DevReady Podcast

Joni Pirovich on Crypto Compliance, Stablecoins and DeFi | Ep 260 | DevReady Podcast

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, host Anthony Sapountzis sits down with Joni Pirovich, Founder of Crystal Agentic Operating System and Australia’s specialist crypto law firm B’DASL (Blockchain & Digital Assets: Services + Law), to unpack how blockchain is moving from speculation to real utility. Joni explains where stablecoins, DeFi and tokenisation fit, why regulation and licences matter, and how Crystal reduces the compliance burden so individuals and enterprises can safely participate. In this episode, expect clear examples from Australia and abroad, plus practical insight into self-custody, institutional adoption and the road to mainstream.
Joni outlines why stablecoins matter for faster, lower cost payments and why self-custody appeals to users who want control, while acknowledging that responsibility and security still sit with the individual. She contrasts slow, fee-heavy banking rails with near-instant settlement on chain, and counters the “speculation only” narrative with real use cases such as automating governance, security reviews and company procedures across open protocols that already process significant transaction volume. Regulatory uncertainty has slowed this progress, but US-led clarity is emerging and other jurisdictions are following with clearer rules of the road.
In Australia, first-wave crypto ETFs have opened exposure for brokers, super funds and everyday investors, while DeFi lets users connect a wallet to aggregation and investment protocols to automate asset management and routing. Locally, corporates are beginning to add Bitcoin to treasuries, and standout projects include Immutable in gaming and Synthetix in DeFi. At the same time, stricter licensing has pushed some builders offshore to crypto-friendly regimes, a pragmatic move until domestic frameworks catch up.
Tokenisation is gathering pace, from fractional property exposure to real-world assets more broadly. Joni explains why Dubai is further along, whereas Australia still contends with stamp duty, land tax, CGT and state-based land titles. For teams seeking to launch at speed, she points to Cayman Islands, BVI, Panama, Isle of Man, Gibraltar and Malta, while EU pathways allow firms to obtain a crypto-asset licence and passport across Italy, France, Germany and Portugal. Switzerland remains a long-standing, crypto-friendly hub, albeit with higher costs.
Looking ahead, Joni’s vision is simple. Crystal Agentic OS becomes a daily companion that surfaces your crypto activity, highlights value-aligned communities and recommends compliant actions that could improve outcomes. Her thesis is that every business will become a crypto business and most online actions will create tokenised value, which brings tax and reporting obligations that Crystal abstracts away. Built first for her own workflow after a decade advising in crypto, Crystal is now being shared so users can enjoy innovation without the compliance headache. The mainstream moment is still ahead, and better UX, clearer regulation and trusted automation are what will unlock it.
 
#DevReadyPodcast #AerionTech #JoniPirovich #CrystalAgenticOS #BDASL #Web3 #CryptoCompliance #Stablecoins #DeFi #Tokenisation #RWA #SelfCustody

Bill Lennan on Communication, Coaching and 40% Team Turnarounds | Ep 259 | DevReady Podcast

