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In "Beyond FBA: Unlocking Amazon's Fulfillment for Retailers", Joe Lynch and Wainwright Yu, the General Manager and Director for Amazon's externalized fulfillment services, including Buy with Prime and Multichannel Fulfillment, discuss how retailers can scale their brands by leveraging Amazon's global logistics and the Prime badge to drive multi-channel growth. About Wainwright Yu Wainwright Yu is a technology executive and leadership coach who currently serves as the General Manager and Director for Amazon's externalized fulfillment services, including Buy with Prime and Multichannel Fulfillment. Over a distinguished thirteen-year tenure at Amazon, he has launched transformative products for Kindle and Amazon Logistics while training emerging leaders through executive development programs. As a scholar-practitioner and father to four multi-exceptional children, he brings a unique, personal perspective to cognitive diversity in the workplace. Through his diverse work in global business operations and private coaching, Wainwright remains dedicated to his mission of establishing mindful, compassionate leadership as the standard for the modern professional world. About Amazon Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth's Best Employer, and Earth's Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews. Key Takeaways: Beyond FBA: Unlocking Amazon's Fulfillment for Retailers In "Beyond FBA: Unlocking Amazon's Fulfillment for Retailers", Joe Lynch and Wainwright Yu, the General Manager and Director for Amazon's externalized fulfillment services, including Buy with Prime and Multichannel Fulfillment, discuss how retailers can scale their brands by leveraging Amazon's global logistics and the Prime badge to drive multi-channel growth. Leveling the Playing Field with MCF: Wainwright explains how Multi-Channel Fulfillment allows any retailer—whether they sell on Amazon or not—to tap into Amazon's global network of 200+ fulfillment centers. This turns Amazon into a high-performance 3PL that handles picking, packing, and shipping for orders from your own website, Shopify, or even social media stores. The "Halo Effect" of Buy with Prime: A major focus is how Buy with Prime allows D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) sites to offer the familiar Prime logo and checkout experience. By providing the same fast, free delivery promise shoppers trust on Amazon, retailers have seen an average 25% lift in conversion rates on their independent sites. Unified Inventory Management: Wainwright discusses the strategic advantage of a single pool of inventory. Instead of splitting stock between various warehouses, retailers can keep all their products in Amazon's centers to fulfill both Amazon.com orders (via FBA) and off-Amazon orders (via MCF), drastically reducing out-of-stock risks. Frictionless Checkout via Amazon Pay: With Buy with Prime, the checkout process is streamlined using the customer's existing Amazon account details. This reduces "cart abandonment" because shoppers don't have to enter credit card or shipping info, making the purchase as simple as a few clicks. Unbranded Packaging Options: A common concern for retailers is brand identity. Wainwright highlights that MCF orders can be shipped in unbranded, "blank box" packaging, allowing the retailer's brand to remain front and center rather than being overshadowed by Amazon's smile logo. Trust-Building through Reviews: Through Buy with Prime, retailers can now display their Amazon.com star ratings and reviews directly on their own websites. This social proof helps "new-to-brand" shoppers feel confident enough to buy from a site they may be visiting for the first time. Predictable, All-In Pricing: Wainwright clarifies that both services offer a simple, transparent fee structure that includes storage, picking, packing, and shipping. For many brands, this eliminates the hidden costs of managing private warehouses and allows for more accurate margin forecasting. Learn More About Beyond FBA: Unlocking Amazon's Fulfillment for Retailers Wainwright Yu | Linkedin Amazon | Linkedin Relentless.com Amazon MCF Amazon MCF Case Study: JLab Recent News The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: Google, Apple, Castbox, Spotify, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Podbean, Owltail, Libsyn, Overcast Check out The Logistics of Logistics on Youtube
In this last episode of the special AI mini-series, we now explore the human side of transformation, where technology meets purpose and people remain at the center. From future jobs and critical thinking to working with C-level leaders, how human intervention and high-quality data drive success in an AI-powered world.This week Dave, Esmee , Rob sit down with Johanna Hutchinson, CDO at BAE systems about why data matters, the rise of Sovereign AI, and the skills shaping the intelligence age. TLDR00:55 Introduction of Johanna Hutchinson02:09 Explaining the State of AI mini-series with Craig06:01 Conversation with Johanna34:20 Weaving today's data tapestries with AI40:20 Going to a rave GuestJohanna Hutchinson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanna-hutchinson-95b95568/ HostsDave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/with co-host Craig Suckling: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigsuckling/ProductionMarcel van der Burg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Cloud Realities' is an original podcast from Capgemini
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Ned Bellavance and Kyler Middleton are joined by Rachel Stephens, Research Director at RedMonk, to discuss the state of DevOps and the impact of AI. They explore the distinction between developer productivity and development productivity, underlined by a DORA report finding that while AI dramatically boosts individual developer productivity, it often fails to improve overall... Read more »
In this special episode, host Cindi Howson pulls together the most useful, and hard-won, lessons from a year of conversations with Data Chiefs leading the GenAI charge. With generative and agentic AI no longer a side experiment, this episode spotlights five practices early adopters can rely on to move from pilots to profit. Expect straight talk on what to prioritize, how to bring people with you, and how to scale AI with the trust, literacy, and guardrails that make impact stick.Key Moments:Tying AI to Real Dollars with Anand Iyer, Ecolab (02:10): Anand cuts through the GenAI FOMO and brings everything back to a simple survival test: if you can't draw a straight line from an AI initiative to top-line growth or bottom-line savings, it won't last. His lesson is a sharp reminder that “cool” doesn't scale, value does. Leading Through Ambiguity with Karen Stroup, WEX (06:01): Karen names what everyone's feeling: ambiguity is paralyzing. She explains how leaders earn trust by shrinking the unknown into learnable, bite-sized experiments and creating the psychological safety people need to engage instead of resist.Building Practical AI Literacy at Scale with Josh Cunningham, Lloyds Banking Group (12:42): Josh shares how Lloyds Banking Group makes literacy impactful by meeting people where they are. Rather than one-size-fits-all training, they pair broad fundamentals with role-specific learning so every business unit can build confidence in ways that match their actual work. Scaling Responsible Agentic AI with Noelle Russell, AI Leadership Institute (25:09): Noelle steps in with a practical framework for building agentic systems that don't go rogue. She walks through the POET framework and stresses that responsible AI isn't a final checkpoint. It's something you embed from the first idea to production, with guardrails that protect people and outcomes.Embedding AI Where Work Happens with Ilan Twig, Navan (32:35): Ilan tells a classic early-adopter story: start with a business problem, move fast, and be ruthless about what needs building versus buying. His lesson is that AI wins when it's inside the workflow, supporting decisions at the point of impact rather than living in a separate tool. Don't Let Perfection Stall Progress with Ketan Karkhanis, ThoughtSpot (40:59): Ketan shares a culture gut-check: waiting for perfect metrics, perfect KPIs, or perfect clarity is how progress dies. He argues for visible, trust-building iteration, because in AI, speed to learning beats speed to certainty. Key Quotes:“One thing that people sometimes forget is that at the end of the day, it's all about are we either saving money or making money? And are you able to show that in the bottom line or the top line in a measurable way?” - Anand Iyer“I don't think there's any chief anything officer that should not be considering AI today. I think if you're not considering AI, you are at the risk of being disrupted because you're not going to be learning at the pace with the rest of the industry, and there's someone out there looking for a better way.” - Karen Stroup“It's trying your best to meet people where they are… Finding a way to anchor the [AI] learning to something that's relevant to their day-to-day role is always going to make it land better.” - Josh Cunningham“ When people lose 70% of their trust in you, they just don't buy from you, they don't work for you, they don't talk about you… and your business starts to die. I think that trust component is a human component… and it is underpinning all the other philosophies that I have.” - Noelle Russell“When you asked me about how to educate yourself on AI, I think that companies must make a decision, and quickly, this or that.” - Ilan Twig“ Don't let perfection be the enemy of progress.” - Ketan KarkhanisGuest Bios Anand IyerAnand Iyer is the SVP, Chief Data Officer at Ecolab, where he leads the company's global data and analytics strategy. Based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, he oversees enterprise data governance, business intelligence, engineering, and advanced analytics to accelerate Ecolab's digital transformation. Since joining in 2018, Anand has held several senior roles, including VP of Enterprise Architecture and VP of Architecture for Commercial Digital Solutions, helping to scale IoT and data-driven platforms across the organization.Karen StroupKaren joined WEX in 2022 as Chief Digital Officer, a newly created role. She brings more than 15 years of experience leading product management, digital, and innovation organizations focused on software as a service offerings, primarily in financial services.Josh CunninghamJosh Cunningham is the Group Head of Data and AI Culture at Lloyds Banking Group, where he leads the Data Culture Pillar—one of five strategic pillars in the Group's data strategy. He is focused on embedding data-driven mindsets across the organization and empowering teams to unlock the full value of data.Noelle RussellNoelle Russell is a multi-award-winning speaker, author, and AI Executive who specializes in transforming businesses through strategic AI adoption. She is a revenue growth + cost optimization expert, 4x Microsoft Responsible AI MVP, and named the #1 Agentic AI Leader in 2025. She has led teams at NPR, Microsoft, IBM, AWS and Amazon Alexa, and is a consistent champion for Data and AI literacy and is the founder of the "I ❤️ AI" Community teaching responsible AI for everyone.Ilan TwigIlan Twig is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Navan, the leading modern travel and expense management platform, globally. As CTO, Ilan drives Navan's product development and engineering efforts, leveraging cutting-edge technologies — including AI — to enhance user experience and operational efficiency. Ketan KarkhanisKetan Karkhanis is the CEO of ThoughtSpot, the Agentic Analytics Platform company. Prior to joining the company in September 2024, Ketan was the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Sales Cloud at Salesforce. He returned to Salesforce in March 2022 after his time as the COO of Turvo, an emerging supply-chain collaboration platform. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.
Ned Bellavance and Kyler Middleton are joined by Rachel Stephens, Research Director at RedMonk, to discuss the state of DevOps and the impact of AI. They explore the distinction between developer productivity and development productivity, underlined by a DORA report finding that while AI dramatically boosts individual developer productivity, it often fails to improve overall... Read more »
In this 5 Insightful Minutes episode, David Dorf, Head of Retail Industry Solutions at AWS, joins Omni Talk to cut through the AI hype and reveal what's actually coming for retail in 2026. From LLM limitations to agentic commerce reality checks, David breaks down why domain-specific models are replacing frontier model fantasies, how answer engines will reshape search, and why shopping agents will start with your grocery delivery. If you've ever wondered what AI predictions are worth believing, this episode delivers the clarity you need.
In this week's Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso, Chris and Anne discussed: Amazon's planned “rush” pickup service for one-hour order collection (Source) Instacart's AI-enabled pricing experiments that may be inflating grocery bills (Source) November's record-breaking $12.3 billion in online grocery sales (Source) Target's new SoHo store concept featuring curated beauty and apparel (Source) Ashley's partnership with Perplexity and PayPal for agentic commerce (Source) And special guest David Dorf of AWS, one of our favorite recurring guests, dropped by to share his insightful predictions on AI for 2026. There's all that, plus Ryan Reynolds at NRF, the world's largest golden retriever gathering, and whether Chris would smuggle Calvin Klein underwear from a store tour. Music by hooksounds.com #RetailNews #AmazonRush #InstacartPricing #OnlineGrocery #AgenticCommerce #RetailPodcast #OmniTalk #TargetSoHo #AshleyFurniture #PerplexityAI #RetailInnovation
Aaron and Brian review the Year in Cloud, hand out Cloud awards, and discuss the biggest cloud trends from 2025. Maybe a few predictions will be made as well. SHOW: 985SHOW TRANSCRIPT: The Cloudcast #985 TranscriptSHOW VIDEO: https://youtube.com/@TheCloudcastNET CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK: http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST: "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW SPONSORS:SHOW NOTESCLOUD & AI NEWS OF THE MONTH - NOV 2025 (show)CLOUD & AI NEWS OF THE MONTH - OCT 2025 (show)CLOUD & AI NEWS OF THE MONTH - SEPT 2025 (show)CLOUD & AI NEWS OF THE MONTH - AUG 2025 (show)CLOUD & AI NEWS OF THE MONTH - JUL 2025 (show)CLOUD & AI NEWS OF THE MONTH - JUN 2025 (show)CLOUD & AI NEWS OF THE MONTH - MAY 2025 (show)CLOUD & AI NEWS OF THE MONTH - APR 2025 (show)CLOUD & AI NEWS OF THE MONTH - MAR 2025 (show)CLOUD & AI NEWS OF THE MONTH - FEB 2025 (show)CLOUD & AI NEWS OF THE MONTH - JAN 2025 (show)2025 CLOUD YEAR IN REVIEWCloud of the year Cloud concept of the year (non-AI)Cloud memory of the yearCloud revenues in 2025Are NeoClouds in the hyperscaler discussion? Was Cloud (circa 2007) the actual downfall of Intel? (Cloud vs Mobile choice)Rank the clouds, end of 2025 (cloud draft 2025)Do outages matter if they are only once a year? Where does AWS go next?FEEDBACK?Email: show at the cloudcast dot netTwitter/X: @cloudcastpodBlueSky: @cloudcastpod.bsky.socialInstagram: @cloudcastpodTikTok: @cloudcastpod
As organizations race to adopt AI, many discover an uncomfortable truth: ambition often outpaces readiness. In this episode of the ITSPmagazine Brand Story Podcast, host Sean Martin speaks with Julian Hamood, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer at TrustedTech, about what it really takes to operationalize AI without amplifying risk, chaos, or misinformation.Julian shares that most organizations are eager to activate tools like AI agents and copilots, yet few have addressed the underlying condition of their environments. Unstructured data sprawl, fragmented cloud architectures, and legacy systems create blind spots that AI does not fix. Instead, AI accelerates whatever already exists, good or bad.A central theme of the conversation is readiness. Julian explains that AI success depends on disciplined data classification, permission hygiene, and governance before automation begins. Without that groundwork, organizations risk exposing sensitive financial, HR, or executive data to unintended audiences simply because an AI system can surface it.The discussion also explores the operational reality beneath the surface. Most environments are a patchwork of Azure, AWS, on-prem infrastructure, SaaS platforms, and custom applications, often shaped by multiple IT leaders over time. When AI is layered onto this complexity without architectural clarity, inaccurate outputs and flawed business decisions quickly follow.Sean and Julian also examine how AI initiatives often emerge from unexpected places. Legal teams, business units, and individual contributors now build their own AI workflows using low-code and no-code tools, frequently outside formal IT oversight. At the same time, founders and CFOs push for rapid AI adoption while resisting the investment required to clean and secure the foundation.The episode highlights why AI programs are never one-and-done projects. Ongoing maintenance, data validation, and security oversight are essential as inputs change and systems evolve. Julian emphasizes that organizations must treat AI as a permanent capability on the roadmap, not a short-term experiment.Ultimately, the conversation frames AI not as a shortcut, but as a force multiplier. When paired with disciplined architecture and trusted guidance, AI enables scale, speed, and confidence. Without that discipline, it simply magnifies existing problems.Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.GUESTJulian Hamood, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer at TrustedTech | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-hamood/Are you interested in telling your story?▶︎ Full Length Brand Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#full▶︎ Spotlight Brand Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#spotlight▶︎ Highlight Brand Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#highlightKeywords: sean martin, julian hamood, trusted tech, ai readiness, data governance, ai security, enterprise ai, brand story, brand marketing, marketing podcast, brand story podcast, brand spotlight Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I look at how Google Cloud is reshaping the defense tech landscape.Highlights00:04 — Google Cloud has announced a multi-million dollar contract with the NATO Communication and Information Agency (NCIA), to provide critical sovereign cloud capabilities.This new strategic partnership aims to enhance NATO's digital infrastructure.The NCIA will utilize Google Distributed Cloud, or GDC, to support its Joint Analysis, Training, and Education Center, or JATEC.00:39 — One of the key features it will employ is Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) Air-Gapped, which is an essential component of Google's sovereign cloud solutions. The feature allows the delivery of cloud services and AI capabilities to disconnected, fully secure environments.00:56 —Tara Brady, President of Google Cloud EMEA, said the following: ". . . This partnership will enable NATO to decisively accelerate its digital modernization efforts while maintaining the highest levels of security and digital sovereignty."01:38 — For Google Cloud, this development represents significant progress in expanding its presence within the defense industry, a sector long led by AWS and Microsoft. It also emphasizes growing confidence in Google's sovereign cloud offerings and highlights the increasingly complex and competitive nature of the cloud market. Visit Cloud Wars for more.
