#AskTheCEO Podcast

Rockwell Automation is the world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation. Rockwell connects the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the world more intelligent, more connected and more productive. Throughout the world, their flagship Allen-Bradley® and Rockwell Software® product brands are recognized for innovation and excellence. Kyle Crum is the director of advanced technology at Rockwell Automation. He has over 10 years of experience in leading and managing R&D projects that shape the future of industrial automation. This interview discusses Rockwell's 9th Annual State of Smart Manufacturing Report which offers valuable insights for manufacturers and industry leaders, as well as actionable steps that manufacturers can take to leverage these findings for success. The report is available here: https://www.rockwellautomation.com/en-us/capabilities/digital-transformation/state-of-smart-manufacturing.html Key Topics: 1. 9th Annual State of Smart Manufacturing Report 2. The Balancing Act: People, Process, and Technology 3. Leading the Future Workforce: Upskilling and Collaboration Contact Kyle: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-crum-b4a3143a/ Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.io LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avrohom-gottheil/ Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: 00:55 - What is Smart Manufacturing? 02:05 - IoT has been brought to the manufacturing world. It is called IIoT. 03:07 - What are some of the challenges manufacturers face in today's day and age? 03:23 - Manufacturers are really interested and focused on talent. You can have the greatest technology, but nothing happens without your people. 04:42 - 95% of manufacturers surveyed stated that they will maintain or increase their workforce as a result of smart technology adoption. 06:00 - We're not going to loose our jobs as a result of technology. Just that the nature of our work will change. 06:52 - How is Rockwell Automation helping manufacturers survive and thrive in today's difficult operating climate? 08:50 - The benefits of predictive maintenance 09:50 - Only 44% of data is being used effectively. The smaller the company, the less efficient they are in using data. 11:03 - Due to the time sensitivity of manufacturing and the large amounts of data it collects, we need it to be processed at the edge. 11:45 - Even large manufacturers are only using 51% of their data. 13:40 - Physical devices connected to the internet is now putting infrastructure at risk for cyberattacks. This is why it's important to work with vendors who know the manufacturing space. 14:30 - The role of Generative AI as one of the top emerging technologies in Smart Manufacturing. 18:08 - Where do wearables fit in Manufacturing? 20:27 - What is the future of Smart Manufacturing? 22:00 - Focus on your people and your people will focus on the work.

Data and AI in Fintech and IBM Z Day Connect with the team: Contact Avrohom: Web: asktheceo.io LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avrohom-gottheil/ Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg Contact Dr. Melissa Sassi: Web: https://www.mlvp.io/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissasassi/ Twitter: @mentorafrika Instagram: @msassifrass Contact Tyler: Web: https://www.darkcryptonite.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylercohen78/ Twitter: @TylerCohenWood Contact Helen: Web: https://tigonadvisory.com/ Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/c/HelenYu LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuhelenyu/ Twitter: @YuHelenYu INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: 1. What are the latest trends with regard to AI and Fintech use cases in big and small banks? 2. What is the role that startup ventures are playing in driving the evolution of financial services, including where AI comes into the picture? 3. How does data privacy impact AI in the financial services sector? 4. What could startups be doing to help them improve their ability to meet industry risk and compliance requirements? 5. IBM Z Day - Oct 18, 2023 6. What is the future of AI in financial services, and Fintech in general? Register for IBM Z Day: https://ibmz.io/asktheceo

Data and AI in Healthcare and IBM Z Day Connect with the team: Contact Avrohom: Web: asktheceo.io LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avrohom-gottheil/ Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg Contact Dr. Melissa Sassi: Web: https://www.mlvp.io/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissasassi/ Twitter: @mentorafrika Instagram: @msassifrass Contact Dr. Ryan Young: Web: https://www.opollo.ai/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-young-md/ Contact Tyler: Web: https://www.darkcryptonite.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylercohen78/ Twitter: @TylerCohenWood Contact Dr. Harvey Castro: Web: https://www.harveycastromd.info/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harveycastromd/ Twitter: @HarveycastroMD INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: What are the keys to startup success? How healthcare startups and leveraging their partnership with IBM to keep patient data safe & secure & enabling your ability to be compliant. What is privacy-by-design and why does it matter to health-tech startups and technologists? How do you see physicians and others in healthcare using Al, and how is it impacting quality of care and healthcare outcomes? Register here for IBM Z Day: https://ibmz.io/asktheceo

This episode features an informative discussion with Dr. Melissa Sassi, a venture partner at Machinelab Ventures and a formidable force in the field of sustainable development. As a globally-recognized figure who has visited 61 countries and devoted her doctoral thesis to digital inclusion and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), she offers a wealth of knowledge and unique perspectives. In our conversation today, we delve into the core of SDGs, dissecting what they mean for our planet and for individuals around the world. We discuss the intertwining role of technology in achieving these goals and how it touches various aspects of our lives. We also explore the micro actions individuals can take towards these global objectives and the significance of digital inclusion in realizing them. Dr. Sassi also provides critical insights into the business implications of supporting the Sustainable Development Goals, taking us through a holistic understanding of the interconnectedness between individuals, businesses, technology, and sustainable development. This conversation aims to shed light on the steps we can take, both small and large, to contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive future. Join us as we navigate through these intriguing topics with Dr. Melissa Sassi. Contact Melissa: Web: https://www.mlvp.io/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissasassi/ Twitter: @mentorafrika Instagram: @msassifrass Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avrohom-gottheil/ Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [01:24] What are the SDGs, also known as sustainable development goals? [03:54] You need to focus on the needs of the individual so they have space to focus on the greater global needs. [05:45] How does Tech Impact The SDGs? [09:45] What are the business implications of supporting the sustainable Development Goals [15:27] Who is doing it right? [18:57] Which ones of the SDGs would be your favorite and why? [27:32] What does the future hold? [30:29] Do you have any parting words of wisdom to share with the audience? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PWrysayLXB8

One of the topics on everyone's minds is sustainability. There are many public initiatives focused on it, and it's gained a lot of popularity over the past several years. With that in mind, I had the pleasure of speaking with Gina Kirby, Senior Sustainability Specialist for the Americas at Microsoft, to better understand the challenges enterprises face with their sustainability initiatives, as well as Microsoft's approach to addressing sustainability. The key takeaways of the conversation are as follows: Challenges of Sustainability in Enterprises: Enterprises face several challenges when implementing sustainability initiatives, including aligning their goals with their values, effectively gathering and reporting on data, and establishing clear baselines from which they can measure progress. The Importance of Data in Achieving Sustainability Goals: Data plays a crucial role in helping businesses to attain their sustainability goals. It is important for companies to understand their starting point and the work they have ahead. However, the wealth of available information is often scattered across different sources, making it challenging to utilize effectively. Microsoft's Approach and Collaboration: Microsoft's approach to sustainability involves constant evaluation in key areas like carbon, water, waste, and biodiversity. They also collaborate with a rich partner ecosystem to supplement their efforts and knowledge across various industries, highlighting the importance of cooperation in achieving sustainability goals. Contact Gina: Web: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sustainability/cloud LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginakirby/ Twitter: @GKirby1 Customer Success Stories: https://customers.microsoft.com/en-us/story/1440791749208958419-grupo-bimbo-consumer-goods-microsoft-cloud-for-sustainability Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avrohom-gottheil/ Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:31] One of the topics on everyone's minds is sustainability. As you know, there are many public initiatives focused on it, and it's gained a lot of popularity over the past several years. What are some of the challenges enterprises face with their sustainability initiatives [01:24] What are some of the ways business go about attaining their sustainability goals? [03:54] What is Microsoft's approach to address sustainability? [05:02] Can you share some case studies? [07:18] How can people connect with you to learn more about Microsoft's sustainability initiatives? [08:04] Do you have any parting words of wisdom to share with the audience? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Nj-XMDjSxD0

This episode is sponsored by Intel® Intel® just launched its 4th Generation Xeon® Scalable processor, which is geared towards its Enterprise customer base. To learn more about how Intel solves sustainability challenges, I had a conversation with Stephanie Schmidt, who is the Senior Director, Data Center Product Sustainability with Intel. The key takeaways of the conversation are as follows: • Sustainability is a key issue: With the increasing demand for compute, data center energy consumption, waste, and water use are also growing, making sustainability a critical consideration for enterprises. Inefficient infrastructure can emit increasing amounts of carbon, especially as compute demand increases, creating a big challenge for enterprises. • Sustainability can drive business growth: Sustainability can be a differentiator for businesses and lead to new monetization opportunities. It reduces costs, drives value, and is a huge driver for innovation, making it a selling point for sustainable products and solutions. • Energy efficiency is driving tech innovation: Sustainability is driving tech innovation and new solutions. For example, AI-based telemetry and immersion cooling can reduce electricity consumption, and modularity can reduce carbon footprint. Intel offers software that autonomously and continuously optimizes applications in the cloud, reducing CPU utilization while still meeting performance and latency goals. Contact Stephanie: Web: https://intel.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-schmidt-sustainability/ Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avrohom-gottheil/ Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:31] One of the topics on everyone's minds is sustainability. As you know, there are many public initiatives focused on it. We have the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, as well as many individual government initiatives that are focused on the health of our planet. With that on our minds, what are some of the challenges enterprises face when considering options for refreshing their aging infrastructure? [03:53] What are some of the ways businesses go about attaining their sustainability goals, while still keeping their CFO happy because at the end of the day, it's the economics that will drive the growth of their business? [08:17] Can you share some case studies on how the 4th generation Intel scalable processor addresses sustainability? [11:32] How can people connect with you to learn more about the 4th generation Xeon scalable processor? [12:33] Do you have any parting words of wisdom to share with the audience? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2xYgEp7lmo8

This episode is sponsored by Intel®. Discover how the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Processor is revolutionizing enterprise security with advanced threat protection, cloud security, and hardware security. Learn how to improve your IT infrastructure and protect your organization from cyber threats with this powerful solution. To learn more about how Intel solves enterprise security challenges, I had a conversation with Brian Richardson, who is the Security Marketing Lead for Intel Data Center & AI (DCAI) Marketing Product Strategy. The key takeaways of the conversation are as follows: • The main challenges that enterprises face in securing their infrastructure are the increasing number of cyberattacks, increasing regulation, and increased security spending. The traditional software approach to cyber security is no longer enough to stop attacks, which are becoming increasingly more sophisticated. • Confidential computing is a newer approach to protect data when it is in use, not just at rest or in transit, which is being focused on by Intel and the industry. • The fourth-generation Intel Scalable Processor addresses enterprise security needs by using technology, such as Intel SGX or Software Guard Extensions, to protect data in use. Contact Brian: Web: https://intel.com/ConfidentialComputing LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardsonbrian/ Twitter: @Intel_Brian Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avrohom-gottheil/ Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:30] Intel just launched its 4th generation Xeon scalable processor, which is geared towards its Enterprise customer base. One of the topics on everyone's minds is security. As you know, data breaches are, unfortunately, a very common occurrence, and with that comes the risk of ransomware shutting down businesses and public services, not to mention the damage done to its reputation, which is virtually incalculable. With that on our minds, what are some of the challenges enterprises face when it comes to securing their infrastructure? [03:21] What are some of the ways enterprises go about solving their security challenges? [06:35] How does the 4th generation Intel scalable processor address enterprise security needs? [08:45] Can you share some case studies of the 4th generation Intel Xeon scalable processor in action? [12:57] How can people connect with you to learn more about the 4th generation Xeon scalable processor? [13:45] Do you have any parting words of wisdom to share with the audience? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/i9PrWw4ljeg

Tim Hughes is universally recognized as a world-leading pioneer and innovator of Social Selling. Checkout Tim's new book, Social Selling Techniques Influence Changemakers: https://www.amazon.com/Social-Selling-Techniques-Influence-Changemakers-ebook/dp/B0BKQVLSF7?ref_=ast_sto_dp Contact Tim: Web: https://dlaignite.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothyhughessocialselling/ Twitter:@Timothy_Hughes Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avrohom-gottheil/ Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [01:00] How has the explosion of emerging technologies, such as AI, and the like, impacted commerce and sales? Tim: “I think it's had a massive impact. We're talking just after the release of ChatGPT. We're still processing what impact that's going to have. There is a whole number of mega-trends. If you look at the internet, social media, mobile, AI, all of these things have an impact. We're now in that situation where if we don't keep up, we fall behind. And using data and AI to actually make decisions about certain things and using ChatGPT and asking it to do certain things can make shortcuts. But at the end of the day, we still have to have conversations.” [02:00] AI and ChatGPT are great, but at the end of the day, we still have to have conversations. [03:10] You have to have a conversation to sell something. [03:58] We're leveraging technology to build that human connection. [04:00] What are businesses doing to get over those challenges of leveraging the latest in technology while keeping things human? [05:25] Technology helps us build depth in business relationships due to the contextual nature of a connection on social media. [06:30] Social media empowers introverts to be more outgoing in real-life interactions. [06:49] You just published your book social selling, where you discuss methodologies for how businesses can leverage social media to increase revenue. Can you share some of those insights with our audience? [08:19] What are some examples of how you helped businesses grow by leveraging social media? [11:15] Every company is a media company. [13:58] Don't just post on social media for the sake of posting. The whole point of social media is to create conversations. [15:10] What inspired you to write the book? [16:45] How can people connect with you? Tim: “You can connect with me via my website at https://dlaignite.com. I'm also active on Twitter as @Timothy_Hughes and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothyhughessocialselling/. For those looking to purchase my book, you can get it here: https://www.amazon.com/Social-Selling-Techniques-Influence-Changemakers-ebook/dp/B0BKQVLSF7?ref_=ast_sto_dp.” [17:26] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you'd like to share with the audience? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/H1DkVqi3C00