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, host Anthony Sapountzis interviews Bill Lennan, Founder of 40 Percent Better, on how communication, coaching and business first engineering drive real outcomes, including 40 percent team turnarounds. Bill unpacks practical tactics to prioritise the right problems, align stakeholders and win executive buy in, from tiny habits that help engineers speak up to tailored pitches that secure budget for tools and training. He explains why cross functional discovery with sales and support beats the telephone game, how side projects accelerate learning and how giving teams ownership improves delivery and morale. Listeners will take away a clear, teachable framework for happier, higher performing engineering teams that build the right product faster.
Bill charts a 30-year journey in Silicon Valley, moving from cold-call sales into engineering at 32 and shipping code within six months. His guiding principle is simple and powerful: prioritise the business problem over the tech stack. Drawing on a coaching culture from fine-dining, he shows how peer coaching across the team lifts happiness and output and why hiring for problem-solving and design thinking outperforms chasing specific frameworks.
Anthony and Bill explore how passion and side projects compound learning, with insights from documentaries and other fields often sparking better solutions. Bill openly shares how he overcame severe social anxiety using tiny, incremental habits, then taught the same method to hundreds. The message is clear: communication is a core engineering skill. Silent brilliance stalls careers; great products emerge when engineers collaborate, verbalise ideas and contribute beyond code.
To build better products, Bill advocates back-channel conversations across the organisation, from sales to support, to collect unfiltered signals that rarely travel cleanly through layers of management. By socialising ideas early, incorporating feedback and building allies, he secures executive buy-in and genuine team ownership. Even inside large silos, deliberate outreach across regions surfaces the right inputs faster than waiting for the chain of command, while Agile administration remains light enough to leave time for this essential discovery work.
Anthony outlines the DevReady philosophy: understand the business, solve root causes rather than symptoms and agree value before touching code. Bill agrees that upfront homework matters, yet he also shares a green-field story where scrappy prototyping proved value quickly, from an early “snow cam” on dial-up to real-world social proof at ski resorts. His turnaround playbook combines upgraded mental models, emotional resilience to take high-leverage actions and tailored communication that speaks to each audience’s success metrics. The result is teams that win budget, choose impactful projects, systematise habits and sustain performance improvements, including a 40% lift in throughput in just six months.
#EngineeringLeadership #DevReadyPodcast #SoftwareEngineering #TeamPerformance #Communication #CoachingCulture #ProductStrategy #Startups #TechLeadership #AerionTech

LinkedIn B2B Lead Gen: 3 DMs Framework to Book 8 to 10 Weekly Sales Meetings | Ep 258 | DevReady Podcast

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, host Anthony Sapountzis sits down with Maarij Qureshi, Founder of Simplify Sales and host of Simplify Success, to unpack a practical, trust-led approach to B2B lead generation on LinkedIn. Maarij’s agency helps service businesses land £24k–£80k+ retainers and book 5–10 meetings a week, often within days, using his simple “3-DM” framework. From face-to-face sales and building a 40-person team to a rapid online pivot after COVID, Maarij blends proven sales systems with personalised outreach that actually gets replies.
Anthony shares Aerion Technologies’ journey from a university start-up to a team of six in Australia and 40+ in Nepal, highlighting how the business relied on referrals for 17 years before switching on paid ads and seeing steady inbound enquiries. He outlines today’s client acquisition reality: anchor long-form content (like this podcast) repurposed into short-form clips for LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube now outperforms text-and-image posts. The aim is to stay top of mind with helpful, consistent content while widening reach beyond the immediate network.
Trust sits at the heart of effective outreach. Consultants are inundated with sales DMs each week, so formats that build trust quickly (podcasts, white papers and useful posts) cut through the noise. DevReady itself is a networking engine and content flywheel: clear guest prep, automated follow-ups and streamlined show-note collection make the process repeatable and respectful of everyone’s time. The result is meaningful connections, direct client wins even from a modest audience, and compounding learning across 250+ episodes.
Maarij breaks down the 3-DMs framework: start with a short, profile-specific “this or that” question; follow with a message that acknowledges, relates and asks a quick follow-up; then make a value-first ask such as sharing a relevant win, inviting someone to a white paper interview, or offering a podcast spot. This human sequence lowers defences and delivers about 4% conversion from connections sent (around 8–10 meetings per 200 requests, roughly 40 a day in two hours). Anthony contrasts this with DevReady’s direct podcast invitations on LinkedIn, which convert at roughly 10% because there is no sales pitch, just a genuine invitation to talk.
Looking ahead, Maarij talks about how Simplify Sales is evolving into a fractional CRO partner for companies at £3m+ revenue, adding cold email, content creation and editing, and full-funnel systems, sequenced as outreach for speed, then content and SEO plus brand, and finally paid ads once positioning is dialled in. Clients have grown 3–4× in a year, thanks to rigorous SOPs and a focus on ideal-fit prospects over spray and pray tactics. In parallel, Aerion is developing the next version of its platform with deeper automation and AI agents to further streamline delivery. Across the discussion, one theme stands out for SEO-savvy B2B growth: personalisation beats automation, be human, be useful, and your pipeline will follow.
#LinkedIn #B2B #LeadGen #Sales #DevReadyPodcast #AerionTechnologies

