BASELINE
A long-form conversation series uncovering how innovation really happens, hosted by technologist Ian T. Smith.
Each episode brings together founders, policymakers, scientists, and strategists shaping the future of AI and digital systems.
Since its launch in 2024, BASELINE has become a trusted source of insight for leaders across enterprise, academia, and government, reaching more than one million viewers worldwide.
About Ian T. Smith
A technology founder and enterprise operator for over two decades, Ian has built, scaled, and exited multiple software ventures across AI, infrastructure, and data security. He co-founded Butterfly Software, acquired by IBM, where he went on to lead global product management for a $4 billion software business. He later founded Gospel Technology, backed by Salesforce Ventures and adopted by AstraZeneca and Rolls-Royce.
Today, Ian works as an independent AI transformation advisor, helping organisations translate complex technology and regulation into practical strategy, governance, and measurable growth.
Through BASELINE and his advisory work, he connects the public and private sectors to explore responsible AI adoption, digital trust, and the infrastructure of the future.
Testimonials
“Such a great interviewer.”
“That guy has a depth that’s rare in these discussions.”
“The multibody problem analogy was brilliant.”
“So entertaining to watch.”
Inside the AI Bubble. Danvers Baillieu
Is the AI boom a repeat of the dot-com bubble or something entirely new? In this episode of BASELINE, Ian sits down with Danvers Baillieu: tech lawyer, startup operator, and co-founder of GVT Labs to explore what’s real and what’s hype inside the AI bubble. F
rom advising early internet founders and co-creating Bootlaw, to scaling Hide My Ass VPN and InfoSum, Danvers has lived through every wave of digital disruption. Together they unpack how privacy, regulation, and trust are colliding with the speed of automation, and why AI’s foundations may be stronger than the markets think.
Artificial Intelligence: Utopia or dystopia?
The Truth About AI, Media & Trust. Joe Tannorella
In this episode, Ian Smith speaks with Joe Tannorella, founder of PodEngine.ai, about the collapse of authenticity in modern media and why AI isn’t to blame. They explore how automation, marketing, and search are reshaping creativity, and why human connection has become the rarest commodity in technology.
The discussion moves from the mediocrity of generative AI to the power of conversational knowledge inside enterprises, from the death of traditional SEO to the rise of intelligent discovery. Together, they question why audiences no longer trust corporate media, how creators now outperform global brands, and what happens when the internet itself becomes synthetic.
Artificial Intelligence: Utopia or dystopia?
But Risk Has Never Stopped Progress. Dr Magda Ramada
In The Age of Imperfect Machines, global InsurTech leader Dr. Magda Ramada Sarasola (WTW) joins BASELINE to explore one of the most overlooked questions in the AI revolution: What happens when AI fails and how do we insure against it? From the fear of the first elevators to today’s non-deterministic AI systems, this conversation uncovers why innovation doesn’t come from eliminating risk, but from learning how to live with it.
Magda explains how the insurance industry has always enabled progress by absorbing uncertainty so society can keep moving forward and how that same principle now underpins AI assurance, accountability, and agentic systems.
Artificial Intelligence: Utopia or dystopia?
Ex-Google Engineer: Why Digital ID Will Decide AI’s Future
Digital identity is no longer just about logging in, it’s about who and what we trust in a world where AI agents are multiplying faster than humans. In this episode of BASELINE, I speak with Jacoby Thwaites, ex-Google technologist and now CTO of Magic ID. We dive into the UK’s plans for mandatory digital ID by 2029, Switzerland’s national e-ID referendum, and why identity has become the #1 attack vector in cyber security.
Jacoby explains why humans today are “ghosts in the digital world,” why bots already outnumber humans online, and how trusted communities could give people and AI equal standing in digital society.
Artificial Intelligence: Utopia or dystopia?
Dr Michael Barros on Brain Connectivity and Embodied Intelligence
Dr Michael Barros brings a rare blend of scientific depth and human clarity. From showing us why every neuron is important to revealing how electroceuticals could transform medicine and how true intelligence is embodied, he turns complex frontiers of neuroscience into ideas anyone can grasp.
His work at the University of Essex and the Alan Turing Institute is pioneering, but more than that, he speaks with humility and hope about the future of humanity and AI. This is one of those conversations that makes you rethink what it means to be alive, to learn, and to imagine what comes next.
Artificial Intelligence: Utopia or dystopia?
AI Pilots and the Power of Failing Fast - Martin Bishop
Martin Bishop, former Chief Technologist for UK Public Sector at AWS, joins Baseline to explore what really works when governments and enterprises adopt AI. We talk about why embracing pilot failure is key to progress, how two-person teams are now winning seven-figure government tenders, and what legacy estates mean for transformation.
Martin also shares lessons from AWS, UK public sector procurement, sovereignty, education, and delivery at scale including how he helped stand up vaccine infrastructure in a single weekend.
Artificial Intelligence: Utopia or dystopia?
The Algorithmic Leap | AI, Innovation, and the Rules of the Game - Dr John Fletcher
In BASELINE052, Ian Smith sits down with Dr John Fletcher an Oxford, Imperial, and Cambridge-trained physicist and Chief Scientist at The Innovation Game. John is not just a world-class academic - he’s a rare innovator who bridges the gap between research and real-world impact.
At The Innovation Game, he is building technology that creates genuine competitive advantage, not just another layer of AI hype. His work proves how algorithms can solve critical problems in logistics, medicine, and science showing that the future of AI is about application, not buzzwords.
Artificial Intelligence: Utopia or dystopia?
Are We Giving Up Our Minds? Prof Reinhold Scherer on Brain Interfaces & AI Outsourcing - BASELINE045
Professor Reinhold Scherer is Head of the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering at the University of Essex and a global leader in brain-computer interface (BCI) research. In this episode of BASELINE, he explains how BCIs are already restoring movement, hearing, and communication, and what it means when we begin connecting human brains to machines.
We explore the ethics of neural implants, the rise of synthetic intelligence, and how tools like ChatGPT are reshaping memory, attention, and human thought. From non-invasive brainwave decoding to the psychological impact of cognitive outsourcing, this conversation reveals what happens when machines do more than serve us - they begin to shape us.
Artificial Intelligence: Utopia or dystopia?
The Man Teaching Banks to Think - Dr Paul Dongha, NatWest - BASELINE041
Dr Paul Dongha was studying intelligent agents before most people had internet access. Today, he leads Responsible AI at NatWest, shaping how artificial intelligence supports financial customers while protecting trust. In this conversation, Paul unpacks how GenAI is changing the relationship between banks and individuals, why emotional AI must be treated with caution, and how his 1996 PhD on goal-directed agents is now shockingly relevant.
We explore what it means to act ethically with AI, how regulation and innovation can coexist, and why the future of finance might look more like a conversation than a transaction.
Artificial Intelligence: Utopia or dystopia?