Podcasts about CTO

This episode is a re-air of one of our most popular conversations from this year, featuring insights worth revisiting. Thank you for being part of the Data Stack community. Stay up to date with the latest episodes at datastackshow.com. This week on The Data Stack Show, John chats with Paul Blankley, Founder and CTO of Zenlytic, live from Denver! Paul and John discuss the rapid evolution of AI in business intelligence, highlighting how AI is transforming data analysis and decision-making. Paul also explores the potential of AI as an "employee" that can handle complex analytical tasks, from unstructured data processing to proactive monitoring. Key insights include the increasing capabilities of AI in symbolic tasks like coding, the importance of providing business context to AI models, and the future of BI tools that can flexibly interact with both structured and unstructured data. Paul emphasizes that the next generation of AI tools will move beyond traditional dashboards, offering more intelligent, context-aware insights that can help businesses make more informed decisions. It's an exciting conversation you won't want to miss.Highlights from this week's conversation include:Welcoming Paul Back and Industry Changes (1:03)AI Model Progress and Superhuman Domains (2:01)AI as an Employee: Context and Capabilities (4:04)Model Selection and User Experience (7:37)AI as a McKinsey Consultant: Decision-Making (10:18)Structured vs. Unstructured Data Platforms (12:55)MCP Servers and the Future of BI Interfaces (16:00)Value of UI and Multimodal BI Experiences (18:38)Pitfalls of DIY Data Pipelines and Governance (22:14)Text-to-SQL, Semantic Layers, and Trust (28:10)Democratizing Semantic Models and Personalization (33:22)Inefficiency in Analytics and Analyst Workflows (35:07)Reasoning and Intelligence in Monitoring (37:20)Roadmap: Proactive AI by 2026 (39:53)Limitations of BI Incumbents, Future Outlooks and Parting Thoughts (41:15)The Data Stack Show is a weekly podcast powered by RudderStack, customer data infrastructure that enables you to deliver real-time customer event data everywhere it's needed to power smarter decisions and better customer experiences. Each week, we'll talk to data engineers, analysts, and data scientists about their experience around building and maintaining data infrastructure, delivering data and data products, and driving better outcomes across their businesses with data.RudderStack helps businesses make the most out of their customer data while ensuring data privacy and security. To learn more about RudderStack visit rudderstack.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Luffa is the next-gen operating system for the creator and fan economy, combining wallets, identity, communication, community, AI, and mini-programs into one seamless experience. Luffa aims to become the ultimate Web3 connector that transforms attention into ownership and connection into commerce. By enabling creators, brands, and fans to participate in a shared, transactable value-driven social network, Luffa bridges digital engagement and real-world value, empowering each stakeholder in the creator ecosystem to achieve growth, retention, and deeper relationships.Michael Liu is the chief technology officer (CTO) of Luffa. He recently joined the Bitcoin.com News Podcast to talk about the platform.In the episode, Michael Liu introduces his company's vision for transforming the creator and fan economy. Describing Luffa as the "next-generation operating system" and "ultimate Web3 connector," Michael details how the platform aims to fix the current broken model where value is captured by platforms rather than fans and creators. The core goal is a fundamental shift from attention-based platforms to ownership-based networks, turning creators, fans, and brands into aligned participants in a shared value system where every interaction can become a rewarded asset.Luffa is presented not merely as a social application but as a foundational infrastructure that combines critical Web3 components: a Decentralized ID (DID), a cross-chain wallet, communication communities, and mini-apps into one seamless, programmable layer. The platform integrates AI as its "intelligence core," using it for essential personalization of content and automated workflows based on user-controlled data. Furthermore, AI serves as a critical, multi-layered security measure alongside decentralized protocols to detect potential hacks and hijacks to users' DIDs and digital assets, ensuring a high degree of security and privacy by default, even for Web2 users.The conversation highlights Luffa's key differentiators: user ownership of identity and data, programmability that allows social interaction to trigger transactions, and composability for developers and brands to build mini-apps. The company's monetization approach focuses on working with creators rather than through them. Michael shares early validation, including B2B partners and creators using the platform for membership management and NFTs, noting significant growth with over two million downloads and plans for future fundraising and expansion into key global markets like Korea, African countries, the EU, and the US.About Our GuestMichael Liu — CTO of Luffa, is a cross-disciplinary entrepreneur and technologist with a global track record spanning AI, cybersecurity, energy, and fintech. He previously served as AI Lead at a Global Top 3 energy firm, where he led industrial AI R&D and the commercialization of smart grid intelligence systems.As the Founder of Fam Capital in Silicon Valley, Michael has driven cross-border investments bridging Asia and North America, focusing on deep tech, Bitcoin mining, Web3 infrastructure, and decentralized systems.Holding a background in Electrical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from Harvard, he combines technical depth with strategic insight. Michael is also a trusted advisor to global founders, known for his ability to align advanced technologies with scalable business outcomes.To learn more about the project visit Luffa.im, and follow the team on X.

This week on Better Buildings for Humans, host Joe Menchefski connects with Georg Molzer, Austrian tech visionary and creator of Shadowmap—a groundbreaking platform that's redefining our relationship with sunlight. From early engineering dreams to burnout recovery and a brilliant balcony epiphany, Georg shares how a dark Viennese winter inspired him to illuminate how we understand solar exposure in cities, homes, and beyond. In this episode, Georg and Joe explore how Shadowmap's intuitive 4D visualization tool is empowering architects, real estate developers, and everyday users to design healthier, more sun-filled environments. They dig into the rising global awareness of sunlight's impact on health and productivity, and how data-rich simulations can prevent costly design mistakes. Whether you're an architect, planner, or sunlight enthusiast, this conversation will make you think differently about how—and where—we build.More About Georg MolzerAt the age of 16, while still attending high school, Georg Molzer had his first job as a programmer and designer for a Viennese health startup. Four years later, while studying visual computing at TU Wien, he founded his first consulting company. In 2015, he became co-founder and CTO of kiweno, an Austrian health tech startup, where he gained important entrepreneurial experience and went through the typical (and perhaps also less typical) founder's journey.His subsequent burnout and his love of the sun led him to follow his heart and work on an idea he had had six years earlier during a dark Viennese winter: an app that reconnects people with the sun: Shadowmap. Georg is convinced that the sensible use of solar energy – and the power of the sun in general – would solve many global problems in no time: better architecture, more livable living space, healthier and happier lives, higher, sustainable energy yields. Putting humanity first. His passion for the topic has turned Shadowmap into a globally leading product within a few years, which is used by hundreds of thousand people worldwide every month and is now also integrated into large real estate portals, reaching more humans than ever before.Contact:https://www.linkedin.com/in/molzer https://www.x.com/georgmolzer https://www.linkedin.com/company/shadowmap/https://www.instagram.com/shadowmap_org https://www.x.com/shadowmap_org Where To Find Us:https://bbfhpod.advancedglazings.com/www.advancedglazings.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/better-buildings-for-humans-podcastwww.linkedin.com/in/advanced-glazings-ltd-848b4625https://twitter.com/bbfhpodhttps://twitter.com/Solera_Daylighthttps://www.instagram.com/bbfhpod/https://www.instagram.com/advancedglazingsltdhttps://www.facebook.com/AdvancedGlazingsltd

What happens when enterprise AI moves faster than the data foundations meant to support it? That question guided my conversation with Sumit Mehra, CTO and Co-Founder of Tredence, who joined me while travelling between customer meetings on the US West Coast. Sumit has a clear view of what is coming next, and he believes we are entering a phase he calls data Darwinism.  In his view, the next stage of AI advantage will not be won by the companies with the most models or the flashiest demos, but by those with the strongest data habits. Clean, governed, connected data is now the primary fuel for autonomous decision systems, and the enterprises that fail to address this will struggle to move past surface level gains. As we unpacked this shift, it became obvious how much of the real work in AI has only just begun. Over the years, Tredence built a reputation for solving the last mile of analytics by bringing insights out of slide decks and into the hands of the people doing the work. Sumit described that early chapter with a sense of pride, but he was quick to point out that another transition is already here. With agents now influencing and making decisions across supply chains, forecasting, and customer experience, enterprises are moving from reviewing insights to reviewing decisions. That shift demands stronger data platforms, tighter governance, and a cultural adjustment that many organisations are still wrestling with. Sumit spoke openly about how teams need support to trust agent driven outcomes, and how the leadership layer plays a major role in closing the long standing divide between business and technical groups. Our discussion also moved into the rise of real time decision systems, the move toward unified data platforms, and how vertical AI is reshaping expectations inside industries that rely on precision. Whether it was supply chain visibility, marketing personalisation, or the growing need for credible governance models, Sumit emphasised that organisations can no longer rely on siloed data or fragmented strategies. As Tredence expands deeper into regulated industries through its acquisition of Further Advisory, the work ahead touches everything from finance to healthcare. It left me thinking about how ready most companies truly are for this next phase, where every agent is only as reliable as the data beneath it. Where do you stand on data Darwinism, and how prepared do you think your own organisation is for what comes next? Tech Talks Daily is Sponsored by NordLayer: Get the exclusive Black Friday offer: 28% off NordLayer yearly plans with the coupon code: techdaily-28. Valid until December 10th, 2025. Try it risk-free with a 14-day money-back guarantee.

With the help of Josh Hardy, Co-Founder and CTO of Orb, we introduce Orb.  Orb is a suite app for OS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux that is a new way to look at your internet connectivity.  Josh gives us a little background on why and how Orb was created,  He then goes into more detail... Read more »

Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) initiatives aren't just “the right thing to do”, they can also save companies real dollars, particularly if they're investing in data centers and other infrastructure. Join Jonathan Ciccio, Continuous Improvement Manager for The Siemon Company, as we discuss The Siemon Company’s ESG initiatives. The Siemon Company has been in business for... Read more »

In this transformative and deeply personal episode of the "Stuck In My Mind Podcast," host Wize El Jefe welcomes Georges Córdoba, a former chief technology officer turned holistic health coach, functional nutritionist, energy healer, speaker, and founder of Qualavita. Georges brings a remarkable story of survival, healing, and paradigm-shifting perspective on health—one forged through climbing life's toughest mountain: surviving stage 4 melanoma with brain metastasis. The conversation begins with Wize El Jefe setting the stage, introducing Georges as someone who didn't just survive a decade-long battle with cancer marked by 10 surgeries—including multiple brain operations—but completely transformed his life thereafter. Georges Córdoba shares heartfelt gratitude for the chance to tell his story, marking this July as his 13th year cancer-free—a journey that ultimately led him into holistic health coaching. Listeners are taken through the specifics of Georges' battle, starting as a CTO suddenly diagnosed with advanced melanoma, facing eight brain tumors, two of which were deemed inoperable. With Western medicine running out of answers, Georges describes reaching a pivotal breaking point—when the conventional treatments and financial strains became unbearable. Georges details his leap of faith into holistic modalities, from acupuncture to energy work, navigating doubt and surrender through faith and a search for discernment. The emotional depth comes alive as he describes moments of spiritual resilience in a chapel, praying for guidance amidst recurrence and uncertainty. Conversation shifts to the big picture: the current health crisis in the United States. Drawing upon his speaking engagements and research from the American Cancer Society and Harvard School of Health, Georges offers sobering statistics—66% of US adults have at least one chronic disease, and obesity rates are soaring. He calls out the systemic issues, from the food industry's questionable practices to the entrenched financial incentives in healthcare, arguing that the nation is plagued not only by poor nutrition and lifestyle, but also by a lack of preventative initiatives. Wize El Jefe and Georges trade personal anecdotes about changes in society, food culture, and the normalization of processed foods. Their frank discussion exposes the convenience trap and its severe health consequences, comparing the eating habits of past decades with the fast-food norm of today. Georges passionately explains his holistic health philosophy, which now encompasses functional nutrition, emotional healing, hypnosis, and energy work. He reflects on the hardest and most impactful practices to master, such as hypnotherapy, and debunks pervasive myths about disease and heredity. Drawing from the latest epigenetic science, he asserts that nearly all chronic illness originates in emotional distress, acidic/inflamed bodies, and unhealthy lifestyles—not genetics alone. A core segment explores how most Americans eat too quickly and chew too little, leading to poor digestion and chronic health issues. Georges presents vivid metaphors and practical advice—slowing down, breathing deeply before meals, and chewing food thoroughly, so digestion can happen properly and health can be restored. As Wize El Jefe shares his own journey of weight loss and improved well-being, the episode turns toward empowerment, resilience, and the actionable steps listeners can take. Georges outlines his program, Qualavita, which means “quality of life.” Through personalized coaching, group movements like his new Prevention Revolution, and forthcoming books, Georges aspires to help clients unlock vitality from within. His approach treats the whole person—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual—drawing from wisdom traditions, modern science, and lived experience. The episode is filled with practical guidance: from nutrition tips and emotional healing practices to mindsets that foster hope and transformation. Georges illustrates how faith, purpose, and consistent action are essential to healing, sharing inspiring testimonials and anecdotes from his own family and clients. For listeners who may feel powerless battling disease, Georges delivers a powerful, compassionate message: healing happens from the inside out, and the answers for transformation are within. He shares the importance of believing in yourself, taking control of your choices, and seeking out supportive communities and resources. For those feeling lost after a diagnosis, Georges offers strategies for managing fear, advocating for yourself within the healthcare system, and using positive visualization to empower the mind and body toward healing. As the episode closes, Georges shares where listeners can find him, access his bestselling book "Beating the Odds," and join his new programs for both prevention and healing. His advocacy: take action and start the journey toward true quality of life—slow down, become present, and embrace holistic health. This episode is a powerful blend of raw personal experience, expert guidance, and urgent call for a radical shift in how we approach sickness and health as individuals and a society. Anyone struggling with chronic illness, seeking hope, or curious about holistic health will leave inspired, informed, and armed with practical steps toward transformation. Tune in now to hear the full conversation—one that just may change your perspective, your habits, and your path to true healing.

Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) initiatives aren't just “the right thing to do”, they can also save companies real dollars, particularly if they're investing in data centers and other infrastructure. Join Jonathan Ciccio, Continuous Improvement Manager for The Siemon Company, as we discuss The Siemon Company’s ESG initiatives. The Siemon Company has been in business for... Read more »

Scott Kerr sits down with Kristie D'Ambrosio-Correll, CEO and co-founder of Dacora Motors, a groundbreaking American ultra-luxury electric vehicle that will compete with Rolls-Royce and whose design pays homage to the elegant lines of 1930s vintage automotive artistry. Dacora is the first female-founded and led car company in the industry's history and the first made-in-America ultra-luxury vehicle brand in nearly a century. Kristie discusses what led her from CTO of Mirror to starting her own luxury EV company, the challenges she faced as female founder, and aiming to be the ultimate in luxury bespoke customization. She also talks about the opportunity for Dacora in a challenging luxury EV market and its design collaboration with the legendary Pininfarina Group. Plus: Why Dacora's extreme approach to personalization is unprecedented in this categoryFeaturing: Kristie D'Ambrosio-Correll, CEO and Co-Founder of Dacora (dacora.com)Host: Scott Kerr, Founder & President of Silvertone ConsultingAbout The Luxury Item podcast: It's a podcast on the business of luxury and the people and companies that are shaping the future of the luxury industry.Stay Connected: scott@silvertoneconsulting.comListen and subscribe to The Luxury Item wherever you get your podcasts. Tell a friend or a colleague!

This week we're joined by Jon Gamble, Co-Founder and CTO of Fordje — and the sole developer taking on one of the biggest pain points in construction. Jon's building the AI platform that finally makes sense of the country's building codes, cutting through the delays and roadblocks that cost developers billions every year.Jon's the kind of founder who cares about the real problem underneath the noise. We talk about the grind of being a one-person engineering team, the weight of fixing an issue everyone overlooks, and what drives someone to take on a challenge this big.LINKS:Jon on LinkedInFordje on LinkedInFordje Website___________________________________ Submit Your Questions to: hello@thebigpixel.net OR comment on our YouTube videos! - Big Pixel, LLC - YouTube Our Hosts David Baxter - CEO of Big Pixel Gary Voigt - Creative Director at Big Pixel The Podcast David Baxter has been designing, building, and advising startups and businesses for over ten years. His passion, knowledge, and brutal honesty have helped dozens of companies get their start. In Biz/Dev, David and award-winning Creative Director Gary Voigt talk about current events and how they affect the world of startups, entrepreneurship, software development, and culture. Contact Us hello@thebigpixel.net 919-275-0646 www.thebigpixel.net FB | IG | LI | TW | TT : @bigpixelNC Big Pixel 1772 Heritage Center Dr Suite 201 Wake Forest, NC 27587 Music by: BLXRR

In this episode of Technology Reseller News, Publisher Doug Green speaks with Jason Goecke, CTO and Robert Galop, CPO of Creo Solutions, about why vCons (virtual conversations) represent a “golden grail” revenue opportunity for service providers, MSPs, and telcos. Drawing on decades of telecom and CPaaS experience, the Creo team explains how their company was founded to help providers “2x their revenue” by layering practical AI, automation, and data intelligence on top of existing communications services. Their focus today: turning the billions of conversations crossing telecom networks into actionable business value. The discussion centers on vCons as a standard container for conversation data—not just recordings, but transcripts, metadata, compliance controls, and context. On their own, vCons “don't do anything,” as Galop notes, but once you analyze them at scale with AI, they reveal issues and opportunities that would otherwise stay invisible. In one deployment, a service provider believed they had excellent first-call resolution; Creo's analytics showed that agents were only truly resolving about 24% of calls, with 76% generating follow-ups and extra work. In another case, the very first processed call exposed a serious security gap: an agent forwarding a main number without validating the caller's identity. “Conversations have been dark data,” Goecke explains. “Now you can light up every conversation and drive value from it.” Creo's Pulse Conversation Intelligence platform (part of its broader Intelligence Cloud) is designed to make this revenue opportunity turnkey for providers. Rather than asking carriers or MSPs to build AI infrastructure, Creo takes in CDRs and call recordings (or vCons directly), handles speech-to-text, diarization, vCon creation, and then runs domain-specific analytics. Service providers can immediately offer offerings such as: 100% QA coverage for contact centers (versus the typical 2%), AI note-taking and action items for every voice call (not just Zoom/Teams meetings), and deep baseline insight into what's actually happening across sales, support, and operations. APIs and webhooks then allow these insights and summaries to flow into CRMs, bots, workflow engines, and custom applications, enabling personalized experiences and smarter automation without the customer needing to “speak AI.” A key message for MSPs and channel partners is that they don't need to be AI experts to sell and deploy this. Creo positions itself as a native AI company, using AI throughout its own development and delivery processes so that partners can simply deliver better outcomes: more meetings booked, better QA coverage, reduced manual note-taking, improved compliance, and richer customer journeys. “That really makes it easy for the service providers,” Goecke notes. “We're scratching a lot of very important itches—QA, notes, follow-up—and, oh by the way, it's all AI-forward.” For service providers looking to turn vCons from theory into concrete, recurring revenue in 2026, Creo Solutions invites listeners to learn more at https://www.creosolutions.tech/ and explore the Pulse platform at https://intelligence.cloud/.

"I actually view Bitcoin as a way to keep the crown jewels of our civilization, the West, shining… If that goes out, then the whole world goes dark. And so that's what I think is the most important thing. I think Bitcoin is going to help save Western civilization." What happens when you build a Bitcoin-only bank inside the belly of the U.S. financial system? River CEO/CTO Alex Leishman breaks down what it's like to build a Bitcoin bank, why Bitcoin saves western civilization, and what Bitcoin means for America. PARTNERS & DISCOUNTS: BLOCKWARE: Mine Bitcoin, lower your tax bill, and stack sats hands-free with Blockware — get started today at https://mining.blockwaresolutions.com/titcoin and use code “titcoin” to get $100 off your first miner on the Blockware Marketplace. LEDN: Bitcoin-backed lending. Go to ledn.io/walker and unlock liquidity WITHOUT selling your bitcoin. Buy Bitcoin with River: http://partner.river.com/walker GET FOLD ($10 in bitcoin): https://use.foldapp.com/r/WALKER In this episode of THE Bitcoin Podcast, Walker America sits down with Alex Leishman, CEO/CTO of River, to talk about: • Why River refuses to sell shitcoins and won't run a “casino” • How their proof-of-reserves system works (and why most exchanges still won't do it) • Paying 3.5% on dollar deposits, in Bitcoin, and why they're fine eating the banks' lunch • What River sees behind the scenes during the “Bitcoin crashed to $100K” panic • The rise of Main Street Bitcoin treasuries (restaurants, plumbers, hot dog stands, churches & more) • Why Alex thinks Bitcoin is a lifeboat for America and the West • Culture, demographics, and why “fix the money” isn't the whole story Alex also shares River's long-term vision to become the most trusted financial institution built on Bitcoin – a true Bitcoin-native bank that can eventually replace your legacy checking and savings account. FOLLOW ALEX: https://x.com/Leishman JOIN THE SUBSTACK TO GET NEW EPISODES DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX: https://walkeramerica.substack.com/ If you enjoy THE Bitcoin Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: FOLLOW ME (Walker) on @WalkerAmerica on X | @TitcoinPodcast on X | Nostr Personal (walker) | Nostr Podcast (Titcoin) | Instagram Subscribe to THE Bitcoin Podcast (and leave a review) on Fountain | YouTube | Spotify | Rumble | EVERYWHERE ELSE

Jährlich schreiben Hunderttausende Studierende ihre Bachelor-Arbeit in Deutschland, doch nur selten entsteht daraus ein ganzes Unternehmen. Fabian Haigen, CTO bei Faaren. hat genau das geschafft.Gemeinsam mit Kommiliton:innen gründete Fabian im Rahmen einer Projektarbeit eines der ersten deutschen Mobility-Start-ups für Auto-Abos. Aus dem studentischen Projekt mit fünf Personen wurde ein wachsendes Unternehmen mit Dutzenden Mitarbeitenden.Wir sprechen mit Fabian über seinen Weg und erfahren, wie wichtig sein Gründungsteam für ihn war und was er auf dieser Reise gelernt hat. Fabian berichtet uns von der anfänglichen Wahl des Tech-Stacks für das Projekt und dem Wandel hin zu einer modernen, White-Label-fähigen Architektur. Außerdem geht es darum, wie wichtig insbesondere die ersten Angestellten sind, wie man die richtigen Kandidat:innen findet und wie ein Bewerbungsprozess im Start-up funktionieren kann.Zum Abschluss geht es um Fabians Entwicklung vom einzigen Entwickler der gesamten Infrastruktur zum Leiter eines großen Teams. Dabei erfahren wir, welche Prozesse das Team finden musste und an welchen (Code-)Stellen Fabian bis heute leidenschaftlich gerne involviert ist.Schreibt uns! Schickt uns eure Themenwünsche und euer Feedback: podcast@programmier.barFolgt uns! Bleibt auf dem Laufenden über zukünftige Folgen und virtuelle Meetups und beteiligt euch an Community-Diskussionen. BlueskyInstagramLinkedInMeetupYouTubeMusik: Hanimo

On the heels of raising $210 million at a $3.5 billion valuation, OpenEvidence is the fastest-growing physician app in history, now reaching over 40% of U.S. physicians and powering 17 million monthly clinical queries.In this conversation, co-founder and CTO Zack Ziegler shares how his background in early large language models led him to build an AI that helps clinicians make better decisions at the point of care, without replacing their judgment.We cover:

This abridged video takes you into a live unrehearsed meeting in which a CEO and CTO (chief technology officer) develop a startup within 3 hoursSupport Via Cashapp: @MarquettDavonSupport via Venmo: @MarquettDavonSupport: https://donate.stripe.com/4gM9ATgXFcRx5Tf4rw0x200Become a member: https://thesasn.com/membership-account/membership-levels/Support with Bitcoin: BTC Deposit address: 3NtpN3eGwcmAgq1AYJsp7aV7QzQDeE9uwdMy Book: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Box-Marquett-Burton/dp/0578745062https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-marquett-burtons-training-centerBook Consultation: https://cozycal.com/sasn#Marquettism #FinancialFreedom #Entrepreneurship #Marquettdavon #Wealth #FoundationalBlackAmerican #Leadership #Deen #business #relationships #money

Lalita du Perron talks to Daniel Praburaj, former pre-doctoral fellow at the Stanford King Center on Global Development about his journey to Stanford (spoiler: it did not involve an IIT) and his plans for the future. Lalita and Daniel are joined at the start of the podcast by the meows of Lalita's cat Michelle, but after about 10 minutes she gives up trying to be the main character of the episode. Daniel is the Co-founder & CTO of Mithram.

Mike Hanson, CTO at Clockwise, joins the show to break down how our relationship with computers is changing as language based systems reshape expectations. We explore why natural storytelling feels so intuitive with today's AI tools, how context is becoming the new currency of great software, and why narrow AI is often more powerful than the industry hype suggests.This conversation gives tech leaders a grounded look at what is real, what is noise, and what is coming fast.Key Takeaways• Natural storytelling is becoming the default way people communicate with AI, and products must adjust to that shift.• Context is the driving force behind great interaction design and LLM powered systems now surface and use context at a scale traditional UIs never could.• Most real world gains come from narrow AI that solves focused everyday problems, not from broad AGI promises.• Multi agent systems and multiplayer coordination are emerging as the next frontier for enterprise AI.• The biggest risk is not model weakness but user uncertainty about when an answer is trustworthy.Timestamped Highlights01:21 What Clockwise is building with its scheduling brain and how natural language creates new value04:13 Why humans default to storytelling and how LLMs finally make that instinct useful08:00 The rising expectation that software should understand context the way people do12:13 The shift away from feed centric design and toward multi person coordination in AI systems17:31 Why narrow AI delivers real value while wide AI often creates anxiety23:52 A real world example of how AI can remove busy work by orchestrating tasks across tools26:24 Why we do not need AGI to meaningfully improve everyday productivityA standout thoughtPeople have always tried to talk to computers in a natural way. The difference now is that the systems finally understand us well enough to meet us where we already are.Pro Tips• Look for AI that reduces busy work across tools rather than chasing broad capability.• Prioritize context rich interactions in your product planning. It will define user expectations for years to come.• Treat multi person workflows as the next major opportunity. Most teams still rely on manual coordination.Call to actionIf this episode helped you think differently about where AI is actually useful, follow the show and share it with someone who is building product in this space. And join me on LinkedIn for weekly insights on tech, people, and impact.

Washington AI Network founder Tammy Haddad hosts the VA's CTO and Chief AI Officer Charles Worthington for a special Veteran's Day episode on how AI is transforming one of the largest and most complex organizations in the nation.  Worthington discusses how the VA is equipping both Veterans and providers with AR, VR, and wearables to provide better care and outcomes for our nation's bravest men and women.

Gaurav Bhasin is the founder and managing director of Allied Advisers, an M&A advisory firm whose principals have completed over 100 sell-side transactions for software and tech founders. After two decades in investment banking and tech M&A, Gaurav is a sell-side advisor to B2B software founders who have built successful businesses and want to explore selling their companies. Allied Advisers typically works with founders selling their businesses for $20M–$200M, helping them prepare materials, run a competitive process, and negotiate terms. We discuss how today's M&A market looks very different from the 2021 bubble. Valuations have normalized, deal timelines have increased, and buyers are more disciplined. But the demand for profitable, steadily growing SaaS companies is stronger than ever. Gaurav breaks down strategic and private equity buyers, what metrics matter most, how AI influences valuations, and why most founders underestimate the emotional and operational effort required to sell. For practical founders thinking about an exit in the next few years, this episode provides clear expectations and tactical guidance. Key Takeaways Profitable Growth Wins — Buyers prefer SaaS companies growing 20–50% with real profits over faster revenue growth fueled by burn. Metrics Drive Valuation — Net retention above 110%, gross retention above 90%, and >75% gross margins increase valuation and buyer interest. Run a Real Process — A single buyer gives you no leverage. Multiple qualified buyers improve pricing, terms, and closing certainty. AI Is Lipstick — But Real — You don't need to be AI-native. Practical AI that improves product, margin, or GTM still increases buyer interest.   Quote from Gaurav Bhasin, founder and managing director of Allied Advisers "The good news for SaaS founders is that the private equity community has raised about $1.5 trillion of capital, and more is being raised. And they also have access to debt. So there's $7 trillion of dry powder to do deals. Private equity is not paid to sit on the cash. And they love recurring revenue software.  "Private equity investors will typically move much faster than strategic buyers. Strategics will take a while. You need a business unit sponsor to buy into the vision, and then they will push the corporate to do the deal. But with the private equity, they will look at your financial metrics and if you fit in, they can move pretty fast.  "The one caveat with private equity compared to strategic is they generally pay a little bit less than the strategics because strategics have established distribution and GTM for higher growth, so private equity will index more on the financials." Links Gaurav Bhasin on LinkedIn Allied Advisers on LinkedIn Allied Advisers website 2025 Vertical SaaS Report - Allied Advisers Podcast Sponsor – Fraction This podcast is sponsored by Fraction. Fraction gives you access to senior US-based engineers and CTOs — without full-time costs or hiring risks. Get 10 to 30 hours per week from vetted and experienced US-based talent. Find your next fractional senior engineer or CTO at fraction.work. You can start with a one-week, risk-free trial to test it out. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding.  A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.

