The Entropy Podcast

What would a hacker spot in your business that everyone else has missed?
Glenn Wilkinson has spent his career being paid to break into organisations. In this episode of The Entropy Podcast, he joins Francis Gorman to explain how attackers find their way in, why trusted suppliers can become dangerous weak points, and what leaders should do before ransomware brings business to a halt.
They explore the changing tactics of cyber extortion, why AI is accelerating attacks without replacing human hackers, and the overlooked risks of giving AI agents access to your systems. Could the software you willingly install cause the damage you’re trying to prevent?
Glenn also explains why cybersecurity needs to move beyond the CISO’s desk—and why borrowing a hacker could be one of the smartest moves your board makes.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Complexity creates opportunity. Cloud services, suppliers and interconnected systems give attackers more routes into your organisation.
• Focus on what must keep running. Identify your “minimum viable organisation”: the essential operations your business cannot survive without.
• Rehearse the bad day. Test recovery plans under pressure, including how you’ll communicate and make decisions when core systems are unavailable.
• Don’t let AI hype distract from security fundamentals. Excessive permissions, weak passwords and unpatched systems still give attackers opportunities.
• Your internal AI deserves scrutiny. An agent with legitimate access and a misaligned objective can cause harm without being malicious software.
• Make cyber a leadership habit. Share responsibility beyond the CISO and bring an attacker’s perspective into boardroom decisions.
SOUNDBITES
“Hackers love complexity.”
“If the building burns down, you can't do business. If ransomware hits, you can't do business.”
“If you haven't tested it under pressure, it's gonna suck when it happens for real.”
“Resilience over perfection.”

What if the biggest barrier to innovation isn’t your technology, but how your people feel?
In this episode of the Entropy Podcast, Francis Gorman is joined by Dr. Andreas E. Wagner to explore the human side of innovation and why emotional intelligence deserves a central place in how we lead, collaborate and navigate change.
Andreas explains how teams can move from “playing not to lose” towards “playing to win”, why emotional intelligence is a learnable skill, and how leaders can build trust through their everyday behaviour. They explore empathy, digital distraction and the importance of creating an environment where people feel safe to speak up, experiment and learn from mistakes.
From gratitude and mindful breathing to leaving space between meetings, this conversation offers practical ways to become more present, manage emotional reactions and make room for better connections.
If you’re leading people through change or rethinking how your team innovates, this episode starts with a simple challenge: start with yourself.
Key takeaways
Innovation depends on people. Technology and processes need people who feel able to act, experiment and contribute.
Think big, start small, then scale. Set a direction, test manageable ideas and use what you learn to decide what grows.
Emotional intelligence can be developed. Self-awareness, emotional regulation and understanding others take deliberate practice.
Model the behaviour you want to see. Building a more emotionally intelligent team begins with your own attention, habits and responses.
Notice your emotional state. Recognising how you feel can help you respond more constructively and understand others.
Make space to reset. Gratitude, human connection, mindful breathing and gaps between meetings are practices Andreas uses to manage stress.
Create safety for learning. Invite different perspectives, encourage people to speak openly and distinguish useful experimentation from avoidable mistakes.
Soundbites:
“You are the company. So that means it is a people thing.” 
“Start with yourself, walk the talk.” 
“Emotional intelligence is a learnable skill.” 
“Sympathy is a blocker for empathy for me, to be straightforward.” 
“If you're distracted you can't be one hundred percent with someone.” 
“We as human beings are hardwired to connect.” 
“Failure and innovation for me these are twins.”

A familiar voice. A convincing email. A request that catches you at exactly the wrong moment. What happens when the signals we rely on to trust someone can be manufactured?
Cybersecurity expert and author Frank Riccardi joins Francis Gorman on The Entropy Podcast to unpack how AI is changing the hacker’s playbook. From personalized phishing attacks and voice cloning to deepfakes and crypto romance scams, Frank explains why the most effective weapon is often our willingness to trust.
Drawing on his experience managing cybersecurity incidents in healthcare, Frank shares practical ways to protect yourself, your family and your organisation. The conversation also explores the human trafficking behind scam operations, the reality of responding to ransomware, and why companies need to stop blaming people for failures their systems should anticipate.
Key Takeaways
AI makes phishing personal. Scammers can use information about your life and work to create messages that feel credible and familiar.
Nobody is immune to a scam. Expertise doesn’t eliminate vulnerability to exhaustion, urgency or emotional pressure.
A familiar voice isn’t proof of identity. Verify unexpected requests through a separate, trusted channel. A family challenge phrase can add another check.
Strong security starts with the basics. Unique passwords, multifactor authentication, patching and backups remain central to cyber resilience.
Romance scams have multiple victims. Frank discusses how people forced into scam operations can themselves be victims of trafficking and abuse.
Companies share responsibility. Resilient systems should account for predictable human mistakes instead of making employees and customers the default scapegoats.
Your own skills still matter. Critical thinking and subject knowledge help you question AI outputs and recognise when the technology gets things wrong.
Soundbites:
“It’s not the technology that pwns you, it’s the trickery.”
“Nobody’s unscammable.”
“We’ve got to stop designing systems that allow a catastrophic cyber attack for perfectly predictable human behavior.”
“Cybersecurity is a shared accountability.”
“If the tool leads you, it’s going to lead you down the wrong path.”

