertjan Wielenga: You've mentioned a few times your involvement with the UN. How did you get involved there and what is your role?

Sally Eaves: I became involved quite naturally over time through the type of shared value projects that I focus on, alongside my charity activities. I believe wholeheartedly that frontier tech, such as blockchain and AI, has a key role to play in meeting the SDG targets and I'm very active in their application.

I also look at social impact project funding and measurement, which is another critical area. Look out for some exciting announcements related to this at the UN Assembly later this year! Within this area, there is a big focus on how blockchain can support inclusion and diversity too.

Geertjan Wielenga: Something from your story that is quite interesting is that in the past, people were programmers, testers, architects, and so on. Everyone had a specific role. But what you are is a whole range of different things at the same time. What kind of personality fits this very diverse role best?

Sally Eaves: I know that I have a very active, holistic, and always "on" mind. I also like to explore purposeful tangents! So, I'm always thinking, especially about how things can fit together—I love seeing the connection possibilities and then putting that into action. I think this agility of thought and willingness to experiment, iterate, and actualize is key.

I also believe that you need drive, determination, and a degree of pragmatism too. Advocates must be willing to share and want to amplify messages rather than keeping them in a closed circle. You often need to be prepared to go on a stage in front of different types of audiences and be willing to interact both on and offline.

All these roles are continually evolving. There are no fixed boundaries anymore. I think there are going to be more and more diverse but integrated roles like this in the tech industry and beyond it too. This is why being comfortable with agility is vital and this is reflected in the type of education experience we cultivate with Aspirational Futures.

Geertjan Wielenga: How would you describe yourself to somebody who is not technical?

Sally Eaves: Someone described me a couple of days ago, actually, and I really loved what they said.

They called me a "torchbearer for ethical tech." I thought that was lovely and it meant such a lot to me. If I was to be known for that, it would make me very happy because that is what I believe in as my core ethos.

Geertjan Wielenga: As advocates, would you say that we are all torchbearers?

Sally Eaves: Absolutely. We are helping people's voices to be heard, ensuring that people feel that their views matter, and critically, bringing these voices together. Many people have fantastic ideas. They want to get involved, but they simply don't know how to. And often they can feel alone. I think we can make a powerful difference in this area.

Geertjan Wielenga: Whose voices in particular do you think are not being heard as well as they could be?

Sally Eaves: There remains under-representation. Take blockchain as an example. I believe around six percent of the industry is female. AI development and cybersecurity also reflect this gender disparity. With AI, when we're designing and developing this tech, we must be careful of algorithmic bias, which could, in fact, be completely unconscious, but it is an issue.

Decisions informed by AI must be fair and the criteria transparent and explainable. We need to have teams that are truly diverse to support this. Again, this goes far beyond a question of gender. It's about bringing together people with different experiences and different ways of thinking. If we don't have diversity embedded now, these gaps are only going to get wider.

Geertjan Wielenga: Advocates working for companies tend to represent the tech that those companies provide, whereas those working for themselves can really be authentic. Where do you find yourself in that range?