The Tech Blog Writer Podcast

As work environments undergo rapid transformation and distributed and hybrid workforces become the norm, the need for an efficient, smooth digital document creation and management process becomes paramount. Documents remain the essential glue of how business gets done, but many professionals are still stuck in manual legacy processes or facing challenges in their digital document creation. In today's episode, I explore the benefits of document automation and digitization of workflows with Nate Gilmore, CMO, PandaDoc. I also learn more about how this all-in-one document workflow automation platform helps fast scaling teams accelerate the ability to create, manage, and sign digital documents, including proposals, quotes, contracts, and more. On average, their customers achieve a 28% increase in close rate, an 18% increase in the average sales price, and a 65% decrease in the document creation time. We discuss the age-old story of how David is taking on Goliath in the world of SaaS dynamic documents and how close we are to the dream of a paperless office. About Nate With over 20 years of executive experience, Nate helps high-growth SaaS startups supercharge their sales, develop effective marketing programs, and execute customer success plans that move the needle. As CMO for PandaDoc, Nate oversees the marketing team using his broad-based knowledge and extensive experience in business development to ensure that the strategic direction is implemented. With a passion for leadership and mentorship, Nate is a seasoned tech operator, investor, and advisor and has worked with hundreds of smaller startups to help them reach their revenue goals.

Amit Jain from ServiceMax joins me in a conversation about how digital transformation strategies and SaaS are reshaping and improving field service industries such as manufacturing, energy, healthcare, etc. I learn more about Asset Data Gravity and how AI influences field service and product design. About ServiceMax ServiceMax's mission is to help customers keep the world running with asset-centric field service management software. ServiceMax's mobile apps and cloud-based software provide a complete view of assets to field service teams. By optimizing field service operations, customers across all industries can better manage the complexities of service, support faster growth, and run more profitable, outcome-centric businesses.

Mikhael Lindholm from Stratodesk and Nitin Sharma from Citrix discuss how to provide an endpoint experience beyond the infrastructure. We talk about the advantages of using Citrix workspace in a Linux environment. About Mikael Mikael is an EUC, VDI, and virtualization industry veteran that has a long story with different jobs within industry-leading companies. He started as a Citrix Instructor in the early 2000. Mikael has spent his professional life in the world of virtualization and cloud and today saves the world at Stratodesk Software one endpoint at a time. In his free time, he spends time with his family, enjoying the Swiss Alps, mostly by foot and occasionally with his motorbike. About Stratodesk Stratodesk is the leading global innovator in EUC management and OS software. Stratodesk partners with Citrix to bring a greater level of efficiency, convenience, and security to Citrix VDI endpoints and organizations. Stratodesk NoTouch, our management, and OS software for VDI endpoints, is ready to connect to Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops in a matter of minutes. With the Citrix Ready Workspace Hub, Stratodesk can offer an all-in-one solution for your Citrix environment and combines PC repurposing for existing hardware. Stratodesk's cutting-edge, Linux-based solution, NoTouch OS, is impervious to common security threats running on x86 and Raspberry Pi endpoints. Stratodesk offers the perfect user experience for administrators and end-users via NoTouch Center – the most advanced and user-friendly endpoint management software. NoTouch Center is a browser-based solution, packed with enterprise-grade features and can be run on-premise or in the cloud, enabling Remote Workforce to access and manage virtual apps and cloud workspaces from anywhere, on any device." About Nitin Sharma Nitin Sharma is a leader in product and solutions marketing strategy at Citrix. He is responsible for designing and executing global companywide go-to-market strategies for digital workspace solutions. With a passion for solving business problems with technology solutions, he has held various solutions sales and marketing roles—targeting audiences at all levels: executive, line of business, and IT.  

Designed to bring the cloud to the cloudless, Thryv is an end-to-end client experience platform that has already helped nearly 50,000 small businesses across the country take their businesses to the cloud. Joe Walsh, CEO, Thryv joins me in a discussion about why a digital transformation is necessary for SMBs to remain competitive against their enterprise-level competition, as well as discuss the technology and tools available to help them do so. Joe shares the different aspects SMBs are presently being impacted by, the customer experience challenges in the changing climate and how the supply chain is changing business priorities for SMBs We also dive into the findings of the Thryv, Payments Dive 2022 Consumer Payments Survey, which takes a look at how payment strategies have changed over the past few months, what customers seek from vendors, and how they'll respond if a business doesn't offer their preferred payment method and more.

IT departments are often very siloed, with 75% of DevOps initiatives failing due to difficulties working across teams. Creating a community can break down these silos. Additionally, having a community forum can give IT departments support. When IT pros need support, they want it at all hours and prefer self-service that can come from online community forums. During the pandemic, every business was forced to go remote almost overnight and now explore the world of hybrid work. But behind all of this is the need for more tech. But where do you get that equipment at scale and how do you manage that at scale, improving the experience while keeping support calls low? David Sholkovitz from StarTech, joins me on Tech Talk Daily to explore this topic with me.

James Bayly is the Head of Business Development at SubQuery, a data as a service platform that speeds up querying and extracting blockchain data so anyone can take the data off-chain and build Web3 applications of the future. Since its launch in 2021, SubQuery has raised $10.8M, and the platform is serving millions of Polkadot data queries daily. James is also the Head of Business Development at OnFinality, a SaaS platform that supports blockchain teams worldwide by providing critical infrastructure so they can focus on building the next dApp. OnFinality's API service receives 700M+ daily API requests from blockchain developers. James joins me on Tech Talks Daily in a conversation about building decentralized networks with huge communities, sourcing data for cross-chain application development and building core infrastructure for the blockchain industry.

