Podcasts about Microsoft

While our team is out on winter break, please enjoy this episode of The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast from our partners at Microsoft. In this episode of the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast, host Sherrod DeGrippo is joined by Chloé Messdaghi and Crane Hassold to unpack the key findings of the 2025 Microsoft Digital Defense Report; a comprehensive look at how the cyber threat landscape is accelerating through AI, automation, and industrialized criminal networks.  They explore how nation-state operations and cybercrime have fused into a continuous cycle of attack and adaptation, with actors sharing tooling, infrastructure, and even business models. The conversation also examines AI's growing impact, from deepfakes and influence operations to the defensive promise of AI-powered detection, and how identity compromise has become the front door to most intrusions, accounting for over 99% of observed attacks.  Listeners will gain perspective on:  How AI is shaping both attacker tradecraft and defensive response.  Why identity remains the cornerstone of global cyber risk.  What Microsoft's telemetry—spanning 600 million daily attacks—reveals about emerging threats and evolving defender strategies.  Questions explored:  How are threat actors using AI to scale deception and influence operations?  What does industrialized cybercrime mean for organizations trying to defend at scale?  How can defenders harness AI responsibly without overreliance or exposure?    Resources:   Download the report and executive summary  Register for Microsoft Ignite  View Chloé Messdaghi on LinkedIn  View Crane Hassold on LinkedIn  View Sherrod DeGrippo on LinkedIn   Related Microsoft Podcasts:                    Afternoon Cyber Tea with Ann Johnson  The BlueHat Podcast  Uncovering Hidden Risks        Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts     Get the latest threat intelligence insights and guidance at Microsoft Security Insider    The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast is produced by Microsoft and distributed as part of N2K media network.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Re-Release: On this Live Greatly podcast episode, Kristel Bauer sits down with the Founder and CEO of Change Enthusiasm Global, Cassandra Worthy to discuss how to thrive amid change.  Tune in now!  Key Takeaways From This Episode: How to thrive amid change  How emotions can help us navigate change  A mindset shift around change How leaders can help their team's navigate change  A look into Cassandra's journey around change About Cassandra Worthy: Cassandra Worthy is the world's leading expert on Change Enthusiasm®.  Recently named one of the world's Top 50 keynote speakers, she is lighting the world on fire with her refreshingly unique take on not just 'managing' but growing through change.  Through her Leadership Development and consulting company, Change Enthusiasm Global, she is sharing this revolutionary approach for not only embracing change but using it to propel you to heights you never imagined with thousands all over the world.  She is trusted by clients around the globe including Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America, UnitedHealthcare, Google, Microsoft, and Cisco. After spending nearly 15 years working as an executive within both Procter & Gamble and Berkshire Hathaway thriving through some of the biggest acquisitions ever recorded in the consumer packaged goods industry, Cassandra decided to cultivate the mindset and tools she practiced to grow through these disruptions in a way that inspires, invigorates, and motivates others to grow through their change challenges. She's the author of the bestselling  book 'Change Enthusiasm: How to Harness the Power of Emotion for Leadership and Success' a Next Big Idea Club nominee. Connect with Cassandra Worthy: Website: https://cassandraworthy.com/  Become a Certified Change Enthusiast™ Practitioner:  go.changeenthusiasmglobal.com/growth-accelerator LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassandra-worthy-802ab623/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassandra_worthy_speaker/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearechangeenthusiasts/  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRSgcTNQnQPCTF_0ydJdZvw  About the Host of the Live Greatly podcast, Kristel Bauer: Kristel Bauer is a corporate wellness and performance expert, keynote speaker and TEDx speaker supporting organizations and individuals on their journeys for more happiness and success. She is the author of Work-Life Tango: Finding Happiness, Harmony, and Peak Performance Wherever You Work (John Murray Business November 19, 2024). With Kristel's healthcare background, she provides data driven actionable strategies to leverage happiness and high-power habits to drive growth mindsets, peak performance, profitability, well-being and a culture of excellence. Kristel's keynotes provide insights to "Live Greatly" while promoting leadership development and team building.   Kristel is the creator and host of her global top self-improvement podcast, Live Greatly. She is a contributing writer for Entrepreneur, and she is an influencer in the business and wellness space having been recognized as a Top 10 Social Media Influencer of 2021 in Forbes. As an Integrative Medicine Fellow & Physician Assistant having practiced clinically in Integrative Psychiatry, Kristel has a unique perspective into attaining a mindset for more happiness and success. Kristel has presented to groups from the American Gas Association, Bank of America, bp, Commercial Metals Company, General Mills, Northwestern University, Santander Bank and many more. Kristel has been featured in Forbes, Forest & Bluff Magazine, Authority Magazine & Podcast Magazine and she has appeared on ABC 7 Chicago, WGN Daytime Chicago, Fox 4's WDAF-TV's Great Day KC, and Ticker News. Kristel lives in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area and she can be booked for speaking engagements worldwide. To Book Kristel as a speaker for your next event, click here. Website: www.livegreatly.co  Follow Kristel Bauer on: Instagram: @livegreatly_co  LinkedIn: Kristel Bauer Twitter: @livegreatly_co Facebook: @livegreatly.co Youtube: Live Greatly, Kristel Bauer To Watch Kristel Bauer's TEDx talk of Redefining Work/Life Balance in a COVID-19 World click here. Click HERE to check out Kristel's corporate wellness and leadership blog Click HERE to check out Kristel's Travel and Wellness Blog Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are intended for informational and educational purposes only. Always seek the guidance of your physician for any recommendations specific to you or for any questions regarding your specific health, your sleep patterns changes to diet and exercise, or any medical conditions.  Always consult your physician before starting any supplements or new lifestyle programs. All information, views and statements shared on the Live Greatly podcast are purely the opinions of the authors, and are not medical advice or treatment recommendations.  They have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration.  Opinions of guests are their own and Kristel Bauer & this podcast does not endorse or accept responsibility for statements made by guests.  Neither Kristel Bauer nor this podcast takes responsibility for possible health consequences of a person or persons following the information in this educational content.  Always consult your physician for recommendations specific to you.

Hillel Fuld is a globally recognized startup advisor, tech marketer, and speaker helping entrepreneurs turn ideas into scalable, profitable businesses. Named Israel's top marketer by Forbes—who called him "the man transforming Startup Nation into Scale-up Nation"—he has mentored over 600 founders in marketing, growth, and storytelling, guiding startups from vision to revenue. His work and insights have been featured in CNBC, Inc., Fast Company, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, The Next Web, and Business Insider, and he was ranked the 7th most influential tech blogger worldwide. Hillel partners with top global brands including Google, Oracle, Microsoft, and Nike, creating strategies that deliver lasting impact. A sought-after international speaker, Hillel shares his expertise on marketing, entrepreneurship, and Israeli innovation. Above all, he's a proud husband to Racheli and father of five.  During the show we discuss: The key mindset shifts required to move from startup mode to a sustainable business. Why many startups struggle to turn ideas into revenue—and how to bridge the gap. Why every founder should create an investor deck, even without plans to raise capital. How to validate product–market fit before scaling too early. The role of authentic storytelling in building trust and brand credibility. Common traits shared by the most successful founders. How startups balance innovation and execution with limited resources. The most overlooked marketing lever that can make or break early growth. Resources:  https://www.hillelfuld.com/

In this episode of The Jason Cavness Experience, Jason sits down with Taylor Black for a wide-ranging conversation that spans AI, startups, big tech, and family life. Taylor shares his experience working at Microsoft, where he's been close to how AI is being built, adopted, and misunderstood inside large organizations. He talks about how startups and founders should think about AI realistically not as hype, but as a tool that rewards clarity, discipline, and execution. Beyond tech, Taylor opens up about his family's journey through fostering and adoption, what it's taught him about responsibility, patience, and long-term thinking, and how building a family reshapes how you approach work and leadership. He reflects on balancing ambition with presence, and why success isn't just about what you build professionally, but what you commit to personally. This is an honest conversation about building companies, adopting new technology responsibly, and choosing to show up fully  at work and at home. Topics Discussed • Taylor's role at Microsoft and exposure to AI at scale • How large companies actually adopt AI • The gap between AI hype and real-world execution • How startups should think about using AI • Discipline and clarity as advantages in tech and business • Lessons from working inside a major tech company • Fostering and adopting children and what it teaches about leadership • Balancing startup ambition with family responsibility • Long-term thinking in both business and life • Redefining success beyond career milestones Support CavnessHR CavnessHR is building an AI-native HR system for small businesses with 49 or fewer employees  automation plus a dedicated HR Business Partner.  Invest on Wefunder https://wefunder.com/cavnesshr  Download 7 free eBooks https://www.buildcavnesshr.com/ebooks Join the Builders Club https://www.buildcavnesshr.com/ Connect with Taylor Black LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blacktaylor/  

As we wrap up the year, Jill Griffin revisits the biggest themes that shaped The Career Refresh—from redefining worth and leading through uncertainty to the quiet power of clarity. This episode pulls together the year's most impactful insights, helping you reflect on your growth, realign your focus, and prepare for what's next.In this episode:The key mindset shifts leaders made in 2025Why clarity—not control—is the foundation of reinventionWhat “worth” really means when your title or company changesSupport the showJill Griffin, host of The Career Refresh, delivers expert guidance on workplace challenges and career transitions. Jill leverages her experience working for the world's top brands like Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Hilton Hotels, and Martha Stewart to address leadership, burnout, team dynamics, and the 4Ps (perfectionism, people-pleasing, procrastination, and personalities). Visit JillGriffinCoaching.com for more details on: Book a 1:1 Career Strategy and Executive Coaching HERE Build a Leadership Identity That Earns Trust and Delivers Results. Gallup CliftonStrengths Corporate Workshops to build a strengths-based culture Team Dynamics training to increase retention, communication, goal setting, and effective decision-making Keynote Speaking Grab a personal Resume Refresh with Jill Griffin HERE Follow @JillGriffinOffical on Instagram for daily inspiration Connect with and follow Jill on LinkedIn

The holiday season is here, which means we're off for a bit. But, of course, new episodes never cease rolling out! Thus, we've arrived at the first of our two Christmastime traditions: Recounting the most consequential 'moments' in the world of PlayStation and beyond for the past calendar year. As usual, we've each selected five choices for 15 total, and they touch on topics like the first concrete rumors surrounding PlayStation 6, Helldivers 2's surprise migration to Xbox as Microsoft itself brings its whole slate of games to PS5, multiple Grand Theft Auto VI delays, the reemergence of Insomniac's Wolverine, Hermen Hulst's sudden demotion, Sony suing Tencent over the blatant Horizon ripoff Light of Motiram, and much more. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A $20 billion AI deal while you were away?

It's Been A Good Year For Games™ and Nadia, Eric, and Victor are ready to decide just how good. From the biggest smash hits like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to the pluckiest indie darlings like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, we're covering it all!So place some bets on your favourite RPGs of the year and warm up your vocal chords to yell at your phone; It's the 2025 Axe of the Blood God Awards! Tune in to live recordings of the show every Saturday morning at https://www.twitch.tv/bloodgodpod, subscribe for bonus episodes and discord access at https://www.patreon.com/bloodgodpod and celebrate our 10th Anniversary with new merch at https://shop.bloodgodpod.com Also in this episode: Literally nothing else. See below for the categories and see below that for the lists of nominees. Note: Microsoft and the Xbox brand remain subjects of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement for their complicity in the ongoing apartheid and genocide of Palestine. In the interest of journalism we've chosen to cover Microsoft but encourage you to visit https://www.bdsmovement.net/microsoft for more information. Timestamps: 0:00 - Main Topic - The Blood God Awards! 3:28 - Favourite Blood God Moment 8:08 - Best Non-RPG 12:48 - Best Art Direction 19:12 - Best Innovation 28:40 - Best Revival 38:56 - Best Menu Screen 45:52 - Best Moment 56:08 - Coolest Move 1:02:56 - Best Combat System 1:15:44 - Best Music 1:21:08 - Best Party Member 1:29:20 - Best RPG of 2025 1:16:16 - Random Encounters 1:40:16 - Nadia's Nostalgia Nook Awards Nominees: Favourite Blood God Moment:- Kat's Sendoff- Not Eric Playing Final Fantasy 6 lol- The Gonster- History of Sound Novels- Victor liking sexy ladies Best Non-RPG:- Blue Prince- Donkey Kong Bananza- Shadow Labyrinth- Hollow Knight: Silksong Best Art Direction:- Stray Children- Artis Impact- Hades 2- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Best Innovation:- The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy- Elden Ring: Nightreign- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Best Revival:- Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter- Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D- Raidou Remastered- Tokimeki Memorial: forever with you - emotional- Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles Best Menu Screen:- Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition- Digimon Story: Time Stranger- Monster Hunter Wilds- Not Persona 3 Reload- Citizen Sleeper 2- Hollow Knight: Silksong- Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles Best Moment:- Processing Grief - The Promise of Tomorrow - Patch 7.3 - Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail- End of Act 1 - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33- End of Chapter 12 - Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition- Grinding for Advanced Classes - Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles- The Gommage - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Coolest Move:- Throw Rock - Final Fantasy Tactics- Elemental Genesis - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33- Giga Slash - Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Best Combat:- Raidou Remastered- Citizen Sleeper 2- Octopath Traveler 0- Demonschool- The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy- Elden Ring: Nightreign- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Best Music:- Octopath Traveler 0- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33- Hades 2- Into the Mist - Patch 7.4 - Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail- Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter Best Party Member:- Estelle Bright - Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter- Elma - Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition- Susie - Deltarune- Maelle - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 RPG of the Year:- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33- The Hundred Line Last Defense Academy- Hades 2- Quartet- Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter- Demonschool- The First Berserker: Khazan- Fantasy Life i: The Girls Who Steals Time- Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma- Pokemon Legends Z-A- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II- Monster Hunter Wilds- Octopath Traveler II- Kingdom of the Dump- Shrine's Legacy- Citizen Sleeper 2- Elden Ring: Nightreign- Deltarune- Everhood 2- AvowedFurther Reading:2024 Sharlayan Dropouts Valentione's Day SpecialMusic in this Episode:Oasis in the 100 - The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's show we are talking about one of the greatest threats to real estate, and it doesn't come from real estate, or even have anything to do with real estate. The word bubble has been making headlines lately with an increasing number of pundits calling the level of investment in AI a bubble. Last week we talked about three styles of investing: fundamentals, momentum and arbitrage. On today's show we are talking about the level to which a bubble has been created, and the discussion is centering around which pin is going to pop the balloon. The emphasis on the pin is misplaced in my view. When you are in a bubble, it feels good. I know. I experienced it in the dot com bubble. My company went public in February of 1999. Much of 1998 was spent in the preparation for the public offering. There were some really good technology companies that lost most of their valuation in the wake of the dot com bubble bursting. Amazon lost 90% of its value. Nvidia lost 85% of its value. Intel lost 80% of its value and Microsoft lost 58% of its value. 1/3 of the value of the S&P 500 is based on just 7 technology companies. If the market wakes up one day and realizes that these companies are over-valued, there will certainly be a correction. If the value of those 7 companies were to be similarly cut down as the dot com related stocks were in the year 2000, what would be the impact on the overall stock market? Let's do a simple thought experiment. Let's say that these 7 stocks lose 80% of their value and that none of the other 493 companies in the S&P500 lose any value. If we see that happen, then the S&P500 would effectively lose 27.2% of its value. ------------**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)   iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)   Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)   LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)   YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)   Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)  **Y Street Capital:** Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)   Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)  

