Milltown Partners

"Simplifying your story doesn't mean you're making your achievements smaller. It means you're making them more understandable."  A big thank you to JBM and James Mitra for hosting our very own Isabella Cookson alongside Rhiannon Evans-Young and Hannah Urbanek on the most recent episode of the 40 Minute Mentor podcast. Tune in to hear the advice these three have to offer to early-stage founders navigating communications challenges for the first time 🎧

Many companies investing in AI face the difficult challenge of balancing innovation with job security for their employees. The next report in our Navigating Volatility series looks at how policy elites and consumers think about the impact of AI on jobs, and how companies can communicate effectively about changes to their workforce. We found it interesting that people recognised the positive as well as negative effects of AI on work, and felt companies have a duty to help employees transition or retrain to alternative roles. To learn more, read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eCBfQiM7.

It can no longer be taken for granted that governments and citizens view technology as an unalloyed good. So how can technology companies convey their value to protect their licence to operate? In our next Navigating Volatility report we've found that people: 1. Expect the economic benefits of technology companies to be tangible 2. Want to see how technology impacts top policy priorities, such as growth, the green transition and consumer protection 3. Most value technologies when they help SMEs specifically 4. Think companies should present clear and focused messages - too many proof points dilute the positive story To learn more about how technology companies can clearly show people and policymakers how they are driving value for society, read our report here: https://lnkd.in/eMRvWZGF. Get in touch with Flo Forster to find out more.

It was a pleasure hosting Sam Sharps from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change for a dinner with tech policy friends last week, together with Kathryn Harnett, Ben Greenstone and Simone Casadei Pastorino. Sam shared his thoughts on what an incoming Labour government might mean for tech policy and regulation in the UK as well as the UK’s relationship with Ireland and the EU – and I guess we’re about to find out! Thanks for making the trip to see us, Sam, and we look forward to marking your homework in the months and years ahead 😉 Post script: I neglected to include earlier that Sam Sharps called it at 420 seats for Labour, so he’s off to a pretty good start in terms of his predictions!

As the UK heads to the polls today, and in a year when more people around the world will be voting than ever before, how should companies manage the challenge of deepfake election content? The first report in our series on Navigating Volatility dives into: - Who consumers and policy elites believe are responsible for the dissemination of deepfake content - How it should be regulated - How companies can show they take this issue seriously A key finding was that participants responded positively to detailed, and even highly technical solutions to tackling deepfakes, as they conveyed action and expertise. Want more detail? Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eSpeaqiU Get in touch with Flo Forster to find out more.

How are venture capitalists’ social media habits changing? How many firms are investing in marquee content? And which strategies are paying off? These are just some of the questions we set out to answer in our analysis of the investors and firms on the Forbes Midas List 2024. The result is data-driven benchmark of how the venture capital industry communicates. You can see the full data-set here: https://lnkd.in/ewvM5sDX

What a great evening! Thank you Vanessa and our New York team for creating this space for our network and hosting such a great event.

How can technology companies demonstrate their value to policymakers? How should international manufacturers navigate the impact of geopolitical tensions on their global supply chains? And in this year of elections, how can tech companies help avoid a proliferation of deepfake content? These are just some of the questions we've been exploring in a new piece of research being launched next week. Through insights gathered from focus groups in the UK, US and Brussels, we'll be sharing how businesses can navigate a world where heightened geopolitical instability and polarised public discourse is making managing reputation and policy engagement ever more challenging. We'll be sharing the findings of our research in the coming weeks - watch this space!

Thanks to our friends at SI Partners Global for hosting our co-founder, Paddy Harverson on the Inflection Points podcast, to talk about Milltown's origins and our transition to an Employee Ownership Trust.

The #AIFringe returned this month with an incredible line-up of speakers. We discussed how the global AI safety conversation has evolved over the course of the Bletchley and Seoul Summits and how we can address the challenge of developing responsible and trustworthy AI. We concluded with remarks from Henri Verdier, Ambassador for Digital Affairs, who outlined France’s ambitions for its AI Action Summit in February. Hats off to the brilliant Fringe team for all their work behind the scenes to bring together our impressive speakers and coordinate an insightful event which continued the success of the AI Fringe 2023 – Alex Harrison, Justin K., Max Scantlebury, Mariya Hussain, Sophia Burns and Rebecca Fitchett! Reach out to one of our team above if you’d like to know more about our work on the AI Fringe and what we’re planning for the French AI Action Summit.