Discipline isn't about hustle or perfection—it's a form of self-care. It's believing in where you're going, even when no one else sees it.In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on a business moment that broke my heart—one of my most anticipated classes flopped due to a major tech fail (thank you, AWS
In this episode, Noel sits down with David Mytton, founder and CEO of Arcjet, to unpack the React2Shell vulnerability and why it became such a serious remote code execution risk for apps using React server components and Next.js. They explain how server-side features introduced in React 19 changed the attack surface, why cloud providers leaned on WAF mitigation instead of instant patching, and what this incident reveals about modern JavaScript supply chain risk. The conversation also covers dependency sprawl, rushed patches, and why security as a feature needs to start long before production. Links X: https://x.com/davidmytton Blog: https://davidmytton.blog Resources Multiple Threat Actors Exploit React2Shell: https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/threat-actors-exploit-react2shell-cve-2025-55182 We want to hear from you! How did you find us? Did you see us on Twitter? In a newsletter? Or maybe we were recommended by a friend? Fill out our listener survey (https://t.co/oKVAEXipxu)! https://t.co/oKVAEXipxu Let us know by sending an email to our producer, Elizabeth, at elizabeth.becz@logrocket.com (mailto:elizabeth.becz@logrocket.com), or tweet at us at PodRocketPod (https://twitter.com/PodRocketpod). Check out our newsletter (https://blog.logrocket.com/the-replay-newsletter/)! https://blog.logrocket.com/the-replay-newsletter/ Follow us. Get free stickers. Follow us on Apple Podcasts, fill out this form (https://podrocket.logrocket.com/get-podrocket-stickers), and we'll send you free PodRocket stickers! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket provides AI-first session replay and analytics that surfaces the UX and technical issues impacting user experiences. Start understanding where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com. Try LogRocket for free today. (https://logrocket.com/signup/?pdr) Chapters
In this episode of the FreightWaves Morning Minute, we discuss the major leadership shuffle as Brad Jacobs steps down as chairman of XPO and GXO to dedicate his full attention to his newest venture. He aims to grow QXO into a $50 billion revenue giant in the building products sector through a strategy of aggressive consolidation and organic growth. Union Pacific has appointed Tony Will, the retiring CEO of CF Industries, to its board of directors as the company prepares for a historic transformation. This executive move precedes the expected December 19 filing for a merger with Norfolk Southern that aims to establish the nation's first transcontinental railroad. We also cover how Amazon is offering a money-back guarantee to air cargo shippers to signal its reliability as a third-party logistics partner. This strategic pivot mirrors the AWS model, leveraging internal logistics capacity and a new digital console to offer high-control service to external customers. Finally, tune in for previews of the latest episodes of Loaded and Rolling and Check Call coming up later today on FreightWaves TV. Don't forget to visit the website to vote for your Favorite Freight Town before the results are revealed in January. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Four enterprise AI leaders from Box, Snorkel AI, Sumo Logic, and Talkdesk peel away the hype and share battle-tested strategies for implementing agentic AI at scale.Topics Include:Carol Potts introduces panel featuring AI leaders from Box, Snorkel AI, Sumo Logic, and TalkdeskDiego Dugatkin explains Box serves 120,000 enterprise customers with 1.5 exabytes of secure cloud contentKui Jia shares Sumo Logic processes petabytes daily across 10 AWS regions for intelligent operationsYunjing Ma describes Talkdesk's evolution from contact center to customer experience automation through agentic AIDennis Panos positions Snorkel AI as leader in embedding human knowledge into data-centric applicationsDiego reveals Box uses AI internally for faster development and externally for metadata extraction automationKui explains security teams face overwhelming volumes, sometimes 1,000 signals daily, many AI-generated attacksSumo Logic announces SOC analyst agent in customer beta and query agent in general availabilityYunjing details Talkdesk's multi-agent hierarchy architecture powered by unified TalkDesk Data Cloud platformFour key areas identified: discovery of opportunities, building knowledge-powered agents, optimization, and measurementDennis emphasizes starting with trusted data foundation before adding generative AI capabilities to avoid hallucinationsDiego stresses governance importance: AI guardrails plus traditional data security create comprehensive protection frameworkKui warns POC-to-production gap requires intentional design: different latency, accuracy, and security requirements at scaleYunjing shares customer success: 80,000 daily calls, 11,000 documents, 97% accuracy despite complex compliance rulesKey success factors include prompt engineering optimization and real-time data processing mechanism improvementsDiego advises learning AI tools end-to-end: from ideation through functional demos without traditional prototyping delaysDennis recommends robust evaluation frameworks across system components, similar to software unit testing approachesYunjing reinforces data processing optimization and governance remain essential alongside exciting agentic AI capabilitiesKui urges immediate action: technology evolves rapidly, perfect solutions don't exist, customer focus builds trustFinal advice centers on treating AI as digital teammate, not replacement, enhancing productivity and creativityPlatform partnerships like AWS Bedrock solve heavy lifting, allowing teams to focus on core differentiatorsParticipants:Diego Dugatkin - Chief Product Officer, BoxDennis Panos - Head of Enterprise AI, SnorkelAIKui Jia - VP AI Engineering, Sumo LogicYunjing Ma - VP of Engineering, AI, TalkdeskModerator: Carol Potts - General Manager, ISV Sales Segment, North America, Amazon Web ServicesSee how Amazon Web Services gives you the freedom to migrate, innovate, and scale your software company at https://aws.amazon.com/isv/
In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I break down the latest earnings results showing Oracle and Google Cloud surging into a tie for the #2 fastest-growing cloud vendors in the world's greatest growth market.Highlights00:13 — Two companies that are really pushing the boundaries here in the greatest growth market the world has ever known are Oracle and Google Cloud. Recently, Oracle pulled into a tie with Google Cloud for the second spot, number two spot on the fastest growing major cloud vendors list that is topped by number one, Palantir.00:41 — Nine of the 10 companies break out their cloud earnings. IBM does not for reasons I cannot fathom, but of the nine that do, five saw their growth rates accelerate in the most recent quarter, four of them saw declines, but only by one point. So for these, levels of growth are being sustained, strong customer demand, belief in the transformative power of what's going on with AI in the cloud.02:13 — Overall, we see lots of momentum here, across the board all the different sorts of products and services offered by the different Cloud Wars Top 10 companies and we saw Oracle make the biggest jump here, other than Palantir, Oracle went from 28% to 34%. So, it and Google Cloud: I've been making the case for the last 12-15 months that they're the most disruptive of the four hyperscalers.02:43 — They're coming out with new sorts of technologies, new ways of helping to push AI forward and definitely new go to market approaches. The partnership programs they have are also quite striking. So, going into the new year, those are going to be two companies really to watch. I think Microsoft's doing a good job on a very broad basis.03:03 — AWS has some has some work to do. It's just not been performing at the rate, especially when we look at future revenue growth as we see through the RPO numbers — talked about that some in yesterday's episode. Anyway, lively group here. When we say the greatest growth market world has ever known, I think these numbers continue to bear that out. Visit Cloud Wars for more.
In this episode of Hands-On IT, Landon Miles explores the history of servers and enterprise IT infrastructure, from early mainframe computers to cloud computing, Linux servers, virtualization, containers, and AI-driven data centers.This episode connects decades of server evolution into a clear, accessible story, focusing on the people, technologies, and ideas that shaped modern computing. From IBM's System/360 and minicomputers, to Unix and Linux, virtualization, cloud platforms like AWS and Azure, and container orchestration with Docker and Kubernetes, this episode explains how servers became the foundation of today's digital world.Topics covered include: • Server history and early computing systems • IBM mainframes and enterprise computing • Minicomputers and distributed computing • Unix, Linux, and open-source software • Virtualization and data center efficiency • Cloud computing and hyperscale infrastructure • Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud-native architecture • AI workloads, GPUs, and modern server hardwareLandon also highlights key figures in computing history, including Grace Hopper, Ken Olsen, Linus Torvalds, Dave Cutler, Diane Greene, and Jeff Bezos, and explains how their work still influences IT operations today.This episode is part of our December Best Of series, featuring some of our favorite moments and episodes from the past year.Originally aired March 20, 2025.
Why has Acquired — seemingly against all odds — “worked”? It's a puzzling question: episodes are four hours long, they come out infrequently, and they usually don't have guests or video. Hardly the standard-issue playbook for podcasting success! And yet well over a million smart, curious and exceedingly busy humans share their (your!) valuable time with us every month. Why? This is the exact paradox that has been rolling around in the head of Michael Lewis (yes, that Michael Lewis) since he found the show earlier this year.So we asked Michael to be our guest "interlocutor" and share what he thinks is going on here, while we share ten lessons we've stolen (graciously) from companies we've studied and brought into Acquired itself. He takes us through the entire Acquired journey: how we started, why we've never hired anyone or raised money, how we pick episodes, what our business model actually is, why we focus on quality and enjoyment over maximizing enterprise value, and ultimately why we're all — you, him, us — kindred spirits together. Oh, and just for fun, we recorded this episode where another special journey began — the garage where Google was founded.Thank you for an incredible decade together… here's to the next one!Thank-yous:First, to Google for loaning us the garage. The sawhorse table desk, PC and CRT monitor on display in the background were all Google originals courtesy of the Google Founders Collection at the Computer History Museum. So cool!Second, to our friends at Shep Films for helping us seriously up our game on production quality this episode!Sponsors:Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘25 Season partners:J.P. Morgan Payments (you can watch our full show with them at AWS re:Invent here!)WorkOSSentryShopifyOur Favorite Michael Lewis Books:Home GameMoneyballLiar's PokerThe Blind SideThe Undoing Project (as referenced by Michael in the beginning, about Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky)Carve Outs:Books: The Name of the Wind by Patrick RothfussScience, the Endless Frontier by Vannevar BushLast Man Standing: The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase by Duff McDonaldThe Art of Spending Money by Morgan HouselEmperors of Chocolate by Joel Glenn BrennerMorris Chang's AutobiographyPodcasts: Against the RulesRevisionist HistorySmartLessThe DailyThe Bill Simmons PodcastGraham Duncan on Invest Like the BestGlue GuysVideo: Jay KellyThe RehearsalDoug DeMuroTiresF1 The MovieAndorFalloutSeveranceSiloVideo Games: Sea of StarsKirby and the Forgotten LandProducts: ARTEZA Rollerball Pen 0.7mm FineRotring 800 Mechanical PencilFujifilm X100VIUniqlo Socks!On Running ShoesRimowa LuggageParenting: Guided Access on iPadToy StorySlumberPodBluey Experience in NYCMore Acquired:Get email updates and vote on future episodes!Join the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.
AWS Morning Brief for the week of December 15th, with Corey Quinn. Links:Exploring the new AWS European Sovereign Cloud: Sovereign Reference FrameworkNow generally available: Amazon EC2 C8gb instancesAmazon CloudWatch SDK supports optimized JSON, CBOR protocolsBuilding national foundation modelsNew report: Cloud “fundamental” for European national security and defenseAI Increased Productivity? Consider Hiring More Developers!IAM Policy Autopilot: An open-source tool that brings IAM policy expertise to builders and AI coding assistantsAWS and Google Cloud collaborate to simplify multicloud networkingExploring Optimize CPU feature on Amazon RDS for SQL ServerPrometheus MCP Server: AI-Driven Monitoring Intelligence for AWS Users
Kris Orlowski of Amazon Web Services talks about their recent survey and what it reveals about data, trust, decision-making and AI readiness in supply chain. IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: [04.12] An introduction to Kris, his background, and his role at Amazon Web Services. "A good part of my role right now, as we're continuing to innovate, is understanding what supply chain practitioners actually want and need." [05.17] An overview of AWS – who they are, what they do, and how they help their customers. [06.20] An overview of Amazon Web Services' recent industry survey, who they spoke to, and what they were trying to understand. "We were really trying to understand the gap between aspiration and reality – because there's a lot of hype!" [08.12] The challenges businesses are currently facing when it comes to data and decision-making. "85% of supply chain teams take two or more weeks to resolve urgent issues… And it's partly because of the 'data gathering tax.'" [14.14] From engaging in less strategic work to the creation of a risk aversion culture, the business impact of slow and inaccurate decision-making. "When you spend your time firefighting, you're not doing strategic work." "The cost of a delayed decision can exceed the cost of an imperfect one." [17.20] The surprising results revealed by the AWS survey around how supply chain practitioners envision AI as part of their operations, and what the three-step 'execute, adapt, advise' approach could mean for businesses. "Organizations are envisioning AI as an operational partner, not just a tool… An assistant that can work alongside them." [21.21] The 'double barrier phenomenon' organizations see when trying to implement AI, and what those barriers to both adoption and utilization look like. "57% said the top barrier to realizing AI's full potential was a limited understanding of its capabilities, followed by a lack of trust in AI recommendations." "Organizations are buying AI technology, but they're not building AI readiness." [27.17] What businesses are looking for to help them build trust in new technology and AI-powered decision-making. [31.00] How vendors and developers should be thinking about partnership, trust and building the type of AI that businesses are actually looking for. "There's a trust paradox. Organizations want AI that is simultaneously autonomous, but controllable; intelligent, but explainable; proactive, but compliant. The vendors that understand this will build AI that organizations actually use, not just purchase." [35.02] The big opportunities for organizations that are able to make real strides in their decision-making, and how listeners can access the report. [37.36] The survey results that surprised Kris most, and what they might mean for businesses and AI adoption. [41.15] The practical next steps businesses can take to ensure their AI journeys are a success in 2026. RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED: Head over to Amazon Web Service's website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with AWS and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram or X (Twitter), or you can connect with Kris on LinkedIn. If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more from AWS, check out 489: Time To Swap Your Axe For A Chainsaw: The Power of Agentic AI. Check out our other podcasts HERE.