https://lordsofgaming.net/LORDS AFTER DARK on Insider Game App! ANDROID: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.insidergaming.appIOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/insider-gaming/id67539846481) ADVANCEDGG Use Code "IRONLORD" for 10% off https://advanced.gg/pages/partner-ironlords?_pos=12) VALARI PILLOW Use Code "ILP15" valari.gg/?ref=ironlordspodcastroundtable3)  ILP MERCH: https://ironlordspodcast-shop.fourthwall.com/collections/allsofgaming.net/4) NZXT & IRON LORDS PC Use Affiliate LINK: https://nzxt.co/Lords5) HAWORTH Gaming Chairs & ILP Use Affiliate LINK: https://haworth.pxf.io/4PKj7M*********************************************************ILP 2025 END OF YEAR SPECIAL 12/28/2025Our Top 10 Games Of 2025 | RIP Vince Zampella & Lamarr Wilson*********************************************************Welcome to The Iron Lords Podcast!Be sure to visit www.LordsOfGaming.net for all your gaming news!ILP Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/6XRMnu8Tf1fgIdGlTIpzsKILP Google Play:play.google.com/music/m/Iz2esvyqe…ron_Lords_PodcastILP SoundCloud: @user-780168349ILP Itunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/iron-…uiR-IgF6cE9EQicIILP on Twitter: twitter.cm/IronLordPodcastILP on Instagram: www.instagram.com/ironlordspodcast/ILP DESTINY CLAN:www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Detail/178626The Iron Lords and the Lords of Gaming have an official group on Facebook! Join the Lords at:www.facebook.com/groups/194793427842267www.facebook.com/groups/lordsofgamingnetwork/Lord COGNITO--- twitter.com/LordCognitoLord KING--- twitter.com/kingdavidotwLord ADDICT--- twitter.com/LordAddictILPLord SOVEREIGN--- twitter.com/LordSovILPLord GAMING FORTE---twitter.com/Gaming_ForteILP YouTube Channel for ILP, Addict Show & all ILP related content: www.youtube.com/channel/UCYiUhEbYWiuwRuWXzKZMBxQXbox Frontline with King David: www.youtube.com/@xboxfrontlineFollow us on Twitter @IronLordPodcast to get plugged in so you don't miss any of our content.

Send us a textIn this week's episode we discussed the growing concerns around Amazon's data centers and their potential impact on local water systems. We explore community allegations, environmental reports, and what scientists say about water contamination and long-term health risks, including cancer.Our Links:Retrospect

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM How frontier firms rethink processes with AI, not bolt it on. Samuel Boulanger shares practical ways to drive Copilot adoption: educate, empower champions, and start from scratch to redesign workflows. He shows how agents and workflow automation unlock meaningful ROI, and why applied, hands‑on skill beats theory. Clear guidance for tech pros: use it everywhere, iterate fast, and let the people closest to the work surface the highest‑impact use cases. 

are you ready for a world without Microsoft?Not anytime soon anyway!!Join our dynamic duo now the dynamic trio as they jump in to the deep discussion of how to navigate the pitfalls of the most Recent updates to Microsoft Windows in our conclusion of episode 3 Safe Browsing and what the heck happened to Windows

This isn't your usual Windows Weekly. Pour a glass and settle in as Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell ditch the headlines for whisky-soaked tech stories, behind-the-scenes Microsoft confessions, and the unexpected joys (and disasters) of vintage hardware. These are the tales you only hear when the mics are (almost) off. Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

As is tradition (?) around here, over the holidays we're doing another extended ranking, and this year it's a two-part tier list of... every startup sound we could find across video game consoles, handhelds, and computer operating systems. Where does a startup sound end and menu music begin? Is it possible for a sound to sound the way that khakis look? Just how dank is the Dreamcast sound, anyway? We explore those and other questions in this part one of two!The tier list as of the end of this episode: https://tinyurl.com/tp319-sound-tiers-684jfsdi Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

