IT Visionaries
Mission
Subscribe
Gain unparalleled access to the minds of industry-leading CIOs, CTOs, and CISOs. Enjoy weekly episodes filled with expert insights, inspiring stories, and trend analysis, all brought to you by the people shaping the future of technology. Whether you're an IT professional, aspiring tech leader, or general tech enthusiast, IT Visionaries has something for everyone. Don't miss out on the chance to learn from the best – subscribe now!
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Zayo. Exceptional end-user experiences and better business outcomes demand one thing – a strong, healthy network. How’s your network health? Take Zayo’s Network Health Check to find out: zayo.com/network-health-score
Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
6 days ago
The Network and Technology That is Powering American Innovation
In business and technology, speed is key. This is especially true in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), where seconds matter to all the innovators submitting patent applications. In this episode, Jamie Holcombe, CIO of the USPTO, explains how his team is using new technology and working faster on a network that will keep up with the products and technologies inventors are hoping to bring to market.
Tune in to learn:
* What is the USPTO? (1:20)
* How new technology is used to help evaluate patent applications (6:30)
* The importance of having a reliable and fast network (16:30)
* Cybersecurity at the USPTO (21:25)
--
_Zayo connects critical data centers across the US, Canada, and Europe with high-capacity metro fiber and extensive long-haul dark fiber. Trusted by the world's most innovative companies, Zayo embodies what's next in networking._
_Discover Zayo’s expansive network maps on their website and see where their network can take you. With low-latency, reliable, 400G and 800G-enabled routes, it's the modern network solution you've been searching for._
_Visit Zayo's website today to unlock the power of your network and tap into the technologies of tomorrow. Go to Zayo.com/network now._
_Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at __mission.org__._
playlist_add
Sep 12, 2023
The Technology that Connects The Internet Around The World
There is no doubt that the world is more connected now than ever before, but there are still places and people who lack access to the internet. In this episode, hear why this is one of the things that Mattias Fridström and the team at Arelion is trying to fix. Also, hear how they are working to make the internet faster and more secure at the same time.
Tune in to learn:
* What is Arelion? (1:10)
* The push for innovation (3:00)
* What is going on at the edge? (7:40)
* How to be more proactive in your security (9:40)
* Data storage and compliance (16:30)
* Building solutions for customers (21:05)
* Mattias’s love of networks (28:00)
_--_
_Zayo connects critical data centers across the US, Canada, and Europe with high-capacity metro fiber and extensive long-haul dark fiber. Trusted by the world's most innovative companies, Zayo embodies what's next in networking._
_Discover Zayo’s expansive network maps on their website and see where their network can take you. With low-latency, reliable, 400G and 800G-enabled routes, it's the modern network solution you've been searching for._
_Visit Zayo's website today to unlock the power of your network and tap into the technologies of tomorrow. Go to Zayo.com/network now._
_Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at __mission.org__._
playlist_add
Aug 29, 2023
How NTT Data Manages Big Problems and Constant Innovation
NTT Data is a major company that works on large-scale projects every day. But CIO Barry Shurkey is constantly encouraging his team to get better and stay innovative. On this episode, he explains why he put so much trust in solution architects, and how he sees and helps companies and tech leaders adapt to the changing technology landscape.
Tune in to learn:
* What is NTT Data? (1:10)
* How major projects start (3:00)
* What it takes to integrate your systems (7:00)
* The current constraints companies are facing with hardware and software (13:50)
* The newest problems businesses face while undergoing digital transformation (22:50)
* The dream product we wish existed (25:50)
* What the adoption of AI means for the tech industry (29:00)
* How to balance your team (31:10)
* What technology shifts can we expect in the next five to 10 years? (35:00)
Mentions:
* _Justin Mescher episode of IT Visionaries_
_Did you know that less than half of IT leaders feel their network infrastructure is ready to make the best use of emerging technologies? Zayo, a leading global communications infrastructure provider, empowers some of the world’s most innovative companies to take advantage of next generation technologies with the help of reliable, resilient network infrastructure. Read their __research paper,__ IT Confidential, to gain valuable insights from IT leaders. _
_Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at __mission.org__._
playlist_add
Aug 15, 2023
Uniting Technology and Human Effort in the Cybersecurity Landscape
In today’s world, technology is a part of almost everything we do. It’s constantly evolving, but even in the realm of cybersecurity, there are limits to what technology can do without the help of hardworking humans. Whether it’s laying wire for networks or understanding systems and codes, David Monnier, CIO of Team Cymru, explains how and where technology and humans will always need to come together.
Tune in to learn:
* What is Team Cymru? (1:25)
* What is changing right now in the cybersecurity category? (2:40)
* How tech leaders should evaluate new products (10:00)
* The reason why technology is not always a silver bullet (19:00)
* How Team Cymru has been able to expand worldwide (23:30)
* Where we’re seeing the most cyber threats (27:20)
* How to keep your team in a learning mode (31:20)
* Finding the right people for your team (36:30)
Mentions:
* David’s first appearance on IT Visionaries
_Did you know that less than half of IT leaders feel their network infrastructure is ready to make the best use of emerging technologies? Zayo, a leading global communications infrastructure provider, empowers some of the world’s most innovative companies to take advantage of next generation technologies with the help of reliable, resilient network infrastructure. Read their __research paper,__ IT Confidential, to gain valuable insights from IT leaders. _
_Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at __mission.org__._
playlist_add
Jun 28, 2023
It's Summer Time!
We're taking a quick pause for the summer, but we'll be back soon with more new and exciting content!
playlist_add
Jun 6, 2023
Building The Technology To Make Healthcare Transportation Better
Medical transportation is sometimes necessary, but the operations and companies responsible for making it happen have remained relatively stagnant. This is where DocGo comes in. On this episode, Hawk Newton, the CTO of DocGo, explains how the company is solving the extremely difficult task of medical transportation, and making the entire experience easier for all involved.
Tune in to learn:
* What is DocGo? (1:40)
* How can medical transportation performance improve? (5:45)
* Solving the extremely hard problem that is medical transportation (14:30)
* Finding the next wave of engineers (20:30)
--
_IT Visionaries is sponsored by Zayo._
_Concerned about your network's health? Zayo's future-ready network and tailored connectivity solutions enable some of the world’s most innovative companies to connect what’s next for their business. Exceptional end-user experiences and better business outcomes demand one thing – a strong, healthy network. So, how’s your network health? There’s one way to find out – take Zayo’s Network Health Check now. _https://zayo.is/3ztMpIu
_Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at __mission.org__._
playlist_add
May 30, 2023
The Latest Evolutions in Storing Massive Amounts of Unstructured Data
Ultimately, most of what we do in business today relies on data of all kinds. In the last decade or so, the rise in unstructured data has meant that companies need to find ways to store and then use that data in ways they hadn’t needed to before. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Brian Pawlowski, Chief Development Officer, of Quantum, discusses what that means and how data storage has evolved.
Tune in to learn:
* What is Quantum (2:00)
* What it means to store unstructured data (4:00)
* Why all storage is software (15:15)
* Meeting customer demands while dealing with physical limitations (31:00)
* Understanding why data is mobile and how to manage its infrastructure (37:40)
_Zayo's future-ready network and tailored connectivity solutions enable some of the world’s most innovative companies to connect what’s next for their business. Exceptional end-user experiences and better business outcomes demand one thing – a strong, healthy network. How’s your network health? There’s one way to find out – take Zayo’s Network Health Check now. __https://zayo.is/3ztMpIu_
_Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at __mission.org__._
playlist_add
May 23, 2023
How To Adapt To The Constantly Evolving Needs of Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is a world that is constantly evolving, and experts like Vishal Salvi, CISO & Head of Cyber Practice at Infosys, are doing their best to keep up. On this episode, Vishal discusses how to prioritize your cybersecurity needs, and he breaks down some of the ways that AI will play a role in cybersecurity moving forward.
Tune in to learn:
* What is Infosys? (2:00)
* The complexity of what Infosys does (6:00)
* What to prioritize with your cybersecurity (9:30)
* The conflict between security and speed (13:55)
* What it takes to move data loads today (17:40)
* The rise of identity-access AI (22:00)
* Where are we with AI ops? (29:40)
* Vishal’s journey in IT (34:50)
_Zayo's future-ready network and tailored connectivity solutions enable some of the world’s most innovative companies to connect what’s next for their business. Exceptional end-user experiences and better business outcomes demand one thing – a strong, healthy network. How’s your network health? There’s one way to find out – take Zayo’s Network Health Check now. __https://zayo.is/3ztMpIu_
_Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at __mission.org__._
playlist_add
May 16, 2023
Why You Need to Be More Proactive About Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity has moved from a luxury to a necessity for pretty much every business. But still, many organizations are operating in a reactive rather than a proactive fashion when it comes to securing their networks. Adam Burke, VP Sales & Partnerships, Quest Technology Management, explains why this is and how to change your mindset and operate in a more secure fashion.
Tune in to learn:
* What is Quest Technology? (1:45)
* The security needed to work in the cloud (5:10)
* Recommendations for organizations to address potential security concerns (11:45)
* Finding the right person to protect your infrastructure (19:30)
* How to choose the right third-party to help with cybersecurity (22:30)
* How Adam got his tech chops (25:55)
* The impact of AI in tracking cybersecurity activity (32:20)
* How fast Quest can help a customer in need (39:20)
* The benefits of military service for a tech professional (41:00)
–
_Zayo's future-ready network and tailored connectivity solutions enable some of the world’s most innovative companies to connect what’s next for their business. Exceptional end-user experiences and better business outcomes demand one thing – a strong, healthy network. How’s your network health? There’s one way to find out – take Zayo’s Network Health Check now. __https://zayo.is/3ztMpIu_
_Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at __mission.org__._
playlist_add
May 9, 2023
Why We Need New Energy Infrastructure And How It's Being Built
Our energy infrastructure is going through major changes. The population is looking for more efficiency and cleaner options, and Stem, Inc. is helping to deliver those solutions. Albert Hofeldt, SVP of Technology at Stem, joins IT Visionaries to describe the work his team is doing, and what the future of energy might look like.
Tune in to learn:
* What is Stem? (2:00)
* Dissecting the distribution of energy (5:12)
* What Stem-collected data unlocks (16:09)
* Who is leading the charge in updating energy infrastructure? (20:40)
* How Albert landed at Stem (25:40)
* The changes coming to the energy sector (28:30)
* Creating more infrastructure for long-haul driving with EVs (32:00)
Mentions:
* _Librestream episode of IT Visionaries_
_Zayo's future-ready network and tailored connectivity solutions enable some of the world’s most innovative companies to connect what’s next for their business. Exceptional end-user experiences and better business outcomes demand one thing – a strong, healthy network. How’s your network health? There’s one way to find out – take Zayo’s Network Health Check now. __https://zayo.is/3ztMpIu_
_Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at __mission.org__._
playlist_add
May 2, 2023
Understanding and Building the Future of Technology
With the technology landscape shifting at a rapid pace, it’s nearly impossible to keep up. But that’s the job of Kit Colbert, the CTO of VMware, and he is constantly learning from and leading his team so that they can best serve the needs of their customers. On this episode, Kit explains what that looks like and how the world of public and private clouds, the edge, and infrastructure are constantly changing.
Tune in to learn:
* What is VMware? (1:40)
* How to service the appetites of customers today (6:45)
* Thinking through levels of orchestration (14:30)
* Where is the industry when it comes to shifting its models? (22:44)
* The role VMware will play in network security (26:40)
* How growing companies solve network and infrastructure weaknesses (30:45)
* Defining and predicting the future of the edge (36:00)
* The philosophy of continuous learning (41:45)
* Advice to CTOs expanding their networks and getting answers they need (45:00)
_Zayo's future-ready netw…
playlist_add
Apr 25, 2023
It's Time To Get Serious About Improving Healthcare Technology
Healthcare technology has frequently been lambasted as being behind the times. The reason is because hospitals and healthcare providers are operating on lagging networks and with outdated technology. Derek Grimes, the SVP of Operations at Frontage Clinical Services explains what it will take to get our healthcare systems to work better for all patients, and he gives us some insights into the ways technology is currently being used to improve our experiences.
Tune in to learn:
* Understanding the need for CROs (2:45)
* The technological landscape needed to operate clinical trials (5:10)
* How are healthcare systems improving? (12:15)
* What is stopping us from demanding more from healthcare providers? (18:30)
* Solving the Interoperability problem in healthcare (30:00)
* Advice for practitioners on where to modernize right now (37:45)
--
_Zayo's future-ready network and tailored connectivity solutions enable some of the world’s most innovative companies to connect what…
playlist_add
Apr 18, 2023
Emerging Technology That Is Making Workers More Effective
Without a doubt, technology has been a game changer in just about every industry. And as tech continues to evolve, it is being used in more innovative ways, even in places that typically have trouble with network connectivity. Librestream is helping to make that happen, and on this episode of IT Visionaries, Chief Customer Officer Charlie Neagoy explains how.
Tune in to learn:
* What is Librestream? (3:00)
* Getting information to workers in all kinds of places (9:15)
* Defining augmented reality (17:00)
* When and how new technology is implemented in the field (21:30)
* How to approach customers with limitations around access to technology (26:00)
* Can you train to be a pilot from your desk? (35:00)
_Zayo’s future-ready network and tailored connectivity solutions enable some of the world’s most innovative companies to connect what’s next for their business. Exceptional end-user experiences and better business outcomes demand one thing – a strong, healthy networ…
playlist_add
Apr 11, 2023
The Need For Speed, Reliability, And Redundancy In Network Architecture
Network infrastructure is important if you want your organization to run smoothly and without interruption. From hospitals to supply chains to government agencies, there are countless examples that illustrate just how critical network infrastructure can be. ePlus works to create better cloud infrastructure solutions for its customers to ensure they can perform their important roles. On this episode, Justin Mescher, the Vice President of Cloud Solutions of ePlus, shares more about the way that his team collaborates to give clients the network speed and redundancy they need, while also providing them with new cutting-edge solutions.
Tune in to learn:
* The industries ePlus services (2:15)
* How speed plays a role in the architecture of consumer applications (5:00)
* Leveraging automation to allow for speed and standardization (7:00)
* Thinking through the levels of redundancy you need in critical industries (10:20)
* Working with clients to keep them informed and on the cutti…
playlist_add
Feb 23, 2023
Exploring New Horizons: IT Visionaries Reassesses Topics and Invites Suggestions
In order to better prepare for the next season, IT Visionaries is taking a short break! After four years of continuous production, we’re hitting pause in order to reassess and reexamine the program. We love learning more about how technology impacts fields outside of software, such as aviation, healthcare, and the environment. But we’re open to everything! If you have any suggestions for guests, industries, and topics to cover, send them our way! And in the meantime, stay tuned for updates.
Mentions:
* Mission Daily - https://mission.org/mission-daily/
playlist_add
Jan 31, 2023
Engineering for Excellence in Residential Real Estate
Buying residential real estate is typically mired down in paperwork, presenting a difficult experience for consumers. But technology is currently changing this burdensome process for buyers and sellers alike. Our guest, Raji Subramanian, CTO of Opendoor, explains how the company’s platform addresses all aspects of the process (and the business behind it) by putting customer needs and the company’s core principles front-of-mind in every transaction.
Tune in to learn:
* How Opendoor touches every aspect of buying and selling homes (4:40)
* Addressing and overcoming homebuyer pain points (11:30)
* Leveraging technology for home assessment (21:10)
* Opendoor’s core leadership philosophy (29:11)
Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce. With Salesforce’s low-code app dev tools, you can be more efficient, more productive and save money by reducing development time by…
playlist_add
Jan 30, 2023
Scaling the Healthcare Industry for Maximum Impact with Pfizer
The need for a company to act quickly and scale efficiently is imperative when a global crisis is at hand. Fortunately, prior to the pandemic, the leadership at Pfizer had already been laying the groundwork for digital transformation with the help of Lidia Fonseca. When the demands grew, the company was prepared to scale, allowing it to bring desperately needed help to the world.
Tune in to learn:
* Pfizer’s tactic of increasing scaleability by creating a CTO role. (01:40)
* Building a strong culture as a foundation before the pandemic (8:14)
* The personal toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on Lidia. (14:12)
* Leadership advice in time of crisis (21:00)
* The exponential future impact of technology in healthcare (26:29)
Mentions:
* Jim Collins, _Good to Great_
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce. With Salesforce’s low-code app dev tools, you can be more efficient, more productive and save money by reducing development time by up to 90%. Get Salesforce’s Lo…
playlist_add
Jan 26, 2023
Amazon and Salesforce Driving Success Now, Together
What does success now look like for business leaders as economic shifts keep us all guessing? Thomas Cozzolino, Senior Director of Competitive Strategy at Salesforce, joins us to help discover the answers to this question as a special co-host in the Success Now Mini Series.
Solutions for cost reduction, increased efficiency, rapid ROI, and lightning-fast time to value are top of mind for many of today’s business leaders. Setting a prime example, Amazon is ever-innovating; and today we get to hear more about what this looks like for Mark Chien, General Manager of CRM Platform, AWS Sales, Marketing, and Global Services.
Tune in to learn:
* What is the Success Now Miniseries all about (03:45)
* Importance of data quality at AWS (7:10)
* Culture of Build vs Buy at AWS (9:10)
* Amazon’s continuing journey of reducing costs and time to value while increasing efficiency and ROI (18:00)
* Best practices for using and implementing Salesforce (33:55)
* Lightning Round (40:40)…
playlist_add
Jan 24, 2023
Success Now Mini Series: Rocket and Salesforce
Researcher Alan Kay is widely credited for saying, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” Our guest Brian Woodring, CIO of Rocket Companies concurs, as he is part of a company that is currently trying to define the future of mortgages. Working with Salesforce, his organization is continually trying (and learning from) innovative ways to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and generate ROI. Hear how Brian and his team may not have a “master plan” but still succeed through discovery, feedback, and a consistent focus on customers.
Tune in to learn:
* Why there’s no “master plan” for growth in IT businesses (5:00)
* How did Rocket measure the progress of its digital transformation (14:45)
* The differences between an OKR and a key result (25:14)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce. With Salesforce’s low-code app dev tools, you can be more efficient, more productive and save money by reducing development time by up to 90%. Get Salesforce’s…
playlist_add
Jan 17, 2023
Ensuring Data Security Through Collaboration
Cybersecurity, like so many other industries, is based on connections. Not just to countless endpoints, but also connection to the people behind the data. In this edition of IT Visionaries, guests Taher Elgamal from Salesforce, and Mike Sentonas from Crowdstrike share their perspectives on why practical communication still matters, even for the most intricate data security challenges.
Tune in to learn:
* The benefits of the Crowdstrike Salesforce partnership (2:30)
* How to protect data by securing all endpoints (6:20)
* How companies should approach security investments for 2023 (17:30)
* Tips for solving the cybersecurity skills gap (26:35)
Mentions:
* Cybersecurity Learning Hub - Trailhead
* https://bit.ly/3EytgZE
* CrowdStrike University: https://www.crowdstrike.com/crowdstrike-university/
* NextGen Scholarships: https://www.crowdstrike.com/about-crowdstrike/nextgen-scholarship-program/
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce. With Salesforce’s low-cod…
playlist_add
Jan 12, 2023
Breaking Barriers for Women in Tech
Women are still largely underrepresented in the tech workforce. To combat barriers for women, Alaina Percival, CEO of Women Who Code, shares how the organization tackles bias in the tech industry by providing a platform for women to succeed without limitation. Tune in to learn why the growth of women in tech is vital for industry success, and how Women Who Code is bridging the gap for a more equitable future in tech leadership.
Tune in to learn:
* Why women are underrepresented in the tech field (07:00)
* What advice Women Who Code has for breaking the barriers around becoming a tech leader (14:45)
* About investing in yourself and your skills in an economic downturn (27:22)
Mentions:
* Harlan Coben, _New York Times_ Best Selling Author
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce. With Salesforce’s low-code app dev tools, you can be more efficient, more productive and save money by reducing development time by up to 90%. Get Salesforce’s Low-Code Playbook and increa…
playlist_add
Jan 10, 2023
The Vital Role of High-Tech in Healthcare
The primary goal of cybersecurity is human safety. Even if high-tech isn’t typically equated with healthcare, Cindi Carter, Global CISO of Check Point Software Technologies, explains why it should be.
Tune in to learn:
* Why high-tech is imperative for healthcare (3:37)
* The vulnerability of medical records (08:40)
* Healthcare cybersecurity predictions for 2023-24 (30:27)
* The “human factor” of cybersecurity (37:00)
Mentions:
* HIMSS Cybersecurity in Healthcare
* Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of_ __Antifragile_
* CISSP certification
* Cybertalk
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce. With Salesforce’s low-code app dev tools, you can be more efficient, more productive and save money by reducing development time by up to 90%. Get Salesforce’s Low-Code Playbook and increase time to value for your team and your customers. Download the free playbook today.
Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at missio…
playlist_add
Jan 5, 2023
Technology That Serves America’s Heroes
How did one of the world’s biggest bureaucracies successfully develop a sleek, efficient, and user-friendly online benefits experience for veterans? Today’s guest, Charles Worthington, CTO of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs shares how he applied a tech startup mentality to help make the VA’s services more accessible to our nation’s finest, and why he hopes to spark a “tradition of public service” in the tech industry.
Tune in to learn:
* An overview of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ digital services (2:55)
* The effort to rebuild the VA website (5:00)
* How the VA mobile app was launched (12:551)
* The state of tech in the public sector (28:50)
Mentions:
* VA: Health and Benefits (App)
* Presidential Innovation Fellows
* United States Digital Service
* Careers - DigitalVA - Veterans Affairs
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce. With Salesforce’s low-code app dev tools, you can be more efficient, more productive and save m…
playlist_add
Jan 3, 2023
How Innovation Meets Sustainability in Modern Office Spaces
How has finding the perfect solution for physical office spaces evolved since hybrid working has become more prevalent? James Quinn, Executive Managing Director at JLL, shares how the company analyzes the aspirations and layouts of businesses to provide the best option for building or buying a physical office space that accommodates hybrid and in-person companies. Tune in to learn more about how JLL incorporates sustainable options as well as technological advancements into its plans for the companies it partners with.
Tune in to learn:
* How the market shift is affecting JLL and what it offers (01:20)
* What JLL does to curate the perfect space for a company (08:50)
* About the first steps of building within sustainability (11:57)
* How Beacon Of Hope 365 inspires Jim to focus on the positives of technology (22:48)
Mentions:
* Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter and Tesla
* Twitter
* “Is Hybrid Work Killing Remote Summer? Yes, but It Doesn’t Have To” article by Katherine…
playlist_add
Dec 29, 2022
Mission’s End-of-Year Wrap-up: Key Business Insights for 2023
On this special end-of-year crossover episode, the hosts from Up Next in Commerce, Marketing Trends, and IT Visionaries meet up again to discuss their biggest takeaways from their guests over the past year, and to make some predictions for what should be an exciting 2023 in marketing, tech, and ecommerce.
Tune in to learn:
* Why your employees are your greatest customers (8:43)
* Why good business instincts can help overcome a lack of data (14:43)
* Why intuition matters, even in data-driven industries (20:47)
Mentions:
* David Ting, Zenni
* David Heinemeier Hansson, 37signals
* Stephanie Dobbs Brown, CMO, Intercontinental Exchange
* Lil’ Wayne
* Kevin Warren, UPS
* Eric Toda, Meta
Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.
playlist_add
Dec 27, 2022
Year in Review: Top of IT Visionaries
The problem-solving prowess of the IT leaders we meet has inspired and motivated us all year. The guests we’ve featured in 2022 have shared their strategies for cutting costs to their businesses through technology and effective leadership. They’ve shown us new tools, software, and philosophies that make the world a better place. From healthcare and education to business and sustainability, their innovation continues to carve a clear path for future success. These are just a few of our favorite segments from the 100+ interviews we held this past year.
Tune in to learn:
* How low-code innovation is empowering Pacific Clinics to increase efficiency (02:20)
* How Tableau saved the Seattle Seahawks time and money with their tech (07:31)
* Effective scaling for technology teams (27:49)
* Creating sustainable power with new tech (31:57)
Mentions:
* How Legends of Low-Code Brought Magical Solutions to Pacific Clinics
* Watch: Legends of Low-Code on Salesforce Plus
* Champ…
playlist_add
Dec 22, 2022
Championing the Prospective Customer with David Heinemeier Hansson
Software itself is constantly being updated, but are some conventional approaches used by tech leaders also in need of an upgrade? David Heinemeier Hansson is the Co-owner & CTO of the software company 37signals, producer of the successful web services Basecamp and HEY. On this episode, David explains the forward-thinking methodologies that his company has successfully implemented, like championing prospective customers rather than current ones, enforcing a short six-week planning cycle, and placing a higher value on intuition over data.
Tune in to learn:
* About the “six-week cycle” approach to innovation at 37signals (6:50)
* Why 37signals creates “opinionated software” (26:55)
* About David’s reliance on intuition over data (33:40)
* Why David considers writing to be a crucial leadership skill (42:08)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce. With Salesforce’s low-code app dev tools, you can be more efficient, more productive and save money by reducing d…
playlist_add
Dec 20, 2022
Boosting Business Growth Through Interoperability
New research shows that businesses that invest in interoperability can grow revenue six times faster than competitors. Why, then, are only one out of every three companies making this investment? Emma McGuigan, Global Lead of Enterprise and Industry Technologies at Accenture, joins us to discuss the tech consulting company’s latest report on the benefits of adopting interoperability, and other burgeoning technologies that are driving the growth of her clients.