Veritas Technologies is a leader in multi-cloud data management. Over 80,000 customers—including 95% of the Fortune 100—rely on us to help ensure the protection, recoverability, and compliance of their data. We have a reputation for reliability at scale, which delivers the resilience our customers need against the disruptions threatened by cyberattacks like ransomware. No other vendor can match our ability to execute, with support for 800+ data sources, 100+ operating systems, 1,400+ storage targets, and 60+ clouds. Veritas Alta empowers you to take control of all your data protection and application resiliency in the cloud. Learn about Veritas at AWS re:Invent here: https://www.veritas.com/company/event/aws-reinvent More information on Veritas Alta Cloud Platform can be found here: https://www.veritas.com/alta Contact Clifford: Web: https://www.veritas.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clifford-barcliff-4937114 Twitter: @VeritasTechLLC Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avrohom-gottheil/ Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: Avrohom: Veritas is an industry leader in multi-cloud data management, and they just announced the new Veritas Alta Cloud Platform. Can you go into detail about what is Alta, and what does it mean for Veritas and its clients moving forward? Cliff: Think about customers over time. Cloud isn't new anymore. And we've been helping our customers since the early adopters to now, today, with everyone having a pretty much cloud-first strategy, or at least some part of the enterprise doing cloud-first. We have done so many modifications and created so much intellectual property for our products, and we've also had some acquisitions along the way that it was time to rebrand those products for when they're using the public clouds. They provide what our customers are asking us to do (i.e., how it's deployed, how it's consumed, the capabilities, and the use of data services within the public clouds.) These are our products, deployed and consumed the way our customers want. Avrohom: It's so true that businesses of all shapes and sizes are moving to the cloud. From small businesses that kind of kicked off this cloud migration all the way up to enterprises. What challenges are you finding with businesses moving to the cloud? Cliff: Today, we are dealing with the technical debt of what the early cloud adopters did. They were super-creative in getting these mission-critical, wonderful, cloud-native apps out there. It's now time to make them more enterprise. So, it's the control, the compliance, the resiliency, the ability to know that it's protected and, in fact, recover it. Because everybody has now been through rounds of mistakes. All it takes is one bad script when you're configuring something in your virtual private data center, and you've wiped out a whole bunch of configs. Avrohom: When it comes to enterprise, there are a lot of headaches to deal with to get their environment up to compliance. When solving these challenges, what does great look like? Cliff: People are in different regions around the world. This means you can have data, literally, in seconds, all over the world. Some things that help our customers bring the “Enterprise-ness”, and I call it the great enterprise resilience. One of the things is visibility. Knowing what you don't know. Knowing what you don't know is probably the number one risk that any customer has. If you know about it, you probably plan for contingencies. But if you don't know about it, and the ransomware person comes along and steals it or locks it down, huge headaches, all of a sudden. So, having some type of controls capability services that can look from the outside in, finding out what you don't know, I think, is one of the capabilities of an enterprise in a multi-cloud world. Watch this discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VY4tw_I1m_w

Ajay Kabra is the senior leader, evangelist, and main contributor to the Agile space for Xebia, a Global Technology Strategy and Consulting firm with Full Stack Software Engineering, Product Development, and Digital consulting capability to enable the digital transformation of enterprises using the latest technology and methodologies. Over the years, Xebia has organically built domain knowledge across industries and used a platform engineering mindset to help fortune companies digitize. Contact Ajay: Web: https://xebia.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajaykabra/ Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:34] Agile is a big buzzword nowadays; however, it's not as simple as people may think. What are some of the complexities behind agile, and what might people not understand about it? [00:52] Agile has been on the market for nearly 25 years. [01:08] Agile demands that management give up the control to the team – decentralize your decision-making. [01:20] One of the challenges with Agile is that the senior leadership is afraid of giving control to the team. [02:00] Agile is, more than anything, a mindset shift. [03:01] What is the right mindset business leaders need to have in order to succeed with agile? You mentioned discipline. Can you share some examples of success? [07:18] One of the ways Xebia sets itself apart as an industry leader in software development is with its customer training. What is the right way to train clients in new technology? [08:00] The right way to implement solutions for your clients is to co-create them. [11:00] To train customers effectively, you have to sometimes engineer a crisis so that they learn how to react. [13:15] Besides serving clients, Xebia is also very active in the agile community. For example, Xebia organizes the Agile NCR event, which is held annually in the APAC region. Can you share with us a little bit about Agile NCR, as well as some of the upcoming exciting endeavors you will be launching here in North America in the near future? [13:45] A core value of Xebia is to share knowledge. [18:30] How do people connect with you to learn more about Xebia? Ajay: You can connect with Xebia at our website: https://xebia.com, and with me, personally, on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajaykabra/. [21:37] Do you have any parting words of wisdom to share with the audience? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Wbmc5w8fhUA

Peter Koerte is the Chief Technology Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Siemens. Contact Peter: Web: http://siemens.com/xcelerator LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterkoerte/ Twitter: @PeterKoerte Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: Avrohom: So, we're here live at Xcelerator where, Peter, you just announced something really exciting about this new exciting thing that Siemens has launched called Xcelerator. Can you share with us a little bit about what's behind all this? Peter: Yeah, sure. So, Siemens Xcelerator is all about making digital transformation for our customers insanely easy. To make it fast, easy, and at scale. And the B2B environment, that's really tricky. Because you have to ensure that data silos are being broken down and that data is flowing seamlessly. So, the heart of Siemens Xcelerator is being open, so that it brings different solutions from different vendors together, and then make it interoperable so that these things do work together. These are the two magics that we do with Siemens Xcelerator for our customers. Avrohom: I love what you said about breaking down the data silos, because in the legacy world, that's what we have. We have people that only focus on their vertical, their products, and nothing else, and we need to interoperate with one another. Which brings up the next point. So, I come from the Telecom world, and we had this term called vendor lock-out, where you buy all your hardware and equipment from this one vendor, and they kind of hold you. You have to buy their network, you have to buy their equipment, and you can't buy anything else. So, how does Siemens address this vendor lock-out? Peter: Yes, it's a big topic also for us, and for our customers. So, if we talked today with CIO's, they would say, “I don't want to be locked-in on your very specific solution.” And right they are! And we don't want to either. So, all the CIO's are going to tell you, “I don't want to buy yet another platform.” So, it's always a question of the value that you bring. And they are very capable of opening up and also sharing data with us, providing that the solution you provide is really adding return on their part. And so for example in buildings, if you can demonstrate that the solution that you're implementing is: (a) is flexible enough that is does work in their environment, and that (b) that they really get potential savings, for example, out of energy efficiency, then they are perfectly fine and they're happy to do that. But it's always the value that you have to bring to the customers. That's the way we think about it. Avrohom: So now, talking about another value, everyone is talking about sustainability as being the next big thing. Be it climate change, or just government initiatives, and things like that. Does Siemens have any criteria for selecting their partners or suppliers when it comes to clean energy and sustainability? Peter: Yes, so at Siemens, we've given ourselves a target that we want to be carbon neutral in our own operations by 2030, and then also with all of our supplier base by 2050. So, therefore, we are heavily engaged with our partners and suppliers, as you said, in order to drive that down. So today, when you interact as a supplier with us, we have very stringent requirements. And it also comes down to the sharing. For example, if you want to know the product carbon footprint of our solutions that we brought to our customers, we need to know from OUR suppliers in order to make that work. So, that's just an example. So, yes, there are many criteria in order to get there. Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/OZ5lr22UoJo

Himanshu Arora is the Global Business Head for Low Code/No Code, Automation, and Integration practice at Infosys. He is a trusted digital transformation advisor, speaker, and certified storyteller and has helped many customers “Think, Adopt and Live” various types of transformation journeys in his 23-year career. Contact Himanshu: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/himanshu-arora-982a365/ Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: Avrohom: Low-code No-code is a new term in today's software development world, and everyone is talking about it as if it's the next greatest thing. What is low-code no-code and why is it so helpful? Himanshu: As an industry, we are at an inflection point where we must prepare our businesses to adapt their code as rapidly as our customers shift their needs. Especially after the pandemic, everybody wants to go to the digital transformation and make changes happen, without realizing that the fundamentals have shifted. We need more problem finders than we have the solvers in the equation, right now. And, hence the need today is to go ahead and get the right need for this transformation, and that's exactly where these low-code no-code platforms come in. These platforms come in because they can visually aid the application development. They can bring a lot of acceleration with the pre-packaged templates, the pre-packaged workflows, the hyper-automation, and the integrations. And then, they can really increase the speed. [03:07] Where does Infosys come to play, and how do you help your clients? [04:27] I really liked the part about governance and cybersecurity. As you know, everyone is very conscious of their security needs, given the daily occurrences of data breaches at companies of all shapes and sizes. Can you elaborate on the cybersecurity aspects? [09:21] What are 3 areas where we can leverage low-code no-code to move the needle in the software development industry? [11:37] Himanshu, how can people connect with you? [12:33] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you'd like to share with the audience? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Qpv4TEFMf9Q

Vipul Baijal is the country head, USA of Xebia, a Global Technology Strategy and Consulting firm with Full Stack Software Engineering, Product Development and Digital consulting capability to enable digital transformation of enterprises using the latest technology and methodologies. Over the years Xebia has organically built a domain knowledge across industries and used a platform engineering mindset to help fortune companies digitize. Contact Vipul: Web: https://xebia.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/xebia/ Twitter: @Xebia Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:38] Your company, Xebia, has been in the IT services industry for 2 decades, Globally, and now you're coming to North America. In what ways can the North American market benefit from your presence here? [02:05] Why do clients come to you? Why do they rave about Xebia? [04:18] You mentioned Agile as one of Xebia's core strengths. What is agile, and why is it important? [04:30] Agile means being very quick to react to the market. [05:20] Things change very quickly. The ones that win are the ones who are able to react quickly. [05:40] Xebia starts with an ‘X'. Does that imply some kind of ‘X' factor? [08:20] The future of success is about how much you share. [08:31] What's next with Xebia? What are you looking to accomplish over the next 12-24 months? [09:36] How do people connect with you to learn more about Xebia? [10:13] Do you have any parting words of wisdom to share with the audience? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Fsw6_vPaKog

Helen Yu is the Founder & CEO at Tigon Advisory, where she drives growth for the largest technology companies in the world and is a board advisor to fast growth SaaS companies. She serves as Vice-Chair and Board Director at the Global CyberSecurity Association. Contact Helen: Web: https://tigonadvisory.com/ Twitter: @YuHelenY LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tigonhyu/ Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [01:04] I'm happy to have obtained your latest book, Ascend Your Start-Up, conquer the 5 disconnects to accelerate growth. This is such a relevant topic, with over 63,000 startups in the United States alone, and more than 69% of startups being launched as home-based businesses, the allure of having your own business is very great. However, a concern on many people's minds is that most small businesses fail in the first year of business. How can start-up founders know that they're on the right track to ensure success? What kind of metrics should they be looking at? [03:00] Success means different things to different people. [04:25] Once you discover your Why, you're 25% of the way towards your success. [05:00] In your book you talk about the effort involved in climbing a mountain — and the task you were given by your grandmother that inspired you to rise to the challenge. Do you think that having a sense of purpose is vital for start-ups? [05:55] Purpose gives us a destination and the motivation to get there. [06:29] What makes someone qualified to become an entrepreneur? Is there perhaps a certain kind of person that is tailor-made, in terms of drive and temperament, for running a start-up, and conversely, are there people who should never do it? [08:43] Failure is really part of the journey to success. [08:47] It's not about how many times you failed, but rather what lessons did you learn from failure. [09:27] One challenge for so many start-ups is knowing how to scale. What's your advice for successfully making the shift? [14:00] What inspired you to write this book? [16:13] How do people connect with you? Helen: You can connect with me via my website https://tigonadvisory.com/. I'm also very active on Twitter at @YuHelenY, and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/tigonhyu/. [16:39] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you'd like to share with the audience? Watch this episode on YouTube; https://youtu.be/YJPQLqklZQI

Register for IBM Think and access on-demand sessions and replays here: https://ibm.biz/BdffCB Joe Cropper is a senior technical staff member at IBM, supporting Power Systems and Hybrid Multicloud Solutions. https://youtu.be/dy835X-P_ZM https://soundcloud.com/asktheceopodcast/asktheceo135withjoecropper/s-OqWqyj1n1o2 https://bit.ly/33qialM Contact Joe: Twitter: @jwcroppe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-cropper/ Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:41] As a result of businesses’ digital transformation efforts we now have more data than we know what to do with! To put things into perspective, Forbes stated in an article that 90% of the world’s data has been created in the past 2 years. However, that’s only part of the problem. According to a recent study from Forrester, 71% of businesses are gathering data faster than they can use it, and 66% of businesses say they constantly need more data than their current capabilities provide. And a major challenge that’s keeping people from fully utilizing their data is data silos, which are very common in today’s modern business world, especially in the case of mergers and acquisitions. The challenge here is that businesses that can leverage all of their data, place themselves at a major advantage over their competition. So, if you’re not leveraging all your data, your competition is. Joe, what are you hearing from customers in this space? [01:45] Data is the crown jewel of organizations. [02:35] The common thread is who can use the data most effectively. [03:13] Let’s focus on security. During the past year, there have been numerous data breaches as well as an increase in ransomware attacks that have been shutting down schools, government offices, and even, unfortunately, hospitals! The increase in cyber-attacks has forced many businesses to prioritize their investment in data resiliency solutions. How is IBM helping their clients minimize disruptions and loss due to cyberattacks? [03:42] CyberSecurity is a topic that’s front and center in the boardrooms. [03:50] There is no room to compromise when it comes to Enterprise Security. [05:44] Since we’re discussing resiliency, let’s discuss resiliency from a business continuity perspective. During the pandemic, businesses had to literally transform their IT Infrastructure overnight to enable people to access their workloads remotely. How is IBM making a difference for businesses requiring high availability and resiliency for their mission-critical infrastructure? [06:38] IBM’s systems and platforms are running the world’s financial institutions, government agencies, healthcare organizations, and everything in between. [08:42] Where can people go to learn more about the conversations businesses are having regarding IT Infrastructure Solutions? Joe: Please visit: ibm.biz/BdffCB. On that webpage, you can register for the Think2021 event, or access the sessions on-demand after the event. [09:34] How do people connect with you? Joe: People can contact me via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-cropper/. I’m always happy to connect with people and answer any questions. [09:51] Do you have any parting words of wisdom to share with the audience? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dy835X-P_ZM