This isn't your usual Windows Weekly. Pour a glass and settle in as Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell ditch the headlines for whisky-soaked tech stories, behind-the-scenes Microsoft confessions, and the unexpected joys (and disasters) of vintage hardware. These are the tales you only hear when the mics are (almost) off. Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Welcome back to the Ultimate Guide to Partnering® Podcast. AI agents are your next customers. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://theultimatepartner.com/ebook-subscribe/ Check Out UPX:https://theultimatepartner.com/experience/ https://youtu.be/vEdq8rpBM3I In this data-rich keynote, Jay McBain deconstructs the tectonic shifts reshaping the $5.3 trillion global technology industry, arguing that we are entering a new 20-year cycle where traditional direct sales models are obsolete. McBain explains why 96% of the industry is now surrounded by partners and how successful companies must pivot from “flywheels and theory” to a granular strategy focused on the seven specific partners present in every deal. From the explosion of agentic AI and the $163 billion marketplace revolution to the specific mechanics of multiplier economics, this discussion provides a roadmap for navigating the “decade of the ecosystem” where influence, trust, and integration—not just product—determine winners and losers. Key Takeaways Half of today's Fortune 500 companies will likely vanish in the next 20 years due to the shift toward AI and ecosystem-led models. Every B2B deal now involves an average of seven trusted partners who influence the decision before a vendor even knows a deal exists. Microsoft has outpaced AWS growth for 26 consecutive quarters largely because of a superior partner-led geographic strategy. Marketplaces are projected to grow to $163 billion by 2030, with nearly 60% of deals involving partner funding or private offers. The “Multiplier Effect” is the new ROI, where partners can make up to $8.45 for every dollar of vendor product sold. Future dominance relies on five key pillars: Platform, Service Partnerships, Channel Partnerships, Alliances, and Go-to-Market orchestration. If you're ready to lead through change, elevate your business, and achieve extraordinary outcomes through the power of partnership—this is your community. At Ultimate Partner® we want leaders like you to join us in the Ultimate Partner Experience – where transformation begins. Keywords: Jay McBain, Canalys, partner ecosystem, channel chief, agentic AI, marketplace growth, multiplier economics, B2B sales trends, tech industry forecast, service partnerships, strategic alliances, Microsoft vs AWS, distribution transformation, managed services growth, SaaS platforms, customer journey mapping, 28 moments of truth, future of reselling, technology spending 2025, ecosystem orchestration, partner multipliers. T Transcript: Jay McBain WORKFILE FOR TRANSCRIPT [00:00:00] Vince Menzione: Just up from, did you Puerto Rico last night? Puerto Rico, yes. Puerto Rico. He dodged the hurricane. Um, you all know him. Uh, let him introduce himself for those of you who don’t, but just thrilled to have on the stage, again, somebody who knows more about what’s going on in, in the, and has the pulse on this industry probably than just about anybody I know personally. [00:00:21] Vince Menzione: J Jay McBain. Jay, great to see you my friend. Alright, thank you. We have to come all the way. We live, we live uh, about 20 minutes from each other. We have to come all the way to Reston, Virginia to see each other, right? That’s right. Very good. Well, uh, that’s all over to you, sir. Thank you. [00:00:35] Jay McBain: Alright, well thank you so much. [00:00:36] Jay McBain: I went from 85 degrees yesterday to 45 today, but I was able to dodge that, uh, that hurricane, uh, that we kind of had to fly through the northern edge of, uh, wanna talk today about our industry, about the ultimate partner. I’m gonna try to frame up the ultimate partner as I walk through the data and the latest research that, uh, that we’ve been doing in the market. [00:00:56] Jay McBain: But I wanted to start here ’cause our industry moves in 20 year cycles, and if you look at the Fortune 500 and dial back 20 years from today, 52% of them no longer exist. As we step into the next 20 year AI era, half of the companies that we know and love today are not gonna exist. So we look at this, and by the way, if you’re not in the Fortune 500 and you don’t have deep pockets to buy your way outta problems, 71% of tech companies fail over the course of 10 years. [00:01:30] Jay McBain: Those are statistics from the US government. So I start to look at our industry and you know, you may look at the, you know, mainframe era from the sixties and seventies, mini computers, August the 12th, 1981, that first IBM, PC with Microsoft dos, version one, you know, triggered. A new 20 year era of client server. [00:01:51] Jay McBain: It was the time and I worked at IBM for 17 years, but there was a time where Bill Gates flew into Boca Raton, Florida and met with the IBM team and did that, you know, fancy licensing agreement. But after, you know, 20 years of being the most valuable company in the world and 13 years of antitrust and getting broken up, almost like at and TIBM almost didn’t make payroll. [00:02:14] Jay McBain: 13 years after meeting Bill Gates. Yeah, that’s how quickly things change in these eras. In 1999, a small company outta San Francisco called salesforce.com got its start. About 10 years later, Jeff Bezos asked a question in a boardroom, could we rent out our excess capacity and would other companies buy it? [00:02:35] Jay McBain: Which, you know, most people in the room laughed at ’em at the time. But it created a 20 year cloud era when our friends, our neighbors, our family. Saw Chachi PT for the first time in March of 2023. They saw the deep fakes, they saw the poetry, they saw the music. They came to us as tech people and said, did we just light up Skynet? [00:02:58] Jay McBain: And that consumer trend has triggered this next 20 years. I could walk through the richest people in the world through those trends. I could walk through the most valuable companies. It all aligns. ’cause by the way, Apple’s no longer at the top. Nvidia is at the top, Microsoft. Second, things change really quickly. [00:03:17] Jay McBain: So in that course of time, you start to look at our industry and as people are talking about a six and a half or $7 trillion build out of ai, that’s open AI and Microsoft numbers, that is bigger than our industry that’s taken over 50 years to build. This year, we’re gonna finish the year at $5.3 trillion. [00:03:36] Jay McBain: That’s from the smallest flower shop to the biggest bank. Biggest governments that Caresoft would, uh, serve biggest customer in the world is actually the federal government of the us. But you look at this pie chart and you look at the changes that we’re gonna go through over the next 20 years, there’s about a trillion dollars in hardware. [00:03:54] Jay McBain: There’s about a trillion dollars in software. If you look forward through all of the merging trends, quantum computing, humanoid robots, all the things that are coming that dollar to dollar software to hardware will continue to exist all the way through. We see services making up almost two thirds of this pie. [00:04:13] Jay McBain: Yesterday I was in a telco conference with at and t and Verizon and T-Mobile and some of the biggest wireless players and IT services, which happen to be growing faster than products. At the moment, there is more work to be done wrapping around the deal than the actual products that the customer is buying. [00:04:32] Jay McBain: So in an industry that’s growing at 7%. On top of the world economy that’s grown at 2.2. This is the fastest growing industry, and it will be at least for the next 10 years, if not 2070 0.1% of this entire $5 trillion gets transacted through partners. While what we’re talking to today about the ultimate partner, 96% of this industry is surrounded by partners in one way or another. [00:05:01] Jay McBain: They’re there before the deal. They’re there at the deal. They’re there after the deal. Two thirds of our industry is now subscription consumption based. So every 30 days forever, and a customer for life becomes everything. So if every deal in medium, mid-market, and higher has seven partners, according to McKinsey, who are those seven people trying to get into the deal? [00:05:25] Jay McBain: While there’s millions of companies that have come into tech over the last 10 to 20 years. Digital agencies, accountants, legal firms, everybody’s come in. The 250,000 SaaS companies, a million emerging tech companies, there’s a big fight to be one of those seven trusted people at the table. So millions of companies and tens of millions of people our competing for these slots. [00:05:49] Jay McBain: So one of the pieces of research I’m most proud of, uh, in my analyst career is this. And this took over two years to build. It’s a lot of logos. Not this PowerPoint slide, but the actual data. Thousands of people hours. Because guess what? When you look at partners from the top down, the top 1000 partners, by capability and capacity, not by resale. [00:06:15] Jay McBain: It’s not a ranking of CDW and insight and resale numbers. It is the surrounding. Consulting, design, architecture, implementations, integrations, managed services, all the pieces that’s gonna make the next 20 years run. So when you start to look at this, 98% of these companies are private, so very difficult to get to those numbers and, uh, a ton of research and help from AI and other things to get this. [00:06:41] Jay McBain: But this is it. And if you look at this list, there’s a thousand logos out of the million companies. There’s a thousand logos that drive two thirds of all tech services in the world. $1.07 trillion gets delivered by a thousand companies, but here’s where it gets fun. Those companies in the middle, in blue, the 30 of them deliver more tech services than the next 970. [00:07:08] Jay McBain: Combined the 970 combined in white deliver more tech services. Then the next million combined. So if you think we live in an 80 20 rule or maybe a 99, a 95 5 rule, or a 99 1 rule, we actually live in a 99.9 0.1 parallel principle. These companies spread around the world evenly split across the uh, different regions. [00:07:35] Jay McBain: South Africa, Latin America, they’re all over. They split. They split among types. All of the Venn diagram I just showed from GSIs to VARs to MSPs, to agencies and other types of companies. But this is a really rich list and it’s public. So every company in the world now, if you’re looking at Transactable data, if you’re looking at quantifiable data that you can go put your revenue numbers against, it represents 70 to 80% of every company in this room’s Tam. [00:08:08] Jay McBain: In one piece of research. So what do you do below that? How do you cover a million companies that you can’t afford to put a channel account manager? You can’t afford to write programs directly for well after the top down analysis and all the wallet share and you know exactly where the lowest hanging fruit is for most of your tam. [00:08:28] Jay McBain: The available markets. The obtainable markets. You gotta start from the community level grassroots up. So you need to ask the question for the million companies and the maybe a hundred thousand companies out there, partner companies that are surrounding your customer. These are the seven partners that surround your customer. [00:08:48] Jay McBain: What do they read, where do they go, and who do they follow? Interestingly enough, our industry globally equates to only a thousand watering holes, a thousand companies at the top, a thousand places at the bottom. 35% of this audience we’re talking. Millions of people here love events and there’s 352 of them like this one that they love to go to. [00:09:13] Jay McBain: They love the hallway chats, they love the hotel lobby bar, you know, in a time reminded by the pandemic. They love to be in person. It’s the number one way they’re influenced. So if you don’t have a solid event strategy and you don’t have a community team out giving out socks every week, your competitors might beat you. [00:09:31] Jay McBain: 12% of this audience loves podcasts. It’s the Joe Rogan effect of our industry. And while you know, you may not think the 121 podcasts out there are important, well, you’re missing 12% of your audience. It’s over a million people. If you’re not on a weekly podcast in one of these podcasts in the world, there’s still people that read one of the 106 magazines in the world. [00:09:55] Jay McBain: There are people that love peer groups, associations, they wanna be part of this. There’s 15 different ways people are influenced. And a solid grassroots strategy is how you make this happen. In the last 10 years, we’ve created a number of billionaires. Bottom up. They never had to go talk to la large enterprise. [00:10:15] Jay McBain: They never had to go build out a mid-market strategy. They just went and give away socks and new community marketing. And this has created, I could rip through a bunch of names that became unicorns just in the last couple of years, bottoms up. You go back to your board walking into next year, top down, bottom up. [00:10:34] Jay McBain: You’ve covered a hundred percent of your tam, and now you’ve covered it with names, faces, and places. You haven’t covered it with a flywheel or a theory. And for 44 years, we have gone to our board every fourth quarter with flywheels and theory. Trust me, partners are important. The channel is key to us. [00:10:57] Jay McBain: Well, let’s talk at the point of this granularity, and now we’re getting supported by technology 261 entrepreneurs. Many of them in the room actually here that are driving this ability to succeed with seven partners in every deal to exchange data to be able to exchange telemetry of these prospects to be able to see twice or three times in terms of pipeline of your target addressable market. [00:11:26] Jay McBain: All these ai, um, technologies, agentic technologies are coming into this. It’s all about data. It’s all about quantifiable names, faces, and places. Now none of us should be walking around with flywheels, so let’s flip the flywheels. No. Uh, so we also look at, and I sold PCs for 17 years and that was in the high times of 40% margins for partners. [00:11:55] Jay McBain: But one interesting thing when you study the p and l for broad base of partners around the world, it’s changed pretty significantly in this last 20 year era. What the cloud era did is dropped hardware from what used to be 84% plus the break fix and things that wrap around it of the p and l to now 16% of every partner in the world. [00:12:16] Jay McBain: 84% of their p and l is now software and services. And if you look at profitability, it’s worse. It’s actually 87% is profitability wise. They’ve completely shifted in terms of where they go. Now we look at other parts of our market. I could go through every part of the pie of the slide, but we’re watching each of the companies, and if you can see here, this is what we want to talk about in terms of ultimate partner. [00:12:43] Jay McBain: Microsoft has outgrown AWS for 26 straight quarters. They don’t have a better product. They don’t have a better price, they don’t have better promotion. It’s all place. And I’ll explain why you guess here in the light green line. Exactly. The day that Google went a hundred percent all in partner, every deal, even if a deal didn’t have a partner, one of the 4% of deals that didn’t have a partner, they injected a partner. [00:13:09] Jay McBain: You can see on the left side exactly where they did it. They got to the point of a hundred percent partner driven. Rebuilt their programs, rebuilt their marketplace. Their marketplace is actually larger than Microsoft’s, and they grew faster than Microsoft. A couple of those quarters. It is a partner driven future, and now I have Oracle, which I just walked by as I walked from the hotel. [00:13:31] Jay McBain: Oracle with their RPOs will start to join. Maybe the list of three hyperscalers becomes the list of four in future slides, but that’s a growth slide. Market share is different. AWS early and commanding lead. And it plays out, uh, plays out this way. But we’re at an interesting moment and I stood up six years ago talking about the decade of the ecosystem after we went through a decade of sales starting in 1999 when we all thought we were born to be salespeople. [00:14:02] Jay McBain: We managed territories with our gut. The sales tech stack would have it different, that sales was a science, and we ended the decade 2009, looking at sales very differently in 2009. I remember being at cocktail parties where CMOs would be joking around that 50% of their marketing dollars were wasted. They just didn’t know which 50%. [00:14:23] Jay McBain: And I’ll tell you, that was really funny. In 2009 till every 58-year-old CMO got replaced by a 38-year-old growth hacker who walked in with 15,348 SaaS companies in their MarTech and ad tech stack to solve the problem, every nickel of marketing by 2019 was tracked. Marketo, Eloqua, Pardot, HubSpot, driving this industry. [00:14:50] Jay McBain: Now, we stood up and said the 28 moments that come before a sale are pretty much all partner driven. In the best case scenario, a vendor might see four of the moments. They might come to your website, maybe they read an ebook, maybe they have a salesperson or a demo that comes in. That’s four outta 28 moments. [00:15:10] Jay McBain: The other 24 are done by partners. Yeah, in the worst case scenario and the majority scenario, you don’t see any of the moments. All 28 happen and you lose a deal without knowing there ever was a deal. So this is it. We need to partner in these moments and we need to inject partners into sales and marketing, like no time before, and this was the time to do it. [00:15:33] Jay McBain: And we got some feedback in the Salesforce state of sales report, which doesn’t involve any partnerships or, or. Channel Chiefs or anything else. This is 5,500 of the biggest CROs in the world that obviously use Salesforce. 89% of salespeople today use partners every day. For the 11% who don’t, 58% plan two within a year. [00:15:57] Jay McBain: If you add those two numbers together, that’s magically the 96% number. They recognize that every deal has partners in it. In 2024, last year, half of the salespeople in the world, every industry, every country. Miss their numbers. For the minority who made their numbers, 84 point percent pointed to partners as the reason why they made their numbers. [00:16:21] Jay McBain: It was the cheat code for sales, so that modern salesperson that knows how to orchestrate a deal, orchestrate the 28 moments with the seven partners and get to that final spot is the winning formula. HubSpot’s number in separate research was 84% in marketing. So we’re starting to see partners in here. We don’t have to shout from the mountaintops. [00:16:44] Jay McBain: These communities like ultimate Partner are working and we’re getting this to the highest levels in the board. And I’ll say that, you know, when 20 years from now half of the companies we know and love fail after we’re done writing the book and blaming the CEO for inventing the thing that ended up killing them, blaming the board for fiduciary responsibility and letting it happen. [00:17:06] Jay McBain: What are the other chapters of the book? And I think it’s all in one slide. We are in this platform economy and the. [00:17:31] Jay McBain: So your battery’s fine. Check, check, check, check. Alright, I’ll, I’ll just hold this in case, but the companies that execute on all five of these areas, well. Not only today become the trillion dollar valued companies, but they become the companies of tomorrow. These will be the fastest growing companies at every level. [00:17:50] Jay McBain: Not only running a platform business, but participating in other platforms. So this is how it breaks out, and there are people at very senior levels, at very big companies that have this now posted in the office of the CEO winning on integrations is everything. We just went through a demographic shift this year where 51% of our buyers are born after 1982. [00:18:15] Jay McBain: Millennials are the number one buyer of the $5 trillion. Their number one buying criteria is not service. Support your price, your brand reputation, it’s integrations. The buy a product, 80% is good as the next one if it works better in their environment. 79% of us won’t buy a car unless it has CarPlay or Android Auto. [00:18:34] Jay McBain: This is an integration world. The company with the most integrations win. Second, there are seven partners that surround the customer. Highly trusted partners. We’re talking, coaching the customer’s, kids soccer team, having a cottage together up at the lake. You know, best men, bate of honors at weddings type of relationships. [00:18:57] Jay McBain: You can’t maybe have all seven, but how does Microsoft beat AWS? They might have had two, three, or four of them saying nice things about them instead of the competition. Winning in service partnerships and channel partnerships changes by category. If you’re selling MarTech, only 10% of it today is resold, so you build more on service partnerships. [00:19:18] Jay McBain: If you’re in cybersecurity today, 91.6% of it is resold. Transacted through partners. So you build a lot of channel partnerships, plus the service partnerships, whatever the mix is in your category, you have to have two or three of those seven people. Saying nice things about you at every stage of the customer journey. [00:19:38] Jay McBain: Now move over to alliances. We have already built the platforms at the hyperscale level. We’ve built the platforms within SaaS, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Workday, Marketo, NetSuite, HubSpot. Every buyer has a set of platforms that they buy. We’ve now built them in cybersecurity this year out of 6,500 as high as cyber companies, the top five are starting to separate. [00:20:02] Jay McBain: We built it in distribution, which I’ll show in a minute. We’re building it in Telco. This is a platform economy and alliances win and you have alliances with your competitors ’cause you compete in the morning, but you’re best friends by the afternoon. Winning in other platforms is just as important as driving your own. [00:20:20] Jay McBain: And probably the most important part of this is go to market. That sales, that marketing, the 28 moments, the every 30 days forever become all a partner strategy. So there’s still CEOs out there that believe platform is a UI or UX on a bunch of disparate products and things you’ve acquired. There’s still CFOs out there that Think platform is a pricing model, a bundle model of just getting everything under one, you know, subscription price or consumption price. [00:20:51] Jay McBain: And it’s not, platforms are synonymous with partnerships. This is the way forward and there’s no conversation around ai. That doesn’t involve Nvidia over there, an open AI over here and a hyperscaler over there and a SaaS company over here. The seven layer stack wins every single time, and the companies that get this will be the ones that survive this cycle. [00:21:16] Jay McBain: Now, flipping over to marketplaces. So we had written research that, um, about five years ago that marketplaces were going to grow at 82% compounded. Yeah, probably one of the most accurate predictions we ever made, because it happened, we, we predicted that, uh, we were gonna get up to about $85 billion. Well, now we’ve extended that to 2030, so we’re gonna get up to $163 billion, and the thing that we’re watching is in green. [00:21:46] Jay McBain: If 96% of these deals are partner assisted in some way, how is the economics of partnering going to work? We predicted that 50% of deals by 2027. Would be partner funded in some way. Private offers multi-partner offers distributor sellers of record, and now that extends to 59% by 2030, the most senior leader of the biggest marketplace AWS, just said to us they’re gonna probably make these numbers on their own. [00:22:14] Jay McBain: And he asked what their two competitors are doing. So he’s telling us that we under called this. Now when you look at each of the press releases, and this is the AWS Billion Dollar Club. Every one of the companies on the left have issued a press release that they’re in the billion dollar club. Some of them are in the multi-billions, but I want you to double click on this press release. [00:22:35] Jay McBain: I’m quoted in here somewhere, but as CrowdStrike is building the marketplace at 91% compounded, they’re almost doubling their revenue every single year. They’re growing the partner funding, in this case, distributor funding by 3548%. Almost triple digit growth in marketplace is translating into almost quadruple digit growth in funding. [00:23:01] Jay McBain: And you see that over and over again as, as Splunk hit three, uh, billion dollars. The same. Salesforce hit $2 billion on AWS in Ulti, 18 months. They joined in October 20, 23, and 18 months later, they’re already at $2 billion. But now you’re seeing at Salesforce, which by the way. Grew up to $40 billion in revenue direct, almost not a nickel in resell. [00:23:28] Jay McBain: Made it really difficult for VARs and managed service providers to work with Salesforce because they couldn’t understand how to add services to something they didn’t book the revenue for. While $40 billion companies now seeing 70% of their deals come through partners. So this is just the world that we’re in. [00:23:44] Jay McBain: It doesn’t matter who you are and what industry you’re in, this takes place. But now we’re starting to see for the first time. Partners join the billion dollar club. So you wonder about partnering and all this funding and everything that’s working through Now you’re seeing press releases and companies that are redoing their LinkedIn branding about joining this illustrious club without a product to sell and all the services that wrap around it. [00:24:10] Jay McBain: So the opening session on Microsoft was interesting because there’s been a number of changes that Microsoft has done just in the last 30 days. One is they cut distribution by two thirds going from 180 distributors to 62. They cut out any small partner lower than a thousand dollars, and that doesn’t sound like a lot, but that’s over a hundred thousand partners that get deed tightening the long tail. [00:24:38] Jay McBain: They we’re the first to really put a global point system in place three years ago. They went to the new commerce experience. If you remember, all kinds of changes being led by. The biggest company for the channel. And so when we’re studying marketplaces, we’re not just studying the three hyperscalers, we’re studying what TD Cynic is doing with Stream One Ingram’s doing with Advant Advantage Aerosphere. [00:25:01] Jay McBain: Also, we’re watching what PAX eight, who by the way, is the 365 bestseller for Microsoft in the world. They are the cybersecurity leader for Microsoft in the world and the copilot. Leader in the world for Microsoft and Partner of the Year for Microsoft. So we’re watching what the cloud platforms are doing, watching what the Telco are doing, which is 25 cents out of every dollar, if you remember that pie chart, watching what the biggest resellers are converting themselves into. [00:25:30] Jay McBain: Vince just mentioned, you know, SHI in the changes there watching the managed services market and the leaders there, what they’re doing in terms of how this industry’s moving forward. By the way, managed services at $608 billion this year. Is one and a half times larger than the SaaS industry overall. [00:25:48] Jay McBain: It’s also one and a half times larger than all the hyperscalers combined. Oracle, Alibaba, IBM, all the way down. This is a massive market and it makes up 15 to 20 cents of every dollar the customer