Stop Selling Time: David Werdiger’s Recurring Revenue Blueprint | Ep 257 | DevReady Podcast

In this week’s DevReady Podcast, host Andrew Romeo, CEO & Co-Founder, Aerion Technologies, sits down with David Werdiger, Executive Coach with Asian Leadership International Executive Coaching, author, entrepreneur, and adviser to SMEs on intergenerational wealth transition, governance, and strategy. David shares lessons from growing up in a family business to building scalable tech, the power of founder-led sales, and how governance turns ventures into valuable, transferable assets. Themes include moving from “owning a job” to owning a business, advisory boards and CEO autonomy, values-driven decision-making, and David’s Time Purpose Map for balancing work and life.
David’s journey begins in his family’s textile business, shaped by a strong provider ethic and community leadership. Strong in maths and computing, he validated himself outside the family by becoming a quant analyst in stockbroking before pivoting into software. During mid-90s telco deregulation he built a telecommunications billing system, shifted to owning the IP, and pioneered a revenue-share leasing model, an early SaaS approach that delivered recurring revenue and better customer fit. Listening to cash-constrained start-ups informed flexible pricing and roadmap decisions, and a later partnership path led to a telco that reverse listed on the ASX.
Andrew and David explore why founder-led sales often outperform hiring a BDM, particularly for complex products. Acting as owner-seller let David make real-time decisions, architect solutions on the spot, and avoid script-driven mis-selling, while acknowledging the productive tension between sales and dev. Influenced by Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Gerber’s E-Myth, he reframed success around systems and clarity of purpose, anchored by the pivotal question, “What is the business for?” Without that clarity, founders risk burnout through overstretch, juggling ventures, boards, and family, rather than building a scalable enterprise.
Facing growing pains, a failed partnership, and clashes with a general manager, David chose to step back properly by establishing an advisory board, elevating the GM to CEO, and setting clear delegations and boundaries. “Don’t buy a dog and bark yourself” became the operating principle. Monthly board rhythms matured the firm into a “grown-up” business that now consumes roughly 10% of his time, enabling space for health, study, and a Masters of Entrepreneurship & Innovation (Swinburne). From this phase emerged the Time Purpose Map (a 2×2 of active/passive and for-profit/non-profit) and a commitment to contribute time, talent, and treasure, not just capital.
Today, David coaches multigenerational families on values, mission, purpose, governance, and building a rigorous family charter. As an external facilitator he helps shift conversations from the “kitchen table” to a disciplined, respectful forum with a clear code of conduct so every voice is heard and conflict is handled constructively. He notes repeating patterns, including money as a proxy for power, the primacy of relationships and time as true wealth, and the importance of setting values-based red lines by asking, “What would we not do?” The episode closes with a practical takeaway for founders and leaders alike, namely to align personal and business goals, because if you do not know where you want to go, any road will do.
#DevReadyPodcast #Leadership #RecurringRevenue #FounderLedSales #Governance #FamilyBusiness #ProductStrategy #SaaS #ScaleUp #AustraliaTech

Stop Building AI Agents: Brief and Control Them Safely | Ep 256 | DevReady Podcast