In the final episode of this four-part series on Telco Days 2025, Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, speaks with Greg Goodwin, Director of Business Development at Software Mind, about the company's expanding role in global telecom innovation, the evolving MetaSwitch ecosystem, and the value of community-driven learning at Telco Days. Goodwin, who leads Business Development for Software Mind's telco division across the U.S. and the Americas, outlines how the company has grown to more than 1,800 specialists worldwide—including 200 telco-focused engineers—supporting service providers through OSS/BSS development, mobile applications, roaming solutions under its Amplitiv Telecommunications brand, and long-standing engineering expertise within the BroadWorks and Alianza ecosystems. “We really want to be seen as a trusted advisor—anticipating where the market's going so we can help our customers grow their business, cut costs, and stay ahead,” Goodwin explains, noting that Software Mind's model is built on innovation, co-creation, and delivering measurable value. Reflecting on the recent Alianza Navigate event, Goodwin describes renewed momentum among MetaSwitch customers as Alianza invests in new features and capabilities. “It was fantastic to hear the roadmap and see Alianza reinvesting in those MetaSwitch assets,” he says, emphasizing Software Mind's commitment to supporting operators preparing their systems for the platform's next generation of functionality. When discussing long-term partnerships, Goodwin highlights Software Mind's innovation-first approach, pointing to joint development opportunities where the company not only supplies engineering talent but co-creates new product features with partners. “Being seen as more than a technology provider—as a collaborator building the next generation of telco solutions—is core to how we work,” he adds. As the conversation turns to Telco Days, Goodwin describes why the annual Software Mind–hosted event has become a powerful knowledge hub for service providers. Featuring insights from partners like Alianza, AWS and Microsoft, Telco Days brings together global SPs to explore security, AI transformation, modernization strategies, and the real-world challenges facing telecom operators today. All conference materials and videos will be available at SoftwareMind.com. To learn more about Software Mind's services, engineering capabilities, and Telco Days resources, visit https://softwaremind.com/.
Notas y referencias en https://www.tierradehackers.com/episodio-140 Puedes apoyar este Podcast en Patreon y obtener beneficios exclusivos. Además, estarás ayudando a que siga publicándose muchos años más. https://www.tierradehackers.com/patreon/ ⭐️ SPONSORS ⭐️ ️♂️ Flare Flare es una plataforma de inteligencia de amenazas y monitoreo de la Dark Web que te ayuda a estar un paso por delante de los ciber-delincuentes. Puedes solicitar una prueba gratuita como oyente de Tierra de Hackers aquí: https://try.flare.io/martin-vigo/ ️ Prowler Audita y mejora tu seguridad en AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes y M365 con visibilidad centralizada. Solicita una prueba gratuita en el siguiente link: https://prowler.com/?utm_source=tierra_de_hackers ️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tierradehackers Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/tierradehackers ➡️ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/tierradehackers ➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tierradehackers ➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tierradehackers ➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tierradehackers ➡️ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tierradehackers No olvides unirte a nuestra comunidad de Discord: https://www.tierradehackers.com/discord
Send us a textWe trace a journey from a teenage online threat to security engineering at global scale, exploring how deep fundamentals and distributed thinking shape reliable defenses. Along the way, we unpack certifications, teaching at scale, and building a practical path for learners worldwide.• curiosity-driven path from fear to purpose• foundations before security: systems then networks• depth of concepts vs surface knowledge• thinking at scale with distributed systems• threat modeling as a constant that endures• learning the why behind legacy architectures• community building through a book and courses• coding confidence for security practitioners• practical framework for choosing certifications• direction over collecting badges• reflecting on progress and resetting goals• links to connect and learn moreUse the code security50 to get 50% off the upcoming cybersecurity bootcamp at learn.thecyberinstructor.comPodMatchPodMatch Automatically Matches Ideal Podcast Guests and Hosts For InterviewsSupport the showFollow the Podcast on Social Media! Tesla Referral Code: https://ts.la/joseph675128 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@securityunfilteredpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secunfpodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/SecUnfPodcast Affiliates➡️ OffGrid Faraday Bags: https://offgrid.co/?ref=gabzvajh➡️ OffGrid Coupon Code: JOE➡️ Unplugged Phone: https://unplugged.com/Unplugged's UP Phone - The performance you expect, with the privacy you deserve. Meet the alternative. Use Code UNFILTERED at checkout*See terms and conditions at affiliated webpages. Offers are subject to change. These are affiliated/paid promotions.
How do you move faster with AI and cloud innovation without losing control of security along the way? Recorded live from the show floor at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas, this episode of Tech Talks Daily features a timely conversation with Kimberly Dickson, Worldwide Go-To-Market Lead for AWS Detection and Response Services. As organizations race to adopt agentic AI, modernize applications, and manage sprawling cloud environments, Kimberly offers a grounded look at why security must still sit at the center of every decision. Kimberly explains how her role bridges two worlds at AWS. On one side are customers dealing with prioritization fatigue, fragmented security signals, and growing pressure to do more with fewer resources. On the other hand, there are the internal service teams building products like Amazon GuardDuty, Amazon Inspector, and AWS Security Hub. Her job is to connect those realities, shaping services based on what customers actually struggle with day to day. That perspective sets the tone for a conversation focused less on hype and more on practical outcomes. We unpack how AWS thinks about security culture at scale, from infrastructure and encryption through to threat intelligence gathered across Amazon's global footprint. Kimberly shares how AWS uses large-scale honeypots to observe attacker behavior in real time, feeding that intelligence back into detection services while also working with governments and industry partners to take down active threats. It is a reminder that cloud security is no longer just about protecting individual workloads, but about contributing to a safer internet overall. The conversation also dives into new announcements from re:Invent, including the launch of AWS Security Hub, extended threat detection for EC2 and EKS, and the emergence of security-focused AI agents. Kimberly explains how these tools shift security teams away from manual investigation and toward faster, higher-confidence decisions by correlating risks across vulnerabilities, identity, network exposure, and sensitive data. The goal is clear visibility, clearer priorities, and remediation that fits naturally into existing workflows. We also explore how AWS approaches security in multi-cloud and hybrid environments, why foundational design principles still matter in an AI-driven world, and how open standards are helping normalize security data across vendors. Kimberly's reflections on re:Invent itself bring a human close to the episode, highlighting the pride and responsibility felt by teams building systems that millions of organizations depend on. As AI adoption accelerates and security teams are asked to keep pace without slowing innovation, what would it take for your organization to move faster while still trusting the foundations you are building on?
Welcome back to the Ultimate Guide to Partnering® Podcast. AI agents are your next customers. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://theultimatepartner.com/ebook-subscribe/ Check Out UPX:https://theultimatepartner.com/experience/ Jen Odess, Group Vice President of Partner Excellence at ServiceNow, joins Vince Menzione to discuss the company’s incredible transformation from an IT ticketing solution to a leading AI-native platform for business transformation. Jen dives deep into how ServiceNow has strategically invested in and infused AI into its unified platform over the last decade, enabling over a billion workflows daily. She also outlines the critical role of the partner ecosystem, which executes 87% of all implementations, and reveals the company’s strategic initiatives, including its commitment to the hyperscaler marketplaces, the goal to hit half a billion dollars in annual contract value for its Now Assist AI product, and the push for partners to adopt an ‘AI-native’ methodology to capitalize on the fact that customers still want over 70% of AI buying to be done through partners. Key Takeaways ServiceNow is an ‘AI-native’ company, having invested in and built AI directly into its unified platform for over a decade. The company’s core value today is in its unified AI platform, single data model, and leadership in workflows that connect the entire enterprise. ServiceNow will hit $500 million in annual contract value for its Now Assist AI products by the end of 2025, making it the fastest-growing product in company history. An astonishing 87% of all ServiceNow implementations are done by its global partner ecosystem, highlighting their crucial role. The company is leveraging the half-trillion-dollar opportunity of durable cloud budgets by driving marketplace transactions and helping customers burn down cloud commits using ServiceNow solutions. To win in the AI era, partners must adopt AI internally, co-innovate on the platform, and strategically differentiate themselves to rank higher in the forthcoming agentic matching system. Key Tags: ServiceNow, AI-native platform, Now Assist, Jen Odess, partner excellence, workflow leader, AI platform for business transformation, hyperscalers, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, AWS, marketplace transactions, cloud commits, AIDA model, agentic matching, F-Pattern, Z-Pattern, group vice president, MSP, GSI, co-innovation, autonomous implementation, technical constraints, visual hierarchy, UX, UI, responsive design. Ultimate Partner is the independent community for technology leaders navigating the tectonic shifts in cloud, AI, marketplaces, and co-selling. Through live events, UPX membership, advisory, and the Ultimate Guide to Partnering® podcast, we help organizations align with hyperscalers, accelerate growth, and achieve their greatest results through successful partnering. Transcript: Jen Odess Audio Podcast [00:00:00] Jen Odess: The AI platform for business transformation, and I love to say to people, it sounds like a handful of cliche words that just got stacked together. The AI platform for business transformation. Yeah. We all know these words, so many companies use ’em, but it is such deliberate language and I love to explain why. [00:00:20] Vince Menzione: Welcome to, or welcome back to The Ultimate Guide to Partnering. I’m Vince Menzi on your host, and my mission is to help leaders like you achieve your greatest results through successful partnering. Today we have a special leader, Jen Odes is the GVP for Partner Excellence at ServiceNow. And joins me here in the studio in Boca Raton. [00:00:40] Vince Menzione: Jen, welcome to the podcast. Thanks, Vince. It’s so great to be here. I am so thrilled to welcome you. To Boca Raton, Florida. Our podcast home look at this amazing background we have Here is this, and this is where we host our ultimate partner Winter retreat. Actually, in February, we’re gonna give that a plug. [00:00:58] Vince Menzione: Okay. I’d love to have you come back. I’d love to have an invite. And you flew in this morning from Washington DC [00:01:04] Jen Odess: I did. It was 20 degrees when I left my house this morning and this backdrop. Is definitely giving me, island South Florida like vibes. It’s fabulous. [00:01:13] Vince Menzione: And we’re gonna talk about ServiceNow. [00:01:14] Vince Menzione: And you’re also opening an office down here? We [00:01:17] Jen Odess: are [00:01:17] Vince Menzione: in West Palm Beach. Not too far from where we are. Yes. Later 2026. Yeah. I love that. And then so we’ll work on the recruiting year, but let’s dive in. Okay. So thrilled to have ServiceNow and to have you in the room. This has been an incredible time for your organization. [00:01:31] Vince Menzione: I have been watching, obviously I work with Microsoft. We’ve had Google. In the studio, Amazon onboard as well. And other than those three organizations, I can’t think of any other legacy organization that has embraced AI more succinctly than ServiceNow. And I thought we’d start there, but I really wanna spend some time getting to know you and getting to know your role, your mission, and your journey to this incredible. [00:01:57] Vince Menzione: Leadership role as a global vice president. We’ll talk about Or [00:02:01] Jen Odess: group. Group Vice president. I know it doesn’t roll off the tongue. I get it. A group vice president doesn’t roll. [00:02:05] Vince Menzione: G-V-P-G-V-P doesn’t roll off the time. And in some organizations it is global. It is in other organizations, it’s group. So let’s, you’re not [00:02:12] Jen Odess: the first to say global vice president. [00:02:14] Jen Odess: Okay. I’ll take either way. It’s fine. [00:02:15] Vince Menzione: Yeah. Yeah. And might be a promotion. Let’s talk. Let’s talk about that. Let’s talk about you and your career journey and your mission. [00:02:22] Jen Odess: Yeah, so I’ve been at ServiceNow for five years. In fact, January will be like the five year anniversary and then it will be the beginning of my sixth year. [00:02:31] Jen Odess: Amazing. And I actually got hired originally to build out the initial partner enablement function. So it didn’t really exist five years ago. There was certainly enablement that happened to Sure. All individuals that were. Using, consuming, buying ServiceNow, working with ServiceNow. But the partner enablement function from pre to post-sale, that whole life cycle didn’t exist yet. [00:02:54] Jen Odess: So that was my initial job. I got hired to run partner enablement and it before. And how big [00:02:59] Vince Menzione: was your partner organization at that point? It must have been pretty small. [00:03:01] Jen Odess: It was actually not as small as you would think. Gosh, that’s a great question. You’re challenging my memory from five years ago. [00:03:08] Jen Odess: I know that we’re over 2,500 partners today and we add hundreds every year, so it had to have been in the low one thousands. Wow. Is where we were five years ago. But the maturity of the ecosystem is grossly larger today than it was then. I can imagine. So back then there was less than 30,000 individuals that were skilled on ServiceNow to sell or solution or deliver. [00:03:34] Jen Odess: Today there’s almost a hundred thousand. Wow. So yeah that’s like the maturity in the capability within the ecosystem. But before I start on my ServiceNow and my group vice president. Which is a great role, by the way. Group Vice President. Yeah. Partner Excellence group. I’m very proud of it. [00:03:49] Jen Odess: But but let me tell you what brought me here, please. So I actually came from a partner, but not in the ServiceNow ecosystem. Okay. I won’t name the partner, but let’s just say it’s a competitor, a competitive ecosystem. And I worked for a services shop that today I would refer to as multinational. [00:04:11] Jen Odess: Kind of a boutique darling, but with over 1,500 consultants, so Okay. A behemoth as well? Yeah. Privately held. And we were a force to be reckoned with, and it was really fun. I held so many roles. I was a customer success manager. I led the data science practice at one point. I ran global alliances and partnerships. [00:04:35] Jen Odess: At one point I was the chief of staff to the CEO at the time that company was acquired. Big global si. And and then at one point I even spun off for the big global SI and helped run a culture initiative to transform co corporate culture. Wow. Very inside the whole organization. Wow. That is very, yeah. [00:04:54] Jen Odess: Really interesting set of roles. And the whole reason I came to ServiceNow is by the time I was concluding that journey in that ecosystem on the services side, I felt like. I didn’t fully understand what it meant to be on the software product side. And I often felt like I approached friction or moments of frustration and heartache with resentment for the software company. [00:05:20] Jen Odess: Sure. Or maybe just a lack of empathy for what they must be going through as well. It always felt like I was on the kind of [00:05:26] Vince Menzione: negative you were on the other side of the table. Totally. [00:05:27] Jen Odess: Yeah. And, or maybe like the redheaded stepchild kind of a concept as