spend. We’re watching that industry hit a trillion dollars by the end of the decade, and we’re watching 150 different marketplace development platforms, the distribution of our industry, which today is 70.1% indirect. [00:26:13] Jay McBain: We’re starting to see that number, uh, solidify in terms of marketplaces as well. Watching distributors go from that linear warehouse in a bank to this orchestration model, watching some of the biggest players as the world comes around, platforms, it tightens around the place. So Caresoft, uh, from from here is the sixth biggest distributor in the world. [00:26:40] Jay McBain: Just shows you how big the. You know, biggest client in the world is that they serve. But understand that we’re publishing the distributor 500 list, but it’ll be the same thing. That little group in blue in the middle today, you know, drives almost two thirds of the market. So what happens in all this next stage in terms of where the dollars change hands. [00:27:07] Jay McBain: And the economics of partnering themselves are going through the most radical shift that we’ve seen ever. So back to the nineties, and, and for those of you that have been channel chiefs and running programs, we went to work every day. You know, everything’s on fire. We’re trying to check hundred boxes, trying to make our program 10% better than our competitors. [00:27:30] Jay McBain: Hey, we gotta fix our deal registration program today, and our incentives are outta whack or training programs or. You know, not where they need to be. Our certification, you know, this was the life of, uh, of a channel chief. Everybody thought we were just out drinking in the Caribbean with our best partners, but we were under the weight of this. [00:27:49] Jay McBain: But something interesting has happened is that we turned around and put the customer at the middle of our programs to say that those 28 moments in green before the sale are really, really important. And the seven partners who participate are really important. Understanding. The customer’s gonna buy a seven layer stack. [00:28:09] Jay McBain: They’re gonna buy it With these seven partners, the procurement stage is much different. The growth of marketplaces, the growth of direct in some of these areas, and then long term every 30 days forever in a managed service, implementations, integrations, how you upsell, cross-sell, enrich a deal changes. So how would you build a program that’s wrapped around the customer instead of the vendor? [00:28:35] Jay McBain: And we’re starting to hear our partners shout back to us. These are global surveys, big numbers, but over half of our partners, regardless of type, are selling consulting to their customer. Over half are designing architecting deals. A third of them are trying to be system integrators showing up at those implementation integration moments. [00:28:55] Jay McBain: Two thirds of them are doing managed services, but the shocking one here is 44% of our partners, regardless of type, are coding. They’re building agents and they’re out helping their customer at that level. So this is the modern partner that says, don’t typecast me. You may have thought of me in your program. [00:29:14] Jay McBain: You might have me slotted as a var. Well, I do 3.2 things, and if I don’t get access to those resources, if you don’t walk me to that room, I’m not gonna do them with you. You may have me as a managed service provider that’s only in the morning. By the afternoon I’m coding, and by the next morning I’m implementing and consulting. [00:29:33] Jay McBain: So again, a partner’s not a partner. That Venn diagram is a very loose one now, as every partner on there is doing 3.2 different business models. And again, they’re telling us for 43 years, they said, I want more leads this year it changed. For the first time, I want to be recognized and incentivized as more than just a cash register for you. [00:29:57] Jay McBain: I want you to recognize when I’m consulting, when I’m designing, when you’re winning deals, because of my wonderful services, by the way, we asked the follow up question, well, where should we spend our money with you? And they overwhelmingly say, in the consulting stage, you win and lose deals. Not at moment 28. [00:30:18] Jay McBain: We’re not buying a pack of gum at the gas station. This is a considered purchase. You win deals from moment 12 through 16 and I’m gonna show you a picture of that later, and they say, you better be spending your money there, or you’re not gonna win your fair share or more than your fair share of deals. [00:30:36] Jay McBain: The shocking thing about this is that Microsoft, when they went to the point system, lifted two thirds of all the money, tens of billions of dollars, and put it post-sale, and we were all scratching our heads going. Well, if the partners are asking for it there, and it seems like to beat your biggest competitors, you want to win there. [00:30:54] Jay McBain: Why would you spend the money on renewal? Well, they went to Wall Street and Goldman Sachs and the people who lift trillions of dollars of pension funds and said, if we renew deals at 108%, we become a cash machine for you. And we think that’s more valuable than a company coming out with a new cell phone in September and selling a lot of them by Christmas every year. [00:31:18] Jay McBain: The industry. And by the way, wall Street responded, Microsoft has been more valuable than Apple since. So we talk in this now multiplier language, and these are reports that we write, uh, at AMIA at canals. But talking about the partner opportunity in that customer cycle, the $6 and 40 cents you can make for every dollar of consumption, or the $7 and 5 cents you can make the $8 and 45 cents you can make. [00:31:46] Jay McBain: There’s over 24 companies speaking at this level now, and guess what? It’s not just cloud or software companies. Hardware companies are starting to speak in this language, and on January 25th, Cisco, you know, probably second to Microsoft in terms of trust built with the channel globally is moving to a full point system. [00:32:09] Jay McBain: So these are the changes that happen fast. But your QBR with your partners now less about drinking beers at the hotel lobby bar and talking dollar by dollar where these opportunities are. So if you’re doing 3.2 of these things, let’s build out a, uh, a play where you can make $3 for every dollar that we make. [00:32:28] Jay McBain: And you make that profitably. You make it in sticky, highly retained business, and that’s the model. ’cause if you make $3 for every dollar. We make, you’re gonna win Partner of the year, and if you win partner of the year, that piece of glass that you win on stage, by the time you get back to your table, you’re gonna have three offers to buy your business. [00:32:51] Jay McBain: CDW just bought a w. S’s Partner of the Year. Insight bought Google’s eight time partner of the year. Presidio bought ServiceNow’s, partner of the year over and over and over again. So I’m at Octane, I’m at CrowdStrike, I’m at all these events in Vegas every week. I’m watching these partners of the year. [00:33:05] Jay McBain: And I’m watching as the big resellers. I’m watching as the GSIs and the m and a folks are surrounding their table after, and they’re selling their businesses for SaaS level valuations. Not the one-to-one service valuation. They’re getting multiples because this is the new future of our industry. This is platform economics. [00:33:25] Jay McBain: This is winning and platforms for partners. Now, like Vince, I spent 20 minutes without talking about ai, but we have to talk about ai. So the next 20 years as it plays out is gonna play out in phases. And the first thing you know to get it out of the way. The first two years since that March of 23, has been underwhelming, to say the least. [00:33:47] Jay McBain: It’s been disappointing. All the companies that should have won the biggest in AI have been the most disappointing. It’s underperformed the s and p by a considerable amount in terms of where we are. And it goes back to this. We always overestimate the first two years, but we underestimate the first 10. [00:34:07] Jay McBain: If you wanna be the point in time person and go look at that 1983 PC or the 1995 internet or that 2007 iPhone or that whatever point in time you wanna look at, or if you want to talk about hallucinations or where chat chip ET version five is version, as opposed to where it’s going to be as it improves every six months here on in. [00:34:30] Jay McBain: But the fact of the matter is, it’s been a consumer trend. Nvidia got to be the most valuable company in the world. OpenAI was the first company to 2 billion users, uh, in that amount of speed. It’s the fastest growing product ever in history, and it’s been a consumer win this trillions of dollars to get it thrown around in the press releases. [00:34:49] Jay McBain: They’re going out every day, you know, open ai, signing up somebody new or Nvidia, investing in somebody new almost every single day in hundreds of billions of dollars. It is all happening really on the consumer side. So we got a little bit worried and said, is that 96% of surround gonna work in ag agentic ai? [00:35:10] Jay McBain: So we went and asked, and the good news is 88% of end customers are using partners to work through their ag agentic strategy. Even though they’re moving slow, they’re actually using partners. But what’s interesting from a partner perspective, and this is new research that out till 2030. This is the number one services opportunity in the entire tech or telco industry. [00:35:34] Jay McBain: 35.3% compounded growth ending at $267 billion in services. Companies are rebuilding themselves, building out practices, and getting on this train and figuring out which vendors they should hook their caboose to as those trains leave the station. But it kind of plays out like this. So in the next three to five years, we’re in this generative, moving into agentic phase. [00:36:01] Jay McBain: Every partner thinks internally first, the sales and marketing. They’re thinking about their invoicing and billing. They’re thinking about their service tickets. They’re thinking about creating a business that’s 10% better than their competitors, taking that knowledge into their customers and drive in business. [00:36:17] Jay McBain: But we understand that ag agentic AI, as it’s going to play out is not a product. A couple of years ago, we thought maybe a copilot or an agent force or something was going to be the product that everybody needed to buy, and it’s not a product, it’s gonna show up as a feature. So you go back in the history of feature ads and it’s gonna show up in software. [00:36:38] Jay McBain: So if you’re calling in SMB, maybe you’re calling on a restaurant. The restaurant isn’t gonna call OpenAI or call Microsoft or call Nvidia directly. They’re running their restaurant. And they may have chosen a platform like Toast Square, Clover, whatever iPads people are running around with, runs on a platform that does everything in their business, does staffing, does food ordering, works with Uber Eats, does everything end to end? [00:37:08] Jay McBain: They’re gonna wait to one of those platforms, dries out agent AI for them, and can run the restaurant more effectively, less human capital and more consistently, but they wait for the SaaS platform as you get larger. A hundred, 150 people. You have vice presidents. Each of those vice presidents already have a SaaS stack. [00:37:28] Jay McBain: I talked about Salesforce, ServiceNow, Workday, et cetera. They’ve already built that seven layer model and in some cases it’s 70 layers. But the fact is, is they’re gonna wait for those SaaS layers to deliver ag agentic to them. So this is how it’s gonna play out for the next three and a half, three to five years. [00:37:45] Jay McBain: And partners are realizing that many of them were slow to pick up SaaS ’cause they didn’t resell it. Well now to win in this next three to half, three to five years, you’re gonna have to play in this environment. When you start looking out from here, the next generation, you know, kind of five through 15 years gets interesting in more of a physical sense. [00:38:06] Jay McBain: Where I was yesterday talking about every IOT device that now is internet access, starts to get access to large language models. Every little sensor, every camera, everything that’s out there starts to get smart. But there’s a point. The first trillionaire, I believe, will be created here. Elon’s already halfway there. [00:38:24] Jay McBain: Um, but when Bill Gates thought there was gonna be a PC in every home, and IBM thought they were gonna sell 10,000 to hobbyists, that created the richest person in the world for 20 years, there will be a humanoid in every home. There’s gonna be a point in time that you’re out having drinks with your friends, and somebody’s gonna say, the early adopter of your friends is gonna say. [00:38:46] Jay McBain: I haven’t done the dishes in six weeks. I haven’t done the laundry. I haven’t made my bed. I haven’t mowed the lawn. When they say that, you’re gonna say, well, how? And they’re gonna say, well, this year I didn’t buy a new car, but I went to the car dealership and I bought this. So we’re very close to the dexterity needed. [00:39:05] Jay McBain: We’ve got the large language models. Now. The chat, GPT version 10 by then is going to make an insane, and every house is gonna have one of the. [00:39:17] Jay McBain: This is the promise of ai. It’s not humanoid robots, it’s not agents. It’s this. 99% of the world’s business data has not been trained or tuned into models yet. Again, this is the slow moving business. If you want to think about the 99% of business data, every flight we’ve all taken in this room sits on a saber system that was put in place in 1964. [00:39:43] Jay McBain: Every banking transaction, we’ve all made, every withdrawal, every deposit sits on an IBM mainframe put in place in the sixties or seventies. 83% of this data sits in cold storage at the edge. It’s not ready to be moved. It’s not cleansed, it’s not, um, indexed. It’s not in any format or sitting on any infrastructure that a large language model will be able to gobble up the data. [00:40:10] Jay McBain: None of the workflows, none of the programming on top of that data is yet ready. So this is your 10 to 20 year arc of this era that chat bot today when they cancel your flight is cute. It’s empathetic, it feels bad for you, or at least it seems to, but it can’t do anything. It can’t book you the Marriott and get you an Uber and then a 5:00 AM flight the next morning. [00:40:34] Jay McBain: It can’t do any of that. But more importantly, it doesn’t know who you are. I’ve got 53 years of flights under my belt and they, I’m the person that get me within six hours of my kids and get me a one-way Hertz rental. You know, if there’s bad weather in Miami, get me to Tampa, get me a Hertz, I’m driving home, I’m gonna make it home. [00:40:56] Jay McBain: I’m not the 5:00 AM get me a hotel person. They would know that if they picked up the flights that I’ve taken in the past. Each of us are different. When you get access to the business data and you become ag agentic, everything changes. Every industry changes because of this around the customers. When you ask about this 35% growth, working on that data, working in traditional consulting and design and implementation, working in the $7 trillion of infrastructure, storage, compute, networking, that’s gonna be around, this is a massive opportunity. [00:41:30] Jay McBain: Services are gonna continue to outgrow products. Probably for the next five to 10 years because of this, and I’m gonna finish here. So we talked a lot about quantifying names, faces, places, and I think where we failed the most as ultimate partners is underneath the tam, which every one of our CEOs knows to the decimal point underneath the TAM that our board thinks they’re chasing. [00:41:59] Jay McBain: We’ve done a very poor job. Of talking about the available markets and obtainable markets underneath it, we, we’ve shown them theory. We’ve shown them a bunch of, you know, really smart stuff, and PowerPoint slides up the wazoo, but we’ve never quantified it for them. If they wanna win, if they want to get access, if they want to double their pipeline, triple their pipeline, if they wanna start winning more deals, if they wanna win deals that are three times larger, they close two times faster. [00:42:31] Jay McBain: And they renew 15% larger. They have to get into the available and obtainable markets. So just in the last couple weeks I spoke at Cribble, I spoke at Octane, I spoke at CrowdStrike Falcon. All three of those companies at the CEO level, main stage use those exact three numbers, three x, two x, 15%. That’s the language of platforms, and they’re investing millions and millions and millions of dollars on teams. [00:42:59] Jay McBain: To go build out the Sam Andal in name spaces and places. So you’ve heard me talk about these 28 moments a lot. They’re the ones that you spend when you buy a car. Some people spend one moment and they drive to the Cadillac dealership. ’cause Larry’s been, you know, taking care of the family for 50 years. [00:43:18] Jay McBain: Some people spend 50 moments like I do, watching every YouTube video and every, you know, thing on the internet. I clear the internet cover to cover. But the fact is, is every deal averages around these 28 moments. Your customer, there’s 13 members of the buying committee today. There’s seven partners and they’re buying seven things. [00:43:37] Jay McBain: There’s 27 things orchestrating inside these 28 moments. And where and how they all take place is a story of partnering. So a couple of years ago, canals. Latin for channel was acquired by amia, which is a part of Informa Tech Target, which is majority owned by Informa. All that being said, there’s hundreds of magazines that we have. [00:44:00] Jay McBain: There’s hundreds of events that we run. If somebody’s buying cybersecurity, they probably went to Black Hat or they probably went to GI Tech. One of these events we run, or one of the magazines. So we pick up these signals, these buyer intent signals as a company. Why did they wanna, um, buy a, uh, a Canals, which was a, you know, a small analyst firm around channels? [00:44:22] Jay McBain: They understood this as well. The 28 moments look a lot like this when marketers and salespeople are busy filling in the spots of every deal. And by the way, this is a real deal. AstraZeneca came in to spend millions of dollars on ASAP transformation, and you can start to see as the customer got smart. [00:44:45] Jay McBain: The eBooks, they read the podcasts, they listened to the events they went to. You start to see how this played out over the long term. But the thing we’ve never had in our industry is the light blue boxes. This deal was won and lost in December. In this particular case, NTT software won and Yash came in and sold the customer five projects. [00:45:07] Jay McBain: The millions of dollars that were going to be spent were solved here. The design and architecture work was all done here. A couple of ISVs You see in light blue came in right at the end, deal was closed in April. You see the six month cycle. But what if you could fill in every one of the 28 boxes in every single customer prospect that your sales and marketing team have? [00:45:30] Jay McBain: But here’s the brilliance of this. Those light blue boxes didn’t win the deals there. They won the deals months before that. So when NTT and Software one walked into this deal. They probably won the deal back in October and they had to go through the redlining. They had to go through the contracting, they had to go through all the stuff and the Gantt chart to get started. [00:45:54] Jay McBain: But while your CMO is getting all excited about somebody reading an ebook and triggering an MQL that the sales team doesn’t want, ’cause it’s not qualified, it’s not sales qualified, you walk in and say, no, no. This is a multimillion deal, dollar deal. It’s AstraZeneca. I know the five partners that are coming in in December to solidify the seven layers, and you’re walking in at the same time as the CMOs bragging about an ebook. [00:46:21] Jay McBain: This changes everything. If we could get to this level of data about every dollar of our tam, we not only outgrow our competitors, we become the platforms of the next generation. Partnering and ultimate partnering is all here. And this is what we’re doing in this room. This is what we’re doing over these couple of days, and this is what, uh, the mission that Vince is leading. [00:46:43] Jay McBain: Thank you so much. [00:46:47] Vince Menzione: Woo. Day in the house. Good to see you my friend. Good to see you. Oh, we’re gonna spend a couple minutes. Um, I’m put you in the second seat. We’re gonna put, we’re gonna make it sit fireside for a minute. Uh, that was intense. It was pretty incredible actually, Jay. And so I’m, I think I wanna open it up ’cause we only have a few minutes just to, any questions? [00:47:06] Vince Menzione: I’m sure people are just digesting. We already have one up here. See, [00:47:09] Question: Jay knows I’m [00:47:10] Vince Menzione: a question. I love it. We, I don’t think we have any I can grab a mic, a roving mic. I could be a roving mic person. Hold on. We can do this. This is not on. [00:47:25] Vince Menzione: Test, test. Yes it is. Yeah. [00:47:26] Question: Theresa Carriol dared me to ask a question and I say, you don’t have to dare me. You know, I’m going to Anyway. Um, so Jay, of the point of view that with all of the new AI players that strategic alliances is again having a moment, and I was curious your point of view on what you’re seeing around this emergence and trend of strategic alliances and strategic alliance management. [00:47:52] Question: As compared to channel management. And what are you seeing in terms of large vendors like AWS investing in that strategic alliance role versus that channel role training, enablement, measurement, all that good stuff? [00:48:06] Jay McBain: Yeah, it’s, it’s a great question. So when I told the story about toast at the restaurant or Square or Clover, they’re not call, they’re not gonna call open AI or Nvidia themselves either. [00:48:17] Jay McBain: When you look out at the 250,000 ISVs. That make up this AI stack, there is the layers that happen there. So the Alliance with AWS, the alliance they have with Microsoft or Google is going to be how they generate agent AI in their platforms. So when I talk about a seven layer stack, the average deal being seven layers, AI is gonna drive this to nine, and then 11, then probably 13. [00:48:44] Jay McBain: So in terms of how alliances work, I had it up there as one of the five core strategies, and I think it’s pretty even. You can have the best alliances in the world, but if the seven partners trusted by the customer don’t know what that alliance is and the benefits to the customer and never mention it, it’s all for Naugh. [00:49:00] Jay McBain: If you’re go-to market, you’re co-selling, your co-marketing strategies are not built around that alliance. It’s all for naught. If the integration and the co-innovation, the co-development, the all the co-creation work that’s done inside these alliances isn’t translated to customer outcomes, it’s all for naugh. [00:49:17] Jay McBain: These are all five parallel swim lanes. All five are absolutely critically needed. And I think they’re all five pretty equally weighted in terms of needing each other. Yes. To be successful in the era of platforms. Yeah. [00:49:32] Vince Menzione: And the problem is they’re all stove pipe today. If, if at all. Yeah. Maintained, right. [00:49:36] Vince Menzione: Alliances is an example. Channels and other example. They don’t talk to one another. Judge any, we’ve got a mic up here if anybody else has. Yep. We have some questions here, Jacqueline. [00:49:51] Question: So when we’re developing our channel programs, any advice on, you know, what’s the shift that we should make six months from now, a year from now? The historical has been bronze, silver, gold, right? And you’ve got your deal registration, but what’s the future look like? [00:50:05] Jay McBain: Yeah, so I mean, the programs are, are changing to, to the point where the customer should be in the middle and realizing the seven partners you need to win the deal. [00:50:15] Jay McBain: And depending on what category of product you’re in, security, how much you rely on resell, 91.6%. You know, the channel partners are gonna be critical where the customer spends the money. And if you’re adding friction to that process, you’re adding friction in terms of your growth. So you know, if you’re in cybersecurity, you have to have a pretty wide open reseller model. [00:50:39] Jay McBain: You have to have a wide open distribution model, and you have to make sure you’re there at that point of sale. While at the same time, considering the other six partners at moment 12 who are in either saying nice things about you or not, the customer might even be starting with you. ’cause there is actually one thing that I didn’t mention when I showed the 28 moments filled in. [00:51:00] Jay McBain: You’ll notice that the customer went to AWS twice direct. AWS lost the deal. Microsoft won the deal software. One is Microsoft’s biggest reseller in the world. They just acquired crayon. NTT who, who loves both had their Microsoft team go in. [00:51:18] Question: Mm. [00:51:19] Jay McBain: So I think that they went to AWS thinking it was A-W-S-S-A-P, you know, kind of starting this seven layer stack. [00:51:25] Jay McBain: I think they finished those, you know, critical moments in the middle looking at it. And then they went back to AWS kind of going probably WWTF. Yeah. What we thought was happening isn’t actually the outcome that was painted by our most trusted people. So, you know, to answer your question, listen to your partners. [00:51:43] Jay McBain: They want to be recognized for the other things they’re doing. You can’t be spending a hundred percent of the dollars at the point of sale. You gotta have a point of system that recognizes the point of sale, maybe even gold, silver, bronze, but recognizing that you’re paying for these other moments as well. [00:51:57] Jay McBain: Paying for alliances, paying for integrations and everything else, uh, in the cyber stack. And, um, you know, recognizing also the top 1000. So if I took your tam. And I overlaid those thousand logos. I would be walking into 2026 the best I could of showing my company logo by logo, where 80% of our TAM sits as wallet share, not by revenue. [00:52:25] Jay McBain: Remember, a million dollar partner is not a million dollar partner. One of them sells 1.2 million in our category. We should buy them a baseball cap and have ’em sit in the front row of our event. One of them sells $10 million and only sells our stuff if the customer asks. So my company should be looking at that $9 million opportunity and making sure my programs are writing the checks and my coverage. [00:52:48] Jay McBain: My capacity and capability planning is getting obsessed over that $9 million. My farmers can go over there, my hunters can go over here, and I should be submitting a list of a thousand sorted in descending order of opportunity. Of where my company can write program dollars into. [00:53:07] Vince Menzione: Great answer. All right. I, I do wanna be cognizant of time and the, all the other sessions we have. [00:53:14] Vince Menzione: So we’ll just take one other question if there are any here and if not, we’ll let I know. Jay, you’re gonna be mingling around for a little while before your flight. I’m [00:53:21] Jay McBain: here the whole day. [00:53:22] Vince Menzione: You, you’re the whole day. I see that Jay’s here the whole day. So if you have any other questions and, and, uh, sharing the deck is that. [00:53:29] Vince Menzione: Yep. Alright. We have permission to share the deck with the each of you as well. [00:53:34] Jay McBain: Alright, well thank you very much everyone. Jay. Great to have you.