To download IBM's study on the Importance of On-Premises Infrastructure For A Future-Ready Hybrid Cloud Strategy: https://ibm.biz/asktheceoforresterstudy2021 Joe Cropper is a senior technical staff member at IBM, supporting Power Systems and Hybrid Multicloud Solutions. Contact Joe: Twitter: @jwcroppe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-cropper/ Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [01:27] The global pandemic put our current IT infrastructure to the test. It highlighted the fact that now, more than ever, we need to prioritize infrastructure refreshes. IBM just published the findings of an IT Infrastructure study conducted by Forrester Consulting, which addresses this topic in great detail. What challenges are you witnessing as businesses determine where to invest, and do you have any tips you have to overcome them? [02:16] The biggest challenges are that companies are trying to figure out where to invest, how they can get their competitive edge to accelerate what they’re doing, and the sheer number of options. [03:00] Public Cloud is important, but we also need a good strong on-prem infrastructure and refresh cycles. [04:15] The Forrester Consulting study talks about some of the inherent challenges with public cloud, where 46% of those surveyed stated that public cloud doesn't meet security needs, and 56% of those surveyed stated that data resiliency is challenging for some apps. What are you seeing in the market with your clients? [05:00] IBM is taking a lot of the concepts of Cloud, such as OPEX pricing, and applying it to on-prem solutions. [07:45] Let’s talk a bit about vulnerabilities—including factors such as cybersecurity, compatibility, and availability. In the Forrester Consulting study, 70% of businesses surveyed delayed an infrastructure refresh more than once, within the last 5 years. What kinds of risks are businesses taking with this delay? [08:15] Technology evolves at such a fast pace, yet infrastructure currency is absolutely a necessity when it comes to maintaining a good healthy posture for security. [10:00] What risks are businesses taking from a cybersecurity standpoint by delaying their infrastructure refresh? [12:18] Where can people go to learn more about the 2021 Forrester Consulting thought leadership paper commissioned by IBM on the “Importance of On-Premises Infrastructure For A Future-Ready Hybrid Cloud Strategy”? Joe: Please visit: https://ibm.biz/asktheceoforresterstudy2021. That URL is case-sensitive, so be sure it is all lower-case. On that webpage, you can download the full study, view an on-demand webinar, read a blog recap from an external thought leader, and discover more hybrid cloud solutions and resources. [13:05] How do people connect with you? Joe: People can contact me via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-cropper/. I’m always happy to connect with people and answer any questions. [13:32] Do you have any parting words of wisdom to share with the audience? Watch this episode on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/q71xWwW1I9Q

Tyler Cohen Wood is the CEO of myConnectedHealth and a 20-year veteran of the cyber security industry, a well-known international cybersecurity influencer, successful keynote speaker, and 3-time published author. She worked for the United States Defense Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense, as well as many other 3-lettered government agencies and the White House. Contact Tyler: Web:https://myconnectedhealth.net Twitter: @TylerCohenWood LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylercohen78/ Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:48] Tell me about your background, your journey from working at the DIA to become CEO of a health tech company? [01:58] So, what gave you the idea for myConnectedHealth? I mean, that’s so radically different from security? [02:04] 1 in 13 Americans suffer from a rare or diagnosed condition. [02:04] Tyler shares the story of her personal journey of seeking a diagnosis for a rare, debilitating condition. She talks about the frustration of endless doctor visits, going from one specialist to another, to another, only to be told at the end not to even bother looking for a diagnosis, and just to learn to live with it. Tyler took charge of her situation and developed a chart that helped her discover a deficiency in a certain mineral in her body. [11:49] There is no disease that does not have a cure. We just may not know what the cure is yet. And it’s through collaboration that we find the cures. [12:40] “1 out of 13 people” means that you either have an undiagnosed illness, or you know someone that does. [13:28] Our daily headlines are dominated by Covid-19; however, as you know, there is much more to health care than COVID. There are millions of people around the world that suffer from undiagnosed ailments on a daily basis, with no treatments in sight. What are the challenges health care providers face when it comes to diagnosing and treating people’s ailments? [13:30] A big challenge healthcare providers have in diagnosing complex illnesses is that they operate in specialty silos. One specialist might not know the extent a certain illness and/or treatment affects another part of the body. [15:14] There is a lot of bias in health care, especially against women, with whom many practitioners tend to be more dismissive. [17:00] There is specialty siloing with insurance codes, as well. [17: 37] We are so fortunate to be living in a day and age where we are blessed with the latest cutting-edge technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning. I know many healthcare leaders and innovators are leveraging these technologies to develop solutions that will drastically improve people’s lives, and I also know that your company, myConnectedHealth, is working on a first of its kind solution that leverages these technologies to completely revolutionize healthcare for people around the world. Can you share with us some detail about what your company is working on? [18:05] myConnectedHealth is a global health care platform that uses data obtained from the patient crowd, all over the world. [22:12] This is really exciting and sounds like it will completely change the world as we know it! What will it take to get this solution out to the masses? [25:00] Our mission is to provide health care access to people who didn’t have it before. [25:40] If you have a phone, you have health care. [25:58] How do people connect with you? Tyler: You can connect with me via my website https://myconnectedhealth.net. I’m also very active on Twitter at @TylerCohenWood, and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylercohen78/. [26:35] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? Watch this episode on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/x7T9MW80YO0

Kai Hermsen is the Global Coordinator for the Charter of Trust with Siemens, where together with his team in the Central Cybersecurity department, he ensures internal implementation of the Charter of Trust and is driving Siemens external Cybersecurity engagements with Charter of Trust partners and stakeholders like the World Economic Forum. Contact Kai: Twitter: @HermsenKai LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaihermsen Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:41] Can you briefly summarize what is the Charter of Trust and where is it being used today? [01:04] The Charter of Trust was founded as an initiative among companies that wanted to make an impact in the world of cybersecurity. [01:49] Get away from the siloed mentality and work together to solve problems. [02:33] 2020 has seen headlines dominated by cybersecurity. We’ve had data breaches in all sectors, by prominent brands, such as Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Honda, Zoom, Marriott, and so on. What’s worse is that hackers are shutting down hospitals with debilitating ransomware! The thing is, that many data breaches are caused, not by ineffective firewalls or cybersecurity protocols, but through human weaknesses that were exploited via social engineering activities, such as phishing. And before anyone passes judgment on the people that fall for these tricks, I myself have seen many of these emails, and they look pretty convincing. How can businesses better protect their consumers, and themselves, from these types of attacks? [04:01] 2020 has taught us two important lessons in cybersecurity: (a) Cyber threats are real, and if you don’t protect yourself, you’re putting yourself at risk. (b) What happens online has an impact on the real world. [04:37] Humans are the weakest link in cybersecurity. How can we turn that around and make it into a strength? [04:59] Just like humans are the weakest link in cybersecurity, they’re also your front-line protection. [05:13] Cyber security has the power to safeguard our digital business models and make them sustainable. [08:16] Identity theft has become a business, and that’s why cyber literacy is so important. [09:07] Let’s look at the same challenge from the perspective of the consumer. According to a market analysis by Digital Commerce 360, US eCommerce sales in Q3 of 2020 was 37.1% higher than the same period in the previous year. This shows that people are doing more online digital transactions than ever before. This type of activity requires a massive amount of trust. Unfortunately, you can’t trust everyone, and even the most trustworthy companies are vulnerable to phishing attacks like we discussed earlier. What kind of protection can we put in place to be able to sustain this kind of growth? [11:45] Trust is not just about security. It’s principled behavior in all of digital. [14:00] What protections are there for consumers to shop online and be protected from identity theft? [16:42] Self-sovereign identities give the consumer the power to grant identities when they go online. It’s like having a virtual identity. [18:34] What do you think is the next step for Siemens regarding the Charter of Trust? [20:59] How can people connect with you? Kai: The best way to reach me is via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaihermsen/. I’m also available on Twitter at @HermsenKai. [21:33] Do you have any parting words of wisdom to share with the audience? [21:39] The virtual world and the real world are completely interchangeable. Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wchY963rIaA

In this episode, Jeannette Fackler turns the tables on me and interviews me on influencer marketing for B2B HighTech companies. Jeannette is the Co-Founder of J&L Marketing. She’s a tech translator who de-borifies tech marketing. Contact Jeannette: Twitter: @contentcharmer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannette-fackler-07331713/ Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:42] Avrohom: Tell me, how do you "de-borify" tech marketing? I'd love to hear that because trust me, there's a whole lot we can talk about that. Jeannette: Oh, yeah. You know what? I think the biggest thing that deborifies technology is actually thinking about human beings. Both, on the business side, the owners of the business, as well as the users. Users don't necessarily respond to "hey, Cloud saves you money", and "Cloud increases productivity", because everybody says that. Right? Avrohom: Everybody saves you money! And everybody is the best! Jeannette: [Laughing] Avrohom: Everybody is number one! Jeannette: Exactly. Exactly. We're gonna make your data more secure! And the thing is, the same technology tends to be available from multiple vendors. Right? So, you have to stop just blending in. [00:52] The biggest thing that deborifies technology is thinking about human beings. [01:38] You have to stop just blending in. [02:10] One of the biggest ways to spice up tech marketing is to just bring real people into it. [02:50] Speak like you’re talking to another person on the street. Don’t use 5-syllable words. [04:07] Avrohom: How do people connect with you? Jeannette: You can connect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannette-fackler-07331713/. I’m also on Twitter at @contentcharmer. [04:55] What is Influencer Marketing? [05:28] With Influencer Marketing, you’re getting someone who has a trusted name in the industry to talk about your products, and essentially endorse them. [06:52] Do influencers just represent products of any company that’s willing to pay them money? [08:41] Do companies work with influencers without them saying that we recommend this product? [09:40] Is your primary channel for communication YouTube? [13:16] How did you build up trust with your followers? [22:10] You add value by helping others. [22:13] First add value and then worry about yourself. [23:46] What would your advice be for business owners that would like to increase their following on social media? Check out this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/7cemyGqOX2w

Jay McBain leads Forrester's research and advisory for global channels, alliances, and partnerships. Contact Jay: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaymcbain/ Twitter: @jmcbain Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:58] 2020 has triggered many dramatic changes for businesses. We’ve seen many businesses rapidly shift to a work from home paradigm. We’ve also seen a paradigm shift to online or virtual events, among many other dramatic changes that took place this year. One significant change, that you mentioned in your article titled “What I see coming for the Channel In 2020”, is that Indirect sales will shrink every year for the next decade.” This is hard to take in because everything that I’ve learned over the years, is that you need a strong indirect sales team to scale and grow your business. Does this spell the end of the channel? [01:45] There is actually a lot of opportunity for the channel; however, like any other mature industry, what’s happening on the transactional side of the channel is that it’s a race to the bottom. [02:20] Professional services is where the margins are in the channel. [04:00] Learn how Salesforce is structuring its channel partner organization to double its revenue from $20b to $40b within the next 4 years. [05:58] In your article, you mentioned that the channel model is evolving what is known as a “trifurcated channel”, or in plain English, a model which is divided into three branches. When I think of a channel partner, I’m thinking of sales and service. Can you elaborate on this new model? [06:34] 75% of global trade is done indirectly. [07:24] It’s critically important that you build the 3rd part of the channel, the one that influences your buyers early and often. [09:23] 76% of CEOs think that their current business model will be unrecognizable in 5 years. That means every single business! You’re going to become a subscription-based business. There is a high likelihood that you’re going to become a tech business. [10:56] We’re all familiar with the term “Customer Experience”. You talked about a growing trend in the B2B channel, called “Partner Experience”. What does that mean, and why is it important? [13:05] What does the future of marketing look like for B2B Emerging Technology companies? [15:42] For our listeners who are channel professionals, or for those that might be considering working in the channel, what kind of future can they expect for their careers? [17:08] How can people connect with you? Jay: People can connect with me via Twitter at @jmcbain, or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaymcbain/. [17:41] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience?

