About The Strategic Times
Built by Padraig 'Podge' O'Donnell
The Strategic Times is built around curiosity, because that's how I'm wired. I've always enjoyed understanding how organisations work, why some consistently outperform others and what we can learn from them. This is where I share those interests through commercial strategy, pricing, deal desk, sales operations and my other passion, sport and sports administration.
I hold a Bachelor of Business from TUS and an MSc in Strategic Management & Planning from UCD Smurfit Business School. Over the past 15 years, I've worked across utilities, retail, software, technology start-ups and professional services in commercial sales, sales operations, business development, global deal strategy and pricing. Today, I lead the pricing function at Cpl, the UK's and Ireland's leading staffing and recruitment group, supporting commercial strategy, deal governance and pricing across the business.
I'm fascinated by how organisations grow, make decisions and improve performance. Whether it's building a better pricing model, improving a sales process or analysing a successful sports team, I'm always asking the same question: Is there a better way?
That same curiosity has taken me into sport, where I've held management and administrative roles within high-performing elite rugby organisations. I've also co-hosted a leading sports talk show on commercial radio, providing analysis, interviews and match reports.
The Strategic Times brings those two worlds together. It's a place to discover carefully curated articles, podcasts, videos and ideas, alongside my own thoughts and experiences.
It's also a personal project. I built the site with Claude as a way of learning new skills and exploring the practical applications of AI. I don't see AI as a replacement for thinking, but as a tool that can help us learn faster, create more and become more productive.
The Strategic Times is free. If you find something useful, that's enough.