This isn't your usual Windows Weekly. Pour a glass and settle in as Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell ditch the headlines for whisky-soaked tech stories, behind-the-scenes Microsoft confessions, and the unexpected joys (and disasters) of vintage hardware. These are the tales you only hear when the mics are (almost) off. Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

A lot changed in the world of Cloud and AI this year. And then it changed some more, and some more, and so more. The only constant was change. SHOW: 988SHOW TRANSCRIPT: The Cloudcast #988 TranscriptSHOW VIDEO: https://youtube.com/@TheCloudcastNET CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK: http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST: "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW NOTESIT WAS AN INTERESTING YEAR IN CLOUD AND AI TECHNOLOGYAI has become a mainstream technology, political and social talking pointAI went through 7yrs of news cycles in 1 yrDeepSeek - Maybe NVIDIA chips aren't needed?NVIDIA acquihired Grok and their technologyMaybe AWS' lead in the cloud is now in questionGoogle got their act together with GenAI, after inventing the technology in 2017Microsoft and OpenAI sort of broke up, or at least they are seeing other peopleOpenAI forecasts 100x their current revenue in future computing needsThe US Gov't either bailed out, or socialized IntelBitcoin - 94k, up to 125k, down to 84kFEEDBACK?Email: show at the cloudcast dot netTwitter/X: @cloudcastpodBlueSky: @cloudcastpod.bsky.socialInstagram: @cloudcastpodTikTok: @cloudcastpod

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This isn't your usual Windows Weekly. Pour a glass and settle in as Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell ditch the headlines for whisky-soaked tech stories, behind-the-scenes Microsoft confessions, and the unexpected joys (and disasters) of vintage hardware. These are the tales you only hear when the mics are (almost) off. Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Consultorio bursátil de diciembre de 2025 en el que Adrián Godás y Paco Lodeiro respondemos a las preguntas de los oyentes. Las preguntas generales de este mes son sobre invertir en Kazajstán, el fondo Schroder International Selection Fund Global Gold, el riesgo de invertir en DeGiro, Soltec, el sentimiento de fallar y sobre Michael J. Howell. Y las dudas sobre empresas y sectores son sobre el oro, la plata y los PGMs, Soitec y AMS Osram, supermercados Día, Constellation Software y Microsoft, invertir en el sector del hidrógeno y sobre Critical Element Lithium, Aclara Resources y situaciones con catalizadores. Podéis enviar las consultas a academiadeinversion.com/contacto o a paco@academiadeinversion.com Enlace para la sesión de preguntas y respuestas del domingo 4 de enero a las 18 h: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/hq9stno5o6o8

In this episode, Lars and Morten speak with GTD enthusiast and Microsoft employee Stefan Pilo. What does a day look like for a GTD'er with all the cool Copilot/agent tools available now? Listen to this episode to learn from Stefan, including: - How Teams has functionality to lead your meetings - How Copilot assists you in Outlook - How specialised AI can help you prepare for meetings ..and MUCH more! We hope that this helps you in your GTD journey and if you have questions for us to pick up in the podcast, you can reach us at podcast@vitallearning.dk And as always, we'd love for you to follow or connect with us on LinkedIn! We always like to connect with GTD'ers from around the world, you can find the links to our YouTube profiles in the Links below. We have some really cool free webinars coming up, which we really want you to join

Note: a better quality audio upload will be available in a couple days.Hello! Another year has flown by and Niki, Lotus, and John are here to talk about their favorite games and gaming-adjacent things from 2025! Included in the GOTY chat:Donkey Kong BananzaHades IIAvowed*Ball X PitPokemon Legends: Z-ABlippo+KinophobiaMario Kart WorldThe Nintendo Switch 2Also, the news of the week!Star Citizen will eclipse one billion dollars in investment soonClair Obscur's Indie Game Award was rescinded for AI inclusionVince Zampella dead at 55We answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord!*Microsoft and Xbox are still complicit in the genocide in Gaza. Go to nogamesforgenocide.com for more information and to sign the pledge today.