Kashable uses innovative technology to improve the financial well-being of working America with a commitment to both reliability and affordability. Ultimatley, it's a socially responsible financing solution for employees offered as an employer-sponsored voluntary benefit. I wanted to learn more about how it deploys innovative technology to offer immediate access to low-cost credit. Rishi Kumar, Founder of Kashable joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share his story. Rishi is also an engineer, an innovator, and a serial entrepreneur, who has built his career creating value at the nexus of technology and finance. As an MIT computer scientist and former derivatives trader on Wall Street, Rishi combined his engineering techniques in analyzing big data with cutting-edge financing and underwriting to create a cloud based solution that makes instant access to affordable on-demand credit available to every American worker.

I recently discovered Candu, a product-led experience builder that helps any team improve their existing SaaS product without code. Ultimatley, anyone can strategically embed UI components to create personalized, in-product content experiences that engage users throughout the customer lifecycle. The company has also raised $5 million in seed funding, and I wanted to learn more about the story behind all this. Jonathan Anderson, co-founder, and CEO of Candu, joins me on Tech Talks Daily to reveal all. We also discuss the pros and cons of using no-code for business software development and the power of personalized user interfaces in your product adoption journey.

The recent news surrounding the Log4j vulnerability exposes the many cracks that exist within information security tools. Unfortunately, most technologies lack the visibility to detect critical vulnerabilities creating massive enterprise-wide challenges. When I learned that Lakeside software technology is so unique that it identifies dormant vulnerabilities before they become a massive threat to organizations' information security, I felt compelled to find out more. Ryan Purvis, Head of Solutions, Lakeside Software, joins me on Tech Talks Daily. Ryan is focused on helping Lakeside customers solve complex problems and transform their businesses through the strategic application of our technology. In his 20+ year career, Ryan has led cross-functional teams in multiple roles, ranging from Chief Information Officer for HiLo Maritime Risk Management to Director for Cyber Defence at UBS and Engineering Lead for JP Morgan Chase. Ryan divides his time between the UK and South Africa. We discuss why many leading information security tools lack the visibility to detect critical vulnerabilities and the severe impact that this can have on enterprise organizations. We also talk about the importance of speed as a critical factor in remediation.

The fastest-growing part of the world's waste stream is e-waste (unwanted or unusable consumer electronics). This is because technology continues to improve or evolve faster and faster, so electronics become outdated more quickly. Electronic items should not be thrown in the trash (or in landfills) because they contain toxins such as lead, mercury, and cadmium that can leach into the soil and water supplies. For these reasons alone, all electronics should be responsibly recycled. But they seldom are. A company called ERI specializes in the environmentally safe and socially responsible dismantling of electronic waste and ensures 100% data destruction and compliance. John Shegerian is the co-founder and Chairman/CEO of ERI. He is also the author of a book about hardware hacking called the Insecurity of Everything, which went to #1 on Amazon in the cybersecurity category. I invited him on Tech Talks Daily to discuss the scale of the problem and how e-waste plays a pivotal role in the circular economy. We discuss e-waste and data protection and the trends he believes will continue. I also learn more about the most significant factor driving the need for efficient data destruction and how serious a problem hardware hacking is. John also shares real-world examples of devices that store personal data that people don't even think about.

Sidetrade recently revealed B2B global payment trends from its unique Data Lake – industry-first predictive payment intelligence map of 20.7 million companies worldwide Sidetrade CTO Mark Sheldon joins me on Tech Talks Daily to discuss the recent launch of Sidetrade's AI-powered Data Lake which I an industry first for finance leaders. It is the most unique data lake of B2B payment behaviours on the market and combines true AI with real-time collaborative intelligence. With this publicly available AI-powered data lake, finance teams can become more strategic and forward-looking and can use predictive analytics to benchmark and make more strategic business decisions vs. leveraging traditional, tactical/reactive data. We discuss how technology enables finance teams to transform into futurist teams and the power of AI over RPA in the finance function. Mark also reveals the biggest myths about building and maintaining a huge data lake. Finally, I learn more about how Sidetrade has also been featured as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integrated Invoice-to-Cash applications!

Jay Patel, VP Business Development, GM imi Mobile (Cisco acquisition) - the state and future of Communications Platform as a Service and Customer Experience; running a startup to being part of Cisco post-acquisition Jay Patel is the VP & GM of Cisco's Webex CPaaS initiative and joined Cisco when the company he ran was acquired for $730m in 2021. He helped start IMImobile PLC and as CEO led it to a successful IPO in 2014 and then to its exit to Cisco. Today he is working on combining the IMI platforms with relevant technologies from Webex to create solutions that help our clients deliver the world's best customer experiences. We sat down at Cisco Live and explored the Communications Platforms as a Service landscape. I learn more about how cloud-based messaging APIs help Customers use the technology to interact with clients over voice, SMS, email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Apple Business Chat, WeChat and Google RCS. Jay also shares a few tips for founders listening to our conversation and what excites him about the future.

While at Cisco Live, I learned how American Football is being transformed by technology with a tour of the Allegiant Stadium, the home of the Las Vegas Raiders. But, in today's episode, I wanted to turn my attention to the role of technology in Formula 1 McLaren Racing recently announced a multi-year partnership extension and expansion with Cisco as an Official Technology Partner of the McLaren Formula 1 Team from 2022. But I wanted to learn more about how Cisco's technology will help with enterprise networking, Wi-Fi, digital signage, collaboration, and more. At Cisco Live, I sat down with Edward Green, Head of Commercial Technology, McLaren, to explore how technology has transformed F1 and why marginal gains mean everything. I also learn more about how Cisco and Webex are fueling innovation at McLaren. We discuss the importance of finding the perfect tech partner for a team like McClaren and how the relationship with Cisco enables both parties to deliver great things together. We also talk about the growth of esports and how this is helping the McClaren team. We even heard a few anecdotes about Lando Norris too.

