AI and tech revolutions: why we’ve been here before | Jamie Dobson

Why do technology revolutions keep repeating the same patterns? And what can history teach today’s leaders about cloud computing, AI, and innovation?

In this episode, Zoe Cunningham speaks with Jamie Dobson, founder of cloud consultancy Container Solutions and author of Visionaries, Rebels and Machines.

Jamie has spent decades building large scale cloud platforms across industries including travel, banking, and technology. After stepping back from the CEO role in 2024, he has turned his focus to understanding the deeper patterns behind technological change, from the invention of the transistor to the rise of artificial intelligence.

They explore how technology really evolves. Drawing on examples from Edison and Oppenheimer to Amazon and modern cloud platforms, Jamie explains why breakthroughs are never the work of lone geniuses, why leadership and management matter as much as science, and why users ultimately decide where technology goes.

Jamie also shares practical lessons for today’s CTOs, CEOs, and engineering leaders, including how to build real cloud and AI capability, why innovation bottlenecks are often organisational rather than technical, and what history reveals about the current AI transition.

🔎 You’ll learn:
• Why innovation has never been a solo pursuit
• What history teaches us about leadership in technology transitions
• How cloud computing emerged by removing barriers for developers
• Why users, not inventors, shape the future of new technologies
• What past technology revolutions reveal about today’s AI moment
• Why building AI capability is fundamentally a people and leadership challenge
• How understanding history helps leaders separate real change from familiar patterns

💡 Whether you lead technology teams, make strategic decisions, or want a clearer view of the AI transition, this conversation offers grounded insights from history with direct relevance to today.

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Timestamps
00:00 – Introduction
01:17 – Jamie’s journey from programmer to founder of Container Solutions
02:57 – Rethinking consultancy, ethics, and customer-centric delivery
05:15 – Writing Visionaries, Rebels and Machines
07:58 – What Edison and Oppenheimer teach us about leadership
09:47 – Why innovation is a team sport
11:09 – Is technology really moving faster than before?
15:07 – Developers as alchemists and the origins of cloud computing
17:31 – What history teaches us about AI adoption
20:57 – Technology disruption and societal change
23:31 – What’s next for Jamie

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