Videos
Opinions by Kate Bennett
AI search has already noticed the London Bubble Fallacy
I ran fifteen prompts through Google AI Mode about UK B2B technology media. The most diagnostic answer came back with no citations at all, and quietly named the bias the industry has been too polite to call out.
Designing a Greener Cloud Together
Does every Cloud have a silver lining?
Security Seeing Through the Cloud
How to take advantage of the Cloud
Data Loss in the Cloud
Business Needs AI Now More Than Ever
Why I welcome AI software development
How Small Businesses Can Start Using AI Today
Are Cloud and AI driving the need for Universal Basic Income?
The Pros and Cons of Consumption vs Subscription Models
The Uncanny Valley of AI Writing
DRIVING THE RIGHT SECURITY OUTCOMES FOR GDPR
Disruptive Live Announces Seasons Winter 2021
Disruptive Seasons Autumn Event 2021 - Day Two Evening Session
Disruptive Seasons Autumn Event 2021 - Day Two Afternoon Session
Disruptive Seasons Autumn Event 2021 - Day Two Morning Session
Disruptive Seasons Autumn Event 2021 - Day One Evening Session
Disruptive Seasons Autumn Event 2021 - Day 1 Afternoon Session
Disruptive Seasons Autumn Event 2021 - Morning Session
Articles by Kate Bennett
How a 5-Person UK MSP Can Build a Cyber Essentials Certification Practice and Charge £500 to £2,000 Per Assessment
Walks 5-person UK MSPs through building a Cyber Essentials certification practice. Covers the choice between becoming an IASME certification body and partnering with an existing one, assessor qualification requirements, the CyberSmart automated platform, pricing structures from £500 guided self-assessment to £2,000-plus for Cyber Essentials Plus, margin calculations, and how to package certification alongside ongoing compliance monitoring as a recurring revenue stream.
How to Write an AI Acceptable Use Policy for a Small UK Business with Free Template and Practical Checklist
71% of UK employees already use unapproved AI tools at work. This guide walks small business owners through writing a practical AI acceptable use policy that protects company data, keeps the ICO happy, and gives your team clear rules for ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini. Includes a free downloadable template and a ten-point setup checklist.
The Honest Truth About AI Demand Forecasting for UK Indie Retailers with Shopify and Brightpearl Tested
A myth-busting review of AI demand forecasting tools for UK independent retailers. Compares Shopify AI add-ons, Brightpearl Inventory Planner and Linnworks across pricing, data requirements and real-world accuracy. Includes a practical checklist for retailers considering AI forecasting and honest guidance on when spreadsheets still win.
AI Email Triage in Microsoft 365 — UK Professional Services
Email triage — the practice of sorting incoming mail into urgent, actionable, and archive before reading anything in full — is one of the highest-value uses of AI in a small professional services firm. Microsoft shipped two features in 2025 that make this practical for non-technical teams. Copilot's Prioritize My Inbox feature, generally available from April 2025 in Outlook for Windows and Web, ranks every incoming message as high, normal, or low priority and shows a short explanation of why. Power Automate Premium, at £11.60 per user per month, lets you build classification flows using AI Builder prompts that sort email into categories like urgent client request, internal admin, and marketing — then route each to a Teams channel, a shared mailbox, or a task list. This article walks through both approaches step by step, covers the pricing for a 20-person UK firm, explains what UK GDPR means for automated email processing, and provides a checklist for going live.
How to Automate Customer Support With AI for a UK E-Commerce Business Using Freshdesk or Zendesk
Two thirds of UK online shoppers expect a response within two hours, and 65 per cent of e-commerce support queries can be resolved without a human agent. This article compares Freshdesk Freddy AI, Zendesk AI agents, and Intercom Fin on pricing, resolution models, and UK compliance. It walks through the Consumer Rights Act 2015 requirements for AI-assisted support, explains the difference between per-resolution and per-agent pricing, and provides a ten-point checklist for getting your first AI support agent live without breaching UK consumer law.
How to Connect Xero to HubSpot and Automate Invoicing for a UK Services Firm — Step by Step with Make.com
A step-by-step guide to connecting Xero and HubSpot using Make.com for automated invoicing. Covers the native HubSpot-Xero sync (and why it is not enough), how to build a Make.com scenario that creates a Xero invoice when a HubSpot deal closes, GBP pricing for all three platforms, Making Tax Digital digital links compliance, and a comparison of Make.com vs Zapier for this specific use case. Written for operations managers and founders at UK professional services firms with 5 to 50 staff.
Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 Business for a UK Startup with 5–20 Staff: All-In GBP Costs
Compares Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 Business plans for UK startups with 5 to 20 staff. Breaks down GBP pricing including VAT, storage costs, add-ons, and the hidden extras that push monthly bills beyond the advertised per-user rate.
How to Tell if Your Local IT Company Is Actually Any Good: A UK Small Business Owner's Honest Checklist
Gives UK small business owners a structured way to evaluate their local IT support company. Covers Cyber Essentials certification, CompTIA qualifications, SLA expectations, contract red flags, security basics, and the questions your IT company should be able to answer without hesitation.