Welcome to a special episode of the Stadium Tech Report podcast. We're joined by a team of experts from Galtronics, a company with 40-plus years of history in the high quality RF antenna market. And Galtronics is currently in the process of rolling out an entirely new line of hyper directional cellular antennas that will provide lower cost and lower weight options for venue deployments. With us today are Leighton Carroll, CEO of Galtronics, Whit Martin, Vice President of Sales, and Sadeg Farzaneh, CTO, to give our audience more details about where the company has been and where it sees itself going in the market for large public venue cellular deployments. Only on the Stadium Tech Report podcast!

Garrett Schumacher is Business Unit Director of Product Security at Velentium Medical and the co-founder and CTO of GeneInfoSec. Garrett discusses his journey from medical student to cybersecurity expert and educator, dedicating his career to securing medical devices. He shares insights on the intersection of cybersecurity and healthcare, highlighting the challenges of protecting genetic data. Garrett gives honest advice about navigating cybersecurity and data privacy concerns, how to be a good leader, and what medtech startups should consider as they design and develop their devices.    Guest links: https://velentiummedical.com/ | https://www.geneinfosec.com/  Charity supported: Save the Children Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at theleadingdifference@velentium.com.  PRODUCTION CREDITS Host & Editor: Lindsey Dinneen Producer: Velentium Medical   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Episode 068 - Garrett Schumacher [00:00:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world. [00:00:09] Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them. [00:00:15] Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives. [00:00:28] Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives. [00:00:38] Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives. [00:00:42] Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Leading Difference Podcast. I'm your host, Lindsey, and today I am excited to introduce you to my guest, Garrett Schumacher. Garrett is the Business Unit Director of Product Security at Velentium Medical, where he has led the cybersecurity efforts on 200 plus medical device products and systems. He is the co-founder and CTO of GeneInfoSec, a startup focused on securing the world's most valuable and private data, our genetic information. In his work, Garrett has trained engineers, developers, manufacturers, healthcare delivery organizations, and laboratories across the globe in cybersecurity, and is an active member of several related industry working groups. He also teaches secure product development and medical device cybersecurity at the graduate level for the University of Colorado Boulder's Department of Computer Science as an adjunct professor in the little bit of time left in his days, Garrett is either rock climbing or spending time with family. Thank you so much for being here, Garrett. I'm so excited to speak with you today. [00:01:48] Garrett Schumacher: Yeah. Thank you for having me. [00:01:49] Lindsey Dinneen: Of course. Well, I'd love, if you wouldn't mind, by starting out and sharing a little bit about yourself and your background and what led you to medtech. [00:01:59] Garrett Schumacher: Yeah. So I guess my background, I mean, it started as I always thought I was gonna be a doctor. I did my undergrad in physiology, thought I was gonna do med school, the whole nine yards. And towards the end of my, let's say junior year, just started being like, "I don't think this is what I want to do." I always had a fascination with tech. I was really involved with a lot of the tech groups on campus at the University of Colorado Boulder, early days of Hack CU, one of the largest collegiate hackathons. And I really regretted not doing a computer science degree, but I was three quarters of the way done. So sometimes you just gotta finish it up, right? Get the degree, find out what's next. After that I went and did a master's in genetics. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do either yet, but hey, a master's degree is not a bad thing to do if you're unsure. And actually I was in a PhD program and dropped out early with a master's. Different story. But yeah. And then I started I helped the University of Colorado Boulder start their cybersecurity programs. So it was getting into the cyber world. I did a, I guess it was a bootcamp, at the University of Denver in cybersecurity. And so that all culminated in me always focusing on healthcare and cybersecurity together. And then COVID happened and that made the world change for a lot of people. And basically I was looking for a new job and I found Velentium, and I think that's where it really spoke to me, where I could do my love of medical and human health with cybersecurity and technology development. And so yeah, I think that's really how I got into it. I had been doing projects related to that before, but Velentium's where it really culminated and I found a place that let me do all the things I love, not just one or the other. [00:03:39] Lindsey Dinneen: That's awesome and such a wonderful gift. So can you share a little bit about what you do now and sort of your growth trajectory even throughout Velentium 'cause I know you've had quite an interesting and exciting career through the company as well. [00:03:56] Garrett Schumacher: Yeah. Yeah. So I started out as a cybersecurity engineer, and just started helping internal projects, external projects with groups that were seeking FDA approval on a medical device and trying to navigate these kind of new cybersecurity requirements. That's where it started. And even since then I've been, so I teach a class at the University of Colorado Boulder on Medical Device Cybersecurity. We're going into our sixth year of that, seventh semester, starting here in the fall. And I also co-founded a startup in the genetic information security space. So, and we can talk about that later. And so I, yeah, talk about what I do. It's all of those things and, it's not, doesn't happen in 40 hours, I promise you that. But after working as a cyber engineer for about a year, I think I got promoted to like Senior Staff Cybersecurity Engineer. Then probably three years ago, I took over more of an operational leadership role within the unit, the team, where I was doing project management and overseeing the other engineers and still doing engineering work. Definitely decided project management is not for the faint of heart and apparently my heart's very faint. It's not for me. So anyways, and then fast forward to just here in like January, February, Velentium made some really awesome changes. They rebranded as Velentium Medical to make sure everyone knew we do medical. And then they created four business units so that they could really say, "Look, we have different core areas of our business. Each of them have their own different operational needs and what have you." So, I was promoted into Business Unit Director of Product Security. And so now we're a business unit. We're a business within a business trying to better serve our clients and implement the processes we need for our small scope of work compared to a large contract development and manufacturing organization. So just that's been my growth goal so far is, come in as an engineer, work my way up to the leadership roles while also still loving to be an educator and and still having my own startup space in the biotech side of the house. [00:05:58] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Excellent. Well, first of all, congratulations on all of that. That is very exciting and it's really fun to see that growth and that development. And I'm also so curious now, can we talk a little bit about your startup? So first of all, let's talk about that and then I wanna talk about the crossover between the two, if that's okay. So. [00:06:16] Garrett Schumacher: Absolutely. Yeah. So, well the name is GeneInfoSec, so it's just short for genetic information security. We're not trying to hide anything there. We focus on protecting the world's most sensitive data. At least that's our opinion is genetic information affects you. And the data you have today is not gonna be any different, for the most part, from the data that you have in, 10, 20, 40 years. But then even beyond that it's partially your children's data, your grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and then even on the, in the inverse, all the way up to your great-great-grandparents, right? You share some, to an extent, some genetic makeup with them. And so it's this really interesting space where networked privacy is-- it's a very different form of networked privacy. It's not just that I upload a photo to LinkedIn and now I could be implicating someone else that's in the photo. It's, I share my info, and I'm also sharing info that belongs to my cousins in, in, in a sense. And so if you think of the Golden State Killer case in California, that was a really interesting one where the federal authorities had genetic information or samples from a cold case in the eighties. And they sequenced that. They uploaded it to a third party, an open public genetic database, and said, "Hey, here's my data. Who am I related to?" And through that they were able to triangulate like, "Okay here it is. This is the guy that did it" many years later. So, there's a case where it's, there could be positives. We want to use it to find that kind of information and protect people. But at the same time, that brings up a lot of privacy implications. And then you can go all the way to the extreme, the sci-fi of designer bio weapons, maybe tailored to certain persons or ethnicities or groups of people. So during grad school, a couple guys and I, we founded this startup, and that's what we focus on through a technology that really our founder, Dr. Sterling Sawaya, he invented, called molecular encryption. It's a way of encrypting molecules before we generate data from them so that the generated genetic data is already, quote unquote encrypted, or at least protected in some manner. So, so that's what we do. And yeah, I guess why we do it a bit. [00:08:27] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Wow. So, okay, so that brings up a really interesting question. I can guess the answer to this, but is there any safe way to-- this is a funny way to put it-- but recreationally to test your genetic data in the sense of the way that a lot of us would think about it in terms of, "Oh, I'd really love to learn more about my ancestors and things like that." But there are so many security concerns, like you've pointed out. So is there any quote unquote, safe way to do so at this time? [00:08:58] Garrett Schumacher: You know that-- it's a great question. There's been a lot of things going on in the news recently, like with, I'm sure people have heard of 23 & Me, and how they went bankrupt and now a company called Regeneron is buying them and all their assets for a lot of money, but not that much compared to what 23 & Me was worth a few years ago. So that brings up a lot of issues, right? 23 & Me still owns a lot of samples, like maybe around 10 million samples. And the sequencing they've been doing is very small. So if your genome's a whole book, they've been kind of flipping through the pages and picking specific letters, and that's the data they have. So that's not the most sensitive, it's not the full story. But if you have the samples, you can always generate the full book someday. And as that cost of full human genome sequencing decreases rapidly, someone's probably gonna want to do that someday. So, okay, so back to your question though, is there a safe way? What I would say is that I, I don't tell people not to do it. I would say if you have health reasons, concerns, and your doctor suggests a genetic test, a lot of those tests are also that similar, picking a few letters, a few known letters and trying to just read that for a very specific purpose. If your doctor and you come to the agreement that you should do that, you should just do that. However, I do not promote, and even to my family members, I highly don't recommend, using these services. I used to really love who's that group out of Utah? Ancestry.com. They used to be a great group. They were trying to sequence the world's DNA for understanding basically the family tree of everyone. Because anyways, they have interest in understanding who's related to who and how that relates to their religion. So they used to do it for internal purposes, keep it on pretty tight, secure. Well then, they sold to a venture capital group. So, it's really tough to say that there's these groups that there's a good place out there to do it. There are some companies that have security or privacy focused DNA sequencing services. But it's really odd, like you have to set up a cryptocurrency account, pay with cryptocurrency, set up a PO box so that you're not like actually shipping to and from your home. And then ultimately the price of it and how they're getting it to be cost effective is China's doing the sequencing. So you do all those privacy measures and your sample gets sent off to another country. And the FBI has disclosed that they know that when certain countries like that are doing the sequencing, whether you want them to do a little tiny test, like a COVID test or whatever it is, they're sequencing the whole thing. They're keeping the data. This is known, disclosed, not conjecture. So, yeah, so sorry-- long-winded answer of saying, I'm interested too, I wanna learn about this. I've got family members that have done it. But right now I recommend just thinking very carefully and critically about whether the immediate fun of it is worth the potential long-term impacts, and maybe if you're someone that's security or privacy conscious, maybe wait a few years because there are some things on the horizon that will make this a lot better. [00:12:02] Lindsey Dinneen: All right! Thank you for the honest answer. I really appreciate it. So, okay, I wanna go back to your work with Velentium specifically and talk about-- you've gotten to work with so many different clients over the years and you've seen so many different variations on a theme. And I'm curious, what are some of the common mistakes or pitfalls you might see a younger startup make when they are perhaps first designing their device, and cybersecurity is maybe not quite top of mind. So what are some of the things that you see that are challenges we can overcome? [00:12:41] Garrett Schumacher: Yeah I think one of the biggest challenges is that a lot of people aren't maybe aware yet of the scrutiny and the requirements that the FDA-- and not just FDA, but the European union's medical device regulations and the bodies over there that review submissions. And any, if you look across the board, pretty much almost every regulatory market has, very much in the last couple years, placed a lot of scrutiny on cybersecurity. So a lot of companies, especially smaller ones starting out in the space, may not be aware of this. And so then oftentimes they'll find out too late, they'll submit. They'll get feedback back, "Oh no, we have 90 days to respond and we didn't do cyber. We gotta do cyber now." And they don't know how to spell it yet, which is a joke. But there's that. And then there's also, or they'll get in just late at the game, "Hey, we're submitting in a month or three" and "Oh, we gotta do this thing retroactively." And so then therefore, we haven't been able to support someone through the full process, at the proper time, doing the right design things to inform the design during the design, not after. So I think that's probably the biggest mistake is not seeking that external support early and often. And if you're getting that, it shouldn't just be someone that can help you navigate the regulatory space. It shouldn't be someone that can just do the pen testing for you at the end. Really I think in that context, you need a partner that can do everything end to end. So that's what we've really tried to make our processes and our services geared towards is being that partner. And whether you have the bandwidth and you will do a lot of the documentation and work, but you just need someone to guide you, consult you, give you the materials to do so, or if you are truly looking for, no, we need to augment our own team and have you do a lot more of the work for us. That's great. We can do that. So, so that's, I think, the biggest challenge. And I think that the answer is just getting the right partner early and working with them often throughout that entire development, not at the end. [00:14:37] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. And I really appreciate that perspective. I think that there's a lot more awareness, it seems like even in the industry that, "Oh, cybersecurity is a thing now." But as you said, getting to partner with somebody who does know the ins and outs from the start and can really help guide you through is really critical. Now you do quite a bit of speaking and presenting. You're obviously still teaching a college class and all of those wonderful things. I'm curious how that has played into your career as well, and is that something that you will always want to do? You've got this educator side of you as well. [00:15:13] Garrett Schumacher: Yeah, I mean, I love it. I actually taught at a high school for one year between my master's program and my undergraduate, decided that that's not for me, but that teaching at those higher levels where people are really wanting to be in the room. So now I teach at the graduate level, half of the students will be older than me. And now everybody wants to be there and we can have very mature conversations and they even can challenge me with some really great questions that I'm not ready for, right? And I think the best way to learn is to teach. Absolutely. That's, yeah. I think a lot of people have said that. I completely agree. So I plan to always do that. I mean, I love, even with our internal engineers and external clients, like the idea of helping