a partner. And so I sought out to. Learn more, which is probably a big piece of my journey is just constant curiosity. [00:05:38] Jen Odess: Nice. And I thought I think the thing I’m missing is seeing what it means firsthand to be on the software product side. And that was what led me to a career at ServiceNow. Five years strong. Yeah. So [00:05:50] Vince Menzione: talk about partner experience for those who don’t know what that means. [00:05:53] Jen Odess: Yeah. Today my role is partner excellence, but it used to be partner experience. [00:05:58] Jen Odess: Okay. And so the don’t. Yeah, that’s normal to say both things. And they actually mean two very different things. [00:06:04] Vince Menzione: Yeah, I would say so. [00:06:05] Jen Odess: And we deliberately changed the title about a year ago. So today, partner Excellence is about really ensuring that we build a vibrant AI led ecosystem. And that’s from the whole life cycle of the partner, from the day they choose to be a partner and onboard, and hopefully to the day they’re just. [00:06:23] Jen Odess: Thriving and growing like crazy, and then across the whole life cycle of the customer pre to post sale. So it’s, we are almost like the underpinning and the infras infrastructure. Someone once said it’s like we’re the insurance policy of all global partnerships and channels. That’s how we operate across global partnerships and channels and service Now. [00:06:42] Vince Menzione: And you have a very intimate relationship with those partners. We’re gonna dive in on that as well. Yes. But let’s talk about this time like no other. I talk about tectonic shifts at all of our events. People that listen to our podcasts know we talk about the acceleration of transformation, and it’s happening so fast. [00:06:58] Vince Menzione: It was happening fast even during COVID. But then. I’ll call this date or time period, the November 20, 22 time period when Chat GPT launched. Oh yeah. And that really changed the world in many respects, right? Yeah. Microsoft had already leaned in with chat, GPT, Google, we talked to Google about this. [00:07:17] Vince Menzione: Even having them in the room was like, they were caught flatfooted in a way, and they had a lot of the technology and they didn’t lean in. But it feels like ServiceNow was one of the first, certainly on the ISV side of the house and refer to the term ISV. Loosely, because hyperscalers are ISVs as well. [00:07:34] Vince Menzione: They were early to lean in and have leaned it in such a way from a business application perspective that I believe we haven’t seen embracing and infusing AI into your platform. I was hoping we could dive in a little bit on ServiceNow from a. Kinda legacy, what the organization was and is today. [00:07:56] Vince Menzione: And then also this infusion of AI into the platform. If you don’t mind, [00:07:59] Jen Odess: I love this topic. Okay. And I feel like it’s such a privilege to talk about ServiceNow on this topic because we really are a leader in the category. I’ll almost rewind back to over 20 years ago when the company was founded. [00:08:11] Jen Odess: Today, fast forward, we are so much more than an IT ticketing company. We are, [00:08:16] Vince Menzione: but that was the legacy. That’s how I knew service now 20 years ago. [00:08:19] Jen Odess: And what a beautiful legacy. Yeah. But we have expanded immensely beyond that. And that’s the beautiful story to tell customers. That’s so fun. [00:08:28] Jen Odess: But what what I love is that. So 20 years ago, that was where we started. And today, do you know that over a billion workflows are put to work every single day for our customers? A billion [00:08:38] Vince Menzione: workflows, over a billion workflows. That’s crazy. [00:08:40] Jen Odess: And 87% of all implementations for ServiceNow were done by partnerships. [00:08:46] Jen Odess: And channels. That’s fantastic. So you think about those billion plus workflows daily, all because of our partner ecosystem. This is my small plug. I’m just very proud 80, proud 86%. [00:08:56] Vince Menzione: Did you hear that? Part’s 86%. [00:08:57] Jen Odess: Amazing. And so that’s like what we’re, that’s what we’re a leader in the category. We are a leader in workflows categorically. [00:09:05] Jen Odess: But then over a decade ago, we started investing in ai. We started building it right into our platform, and this becomes the next kind of notch on our belt, which is we are a unified platform. Nothing is bolted on, nothing is just apid in. Yeah, it is a unified platform. So all of that AI that for the past decade we’ve been building in into our platform. [00:09:28] Jen Odess: Just in our AI platform, which is now what we are calling it, the AI platform. [00:09:34] Vince Menzione: And I would say that unless you were a startup starting up from scratch today and building on an LLM, we were building in a way I don’t think any other organization’s gonna actually state that [00:09:45] Jen Odess: what’s actually why we call ourselves AI native. [00:09:47] Jen Odess: Yeah, beca for that exact reason. And that’s who we’re competing with a lot these days, is the truly AI native startups where they didn’t have, the 20 years. Previously that we had, but that’s what makes us so unique in the situation, is that unified AI platform, a single data model that can connect to anything. [00:10:07] Jen Odess: And then the workflow leader. And when you put all those things together, AI plus data, plus workflows and that’s where the magic happens. Yeah. Across the enterprise. It’s pretty cool. [00:10:17] Vince Menzione: That is very cool. And you start thinking about, and we start talking about agent as a, as an example. Let’s talk about this for a second. [00:10:23] Vince Menzione: You, when what is this bolt-on, we could use the terms co-pilot, we could use Ag Agent ai, but they are generally bolted onto an existing application today. So take us through the 10 years and how it has become a portion or a significant portion. Of ServiceNow. [00:10:41] Jen Odess: When say the question a little bit more. [00:10:43] Jen Odess: Like when you say it’s, yeah, when which examples have bolted on? [00:10:47] Vince Menzione: So exa, we, what we see today is the hyperscalers coming out with their own solution sets, right? They’re taking and they’re offering it up to their ecosystem to infuse it into their product and portfolio. To me, those that look like bolted on in many respects, unless it’s an AI need as a native organization, a startup organization. [00:11:07] Vince Menzione: They’re mostly taking and re-engineering or bolting onto their existing solutions. [00:11:12] Jen Odess: I follow. Yeah. Thank you for giving me a little more context. So I call this our any problem. It’s like one of the best problems to have we can connect into. Anything, any cloud, any ai, any platform, any system, any data, any workflow, and that’s where any hyperscaler, and that’s the part that makes it so incredible. [00:11:32] Jen Odess: So your word is bolt on, and I use the word any the, any problem. Yeah. We’ve got this beautiful kind of stack visual that just, it’s like it just one on top of the other. Any. Any, and no one else can really say that. I gotta see [00:11:45] Vince Menzione: that visual. Yeah. Yeah. So talk about this a little bit more. So you’re uniquely positioned. [00:11:52] Vince Menzione: Let’s talk about how you position, you talked about being AI native. What does that imply and what does that mean in terms of the evolution of the platform? From ticketing to workflows to the business applications? What are the type of applications Yeah. Markets, industries that you’re starting to see. [00:12:08] Jen Odess: So I’ll actually answer this with, taking on a small, maybe marketing or positioning journey. So there was a time when our tagline would be The World Works with ServiceNow. There was a time when it was, we put AI to work for people and today and it, I think it was around Knowledge 2025, this came out. [00:12:28] Jen Odess: It was the AI platform for business transformation. And I love to say to people, it sounds like a handful of. Cliche words that just got stacked together. The AI platform for business transformation. Yeah. We all know these words, so many companies use ’em, but it is such deliberate language and I love to explain why. [00:12:46] Jen Odess: So the first is the AI platform is calling out that we are an AI native platform. We are a unified platform. It’s a chance to say all that goodness I already shared with you. Yeah. And the business transformation is actually telling the story of no longer being a solution. Point or no longer being an individual product that does X. [00:13:06] Jen Odess: It’s about saying. The ServiceNow platform can go north to south and east to west across your entire enterprise. Okay. Up and down the entire tech stack. Any. And then east to west, it can cut across the enterprise, the C-suite, the buying centers, all into one unified AI platform. With one data model. [00:13:26] Jen Odess: I love it. And so I love that AI platform for business transformation actually has so much purpose. [00:13:32] Vince Menzione: It does. So you’re going across the stack, so you’re going all the way from the bottom layer, all the way up to the top from the ue. Ui. And then you’re going across the organization, right? You’re going across the C-suite, you’re going across all the business functions of an organization. [00:13:46] Vince Menzione: Correct. And so the workflows are going across each of those business functions? [00:13:49] Jen Odess: Correct. And then our AI control tower is sitting at the very top, governing over all of it. [00:13:53] Vince Menzione: I love the control tower. [00:13:54] Jen Odess: I know the governance, security risk protocol, managing all the agents interoperability. Yeah. [00:14:01] Vince Menzione: And then data at the very bottom right. [00:14:03] Vince Menzione: Controlling all those elements and the governance of the data and the right, the cleanliness of the data and so on. Yeah. That’s incredible. I we could probably talk about business applications. I know one, in fact, I’ve had a person sit in this, your chair from we’ll call it a large GSIA very significant GSI one of the top five. [00:14:21] Vince Menzione: And they took ServiceNow and they applied it to their business partnering function. And they used, and we, you probably don’t know about this one, but I know that that’s a, an example of taking it and applying it all across all the workflows, across all the geographies of the organization and taking a lot of the process that was all done manually. [00:14:40] Vince Menzione: That was stove pipe business processes that were all stove piped and removing the stove pipe and making for a fluid organizational flow. [00:14:47] Jen Odess: And I’ll bet you the end user didn’t even realize ServiceNow was the backend. That’s some of the greatest examples actually. [00:14:53] Vince Menzione: Yeah. Yeah. So Jen, we work with all the hyperscalers. [00:14:56] Vince Menzione: We have a very strong relationship with Microsoft. Goes back many years, my back to my days at Microsoft and we’ve had Google in the room. We have AWS now as well. We bring them all together because we believe that partners work with, need to work with all three. And I know that you have had an interesting transformation at ServiceNow around the hyperscalers. [00:15:16] Vince Menzione: I was hoping you could dive in a little deeper with us. [00:15:19] Jen Odess: Yeah. We are so proud of our relationships with the hyperscalers, so the same three, so it’s Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and AWS. And really it’s it’s a strategic 360 partnership and our goal is really to drive marketplace transactions. [00:15:34] Jen Odess: So ServiceNow selling in all of their marketplaces and then. Burn down of our customers cloud commits. I love it. It’s really a beautiful story for our customers and for the hyperscalers and for ServiceNow. And so we’ve, it’s brand, it’s a brand new announcement from late in the year 2025. Love it. And we’re really excited about it. [00:15:51] Vince Menzione: Yeah. And then we, and we get all of the marketplace leaders in the room. So we’ve worked with all of those people. And one of the key points about this is there is over a half a trillion dollars in durable cloud budgets with customers that [00:16:08] Vince Menzione: Already committed to, I know, so that tam available, a half a trillion dollars is available to customers to burn down and utilize your solutions and professional services with partners as well in terms of driving a complete solution. [00:16:21] Jen Odess: That’s exactly the motion we’re pushing is to go and leverage those cloud commits to get on ServiceNow and in some cases, maybe even take out other products to go with ServiceNow and actually end up funding the transition to ServiceNow. Yeah. Yeah. [00:16:37] Vince Menzione: So you serve thousands of customers today, thousands of customers. [00:16:42] Vince Menzione: I can’t even. Fathom the exact number, but you have this partner ecosystem that you described, and their reach is even more incredible, like hundreds of thousands. Yeah. So tell us a little bit more about how you think about that, and then how do you drive the partner ecosystem in the right way to drive this partner excellence that you described. [00:17:02] Jen Odess: Yeah, that’s a great question. So yeah, thousands of ServiceNow customers and we’re barely scratching the surface in comparison to our partners customers. So we have over 2,500 partners Wow. In our ecosystem. And today they cut across what I would call five routes to market. That partners can go to market with ServiceNow. [00:17:21] Jen Odess: Okay. The first is consulting and implementation. This will be your classic kind of consulting shop or GSI approach. The second is resell, just like it sounds. Yep. [00:17:30] Vince Menzione: Transactional. [00:17:31] Jen Odess: Yep. The third is managed service provider. [00:17:33] Vince Menzione: Okay. [00:17:34] Jen Odess: The fourth is what we call build, which is. The ISV, strategic Tech partner realm, and then the fifth is hyperscaler. [00:17:43] Jen Odess: Those are the five routes to market. So partners can choose to be in one or all or two. It doesn’t matter. It’s whichever one fits the kind of business they want to go drive. Nice. Where they’re. Expertise lies. And then we’ve got partners that show up globally, partners that show up multinational and partners that show up regionally and then partners that show up locally, in country and that’s it. [00:18:06] Jen Odess: And we really want a diverse set of partners capable of delivering where any of our customers are. So it’s important that we have that dynamic ecosystem where we really push them. We’re actually trying hard to balance this. Yeah, you would’ve heard it from many of your other partners. This direct versus indirect. [00:18:24] Jen Odess: Yes. Motion. For anyone listening that doesn’t know the difference, right? Direct is ServiceNow is selling direct to a customer, there might be a partner involved influencing that will implement. Yeah, likely but ServiceNow is really driving the sale versus indirect where the whole thing routes through the partner. [00:18:39] Jen Odess: Right? Which is your classic reseller or managed service provider and often a an ISV. And you know that balance is never gonna be perfect ’cause we’re not gonna commit to go all direct or all indirect. We’re gonna continue to sit in this space where we’re trying to find a healthy balance. [00:18:56] Jen Odess: So I find a lot of our time trying to figure out how do you set all those parties up for success? Yeah. The parties are the ServiceNow field sellers? And then you’ve also got the partnerships and channels, so the ecosystem, and then you’ve got the people in global partnerships and channels. So my broader organization, and we’re all trying to figure out how to work harmoniously together and it’s a lot of, it is my job to get us there. [00:19:19] Jen Odess: And so we use lots of things like incentives and benefits and we will put in place gated entry, really strategic gated entry. What does [00:19:29] Vince Menzione: gated entry mean? [00:19:30] Jen Odess: Yeah. What I mean is if you want to have a chance at being matched with a customer Yeah. For a very specific deal. Or it’s really one of three to get matched. [00:19:41] Jen Odess: ‘Cause you can never match one-to-one. It has to be three or more. Okay. We have good compliance rules in place. Yeah. But in order to even. Like surface to the top of the list to be matched. There’s a gated entry, which is, you’ve gotta have validated practices. Okay. Which is how, it’s these various ways, as you described, you quantify and qualify the partner’s capabilities. [00:20:00] Vince Menzione: Yeah. So you have to meet these qualifications. Yes. And you could be one of three to enter and be. Potentially matched, considered significant or Yes. Match for this deal? [00:20:08] Jen Odess: Yes, that’s exactly right. So we use, various things like that. And then we try to carve what I would call dance card space reseller in commercial, try to sit here and like carve by geo, by region, by country dance card space as well to help the partners really know exactly where they can unleash versus, hey, this is the process and the rules of engagement. To go and sell alongside the direct org sales organization [00:20:33] Vince Menzione: and you’re gonna have multiple partners in the