The Next 100 Days Podcast

Nishant Sharma is the founder of Rutland Square. Their Chai Spiced Scottish Gin combines a unique recipe with a captivating story that sets it apart in the world of premium spirits. This extraordinary gin blends modern business principles with deep respect for tradition—a perfect fusion of two cultures. Our journey begins in India and traverses the globe to Scotland, resulting in a truly unique, complex, and luxurious sipping gin.
Summary of Podcast
Nish's background and business
Nish shares his background, explaining how he migrated from India to Scotland and how his family history with distilling led him to start his spirits company Rutland Square. He discusses the process of developing his flagship gin product, which blends Indian and Scottish influences.
Rutland Square's growth and marketing
Nish describes the early challenges of getting Rutland Square's gin accepted by retailers, and how he overcame this by directly engaging with consumers at markets and events. He discusses the company's growth, including expanding into new markets and product lines like rum and whisky.
Balancing passion and scaling the business
The group discusses the importance of Nish maintaining the passion and authenticity of Rutland Square as the company grows, and explores ideas around how he can position the brand distinctively in the market. They also touch on Nish's plans to use Rutland Square's success to support other entrepreneurs.
VISIT RUTLAND SQUARE: https://rutlandsquare.com/
The Next 100 Days Podcast Co-Hosts
Graham Arrowsmith
Graham founded Finely Fettled in 2014 to provide data from The UK High Net Worth Database to marketers targeting affluent and high-net-worth customers. He's the founder of MicroYES, a Partner for MeclabsAI, creating lead generation AI Agents & Workflows and introducing the MeclabsAI Platform. Graham also provides an Answer Engine Optimisation solution to get your website in shape to be found by LLMs.
Kevin Appleby
Kevin specialises in finance transformation and implementing business change. He's the COO of GrowCFO, which provides both community and CPD-accredited training designed to grow the next generation of finance leaders. You can find Kevin on LinkedIn and at kevinappleby.com

Christopher Carter is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Approyo, a Wisconsin-based managed services company that was one of the first to put SAP systems into the cloud (back in 2002). He founded Approyo in December 2013 to provide full SAP technology services with extensive capabilities in hosting, managing, upgrading, and migrating.
Summary of Podcast
Key Takeaways
Data Quality is the AI Blocker: AI's value is limited by the "crap in, crap out" problem. Carter advises a mandatory data cleansing project before any AI initiative, as AI tools alone are insufficient and require human oversight.
Human-in-the-Loop Governance: Carter advocates for a human-in-the-loop for all critical AI processes to prevent compounding errors. He criticized McKinsey's reported plan for 30,000 autonomous bots, arguing they should be tools to augment human employees, not replacements.
Mugatu AI Prevents Data Leaks: Mugatu AI is an AI security tool that uses predictive analytics and homomorphic encryption to prevent accidental data leaks. It flags risky emails (e.g., with sensitive spreadsheets) and suggests secure alternatives like shared links.
Early Cloud Adoption: Carter was an early pioneer in virtualising SAP systems on VMware and Azure, which initially met with corporate resistance but ultimately proved to be a cost-saving, flexible innovation for the SAP ecosystem.

The "Crap In, Crap Out" Problem
Carter's core message: AI's effectiveness is directly tied to data quality.
Problem: Legacy systems contain decades of "dirty data" from acquisitions, stagnant records, and inconsistent formats.
Example: One client had 27 years of uncleansed EDI data.
Example: Another client's acquisitions created duplicate part numbers (e.g., 7 different codes for the same part).
Solution: A mandatory data cleansing project before any AI initiative.
AI tools can assist with scraping and matching, but human oversight is essential for validation.
The goal is a human-AI partnership to ensure data accuracy.

Human-in-the-Loop Governance
Carter advocates for a human-in-the-loop for all critical AI processes to prevent compounding errors.
Critique of McKinsey's Bot Strategy: Carter questioned McKinsey's reported plan for 30,000 autonomous bots, arguing they should be tools to augment human employees, not replacements.
Relevance to Finance (FP&A): Clean data and human-AI collaboration enable rapid scenario planning (e.g., 4 forecasts instead of 1), a major game-changer for finance teams.