98% of the meetings moving forward will have at least one participant that's not in the same physical space as everyone else. That means every meeting will have someone not in the same location, and if these people feel left out, we have regressed. This is just one of the many reasons Jeetu Patel, EVP and General Manager, Security & Collaboration at Cisco, believes hybrid work is broken. Meetings are impacted by the audio and video quality. But it's networking and connectivity that users reply on the most. Employees connecting on insecure networks and unmanaged devices into unsanctioned apps in many businesses are also causing cybersecurity concerns. If these words resonate, it's because we all know there are problems with hybrid working, but Cisco is on a mission to solve them. Jeetu shares the big announcements made at Cisco Live to resolve many problems with hybrid working. We also discuss the Cisco security cloud vision.

Cisco Live ignites creativity, delivers practical know-how, and accelerates the connections that fuel the digital future. But what does that mean in the real world? Today I explore the technology behind Las Vegas and help everyone see the entertainment capital in a different light. Living on the edge may conjure up images of the City of Las Vegas, a city exploding with growth and more than 40 million visitors per year. And with this many residents and visitors, Michael Sherwood, CIO, is living on the edge of technology with IoT and edge computing solutions by Cisco. "With Cisco's advanced cloud applications for connected and automated vehicle technology, the City of Las Vegas has not only advanced digital initiatives but has also delivered real traffic benefits for residents and visitors in the areas of traffic safety and pedestrian protection. The partnership with Cisco has also allowed the City of Las Vegas to expand our data sharing strategy rapidly and securely, which directly supports our region's integrated traffic management and transportation planning."

Tackling meeting fatigue is a big topic at Cisco Live on the show floor. But Webex Hologram is on a mission to solve this problem with 3D immersive collaboration. The real-time meeting solution takes advantage of Augmented Reality headsets combining meeting functionality with immersive 3D. So I invited Edel Joyce on the podcast to give me an overview of what it is and the problems it solves. Edel Joyce is an experienced high performing senior manager with 20 years of industry experience. She has held pivotal roles across Engineering Design, Operations, Customer Experience, Governance, and Strategy in the Technology sector. Most recently, she is leading the productization of Webex Hologram, the industry's first holographic collaboration system, taking it from its innovative roots to a full mainstream product.

The St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD), is a socioeconomically and geographically diverse area based in Longmont, Colorado. SVVSD is home to 60 schools, 33,000 students and spans 411 miles. A St. Vrain's core value is that each student should have equal access to the classes and learning tools they need to succeed. To bridge this gap, SVVSD Leadership soon recognized that Cisco collaboration tools could help SVVSD for staff, educators, and students close the digital divide. Michelle Bourgeois, CTO, St. Vrain Valley School District, joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share her journey in tech and the importance of finding the right tech partner to bring your vision to life. In addition, we discuss the massive culture shift that impacted staff and students and how they got everyone on board to embrace new ways of teaching and learning. We also discuss reimagining the future of education to benefit every student and reduce the digital divide.

Quantum computing is still a while away from widespread commercial application, but another technology could become available much sooner – quantum sensing. Quantum sensors can measure different physical properties, including temperature, magnetic field, and rotation, with extreme sensitivity. These sensitives give the technology distinct advantages for applications including communication, infrastructure monitoring, navigation, and radar. Henry White, Lead Technologist in Sensing at BAE Systems, joins me in a conversation on 'Making Sense of Quantum Sensing'? We discuss what the technology is in more detail, as well as the current and potential real-world applications of quantum sensing, such as threat detection in the military or at airports.

Matthew Rocklin, the creator of Dask, the popular Python native distributed computing library. Matthew is also a founder and CEO of Coiled, which helps teams run Dask in the cloud. The past decade has seen a boom in several open source tools built specifically for data scientists. However, most of these projects struggle to gain wide adoption. Matthew is one of the few leaders in the developer tools space who knows how to build things that data scientists love. Matthew believes that for a data science tool to be successful, it must be human-centric. Data science is a diverse field. It should be easy for any data scientist to pick up a tool and quickly adapt it to their unique use case. Coiled is built on the success of Dask and is being used by thousands of data scientists and engineers in organizations like NASA, Capital One, Anthem Health, and the USAF to combat climate change, perform a credit risk analysis, and manage supply chains. Matthew shares his entrepreneurial path and offers tips on building a human-centric developer tool that thousands of developers will love. We dare to explore the future of distributed computing.

Jack Li is the CEO and founder of Datassential. He took a 2-man company in 2001 and created a global food and beverage digital research powerhouse that helps brands like Target Foods, Jack in the Box, and General Mills innovate with data. This is the company that predicted the rise of avocado toast and is helping restaurants and food service providers match new menu items with consumer preferences. Specifically, they focus on making food data more usable for these brands through digital tools. For example, one of their tools allows you to enter in a new menu item you're considering and see data on how likely consumers are to enjoy it, or how to alter it to improve its appeal. Jack joins me on Tech Talks Daily to discuss how he grew the company, how Datassential predicts food trends, and the practice of merging data science with the art of food. We talk about the tech behind food trend insights, the different models Datassential uses to judge the performance of certain dishes, and how these tools benefit its customers. We also discuss how technologies such as databases and algorithms are helping push restaurants, food service providers, and food brands into the next era and create targeted appeals to customers.

I recently discovered a company called Nykcel that develops an ML platform that allows anyone to develop and integrate ML functionality into their application quickly. So I invited Oscar Beijbom onto the podcast to learn more. He shares his story and some incredibly cool use cases that should give everyone listening to a little food for thought on the value this tech can offer. Oscar is the co-founder and ML lead at Nyckel. He has 20 years of experience shipping ML products for a wide range of products including self-driving cars, airbag bicycle helmets, coral reef monitoring, and microscopy. His academic work on deep learning has been cited over 5000 times and includes topics on object detection, domain transfer learning, and fine-grained visual categorization. We discuss how machine learning differs from artificial intelligence and how entrepreneurs can use machine learning to accelerate the growth of their companies. He also shares tips on how developers can improve the accuracy of their machine learning model.