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, host Anthony Sapountzis speaks with Gareth Rydon, Co-Founder of Friyay.ai, about why most organisations should stop building AI agents and start briefing them properly for safer, more reliable results. They cover human in the loop controls, secure login checkpoints, prompt injection risks, how to monitor agent behaviour, when simple workflow automation beats a free roaming agent, and practical tool choices across Claude, Copilot, Gemini and ChatGPT.
The discussion begins with the rapid rise of pre-built agents in tools like ChatGPT and the parallel increase in risks. Rather than handing over passwords and hoping for the best, Gareth recommends explicit checkpoints, for example pausing at log-ins so a human enters credentials, and monitoring early runs to see which sites an agent visits and why. Anthony adds a security lens, noting spoofed pages, homograph domains, and other phishing traps that emerge when browser agents roam the web. Both advocate a human-in-the-loop approach that balances capability with oversight, especially for sensitive tasks.
They then explore when not to use agents. For repeatable processes such as content pipelines, a simple workflow often beats a free-roaming agent on cost, speed, and reliability. Anthony cites scraping projects where agent costs ballooned, while Gareth shares a LinkedIn workflow that runs on lightweight steps in a shared sheet, with research, condensing, tone-of-voice prompts, and human review. This approach is easier to debug, avoids the variability of large models, and delivers predictable ROI for marketing and operations teams.
On talent and skills, Gareth acknowledges that roles will change and some jobs will go, yet the best response is to upskill and let AI amplify existing strengths. Drawing on examples from law and creative work, they note that experts using AI are busier than ever because they combine judgement with acceleration. Anthony cautions that DIY builds can hide structural issues such as empty databases or non-functional features, which is why domain knowledge and clear instructions still matter. The takeaway is simple: AI raises the floor and the ceiling; invest in skills, keep humans in the loop, and choose pragmatic workflows over hype.
Finally, they assess today’s tool choices. The uplift from recent model shifts feels modest compared with the collaboration gap, where shareable projects and team workflows remain the blocker. Gareth sees strong enterprise adoption of Claude and advises buyers not to default to Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT by habit. Instead, run a one-week bake-off with Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini, compare security posture, collaboration features, and day-to-day usability, then standardise on the platform that fits your organisation. The goal is faster, safer collaboration rather than chasing headlines.
#DevReadyPodcast #AIAgents #HumanInTheLoop #AISecurity #PromptInjection #WorkflowAutomation #EnterpriseAI #ClaudeAI #ChatGPT

AI for SMEs: Luke Chaffey’s playbook to automate and drive ROI | Ep 255 | DevReady Podcast

Luke Chaffey, Managing Director of AIWise, joins host Anthony Sapountzis (CTO and Co-Founder of Aerion Technologies and Co-Founder of DevReady.ai | AI-Powered App Planning for Non-Tech Founders ) in this episode of the DevReady Podcast to unpack how small and medium-sized enterprises can turn AI from hype into business value. From early chatbot and augmented reality experiments to production-ready automation, Luke shares practical lessons on strategy, tooling and evaluation frameworks that keep outputs accurate, consistent and on brand. Expect real examples: cutting document creation time, prioritising high-value leads, and natural-language product search, plus a simple roadmap to get started with AI today.
Luke charts his journey from web development to co-founding Capillary Digital with David Koch, then into startups building AR, AI and chatbots for international clients before launching AIWise. Early prototypes paired AR “place-in-room” visualisation with AI trained on product data to answer questions and support sales, an approach that saw stronger uptake in the U.S. than Australia. Alongside hands-on tech, Luke built authority with 400+ articles and frequent media appearances, emphasising how writing and communication skills accelerate technical leadership and client education.
Inside AIWise, the playbook starts with clarifying strategy and a roadmap, then moves to implementation (or hand-off to internal dev teams) and leadership training. For automation, Luke mixes code and no-code: Python for control, reliability and richer state handling; Make (and, for developers, n8n) for fast proofs-of-concept that clients can self-manage. The north star is embedding AI directly inside core systems and workflows, shipping quick wins via no-code where sensible, then migrating in-house for scale, orchestration (containers, agents) and long-term maintainability.
On common missteps, Luke sees SMEs either assuming AI is “only for big companies” or dabbling without context. The remedy is to start hands-on with models like ChatGPT or Gemini, provide rich business context, and then rigorously validate outputs. He warns about hallucinations and “sycophantic” responses; best practice includes cross-model checks, human fact-checking in unfamiliar domains, and a robust evaluation framework that bulk-tests answers for factuality, tone and correct source use—crucial for customer-facing chatbots.
Results follow when AI targets repeatable work: prioritising referral conversations so teams focus on high-value customers; turning bullet points into polished job descriptions in seconds; and compressing a tax report workflow from eight hours to two by auto-drafting the repeatable 80%. For newcomers, Luke suggests a simple path: start with ChatGPT for everyday tasks (emails, briefings, document drafts), then add no-code automation with Make to streamline processes; explore off-the-shelf tools (e.g., voice with ElevenLabs) before going bespoke. When needs grow, engage experts to productionise and integrate so AI delivers reliable, measurable outcomes rather than one-off experiments.
#AI #Automation #SMEs #SmallBusiness #ChatGPT #Gemini #Makecom #n8n #Python #Ecommerce #AugmentedReality #DevReadyPodcast #AerionTechnologies #LukeChaffey #AIWise