people understand something and humanizing it for 'em. That's really my big flag I'm waving right now is humanizing it. We don't have to use alphabet soups and crazy language. We can make it easy to understand and we can humanize it for the masses. So that's really what I'm trying to do, one of my big pushes. And so I don't foresee myself ever going away from that, I even do a lot of international training on the cyber biosecurity space where I go to all these countries and these biosafety laboratories and help biologists understand cybersecurity as a fundamental practice and how they can improve their personal security, their professional security. And to me that's the most rewarding thing. [00:16:36] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Oh my goodness. That's so cool. Thank you for sharing about that. So, as you are looking towards the future in the industry itself, but also I suppose your own career, what are some things that you're excited about? What are some trends that you see as being positive? I know that, recently, it's been a little bit challenging-- as a nice word-- for a lot of medical device companies and they're a little worried about funding and those kinds of things, and so, that's maybe a trend that's a little not as fun, but what are the things that are empowering and exciting to you as we move forward? [00:17:13] Garrett Schumacher: So not to make it about artificial intelligence or machine learning, 'cause everybody does. It's definitely, its hype curve. But that is actually one of the things that I think I'm most excited about, but also most scared about. We've seen a lot of companies with layoffs because they believe this artificial intelligence enables them to be more efficient and therefore they can do more with fewer people. And that saves money. And I understand that. I think that one of my big pushes right now is trying to help people understand that AI, at least right now, it's not taking over human jobs-- that it can instead augment, improve how we do those jobs. But people have to be ready for it. So even in, in my own space, like, making sure that our team and our people are ready for that. Because if you aren't getting into that space, if you aren't with the curve, then you're gonna fall behind. And yes, you could be replaced in that sense that someone has done it and so now they're doing it better than you. And so if you're not using these tools, these resources to, to improve your efficiency and to just maximize your capability-- like for example, my team, maybe I don't need to hire a person. Maybe we can build out things that enable us to, with the same amount of people, to better serve more clientele. So that's what I'm really trying to navigate. But it is scary thinking about that future and am I even gonna be ready and technically savvy enough to navigate that new future in the next year, in the next five, 10 years. And especially as someone who I've always had this, this goal of maybe someday, and I'm getting talked out of it very quickly, but maybe like being a Chief Information Security Officer at a large company or a Chief Product Security Officer, something like that. And yeah, quickly, I'm-- "Eh, we'll see." But it's those kind of things that, if we can navigate them correctly, may maybe that is something in my future. So that's, I think, one of my big fears and also passion projects right now. And then also, same on that funding vein-- with my startup, we're experiencing that as well. And we actually, we had a lot of funding potential pre COVID. And then even though our technology-- like in some ways COVID brought the need for our technology to the forefront of people's minds-- it also killed a lot of funding opportunity. And so yeah, I mean, navigating that space of how do you get funding and then does it come from venture capital backed or equity, private equity, and I've seen those worlds. I even advise startups. So I mean, that is also probably one of the biggest challenges I'm facing currently as well. [00:19:41] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. It's gonna be really interesting to see how things evolve, and it's been fascinating to read the news and see even the headlines where it's like, the FDA is using AI to review submissions and all sorts of things, and you really do wonder how we'll move forward and time will tell, I suppose. [00:20:01] Garrett Schumacher: Yeah. [00:20:02] Lindsey Dinneen: So you have stepped into quite a number of leadership roles fairly young in your career, if you don't mind me just saying so, and so I'm curious how you have navigated that growth for yourself. First of all, do you feel like you were a natural leader or were those skills things you developed along the way? And secondly, what advice might you have for younger leaders? [00:20:27] Garrett Schumacher: Great questions. Yeah, definitely nothing is natural about it. I think for anyone, I mean, it's nothing that you just do and you're just like, "Yep, I'm a leader. That's easy." So it definitely something, just like all aspects of work and maturity, is you have to work on it. But I think how I got there was-- and someone told me a couple tips early in my career, I suppose-- and it was a couple are: find a mentor, and as the mentee you have to put in the effort. If you set up meetings and they're not there, whatever, like they're busy, and you are asking them to give their time for you. So, find mentors and then be a good mentee, meet up with them. I had several people that were critical in my early career. One was Bunky Davis and she was amazing. She was no longer with us, but her and I grabbed coffee every single month. She had navigated biotech startups for like 50 years, was also just a phenomenal cyclist, Olympian, like just amazing. And we'd meet up every month for coffee without missing. And we did that for several years. And, and I had another mentor from the University of Colorado Boulder, Lloyd Thrall, who came from the Department of Defense, and just a spectacular, stellar guy, and we would go meet up all the time. And so learning from these people I think I saw-- well, there's that. And then everybody has their bosses and their horror stories from work, whether that's a high school job or professional later on. And so you see the ways that people can be, you don't want to be. And so that, that makes it easy. But without having those mentors, yeah, I don't know if I would've exposed myself to the good ways, right, and the better ways, and be challenged. So that was really critical was finding a good mentor and then being a good mentee. And then I think the other thing is interacting with people and just listening, active listening. So going to the professional shows and meeting people, listening to them, reading a lot of great books out there on how to be a leader, and you don't take all that exactly word for word, but there are golden little nuggets that you can just pick up out of all those things. So, no, definitely something that I have actively worked on and still am trying to work on. And then I'm constantly trying to listen and being that, have that open door policy for my people too. Because if I hire really smart people, I want them to do the thinking and therefore I need to listen. [00:22:44] Lindsey Dinneen: There you go. I love it. All right, so. You've had a really interesting and exciting career so far, and you're obviously very passionate about medtech and cybersecurity and biotech and all those things, and I'm wondering if along the way there are any moments that really stand out to you as affirming, "Wow, I am in the right place at the right time." [00:23:09] Garrett Schumacher: Yeah. Yeah. One was we had a really special project where and I won't give any names away, but basically my stepmother has an implant inside of her and it's it's not life sustaining, but it's one that you want working just so that your body's working normally, and so that you're not, not embarrassed. You can go into public spaces and be a normal person, right? And whether it's pain management, incontinence, those kind of things. So she had this implant and it was, she had one that came from the leading provider of that at the time. And it, the battery life, right, is supposed to last like 10 or 15 years, and it seemed like pretty much seven or eight was all she was getting out of it. And after decades of having far more surgeries than she needed, all the way up to the very last device she got in her-- it failed within the first year, I think-- so it was like, okay, time to pivot. And we found this new company and they've become a huge leader in the space, recently acquired by another one of the big leaders in medtech in general. And we were hired to do the security work for that project. And the only reason that I actually found out-- because my stepmother was literally like in the process of getting this new device inside of her-- I was at that client's facility doing a pen testing and security testing engagement and some consulting and just visiting them. And I FaceTimed my family in the break room and there was a sign behind me and they're like, "Oh my gosh. We're literally, we just got that implanted in your stepmother like, a couple weeks ago. It's working great. She's so happy with it. It's smaller, it works better, all these things." And it's like, "Wow." So I got to lead the security effort and what they're actually doing is adding remote programming capabilities so a doctor can, over the phone, be improving that therapy for you. But that leads to a lot of cybersecurity implications, right? That kind of connectivity. And so I gotta lead the security work on that for something that is in a near and dear, your family member. And it's those kind of things where it's not, you're not just helping patients. It's, I'm helping someone that I care very deeply about. And it hits home differently when it's not just, "Oh, I want this device to be secure. I want them to get FDA clearance. I want whatever." It's, "No, I need now, I need for my own family member for it to be the best." And it's not that project got special scrutiny from us-- we bring that to every project-- but it helps to have the actual experience of one of those projects. [00:25:33] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. And to have that real-- well, you were mentioning it-- not just patients that I kept thinking, "Yeah. Not just patients, people," and the idea of it's sometimes probably necessary honestly, to have a little bit of separation from a clinical point of, "I'm helping all of these patients, and that's a really good thing." But then if you could take a step back and go, "And these patients are human beings that rely on what I'm doing for safety and for security and for this lifesaving, life enhancing device." That's-- what a gift to get to experience something like that. [00:26:04] Garrett Schumacher: It is, it's especially like, if you work in the diabetes-- we've had several projects with insulin pumps-- and insulin's a drug that is, highly toxic if given in the wrong dosage. 99% of the world population would die if it's in the wrong dosage if it's too high. And the only reason the other 1% exist is 'cause they're insulin intolerant. They just, they don't respond to insulin and that's why they have their own type of diabetic issues. And I've got several cousins, a brother-in-law, that also use that stuff every day, rely on those kind of technologies. So, yeah, just it's a little bit more special when it's when you get to do that. But we try to do that for everyone. We try to think of everyone's that person that we're trying to help. [00:26:42] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. All right. Well, this has been so great, but pivoting the conversation a little bit, just for fun. Imagine that you were to be offered a million dollars to teach a masterclass on anything you want. What would you choose to teach and why? [00:26:59] Garrett Schumacher: Ooh. Well, yeah, first of all, a million dollars for-- I feel like I, I'd have to go with something like that I know deeply, very deeply on. But okay, if I wanna have some fun here, I would say rock climbing, because rock climbing is my other big passion. It's the one thing that takes me away from a computer screen typically. And so if you're paying me a million dollars to teach rock climbing, A, these people really wanna learn how to be good rock climbers, so they're gonna be very engaged. And B, that's going to mean that I can go now actually make money on something that has only ever been a passion for me. So, that would be fun. That would be awesome. [00:27:33] Lindsey Dinneen: Awesome. [00:27:33] Garrett Schumacher: If you're offering, Lindsey, I'll accept. [00:27:35] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay, deal, right? Yeah. I'm gonna have to earn my first million first, and then I'll let you know. [00:27:40] Garrett Schumacher: I'll wait. [00:27:41] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay, fair? Fair enough. What got you into rock climbing? [00:27:45] Garrett Schumacher: Oh man. Well, so my mother was, I grew up in like a small farming town in the northeast corner of Colorado. There's not a mountain for, until you get to Denver area, right? In the summers, she worked at the local college, and in the summers she ran the ropes course and they had a giant rock wall. So, I mean, as a 10-year-old, I'm just hanging out there. I didn't know that there was routes or certain ways or techniques. I just, who can get up the fastest, right? But that was always fun. That was my summers. I always, and I was, shoot, I was always told I was a monkey. I was always on stuff climbing something. I've had my share of injuries from it, trust me. And then in college, it just was natural. I went to CU Boulder, as I've probably already said, and a lot of outdoor climbing opportunities. A lot of, they, they built a new gym there inside the school. And so that then it became this thing where, oh, I can actually-- as you move away from high school sports, basketball and American football and those things, you miss that. You can miss some competitiveness and some team-based things. So now I had another active thing that I could-- and I, again, I wasn't so formal in technique or things like that-- so now I could work with people, socialize and work on that technique in something that I was able to do at that level, instead of, I'm not gonna go beat myself up playing football again. So, yeah, I think that's where it came from. And then it's just been my big hobby ever since. And I mean, now I have a bunch of friends down in Austin, Texas, and we go on a big climbing trip once a year, and I see them once a year. It's fun. So it's like expanded my friend group and it keeps me sane. [00:29:14] Lindsey Dinneen: Huh. Excellent. Yes. That's wonderful. All right. How do you wish to be remembered after you leave this world? [00:29:22] Garrett Schumacher: Oh, that's a good one. How do you humbly answer that? When part of the answer I would wanna say is humble, but that's something I always try to work on, is I just wanna be a good guy. I want people to remember that, he was kind, considerate-- would do something at the drop of a hat for you without expecting anything in return-- just kind, generous. And I think a family guy would be a big one. My, my friends and family first and foremost. And maybe second to that, hardworking. Yeah. [00:29:46] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. I love that. All right. And final question. What is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it? [00:29:55] Garrett Schumacher: Oh, my wife. I wake up to her every day and that's she's the best part about everything. So yeah, she's my favorite person, and I'm lucky enough to, when I'm not traveling, wake up next to her and see her at night, and that's the best part. [00:30:08] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. What a wonderful thing. Well, this has been a fantastic conversation, Garrett. I'm so thankful for your time today. Thank you for sharing some of your stories, some of your advice. And I just honestly wish you the most continued success as you work to change lives for a better world. [00:30:26] Garrett Schumacher: Thank you. Thank you, Lindsey, for having me. This was my first podcast ever. So it went great. Yeah, it was fine. [00:30:32] Lindsey Dinneen: Awesome. You rocked it. Good job. That's wonderful. All right, well, celebrating that and celebrating all your future successes to come. We are so honored to be making a donation on your behalf as a thank you for your time today to Save the Children, which works to end the cycle of poverty by ensuring communities have the resources to provide children with a healthy, educational, and safe environment. So thank you so much for choosing that charity to support, and thank you so much for being here and thank you for doing what you do. [00:31:05] Garrett Schumacher: Thank you. [00:31:07] Lindsey Dinneen: Excellent, and thank you also to our listeners for tuning in, and if you're feeling as inspired as I am, I'd love it if you'd share this episode with a colleague or two and we'll catch you next time. [00:31:19] Dan Purvis: The Leading Difference is brought to you by Velentium Medical. Velentium Medical is a full service CDMO, serving medtech clients worldwide to securely design, manufacture, and test class two and class three medical devices. Velentium Medical's four units include research and development-- pairing electronic and mechanical design, embedded firmware, mobile app development, and cloud systems with the human factor studies and systems engineering necessary to streamline medical device regulatory approval; contract manufacturing-- building medical products at the prototype, clinical, and commercial levels in the US, as well as in low cost regions in 1345 certified and FDA registered Class VII clean rooms; cybersecurity-- generating the 12 cybersecurity design artifacts required for FDA submission; and automated test systems, assuring that every device produced is exactly the same as the device that was approved. Visit VelentiumMedical.com to explore how we can work together to change lives for a better world.