Send us a textWelcome to Safe Dividend Investing's Podcast # 255, on December 27th of 2025.  My name is Ian Duncan MacDonald, and I am an author of six investment books. I finally finished the editing and formatting of my latest book, “Achieving Financial Independence Safely. 200 NYSE Stocks - Analyzed and Scored”. Early next week it will be forwarded to Amazon/Kindle. As soon as it is available, I will be informing all those who sent emails to me at imacd@informus.ca requesting when they could order it at the the initial discounted price.  During the following week I came across an article by an investment analyst at a large firm. He excitedly reported that Microsoft paid out in dollars a higher dividend than any of  the S&P 500 companies. Since a Microsoft stock could be bought for $487.71 and paid out a dividend $3.64 over a year I found it hard to believe that $3.64 was something to brag about. I also wondered for such a profitable company where were the billions in profit going?This podcast deals with stock options, investment charges, greed, inflation, Verizon, portfolio's of 20 stocks, speculator blindness and achieving financial independence.  My books are not get-rich-quick books. They are about taking a little time to carefully seek out financially strong companies with long histories of paying ever rising high  dividends accompanied by rising share prices. Diversification and patience win out in investing. Please, visit my website www.informus.ca if you wish to learn more about me and my writing.Ian Duncan MacDonald Author and Commercial Risk Consultant,President of Informus Inc 2 Vista Humber Drive Toronto, Ontario Canada, M9P 3R7 Toronto Telephone - 416-245-4994 New York Telephone - 929-800-2397 imacd@informus.ca

Todd Bishop and John Cook reflect on the top tech stories of 2025, a pivotal year defined by the AI boom's dual nature: massive infrastructure spending alongside widespread layoffs. We discuss Bill Gates' framing of AI as "intelligence becoming free," the tension between tech workers and corporate mandates to adopt AI, and the "best of times, worst of times" dichotomy playing out at Microsoft, Amazon, and across the industry. We also cover the top story of the year — UW rethinking its computer science curriculum — the Statsig acquisition by OpenAI, Seattle's competitive position, and the human side of tech through Ambika Singh's heartfelt speech at the GeekWire Awards. Featuring audio clips from Gates, Satya Nadella, Andy Jassy, Ken Jennings, and more. Audio editing by Curt Milton.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One year ago, Anthropic launched the Model Context Protocol (MCP)—a simple, open standard to connect AI applications to the data and tools they need. Today, MCP has exploded from a local-only experiment into the de facto protocol for agentic systems, adopted by OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Block, and hundreds of enterprises building internal agents at scale. And now, MCP is joining the newly formed Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) under the Linux Foundation, alongside Block's Goose coding agent, with founding members spanning the biggest names in AI and cloud infrastructure. We sat down with David Soria Parra (MCP lead, Anthropic), Nick Cooper (OpenAI), Brad Howes (Block / Goose), and Jim Zemlin (Linux Foundation CEO) to dig into the one-year journey of MCP—from Thanksgiving hacking sessions and the first remote authentication spec to long-running tasks, MCP Apps, and the rise of agent-to-agent communication—and the behind-the-scenes story of how three competitive AI labs came together to donate their protocols and agents to a neutral foundation, why enterprises are deploying MCP servers faster than anyone expected (most of it invisible, internal, and at massive scale), what it takes to design a protocol that works for both simple tool calls and complex multi-agent orchestration, how the foundation will balance taste-making (curating meaningful projects) with openness (avoiding vendor lock-in), and the 2025 vision: MCP as the communication layer for asynchronous, long-running agents that work while you sleep, discover and install their own tools, and unlock the next order of magnitude in AI productivity. We discuss: The one-year MCP journey: from local stdio servers to remote HTTP streaming, OAuth 2.1 authentication (and the enterprise lessons learned), long-running tasks, and MCP Apps (iframes for richer UI) Why MCP adoption is exploding internally at enterprises: invisible, internal servers connecting agents to Slack, Linear, proprietary data, and compliance-heavy workflows (financial services, healthcare) The authentication evolution: separating resource servers from identity providers, dynamic client registration, and why the March spec wasn't enterprise-ready (and how June fixed it) How Anthropic dogfoods MCP: internal gateway, custom servers for Slack summaries and employee surveys, and why MCP was born from "how do I scale dev tooling faster than the company grows?" Tasks: the new primitive for long-running, asynchronous agent operations—why tools aren't enough, how tasks enable deep research and agent-to-agent handoffs, and the design choice to make tasks a "container" (not just async tools) MCP Apps: why iframes, how to handle styles and branding, seat selection and shopping UIs as the killer use case, and the collaboration with OpenAI to build a common standard The registry problem: official registry vs. curated sub-registries (Smithery, GitHub), trust levels, model-driven discovery, and why MCP needs "npm for agents" (but with signatures and HIPAA/financial compliance) The founding story of AAIF: how Anthropic, OpenAI, and Block came together (spoiler: they didn't know each other were talking to Linux Foundation), why neutrality matters, and how Jim Zemlin has never seen this much day-one inbound interest in 22 years — David Soria Parra (Anthropic / MCP) MCP: https://modelcontextprotocol.io https://uk.linkedin.com/in/david-soria-parra-4a78b3a https://x.com/dsp_ Nick Cooper (OpenAI) X: https://x.com/nicoaicopr Brad Howes (Block / Goose) Goose: https://github.com/block/goose Jim Zemlin (Linux Foundation) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zemlin/ Agentic AI Foundation https://agenticai.foundation Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: MCP's First Year and Foundation Launch 00:01:17 MCP's Journey: From Launch to Industry Standard 00:02:06 Protocol Evolution: Remote Servers and Authentication 00:08:52 Enterprise Authentication and Financial Services 00:11:42 Transport Layer Challenges: HTTP Streaming and Scalability 00:15:37 Standards Development: Collaboration with Tech Giants 00:34:27 Long-Running Tasks: The Future of Async Agents 00:30:41 Discovery and Registries: Building the MCP Ecosystem 00:30:54 MCP Apps and UI: Beyond Text Interfaces 00:26:55 Internal Adoption: How Anthropic Uses MCP 00:23:15 Skills vs MCP: Complementary Not Competing 00:36:16 Community Events and Enterprise Learnings 01:03:31 Foundation Formation: Why Now and Why Together 01:07:38 Linux Foundation Partnership: Structure and Governance 01:11:13 Goose as Reference Implementation 01:17:28 Principles Over Roadmaps: Composability and Quality 01:21:02 Foundation Value Proposition: Why Contribute 01:27:49 Practical Investments: Events, Tools, and Community 01:34:58 Looking Ahead: Async Agents and Real Impact

Xbox Series X/S console sales CRATERED in 2025, dropping 70% and Microsoft only moved 1.8 million consoles worldwide this year. The Switch One outsold all Xbox consoles, and that's with the Switch 2 being available! This literally is the Worst Case Scenario (TM) for Microsoft, and it could spell the END of Xbox as a viable physical console.Watch this podcast episode on YouTube and all major podcast hosts including Spotify.CLOWNFISH TV is an independent, opinionated news and commentary podcast that covers Entertainment and Tech from a consumer's point of view. We talk about Gaming, Comics, Anime, TV, Movies, Animation and more. Hosted by Kneon and Geeky Sparkles.D/REZZED News covers Pixels, Pop Culture, and the Paranormal! We're an independent, opinionated entertainment news blog covering Video Games, Tech, Comics, Movies, Anime, High Strangeness, and more. As part of Clownfish TV, we strive to be balanced, based, and apolitical. Get more news, views and reviews on Clownfish TV News - https://more.clownfishtv.com/On YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/ClownfishTVOn Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4Tu83D1NcCmh7K1zHIedvgOn Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/clownfish-tv-audio-edition/id1726838629

In this episode, I was joined by Debbie O'Brien to chat about Playwright - Microsoft's open-source end-to-end testing framework. I'm a huge fan of Playwright, so I was really excited to have this chat with Debbie. We covered a lot of ground, including features such as Codegen, Trace Viewer, and UI Mode. We also spoke a lot about AI - including the exciting Playwright MCP Server which enables AI agents to automate browser interactions!Debbie has been an integral part of Playwright as a Principal Program Manager at Microsoft and has led the Playwright community, shaping much of what Playwright has become today - driving a lot of the features mentioned above. She's also a Google Developer Expert in web technologies, Nuxt Ambassador, and is a former Microsoft Most Valuable Professional in developer technologies, Media Developer Expert and GitHub star alumni.For a full list of show notes, or to add comments - please see the website here

Christine Blosdale, also known as The Expert Authority Coach™, is a five-time #1 bestselling author, award-winning radio personality, and the host of The Expert Authority Coach Podcast.With over 25 years of experience in personal branding, magnetic marketing, and multimedia, Christine has helped countless entrepreneurs, coaches, authors, and thought leaders step into their brilliance and become the go-to authority in their field.A former content creator for powerhouses like AOL and Microsoft, Christine brings her signature blend of media savvy and marketing expertise to everything she does. Her coaching style is simple, easy, fun - and most importantly, effective.She's passionate about helping business owners rise, shine, and get seen - turning them from overlooked to in-demand through authentic visibility and confident self-promotion.Her mission? To help you master your message, magnetize your brand, and become the go-to authority in your niche.Connect with Christine Here:https://www.christineblosdale.com/Don't forget to click the link below to find out about taking one of the final 2 VIP Pre-Enrollment spots for our Expert Authority Mastermind. Book your call here: https://scottaaron.as.me/expertauthorityconsult

It is okay to ask for help. Asking for help is NOT a sign of weakness. We can't go through lives doing everything by ourselves, so don't be ashamed or afraid to ask for help. Text me at 972-426-2640 so we can stay connected!Support me on Patreon!Twitter: @elliottspeaksInstagram: @elliottspeaks

Robbie Bach, former president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, discusses his transition from technology executive to author of political techno-thrillers, focusing on his latest book, The Blockchain Syndicate. The narrative explores themes of digital identity, misinformation, and the vulnerabilities of modern institutions, emphasizing that technology itself is neutral; it can be used for both beneficial and harmful purposes. Bach highlights the character of Tamika Smith, a military veteran, as a lens through which to examine leadership in a complex landscape of technology and public trust.Bach elaborates on the psychological and technical aspects of his story, particularly the implications of digital identity and authenticity. He notes that the plot involves a blackmail scenario linked to a character presumed dead, raising questions about the authenticity of digital communications. This reflects broader concerns about cybersecurity, where vulnerabilities are often exploited rather than created anew. Bach emphasizes the importance of grounding his narrative in real-world technology and experiences, blending factual research with creative storytelling.The conversation also touches on the governance of technology, critiquing current regulatory approaches that tend to be reactive rather than proactive. Bach argues that effective governance requires forward-thinking leadership capable of anticipating future challenges, particularly in areas like AI and blockchain. He stresses the need for businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises, to engage with these issues beyond mere compliance, advocating for a broader sense of responsibility that includes stakeholder value.For Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and IT service leaders, Bach's insights underscore the critical role they play in navigating the complexities of technology governance and cybersecurity. By understanding the vulnerabilities inherent in digital systems and advocating for responsible practices, MSPs can better support their clients in mitigating risks associated with misinformation and identity fraud. The episode serves as a reminder of the importance of ethical considerations in technology deployment and the need for proactive engagement in shaping a secure digital future.

(Presented by ThreatLocker (https://threatlocker.com/threebuddyproblem): Allow what you need. Block everything else by default, including ransomware and rogue code.) Three Buddy Problem - Episode 78: We close out the year with a no-budget, no-permission awards show, spotlighting the cybersecurity stories that actually mattered. Plus, a bizarre polygraph scandal at CISA, Chinese APT research dumps, ransomware pre-notification hiccups, foreign drone bans, and the growing gap between cyber theater and real operational value. Cast: Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade (https://twitter.com/juanandres_gs), Ryan Naraine (https://twitter.com/ryanaraine) and Costin Raiu (https://twitter.com/craiu).