How Ryan Zahrai and Zed Law Achieved 10x Growth with AI for Startups | Ep 254 | DevReady Podcast

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, host Anthony Sapountzis, CTO and Co-Founder of Aerion Technologies, speaks with Ryan Zahrai, Founder of Zed Law, a cutting-edge legal and advisory firm built for fast-growing startups and ambitious scale-ups. Over the past 18 months, Zed Law has achieved 10x growth by bridging a key gap in the market by delivering agile legal services and strategic corporate advisory to clients who have outgrown the startup hustle but find traditional mid-tier law firms too slow and bloated. Beyond legal work, Zed Law supports clients with venture capital fundraising, debt financing, and market entry strategies, even investing directly in early-stage companies. With a founder-first, synergy-driven approach, Ryan and his team have cultivated a thriving network of bootstrapped and mission-led entrepreneurs who value speed, collaboration, and results.
Ryan’s unconventional legal career journey began in top-tier Australian law firms, took him to Israel for a global in-house legal role, and later into the private equity-backed healthcare sector. Working closely with CTOs, startup founders, and business leaders shifted his perspective on intelligence, challenging the legal profession’s over-reliance on academic credentials. He discovered that innovation in law often comes from those who think differently and operate outside rigid structures. This led Ryan to abandon the billable hour model, which he views as inherently limiting, in favour of tech-enabled legal solutions that deliver scale, efficiency, and greater client impact.
The discussion also explores the surge in venture capital investment driven by AI FOMO (fear of missing out). Ryan compares the trend to the crypto boom, with companies repositioning themselves or launching niche AI products to attract investors; with some securing funding without even an MVP. He envisions the future law firm as a small, expert legal team supported by hundreds of AI agents, from M&A specialists to contract drafting bots, enabling unprecedented efficiency. Anthony and Ryan also discuss the AI talent war, where top engineers are being courted with bonuses and salaries comparable to elite sports transfers.
AI’s transformation of the legal industry is already evident through platforms like Harvey – Professional Class AI , Crosby AI, and Veraty, Zed Law’s chosen partner for delivering AI-first legal services. Veraty’s platform resolves about 75% of legal queries via AI, with optional human lawyer verification for added accuracy. Ryan believes that AI already outperforms many mid-tier lawyers in efficiency and accuracy, much like how AI in healthcare has surpassed human performance in early-stage cancer detection. He predicts that while AI will dominate routine legal tasks, the optimal model will remain AI plus human oversight. He also outlines how AI will reduce demand for junior lawyers and paralegals, with fewer traditional entry roles but greater opportunities for those skilled in AI tool mastery and output verification.
As the episode closes, Ryan emphasises the importance of business agility in the AI era. He urges small and mid-sized firms to review strategies quarterly, run market tests, and pivot quickly based on early data, warning that failure to adapt will lead to being left behind. In contrast, large, inflexible firms often struggle to change at the necessary pace. Ryan’s key takeaway is clear: whether you’re in law, technology, or any AI-impacted industry, regular strategic adaptation isn’t optional; it’s the only path to long-term success.
#DevReadyPodcast #RyanZahrai #AIinLaw #LegalTech #Startups #FutureOfWork #VentureCapital