Pour l'épisode de cette semaine, je reçois Reda Ouafi, cofondateur et CTO de Juno.Juno est une plateforme qui permet aux industriels d'optimiser leurs procédés de production en combinant données machines, mesures qualité et expertise métier des ingénieurs process. L'objectif : augmenter la qualité, améliorer le débit et réduire la consommation énergétique grâce à des recommandations opérationnelles exploitables dès le lendemain.Au cours de cet épisode, Reda revient sur le pivot majeur de Juno. Leur premier produit — un outil de traçabilité terrain apprécié par les utilisateurs — peinait à démontrer un ROI clair pour les décideurs. Ils ont donc opéré une transformation profonde pour devenir un produit ROI-first, centré sur l'amont du process industriel : comment régler une machine pour obtenir un gain immédiat et mesurable.Nous avons longuement parlé :- de la captation de l'expertise tacite des ingénieurs procédés,- de la combinaison entre data historique, mesures qualité et connaissances métier,- de la manière dont Juno construit ses modèles IA (ML, deep learning, GenAI),- de leur approche “vibe coding” pour générer des micro-apps adaptées à chaque client,- et du nouveau go-to-market orienté groupes industriels internationaux.Enfin, Reda explique comment certains industriels dégagent plusieurs millions de dollars grâce à ces optimisations, et comment Juno explore aujourd'hui des modèles de pricing liés à la performance.Vous pouvez suivre Reda sur LinkedIn.Bonne écoute !Mentionnés pendant l'épisode :OSS VenturesIndustrie du FuturLa French FabPour soutenir SaaS Connection en 1 minute⏱ (et 2 secondes) :Abonnez-vous à SaaS Connection sur votre plateforme préférée pour ne rater aucun épisode

This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted.https://gotopia.techRead the full transcription of this interview here:https://gotopia.tech/articles/388Meri Williams - CTO at Pleo & Advisor at Skiller Whale & Kindred CapitalCharles Humble - Freelance Techie, Podcaster, Editor, Author & ConsultantRESOURCESMerihttps://x.com/Geek_Managerhttps://github.com/geekmanagerhttp://blog.geekmanager.co.ukCharleshttps://bsky.app/profile/charleshumble.bsky.socialhttps://mastodon.social/@charleshumblehttps://conissaunce.comLinkshttps://blog.container-solutions.com/managing-remote-teams-in-scaling-organisationsDESCRIPTIONJoin us in a conversation with Meri Williams, an experienced CTO who has led technology teams from 30 to 300 people across organizations.In this candid discussion, Meri shares their journey from reluctant manager to seasoned leader, revealing hard-won insights about scaling teams, avoiding the "Google trap" of copying big tech practices inappropriately, and why investing in onboarding can make or break your organization.With refreshing honesty about management mistakes and the ongoing importance of diversity in building products that serve everyone, this conversation offers practical wisdom for anyone navigating the world of tech leadership.RECOMMENDED BOOKSMeri Williams • The Principles of Project Management • https://amzn.to/4lj5B1GTom DeMarco & Tim Lister • Peopleware • https://amzn.to/3KJmFOqMarcus Buckingham & Gallup Organization • First, Break All the Rules • https://amzn.to/40xpppIDaniel H. Pink • Drive: The SurpriInspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology PodcastInterviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends.Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Canada NowBold ideas with the people shaping Canada's next chapter.Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifyBlueskyTwitterInstagramLinkedInFacebookCHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUSJoin this channel to get early access to videos & other perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/joinLooking for a unique learning experience?Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.techSUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

Sean O'Brien is a serial entrepreneur, Shark Tank alum, and founder of Swingzy, a golf training tool designed to help players make smoother, more consistent swings. He's also the former CTO and CMO of Audio, a venture-backed startup co-founded by Kevin Costner and supported by major brands like Camping World and Snapchat. Known for turning down one of the biggest offers in Shark Tank history, Sean has built and sold multiple companies while staying at the forefront of tech, marketing, and product innovation. On this episode we talk about: How Sean turned rejection from Goldman Sachs into his first million-dollar business The wild story behind his eight-figure company that started with a beach chair in storage The mindset shift that turns rejection into motivation How he landed the Entrepreneur Magazine cover by sheer persistence Working with Kevin Costner and other celebrity partnerships The creation and growth of Swingzy and its impact on the golf industry Top 3 Takeaways Rejection can be your greatest motivator—if you use it as fuel instead of failure. Execution always outweighs ideas; what matters is taking consistent, bold action. Reinvention is the key to long-term success—keep evolving with each new opportunity. Notable Quotes “If you get rejected, your job is to make the people who passed on you look stupid. That's the fuel.” “Ideas are worthless until you execute. Everyone's got a million-dollar idea, but almost no one acts.” “Every setback I've ever had eventually turned into my biggest opportunity.” Connect with Sean O'Brien: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanobrien/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanobrienofficial Company: https://www.swingzy.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sami revisits his time on a recent project for Sheer (https://sheer.dk/en/) as he talks with it's CTO and founder Mads Ulrik Svendsen about the ever evolving and creative world of influencers. Mads talks about the story of Sheer (https://sheer.dk/en/), how they're helping influencers maximise their potential and creativity, where they expect to see change in the industry over the coming years, the desire for authenticity in a world of AI content, and Sami is determined to discover just what it would take to become an influencer in 2025. — If you want to get in touch with Mads about anything you've heard on todays show you can connect with him through LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/madsulrik/) or directly via email - mads@sheer.dk Your host for this episode has been Sami Birnbaum. Sami can be found through his website (https://samibirnbaum.com) or via LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/samibirnbaum/). If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page (https://github.com/sponsors/thoughtbot), or check out our website (https://podcast.thoughtbot.com). Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot (https://thoughtbot.com/) podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/150727/) - Mastodon (https://thoughtbot.social/@thoughtbot) - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/thoughtbotvideo) - Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/thoughtbot.com) © 2025 thoughtbot, inc.