same opportunities. [00:20:37] Vince Menzione: Absolutely not. Not necessarily competing with each other. There’s three competing each with each other, but also you’re gonna have other partners that provide different capabilities as well. You might have that have some that are just transac. Those are gonna be those channel or reseller partners. [00:20:52] Vince Menzione: You might have an MSP that’s actually delivering, or at least providing some type of managed service on top of the stack. Like supporting the customer. Yeah. And then you might have an SI GSI an integration partner that’s also doing the con the consulting work around getting the solution to meet with the customer’s requirements. [00:21:12] Vince Menzione: Would you say [00:21:13] Jen Odess: so? That’s exactly right. Yeah. And actually in. AI era, we’re seeing more of it than ever. And even on the smaller deals, maybe not the GSIs on the smaller deals, but we’re seeing multiple partners come in to serve up their specific expertise, which is actually a best practice. That’s [00:21:33] Vince Menzione: terrific. [00:21:33] Jen Odess: We don’t want. If you’ve got an area that’s a blind spot and you’re a partner, but that’s something your customer is buying from you, there’s no harm in saying let’s bring in an expert in that category to deliver that piece of the business. That’s right. And we’ll maybe shadow and watch alongside. [00:21:46] Jen Odess: So we’re seeing more and more of it. And I actually think like the world of. Partnerships and ecosystems. If I go back to like my previous ecosystem as well, it’s become so much more communal than ever before. Yes. This idea that we can share and be more open and maybe even commiserate over the things, gosh, I can’t believe we have the same frustrations or we have the same. [00:22:09] Jen Odess: Wow, that’s amazing. And you’re in this country. And I’m in this country. And so we’re seeing more and more coming together on deals which I really respect a lot. ’cause So one of the new facts we’ve just learned actually, Vince, is that. Of all the ai buying that customers are doing out there, they actually still want over 70% of it to be done by partners. [00:22:32] Vince Menzione: Yes. [00:22:33] Jen Odess: So even though it looks like it could be maybe set up easy configured, easy plug and play it. It to get, it’s not real ROI. You still need a partner with expertise in that industry or that domain, or in that location or in that language to come and bring the value to life. And we will certainly accelerate, help accelerate time to value with things that ServiceNow will do for our partners. [00:22:56] Jen Odess: But if over 70% is gonna go to partners and AI is so new, wouldn’t you want more than one partner Sometimes on a absolutely on a deal, at least while we’re all learning. I think we can keep ebbing and flowing [00:23:07] Vince Menzione: on this. We you, I dunno if Jay McBain, ’cause we’ve had him in the room here and he is a, he’s an analyst that does a lot of work around this topic. [00:23:14] Vince Menzione: And we talk about the seven seats at the table because there are, again, you need more you, first of all, you need to have your trusted, you need to have the organizations that you work with. And you also, in the world of ai, with all of the tectonic shifts, all the constant changing that’s going on right now, I need to make sure that I have the right. [00:23:31] Vince Menzione: People by my side that I can trust, they can help me deliver what I need to deliver. ’cause it might have changed from six months ago. And the technology is changing. Everything is changing so rapidly right now. So again, having all those right people I want to pick up on something ’cause we talked a little bit about MSPs and they’ve become a favorite topic of ours. [00:23:52] Vince Menzione: I have become acutely aware of the Ms P community recently. I kinda looked at them as well. There’s little small partners, but you’ve suggested this as well. They have regional expert, they have expertise in a specific area. And can be trusted, and maybe you’re integrating multiple solution sets for a customer. [00:24:11] Vince Menzione: But we’ve seen this MSP community become very vibrant lately, and I feel like they woke up to technology and to AI in such a big way. Can you comment on that? [00:24:20] Jen Odess: So we feel and see the same thing I’ve always valued what managed service providers bring to the table. It’s like that. [00:24:26] Jen Odess: Classic are you a transformation shop or are you a ta? The tail end or the run business shop? And so many partners are like we’re both, and I wanna be like, but are you? But now I feel like we finally are seeing the run business is so fruitful. So AI is innovating. All the time. [00:24:46] Jen Odess: We, we are innovating as a AI platform all the time. What used to be six month, every six months family releases of our software. Yeah. It became quarterly and now we’re practically seeing releases of new innovation every six to eight weeks. So why wouldn’t you want a managed service provider? Paying close attention to your whole instance on ServiceNow and taking into account all the latest innovation and building it into your existing instance, and then looking out for what new things you should be bringing in. [00:25:20] Jen Odess: So that’s the beauty of the, it’s almost partnerships, observing, and then suggesting how to keep. Doing better and more and better versus always jumping straight back to complete redesign and transformation. Yeah, and that’s one of the things I like about the MSPs in this space. [00:25:36] Vince Menzione: So let’s broaden out from this part of the conversation ’cause you’re giving specific guidance to the MSPs, but let’s think about this whole partner community. [00:25:43] Vince Menzione: And you’ve seen this transformation coming over to ServiceNow and even within ServiceNow these last five years. How do these organizations need to think differently? And how do they need to structure their services in this newent world? [00:25:58] Jen Odess: Great question. There’s really four things that I think they have to be thoughtful of. [00:26:02] Jen Odess: The first is maybe the most obvious they have to adopt AI as their own ways of doing work methodology. Delivery, whatever it is, because only through the, it’s not about taking out people in jobs, it’s about doing the job faster, right? It’s about getting the customer to value faster so that adoption of AI will make or break some partners. [00:26:24] Jen Odess: And our goal is that every partner comes on the other side of this AI journey, thriving and surviving. So we’re really pushing. This agenda. And maybe later I can talk to you a little bit more about this autonomous implementation concept. Please. ’cause I that will [00:26:37] Vince Menzione: resonate. So you’re saying they need to, we used to use the term eat their own dog food. [00:26:41] Vince Menzione: Now it’s drink your own champagne. Yeah. But they need to adopt it as well internally. [00:26:46] Jen Odess: Yeah. And I think whether they’re using, I hope they’re using ServiceNow as like a client, zero. To do some of that adoption. But there’s lots of other tools that are great AI tools that will make your job and your day-to-day life and the execution of that job easier. [00:26:59] Jen Odess: So we want them adopting all of that. The second is, we really need to see partners. Innovating on the ServiceNow platform. Yeah. And whether that’s building agents AI agents that go into the ServiceNow store, whether it’s building a really fantastic solution that we wanna joint jointly go to market with, or maybe it’s one of those embedded solutions you were commenting where the end user doesn’t even know that the backend, like a tax and audit solution that is actually just. [00:27:29] Jen Odess: The backend is all ServiceNow. Yeah. But that partner is going to market and selling it to all their customers. Exactly. So I think this co-innovation is gonna be a place that we will really win in market. The third is if a partner wants to stand out right now, they have to differentiate on paper too. [00:27:47] Jen Odess: It’s gotta like what does that mean? So if there’s 2,500 partners. And it’s not like we don’t walk around and just say, you should talk to this partner. Yeah. Or here’s my secret list. You should, we don’t do that. That’s not good business and it’s not compliant. So we have algorithms that take all the quantitative and qualitative data on our partners and they know all the data points ’cause it’s part of the partner program Nice. [00:28:10] Jen Odess: That they adhere to and then ranks them on status. And all those data points are what I’m referring to as on paper. You’ve gotta be differentiated. So whether or not you wanna be great at one thing or great across the whole thing, think about how all of those quantitative and qualitative data points are making you stand out, because that’s where those matches that I was referring to. [00:28:35] Jen Odess: Yes. That’s where that’s gonna come to life. And it’s skills, it’s capabilities. It’s deployments. So Proofpoint and deployments, customer success stories, csat, all the things. So [00:28:47] Vince Menzione: those are all the qualifi qualifiers for and more, but those are the types [00:28:49] Jen Odess: of qualifications. Yeah. [00:28:51] Vince Menzione: And then do your, does your sales organization do a match against that based on a customer’s requirements that they’re working with and who they work with and co-sell with? [00:29:00] Jen Odess: And I feel like you just lobbed me the greatest question. I didn’t even know you were gonna ask it, but I’m so glad you did. So today. Today there is something called a partner finder, which is which is nice, but it’s a little bit old school in a world of ai. Yeah. So you go to servicenow.com, you click partner from the top navigation, and then it says find a partner and you can literally type in the products you’re buying the country, you’re, that you’re headquartered out of. [00:29:26] Jen Odess: Whatever thing you’re looking for. And it will start to filter based on all those data points, the right partners, and you can actually click right there to be connected to a partner. So lead generation. Okay, interesting. But where we’re going is a agentic matching right in our CRM for the field. Oh. So those data points are gonna matter even more, and that’s where the gated. [00:29:48] Jen Odess: I say gated entry, which is probably too extreme, right? It’s really gated. If you wanna surface toward the top, there’s gated parameters to try to surface to the top, but those data points will feed the algorithm and it will genetically match right in our CRM for the field. Who are the best suited partners? [00:30:09] Jen Odess: Would you like to talk to them? [00:30:10] Vince Menzione: Okay. And so is it. Partner facing? Is it sales team facing [00:30:14] Jen Odess: Right now? It’s sales. It’ll, when it goes live, it will be sales team facing. Okay. But we have greater ambition for what partners can do with it. Yeah. Not just in the indirect motion, but also what partners may be able to do with it to interface with our field. [00:30:30] Jen Odess: The. [00:30:31] Vince Menzione: The, yeah the collaboration [00:30:33] Jen Odess: opportunity. Which is always a friction point that we’re working on [00:30:36] Vince Menzione: always because it’s very manual. It’s people intensive. Yeah. Partner development managers sitting on both sides of the equation and the interface between the sales organization and a partner organization is not always the. The easiest. So right. Automated, quite a bit of that. [00:30:49] Jen Odess: My boss is obsessed with the easy button, which I know is a phrase many of us in the US know from I think it’s an Office Depot, all these ways in which we can have easy button moments for the partner ecosystem is what we’re trying to focus on. [00:31:01] Jen Odess: I love the easy button. [00:31:02] Vince Menzione: Yeah. And I love your boss too. Yeah, he’s fabulous. Fabulous. So Michael and I go back like many years ago. You must have, [00:31:08] Jen Odess: yeah. You must have had paths crossing on numerous occasions. [00:31:12] Vince Menzione: Yeah we we worked together micro I’m going to hijack the session for a second here. [00:31:16] Vince Menzione: But when I first came to Microsoft, he was leading a, the se, a segment of the business, and he invited me to come to his event and interviewed me on stage at his event. [00:31:26] Jen Odess: No way. [00:31:26] Vince Menzione: And we got to know each other and yeah. So he was terrific. He was what a great find for, oh, he’s for service now. [00:31:32] Vince Menzione: He’s really [00:31:32] Jen Odess: has been a fantastic addition [00:31:34] Vince Menzione: to the global partnerships and channels team. And Michael, we have to have you on the podcast. Yes. Or cut down here in the studio at some point too with Jen and I. That’d be great. So this is terrific. We are getting it’s an incredible time. [00:31:44] Vince Menzione: It’s going so fast this time, 2022 was, seems like it was five, it feels like it was almost 10 years ago now. It wasn’t that we just started talking about it and you were implementing AI 10 years ago, but it wasn’t getting the attention that it’s getting today. And it really wasn’t until that moment that it really started to kick off in a way that everybody, yeah. It became pervasive overnight I would say. But now we’re starting 2026, like we’re at. This precipice of time and it’s continuing. I don’t even know what 2030 is gonna look like, right? So I’m a partner. [00:32:16] Vince Menzione: What are the one, two, or three things that I need to do now to win over and work with ServiceNow? [00:32:23] Jen Odess: One, two or three things? I’ll tell you the first thing. So today ServiceNow will end up hitting 500 million in annual contract value in our Now Assist, which is our AI products by the end of 2025, which is the fastest growing product in all of ServiceNow history. [00:32:37] Jen Odess: That’s one product that’s so there’s lots of SKUs. Yeah, but it is. It’s our AI product. Yeah. And it is, but yeah, because of all the various ways. [00:32:45] Vince Menzione: So half a billion dollars, [00:32:46] Jen Odess: half a billion by the end of 2025. And I think, someone’s gonna have to keep me honest here, but if memory serves me right, the first skews didn’t even launch until 2024. [00:32:54] Jen Odess: So we’re talking about wow, in a year it’s fast. Over 1,700 customers are live with our now assist products. Again, in a matter of, let’s call it over, a little over a year, 1,700 partners. So I think the first thing a partner needs to do is they’ve gotta get on this AI bandwagon, and they’ve gotta be selling and positioning AI use cases to their customers, because that’s the only way they’re gonna get. [00:33:20] Jen Odess: Experience and an opportunity to see what it feels like to deliver. So we have to do that. And I think you could sell a big use case like that big, we talked north, south, east, west, you could do that whole thing. Brilliant. But you could also start small. Go pick a single use case. Like a really simple example of something you wanna, some work you wanna drive productivity on. [00:33:41] Jen Odess: Yeah. And make sure you’ve got multiple stakeholders that love it and then go drive proving that use case. That’s what we’re telling a lot of partners. That’s the first thing. The second is they have got to build skills on AI and they have to keep up with it. And so we’re trying to really think about our broader learning and development team at ServiceNow is just next level. [00:34:00] Jen Odess: And they’re really re-imagining how to have more real time bite size. Training and enablement that will help individuals keep up with that pace of innovation. So individuals have got to get skilled. Yes. On AI today, of that a hundred thousand or so individuals in the ecosystem right now, about 35% of those individuals hold one or more AI credential. [00:34:25] Jen Odess: Again, that’s in a little over a year, which is the fastest growing skill development we’ve ever had, but it should be a hundred percent. Yeah. All of our goals should be that every account is being sold ai. ’cause that’s where the customer’s gonna get to value a ServiceNow is if they have the AI capabilities. [00:34:40] Jen Odess: And [00:34:41] Vince Menzione: how are you providing enablement and training? Is it all online? It’s, we have [00:34:44] Jen Odess: all sorts of ways of doing it. So that we have ServiceNow University, which is just a really robust, learning platform. Elba is our professor in residence. Very cool. Which is very cool. And they’re all content. [00:34:57] Jen Odess: Is free to partners. The training is free to partners that is on demand. Beyond that, partners can still get, instructor led training, whether that’s in person or virtual. And then my team offers enablement. That’s a little bit more, it’s like not formal training, it’s more like hands-on labs and experiences. [00:35:17] Jen Odess: We bring in lots of groups that sit around me that help and we very cool hands on with partners face-to-face. And do you do an annual event where you bring all these partners together? No, because we do we have three major milestones a year for partners. So the first is at sales kickoff, which is coming up the third week in January. [00:35:33] Jen Odess: And alongside sales kickoff is partner kickoff. Okay. And