Tune in to learn:
* Findings from Accenture’s report on interoperability (04:33)
* How Accenture approaches the collaborative process with clients (11:30)
* How is Accenture Reducing Costs, and Increasing Time to Value and ROI (21:26)
* Why Emma is excited about the future of tech (33:09)
Mentions:
* Value Untangled: Accelerating Radical Growth Through Interoperability - Accenture
* “Companies with Highly Interoperable Technology Achieve Six Times Higher Revenue Growth, According to New Accenture Research”…
playlist_add
Dec 15, 2022
Creating Frictionless Cybersecurity Options
When logging into devices and applications that hold the key to a user's identity, how can that user tell who is at the other end of the line? When it comes to internet safety and securing a user's identity online, Phil Dunkelberger, President and CEO of Nok Nok Labs, shares that the future of online security is cybersecurity that can be simplified through public private key cryptography. On this episode, Phil explains what that means, plus the purpose of FIDO and how it can create frictionless security for users logging into their devices and applications.
Tune in to learn:
* What FIDO is designed to do for users (9:55)
* Why public private keys used for authentication benefits the customer (14:00)
* How pass keys have evolved to render the need for two devices for personal and work purposes unnecessary (28:00)
* About Nok Nok’s Study on the IT Support side of the problem with authentication (35:36)
Mentions:
* Vanguard
* Totem Tech
* Alli Bey, CEO of Totem Tech…
playlist_add
Dec 13, 2022
Protect Your Emails from Cyber Attacks with Mimecast
Over 90% of all cyber attacks start with a phishing email to an unsuspecting victim. As cyber criminal techniques become more sophisticated, how can businesses keep their communication channels safe? On this episode, David Raissipour, Chief Technology and Product Officer at the cloud-based cybersecurity company Mimecast, discusses the importance of cyber protection education and shares how his engineering team innovates to give businesses the upper hand over cyber threats.
Tune in to learn:
* The importance of cybersecurity education (07:11)
* How Mimecast innovates for new kinds of cyber crime (13:56)
* How the current economy is impacting the cybersecurity industry (28:01)
* The demand for cybersecurity jobs (33:20)
Mentions:
* “Closing the Cybersecurity Skills Gap” (IT Visionaries podcast; Episode 425)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce. With Salesforce’s low-code app dev tools, you can be more efficient, more productive and save money by reducing de…
playlist_add
Dec 8, 2022
Simplified Cybersecurity Workflow Automation
Are menial workflow tasks keeping cybersecurity teams from reaching their full potential? Tines is a fast-growing, Ireland-based company that’s bringing automation to the security workforce, with no code writing necessary. The company’s Co-founder and CEO Eoin Hinchy joins us to discuss the ingenious automation process that narrows all workflow duties down to a mere seven “action types,” freeing up cyber workers to focus on keeping your data safe.
Tune in to learn:
* Tines and its no-code approach to cybersecurity (01:00)
* The seven “action types” that Tines automates (06:48)
* How much time is saved automating these workflows? (25:03)
* Eoin’s “hot take” on the cybersecurity skills gap (27:20)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce. With Salesforce’s low-code app dev tools, you can be more efficient, more productive and save money by reducing development time by up to 90%. Get Salesforce’s Low-Code Playbook and increase time to value for your…
playlist_add
Dec 6, 2022
How Unbabel Is Using AI to Break Language Barriers
For companies seeking to scale globally, overcoming language barriers in foreign markets can be a major challenge. Unbabel is an AI-powered platform that combines machine and human translation to help businesses provide localized, multilingual customer experiences around the world. On this episode, Unbabel’s Co-founder and CEO Vasco Pedro reveals how his lifelong passion for language led to the company’s formation, and why AI technology is transforming the way we communicate across cultures.
Tune in to learn:
* About Unbabel and LangOps (1:06)
* The origin of Vasco’s fascination with language (15:30)
* The early breakthroughs at Unbabel (22:48)
* AI translation’s impact on globalization (31:48)
Mentions:
* AlphaGo - DeepMind
* “Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies” (book by Jared Diamond)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce. With Salesforce’s low-code app dev tools, you can be more efficient, more productive and save money by re…
playlist_add
Dec 1, 2022
Automated Tax Compliance for Any Business
Let’s face it — nobody likes doing taxes. And staying on top of changing codes, rates, and regulations can be a time-consuming endeavor for companies. Avalara is a tax compliance automation platform that’s making tax solutions easier for businesses all around the world. Avalara’s EVP of Engineering and CTO Danny Fields joins us to discuss the wide scale of innovation required to deliver fast and accurate tax computations globally, and why companies still using manual methods should make the switch to automation now.
Tune in to learn:
* What is Avalara and what does it do? (01:09)
* How Avalara keeps track of constant changes in the tax code (10:45)
* What it was like moving Avalara toward automation (16:39)
* Why some companies are slow to adopt tax automation (27:03)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce. With Salesforce’s low-code app dev tools, you can be more efficient, more productive and save money by reducing development time by up to 90%. Get Sales…
playlist_add
Nov 29, 2022
Get to Work Solving Problems
Business processes get faster and more convenient everyday as we automate tedious busywork. That said, how much further can automation efforts take us? Chris Byers, CEO of Formstack, discusses the wide ranging industries that would benefit from additional digital automation and how Formstack empowers non-technical employees to solve process-problems.
Tune in to learn:
* How has Formstack simplified the user experience over time? (02:52)
* The rise of automating office work (15:40)
* Who is driving innovation in organizations? (17:40)
* How far are we from a paperless future? (24:00)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce. With Salesforce’s low-code app dev tools, you can be more efficient, more productive and save money by reducing development time by up to 90%. Get Salesforce’s Low-Code Playbook and increase time to value for your team and your customers. Download the free playbook today.
Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients.…
playlist_add
Nov 24, 2022
Mission Thanksgiving Roundtable: Is Black Friday Dead?
With the holiday shopping season in full swing, how are businesses handling the busiest commerce period of the year? On this special crossover episode, the hosts from Mission.org podcasts, Up Next in Commerce, Marketing Trends and IT Visionaries join forces for the first time ever to discuss all things retail. Tune in to hear Stephanie, Jeremy, and Albert share their thoughts and expertise about the latest shopping technology, holiday cyber threats, and whether shifting consumer attitudes will make Black Friday a thing of the past.
Tune in to learn:
* Has in-store Black Friday shopping become a thing of the past? (04:21)
* Cybersecurity’s role in Black Friday and Cyber Monday (13:51)
* Is there consumer optimism in today’s uncertain market? (19:02)
* End capping its evolution into ad-buying (29:15)
* The Mission hosts share about their podcasts (42:52)
Mentions:
* “Bringing Build-A-Bear Alive in New Ways With Jenn Kretchmar, Chief Digital and Merchandising Officer…
playlist_add
Nov 22, 2022
Building Sophisticated Transaction Models
With so many options provided by different platforms, how can a company ensure it is choosing the best option? Boris Lokschin, Co-founder and CEO of Spryker Systems, has nearly 20 years’ experience building commerce technologies, and claims it’s best to create a tech stack that provides options for the customer rather than relying on preset models. Listen to hear more about Spryker Systems and how the company created stability for sophisticated transactional business models in today’s ever-changing market.
Tune in to learn:
* How digital transformation has changed the industry (04:38)
* Why Spryker’s buyers started to change (11:42)
* About the evolution of commerce engines (17:25)
* What happens when the market flips (31:47)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in yo…
playlist_add
Nov 17, 2022
Making Cybersecurity More Effective
Not only are cybersecurity threats rapidly evolving and increasing in number, but the market for solutions is almost equally complicated. Ian McShane, Field CTO and VP of Strategy at Arctic Wolf, explains how they guide companies through these challenges, sharing his thoughts on the cybersecurity industry and offering words of wisdom for business leaders.
Tune in to learn:
* What is unique about Arctic Wolf (01:10)
* Ian’s observations about the industry (4:40)
* How the cybersecurity industry has changed over the last 10+ years (9:47)
* The shortage in cybersecurity professionals (22:30)
* Technologies and skills business leaders should invest in (25:55)
Mentions:
* NIST Cybersecurity Framework
* Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
* Minority Report (Science Fiction Movie)
* The Bombpops (Band)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoug…
playlist_add
Nov 15, 2022
Innovating at the Cutting Edge of Ad Technology
How can brands best utilize today’s technology to make the biggest possible impact on consumers? Our guest today is Stephan Pretorius, Chief Technology Officer at WPP, the world’s largest marketing services organization. Poised at the forefront of advertising innovation, Stephan discusses how marketers can effectively target consumers without impinging on their privacy, and shares how some of WPP’s most groundbreaking ad campaigns came to fruition.
Tune in to learn:
* What is WPP and what is Stephan’s role there? (01:10)
* How does WPP navigate the changing marketing landscape? (16:40)
* Deepfakes and the future of likeness licensing in advertising (28:10)
* Stephan’s tech journey and his advice for aspiring tech leaders (35:55)
Mentions:
* Cadbury Celebrations | Not Just A Cadbury Ad
* Toxic Influence: A Dove Film | Dove Self-Esteem Project
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce…
playlist_add
Nov 10, 2022
Teaching English One Conversation at a Time with the Cambly App
A staggering 1.5 billion people all over the world are actively trying to learn English as an additional language, which can be difficult without access to a regular conversation partner. Enter Sameer Shariff, Co-founder and CEO of Cambly, a networking platform that allows students from around the globe to interact with English-speaking tutors. Hear Sameer describe the innovative technology behind the app and how its simple, fun design positions students for success.
Tune in to learn:
* What is Cambly and what inspired its formation? (02:11)
* How Cambly built its community of tutors (8:20)
* Comparing Cambly with other language apps (18:40)
* Why Cambly is going “all in” on English learning (27:00)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe to a newsle…
playlist_add
Nov 8, 2022
‘Monetize Your Knowledge’ with Mahesh Guruswamy, CTO, Kajabi
Starting a new creative endeavor can often seem like a major gamble, but what if there existed a tool that helped creators minimize their entrepreneurial risk? Mahesh Guruswamy is the CTO of Kajabi, a multifaceted online business platform designed to help entrepreneurs, experts and influencers succeed. Tune in to learn the approach to innovation at the company, and how Mahesh and his engineering team have effectively scaled the platform during a time of major growth.
Tune in to learn:
* About Kajabi and what makes it special (02:30)
* Kajabi’s various product domains (08:20)
* The Kajabi playbook of scale, speed and reliability (21:55)
* How Kajabi decides which new features to bet on (32:05)
Mentions:
* Kajabi Edge (podcast)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your…
playlist_add
Nov 3, 2022
Simplifying the Lending Process
According to a 2018 survey, 40% of first-time homebuyers considered purchasing a home to be the most stressful event in modern life. But does it have to be that way? Regis Hadiaris is the VP of Product Strategy at Rocket Central, a hub of companies that includes America’s largest mortgage lender, Rocket Mortgage. Tune in to hear how his team is using data-driven innovation to try to make the home buying process as fast, simple, and stress-free as possible.
Tune in to learn:
* Rocket Central’s emphasis on simplicity (2:40)
* The outdated model of some of Rocket’s competitors (10:35)
* The long-term vision at Rocket Central (19:43)
* The UI design process at Rocket Central (24:55)
Did you know, Salesforce is one of the founding members of World Economic Forum's Cybersecurity Learning Hub ?
The learning hub democratizes access to cybersecurity skills by providing free and career-oriented modules that give people a route towards in-demand roles.
Visit Trailhead to skill…
playlist_add
Nov 1, 2022
Data Innovations for SMB Funding
How can small businesses find success with funding? Prashant Fuloria, CEO of Fundbox, shares his insights on how short periods of reliable funding can boost capital and keep small business owners focused on their crafts. Tune in to learn more about Fundbox’s data innovation and how building customer relationships can help customer retention.
Tune in to learn:
* What Fundbox is and how it helps small businesses (1:40)
* How Fundbox creates strategies to help solve funding problems (15:20)
* About Fundbox’s unique customer loyalty strategy (28:10)
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce. Did you know all the very best Dreamforce sessions are available free on salesforce.com/plus ? We recommend watching the Platform and MuleSoft keynote to get the down-low on doing more with less and increasing efficiencies with automation.
Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.
playlist_add
Oct 27, 2022
The Many Roads Into Cybersecurity
Closing the cybersecurity skills gap might seem like a problem for established tech professionals to solve, but a technical background isn’t even necessary to join the cause. On this episode, we continue our “Cybersecurity” series with guests Melonia da Gama, Director of Marketing at Fortinet’s NSE Training Institute, and Lynn Simons, Senior Director of Security Awareness and Engagement at Salesforce. Hear these two champions of cyber education discuss why a diverse talent pool and a bit of daily diligence are needed to stop cybercriminals in their tracks.
Tune in to learn:
* The partnership between Fortinet and Salesforce (04:03)
* The importance of hiring diverse talent for cybersecurity jobs (16:10)
* Why cybersecurity is a “human issue” (22:54)
* The success of cybersecurity training programs (34:31)
Mentions:
* Cybersecurity Learning Hub - Trailhead
* National Cybersecurity Alliance
* “Closing the Cybersecurity Skills Gap with Cyber Experts Gill Tho…
playlist_add
Oct 25, 2022
Closing the Cybersecurity Skills Gap with Cyber Experts Gill Thomas and Seán Doyle
The need for cybersecurity has never been more apparent than in today’s growing digital world. But are there enough skilled cyber workers to keep up with rising demand? On this episode, Gill Thomas, Director of the Engagement, Capacity & Resilience Program at the Global Cyber Alliance and Seán Doyle, Lead at the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Cybersecurity, share how an innovative instructional program is providing people with the skills to help address the global cybersecurity worker shortage.
Tune in to learn:
* The extent of the cybersecurity professional shortage (04:17)
* The success of the Cybersecurity Learning Hub (17:08)
* The curriculum at the Cybersecurity Learning Hub (24:50)
* What is the future of cybersecurity? (36:42)
Mentions:
* Cybersecurity Learning Hub - Trailhead
* Fortinet
* Cybersecurity Multi-Donor Trust Fund - World Bank
* CyberFirst - National Cyber Security Centre
* “The War with Algorithms: Why Your Next Security Strategy Incl…
playlist_add
Oct 20, 2022
Advancing Companies Using Automation With Jeff Burnstein, President of A3
How is automation creating more jobs in the workplace? Jeff Burnstein, President of A3, claims that by using automation to function alongside workers, it can create more jobs for the market and allow workers more time for important tasks. Listen to the episode to hear more about Jeff’s perspective on how automation can transform the job market.
Tune in to learn:
* What is A3 and how does it supports the industry (1:20)
* How A3 educates companies on automation (7:45)
* About the Automate Show (18:00)
* Taking advantage of the data to improve automation technology (28:00)
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce. Did you know all the very best Dreamforce sessions are available free on salesforce.com/plus? We recommend watching the Platform and MuleSoft keynote to get the down-low on doing more with less and increasing efficiencies with automation.
Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org
playlist_add
Oct 18, 2022
Deeper Data Insights with Dr. Yu Xu, CEO, TigerGraph
As companies rely more heavily on analytics to draw insights, how can they be sure that they’re truly getting the most out of their data? Dr. Yu Xu is the CEO of TigerGraph, a graph analytics software company that created the industry’s first distributed native graph database. Tune in to hear Dr. Xu explain the development process behind this revolutionary technology and why it is reshaping the way businesses approach, analyze, and act upon their data.
Tune in to learn:
* What a native parallel graph database is (2:00)
* How companies integrate TigerGraph’s database (9:44)
* About TigerGraph’s six-year development journey (16:00)
* How Dr. Xu has adjusted to his role as CEO (30:19)
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce. Did you know all the very best Dreamforce sessions are available free on salesforce.com/plus? We recommend watching the Platform and MuleSoft keynote to get the down-low on doing more with less and increasing efficiencies wit…
playlist_add
Oct 13, 2022
The Automation Buffet with Joyce Paul & Shalini Mayor, Salesforce
If automation technology has the ability to revolutionize the way businesses operate, then what’s keeping so many from adopting it? Today, we are joined by two top minds from the world’s leading CRM platform Salesforce: Joyce Paul, Director of Research & Insights, and Shalini Mayor, Senior Director of Enterprise Automation. Tune in to hear Joyce and Shalini discuss how Salesforce is collaborating with its customers to make automation implementation faster, easier, and more personalized than ever.
Tune in to learn:
* Why some companies are slow to adopt automation (02:50)
* About the collaborative process at Salesforce (14:45)
* What successful automation implementation looks like (24:20)
* How automation is changing people’s lives at work and at home (28:25)
Mentions:
* “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't” by Jim Collins
* Automation Is Just the Beginning for Business — Here’s How the IT Leaders Are Taking It to the Next Le…
playlist_add
Oct 11, 2022
Serving Small Businesses with Clate Mask, CEO and Co-Founder, Keap
Adding features to existing software often requires a great deal of hard work, but simplification can be an even more difficult process. Clate Mask is the CEO and Co-Founder of Keap, a CRM and sales and marketing automation platform focused on small business needs. On this episode, Clate speaks candidly about the company’s early days, which boasted a powerful but complex automation tool, and the challenges he and his team overcame in order to make the platform more accessible.
Tune in to learn:
* What Keap provides its customers (1:50)
* How Keap simplified its platform for small businesses (12:00)
* About “when/then automation” (23:55)
* Clate’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs (25:40)
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce. Did you know all the very best Dreamforce sessions are available free on salesforce.com/plus? We recommend watching the Platform and MuleSoft keynote to get the down-low on doing more with less and increasing efficienci…
playlist_add
Oct 6, 2022
Data That Tells You ‘Why’ with Jigar Desai, SVP of Engineering, Sisu
Businesses often rely on data to provide them with useful insights about the “what” — what is working and what isn’t. But is there a way to uncover the “why”? Jigar Desai is the SVP of Engineering at Sisu, a data intelligence engine that uses automated analytics to determine why certain KPI changes occur. On this episode, Jigar explains the revolutionary technology behind the Sisu engine, what its implementation process involves, and how this very podcast could benefit from its use.
Tune in to learn:
* What Sisu provides its customers (02:20)
* How Sisu offers recommendations after making its findings (15:30)
* The benefits of using Sisu (26:40)
* Which dimensions help Sisu make its determinations (30:30)
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce. Did you know all the very best Dreamforce sessions are available free on salesforce.com/plus? We recommend watching the Platform and MuleSoft keynote to get the down-low on doing more with less and…
playlist_add
Oct 4, 2022
Proactive, Innovative Data Center Optimization with Michael Cantor, CIO of Park Place Technologies
Data center maintenance requires an intricate balance of automation, integration, supply management, and equipment knowledge. Without an optimized approach, the risk of extended resolution times looms large. On this episode of IT Visionaries, we welcome Michael Cantor, CIO of Park Place Technologies for a discussion of how his company streamlines these processes to support an ever-growing slate of platforms and hardware, alongside some thoughts on the future of optimized data management.
Tune in to learn:
* An overview of Park Place Technologies and its innovations in optimizing enterprise-class data center systems (1:45)
* The biggest challenges Park Place faces in maintaining and optimizing these systems (6:22)
* The origin and importance of “DMSO” to Park Place Technologies (14:32)
* How Park Place Technologies continues to support and optimize older hardware (19:09)
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce. Did you know all the very best Dreamf…
playlist_add
Sep 29, 2022
Where ‘Credit’ Is Due with Randy Kern, CTO, Marqeta
While credit cards have made the payment process considerably easier for users over the years, the systems that support those transactions are more complex than one might expect. Randy Kern is the CTO of the modern card issuing and payment processing platform Marqeta. On this episode, Randy offers a deep dive into the evolution of card payment technology and tells us how Marqeta is transforming the payment landscape.
Tune in to learn:
* About Marqeta and its customers (2:00)
* About the modernization of credit payments (5:25)
* Untangling the payment space (16:30)
* What the next few years might hold for the payment space (30:45)
* Randy’s thoughts on alternative payments and peer-to-peer lending (36:00)
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce. Did you know all the very best Dreamforce sessions are available free on salesforce.com/plus? We recommend watching the Platform and MuleSoft keynote to get the down-low on doing more with less and increasi…
playlist_add
Sep 27, 2022
The Evolution of Digital Consultancies with Jenny Koehler, Strategic Growth of PwC, and Patty Cheung, of MuleSoft
How have digital consultancies continued to evolve in the modern business landscape? Jenny Koehler, Strategic Growth & Business Development Leader at PwC, and Patty Cheung, VP of Alliances & Channels (Americas) at MuleSoft believe that lasting customer connections come from truly listening to customers’ unique problems and updating tech systems to better support their processes. Listen in to hear more about their thoughts on investing and modernizing software to encourage growth and customer relationships.
Tune in to learn:
* What MuleSoft and PwC do and how they work together (02:25)
* MuleSoft and PwC collaborating to help SMBs leverage the loan process (11:10)
* Patty’s thoughts on custom coding (18:50)
* Why crossing the chasm to newer tech is vital for a company’s growth (29:00)
* About PwC’s acquisition of Netrovert and partnership with MuleSoft (36:40)
Mentions:
* Jim Collins “Good to Great” book
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and D…
playlist_add
Sep 22, 2022
Overcoming Legacy Thinking to Drive Digital Innovation with Isaac Sacolick, President of StarCIO
How can CIOs drive successful digital transformation within their organizations? Isaac Sacolick, author and President of StarCIO, shares his expert advice based on his experience in digital transformation consulting, as well as ideas from his new book _Digital Trailblazer. _Tune in to hear his insights into the market and his tips for CIOs.
Tune in to learn:
* Isaac’s Career Evolution (02:45)
* Isaac’s Insights into the Market (05:01)
* What CIOs Should Be Thinking About (10:13)
* Will Doing Nothing Lead to Failure? (25:55)
* Tips for CIOs in Legacy Industries and Organizations (34:29)
Mentions:
* Digital Trailblazer: Essential Lessons to Jumpstart Transformation and Accelerate Your Technology L eadership (book by Isaac Sacolick)
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce. Did you know all the very best Dreamforce sessions are available free on salesforce.com/plus? We recommend watching the Platform and MuleSoft keynote to get the down-low on d…
playlist_add
Sep 20, 2022
How Legends of Low-Code Brought Magical Solutions to Pacific Clinics with Jason Gurahoo & Eleanor Castillo Sumi
Watching Salesforce Trailblazers work under pressure to craft customer low-code solutions for Pacific Clinics is inspiring and even brought tears to the eyes of Eleanor Castillo Sumi, the SVP of Strategy, Innovation, and Growth. As a nonprofit, Pacific Clinics faces unique challenges integrating systems with disparate government entities, and CFO Jason Gurahoo can account for the powerful changes these solutions are bringing to the organization. Tune in for a special BTS of how the Legends of Low Code tv series is bringing more efficiency and a better user experience to Pacific Clinics and their customers.
Tune in to learn:
* Who does Pacific Clinics help? (2:15)
* What it takes to bring transformation at Pacific Clinics (4:30)
* Understanding how and find the tools to make change (11:45)
* Finding and cultivating the right practitioners (25:00)
* Why Elenor was blown away by her experience on Legends of Low Code (31:30)
Mentions:
* Salesforce Plus TV Show “Legends of…
playlist_add
Sep 15, 2022
Championing the Prospective Customer With David Heinemeier Hansson, Co-owner & CTO, 37signals
Software itself is constantly being updated, but are some conventional approaches used by tech leaders also in need of an upgrade? David Heinemeier Hansson is the Co-owner & CTO of the software company 37signals, producer of the successful web services Basecamp and HEY. On this episode, David explains the forward-thinking methodologies that his company has successfully implemented, like championing prospective customers rather than current ones, enforcing a short six-week planning cycle, and placing a higher value on intuition over data.
Tune in to learn:
* David describes the “six-week cycle” approach at 37signals (03:30)
* How did 37signals develop its short-term planning method? (08:30 )
* The relationship between designers and programmers at 37signals (13:30)
* David’s reliance on intuition over data (29:15)
* The importance of writing and advice David received from Jeff Bezos (37:50)
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce 2022. Catch the…
playlist_add
Sep 13, 2022
Real Time Response Using Data With Evan Kaplan, CEO of InfluxData
How fast can data be collected and used in current business models? Evan Kaplan, CEO of InfluxData, claims that in the era of smart products, an autonomous system can utilize data collected every millisecond for instant responses. Listen in to learn more about how collecting instant data can provide better service for products and create loyalty with customers.
Tune in to learn:
* What InfluxData does (01:12)
* Monitoring data to build real-time responses (08:39)
* How quickly data is being recorded (14:36)
* Types of projects built with InfluxData (16:28)
* InfluxData's popularity with student engineers (20:17)
Mentions:
* Check out our previous episode with Paul Dix also from InfluxData.
* “Memorial Day Murph” Crossfit Routine
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce 2022. Catch the news and insights coming out of Dreamforce this year for free on salesforce.com/plus. Content will start rolling on September 20th.