Connect with DataVisor on the Azure Marketplace: https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/datavisor.datavisor_uml_for_insurance Yinglian Xie is CEO and Co-founder of DataVisor, a company that is the leading fraud detection company powered by transformational AI technology. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Contact Yinglian: Web: https://DataVisor.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/datavisor/ Twitter: @DataVisor Personal Twitter: @YinglianXie Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:54] Covid-19 sparked a major wave of digital transformation for businesses in every industry, which resulted in exponential growth of online transactions. Unfortunately, one of the byproducts of removing the human from the equation is an increase in fraud. After all, no one’s watching, right? Given that DataVisor specializes in fraud detection, what are the challenges that businesses struggle with regarding eliminating fraud when trying to go digital? Yinglian: When we switch to the digital world, a number of things are different. The first is that we are dealing with the customers without being face to face. And that’s a significant switch. That the information we receive about the customer is through online transactions. In that case, some of the identifications of the users will be very different. And businesses may not be able to be ready to face that new change. And second of all, when you open up to online, you could potentially have a broader set of customers than you faced in the past. The demographics and the geographic locations of the customers could shift or change. And that makes companies not ready to prepare for dealing with the customers they have typically not worked with in the past. And the risk of profiles as well as the fraud risk might also be very different. [01:50] During the pandemic the fraud rate increased significantly, compared to previous years. [02:15] One of the drivers of online fraud is that transactions are not face to face. [05:34] What can businesses do to overcome some of these challenges? [05:42] We need a mindset change. We’re dealing with a different demographic of users online, and we’re dealing with a different type of fraud online when compared with offline transactions. [07:53] DataVisor recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called DataVisor AI-Powered Fraud Management Solution. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. Yinglian: Using proprietary unsupervised machine learning algorithms, DataVisor restores trust in the digital era by enabling organizations to proactively detect and act on fast-evolving fraud patterns and prevent future attacks before they happen. Combining advanced analytics and an intelligence network of more than 4B global user accounts, DataVisor protects against financial and reputational damage across a variety of industries, including financial services, marketplaces, e-commerce, and social platforms. [10:39] How do you protect yourself from insider fraud? [13:37] How would a company use your solution with Azure? [14:33] How can customers find out more about the DataVisor AI-Powered Fraud Management Solution, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Yinglian: The best way to learn more about our solution is to go to the Microsoft Azure Marketplace and search for DataVisor. [15:06] How has partnering with Microsoft helped DataVisor scale and grow your business? [16:43] How do people connect with you? [17:09] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO With Yinglian Xie

Connect with Foxit Software on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/2MALLQS Kai Wille is the Director of Strategic Alliances at Foxit Software, a company that helps insurance companies create efficient documents while reducing costs via industry-leading, enterprise-scale document conversion and compression technology. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Contact Kai Web: https://www.foxitsoftware.com/enterprise-automation/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/100005/ Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaiwille/ Twitter: @foxitsoftwareea Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:34] When I think about insurance companies and documents, the image that comes to mind is rows and rows of files cabinets with lots of paper folders and paper documents. With a picture like this, you can only imagine what it takes to file and process an insurance claim! While this might have worked well in the past; nowadays, we’re generating data at an exponential level, so insurance companies really need to take a serious approach to their digital transformation strategy – and many of them are doing just that. On that note, what are the challenges that insurance companies struggle with when trying to go digital? Kai: What we find is that most companies in the insurance space are somewhere along the way towards digital transformation. So, what I mean by that is that they absolutely, still have those rows of file cabinets, but at the same time they tend to have also already digitized millions of documents. The first challenge is lacking customer intelligence. And so, the problem here is that when your documents are still on paper, or maybe you've scanned them, and so now you have image files, like tiffs and jpegs that are not searchable. Then you really don't have access to the information in your documents. And so that means, any kind of modern AI and analytics applications to really know your customer, will be incomplete. And so that means, that organizations are potentially in danger of thinking they know their customer when they really don't. [02:00] The challenge with just scanning and digitizing documents is that you don’t have access to the information it contains. [05:05] An additional few seconds of opening files can cost large companies hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. [09:06] Digital Transformation and AI are not a choice, because your competitors are already doing it. [09:26] What can businesses do to overcome some of these challenges? [10:04] When scanning documents, make sure they’re searchable so they’re usable by AI and analytics applications. [14:25] Foxit Software recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called Foxit Document Transformation Services. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. [16:00] How would a company use your solution with Azure? [17:48] How can customers find out more about Foxit Software, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Kai: You can access it via this link: https://bit.ly/2MALLQS. [18:21] How do people connect with you? [18:57] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO With Kai Wille

Connect with Instanda on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/2AKxo9W Greg Murphy is the Executive Vice President, North America of Instanda, a company that provides core insurance capabilities through a SAAS based digital platform that focuses on ease of product creation and dynamic distribution to multiple channels. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Contact Greg: Web: https://instanda.com/us/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/instanda/ Twitter: @instandaF2X Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:43] Over the past several years, businesses have gone through a process that we call digital transformation. For those that have been slow to adopt new technology, the crisis of Covid19 forced their hand, so to speak, in terms of this digital transformation. Your company, Instanda, serves the insurance industry, which is extremely complex and highly regulated. What are some of the challenges that insurance carriers struggle with as part of their digital transformation experience? Greg: Well, there are, I would say four things that come to mind on this topic. The first one is really, challenging companies to really, truly be transformative. I can't tell you the number of times that I've worked with companies that will say they're trying to be transformative, and the executives are very passionate about this, and have really, really, great ideas. But when you get right down to exactly what are we going to do, a lot of times we're repaving the cow path, so to speak. We're doing the same things we've done before, but with just different technologies. Right? So, really that truly being transformative, I would say, is the number one piece of that. And you have to figure out exactly how do you get into a transformative mindset? How do you think differently? How do you think outside the box? [04:35] What can businesses do to overcome some of these challenges? Greg: Businesses should re-envision the way products and technology are used in the company's value chain. [06:00] Build a solid business strategy first before throwing technology in to fix problems. [07:14] Instanda recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called Instanda. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. Greg: Instanda delivers immediate product design solutions with the ability to distribute digitally on multiple channels simultaneously. [10:19] How would a company use your solution with Azure? [11:40] How can customers find out more about Instanda, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Greg: You can access it via this link: https://bit.ly/2AKxo9W. [12:18] How has partnering with Microsoft helped Instanda scale and grow your business? Greg: Because Instanda is a Microsoft partner, the delivery of complementary capabilities through logic apps and power BI is seamless. [13:49] How do people connect with you? Greg: You can always connect with us via our website, https://instanda.com/us/. We are also very active on social media. A great way to interact with us is via our LinkedIn page, which is https://www.linkedin.com/company/instanda/. You can also connect with us via Twitter at @instandaF2X. [14:25] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO With Greg Murphy

Connect with Buurst on the Azure Marketplace: https://ter.li/9pk8qh Garry Olah is the CEO of Buurst, a company that provides trusted cloud native tools for data control, performance, and availability on many cloud platforms. Their virtual storage appliances help customers migrate on-premises data to the cloud, better manage that data, and allow applications to run at the same high performance that customers expect from their on-premises storage infrastructure. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Contact Garry: Web: https://buurst.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/softnas/ Twitter:@buurstdata Personal Twitter:@GarryOlah Partner with Buurst: https://www.buurst.com/partners/ Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [01:16] Cloud is now a mature technology, and many businesses are moving their mission-critical applications to the cloud. One of the byproducts of Digital Transformation and moving to the cloud is the large amount of data that’s generated by all of our connected devices. Because cloud is so commonplace, we tend to take for granted – as we should – things like low latency access to our virtually unlimited ubiquitous cloud storage of our data. However, as a technologist, I can appreciate that a lot goes on under the hood to make these things work properly. What are the challenges that businesses struggle with when migrating mission-critical applications to the cloud? Garry: Beyond the usual challenges of migrating large data sets to the cloud (latency, performance, how to actually move Petabytes of data), 90% of the world’s data has been created in the last two years, and that amount is projected by analysts to double every two years. At the current cloud storage prices, corporate IT budgets won't be able to keep up. Furthermore, even companies who are not price-conscious still struggle with achieving the performance they demand from mission-critical applications as they move those applications from on-prem data centers to a cloud storage environment. [04:02] How can businesses leverage cloud in the right way? Garry: There are obvious ways cloud storage products can help mitigate these issues. Features meant to enhance cost-efficiency include deduplication, compression, thin-provisioning, etc. For customers worried about performance, running application workloads with higher instance and VM sizes will help increase performance. [04:12] 90% of the world’s data has been created in the past 2 years. [04:17] Within the last decade, data has doubled every 2 years. [06:26] Buurst recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called SoftNAS. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. Garry: Buurst SoftNAS frontends native Azure storage (managed disk and Blob) to overcome Azure storage limitations. The SoftNAS virtual appliance also allows for greater flexibility to better customize an application's performance versus price and can go beyond the capacity caps of Azure. [09:43] How would a company use your solution with Azure? Garry: The SoftNAS virtual appliance is available through the self-service Azure Marketplace or through a BYOL Azure Marketplace listing. The deployment through Azure Marketplace does not change how the underlying software functions. [11:44] How can customers find out more about SoftNAS, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Garry: You can access it via this link https://ter.li/9pk8qh. [12:50] How has partnering with Microsoft helped Buurst scale and grow your business? [14:00] How do people connect with you? [14:35] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO With Garry Olah

Connect with CadDo on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/3crgxGq Marcus Hanke is the Founder of CadDo, a company that provides data-driven insights and concentrated intelligence to organizations and individuals who care about sustainability as much as profitability. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Contact Marcus: Web: https://caddo.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/35650704 Company Video: https://youtu.be/1-9FKgLEPLY Microsoft partnership opportunities for partners with Financial Services solutions: FSiIndExp@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:51] The United Nations enacted 17 goals for sustainability to be attained by the year 2030. This is known as the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs. No matter what side of the political spectrum you’re on, everyone can agree that sustainability is in our best interest. For example, having things like clean air, clean water, elimination of hunger, and so on, are good things to have. Yet, the perception out there is that sustainability will cost me money, which is why I love your company’s description of serving organizations who care about sustainability as much as profitability. And talking about profitability, nothing says profits like Financial Services. What are the challenges that Financial Services companies struggle with regarding managing a profitable business that’s also sustainable friendly? Marcus: Intelligent real-time analysis of ESG (Environmental, social, and governance factors) and SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) data is beyond the resources and capabilities of most organizations. Organizations are awash with data and unable to develop insights or respond and model change. ESG and SDG reporting isn't an option - it is a must-have, and organizations can't meet the requirements. Avrohom: What can people do about this? Marcus: Firstly, create a consistent international ESG framework for all Financial service organizations to report against, similar to international accounting standards. [03:33] During the first quarter of 2020, ESG friendly companies saw an increase of $40 billion. [05:27] CadDo recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called CadDo ESG. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. Marcus: CadDo is a turnkey Azure solution, turning Big Data into concentrated intelligence: concise, clear and actionable. Whether you are an investor or a corporation, we deliver the metrics you need to make responsible investment decisions. [08:01] Sustainability is no longer a nice to have. It’s a must have. [11:08] How would a company use your solution with Azure? Marcus: A global investment Bank with $1 trillion under management can be live and operational with CadDo’s Azure marketplace ESG solution within weeks, managing and reporting ESG at individual asset or security level by fund, across the whole organization and to its clients. [13:16] How can customers find out more about CadDo ESG, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Marcus: You can access it via this link: https://bit.ly/3crgxGq. [16:22] How has partnering with Microsoft helped CadDo scale and grow your business? [17:55] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for partners with Financial Services solutions? [19:42] How do people connect with you? [20:30] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? [20:40] Sustainability is not a choice. People understand that they have to do the right thing. [20:50] We have to look at future generations and what they’re going to be left with. #AskTheCEO With Marcus Hanke

Connect with Matillion on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/2M8LqF1 Matthew Scullion is the CEO of Matillion, a company that reduces the complexity of a company’s data journey by providing rapid time to value with data integration and data transformation software for cloud data warehouses. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Contact Matthew: Web: https://matillion.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/matillion-limited/ Twitter: @matillion Microsoft partnership opportunities for Storage and Data partners: StorageAndData@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:53] Cloud is now a mature technology, and many businesses are moving their mission-critical applications to the cloud. One of the byproducts of Digital Transformation and moving to the cloud is the copious amount of data that’s generated by all of our connected devices. As we know, data, for its own sake, doesn’t have that much intrinsic value. The real value is in the analytical information and business intelligence that we gather from that data. Of course, that’s much easier said than done. What are the challenges that businesses and large enterprises struggle with when it comes to unlocking that hidden value from within their data? [01:50] Every company needs to compete by using data. [02:07] Cloud gives businesses the ability to compete using data. [05:39] What can businesses do to overcome some of these challenges? Matthew: There are various ways to potentially solve data management and data transformation challenges highlighted above. Enterprises can still continue to manage on-premises ETL platforms for data transformation. If a company has decided to adopt a cloud strategy, there are various SaaS based data pipeline providers to help move data into a cloud data warehouse. Once data is in the cloud, there are various technologies (provided by cloud provider or 3rd parties) that can help to then perform transformations. Companies can also continue to leverage ETL developers to manually write SQL jobs for transformations. [10:21] Matillion recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called Matillion ETL for Azure Synapse. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. Matthew: Matillion provides purpose-built data transformation for Microsoft Azure Synapse. Matillion enables Enterprises to easily integrate with over 100 data sources and then create data orchestration and transformation jobs to prepare data for analytics. Matillion is also cloud-native, taking advantage of the speed, scale, and economics of the Azure cloud platform. [17:24] How would a company use your solution with Azure? Matthew: Matillion products (Matillion ETL for Azure Synapse and Matillion ETL for Snowflake on Azure) are both available on the Azure Marketplace. Enterprises seeking to acquire Matillion can easily select a Matillion product, select the size of the Azure instance needed, and then deploy Matillion within the virtual environment. [19:39] How can customers find out more about Matillion ETL for Azure Synapse, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Matthew: They can access it via this link: https://bit.ly/2M8LqF1. [20:19] How has partnering with Microsoft helped Matillion scale and grow your business? [21:47] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for Storage and Data partners? Matthew: For more information you can send an email to storageanddata@microsoft.com. [22:26] How do people connect with you? [23:00] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO With Matthew Scullion

Connect with ZettaLabs on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/2Ag7mLK Eliud Polanco is the CEO and Co-Founder of ZettaLabs, a company that creates software that simplifies and automates the processes of organizing, cleaning, and creating analytically-ready structured data inside Data Lakes, at petabyte scale. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Contact Eliud: Web:https://www.zettalabs.com/ LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/zettalabs Twitter: @zettalabs Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZettaLabs-349320402331435/ Microsoft partnership opportunities for companies with Financial Services solutions: FSiIndExp@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:45] If there is one thing that Digital Transformation has resulted in, it’s the deluge of data for every business in every industry. Your company, ZettaLabs, serves the Financial Services industry, which is highly regulated and extremely vulnerable to Cyberattacks. What are the challenges that Financial Services companies struggle with regarding managing and securing their sensitive data? Eliud: Many Financial Services firms have poor data quality - the data is created and managed in silos, data is missing or is inaccurate and does not reconcile, etc. This leads to downstream degradation of business capabilities e.g. firms can't trace customers across all of their product relationships, can't fully capture all risk exposures across all of their counterparties, fully reconcile information between front, middle and back offices (Risk has different competing information about positions compared to Finance), etc. The impact is missed cross-sell / up-sell opportunities, business decisions made on bad/stale information, and regulatory actions, penalties, and fines. In order to mitigate these risks, a sizable amount of the IT budget (~20%, which can be about $450m per year in a Tier 1 Global Bank) is required to be allocated just to data and controls, which crowds out spending on revenue-producing initiatives. [01:31] Banks have created more data in the last three years than in the past 50 years combined! [02:18] ZettaLabs recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called ZettaSense. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. [08:32] How would a company use your solution with Azure? [09:44] How can customers find out more about ZettaSense, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? [10:35] How has partnering with Microsoft helped ZettaLabs scale and grow your business? [12:30] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for partners with Financial Services solutions? Eliud: For more information you can send an email to FSiIndExp@microsoft.com. [13:00] How do people connect with you? [14:42] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO With Eliud Polanco