In this episode of The Founder's Sandbox, host Brenda McCabe sits down with Chris Daden, CTO of Criteria Corp, to explore what it takes to scale purpose-driven businesses in the era of Work 4.0. Chris shares his fascinating origin story—starting with a childhood shaped by tech-savvy parents and leading to multiple exits, international teams, and leadership at a global talent success platform. He breaks down how Criteria uses science and AI to remove bias from hiring, why soft skills matter more than ever, and how to future-proof your workforce in an AI-augmented world. Learn about his nonprofit, SoCal Tech Forum, and why building trust is essential for AI adoption at scale. transcript: 00:18 Welcome back to the Founder's Sandbox. The Founder's Sandbox is in its fourth season. I'm here, your host, Brenda McCabe, and I'm live this month's podcast is 00:31 from the Founders Space in Pasadena. And I'm joined with my guest, Chris Daden of Criteria Corp. um And a colleague of mine in the startup ecosystem. Welcome, Chris. Thanks for having me. I'm really excited to be here. So am I. So um I want to briefly give some background on the Founder Sandbox for those that are listening in today. um 00:56 Each episode features in-depth conversations with founders of small and mid-sized owner-operated companies and operators that support the ecosystem. And together, through storytelling, we explore how to build scalable, resilient, purpose-driven businesses with great corporate governance. And you're going to discover today with Chris, his origin story. I always like to start with how the person 01:24 that's a guest to my podcast, really started getting involved with the ecosystem of startups. And your story is quite fascinating. I'm gonna give a spoiler alert here. You and I met, I guess two years ago, at a Thai con event where you were on a panel. I was the MC em and we got to talking over dinner and just your origin story and the multiple exits you've had. 01:53 really um lit up a bulb in my mind. said, Chris, you have to be in my podcast. So it's two years later, and I'm so glad that we're making this happen. Lucky to be here. Thank you. forward to it. So this podcast, again, we're going to talk about a lot of things because Chris, not only are the CTO of Criteria Corp, a talent success company, where you help organizations meet objective evidence-based 02:23 talent decisions that both reduce the bias and drive better outcomes. But also, you're a two times 40 under 40. You've had multiple exits of prior companies. You're a speaker, a founder, a board member, and recently you started your own nonprofit in SoCal called the SoCal Tech Forum. 02:51 Oh, and I forgot you're a member of the Forbes Technology Council. we're going to have... Couldn't have said it better. Thank you, Brenda. So with that, again, my episodes on particularly Spotify, we have a title that's on each episode and we've chosen Scaling Work 4.0 for this month's podcast. Again, it's Chris Daden, CTO of Criteria. So let's start. What would you... 03:21 Call your tagline. Tell us about your origin here in Southern California. Sounds great. Well, just a little bit about myself personally. I've been in tech for ah quite a while now. It's really the only career I've ever had working in tech. So I started in my youth, frankly. My father was a member of the British Merchant Navy. you can imagine with that career involved, he traveled all around the world. uh 03:50 Also, of course, gave me lot of inspiration for the global companies that I run today and the teams that I've started around the world. So although my father wasn't directly in computer science, you know, that career of being in the merchant Navy definitely shaped my global perspective. when he stopped working in the merchant ship Navy as an officer, he started developing his own software for weather routing for large 04:21 merchant ships and container ships. So what was amazing about that was it was ran out of a spare bedroom in my parents' house just upstairs while I was growing up there. And uh we used to even have a rack of kind of four by four Dell just desktop computers that were stacked on top of each other with a switch to switch between them. And we're running the workload that my dad made with the software there on those computers. 04:51 It was very visible and evident in my childhood. My first kind of internship was maybe when I was 13 or so ah in the closet of that office. We pulled the doors off and put a desk in it and that was like my internship desk for the summer. started with programming in the dotnet ecosystem. So what year is that more or less? Yeah, it's probably like 2005, 2006. uh 05:21 So it uh was a great introductory language. Fun fact, there's a YouTube video online of me when I'm about that age doing a tutorial of how to make a calculator. So very few people have found that. I'll leave it to the public to find. But you can hear my very young 12-year-old voice in a YouTube video. it's still there. So anyway, that's part of my origin story for sure. That's what got me into computer science. 05:48 My first company, started my senior year of high school. I was aqua hired into an organization in Irvine. And then I got to join what I would call kind of a real company at that time. um One that had, you know, engineers around the globe working on solving problems and SAS for organizations of all kinds. So that's kind of where I kick started my career. I'm spending the next maybe eight to 10 years in Orange County building companies and 06:16 Now I find myself as the CTO of Criteria, which of course I'm not a founder of, but the energy that I like to bring to the team and the passion I have for what the next era of work has to offer gives me that founder-like energy. Yes. So um how long have you been with Criteria? Were you the first CTO? Were you an aqua hire? Tell us a little bit about that. Yeah, great question. So Criteria has a great history, almost 20 years of science and 06:46 um just developing a great core platform that's been used by thousands of customers around the world. I've been there as CTO for the last three and a half years. So when I joined, was right after acquisition of a couple companies in Australia that were great additions to our product portfolio. And one of my roles right away after joining was to help integrate those teams, finish retiring some of the technical debt that comes with acquisitions. um 07:15 really just all the excitement around building for the next chapter of criteria and making sure that I can contribute in my many ways to our success. So back to that tagline that due to your father's um origins in the Navy, m you have a wide global perspective. Tell me about those teams that you had in India before Criteria. 07:41 Yeah, look, I started doing business in India a little over 10 years ago. I was just reflecting on that last week. I had the luxury of visiting my team again. We also just created a new team for criteria. So I was able to go visit them. We all got together for the first time. It was a lot of fun. But about 10 years ago, I started in a city named Indore and that's in the state Madhya Pradesh. And when I started, it was a tier three city. And, you know, I really stumbled across 08:09 who is now my general manager for my last company. I stumbled across meeting him through like a development agency and we really hit it off and you know at the time I was 18 years old and you know was willing to take some risk I guess because I wanted to work with an engineer and had to build my product and company and you know what it's like being a scrappy founder and I just rolled the dice and said sure like 08:34 Why don't you come work for me full time? Let's find your friends as well and let's start a company together. And his name is Vikram. And to this day, he's still the general manager of my last company in automotive SaaS that I had recently exited in like 2021 timeframe. He's still operating that team. Company's going great. So that's been a lot of fun to see that success. But yeah, over a period of 10 years, it's become... 09:00 from a tier three to a tier two city. So things like basic infrastructure have been developed. So just so much fun and so much reflection there. I'm lucky to have, know, that's my, Criteria's new team is now my fourth India venture. So this is my fourth generation. Oh my goodness. It's a scaling work 4.0. So let's go back to Criteria. again, over dinner a couple years ago, 09:29 You started talking about how the science of finding talent is really the bedrock of criteria. And you've been there three and a half years. Talk to us about that, the talent and the science that is driving this company's technology and being used today in hiring across the world. Yeah, I think. 09:58 Hiring is one of those things that we don't always teach hiring managers or people in organizations. I think we were laughing about that. If you're, say, a great senior software engineer and you've been coding for 15 years or something, I think it's assumed that when you get promoted into, say, an engineering manager role, you're now going to be a great hiring manager. And I think hiring science is something that is often... 10:22 underappreciated in organizations, particularly startups and mid-market companies who may not have the resources, right? Because to be good at hiring science, you also have to invest resources in it, right? So really you don't see most really advanced hiring science or like, you know, psychology teams being involved in hiring until the enterprise level. for criteria, we're all about using technology to harness as many what we call talent signals as possible. So we have a 10:52 an assortment of assessment tests that can measure things like your cognitive ability, your adaptiveness, your personality fit to a job role. And we do that in rigorous and scientific ways. I think there are probably more ways to do hiring wrong than to do it correctly. And we take a lot of pride in making sure that our products are always designed to measure those talent signals and even compound them. So as you find 11:19 multiple talent signals across the life cycle of that pre-employment hiring engagement, you get a compounding, really almost like a talent blueprint of the person you're looking to hire, or maybe even like the candidate DNA of that person. And it gives you a depth of information and data about the likelihood they are to succeed for that specific job role you're hiring. And that's really, really valuable to us. And we can talk a bit about why 11:46 that matters more as we enter into this new era of work. Before we go there though, I'm fascinated. What types of talent can Criteria be used for in the hiring process? Is it across all verticals? mean, tell me a bit about that. Criteria is a pretty diverse company. So with 4,000 customers around the world, we are really present in maybe 20 different verticals. So that makes us pretty... 12:15 pretty broad in who can use us for hiring. So, you know, we joke around anything from, you know, hiring for truck drivers all the way to rocket scientists. Like there's customers across the whole spectrum in engineering, venture capital, uh you know, executive management, truck drivers for uh companies, uh frontline workers, all the way up to rocket scientists at companies. 12:45 So recently you were a keynote speaker in London and you provided your closing thoughts on AI in the workforce. So I'm going to steal your thunder right now because you gave this to me and set it up. So work 4.0 belongs to those who pair adaptive mindsets with distinctively, yeah, human skills. Workplace. 13:14 AI will be our most tireless colleague, but the future's real competitive edge is still human potential, continuously renewed. Wow, unpack that for my listeners. Because we're all getting a bit nervous about will we have job security, what do we need to do to retool, and is everybody suitable? Yeah, I think what's kind of amazing is 13:44 um You look at some reports from the World Economic Forum or other entities and they're saying things like by 2030, 39 % of skills related to kind of the current candidate applying in the workforce will be obsolete. Wow, that's a lot. That's a lot. It's almost half, right? And what's amazing about that is then what are we hiring for, right? Because the last few decades of us 14:12 hiring has been so focused on how many years of experience did you have, what degrees do you hold. And it doesn't mean for many people who, right, college is the best fit, getting a degree is the best fit for many people. But ah I think what it highlights is there's more to being workforce ready than only getting these static credentials. And for people like me, I've dropped out of college twice. Both times I had some... 14:41 transactional event with one of my businesses. And that was obviously the right choice for me, right? And I've reflected on that and I feel good about where I'm at and where I came from. But I think workforce readiness these days is going to continue to index on the more dynamic talent signals and the more dynamic credentials we have as opposed to static credentials. So what that means is my ability to think on my feet, critical thinking, adaptive reasoning. 15:11 Those are all things that we kind of measure, if at all, we measure them kind of secondarily in our current process. And these other core talents like digital fluency, AI literacy, self leadership, resilience, those are all things that are more of these dynamic credentials that we need to make sure we measure really, really well, because the reality is with the advent of AI in the work 15:40 place, hard skills are more immediately attainable. And what I mean by that is maybe if I'm hiring for an accountant role, I care more about is that accountant a strategic thinker? Do they understand the tax code to the right depth? Do they understand the strategy for valuation of the business? And then of course they have to click some buttons in QuickBooks or NetSuite or other systems. But I think AI is going to... 16:09 augment the hard skills of our workforce. And that's going to make us more index on the softer skills, emotional intelligence, the adaptability, right? Those dynamic credentials as opposed to how many years have you been clicking buttons in QuickBooks? And it will require, I guess, more critical thinking, right? True. Right? Because you will be your... uh 16:36 day-to-day job will be augmented by AI, leaving you time to upskill or to make those critical decisions, more, I don't know, avenues of strategic development in the company. that's right. Yeah, redeploy to higher value opportunities for sure. think if 30 to 40 % of your day is... 17:04 tasks that can be augmented with AI, then that 30 to 40 % of your human first excellence can be redeployed to other parts of the business. an example is at Criteria, we serve uh tens of millions of assessments, um about 10 to 12 million per year. And we have about five or six million candidates that come through that process. 17:31 when they need technical support or help with the software, they often reach out to our live chatbot. we at Criteria um want to make sure we prioritize a five-star candidate experience. So even though candidates aren't the ones paying for the service, our customers are, we know that our customer satisfaction is tightly linked to how satisfied our candidates are. Got it. uh 17:54 One of the things we had was thousands and thousands of tickets every month from those five million plus candidates coming into our support system. And what we were able to do was augment our support staff with uh AI chat bots that are trained on deep knowledge bases of criteria and past candidate issues and technical troubleshooting. we were able to achieve about a 94 % candidate ticket deflection, which is really, really massive. And it didn't mean that we 18:24 know, laid off half of our support team or something, it means that, you know, those support team members moved into other high value roles in the organization or were able to now redirect their energy to making long lasting materials like help docs and guides that can then further retrain the AI to make that even better. So that's just an example of augmentation of skill and then redeploying that human excellence to another part of the business to help you grow. So it has criteria use the same time. 18:54 methodology for their staff? For our staff, every single person at Criteria goes through our assessment products, of course. We drink our own champagne. I had to ask that question. I'm a little biased, but I think I didn't know about the category before joining Criteria. And again, with my origin story, I've hired hundreds of people around the world. And I will never run another team without using 19:22 a criteria talent success platform to hire those people. So I'm a firm believer and because I didn't know about it before and now I'm using it, it's a big gap in my knowledge. So I would say most of our market potential for criteria doesn't actually know that these tools exist. A lot of them have a retention challenge or they're having an issue hiring the right people and people like me before I joined criteria don't actually know that this tool set is available. part of my mission is to... 19:51 make sure that startups and founders and mid-market companies are aware that this is available because it solves a big problem for us building the best teams. so uh last plug for Criterion, then we're going to move on in the interview here. uh How do um customers experience Criterion? How do they uh get onboarded? mean, what is it, the HR department? Where does, where's the origin? Yeah, really great. So 20:19 We call ourselves a talent success platform because we help people pre-hire with our assessments and video interviewing products. And that's normally the HR talent acquisition leader. So someone who's in charge of recruitment for a company or essentially all the pre-employment functions. And then because we have this rich data set that comes from those pre-employment activities, we have a post-hire product that we call Develop by Criteria. And Develop is designed to use all of that psychometric data 20:48 weekly check-ins with your employees, uh frameworks for behavior to help grow those team members after they're hired using all of that data and science. So a lot of our customers experience criteria on the pre-employment side and then continue to follow through on the post-employment side with our develop product. Wow. Is there patent protection with all of the science that you have developed over the years? I think there's obviously copyright. 21:17 um of our assessment tests. think patents and software are inherently tricky, but we feel really good about the protection of our IP. Excellent, excellent. So let's switch gears. um I met you at the TICON. um You haven't been our keynote speaker yet, but you have moderated panels, and I've seen you in other events. Tell us about what do you enjoy, what do you like to talk about when you're keynote speaker? 21:47 For me, it's just such an honor to share my learnings as an entrepreneur, as an executive with the world. I still am in this phase where when I give a keynote or moderate a panel, it doesn't really feel like a real thing. It just feels like another discussion for me. That's just kind of my style. I just think that the world stays connected by sharing information like that. And for me, 22:16 I'm lucky to be at the convergence of 20 years of Criteria's product, helping people make hiring decisions and this once in a lifetime emergence of generative AI intersecting with our workforce skills. So I talk a lot about that. Of course, I'm building my own teams to build the Criteria software and platform. 22:42 So I'm also thinking about what is next for my team, how do I upscale and enable? And then of course I'm talking to our thousands of customers on a regular basis trying to make sure that we are leaders in the industry. those are areas I really love talking about. I'm an engineer at heart as well. So I tend to be quite good at bridging kind of the commercial and business side with like core engineering. So I have a deep background in 23:11 AI and ML um even more traditionally prior to the generative AI boom and now even more so post generative AI boom. We're applying generative AI in ways that um we are on the frontier fine tuning models for our uh really predictive models at criteria. So those are all areas I love to talk about and it's really an honor to be able to share that with people no matter the forum. Well maybe there'll be a podcast episode two with Chris on this. 23:41 What about, you you love to share, I don't know where you find the time. You've recently started a nonprofit, the SoCal Tech Forum. So share with my audience the types of activities, where's the venue, who is gathered, and what made you start a nonprofit, right? Yeah, it's a great question. I didn't know I would be starting a nonprofit either, but that tends to be how these things go. 24:11 It's been just a journey. ah We started off as a meetup group. my goal for the meetup group was in the Inland Empire specifically here in Southern California, we don't have many tech meetups. I'm of course networked well in Orange County and Los Angeles. And I think that particularly with these technologies that are 24:35 in our day-to-day life, it's very important that we build community around information and knowledge sharing so we can all learn and get up to speed on AI. A lot of business owners are going through transitions with their workforce, with their team that just were never really imagined. for us, we started this meetup group in the Inland Empire because there was definitely a market gap in getting together. I started off 25:02 paying for and hosting the events, breakfast, etc. And we had so much good interest. had sponsors that decided to volunteer to support, starting with a company called Clutch Coffee and Rancho Cucamonga, who has a deep history of roasting coffee and brewing technology in Rancho. And uh we've since got some other great partners to support us. And in just a little under two years, we've... 25:30 surpassed 750 members in the group. uh that was the reason once we started getting sponsors involved that it made sense to have a 501c3 nonprofit formed. And we have a leadership board now, which I'm really proud of. And we host an event at least once every month on the first Saturday of every month. And they're always technology or technology adjacent topics. They always involve. 25:56 technical and non-technical folks, business owners, entrepreneurs, startups. yeah, it's been really fun. Again, an opportunity to funnel and give back to the community and teach people about disruptive technologies. Well, you heard it here on the Founder's Sandbox, the SoCal Tech Forum. It will be in the show notes, all right, how to um get involved and perhaps attend one of those Saturday meetings. um I wanted to give you an opportunity. 26:25 to provide how people can best contact you, either for speaking opportunities, a CTO of Criteria, the nonprofit. How is it best to contact you, Chris? Yeah, I'd love to hear from you. So you can contact me on LinkedIn. So linkedin.com slash in slash Chris Dayden. All one word. And you can learn more about me as a speaker or CTO of Criteria at chrissdayden.com. excellent. 26:56 have that in the show notes. All right, I want to bring you back to the Founders Sandbox, all right, which is the platform and the podcast. I really get excited about um this part of the podcast. um I work with my clients on resiliency, um scalability, and purpose-driven, right? All with great corporate governance. I always like to ask my guests what... 27:24 the meaning of each of those three words has for them. And each of my guests has a different oh interpretation. And it's just a lot of fun to listen to what I resiliency, what's resiliency for you? I think it's appropriate that I answer that in light of kind of work 4.0. So for me, when it comes to resiliency in work 4.0, um it's about the art of constantly reinventing yourself. 27:53 but in faster cycles. And I think what's really important to everyone is that in Work 4.0, hard skills can become obsolete quicker than before. And that reinvention is critical to really being resilient in this new market. How about scalable? You've scaled a couple of companies, you've been an aqua hire. What does scalable mean to you, Chris? In Work 4.0, scalable will mean 28:22 adequately augmenting the talent you have in humans in your organization with the ability to harness the true power of AI and to do that without losing culture or trust. I think many organizations think of the first half of that. Very few of the organizations can execute on human plus agentic AI and also maintain trust. 28:51 and without losing culture. Have you seen any best practices? This is a little bit off script in terms of companies that have, or are scaling, right? Because this is just scaling pretty quickly in the last year or so. Sure. And are there any best practices out there in building that trust? Yeah, I think having a real holistic AI strategy is key. 29:18 One main component of a holistic AI strategy is how can you get tools to the fingertips of every staff member in your organization so that it's embedded in their workflow? Because a lot of the top-down AI strategy from organizations, like a CEO says, you must use AI and we must be 25 % more efficient, is really shallow when it comes to strategy. And it very rarely results in a culture 29:48 sustaining in a company for this AI growth and augmentation. So what I've been really impressed by is, you know, when I host things like AI monthly global office hours at Criteria, or I host one-on-one sessions with employees to learn about how they're using AI, because you're able to push those tools down to your team members and let them use it in a safe and comfortable area, it allows you to see what people creatively do with AI. And most of the time, 30:17 I could say there's probably 60 or 70 % of use cases that I would never have expected my staff to use AI for, and I would have been the bottleneck of creating if they were waiting for me to do it, and instead give them a safe experimentation zone. And I think that is key to a sustaining AI strategy for So your best practice is actually a criteria from what I'm hearing here. And it's very becoming because I'd like to talk about playfulness in the sandbox, right? 30:46 I read recently, was an EY um study, I think it was this last week, that about 40 % of employees that are forced to use AI tools give up after a month. They don't see the utility in their day-to-day tasks they're doing. So there is something to what you just said, building trust, but building it from the bottom up, right? Yeah, I resonate with that for sure. And I think the only way people break that barrier 31:16 is by seeing their colleagues successful with it. Very rarely is a demo from an executive leader going to be, I mean, it might be enough to begin a culture of AI. Like I had to do a lot of demos and show people kind of the art of the possible. And then as soon as I saw pockets of AI intelligence in the organization, the quicker you can elevate those people to lead and present their findings, the faster... 31:45 you build up kind of the natural human competition between your team and everybody all of a sudden will get more behind it. And that's really important. I think you've reached a point of success in your AI strategy when you were once leading the AI learning sessions and now you are not. How cool is that? You heard it here in the founder sandbox. All right. Purpose driven. What's a purpose driven enterprise for you? I think that 32:12 This is timely based on our discussion just now where organizations need to harness AI at the right times. think purpose for criteria, for example, means how do we measure talent signals that are able to give us the best candidate blueprint or the best candidate DNA possible? And for us, 32:40 every single day, regardless of the technology, what fuels us is having that purpose-driven statement of collecting talent signals around the world for any team. And you really do get lost in that sometimes, for good and for worse, when you're just trying to collect as many talent signals as you can. And being purpose-driven means always doing the right thing when it comes to that. 33:09 mission statement that you've set. And for us, it's collecting talent signals. I think that AI can do that well in a lot of areas, but AI can also be very dangerous in those areas. So when it comes to Work 4.0, having that purpose-driven enterprise statement is very, very important because it anchors us for our new product development. It anchors us for how we're using new technology to help people make the best teams. 33:39 Going back to that, to build the trust, we might clip this out, um does criteria maintain a group of scientists to actually peel back the layers and make meaning out of the signals that you are capturing to create new signals? That's one question. The second is, does criteria have an ethicist on board? 34:08 on call or how do you ensure there is guardrails around talent signals? Yeah, those are really great questions. think for criteria, when we say we're rooted in science, it wouldn't mean very much if it was just a bunch of engineers and product managers kind of deciding what science is, right? So for us, we take a lot of pride in our product IO psychology team. So a lot of them are 34:37 industrial organizational psychologists by trade that are working full time for criteria. And their role is assessment development, assessment validation. uh And particularly in the light of fine tuning AI models, they are very, very hands on in creation of those models, validating those models. There's a lot of legislation we have to comply with, not only the normal data privacy stuff like GDPR and CCPA, but also 35:07 industry specific laws like the New York bias laws and others that help protect uh candidates as they are applying for roles. So that is very, very near and dear to our heart. And also we conduct adverse impact studies and we do case studies with customers to make sure that the product is uh behaving the way that they intended to behave. 35:32 You know, we've got norms for all of our assessments and we adjust those norms based on massive populations of data. So all of that is how we ensure scientific signal. This is amazing. Last question. Did you have fun in the Founder Sandbox today, Chris? I had a lot of fun in the Founder Sandbox. Really a pleasure. Thank you for having me. Thank you, Chris. So to my listeners, if you like this episode with the CTO of Criteria, Chris Daden. 36:02 Sign up for the monthly release for more podcasts where I have business owners, professional service providers, and corporate board directors who are all working to build with strong governance, resilience, scalable, and purpose-driven companies. Thank you. Signing off.