Mission.org is a media st…
playlist_add
Sep 8, 2022
Leveraging Indoor Intelligence Data With Nadir Ali, CEO of Inpixon
What is Indoor Intelligence? How can Indoor Intelligence data be used to improve the customer and employee experience? Nadir Ali, CEO of Inpixon, shares practical applications and case studies, as well as his thoughts on future implementations with augmented reality and the metaverse. Tune in to hear the impacts Indoor Intelligence can have on security, and even employee retention.
Tune in to learn:
* How Businesses are Leveraging This Data to Solve Problems (05:36)
* What the Data Shows About Post-COVID Work Trends (9:51)
* How Indoor Intelligence Can Support the Employee Experience (15:17)
* The Evolution of the Business Idea (21:23)
* What Nadir Envisions for the Next Five Years (27:12)
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce 2022. Catch the news and insights coming out of Dreamforce this year for free on salesforce.com/plus. Content will start rolling on September 20th.
Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Le…
playlist_add
Sep 6, 2022
Advising Tech ‘Goliaths’ With Prashant Kelker, Chief Strategy Officer, Partner & Lead Americas, ISG
Where do some of the most successful tech leaders in the world turn to for sound advice? Prashant Kelker is the Chief Strategy Officer and a Lead Partner at ISG, a multinational technology research and advisory firm that consults an astounding 80 companies in the _Fortune_ 100. Tune in to hear the fascinating details about ISG’s advisory process and why Prashant calls the firm “the industry’s best-kept secret.”
Tune in to learn:
* What sets ISG apart from other consulting firms? (3:00)
* How does ISG gather the information necessary to make recommendations? (06:44)
* Prashant shares a success story he experienced at ISG (08:50)
* At what point in the process does ISG get involved? (18:25)
* Prashant discusses Web3 (32:30)
Mentions:
* “The Platform Delusion” (book by Jonathan A. Knee)
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce 2022. Catch the news and insights coming out of Dreamforce this year for free on salesforce.com/plus. Content wi…
playlist_add
Sep 1, 2022
On the Edge (of Computing) With Justin Boitano, VP, EGX, NVIDIA
Edge computing has a lot to offer enterprises in terms of cost savings, increased efficiency, and all manner of other positive benefits that Justin Boitano is excited about. As the VP of EGX at NVIDIA, he and his team help enterprises drive incredible efficiencies, training models, and implementing a strategy that includes a low cost time to value. Tune in for some practical examples and case studies of what edge computing can really do for the future of technology.
Tune in to learn:
* How NVIDIA is unlocking more powerful computing at the edge. (02:15 )
* How does computing at the edge actually help companies scale? (05:45)
* Improving the customer experience through edge computing (12:27)
* Fast model training means fast time to value with NVIDIA AI Enterprise (14:49)
* Addressing security concerns for edge computing (21:35)
Mentions:
* NVIDIA Fleet Command
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce 2022. Catch the news and insights coming out of…
playlist_add
Aug 30, 2022
Automation Renaissance Part 3: Hiding Complexity with Automation featuring Prakash Kota, SVP and CIO, Autodesk
Everybody loves saving time and money, which are natural results of automation. There can be fear around automation and it taking jobs away, however, the truth is that automation can make jobs more meaningful by reserving people’s time for tasks requiring good judgment. Today our return guest, automation expert, and CIO of Autodesk, Prakash Kota, sheds light on what automation is unlocking for an improved employee and customer experience across the spectrum of product innovation. From increasing business efficiency, to increasing sustainability around product development, automation is paving the way for a better tomorrow.
Tune in to learn:
* How has the evolution of Autodesk been driven by automation? (04:06)
* Why is it so important to be selective about what you automate? (12:46)
* What kind of culture fosters a citizen-development mindset? (14:46)
* How does Autodesk use Salesforce to provide the best customer experience? (21:18)
* Automation brings sustainability ben…
playlist_add
Aug 25, 2022
Automation Renaissance Part 2: Accelerating Human Connection with Savinay Berry, EVP, Product and Engineering, Vonage
From telephone lines to the cloud, the human impulse to connect has long been a powerful driver of innovation. But how is the rapid advancement of automation technology changing the way we communicate? Continuing our “Automation” series, we welcome Savinay Berry, EVP of Product and Engineering at the cloud communications provider Vonage. Tune in to hear eye-opening insights from an industry leader who’s at the cutting edge of communications technology.
Tune in to learn:
* A brief history of Vonage (01:18)
* Automation advancing communications at Vonage (07:03)
* What is Vonage’s automation philosophy? (09:50)
* How has the evolution of language impacted Vonage? (13:02)
* How fast do they implement updates? (18:48)
* How do you work at the speed and acceleration of innovation in communications? (23:55)
* What will customer service look like in five years? (33:12)
Our Automation Series is brought to you by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce 2022! We don’t wan…
playlist_add
Aug 23, 2022
The Automation Renaissance Part 1 with John Kucera of Salesforce & Matt McLarty of MuleSoft/Salesforce
Are the antiquated systems at your business holding it back from its full potential? Today’s the day to automate! On this episode, we kick off our “Automation” series with guests John Kucera, SVP of Product Management at Salesforce, and Matt McLarty, Global Field CTO & VP of the Digital Transformation Office at Salesforce’s integration platform MuleSoft. John and Matt join us to discuss how system automation is rapidly changing how businesses operate, and which arenas outside of the tech industry would most benefit from an automation overhaul.
Tune in to learn:
* The trajectory of the automation market (04:28)
* What is preventing some businesses from fully embracing automation (19:50)
* About innovations that have the potential to accelerate automation (24:00)
* About areas that could benefit from more automation integration (34:30)
Mentions:
* Einstein Next Best Action (Salesforce platform feature)
* Forbes Technology Council
Our Automation Series is brought…
playlist_add
Aug 18, 2022
From the NSA to Healthcare Software With Lucienne Ide, Founder and CEO, Rimidi
The constant need to re-share your health history with each new healthcare provider you encounter is frustrating and, unfortunately, all too common. It leads to wasted time, inaccuracies, and lost opportunities. Finding a way to improve archaic hospital and physician healthcare record systems takes someone who’s been on the other side — in the physician’s shoes. Rimidi, a clinical management platform software company, offers a solution that brings physicians’ perspectives to bear. Tune in to hear Lucienne Ide, the Founder and CEO of Rimidi, as she shares her indirect route to entrepreneurship and the wealth of unique perspectives and experiences she’s gained along the way.
Tune in to learn:
* About Lucienne’s winding career: From the NSA to investing, academia, healthcare, and finally entrepreneurship (03:47)
* About the great potential for improvement in diabetes care (12:29)
* A use case for how Rimidi is bringing change (18:28)
* About weighing social determina…
playlist_add
Aug 16, 2022
Reframing Cybersecurity With Corey White, Co-Founder & Chief Experience Officer of Cyvatar
Are commonly accepted cybersecurity strategies even helpful? Corey White, Co-Founder and Chief Experience Officer of the cybersecurity-as-a-service company Cyvatar, claims typical techniques don’t truly mitigate security threats. Listen in to learn about Corey’s ideas for an updated cybersecurity strategy and his thoughts on optimizing continuous protection for companies.
Tune in to learn:
* About alert fatigue in cybersecurity (08:27)
* Corey’s comparison of home security and penetration testing (20:16)
* Corey’s thoughts on securing personal devices in SMBs (30:27)
* What’s trending in cybersecurity (38:26)
Mentions:
* “The 6 Phase Guided Meditation” (by Vishen Lakhiani)
* “The Firewall is Dead” (talk by Corey White)
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce 2022. Catch the news and insights coming out of Dreamforce this year for free on salesforce.com/plus. Content will start rolling on September 20th.
Mission.org is a media…
playlist_add
Aug 11, 2022
Proactively Driving Customer Success With Manjula Talreja, SVP and Chief Customer Officer of PagerDuty
What drives a company toward winning? Manjula Talreja, SVP and Chief Customer Officer of PagerDuty, shares how the company has evolved into an _“operations platform in a _digital-first_ environment”_ to help businesses create positive experiences for its customers. Tune in to learn from Manjula about how PagerDuty’s _“proactive”_ approach to support customers leads to wins internally and for the companies it serves.
Tune in to learn:
* About PagerDuty and what the company does (00:30)
* Why driving customer experience is vital for brand loyalty (04:59)
* How PagerDuty is saving lives (16:11)
* What brought Manjula to PagerDuty (19:39)
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform and Dreamforce 2022. Catch the news and insights coming out of Dreamforce this year for free on salesforce.com/plus. Content will start rolling on September 20th.
Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.
playlist_add
Aug 9, 2022
How Deel Makes Empowering an International Workforce Easier With Yaron Lavi, CTO of Deel
On an international scale, is it possible to make hiring, contracting, and paying workers a more smooth and cohesive process? Yaron Lavi, CTO of Deel, claims it’s easier now than ever before with Deel. Also, tune in to hear how Yaron sets up his interview process to make great hires for his teams.
Tune in to learn:
* What is Deel and how does the company improve the hiring process (02:04)
* How Yaron interviews engineers (13:02)
* How _“put the customer first,_” according to Yaron, is more than business saying for Deel (21:37)
* About how customer needs lead to where Deel directs its attention (27:50)
* What was the craziest IT problem Yaron’s solved (35:00)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe to a newsletter tailored to your role at Salesf…
playlist_add
Aug 4, 2022
What Venture Capitalists Are Looking For in ‘NextGen’ Innovation With Thomas Krane, Managing Director, Insight Partners
Shy of having a crystal ball to predict the future, venture capitalists have to rely on other skills to determine what companies to fund. With a decade of experience, Insight Partners Managing Director Thomas Krane knows how to spot innovative startups that are bringing a significant value-add to the market. Just as importantly, he’s also looking for CEOs that understand the market value and how to make their product profitable. Learn more about the next generation of software VC!
Tune in to learn:
* About How Insight Partners has grown in the last decade (08:43)
* Where the best innovation are in new startups for security, DevOps, or automation (15:09)
* How 10x is the standard improvement rate for NextGen Cybersecurity development (22:06)
* What factor is enabling the break-neck speed of tech innovation (28:22)
* About Thomas’ career hop from the astronomy lab to venture capital (34:14)
* Where Thomas looks to find the next big thing to invest in (39:40)
Mentions:…
playlist_add
Aug 2, 2022
Using Tech to Enhance ‘Critical Thinking’ With Dr. David Bray, a Distinguished Fellow at The Stimson Center
Does current media output alter the way consumers think about information? Dr. David Bray, a Distinguished Fellow at The Stimson Center, explains that the media that people take in does change consumers’ thoughts. Tune in to learn how he suggests future tech can help improve people’s critical thinking skills.
Tune in to learn:
* (07:11) About David’s viewpoint that technology must be seen as a _“tool” _
* (17:44) How to combat polarization
* (21:51) About the loss objectivity in news media
* (33:40) David’s interest concerning “_triangulating”_ information
Mentions:
* "The Social Dilemma" (Film)
* Iain M. Banks (Novelist)
* David’s report (referenced at 44:50)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe to a newsletter tailored to…
playlist_add
Jul 28, 2022
An Innovation ‘Ecosystem’ With Kit Colbert, CTO, VMware
The IT world has many talented innovators, but they often work with outdated or overly complex software systems. Kit Colbert, the Chief Technology Officer at VMware, asserts that the virtualization company is helping set the table for these developers to flourish. Tune in to hear Kit explain how the synergistic relationship between VMware and its customers creates an _“ecosystem”_ of innovation.
Mention:
* “Top Data Security Trends for 2022” (Salesforce research report)
Tune in to learn:
* What VMware does (05:47)
* What Kit has seen as effective practices to oversee various technologies (12:43)
* What Kit is excited about in the VM industry (24:18)
* About Kit’s experience with vMotion (38:45)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe to a n…
playlist_add
Jul 26, 2022
Greatness Through Incremental Improvement With Borya Shakhnovich, CEO, airSlate
Is it the concept or the process that truly sets great companies apart from the rest? Borya Shakhnovich, the CEO of the workflow automation company airSlate, suggests that entrepreneurs are better served improving on an imperfect idea rather than trying to create the perfect one. Tune in to hear about the _“kaizen” _approach that airSlate takes toward innovation.
Tune in to learn:
* About airSlate (04:15)
* About the _“kaizen”_ approach to building software at airSlate (19:13)
* How Borya measures success at airSlate (24:05)
* About Borya’s leadership style (28:54)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe to a newsletter tailored to your role at Salesforce.com/newsletter.
Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients.…
playlist_add
Jul 21, 2022
Making Reproductive Healthcare Accessible With Carrie SiuButt, CEO of SimpleHealth
Is telemedicine the future for reproductive healthcare? Carrie SiuButt, CEO of SimpleHealth, suggests that increased virtual reproductive healthcare will enhance traditional approaches to care. Listen in to learn how Carrie’s personal health journey has also guided her career path.
Tune in to learn:
* (00:38) SimpleHealth's mission, including using data to offer dynamic healthcare
* (16:37) How differing state telehealth regulations are a challenge
* (19:45) About the future of telemedicine for reproductive healthcare
* (21:37) How to build the right team for success
Mentions:
* “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” by Malcolm Gladwell
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe to a newsletter tailored to your role at Salesforce.com/news…
playlist_add
Jul 19, 2022
Low-code Truth-telling With Mike Fitzmaurice, Chief Evangelist & VP-North America of WEBCON
Even if everyone could easily develop their own applications, would that really be a good thing? Mike Fitzmaurice, Chief Evangelist & VP-North America of WEBCON, points out that low-code solutions, like those offered by WEBCON, work well in experienced hands. Tune in to hear Mike’s myth-busting takes on low-code and no-code solutions and what he sees as the realistic promise of these sorts of development tools.
Tune in to learn:
* The distinction between low-code and no-code tools (05:40)
* Why Mike believes ‘citizen development” needs guardrails (09:24)
* How low-code tools help developers move more quickly (14:01)
* How companies can use low-code tools successfully (30:33)
Mentions:
* "WEBCON 2022 Predictions: The year of low-code and development shakeups" (VMblog.com article, written by Fitzmaurice)
* "4 Common Reasons Low-Code projects Fail" (InformationWeek article by Fitzmaurice)
* “Seven Trends Reshaping IT” (Salesforce report)
About the Guest:
BIO…
playlist_add
Jul 14, 2022
Don’t Move Slow on SLOs With Marcin Kurc, Co-founder and CEO, Nobl9
The increasing complexity of software systems has made it challenging for service providers to maximize efficiency and reduce technical debt. Marcin Kurc, the Co-founder and CEO of Nobl9, claims that these companies can find help in the burgeoning market of SLOs (service-level objectives). Tune in to hear the software innovator explain why SLOs are saving service providers precious resources and helping them maintain customer satisfaction.
Definitions:
five 9s: _“The five-9s term indicates how many ‘9’s there are in the uptime calculation. For example, saying something is up (and available) 99.99% of the time would be four nines. Five nines mean something is available 99.999% of the time or it only has downtime of 5.26 minutes per year.”_ (404 Tech Support article by Jason, 05/10/2012)
SLA (service-level agreement): _“A service-level agreement (SLA) defines the level of service you expect from a vendor, laying out the metrics by which service is measured, as well as remedi…
playlist_add
Jul 12, 2022
Securing Communications With Fredrik Nilsson, VP Americas, Axis Communications
The rapid advancements in camera and data storage technologies serve humanity more than simply feeding us our favorite entertainment in higher definition. To wrap up our communications series, Fredrik Nilsson, VP of the Americas for Axis Communications, stops by the show to illustrate a multitude of ways the company’s software and cameras are making the world a safer place. From detecting fires to locating the perpetrators of crimes, Axis’ technology brings their customers a greater degree of speed and precision while cutting costs.Tune in for Fredrik's explanation about how automation is enhancing the future of security.
Tune in to learn:
* About the tech behind network security on IP-based cameras (08:04)
* How Axis cameras can prevent forest fires (15:22)
* How evolving technology is driving security costs down (25:44)
* How automation at Axis is reducing costs in the security industry (35:00)
Mention:
* "Surveillance Cameras Help in Stamping Out Wildfires"
This e…
playlist_add
Jul 7, 2022
Removing Latency Byte by Byte With Ginna Raahauge, EVP and CIO, Zayo Group
Think for a minute about the millions of photos, messages, and videos flying around the world every second. Behind all of that data lies a company like Zayo Group, which provides communications infrastructure. At the helm of reducing latency, securing data, and driving innovation is EVP and CIO, Ginna Raahauge. Tune in as she brings her 28 years of experience as a CIO and CTO to this insightful conversation.
Tune in to learn:
* What is on the horizon for low latency data-center connectivity (04:41)
* What CIOs really want (08:47)
* How to adapt to increasing consumption and demand (20:34)
* How Ginna continues to drive innovation at Zayo (21:32)
* How to power digital twin experiences and how to growing demand in multiple verticles (29:25)
* The unplanned evolution of Ginna’s career in tech (34:32)
Mentions:
Marketing Trends Episode with Zayo Group’s SVP & CMO Kimberly Storin:
Using ABM as a Driver for Business Growth
This episode is a special part of our technolo…
playlist_add
Jul 5, 2022
Servant Leadership Drives Innovation With Rick Rioboli EVP, CTO & CIO, Comcast
In the communications world, it doesn't get much bigger than Comcast. With three massive arms of the business, including NBC Universal, Comcast Cable, and Sky, Comcast touches millions of customers every day. As Comcast's EVP, CTO, and CIO, Rick Rioboli is responsible for providing excellent customer service, innovating future technologies, and curating the next generation of technical professionals. Learn more about his servant leadership style and the aggressive way Comcast is training current and future technologists that keep Comcast on the cutting edge of all they do.
Also, check out the rest of our communications series featuring companies covering a broad spectrum of connectivity, latency, networking, and surveillance with leaders from Zayo, Phenix Real Time Solutions, and Axis Communications.
Tune in to learn:
* How Comcast is shifting from using AI on products to also on the business end (10:27)
* About Comcast’s 10G service (12:59)
* How the future of customer serv…
playlist_add
Jun 30, 2022
Truly Simultaneous Viewing Experiences With Roy Reichbach, CEO, Phenix Real Time Solutions
What is more annoying than watching the big game, texting your friends about it, and then realizing they’re ahead of you by 30 seconds? More than just being annoying, latency actually prevents certain business transactions, like remote-betting or live virtual voting, from occurring. As an avid sports fan and former NHL Board of Governors member Roy Reichbach, CEO of Phenix Real Time Solutions, immediately saw the massive potential for this company. Learn more about how the future for Phenix includes unlocking incredible experiences in the metaverse, as wild as you can imagine, including dancing on stage with Kanye.
This is a special part of our Communications Series on #ITVisionaries. Tune in to learn more in this series about the frontier of connectivity, streaming, and communications from experts and executives at companies including Comcast, Zayo, and Axis Communications!
Tune in to learn:
* How Phenix is solving latency issues in video streaming (04:45)
* What re-analyzing…
playlist_add
Jun 28, 2022
Cultivating a Security-Centric Mindset With Dave Merkel Co-founder and CEO, Expel
Hyper-scale security detection and response master Dave “Merk” Merkel, the Co-founder and CEO of Expel, is a self-proclaimed _“security-nerd.”_ Merk explains that staying ahead of the hackers and ransomware requires a multi-pronged strategy, including an informed C-suite, intelligent technologists, and excellent tech. Tune in to learn from Merk how every password and multi-factor authentication (MFA) matters and helps to keep you and your information safe from attackers.
Tune in to learn:
* More about what Merk calls the “accessible boogieman”: ransomware (06:43)
* Merk’s thoughts on the “Top Data Security Trends for 2022” findings (11:30)
* How to help people utilize the security measures already in place (15:43)
* Why there is hope; it’s not all doom and gloom in the security industry (23:09)
* Why all leadership in the C-suite needs to understand what good security looks like (25:22)
Mentions:
* Top Data Security Trends for 2022
IT Visionaries is…
playlist_add
Jun 23, 2022
Rallying Your Team Around a Common Goal With Jim Fowler, CTO of Nationwide
Our special Financial Week coverage continues with Nationwide CTO Jim Fowler. We’re bringing this episode back from 2020 because it’s chocked full of powerful insights and wisdom that are still true today. Jim helps us understand the true meaning of “digital transformation” and just as importantly, understand the necessity of transforming company culture to be more unified and thereby impactful. Enjoy!
Tune in to learn:
* Why taking the jobs that no one else wants will propel your career. (01:02)
* The scope of work for the CTO at Nationwide (06:05)
* Why Digital Transformation is the most overused and most misunderstood term in the industry. (09:28)
* How Nationwide thinks about dividing the work between AI and their employees. (25:10)
* How we’re going to handle the masses of data now being collected (37:30)
* What is YearUp and how is it helping? (40:42)
Mentions:
* Career Advice for My Younger Selt - By Jim Fowler
* From West Point to the C-Suite…
playlist_add
Jun 21, 2022
Optimizing the Customer Experience With Stacey Goodman, EVP and CIO, Prudential Financial
Upleveling the customer experience is a primary focus for legacy financial company, Prudential Financial. Stacey Goodman, EVP, and CIO at Prudential Financial describes what digital transformation looks like at a company with 145 years of history. She explains how her strategy for tech innovation is wed to what customers desire and delves into Prudential’s new way of thinking about team building and innovation. Enjoy this episode!
Tune in to learn:
* About the opportunity Goodman seized by joining Prudential (08:27)
* What Goodman is excited about bringing to the business (15:40)
* Challenges and roadblocks Prudential is constantly overcoming (20:48)
* Attracting and retaining talent (23:05)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. Did you know, streaming now on Salesforce+ you can watch “Legends of Low Code”? In this series three teams of Trailblazers race to build the best low-code app. Check this out...
Mission.org is a media studio producing conten…
playlist_add
Jun 16, 2022
Making Interviewing More Efficient With Mohit Bhende, Co-Founder and CEO of Karat
Will practicing for an interview increase the chance of success for software engineer candidates? Mohit “Mo” Bhende, Co-Founder and CEO of Karat, suggests that allowing candidates to redo their interviews and providing feedback leads to higher success rates. Listen in to learn how Mo’s background as an executive at Microsoft led him to create a more effective interviewing process and how Karat is working with Serena Williams to help more Black software engineers break into the industry through its Brilliant Black Minds program.
Tune in to learn:
* The purpose of Karat and its Interviewing Cloud (05:38)
* Why Karat offers redos for every candidate’s interview (08:38)
* How the use of data can improve engineering hiring, including supporting Black candidates (17:30)
* What Karat has discovered to make the interview process more effective (32:54)
Mention:
* Karat’s Brilliant Black Minds program
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. Did you kn…
playlist_add
Jun 14, 2022
Using AI to Better the World With Mike Betzer, CEO of Hypergiant
Can AI truly make the world a better place? Mike Betzer, Hypergiant's CEO, shares how Hypergiant uses AI to shore up vital infrastructure, support the US military, and more. Learn more about how the software company will sometimes create hardware solutions to show the good that AI can do.
Tune in to learn:
* Hypergiant’s process for solving problems with AI (07:27)
* About the need to invest in infrastructure (11:45)
* How AI can help important decisions be made in real time (13:10)
* How AI can be used to offset the impact of carbon (15:41)
* How Hypergiant will create hardware/AI solutions to show what can be done (20:12)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe to a newsletter tailored to your role at Salesforce.com/newsletter.
Mission.org is a me…
playlist_add
Jun 9, 2022
Predicting the Rise of the CPO With Venture Capitalist SC Moatti, Founder of Products that Count and Managing Partner, Mighty Capital
What key factors make the tech products you use great? SC Moatti, Founder of Products That Count and Managing Partner at Mighty Capital, offers a wealth of knowledge from her experiences in the VC and tech worlds about creating fantastic products. She also shares that understanding function, design, and how to be a great leader are all a part of making an outstanding Chief Product Officer.
Tune in to learn:
* Three measures to define what makes a great product (12:09)
* The characteristics of a great Chief Product Officer (17:22)
* The skills it takes to be a Chief Product Officer (21:34)
* A framework for thinking about how to create good products (32:05)
* How much should product development prioritize function over form (37:21)
* More about SC’s personal life, including musical talents, and advice for her younger self (43:53)
Mentions:
* "Mobilized" by SC Moatti
* “The Growth Mindset”
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love th…
playlist_add
Jun 7, 2022
Making Crypto Easy To Use With Dan O’Prey, CPO of Crypto at Bakkt
Do people really need to be very educated about crypto? Dan O’Prey, CPO of Crypto at Bakkt, suggests that crypto education is less important than creating beneficial products that are easy to use. Listen in for more insights concerning the blockchain and crypto arenas.
Tune in to learn:
* What Bakkt provides (04:39)
* How Bakkt helps people get involved with crypto (11:46)
* The benefits of Bitcoin and the blockchain (25:56)
* How banks are now leaning into crypto (34:17)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe to a newsletter tailored to your role at Salesforce.com/newsletter.
Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.
playlist_add
Jun 2, 2022
Translations Built on Already Strong Foundations With Heather Shoemaker, CEO and Co-Founder of Language I/O
Is it better to build your own foundation or build upon already strong foundations? Heather Shoemaker, the CEO and Co-Founder of Language I/O, shares how her company’s tool selects the best translation engine and then supplements that service with terminology specific to each customer/company. Learn how her passion for languages led to learning to code and eventually co-founding Language I/O.
Tune in to learn:
* How does Language I/O solve the complex reality of translating languages? (11:00)
* How does Language I/O integrate into customer service platforms (23:07)
* What other industries/applications could language I/O help with? (24:48)
* Are humans starting to support bots to serve customers? (31:39)
* How does language I/O both embrace Wyoming and remote work? (33:32)
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level w…
playlist_add
May 31, 2022
Staking a Position on Privacy With Raj De Datta, CEO and Co-Founder of Bloomreach
How much of business success is about conviction? Raj De Datta, the CEO of and Co-Founder of Bloomreach, believes very strongly that we’re in _“a first-party world” _and that Bloomreach is set up to thrive in this environment. Tune in as Raj shares Bloomreach’s compelling story: _“Bloomreach was a rocket ship and then it was nearly dead, and… it’s a rocket ship again.”_
Tune in to learn:
* What’s Raj’s book _“The Digital Seeker”_ about? (03:02)
* How does Bloomreach help design personalized customer experiences? (06:09)
* How does AI and data science help create these personalized experiences? (09:57)
* Can success ever be a problem? (17:01)
* What does Raj see as the future of personalization? 24:19:
* Are we in a first-party environment? 27:50:
Mentions:
* “The Digital Seeker: A Guide for Digital Teams to Build Winning Experiences”
* “Beyond the Status Quo With Raj De Datta, CEO and Co-Founder of Bloomreach” (Business X Factors podc…
playlist_add
May 26, 2022
Cost-Effective Customer Service Solutions With Rowan Trollope, CEO of Five9
Can you imagine a future where contacting customer service does not elicit a groan or sigh of despair? This is the future that CEO Rowan Trollope is creating at Five9. Their cloud-based platform integrates modern AI and machine learning to efficiently intake customer problems and match them to effective customer solutions. Saving the business world almost a quarter of a trillion dollars annually in customer service costs is the goal and hiring for intellectual curiosity is part of the solution.
Tune in to learn:
* What is Five9 and what does it do? (6:45)
* How we all benefit from fully integrated and automated customer service solutions. (8:55)
* How can the learnings of one industry serve all others by using AI? (17:11)
* How is machine learning empowering the democratization of technology through no-code solutions like Five9? (22:35)
* How do we hire for the problems of the future? (31:23)
* How radically and how quickly can the customer service aspect of all businesse…
playlist_add
May 24, 2022
Scale Up Practically for Success With Shailesh Kumar, SVP and Head of Technology, ClickUp
What creates growth in a company — a flashy or a practical approach? Shailesh Kumar, SVP and Head of Technology at ClickUp, contends that a practical mindset helps companies scale. He also chats about how to organize teams, help them run efficiently, and set up a system so that different teams can learn from each other. Also, Shailesh shares a little about his passion for woodworking.
Tune in to learn:
* What interested Shailesh in ClickUp? (03:47)
* How does Shailesh advise companies to consider scaling? (07:54)
* How does ClickUp deal with security, including with 3rd-party apps? (17:17)
* How does Shailesh attract and retain talent? (22:45)
Mentions:
* “Top Data Security Trends for 2022”
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe to a newslett…
playlist_add
May 19, 2022
A Cooperative and Distributive Model Leads to Growth With Hemant Elhence, President of Excellarate
When the world catches up to a business model that’s already been working well, then a company can really take off. Hemant Elhence, the President of Excellarate, describes how a cooperative, distributed software development model rooted in the company’s origins has positioned Excellerate to thrive in the cloud environment. Furthermore, he explains how society has now caught up with the concept of remote work. Hemant also chats about a few books that have really meant a great deal to him.
Tune in to learn:
* Why do customers go to Excellarate for help building software? (02:26)
* Why has Excellarate seen growth providing DevOps to customers? (06:31)
* What’s the history of the business? (11:59)
* What’s it like working with regulated businesses that could be targets for attacks? (23:46)
* What does Hemant see as the future of software development? (27:43)
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by The Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast…
playlist_add
May 17, 2022
Debiasing AI and Machine Learning With Journalist Jacob Ward and Kathy Baxter, Architect of Ethical AI Practice, Salesforce
As we train computers to complete repetitive tasks for us automatically, we need to be keenly aware of the biases we may be subconsciously programming. So, what questions should we be asking as consumers and employees in a world augmented by computer assistance? The Principle Architect of Ethical AI Practice at Salesforce, Kathy Baxter, and journalist Jacob Ward give guidance on creating a responsible AI ecosystem that prioritizes safety, privacy, and equality. This episode was published first by Blazing Trails, our sister podcast over at Salesforce, hosted by Michael Rivo.
Tune in to learn:
* How is AI changing the way that we think? (3:41)
* How are companies changing the way they think about the ethics of AI? (8:06)
* Whose responsibility is it to regulate the ethics of AI? (11:25)
* What is the current regulatory landscape for AI? (16:07)
* How should employees think about correcting bias in AI? (19:07)
* How can you build AI ethical awareness into your organization?…
playlist_add
May 12, 2022
Harnessing the Consistent Power of the Sea Through Tech with Inna Braverman, Co-Founder & CEO, Eco Wave Power Ltd.
The ocean is massive and powerful, and harnessing its energy has been difficult. Inna Braverman and her business partner, both with outsider perspectives, have worked to develop an elegant tech solution that can harness the continuous power of the moving seas. Their company, Eco Wave Power Ltd., is bringing their low-profile _"floaters"_ that gather ocean energy to ports around the world, including in Gibraltar and Los Angeles. Also, hear Inna's personal story about how surviving the Chernobyl disaster has motivated her to make a positive impact.
Tune in to learn:
* How is Eco Wave Power harnessing ocean energy? (00:45)
* How does Eco Wave Power’s tech ultimately create electricity? (06:13)
* How did the original idea develop to use already existing structures on shore? (13:58)
* Does the tech require a lot of maintenance to be sustained? (20:14)
* Is there private interest for this solution? (25:40)
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love t…
playlist_add
May 10, 2022
Respect All Your Clients’ Dreams Equally With Miles Ward, CTO of SADA
If you’re in a service industry, should you honor every client’s dream equally? According to Miles Ward, the CTO of SADA, that’s absolutely the correct business mindset. Miles also talks about the benefits companies are finding in the cloud and how it’s valuable to be an engineer who communicates well too. He even shares a little about his passion for playing a musical instrument called the electric sousaphone.
Tune in to learn:
* What’s the history of SADA? (04:14)
* What does Miles see customers wanting to do in the cloud? (11:28)
* What innovations are exciting to Miles? (19:18)
* Does SADA build applications for themselves? (23:37)
Mentions:
* “What Twitter and friends prove about multi-cloud” (Check out “Miles-low’s Hierarchy of Tech Needs”)
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by The Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level wit…
playlist_add
May 5, 2022
Staying Curious, Keeping a Wide View, and Getting Into the Details With Vittorio Cretella, CIO of Procter & Gamble
Is being successful tied to being perpetually inquisitive? Vittorio Cretella, the CIO of Procter & Gamble, discusses how maintaining a posture of curiosity has been a constant throughout his career. Also, he chats about Procter & Gamble’s digital transformation at an international scale and that AI is now being used across the company. Listen in to learn a little about Vittorio’s passion for motorcycles too.
Tune in to learn:
* How is digital transformation manifesting at Procter & Gamble? (03:47)
* How does P&G manage to operate in so many countries? (10:29)
* Is AI used across the entire company? (15:09)
* How might the consumer experience get better in the future? (17:39)
* What’s the balance for innovating quickly yet maintaining trust? (21:22)
* What is Vittorio most excited about in his role as CIO at P&G? (27:22)
* What sort of peers can Vittorio commiserate with and learn from? (30:04)
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by The Salesforce Platform. If you l…
playlist_add
May 3, 2022
Great Scale, Great Opportunity - Big Banking Moves to the Cloud With Saul Van Beurden, Head of Technology at Wells Fargo
How do you protect banks and their customers from bad actors now that banks are no longer just brick and mortar? Due to technological advances, banking services are increasingly digital and on mobile devices. Saul Van Beurden, the Head of Technology at Wells Fargo, chats about strategies to deal with cyber threats including educating customers and methods of devaluing data. He also talks about how Wells Fargo is improving NLP to better communicate with customers and why the future of banking at Wells Fargo will one day be entirely in the cloud.
Tune in to learn:
* Why does a technology-based industry still need brick-and-mortar buildings? (5:31)
* How is Wells Fargo improving NLP to better communicate with customers? (11:25)
* The importance of thinking for yourself when it comes to security (14:39)
* Why Data Devaluation can mitigate loss in a cyber attack (20:32)
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform. If this episode makes you want to go deeper into the data sec…
playlist_add
Apr 28, 2022
Corporate Security Standards For Personal Devices – Transforming the Security Industry with Team Cymru Fellow David Monnier
We’ve all heard about “cyberattacks” – it seems there is a new article or clickbait headline about them every day. But what can we do to stop them? Better yet – can we predict them before they even happen? David Monnier of Team Cymru is here this week on IT Visionaries to talk about cybersecurity, the importance of a “no-touch audit”, and how – when it comes to global cybersecurity – the best offense is always an active defense.
Tunes in to learn:
* Why you should care about global cybersecurity (5:43)
* How perspective can change the way we approach cyberattacks (8:22)
* How reconnaissance can turn the tables (12:20)
* Why a “no-touch audit” can be essential (22:50)
* What the next phase of cybersecurity will look like, according to experts (34:33)
Top Data Security Trends for 2022: Report
IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform. If this episode makes you want to go deeper into the data security world, check out Salesforce.com/datasecurity…
playlist_add
Apr 26, 2022
Find the Pattern and Then the Solution With John Gray, CTO and CPO of InterVision Systems
Can noticing repetitive aspects in systems help you to solve problems? John Gray, the CTO and CPO of InterVision Systems, suggests seeing “problem patterns” in business and technology can help to deliver solutions. He also explains that serving clients often involves synthesizing different tools rather than building totally tailor-made solutions. John also talks about his hobby flying remote control airplanes.
Tune in to learn:
* What’s InterVision’s framework for assessing technology? (07:55)
* What makes a recovery system a great one? (11:15)
* What’s scary to John from a security standpoint? (15:34)
* How did John get interested in technology? (20:05)
* What’s the value in seeing patterns? (26:32)
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe…
playlist_add
Apr 21, 2022
Disrupting the Energy Game with Kiran Bhatraju, CEO of Arcadia
Not many people ask about where their energy comes from. We want it to be clean, but what does that really mean? For decades, no one has really had a choice – but Kiran Bhatraju, CEO of Arcadia – the first nationwide digital utility – is changing all of that. Our modern society will continue to drive us to find better options to fuel our tech-savvy and on-the-go lifestyles. Changing the behemoth known as “the grid” is paramount to our success in the future.
Tune in to learn:
* Why energy needs software (1:24)
* Why the energy business needs disrupting (6:04)
* How data leads to cleaner energy (11:17)
* How to innovate in the face of regulations (29:00)
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe to a newsletter tailored to your role at __Salesforc…
playlist_add
Apr 19, 2022
Stopping Hackers At Every Point With Derek Hardy, CVP and CISO of AMD
What can help reduce fear about cybersecurity threats? Experts with skills to mitigate these threats can instill courage in us. Derek Hardy, CVP and CISO of AMD, provides his expert take on the current cybersecurity threat environment given his work securing both hardware and software elements. Also, he shares how a movie about hacking inspired his career path.
Tune in to learn:
* Is there an AMD chip in almost every home? (01:51)
* What’s different for network security and IC security? (05:59)
* What does Derek see as the current cybersecurity climate? (11:40)
* What sort of employees does AMD need? (16:03)
* How did Derek get into the security arena? (21:54)
* Will zero trust slow down processes? (26:24)
_IT Visionaries is powered by Salesforce Platform. If this episode makes you want to go deeper into the data security world, check out __Salesforce.com/datasecurity__ and download the IT Guide to Data Security and Governance to learn how to protect your customer data…
playlist_add
Apr 14, 2022
From Parking Garages to Cities, Keeping Cars Moving With Gianni Strul Maxemin, Founder and CEO, Pied Parker
What if the parking process was better so there would be less traffic congestion? Gianni Strul Maxemin, the Founder and CEO of Pied Parker asked that question and then came up with a solution. Gianni explains how his company is building out a system that can help individual drivers, parking management customers, and even entire cities manage their parking needs and increase transportation efficiency.
Tune in to learn:
* How does Pied Parker work? (01:14)
* Can Pied Parker reduce traffic congestion? (08:29)
* What led Gianni to focus on this parking and traffic problem? (16:40)
* What were some difficulties in disrupting the parking business? (18:58)
* What are some compelling Pied Parker use cases? (23:17)
* Why does Pied Parker use edge computing? (27:02)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth rese…
playlist_add
Apr 12, 2022
Upskilling Through Innovation with Barnaby Dorfman, CTO of Go1
In today’s world, knowledge is at our fingertips – you’re always only seconds away from learning how to bake a banana flambé or craft your own standing desk. But even with all this access, it can be hard to find the right learning avenue – and that is especially true for professional skills. That’s where Barnaby Dorfman of Go1 comes in. Go1 is a platform that brings courses for professional development, wellbeing, and compliance to employees everywhere. The way we train our workforce is changing and Go1 is hoping to help close the education gap.
Tunes in to learn:
* Why is Go1 different from other e-learning platforms? (0:24)
* Is telework here to stay? (10:10)
* How is Go1 trying to be smarter about helping people upskill? (23:14)
* What’s next for this digital learning platform? (28:19)
IT Visionaries is brought to you by Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your co…
playlist_add
Apr 7, 2022
How to Be a Fearless Engineer with Cerebras Systems Founder and CEO Andrew Feldman
Innovators don’t see limitations – they see challenges. And that’s exactly what happened when Andrew Feldman and his team at Cerebras Systems were told that it was impossible to build a computer chip that could deliver the same performance as hundreds of graphics processing units. They tackled that challenge head-on, and have created the CS-2, the fastest AI computer in existence. This mega-sized chip is being used to tackle the world’s most pressing problems. None of this would have been possible without a bit of audacity and what Andrew calls “fearless engineering”. Dive into the thought process of a status-quo challenger on this episode of IT Visionaries.
Tune in to learn:
* What is Cerebras doing that others can’t? (0:23)
* What is the difference between a regular computer and an “AI” computer? (2:34)
* How does a bigger chip make a difference? (6:55)
* How do our work habits affect tech? (8:48)
* What is the mindset of someone who tackles unsolvable p…
playlist_add
Apr 5, 2022
Increasing the Production Value of Remote Meetings With Mark Schnittman, Co-Founder and CTO of Owl Labs
What good is a hybrid meeting if you are remote and can’t see and hear what’s most important? Mark Schnittman, the Co-Founder and CTO of Owl Labs, breaks down how his company is creating products to help make hybrid meetings more meaningful for all participants. Learn about how Mark landed on the idea of creating a camera that could better capture the in-person meeting experience for remote teammates.
Tune in to learn:
* What’s the origin story of Owl Labs? (03:54)
* What were some of the technical difficulties in building the product early on? (6:22)
* How much did customers influence the development of the product? (24:32)
* How did sales begin for the initial product? (29:27)
* How does Owl Labs decide what updates to make? (33:45)
* What does the future look like for Owl Labs? (40:17)
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by The Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your…
playlist_add
Mar 31, 2022
Using Virtual Machines To Contain Threats With Dr. Ian Pratt, Global Head of Security for Personal Systems at HP
Even though detection is well-intentioned, it ends up being a losing security strategy because, by its very nature, it is responsive. But organizations and individuals need to have proactive security measures that keep their systems and devices safe. Dr. Ian Pratt, the Global Head of Security for Personal Systems at HP, describes how virtual machines can mitigate inevitable threats. He also shares about his way into the security sector.
Tune in to learn:
* Why is endpoint security so essential? (04:19)
* What security issues really concern Dr. Pratt? (07:22)
* Is security detection always going to be reactive? (11:40)
* What’s a virtual machine? (15:40)
* Are the use of virtual machines becoming common? (18:25)
* How did Dr. Pratt’s career interests develop? (24:05)
* How does Dr. Pratt think about securing so many types of IoT devices? (28:55)
IT Visionaries is powered by The Salesforce Platform. If this episode makes you want to go deeper into the data security w…
playlist_add
Mar 29, 2022
Visualizing Code Is the Key With Shanea Leven, Co-Founder and CEO, CodeSee
Any industry can get into a routine that works to a degree but ends up being inefficient. It’s no different with development — there are the ways coding has historically been done and then there are new possibilities on how the process might change. Shanea Leven, the Co-Founder and CEO of CodeSee, suggests that a visual coding tool can revolutionize development for engineers but also be useful across other areas of a business where people can use a better understanding of what’s being coded.
Tune in to learn:
* What does Leven mean by a tool that visualizes code? (01:18)
* What can this code visualization tool be compared to? (03:37)
* What sparked the idea for this product? (05:55)
* Did Leven initially think she was going to start her own company? (09:49)
* What has the feedback been from users? (14:29)
* How can CodeSee change software development moving forward? (22:08)
* How did Leven get into tech and development? (28:43)
_IT Visionaries is brought to you b…
playlist_add
Mar 24, 2022
Demystifying Carbon Offset Markets With Brent Thumlert, Managing Director, Software and Technology, at Radicle
Marketplaces for carbon offsets sound like a great idea, but may seem a little shrouded in mystery as to how they actually help the environment. Brent Thumlert, the Managing Director of Software and Technology at Radicle, helps to demystify these sorts of marketplaces. He describes how Radicle helps users account for their carbon footprints and then, ultimately, reduce their carbon impact on the environment. He also shares how he entered the industry and what motivates his desire to help sustain the planet.
Tune in to learn:
* How does a marketplace work for the buying and selling of carbon offsets? (01:19)
* How does this sort of market actually help benefit the Earth? (05:10)
* What kind of companies are using what Radicle is offering? (11:00)
* How does Radicle help companies recognize their carbon footprints? (15:10)
* How long does it take to get a result from data concerning creating carbon offsets? (18:01)
* What does Thumlert see for the future of the carbon offse…
playlist_add
Mar 22, 2022
Paying Attention to Consumer Security and Privacy Pays off With Gary Guseinov, CEO of RealDefense
When the majority of an industry zeroes in on one part of the market, focus on the other part. In this episode, that’s a key message from Gary Guseinov, CEO of RealDefense. Guseinov reveals how RealDefense, which is a holding company, has directed its attention on the consumer security and privacy market while the greater security industry has focused on the enterprise market. From his position as CEO of RealDefense in conjunction with his experience as a mentor to startups, Guseinov also offers an insightful perspective as to the current state of how artificial intelligence can be used for security purposes.
Tune in to learn:
* What is RealDefense looking for in companies it considers acquiring? (00:47)
* What cybersecurity areas does Guseinov see as potential opportunities? (03:01)
* What captivated Guseinov’s interest in the cybersecurity market? (07:54)
* What might simplifying cybersecurity for consumers look like? (16:43)
* What is RealDefense’s goal in he…
playlist_add
Mar 17, 2022
Supporting the Safety of Frontline Workers With James Simpson, CTO of SafetyCulture
Frontline workers are people who work hard and, oftentimes, heroically. They perform essential services that help society to function. Just as frontline workers support society, they also need support to stay safe at work. James Simpson, CTO of SafetyCulture shares how technology can be individualized so companies can create useful safety processes for their unique industries and workers.
Tune in to learn:
* What’s the history of SafetyCulture’s work? (04:24)
* How does the product work in terms of hardware and software? (05:14)
* How does SafetyCulture make the platform easy to use for companies? (09:01)
* How does the platform help create a safe work culture? (17:00)
* What technologies is SafetyCulture investing in for the future? (19:22)
* What is SafetyCulture doing to scale securely? (27:07)
* How is SafetyCulture recruiting talent? (30:42)
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by The Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesf…
playlist_add
Mar 15, 2022
Securing the Supply Chain… for Software With Brian Fox, Co-Founder, SVP and CTO
If companies don't truly know the elements in their products, then they are set up for trouble. According to Brian Fox, Co-Founder, SVP and CTO of Sonatype, without this knowledge they won’t know how to address issues or if bad actors have infiltrated their products with disruptive parts. Brian advises that all aspects in the supply chain for software must be identified and secured just like any physical product.
Tune in to learn:
* How does Sonatype help companies make better supply chain decisions for their software? (01:56)
* How did Sonatype evolve to focus on supply chain security for software? (05:57)
* How did Sonatype help address the Log4j vulnerability?? (15:32)
* How does Fox describe bad actors using what he calls “malicious components”? (23:25)
* Can automation inadvertently amplify attacks? (29:05)
* How to move fast yet deal with bad actors? (33:38)
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by The Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on th…
playlist_add
Mar 10, 2022
Customizing and Systemizing AI With Richard Potter, CEO of Peak
Having data and artificial intelligence by themselves is not the answer to business success. Instead, it is about being able to use AI insights to make the correct decisions. Richard Potter, CEO of Peak, describes a customized yet systematic process where AI can create predictive models to inform supply chain determinations.
Tune in to learn:
* What is “decision intelligence”? (00:46)
* In what areas can decision intelligence be applied? (02:30)
* How is Peak different from its competitors? (05:27)
* How does Peak help companies receive results quickly? (09:22)
* How can machine learning use data to help make forecasts? (15:27)
* How much data is needed to drive AI predictions? (19:55)
* Is AI impacting unifying tastes across cultures? (25:29)
Mentions:
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by The Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-d…
playlist_add
Mar 8, 2022
More Than Playing Games: Building a Democratizing Platform With Dan Sturman, CTO of Roblox
So many tech companies take a slash and burn approach in order to get their product to market as quickly as possible. Dan Sturman, CTO at Roblox, shares why Roblox takes a much more deliberate approach concerning its platform that is the foundation for many different worlds.
Tune in to learn:
* How did Roblox start out as a world-builder? (02:19)
* Why does Roblox use physics as a creative baseline? (04:59)
* Why is Roblox building its own cloud? (10:16)
* How can Roblox apply to education? (15:11)
* What’s the future of Roblox and the market? (20:05)
* How does Roblox recruit innovatively? (26:46)
* How does Roblox deal with security, privacy, and protecting users? (30:33)
Mentions:
* Roblox
* Roblox’s Corporate Site
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by The Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right…
playlist_add
Mar 3, 2022
Diving Into Deep Learning with Chuck Everette, Director of Cybersecurity Advocacy, Deep Instinct
AI and machine learning are part of the solution in many cybersecurity products. The issue is that machine learning tends to take a lot of time. Cyber threats are moving quickly so computers need to learn fast to stop them. Chuck Everette, the Director of Cybersecurity Advocacy at Deep Instinct, breaks down the difference between machine learning and deep learning.
Main Takeaways
* Deep Learning Versus Machine Learning: As Everette describes the difference, machine learning is about a human delivering items alongside their classifications to a computer; whereas with deep learning, a computer is able to determine these classifications by itself. Deep learning, therefore, according to Everette’s description, can reduce the human role in the learning process while also increasing the learning speed for the computer. Though this technology has applications in security, certainly deep learning can have a profound impact across a range of applications.
* Weaponized AI: Everette tells…
playlist_add
Mar 1, 2022
Mining the Golden Age of Data with Tableau’s CEO & President Mark Nelson
Mark Nelson is the President and CEO of Tableau, a company dedicated to democratizing analytics and putting data back in the hands of consumers. But while this digital pioneer may be excited about the technical side of things, he’s more excited about how accessing data (and asking the right questions) can evolve the human endeavor.
Tune in to learn:
* What was the Golden Age of Data? (8:00)
* What are data specialists thinking about A.I.? (10:00)
* What is The ‘Big Three’ approach to expansion and why should you use it? (15:40)
* How is data a force for good? (23:03)
Mentions:
* Data 10 Million Challenge
* The Data Leadership Collaborative
_As always, IT Visionaries is brought to you by __The Salesforce Platform__, and the folks at Salesforce Platform are excited about Tableau's Data Leadership Collaborative. You can get involved in data leadership conversations at __DataLeadershipCollaborative.com__ and connect with like-minded leaders to help each other progres…
playlist_add
Feb 24, 2022
Channeling the Customer’s Voice with Harini Gokul, Head of Customer Success at Amazon Web Services
Working backward from problem to customer solution is the method that Harini Gokul uses in her role leading customer success at Amazon Web Services. Understanding what it means to be “customer-obsessed” is Harini’s favorite part of being on a team with “big builder energy.” Also, she describes some of the cloud-central innovations on the horizon that she is most excited about.
