Digitally Curious
Digitally Curious is a show all about the near-term future with actionable advice from a range of global experts. Order the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order
Who is your host, Andrew Grill? He’s the AI expert who speaks your business language. After 30+ years building tech solutions at companies like IBM and a range of high-tech startups, Andrew now helps executives navigate AI without getting lost in the complexity.
He has held senior leadership roles, including Global Managing Partner at IBM, and has collaborated with C-suite teams from organisations such as Shell, Vodafone, Dell, SAP Concur, Nike, Nestlé, and the NHS.
Andrew has delivered 600+ keynotes in over 50 countries on topics such as generative AI, quantum computing, digital transformation, and the future of work.
Ranked among the world’s top 10 futurist speakers and a finalist for AI Expert of the Year, in 2025, he was recognised on the AI 100 UK List as one of the country’s leading voices in responsible Artificial Intelligence.
He is the author of Digitally Curious (2024), a bestselling guide to navigating the future of AI and technology, and host of the Digitally Curious Podcast (since 2019), where he translates complex trends into actionable insights.
Andrew is a regular media commentator, featured on BBC Television & Radio, Sky News, LBC, and in publications such as the Financial Times, The Guardian, and The Economist.
Find out more about Andrew at actionablefuturist.com
Digitally Curious
S4 Episode 5: Helena Nimmo from Endava on Digital Acceleration
We hear a lot about digital transformation, and my guest Helena Nimmo thinks this term is outdated and should be replaced with digital acceleration.
She argues that Digital Transformation suggests that you have a blank canvas and that is rarely true, she prefers to talk about Digital Acceleration and building on what you already have.
Helena knows a lot about this subject as the Chief Information Officer for Endava, a public technology company that is reimagining the relationship between people and technology.
Helena joined Endava in 2019 and has been in the technology industry for over 20 years. A native of Finland, she started her career at Finnish technology giant Nokia in the logistics division before joining Symbian software and moving to London in 1999. She also worked in senior roles in publishing with Euro Monitor and Thomson Reuters.
Helena thinks that data is what makes technology relevant, and prefers the term “digital acceleration” to that of “digital transformation”.
In this episode we discussed:
- How a CIO needs to manage “Shadow IT” in an organisation
- How the pandemic exposed issues of digital breakage
- The extra tools a CIO needs to support a distributed workforce
- Why boards should be taking cybersecurity more seriously
- The industries that have more rapidly adopted digital acceleration projects
- Helena’s views on digital literacy
- Her key learnings as a manager during the pandemic
- How to stay up to date with all the new technologies and platforms that are appearing
More on Helena
Helena on LinkedIn
Endava website
Angela Marsons Crime Writer
Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order
Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill
For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com
Andrew's Social Channels
Andrew on LinkedIn
@AndrewGrill on Twitter
@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
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