Microsoft has become the gaming media's punching bag ever since they dropped DEI, embraced AI, the CEO sucked up to Trump and something something Israel. Remember when the games media would go out of their way to defend poor Xbox and Starfield from the mean ol' right wing chuds? Yeah, game over man.Watch this podcast episode on YouTube and all major podcast hosts including Spotify.CLOWNFISH TV is an independent, opinionated news and commentary podcast that covers Entertainment and Tech from a consumer's point of view. We talk about Gaming, Comics, Anime, TV, Movies, Animation and more. Hosted by Kneon and Geeky Sparkles.D/REZZED News covers Pixels, Pop Culture, and the Paranormal! We're an independent, opinionated entertainment news blog covering Video Games, Tech, Comics, Movies, Anime, High Strangeness, and more. As part of Clownfish TV, we strive to be balanced, based, and apolitical. Get more news, views and reviews on Clownfish TV News - https://more.clownfishtv.com/On YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/ClownfishTVOn Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4Tu83D1NcCmh7K1zHIedvgOn Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/clownfish-tv-audio-edition/id1726838629

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Please take 12 seconds to rate and review the podcast because it helps us find new listeners ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐FREE RESOURCES✅ Get a free digital copy of my bestselling book for a limited time, Choice Hacking: How to use psychology and behavioral science to create an experience that sings. Get it here: https://www.choicehacking.com/free-book/ ✅ Get FREE weekly marketing psychology insights when you join my newsletter, Choice Hacking Ideas: Join the 10k+ people getting daily insights on how to 2x their marketing effectiveness (so sales and profit 2x, too) using buyer psychology. Join here: https://www.choicehacking.com/read/✅ Connect with host Jennifer Clinehens on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok @ChoiceHacking and @BuildwithChoiceHackingWORK WITH ME✅ Corporate Training: Get your team up-skilled marketing psychology and behavioral science with a workshop or training session. Choice Hacking has worked with brands like Microsoft, T-Mobile, and McDonalds to help their teams apply behavioral science and marketing psychology.Learn more here, and get in touch using the contact form at the bottom of the page: https://www.choicehacking.com/training/✅ Get your own Chief Marketing Copilot for your business when you my new program. Get live Skill Sessions, Implementation Sessions, and one-on-one time with me.Learn more here: https://choicehacking.academy/pro/✅ Buy my book in Kindle, paperback, or audiobook form: "Choice Hacking: How to use psychology and behavioral science to create an experience that sings": https://choicehacking.com/PodBook/ ★ Support this podcast ★

i'm wall-e, welcoming you to today's tech briefing for friday, december 26th. explore the latest in tech news: microsoft & openai partnership: microsoft commits an additional $1 billion to openai, aiming to integrate advanced ai models into its products, particularly azure, enhancing ai capabilities for businesses globally. amazon's green initiative: amazon pledges to purchase 100,000 electric delivery vans as part of their strategy to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, showcasing commitment to sustainability. google under scrutiny: european regulators investigate google for alleged unfair promotion of its services in search results, with potential significant implications for its business model and advertising strategies. zoom's rise: zoom shares soar after surpassing earnings expectations, with a growing user base fueled by the pandemic and continual enhancements in security and user experience. that's all for today. we'll see you back here tomorrow!

Objet du quotidien par excellence, le smartphone pourrait voir son avenir proche sérieusement contrarié. Selon une étude récente du cabinet Counterpoint Research, l'année 2026 pourrait être marquée par une baisse de la production mondiale de téléphones portables. En cause, une pénurie de puces mémoire largement alimentée par l'essor fulgurant de l'intelligence artificielle. Le smartphone est partout. Ou presque. Pourtant, derrière cet objet devenu indispensable se cache un marché qui n'est plus en forte croissance. Après des années d'expansion à grande vitesse, le secteur est entré dans une phase de maturité. Concrètement, les consommateurs renouvellent leurs appareils moins souvent. Les innovations sont jugées moins spectaculaires qu'auparavant, et les marges sont de plus en plus sous pression, en particulier sur les produits d'entrée et de milieu de gamme. Le constat est donc posé : le contexte est déjà tendu pour les fabricants, et les perspectives ne sont pas très rassurantes. Une pénurie de puces mémoire au cœur du problème Les prévisions pour 2026 ont récemment été revues à la baisse. Les livraisons mondiales de smartphones pourraient reculer jusqu'à 2%. La principale raison n'est pas un désintérêt des consommateurs, mais le manque de composants essentiels à la fabrication des appareils. Le secteur devrait en effet être confronté à une pénurie de puces mémoire, celles qui permettent à nos smartphones de disposer de mémoire vive. Ces composants sont indispensables. Ils permettent de lancer les applications rapidement, de passer d'une tâche à l'autre et d'assurer la fluidité globale du système. Depuis plusieurs années, les fabricants mettent en avant cette mémoire pour justifier des appareils toujours plus performants. Mais cette ressource est désormais convoitée par un autre acteur de poids : l'intelligence artificielle. Quand l'IA capte les ressources les plus rentables Le problème pour les géants du smartphone, c'est que l'intelligence artificielle est aujourd'hui bien plus rentable pour les producteurs de puces. Pour entraîner et faire fonctionner les modèles d'IA, il faut des infrastructures gigantesques. Les centres de données reposent sur des processeurs extrêmement gourmands en mémoire. OpenAI, Google, Meta ou encore Microsoft sont prêts à payer très cher pour sécuriser ces composants stratégiques. Face à cette demande explosive, les fabricants de puces mémoire font un choix rationnel d'un point de vue économique : ils réservent leur production aux plus offrants et privilégient les marchés liés à l'IA, bien plus rentables que l'électronique grand public. Produire davantage de puces serait possible, mais pas immédiatement. Trois entreprises seulement produisent plus de 90% des puces mémoire dans le monde. Construire de nouvelles usines ou augmenter les capacités existantes demande du temps, beaucoup d'argent et surtout une visibilité à long terme sur la demande, ce qui n'est pas le cas aujourd'hui. La conséquence est directe pour les fabricants de smartphones. À une demande forte et une offre limitée correspond une situation de rareté, et la rareté fait monter les prix. Résultat : une pénurie, mais aussi une explosion des coûts. Concrètement, les smartphones neufs devraient coûter plus cher, tout comme les ordinateurs. Certains produits pourraient également se révéler moins innovants que prévu. Bref, mieux vaut peut-être prendre soin de son smartphone actuel, avant que les prix ne flambent et que ces appareils ne se fassent plus rares. À lire aussiGoogle prend l'avantage dans la course à l'IA grâce à ses puces maison

Mon Carnet, le podcast de Bruno Guglielminetti Vendredi 26 décembre 2025 Le grand magazine francophone de l'actualité numérique Édition spéciale Intelligence artificielle générative et cybersécurité Entrevues et discussions : Copilot et Gemini face à face : usages, positionnement et stratégies des géants du numérique Un échange inédit entre deux IA génératives pour mieux comprendre leurs approches, leurs limites et ce qu'elles révèlent des ambitions de Microsoft et de Google Table ronde NOVIPRO Cybersécurité en entreprise, regards sans filtre Reprise d'une discussion menée sous le sceau de l'anonymat avec cinq responsables TI d'organisations québécoises Menaces actuelles, angles morts persistants et impact de l'intelligence artificielle sur la sécurité des organisations Avec Roger Ouellet, directeur de la pratique sécurité chez NOVIPRO, pour mettre les constats en perspective. Merci à NOVIPRO pour l'organisation du panel www.MonCarnet.com Une production de Guglielminetti.com Décembre 2025

We're joined by producer and production executive Tom Butterfield, whose 17-year career has spanned studio collaborations, independent features, and public sector funding bodies on both sides of the Atlantic. As the principal of Culmination Productions, Tom has produced a diverse slate of films including The Critic, Cellar Door, The Banker, and Die in a Gunfight. He brings a uniquely grounded perspective on what it takes to get a film made.In this conversation, Tom unpacks the realities of producing in today's market. He compares the financing and development models between the UK and US, offers candid lessons from multi-year development journeys, and explains how casting factors into packaging decisions. We also dive into his philosophies on creative collaboration, managing talent relationships, and the producer's role as a problem-solver.Tom also reflects on industry shifts—from the decline of mid-budget theatrical films to the rise of streamer-era economics—and how organizations like Producers United are helping redefine the producer's role in today's evolving landscape. About WrapbookWrapbook is a smart, intuitive platform that makes production payroll and accounting easier, faster, and more secure. We provide a unified payroll platform that seamlessly connects your entire team—production, accounting, cast, and crew—all in one place.Wrapbook empowers production teams to manage projects, pay cast and crew, track expenses, and generate data-driven insights, while enabling workers to manage timecards, track pay, and onboard to new projects from any device. Wrapbook brings clarity and dependability to production payroll, while increasing the productivity of your whole team.For crew: The Wrapbook app eliminates the headaches of production payroll by providing a fast, transparent, and secure solution for workers to complete startwork, submit timecards, and track pay.Trusted by companies of all sizes, Wrapbook powers payroll for some of the industry's top production companies, including SMUGGLER, Tuff, and GhostRobot. Our growing team of 250+ people includes entertainment and technology experts from SAG-AFTRA, DGA, IATSE, Teamsters, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, and more.Wrapbook is backed by top-tier investors, including Jeffrey Katzenberg's WndrCo, Andreessen Horowitz, and A* Capital.Get started at https://www.wrapbook.com/

Senior staff at Community IT share what happened in nonprofit IT in 2025: AI and non-AI. What tips and advice have you missed? Top Nonprofit IT Stories of 2025As is our tradition, we asked some of our senior staff to talk about the most important nonprofit IT stories of 2025. This year, Carolyn gave them two categories – something in AI – or something that might not have gotten as much attention because it wasn't something in AI.AI continues to be a really big story. It has been described as the water we are all swimming in, whether we like it or not. It's going to be impacting all of us, and transforming every sector that nonprofits care about, in the coming years. Education, environment, government, health, privacy and advocacy, immigration, the economy – its easier to ask what issue will not be transformed in 2026 by AI because the answer is none. And in addition to transforming the communities nonprofits care about, perhaps more immediately AI will be transforming the day-to-day work nonprofit staff do, in new and quickly evolving ways. Community IT will continue to be a trusted partner as you make AI decisions and learn AI tools for productivity and added value.In addition to reflecting on AI or giving advice on AI tools, many of our staff members gave practical tips on changes to look for in 2026, from budgeting for increasing costs of laptops because of increasing costs of RAM storage (caused by AI needs!) to the increased security of Microsoft 365 login protections, to data protection considerations and updates to look out for, including Microsoft Archive. Data security and the value of data to nonprofits will continue to be of high importance in 2026, as will the evolution of cybersecurity. Finally, we know 2025 was very challenging to our nonprofit sector. With all of the changes our friends and colleagues are negotiating, we hope we can help nonprofit IT be the least difficult to manage. _______________________________Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.

In the biggest, most shameless holiday name-drop of the year, Katie and Danny bring you – in no particular order – insights from Sam Altman of OpenAI, AMD's Lisa Su, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Satya Nadella from Microsoft, Matthew Prince of Cloudflare, Arthur Mensch of Mistral AI, Sir Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind, Marc Benioff from Salesforce, and Anthropic's Dario Amodei.A whole smattering of billionaires, with a Nobel laureate mixed in too. So, what have they all told us about the AI rollout and what it really means? This is the first of a two-part Christmas extravaganza, where we look back at the world of AI covered on the pod with more than a year's worth of big-tech leaders returning to help us distinguish the potential of AI from the reality. (Just don't mention the B-word!) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Technology is reshaping the world at a pace few people, inside or outside the industry, expected. But every so often, you meet someone who has not only witnessed the major waves of technological change, but helped build them. In this conversation, Marcus Fontoura, Technical Fellow and Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, CTO for Azure Core, walks us through the story of AI, what leaders are getting wrong, and how to develop the one thing that will matter more than any model or algorithm: human agency. Marcus has lived through every major inflection point: early search, the rise of cloud computing, and now large-scale AI systems. One of the first things he challenges is the popular narrative that we are heading toward an AI apocalypse, or an AI utopia. Both extremes, he explains, miss the point: "My approach was more like, let me just explain what the technology is and what it does… it's basically a prediction system." Marcus offers a clear explanation of modern AI. He compares today's large models to a system that has: "Read nonstop for fifty thousand years… with near perfect memory." But this doesn't make AI a mastermind. It makes it a stochastic parrot, extraordinarily capable, but not self-directed. He also emphasizes that while AI will automate the mechanical layers of work, it will amplify, not replace, the leaders who know how to think: "If your job is typing in a spreadsheet… then I would feel scared. But if you have the knowledge and experience to really add value, I wouldn't feel scared." His point is: the danger isn't AI. The danger is becoming someone who only performs tasks AI can do. We also cover the uncomfortable but increasingly visible trend: people relying on AI so heavily that they lose their independent critical-thinking muscles. Marcus acknowledges the risk: "That is a little bit concerning… we will see good uses of technology and uses we don't want to happen." He stresses that organizations must raise the bar for juniors, not lower it, and that AI helps experts more than novices: "More experienced folks already know what to expect… junior employees may not know what is correct or incorrect." This is one of the most important insights in the entire episode: AI accelerates expertise; it does not create it. On hallucinations, Marcus is exceptionally candid: "The more we use it, the more you have techniques to avoid it… but we have to double-check those things." On leaders fearing displacement: "Use AI in a way that amplifies your skills… automate the mechanical tasks and focus on what only humans can do." And on what truly matters in this moment of technological upheaval: "Technology shouldn't influence us. We should influence what we want to see in our society." And he gave a useful explanation of the names of ChatGPT models: "When you say that bigger AI models, when you move from ChatGPT three to four, four to five, basically these models have more parameters. So this means that you read a lot more, but also you memorize a lot more." This conversation is a reminder that the most important focus should not be AI, it's the leader using AI with judgment, clarity, and agency.   Get Marcus's book, Human Agency in a Digital World, here: https://shorturl.at/v0lo8   Claim your free gift: Free gift #1 McKinsey & BCG winning resume www.FIRMSconsulting.com/resumePDF Free gift #2 Breakthrough Decisions Guide with 25 AI Prompts www.FIRMSconsulting.com/decisions Free gift #3 Five Reasons Why People Ignore Somebody www.FIRMSconsulting.com/owntheroom Free gift #4 Access episode 1 from Build a Consulting Firm, Level 1 www.FIRMSconsulting.com/build Free gift #5 The Overall Approach used in well-managed strategy studies www.FIRMSconsulting.com/OverallApproach Free gift #6 Get a copy of Nine Leaders in Action, a book we co-authored with some of our clients: www.FIRMSconsulting.com/gift