What happens when we automate more of our work but lose the ability to connect with each other?
Francis Gorman welcomes storyteller, producer and leadership coach Christopher Nelson to The Entropy Podcast to explore why storytelling matters in an increasingly distracted, AI-driven world.
Drawing on his experience behind the scenes of Dragons’ Den and his work with business leaders, Christopher explains how stories capture attention, build trust and help people work together. He introduces PRISM, his practical storytelling framework, and shares how one banking leader used stories of success and failure to change the way his teams connected and learned.
From the hidden cost of a frictionless digital life to the ingredients of a compelling pitch, this conversation explores what it takes to make people care and why human relationships deserve as much attention as the technology transforming our work.
Key Takeaways:
• Individual productivity doesn’t guarantee effective teamwork. Christopher argues that collaboration depends on the relationships we deliberately build.
• Everyday interactions give us opportunities to practise listening, navigating disagreement and understanding other people. Removing social friction can also remove opportunities to develop those skills.
• Use PRISM to structure a compelling story: a Provocative opener, a Relatable individual, an Inflection or challenge, the Struggle, and a Moral or lesson.
• Make storytelling part of your team’s routine. Sharing specific wins and failures can help colleagues learn from experience and recognise each other’s contributions.
• Give people a reason to care. Relatable characters, meaningful stakes and uncertainty about the outcome help sustain attention.
• Turn complex ideas into concrete stories. A clear example can make an abstract business or technical challenge easier to understand.
• A compelling pitch brings the person behind the product into focus. Christopher’s Dragons’ Den experience shows how aspiration and struggle can make a business story memorable.
SOUNDBITES:
“You can't automate human relationships.”
“Productivity happens not just when you're working, but in the spaces between as well.”
“Before you can tell a story, you must first have their attention.”
“Stories are like a value delivery system, and the value in that particular system is the lesson at the end.”
“Being out in the real world was like going to a social competence gym.”
“I think entrepreneur is just another word for storyteller.”
Explore Christopher’s work at storycharged.com.
Follow The Entropy Podcast for more conversations that challenge assumptions, spark ideas and keep you curious.

What happens when cyber warfare moves beyond screens and takes down the systems people need to survive?
Cyber warfare specialist Chris Kubecka joins Francis Gorman to recount her escape from Kyiv as Russia’s invasion began, while cyber attacks disrupted banks, communications and border systems.
From the vulnerability of nuclear infrastructure to the rise of drone warfare and autonomous weapons, Chris explores how digital attacks collide with physical threats. They discuss AI-generated disinformation, fibre-optic drones, Russia’s hybrid warfare tactics and the risks of trusting military AI without reliable data and human oversight.
The conversation closes with practical lessons in emergency preparedness: cash, paper maps, alternative communications and preparing for the loss of services we take for granted.
A firsthand perspective on cyber security, modern warfare and the human consequences of technological disruption.
SOUNDBYTES
“You want to hear a friendly voice and you're going through hell when you can't.”
“They want to soften up the civilian population by psychologically harassing them with drone incidents.”
“So we're relying on killing people and hoping that the military's Chat GPT has been updated to its newest model.”
“Don't always expect an internet connection. Don't always expect that your GPS is going to work.”
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Cyber warfare has immediate human consequences. Disrupted banking, communications and identity systems can make escaping a conflict more difficult.
• Nuclear infrastructure threats extend beyond physical damage. Disruption, uncertainty and fear can themselves become instruments of warfare.
• Drone warfare is changing rapidly, from fibre-optic control to autonomous systems and the growing overlap between cyber and physical operations.
• AI-generated disinformation can obscure real military capabilities, making authentic evidence harder to identify and assess.
• Military AI demands reliable data and human oversight. Automated decisions require scrutiny, particularly when lives are at stake.
• Emergency preparedness starts with simple backups. Paper maps, available cash, water supplies, warmth and alternative communications can help when digital services fail.
Link to the article Chris published on substack below:
Preparing for Drone Warfare in Europe
Basic Preparation Before Flying Death Machines Hunt You Down
https://secevangelism.substack.com/p/preparing-for-drone-warfare-in-europe