Non-technical founders, this one's for you. In this episode, Gregg-Brooke Koleno sits down with Nelly Yusupova—seasoned technologist, fractional CTO, and founder of TechSpeak—to demystify building scalable products without wasting time or money. Nelly shares her journey from first-generation immigrant with zero tech exposure to leading engineering teams and teaching thousands of entrepreneurs how to “speak tech,” set clear processes, and lead with confidence. You'll hear: • How learning the language of tech transforms your ability to lead teams and vendors • The costly pitfalls non-technical founders face—and the process discipline that prevents them • A leadership moment that proves culture > “star performers,” plus why no one should be a single point of failure • Nelly's “AI Ladder”: moving beyond tidy prompts to strategic automations and AI agents that actually save hours • Why process mapping comes before AI—and how action beats perfection every time Nelly also previews her upcoming AI cohort on automations and agents. https://www.techspeakforentrepreneurs.com/

In this episode of our podcast, we dive into Chapter Four of "Leaders Transform," focusing on the crucial theme of empowering and delegating to orchestrate high-performing teams. We explore the idea that true leadership is not about doing more ourselves but about empowering others to take the lead. I share insights on how effective delegation can transform your role from a controller to a catalyst, using a practical five-step delegation framework. This framework emphasizes the importance of clarity, autonomy, and support, allowing team members to thrive and innovate. We discuss the significant benefits of empowerment, including increased engagement, creativity, and resilience within teams. Through real-life examples, such as a case study involving a CTO in a tech firm, we illustrate how trust in delegation can lead to remarkable productivity increases and more time for strategic innovation. I also highlight the dangers of micromanagement, which stifles growth and creativity, and contrast it with the empowering culture that effective delegation fosters. We delve into the virtuous cycle of trust in delegation, emphasizing the need for leaders to resist the urge to micromanage and instead embrace healthy struggles and open communication. Additionally, I provide practical tools and activities, such as a delegation map and development plans, to help leaders redistribute responsibilities and foster growth within their teams. As we wrap up, I encourage listeners to reflect on their own delegation practices and consider how they can cultivate a culture of empowerment. Remember, leadership is about equipping others to lead and thrive, setting the stage for motivation and engagement in the next chapter. Join me as we continue this journey of transformational leadership! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ce mercredi 12 novembre, Frédéric Simottel a reçu Jean-Baptiste Kempf, co-créateur du logiciel VLC et CTO de Scaleway, Tristan Nitot, directeur associé Communs Numériques et Anthropocène chez OCTO Technology, Clément David, président de Theodo Cloud. Ils se sont penchés sur les investissements de 10 milliards de dollars au Portugal par Microsoft et de 5 milliards de dollars en Allemagne par Google, l'accusation d'OpenAI d'enfreindre les droits d'auteur pour entraîner ses modèles d'IA, dans l'émission Tech & Co, la quotidienne, sur BFM Business. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au jeudi et réécoutez-la en podcast.

Mercredi 12 novembre, Frédéric Simottel a reçu Jean-Baptiste Kempf, co-créateur du logiciel VLC et CTO de Scaleway, Tristan Nitot, directeur associé Communs Numériques et Anthropocène chez OCTO Technology, dans l'émission Tech & Co, la quotidienne. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au jeudi et réécoutez la en podcast.

Ce mercredi 12 novembre, Frédéric Simottel a reçu Jean-Baptiste Kempf, co-créateur du logiciel VLC et CTO de Scaleway, Tristan Nitot, directeur associé Communs Numériques et Anthropocène chez OCTO Technology, Clément David, président de Theodo Cloud, Julien Thibaud, journaliste BFM Business, Kesso Diallo, journaliste Tech&Co, Julie Huguet, directrice de la mission French Tech, Tom Darras, PDG & cofondateur de Welinq, et Cyrille Vignon, PDG de Glimps, dans l'émission Tech & Co, la quotidienne sur BFM Business. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au jeudi et réécoutez-la en podcast.

Ce mercredi 12 novembre, Frédéric Simottel a reçu Jean-Baptiste Kempf, co-créateur du logiciel VLC et CTO de Scaleway, Tristan Nitot, directeur associé Communs Numériques et Anthropocène chez OCTO Technology, Clément David, président de Theodo Cloud. Ils se sont penchés sur le départ de Yann LeCun de Meta pour la création de sa start-up, l'impact de l'IA sur la vie privée européenne, la vente par SoftBank de sa participation dans Nvidia, et la mise en cause du jeu Roblox devant la justice au Texas, dans l'émission Tech & Co, la quotidienne, sur BFM Business. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au jeudi et réécoutez-la en podcast.

"Avec l'IA, on a un multiplicateur de puissance, mais il faut garder une approche structurée et prudente." Le D.E.V. de la semaine est Benoît Larroque, CTO chez Konvu. Avec l'IA, la cybersécurité est entrée dans une nouvelle dimension où la détection et la correction des vulnérabilités peuvent enfin rattraper le rythme effréné de leur apparition. Benoît détaille comment l'intelligence artificielle permet de filtrer et prioriser efficacement les failles, tout en rappelant l'exigence cruciale de vérifications humaines pour éviter les faux positifs. Il insiste sur le feedback continu et la vigilance indispensable face à la rapidité des évolutions. Un échange lucide sur les apports réels et les nouvelles limites de la cyber à l'ère de l'IA.Chapitrages00:00:53 : Introduction à la Cybersécurité00:01:17 : L'Impact de l'IA sur la Cybersécurité00:02:51 : Avant l'IA : Une Autre Époque00:05:01 : Transformation grâce à l'IA00:05:55 : Humanisation du Processus00:07:01 : Simplification des Tâches00:08:45 : La Gestion des Vulnérabilités00:11:06 : Analyse des Composants Logiciels00:12:29 : La Complexité des Mises à Jour00:13:56 : Approche de Validation Manuelle00:17:30 : Détection des Vulnérabilités par l'IA00:20:53 : Nouvelles Méthodes d'Attaque00:25:33 : Gestion des Risques de Sécurité00:29:26 : Optimisation de l'Effort de Sécurité00:36:08 : L'utilisation des LLM00:43:52 : SAST et Prompt Injection00:49:45 : Recommandations de Lecture00:50:11 : Conclusion et Remerciements Liens évoqués pendant l'émission Designing Data Intensive ApplicationsRelease It! **Restez compliant !** Cet épisode est soutenu par Vanta, la plateforme de Trust Management qui aide les entreprises à automatiser leur sécurité et leur conformité. Avec Vanta, se mettre en conformité avec des standards comme SOC 2, ISO 27001 ou HIPAA devient plus rapide, plus simple, et surtout durable. Plus de 10 000 entreprises dans le monde utilisent déjà Vanta pour transformer leurs obligations de sécurité en véritable moteur de croissance.

Hey everyone, welcome to today's episode of Developer Tea. This is the second part of my interview with Bryan McCann, the CTO at you.com. If you haven't listened to Part One, I'd encourage you to go back, as it provides crucial context for our continued discussion. In this episode, we dive into how you can think about relating to and integrating the massive changes that AI is bringing to your job, whether you are a software engineer, manager, director, or product professional. Bryan and I discuss his interests beyond research, including art and organizational design.Explore the two primary paths for developers in the long run: specializing as managers of AI tools (like a product manager with engineering insight) or striving to be better than AI at building better versions of AI itself (the "neurosurgeon" type).Understand why refining your intuitions about what should be built becomes increasingly crucial as automation makes execution easier.Examine how conceptual biases often become the bottleneck when interacting with powerful AI tools, such as focusing on very narrow tasks for a broad tool.Learn how to approach AI failures: treat a failed output as an opportunity to dig in and figure out why, perhaps by asking the AI to write a better prompt or identifying a fundamental missing capability that could become a great startup idea.Conceptualize AI as the earliest versions of magic, where the manipulation of symbols (like embeddings) allows us to extend our influence into the world in a flexible and powerful way.Discover principles of organizational design by studying how neural networks learn, focusing on strong information flow, skip connections, and aligning with the objective.Consider the idea that the next phase of human development might involve emulating AI's learning mechanisms (rather than expecting AI to become more human-like) to unlock the next phase of humanity and continue our search for meaning.Hear Bryan's final piece of advice for listeners: focus on learning and working on things you are passionate about that will have the highest possible impact.

The evolution of the modern, Internet-driven economy has created the conditions for essentially unbounded Nth-party risks (that is, risks from your suppliers, and risks from your suppliers’ suppliers, and risks from your suppliers’ suppliers’ suppliers, ad infinitum). Nth party risks exist in public clouds, SaaS, software and hardware supply chains, and now in the form... Read more »

Marketing Vitals host, Kelly Baily, is joined by Brian Prigge, President, CTO and Founder of GRX Marketing's newest partner – Scriptly!  Learn more about this all-in-one, cloud-based, web-based pharmacy management system and see how your pharmacy can cut costs, streamline operations, and improve efficiency without sacrificing care. Visit scriptly.tech to learn more and schedule a free demo.

The evolution of the modern, Internet-driven economy has created the conditions for essentially unbounded Nth-party risks (that is, risks from your suppliers, and risks from your suppliers’ suppliers, and risks from your suppliers’ suppliers’ suppliers, ad infinitum). Nth party risks exist in public clouds, SaaS, software and hardware supply chains, and now in the form... Read more »

How do you run one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds (nearly $2 trillion) while innovating responsibly? In this episode of AWS Executive Insights, hear from Birgitte Bryne, CTO & COO of Norway's Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), about how NBIM is leveraging data-driven decision making and AI innovation to achieve resilience in the financial world. Take a listen as Tanuja Randery, AWS Managing Director for EMEA, interviews Byrne about NBIM's disciplined approach to digital transformation, including their decision to migrate to AWS public cloud and groundbreaking “Investment Simulator,” which uses AI to optimize trading decisions. Listeners will gain actionable insights on balancing innovation with pragmatism, building a culture of resilience, and leveraging generative AI for competitive advantage.

In this episode of the Roofing Technology Think Tank podcast, host Karen Edwards is joined by Wendy Marvin, CEO of Matrix Roofing and RT3 board president, and Elliott Wittstruck, founder of Contractor CTO. Together, they explore the transformative power of technology in the construction industry. Discover how Elliott, in the role of fractional CTO, is helping Wendy leverage technology that she is already using to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences and drive business growth. Whether you're a contractor looking to optimize your tech stack or simply curious about the latest industry innovations, this episode offers valuable insights and practical advice. Tune in to learn how to harness technology for success in your business. Learn more at https://rt3thinktank.com/

Just like we iterate on our products, we need to learn how to iterate effectively on our organizations. Framing things as experiments and tests makes it easier to gain momentum, reduces pushback, and helps get people to speak up. This week's episode is about the testing hack!Grab a copy of my books, Capitalizing Your Technology and  The Tech Executive Operating System.Subscribe to the best newsletter for tech executives.For any questions or comments, reach out to me directly: aviv@avivbenyosef.com

He walked away from a cushy job to build products in his garage. Here's how he made it work. Today, we're talking to Scott Henderson, CTO and Co-founder at Celigo. We discuss why AI needs minimal autonomy instead of maximum freedom, how the future of SaaS is chat-to-validate rather than click-to-execute, and why the most expensive AI mistake is adopting it too slowly rather than spending too much. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!  To learn more about Celigo, check out their website here.