so we do a whole day of enabling them. So that’s your [00:35:39] Vince Menzione: partner kickoff? [00:35:40] Jen Odess: That’s partner kickoff. But of the, of all the partners in the ecosystem, it’s not like they can all make it. So we still also record and then live stream some of the content there. [00:35:49] Jen Odess: Then at Knowledge, there’s a whole partner track at Knowledge and same concept. Yeah, it’s like it’s all about customers and we wanna, build as much pipeline and wow as many customers as possible, but we also need to help our partners come along the journey. Then the third and final moment is in September, always, and it’s called our Global Partner Ecosystem Summit. [00:36:08] Jen Odess: We should have you, I’d love to join this next year. I love that. And it’s really, that’s the one time if sales kickoff is all about the sales motion in the field and knowledge is all about the customers and getting customers value. Global Partner Ecosystem Summit is only about the partners, what they need, why they need it, and what we’re doing to make their lives easier. [00:36:28] Jen Odess: I love it. Yeah. I’ll be there September. I love it. Dates yet set yet? I have to, it’s getting locked. I’ll get it to you. [00:36:34] Vince Menzione: Okay. All right. I’ll, we’ll be there. Okay. So you’ve been incredible. I just love having you. We could spend hours, honestly, and I want to have you back here. I’d love to, I have you back for a more meaningful conversation with the hyperscalers. [00:36:45] Vince Menzione: Talk to some of the partners that join us at Ultimate Partner events. We’ll find a way to do that, but I have this one question. It’s a favorite question of mine, and I love to ask all my guests this. Okay. You’re hosting a dinner party. And you could host a dinner party anywhere in the world. We could talk about great locations and where your favorite places are, and you can invite any three guests from the present or the past to this amazing dinner party. [00:37:11] Vince Menzione: We had one guest who wanted to do them in the future, like three people that hadn’t reached a future date. Whom would you invite Jen and why? [00:37:21] Jen Odess: Oh, first of all, you’re hitting home for me because I love to host dinner parties. I actually used to have a catering company. This is like one of those weird facts that, we didn’t talk about my pre services and ecosystem days, but I also had a catering company, so I love cooking and hosting dinner parties. [00:37:38] Jen Odess: So this is a great question. I feel like it’s a loaded question and I have to say my spouse. I love my husband dearly, but I have. To invite Lee to my dinner party. Okay. He’s in [00:37:47] Vince Menzione: Lee’s guest number one. Lee’s [00:37:49] Jen Odess: guest, number one. And the reason why is, first of all, I love him dearly, but he’s super interesting and he has such thought provoking topics to, to discuss and ways of viewing the world. [00:38:00] Jen Odess: He’s actually in security tech, so it’s like a tangential space, but not the same. [00:38:05] Vince Menzione: Yeah. But an important space right now, especially. Yeah. And [00:38:07] Jen Odess: he, yeah. And he’s, he’s just a delight to be around. So he’d be number one. Number two would be Frank Lloyd Wright. [00:38:15] Vince Menzione: Frank. Lloyd Wright. [00:38:17] Jen Odess: Yeah. I am an architecture and design junkie. [00:38:21] Jen Odess: Maybe I don’t do any of it myself, though. I dabble with friends that do it, and I try to apply it to my home life when I can. And Frank Lloyd Wright sort of embodies some of my favorite. Components of any kind of environment that you are experiencing, whether it’s a home or it’s an office building or it’s an outdoor space. [00:38:39] Jen Odess: I love the idea of minimalism and simplicity. I love the idea of monochromatic colors. I love the idea of spaces that can be used for multipurpose. And then I love the idea of the outside being in and the inside being out. I love it. So I would like love to pick his brain on some of his, how he came up with some of his ideas. [00:38:59] Jen Odess: Fascinating for some of his greatest. Yeah. Designs. Okay. That’s number two. Number three, I think it would be Pharrell Williams. Really? Yeah, I, Pharrell Williams. Yeah. I love fashion music and all things creativity. He’s got that, Annie’s philanthropic. He’s just yeah. The whole package of a good person. [00:39:26] Jen Odess: That’s super interesting and I very cool. I would love to pick his brain on what it was like to be behind the scenes on some of the fashion lines he’s collaborated with on some of his music collabs he’s had, and then just some of the work he’s doing around philanthropy. I would. I could just spend all night probably listening to him. [00:39:43] Jen Odess: This would be a [00:39:44] Vince Menzione: really cool conversation night. [00:39:45] Jen Odess: Don’t you wanna come to my dinner? Was gonna say, I’m sorry I didn’t invite you to identify. No [00:39:49] Vince Menzione: I was, can I bring dessert? [00:39:50] Jen Odess: Yeah. I come [00:39:50] Vince Menzione: for dessert. I, but it can’t, [00:39:51] Jen Odess: it has to be like a chocolate dessert. It’s gotta have [00:39:54] Vince Menzione: I love chocolate dessert. [00:39:55] Vince Menzione: Okay, great. So it would not be a problem for me, Jen. This is terrific. You have been absolutely amazing. So great to have you come here. Yeah. Such a busy time of year to have you make the trip here to Boca. We will have you back in the studio. I promise that I’ll have you back on stage. Stage. [00:40:10] Jen Odess: This is beautiful. [00:40:10] Jen Odess: Look at it. Yeah. This is [00:40:11] Vince Menzione: beautiful. And we transformed this into, to a room, basically a conference room. And then we also have our ultimate partner events. I would love to come, we would love to have you join us. Like I said, ServiceNow is such an impactful time. Your leadership in this segment market, and I wouldn’t say segment across all of AI in terms of all the use cases of AI is just so meaningful, especially for within the enterprise. [00:40:33] Vince Menzione: Yeah. Right now. So just really a jogger nut right now within the industry. So great to have you and have ServiceNow join us. So Jen, thank you so much for joining us. [00:40:42] Jen Odess: Thanks Vince. Appreciate the time. It’s a pleasure to be here. [00:40:44] Vince Menzione: Thank you very much. Thanks for tuning into this episode of Ultimate Eye to Partnering. [00:40:50] Vince Menzione: We’re bringing these episodes to you to help you level up your strategy. If you haven’t yet, now’s the time to take action and think about joining our community. We created a unique place, UPX or Ultimate partner experience. It’s more than a community. It’s your competitive edge with insider insights, real-time education, and direct access to people who are driving the ecosystem forward. [00:41:16] Vince Menzione: UPX helps you get results. And we’re just getting started as we’re taking this studio. And we’ll be hosting live stream and digital events here, including our January live stream, the Boca Winter Retreat, and more to come. So visit our website, the ultimate partner.com to learn more and join us. Now’s the time to take your partnerships to the next level.
In this episode, we talk with Aaron Jorgensen about how JobHive came to life - starting as a small résumé-parsing experiment and gradually growing into a structured, AI-supported interview workflow. Aaron explains how the system handles voice capture, transcription, prompts, and AI avatars, and why he moved toward a multi-agent approach instead of relying on one model to do everything.We dig into what “fair scoring” actually means, how cross-checking evaluators and confidence levels work, and why it's important to keep the reasoning behind decisions visible to both employers and candidates.From the builder's perspective, Aaron walks through the practical side of developing the platform: shaping an MVP, working with LangChain, choosing AWS tools that reduce overhead, and dealing with the usual setbacks—broken features, unreliable external services, and the moments that test your patience. He also talks about the routines and habits that helped him stay consistent during the harder stretches.If you're interested in hiring workflows, AI tooling, or the reality of turning a rough prototype into a functioning product, this conversation covers it all.To learn more about Aaron's work, check out his websites or reach out to him on socials:JobHive: https://jobhive.aiAaron's Website: https://ajeema.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mraaronjorgensen/Circle: https://pybites.circle.so/u/22287446___Book mentioned in ep: https://pybitesbooks.com/books/P3EFa-WuMMkC___
What happens when your brand has a million different voices speaking to a million different customers? Is that the pinnacle of personalization, or is it just brand chaos? Agility requires both the speed to personalize content for every individual as well as the control to ensure every one of those interactions faithfully represents the core brand. Today, we're going to talk about resolving one of the biggest paradoxes in modern marketing: achieving hyper-personalization at massive scale, without sacrificing brand governance and consistency. We'll explore how generative AI is moving from a creative novelty to a core operational engine for enterprise marketing, enabling brands to craft unique stories for every customer, while ensuring they all sing from the same hymn sheet. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Jason Ing, CMO at Typeface. About Jason Ing Jason Ing is the Chief Marketing Officer at Typeface, where he leads global marketing and drives the shift toward AI-powered content creation. Over the past two decades, he has built high-performing marketing teams and launched enduring, customer-obsessed campaigns at brands including Procter & Gamble, Xbox, Amazon Prime Video, AWS, and Gusto. Known for systematically scaling teams, programs, and go-to-market motions, Jason has a track record of delivering marketing strategies that not only drive impact in the moment but continue to perform years later. At Typeface, he helps modern marketers rewire how their teams work—so they can move faster, scale smarter, and unlock AI's full potential. Jason Ing on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingjason/ Resources Typeface: https://www.typeface.ai The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Palm Springs, Feb 23-26 in Palm Springs, CA. Go here for more details: https://etailwest.wbresearch.com/ Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.showCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company
How do you capture every moment of a golf tournament spread across hundreds of acres, tens of thousands of shots, and dozens of players competing at the same time? That question sits at the heart of this conversation recorded at AWS re:Invent, where I sat down with Eric Hansen, VP of Product at the PGA Tour, and Elaine Chiasson, who leads the global golf team at AWS, to unpack how data and AI are reshaping the way fans experience the game. Eric explains why modern professional golf has more in common with Formula 1 than most people realize. Every ball struck, every position on the leaderboard, and every shift in momentum generates data that needs to be processed instantly. With more than thirty thousand shots across a single tournament and only a fraction of them shown on traditional broadcasts, the PGA Tour faces a constant challenge. How do you give fans context, insight, and a sense of presence when most of the action is never seen on screen? Elaine shares how AWS has helped the Tour build the foundation to answer that question. From migrating decades of video and shot data into the cloud to applying generative AI for automated commentary, language translation, and real time insights, this partnership goes far beyond infrastructure. Together, they are experimenting with automated camera switching, AI driven production workflows, and personalized fan experiences that surface the right information at the right moment, whether you are following the leaderboard or a single favorite player. The conversation also digs into trust and accuracy. Eric walks through how the PGA Tour validates AI generated commentary to ensure it stays aligned with the sport's standards, while Elaine highlights why operational discipline and governance matter just as much as innovation. They explore what hyper personalization looks like inside the PGA Tour app, how global broadcasts could evolve, and why the long term opportunity lies in making every shot matter for every fan. As live sports move toward a future shaped by data, automation, and AI agents working behind the scenes, this episode offers a clear look at what that transformation really involves. So as golf continues to blend tradition with technology, what kind of fan experience do you want to see next, and how comfortable are you with AI calling the shots? Useful Links Connect with Eric Hansen, VP of Product at the PGA Tour. Connect with Elaine Chiasson Learn more about AWS and PGA Tour Tech Talks Daily is sponsored by Denodo
AI demand for GPUs is exploding – and most of that capacity is locked inside underused data centers.In this episode, I talk with Mark from Aethir, a decentralized GPU cloud that aggregates idle, enterprise-grade GPUs into a global network. We discuss how Aethir feels like AWS on the front end but works like “Airbnb for data centers” behind the scenes, why compute demand outpaces supply, and how they keep latency low across 90+ countries.Mark also explains Aethir's token and revenue model, their work with EigenLayer, and why he believes solo founders now have superpowers in an AI-native world.Nothing in this episode is financial or investment advice.Key timestamps[00:00:00] Intro: Sam introduces Mark and Aethir's decentralized GPU cloud.[00:01:00] Mark's journey: From oil and gas infra and biotech to building GPU infrastructure for AI.[00:04:00] What Aethir is: AWS-style GPU cloud on the front end, “Airbnb for data centers” on the back end.[00:06:00] Enterprise-only GPUs: Why they only use data-center-grade hardware and no consumer devices.[00:07:00] Exploding demand: GPU demand 6–8x supply, with inference-heavy apps driving the next wave.[00:14:00] Global coverage: 90+ countries and routing users to nearby nodes for low latency.[00:31:00] Business model: 20% protocol fee, 80% to GPU hosts, plus token rewards and staking for large clusters.[00:39:00] Solo founder era: Why one-person AI-native companies will be extremely powerful.[00:41:00] Mark's message: Focus on projects with strong fundamentals and keep building through cycles.Connecthttp://aethir.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/aethir-limited/https://x.com/AethirCloudhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/markrydon/https://x.com/MRRydonDisclaimerNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.Get featuredBe a guest on the podcast or contact us – https://www.web3pod.xyz/
Justin Elliott and Jahreem Samuels, co-founders of the WRTH app, “the world's first AI and blockchain-verified commerce platform,” reveal details of their new six-figure investment from AWS.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
Jenny Bristow and Senior Digital Producer Suzie Schmitt of Hedy & Hopp discuss the pervasive, yet often misunderstood, risks of tech dependencies for healthcare marketers. They explain what happens when single points of failure like AWS and Cloudflare experience outages, examine the instability of the internet's open-source foundation, and explain why these issues uniquely impact healthcare organizations. Learn actionable steps to create, document, and execute a disaster plan to mitigate operational and compliance risks.Episode notes:Understanding Tech Dependency Risks: How the internet's "Jenga tower" of dependencies creates massive ripple effects from a single breakCloud Monopolies and Backup Strategy: The risk of relying on three major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) and the need to have your website backup on a separate infrastructure from your production environmentThe Open-Source Developer Issue: The unsustainability of large enterprises depending on unpaid, volunteer open-source developersCloudflare Explained: How this intermediary service facilitates a secure and faster internet, and what happens when it failsThe Responsibility of Covered Entities: The HIPAA breach notification clock starts when an outage occurs, so it's important to clearly document the timeline of eventsCreating a Disaster Plan and Crisis Communication Strategy: The necessity of defining roles and establishing a communication plan for an inevitable failureDocumenting Dependencies: Steps to list and track all dependencies so that you can quickly assess if an outage impacts your websiteMarketing's Role in Security: Why outage communication falls to the marketing team and the need for close alignment with IT on the disaster planConnect with Jenny:Email: jenny@hedyandhopp.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennybristow/Connect with Suzie:Email: suzie.schmitt@hedyandhopp.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzie-schmitt/ If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love to hear your feedback! Please consider leaving us a review on your preferred listening platform and sharing it with others.