Tune in to learn:
* How to turn a passion into a brand. (2:00)
* What does AWS do? (0:36)
* Why every millisecond matters in the customer journey. (4:02)
* What’s different about AWS culture? (8:12)
* What does it take to get companies to the cloud in a way that works for them? (21:13)
_IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at __salesforce.com/p…
playlist_add
Feb 22, 2022
Experience as a Service Through Empathetic Corporate Leadership with Tony Bates, CEO, Genesys
Empathy, in a time of stress or decision-making, goes a long way in making someone feel cared for and understood. What if the businesses providing our services, flights, meals, etc, were already thinking about our wants and needs, and laying out options that apply to us. This kind of consumer-focused empathy, driven by user data, is the trait that Genesys’s, CEO Tony Bates, deemed so important that he made it a part of the corporate decision-making process. As Tony describes in this podcast, and in his book, “Empathy In Action,” times have changed in terms of what consumers want and expect from companies that provide services to them.
Main Takeaways
* Experience As a Service: If you think about the customer experience as one of the services that you provide, that creates room to allocate more resources to improving it. Bates found that priortizing and making space for experience as a service helped them strategize at Genesys about problem-solving in more individualized ways.…
playlist_add
Feb 17, 2022
Getting the Scoop on Your Competitors with Erica Jenkins, CPO, Crayon
Top athletes duke it out to outperform their opponents; usually only winning by a slim margin. That margin is what matters, and part of having a competitive edge means having high-value information on what your competitors are doing. Crayon offers competitive intelligence and product marketing to its customers, and Erica Jenkins, their Chief Product Officer, shares that doing this well requires great communication.
Main Takeaways
* Data Insight Helps Create Magical Products: There are a million different problems and a million different software products that could help solve them, but resources are limited. Using data to help determine where the needs are greatest can help you as a product leader to guide your team towards the most profitable product solutions.
* You Need to Repeat Yourself: Some would say repeating yourself, even often, is necessary. Repetition helps other people remember important information and act correspondingly if acting is required. For Erica, rephrasing…
playlist_add
Feb 15, 2022
From Kandji Customer to SVP with Chaim Mazal, SVP of Technology and CISO at Kandji
We’ve all had those repetitive work tasks that must be done, are a total pain, and waste time too. Chaim Mazal, SVP of Technology and CISO at Kandji, makes the case for automation being used to free people up so that they can focus on more important work.
Main Takeaways
* Automating for Freedom: There’s lots of talk about automation as a part of platforms and products. Chaim lays out in simple terms that the reason for automation is about freeing people up so they can drill down on more important work. It’s helpful to remember that humanity should be the guiding light at the core of any technological innovation. The question ought to be: How is this tech serving people. Or even better: How is this tech serving the world?
* From Customer to SVP and CISO: For Chaim, he came across Kandji in a previous job and Kandji was able to help him solve problems he was having managing devices for the prior company on an international scale. First of all, this is a really cool story. Sec…
playlist_add
Feb 10, 2022
Securing Underserved Organizations with Sinan Eren, the VP of Zero Trust Access at Barracuda
Metaphorically, the tech security world tends to look over a city-scape and hones in on a few shiny skyscrapers, protects them, and declares victory. These big buildings represent the largest institutions. But oftentimes, all the interconnected infrastructure of smaller homes remains unprotected _—_ the smaller homes, in this context, are the SMBs and other various organizations. Sinan Eren, the VP of Zero Trust Access at Barracuda, broke down how security is interconnected across all institutions, regardless of size.
Main Takeaways
* Attackers Have a Market Now Too: Eren explains the challenges around the reality that cyber attackers have their own market now. Gone are the days when a singular attacker might be responsibile for conducting all elements of a criminal act. Instead, Eren reveals that an entire criminal community facilitates these acts.
* The Long Tail Must Be Protected: Eren points out that larger entities that have security in place can still be vulnerable throug…
playlist_add
Feb 8, 2022
Integrating Security and Performance with Dr. Robert Blumofe EVP & CTO, Akamai
Likely on the phone in your hand, while you’re playing this very podcast, is an app or site using Akamai in the background, so that you can listen, search, and discover new information as fast as you can think, type, or speak. Accelerating the delivery of the right content and blocking potentially harmful content are the nitty-gritty details that Akamai solves to give you a safe and seamless experience. Leading the charge to improve security and accelerate connectivity is Dr. Robert Blumofe, Executive Vice President and CTO of Akamai.
Main Takeaways
* Power and Protect Together: A common problem with security is that it slows things down for users and causes them to want to avoid using the security measures in the first place. To solve this problem, Dr. Blumofe explains that Akamai has integrated security and performance products on its platform so that they can work cooperatively. The lesson here for any sort of business is to constantly be considering how security and performan…
playlist_add
Feb 3, 2022
Bringing Science to the Art of Food with Jack Li, the CEO of Datassential
The next time you’re Sunday-brunching at your local breakfast joint and perusing the menu for Avocado Toast, you’re not likely to be disappointed. Restaurants want to know the foods that you are craving to keep you happy and coming back. The sooner they can jump on trends, the better edge they’ll have over the place down the street. Trendy foods, dishes, and ingredients are not easy to predict, but Jack Li, the CEO of Datassential has a deep passion behind his work for doing just that.
Main Takeaways
* Big Players Jumping Onto Early Stage Trends: As Li points out, more companies and large corporations are reacting to early-stage food trends in the landscape. Things are so competitive that any advantage a restaurant or chain can have they'll take it. When competition is fierce, even the small details can become cut-throat. Business is about the bottom line, after all.
* Seeing Opportunity for Art and Science to Align: According to Li, he and two of his “early business part…
playlist_add
Feb 1, 2022
Streamlining Corporate Governance and Affecting Social Change with Lisa Edwards, President and COO, Diligent Corporation
The world is changing quickly, and the everyday corporate landscape is changing with it. Every company has to prove compliance with different governmental agencies, from everything from environmental reports down to payroll. That’s where Lisa Edwards the COO at Diligent, comes in, bringing her focus on using technology to improve the process for all payers. Every company has governmental rules and regulations they must follow and governmental rules to adhere to. Audits can be tedious and can take valuable time away from innovation and growth. Edwards brings incredible passion and expertise in using technology to improve the process.
Main Takeaways
* Adapting to global and evolving client needs: At a corporation like Diligent with branches all over the world, adapting to the different regulations of different regions, is complex and nuanced and is one of the strengths of Diligent’s work according to Edwards. The mindset of preparing for current client needs and preempting future…
playlist_add
Jan 27, 2022
Venturing into B2B Software with Eric Anderson, Partner at Scale Venture Partners
In an industry that relies on being ahead of the curve, the ability to see the potential in new innovations is a necessity. Eric Anderson, Partner of Scale Venture Partners knows how to look ahead, and gives us an inside look at how a cutting-edge venture capital firm finds and funds new technology that benefits the everyday user.
Main Takeaways
* The depth of the problem is more important than the solution: According to Anderson, it’s important to come in with the empathy needed to sort out the problem set of any particular company, because innovations are grown out of the solutions. It might be intuitive to think that quick fixes mean quick growth, but Anderson cautions against it. Digging in and finding the deeper problems is well worth it, because longer solutions often lead to more meaningful expansions.
* Young insiders might be the key to innovation: While anyone can have a great idea, Anderson points out that it might be the younger players in older, “sleepier” indu…
playlist_add
Jan 25, 2022
Building Democratic Products and Networks with Morgan Teachworth, the VP of Engineering & Supply Chain at Cisco Meraki
Setting up a network at home can devolve into a stream of choice words while pulling out your hair. A sudden, global shift to remote and hybrid work can lead to the same frustration for a number of reasons that may or may not include setting up a router. Morgan Teachworth, the VP of Engineering & Supply Chain at Cisco Meraki, suggests that his company was ideally positioned to support a hybrid workflow.
Main Takeaways
* Supporting Hybrid Workflows: It’s obvious that the working world has shifted to many more fully remote or hybrid models. Morgan shares how Cisco Meraki was in a good place to help people from home set up networks easily with what he describes as “plug and play” options. With so much of the workforce under strain, any products that quickly make working from home easier and more secure are valuable to employees and their companies.
* Straddling Engineering and Supply Chain: Being the VP of Engineering & Supply Chain is a pretty unique job title for Morgan. It…
playlist_add
Jan 20, 2022
Disrupting Fleet Management to Make a Positive Impact with Jairam Ranganathan, the SVP of Product at KeepTruckin
Trucking in this country is a big deal. It’s a massive industry ripe for disruption because of its scale and the fact that there is plenty of room for technological advancement. According to Jairam Ranganathan, the SVP of Product at KeepTruckin, fleet management is also an area where a company can make a huge, positive impact.
Main Takeaways
* Ripe for Disruption and Opportunity: Clearly, the commercial fleet industry is massive. Due to its size and also its fragmentation, innovations do take time. On the other hand, there is an incredible need for innovation and the potential to make a real impact in the fleet management space.
* Saving Lives and Increasing Quality of Life: According to Ranganathan, the exciting aspect of making a difference in fleet management comes down to helping people. He describes the satisfaction that is derived from saving lives on the road and from helping truck drivers have a better work experience. There’s a lesson here that can cut across all ind…
playlist_add
Jan 18, 2022
Safeguarding Data in App Development with Jedidiah Yueh, the Founder and CEO of Delphix
Developing enterprise apps quickly is essential for business success, and securing data during the development process is imperative too. Jedidiah Yueh, the Founder and CEO of Delphix, suggests that though not as many people are talking about securing data in the app development process, they should be. Even more so, he argues they must secure this data or face huge consequences.
Main Takeaways
* Something People Need to Talk About: Talking about data security is all the rage. But according to Yueh, securing development data is not discussed as much. Yueh contends that this lack of attention creates security vulnerabilities that bad actors can exploit. He believes that automated platforms built on zero trust principles can mitigate such risks.
* Out With the Old in With the New: The old way of testing apps in development involved a group of people all helping to gather production data and then copy that to the development territory. Of course, with so many hands in the process, t…
playlist_add
Jan 13, 2022
Using Digital Simulations to Decrease Product Development Time and Cost with Prith Banerjee, the CTO of Ansys
Developing physical products quickly is what it’s all about in a fast-paced world. What slows down the development speed and drives up cost are the materials and the time it takes to see if a concept works. Using digital simulations, alongside predictive analytics, increases speed while lowering costs. Prith Banerjee, the Chief Technology Officer at Ansys, makes the point that the precise capabilities of simulations today are providing the power to create new products from the micro to the macro.
Main Takeaways
* The Appeal of Digital Simulations: The old process of developing a product would involve lots of different versions and materials. With the use of a digital simulation, in other words, a digital twin, all these trial and error versions can play out in the digital arena. Doing so increases development speed and reduces cost.
* Academia and Industry: Academia, at its best, projects forward into the future new possibilities that are later implemented across industries. Th…
playlist_add
Jan 12, 2022
Guiding a Legacy Company’s Digital Transformation with Stacey Goodman, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Prudential Financial
A company’s position about digital transformation could be out with the old and in with the new. But, generally, if a product or service has existed for a long time, that’s because it has held its value. In a legacy business with good values and a deep tradition, digitization of services is more about improving respected systems as well as innovating with a forward-looking mindset. Stacey Goodman, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Prudential Financial, describes her strategy for transforming the digital experience at Prudential.
Main Takeaways
* Transforming a Legacy Company: It’s a big lift to digitally transform a legacy company such as Prudential, which has existed for 145 years. But a company with good values and an established track record of delivering for customers has a great foundation on which to build upon. In other words, challenges are opportunities. One challenge that Prudential constantly faces is scale combined with the complexity of it…
playlist_add
Jan 6, 2022
Academics and Data Science Innovation with Dr. David Bader, Distinguished Professor and Director, Institute for Data Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology
The data science field is expanding because so many businesses and other institutions require skilled workers who can manage data as well as provide insights. Companies and students are clamoring for more academic programs. There is great need, but academic institutions are still transitioning to meet the demand. Dr. David Bader, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Institute for Data Science at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, explains how his school is leading the charge to create opportunities for more students to study data science
Main Takeaways
* Connecting Data and Graphs: A current area of focus concerning data science for Bader and his institution is taking huge amounts of data and associating it with corresponding graphs. This process helps provide context to the data so insights can be gleaned.
* Arriving at Insights With Less Data: One difficulty with gaining insights is that typically it takes a lot of data points to make sense of a significant occurren…
playlist_add
Jan 4, 2022
Creating a New Product Category with Todd Olson, the CEO of Pendo
Every company wants to grow their market. But in order to expand into another region, one corner of the market has to be secured first. Only from this position of utility and stability can a business secure other territories. Todd Olson, the CEO of Pendo, explains his strategy.
Main Takeaways
* Creating a New Product Market: Many companies disrupt a current market. It’s another category altogether to create a new product market. Although it’s a great problem to have with a ton of upside, one area of focus must be on educating prospective buyers. Of course, having an effective product that’s easy to implement is the best pitch. Pendo was able to provide its software product to businesses easily and without involving developers. This helped give Pendo a foot in the door to prove what it could do.
* Strategizing for Future Growth: Pendo’s plans for growth are educative. One side of the approach is to continue to sell current products to new markets; both nationally and inter…
playlist_add
Dec 30, 2021
Saving Humanity from Passwords with Mickey Boodaei, the CEO of Transmit Security
Passwords are the worst things ever. Okay, maybe that’s a bit hyperbolic, but they are pretty annoying. Here are the top hits of their most obnoxious qualities: One, they cause friction to get things done. Two, who can remember all their passwords? Three, it’s easy for bad actors to steal them. Four, practically everything requires a password now, so there are just too many. Mickey Boodaei, the CEO of Transmit Security, also agrees that passwords are terrible, but he has a solution to get rid of them.
Main Takeaways
* The Problems With Passwords: Passwords have become ubiquitous. Despite the good intention behind them to foster security, they remain cumbersome and ineffective. The layers added to passwords to make them more secure are insufficient. Two-factor authentication remains vulnerable to bad actors. Though biometric authentication is a helpful technology, many apps that attempt to harness it still have a password underneath the biometrics.
* Getting Rid of Passwords:…
playlist_add
Dec 28, 2021
Building Satellite Taxis and Space Logistics with Bruno Carvalho, the Director of D-Orbit
Just like there’s too much junk on Earth, we’re sending up too much junk into space now too. As private enterprise gains more access to space, even more satellites are launched up there — taking up space. It’s a real problem with the potential to get worse as businesses have greater interest and access to get their gear into space. Bruno Carvalho, the Director of D-Orbit, contends that the answer is better space logistics in order to support space sustainability.
Main Takeaways
* Space Sustainability: Space is filling up fast. The concern for space collisions and the dangers of debris is real. Sustainable solutions concerning satellites must be developed and implemented because their numbers will only be increasing.
* Space Taxis: D-Orbit has essentially developed a space taxi system to put satellites in their final orbital positions. These taxis can have additional applications after they have completed their taxiing missions. For instance, this sort of vehicle could per…
playlist_add
Dec 23, 2021
Providing Visibility and Context to Software Development Security with Idan Plotnik, the CEO of Apiiro
Running fast is good but not headfirst into a brick wall. Similarly, software development needs to move fast, but moving too fast typically is not secure and can cause headaches. Furthermore, old security protocols are insufficient and inefficient. Idan Plotnik, the Co-Founder & CEO of Apiiro, makes the case for a platform that quickly provides contextualized information concerning coding
Main Takeaways
* Contextualized Info: An old way of checking code often involved the coders themselves answering a long list of questions. This was inefficient and ineffective. A more helpful approach is to have a platform that quickly provides contextualized information concerning the coding, the process, and potential breaks in the chain. With this type of info, security risks can much more efficiently be discovered and addressed.
* Establishing Trust: A platform that provides contextualized information can assist in communication between AppSec teams and developers. If an AppSec team is able…
playlist_add
Dec 21, 2021
Making the Turn from Data Inventory to Helpful Information with Mara Reiff, the Chief Data Officer of FreshBooks
If data is in a pool that only keeps getting deeper as data inventory is accounted for, when is the exact moment for a business leader to jump in to do something with all the accumulated information? Leaders who care about data appreciate that it’s necessary to take stock before analyzing and strategizing. But taking inventory could be all one does because, whether it’s in a small or large business, the amount of data is only increasing. Mara Reiff, the Chief Data Officer of FreshBooks, suggests to account for enough data to begin the work and then to dive in.
Main Takeaways
* Taking Stock and Then Activating: A company must take inventory of its data, of course. But taking stock of data is a perpetual process. So, the trick becomes knowing when enough data has been collected so that you can move to applying that information to solve particular problems on behalf of customers.
* Being a Data Advocate: With so much data at any singular organization, there can be a natural tend…
playlist_add
Dec 16, 2021
Disrupting Healthcare by Fitting In with Sean Duffy, the Co-founder and CEO of Omada Health
The healthcare industry in the U.S. can feel like a slow moving, bureaucratic, dysfunctional mess. But the question is: What is the best way to activate a digital transformation that leads to better care for people? Sean Duffy, the Co-founder and CEO of Omada Health, suggests that fitting innovative digital care into the current model is the best strategy to make the most constructive change.
Main Takeaways
* Providing Proactive Care: Proactive care is difficult in the current in-person model; in part, because care is associated as occurring mostly during in-person experiences. Digital care through Omada operates differently in that Omada’s support team is able to provide monitoring without reliance on in-person office visits for the majority of care. Omada also provides prescriptions for monitoring devices and ships them right to the patient.
* Working Within the System: Given the longstanding structures of the U.S. healthcare system, it is important that companies looking to…
playlist_add
Dec 14, 2021
Security Straight Talk with Jim Alkove, Chief Trust Officer at Salesforce, and George Kurtz, President/CEO and co-founder of CrowdStrike
When it comes to IT security, there are a lot of marketing pitches out there offering bullish assessments of certain technologies, and, of course, the particular products being pitched. Really, there’s nothing wrong with marketers doing their jobs, and it’s especially useful when this information leads to learning about emerging technologies and innovative products with a great deal of potential. But it’s also nice to get some security straight talk.
Frankly, so much noise concerning security products and innovation can be a liability because it’s just more information to process. There’s a real need for a clear-eyed, big-picture assessment of the current IT security landscape. This includes providing a sense of the big threats and what can be done to mitigate them both on the macro and micro level.
Main Takeaways
* Current Threats and Strategic Solutions: Big threats to businesses are coming from state actors performing espionage. Additionally, criminals have begun to u…
playlist_add
Dec 9, 2021
Simplifying Cloud Complexity with Ami Luttwak, the Co-founder and CTO of Wiz
The word “cloud” is often uttered up in an almost reverent tone by anyone even tangentially affiliated with the IT world. A big reason for this is because cloud computing has been a tremendous boon for all manner of institutions. Getting away from on-prem servers has reduced cost and increased the speed at which organizations operate as well as the amount of data and applications that can be used to add value. But there is a tremendous amount of complexity in the cloud. With so many developers working in the cloud, there are also many potential access points and, therefore, security vulnerabilities. Ami Luttwak, the Co-founder and CTO of Wiz, explains how cloud complexity increases risks to security.
Main Takeaways
* The Promise and Problem With the Cloud: Use of the cloud can add value to organizations. For instance, the cloud can potentially decrease cost and promote efficiency. It also adds complexity and possible access points. For bad actors, this sort of complexity create…
playlist_add
Dec 7, 2021
Strengthening the Supply Chain with Dr. Madhav Durbha, VP of Supply Chain Strategy at Coupa Software
Recent disruptions have stretched supply chains all over the world. In some cases, supply chains have been broken in their weak places and have needed to be repaired. But there will always be unexpected events and outcomes. What helps are predictive models that can aid in decision-making. Dr. Madhav Durbha, the VP of Supply Chain Strategy at Coupa Software, suggests simulations can help companies make smart decisions that will lead to great heights.
Main Takeaways
* Macroeconomics: In order to best guide its customers, Coupa needs to have a sense of the ever-evolving, macroeconomic landscape. To do so, Coupa compiles and analyzes data from external as well as internal sources. Machine learning is an asset to help pour over and analyze the external data. Coupa is able to leverage its vast community of customers, and their data/resources, in order to provide high value insights.
* Digital Twins: Digital modeling is an effective tool in order to analyze a given company’s supply ch…
playlist_add
Dec 2, 2021
Keeping Security Simple with Johanna Baum, the CEO and Founder of S3 (Strategic Security Solutions)
There is a lot of conversation among IT security leaders about engaging the workforce in order to mitigate threats. But how do security professionals actually win people over to their side? Many employees are willing to comply but what can be done to really get through to those that are resistant? Johanna Baum, the CEO and Founder of S3 (Strategic Security Solutions), contends that to enact change, leaders must involve those that are most reluctant to go along with security protocols — especially the person still keeping their login password on a post-it note on their computer. In order to change the security culture of a company, Johanna suggests seeking out the person at a company who is least likely to comply.
Main Takeaways
* It Comes Down to the People: There’s always going to be a security tech stack. A security platform and relevant apps will help reduce threats. But, fundamentally, people are still required to act with any given platform or system as part of the securit…
playlist_add
Nov 30, 2021
Time Plus Data Equals Efficiency with Paul Dix, the Founder and CTO of InfluxData and the Creator of InfluxDB
If the topic of databases is brought up to certain people, their eyes may gloss over. But if that happened, that would be because they just don’t know the awesome power of databases. Data can be valuable but only if it is contextualized, and time is an extremely relevant aspect to consider when analyzing huge amounts of data. Paul Dix, the founder and CTO of InfluxData and the Creator of InfluxDB, explains how a time series database can help provide that temporal contextual information to promote efficiencies.
Main Takeaways
* Time Contextualizes Data: Data has value only when it is placed in context and then the information gleaned from it is applied into actionable items. Time is a key factor to provide a basis for understanding information. A time series database, iike InfluxDB, can provide this sort of context for server and IoT device monitoring. This info can then be applied to track performance and increase efficiency.
* Failure Becomes Opportunity: Sometimes it’s hard…
playlist_add
Nov 25, 2021
Building a Machine to Eliminate Pathogens with Neil Day, CTO, R-Zero
Human beings have an ability to tolerate quite a bit. Oftentimes, this is a helpful survival strategy. Rather than being overwhelmed by life’s frailties to the point flight or fight is kicking in, it’s generally a good thing to accept the realities of existence that cannot be changed and then operate accordingly on that basis. This is better than being constantly unnerved by real and sometimes alarming things that it seems one cannot control. But sometimes a huge disruption lets people know that they have been tolerating something concerning that’s impact could have been mitigated by a sustained effort which leads to a new solution. Neil Day, CTO of R-Zero, makes this point about the seeming unstoppability of certain infectious diseases.
Main Takeaways
* Solving Multiple Problems: Not only was the coronavirus a huge problem, typical disinfectant solutions, such as liquid disinfectants, were difficult to apply and inefficient. Of course, massive problems are also opportunities…
playlist_add
Nov 23, 2021
Companies are Playing in the Digital First Inning with Rich Nanda, US Monitor Deloitte Practice Leader, Deloitte Consulting
With so much change happening at such a fast pace, the digital transformation process can feel like it must be extremely far along and, perhaps, near completion. Companies have been moving as speedily as possible to adapt their businesses to the digital realm and, in many cases, to create new digital territories altogether. If digital transformation was a baseball game, it could be easy to assume that the transition is in the latter innings. Rich Nanda, the US Monitor Deloitte Practice Leader at Deloitte Consulting, offers a contrary perspective.
Main Takeaways
* Consultation with Specificity and a Broad Vision: With the intensity of digital transformation happening across all sectors, consultants must adjust their skillsets. On one hand, they must have thorough domain expertise. Yet, on the other hand, consultants must be able to take a broader view as well in order to best guide their clients in these fast-moving times.
* Growth Versus Fixed Business Mindset: To be successful,…
playlist_add
Nov 18, 2021
Creating a Place for Ethical Debate with Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau, the CEO & Publisher of the MIT Technology Review
Technology can no longer be isolated from the rest of life and only discussed in particular circles among scholars, professionals, or those that just like to geek out on tech. This is because the innovation is too rapid, the tools are too powerful, and the stakes are too high. Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau, the CEO & Publisher of the MIT Technology Review, explains that people must consider how technology is impacting their lives and suggests journalists need to play a role in framing these conversations.
Main Takeaways
* The Need for Ethical Debate About Technology: Technology is touching just about every area of life. Now, more than ever, thoughtful stories about technology are needed to educate and engage the public in necessary ethical conversations. The question must be asked: Is a certain technology going to be good or bad for humanity and for the world? People must then respectfully debate that question and act accordingly based upon their convictions.
* Modernizing a Legacy…
playlist_add
Nov 16, 2021
Outsiders Make the World Move with Rory San Miguel, CEO of Propeller Aero
There’s a general tendency for people to desire to fit in — to want to be on the inside of systems and institutions. The drive to be in the in-crowd or on the team is so embedded in the socialization process that the idea of being an outsider often becomes associated with something undesirable. But many times people who come into a situation with an outsider perspective see things more clearly and can come up with alternative solutions to problems. That was the case for Rory San Miguel, the CEO of Propeller Aero, whose outsider perspective led to innovation in the construction and surveying industries.