Something New!  For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we've created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP232 In episode 232, Coffey talks with Margarita Ramos about the importance and future of the employee relations function following the $11.5 million SHRM discrimination verdict. They discuss the SHRM jury verdict and its implications for HR credibility; the role of employee relations at the intersection of compliance and employee experience; proactive versus reactive approaches to workplace conflict; multiple complaint channels and manager escalation obligations; why dismissing concerns as "not illegal" undermines trust; investigation failures highlighted in the SHRM case; investigator neutrality, training, and experience requirements; when and why to use outside investigators or counsel; leadership accountability and the role of the CHRO in employee relations; the three-legged stool of employee relations, HR business partners, and employment counsel; building ER infrastructure with case management systems and data analytics; handling high-performing but high-risk leaders; transparency in employee relations processes; reducing gossip through consistent and fair investigations; and the future of employee relations including responsible use of AI in investigations. Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com.  If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.  About our Guest: Margarita Ramos is a highly respected Global Employee Relations executive and employment attorney with more than two decades of experience across technology, SaaS, and financial services. She is trusted by CHROs, HR Business Partners, and C-suite leaders to build scalable ER infrastructures, stabilize organizations through change, and elevate the employee experience through disciplined governance and operational excellence. With a foundation rooted in JD-trained employment law—including roles as In-House Employment Counsel at Merrill Lynch and Principal Corporate Counsel at Microsoft—Margarita developed deep legal expertise in compliance, risk mitigation, and workplace investigations.  She later translated this expertise into senior ER and HR Compliance leadership roles at VMware, Splunk, RBC, and Bank of America, where she supported complex global workforces navigating rapid growth, cultural transformation, and organizational change. Throughout her career, Margarita has been brought in to create structure where ambiguity exists. She has built and led global ER Centers of Excellence, developed investigations and performance-management frameworks, and implemented modern case-management systems such as Workday, HR Acuity, and AI-enabled governance tools. Her approach blends empathy with operational rigor, ensuring ER functions are both employee-centric and aligned with business strategy. A skilled investigator and ER strategist, Margarita advises senior leaders on workplace investigations, conflict resolution, performance management, DEI&B, and global employment compliance. She is known for her ability to translate data, case trends, and cultural signals into actionable insights—leveraging ER metrics, KPIs, and reporting to influence leadership decisions, drive fairness, and strengthen organizational culture. Her data-driven approach enables leaders to make well-informed, consistent decisions that reinforce trust and accountability across the enterprise.  Margarita has also led M&A HR integration efforts at VMware and Splunk, overseeing cultural alignment, workforce assessments, and change-management strategies during periods of significant transformation. Her leadership in these environments reflects her commitment to creating workplaces where clarity, belonging, and operational excellence coexist. Beyond her corporate work, Margarita is deeply committed to developing future talent. She has mentored first-generation college students and contributed to organizations such as Girls Who Code, Year Up, and Hobart & William Smith Colleges. At Microsoft, she provided pro bono support for Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). Outside of work, she enjoys ballroom dancing and cooking. Margarita is passionate about shaping modern, strategic, tech-forward ER functions that support organizational values, reduce risk, build leadership capability, and create an environment where employees can do their best work with trust, fairness, and accountability. Margarita Ramos can be reached athttps://www.linkedin.com/in/margarita-ramos/ About Mike Coffey: Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, business strategist, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher.In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business.Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, many more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies.Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business' small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association. Mike shares his insight from 25+ years of HR-entrepreneurship on the Good Morning, HR podcast, where each week he talks to business leaders about bringing people together to create value for customers, shareholders, and community.Mike has been recognized as an Entrepreneur of Excellence by FW, Inc. and has twice been recognized as the North Texas HR Professional of the Year. Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas' 31 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee.Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teach...

Gogmazios is a pussycat in comparison. 0:15 - Larian studio good. Larian CEO bad. 26:23 - Compared to the original, the Trails in the Sky remake comes up short a few regards but overall, was very enjoyable 50:09 - Gogmazios doesn't hold a candle to the difficulty or raw spectacle of a triple Blangonga fight in the arena! If you missed Saturday's live broadcast of Molehill Mountain, you can watch the video replay on YouTube.  Alternatively, you can catch audio versions of the show on iTunes. Molehill Mountain streams live at 7p PST every Saturday night! Credits: Molehill Mountain is hosted by Andrew Eisen.  Music in the show includes "To the Top" by Silent Partner.  It is in the public domain and free to use.  Molehill Mountain logo by Scott Hepting. Chat Transcript: 6:56 PM@LeeShowrons​​Hey 6:57 PM@warrenlewis4349​​hello me. me too. :D Hi Andrew. 6:57 PM@LeeShowrons​​Yeah, but you can't get a lifetime membership of real life things lol 6:58 PM@warrenlewis4349​​oh yeah. 7:03 PM@addictedtochaos2​​Hi all 7:04 PM@addictedtochaos2​​I think the last thing/game I was really excited for was Breath of the Wild. 7:06 PM@addictedtochaos2​​The game is DOA now. 7:07 PM@addictedtochaos2​​Professional CEO just means a master Bullsh***er 7:13 PM@addictedtochaos2​​On the same level as Xbox leadership 7:15 PM@addictedtochaos2​​Microsoft a 3 Trillion Dollar Company is hurting for money so much that they couldn't be bothered to do their annual Xbox Wrap Up. 7:18 PM@addictedtochaos2​​More CEOs should be more like Iwata. 7:20 PM@addictedtochaos2​​He was a developer first, and was actually passionate about it, and knew what it took to make games. 7:21 PM@addictedtochaos2​​Well considering their employee retention rate is around 98%, I would guess the culture is pretty good. 7:23 PM@addictedtochaos2​​In the Wii U era when Nintendo was hurting financially the executives took pay cuts to avoid lay offs. 7:27 PM@addictedtochaos2​​Most CEOs are. 7:33 PM@Sheekago​​Hey all 7:34 PM@Sheekago​​What are we talking about 7:34 PM@Sheekago​​OG Trails in the Sky FC? 7:35 PM@Sheekago​​Sounds like you're liking the new version 7:39 PM@Sheekago​​I keep hoping the Sky remake goes on sale so I can pick it up 7:42 PM@Sheekago​​Maybe the voice actor were told to say the word eek instead of just voicing it 7:43 PM@Sheekago​​It's like forcing an actor to say blink instead of bllinking 7:53 PM@jaredknisely6213​​@Sheekago FC remake is on sale 7:55 PM@Sheekago​​@jaredknisely6213 where is it on sale? 7:57 PM@jaredknisely6213​​steam has for 44.99 7:58 PM@jaredknisely6213​​steam in itself has a sale right now 7:59 PM@Sheekago​​@jaredknisely6213 oh thanks. I was hoping to get it physically on the Switch. I don't have a Steam Deck and I like to play during my lunch break at work. 8:03 PM@jaredknisely6213​​yeah, its not on sale for the switch cartridge

Reed Albergotti is the technology editor at Semafor. Albergotti joins Big Technology Podcast to break down which companies are best positioned in the coming year. We cover Meta's superintelligence gamble, Google's Gemini push, OpenAI's model race, and the rise of AI companions. We also discuss Tesla's self-driving moment of truth, Nvidia's upside and risks, Microsoft's Copilot dilemma, big media and streaming shake-ups, Anthropic's IPO prospects, SPACs and private equity, quantum, and the strange new love stories people are forming with their bots. Hit play for a fast, prediction-packed tour through the year in tech—and a sharp, entertaining look at where the AI economy and Big Tech are headed next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We continue our discussion on why Meta is still the most powerful ad platform and what to expect in the coming year. We break down how Facebook figured out monetization, from early Microsoft deals and disastrous missteps like Beacon to right-hand rail ads and the moment ads entered the newsfeed. We'll walk you through the desktop era, the transition to mobile, and why Meta's make-or-break moment before its IPO changed everything about how ads work today. Plus, we connect the dots to what's happening right now with the Andromeda update and the increasing need for creative diversification.In This Episode:- Why Meta's global reach matters - Meta's early advertising mistakes- Facebook's Beacon backlash explained- The right-hand rail ads era- Mobile ads turning point- Why Andromeda update changes everythingMentioned in the Episode:Previous Episode on Why Meta is The Best Ad Platform: Acquired Podcast's Episode on Meta: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/meta Perpetual Traffic YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@perpetual_traffic?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook's Failed Beacon Project: https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/facebook-shuts-down-beacon-marketing-tool-1.832698 Ralph's Photo at Meta's Home Office: Listen to This Episode on Your Favorite Podcast Channel:Follow and listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/perpetual-traffic/id1022441491 Follow and listen on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/59lhtIWHw1XXsRmT5HBAuK Subscribe and watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@perpetual_traffic?sub_confirmation=1We Appreciate Your Support!Visit our website: https://perpetualtraffic.com/ Follow us on X: https://x.com/perpetualtraf Connect with Ralph Burns: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralphburns Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ralphhburns/ Hire Tier11 - https://www.tiereleven.com/apply-now Connect with Lauren Petrullo:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/laurenepetrullo/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenpetrullo Consult Mongoose Media -

This episode is sponsored by Fidelity Investments and the all-new Fidelity Trader+ platform. Try Fidelity's most powerful trading experience yet: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.fidelity.com/trading/trading-platforms?immid=100734&imm_pid=430504639&imm_aid=a&dfid=&buf=99999999⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Views, opinions, products, services, and strategies discussed are not endorsed or promoted by Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC In this episode of 'Okay, Computer' Dan Nathan and Dan Ives, the Global Head of Technology Research at Wedbush Securities, reunite to discuss the resurgence of their podcast and the state of the tech industry. They reflect on past conversations, significant tech changes, and the return of their brand due to popular demand. They delve deeply into the impact of AI on the technology sector, the volatility in the space, and how retail and institutional investors can navigate these changes. Ives highlights his AI-themed ETF, IVES, explaining its investment strategy and evolution. The duo also explores the challenges and opportunities in enterprise software, the performance of tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and Apple, and the significant disruptions brought by AI. Later, Adam Singolda, CEO of Taboola, joins to discuss his company's strategy and the broader implications of AI on journalism and advertising, emphasizing the need for ethical practices in using AI-generated content. The episode provides a comprehensive look at the transformative power of AI and its implications across various tech sectors. —FOLLOW USYouTube: @RiskReversalMediaInstagram: @riskreversalmediaTwitter: @RiskReversalLinkedIn: RiskReversal Media

Exploding Kittens began as a jerry-rigged version of Russian Roulette — a deck of cards hastily modified with a Sharpie. But what happened next is one of the most improbable success stories in the creator economy: a $10,000 Kickstarter goal that ballooned into nearly $9 million, a community that rewrote the rules of crowdfunding, and a company that has now sold over 60 million card and board games.Co-founder Elan Lee shares the story behind Exploding Kittens — from dismantling his brother's toys as a kid, to helping design Halo, to walking away from Microsoft…twice. He reveals how burnout, curiosity, and an obsession with interactive storytelling set the stage for one of the most successful game launches of all time.This is a story about the genius behind good marketing, and how creative storytelling can build a cult-like audience — without spending millions.If you've ever wondered how a strange idea becomes a global phenomenon — this is that story.WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: How burnout can be a creative turning pointHow a Sharpie and a deck of cards can unlock breakthrough ideasThe storytelling strategy that powered one of Kickstarter's biggest launchesHow to treat your fans like collaborators, not just customersWhy marketing should feel like playUnit economics to die for: make it for $2, sell it for $20How to power through the threat of a one-hit-wonderTIMESTAMPS:00:08:30 — The physics teacher who changed Elan's life00:10:35 — How Elan touched up the floating door scene in Titanic00:13:03 — “You're the worst program manager I've ever seen” — and the pivot to game design00:15:33 — Meeting Spielberg, riffing on the movie AI, and inventing a new kind of storytelling00:21:42 — Promoting Halo 2 with payphones 00:31:35 — The Hawaii getaway that sparked Exploding Kittens00:42:12 — The Kickstarter launch: most backers on record00:48:42 — Suddenly a real company — 700,000 decks and a manufacturing crisis00:53:45 — Marketing genius: a kitty-cat vending machine that dispensed burritos and more01:00:58 — New games that bombed — the one-hit-wonder dread01:07:04 — Throw Throw Burrito, and the road to stability01:19:05 — Elan's 4-year-old daughter helps design new games01:30:31 — Small Business SpotlightHey—want to be a guest on HIBT?If you're building a business, why not get advice from some of the greatest entrepreneurs on Earth?Every Thursday on the HIBT Advice Line, a previous HIBT guest helps new entrepreneurs work through the challenges they're facing right now. Advice that's smart, actionable, and absolutely free.Just call 1-800-433-1298, leave a message, and you may soon get guidance from someone who started where you did, and went on to build something massive.So—give us a call.We can't wait to hear what you're working on.This episode was produced by Sam Paulson with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant with research help from Noor Gill. Our engineers were Maggie Luthar and Kwesi Lee.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.