What the NCSC Actually Says About Using ChatGPT and Copilot With Sensitive Business Data
The NCSC published clear guidance on large language models and sensitive data, but the majority of UK businesses have either over-reacted with blanket bans or under-reacted by ignoring the risks entirely. This article walks through what the NCSC actually said — including that prompt injection may never be fully fixed, that queries are visible to service providers, and that data classification is the real starting point — and debunks six myths that keep circulating. It compares ChatGPT Enterprise, ChatGPT Business, and Microsoft 365 Copilot on data residency, training opt-outs, and UK data processing, and provides a practical eight-point checklist for getting your AI data policy right.
How to Use Power Automate AI Builder for Invoice Processing in a UK Business Running Sage 50
A practical guide to automating invoice processing for UK SMBs running Sage 50 using Microsoft Power Automate and AI Builder. Covers the prebuilt invoice model, CData ODBC connector for Sage 50 UK, real-world pricing in GBP, Making Tax Digital compliance, accuracy thresholds and a step-by-step setup walkthrough. Written for finance managers and business owners who process invoices manually and want to stop.
Maximize Your MSP's Growth: Proven Tactics to Secure UK Apprenticeship Funding for Future Tech Innovators
A practical guide for small UK managed service providers explaining how apprenticeship funding covers up to 100 per cent of training costs for junior engineers, which Level 3 and Level 4 standards map to MSP roles, and how to get a first apprentice productive within 90 days.
Unlock G-Cloud Success: The Ultimate Playbook for UK MSPs to Secure Public Sector Contracts
G-Cloud is the UK government's procurement framework for cloud hosting, software, and support services. Ninety per cent of suppliers on the Digital Marketplace are SMEs, and the framework was designed to make public sector buying accessible to smaller firms. This guide covers the lot structure, certification requirements including Cyber Essentials, how to write a service listing that public sector buyers actually find, and the common mistakes that stop small MSPs from winning their first call-off contract.
How Small UK Resellers Can Offer Managed Security Without Building a SOC — Huntress and SentinelOne Tested
A practical guide for small UK IT resellers and MSPs who want to add managed security to their portfolio without the capital outlay of building an in-house security operations centre. Compares Huntress, SentinelOne, and CrowdStrike Falcon Go across pricing models, SOC coverage, onboarding complexity, and UK channel fit. Includes a readiness checklist for resellers assessing whether they can credibly sell managed security, and addresses the commercial realities of margin, billing, and client expectation management.
Mastering the Microsoft CSP Indirect Model: Proven Strategies for UK Resellers to Dominate the Cloud Landscape
Microsoft's CSP programme changes are pushing smaller UK resellers towards the indirect model, where a distributor handles billing, provisioning, and Microsoft relationship management. For partners under £5m revenue, indirect CSP is not a compromise — it is the fastest route to a recurring cloud practice. This guide compares UK distributors Pax8, TD Synnex, Giacom, and Westcoast across onboarding speed, margin structure, marketplace breadth, and support quality, and walks through the practical steps to get trading within 30 days.
How UK Charities Can Use Donated Microsoft 365 Licences to Stop Drowning in Spreadsheets and Email
UK charities with Charity Commission registration and annual revenue under £3.5 million can claim up to 300 free Microsoft 365 Business Basic licences. This guide walks you through eligibility, what you actually get, what you do not get without paying, and how to move your team from spreadsheet-and-email chaos to shared workspaces — without needing an IT department.
AI Tools for UK Recruitment Agencies Zoho Recruit vs Bullhorn vs HubSpot and the ICO Rules You Cannot Ignore
The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 came into force on 5 February 2026, changing the rules on automated decision-making in recruitment. UK agencies can now use AI screening tools under legitimate interests — but only with proper safeguards: transparency, meaningful human review and the right for candidates to contest decisions. This piece compares Zoho Recruit, Bullhorn and HubSpot across the AI features that matter to a 5-recruiter UK agency, maps each feature against the ICO's six compliance requirements, and gives a straight answer on which tool fits which type of agency without tripping over Article 22.
Getting Microsoft 365 Copilot Working for a 20-Person UK Company Without an Enterprise Agreement
A step-by-step guide to deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot Business for UK SMBs under 300 users, covering licence requirements, GBP pricing, data governance, and the July 2026 price changes.
Gemini vs Microsoft 365 Copilot — UK Small Team Pricing 2026
Google bundles Gemini AI into every Workspace plan at no extra charge. Microsoft sells Copilot as a £16.10-per-user add-on on top of your existing Microsoft 365 licence. For a 10-person UK team, that gap adds up to roughly £1,932 per year — and it widens further after July 2026, when Microsoft restructures its licensing into new Copilot bundles with higher base prices. But cost alone does not settle the question. Copilot sits inside Excel, Word and Outlook — the tools that dominate UK office work. Gemini lives in Google Docs, Sheets and Gmail, with a 1-million-token context window that lets it chew through entire document sets in one go. This piece compares both AI assistants head-to-head across the workflows, costs and gotchas that matter to a small UK team deciding where to spend.
Wireless Security for Small Business Offices
Your office wireless network is probably the weakest part of your security setup. Here's what actually works: WPA3 authentication, proper network segmentation, and basic monitoring. From £200 setups to enterprise-grade protection for UK SMBs.