Many teams have been thrust into collaborating using video tools as hybrid working becomes the norm. But in a world of Zoom fatigue, how can you present yourself on video, and radiate energy, to garner the right attention? How can you create or host memorable live, virtual, or hybrid events? And what is the secret to building an emotional connection with your audience? Ronny Leber joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share his insights and expertise. Ronny Leber is a world-renowned keynote speaker, TV host, stadium host, and legacy coach who has entertained millions of people, live, and worldwide at major sporting events, corporate events, and seminars. He loves to motivate his listeners, fill them with momentum, and provide magic moments that enhance team-building skills and peak performance. Ronny specializes in working with high-level individuals to create their legacy and multiply their impact by helping them build an emotional bridge to their audience and create raving fans. "The reason why I do, what I do is simple: I love to entertain and inspire people in a positive way. I love to create “Magic Moments” to build a bridge between the audience and the protagonists and to create an emotional bond. Ronnie shares tips on performance preparation when thousands of eyes are all on you and how to get the most out of tech-based tools.

Whether supporting new remote workforces, overhauling legacy systems and applications, or combatting ransomware and other cyberattacks, IT organizations face new and evolving challenges to their business and their data. Corporate data has never been more valuable or vulnerable, and data security and management is a C-level business problem, not just an IT problem. Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT) is on a mission to liberate business and IT professionals to do amazing things with their data by ensuring the fundamental integrity of their business. For 25 years, more than 100,000 organizations have relied on Commvault, and today, Metallic is accelerating customer adoption to modernize their environments as they look to SaaS for the future. Today's guest is David Ngo, who has been with Commvault for 24 years--his whole career. He shares his career trajectory and how he has seen the company change, such as launching a SaaS venture, Metallic, of which he is now CTO). We discuss how Metallic's conversations with customers are expanding—from IT operations and infrastructure to matters of security—forcing IT and Security teams to converge on their strategies.I also learn more about how Fiscal Year 2022 was the best in Commvault's history. The growth was driven by large deals and continued traction of SaaS offerings-–including Metallic. The past six quarters since Metallic has been available globally were a success, and this quarter, we crossed a milestone in ARR – reaching $50M.

As crypto trading becomes increasingly prevalent, so too does the opportunity to maximize returns using various technology-driven tactics. One such tactic is the concept of yield farming, the process of using decentralized finance (DeFi) to maximize returns. Brad Yasar is the CEO, and Co-Founder of EQIFI, a decentralized finance (DeFi) investment platform powered by a regulated bank. Brad joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share how he and his team have created the EQIFI Yield Aggregator, harnessing the power of DeFi to generate steady returns across a range of digital asset classes. EQIFI's Yield Aggregator optimizes users' returns across multiple protocols by automatically identifying the most attractive yields based on risk tolerance levels and investment criteria. As a result, EQIFI's Yield aggregator has achieved 70% APY, trumping alternative DeFi platforms like Nexo, which generates 12% APY for its users. Brad demystifies the technology and potential profitability associated with yield farming and why crypto traders should consider utilizing yield farming tactics. Brad also discusses how to approach yield farming for those new to the concept.

Trusted by over 15 million users worldwide, Jotform's forms and a suite of no-code tools are flexible enough for small businesses and robust enough for enterprises. Jotform helps organizations go from busywork to less work with forms that use conditional logic, accept payments, generate reports, automate workflows, and more. Jotform's products make it easy for any team to streamline its processes with 10,000 templates, hundreds of integrations, and almost 400 widgets. Jotform's Steve Hartert joins me on the Tech Talks Daily Podcast to explore how business owners can take advantage of no-code/low-code tech to grow their businesses and customer base. As a SaaS, cloud software, and B2B enterprise products and services expert, Steve discusses how no-code and low-code tech is democratizing access to software and results that weren't possible for small- and medium-sized businesses before. Steve also shares how this type of tech can empower small business owners to embrace digital transformation and take their businesses to the next level.

Brett Galloway, CEO of AttackIQ, joins me on The Tech Talks Daily Podcast to discuss how security leaders can build a comprehensive defense-in-depth strategy to confidently report to their boards, auditors, and leadership teams the strength of their security posture. I ask why CISOs keep investing in more and more security controls when 82% of enterprise breaches that existing controls should have stopped weren't. Finally, we discuss why buying more silver bullet tools to combat evolving threats doesn't solve the underlying problem: how to be indeed confident in your defenses against adversaries. Brett expands on his belief that the only way to do so is by gaining data-driven visibility into what's working across your whole system, people, processes, and technologies by continuously validating them. Then, organizations can build a comprehensive defense-in-depth strategy to stop intruders from breaching their applications, networks, and clouds by automating adversarial emulation.

Ram Palaniappan, Chief Technology Officer, TEKsystems, joins me on the Tech Talks Daily Podcast to discuss its recent State of Digital Transformation report. The report found that leaders who strategically applied technology to enable business transformation thrived and further increased the gap between themselves and digital laggards. We discuss highlights from the report such as why 2 out of 5 organizations note that digital transformation initiatives fail to deliver the identified outcomes. As leaders continue to invest in all aspects of digital transformation, we also talk about how their expected return-on-investment is more immediate, with leaders expecting ROI in one to three years, compared to the laggards at three to five years. TEKsystems recognizes that each organization's road to transformation is rarely a straight line and collectively works with partners to map out attainable wins to identify a path to long-term success in total business transformation. 9 out of 10 organizations indicated that the skills critical to their workforce are also areas where they experience the most significant gaps. We explore how overcoming these gaps, albeit challenging, requires the development of creative talent strategies where companies can acquire new talent, upskill and reskill existing talent, and cultivate a future-ready workforce.