Mugatu AI: Preventing Accidental Data Leaks
Mugatu AI is an AI security tool named after the villain in the movie Zoolander.
Function: Prevents accidental data leaks by flagging risky outbound emails.
Mechanism: Uses predictive analytics and homomorphic encryption to analyse content in milliseconds.
User Feedback: Provides a "security score" (0-100) and suggests secure alternatives (e.g., a shared link instead of an attachment).
Status: 14,794 end-users across 3 major corporations; acquisition interest from companies like NVIDIA.

Career as a Tech Innovator
Carter's career is marked by early adoption of disruptive tech, often ahead of corporate policy.
SAP & Cloud Virtualisation:
Pioneered virtualising SAP systems on VMware and later on Azure.
This innovation initially met with resistance from SAP executives, who had not yet formalised a partnership with VMware.
Re-engagement with SAP:
After a negative client experience, Carter left the SAP ecosystem.
A conversation with a friend (SAP's VP of Oil & Gas) over a bottle of Macallan scotch introduced him to SAP HANA, reigniting his interest.
Carrick Rangers FC:
A minority owner of the Northern Ireland Premier League football club.
His involvement stems from a lifelong passion for soccer, including a past role as VP of Sales/Marketing for a professional team.

The Next 100 Days Podcast Co-Hosts
Graham Arrowsmith
Graham founded Finely Fettled in 2014 to provide data from The UK High Net Worth Database to marketers targeting affluent and high-net-worth customers. He's the founder of MicroYES, a Partner for MeclabsAI, creating lead generation AI Agents & Workflows and introducing the MeclabsAI Platform. Graham also provides an Answer Engine Optimisation solution to get your website in shape to be found by LLMs.
Kevin Appleby
Kevin specialises in finance transformation and implementing business change. He's the COO of GrowCFO, which provides both community and CPD-accredited training designed to grow the next generation of finance leaders. You can find Kevin on LinkedIn and at kevinappleby.com

Stevey Arroyo joins The Next 100 Days podcast to discuss The Brand Exit. For Stevey, brand value is a prerequisite for exit. A strong brand is a transferable asset that de-risks a business for buyers, enabling a sale (e.g., Pimlico Plumbers sold for £134M, compared with an unbranded plumbing firm). Without one, an exit is often impossible. In the podcast, Stevey explains that you need to plan 3–5 years out for maximum value. This timeframe allows for strategic work to build brand equity, which compounds over time. Last-minute valuations are possible but miss the opportunity to create significant value.
Value is created via defensibility and premium pricing. Key actions include trademarking the brand name and using validated proof (e.g., independent studies) to justify a premium price, thereby improving profit margins. The founder must become dispensable. Buyers view founder-dependency as "key man risk." The goal is to build systems and a team that can operate the business independently, making the brand the primary asset.
Summary of Podcast
The Problem: Founder-Dependent Businesses Are Unsellable
M&A buyers focus on "quality of earnings"—the numbers—not the founder's personal contribution.
Founder-dependency is a major liability that makes a business unsellable.
Example: Pimlico Plumbers built a transferable brand and sold for £134M, while a sole-trader plumber with no brand has no exit option.

The Solution: Build a Transferable Brand Asset
A brand is a digital asset that compounds, increasing in value over time.
Core Principle: "If you've built a brand, sell the brand."
Key Actions:
Defensibility: Secure the brand name via domain registration (.com, .co.uk, etc.) and trademarking.
Transferability: Systematise operations and build a team to reduce founder-dependency.
Example: Amazon's brand value comes from its reliable service and customer experience, not its logo.

The Process: Plan 3–5 Years Before Exit
This timeframe is ideal for strategic brand building, which compounds value.
The Brand Exit's Process:
Analysis: Identify strengths (to leverage), weaknesses (low-hanging fruit), and gaps (new initiatives).
Value Creation: Improve financial metrics (quality of earnings) through:
Pricing Power: Use validated proof (e.g., independent studies) to justify a premium price.
Margin Improvement: Reduce marketing costs by increasing brand resonance.
Positioning: Use the ISO 10668 standard for brand valuation to create an undeniable asset, then position the business to attract multiple buyers and competitive tension.