Main Takeaways
* Outsiders Can See Solutions: Maybe being an insider isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sure, there are VIP perks, but there is also the myopic vision that can develop from spending too much time on the inside.There’s a greater scope of vision when looking in from a distance. An outsider perspective is also an advantage because there’s less to lose and more…
playlist_add
Nov 11, 2021
Democratizing the Crypto Economy with Manish Gupta, EVP of Engineering at Coinbase
There’s an obvious tension in the crypto world between decentralization and centralization. Of course, Bitcoin was a reaction against the power of the entrenched banking systems and a move toward individual economic empowerment. The essential element of blockchain technology is a distributed ledger, so it’s a reasonable desire for those who care about the technology to want the scale tipped toward decentralization. It’s also undeniable that some centralization often proves useful with scaling and building trust. But living within the tension between decentralization and centralization may be the key to empowering individual people by providing them with economic access. Manish Gupta, the EVP of Engineering at Coinbase, makes the case that Coinbase is equipped to democratize the crypto economy.
Main Takeaways
* Tension Between Decentralization and Centralization: Coinbase is living between the binary of a centralized versus a decentralized system. Fundamentally, by maintaining…
playlist_add
Nov 9, 2021
Creating Super Call Center Agents with Umesh Sachdev, Co-founder and CEO of Uniphore
Disruption is a word that gets thrown around a lot in business. It’s curious because most people don’t want their day to day to be disrupted in regular life. People don’t just casually offer up the phrase, “I can’t wait for some disruption today.” But that’s why it’s absolutely necessary. It helps to change things up and see the world differently. Umesh Sachdev, the Co-founder and CEO of Uniphore, explains how he first realized the call center industry was ready for an evolution.
Main Takeaways
* Creating Super Call Center Agents: A.I. in conjunction with automation can act as a coach or mentor for agents. It can give clues as to customers’ engagement while helping provide data and facts in real time. It can also take notes on the conversations so there is a record to reflect back on and use to make improvements. This A.I. augmentation turns agents into super agents.
* Language, Tone, and Facial Recognition: A.I. has had an incredible progression. Initially, A.I…
playlist_add
Nov 4, 2021
Powerful Communication Across the Company with Eric Carrasquilla, SVP and GM of Digital Engagement Solutions at CSG, and Tim Vanderham, Chief Technology Officer and SVP of Software at NCR Corporation
In business, there can be a tendency to label, categorize, and then make corresponding assumptions. This is very reasonable. In order to organize, it’s necessary. One less than ideal aspect of this mentality is that certain responsibilities may be assumed to be mostly relevant to only one title, team, or department. With that sort of thinking, the concept of communication tends to be more associated with marketing or sales. But the need to communicate well cuts across every area of a company. To serve clients, it’s imperative. Clearly articulating shared goals between companies and their clients allow expectations to be set and then delivered.
Main Takeaways
* Remote Communication - Signal Versus Noise: Skyrocketing remote work has necessitated different styles of dialogue. For instance, it calls for more written channels on Slack or email, or more Zoom meetings. But management is necessary to make sure employees are using effective means to communicate that enable them to acco…
playlist_add
Nov 2, 2021
Telling the Innovation Story with Dr. Sokwoo Rhee, Corporate SVP at LG Electronics, Head of North America Innovation Center ("LG Nova")
Storytelling defines how we see ourselves in the world. Telling the story of one’s own life can be empowering or disempowering, depending on the story a person tells. This is true for companies too. The story of a company’s work can be told in a limited or an expansive way. The difficulty is that not only does the company tell its story, their audience — consumers, media, and even other companies — all help tell the story too. For a legacy company, that story can calcify until an effort is made to rewrite the narrative. Dr. Sokwoo Rhee, the Corporate SVP at LG Electronics and Head of North America Innovation Center ("LG Nova"), explains how he is rewriting LG’s story to reflect that it is a company promoting all kinds of innovation.
Main Takeaways
* Strengthening Innovation through Partnerships: LG has created a center of innovation in Silicon Valley, LG Nova, to support innovation from diverse startups across wide-ranging industries. Ultimately, LG Nova becomes partners…
playlist_add
Oct 28, 2021
Working Toward Company Alignment with Cal Henderson, Slack Co-founder and CTO, and Genevieve Weber, Salesforce Platform, SVP and COO
There’s a whole new manner of interacting at work now, especially with the rise in remote and hybrid workflows. The digital transformation was already well under way and then, if the transition was a campfire, the pandemic poured lighter fluid on it. Fortunately, lots of companies responded by making s’mores rather than getting burned, and utilized the technological tools that were already developed to help.
Main Takeaways
* Organizational Alignment: The pace of technological change is breathtaking. Companies must continually be making sure their entire organization is aligned with their mission. This requires working quickly and adapting accordingly. Communication via channels helps to ensure the right people in an organization all have access to the same info to allow for conversations to to quicken the pace of work
* Mental Shift: Working in channels is significantly different than an email workflow. For those that liked the finality of responding to an email and closing i…
playlist_add
Oct 26, 2021
Rolling with Change as API has its Moment, with Joshua Scott, Head of IT and Security for Postman
It’s easy to feel unmoored in a fast-changing world with such choppy waves. With so much change, there’s a natural tendency to want to drop the anchor in the nearest calm waters and remain there, hoping this approach will be the most secure. But the water’s never really placid. There are extremely strong currents beneath the surface. Even the most gigantic anchor won’t be able to keep the ship from moving. It’ll just slow it down a little, and, maybe, even pull the vessel apart no matter the quality of how it was built. Joshua Scott, the Head of IT and Security for Postman, believes that accepting and planning for changes in technology is the best security strategy.
Main Takeaways
* Evolution of the API Market: The API market was often overlooked in the past but that’s no longer the case. Postman has about fifteen million developers on its site who are working on various API projects. Where API was treated as something less than before, it is now appreciated like any ot…
playlist_add
Oct 21, 2021
How to Overcome the Cyber Attack Tsunami, Strategize and Disrupt, with Attivo Network’s Carolyn Crandall
Threats are not new to business. Whenever there has been a plentiful economic prize, there have also been pirates. In the swashbuckling days, the captain and the crew were charged with protecting the merchandise on board. The difference today is the sheer volume of cyber attacks inbound to companies. Carolyn Crandall, the Chief Security Advocate and CMO at Attivo Networks, describes the attack as an enormous wave.
Main Takeaways
* A Security Threat Tsunami: Cyber attacks are like giant perpetual waves. Businesses are constantly inundated with these threats. The first steps toward fighting back are recognizing the power of one’s adversaries, understanding how the company is being attacked, knowing where the company’s vulnerabilities are, and then devising a plan to combat the attacks.
* Strategy over Monitoring: Businesses tend to want to monitor their systems and that’s generally a good thing. Part of the method of attackers, however, is to overwhelm with data. Instead of o…
playlist_add
Oct 19, 2021
Bringing Order by Living in the Middle of the Cloud Chaos with Dave Frampton, VP/GM Cloud SIEM & Security Analytics at Sumo Logic
Freedom is not something to fear; in fact, it’s an essential component of creativity. Chaos is something to avoid, however. Many creative people confuse freedom with chaos and think a chaotic environment inspires creative passion. The most creative environments are those that provide enough order, and essential security, that allows individuals to stretch out to create something new. As security information management has evolved with the cloud, a new form of defense has been required. Dave Frampton, the VP/GM Cloud SIEM & Security Analytics at Sumo Logic, describes this system as living in the middle of the cloud chaos.
“_What you really need to do is rethink this and deliver this SIM from the cloud, like as a cloud service itself. So that’s it’s right there in the midst of all that chaos [and] able to ingest all of that data and it’s savvy and smart about all those different new threat surfaces, because, in and [of] itself, this service is built and made from all of these…
playlist_add
Oct 14, 2021
The Power of Observation and Function Versus Beauty with Michael Peachey, VP of User Experience at RingCentral
Even when trying really hard to please people, it’s difficult. Most people don’t know exactly what they want. And when they do know, they often don’t know how to articulate it. In our personal lives, this can be frustrating, for sure. In the professional world, it can be crippling for a company if they don’t have a pulse on their customers’ wants; but, even more importantly, their needs. Michael Peachey, the VP of User Experience at RingCentral, suggests the best practice for understanding customers is for a company to enhance their observational capabilities.
Main Takeaways
* Using Powers of Observation: To design effectively, a company has to understand how customers are using their products. Surveys help and so do conversations, but observations are best. Tech tools won’t replace the power of human contact, but they can augment observational capacity. Seeing where people place their mouse on screen, for instance, can help strengthen design elements. Observing custome…
playlist_add
Oct 12, 2021
The Power of Passion to Develop Technology with Idit Levine, Founder and CEO, Solo.io
Certain types of technology are easier to understand for some people than for others, and that’s okay. Passion is contagious; iIt attracts employees and customers. Strong, passionate leadership with clear vision increases employee satisfaction that then translates to satisfied customers. Developers who make products that build and maintain infrastructure toil to solve problems so their customers can pursue their own desires. Idit Levine, the Founder and CEO of Solo.io, shares her zeal for her company’s work as well as a belief in her team’s competitive nature.
Main Takeaways
* The Power of Passion: Passion is often underrated. It is the engine of creativity and accomplishment. Lean into passion in order to educate others, gather phenomenal employees, and attract customers.
* Creation from Competition: Competition can be something that people shy away from. Perhaps this is because they wrongly equate it to being domineering. True competition is about striving to be the best…
playlist_add
Oct 7, 2021
Making Magic by Integrating the Digital and Physical Worlds with Peggy Johnson, CEO of Magic Leap
When a new technology with tremendous potential rolls out, expectations are sky high. It’s going to be a magical technology that changes the world, right? If it doesn't take off immediately with consumers, there can be a tendency to overreact, be let down, give up, and move on to the next new thing that’s supposed to change the world. But what if the technology is augmented reality and it does, truly, change the way people see the world? Even though everyone isn’t walking around every second, using AR, just yet, augmented reality has been making great strides over the last decade. And Peggy Johnson, the CEO of Magic Leap, explains that digital augmentation will be the norm eventually.
_“There will be a time again where we'll look back and say, ‘Remember when we didn't have digital augmentation in front of our eyes.’ Whether that'll be in the form of glasses that we'll wear or contacts maybe at some point, I do believe we will have that kind of capability as a tool to help…
playlist_add
Oct 5, 2021
Create Structures to Free Employees to be Their Best, with Preeti Somal, VP of Engineering at HashiCorp, and Mark Thiele, CEO and Founder of Edgewana
The world has changed; work has too. Many people are reassessing both their personal and professional lives. The truth is that the personal and professional worlds have always been intertwined. People never left their humanity outside the front door of the office. Now, due to the increase in remote work, there may not even be a physical office. And the integration of personal and professional life is more obvious today than ever before. Work is being done at home, but so is taking care of the household or kids. There’s a lot of life for people to sort out. It’s a challenging time, for sure, but also one filled with potential.
Companies have an opportunity to take care of their employees in new ways. Or, if they are reluctant to change, employees can leave for other opportunities. Instead of an outdated and unhelpful mentality about controlling workers, companies have to adjust to make sure employees have the freedom they need to do their best work.
Part of this is making sure tha…
playlist_add
Sep 30, 2021
The Importance of Having Fun Technology with Dieter Shirley, Co-creator of CryptoKitties and CTO and Lead Architect of Dapper Labs
A lot of times people look at someone who changes the world and think that person must have known exactly what they were doing right from the very beginning. A lot of times, people are dead wrong. Creating comes from a place of not knowing exactly what comes next, and being willing to try to make something new anyway. Sure, trying something new takes courage; but, it’s more about being willing to try things and not be concerned with the outcome. Also, in reality, individuals don’t change culture — people join forces to do that. If a company wants to change the world, then they need to develop a culture that promotes creativity. Dieter Shirley, the Co-creator of CryptoKitties and the CTO and Lead Architect of Dapper Labs, explains the creative process he has learned to employ.
_“We would try all sorts of crazy stuff. Of course, most of it didn’t go anywhere. But that was how we learned. Even if CryptoKitties hadn’t taken off, we would have learned a ton and been able to try…
playlist_add
Sep 28, 2021
Creating a Team of Problem Solvers with Epicor’s Himanshu Palsule
In the sport’s world, some teams have all the talent they need to win championships, but, oftentimes they can’t seem to put it all together to be the last team standing at the end of the season. On the other hand, there have been moments when the most unlikely teams come together to shock the world. But when you look back, their success is not so surprising. It’s simply that their culture, their togetherness, was underrated. Championship teams don’t just appear; instead they are built. Company cultures are a lot like teams. Winning is the work, and work must get done. This is especially true when complex software products have to be created that solve problems for customers. Himanshu Palsule, the President and Chief Product and Technology Officer at Epicor, explains how the team works together at Epicor.
_“We operate pretty flat, including our CEO, Steve Murphy, who’s a process engineer himself. We all roll up our sleeves and talk to the person that has the answer versus s…
playlist_add
Sep 23, 2021
Infrastructure Lays the Foundation for Developer Artistry with Tony Minessale, Founder and CEO of SignalWire
In general, creative-types fall into two camps. The first camp loves the excitement of creating something flashy — things that people can identify, experience, and viscerally respond to. The second camp is made up of those who care about building a foundation so that other people can create great things upon it. If they do their jobs really well, their work may go relatively unnoticed. But that’s okay with them. They can sit back and smile, knowing they helped other creators do their best work. Tony Minessale, the Founder and CEO of SignalWire, describes the satisfaction that comes with building a strong foundation to help developers do what they do best.
Main Takeaways
* Creating Infrastructure so Developers Can Flourish: Some people are attracted to the bright lights of creating flashy applications. That’s fine and helpful too. It’s also necessary to have people that are focused on creating a strong foundation of infrastructure so that developers can build their artful pr…
playlist_add
Sep 21, 2021
From Different Leadership Vantage Points: Data Drives Value but is Driven by Values
One way to think about data is that it is like rain, and it is pouring outside. Imagine c-suite executives running around in a parking lot with huge buckets trying to capture as much as they can. Afterward, they return to the office, analyze the data, and then decide what to do based upon their discoveries.
But in this example, it’s not about how many buckets you come back with, it’s what’s in the buckets that matters most. Data is interpreted based upon a person’s values. In fact, certain types of data are acquired, or discarded, because of someone’s core principles -— their guiding light as to how they see the world and their role in it. Entire companies make decisions about how to use data based upon their mission. It all comes down to values whether at the personal level or at the overall company level.
In business, data is leaned on because it is measurable. Data is useful, no doubt. It can guide decisions. But, really, the heart of decision-making is about a leader…
playlist_add
Sep 16, 2021
The New Rituals of Work: Design Leads the Way
Despite so many technological advances, the way people worked stayed fairly static for many years. Work has now changed suddenly; there is no doubt about that. Where work was mostly in person, now a lot of work is remote or in a hybrid model. Nobody wanted this change to happen in this way — by being forced to quickly adjust due to a global health crisis. It’s like the whole working world collectively face-planted. No one asks to fall. But with any fall, there is an opportunity to reassess, get back up, and change course. Now, there is a tremendous opportunity to redesign the rituals of work. Ashok Krish is the Global Head of Digital Workplace at Tata Consultancy Services, and he believes we are in a transitional phase of work where new routines and rituals are being established.
_“A lot of new rituals of remote work had to be put in place. And I think that is the single biggest culture change that a lot of companies missed; more so than the technology. I think the technology, m…
playlist_add
Sep 14, 2021
Getting Our Health Together: How to Connect Tech and Humanity
Some people are super health conscious, with their days driven by early-morning trips to the gym and kale smoothies. Others try their very best to avoid thinking about anything health-related at all, pushing thoughts of vegetables or long walks right out of their minds. Regardless of which camp you fall in, your overall health is important and your medical history is critical data. So why is it so difficult to get access to important health information for ourselves and those we love? Is the onus on us? Or is it due to a breakdown within the system? Either way, we clearly need systems and technology that support our health. Vijay Anand is the EVP of Engineering at Castlight Health, and he believes that technology combined with the human touch can increase everyone’s health.
_“What we actually do is a combination of things. [We] certainly help you with content that helps you understand, why is that important? And what is it? But it's also about now using the power of high touch, ri…
playlist_add
Sep 9, 2021
Communication is Key: A.I. and Humans Speaking in Prose
We talk to our computer by asking it a question and then the computer talks back, trying its best to answer it. At least that’s how the conversation generally happens between humans and A.I. Sometimes we’re happy with the computer’s answer and other times, not so much, and we either try again until we’re successful or give up. But real learning takes place with true dialogue, when there are successive exchanges that deepen understanding and where either a person or a computer can start the conversation. For people and computers to learn, good data is very important — as are ways to access it quickly. Even more important is constructive communication driven by language. Corey Patton is the Co-Founder and CEO of Pramana Labs, and he thinks prose and narrative conversations are the future in communication between A.I. and people.
_“We created a way to learn about a relational database using training processes and NLP models that allows a user to just ask the question in free…
playlist_add
Sep 7, 2021
Breaking the Data Bottleneck
Each day, we’re coming into contact more and more with artificial intelligence and machine learning that is meant to make our lives better. We’ve all had some A.I. experiences that have gone really well. Perhaps, we didn’t even realize A.I. was helping us at first. On the other hand, getting help from A.I. doesn’t always work out perfectly, at least not right away. So why the inconsistency? If the human mind can take in so much complex information and make sense of it, why can’t our computers? Or can they if they have good data to learn from? Brad Porter, CTO of Scale AI, believes the key to A.I. learning efficiently is the right labeling:
_“What you need is those samples to be labeled perfectly because if they're labeled ambiguously, then the model can't actually decide what exactly is signal versus noise. So one way to solve that is to throw more and more data at it. Eventually you have enough data that the algorithms learn, okay, this is the signal and all these other p…
playlist_add
Sep 2, 2021
Using A.I. to Assure Identity and Privacy in the Digital Age
It used to be the case that we mostly proved our identity by offering up a piece of paper. Perhaps that seems silly now — at least a little. In the digital age, that is definitely no longer the situation — and for good reason. Right now, we have difficulties of our own. Today, our digital information seems like it is everywhere and available for anyone to access, whether they are well intentioned or not. Because there is so much information, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to prove who someone actually is or is not. Through the use of A.I., Persona answers the fundamental question: Are you who you say you are? Rick Song is the CEO and Co-Founder of Persona, and he believes removing humans from the verification process is part of the solution.
Main Takeaways:
* Identity Service Tools: Building identity infrastructure can be incredibly challenging for companies if that is not their area of expertise. Rather than having to create that structure from scratch, integrating an…
playlist_add
Aug 31, 2021
Aggregation at the Edge: Beyond the Decentralized Versus Centralized Debate
Many times we think about ideas in terms of debate — that there are only two ideas that are oppositional in nature and that one is superior to the other. This is true right now in the network conversation concerning an industry push toward either decentralized edge computing or more centralized network systems. What if, as is often the case, there is another way to think about duality where a unity lies somewhere in between? Raj Yavatkar, CTO of Juniper Networks, believes that to be the situation in terms of the debate for supremacy between decentralized versus centralized networks.
_“So before I get into the debate, which is a very interesting debate, you can say that three factors, a trio of trains, are coming together. People are putting more and more workloads to the public cloud, the 5G infrastructure, which is very densified, and there [are] micro cells.There's a densification of the traffic, which is at the edge. And third is the new applications based on A.I., M.L. and ana…
playlist_add
Aug 26, 2021
Breaking Boundaries to Fund A Better Future with Calibrate Ventures’ Kevin Dunlap
Every solution starts with an idea. Consumers needed more home security, so the founders of Ring came up with the smart doorbell. Home owners had trouble finding time to complete recurring tasks like vacuuming, so Roomba automated the vacuum. But despite those great ideas, every founder needs some help along the way. Or more specifically, they often need financial backing to scale a business, and they need someone to believe in them when others won’t.
_“We often joke that our best investments are the ones that nobody else likes. We're investors in Dollar Shave Club and I was told that was stupid. It was acquired for a billion dollars. With Ring, people laughed at me and they're like, ‘You invested in a doorbell business?’ A lot of times the ones that aren't necessarily obvious are really the best opportunities. So it was digging in and understanding if this does work, is it going to be really valuable?”_
Kevin Dunlap is Co-founder and Managing Partner of Calibrate Ventures,…
playlist_add
Aug 24, 2021
The Privacy Paradox: How Digital IDs are Empowering Consumers to Take Control of their Digital Existence
Standing in line at an airport is a bad experience. Shuffling through your wallet once you reach the front of that line only to realize you don’t have your driver’s license, that’s a worse experience. From boarding airplanes to purchasing alcohol, the technology that enables digital driver’s licenses already exists, but with adoption levels still so slow, the question is what’s the hold up?
_“I always liken it to chess and checkers — checkers, super easy to play. And giving access to people is playing checkers. Giving access to people based upon them being who they say they are, that they're doing what they're supposed to be doing, that they are where they're supposed to be, that they've been given approval for those assets, that's chess.There's this notion of authentication authorization approval, and today it's expanded into verification and proofing. So four key components and just like chess, you learn how to play it relatively quickly, but you spend the rest of your…
playlist_add
Aug 19, 2021
Delivering Personalized Needs-Based Learning at Scale with EnGen’s Dr. Katie Nielson
The way we learn is no longer unilateral. So why act as if still one teacher, standing in front of a group of students lecturing them on a particular subject is the best way for them to learn a second language? Instead of teaching simple words or phrases such as bike, or car, what if the focus was on developing the skills that actually help people advance their careers?
_“The old way of teaching, where you teach the same thing to everybody — teacher in front of the room, using a textbook that gets purchased — no one thinks that's a good way of doing it. Good teachers actually go out and try to find supplemental materials that were interesting to their students. They look for news articles, or short stories, or something, but they can't take all that content and curate it and deliver it to learners. It's impossible for humans to do that. However, machines are really good at doing that. When I realized that was the very best way to teach learners, I decided to try to use computers…
playlist_add
Aug 17, 2021
Core Strength: How LogicSource is Building Better Profit Margins Through Software, Data, and Insights
Companies are built off profitability. The investments you make are designed to support the products or services you sell. But let's be honest for a moment, you like buying the things that are core to your business because that’s what you care about. The secondary expenses that occur, those are less fun. Whether you’re dealing in electronics, retail, mortgages, or hamburgers, inevitably there are expenses that arise that don’t support your product. So how do you cut down on those expenses? And how can all the data gathered from shipping and receiving actually improve your profit margins?
_“What's not core to you is core to us. What I mean by core to your businesses is at Harley Davidson, they make motorcycles. They source and buy steel, bolts, oil, leather, so on and so forth. But what they also need to operate their business is they need marketing. They need packaging, they need stores to sell their motorcycles in. Their retail operation. They need to ship things. It's everyt…
playlist_add
Aug 12, 2021
How NCR is Creating a Passive, Frictionless, Buying Experience with Tim Vanderham
There are 750 million transactions processed every day. Let that number sink in… Across ATMs, self-checkout machines, and online payments, NCR — through both hardware and software infrastructure — is helping you checkout faster. We already have tap-to-pay credit cards and payments-synced watches. So is there a way for transactions to actually get _more seamless? _And can creating that more effortless experience actually save you money?? Tim Vanderham, CTO and SVP at NCR, said it’s not that unrealistic.
_“We're going on this notion of frictionless, passive, and then us as consumers sharing our data where we want to share it so that we get benefits from it in our daily lives. If you're not a bank individual, but you start thinking about what's happening with decentralized finance around cryptocurrencies and blockchain, I can start to leverage that data in ways that I can ask for loans from my financial institution when I'm making larger purchases. It also gives me a way to sav…
playlist_add
Aug 10, 2021
Leading through Change: Why Every Digital Transformation Doesn’t Include the Tech Stack
Let’s think about this for a second — what is more important: the pace at which a business must change its technology in order to keep up with its competitors or the culture that makes the whole thing flow efficiently? It’s an interesting conundrum, and one that Gautham Pallapa, Senior Executive Advisor at VMware thinks about often.
_“I look at things through the lens of culture, organization and people and processes first, because it's very easy to bring in the right technology. Technology is much more discreet. It's people and the culture that's not.”_
The bottom line for Gautham: culture wins, and it’s time for companies of all sizes to invest in it. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Gautham, self described as a culture evangelist, author, and a founder, explains how he works with some of VMware’s biggest customers to help them transform their businesses. He talks about why he advocates for culture ahead of technology, and he gives his reasons for why focusing on wo…
playlist_add
Aug 5, 2021
Building the Better, More Scalable Algorithms with SigOpt’s Scott Clark
An A.I. the model is similar to a boat in that it needs constant maintenance to perform. The reality is A.I. models need adjusted boundaries and guidelines to remain efficient. And when you live in a world where everyone is trying to get bigger and faster and have a certain edge, Scott Clark is helping make that possible with his finely-tuned A.I. modeling techniques.
_“As you're building up these rules and constructs for how that system will even learn itself, there's a lot of parameters that you need to set and tune. There's all these magical numbers that go into these systems. If you don't have a system of record for this, if you're just throwing things against the wall and seeing what sticks, and then only checking the best one, and you don't have a system of what you tried, what the trade-offs were, which parameters were the most important, and how it traded off different metrics it can seem like a very opaque process. At least that hyper parameter optimization and neural archi…
playlist_add
Aug 3, 2021
Using AI to Create a World without Waste
Every day we make a choice — to recycle, to compost, or to simply discard an item. But regardless of what decision the consumer makes, corporations are one of the biggest contributors to environmental damage.