Connect with Jitsuin on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/2M1ZHDe Krishna Anne is the CEO of Jitsuin, a company that bring you the transparency, collaboration and automation you need to move fast and fix things while boosting Digital Transformation. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Contact Krishna: Web: https://jitsuin.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jitsuin/ Twitter: @jitsuin_inc Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishnaanne/ Personal Twitter: @krishna_anne Microsoft partnership opportunities for Manufacturing partners: MFGMarketplace@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:43] IoT is a major component of many business’ Digital Transformation strategy, and the number of deployments has gone up exponentially, year over year, with a projected number of 20.4 billion devices installed by the end of this year. One of the things that worry me, as someone who is active in the CyberSecurity industry, is that when thinking about a manufacturing plant where there might be hundreds of thousands of disparate connected devices on the network, you really need to have a solid operational plan in place just to keep the devices patched and updated. How can Manufacturing plants and Operators of Essential Services - such as Utilities, Transportation, Smart Infrastructure and Healthcare, secure themselves when embarking upon their digital transformation journey? [02:01] Data is the new oil, and the data needs refinement. [02:38] Krishna: Two thirds of Digital Transformation projects fail because there is no trust in the data, or security is lacking. This could be solved by having a history and knowing who did what to a thing. And automate detecting and fixing of vulnerabilities at the earliest - Creating trust in the device and data generated from it. [04:07] Jitsuin recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called Archivist Security Twin Platform. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. [07:26] How would a manufacturing facility use your solution with Azure? [08:22] How can customers find out more about Archivist Security Twin Platform, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Krishna: You can access it via this link: https://bit.ly/2M1ZHDe. [08:50] How has partnering with Microsoft helped Jitsuin scale and grow your business? [09:58] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for manufacturing partners? Krishna: For more information you can send an email to MFGMarketplace@microsoft.com and get started with the Microsoft Manufacturing group and Marketplace Rewards. [10:20] How do people connect with you? Krishna: You can connect with us via our website, which is https://jitsuin.com/. We’re also on social media. Our LinkedIn page is: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jitsuin/, and you can follow us on Twitter at: @jitsuin_inc. To reach me personally, you can connect with me on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishnaanne/ and on Twitter at: @krishna_anne. [11:00] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO with Krishna Anne

Connect with Augmentir on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/36ABqhc Russ Fadel is the CEO and Co-Founder of Augmentir, a company that is the first of its kind to combine enterprise augmented reality with artificial intelligence and machine learning to intelligently close skills gaps, so that frontline workers can perform their jobs with higher quality and increased productivity, while driving continuous improvement across the organization. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Web: https://www.augmentir.com Twitter: @augmentir LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/augmentir YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoU1HEGNwHCDPO2Tp-PQXEg Personal Twitter: @RussFadel Microsoft partnership opportunities for Manufacturing partners: MFGMarketplace@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [01:00] The global pandemic of Covid19 has accelerated a wave of digital transformation in every industry. Entire workforces have been transitioned to work from home. Companies are also looking to leverage technology to fill the gaps left by a reduced workforce. What are the challenges that manufacturing plants and industrial operations are struggling with in today’s post-Covid19 world? Russ: Our target market has historically faced 3 primary challenges within the frontline workforce: 1) the widening skills gap, which is being magnified by an aging/retiring workforce and tight labor market; 2) loss of tribal knowledge (from senior workers), and inability to capture and share that tribal knowledge as a corporate asset; and 3) inability to deliver continuous improvement across the workforce due to lack of insight into how workers are performing their jobs. [04:21] How manufacturing leverages technologies like AI & VR to assist employees while accommodating social distancing. [05:22] Augmentir recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called Augmentir. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. [06:17] How would a manufacturing facility use your solution with Azure? [08:32] How can customers find out more about Augmentir, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Russ: You can access it here: https://bit.ly/augmentir-on-azure. [09:10] How has partnering with Microsoft helped Augmentir scale and grow your business? [10:45] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for manufacturing partners? Russ: For more information you can send an email to mfgmarketplace@microsoft.com and get started with the Microsoft Manufacturing group and Marketplace Rewards. [11:00] How do people connect with you? Russ: You can visit our company website at https://www.augmentir.com. You can also follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/augmentir and on Twitter at @augmenter. Also, feel free to check out our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoU1HEGNwHCDPO2Tp-PQXEg. You can connect with me personally on Twitter at @RussFadel. [11:35] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? [12:00] After COVID, we’re going to have to adapt to the “new normal” by investing in digital technologies that enable us to observe social distancing. [13:05] The final frontier of digital transformation is the front-line workforce. #AskTheCEO with Russ Fadel

Connect with DataDx on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/3aYRTwC Kate Othus is the CEO of DataDx, a company that provides the insights medical practices need to achieve long-term and sustainable business results. Kate is interviewed by Tyler Cohen Wood, an 18+ year veteran of the Cyber Intelligence industry and healthcare entrepreneur. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Web: https://datadx.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/datadx/ Twitter: @DataDxInsights Instagram: @DataDxInsights Azure Marketplace: bit.ly/3aYRTwC Contact Tyler: Web: http://www.tylercohenwood.com/ Twitter: @TylerCohenWood Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:41] When it comes to digital transformation, we typically think of large enterprises and global corporations. But really, every sized business is going through a digital transformation in their own unique way. Since your business focuses on individual medical practices, what are some of the challenges that doctors and small and medium healthcare providers face when trying to go digital? Kate: That's a great question, Tyler. Healthcare, in general, is experiencing significant challenges, especially right now. Predicting volumes and effectively managing operations to meet those changes is a struggle. Having appropriate cash and inventory reserves to sustain any changes in practice patterns, is another. And in addition, there are a lot of clinical initiatives that are changed, due to policy regulations and whatnot. And sometimes, even the thought of a digital transformation is quite daunting and quite expensive for healthcare businesses. So, they struggle to afford it. It does force them; however, to continue to operate on antiquated, and sometimes, even analog systems. Those issues end up compounding into one pretty incredible issue, which is, the inability for healthcare at large to predict and calculate the cost per unit of care. So, as patients, when we go to consume care, we often walk in not knowing what it's going to cost. Whether that's to the doctor or for a hospital visit. [02:57] DataDx recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace to address some of the challenges we just discussed. Tell us about it. [06:36] What are the key drivers for success in a pediatric practice? [08:06] How would a healthcare provider use your solution with Azure? [08:30] How can customers find out more about the DataDx solution, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Kate: You can access it at https://bit.ly/3aYRTwC. [09:01] How has partnering with Microsoft helped DataDx scale and grow your business? [10:12] How do people connect with you? Kate: You can connect with us on our website at https://datadx.com/. We’re also on social media. You can connect with us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/datadx/ and on Twitter and Instagram at @DataDxInsights. [10:39] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners? Kate: For more information, you can send an email to HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com. [10:58] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? [12:12] What inspired you to build DataDx? #AskTheCEO with Kate Othus

Learn more about Microsoft's Commercial Marketplace: https://aka.ms/SellThroughMarketplace Paul Maher is the general manager of the Industry Experiences team at Microsoft, a group that helps partners drive technology innovation moving to the Microsoft Azure cloud and enabling online sales by using the Microsoft commercial marketplace as a new distribution model. As part of this discussion, we shared how a partnership with Microsoft, the use of the Azure cloud platform and services, and the commercial marketplace, empower Microsoft partners to innovate, while scaling and growing their business. Web: https://azure.com Twitter: @PaulJFMaher @Microsoft LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauljmaher/ Microsoft's Commercial Marketplace: https://aka.ms/SellThroughMarketplace Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [01:12] Cloud is a big buzzword nowadays, and everyone is jumping on the cloud bandwagon. However, the benefit of building solutions in the cloud is not just about technology innovation, but also the ROI from a business perspective. As someone who manages a team focused on industry, can you share some more information on the business ROI of building solutions in the cloud? [02:34] The driving force behind cloud. [02:47] Data is growing to 44 zettabytes by the end of 2020 and will grow to 163 zettabytes per year by 2025. [03:15] Analysts predict analytics to be a $200M global market by 2020. [03:31] 2020 will see $1T in IT spending related to cloud. [04:38] The business benefits of cloud: Cloud provides businesses with operational agility, quicker time to market, security, and reliability. [07:51] Cloud eliminates hardware refreshes and its associated maintenance costs. [08:25] Tell us about Microsoft’s online distribution model called the Commercial Marketplace. [09:15] B2B buyers prefer to gather their own information online and not interact with a sales rep. [10:22] The online marketplace is a distribution model for partners to see their software and services. [10:40] There are 2 storefronts. The first is called Azure Marketplace which is predominately suited for IT professionals looking for technology building blocks, like API’s, etc. [10:55] The second one is called Appsource, which is focused more on line of business software solutions. [14:55] Can you share a few stories that highlight how businesses have become extremely successful by partnering with Microsoft? [21:09] Covid-19 has impacted everyone, and we’re now living in what’s called the “new normal”. Can you share with us some of the work you’re doing to help partners succeed in today’s “remote only” world? [26:06] I’ve really enjoyed hearing the success stories about the Commercial Marketplace. For people considering joining the Microsoft Partnership, how transformative is the Commercial Marketplace in helping people scale and grow their businesses? [26:40] The Commercial Marketplace is as transformative for businesses as cloud is being from a technology perspective. [30:19] Where can people go to learn more about the Commercial Marketplace? Paul: They can go to https://azure.com and https://aka.ms/SellThroughMarketplace. [31:00] And how can people connect with you, personally. Paul: You can connect with me on Twitter at @PaulJFMaher and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauljmaher/. [31:18] Do you have any parting words of wisdom to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO with Paul Maher

Connect with Cloudticity on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/2WlyNg9 Gerry Miller is the founder and CEO of Cloudticity, a company that helps health care organizations innovate fast on the cloud while staying HIPAA compliant. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Web: https://www.cloudticity.com/ Twitter: @cloudticity LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cloudticity Personal Twitter: @GerryMiller Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerrymiller Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners: HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [01:09] The healthcare industry is in the midst of its digital transformation, with many companies moving their mission-critical applications to the cloud. What are some of the challenges that healthcare organizations face when starting out on their journey to innovate on the cloud? [01:56] The only viable way to consume, store, and process large quantities of data is with Cloud. [02:06] The pandemic has driven the acceleration of cloud migrations, with work from home and the extra strain on the healthcare industry, in particular. [02:17] Working in the cloud is very different than working in the data center. [02:46] As you know, healthcare is one of the most regulated industries in the United States, with regards to security and compliance around data privacy. It’s also the most at-risk and vulnerable to data breaches and ransomware attacks. I saw a statistic where health care data sells on the black market for $250 a record, as opposed to a little over $5 for something as relatively innocuous as credit card data! How do healthcare organizations deal with this kind of security risk when going to the cloud? [04:35] About 60% of small healthcare organizations will experience successful cyberattacks in any given year, of which 90% of them will be put out of business within the year. [05:06] Cloudticity recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called Cloudticity Oxygen for Azure. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. [05:25] Cloudticity Oxygen is a managed services, managed security, and managed compliance environments for healthcare organizations on Microsoft Azure. [06:05] How would a healthcare organization use your solution with Azure? [09:58] How can customers find out more about Cloudticity Oxygen, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Gerry: You can access it via this link: https://bit.ly/2WlyNg9. [11:05] How has partnering with Microsoft helped Cloudticity scale and grow your business? [12:26] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners? Gerry: For more information you can send an email to HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com. [12:39] How do people connect with you? Gerry: You can visit our website at https://www.cloudticity.com. You can also follow us on Twitter at @Cloudticity, or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/cloudticity. If you'd like to reach me, personally, you can connect with me on Twitter at @GerryMiller, or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerrymiller. [12:52] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? [13:23] Cloud is the best enabler for being able to do what healthcare does best. #AskTheCEO with Gerry Miller

Connect with P360 on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/3cSzUJ6 Anupam Nandwana is the CEO of P360, a company that powers the life-sciences industry with solutions for pharmaceutical sales and marketing enablement, clinical trials, patient journey, analytics, and more. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Web: https://p360.com Twitter: @P360_Solutions @SwittonsIoT LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/p360 Personal Twitter: @anupam_nandwana Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anandwana Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners: HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com Contact Tyler: Web: http://www.tylercohenwood.com/ Twitter: @TylerCohenWood Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [01:13] Every business is experiencing disruptions during the public health crisis of Covid19, and healthcare is no exception. A critical supply-chain that must continue during this time is the physician/pharmaceutical relationship. Doctors need to continue getting their supplies, and people need to be able to get their medicine, regardless of what is going on in the world. What are the challenges pharmaceuticals and biotech companies are struggling with, regarding maintaining that critical supply-chain relationship with physicians during a major public health crisis? Anupam: There is a growing gap between physicians and pharma. As an industry, pharma has historically allowed any customer journey. Additionally, the delay in moving to digital transformation and adopting newer technologies such as IoT and AI has created a major gap between pharma and physician relationships. This situation has worsened with coronavirus, where field sales are restricted from calling on physicians. There will be a new normal post-COVID, which will require a change in how pharma connects with physicians. [01:58] The health-pharma-physician relationship is paramount to everything that happens in our healthcare system. [04:50] Healthcare has significantly changed since Covid19. [05:12] What can pharmaceuticals and biotech companies do to maintain their relationship with physicians during times of disruption? [06:22] One challenge to overcome is that doctors aren’t used to delivering remote services. [07:24] Another challenge we need to overcome is that we might be living in the era – not of a lockdown, but rather an era of frequent lockdowns or shutdowns. [08:24] P360 recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called Swittons. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. [11:53] How would a healthcare organization use your solution with Azure? [16:32] How can customers find out more about Swittons, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Anupam: You can access it via this link: https://bit.ly/3cSzUJ6. [17:30] How has partnering with Microsoft helped P360 scale and grow your business? [19:30] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners? Anupam: For more information, you can send an email to HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com. [19:51] How do people connect with you? [20:24] What inspired you to build P360? [23:02] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? [23:12] Covid19 has brought about an acceleration of digital transformation. #AskTheCEO with Anupam Nandwana