Should we care about GPT-5.2? This week on Mixture of Experts, we analyze the “code red” release of GPT-5.2 as OpenAI responds to Gemini 3. Are the constant model drops benefitting consumers? Next, Stanford released their Foundation Model Transparency Index, revealing a troubling trend that most labs are becoming less transparent. However, IBM Granite achieved a 95/100 score. Then, our experts discuss what model transparency means for enterprise AI adoption. Finally, we debrief AWS re:Invent's biggest announcements, including Nova frontier models and Nova Forge. Join host Tim Hwang and panelists Kate Soule, Ambhi Ganesan and Mihai Criveti for our expert insights.00:00 – Intro1:02 -- GPT-5.2 emergency release 12:21 -- Stanford AI Transparency Index: Granite scores 95/10027:18 -- AWS re:Invent: Nova models and enterprise AIThe opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of IBM or any other organization or entity.Subscribe for AI updates → https://www.ibm.com/account/reg/us-en/signup?formid=news-urx-52120Visit Mixture of Experts podcast page to get more AI content → https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/mixture-of-experts #GPT-5.2 #AITransparency #GraniteModels #AWSNova #AIAgents
AI agents are moving from experimental tools to everyday enterprise workflows. Reporting live from AWS re:Invent 2025 in Las Vegas for Irish Tech News, I attended a press-only briefing titled Security and the Rise of AI Agents, where senior AWS leaders Amy Herzog, Chief Information Security Officer, Hart Rossman, Vice President in the Office of the CISO, Gea Rinehouse, Vice President of Security Services and Neha Rungta, Director of Applied Science outlined how the company intends to manage this transition. AWS is pushing ahead with autonomous agents, but only within a security model built on long-standing principles: identity, governance, compliance and clear oversight. What is an AI Agent? An AI agent is a software system that uses artificial intelligence to carry out tasks autonomously in pursuit of a specific goal. Unlike chatbots that only respond to prompts, an agent can reason, plan and take action across different steps of a workflow. It can use tools such as web services or APIs, monitor its progress and adjust its approach as conditions change. Over time, it can improve its performance based on the data and experience it gathers. This distinction matters, because the rise of agents raises new questions about accountability, access, oversight and safety. Security First AWS chief executive Matt Garman shaped much of the week's discussion. Speaking about the reality facing engineering teams, he noted: "Every customer wants their products to be secure, but you have trade-offs. Where do you spend your time? Do you improve the security of existing features, or do you ship new ones?" The briefing returned to this point several times. AWS's position is that strong design-stage security reduces the tension between improvement and innovation. Agents are seen as an opportunity to reinforce security, not dilute it. AWS Security Agent One of the major announcements at re:Invent was the preview of AWS Security Agent. The tool brings several security checks forward in the development process. It reviews designs, analyses code, gathers richer signals for incident response and performs penetration testing that reflects real system behaviour rather than generic patterns. AWS Security Agent is one of the new Frontier Agents introduced at re:Invent, a family of autonomous tools designed to handle multi-step tasks across development, security and operations. Neha Rungta described the significance of this shift. She called the Security Agent "one of these frontier AI agents, a sophisticated class of AI agents that are autonomous and scalable and can work for long periods without human intervention. Security doesn't have to be an afterthought." She added that AWS is expanding its proof-based assurance tools so teams can understand correctness without being specialists in system logic. The broader point is that verification needs to be continuous, not episodic. Guardrails for Autonomy The panel stressed that agents must operate within strict boundaries. Updated policy controls in Amazon Bedrock AgentCore allow organisations to specify what an agent can do, which systems it can reach and how its actions are logged and reviewed. Hart Rossman remarked that each major technology shift has increased the demands placed on security teams. With agents running for extended periods and across more systems, the real pressure points now are scale and speed. Guardrails are essential. The Sandbox Approach A theme repeated throughout the session was the use of sandbox environments. AWS encouraged organisations to test new agents in isolation before considering production use. This allows teams to observe long-running behaviour, confirm access paths, check escalation rules and understand how an agent reacts under different conditions. The sandbox was presented as a practical way to build confidence gradually rather than relying on assumptions. Inside the Press Briefing Questions focused on monitoring autonomy, preventing agents from widening their scope...
Corey Quinn reconnects with Keith Townsend, founder of The CTO Advisor, for a candid conversation about the massive gap between AI hype and enterprise reality. Keith shares why a biopharma company gave Microsoft Copilot a hard no, and why AI has genuinely 10x'd his personal productivity while Fortune 500 companies treat it like radioactive material. From building apps with Cursor to watching enterprises freeze in fear of being the next AI disaster in the news, Keith and Corey dig into why the tools transforming solo founders and small teams are dead on arrival in the enterprise, and what it'll actually take to bridge that gap.About Keith TownsendKeith Townsend is an enterprise technologist and founder of The Advisor Bench LLC, where he helps major IT vendors refine their go-to-market strategies through practitioner-driven insights from CIOs, CTOs, and enterprise architects. Known as “The CTO Advisor,” Keith blends deep expertise in IT infrastructure, AI, and cloud with a talent for translating complex technology into clear business strategy.With more than 20 years of experience, including roles as a systems engineer, enterprise architect, and PwC consultant, Keith has advised clients such as HPE, Google Cloud, Adobe, Intel, and AWS. His content series, 100 Days of AI and CloudEveryday.dev, provide practical, plainspoken guidance for IT leaders. A frequent speaker at VMware Explore, Interop, and Tech Field Day, Keith is a trusted voice on cloud and infrastructure transformation.Show Highlights(01:25) Life After the Futurum Group Acquisition(03:56) Building Apps You're Not Qualified to Build with Cursor(05:45)Creating an AI-Powered RSS Reader(09:01) Why AI is Great at Language But Not Intelligence(11:39) Are You Looking for Advice or Just Validation?(13:49) Why Startups Can Risk AI Disasters and AWS Can't(17:28) You Can't Outsource Responsibility(19:52) Business Users Are Scared of AI Too(23:00) LinkedIn's AI Writing Tool Misses the Point(26:42) Private AI is Starting to Look Appealing(29:00) Never Going Back to Pre-AI Development(34:27) AI for Jobs You'd Never Hire Someone to Do(39:09) Where to Find Keith and Closing ThoughtsLinksThe CTO Advisor: https://thectoadvisor.comSponsor: https://www.sumologic.com/solutions/dojo-aihttps://wiz.io/crying-out-cloud
Blake Grayson, CFO of Docusign, joins CJ Gustafson to discuss how a company that redefined e-signature and became a verb is now navigating its next chapter in intelligent agreement management. Drawing on more than a decade at Amazon—where he helped forecast AWS and worked inside some of the company's most operationally demanding businesses—Blake explains how financial discipline, operational depth, and clear narrative-building shape his approach as CFO. The conversation explores how to evolve a beloved product without diluting the brand, why pricing is as much about positioning as revenue, how to communicate go-to-market mechanics without losing the room, and why effective capital allocation accepts that not every big bet needs to land to shape the leader you become.—SPONSORS:Fidelity Private Shares is the all-in-one equity management platform that keeps your cap table clean, your data room organized, and your equity story clear—so you never risk losing a fundraising round over messy records. Schedule a demo at https://www.fidelityprivateshares.com and mention Mostly Metrics to get 20% off.Sage Intacct is a cloud financial management platform that replaces spreadsheets, automates workflows, and keeps your books audit-ready as you scale. It unifies accounting, ERP, and real-time reporting for finance, retail, logistics, tech, and professional services. With payback in under six months and up to 250% ROI, and eight years as the customer-satisfaction leader, Sage Intacct helps you take control of your growth: https://bit.ly/3Kn4YHtMercury is business banking built for builders, giving founders and finance pros a financial stack that actually works together. From sending wires to tracking balances and approving payments, Mercury makes it simple to scale without friction. Join the 200,000+ entrepreneurs who trust Mercury and apply online in minutes at https://www.mercury.comRightRev automates the revenue recognition process from end to end, gives you real-time insights, and ensures ASC 606 / IFRS 15 compliance—all while closing books faster. For RevRec that auditors actually trust, visit https://www.rightrev.com and schedule a demo.Tipalti automates the entire payables process—from onboarding suppliers to executing global payouts—helping finance teams save time, eliminate costly errors, and scale confidently across 200+ countries and 120 currencies. More than 5,000 businesses already trust Tipalti to manage payments with built-in security and tax compliance. Visit https://www.tipalti.com/runthenumbers to learn more.Aleph automates 90% of manual, error-prone busywork, so you can focus on the strategic work you were hired to do. Minimize busywork and maximize impact with the power of a web app, the flexibility of spreadsheets, and the magic of AI. Get a personalised demo at https://www.getaleph.com/run—LINKS:Blake on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-grayson-3197043/Docusign: https://www.docusign.com/CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com—RELATED EPISODES:“Steal Your Boss's Job”: Calendly CFO John McCauley on Leadership, Ownership & Growthhttps://youtu.be/VRpTNDIfzPY—TIMESTAMPS:00:00:00 Preview and Intro00:02:39 Sponsors – Fidelity Private Shares | Sage Intacct | Mercury00:05:09 DocuSign as a Top CFO Tool00:07:33 From E-Signature to Intelligent Agreement Management00:09:09 Complexity Before and After a Signature00:11:02 Cost of Poor Agreement Management00:12:30 Agreement Oversight and CFO Risk00:13:28 Pricing: Usage to Seat Models00:14:12 Enterprise vs SMB Pricing00:15:00 Sponsors – RightRev | Tipalti | Aleph00:19:18 Simplicity, Tiers, and IAM Value00:20:36 Forecasting New Products in a Renewals Base00:22:13 Modeling Mix Shift and GTM Enablement00:23:56 Faster Time-to-Value With Intelligent Repositories00:25:06 Building GTM Muscle for a Platform00:26:29 Launching IAM in Commercial First00:27:31 Forecasting Growth vs Cost00:28:41 Company-Wide Alignment on Priorities00:30:02 Aligning Investor Messaging With Operations00:31:20 Staying Focused on Long-Term Outcomes00:32:27 Customer-First Decision Making00:33:41 Transparency and What Not to Disclose00:34:52 Asking Better Metric Questions00:36:28 Avoiding Data Paralysis00:38:52 Amazon's Weekly Business Reviews00:41:07 Bezos Meetings and the Silent Read00:45:09 The “Question Mark Email” and Customer Anecdotes00:50:22 Unit Economics of a Server and Early AWS Bets00:53:42 Handling Nonpayment Risk00:55:07 Operational Chaos: Perishables and Regulation00:57:04 The “No Eggs in California” Story00:59:31 Treating Escalations as Company Problems01:00:59 Biggest Career Mistake01:02:44 Advice to His Younger Self01:06:34 Tools Finance Uses: Oracle, Bots, IAM, Salesforce, Workday01:09:21 Wildest Expense Attempts01:12:32 Closing Thanks and Credits#RunTheNumbersPodcast #Docusign #CFOInsights #SaaSLeadership #AIManagement This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com
In this episode, Avanish and Antonio discuss:BBVA's data transformation journey, including the strategic decision in 2017 to create a global data function at the executive committee level reporting to the CEO and ChairmanBuilding hybrid data architecture combining centralized lake house (AWS) with data mesh approaches to balance agility and control across global operations in regulated environmentsThe "eight robots" framework—a top-down AI transformation agenda targeting the most critical parts of BBVA's value chain, from digital client relationships to banker productivity to risk underwritingHow BBVA defines data democratization as "responsible access" not "open access," implementing strict governance while enabling self-service analytics in a highly regulated industryReal-world AI impact: solutions reducing tasks from 11 minutes to less than 1 minute, generative assistant "Blue" serving 20+ million clients in Spain and Mexico, and IVR improvements saving minutes to secondsThe partnership and ecosystem strategy leveraging enterprise-focused innovation through AWS, OpenAI, Google Gemini, and vertical solution providers to increase speed of learning and innovationWhy the "mode in this cycle is learning—how fast you can learn, how fast you can test hypotheses"—embracing experimentation and continuous improvement as models rapidly evolveAntonio's vision for the future: using AI and data to expand bankarization globally, serving underserved populations and fueling economic growth for families and businessesAbout the host:Avanish Sahai is a Tidemark Fellow and served as a Board Member of Hubspot from 2018 to 2023; he currently serves on the boards of Birdie.ai, Flywl.com and Meta.com.br as well as a few non-profits and educational boards. Previously, Avanish served as the vice president, ISV and Apps partner ecosystem of Google from 2019 until 2021. From 2016 to 2019, he served as the global vice president, ISV and Technology alliances at ServiceNow. From 2014 to 2015, he was the senior vice president and chief product officer at Demandbase. Prior to Demandbase, Avanish built and led the Appexchange platform ecosystem team at Salesforce, and was an executive at Oracle and McKinsey & Company, as well as various early to mid-stage startups in Silicon Valley.About Antonio Bravo, Global Head of Data at BBVAAntonio started his career in 2009 as a consultant focused in Technology, Media and Telecom. There he had the opportunity to learn how (mobile) internet growth blurs barriers between different industries and makes them converge. One of those industries is finance. He joined BBVA in 2011 to be part of its transformation strategy, and since then he has had different jobs. Started working in the Strategy & M&A area, with focus on the BBVA Ventures team (today Propel) investing in fintech startups, continued with a role in Digital Banking Strategy team, and later in 2015 assumed the responsibility of Business Development in South America (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Perú, Venezuela, Uruguay and Paraguay).He also held the responsibility of Agile Organization until July 2019, focused in scaling the Agile methodology through-out the entire organization, more than 33.000 people including holding and countries, to improve quality, time to market, productivity and team engagement.From July 2019 until September 2021 he held the responsibility of IT Strategy & Control within BBVA, a function that manages some of the core IT functions at a global level, such as IT strategy, finance, vendor management, PMO, first line of defense and IT spin-offs.Since September 2021 he holds the position of Head of Sustainability Strategy & Business Development, where he contributes to the design of the strategic plan for all segments and manages investment in descarbonization funds. In January 2024 he was also appointed as Head of Corporate and Investment Banking Strategy, Industrial client coverage and cross border business.In January 2025 was appointed Global Head of Data at BBVA. Antonio is responsible of leading the transformation of the Group towards a data-driven company.About BBVA:BBVA is a global financial services group founded in 1857. The bank is present in more than 25 countries, has a strong leadership position in the Spanish market, is the largest financial institution in Mexico and it has leading franchises in South America and Turkey. In the United States, BBVA also has a significant investment, transactional, and capital markets banking business.BBVA contributes with its activity to the progress and welfare of all its stakeholders: shareholders, clients, employees, providers and society in general. In this regard, BBVA supports families, entrepreneurs and companies in their plans, and helps them to take advantage of the opportunities provided by innovation and technology. Likewise, BBVA offers its customers a unique value proposition, leveraged on technology and data, helping them improve their financial health with personalized information on financial decision-making.About TidemarkTidemark is a venture capital firm, foundation, and community built to serve category-leading technology companies as they scale. Tidemark was founded in 2021 by David Yuan, who has been investing, advising, and building technology companies for over 20 years. Learn more at www.tidemarkcap.com.LinksFollow our host, Avanish SahaiLearn more about Tidemark
On this episode of The Association Podcast, we welcome back Alex Mouw, Principal Strategic Advisor at AWS for Nonprofits. Highlighting the importance of strategic alignment and the value of diverse stakeholder involvement, Alex provides insightful guidance on implementing AI solutions sustainably and effectively. The discussion touches on the evolving role of technology in nonprofits, the necessity of a culture that supports experimentation, and how to decide between building or buying technology solutions. We also discuss the Imagine Grant, AWS resources for nonprofit organizations, and what skills are essential for today's tech landscape.