The Future: AI as an Exit Enabler
AI can help reduce founder-dependency by automating processes and decision-making.
Concept: Evolving from AI assistants (e.g., ChatGPT) to "AI executives" with delegated power. (Talk to https://microyes.ai)
Risk: AI-generated apps can accumulate technical debt, requiring costly fixes.
New Exit Option: Founders can sell the business but remain involved as high-paid consultants or board advisors.

The Next 100 Days Podcast Co-Hosts
Graham Arrowsmith
Graham founded Finely Fettled in 2014 to provide data from The UK High Net Worth Database to marketers targeting affluent and high-net-worth customers. He's the founder of MicroYES, a Partner for MeclabsAI, creating lead generation AI Agents & Workflows and introducing the MeclabsAI Platform. Graham also provides an Answer Engine Optimisation solution to get your website in shape to be found by LLMs.
Kevin Appleby
Kevin specialises in finance transformation and implementing business change. He's the COO of GrowCFO, which provides both community and CPD-accredited training designed to grow the next generation of finance leaders. You can find Kevin on LinkedIn and at kevinappleby.com

Zana Goic Petricevic pivoted from a successful corporate career to find her true calling - coaching bold leadership. Zana's career change came about after being fired from a corporate director role for being "blunt" with the chairman, which she reframed as a necessary catalyst for her true calling. Now, a successful coach, she has developed the "SOUL" Framework: Zana's leadership model focuses on four "playgrounds": Self (inner beliefs), Others (relationships), Universe (system/culture), and Legacy (lasting impact).
A key coaching goal is helping leaders shift from a victim mindset ("this is happening to me") to one of agency ("I have a choice"), seeing change as an opportunity, not a threat. And she subscribes to the "Fake It 'Til You Become It" method. Zana advocates for taking risks before feeling 100% ready, citing her own experience of accepting a keynote speech before ever having delivered one.
Summary of Podcast
The Catalyst: A Corporate Exit
Zana's career in oil and gas ended abruptly when she was fired from her Corporate Communications Director role for being "blunt" with the chairman.
This unplanned exit caused a significant identity crisis, as her professional role was central to her sense of self.
A key realisation came when applying for lower-level jobs and being told she was overqualified, confirming that her corporate path was permanently closed.
Reframing: Zana views this event as a "planting" rather than a "burying"—a necessary end that enabled a new beginning.

The Pivot: From Corporate to Coaching
The turning point was a 2016 co-active coaching course in London, which introduced her to a new type of conversation where she felt "seen, heard, and able to express myself."
This experience revealed her passion → bringing these authentic conversations into organizations.
To make this "fluffy" concept palatable to the corporate world, she supplemented her training with psychometric tests and other data-driven tools.
Business Launch: With nothing to lose, Zana embraced networking and relationship-building—skills she had previously avoided—to secure her first clients.

The "SOUL" Framework for Bold Leadership
Zana's coaching framework guides leaders through four interconnected "playgrounds":
S - Self: Understanding one's inner world (beliefs, values, patterns).
O - Others: Building effective relationships through honest, kind communication.
U - Universe: Navigating and shaping the organizational system and culture.
L - Legacy: Defining one's lasting impact ("What stays when you go?").
Legacy Defined: Legacy is not just measurable results but also the intangible impact on people and culture.
Analogy: "Leaders bring the weather," creating either sunshine or storm. This "weather" is their legacy.

Mindset & The Future of Leadership
Core Coaching Goal: Help leaders shift from a victim mindset to one of agency, seeing change as an opportunity rather than a threat.
"Fake It 'Til You Become It": Zana advocates for taking risks before feeling 100% ready, citing her own experience of accepting a keynote speech before ever having delivered one.
AI & Technology: Zana sees AI as a tool that forces conscious choice, helping leaders define what they want to keep agency over and what to delegate.