Blake Hall is a former Army ranger who turned his vision of helping veterans into ID.me, the leading digital identity verification company. Blake has grown his company from 21 employees into a $1.5 billion entity. I invited him on Tech Talks Daily to share his tech startup story and learn more about the innovative technology changing how Americans identify themselves online by: We discuss how they are eliminating identity fraud and the $56 billion consumers lost to it in 2020. We also discuss reducing bias and opening access to online services for Americans in underserved communities. Finally, Blake shares how he built ID.me into a unicorn from his initial VC pitch to passing the $1billion valuation mark and how his military background helped him navigate the business world.

Wi‑SUN Alliance® is a global industry association devoted to seamless connectivity. They seek to promote certified standards that coordinate various wireless systems and standardize power levels, data rates, modulations, and frequency bands, among other variables. Through technology development, market building, and regulatory programs, Wi-SUN Alliance supports the worldwide development of Wireless Communications Networks for Utilities, Smart Cities, and IoT. Phil Beecher, President and CEO of Wi-SUN Alliance, joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share his story and mission to accelerate the implementation of smart cities, smart utilities, smart grids and other large-scale outdoor Internet of Things (IoT) applications by enabling the global adoption of interoperable solutions based on open standards. Since 1997, Phil has played a key role in developing communications standards, including Bluetooth, WiFi, and IEEE, and the specification of test plans for many Smart Utilities Network standards. We discuss how IoT is transforming cities and the technology making it happen. We also talk about how smart networks enable other applications, such as smart traffic signals, public transit signs, parking spaces, and electric vehicle charging stations. Finally, we explore how smart cities benefit businesses and residents.  

When it comes to hybrid work, debates continue to rage about who should decide where employees work on any given day and how many days they should be in the office. But, the notion of a fully hybrid workforce has been accepted across those industries that can support it. However, the implementation details of a hybrid work model aren't as important as a result: there will be employees working from home and from the office every day of the week. Hybrid work is the new default. And this promises to have a profound impact on the future of access strategies. F5 application services ensure that applications are secure and perform the way they should—in any environment and on any device. But in today's episode, Lori MacVittie from F5 joins me in a conversation about how hybrid work is driving a shift to identity-centric security. Lori MacVittie is a Principal Technical Evangelist at the Office of the CTO at F5. She has extensive development and technical architecture experience in both high-tech and enterprise organizations. She also serves on the Board of Regents for the DevOps Institute and CloudNOW, and has been named one of the top influential women in DevOps. We discuss IP-based access and how traditional IP-based technologies rely primarily on a fixed set of network ranges and addresses, but why identity is the way and how the security challenges associated with hybrid work are accretive to those arising from the rapid pace of digitization. We also talk about the importance of expanding our understanding of identity beyond people to the workloads, applications, and devices we increasingly rely on.

Giancarlo Hirsch from Phaidon International's Glocomms brand joins me in a conversation around securing business-critical talent in technology. We discuss the intricacies of recruiting in the tech space right now, including the most lucrative positions and insights from both the candidates and companies on what they are looking for. We also talk about bringing humanity back into recruiting and why it's more than just a numbers game while also busting a few myths and misconceptions of recruiting in the tech industry.

Seamlessly monitoring people's temperatures in real time was essential during the height of the pandemic, so Jau Huang took his award-winning photo editing AI tools and adapted them into a COVID health monitoring solution deployed in hotels, malls, and workplaces across the US. Jau Huang is the Founder and CEO of CyberLink, a company that's grown from a small startup into an international powerhouse for multimedia products and facial recognition tools for private businesses. Originally, Huang developed a popular virtual makeup applicator called YouCam, and then transformed it into a facial recognition software called FaceMe that could pair with temperature cameras for accurate identification and health monitoring of subjects, even when masked. The solution consistently ranks as one of the most accurate in the world. On the podcast, Jau shares his journey to adapting his tech for health monitoring and discusses how AI is transforming industries including banking, retail, and employee management.

Peter Wang is a veteran software developer turned co-founder and CEO of Anaconda, which brought the programming language Python to the mainstream for business data analysis. Anaconda's open-source data science solution helps organizations mitigate bias, deploy deep learning models using neural networks, and predict numerous current business challenges, such as customer churn, consumer demand levels, stock prices, maintenance needs and outage probabilities. Anaconda also partners with some of the world's largest tech organizations, including IBM, Red Hat, Snowflake, AWS, and Intel. Peter shares his story on Tech Talks Daily and discusses why bias in data, AI and ML should be an enterprise priority right now. I also learn how Anaconda and the open-source community is responding to the Russian-Ukraine crisis and the importance of mentorship in an ever-changing field like data science.

Ivan Ostojic was recently named Chief Business Officer of Infobip, the Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) which, in 2020, became the first Croatian company to reach unicorn status. In the past 12 months alone, over 5 billion people have used Infobip solutions and services. Ivan joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share the story behind the company. We discuss the new Adobe partnership and how the company introduced SMS and WhatsApp messaging for Adobe Commerce customers. This means customers can get real-time alerts via texts or WhatsApp with information related to stock levels, personalized special offers, and order tracking, adding value to the Adobe Commerce experience. We also discuss how Infobip recently secured funding of $500m, advised by Morgan Stanley and led by funds managed by the Credit Group of Ares Management Corporation and funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. We also explore several macro trends in the API market, the rise of CPaaS, the unicorn effect, and more.