Connect with Omnipresence on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/2VuqEFo Tarun Mathur is the CTO of Omnipresence, a leading Tech firm focused on the global life sciences industry, that has launched the world's first life sciences Customer Experiences Management solution for the Azure marketplace. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Connect with Tarun: Web: https://www.omnipresence.io/ Twitter: @Omnipresence_io LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/indegene-omnipresence/ Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners: HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:48] Customer experience management is vital to businesses of every size, and in every sector, and healthcare is no exception. Statistics show that healthcare is typically slow to adopt new technologies – any kind of technology, due to a myriad of reasons, ranging from compliance to risk aversion. What are the challenges healthcare organizations face with regard to implementing a new customer engagement solution? [02:09] In healthcare, businesses end to want to stick to their comfort zone and let other people make the mistakes. They then rush to be number two in line to implement change. [03:12] Why is customer experience management so important to the healthcare industry? [04:09] Omnipresence recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called CXMNow. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. [04:28] CSMNow is designed to deliver on the big picture around customer experience. [07:55] How would a healthcare organization use your solution with Azure? [08:57] How can customers find out more about CXMNow, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Tarun: You can access it via this link: https://bit.ly/2VuqEFo. [09:43] How has partnering with Microsoft helped Omnipresence scale and grow your business? [10:56] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners? Tarun: For more information, you can send an email to HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com. [11:16] How do people connect with you? Tarun: You can visit our website at https://www.omnipresence.io/. You can also follow us on Twitter at @Omnipresence_io or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/indegene-omnipresence/. [11:44] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you would like to share with the audience? [12:45] In healthcare, we’re all going to come out a lot stronger by delivering a new customer experience for patients, providers, and everyone in the industry. #AskTheCEO With Tarun Mathur

Connect with ezDI on the Azure Marketplace: https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/ezdiinc.nlp Chetan Parikh is the CEO of ezDI, a company that helps health care organizations unlock the power of their unstructured data and is revolutionizing the healthcare industry by extracting valuable information, from unstructured texts, at a very high level of accuracy using their state-of-the-art natural language processing (NLP). As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Connect with Chetan: Web: https://ezDI.com Twitter: @ezDIInc @chetanparikh LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/ezdi-inc/ Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners: HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [01:08] With the advent of Electronic Health Record systems, also known as EHR, health care organizations officially entered the digital world. And with that new status, comes a new set of challenges. It's one thing to collect data. It's another matter, entirely, to actually get useful information out of it. What are some of the challenges that healthcare organizations face regarding extracting actionable intelligence which is trapped in the form of unstructured raw data? [02:26] The most important interaction in healthcare is when the physician meets with the patient. [03:42] One major problem in healthcare is that the data is siloed. [05:30] The reason why it has been difficult for healthcare to get electronic communication between providers, payers, and pharma is because each organization has a different requirement for their data. [06:03] The problem in healthcare is that we are data rich but information poor. [06:24] The reason why it has been difficult to solve this problem is that healthcare organizations are not technology experts. They are most knowledgeable in finding the right treatments for their patients. [07:12] ezDI recently launched a new offering, on the Azure marketplace targeting healthcare organizations, called NLP as a Service. Can you share with us some information about this solution, and how it will help health care organizations extract useful information out of their unstructured data? [09:01] What is NLP? [09:35] How do you teach AI to understand context? You use a knowledge graph. [11:18] Azure enables bridging the gap between different siloes by adopting an industry-standard format for data called FHIR. [11:57] How would a healthcare organization use your solution with Azure? [13:51] How can customers find out more about the ezDI solution set, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Chetan: Customers can find more about our solution on our website: https://ezDI.com/azure. You can also procure it on Azure by going to https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/ezdiinc.nlp?tab=Overview and subscribing to our solution. [14:39] How has partnering with Microsoft helped ezDI scale and grow your business? [15:33] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners? Chetan: For more information, you can send an email to HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com. [16:42] How do people connect with you? Chetan: People can connect with us via email at sales@ezDI.com or call us at +1 (866) 473-5655 / +1 (502) 498 4590. They can also visit our website www.ezDI.com or follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/ezdi-inc/ and on Twitter at @ezDIInc and @chetanparikh. [16:47] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO With Chetan Parikh

Connect with Praemo on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/2VqJg91 Paul Boris is the Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer of Praemo, a company that fills the critical gap in industrial productivity by leveraging analytics to transform under-utilized data into operation-critical insights. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace have empowered them to scale and grow their business. Connect with Paul: Web: https://praemo.com/ Twitter: @PraemoAI @PaulBorisPraemo LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/praemo/ Microsoft partnership opportunities for manufacturing partners: mfgmarketplace@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:48] IoT deployments have gone up, year over year, with a projected number of 20.4 billion devices installed by the end of this year. While many device manufacturers like to paint a picture of customers using only their products in the customer’s environment, the reality is that many manufacturing facilities have all kinds of IoT devices installed in there. As we know, one of the benefits of having an Industrial IoT solution is the ability to obtain actionable analytics from your devices. That is hard enough to attain on a single manufacturer’s platform, let alone a hodgepodge of hundreds of thousands of disparate devices across an industrial manufacturing facility. What are the challenges industrial operations run into when trying to convert IoT-collected data into useful insights? [01:48] Everyone is in a rush to drive more data and IoT devices into the operation. [01:59] The biggest challenge is that people don’t think they have data at all. The data they have is incomplete. [02:35] Another challenge in manufacturing is securely transferring data from IoT devices. With the prevalence of the cloud, this is no longer a major issue. [03:05] Businesses spend too much time normalizing the data versus getting things done. Then, when something changes, they have to start all over again. [04:24] Getting things done is better than trying to get things done perfectly. [05:23] What can manufacturing facilities do to overcome the challenge of generating useful insights from their IoT data? [05:50] Start with what you have and work your way up from there. [06:17] Don’t lose “good” on behalf of pursuing great. [06:29] Begin by creating some insights. Those insights will guide you to what the next best action is, and how you may drive your process forward. [08:50] Praemo recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called Razor. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. [08:50] How manufacturing facilities can leverage AI and Machine Learning to optimize their operations. [11:48] Paul shares an analogy for the right way to leverage analytics from an airline’s in-flight emergency. [14:12] How would a manufacturing facility use your solution with Azure? [15:13] How can customers find out more about Razor, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? [16:03] How has partnering with Microsoft helped Praemo scale and grow your business? Paul: Microsoft really understands how to work with small companies. [17:23] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for manufacturing partners? Paul: For more information, you can send an email to mfgmarketplace@microsoft.com and get started with the Microsoft Manufacturing group and Marketplace Rewards. [17:52] How do people connect with you? Paul: You can visit our website at https://praemo.com/. You can also follow us on Twitter at @PraemoAI or look us up on LinkedIn. My personal Twitter account is: @PaulBorisPraemo. [18:17] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO with Paul Boris

Connect with PathPresenter Education on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace: https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/pathpresentercorporation.pathpresentereducation?tab=Overview Dr. Rajendra Singh is the founder and CEO of PathPresenter, a company that provides a web-based service to connect pathologists, radiologists, clinicians, and life science researchers to share medical data and build tools for enhancing medical education, patient care, and management. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Contact Rajendra: Web: https://pathpresenter.net/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pathpresenter.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajendra-singh-md-56b17642/ Twitter: @pathpresenter Twitter: @mydermpath Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners: HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [01:10] We’re currently in the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic where hospitals and health care providers are struggling to care for an enormous amount of patients, let alone the deluge of patients that flooded our healthcare system within the past few weeks. There are so many tools out there, such as Cloud and AI, which can empower our physicians and healthcare workers to deliver better care, yet it does not look like people are adopting them. What are the challenges physicians and healthcare providers face with regard to leveraging existing technologies to deliver better and more efficient patient care? [02:10] The reason why we have not found a cure for Covid-19 is that we do not understand the underlying pathophysiology. [02:57] There is a lack of available tissue to properly understand the pathophysiology of Covid-19. [03:29] What’s the biggest challenge in finding a cure for Covid-19? [04:06] To cure Covid-19, we need to understand how it works. And to do that, we need to be able to access patient data from all over the world. We can’t limit ourselves to just a local population. [05:02] The power to cure Covid-19 is in collaboration. [05:27] How is PathPresenter helping the public in finding a cure for Covid-19? [06:59] PathPresenter recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called PathPresenter Education. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. [10:32] How would a healthcare provider use your solution with Azure? [11:20] How can medical schools provide real-world healthcare training in an age of social distancing. [11:40] How doctors around the world can collaborate on patient care with TeleHealth. [13:54] How can customers find out more about PathPresenter Education, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Rajendra: You can find us by searching for PathPresenter on the Azure Marketplace. [14:42] How has partnering with Microsoft helped PathPresenter scale and grow your business? [16:14] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners? Rajendra: For more information, you can send an email to HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com. [16:36] How do people connect with you? Rajendra: You can visit our website at https://pathpresenter.net/. You can also follow us on Twitter at @pathpresenter. You can also connect with me personally on Twitter at @mydermpath. [17:12] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO With Dr. Rajendra Singh

Nancy Gorski is the founder and CEO of Strategic Mobility Group, an innovative technology provider that designs and integrates mobile solutions for enterprises. Contact Nancy: Web: https://smg3rx.com/ Twitter: @NancySMG3 Twitter: @SMG3Rx LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/strategic-mobility-group/ Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:36] Enterprise Mobility is a growing market, and a critical component of every business’s IT strategy. In fact, according to a report by Market Research Future (https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/byod-enterprise-mobility-market-6699), the global market for Bring Your Own Device And Enterprise Mobility is expected to grow from $39 billion in 2017 to $94 billion by 2023, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.86%. Healthcare has typically been slower than most industries to adopt new technology, due to a myriad of reasons, ranging from compliance to risk aversion. What are the challenges healthcare organizations face with regard to embracing enterprise mobility? [01:28] Healthcare organizations are slow to adapt to change due to human nature. [02:27] The third leading cause of death in the United States is medical errors, and 46% of them are preventable. [02:27] Mobile Technology in healthcare can drastically reduce the number of preventable medical errors. [04:00] Implementing a Mobile Technology solution in healthcare can be overwhelming. With the right technology partner, implementation & adoption can be done super efficiently and very successfully. [04:23] How can healthcare organizations overcome their challenges with adopting enterprise mobility technology? [06:12] The right systems integrator will bring the expertise required to guide you in creating your Mobile Technology implementation plan. [07:07] Strategic Mobility Group is a leader in Enterprise Mobility and has created innovative solutions geared towards solving the mobility challenges in healthcare. Tell us about how you help solve these challenges. [10:03] When designing a mobile solution, the user interface (UX) is a critical factor to consider. [12:16] Due to Covid19 many healthcare organizations are being forced to expand their horizons to look at new technological solutions. [15:24] How do people connect with you? Nancy: You can connect with us on our website: https://smg3rx.com/. You can also connect with us on Twitter: @SMG3Rx and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/strategic-mobility-group/. [16:00] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO With Nancy Gorski

Connect with ClearDATA on the Azure Marketplace: https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/cleardatanetworksinc-4386736.cleardata_comply_self_service?tab=Overview Matt Ferrari is the CTO of ClearDATA, a company that serves the mission-critical system needs and regulatory requirements of healthcare organizations. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Connect with Matt: Web: https://www.cleardata.com/ Twitter: @cleardatacloud LinkedIn: ClearDATA Networks Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners: HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:36] When it comes to digital transformation, healthcare has typically been slow to adopt Cloud-based technology, due to the many industry regulations around data privacy. What are some of the challenges that healthcare companies encounter when trying to innovate on the Cloud? [01:42] Three key changes that happen inside the public cloud in a healthcare environment are: (1) Regulatory Changes (2) Application Changes (3) New features & capabilities inside the cloud [02:44] The biggest challenge for healthcare organizations when migrating to the cloud is how do we embrace all these public cloud technologies without having these capabilities in-house? [03:17] A lot of the capabilities that the public cloud brings now, will accelerate the way healthcare organizations leverage their own in-house talents. [03:53] ClearDATA recently launched a new offering called ClearDATA Comply. What is it, and how does it support healthcare innovation? [06:42] How would a healthcare provider use your solution with Azure? [08:31] How can customers find out more about the ClearDATA Comply solution, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Matt: You can access it via this link: https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/cleardatanetworksinc-4386736.cleardata_comply_self_service?tab=Overview. [09:01] How has partnering with Microsoft helped ClearDATA scale and grow your business? [10:58] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners? Matt: For more information, you can send an email to HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com. [11:21] How do people connect with you? Matt: You can visit our website at https://www.cleardata.com/. You can also follow us on Twitter at @cleardatacloud. [11:37] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? [11:37] The public cloud plays a key role in healthcare. #AskTheCEO with Matt Ferrari

