E.ON Energy: Dancing towards a workforce revolution - Ctrl Alt Lead podcast

In 2026, technology needs choreographers as well as coders

There’s a stubborn stereotype about careers in technology: you’re either a hoodie-wearing coder or a billionaire founder with a rocket on standby.

In the latest episode of Ctrl Alt Lead, Kara Flook challenges both.

Although she is now emerging technology lead at E.ON Energy, Kara began her career studying dance. Far from seeing that as a detour, she argues it gave her an edge: confidence under pressure, resilience in the face of setbacks, and the ability to tell a compelling story, skills that are increasingly important in the AI-led tech world.

Kara describes herself as a “people techie”, not a “techie techie”. She’s less interested in chips than in outcomes: how technology reduces friction, improves experiences and drives meaningful change.

As AI becomes more complex in the code but simpler at the interface, she believes organisations will need both camps: deep specialists who can work with the tech as well as translators who can connect possibility to practical value.

That human lens also shapes how she thinks about talent, and how the wider industry should do so.

Working with schools as an enterprise adviser, Kara says she often encounters outdated perceptions of tech careers. Students picture either solitary developers or celebrity CEOs with nothing in between: an image that is divorced from the broad spectrum of roles in strategy, governance and change. Because teachers can’t keep up with shifts in every industry, it’s up to professionals in those industries to change perceptions at this foundational level.

That’s a long-term strategy. For leaders hiring today, the shift starts closer to home. Rethink job descriptions. Separate “essential” from “desirable.” Publish salary bands. Make flexible and hybrid working explicit. Overloaded criteria and vague expectations don’t just filter candidates, says Kara, they deter them.

The message is clear: technical capability alone isn’t enough to ensure technology's success in 2026. If you want to lead real transformation, you need as much choreography as code.

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