Viasat is a global communications company that believes everyone and everything can be connected. That's why they are building the ultimate communications network, to enable great, global connectivity to be brought to where it's needed and wanted most: to homes all over the world, to faraway communities, to warfighters on the battlefield, and to people in the air or at sea — to name a few. John Reeves, Managing Director of Viasat UK joins me on Tech Talks Daily. John discusses the need for better technology development using third parties within the public sector and connectivity. More specifically, we explore a fresh approach to technology development. With MI6 recently outlining plans to use technology developed by outside companies for the first time, John shares why the Government and bodies such as the MoD need to perform the same cultural shift. John also expands on how and why using commercial technology can, with the right approach and controls in place, offer more opportunities to innovate, adapt and develop the best capabilities against the rise of increasingly advanced and sophisticated adversaries. After all, ultimately it's all about getting tech into the hands of people in the field. John also outlines the importance of a hybrid approach, using a combination of technologies to deliver end users the connectivity and services they need. After all, the person on the ground – whether armed personnel, paramedics, or someone living in a remote village – doesn't care how their service arrives. They just care that it arrives.

Anthony Hughes is the co-founder and CEO of Tech Elevator, a 14 to 30-weeks coding bootcamp that teaches students in-demand tech skills that can lead to meaningful careers in the tech industry. After reading that 2,300 students have graduated from Tech Elevator, with 90% of whom secured tech positions at companies within 6 months, I felt compelled to find out more about the story behind the company. Anthony has been nominated twice for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2020 and 2021). Before starting Tech Elevator, he was the President of the Software Craftsmanship Guild, another fast-paced program that teaches the skills required for a tech career which Learning House acquired in April 2015. In today's episode of Tech Talks Daily, Anthony shares his story. He discusses how Covid-19 has accelerated the need for a digital workforce and why anyone thinking of joining the tech industry should do it now as the career leap will be worth it. We also talk about how the modern-day coding bootcamps are helping companies meet the enormous demand for tech talent.

Itxaso Del Palacio, Partner of VC fund Notion Capital joins me on Tech Talks Daily. Notion is a European VC fund in the B2B SaaS and Cloud space with more than $700m in assets under management. Having made 80+ investments to date, the Notion team founded, built, and exited two highly successful SaaS businesses – Star and MessageLabs – and today invests exclusively in exceptional founders with the ambition to build global category leaders. The fund's investments include Go-Cardless, Paddle, Currencycloud, and Tradeshift. Notion is also the founding fund of Included VC, the venture capital fellowship for individuals from diverse and overlooked communities from around the world. But I wanted to learn more about Itxaso's unconventional journey to the VC world, which includes a decade of classical ballet, working on the assembly line at DaimlerChrysler, a Masters in Engineering, and, ultimately, a PhD in Entrepreneurship. Once she turned her hand fully to VC investing, since 2010, she moved to London and has invested in more than a dozen businesses in the last 12 years. She has also taught entrepreneurship to around 2,000 students at University College London and Imperial College. And before joining Notion, she spearheaded the European launch of Microsoft Ventures and led investments in Onfido, Beamery, and Unbabel. In the episode, we discuss why there is no one route to entering the VC industry and how product-led growth will be the key to the expansion, explosion, and even domination of European software companies globally. Itxaso also shares what traits she looks for in founders and what the best founders do to blow away investors beyond their entrepreneurial vision.

Eversheds Sutherland is a global top 10 law practice that provides legal advice and solutions to an international client base that includes some of the world's largest multinationals. They have a reputation for helping their clients, people, and communities to thrive by providing quality, innovation, and consistency in legal service delivery around the globe from over 70 offices in more than 30 countries. The legal industry has been criticized for being slow to adapt to the digital world, but I wanted to determine if this is a myth that we can finally lay to rest. So I invited James Grice on the podcast to discuss how this law firm is being driven by legal technology and how it launched the hugely successful Techtober alongside its first Legal technology graduate scheme last year. James Grice is an experienced technology transformation professional, working directly with clients and lawyers to collaborate on new, innovative solutions. He is also the Head of Legal Service Design at Eversheds Sutherland LLP. Having conceived and built the team to design new service delivery models and drive continuous process improvement. He leads a diverse team of talented professionals focusing on human-centered solutions, designing and implementing their Legal Service Design framework to ensure the consistent delivery of excellent service to clients. James also has a keen interest in emerging technology, leading the firms Robotic Process Automation CoE, as well as supporting the business in the implementation of new legal tech solutions, coordinating the overall product portfolio, and driving adoption and awareness across the firm. He is a qualified Business Change Practitioner, Design Thinking practitioner and facilitator, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, APMQ Project Manager, and Certified Technical Trainer.

Tshepo Mahloko heads up the Co-Innovation Lab for SAP. He leads a team dedicated to developing groundbreaking applications for software and technology. Yet, it's his inspiring journey to his career as a technologist that truly serves as a foundation for his current vision as a leader. Growing up in South Africa, he began to hone his skills as an innovator from a young age, experimenting with ways to pair technological prowess with an unwavering passion for social good. He ultimately found early success applying his abilities by leading grassroots initiatives that employed technology to help alleviate poverty within his community. These formative experiences helped mold his abilities as a problem solver while further reinforcing his ability to lead within a highly competitive field. So I invited him on the podcast to share his story, which began with the African way of innovation and how it led him to the global company lSAP. About Co-Innovation Lab for SAP Have you ever wondered how many liters of water it takes to create one liter of mineral water? Or what happens when you have to stop a sugar mill because there is a shortage in the delivery of sugar cane? Can a repair centre safely retread a particular truck tire without impacting the tire warranty? The SAP Co-Innovation Lab provisions and delivers co-innovation services and project environments from currently 16 locations worldwide. Each location uniquely reflects regional nuances while offering the same degree of professionalism and co-innovation experience.