_“Recycling and composting and all that stuff. It's great, but it's not where the real problem is, the real problem is the way we make things and move things around. It's the factories, and supply chains. If you want to reduce waste in the world, that's where you target.”_
Reducing waste is an ambitious challenge to tackle, but it's one Steve Pratt, Founder and CEO of Noodle.ai, is facing head-on. The strategy: use artificial intelligence and machine learning to help manufacturers and supply chain distributors limit the amount of waste they produce everyday. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Steve explains just how much waste is produced yearly by industrial operations and the monetary ramifications that waste brings. He also explains the way his team is using A.I. to hel…
playlist_add
Jul 29, 2021
The State of Security with Salesforce's Taher Elgamal and TAG Cyber’s Ed Amoroso
Too lucrative, too easy, and not enough investment. In the simplest terms possible, that is how you could describe the current state of cybersecurity. Over the last month, we’ve heard from some of the top minds in the industry, and a general consensus is that despite the innovations and optimism in the world of cybersecurity, those three issues remain at the heart of the problem.
_“There's more tools available. There is more research. The hacking communities are actually businesses. They employ people, they pay people and they ride these things and it is becoming easier. The overall system has not been very well-studied to understand what are the right things to do and what things we should limit and that kind of thing.”_
That’s Taher Elgamal, CTO for Security at Salesforce and on this episode of_ IT Visionaries_, our cybersecurity series concludes as Taher is joined by Ed Amoroso, Founder and CEO of TAG Cyber. The two discuss the state of cybersecurity, including where compa…
playlist_add
Jul 27, 2021
Software is King, but Hardware is Still an Integral Tool with Future of Tech Enterprise, Bob Venero
The work from home shift has revolutionized IT Departments more than any invention ever could.
When closets became offices, and commutes morphed into strolls around the neighborhood, corporate IT was left scrambling. Many companies were ill prepared to support remote workers and this shift exposed security vulnerabilities.
_“The level that this pandemic made everybody go right at home, immediately created tons of risk around how you're going to support traditional security. That was out there and remote workers and remote security, it changed the dynamic tremendously.” _
While that dynamic had been changing for a while, it was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. On this episode of _IT Visionaries_, we sat down with Bob Venero, President and CEO of Future Tech Enterprises, a global solutions provider that works closely with the _Fortune _500. Bob explains why companies that have shifted to a philosophy of bringing your own devices, are opening themselves up to a bevy of product…
playlist_add
Jul 22, 2021
Built for Innovation: How Google’s Office of the CTO is Redefining Collaboration
The biggest innovations don’t always occur where you expect. Canon and Nikon didn’t invent the go-everywhere camera known as GoPro. It was a surfer who wanted to film his friends. Automakers didn’t believe styling could attract buyers to Electric Vehicles until Tesla defined the industry. The reality is that insights can occur anywhere, and come from anyone, and Will Grannis, Managing Director of Google’s CTO Office, knows that.
_“The more ambitious [the problem], the more ambiguous, the more complex, the better. In my experience, if you're going to try to transform an industry, it's hard. And it takes a long time and a lot of new technology. It takes years of discovery of trying things, of finding what works and amplifying that and this whole consideration of people, process and technology. And so in the CTO office, one of our goals is to work on the most ambitious projects that our customers have.”_
Find the most ambitious projects with an eye toward redefining an indus…
playlist_add
Jul 20, 2021
Getting the Most Out of the Cloud with PWC’s Jenny Koehler
The rapid pace of change can be boiled down to one mission critical service: the cloud. But despite widespread adoption and enthusiasm for the cloud’s seemingly endless possibilities, many organizations are still not seeing the payoff from their investments. At least that’s what Jenny Koehler, the US Cloud and Digital Leader at PwC, told us
_“There's this notion now of how am I going to deliver this thing? So I don't have to wait until the bitter end to get value out there. How do I sequence it the right way to get the value unlocked earlier? How do I not have to wait until the end? I think almost as much as the price take conversation is happening and trying to tie it to value, there's also this approach to get it rolled out. How do I see value faster? How do I not have to wait? That's a conversation that's different. And technology allows it.”_
The good news is Jenny has one mission; to change the digital face of her clients and on this episode of _IT Visionaries, _she offe…
playlist_add
Jul 15, 2021
Designing with Intent: A Roundtable Episode with Acxiom’s Beth-Anne Bygum and Target State Consulting’s Anthony McMahon
Security is big business, but has the role of securing networks and employees bloated to the point that businesses cannot properly protect themselves? Or is the speed of business moving too fast to care? On a roundtable episode with Beth-Anne Bygum, CISO at Acxiom and Anthony McMahon, CIO/CTO and Principle Consultant for Target State Consultants, the two discussed a host of topics, including if technology was moving too quickly for security measures to matter.
_“We have to move at the speed of the business anymore because the ability to access, purchase, integrate, buy, share, is extremely fluid,” _Bygum said._ “It means one, we have to constantly press ourselves to be more efficient. Two, we have to constantly ask ourselves: is our defense fabric, the set of tools we use, even keeping pace with the tools my development teams are using?” _
On this episode of _IT Visionaries_, our security series continues as Beth-Anne and Anthony take a look at why implementing proper securit…
playlist_add
Jul 13, 2021
Why Data and A.I. is at the Intersection of Sports and Science with Intel’s Jonathan Lee
Today, technology is an integral part of the sports landscape. In fact, it’s become so ingrained in American sports that data and algorithms are part of pretty much every broadcast and in every locker room. Technology is now used to predict win probability, analyze launch angles of home runs, and track shot charts of NBA superstars. But technology isn’t just used to build a better viewing experience. It is also being dropped into the hands of coaches to do things like perfect a runner's stride and track every moment from the beginning of a sprint, to the final lunge across the finish line to reveal surprising information.
_“We pull out things like velocity acceleration and when they hit their top speed. For example, when an athlete hits their top speed. We can see something that's really fascinating. They actually hit a top speed and then they start to decelerate and every athlete does it. Even when you look at Usain bolt, you see his races and he looks like he's pulling away. A…
playlist_add
Jul 8, 2021
Broadcast Television’s Digital Transformation with FOX Corporation West Coast CIO, Garrett Boss
Have you ever tried to upload a video and been frustrated by the time it takes to land on the server? Now imagine you’re a broadcast crew, working the Super Bowl, with hundreds of cameras that all have to upload video simultaneously. Transferring millions of data points, and moving massive files with no latency puts your video upload woes to shame. It’s no easy task, yet it gets done relatively seamlessly every year. For that, you can send your thank you notes to Garrett Boss, CIO West Coast at FOX, where he is responsible for providing the infrastructure and technology to the broadcast crews that bring you your favorite sporting events and television shows.
_“Our mandate is to reduce friction everywhere we can to enable creatives and production to spend all of their energy and time focused on those things. I want to remove every barrier, every hiccup, every challenge that they have that's not related to their talent of putting inspiring content on the air for our viewers.” _…
playlist_add
Jul 6, 2021
Analyzing the Impact of A.I. and Technology on Society and Cybersecurity
Technology is advancing at pace never seen before and the newest tech, applications and widgets are being widely adopted at an even quicker rate.
Just look at A.I. and machine learning tools,which are now used to identify things once thought unimaginable — whether it's to figure out simple things such as what clothes best suit consumers or completing everyday work tasks, the endstate for these technologies appear endless...
But as technology grows more sophisticated, why is the software that operates it not being secured?
_“The human without the suit is weak and the suit without the human is dumb. A.I. and machine learning, these different computer learnings we've got to work with now in cybersecurity and across the board, they're levers. They're not a replacement in my mind for human intelligence. When that happens, we're going to be worried about Skynet, not these conversations. And I'm going to be thinking about how to hack that stuff, to make sure that humans stay safe.”_…
playlist_add
Jul 1, 2021
Security by Default, with Cybersecurity Consultant Jenna Waters
Companies big and small, old and new are trying to get a handle on the best way to secure their data. But the challenge is that there is so much that goes into cybersecurity, it can be overwhelming for a company to oversee it internally...These vast challenges are often shouldered by a couple people in the IT department who are left to defend an entire company against a host of bad actors.
_“Cyber security is one giant game of whack-a-mole. It is either, you're trying to take out the threats against your company as they're attacking your organization or entity, or you're trying to tackle one problem at a time as it comes up because you never assessed what those problems could be in the first place.”_
To help defend against these nefarious attacks, more companies are employing the services of third parties to aid them in their defense. Jenna Waters is a Cyber Security Consultant at True Digital Security, where she specializes in assisting clients with security development and thre…
playlist_add
Jun 29, 2021
At the Intersection of Data and Privacy with Salesforce’s Marla Hay
So you want to build a giant enterprise platform. Great.
You want mission critical and private data to flow between CRMs and other critical applications flawlessly, with no leaks, no breaches, and no compromises.
You also want to build infinite user controls and optionality, and also smooth and seamless user identification to access these business apps.
No pressure right?
Marla Hay is the Senior Director of Product, Security and Privacy at Salesforce and she knows how to balance critical security with smooth identity management. It’s actually one of the key reasons she’s in the field.
_“We've seen an increased focus on data security and privacy over the last like 15 years. One of the things that makes me really excited, and one of the one of the reasons I loved and picked this area to work is that intersection of data security, privacy, and usability. That's a place where I think we've seen a lot of evolution.”_
Data and privacy are two hot-button issues right now, but a…
playlist_add
Jun 24, 2021
Buying and Selling Homes Algorithmically with Opendoor’s VP of Research and Data Science, Kushal Chakrabarti
For many people, the process of buying and selling a home will undoubtedly be the most difficult decisions they will make in their lifetime. Is the price you’re paying for your home fair? Is the price you’re selling your home for an adequate sale price? For a long time, realtors have been oracles with the answers to those questions, but times are changing. Today, Opendoor, a data-driven real estate start-up, is putting data to work to answer those questions for you.
_“Opendoor from a technical perspective, is the hands down single most fascinating technical challenge I've ever come across. If you look at the questions that we have to answer, they're just fascinating and you have to answer them in the right ways. Otherwise they just don't really work. You think about the prediction problem, you think about the optimization, probably you think about the portfolio optimization problem. There's so many different pieces to the problem and you just have to do it.” _
Kushal Chakraba…
playlist_add
Jun 22, 2021
How do we Properly Secure Remote Work
Are cyberattacks becoming more sophisticated, more frequent? Do people even care anymore? Do businesses care anymore? As these threats rise in frequency and the monetary damage continues to increase, why aren’t businesses taking the necessary steps to protect their systems, data, and customers? Anthony Johnson is the Managing Partner and CISO of DelveRisk and during a roundtable discussion with Rohit Parchuri, an industry veteran and security advisor, Johnson spoke at length about the threat cybersecurity poses today.
_“Cyber can be fully catastrophic to a company. A big enough cyber event could delete the backups, could delete the ability of the company to operate, and just completely wipe the organization. There is not another threat that can be as macro systemic to any one organization.”_
Those are strong words from Anthony, but the subject matter is just as stiff. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Anthony and Rohit discuss a host of topics, including how recent events have…
playlist_add
Jun 17, 2021
From Two Sides of the C-Suite: Why All Executives Face Similar Challenges
Much like a snowflake, no two companies are alike. After all, something has to separate you from your competition — from mission statement, to products and services, to customers, nothing in the marketplace is exactly like the other.
But regardless of what industry you serve, more than likely you’re dealing with many of the same issues that your peers are. From all sides of the C-Suite, every executive is dealing with similar obstacles. Maybe that’s designing an infrastructure to support remote work, or navigating a treacherous journey to the cloud, or fixing a workplace culture. No matter what the issue is, there are more similarities than we may think.
On a recent episode of _IT Visionaries,_ special guest host, Neeracha Taychakhoonavudh, the Executive Vice President, Global Customer Success & Strategy at Salesforce, was joined by two industry experts representing very different parts of the marketplace. The result is a conversation which brings together two executives from t…
playlist_add
Jun 15, 2021
Digitizing the New Age of Access Identity Management with HID Global’s Martin Ladstaetter
Security identity management comes in all shapes and sizes, and it’s an industry that continues to innovate at a rapid pace and there is no end in sight. Think of identity management like this: that card or fob you scan to enter an office or building, that’s security management. Or maybe the password you change every 30 days, that’s identity management. But while these processes seem simple and familiar, they haven’t been part of the security ecosystem for very long.
_“15 years ago, phones were different. We didn't know about online identities. We didn't have digital passports. We were using batches to access buildings. If you fast forward, the pace of what we are changing is pretty traumatic and fast.”_
Traumatic and fast are strong but appropriate words when describing the pace at which Martin Ladstaetter, and HID Global, are working at when it comes to making it easier for consumers to access their everyday necessities. On this episode of _IT Visionaries_, Martin, the…
playlist_add
Jun 10, 2021
What Does an Ethical Approach to A.I. Look Like?
The spirit of innovation is mostly positive. After all, innovation leaps humanity forward. The wheel enabled transportation, space exploration led to the internet, the smartphone has connected the world.
These are just some examples.
And the innovation wheel keeps turning. These days there is no doubt that
For our brief history of breakthrough innovation, we’ve rarely had to discuss or think about the ethics behind those efforts like we do with the next breakthrough; Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
A.I and Machine learning are widely considered to be the tools that will leap humanity forward into the future, but there’s a catch...
… who decides the ethics of AI and ML? Who tells the computer how it should think? What should the computer value? What is ethical? And at what point have we gone too far?
“This technology is not fully developed, It's not an end state. So we don't know all of the consequences of using this technology.”
When we think about innova…
playlist_add
Jun 8, 2021
Transforming Neighborhood Security one Ring at a Time
On _IT Visionaries,_ we talk a lot about security, but we mostly talk about cybersecurity and making sure that your networks are protected from cyber criminals. We don’t really talk about in-the-flesh criminals and how technology is helping to keep them out of your home.
But what is the value of home security? Is it being able to constantly check your front door to see if a package has arrived? Is it the calmness that comes with being notified that there’s movement in your driveway? Or is it simply the piece of mind that you get when you know that if something goes wrong, you’ll know it?
In 2014, Ring did something no other company else had done: andit gave homeowners a sense of security by providing a 24/7 view of their front door…
_“[We ] had a mission around how to create a better layer of security for people to always be home. Our slogan is always home. What that did was allow people to either answer the door comfortably from their phone, whether they actually wanted t…
playlist_add
Jun 3, 2021
Developing for Intent: How Conversational A.I. is Helping Brands Make Meaningful Connections with Consumers
Is chat support helpful or annoying?
To me, it’s both.
It’s helpful because it’s the way I prefer to be helped. It’s asynchronous, it allows for multitasking, and it can be done anywhere.
But, it’s also annoying. It sucks when you type something in and your customer service agent or bot has no idea what you’re talking about.
LivePerson is trying to make customer interactions smarter.
Joe Bradley is Chief Scientist at LivePerson, and his mission is to define and anticipate customer needs and intent, via each and every single customer-to-brand interaction. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Joe explains the difference between creating conversational A.I. that not only can hold meaningful conversations with the user, but also understands the intent of the customer. He also gives a look into the future of how A.I. will empower brands to create better customer experiences. Enjoy.
Main Takeaway
* What’s the Intent: The future of conversational technologies is going to…
playlist_add
Jun 1, 2021
Have we Reached the End of the Digital Transformation Road?
Every company is undergoing some kind of digital transformation. Whether you’re upgrading your tech stack, migrating to the cloud, or analyzing your processes to improve your employee experience, every enterprise is saddled with the need to improve their systems. But what if that daunting process was a thing of the past? What if instead of having to undergo massive technology upgrades every few years that process was continuous? If you ask Jon Knisley, Principal Consultant, Automation and Process Excellence at FortressIQ, that’s the way of the future.
_“Process data is that missing puzzle piece that nobody's had access to. Once we get it in place, that's when you'll have a complete and comprehensive understanding of how [your company] truly operates. I'm starting to play with this idea that when we get to that point, is that going to be the end of our digital transformation journey? _
The end of digital transformation? Sounds too good to be true, but is it? In this episode of I…
playlist_add
May 27, 2021
What Really Gives Your EV that Extra Charge with AMP CEO, Anil Paryani
In the last year, a number of auto companies have announced huge investments into the development of electric vehicles, with some committing to transforming their entire fleets over to clean energy. In the past, the biggest hurdle consumers and businesses had to overcome when switching to electric power was the question of battery life. Drivers were worried, and understandably so, about whether their car’s battery would be powerful enough to get them where they needed to go, hassle-free. The answer is yes, and it’s thanks to some interesting software that a cleaner future is possible.
_"By unleashing what we call depth of discharge and top of charge on a battery just with software, we can add five to 10% range. And so that may not sound a lot, but if you have a car that's 300 miles, now it's 330 miles that trip to the beach is no problem.” _
Anil Paryani is an EV industry veteran and pioneer who possesses more than 30 patents and currently he serves as the CEO of Automotive Pow…
playlist_add
May 25, 2021
Putting Industrial Data to Work with GE Digital CTO, Colin Parris
Industrial equipment lasts for decades, and the data produced by these machines are invaluable to the organizations that rely on them. So what happens when industries that rely on industrial equipment, with on-location workers, and limited digital reliance face a pandemic and limited to no travel.
_“I had a CEO of one of the big utilities [companies] telling me, he taught, given the last discussions he had with his leaders, that it would take five to six years to do digital transformation. When COVID started last year, they did a lot of what they thought would take five years in five weeks. It worked, so now the question is can you continue doing it?”_
Colin Parris is the SVP and CTO of GE Digital, a billion dollar software division dedicated to creating better outcomes using the immense data produced by industrial machines.At GE, Coliin leads software, systems, and analytics teams to push the boundaries of how data can power industrial digital transformation. On this episode of_…
playlist_add
May 20, 2021
Finding Product Market Fit with Matik Founder and CEO, Nikola Mijic
Nikola Mijic is the Founder and CEO of Matik, and he has one piece of advice of for anyone entering the start-up arena:
_“When people ask me what have you learned through this experience of starting your own company, I would say how to ruthlessly prioritize because your users and your customers and prospects are gonna want the world, and it's your job to be able to decipher what is valid and what is habitual.”_
Building, scaling, and maintaining success is every entrepreneur’s dream, and there’s one way to get there. By consistently meeting customer expectations and finding product-market fit. On this episode of _IT Visionaries_, Nikola peels back the curtain on how he stepped outside of his comfort zone of product management and took a chance in launching Matik, a personalization tool designed to automate Google slides and powerpoint presentations with customized data points. Nikola also explains why customer success is dependent on managing expectations and how data-driven…
playlist_add
May 18, 2021
Playing War: How Technology is Helping to Train the Military’s Next Great Soldiers
For years there has been a debate about whether video games are the next great learning tool, or gateways to desensitization due to violence and a lack of face-to-face interaction. The debate rages on, but regardless of the long-term side effects of video games, there are scenarios where they are being put to use in practical ways as it relates to military training.
_“The idea of training soldiers using computer games was like, ‘There's no way a computer game can train my guys how to shoot. You have to go out into the mud and do it for real.’ And while there's some truth there, what we offered was like an accelerator for decision-making processes.”_
Mark Dzulko had been serving in the military for 13 years when he recognized the potential that computer-based simulation tactics could have in the military. As the CTO and Director at Bohemia Simulations, Mark is now turning the potential into something practical. On this episode of _IT Visionaries_, Mark breaks down the differen…
playlist_add
May 13, 2021
Creating a Data-Driven Digital Pass for your COVID Vaccine with Claire Hough, CTO Carbon Health
Let’s be frank: the healthcare industry needs help. Medical records have far too many inconsistencies, patients struggle to find ways to transfer information from one doctor to another, and as the world slowly begins to reopen and the focus on health increases, the industry is going to have to lean on modern technology more than ever in order to track and maintain records as it relates to COVID-19.
_“There are several like electronic health information systems out there and their operability is pretty poor. You have to be able to get that information [to your doctors]. You have to be able to integrate it and make it accessible to your patients, as well as your primary care providers. And, that's something that we do better than anybody else.”_
Claire Hough is the CTO of Carbon Health, a tech-enabled healthcare provider that is developing data-driven programs in an effort to help modernize the healthcare industry by removing the boundaries of health care to create high-quality e…
playlist_add
May 11, 2021
How to Architect Your Technology to Meet the Consumer’s Needs with Amdocs Division President, Avishai Sharlin
Move fast and break things. A famous adage adopted by many software companies. But what if you’re an industry giant where innovation is required, but failure is absolutely not an option. That doesn’t seem to be a mix for success.Meet Amdocs, a company withe more than 26,000 employees and generating more than $4.2 billion in revenue annually, the expectations for success are a little bit higher.
_“The difference between great companies and good companies is how much your endurance is to failure.”_Avishai Sharlinis the Division President for Amdocs Technologies, a company that works with communication and media companies to help consumers complete more than 1.7 billion digital journeys every day. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Avishai explains how Amdocs uses open source tools to provide the scale and agility needed to operate some of the world’s most complex systems, and he reveals why and how Amdocs is helping to accelerate many companies' journeys to the cloud.
Main Ta…
playlist_add
May 6, 2021
Digital Dollar Project: The Large-Scale Modernization of the Financial Institution
NFTs, Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Tokenization. There is more hype than ever for these technologies and endless debate on the utility of this technology. . While consumers are attempting to understand the value of cryptocurrency, governments and private firms across the globe are doing the same, and they are experimenting with the idea of a central bank for digital currency that will adapt and meet changing consumer needs.
Main Takeaways
* Benefits of a Central Bank: The digitization of currency will not only simplify the distribution of government cash, but it will eliminate banking deserts, which are large populations of the country where traditional banking branches are not accessible to the general public. By moving to a digital currency, users will be able to easily complete transactions similar to how cash purchases are done, but without the time needed to complete a credit transaction.
* Programmable Money: One of the exciting innovations and benefits of digital tokens is…
playlist_add
May 4, 2021
Why It's Time for Data Professionals to Adjust the Scope of Their Hiring Practices
Gabe Gumbs has a deep-rooted passion for technology and information security, and his goal is to share that passion to push data security to the forefront of every business's agenda.
_“Security is all I've ever done. It's what I know, it's what I love. I enjoy every aspect of [security]. From building it, to talking about it, to marketing, into selling it to you, It's a passion.” _
Gabe is the Chief Innovation Officer at Spirion — a leader in rapid identification and protection of sensitive data— and these days he’s channeling that passion to make the digital world a safer place. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Gabe explains his vision for data privacy and why it’s time to kick siloed data to the curb. He also provides a detailed view on the future of work and why the talent shortage that security professionals have discussed may not be exactly as drastic as it seems.
Main Takeaways
* Silos are an Unnecessary Evil: Data professionals are ingesting data from various…
playlist_add
Apr 29, 2021
How Data Replication is Helping Companies Become more Data-Driven
Over the last quarter century, data and its ability to provide valuable insights for companies to plan, predict, and implement strategies has expanded exponentially. Organizations have grown more reliant on data, and the speed at which data is uploaded and analyzed now must match the pace at which it is generated.
_“Data has to be up to date and available almost immediately in order to just keep the business running.”_
Mark Van de Wiel is the CTO of HVR, a company that specializes in partnering with enterprises to realize the full potential of data through real-time data replication. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Mark explains why data replication is an imperative step for companies wanting to take a more data-driven approach, how replication is providing real-time insight as opposed to batch data uploads, and why having a single source of truth when it comes to your data is just good business.
Main Takeaways
* Holistic Data View: Today, organizations are pulling data to…
playlist_add
Apr 29, 2021
Building the Better, More Scalable Algorithms with SigOpt’s Scott Clark
An A.I. the model is similar to a boat in that it needs constant maintenance to perform. The reality is A.I. models need adjusted boundaries and guidelines to remain efficient. And when you live in a world where everyone is trying to get bigger and faster and have a certain edge, Scott Clark is helping make that possible with his finely-tuned A.I. modeling techniques.
_“As you're building up these rules and constructs for how that system will even learn itself, there's a lot of parameters that you need to set and tune. There's all these magical numbers that go into these systems. If you don't have a system of record for this, if you're just throwing things against the wall and seeing what sticks, and then only checking the best one, and you don't have a system of what you tried, what the trade-offs were, which parameters were the most important, and how it traded off different metrics it can seem like a very opaque process. At least that hyper parameter optimization and neural archi…
playlist_add
Apr 27, 2021
Why Digital Identities are All About a Secure Customer Experience
The modern worker needs access to multiple applications. And with every new piece of software implemented, the security and identity requirements grow exponentially. Identity authentication is creating increasing headaches for IT professionals everywhere. Relying on usernames and passwords won’t be enough much longer.
_“We've been using usernames and passwords as the primary identity feature for 50 years. I really have been working in my career to help change that and come up with a better way. When I think of usernames and passwords, I think that is a lose, lose situation. It's a bad experience and it's bad security because everybody uses the same passwords and doesn't change them.” _
That’s Fran Rosch, the CEO of ForgeRock, a company that is helping users connect with the world and its software safely and simply with it’s A.I.-driven platform. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Fran explains how ForgeRock is pioneering next generation identity authentication that can help…
playlist_add
Apr 22, 2021
The State of Security with Alfizo President, Gary Chan
There’s a festering problem growing beneath the surface of small businesses everywhere, and it’s an issue that most SMBs are refusing to address. As large-scale companies invest big money in information security teams to protect themselves from data breaches and bad actors, their small business brethren simply refuse to invest in security at all.