Andy Sitison, CTO of Share More Stories, is pioneering a movement to infuse empathy and authenticity into the rapidly evolving landscape of AI and business technology. In his featured podcast appearance, Andy shares how he harnesses advanced AI tools not simply for data crunching, but to genuinely listen to and amplify the voices of real people within communities and organizations. Through his innovative approach—combining large language models, emotive scoring, and advanced storytelling analytics—Andy demonstrates that fostering genuine human connection can unlock profound business insights, drive positive change, and strengthen community trust. Moreover, Andy spotlights an urgent need for ethical considerations at the intersection of tech and society. He underscores that as our reliance on data centers and automation grows, so does our collective responsibility to weigh the environmental impacts and ensure human agency remains central. Rather than allowing technology and profit motives to define our future, Andy urges leaders to consciously elevate both human wellbeing and planetary health throughout organizational decision-making. He stresses that empathetic AI—created with ethical foresight—can become a force for good, provided we make these values core to our strategies from the outset. As we stand at this pivotal moment of technological transformation, Andy's message is clear: Humans matter, and the Earth matters. We can no longer afford for these priorities to be afterthoughts in our race for innovation. Visit Share More Stories to discover actionable ways your organization can center people and the planet—harnessing technology not just for efficiency, but for building a more compassionate, sustainable, and impactful future for all. For the accessible version of the podcast, go to our Ziotag gallery.We're happy you're here! Like the pod?Support the podcast and receive discounts from our sponsors: https://yourbrandamplified.codeadx.me/Leave a rating and review on your favorite platformFollow @yourbrandamplified on the socialsTalk to my digital avatar Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Recently, Trezor unveiled the Safe 7: the first hardware wallet in the world to include the Tropic Square verifiable secure element chip, a true game-changer for Bitcoin security. In this episode, Matej Zak & Tomáš Sušánka explain how it works. Buy your Trezor Safe 7 (referral link): https://affil.trezor.io/SHuM Time stamps: 00:01:13 - Introduction to the podcast episode and guests (Matej Zak, CEO, and Tomáš Sušánka, CTO of Trezor). 00:01:34 - Discussion of the Trezor Safe 7 product launch event in Prague and the host's excitement about the Tropic Square chip. 00:01:55 - Mention of the live unboxing and potential for things to go wrong. 00:02:17 - Addressing rumors about paying influencers; clarification that no payments were made, only travel costs covered. 00:03:11 - Start of unboxing the Trezor Safe 7, focusing on packaging security and tamper-proof elements. 00:04:31 - Overview of Trezor Safe 7 features: flagship product, auditable secure element, large color touchscreen, premium build quality, Bluetooth connectivity, and quantum protections. 00:07:20 - Explanation of "quantum ready" label: Post-quantum signatures for bootloader updates and device authenticity, not full quantum-proofing for Bitcoin. 00:09:00 - Deeper dive into quantum readiness, industry trends (e.g., Cloudflare, Apple), and why it's not a gimmick. 00:12:51 - Continuation of unboxing: Tamper-proof seals, holographic stickers, and physical security layers. 00:14:18 - Confirmation that devices ship without firmware; installation happens via Trezor Suite for added security. 00:15:26 - Setup process on iPhone: Downloading the app, Bluetooth pairing, and why iPhone compatibility was prioritized. 00:16:10 - Market insights: US as the biggest market, challenges with Apple (MFi program), and opting for Bluetooth over cables. 00:18:30 - Ads segment (Sideshift.ai, Layer 2 Labs, NoOnes.com, news.bitcoin.com). 00:20:13 - Resuming app setup: Privacy options, biometrics, Bluetooth permissions, and pairing code. 00:21:42 - Counting physical security layers (five in total) and their purpose. 00:23:07 - Authenticity checks in the app: Confirming purchase source, seals, and packaging integrity. 00:24:09 - Firmware installation process and confirmation that devices ship with only bootloader. 00:25:05 - Discussion of dual secure elements (Tropic Square T01 and Infineon Optiga Trust M) for enhanced security. 00:26:01 - Bluetooth security: End-to-end encryption using Noise protocol. 00:27:04 - Haptic feedback and one-time code for pairing confirmation. 00:28:00 - Device authenticity verification via secure elements. 00:29:39 - More on quantum readiness: Post-quantum certificates for future implementation. 00:30:23 - Tutorial walkthrough: Power button, menu options, and Tropic Square chip explanation. 00:30:59 - Background on Tropic Square: Origin story, name meaning (Truly Open IC), and founding to create auditable secure elements. 00:32:06 - Experience with proprietary secure elements: Discovering vulnerabilities under NDA and deciding to develop an open alternative. 00:34:25 - Why Tropic Square chip is described as "auditable and transparent" rather than fully "open source" (digital parts open, analog parts not yet due to costs; no NDAs required). 00:37:18 - Advantages of Tropic Square for competitors: Better security, transparency, and ability to discuss vulnerabilities openly. 00:38:46 - Competition philosophy: Focus on features, software, third-party integrations, and innovation rather than aggressive tactics. 00:40:29 - Bitcoin-only version mention and pre-order availability. 00:41:26 - Completion of setup tutorial; default 20-word SLIP-39 backup with options for multi-share. 00:43:41 - Metrics for setup experience: Emphasis on user understanding over speed. 00:45:32 - Compatibility with BIP-44 for multi-asset support; differences limited to SLIP-39 replacing BIP-39. 00:47:09 - Status as production-quality device; shipping soon, with room for early feedback. 00:49:19 - Audience questions: Ordering in Southeast Asia (via trezor.io or vetted resellers). 00:50:35 - Audience questions: Coin control in mobile app (planned for parity with desktop in a few months). 00:51:29 - Audience questions: Shielded Zcash support (on backlog, no ETA; space issues resolved but requires further cryptography work). 00:53:18 - Pricing ($250) and pre-order info. 00:53:43 - Closing remarks: Pride in the product, future features, and thanks.

Tony chats with Chak Kolli, PhD, CTO at Magile Software. Insurance companies are struggling to understand the risks of AI and Magile Software is here to help them understand and manage that risk better. A fascinating conversation you cannot miss!Chak Kolli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chak-kolli/Magile Software: https://www.linkedin.com/company/magile-software/Video Version: https://youtu.be/XT0q6dkFT6Q

Don't get stuck using AI to build faster horses. Instead, find the opportunities and rethink your software delivery processes! That, and only that, will help you increase Developer Experience and Efficiency!This episode is all about how to measure and improve DevEx in the age of Artificial Intelligence. And with Laura Tacho, CTO at DX, we think we found a perfect guest!Laura has been working in the dev tooling space for the past 15 years. In her current role at DX she is working on the evolution of DORA and SPACE into DX Core 4 and the DXI Measurement Framework.In our episode we learn about those frameworks but also how tech leaders need to rethink where and how to apply AI to improve overall efficiency, quality and effectiveness! The key takeaways from this conversation areDevEx is all about the identifying and reducing friction in the end-2-end development processTech Leaders need to become better in articulating technical change requirements to businessAs of today only 22% of code in git is really AI generated. Don't get fooled into believing AI is already betterBack to Basics makes companies successful with AI. That is: proper CI/CD, testing, documentation, observability!Here the links we discussedLaura's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauratacho/DX: https://getdx.com/Cloud Native Days Austria Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ1F0-XS1l4Engineering Leadership Community: https://www.engineeringleaders.io/

“We couldn't start inkjet again if we had it in our hands because we're not meeting the rules.” That stark admission from former HP Fellow Will Allen reveals why even the most innovative companies struggle to recreate their own breakthroughs—and what it takes to actually scale disruptive technology.In this episode, Will Allen, holder of 102 US patents and the first HP Fellow promoted within HP's Global Print Business, takes us inside three decades of Silicon Valley innovation from logic analyzers to consumer inkjet printing to his current role as CTO at Kaspix, where he's pioneering ultra-low-power AI inference using analog circuits. We explore why research should be treated as investment portfolio management (not an expense to cut), how “showing beats telling” when getting buy-in for radical ideas, and why getting AI to the “true edge” – directly at sensors and actuators – will fundamentally change computing economics.What You'll Discover:[00:00] Why Research and Development Are Two Different Things→ The fatal mistake of treating R&D as a single expense line when research is actually an investment with portfolio-level returns[06:03] Has Silicon Valley Run Out of Ideas?→ Why scaling success creates the very constraints that prevent future innovation, and whether we're less innovative than decades past[10:12] The Scaling Trap That Kills Success→ Real HP story: how field-fixing problems scaled so badly that engineers couldn't design problems out, and what this means for any growing business[16:23] Getting Past the “$100 Million Question”→ How to navigate corporate demand for predictable returns when developing something the market has never seen before[18:03] “A Functioning Proto Is Worth a Thousand Pictures”→ The clownfish story: how a weekend demo got low-drop-volume printing approved after months of rejection, and the art of communicating on stakeholders' terms[21:16] Signal Spotting and Fundamental vs Killer Apps→ Will's framework for distinguishing noise from transformational trends—and why asking “what's the killer app?” might be the wrong question[24:47] Kaspix and the True Edge→ Why analog circuits for AI inference could be as transformative as the mouse, enabling intelligence directly at transducers without memory-compute bottlenecks[29:56] Where AI Is Actually Heading→ Beyond the hype: specialized AIs, “AI middle management,” and why rapid societal change from deterministic technology creates uncomfortable transitions[36:04] The Advice Will Would Give His Younger Self→ Why leaders who invested years in education suddenly think quarterly, and how to reclaim the long-term thinking that got you thereAbout Will Allen:Will Allen is CTO at Kaspix, pioneering ultra-low-power AI inference through analog circuit design. Previously, he spent 30 years at HP, becoming the first HP Fellow promoted within HP's Global Print Business. He designed the color imaging pipeline used in HP's first 4 million color consumer inkjet printers, led IP production in HP Labs' AI and Emerging Compute Lab, and holds 102 issued US patents across printing, displays, robotics, and digital imaging.Related Links:Will's LinkedIn ProfileWill's Professional HomepageWill's YouTube ChannelKaspixKaspix Founder Pablo Zegers interviewed on The Innovators Podcast by John Biggs

Ben Day is a seasoned software consultant and fractional CTO. With over two decades of experience, he brings a blend of hands-on coding expertise, strategic clarity, and people-focused coaching to help companies — from startups to Fortune 500s — deliver high-quality software faster and with less friction.   As the founder of Benjamin Day Consulting, Inc., Ben offers training, coaching, and architectural guidance rooted in Agile, Scrum, Azure DevOps, and GitHub best practices. He's a Microsoft MVP, a certified Professional Scrum Trainer for over 15 years, and a sought-after speaker who favors storytelling over slide decks.   Topics of Discussion: [2:30] The overlap between music and coding, with Ben explaining the empathy required in both fields. [4:22] Jeffrey mentions the Sunday Sounds app, which allows users to create custom instruments using AI prompts. [6:45] The process of creating Slide Speaker and how Slide Speaker takes screenshots of each moment in a PowerPoint presentation and generates MP4 files. [13:01] Technical details of SlideSpeaker. [16:18] Event-based scaling. [17:10] How SlideSpeaker can be used for internal training presentations and compliance-approved content. [26:06] The opportunity for even more voice models and the ability to create your own custom voice, accent, and tone. [28:11] Ben talks about creating videos that help absolute beginners grasp C#. [32:45] What's next for Ben and Slidespeaker?   Mentioned in this Episode: Clear Measure Way Architect Forum Software Engineer Forum Benjamin Day Consulting Benjamin Day LinkedIn Benjamin Day YouTube SlidespeakerAI     Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

Hoje, já não faz mais sentido focar apenas no ranqueamento da sua marca no Google. As respostas de inteligência artificial já tomaram o topo dos mecanismos de buscas, e os chatbots são um dos principais meios onde os usuários buscam informação. Com isso, o SEO já não é mais o ideal. Surge uma nova sigla: o GEO, estratégia focada nos modelos de IA. Diretamente do RD Summit, o repórter Marcelo Fischer entrevista o CTO e cofundador da RD Station, Bruno Ghisi, para entender o que é o GEO e como o mercado se prepara para essa tendência. Você também vai conferir: Spotify agora te mostra as músicas que você mais ouviu na semana; Bug do Apple Maps pode ser o culpado por falta de memória no iPhone; Chrome quer salvar seu passaporte e CNH; Como ver os nomes e sobrenomes mais populares do Brasil no site do IBGE; Estudo revela qual hábito ao volante é mais perigoso que excesso de velocidade. Este podcast foi roteirizado e apresentado por Marcelo Fischer e contou com reportagens de João Melo, André Magalhães, Lillian Sibila, Bruno De Blasi e Danielle Cassita, sob coordenação de Anaísa Catucci. A trilha sonora é de Guilherme Zomer, a edição de Yuri Souza e a arte da capa é de Erick Teixeira.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Woods is CTO at the Nillion Association, a secure computation network that decentralizes trust for high-value data in the same way that blockchains decentralized transactions. Why you should listen John Woods is the Chief Technology Officer of the Nillion Association, where he's leading the development of a decentralized privacy compute network known as the "Blind Computer." Previously, John served as CTO at the Algorand Foundation and Chief Architect at IOHK (Cardano). With a background in cryptography and systems architecture, John's work focuses on building scalable, secure, and verifiable infrastructure for the decentralized internet. Nillion is building one of the most advanced decentralized privacy infrastructures in Web3 — a system designed not just for security, but for verifiability and scale. Now moving from a company-operated model to a fully permissionless network, Nillion is embedding decentralization into the architecture layer-by-layer: node operators, attestation checkers, and a cryptoeconomic substrate ($NIL) that rewards contribution and accountability. Supporting links Stabull Finance Nillion Andy on Twitter  Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin   If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Pega provides the leading AI-powered platform for enterprise transformation. The world's most influential organizations trust Pega's technology to reimagine how work gets done by automating workflows, personalizing customer experiences, and modernizing legacy systems. Since 1983, Pega's scalable, flexible architecture has fueled continuous innovation, helping clients accelerate their path to the autonomous enterprise. Learn more at Pega.comWhat if the most valuable use of AI in the enterprise is actually the often overlooked yet incredibly costly work of untangling decades of legacy code and process documents? Agility requires the ability to adapt and evolve, but for many enterprises, that ability is trapped inside decades of legacy systems and byzantine processes. What if the same AI that's creating the new could also be the key to understanding and modernizing the old? Today, we're going to talk about moving beyond the hype we're so used to hearing about AI and into the practical, high-impact world of agentic AI. We'll explore how this approach can help large organizations finally tackle their technical debt, not by ripping and replacing, but by understanding and redesigning from the inside out, fostering a new level of collaboration between business and IT along the way. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Don Schuerman, CTO at Pega. About Don Schuerman As CTO and Vice President of Marketing & Technology Strategy at Pegasystems, I see my role as being a "Chief Translation Officer" – bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and real-world business value. With 25 years of experience in orchestration and AI technology, I'm passionate about translating complex technical concepts into meaningful solutions that drive digital transformation for global organizations.My approach to technology leadership has been shaped by an unexpected source: 20 years of improv comedy at ImprovBoston's Mainstage. The skills I honed there – active listening, storytelling, and thinking on my feet – now help me connect with both technical teams and business leaders. It's where I also met my wife, proving that sometimes the best partnerships form when you say "yes, and..."At Pega, I lead the intersection of technology and go-to-market strategy across our enterprise AI decisioning and workflow automation platform. My focus is two-fold: translating the power of technology into tangible value for our Fortune 500 clients, while ensuring our technology roadmap reflects the evolving needs of these organizations. I believe that inclusivity is a key ingredient of innovation and am honored to service as Executive Sponsor of the Pride@Pega Employee Resource Group. Don Schuerman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donschuerman/ Resources Pega: https://www.pega.com Pega provides the leading AI-powered platform for enterprise transformation. The world's most influential organizations trust Pega's technology to reimagine how work gets done by automating workflows, personalizing customer experiences, and modernizing legacy systems. Since 1983, Pega's scalable, flexible architecture has fueled continuous innovation, helping clients accelerate their path to the autonomous enterprise. 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