AI is transforming software development—redefining roles, creativity, and community, while challenging developers to embrace ambiguity, orchestrate specialized agents, and stay human through empathy and curiosity. Will AI make developers more creative, or will we forget how the machine really works under the hood?This week Dave, Esmee , Rob sit down with Scott Hanselman, VP Developer Community at Microsoft for a wildly energetic, deeply human, and brilliantly practical conversation about how AI is reshaping software development and what that means for creativity, careers, and all industries. TLDR00:30 – Scott Hanselman introduced as a special guest from Microsoft Ignite 2025.02:16 – Scott discusses how AI is fundamentally redesigning all industries.09:50 – Don't anthropomorphize AI, I want the computer from Star Trek!15:30 – Delegation: contrasting the roles of humans and agents.18:30 – The importance of supporting early career growth and learning.26:30 – Why specificity matters in AI and coding.35:30 – Making AI delightful and fun.45:30 – Always put humans first in AI development.46:00 – Each morning I think about lunch. GuestScott Hanselman: https://www.hanselman.com/The Hanselminutes Podcast: https://www.hanselman.com/podcasts with over 1025 podcasts! HostsDave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Cloud Realities' is an original podcast from Capgemini
Nvidia Distinguished Engineer Kevin Klues noted that low-level systems work is invisible when done well and highly visible when it fails — a dynamic that frames current Kubernetes innovations for AI. At KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2025, Klues and AWS product manager Jesse Butler discussed two emerging capabilities: dynamic resource allocation (DRA) and a new workload abstraction designed for sophisticated AI scheduling.DRA, now generally available in Kubernetes 1.34, fixes long-standing limitations in GPU requests. Instead of simply asking for a number of GPUs, users can specify types and configurations. Modeled after persistent volumes, DRA allows any specialized hardware to be exposed through standardized interfaces, enabling vendors to deliver custom device drivers cleanly. Butler called it one of the most elegant designs in Kubernetes.Yet complex AI workloads require more coordination. A forthcoming workload abstraction, debuting in Kubernetes 1.35, will let users define pod groups with strict scheduling and topology rules — ensuring multi-node jobs start fully or not at all. Klues emphasized that this abstraction will shape Kubernetes' AI trajectory for the next decade and encouraged community involvement.Learn more from The New Stack about dynamic resource allocation: Kubernetes Primer: Dynamic Resource Allocation (DRA) for GPU WorkloadsKubernetes v1.34 Introduces Benefits but Also New Blind SpotsJoin our community of newsletter subscribers to stay on top of the news and at the top of your game. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Damien Lucas explore les enjeux de souveraineté, de puissance de calcul et d'indépendance technologique à l'heure où l'IA redéfinit le marché du cloud pour les entreprises.Interview : Damien Lucas, CEO de ScalewayEn quoi l'adoption massive de l'IA change-t-elle les besoins des entreprises dans le cloud ?L'IA transforme avant tout la manière dont nos clients utilisent leurs données. Pour entraîner ou exploiter des modèles, il faut rapprocher l'IA de la data. Comme le rappelle souvent l'industrie, envoyer toutes ses données chez des acteurs extérieurs comme OpenAI n'est pas viable à long terme : cette data est stratégique. Notre rôle, chez Scaleway, est donc de fournir un cloud souverain, immunisé aux lois extraterritoriales et indépendant des technologies américaines, afin que les entreprises développent leurs infrastructures IA sans compromis.Comment Scaleway renforce-t-il sa capacité technologique face à la demande croissante en puissance de calcul ?Nous investissons massivement dans les GPU, désormais indispensables aux grands modèles de langage et à des usages émergents comme l'agentique ou la robotique. Nous avons été les premiers en Europe à proposer les nouveaux GPU NVIDIA Blackwell B300. En parallèle, nous soutenons l'écosystème européen : les modèles d'agentique développés par la startup française H sont par exemple disponibles dans notre cloud. Notre réseau de data centers — de Paris à Stockholm, en passant bientôt par Berlin — garantit une haute disponibilité tout en maintenant une souveraineté forte.Quelles sont les raisons concrètes qui poussent une entreprise à choisir Scaleway plutôt qu'un hyperscaler américain ?Trois raisons principales reviennent. D'abord, la souveraineté : nos clients veulent éviter la dépendance aux technologies américaines comme AWS ou Google Cloud, et protéger leurs données des lois extra-européennes. Ensuite, le prix : nous sommes significativement moins chers, notamment parce que nous ne facturons pas les egress fees, ces frais de sortie que les hyperscalers imposent systématiquement. Enfin, nous couvrons 90 % des besoins cloud du marché grâce à une offre d'environ 200 produits, bien plus simple à maîtriser que les 600 services proposés par AWS.La migration depuis AWS ou Google Cloud est-elle réellement accessible pour une startup ou une grande organisation ?Oui, très clairement. Si l'entreprise a adopté des standards modernes comme Kubernetes, Terraform ou une architecture microservices, la migration est fluide : on traduit l'infrastructure existante et on la redéploie chez Scaleway. Le frein principal est financier : comme lors d'un déménagement physique, le double loyer pèse lourd. C'est pourquoi nous proposons une “franchise de loyer”, avec plusieurs mois gratuits pour absorber la période de transition et éviter les coûts doublés.L'Europe a-t-elle encore une chance de devenir un acteur majeur du cloud ?Absolument. La transformation induite par l'IA représente une rupture technologique qui pousse toutes les entreprises à reconsidérer leur fournisseur cloud pour les années à venir. Les acteurs européens existent, la technologie est là, et les signaux politiques — comme ceux du sommet franco-allemand sur la souveraineté numérique — montrent une prise de conscience forte. Avec trois ou quatre champions solides, l'Europe peut tout à fait rivaliser avec les États-Unis. Il ne manque plus que la commande publique et privée pour accélérer cette dynamique.-----------♥️ Soutien : https://mondenumerique.info/don
Send us a textIn this episode, SteveO and Frank discuss the latest updates in cloud computing, focusing on AWS and Azure innovations. They cover new features in EC2, Lambda, and Workspaces, as well as advancements in data management and AI. The conversation also highlights cost management tools and strategies, flexible cost allocation, and storage solutions. The hosts emphasize the importance of FinOps in managing cloud costs and conclude with insights into future developments in cloud technology.
As AI tools and agentic AI become part of how applications are developed, delivered, and managed, application performance monitoring and observability have to adapt. Ned Bellavance sits down with Drew Flowers and Jacob Yackenovich from IBM Instana about where these fields sit today, and the potential impacts of AI. They detail the challenges of application... Read more »
In this year-end episode, William and Eyvonne recap their experiences at AutoCon 4 in Austin, Texas. They discuss the conference’s new multi-track format, including Eyvonne’s presentation in the leadership track on why technical projects fail. The conversation dives into how AI tools like Google Gemini can augment – not replace – human creativity, from research... Read more »
In this episode of Govcon Giants, Eric sits down with Justin Vianello, CEO and equity partner at SkillStorm, to unpack how federal agencies and large integrators can stop recycling the same expensive talent and start building net-new cleared technologists. Justin shares his global journey from chartered accountant at PwC to scaling multiple companies and exiting, and how that experience led him to a "hire, train, deploy" model that develops new talent instead of bidding up the same résumés. He breaks down why traditional degree requirements are outdated, how certifications and apprenticeships are creating better ROI, and where the real opportunities are in cybersecurity, AI, cloud, and platform-specific roles like Salesforce, AWS, and Palantir. You'll hear Justin's take on why big consulting firms and government need to rethink workforce strategy, how SkillStorm pays people during training to focus on learning, and why soft skills—communication, leadership, and presentation—are the real differentiators in an AI-powered world. Eric and Justin also explore the gap between college promises and reality, the power of apprenticeships and military "cool"/GI Bill pathways, and what agency heads must do now if they want lower costs, better teams, and faster delivery on critical missions. Key Takeaways: Upskilling & reskilling are the real moat: certifications + platform skills (cloud, cyber, AI) + soft skills beat generic degrees in today's federal tech market. Custom-built teams > resume recycling: Skillstorm's "hire, train, deploy" model creates new cleared talent, reduces costs, and gets billable teams productive on day one. College is optional, not mandatory: for many roles, apprenticeships, technical certs, and on-the-job training now offer better ROI, especially for veterans and career changers. Learn more: https://federalhelpcenter.com/ https://govcongiants.org/ Encore Funding: https://www.encore-funding.com/ Join the bootcamp: https://govcongiants.org/bootcamp Justin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-vianello/ Justin's Twitter/X: https://x.com/justinvianello
As AI tools and agentic AI become part of how applications are developed, delivered, and managed, application performance monitoring and observability have to adapt. Ned Bellavance sits down with Drew Flowers and Jacob Yackenovich from IBM Instana about where these fields sit today, and the potential impacts of AI. They detail the challenges of application... Read more »
In this episode of Builders Bench, Peter interviews Navjit, the CEO of Iagon, discussing the innovative decentralized storage and compute solutions offered by Iagon. The conversation covers the unique Cyclone device that simplifies user participation, significant partnerships like the one with Worth Group, and the future plans for retail adoption and the role of the IAG token in the ecosystem.TakeawaysIagon connects idle resources for cost-effective storage and compute.Decentralization enhances data security and control.The Cyclone device simplifies participation for non-tech users.Partnerships with Fortune 500 companies expand Iagon's reach.Iagon's solutions provide redundancy against downtime.The Worth Group partnership taps into 3D printing for car parts.Retail adoption is a focus for Iagon's future growth.The IAG token is essential for running nodes and accessing services.Iagon aims to create a user-friendly experience for data storage.Future plans include a Dropbox-like solution for retail users.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Iagon and Its Ecosystem02:57 Understanding Iagon's Infrastructure Solutions05:59 The Cyclone Device: Simplifying Participation08:58 Partnerships and Innovations with Worth Group15:00 Retail Adoption and Future Plans for Iagon20:05 The Role of IAG Token in the EcosystemDISCLAIMER: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not financial, investment, or legal advice. I am not affiliated with, nor compensated by, the project discussed—no tokens, payments, or incentives received. I do not hold a stake in the project, including private or future allocations. All views are my own, based on public information. Always do your own research and consult a licensed advisor before investing. Crypto investments carry high risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. I am not responsible for any decisions you make based on this content.
Rubrik's GM of AI Dev Rishi, explains how 85% of enterprises are building agentic AI but lack frameworks to govern agents with production system access - and how Rubrik solves this gap!Topics Include:Dev Rishi explains Rubrik's evolution from data backup to cyber resilience company.Rubrik shifted focus after 2018 when ransomware became the primary business continuity threat.Recent investments center on AI features and security for enterprise data infrastructure.Rubrik's foundation understands organizational data, metadata, and identity access across all systems.Predabase acquisition brought generative AI and LLM platform capabilities into Rubrik's infrastructure.Rubrik Agent Cloud launched to address enterprise AI security and governance needs.180 enterprise conversations revealed AI risk frameworks block ROI, not technology challenges.Agents enable 10x productivity but create 10x damage potential in shorter timeframes.Most organizations struggle enforcing AI policies across AWS Bedrock, OpenAI, and third-party platforms.Agent Undo feature recovers from destructive AI actions using healthy backup snapshots.Three pillars for AI security: define policies, enforce across platforms, enable recovery.2026 will see enterprises shift from pilot agents to managing dozens in production.Participants:Dev Rishi – General Manager of AI, RubrikConnect with Rubrik and learn more here: https://www.rubrik.com/lp/events-hubSee how Amazon Web Services gives you the freedom to migrate, innovate, and scale your software company at https://aws.amazon.com/isv/
In this fireside chat with AWS CEO Matt Garman and AWS VP of Global Services, Uwem Ukpong, hear about the latest developments at AWS and why they matter to your business. Featured at the AWS Executive Summit at re:Invent, this discussion addresses everything from navigating data sovereignty with the European Sovereign Cloud, to building custom AI models with Nova Forge and Trainium chips, to transforming software development with frontier agents. Learn how AWS is helping enterprises unlock AI's full potential while maintaining control of their data and reimagining how teams work.
In this episode, Ben and Jay discuss a range of topics including Ben's health update, Amazon's recent AWS event focusing on AI compute, the competitive landscape with Nvidia and Google, Marvell's earnings and challenges in custom silicon, networking innovations with DPUs, Marvell's acquisition of Celestial, Nvidia's investment in Synopsys, Intel's resurgence in advanced packaging, and the leadership changes at Apple. The conversation highlights the evolving dynamics in the tech industry, particularly in AI and cloud computing.
AWS Morning Brief for the week of December 8th, with Corey Quinn. Links:Introducing Amazon Route 53 Global Resolver for secure anycast DNS resolution (preview)Introducing AWS Lambda Managed Instances: Serverless simplicity with EC2 flexibilityAWS announces preview of AWS Interconnect - multicloudIntroducing AWS Transform custom: Crush tech debt with AI-powered code modernizationAmazon CloudWatch introduces unified data management and analytics for operations, security, and complianceAmazon EC2 P6e-GB300 UltraServers accelerated by NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 are now generally availableIntroducing AWS AI FactoriesIntroducing AWS DevOps Agent (preview), frontier agent for operational excellenceAmazon S3 Storage Lens adds performance metrics, support for billions of prefixes, and export to S3 TablesBuild multi-step applications and AI workflows with AWS Lambda durable functionsAmazon S3 increases the maximum object size to 50 TBAmazon S3 Tables now offer the Intelligent-Tiering storage classChina-nexus cyber threat groups rapidly exploit React2Shell vulnerability (CVE-2025-55182)Introducing Database Savings Plans for AWS Databases