Dave Grow is the President and COO of Lucid – the leading provider of visual collaboration software. After raising more than $500 million in June 2021, the company is now valued at $3 billion and trusted by 99% of the Fortune 500 to connect candidates and employees and help them clarify complexity, collaborate visually, and progress opportunities to advance no matter where they're located. Looking back at the last two years of the pandemic, we can no longer underestimate the hit collaboration has taken in the shift to remote working – and how visual collaboration technology can help restore it. Great virtual meetings don't happen by accident. As offices open their doors again amid mass resignations, project managers are increasingly asking themselves, 'what could've gone better during the pandemic?' and 'what technology do I need' to redefine the next wave of working. For Dave Grow, businesses have still not cracked proper remote collaboration platforms. 75% of employees believe collaboration suffered most during the pandemic, according to Lucid's research. I invited Dave to join me on the Tech Talks Daily podcast to discuss the importance of understanding the difference between an adaptive strategy vs. a reactive strategy and altering collaboration processes for new circumstances. I learn how one size doesn't fit all and why businesses should equip themselves with the most relevant tools to facilitate collaboration for their team. But why they shouldn't rely on the tech, they brought in during the pandemic but constantly re-evaluate their stack. Finally, we talk about creating an environment where everyone can contribute, no matter if they are in person or remote.

Europe has been paving the way for digital IDs with the eIDAS legislation, and the U.S. is next in line. Apple is rolling out a feature that will enable U.S. residents to upload their government-issued ID to their Wallet app, while some states like Mississippi and Florida have already launched or are working on launching their own digitized driver's license program for residents. While digital ID solutions do offer a more convenient alternative to physical IDs, the high sensitivity of these documents means this approach will come with many potential security and privacy implications that governments must be prepared to face. Jumio has verified more than 500 million identities issued by over 200 countries and territories from real-time web and mobile transactions. Jumio's solutions are used by leading companies in the financial services, sharing economy, digital currency, retail, travel, and online gaming sectors. Bala Kumar, Chief Product Officer at Jumio Corporation, discusses what we currently know about digital driver's licenses and what governments should consider to safeguard their residents' identities. Bala can also discuss the privacy challenges that may arise with a digital ID system and best practices for ensuring the system is truly secure.

If you have ever looked at the food hashtags on Instagram, it doesn't take long until you feel hungry. But have you ever opened up the Deliveroo, Just Eat, or UberEats App to see the same big fast food outlets? If you are a food lover, you will probably want something more sophisticated or tastier than a Mcdonald's or a KFC. Father and son duo Brandon, CEO, co-founder, and the COO Jacob of Propagrub share their story on the Tech Talks Daily Podcast. I learn more about the technology behind a new food delivery service app that aims to create a community for foodies. Inspired by the impact of the pandemic and how it hit chef unemployment rates and the rise of small businesses selling goods through social platforms, Propagrub was born. The platform provides independent chefs and traders with new business and exposure. For food lovers, it makes food discovery easy. It also builds a foodie community where users can chat, and share food images, recipes, clips, reels, and experiences. Ultimately the love and passion for food. Brandon shares how he worked for 28 years as a chartered surveyor growing hospitality brands from one or two sites to 100+. His first client was Cafe Rouge who he began working in 1994, assisting in their expansion to 150 units in three years. Jacob brings Propagrub a wealth of experience spanning marketing technology, merchandising, operations, cryptocurrency, design, and development, having already run several start-ups in the past decade.

Brandon Leibowitz runs and operates SEO Optimizers, a digital marketing company that focuses on helping small and medium-sized businesses get more online traffic, which in turn converts into clients, sales, leads, etc. For the past 14 years, he has been involved with search engine optimization and other digital marketing strategies to help drive targeted traffic that converts. I invited Brandon on the podcast to share his story and explore SEO topics such as advanced link-building strategies and analyzing your data to find SEO opportunities.

Gigster is on a mission to companies develop software applications with the speed of a startup, coupled with the quality and expertise of the most innovative global talent. Cory Hymel leads all things Web3 as the Director of Blockchain at Gigster, a company dedicated to helping businesses develop software applications with the speed of a startup, coupled with the quality and expertise of the most innovative global talent. Cory also manages academic partnerships to help further research into distributed teams and the future of work. I invited Cory on the podcast to share his insights on what he sees as emerging trends for mass adoption and early execution of enterprise impacting technology like NFTs, blockchain and Web3. We also discuss how to create a roadmap for an NFT marketplace development project and why inter-blockchain communication is the key to blockchain mass adoption. We explore the topic of high Ethereum gas fees and why Gas is vital on the Ethereum network as it avoids poor performance and security issues for every transaction.  

I recently read that approximately 50 percent of men and 30 percent of women in the US will develop symptomatic heart disease. I wanted to learn more about the scale of the problem and how non-invasive technology can help determine who is at the greatest risk for a cardiovascular episode, Dr. Charles Taylor, co-founder, Chief Scientific Officer, and member of the Board of Directors of HeartFlow joins me on Tech Talks Daily. We discuss how technology is transforming the diagnosis and management of coronary artery disease. We also discuss how the medical community has received HeartFlow and how technology drives a more proactive healthcare approach. About Charles A. Taylor, Ph.D. Dr. Taylor is a co-founder, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), and member of the Board of Directors of HeartFlow. Previously, he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Surgery at Stanford University with courtesy faculty appointments in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Radiology. He is internationally recognized for the development of computer modeling and imaging techniques for cardiovascular disease research, device design, and treatment planning. He received his BS degree in Mechanical Engineering, MS degree in Mechanical Engineering, and MS degree in Mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.