The Next 100 Days Podcast Co-Hosts
Graham Arrowsmith
Graham founded Finely Fettled in 2014 to provide data from The UK High Net Worth Database to marketers targeting affluent and high-net-worth customers. He's the founder of MicroYES, a Partner for MeclabsAI, creating lead generation AI Agents & Workflows and introducing the MeclabsAI Platform. Graham also provides an Answer Engine Optimisation solution to get your website in shape to be found by LLMs.
Kevin Appleby
Kevin specialises in finance transformation and implementing business change. He's the COO of GrowCFO, which provides both community and CPD-accredited training designed to grow the next generation of finance leaders. You can find Kevin on LinkedIn and at kevinappleby.com

Dr. Denis Cauvier is an expert in HR, talent management, and leadership. This podcast discusses Denis's background and expertise, noting that he has written over 32 books on these topics.
Biography
Dr. Denis Cauvier is a global leadership strategist, executive advisor, and 30+ time author who helps organizations turn talent into measurable profit.
With 36 years of experience working across 68+ countries, Denis has advised CEOs, boards, senior leadership teams, small and medium-sized companies, and professional associations on how to attract, select, develop, and retain high-impact talent — not as an HR function, but as a core business growth engine.
His work has directly contributed to increased revenue, improved margins, stronger leadership pipelines, reduced costly hiring errors, and measurable improvements in employee retention and performance. Clients consistently engage him to transform talent strategy into economic leverage.
He is the author of The 80/20 AI Advantage: Leveraging AI to Attract, Select, and Retain GREAT People, where he challenges leaders to stop using AI as a content machine and start using it as a decision co-pilot. His frameworks focus on eliminating expensive talent mistakes, detecting performance drift before it becomes turnover, and turning HR into a strategic profit driver.
Denis reframes talent decisions through a commercial lens:
Hiring mistakes are profit leaks.
Engagement decline is margin erosion.
Leadership blind spots are growth constraints.
HR data, properly leveraged, is economic protection.
Through his 80/20 AI Talent Framework and Bounce Forward™ leadership system, Denis equips leaders to make faster, smarter, less biased decisions in the next 100 days — and beyond.
His core belief:
AI will not replace leaders.
But leaders who use AI strategically will outperform those who don’t.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.deniscauvier.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdeniscauvier
Summary of Podcast
Denis's Approach to Talent Management
Denis explains his focus on bringing humanity back into the HR process, helping organisations effectively pre-select, develop, and retain exceptional talent in a humanistic way. He emphasises the importance of talent as a key competitive advantage for businesses.
Leveraging AI in Human Resources
Denis discusses the challenges of using AI in talent management, noting that job seekers are often early adopters of AI tools to position themselves, while busy executives may be slower to adopt. He proposes a "5-1-4" formula for effectively leveraging AI in hiring, retaining, and developing talent.
Case Study: Improving Hiring and Retention in a Meat Processing Plant
Denis shares a case study of a meat processing plant with high employee turnover. By analysing the root causes and implementing targeted solutions, such as revising the supervisor promotion process and improving the hiring process, Denis was able to reduce turnover from 68% to 11%, resulting in significant cost savings for the client.
The Importance of Investing in People
Kevin and Denis discuss the importance of investing in people as the most valuable and appreciating asset for a business, in contrast to other investments that depreciate over time. They emphasise the need for HR to act as a strategic business partner, not just a bureaucratic function.
Navigating the Impact of AI on Human Resources
Kevin raises concerns about the potential impact of AI on traditional talent development pipelines, such as using graduate trainees for research tasks. Denis suggests that the key is to develop wisdom and judgment in using AI, focusing on crafting the right prompts and leveraging AI's strengths while maintaining human skills in areas like emotional intelligence and relationship building.
The Next 100 Days Podcast Co-Hosts
Graham Arrowsmith
Graham founded Finely Fettled in 2014 to provide data from The UK High Net Worth Database to marketers targeting affluent and high-net-worth customers. He's the founder of MicroYES, a Partner for MeclabsAI, creating lead generation AI Agents & Workflows and introducing the MeclabsAI Platform. Graham also provides an Answer Engine Optimisation solution to get your website in shape to be found by LLMs.
Kevin Appleby
Kevin specialises in finance transformation and implementing business change. He's the COO of GrowCFO, which provides both community and CPD-accredited training designed to grow the next generation of finance leaders. You can find Kevin on LinkedIn and at kevinappleby.com