Why Weird Leaders Will Win in the Age of AI | Ep 253 | DevReady Podcast

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, host Anthony Sapountzis, CTO and Co-Founder of Aerion Technologies, welcomes Michael Meyer, Founder & CEO of M31 Consulting, for a thought-provoking conversation on digital leadership. Michael brings nearly three decades of experience across infrastructure, data, and software, with a mission to help business leaders reframe how they lead in a world increasingly defined by the virtual. As the author of Weird Is the New Normal, Michael blends imagination, strategy, and storytelling to empower leaders navigating complexity, digital disruption, and the rise of artificial intelligence.
Michael reflects on his journey from help desk support in the ’90s to executive leadership and consulting, unpacking how value creation has shifted from physical assets to soft assets like intellectual property, speed, and adaptability. He challenges the outdated perception of IT as a cost centre and urges businesses to harness the full power of their tech teams. Using the example of visionaries like Steve Jobs, Michael highlights the value of conviction, curiosity, and the ability to interpret a world we can’t always see: a world that operates through screens, data, and distributed systems.
Drawing rich parallels with fantasy narratives like The Lord of the Rings, Michael explains how leadership in the digital economy often mirrors an unpredictable quest. He explores how traditional organisations struggle with black-box decision-making, siloed departments, and missed opportunities, often because leaders unknowingly give away their power when delegating technology decisions. Using powerful metaphors like steamboats navigating rapids, Michael reframes digital transformation as something that must be both imagined and steered. His call for stronger digital leadership literacy is a reminder that technology alone isn’t enough and humans must lead it with clarity and intent.
Michael also cautions against the dangers of hype-driven adoption, particularly with AI. He shares a sobering real-world example of a company laying off 700 employees after poorly implementing AI, only to rehire many of them after realising the damage caused by rushed, uninformed decision-making. Rather than chase trends, he urges organisations to focus on empathy, systems thinking, and long-term human value. Tools like Scrum, he argues, offer transferable frameworks for adaptability and should be applied beyond tech into broader organisational strategy.
As the episode wraps, Michael offers leaders a lasting mantra for navigating this uncertain and ever-changing world: “Be curious. Be weird.” Curiosity, he says, unlocks growth and drives innovation. In an era where AI can generate code but not lead people, and where unexpected consequences are the norm, embracing our own weirdness and asking better questions is more valuable than ever. If you’re a business or tech leader grappling with the fast-moving digital world, this episode will challenge your thinking and leave you inspired to lead differently.
#Leadership #AI #DevReadyPodcast #WeirdIsTheNewNormal #MichaelMeyer #TechStrategy #AerionTechnologies #DigitalLeadership

3-Step Trading System to Beat the Market by Louise Bedford | Ep 252 | DevReady Podcast

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Anthony Sapountzis is joined by Louise Bedford, an acclaimed financial educator, author of six bestselling books and entrepreneur, best known as the founder of  Trading Game and host of the Talking Trading podcast. With a background in corporate finance and early experience running her own business, Louise has dedicated over a decade to mentoring traders across the globe, helping them develop the discipline and systems needed to thrive in the share market. Her unique blend of self-development, structured planning and real-world trading experience has empowered thousands to approach investing with confidence and clarity.
Louise’s journey into trading began at just 20 years old, sparked by a seminar that outlined three paths to wealth: property, business and shares; and led her to choose the share market for its flexibility and potential income streams. Her first three years were emotionally turbulent: repeated losses, tears and moments of self-doubt taught her that success on the market demands a calm mindset and a rigorous trading plan. Drawing on lessons from a failed early business, she learned the importance of responsibility, clear communication and a structured approach, principles that now underpin her mentoring programmes.
Central to Louise’s philosophy is the construction of a bullet-proof trading plan built on three pillars: precise entry criteria, disciplined exit rules and sensible position sizing. She explains that short-term trades span hours to days, medium-term trades last weeks to a year, and long-term positions can endure for years, with automatic contingent orders and stop-losses set on the broker’s platform to free traders from constant screen monitoring. Louise also champions ETF and index strategies for instant diversification and an inherent upward bias, while advising traders to maintain a day job during their early market endeavours to preserve financial freedom and reduce emotional pressure.
Louise and Anthony explore the role of AI as an augmenting partner rather than a standalone adviser. While tools like Gemini and Claude can expedite deep industry research and data analysis, they caution against relying on generic chatbots for specific financial advice, noting their tendency to hallucinate and lack real-time data. Instead, they advocate a collaborative workflow: perform initial planning manually, use AI to refine and translate complex algorithms into plain English, then meticulously review every output to preserve critical thinking and guard against over-reliance on automated responses.
Finally, Louise challenges the conventional chase for dividends alone, demonstrating that capital gains from trending shares typically outpace dividend yields. She recommends enrolling in a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRP) so that dividends automatically purchase additional shares supercharging returns through compounding. Framing investing as a strategic “game” of maximising returns with minimal effort, Louise combines DRPs with indices’ natural upward drift to achieve both strong financial outcomes and personal freedom. Her message is clear: with the right systems, mindset and disciplined use of technology, the share market can become a powerful engine for long-term wealth and fulfilment.
Here's the Simulcast on Louise's Talking Trading: https://talkingtrading.com.au/ai-meets-trading/
#TradingPlan #TradingEducation #AIinTrading #FinancialFreedom #DividendReinvestment #ETFTips #DevReadyPodcast