_“People only spend money on things they can detect.”_
Gary Chan is an information security management consultant and president of Alfizo, a company that is helping SMBs and large-scale enterprises use IT as an enabler while meeting compliance, security and privacy obligations. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Gary dives into some of the biggest obstacles facing SMBs from a security perspective and why small businesses leave themselves vulnerable to cyber attacks. Plus he explains why regardless of how secure your network may be, the weakest link remains your staff.
Main Takeaways
* Walk in Through the Front Door: SMBs are leav…
playlist_add
Apr 20, 2021
Why Your Ecommerce Platform is Still at Risk, with Otto Founder and CEO, Maggie Louie
Maggie Louie remembers the moment her career changed forever. Working with the _L.A. Times_ on digital and mobile products, Maggie, now the founder and CEO of Otto, remembers a friend asking her to look into an issue they were having with their website.
_“[they asked] me to look at their ad tags and figure out why their traffic was going through the roof, but they weren't making any more money. They couldn't figure it out. I had suspected that their ad techs were either misconfigured or there's something easy there, and after 24 hours looking through their code. I discovered that they indeed were being stolen internally. The head developer was hijacking all of the ad tags and just doing all sorts of crazy stuff.” _
The lines of code hidden in the JavaScript were driving traffic and stealing money, and it was that revelation that opened Maggie’s eyes to underground ad fraud and bot traffic, and this ad fraud wreaked havoc. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Maggie details how th…
playlist_add
Apr 15, 2021
How Infrastructure as Code is Accelerating Cloud Adoption, with HashiCorp VP of Engineering, Preeti Somal
The journey to cloud is not the same for everyone. In fact, for some, it can be a grueling and daunting process. For CIOs and CTOs of century-year-old companies, they are burdened by server after server piling up and as they tackle the obstacle of migrating data to the cloud. Meanwhile, peers at digitally-native companies, born in the cloud, use their agility and ease of scale to soar past their old-school brethren. So what’s a legacy company to do?
_“The reality in the environment is that there are all stages of software in these companies and disentangling that and figuring out how to move to the cloud is a journey. And that's the thing where we're really excited about being able to help with at least kind of taking care of the infrastructure pieces. So CIOs and CTOs can focus on the application layers and not really have to worry about how the infrastructure gets operated.” __19:37_
That’s Preeti Somal, Vice President of Engineering at HashiCorp, a company constructed on t…
playlist_add
Apr 13, 2021
It’s [Crop] Science: Why Blockchain Remains an Integral Tool In the Food Industry
Have you ever picked up a plant at the grocery store and wondered to yourself, can I really keep this alive? Or maybe you’ve planted seeds in the ground only to see them never sprout. Don’t worry, if you’ve struggled to find any success, you’re not alone. But imagine the pressure when the food industry’s supply chain is relying on your green thumb, so you have to find a way to plant trillions of seeds that yield crops covering millions of square miles to feed the world.. It’s no longer about having a green thumb. It’s a full on science and technology based operation, and it can’t fail. That’s where Bayer Crop Science and Elisha Herrmann step in to bring that supply chain to life.
_“We produce not only the seeds that the farmers plant, but we have to produce the fruits and the vegetables that produce the seeds that the farmers plant.”_
Elisha is a Global Supply Chain Strategy and Innovation Partner a Bayer Crop Science, a company that is currently utilizing all f…
playlist_add
Apr 8, 2021
Building a Better More Sustainable Battery with Group 14 Technologies Co-Founder and CTO, Rick Costantino
Smartphones are incredible pieces of technology. They allow users the ability to track stars, text people around the world, purchase items at the ease of a click, map their next destination, and so much more. Their individual capabilities are truly remarkable.
_“It's crazy. And all of that is powered by the battery and all of that and really what limits it, the engineer's imagination, you know, they're, they, they know how much, how much they can get out of that in terms of the energy. And so imagine now, if you could get 50% more energy from your phone and do 50% more, more tasks that we hadn't even thought of yet."_
That’s Rick Costantino, and while what he is saying may sound too good to be true, it’s not. On this episode of_ IT Visionaries, _Rick dives into how Group 14 is reversing that trend by working to replace the traditional graphite anode with a silicon casing material. Plus, Rick touches on why silicon is the future of the battery industry, the impact it will have o…
playlist_add
Apr 6, 2021
Educating and Entertaining: How HOMER is Reforming Education
Early learning education programs are not new —they’ve been around for years in multiple forms. Whether that’s _Dora the Explorer_ taking you on her latest adventure, or hopping on your computer to travel along the Oregon Trail, the traditional education system has been supplemented with various platforms and programs for ages. The issue is, though, very few of them actually show or measure tangible results.
That’s Stephanie Dua, the Co-founder and President of HOMER, an early learning program that is primarily focused on helping children get the best possible start to their education. On this episode of_ IT Visionaries_, Stephanie explains how she was in a unique opportunity to not only help jump-start her own daughter's education, but to bring a scalable education product to market. She also explains what separates HOMER from its competitors and why phonemic awareness is the secret to the product’s success.
Main Takeaways
* Educating and Entertaining: There are multipl…
playlist_add
Apr 1, 2021
Facilitating A Touchless World with RRD’s Ken O’Brien
How many times over the last year have you visited a restaurant and sitting on the table right in front of you was bar code that led you to all the information you needed. From drinks, to desserts and entrees and everything in between, that simple code unlocked a handful of opportunities and experiences all through technologies that already exist within your phone. With more than 2 billion QRC- and NFC-enabled devices in use today (including the cell phone you might be listening to this podcast on), and in the midst of a global pandemic, QR codes have undergone a renaissance and companies such as RRD are rushing to meet your needs.
_“We create those touch points, something that triggers the experience, and that can happen way before you get to a payment machine, that can happen on a label on the outside of a product, on signage, outside of a building, on a post in front of a parking space, any number of different ways where a individual can engage a device, where they are basically…
playlist_add
Mar 30, 2021
How Yappa is Removing the Toxic Nature of Commenting with Co-Founder, Kiaran Sim
The internet is a fascinating place and over the years it has provided tremendous resources to billions of people around the world. It’s brought us closer, and it’s divided us and at the same time. People feel more empowered to make their voices heard. The problem is anonymity has seemingly eroded basic standards of kindness and decency. At least that’s what it seems like when you look at the comments section on blogs, social posts, and more.
_“The way of communicating online is a massive problem, and it affects our mental health. It affects how we see ourselves and our confidence levels and, and everything about it. It's just this constant cesspool of just the worst parts of humanity. And we wanted to really try and solve that problem. And that's where Yappa differentiates itself.”_
Meet Kiaran Sim, Co-founder and COO of Yappa, an app that is hoping to make the internet a little more conversational, a little less hostile, and at the bare minimum, more empathetic. On this e…
playlist_add
Mar 25, 2021
Keeping Up with the Pace of Change, with Sumo Logic VP, Bruno Kurtic
Problem Solvers, pioneers, but more importantly data nerds. That’s how Sumo Logic describes itself, and well...it’s fitting. Rooted in big data and security, SumoLogic is among the most powerful machine data analytics services in the world, but to reach the pinnacle of any industry, requires a culture that strives to be the best.
_“There's a lot of discomfort in this type of a culture, because in order to really be willing to disrupt yourself so that you don't get disrupted by somebody else, you have to empower and enable people inside of your company to challenge decisions, to take risks, to take accountability for those risks. But it has to be a culture that relies on transparency, collaboration, risk, and essentially distributed decision-making.”_
Bruno Kurtic is the Founding Vice President of Product and Strategy for Sumo Logic and on this episode of_ IT Visionaries_, Bruno delves into how the Sumo Logic platform operates, why the pace of change in the technology industry…
playlist_add
Mar 23, 2021
Redefining Digital Transformation with Connektedminds’ CEO, Joanne Friedman
Companies flaunt the term digital transformation almost as if it’s a badge of honor. It’s a phrase that can signify an enterprise is on the cutting edge of innovation with a constant eye toward the future. But Joanne Friedman, CEO of Connektedminds, has another word for it.
_“It's a misnomer,” _she said._ “Any company that isn't constantly in some state of transformation isn't alive_.”
Joanne believes that companies don’t simply go through a digital transformation once and then pat themselves on the back — at least, the good ones don’t. No, she is of the mind that digital transformation is an ongoing process, and it’s one she’s been going through her entire career. An industry visionary, entrepreneur, and IT executive, Joanne envisions herself and Connektedminds as the leaders of the team helping companies reach their goals when it comes to their IT needs and how to constantly improve.
_“Coach Is the best description because we stay with the client throughout…
playlist_add
Mar 18, 2021
Ready for Take-Off: Why Moonbeam Believes it’s The Next Big Media Platform with Founder, Paul English
They say one of the biggest attributes any entrepreneur needs to have is the ability to problem solve. To be able to identify challenges large and small and effectively produce a solution for them. It seems simple, but it’s not. A vast number of start-ups fail, and the reason is although they identified and addressed _an issue_, it’s not the _right issue._ So how do you know when the problem your company is attempting to solve is the right one? Paul English, Founder and CTO of Moonbeam, has some noteworthy advice.
_“My advice to other entrepreneurs, when they ask when they should go for it and when should they quit their day job to go work on their new idea is when you have an idea, a problem that you want to solve, and the problem is more important than the solution. Most tech companies don't fail because the programmers couldn't write good code. Most tech companies fail because they solved the problem that no one cares about. What's most important is solving a big problem.”_…
playlist_add
Mar 16, 2021
The Gambler: Why Allego CEO Yuchun Lee is Betting Big on Just-In-Time Learning
In gambling there’s a common saying, the house always wins...After all, the majority of people who spend their nights and weekends throwing dice across the craps table, or contemplating their next blackjack hand are always relying on luck. Yuchun Lee, CEO and co-founder of Allego, is not one of those people.
Yuchun is one of the founding members of the infamous MIT Blackjack card counting team portrayed in the movie 21.With his earnings, he was able to bootstrap Unica which was acquired by IBM for 400 million. Now, Yuchun is back building the next great software company with Allegro, an accelerated learning video-based sales platform. On this episode of _IT Visionaries_, Yuchun explains how his calculated decision-making removes risk and details how it is using A.I. and machine learning to empower every sales professional to close the next deal.
Main Takeaways
* Can You Hop on a Sales Call?: The way companies and sales professionals approach clients has changed drastically over…
playlist_add
Mar 11, 2021
A Data Tsunami is Coming, Is Your City Ready? Intel’s GM For Smart Cities, Sameer Sharma, Details Why Your Infrastructure is Your Biggest Obstacle
The term “smart city” might bring to mind images from _The Jetsons_, maybe flying cars and robots serving humans. And while that’s possible, cities are getting smarter right now in very practical and useful ways. Building a smart city is about its citizens and how their lives can continuously be improved through data and incremental change.
_“The ultimate goal is very simple: Can we use the combination of innovative thinking, the right technology solution, the right policy making, and the right decision framework to ultimately improve the quality of life for the citizens. Smart cities are not about smartness. It's about a better life for the citizens.”_
Meet Sameer Sharma,General Manager of Smart Cities and Intelligent Transportation at Intel. He leads a global team that works to drive new IoT growth categories and revenue streams for Smart City Services. In this episode of _IT Visionaries, _Sameer defines the term smart city, and how cities can harness the massive amounts…
playlist_add
Mar 9, 2021
Crowning a King: Content Delivery Remains Key and Contentstack is Winning the Game
There’s a saying that every company is becoming a software company. But what might be just as true is in that every company is becoming a publisher as well. Photos, blogs, designs, video, and sound is created and published at unthinkable rates… and it’s being used, EVERYWHERE.
Web, Mobile, Signage, Kiosks, In-Store… it doesn’t matter. Businesses are creating content to match consumer appetite.
So how does a company manage all of these assets, and what kind of content management systems are necessary to handle these massive distribution requirements?
Nishant Patel is the Founder and CTO of Contentstack, an API-first headless content management system designed to deliver first-class digital experiences by making it easier to deliver and maintain content distribution anywhere.
On this episode of_ IT Visionaries_, Nishant explains how the Contentstack system integrates with various products to publish content at a moment’s notice and why companies are finding that to be a c…
playlist_add
Mar 4, 2021
Solving the World's Biggest Problems at Scale, with WekaIO President, Ken Grohe
The No. 1 feature of technology is storage. Ok, so that’s not true. But, it’s one of the most critical pieces of hardware that enables software to function. How fast, how easy, and how much data can be accessed and leveraged inside of applications plays a critical part in technologies effectiveness and user experience. File systems have largely evolved unnoticed.
_“Existing file systems written 20 years ago are like Microsoft word. It works, but you can't collaborate with it. You don't get the full effectiveness. In fact, if you had a project that started at night, and had to be done the next morning, everyone would overwrite everyone else's work. And whoever was in charge would have a major headache, and the best work wouldn't be done. In the case of a parallel file system, everyone gets the full use every single day to do as much work as they can. So there's no latency, you're not waiting for anything.”_
Ken Grohe, President and CRO at WekaIO, a company that is working to s…
playlist_add
Mar 2, 2021
Creating Faster, More Efficient Feedback Loops in Real-Time with UserTesting CTO, Kaj Van De Loo
Every year millions of products and services hit the market with sky-high aspirations, and every year millions of those same products and services fail. The reason? Consumer expectations are rising, which means their tolerance for a bad experience, has all but disappeared.
_“We tend to remember the good experiences that we have, and that creates expectations across all other similar or comparable experiences,”_ Van De Loo said. _“This was something we saw a lot of — the first experience with a new platform determines whether they’re going to work with them in the future or not. The bar keeps rising. It keeps getting higher and higher. Especially with these newer experiences.”_
_ _Kaj Van De Loo is the CTO of UserTesting, a human insight platform that provides companies with the opportunity to gather real-time feedback, from real customers, regardless of where an item stands within the development process. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Kaj joins me for a conversation…
playlist_add
Feb 25, 2021
A Reimagined Digital CX with HPE PointNext’ VP of Digital Experiences, Mark Arnold
The customer experience has never been more important than it is today. Why is that? d Because consumers and enterprises are no longer just evaluating their needs based solely on a product’s pros and cons. Instead every purchase decision is being thought through on multiple levels, including whether or not a product is the right fit for personal and professional needs, and looking into the deeper value of a product as it relates to the bigger picture of a company. Simply put, if you are not placing an emphasis on delivering the best possible customer experience to make those decisions easier and more seamless, you’re fighting an uphill battle from day one.
_“From a competitive perspective, everyone's upping their game. Everyone's wanting to provide that latest, greatest experience and capability for our customers. As the technologies have evolved, particularly around things you can do in platforms, the opportunity for a digital experience is much more customer-driven now than ev…
playlist_add
Feb 23, 2021
Rebuilding the Cloud to Support A.I. with Mist CTO, Bob Friday
The digital world continues to evolve a rapid pace. Customers’ expectations have risen, and the user experience now must match the rising tide of their needs. So while cloud has made it faster and easier to deliver services, the same can’t be said for troubleshooting and solving issues caused by cloud connectivity. That is, until now...
_“Cloud A.I. changes both the experience between the business and his customer, between the business and his vendor. From a customer to business point of view, where it really ends up is fewer support tickets. So at that level, A.I. is basically proactively finding problems ahead of time. And when you reduce the number of support tickets, that translates into a better user experience.” _
Bob Friday is the Co-founder and CTO of Mist, a Juniper company. Mist is deploying artificial intelligence via the cloud to help revolutionize the world of IT. On this episode of _IT Visionaries_, Bob delves into how the Mist cloud network is helping companies…
playlist_add
Feb 18, 2021
A Permissionless Internet via Decentralized VPN with Orchid Labs CEO, Dr. Steven Waterhouse
There is no way to sugar coat it: consumers are nervous about their privacy. And rightfully so. There is a trail of data bread crumbs you leave behind wherever you go, and people are watching and following along — some with good intentions, but not all. The internet as we know it is controlled by centralized networks, but one company is helping change the playing field by taking away the power of those networks and offering it to the masses.
_“You shouldn't have to be a security expert to know what applications you use in order to have the level of privacy that you prefer,” _Dr. Waterhouse said._ “We believe that things like a decentralized VPN are a step in the direction of decentralizing a lot of different kinds of messaging and communication platforms. There are definitely very layered challenges in what that means.”_
Dr. Steven Waterhouse is the CEO of Orchid Labs, an open-source decentralized VPN system that is allowing users to shield themselves from internet lurkers…
playlist_add
Feb 16, 2021
How Doc.ai is Accelerating Better Health Outcomes through Neural Nets and A.I.
The best products and solutions are often born out of personal experiences. For Sam De Brouwer, CEO and Co-Founder of doc.ai, her breakthrough moment occurred after her son was hospitalized and induced into a coma as a result of a severe accident. Frustrated, anxious, and wanting to help, Sam found herself doing what any mother would; looking for ways she could make a difference.
_“What I was seeing at the hospital, and what I was trying to do for my son, I saw other parents trying to do the same thing. Trying to understand the machines, trying to understand those numbers, trying to understand the language, trying to access the information so that you could ask for second opinions, because the situation was too serious to not ask for a second or third opinion.”_
With a background at the intersection of technology, research, and healthcare, Sam and her husband launched doc.ai in 2016 in an effort to accelerate digital transformation in the healthcare space. On this episode of IT V…
playlist_add
Feb 11, 2021
Closing the Gap Between Search and Real-Time Answers with Pulsa Q&A CEO, Mayank Mehta
The speed of search has altered our expectations when it comes to conducting research. We can search peer reviews for just about anything, but not enterprise software, not distributed working models, and definitely can’t easily research and search peer reviews on custom implementations, how to best work with a CEO, impacts of work from home initiatives, and other CIO and CTO interests.
Meet Pulse Q&A is looking to change that. Pulse QA is the research platform designed and dedicated to helping CIOs and technology leaders make smarter decisions through the power of crowdsourced data, and it starts with building a massive powerful community of the top CIOs and CTOs in the industry.
_“The best way to describe Pulse is what Google is to search, Pulse is to research. People have gotten really used to being able to do a search and come up with fast, accurate, and free result. Informed decisions and research on the other hand is extremely hard where you have to set up an account, become…
playlist_add
Feb 9, 2021
Strategies for Pivoting to Find Your Hyper-Growth Solution with Nylas CEO, Gleb Polyakov
You’ll rarely hear anyone say that you’re over-communicating. But what you will hear is that with the influx of communication platforms, especially when it comes to messaging and email services, there are more ways to communicate than ever before, and that causes some trickle-down effects. With so much data and messages coming and going through a system, and emails clogging out your in an outbox, finding a way to sift through each of those messages, decipher it, and identify what is meaningful is becoming increasingly more difficult.
_“Email has over 3 billion active users today and is rapidly growing, It will be over five and a half billion by 2025. That intuitively makes sense. Everyone with a smartphone has an email address, everyone with internet access at all, has an email address. And it's this repository of not only all your personal activity, but it's absolutely the database of how you run your business and do a lot of interaction from there across your calendar, across…
playlist_add
Feb 4, 2021
Time to Level Up: Why Upskilling is the New 401K with PwC CTO, Joe Atkinson
With much of the workforce in 2020 operating from the friendly confines of their own homes, nothing became more clear than this: tech skills are no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Leveling-up those skills, though, is a team effort, and it’s incumbent on employers to make sure they are providing their employees with the proper opportunities to expand their knowledge, and, in effect, their career potential. Joe Atkinson is the Vice Chair and Chief Products and Technology Officer at PwC, one of the largest professional services firms in the country, and a company that is setting a precedent when it comes to upskilling its workforce.
_“Everybody should have an opportunity to grow their skills. It doesn't matter where you are in the organization If you have a desire and an inclination, then we believe that employers have a degree of obligation, almost like an employee benefit. It's the new 401k to make those assets of learning technical skills available.”_
On this episode of IT Vi…
playlist_add
Feb 2, 2021
The War with Algorithms: Why Your Next Security Strategy Includes A.I. and Machine Learning
The image of a hooded individual illuminated by the glare of a computer screen hacking into a company’s network is the classic picture of what a cyber attack looks like. The reality, though, is these attackers are almost never a one-man band, but rather a sophisticated team armed with the same technology companies often deploy against them. But what makes these threats from these attackers so devious is not the technology they use, but rather that they never use the same approach twice.
_“Cyber is big business and unfortunately it's causing a tremendous amount of business disruption. They continue to increase in sophistication and they have new and novel approaches. There are constantly unknown threats and new threat actors and that's part of the reason it gets very challenging. In some ways, a lot of the focus is people love to hear about all these cool techniques they use, but it's the fact that they're constantly evolving and changing the techniques that make it so difficult fo…
playlist_add
Jan 28, 2021
How Edgevana CEO Mark Thiele is Streamlining The Way Companies Access Data Centers
Mark Thiele has spent his entire life in and around IT infrastructure, even building his own fair share of data centers. But if there is one thing about the entire process that he finds vexing, it’s the wasted time between when companies start negotiating contracts for data centers to when it actually launches.. So after a 27-year career working with other companies, he set out on his own and started Edgevana with a simple goal: to help companies get to the edge faster.
_“Getting to the edge may seem hard for some, but it's not for lack of capability,”_ he said. _The problem for most is not that stuff isn't available, but how do I find it? And how do I make quick determinations about what combination of services or capabilities or partners do I need in order to solve the problem or create the opportunity that I'm pursuing for my business?”_
Mark joined IT Visionaries to discuss why streamlining the buying and implementation process is the key to moving quickly to the edge. Pl…
playlist_add
Jan 26, 2021
Bad Bot! Why Botnets are the Next Big Headache for Cybersecurity Teams
The imagery has been etched in our minds for decades. Thieves and vandals riding into town on the back of their horses with one mission in mind: robbing a bank to steal your cash. This is the bad actor archetype, and it has stayed much the same for years. But the problem is, Hollywood’s depiction of those events are no longer accurate in today’s digital world. Nobody is physically robbing banks anymore, because they don’t have to.
_“If you're a bad guy, you rob a bank and you're going to get caught immediately. And that person is definitely getting caught. But if you look at what cyber attackers are doing now, they're looking for ways to digitally impersonate someone or get to your employees. From there, they can get to your network, or your data. So then they can hold you hostage without really physically harming you, and you could lose tons of money.” _
_ _Fleming Shi, the CTO of Barracuda Networks, a security software platform that is designed to prevent those robbers fr…
playlist_add
Jan 21, 2021
How Convoys API is Saving the Environment and Optimizing the Trucking Experience for Drivers and Shippers
Every day, millions of truckers grab their keys, hop in their semis, start their engines, and head out on the open road to pick-up and deliver billions of products to millions of stores across the U.S. The trucking industry is an integral piece of what fuels America’s economy. And businesses around the country rely on these trucks to pick-up and receive orders on time, especially as the need for on-demand products and delivery has risen in conjunction with the rise of online shopping and mobile technology. So why then has the shipping industry been so slow to change and adopt new technologies?
Grant Goodale, is a former Amazon employee and now the CTO of Convoy. When he learned that 40% of trucks you see on the road are often carrying empty loads because of a poor booking process, he and his partners asked themselves a simple question: how do they disrupt the trucking industry with software that optimizes the user experience and eliminates this inefficiency?
_“We built what was p…
playlist_add
Jan 19, 2021
How to Build a Hiring Process Based On Skill, Not Pedigree
It’s true what they say, “finding a job is a full-time job.” After all, as the hiring process becomes more global and recruiters are constantly inundated with an influx of applications, on the other end of that equation are the candidates submitting those applications, who grow weary as the days go by with no response.
As with most things, processes change over time, but, with some technical exceptions, the hiring process has mostly remained the same. Until now. Vivek Ravisankar felt called to address the pain points of hiring after speaking with a recruiter. a
_“I remember walking up to a recruiter one day and asking, ‘Hey, can you tell me how this whole recruiting process works?’ He pulled out his Macbook and he had two folders: pass and fail. He would look at a resume for 10-15 seconds and determine which folder [the resume] was actually going to go into. I was thinking, ‘Man, you have way too much power in your hands.’ But I can also understand and empathize with…
playlist_add
Jan 14, 2021
Living on the Edge: How Netskope is Redefining Edge Security
When Netskope CEO and founder Sanjay Beri left his role with well-known Juniper Networks, he knew the internet and the way that we protected ourselves virtually was changing. The issue is that while Sanjay knew companies needed to leave their old security tactics behind, convincing members of the C-Suite that they needed to invest in new security measures is a very difficult task. So he showed them why.
_“Without them telling us anything, we basically uncovered all their shadow IT, all their data that was being filtered not by malicious people, but by their own employees who just didn't know better,”_ he said. _“It's so apparent that people don't know where their data is and by showing them where their data is they realize how exposed they really are.”_
Sanjay is working to make security more proactive, less reactive, and more educational via his new venture with Netskope. On this episode of _IT Visionaries_, Sanjay discusses how companies can uplevel their security technique…
playlist_add
Jan 12, 2021
Email Delivered: Why Email Delivery is Just the Beginning of Mailchimp's Democratization of Marketing Tools
Have you ever wondered about how your favorite newsletter ended up in your inbox? Who sent it? Why was that email scheduled for that particular time? Wh