In today's episode of Tech Talks Daily, Dr. Steven Hunt, Chief Expert, Technology & Work at SAP, joins me in a conversation about Workforce Psychology, HR Technology & Business Strategy. Steven shares his origin story, and we discuss how technology is influencing the way we work and how this has evolved over the last few years. Shifting demographics combined with the digitalization of all aspects of life are transforming the nature of work. This is forcing companies to rethink how they design jobs and recruit, develop, and engage employees. In Talent Tectonics: Navigating Global Workforce Shifts, Building Resilient Organizations, and Reimagining the Employee Experience, Steven Hunt explains how technology is changing the purpose of work and why creating effective employee experiences is critical to building organizations that can thrive in a world of accelerating change and growing skill shortages. I learn more about how a technology company like SAP embraces this area of focus and how it impacts new software solutions being developed. We also explore the role of technology in all of this and what tools are critical in this future of work evolution. About Steven A recognized expert on strategic human resources (HR), Dr. Hunt has had a pivotal role in developing systems that have improved productivity and engagement of millions of employees working for hundreds of companies around the globe. A well-known speaker, author, and thought leader on strategic human resources, Dr. Hunt has written over 100 articles, published two books, and supported strategic HR efforts working with companies across five continents. Dr. Hunt holds a Ph.D. in industrial-organizational psychology from The Ohio State University, a B.A. in applied mathematics and psychology from the University of California, San Diego, and certification as a Strategic Professional of Human Resources (SPHR) from the Society of Human Resource Management. He has experience as an advisory board member for the Society of Human Resource Management, the Workforce Institute, the Journal of Management, and other talent management organizations. Prior to joining SuccessFactors, Dr. Hunt held positions with Kronos Talent Management Division, Starbucks Coffee Corporation, SHL Inc., Personnel Decisions International, and the U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories. Find out more information on today's conversation at http://talenttectonics.com/

At CES this year, Peter Virk, Vice President, IVY Product & Ecosystem at BlackBerry on #1839, shared how over 195 million cars worldwide currently use BlackBerry software. In the light of current geopolitical events and the consequent necessity for extra cyber security vigilance, I wanted to bust a few more myths and talk about the role of BlackBerry in Cybersecurity. After 14 years at McAfee, where he was vice president of central and north/eastern Europe, Hans-Peter Bauer moved to BlackBerry to start his new role as senior vice president of EMEA. But I wanted to learn more about BlackBerry's Prevention First approach, which involves using AI and machine learning ML to prevent attacks from the outset. We discuss why a four-day workweek is possible for the always-on cybersecurity industry and what it looks like for a small business to be fully protected against cyber-attacks and explore if it's sustainable. We also talk about why a prevention first cybersecurity approach is much more than just a perimeter defense – at its best; it's an active effort to neutralize malware before the exploitation stage of the kill-chain Finally, we talk about how not to become a victim, the shortage of IT workers, why security specialists are critical, and what organizations can do to attack new cyber specialists.

Peter Holten Mühlmann founded Trustpilot in 2007. Over the last fourteen years, he has led Trustpilot from a small Danish startup to a global FTSE-250 listed company. Day to day, Peter focuses on business strategy and product development and has overseen Trustpilot's expansion to 800+ employees across six countries. Peter joins me on Tech Talks Daily to talk about the story behind Trustpilot and how they are using techology to remove fake reviews. We talk about a new Consumer Verification tool, an industry first in the world of online reviews. This tool is yet another step in Trustpilot's effort to protect and promote trust online – something that continues to be a struggle, as we've seen with companies like Fashion Nova hiding bad reviews from the public and businesses buying fake reviews. As a result, it's difficult for a shopper to trust what's said online. We also discuss the growing issue of misinformation causing distrust between consumers and businesses and discuss some recent data Trustpilot has uncovered through recent consumer surveys. For example, 84% of Americans say they'd be motivated to prove their identity if it would protect others from misinformation online. We explore how another recent survey about consumer grudges that revealed 66% of Americans aged 45-54 years old are less likely to regret holding a grudge than those aged 25-34 (37%) and 69% of Americans are holding a grudge, while 51% regret holding a grudge.

Oleg Giberstein is the Co-Founder of Coinrule (YCombinator backed startup, S21), which is all about catching the next market opportunity on your behalf by automating your investments. With Coinrule, hobbyist investors can compete with professional traders and hedge funds by creating automated strategies for Crypto and Stocks. The company has achieved over 209% of its seed target during one of its most recent crowdfunding campaigns, raising an impressive $700K from 670+ investors. Other investors include the founders of Twitch, EightSleep, and Fitbit. I invited Oleg on Tech Talks Daily to share his story, which began when he worked in Banking and Risk roles at Citigroup London for many years. In his last role at Citi, Oleg was Chief of Staff to Citi's Global Public Sector Portfolio Head. Here in 2022, I learn more about Coinrule and the problems it solves for its customers. We talk about fintech, crypto, trading, investing, and how Oleg organizes Enterprise Ethereum Alliance meetups in London.

Yotta is a solar storage solution that simplifies the solar storage process through decentralized, panel-level storage and optimizes energy efficiency with intelligent software. Through its flagship product, SolarLEAF™, they have pioneered a modular storage solution with smart thermal regulation that seamlessly integrates behind each photovoltaic (PV) panel while maximizing the life and performance of the battery. Unlike fixed storage centers, SolarLEAF allows you to expand the development of solar + storage microgrids in minutes. Today, the market needs a breakthrough in energy storage solutions. Although solar+storage has risen in popularity over the last 10 years, the industry has faced challenges with producing practical batteries for energy storage. Omeed Badkoobeh shares Yotta's vision to accelerate the adoption of solar+storage by engineering a new generation of solar storage that is cost-effective and reliable, changing the face of solar energy as we know it.

Remittance tech is booming right now and the digitization of sending money isn't slowing down. 2021 was a milestone year for remittances, and according to a recent report from the Remittance Industry Observatory, digital transactions accounted for 37% of all global remittances – a 15% bump compared to 2020. Moreover, as the global payment industry continues to maneuver choppy macroeconomic situations, the digitization of remittances is only expected to grow, with industry leaders estimating that digital transactions will reach 50% by 2032. Earl Melivo, a global payment expert and Director of Country and Business Development at the digital-first remittance company, WorldRemit joins me on Tech Talks Daily. We discuss the digital remittance trends WorldRemit is already seeing with their users worldwide. He also shares his first-hand insights on how the industry is heading towards a more digital world.