AI, Copilot & Microsoft Partnerships: What Founders Need to Know Before Building | Ep 251 | DevReady Podcast

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Anthony Sapountzis is joined by Lee-ann Dias, Director & Founder of Sasbri Consulting. With a career spanning global roles in business and technology consulting, Lee-ann has built a reputation for helping organisations go to market faster and smarter through strategic process improvement and technological enablement. Formerly with Microsoft and a trusted advisor to Microsoft Partners across ANZ, she brings unique insight into how organisations can navigate complexity, maximise the value of AI tools like Copilot, and remain competitive in a rapidly evolving tech landscape. Her work bridges technical know-how and business strategy, grounded in curiosity, analytical rigour, and an unrelenting drive to deliver value.
The conversation opens with Lee-ann talking about her unconventional entry into tech consulting, transitioning from business development to workshop facilitation where she discovered her passion for problem-solving and stakeholder engagement. She now collaborates with Microsoft Partners and tech studios to ensure solutions are aligned with actual business needs, not just perceived ones. Lee-ann and Anthony delve into why so many projects fail due to poor upfront planning, unclear requirements, and the tendency to build prematurely. They stress the value of discovery workshops, foresight in system design, and embedding security at the outset, practices that save time, reduce risk, and ensure a stronger foundation for scale.
The discussion then shifts to the growing number of non-technical founders entering the product space, often relying on low-code platforms and AI tools to launch MVPs. While such tools can accelerate development, Lee-ann explains that they’re no substitute for structured planning, proper architecture, and real developer oversight. Using accessible analogies like house-building, she and Anthony demystify the layers of application development and reinforce the need to educate clients on timelines, cost structures, and technical constraints. The consensus: low-code may get you started, but it takes expert guidance to build scalable, secure, and commercially viable software.
AI’s role in software creation also comes under the spotlight, with both guests cautioning against over-reliance. Lee-ann emphasises that while AI can write code, it doesn’t guarantee the right code, nor does it replace the critical thinking, debugging, and reverse engineering skills of experienced professionals. Anthony adds that although AI can increase output, it rarely decreases costs, as testing and validation remain essential. Their shared view is clear: AI is a powerful enabler, but human expertise is still the cornerstone of quality software delivery.
Lee-ann also offers insights into the challenges Microsoft Partners face when navigating Microsoft’s vast ecosystem. Drawing from her time on both the partner and vendor sides, she developed a Partner Maturity Assessment to help organisations better align with Microsoft’s go-to-market strategies. From guiding System Integrators and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) on cloud migration and AI readiness to assisting partners with Dynamics and Power Platform implementations, Lee-ann plays a pivotal role in helping businesses optimise their partnership with Microsoft. She also champions the creation of internal Centres of Excellence, communities of tech advocates who can champion tools like Copilot, drive adoption, and unlock the true value of time-saving innovations.
#AI #MicrosoftCopilot #TechForFounders #LowCodeDevelopment #MicrosoftPartner #StartupTech #DigitalTransformation #SoftwareDevelopment #DevReadyPodcast