Connect with XentIT on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/3a1WRZy Roopangi Kadakia is the Senior Vice President and CTO of XentIT, an Information Technology firm specializing in Cybersecurity & Compliance, Secure Cloud and DevSecOps, and Information Technology Resale & Integration Services. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace has empowered them to scale and grow their business. Connect with Roopangi: Web: https://xentit.com/ Twitter: @XentIT LinkedIn: XentIT Email: MaAzure@xentit.com Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners: HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:51] The Healthcare Industry is in the midst of its digital transformation, with many Enterprise Health care companies moving their mission-critical applications to the Cloud. As you know, Healthcare is one of the most regulated industries in the United States. How do health care organizations that leverage Cloud stay up to date with compliance? [01:40] Healthcare organizations need the following 3 things for good compliance: (1) good security (2) good governance (3) good monitoring. [02:22] How do you define good governance in healthcare? [04:54] The cybersecurity industry is currently experiencing a shortage of about 3.5 million people. We’re also constantly hearing about hospitals and healthcare facilities being shut down by hacks and ransomware attacks. Wouldn’t the cloud make health care providers more vulnerable? How can health care organizations stay up to date with Cybersecurity? [07:39] Many healthcare organizations are having difficulty finding the right security skills. [08:12] Healthcare organizations might actually become more secure by going to the cloud. [09:48] How would a healthcare provider use your solution with Azure? [12:10] How can customers find out more about the XentIT solution set, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Roopangi: You can access it via this link: https://bit.ly/3a1WRZy. [12:37] How has partnering with Microsoft helped XentIT scale and grow your business? [14:05] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners? Roopangi: For more information, you can send an email to HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com. [14:20] How do people connect with you? Roopangi: You can visit our website at https://xentit.com/. You can also follow us on Twitter at @XentIT and email us at MaAzure@xentit.com. [14:53] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO with Roopangi Kadakia

Connect with SyTrue on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/2JqldQS Kyle Silvestro is the founder and CEO of SyTrue, a company that leverages Natural Language Processing, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning to substantially reduce the time it takes for a healthcare expert to identify what is clinically or administratively relevant within a medical record. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace have empowered them to scale and grow their business. Connect with Kyle: Web: https://sytrue.com/ Twitter: @clinicalNLP @SyTrueInc Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners: HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:49] We’re currently in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic where health care providers and payers are experiencing an exponential increase in their workload. The ramifications of this increase would be a proportionate exponential increase in the amount of data that will be generated. How are insurance companies digitizing the billions of new health records in order to convert them into useful data? [01:16] The challenge we’re having is that data is being generated as images, which then needs to be converted to text, and from there to useful information. [01:41] How much data is created in healthcare today? [02:12] How has COVID-19 impacted the volume of healthcare data that’s generated? [02:25] How do you handle this incoming influx of information? [03:06] What is the challenge the World Health Organization is having regarding our medical data? [03:12] The major challenge with our medical data is that you can only read so much data, so fast. [03:43] How can Health Insurance companies leverage AI and analytics to help fight Covid-19 related insurance fraud? [04:59] SyTrue recently launched a new offering on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, called SyHealth. Tell us about it and how it addresses some of the challenges we just discussed. [04:59] How is SyTrue helping fight Covid-19? [06:15] How can the public use your solution to fight Covid-19? [09:46] How would a healthcare organization use your solution with Azure? [10:57] How can customers find out more about the SyHealth solution, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Kyle: You can access it via this link: https://bit.ly/2JqldQS [11:22] How has partnering with Microsoft helped SyTrue scale and grow your business? [11:49] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners? Kyle: For more information you can send an email to HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com. [12:07] How do people connect with you? Kyle: You can visit our website at https://sytrue.com/. You can also follow us on Twitter at @clinicalNLP or @SyTrueInc. [12:34] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO with Kyle Silvestro

Connect with KenSci on the Azure Marketplace: http://bit.ly/2V1LBaJ Sunny Neogi is the Chief Growth Officer at KenSci, a company whose platform allows healthcare organizations to tap into the vast amounts of data and transform them into AI-led insights. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace have empowered them to scale and grow their business. Connect with Sunny: Web: https://www.kensci.com/ Twitter: @KenSci Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners: HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:46] Healthcare is starting to see major transformations with industry leaders increasingly embracing technologies such as cloud and Artificial Intelligence. What are some of the key data and infrastructure challenges that healthcare providers and payers deal with when starting out on their journey to innovate on the cloud? [03:38] The new Healthcare AI will predict who will get sick and how to prevent it. [04:47] In response to the rapidly growing amounts of electronic healthcare data, there is a new data standard to help simplify the management of health data called FHIR, which stands for Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources. Microsoft recently launched an ‘Azure API for FHIR’, what is it and how does it support healthcare innovation? [07:20] Adopting standards for data will unlock the ability for doctors to compare your symptoms with many other people like you, over time, so that they can predict the future of your health and give you an opportunity to act upon it. [08:00] Leveraging the Azure API for FHIR, KenSci recently launched a new managed service offering targeting healthcare organizations – SMART on FHIR based data & AI accelerator. Can you share some information on how this AI accelerator will help simplify the transition of data to the cloud for healthcare organizations? [08:49] Transforming data to a standard format is an ongoing process. It’s not a one-time job. [11:12] What are some of the key features that this offering will provide customers with? [12:24] An advantage to having your data in a standardized format is the ease of applying business intelligence analytics to your data. [14:45] Healthcare is the most regulated industry in the United States, and security and compliance around data privacy is a really big deal. Can you share some information on how Microsoft and KenSci together address concerns around security and data privacy with the FHIR offering? [15:14] Healthcare data is our most precious data. [15:20] In Healthcare, data privacy, data security, and data governance need to be established in the beginning. It’s not a post-facto thought process. [17:23] How do people access and get started with this offering? Sunny: You can access it via this link: http://bit.ly/2V1LBaJ [18:52] How has partnering with Microsoft helped KenSci to scale and grow your business? [20:33] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners? Sunny: For more information, you can send an email to HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com. [20:53] How can people connect with you? Sunny: You can visit our website at https://www.kensci.com/ or follow us on Twitter at @KenSci. [21:17] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? [22:43] When you bring amazing partnerships together, magic happens.

Connect with ElectrifAi on the Azure Marketplace: electrifai.imageai electrifai.procurementai electrifai.revenueai Edward Scott is the founder and CEO of ElectrifAi, a company that leverages Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning via their suite of products to drive profit improvement, increased performance, and risk reduction. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace have empowered them to scale and grow their business. Connect with Ed: Web: ElectrifAi.net LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/electrifai Twitter: @electrifai Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners: HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:48] Artificial Intelligence is very prevalent nowadays, especially in HealthCare, and providers are converting their data to digital format to leverage the benefits of the latest innovations in technology. What are the challenges health care providers face when trying to go digital? [01:16] The principal challenge that providers and payers face is that their data is stored on many different systems. [01:57] Essentially, the principal issue is the disparate disconnect of data across different systems. [02:24] The second challenge providers face is that their data is frozen. [03:09] How are we working towards finding a cure for Coronavirus? [06:20] To leverage the power of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in health care, you need to be able to access the data. [06:32] How is ElectrifAi helping HealthCare providers through its Artificial Intelligence-based solution set? [06:32] How health care providers can leverage Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to capture missed charges on their medical bills. [08:40] With RevenueAI hospitals increase their billing to 6 times that of the cost of the solution, within 6 months. [09:45] How health care providers can improve their procurement process using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. [15:05] Disparate disconnected data is one of the biggest problems in digital health. [17:08] How would a healthcare provider use your solution with Azure? [17:08] How can customers find out more about the ElectrifAi solution set, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Ed: You can access our solution set via one of the following links: electrifai.imageai electrifai.procurementai electrifai.revenueai [18:26] How has partnering with Microsoft helped ElectrifAi scale and grow your business? [19:13] How do people connect with you? Ed: You can visit our website at https://ElectrifAi.net. You can also follow us on Twitter at @electrifai. [19:30] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners? Ed: For more information, you can send an email to HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com. [20:00] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience?

Connect with eCare21 on the Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/2TFOs78 Vadim Cherdak is the founder and CEO of eCare21, the leading Virtual Care platform for the delivery of Connected Health for patients with chronic conditions. Based in New Jersey and Florida, eCare21 is the first end-to-end solution for Virtual Care that creates a seamless workflow for delivering healthcare in the home to improve patient outcomes. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace have empowered them to scale and grow their business. Connect with Vadim: Azure Marketplace: https://bit.ly/2TFOs78 Web: http://www.ecare21.com/ Twitter: @eCare21 Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners: HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:51] The nature of Healthcare-based services is changing to what’s known as value-based care. First of all, what does that mean? Also, what are the challenges healthcare providers face with regard to shifting to a value-based care paradigm? [01:07] Value-based care is a paradigm shift from caring for “sick” to caring for “health”. [02:19] 20% of patients with multiple chronic conditions consume 65% - 70% of Medicare spending, the biggest demographic being seniors. [02:30] Minimizing and preventing unneeded hospitalization of seniors can save a lot of money for Medicare, as well as families. [03:30] People are healthier, and living longer than ever before, but we are not better off when it comes to chronic diseases. [04:05] How is your company, eCare21, helping healthcare providers deliver value-based care? [05:07] Starting from 2015, Medicare started adding payment codes to incentivize doctors to provide value-based care. [06:35] While we can’t entirely eliminate personal caregivers and human interactions, we can leverage modern technology, such as wearables, to provide monitoring of vitals for when caregivers aren’t present. [08:53] How would a healthcare provider use your solution with Azure? [09:37] How can doctors leverage mobile applications to deliver better care? [11:26] Mobile applications and wearables enable doctors to scale. [12:34] How can customers find out more about the eCare21 solution, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Vadim: You can access it via this link: https://bit.ly/2TFOs78 [13:18] How has partnering with Microsoft helped eCare21 scale and grow your business? [14:29] Connected Health is about building health. How do people connect with you? Vadim: You can visit our website at http://www.ecare21.com. You can also follow us on Twitter at @eCare21. [16:12] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners? Vadim: For more information, you can send an email to HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com. [16:40] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience?

Connect with cliexa on the Azure Marketplace: http://bit.ly/CLX-MFST1 Mehmet Kazgan is the CEO of cliexa, a company that leverages Artificial Intelligence via their suite of products to enable providers to collect clinical metrics and compliance data for quality reporting electronically; saving time and resources over the standard paper process. As part of this discussion, we shared how their partnership with Microsoft, their use of Azure, and the Azure Marketplace have empowered them to scale and grow their business. Connect with Mehmet: Web: https://www.cliexa.com Twitter: @cliexa or @mrkazgan Azure Marketplace: http://bit.ly/CLX-MFST1 Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners: HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:51] Artificial Intelligence is very prevalent nowadays, especially in HealthCare, and providers are converting their data to digital format to leverage the benefits of the latest innovations in technology. What are the challenges HealthCare providers face when trying to go digital? [01:21] Some of the biggest challenges HealthCare providers face when trying to go digital are keeping up with administrative challenges and keeping up with the data. [02:22] How is cliexa helping HealthCare providers through its Artificial Intelligence-based solution set? [02:22] We collect the necessary information, and package it for the doctors, the way they would like to see it. [02:53] For Artificial Intelligence to be effective in HealthCare, you need to have a valid data-set that you can apply, and have the system learn from it using machine learning, so that you can predict things for the doctors. [03:33] Leveraging AI and Machine Learning during intake can increase HealthCare efficiency, by cutting doctor visit time by 10 minutes per patient visit! [04:12] What is so innovative about cliexa? Doesn’t everybody collect data? [06:02] Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Digital Health helps doctors cross-reference symptoms across all patients and demographics. [07:04] Finally, a cure for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? [08:06] HealthCare should evolve, as the bacteria and viruses are evolving. This is why collecting the right data is so important. [09:12] Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning can help eliminate unknown medicine side effects by analyzing large data feeds. [09:35] How can Artificial Intelligence help better diagnose patients’ quality of life maladies? [10:39] How can HealthCare providers leverage wearables to provide preventative care? [13:06] Wearables are game-changers in HealthCare because if you can control the symptoms when they’re small, you might be able to avoid needing medication, or even invasive action, down the road! [13:55] How would a healthcare provider use your solution with Azure? [15:10] How can customers find out more about the cliexa solution set, and procure it through the Azure Marketplace? Mehmet: You can access it via this link: http://bit.ly/CLX-MFST1 [15:50] How has partnering with Microsoft helped cliexa scale and grow your business? [17:20] How do people connect with you? Mehmet: You can visit our website at https://www.cliexa.com/. You can also follow us on Twitter at @cliexa. [18:01] How can people find out more about Microsoft partnership opportunities for healthcare partners? Mehmet: For more information, you can send an email to HealthcareIndExp@microsoft.com. [18:22] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience?

I had the privilege of being interviewed by Reuben Dreiblatt, editor in chief at Faveeo, on some of the latest trends in Disruptive Technologies. Contact Reuben: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reuben-dreiblatt-93719558/ Twitter: faveeo Web: https://www.faveeo.com/ Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:28] How will the 5G rollout affect the Internet Of Things? [01:18] 5G will enable us to scale mass deployment of IoT devices in every sector [02:32] 5G will enable Connected Infrastructure for Smart Cities and Autonomous Vehicles V2X. [03:40] 5G will make human-driven vehicles much safer – not just Autonomous Vehicles! [04:00] Will TeleHealth enable doctors to perform surgery on Mars from Earth? [04:59] We’re going to see the rollout of IoT increase exponentially, as a result of 5G going mainstream. [05:05] Will older devices still function after 5G goes mainstream? [07:20] 5G will influence the Manufacturing of IoT in terms of CyberSecurity. [08:35] We are installing 127 IoT devices per second! With the number of exposed records per Data Breach rising each year, we need to focus on CyberSecurity to reduce our vulnerability. 5G will exacerbate this due to its scalability. [08:59] An IoT device is an entry-point to your network. [09:14] The Industrial IoT is especially vulnerable to Data Breaches due to having hundreds of thousands of Connected Devices on their networks. [09:14] IIoT is extremely vulnerable to Cyberhacking because it’s challenging to apply & keep track of Cybersecurity patches to hundreds of thousands of disparate endpoints on a regular basis. [09:26] Hackers need only a single open door to get in – we need to guard thousands of doors to keep them out! This presents a big CyberSecurity challenge. [09:36] Today’s technology is already obsolete! How do we secure against the threats of tomorrow? [10:50] 5G will influence the adoption of full-lifecycle patch management for the Internet Of Things. [13:24] What excites you most about the future of AI and what do you fear? [13:24] 5G is a gamechanger with regards to CyberSecurity, as billions of IoT devices will be deployed due to the new scalable network. This will require leveraging AI to keep networks secure. [14:15] Frictionless & Fun - In the future Smart City residents will utilize NLP (Natural Language Processing) to query 5G enabled busses to determine the number of available seats or query a Smart Camera on the bacteria level of stored produce - among many other exciting applications! [15:14] An exciting AI application is Conversational Commerce – if you’re out of coffee, your Smart Home coffee maker will replenish it for you! [18:30] For Smart Home manufacturers AI is a gamechanger, as it converts the sale of IoT devices from a transaction, to a recurring revenue stream via a technology called Conversational Commerce. [23:21] How do we mitigate fears of threat actors leveraging AI to cause us harm? [25:00] We need women & minorities to help us fight the CyberSecurity war against evil applications of AI. Diversity and Inclusion is the answer. [27:41] How do we encourage young women to choose careers in CyberSecurity? [32:07] Will AI create more jobs than it destroys? [34:27] You have to be willing to educate yourself if you wish to become impervious to AI Disruption. [38:19] Is there a consensus on the importance of Data Privacy these days? [42:11] Organizations that demonstrate prioritizing their customer’s Data Privacy will have a competitive edge in the marketplace, as they will have earned Consumer Trust. You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/us7Rpoxxx68

Robert Smith is the founder & CEO of Fan Health Network which provides enterprises with turnkey well-being programs, including fun challenges. They connect you directly to professional athletes, sports personalities, and celebrities who want you to improve your fitness, diet, and well-being. Robert is also a Fox Sports Analyst and Former NFL Running back. Narinder Makin is the founder and CEO of Healthper USA, a company that offers an engagement services platform that is used to create well-being programs and digital interventions. Healthper is the underlying platform on which the Fan Health Network programs are built on top of. Narinder is a technologist and Innovator with a deep passion to solve problems for the masses. Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg Connect With Robert: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-smith-51517657/ Twitter: @robert26smith Web: www.fanhealthnetwork.com Connect with Narinder: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/narinder-makin-68416922/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/healthper Twitter: @narindermakin Twitter: @healthper Web: www.healthper.com INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [01:26] Avrohom: Employer wellness programs are on the rise, with an average cost of $742 per employee, per year, according to a 2017 survey conducted by UnitedHealthcare. What are the drivers behind the growing trend of employer wellness programs? [02:26] Avrohom: What are the challenges faced by companies looking to offer employer wellness programs? Robert: Either you are just checking out whether to have a wellness solution or are coming from an existing well-being offering that had an anemic engagement or looking to extend a current well-being offering, we cover it all. You can start with HUDDLE where you engage with the celebrities including Hollywood, TV and Sports personalities, and run a holistic challenge like Find Your Purpose & Get Moving or a Take a Hike Step Challenge that can be run independently or co-exist with your existing solution. You can mature to a HEALTHY YOU program that includes personalization and complete program customization with challenges, coaching, branding, and incentives. [12:49] Where did this idea, for Fan Health Network, come from? [14:39] How has partnering with Microsoft helped you grow and scale your business? [17:54] Avrohom: There is definitely a huge emphasis, nowadays, on healthy living as evidenced by the growing market on wearable technologies; which, according to a recent report by PRNewswire, is estimated to reach a market size of over $57M by the end of 2022. Besides corporate wellness, where else do you see Fan Health Network playing a role in the overall healthy living marketplace? Robert: Fan Health Network envisions not only to increase the participation in device reported data through its integrated experience but also sustain the engagement through its rich influencer network and incentive capability. At Fan Health, we believe that our engagement capabilities promote device adoption in workplace populations. It also drives to increase data collection for patient engagement solutions that are either Digital Therapeutics Interventions or Provider backed interventions. [20:21] Avrohom: How do people connect with you? Links to Azure Market Place: 1. Take A Hike Challenge https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/fanhealthnetwork.msmp_takeahike_01?tab=Overview 2. Healthy You https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/fanhealthnetwork.healthyyou_01?tab=Overview 3. Find Your Purpose & Get Moving Challenge https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/fanhealthnetwork.challenge_fpgm_01?tab=Overview 4. HUDDLE https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/fanhealthnetwork.msmphud_transact_01?tab=Overview You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eiZi7--wzgA

Misha Rangel, the Senior Product Marketing Manager for IBM to share shared her insights on a recent IT Infrastructure spending study that was conducted by Forrester Research on behalf of IBM Systems. The study can be accessed here: ibm.biz/Avrohom-HMC-Study One of the key findings mentioned in the report is that on-premises solutions continue to play a key role in IT Infrastructure spending decisions, with 90% of IT decision-makers agreeing that on-premises infrastructure is a critical part of their hybrid cloud strategies. Another key finding of the report is that IT decision-makers anticipate that more than half of mission-critical workloads and 47% of data-intensive workloads will be run either on-premises or in an internal private cloud within the next two years. This does not mean that organizations have stopped investing in on-premises. Misha goes into this topic in greater detail during our discussion. Another key finding is that companies that delay IT Infrastructure upgrades are opening themselves up to serious vulnerabilities. Misha Rangel has spent 13+ years as a product marketing leader for B2B technology companies. Contact Misha: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/misharangel/ Twitter: @misharangel Web: ibm.biz/Avrohom-HMC-Study Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:34] IBM just published the findings of an IT Infrastructure study conducted by Forrester Research. Can you help us understand, what are the current trends for IT Infrastructure spending? [01:44] What’s driving the conversations around IT Infrastructure refresh? [03:13] As you know, many companies are delaying upgrading their infrastructure, for various reasons. Be it budget cuts, lack of resources, or something else. What are the ramifications to delaying an infrastructure upgrade? [03:13] Companies that delay IT Infrastructure upgrades are opening themselves up to serious vulnerabilities. [04:54] Security doesn’t stop at the software level. Hardware has a security component, as well. [05:21] One of the things the Forrester study talks about is that we’re seeing growth in Public Cloud spending across all types of workloads. Does this also refer to mission-critical workloads, or are there any kind of workloads where, perhaps, an on-prem or a hybrid cloud configuration might be a better choice? [10:25] Where can people go to learn more about the Forrester IT Infrastructure study? ibm.biz/Avrohom-HMC-Study [11:02] How do people connect with you? [11:36] Do you have any parting words of wisdom to share with the audience? [11:40] Being consistent with IT Infrastructure refreshes can make a big difference with regards to preventing risks and threats to a company. [12:17] Maintaining consistent IT Infrastructure refreshes is like going for an annual checkup at your doctor.

Debra Ruh is a Global Disability Inclusion Strategist, Market Influencer, internationally recognized keynote speaker, published author, branding expert, successful entrepreneur, and an exceptional mother. She is the host of the popular program: Human Potential at Work. Contact Debra: Web: https://RuhGlobal.com Twitter: @DebraRuh #AXSChat Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:43] We are at the cusp of the mainstream adoption of 5G, which will enable us to massively scale up our install base of connected devices. When thinking about IoT, there will be so many applications for Smart Homes, Smart Industries, and Smart Cities. This also means that there will be lots of competition for IoT manufacturers (and this is not necessarily limited to the field of IoT), which means that they have to really understand what their customers want, and HOW they’re using their products, in order to stay ahead of the game. What are the challenges that manufacturers have about understanding how people use their products? [01:23] Many manufacturers assume one size fits all. [01:23] Listening to your customers about how they use your technology gives you a competitive edge in the marketplace. [05:35] How do Diversity and Inclusion apply to Autonomous Vehicles? [07:05] Technologies like autonomous vehicles enable seniors and people with disabilities greater independence. [07:05] One of the key benefits emerging technologies offers seniors is the freedom to age in place, on their own terms. [08:52] How can technology help seniors and people with disabilities? [09:00] Smart Home technology enables people with disabilities to live independently while keeping them safe. [12:30] Smart Home technology can ensure that seniors are taking their pills! [14:27] Emerging Technologies, such as Autonomous Vehicles and Smart Homes, can give seniors back their independence and dignity. [15:49] CyberSecurity and hacking are topics that dominate today’s social media discussions. Can you help us understand, what are the CyberSecurity challenges for seniors and people with disabilities? [21:07] How can we protect seniors and people with disabilities from online predators? [21:07] A great resource to educate seniors about the Cybersecurity pitfalls of the online world is Scott Schober’s book, CyberSecurity is Everybody’s Business. [21:07] The world is changing so fast that we have to keep educating ourselves about the latest technologies. [22:00] Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba once said: “Today, making money is very simple. But making sustainable money while being responsible to the society and improving the world is very difficult.” As the world is changing, what obligations do corporations have to show that they care more about people than profits? [22:36] Many corporations are realizing that Tech For Good and complying with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can also be good for profits. [24:35] Younger generations have vowed that they won’t do business with companies that don’t make a difference in the world. [25:53] Diversity and Inclusion is good for profits! [26:04] By valuing Diversity and Inclusion you turn your employees into your most vocal fans. [26:11] Mattel programmed Barbie with AI to speak to girls about employment options. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned when Barbie told girls to choose careers in Fashion, as opposed to becoming a computer scientist! It turns out that they programmed their programmer’s inherent biases into the AI. [29:00] How do people connect with you? [30:09] Do you have any parting words of wisdom to share with the audience? [34:42] We have to care about all people. We need to understand what it means to be human, and how do we celebrate that.

Tina Gravel is the Senior Vice President of Channels and Alliances at Cyxtera Technologies, where she helps businesses migrate their mission-critical applications to The Cloud. She is an award-winning executive with more than 25 years of experience in the IT outsourcing, cloud, security and SaaS industries. Contact Tina: Web: TinaGravel.com Twitter: @tgravel Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [01:09] Cloud is becoming more prevalent in the Enterprise space, with companies migrating more of their mission-critical applications to The Cloud. One of the more recent buzzwords permeating today’s vernacular is Hybrid Cloud. What does Hybrid Cloud really mean? [02:47] What are the considerations businesses need to have when thinking about moving their mission-critical applications to The Cloud? [03:53] A critical requirement for mission-critical applications is uptime. After all, you can’t have a global bank just go offline during a stock trade! One of the inherent benefits of migrating to The Cloud is the Service Level Agreement for guaranteed uptime. Many providers use a term called five 9’s of reliability. IBM just launched the z15 mainframe platform which offers seven 9’s. What do all these 9’s mean, and why are they important to businesses? [05:24] The more 9’s you have, the more expensive it is! [05:24] With regards to Cloud migrations, you need to balance the service level you want, with what you can afford to pay for. [07:03] How does Cyxtera help businesses with their Cloud migrations? [10:44] It’s no question that Cloud is the way to go for Enterprises that are launching brand new mission-critical applications. However, in the real world, the playing field is not so cut and dry. Let’s say, for example, that one of your core business applications is a COBOL program, which resides on a server in a backroom closet and stores its data in a huge flat file. First of all, how do you even begin to “cloud-enable” this ancient application along with its archaic flat-file database? The second challenge is that for that last 50 years no one has had to worry about cybersecurity. The application is running on a server in a secure location, and no one has access to it. As soon as this crucial and sensitive application moves to the cloud, suddenly, you have a new problem to worry about! Is it even worth it? [13:33] What is Zero Trust? [15:57] When migrating to The Cloud, make sure to only provide access to people who absolutely need it. [17:49] How do people connect with you? [18:17] Do you have any parting words of wisdom to share with the audience?

We are living in an era of information overload, where there is an overabundance of information, yet at the same time, it’s hard to ascertain what’s credible and what’s not. Technology changes rapidly, and innovation is on the rise. How can we educate ourselves to know: (1) What products are available on the market? (2) What solutions to search for? (3) Which technology trends will be long-lasting, and which ones will become fads? INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: This episode of #AskTheCEO features a presentation Avrohom Gottheil gave in New Delhi, India for India’s First Annual Deep Tech Summit, titled Deep Tech for All. [08:05] Paul Colmer, a digital coach and global influencer in Cybersecurity, Cloud, and Digital Disruption, shares his perspective on how everyone’s going to get disrupted, and predicts that this will even affect Governments! [11:11] We discussed the reason behind the latest trend of speech enabling smart devices. “Time is the new currency, and that is what’s driving the mass adoption of voice-based technology in the marketplace”, said Avrohom [13:30] J. Dianne Dotson, Science Fiction Writer and Research Scientist, shares how in the future we will be able to leverage AI to search global DNA databases, such as 23 and me, and analyze people’s genomes for disease-causing proteins so that we can disable them and stop diseases from spreading, right from the source. [15:47] Jola Burnett, VP of GfK Consumer Life in NYC, studies the consumer behavior that drives industry trends. Jola answers the question about whether people will accept companies leveraging AI for their customer interactions. Jola spoke about a scenario where you call into a contact center and ask to speak with a representative but got routed to an AI instead. “Does the customer have an out?”, she asks. It all boils down to the customer experience on whether or not people will accept interactions with AI. [18:00] Inma Rodriguez, VP of 5G Core, Cloud & OSS, for Ericsson’s Europe and Latin America Market Area, shares her perspective on the considerations business executives need to think about before making an investment in 5G technology [20:29] Avrohom discusses the Cybersecurity implications of adding massive amounts of IoT devices on our networks. We’re adding 20.4 billion devices by 2020, yet the number of records exposed during data breaches are shooting up exponentially. From January – November 2019 there have already been 4 billion records exposed! [22:40] To combat the increasing volume of Cybersecurity threats we need to follow the three S’s: Share Information, Secure our networks, and Serve our communities. [23:40] Kai Hermsen, Global Coordinator for Siemens’ Charter of Trust, introduces this global initiative of 17 companies that are working together to bring trust to a Digital World. [27:34] Mirko Ross, CEO asvin.io in Stuttgart, Germany shares some of the challenges associated with patching IoT devices. [32:02] We must serve our community by inspiring and mentoring our children, especially our girls, so that they feel comfortable choosing careers in Cybersecurity. [37:17] Tyler Cohen Wood is a cyber-authority with 18+ years of highly technical experience. She is working on a very ambitious initiative to inspire girls all around the world to become excited about choosing careers in Cybersecurity. Her project is the all-new Cybergirlpower Conference, which is launching in the summer of 2020. The project’s website is https://cybergirlpower.com/. Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg