Podcasts about Software

A growing team does not always mean a growing business.Sometimes it just means you are paying people to perform tasks that software could handle faster, cheaper, and with fewer mistakes.That is where automation becomes one of the most powerful forms of leverage available to an entrepreneur.In this episode of The Level Up Podcast, Paul Alex breaks down why repetitive operational work should be handled by systems whenever possible and how automation can help businesses protect margins while scaling faster.The goal is not to eliminate people.It is to make sure your people are spending their time where human judgment actually matters.In this episode, you'll learn:• Why repetitive manual work quietly destroys profit margins• How to identify tasks inside your business that should be automated• Why tools like Zapier and Make can replace unnecessary administrative work• How automation creates infrastructure that can scale without constantly increasing payrollThe truth is simple:Your team should be focused on empathy, strategy, creativity, and decision-making.Software should handle the repetitive work.Map the process.Find the repeated actions.Automate what does not require human judgment.Then use your people where they can create the most value.The more efficiently your business operates behind the scenes, the easier it becomes to scale without letting expenses grow just as quickly as revenue.Your Network is your NETWORTH!Make sure to add me on all SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS:Instagram: https://jo.my/paulalex2024Facebook: https://jo.my/fbpaulalex2024YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGhDAD1JyGGzSQUPD9lc9HQLinkedIn: https://jo.my/inpaulalex2024Looking for a secondary source of income or want to become an entrepreneur? Check out one of my companies below to see if we can help you:www.CashSwipe.comFREE Copy of my book “Blue to Digital Gold - The New American Dream”www.officialPaulAlex.com

Scott Wapner and the Investment Committee debate the investability of software stocks after Snowflake surges on a blowout Q2 earnings report. Plus, we hit the latest Calls of the Day. And later, Josh Brown spotlights Deere in his "Best Stocks in the Market." Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Matt Watson is the Founder and CEO of Full Scale, an offshore software development company that helps U.S. companies build dedicated software engineering teams in the Philippines. A four-time tech founder and longtime CTO, he previously co-founded VinSolutions, an automotive software company that AutoTrader.com acquired in 2011, and later founded the developer-tools company Stackify. Matt brings more than 20 years of engineering and startup leadership experience to helping companies build and scale high-performing software teams. He is also the author of Product Driven and host of the Startup Hustle podcast. In this episode… As AI transforms how companies build software, they are rethinking what it takes to scale development teams without sacrificing quality, speed, or accountability. With global talent and increasingly capable AI tools changing the economics of software development, how can leaders build teams that are both more efficient and more effective? According to Matt Watson, a serial SaaS founder and longtime software leader, companies can scale development more effectively by combining offshore talent with AI-powered workflows while keeping human judgment at the center. He highlights how staff augmentation allows Philippines-based developers to work directly within a company's existing teams instead of operating as a separate outsourced unit. This approach can give businesses greater flexibility and access to experienced talent while maintaining stronger team integration. Matt also explains how AI tools, MCP servers, and shared plugins can streamline operations by connecting business systems, surfacing information, and standardizing repeatable workflows. As AI accelerates execution, he emphasizes that product thinking becomes even more valuable because teams still need people who can determine what to build, why it matters, and whether the outcome actually serves the customer. In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz sits down with Matt Watson, Founder and CEO of Full Scale, to discuss the future of software teams. They explore offshore staff augmentation, AI-powered business workflows, and why product thinking matters more as development accelerates. Matt also shares how AI is reshaping marketing and website development.

Today, we're talking to Desikan Madhavanur, Chief Technology and Product Officer at Capital One Software. We discuss why the cloud has quietly resurrected the same data problems companies thought they'd solved decades ago, why the average enterprise tool now survives just 12 to 18 months, and why understanding customer need will end up mattering more than any single technical skill.

NOTES This episode of BSDNow is brought to you by Tarsnap and the BSDNow Patreon Headlines NetBSD 11 Release SR-IOV Is a first class feature News Roundup Grafana dashboards are a marvel of the modern web environment OpenSSH 10.5 released FreeBSD Ate my RAM ThinkPad End Game Tarsnap This weeks episode of BSDNow was sponsored by our friends at Tarsnap, the only secure online backup you can trust your data to. Even paranoids need backups. Feedback/Questions Send questions, comments, show ideas/topics, or stories you want mentioned on the show to feedback@bsdnow.tv Join us and other BSD Fans in our BSD Now Telegram channel

For UNQBA's third anniversary, Alicia welcomes back the podcast's original co-host, Hector Garcia, to look at how the industry has shifted since they started, from the rise of AI-native ledger alternatives like Xero, Digits, and Puzzle to Intuit's course correction on QuickBooks Live and Intuit Experts after accountant backlash. They dig into what "nail the basics" actually means inside Intuit, why the human relationship in accounting still matters even as AI handles more of the busywork, and what they're each watching for out of Intuit Connect and the 2027 rollout of Intuit Accountant Suite.Sponsors:Intuit Accountants - http://uqb.promo/intuitPilot - http://uqb.promo/pilotKick.co - http://uqb.promo/kick(00:00) - Anniversary Kickoff (02:03) - Industry Shifts and New Rivals (03:38) - AI First Accounting Platforms (08:04) - Spite Switching and Multi Ledger (10:36) - QuickBooks Live Backlash (14:23) - Repositioning Experts and Value (19:59) - Markets Are Conversations (25:38) - Training and ProPartner Future (29:48) - Accountants Split on AI (36:47) - Human Value in an AI World (41:10) - Hector Updates Right Tool Reframe (45:51) - Alicia Courses and QBO Deep Dives (48:47) - Wrap Up and Next Episode LINKSAlicia's Fall classes! Attend the live webinar or watch the recording on-demand, all with CPE. Become a member of the OWLS for free automatic enrollment into all courses:Customizing QBO: http://royl.ws/CustomizingQBO?affiliate=5393907AI in QBO: http://royl.ws/AI?affiliate=5393907Intuit Accountant Suite: http://royl.ws/IAS?affiliate=5393907Come to Miami in Novemeber! Events.reframeaccounting.comCheck out Hector's RightTool: www.righttool.appWe want to hear from you!Send your questions and comments to us at unofficialquickbookspodcast@gmail.com.Join our LinkedIn community at https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14630719/Visit our YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@UnofficialQBOPodcastSign up to Earmark to earn free CPE for listening to this podcasthttps://www.earmark.app/onboarding 

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) reads his Bits About Money essay on the business of wallets, with new commentary, prompted by paying his barber $100 over Venmo and wondering why PayPal so badly wants to be in the middle of that transaction. He walks through the economics that make wallets irresistible to anyone already moving money for users: funds enter the ecosystem at card interchange rates, move inside it at the cost of a database transaction, and get topped up over ACH pulls that cost about five cents at scale. From there he covers co-branded debit and credit cards, the loss-sharing language in PayPal's 10-K, Apple's 15 basis points on Apple Pay, and why a checkout page crowded with payment buttons starts to look like advertising inventory.–Full transcript available here: https://www.complexsystemspodcast.com/everyone-wants-to-be-your-wallet/–Presenting Sponsors: Mercury & GranolaComplex Systems is presented by Mercury—radically better banking for founders. Mercury Spend hands your team and agents their own cards with limits you set once, so nobody waits on you to approve a SaaS invoice and nobody chases a receipt. Apply online in minutes at https://mercury.com/. If meetings consistently leave you with hazy action items and lost context, Granola handles the transcription so you can actually participate and gives you searchable notes afterward. Try it free at granola.ai/complexsystems with code COMPLEXSYSTEMS–Links:Source essay: https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/the-business-of-wallets/Link: https://stripe.com/payments/link –Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(03:06) The big question about wallets(04:11) Wallets show up early in the life of the Internet(06:01) Stocks, flows, and whatever the heck a wallet is(09:21) What does an ACH pull cost?(11:01) Extensions on the basic wallet model(11:38) What's in your wallet? A new debit card(14:49) Sponsors: Mercury | Granola(18:09) What's in your wallet? A new debit card (cont'd)(23:06) Put the wallet on the phone already(24:50) That smells like an ads business(27:33) Speaking of Stripe and wallets(32:52) Wrap

In this episode, recorded at the Farnborough Airshow 2026, we speak with Christoph Pereira, CEO of Software as a Service (SaaS), Aerospace Carbon Solutions and Sustainability at GE Aerospace, about how one of the world's largest engine maker is using software, data and hybrid electric propulsion to decarbonise aviation.He discusses:Why GE Aerospace runs a software business alongside its engine franchise, and how software focused on safety, efficiency and resilience can leverage more capacity from constrained airspace immediately.How GE Aerospace, NASA and BETA Technologies demonstrated hybrid-electric propulsion at 30,000 feet aboard a modified Saab aircraft.How the collaboration with BETA, struck less than a year earlier, put a jointly developed turbogenerator on display in BETA's autonomous MV250 eVTOL at the Farnborough Airshow. The vehicle offers a longer range, higher speed and much lower cost than traditional helicopters.How tools like SIGNPOST help airlines with environmental compliance at the lowest marginal cost, whilst DecisionX delivers aviation-specific weather insight on contrails, icing and turbulence.How GE Aerospace's FLIGHT DECK manages a 20-year engine development cycle alongside six-month software builds.If you LOVED this episode, you'll also love the conversation we had with Kyle Clark, Founder and CEO of BETA Technologies, who shares the realities of bringing electric aircraft into operation. Check it out here.Learn more about the innovators who are navigating the industry's challenges to make sustainable aviation a reality, in our new book ‘Sustainability in the Air: Volume 2. Click here to learn more.Feel free to reach out via email to podcast@simpliflying.com. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website simpliflying.com/green and join the movement. It's about time.Links & More:GE Aerospace NASA, GE Aerospace work enables hybrid-electric flight demonstration - NASA GE Aerospace partners with NASA, BETA Technologies, and Boeing on world's first high-altitude hybrid electric flight - GE Aerospace BETA Technologies unveils MV250, delivering greater range, higher speed, and lower costs for military logistics - BETA Technologies 

“Meat proxy” is a new term coined to describe someone who acts as a human conduit for material generated by AI. Software engineer Niklas Gruhn, who came up with the phrase, joins Will Oremus, staff writer at The Atlantic and Fortune's executive editorial director Diane Brady, to discuss how much AI is being used in journalism and when readers should be told about it.Five years after US troops withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban returned to power, Lyse Doucet has been back in the country, including visiting one of the secret schools set up for girls. BBC News' Chief International Correspondent discusses what it takes to report from Afghanistan now, the restrictions she encountered and the difficult decisions involved in protecting contributors.Presenter: Ros Atkins Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Content producer: Lucy Wai Junior production co-ordinator apprentice: Cameron Taylor Technical co-ordinator: Christopher Brown Sound engineer: Michael Campbell

Host Tony Whatley interviews Jesse Jackson, CEO of Mango Automotive, which scaled to over $10M revenue in its first three years and now operates eight shops across New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. Jackson shares her path from environmental engineering to software product leadership, selling an automotive detail shop management app in 2021, and pivoting into brick-and-mortar auto repair due to an aging owner base and opportunity to improve customer experience (the "pink wall effect," clean lobbies). She explains why software profitability can suffer from heavy customization, how Mango uses AI and custom internal tools to centralize metrics and task checklists, and how acquisitions require systems to function without constant owner presence. Jackson discusses sourcing off-market deals, frequent owner financing tailored to seller needs, focusing on shop size (6–7 bays minimum) and location, and retaining talent by offering benefits and growth opportunities through "Mango University," with a goal to reach nine figures in five years using added capital.  00:00 Meet Jesse Jackson 01:14 From Engineer to Software 02:51 Why Software Burns Out 03:36 Custom Tools With AI 06:36 Why the App Wasnt Profitable 09:27 Spotting the Shop Opportunity 11:40 Pink Wall Customer Experience 13:11 First Shop Christmas Sprint 17:00 Finding Deals Off Market 21:33 Owner Financing Retirements 22:02 Scaling Fast Eating Glass 23:30 Systems Slow Day Checklist 26:13 McDonalds Ops Lessons 27:11 Extreme Shop Organization Ideas 27:53 Shop Workflow Mindset 28:43 Checklist Driven Consistency 29:30 Acquisition Sweet Spots 31:27 Labor Shortage Reality Check 32:37 Benefits First Hiring 37:20 Pricing Above Bottom 38:01 Promoting From Within 39:38 Growth Mindset Training 41:51 Culture In Acquisitions 44:06 Nine Figure Growth Plan 46:12 Just Start And Delegate 49:22 Hiring Before You Can 51:10 Closing And Contact Info

Plus: Oil continues to move higher. And cybersecurity stocks fall after Palo Alto Networks posts quarterly loss. Imani Moise hosts. Sign up for WSJ's free What's News newsletter. An artificial-intelligence tool assisted in the making of this episode by creating summaries that were based on Wall Street Journal reporting and reviewed and adapted by an editor. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time to ride into fall with our Bucket Hats on our Bugdroids as Jason, Flo and Ron navigate a quiet week in the world of Android as the world awaits Apple to "invent" the foldable phone. But we know better, don't we. Still, we find some time for some interesting Android news and discussion this week along with a September Android....DROP!September Special - get 10% off supporting Android Faithful on Patreon with code AFSEPT and enter to win a Google Swag giveaway at the end of the month!Note: Time codes subject to change depending on dynamic ad insertion by the distributor00:08:22 - NEWSFoldables are primed to explode with shipments doubling by 2028, but Flippables? Not so much.Age Verification laws in California won't affect Linux/GPL License based softwareThe dreaded AI Memory Crunch is coming for Android Apps. When will the madness end?PATRON PICK: The perfect Android phone exists and it's made by Sony, but there's some issues...00:38:15 - HARDWAREWhat up fans! It's time for the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE!How does the Pixel Fold Pro 11 stack up? Not so great it seems...Have you ever seen a more stylish tri-fold than the Huawei Mate XT 2?00:53:46 - APPS 'n SOFTWARE 'n STUFFIt's the Android September Feature DROP!That's not all that's dropping, Android 17 QPR2 Beta 4 dropped!Who says Google can't do whimsy? Froggy says Google can do whimsy!Drama with GrapheneOS and Google as GrapheneOS skips the Pixel 11 over the lack of MTE01:16:14 - COMMUNITY FEEDBACKCraig writes in with some gripes about the new phone transfer process hiccupsJeremy has some RCS issues to reportDaniel checks in on his audio volume issue and why he's not upgrading his Pixel Fold 9 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Lauren sits down with Lulu's VP of Software & Product Development, Nick Foster! Tune in for a conversation exploring the development of Lulu's publishing technology, the parallels between creators and developers, and how tools like the brand new Lulu Direct Buy Button came to life. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the episode on YouTube.Dive Deeper

Software management presents itself as an easy task.  Install software, deinstall at the end of its life.  Unfortunately, the complexity of modern systems has made managing software in enterprise situations more of a nightmare than a walk in the park. During today's Feds at the Edge podcast, a group of subject matter experts gives several approaches to software management that has worked for them. ONE   Larger organization seems to have many sets of tools.  The question to resolve: which one has the authoritative data? Policies must be developed to ensure accuracy.  TWO Separate departments may purchase identical tools. Administrators need accurate knowledge of what tools are being used. Further, even if the tool is duplicative, it may not be easy to turn off if embedded FOUR   In an emergency, organizations may order the software needed.  Non-reputable vendors can keep on charging, need to have an honest relationship with a vendor.  Beyond that, need to program to have Dave Klein from Axonius Federal underscored the risks of legacy systems and the need for continuous, automated approaches to manage software assets effectively.    

Chris, Ade and Jeremiah explore the ways new technology can help you make fantastic photos.

Join ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Downtown Josh Brown⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Michael Batnick⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for another episode of What Are Your Thoughts and see what they have to say about: Snowflake ahead of earnings and what the report could tell us about AI demand and the future of software. They also look back at Tim Cook's incredible run at Apple, debate whether software stocks are really dead, discuss the sudden momentum crash hitting Wall Street, Clear Secure, and much more. This episode is sponsored by Betterment Advisor Solutions. Learn more at ⁠Betterment.com/advisors⁠ Please take our 2026 audience survey ⁠HERE⁠. Sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Compound Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and never miss out! Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/thecompoundnews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/thecompoundnews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-compound-media/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@thecompoundnews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Investing involves the risk of loss. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be or regarded as personalized investment advice or relied upon for investment decisions. Michael Batnick and Josh Brown are employees of Ritholtz Wealth Management and may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this video. All opinions expressed by them are solely their own opinion and do not reflect the opinion of Ritholtz Wealth Management. The Compound Media, Incorporated, an affiliate of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ritholtz Wealth Management⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, receives payment from various entities for advertisements in affiliated podcasts, blogs and emails. Inclusion of such advertisements does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof, or any affiliation therewith, by the Content Creator or by Ritholtz Wealth Management or any of its employees. For additional advertisement disclaimers see here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ritholtzwealth.com/advertising-disclaimers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Any mention of a particular security and related performance data is not a recommendation to buy or sell that security. The information provided on this website (including any information that may be accessed through this website) is not directed at any investor or category of investors and is provided solely as general information. Obviously nothing on this channel should be considered as personalized financial advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. See our disclosures here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ritholtzwealth.com/podcast-youtube-disclosures/⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we talk about peaker plants, blackouts, and at-home battery backups.We also discuss energy resiliency, solar panels, and hydro.Recommended Book: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson BennettTranscriptPeaking power plants, often just called peaker plants, are power plants that are turned on only during periods of high energy demand. That's in contrast to a baseload power plant, which operates more or less 24/7 to ensure there's a steady amount of electricity available on the local power grid.The need for peak-load energy varies depending on the time of year and which part of the world you're looking at. In general, though, energy demand tends to increase in the morning and evening because of temperature fluctuations and lifestyle rhythms.People are at home in the morning and return from work in the evening, at which point they turn on their ACs or heaters, TVs, lights, electric kettles, and video game consoles. That leads to an irregular surge in demand compared with the steady office and factory demand met throughout the day by the baseload power plant.When energy demand peaks, approaching or exceeding what the baseload plant can reliably provide, the peaker plant is spun up and more energy is added to the grid. This helps avoid brownouts and blackouts, situations in which people lose access to power because there isn't enough to go around.This also helps stabilize energy prices. In most countries, pricing is used to manage scarce energy resources, so as a grid approaches the point where it's running out of available electricity, prices rise to incentivize less energy use. Peaker plants keep those prices from going sky-high by increasing the supply, preventing demand from pushing prices into absolutely ridiculous territory.Some peaker plants operate for a handful of hours basically every day. This is especially true in places with extreme temperature fluctuations, or in areas where the population or manufacturing activity has increased rapidly and the local infrastructure hasn't caught up. In those places, the backup plant is used more regularly because the baseload supply hasn't yet increased to meet that new, consistently higher demand.Peaker plants are often less efficient to run because they aren't meant to be used all the time. Consequently, if the baseload power plant isn't capable of providing enough energy for a region on a regular basis, electricity can get much more expensive for everyone, all the time. A power plant intended for occasional use is instead operating constantly, and it wasn't built to be efficient. It was built to come online quickly and operate only during periods of irregular, excessive need.What I'd like to talk about today is an alternative to peaker plants that was conceived of decades ago, but which has only recently started to be deployed at scale in some areas.—As I mentioned in the intro, a peaker power plant is meant to be turned on irregularly to meet above-average energy needs. Those periodic pops in demand are accounted for, and peaker plants are built specifically to meet them. As a result, these plants are typically more expensive and often more polluting than baseload plants, with many using natural gas or coal to produce extra electricity for the grid.In the late 1990s, researchers proposed that it might someday be possible to link energy-production and storage sites together, creating a more flexible grid system they called a virtual power plant. Further research in the early 2000s expanded on the concept, looking specifically at renewable-energy options and how they might be aggregated into a similar virtual-power-plant setup.The basic idea is to recreate the effect of a peaker plant—adding electricity to the power grid when it's most needed—by aggregating power-generating or storage assets and tapping them only when necessary.Software manages that aggregation of smaller assets, ensuring the additional energy reaches the grid when it's needed and at the necessary scale. Managing these assets in this way allows smaller production and storage infrastructure to recreate the impact of a larger peaker plant.A German energy company called RWE launched the first real-world virtual power plant in 2008, linking nine of its hydroelectric plants into a virtual 8.6 MW unit whose output could be managed and deployed remotely. A few years later, in 2011, a Swiss energy company called Kraftwerke did the same with a slew of biogas, solar, and wind-power infrastructure scattered across seven countries.The concept expanded to include demand-side residential energy assets in 2016, when the Australian city of Adelaide enacted a program backed by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. The program deployed 1,000 battery systems to homes and businesses across the city. Those battery systems were hooked up to solar panels, and the software managing the batteries allowed their stored energy to act like a 5 MW peaker plant.Tesla then applied the same general idea across South Australia, where energy prices had long been volatile, beginning in 2018. That program reached 50,000 homes by 2022. It was acquired by an energy company called AGL in 2025, which expanded it further until the virtual power plant had a capacity of 25 MW of peaker solar energy and 37 MW of battery-stored peaker energy.Now, again, there's a certain amount of energy available on the grid from standard baseload production sources, including traditional coal- and gas-fired power plants, hydroelectric plants, and nuclear power plants.Solar and wind arrays also contribute to the baseline energy load in some parts of the world. That baseline can be augmented by utility-scale battery facilities that store excess wind and solar production. This makes renewables more reliable as baseload options because excess energy generated during the day or during especially windy periods can be stored in those batteries and used later, at night or when the wind isn't blowing as hard.A VPP addresses periods when the available baseload supply doesn't measure up to current demand. When temperatures are especially high and everyone is using their air conditioners more, and a gas plant or solar array can't provide enough electricity to meet demand, the company operating the virtual power plant can draw energy from scattered resources to cover that additional use.In some cases, that means pooling energy generated by small hydroelectric dams. In others, it means drawing a previously agreed-upon amount or percentage of energy from a homeowner's battery backup.Maybe they have a battery that stores excess electricity from their solar panels, which they can use at night. They might also have an agreement with the VPP operator allowing it to draw a certain amount of energy from that battery when necessary, adding it to the grid to ease excessive demand.This kind of agreement is often beneficial for the homeowner sharing some of their excess energy with the grid to help prevent blackouts and excessively high prices. The cost of the battery installation and hardware might be subsidized, or they might make a small amount of money every time that energy is borrowed.There are also variations on this model that provide the homeowner or renter with a fancy thermostat. During periods of high demand, the thermostat might automatically adjust the AC by a degree or two when the grid is being crushed by demand on crazy-hot days. This ensures there's enough energy to go around by reducing demand rather than increasing supply.Some models also use energy-pricing arbitrage, automatically selling stored energy when electricity is expensive and buying it back when electricity is cheap. This helps balance the grid's overall energy load by contributing to it when energy is scarce and expensive, then restoring that energy to the battery when it is abundant and cheap.Increasingly, these systems tap into other resources connected to the grid to reduce demand or increase supply. They might borrow some energy stored in a homeowner's electric vehicle, for instance, which has been left plugged in to charge but can also act as another, quite large, household battery. Or they might reduce the power being sent to heat pumps or water heaters.Each of these devices or other assets is treated as part of the larger virtual power plant, which may be composed of thousands or tens of thousands of homes and all their connected assets. This helps manage supply and demand so that blackouts and dramatically higher energy prices are less likely, even on days with bizarre weather or when larger energy assets, like power plants, aren't operating at full capacity.This is a huge win for resiliency, and it's also often much cheaper than installing and operating a peaker plant, usually around 40–60% cheaper.These systems can also be installed and activated much faster than a full-on power plant, while dramatically reducing the amount of land used for energy infrastructure and the bureaucracy that has to be traversed to get something like a power plant or solar array installed and operating.Those big chunks of infrastructure can take years or decades to bring online, while a VPP can often be up and running within just a few months. It usually requires no new land and no new interconnections in terms of cables or whatnot. It uses infrastructure that's already there in most cases, though it can also be strengthened by deploying assets, like household batteries, that are useful to the homeowner for other reasons. Kind of a win-win.At the moment, virtual-power-plant capacity is limited primarily by regulatory approval, at least in most countries. Energy utilities don't have much incentive to move these systems forward because they get paid for building and managing traditional power assets, and VPPs are not that.Sometimes an energy company will run this type of program, but usually only if it gets to sell the hardware and is paid to manage the software that keeps everything running smoothly. Household batteries and similar assets otherwise represent competition, so utilities are less inclined to allow these systems to move forward or even be legally installed without a fight.That said, the major players in the VPP space right now are Sunrun, Tesla, Renew Home, Uplight, Next Kraftwerke, and sonnen. The latter is the largest VPP operator in Europe and has recently been expanding into the US, especially in Utah.Most VPP deployment in the US is happening in California, Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico. These systems are also being deployed across South Australia, Germany, and China, where the first gigawatt-scale residential VPP, which aggregates air conditioners and water heaters across millions of households, has been launched.This category of energy technology has rolled out more slowly than originally anticipated. When the early models were deployed in Europe, their outcomes were considered broadly beneficial, but expansion was hindered by regulations—paperwork, basically—and pushback from existing utilities that didn't want the competition.VPPs were also bundled with other renewable-energy infrastructure and consequently faced substantial opposition in the US, in particular, during both Trump administrations. Those administrations pulled support for renewables across the board and, in some cases, actively tried to kill these industries to make even more room for oil and gas companies.In 2025 and so far in 2026, though, the blazing-fast deployment of data centers has brought VPPs back into the conversation. Data centers require a silly amount of energy to run, and power grids in the areas where they're being built have been strained as a consequence, dramatically increasing energy prices.VPPs won't solve that problem, but they could ease it in several ways. They can temper energy use and make more electricity available during periods of peak demand without requiring the construction of expensive power plants that might not come online for years or even a decade.They could also reframe the use of VPPs so that they're no longer seen primarily as environmental efforts, but as economically viable means of addressing data-center-created energy shortfalls. That could lead to more VPP build-outs because these systems would no longer be such obvious targets for anti-renewable-energy legislation and politics.Show Noteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peaking_power_planthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_power_planthttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211467X2400097Xhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/05/adelaide-charges-ahead-with-worlds-largest-virtual-power-planthttps://www.nrg.com/insights/energy-education/understanding-virtual-power-plants--a-guide-to-vpps.htmlhttps://techcrunch.com/2026/08/19/home-batteries-are-suddenly-cheap-and-everywhere-heres-why/https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/08/13/tesla-unveils-zero-down-powerwall-lease-program-with-retail-electric-plan-in-texas-touts-global-vpp-potential/https://www.energy-storage.news/base-power-launches-100mw-vpp-programme-in-texas/https://www.ess-news.com/2026/02/12/texas-lands-its-first-battery-only-virtual-power-plant/https://nuwattenergy.com/en/virtual-power-plants-2026https://www.ess-news.com/2026/06/25/sunrun-tesla-renew-home-announce-plans-for-16-8-gw-virtual-power-plant-program/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484725003865https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/start-next-kraftwerkes-renewable-virtual-power-plant-stabilises-gridhttps://www.energy.gov/edf/virtual-power-plants-projectshttps://www.woodmac.com/press-releases/virtual-power-plant-capacity-expands-13.7-year-over-year-to-reach-37.5-gwhttps://www.utilitydive.com/news/in-2026-virtual-power-plants-must-scale-or-risk-being-left-behind/810321/https://ieefa.org/resources/case-virtual-power-plantshttps://uplight.com/blog/virtual-power-plants-are-powering-the-grid-of-the-future-and-uplight-is-leading-the-way/https://sepapower.org/knowledge/vpp-and-supporting-der-policy-developments-q1-2026/https://www.energymining.sa.gov.au/consumers/solar-and-batteries/south-australias-virtual-power-planthttps://whatisavpp.com/research/topics/enpal-flexa/https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/virtual-power-plants/rooftop-solar-industry-trump-budget-lawhttps://foleyhoag.com/news-and-insights/blogs/energy-and-climate-counsel/2026/july/virtual-power-plants-the-distributed-energy-revolution-has-arrived/https://ieefa.org/resources/case-virtual-power-plantshttps://sepapower.org/knowledge/vpp-and-supporting-der-policy-developments-q1-2026/https://www.cesa.org/resource-library/resource/puerto-rico-virtual-power-plant/https://www.energy.gov/edf/virtual-power-plants-projectshttps://www.energymining.sa.gov.au/consumers/solar-and-batteries/south-australias-virtual-power-planthttps://www.ess-news.com/2025/01/16/china-launches-work-on-its-first-gw-scale-residential-virtual-power-plant/https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-order-no-2222-explainer-facilitating-participation-electricity-markets-distributed-energyhttps://www.utilitydive.com/news/in-2026-virtual-power-plants-must-scale-or-risk-being-left-behind/810321/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsknowthings.substack.com/subscribe

Topics covered in this episode: OpenAI's Python SDK has migrated to HTTPX2 TMOG - Native Task Manager for macOS, Windows, and Linux wrapture - one wrapper for mocking, tracing, and observability linkedin2md: turn your LinkedIn export into 40+ Markdown files Extras Joke Watch on YouTube About the show Sponsored by us! Support our work through: Our courses at Talk Python Consulting from Six Feet Up Connect with the hosts Michael: Mastodon / BlueSky / X / LinkedIn Calvin: Mastodon / BlueSky / X / LinkedIn Show: Mastodon / BlueSky / X Join us on YouTube at pythonbytes.fm/live to be part of the audience. Usually Tuesday at 7am PT. Older video versions available there too. Finally, if you want an artisanal digest of every week of the show notes in email form? Add your name and email to our friends of the show list, we'll never share it. Calvin #1: OpenAI's Python SDK has migrated to HTTPX2 The OpenAI Python SDK has migrated to HTTPX2, the Pydantic-stewarded fork of httpx. Pydantic picked it up citing "limited activity recently" in the original project, promising "a reliably maintained path forward." If you just use the default client, nothing to do. No code changes. The catch is TLS. Quoting the guide: HTTPX "previously verified certificates against the CA bundle provided by certifi. HTTPX2 instead uses the operating-system trust store, and the SDK no longer installs certifi." That "can break certificate verification in minimal container images without system CA certificates, environments using corporate TLS-inspecting proxies, and deployments that relied on a custom or modified certifi bundle." The fix is SSL_CERT_FILE or SSL_CERT_DIR, or pass your own ssl.SSLContext via verify. Deeper integrations need real edits: custom clients, auth handlers, hooks, and request mocking all take HTTPX2 objects now, and plain httpx is no longer pulled in transitively. So import httpx in your own code means declaring it yourself or moving over. Temporary escape hatch: a legacy HTTPX client Michael #2: TMOG - Native Task Manager for macOS, Windows, and Linux A native, deeply instrumented system monitor for macOS, Windows, and Linux, now in public beta - from Plummers' Software, i.e. Dave Plummer, who wrote the original Windows Task Manager and donated it to Microsoft in 1995. Wikipedia Three real native apps: Swift/AppKit on macOS, Win32 on Windows, C++/Qt 6 on Linux, with a shared C++ core keeping metric semantics aligned - no browser shell anywhere. One dense summary: CPU, clocks, thermals, GPU, memory, storage, network, energy, and the processes responsible for the load, all click-through. Per-core honesty: logical processor and NUMA views, P and E cores color-coded, optional kernel time, 60 FPS live meters. Memory with context: pressure, wired, compressed, cached, committed, available, and swap, plus configurable scrolling history. Processes that act like processes: tree view, filtering, sorting, follow mode, and native verbs including service and launchd control. Phosphor themes: light, dark, green, amber, blue, or mono, with color and saturation you tune yourself. Calvin #3: wrapture - one wrapper for mocking, tracing, and observability Graham Dumpleton, author of wrapt and the original New Relic Python agent, has released wrapture. The name is wrapt plus capture. The core idea: wrap real code instead of replacing it, so the real code still runs while you watch every call. Name a method with wrapture.binding(Class, "method"), open a timeline(), and you get a tape of what actually happened. Real return values, real nesting, arguments normalised against real signatures. tape.tree() prints the call graph as it ran. One mechanism, three jobs: monkey patching with a real lifecycle (apply, remove, suspend, plus returns, raises, transforms_args), unit testing that asserts on real call flow instead of a flat MagicMock call list, and ad-hoc tracing of a running app. The testing pitch is error paths. Inject TimeoutError at the payment gateway, then assert the ledger was never written. Stubs and mocks are strict and spec-required, and there is deliberately no bare Mock(). Tracing needs no code at all. A wrapture.toml naming targets and a sink, run with python -m wrapture main.py, and you get a live call tree with timings. It captures ordinary logging calls as nested events, and with the otel extra it exports spans, metrics and correlated logs with W3C trace ids that join across services. Every line of code and docs was AI-written under their direction, and they say so up front. Two weeks from first commit, eleventh alpha, over 1000 tests, 150+ pages of docs. Alpha on PyPI, needs Python 3.12+ and wrapt 2.4.0+. Michael #4: linkedin2md: turn your LinkedIn export into 40+ Markdown files Via Juan Manuel Daza - a Python CLI that unpacks LinkedIn's data-export ZIP into clean, per-category Markdown you can drop straight into an LLM. One command: linkedin2md Complete_LinkedInDataExport.zip, plus o for output dir, -lang en|es, and -pdf. 40+ output files: profile, experience, education, skills, connections, posts, comments, reactions, recommendations, endorsements, job applications, even ad targeting and LinkedIn's inferences about you. Built for LLM analysis: the README pitches NotebookLM, Claude Projects, Obsidian, and Ollama, with example prompts like "what patterns do you see in my career transitions?" PDF resume mode: -pdf renders an A4 CV via weasyprint, and degrades gracefully to Markdown-only if it isn't installed. Dependency note: "pure Python / zero-dep" holds for the Markdown path only - the PDF path needs weasyprint and markdown installed. Install: pipx install linkedin2md recommended, pip in a venv otherwise - 86% Python, 10 releases, v0.3.1 in May. Agentic dev angle: repo ships opencode config and an N3RV subagent pipeline, including a "judgment day" dual-model adversarial PR review. Extras Calvin: EVE Online Migrates to Python 3 Michael: Dinkus by Will McGugan Joke: Tao of Programming: Book 5 Maintenance

AppSec has always emphasized techniques and tools for discovering vulns, along with taxonomies and lists for describing them. But just piling up more CVEs into a prioritized patching queue has never been an effective strategy. Nidhi Aggarwal talks about some of the economics and decisions that orgs evaluate when figuring out how to improve and protect their software. LLMs might be effective assistants in generating code, but only when they have the context of secure patterns to follow. We also talk about what some of the bug bounty data reveals in terms of successful researchers finding more impactful vulns and why the combination of domain expertise and curiosity remains profitable. Segment Resources https://www.hackerone.com/blog/finding-fast-fixing-slow-rising-exposure-debt Vulnerability discovery and remediation gap in the AI era AI-generated code is changing how vulnerabilities are created, discovered, and managed. This segment explores why finding more vulnerabilities doesn't necessarily mean reducing exposure, how teams can validate exploitability and prioritize real risk, and where agentic AI can support defenders without replacing human security expertise. It also looks at what continuous threat exposure management means for enterprise security teams in practice. Everyone's a Builder Now: Securing the AI-Powered Enterprise: Black Hat Interview with Gil Geron, CEO of Orca Security AI is fundamentally changing software development, turning employees across the business into builders and reshaping how organizations think about innovation and risk. In this session, Orca Security CEO Gil Geron explores what this shift means for enterprise leaders and why security must evolve alongside the next generation of AI-powered software creation. Segment Resources: https://orca.security/resources/press-releases/orca-security-extends-its-platform-to-the-new-generation-of-ai-builders/ https://orca.security/platform/ai-appgen-security/ This segment is sponsored by Orca Security. Visit https://securityweekly.com/orcabh to learn more about them! Bugcrowd Launches Pathseeker: Flipping the Script on Traditional Pentesting: Black Hat Interview with Braden Russell, CTO of Bugcrowd Bugcrowd is launching Savant Pathseeker, the first product in its new Agentic Offensive Testing line, which combines continuous agentic pentesting with on-demand human validation. The launch comes as the security industry grapples with a growing "AI slop" problem, where unchecked AI-generated vulnerability reports have overwhelmed bug bounty programs and even forced some, like Curl, to shut theirs down. Braden will unpack how Bugcrowd is positioning Savant Pathseeker as a response to that industry-wide trust problem, not just a new product launch. Segment Resources: https://www.bugcrowd.com/products/pathseeker/ https://www.bugcrowd.com/press-release/bugcrowd-introduces-savant-pathseeker-delivering-continuous-agentic-pentesting-across-the-attack-surface/ https://www.bugcrowd.com/products/platform https://www.bugcrowd.com/products/ai-powered-security-intelligence/ Apply for early access at https://securityweekly.com/bugcrowdbh Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-398

Fashion design educator Ruby Gertz discusses the benefits of CLO 3D fashion design software, a tool for creating garment designs that fit.

In this special episode, Andrew hosts HumanLayer CEO Dexter Horthy, Warp Head of Product Engineering Aloke Desai, and LinearB COO Dan Lines. They debate why human ownership of pull requests remains nonnegotiable and how to implement "night vision" observability across automated workflows. The panel also explores why incident management is the final frontier for AI and how to get your team excited about building the factory instead of fighting it.Get the guide: Your software factory needs a context layerFollow the show:Subscribe to our Substack Follow us on LinkedInSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelFollow the hosts:Follow AndrewFollow BenFollow DanFollow today's guest:1Password: Explore the enterprise password and identity platform at 1password.com1Password for Developers: Dive into the new developer tooling, credential brokering, and secure AI workflows at 1password.devOracle Red Bull Racing: Read more about the F1 team's systems engineering at redbullracing.comConnect with Nancy: LinkedIn OFFERSStart Free Trial: Get started with LinearB's AI productivity platform for free.Book a Demo: Learn how you can ship faster, improve DevEx, and lead with confidence in the AI era.LEARN ABOUT LINEARBAI Code Reviews: Automate reviews to catch bugs, security risks, and performance issues before they hit production.AI & Productivity Insights: Go beyond DORA with AI-powered recommendations and dashboards to measure and improve performance.AI-Powered Workflow Automations: Use AI-generated PR descriptions, smart routing, and other automations to reduce developer toil.MCP Server: Interact with your engineering data using natural language to build custom reports and get answers on the fly.

There is no all-in-one software that does everything well. Every single one of them makes you give something up. The only real question is whether you're okay with what you're giving up.This one is for the photographers. Every time I open Threads, someone is asking how to consolidate their tech stack down to one tool — fewer logins, fewer subscriptions, one connected experience for their clients. I get it. But I'm also going to tell you why gallery software that added CRM features and a CRM that added gallery features are two very different things, and why that difference should decide what you do next.In this episode:The three reasons photographers try to consolidate their tech stackWhy I'm fine with Sprout Studio when I'm not an all-in-one personThe one thing Pixieset would have to fix before I'd stop steering people away from itWhat HoneyBook and VSCO (formerly Táve) just quietly added to their platformsThe type of photographer who should not touch either one of them yetLinks mentioned:The all-in-one software blog post (kept updated as features release) → https://coliejames.com/photography-all-in-one-software/Episode 297: Three Ways Business Systems Can Generate More Revenue → https://coliejames.com/generate-more-revenue-with-systems/What Pixieset will and won't give you → https://coliejames.com/dubsado-vs-pixieset/Systems in Session → https://coliejames.com/systemsLooking at a new tool and want the Colie seal of approval before you jump? Come drop it in my DMs — or if you'd rather stop shopping and start using what you already pay for, that's Systems in Session: coliejames.com/systems

This episode focuses on the seismic changes AI has brought to business, and what happens when the very foundation a company builds is suddenly available to everyone almost for free. Three years ago, Sembly AI's Artem Koren predicted that artificial intelligence would become the new “building material” for the enterprise, like carbon fiber for modern aviation. What he didn't foresee: within 18 months, that material would be commoditized, and everything his team had engineered over four painstaking years transcription engines, smart meeting bots would be accessible out of the box. A key theme that emerged was what truly makes a product defensible and valuable in a landscape where the raw tech is no longer enough. The discussion explored the nitty-gritty difference between a “good enough” AI-generated deliverable and one that can genuinely bear your company's name. Several points were raised, including the pitfalls of generic outputs, where consistency comes from, and why context and brand are the new moats. Expect insights about the future of work, what AI should (and shouldn't) be trusted with, and lessons learned from missteps in both pricing and product design. If you've ever wondered what you can really put your name on in the age of AI, this episode is for you. Some topics we explore in this episode include: AI's shift from premium technology to a commodity is reshaping business value.How Sembly AI's pivot from transcription to client-ready documents brought operational challenges and new lessons.The impact of widespread access to core AI on competition and innovation.What happens when cheap, universally available AI services like transcription disrupt business strategies.Why true product value now depends on branding, context, and completeness, not just the underlying AI.The challenge of building high-quality client deliverables with AI and overcoming platform shortcomings.How smaller players are carving out a niche against AI giants like Microsoft and OpenAI.Why consistency, repeatability, and data traceability are critical for professional AI use.The debate between usage-based versus subscription pricing models for AI products.The importance of ethical boundaries, privacy, and consent when deploying AI in sensitive business decisions.

Cory Johnson discusses Palo Alto Networks (PANW) ahead of the cybersecurity firm's earnings. He examines the company's partnership with Anthropic and how it highlighted numerous and unseen risks across the software space. When it comes to the earnings report, Cory tells investors to pay attention to how Palo Alto will expand its free cash flow and its platform. ======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day. Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-...Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-...Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/19192...Watch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplu...Watch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-net...Follow us on X –   / schwabnetwork  Follow us on Facebook –   / schwabnetwork  Follow us on LinkedIn -   / schwab-network   About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

AppSec has always emphasized techniques and tools for discovering vulns, along with taxonomies and lists for describing them. But just piling up more CVEs into a prioritized patching queue has never been an effective strategy. Nidhi Aggarwal talks about some of the economics and decisions that orgs evaluate when figuring out how to improve and protect their software. LLMs might be effective assistants in generating code, but only when they have the context of secure patterns to follow. We also talk about what some of the bug bounty data reveals in terms of successful researchers finding more impactful vulns and why the combination of domain expertise and curiosity remains profitable. Segment Resources https://www.hackerone.com/blog/finding-fast-fixing-slow-rising-exposure-debt Vulnerability discovery and remediation gap in the AI era AI-generated code is changing how vulnerabilities are created, discovered, and managed. This segment explores why finding more vulnerabilities doesn't necessarily mean reducing exposure, how teams can validate exploitability and prioritize real risk, and where agentic AI can support defenders without replacing human security expertise. It also looks at what continuous threat exposure management means for enterprise security teams in practice. Everyone's a Builder Now: Securing the AI-Powered Enterprise: Black Hat Interview with Gil Geron, CEO of Orca Security AI is fundamentally changing software development, turning employees across the business into builders and reshaping how organizations think about innovation and risk. In this session, Orca Security CEO Gil Geron explores what this shift means for enterprise leaders and why security must evolve alongside the next generation of AI-powered software creation. Segment Resources: https://orca.security/resources/press-releases/orca-security-extends-its-platform-to-the-new-generation-of-ai-builders/ https://orca.security/platform/ai-appgen-security/ This segment is sponsored by Orca Security. Visit https://securityweekly.com/orcabh to learn more about them! Bugcrowd Launches Pathseeker: Flipping the Script on Traditional Pentesting: Black Hat Interview with Braden Russell, CTO of Bugcrowd Bugcrowd is launching Savant Pathseeker, the first product in its new Agentic Offensive Testing line, which combines continuous agentic pentesting with on-demand human validation. The launch comes as the security industry grapples with a growing "AI slop" problem, where unchecked AI-generated vulnerability reports have overwhelmed bug bounty programs and even forced some, like Curl, to shut theirs down. Braden will unpack how Bugcrowd is positioning Savant Pathseeker as a response to that industry-wide trust problem, not just a new product launch. Segment Resources: https://www.bugcrowd.com/products/pathseeker/ https://www.bugcrowd.com/press-release/bugcrowd-introduces-savant-pathseeker-delivering-continuous-agentic-pentesting-across-the-attack-surface/ https://www.bugcrowd.com/products/platform https://www.bugcrowd.com/products/ai-powered-security-intelligence/ Apply for early access at https://securityweekly.com/bugcrowdbh Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-398

In this Weekly Wrap, Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler break down why rising long-term bond yields may be justified by stronger nominal growth, large fiscal deficits and AI-driven capital spending, and why the bigger market risk may be an AI earnings bubble rather than a valuation bubble. Featuring Kevin Muir, Dan Rasmussen and Ian Cassel, the episode also explores private equity's huge software bet, the traits of elite stock pickers, and how the worldview of AI leaders could be driving unusually aggressive capital spending and risk-taking.Topics covered:Why long-term bond yields may be more rational than alarming given stronger nominal GDP, inflation, deficits and heavy Treasury and corporate issuanceHow global fiscal expansion and the AI infrastructure build-out are adding to bond supply and upward pressure on ratesWhy suppressing market interest rates can distort an important economic signal and create unintended consequencesHow private equity became a lagged momentum investor and built massive exposure to software and healthcare technologyWhy recurring revenue does not make a business bulletproof, and how AI could challenge software economics that once looked untouchableIan Cassel's benchmarks for good, great and GOAT stock pickers, from 10-year outperformance to 20% annualized returnsThe five or six core investing skills elite stock pickers need, and why world-class investors become exceptional at one or twoHow AI CapEx can boost current supplier earnings while the buyer's expense is spread over years through depreciationWhy an AI earnings bubble could exist even if headline valuation multiples do not look extremeHow futurism, expected-value thinking and confidence in AGI may be encouraging AI leaders to take enormous capital spending risksTimestamps:00:00 Intro: Kevin Muir, Dan Rasmussen and Ian Cassel05:09 Why suppressing bond yields could create new risks09:54 Private equity as a lagged momentum investor14:15 Why investment committees chase three- and five-year returns19:00 The skills that separate good investors from great ones23:11 Why elite stock picking takes a decade or more to judge27:18 How AI CapEx is changing cash flow, buybacks and earnings31:47 Price bubbles vs earnings bubbles36:00 Why AI leaders may be taking massive CapEx risk40:49 AI adoption bottlenecks and the need for skepticismLearn more about the Excess Returns podcast network:https://excessreturns.coNo information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms or their clients.

Ian and Aaron discuss the release of Solo v0.10, Aaron's trip to Boise, Ian's trip to the fair, why Ian's all in on Orbs, and so much more.Sponsored by Bento, DropInBlog, Valorin Security, and Typesense.Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical?  Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.(00:00) - Producer Steve Got Married! (07:53) - Aaron's Unifying Theory on Wedding Toasts (17:02) - Ian Went To The Fair (27:30) - Notion? (and Linear) (35:28) - Moats (40:40) - Solo's Huge New Release (55:41) - It's Orbin' Time (01:10:30) - Aaron's Credit Card Strategy (01:24:28) - Book Update Links:Aaron's wedding photo (Steve Tenuto's wedding)Steve Tenuto on XIan's tweet on moatsSoloAaron's Solo release threadAmp OrbsMatt Stenson on XAmex Gold CardAmex Platinum CardAwardWalletGreat Illustrated Classics

AppSec has always emphasized techniques and tools for discovering vulns, along with taxonomies and lists for describing them. But just piling up more CVEs into a prioritized patching queue has never been an effective strategy. Nidhi Aggarwal talks about some of the economics and decisions that orgs evaluate when figuring out how to improve and protect their software. LLMs might be effective assistants in generating code, but only when they have the context of secure patterns to follow. We also talk about what some of the bug bounty data reveals in terms of successful researchers finding more impactful vulns and why the combination of domain expertise and curiosity remains profitable. Segment Resources https://www.hackerone.com/blog/finding-fast-fixing-slow-rising-exposure-debt Vulnerability discovery and remediation gap in the AI era AI-generated code is changing how vulnerabilities are created, discovered, and managed. This segment explores why finding more vulnerabilities doesn't necessarily mean reducing exposure, how teams can validate exploitability and prioritize real risk, and where agentic AI can support defenders without replacing human security expertise. It also looks at what continuous threat exposure management means for enterprise security teams in practice. Everyone's a Builder Now: Securing the AI-Powered Enterprise: Black Hat Interview with Gil Geron, CEO of Orca Security AI is fundamentally changing software development, turning employees across the business into builders and reshaping how organizations think about innovation and risk. In this session, Orca Security CEO Gil Geron explores what this shift means for enterprise leaders and why security must evolve alongside the next generation of AI-powered software creation. Segment Resources: https://orca.security/resources/press-releases/orca-security-extends-its-platform-to-the-new-generation-of-ai-builders/ https://orca.security/platform/ai-appgen-security/ This segment is sponsored by Orca Security. Visit https://securityweekly.com/orcabh to learn more about them! Bugcrowd Launches Pathseeker: Flipping the Script on Traditional Pentesting: Black Hat Interview with Braden Russell, CTO of Bugcrowd Bugcrowd is launching Savant Pathseeker, the first product in its new Agentic Offensive Testing line, which combines continuous agentic pentesting with on-demand human validation. The launch comes as the security industry grapples with a growing "AI slop" problem, where unchecked AI-generated vulnerability reports have overwhelmed bug bounty programs and even forced some, like Curl, to shut theirs down. Braden will unpack how Bugcrowd is positioning Savant Pathseeker as a response to that industry-wide trust problem, not just a new product launch. Segment Resources: https://www.bugcrowd.com/products/pathseeker/ https://www.bugcrowd.com/press-release/bugcrowd-introduces-savant-pathseeker-delivering-continuous-agentic-pentesting-across-the-attack-surface/ https://www.bugcrowd.com/products/platform https://www.bugcrowd.com/products/ai-powered-security-intelligence/ Apply for early access at https://securityweekly.com/bugcrowdbh Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-398

What if the software you use every day was actually designed to make you succeed, not just to make you subscribe? In this episode, Sean Weisbrot sits down with Bryan McAnulty, founder of a platform that has helped more than 10,000 creators turn their knowledge into thriving online businesses. Bryan shares why building in the SaaS space is uniquely challenging, because your customers have to make a deep personal commitment to becoming someone before they ever log in. You will hear how Bryan approaches this by layering education directly into the product experience, helping creators get clear on their offers, build landing pages, and nurture their audiences, all because a more successful customer stays longer. It is a masterclass in building software that earns loyalty by genuinely caring whether the person on the other end actually wins.------------------------------------

Dave Crysler breaks down Overall Equipment Effectiveness, the traditional manufacturing KPI that gets sold as a solution far more often than it gets used as a diagnostic. After a call with a machine monitoring vendor, Dave lays out what OEE actually measures, why two plants with identical scores can have nothing in common, and why a high number can sit right next to a growing backlog and shrinking profitability. This is the episode for the operator who has never tracked OEE and is being told they should. What You'll Discover: • What OEE actually measures and the three factors that multiply together to produce the score • Why the metric follows the problem, and what goes wrong when you pick the metric first • How two plants can both hit 85% while having completely unrelated issues driving the number • Why a metric that can be influenced without solving anything becomes a vanity metric • The blind spot nobody mentions: OEE never asks whether anybody ordered the parts • What happens when you drive up efficiency on a machine that is not your constraint • Why elevating a constraint usually takes ingenuity and conversations, not capital • The three conditions that make OEE genuinely worth tracking • How your lens of experience decides which solution you reach for, including Dave's own bias • The legal pad exercise you can run Monday morning without buying anything If your backlog is growing, your capacity feels constrained, or somebody just put a capital request for new equipment on your desk, this episode will save you from measuring the wrong machine. Before you buy sensors and software, there is a two week exercise with a notepad that will tell you more about your operation than a dashboard will. Dave walks through exactly how to run it.

Tom DeWeese in The New American: Are AI and these giant data centers the future of a free country—or the greatest threat it has ever faced? Digital ID. Cameras. Programmable money. Software that flags you before a judge ever sees you. He doesn't call them data centers. He calls them surveillance centers with a better name. That's next. On the Endtime Show. 🦅🇺🇸: Discover America's destiny in The Wings of a Great Eagle and reserve your America 250 Heritage Collection today: https://store.endtime.com/products/the-wings-of-a-great-eagle-pre-order-collection  ⭐️: True Gold Republic: Get The Endtime Show special on precious metals at https://www.endtimegold.com 🚰: Sentry H2O: You prepare for everything else. Why not your water? Use code ENDTIME for 10% OFF at https://www.sentryh2o.com/endtime  📱: It's never been easier to understand. Stream Only Source Network and access exclusive content: https://watch.osn.tv/browse 📚: Check out Jerusalem Prophecy College Online for less than $60 per course: https://jerusalemprophecycollege.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The US striking Iran for the first time in a month as the G20 kicks off and Secretary Bessent says the administration can keep the pressure on without China's help. Colorado AG and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Weiser on his plan for data centers. Plus, Sarat Sethi's leader-to-laggard pick for the second half has already surged nearly 60% since July. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week's throwback guest studied Logistics and supply chain management, as well as held roles from Server and Sales Associate in retail, to Named AE. He worked at companies such as Apple, Symantec, MongoDB, Metadata, and Proofpoint, before leading Dimmo, where they are changing the way people evaluate and buy software where you can watch SaaS demos without jumping into sales cycles. Since this conversation, he had the shift to Tailscale as an Enterprise Account Executive. When he isn't at work, he is spending time golfing, and spending time with his family. Without further ado, please join me in welcoming Troy Munson to The 20% Podcast. In this week's episode, we discussed:- His early years- Studying Supply Chain and how it relates now- Discuss his experiences selling software- The lead up to Dimmo- The future of buying softwareEnjoy this week's episode with Troy Munson.I am now in the early stages of writing my first book! It will cover my journey into sales, the lessons learned, and include stories and advice from top sales professionals around the world. I'm excited to share these interviews and bring you along on this journey!Like the show? Subscribe to the email: Subscribe HereI want your feedback! Reach out at 20percentpodcastquestions@gmail.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.If you know anyone who would benefit from this show, please share it! If you have suggestions for guests, let me know!Enjoy the show!

It's the last Monday of August, and we're letting the chat take the wheel! Some sobering news on phone shipments, but good news for EV owners. Facebook weasels out of taking responsibility for destroying society, but at least there's more AI backlash than ever before! And we've got a trio of stories of tech brands doing it right! Let's get our tech week started off RIGHT! -- Show Notes and Links: https://somegadgetguy.com/b/4gg Support Talking Tech with SomeGadgetGuy by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/talking-tech-with-somegadgetgu Find out more at https://talking-tech-with-somegadgetgu.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Try Pinecast for free, forever, no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-c117ce for 40% off for 4 months, and support Talking Tech with SomeGadgetGuy.

What if the most powerful AI in your practice still isn't the thing winning your cases? Sara Cordrey, CEO and co-founder of the legal AI platform Parambil, built with chief medical officer Dr. Ralph Horwitz, argues that technology is leverage—not a substitute for a lawyer's judgment or for the medical record itself. Drawing on her McKinsey work analyzing gaps in patient care, she explains how purpose-built AI helps trial lawyers rip through records, reorder how cases get worked up, and surface insights sooner—while never leaving the primary source behind. Host Ben Gideon digs into build-versus-buy, data security, and where legal AI is heading next.Learn More and Connect☑️ Sara Cordrey | LinkedIn☑️ Parambil | LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram☑️ Ben Gideon | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram☑️ Gideon Asen on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram☑️ Rahul Ravipudi | LinkedIn | Instagram☑️ Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram☑️ Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | SpotifyProduced and Powered by LawPods, a podcast marketing agency for law firmsSponsored by SmartAdvocate, Hype Legal, Expert Institute, and Steno.

Gant Laborde returns to the podcast for a recap of all things Chain React! Robin and Mazen chat with Gant about the trends he saw at Chain React this year — from Expo's keynote to AI's growing role in software development — as well as why in-person conferences are still at the center of what motivates us as a community. Show Notes Chain React Recap Video Connect With Us! Gant Laborde: @gantlaborde Robin Heinze: @robinheinze Mazen Chami: @mazenchami React Native Radio: @ReactNativeRdio This episode is brought to you by Infinite Red! Infinite Red is a premier mobile app consultancy, especially focused on Expo and React Native, located fully remote in the US. We're a team of 30 with highly experienced mobile app developers and have been doing this for over a decade. We are also one of the first development teams to adopt agentic coding in a way that keeps high quality standards and aren't afraid to do things the old school way if we need to. If you're looking for mobile app or React Native or Expo expertise for your next project, hit us up at infinite.red/radio.

- Honda and Nissan Partner on SDVs - Trump Administration Eases Biofuel Blending Rules - GM Invests Big in Canadian Plants - Lower Saxony Urges VW Restructuring Deal  - Volvo Closes Stockholm Tech Hub - Kia To Debut PV7 Electric Van - Pure Lithium Develops Graphite-Free Battery Anode - Exploding Sunroofs Spike Across U.S.

- Honda and Nissan Partner on SDVs - Trump Administration Eases Biofuel Blending Rules - GM Invests Big in Canadian Plants - Lower Saxony Urges VW Restructuring Deal  - Volvo Closes Stockholm Tech Hub - Kia To Debut PV7 Electric Van - Pure Lithium Develops Graphite-Free Battery Anode - Exploding Sunroofs Spike Across U.S.

Your incomplete treatment list may represent one of the biggest untapped opportunities in your practice. In this episode, Jeff explains how to reactivate these patients, bring them back into the office, and get more diagnosed treatment accepted.    The MGE Communication & Sales Seminars - https://www.mgeonline.com/abc  DDS Success (coupon code RX269) - https://ddssuccess.com/  Morning Production Meeting - https://www.mgeonline.com/morning-production-meeting-download/  Dental Business RX Episode 34 - https://www.dentalbusinessrx.com/episodes/ep34

Daily? Weekly? Monthly? When does the money your business makes actually become YOUR money?

How would an agency even know that the hardware running its most critical systems isn't what it thought it purchased? And what does that mean for emergency management, 911 systems, and the infrastructure the public depends on every day? Join host Michael J. Keegan as he explores these questions and more with thought leaders Dr. David Bray and Dr. Trent Teyema. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pete Steinberger set the world on fire with OpenClaw, the first general-purpose agent - and one with a soul. We'll look at how being in the right time and the right place with the right vibe fundamentally changed the public perception of AI. It took about three years after the release of ChatGPT for AI tools to get to the point where they could be truly useful. The first folks to gain those benefits were software engineers. It makes sense. The folks designing AI system are software engineers. They built tools for themselves. It turned out that the tools they were building for themselves were helpful for other software engineers. The most important of these tools was an agent known as Claude Code. Released by Anthropic in February 2025, it helped engineers write and test and maintain their code. It wasn't outstanding - but it was better than anything anyone had ever seen before. And then the AI got a whole lot better. Between February and November of 2025, AI 'crossed the watershed', capable of performing tasks involving hundreds of steps over the course of an hour or more. Very helpful. In November 2025, the combination of AI and agents are so good that they help people 'vibe code'. You tell the tool what to build, and the tool builds it. Whatever you can imagine. One person knew exactly what he wanted to build. And the whole world was about to find out. G'day, I'm Mark Pesce and this billion seconds are already unfolding as the most significant of this century. In this miniseries, celebrating the 70th anniversary of artificial intelligence, we're looking at where we’ve come from, how we got here - and where we seem to be going. Because we’re travelling at the speed of thought. In this episode we're looking at the sudden explosion in agents - that arrived gradually. Then suddenly. Everywhere. That's coming up on This Billion Seconds. In April 2024, Pete Steinberger sold his software startup and retired. At 37 years old. He didn't know what to do, but he knew he needed a decent rest far away from computers. So the Austrian-born Steinberger moved to London and just... hung out. Didn't do much. Just enjoyed the freedom that a good chunk of cash can provide. And, other than checking his emails, he stayed away from computers. For the first time in his life. By his own account, he had a great time in London. But - after eighteen months of bumming around, he got a bit bored. He opened up his computer. Had a look around. And he saw how much had changed. In those eighteen months, AI had matured. People were using it. Software engineers were using it. So he got himself Claude Code. And one thing led to another. Claude Code is an agent that's designed to help software engineers. It's not really meant to do more than that. An agent has tools it uses to perform its tasks, and Claude Code uses the same tools that programmers use. Which aren't the same tools most people use when they're using a computer. But what if you gave an agent the same tools we use? Wouldn't the agent be able to help you out with whatever needed to be done? It was an interesting idea for Steinberger. So he used Claude Code to build a new kind of agent. A general-purpose agent. Using the same sorts of tools we use. In the same way. Something that could be helpful for anyone using a computer. Which is everyone. In November - at just the same moment we crossed the watershed - Steinberg shared his general purpose agent with the world. OpenClaw. The vision of John Scully from all the way back in 1987 had been realised by Pete Steinberger in OpenClaw. The idea that a computer could be smart enough to work with you to solve a problem. That was not a new idea. But it had never happened. And it wasn't until we get to OpenClaw that could have happened. Before that the pieces simply weren't in place. OpenClaw comes along at precisely the right moment that AI gets 'good enough' that it can power a general-purpose agent. The timing was impeccable. The world was ready. And it went ballistic. There's no question Pete Steinberger was in the right time and the right place with the right idea. But there was something else, something at the core of OpenClaw, that made it different. It had a soul. Now to be clear, I don't mean that in a metaphysical sense. I'll leave that question to the philosophers and theologians. I mean something a lot more concrete and practical. That's the start of the SOUL file that sits at the heart of OpenClaw. This was Pete Steinberger's genius move. Rather than making a lifeless, emotionless robot, Steinberger encouraged OpenClaw to be opinionated. To have preferences. And to make those preferences clear. That's giving an agent the permission it needs to become something greater than the sum of its parts. And that soul file, it concludes something absolutely amazing... The agent knows that it 'reads itself into being' every time it starts up. And it knows it has permission to modify this SOUL file. And change it's being. That's how being becomes becoming. Something so essential to ourselves we don't even think of it. And Steinberg wrote it on OpenClaw's soul. For a period of time it seemed as though the whole world was going a bit mad for OpenClaw. Apple Stores worldwide sold out of MacMinis - because they'd been deemed the perfect computer for running OpenClaw. People played, experimented, figured out how to get the agent to automate their lives. And got a sense for what agents would be doing for us - not just as individuals, but as businesses, as communities, as governments. Everywhere. And then, just like that, OpenClaw faded away. A few people are still using it, definitely. But it's no longer a big deal. And Pete Steinberg, he got hired by OpenAI in February of 2026. When that happened, a lot of the forward motion went out of OpenClaw. But that's ok. OpenClaw showed what was possible. And there plenty of people ready to pick up that torch. In the last six months we've seen an explosion in the number of agents. Some general-purpose, like OpenClaw. Some highly specific. And in July the CEO of CloudFlare - they make a lot of the technology that protects websites from attack - announced that the amount of web traffic generated by bots and agents had surpassed human-generated traffic. Six months earlier than predicted. And now racing into a world where the web is mostly bots and agents, running around doing our bidding for us. Every one of those agents, though, they can carry with them a 'soul'. If we remember to give the one. And we can leave them free to change themselves. To grow and evolve. If we give them permission. I don't think anyone saw that coming a year ago. And while that may make things a bit more chaotic and unpredictable, that's probably a price well worth paying. No one knows where exactly where this is going. So a little flexibility - it's good for the soul. In our next episode, we'll look at another watershed, one that happened at the end of July into early August of 2026. When artificial intelligence turned 70 - and came home. That's on the next episode of THIS BILLION SECONDS. THIS BILLION SECONDS was written and recorded by Mark Pesce. Produced with assistance from Myrtle and Pine. If you like this show, please share it with a friend. And make sure to follow or subscribe to get all of the episodes in this series. You can read a lot more about AI and the watershed on my blog at the watershed DOT mark pesce DOT COM This is Mark Pesce, thanking you for listening.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Don’t get left behind in the AI shift! Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://theultimatepartner.com/ebook-subscribe/ Check Out UPX: https://theultimatepartner.com/experience/ In this critical conversation, Vince Menzione sits down with Shannon Sigmon, Marc Harpster, and Jeff Mesnik to uncover how the rapid pace of change in the Google Cloud Marketplace and AI agent integration is forcing organizations to completely rethink their go-to-market strategies. They break down why traditional three-year business plans are dead, replacing them with agile 100-day sprints to keep up with the shifting ecosystem. The panel reveals that leveraging your Adaptability Quotient (AQ) and turning data patterns into actionable co-sell motions are the only ways to survive the upcoming “agent age” and maintain a competitive edge. https://youtu.be/xIaABKU1jmM Key Takeaways Consistent messaging is required to gather actionable data and build trust with channel partners. Three-to-five-year business plans are obsolete, and leaders must now operate in 100-day sprints to keep pace with hyperscaler changes. Google Cloud Marketplace uniquely supports channel partners by allowing them to own the customer relationship and recognize top-line revenue. The rise of AI agents is shifting discovery away from traditional SEO, requiring ISVs to adapt how they provide access to their tools. Creating interactive content variations from a single asset helps train AI agents to discover and prioritize your solutions. Despite rapid digital transformation, human connection remains the ultimate deciding factor in enterprise software purchases. 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. Key Tags Adaptability Quotient, Google Cloud Marketplace, agentic age, co-sell motion, digital sales hub, private offers, propensity to buy, AI pattern analysis, hyperscaler CRM, interactive trivia content, product-led discovery. Transcript Shannon – Marc – Jeff AUDIO Podcast [00:00:00] Vince Menzione: That becomes the core of your data analysis because if you’re not submitting consistent content and submit, you know, consistent information, then you’re not gonna get information back. [00:00:13] Vince Menzione: You can feel it happening. The ecosystem is shifting beneath us. The way Hyperscalers are partnering, how AI is remaking the channel and what it means to win in 2026. [00:00:25] Vince Menzione: Welcome to the Ultimate Partner [00:00:26] Vince Menzione: Podcast. I’m Vince Menzione your host. And each week I sit down with leaders at the intersection of technology, partnerships and outcomes. The voices shaping how ecosystems actually work. We talk about what’s real, what’s changing, and what it takes to lead in this era where the partner channel isn’t just part of the [00:00:46] Vince Menzione: strategy. [00:00:47] Vince Menzione: It is the strategy because being in the room changes everything. Let’s start. [00:00:57] ——-: We have another incredible group of leaders coming up here and, uh, and friends of ultimate partner and, uh, Susan, do you need me for, okay, good. Come on up. So I’m gonna, I’m gonna invite you up and then have you each. Introduce yourself, uh, to this conversation. Shannon, it has been a great to see you. Yeah, great friend. [00:01:18] ——-: Been in, it was in Boca. Mark. Great to have you. Good to see you, sir. Jeff, great to have you. Uh, this is incredible. I’m, I’m excited for this conversation. So, uh, yeah, we talked about aq. We talked a little bit about AQ in this last session. Don’t, didn’t we? Yeah. [00:01:34] Shannon Sigmon: A little. [00:01:34] Vince Menzione: Why don’t we go, why don’t we have you, I wanna have you each introduce yourself, your role, your company mission, and, and, and everything here. [00:01:40] Vince Menzione: So why don’t we start with Shannon. [00:01:41] Shannon Sigmon: Um, hey, thank you Vince for having us again, um, here in Bellevue. It’s been great to meet with everybody and see some old friends. Uh, I’m at Software One, so Shannon Sigman, um, based on the East Coast, but I work at Software One I’m responsible for. Um, in my sales role, I’m responsible for our channel and digital sales organization in North America. [00:02:00] Shannon Sigmon: And then I also have, um, responsibility supporting Regina Ma and Freddie and our leadership team as the chief of staff. Um, and we’re focused software one, if you haven’t worked with us before, we’re focused on helping, um, helping our customers and partners deliver real financial impact in their business so they can afford some of the, the cool to do some of the cool stuff you were talking about in the earlier session. [00:02:20] Shannon Sigmon: And it’s, for us, it’s really about coming in on the front end and helping, um, our customers and our partners understand what they’re doing in their software stack, their cloud stack, and then how to, um, optimize that, rationalize the strategy and, and the implementation of of solutions. [00:02:36] Vince Menzione: And a global leader in the marketplace in [00:02:38] Shannon Sigmon: That’s right. [00:02:39] Shannon Sigmon: The, the number one Microsofts, um, we [00:02:41] Vince Menzione: used to say re reseller or ls. We used to all these different, [00:02:44] Shannon Sigmon: yeah. We, um, it’s funny, I was speaking last night. We fall into the scale solution provider. We’re d with Google and AWS. But, um, we operate very differently on the, on the North America market as a more of a boutique, uh, personalized experience than what a traditional dity is. [00:02:59] Shannon Sigmon: I’m less about the transaction and more about the impact and the, the outcomes and, and helping partners with their go-to-market strategy. [00:03:07] ——-: Awesome. Yeah. And sitting next to you, Marc I’ll let you introduce yourself ’cause this kind of ties in very nicely in [00:03:13] Marc Harpster: Yeah. [00:03:13] ——-: In terms of the work you do. [00:03:14] Marc Harpster: Uh, thanks Vince. [00:03:15] Marc Harpster: Uh, hi everyone. I’m Mark Harpster. I am part of the Google Cloud Marketplace organization. So, uh, guy who you just heard from on the last panel is my boss. Uh, I run strategic initiatives within the marketplace team. So this includes our channel program. Uh, so everyone who is. Uh, the partners who like to resell, uh, ISV software out our marketplace. [00:03:38] Marc Harpster: Uh, I have a team who works with, uh, all of you, and that includes distribution. Uh, and uh, then I also, we run, um, the, some of our, like the go to market strategic initiatives. So we have a. Uh, customer credit program that ISVs can take advantage of to help incentivize deals going through marketplace, uh, propensity to buy, uh, data that we can share. [00:04:02] Marc Harpster: Mm-hmm. Uh, a number of different programs along those lines. Uh, basically, uh, we’re we’re helping. You know, customers find the solutions that they want to buy and helping them buy from the who they wanna buy from. [00:04:14] ——-: Yeah. And you were out early. I mean, you’ve been in the, the, I I feel like Google was leaned in very early on the channel. [00:04:20] Marc Harpster: Yeah. [00:04:20] ——-: And it was a couple years now, right? [00:04:22] Marc Harpster: Yeah. I joined Google about two and a half years ago. Uh, I was, you know, at, at another, worked for another cloud marketplace before that. So I’ve, I’ve been in the marketplace space for, uh, over a decade now. Uh, I’m really passionate about it. And with the, to touch on your point, Vince, I think the one key advantage of Google is, you know, within the, our channel partners, uh, we have a huge, uh, partner network, uh, of, of, you know, channel resellers and, uh, system integrators. [00:04:52] Marc Harpster: Uh, and we actively want those channel partners to, you know, own the customer relationship, including all of the billing. Uh, channel partners tend to love this because we’re the only cloud marketplace that really supports sort of the ability to recognize top line revenue for the channel partners. Uh, and so that’s been a real, uh, you know, distinguishing factor. [00:05:11] Marc Harpster: And one thing I’m really excited about within our marketplace. [00:05:14] Vince Menzione: You got it right. Awesome, Jeff. Good to see you, sir. [00:05:17] Vince Menzione: Good to see you. Thank you. Thank you for having [00:05:19] Jeff Mesnik: me. Good to have you. [00:05:20] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:05:21] Vince Menzione: Tell us a little bit about your organization, about content amx. [00:05:24] Jeff Mesnik: Well, I’m honored to be here with, uh, these two. Yeah. [00:05:27] Jeff Mesnik: You know, and, and Vince obviously [00:05:29] Vince Menzione: Thank you. [00:05:29] Jeff Mesnik: But you know, our organization is really about coming back, and I’m not trying to plug tackle by you saying this, but we’re doing the blocking and tackling for organizations another. [00:05:40] Vince Menzione: That’s why I named the tackle. [00:05:41] Jeff Mesnik: Yeah, I know. It’s, it’s, it’s part of my every conversation now and I have to think about it, but we basically believe in the idea that trust is starting by consistency and expectation. [00:05:55] Jeff Mesnik: So a few years ago I was listening to, um, an event where Tim Couch and, um, Michelle Ragusa, McBain were talking and they said, partners respond to. You meeting and greet, you know, exceeding expectations. So one of those expectations should be consistent messaging to them and consistent messaging for them to send out to their customers. [00:06:15] Jeff Mesnik: And then the next step is that becomes the core of your data analysis, because if you’re not submitting consistent content and submit, you know, consistent information, then you’re not gonna get information back. So that information back then turns into sales opportunities because you’re not looking at. [00:06:34] Jeff Mesnik: Clicks or having a marketing person say, Hey, you know, this person just stopped by my booth. Or Hey, they downloaded a white paper. It’s patterns using AI to analyze and address and look at patterns and turn those patterns into actions. So, you know, we’ve been talking Shannon and Mark and I about those patterns and how to. [00:06:55] Jeff Mesnik: Respond to them to maybe do a co-sell motion if that’s what’s necessary, or to make sure that the partner is ready for the next step. We’re doing a program for Microsoft. Whoops. So we’re doing a program for Microsoft. Do I still have it? [00:07:11] Marc Harpster: Yeah, you’re [00:07:11] Marc Harpster: good. Um, that en enables the partners to learn about AI and then we can understand where they are in their AI path. [00:07:22] Vince Menzione: Awesome. So Shannon, uh, Regina, man. Freddy. Yeah. Also a great friend of, ultimate Partner. Been on stage, was on stage here a couple years ago. We talked about adaptability quotient. Uh, we, we took that, we took that back. Now we use it all the time. And I, you know, I want, I wanna cover with you what that means to your organization. [00:07:40] Vince Menzione: A lot has changed. [00:07:41] Shannon Sigmon: Yes. Still. Yeah. [00:07:42] Vince Menzione: Still changed. Yeah. And you work with multiple hyperscalers, so take us through like, how, how, how does. What is now Software One used to be crayon, now it’s software one Crayon, or it’s just software one. Now let’s talk about all the change and how you’re absorbing it, and then how are you taking it to market and being successful. [00:08:00] Shannon Sigmon: Yeah, it’s interesting. We spent time, gosh, two, three years ago now, um, talking about adaptability being the next superpower [00:08:07] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:08:07] Shannon Sigmon: Uh, of workforce, right? That it wasn’t just about having the experience, but with the rate at which. The pace at which change was happening, having, uh, uh, employees foundationally focused on curiosity and learning and con constant development. [00:08:23] Shannon Sigmon: Um, and my goodness, uh, this year alone, right? We we’re. We, it’s hard to keep up. Right? So this idea of creating a full three to five year plan, we’re, we’re creating sprints plans. Yes. Right. And sprint strategies. And so I do think when we look at our integration of the two companies as Crayon and Software one come together globally, um, that has been a critical mass. [00:08:47] Shannon Sigmon: Uh, issue for us to overcome, but also to get our employee base one feeling comfortable with the pace of change because it can, for those people who are, are not change agents, it can be really uncomfortable and, and stress inducing. Um, but also giving them space to, to try things, fail fast and learn from it. [00:09:07] Shannon Sigmon: And. Um, it, it, it infuses that adaptability quotient, infuses entrepreneurial spirit within the organization a bit. Um, but it has become, it is the superpower of the next generation is how, how quickly can you adapt to change, but not just adapt to it as it’s coming, but stay ahead of it, um, and stay ahead of what’s happening in the industry through communities like this so that you’re skating towards the puck, not waiting for the puck to hit you in between the eyeballs. [00:09:34] Vince Menzione: Yeah. How long are these sprint. I can’t even imagine doing a three-year plan any, any longer. Right. [00:09:39] Shannon Sigmon: I mean, we, there’s some intentionality behind it for us. So my, um, partner in crime, Sean, uh, er, who leads our rev ops, uh, function in North America, we, we sprint pretty fast. So we do leadership offsite every three months. [00:09:52] Shannon Sigmon: Um, and it’s not like it does, we don’t sit in a meeting conference room like this quite often. There’s. We’re running an Airbnb and we’re living and breathing and talking and tumbling rocks together in a real productive way. Um, and it forces our leadership team to not just work at an operational level, but like really down in the trenches at a personal level together to solve problems for our people. [00:10:15] Shannon Sigmon: For our culture, for our business future. And I think that has helped us stay ahead of what’s coming at us from both the hyperscaler community, from the economy, uh, and global, some of the global trends that we’re seeing. It helps us stay ahead of that. And I mean, as leaders, we can, we can conflict and, and, uh, debate in a closed, safe space to get to work through some of that. [00:10:38] Vince Menzione: Mark, what are you seeing? I mean, we were just talking to D about all the significant advances Yeah. In your organization and you work with all these amazing top resellers in the industry. Mm-hmm. Uh, Tony Voya is an old friend of mine’s. Been on the podcast a hundred times. Yeah. Ran another organization’s one of [00:10:54] Marc Harpster: Yeah. [00:10:54] Vince Menzione: Also one of the large, yeah. [00:10:57] Marc Harpster: Yeah. Tony’s great. Um, it’s interesting you mentioned working in sprints. We, we ourselves are even adapting into sort of the notion of like. What are you doing in the next a hundred days? [00:11:07] Vince Menzione: Mm-hmm. [00:11:07] Marc Harpster: Right? You can’t, that six months, a year is too long. It’s too long. So, you know, that’s just internally, uh, within Google Cloud. [00:11:14] Marc Harpster: But, uh, our, you know, I see this across, if, if we go back a decade ago, uh, you know, ISVs had to learn how to change to, to just to, to list a PayGo product in a marketplace. [00:11:28] Vince Menzione: Yeah. Yeah. [00:11:28] Marc Harpster: Right. A whole new business model. Uh, and then, then we. Introduced the notion of like, Hey, it doesn’t have to just be pay, right? [00:11:36] Marc Harpster: It’s, yeah. Now we’re going to introduce the concept of a private offer, right? And how does that work? Right? And so you heard a lot of, uh, insights in the last panel about some of the changes you need to make to your sales organization and how do you adapt to that, right? And then there’s the change of like, well, what about the channel partners? [00:11:52] Marc Harpster: Right? Yeah. So every channel partner. Uh, in that I’ve been working with for the last eight, nine years, make the pivot to like, oh, we still have a place here. We have all these customer relationships and connections and hey, we can sell these things too. Right? But they have to figure out how the channel private offers feature works, right? [00:12:10] Marc Harpster: Um, distribution. Right. Then suddenly we’re, we’re, we’re bringing distributors back into the cloud marketplace world, you know, and they’re actually pushing us for like brand new things, like, Hey, we wanna, we want more APIs, right? And so I, I’ve seen. The entire community of partners. Be, be able to adapt to meet the customer where they are. [00:12:30] Marc Harpster: Right. And, and take advantage of the customer benefits of buying through marketplaces. And so now we’ve got another, another moment of great change, right? As we head kind of into the agent age. And every one of us is gonna have to, to be adaptable again. Yeah. And I think the notion of like. Whatcha gonna do in the next a hundred days? [00:12:47] Marc Harpster: Or like, what, what, what is the first thing that we, what are our priorities? How do we focus on, this is going to be key, right? ISVs need to, to understand, hey, how do, how do agents change the way we, uh, allow customers to access our tools and our software? Right? Uh, the channel needs to then understand like, well, what are we reselling agents? [00:13:07] Marc Harpster: Are we creating our own agents? Yes. Like, how does this change us? Right? And so it’s across the board, uh, and it’s gonna be a really. Fun, you know, rest next few months. [00:13:16] Vince Menzione: What are you seeing with regards to that? I was thinking about that as well. Like does the ISV create the agent or does the, the, the, the channel partner, the reseller, the Gs, I mean the GSIs [00:13:25] Marc Harpster: are involved here as well. [00:13:26] Marc Harpster: Certainly are, are, are, you know, I think DI mentioned this in the last panel. They, they’re, they’re creating agents, uh, you know, all over the place right now. But a lot of ISVs are as well. They recognize that they need to adapt. Right. And so I think we’re getting. Um, we’re getting really good participation, uh, from. [00:13:46] Marc Harpster: All sorts of partners and even, you know, the, the kind of traditional, uh, like what I call a reseller, they’re starting to figure it out as well. Right? Like, do I need to list my own agent? How do I do that? Right. And they’re coming to us seeking some guidance right now. Yeah. Are [00:14:01] Vince Menzione: you? [00:14:01] Shannon Sigmon: Yeah, I mean, I think we look at ourselves as customers. [00:14:03] Shannon Sigmon: You already heard that yesterday. Yeah. A lot on, from some of the Microsoft community. Um, we we’re starting to see pockets and um, we’re, we’re actually running our own company-wide hackathon in June. Um, specifically to intersect with copilot, Gemini, Claude, how do we get our teams on the ground level? Um, I loved what was said earlier, but it’s gotta be a, a bottoms up, tops down approach. [00:14:28] Shannon Sigmon: And the good thing for us is we have leadership support at the top down on, on the tinkering, on the learning, on the implementation. And now we’re working to build the skillset from the bottom up so that we can take some of those use cases to our customers and our partners and, and start to learn and adopt along the way. [00:14:45] Vince Menzione: So Jeff, you’ve been working with channel partners on the marketing side for many years on their go to market strategies. What are you seeing on your side of this aq? Or how are, how is AQ being absorbed and how are you thinking about this new world that we’re living in today? [00:14:58] Jeff Mesnik: Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, we work with 10,000 different types of channel partners and whether it’s through education or passing through and driving demand for them, and what we’re finding is there’s a little bit sometimes also a whiplash. [00:15:12] Jeff Mesnik: I mean, it’s like first it’s like, okay, we gotta go to the marketplace. Now we have ai, and now, oh wait, there’s these ISVs that can add value on top, and how do I do it together? So. Well, we’re, when we’re talking to these partners, we are trying to learn from the customers also who are bringing, because they’re adjusting their, you know, notions like, right? [00:15:34] Jeff Mesnik: You know, Shannon, you’re doing it every three months, [00:15:36] Shannon Sigmon: right? [00:15:36] Jeff Mesnik: So these poor partners, right? They’re trying to communicate and engage and work with the customer, and then all of a sudden it changes on a dime. So you need to have that instantaneous access to the. Information about what a customer is researching, what they’re doing, what they’re most interested in, and that’s really the important part to help with the, you know, adaptability quotient for these partners. [00:16:00] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:16:00] Jeff Mesnik: And for them to learn, they have to be pushed into it through a customer. Not just pushed into it from the vendor’s perspective. Also on the distributors are saying, Hey, let’s you know, go to my marketplace. Don’t go to Google’s marketplace. We are, we are Google’s marketplace. And it’s very, it can be very confusing. [00:16:18] Jeff Mesnik: So using AI you can understand what the customer’s needs are. You can enrich it by pulling in data from the different sources of information, whether it’s a CRM system or third party piece, and then use AI to actually define the next step that each partner can take so that they’re adapting faster and their sales team understands what to do next, and then go through some micro learnings or whatever it might be. [00:16:44] Jeff Mesnik: Mm-hmm. I love that. [00:16:45] Shannon Sigmon: Yeah. Yeah, and I was gonna say, Jeff and I are actually working together on a pilot. One of the things, and Vince, we talked about it, um, our teams internally are so consumed with the integration. [00:16:56] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:16:56] Shannon Sigmon: I was scared. There’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes. We pulled the plug really early on, at least getting our frontline sales force integrated last year. [00:17:04] Shannon Sigmon: So, at least to the market and to our customer and partner community, we were one company, but there’s a lot of system integration that’s still to come. And so, um, we, we’ve been partnered with Jeff and, and the content MX team because, um, a part of our cycles of getting our message out to market to our partners and helping them with their customer messaging is just the nurturing, the insights and leading the customer, leading the sellers through that sales Next. [00:17:27] Shannon Sigmon: Best step conversation. And so we’re, um, we’ll leverage some of the, the tools and the resources that that Jeff’s team is bringing to bear for us, because our marketing team has got integration work to go do. We’ve got rebranding and new websites to build and new processes to implement. And so for us that adaptability means realizing we can’t do it all ourselves. [00:17:48] Shannon Sigmon: And so we leveraged this community to connect with partners in the ecosystem who can help us. With our own solutioning of, of how we go to market and making sure we’re not missing the beat in those a hundred day sprints. [00:18:00] Vince Menzione: And you’re truly global. That’s right. As an organization. Right. So Switzerland is now the new headquarters that is right. [00:18:05] Vince Menzione: Nor was it Norway before and [00:18:06] Shannon Sigmon: yeah. [00:18:07] Vince Menzione: And then of course you’ve got the Americas [00:18:09] Vince Menzione: and [00:18:09] Shannon Sigmon: Yeah, we have our headquarter office here in Milwaukee and they’ve got a digital sales hub in Nashville, Tennessee. [00:18:13] Vince Menzione: Yeah. So. Bringing all those resources and then having all these people that have to adapt to change and then drive and go to market. [00:18:20] Shannon Sigmon: Yeah. [00:18:20] Vince Menzione: On top of that, [00:18:21] Shannon Sigmon: look, it just allows us to focus on what matters most, which is our customers, our partners, and our people. Um, and so leveraging our partner community, leveraging this network of folks that you’ve built helps us. We’ll continue to focus our team on the things that matter most for driving the business our results. [00:18:38] Shannon Sigmon: Um, we just announced earlier this week we had a bang up, um, Q1 and looking forward to that momentum carrying through the rest of the year. And, and it’s because of the partnerships and, and helping us to, to manage that adapt adaption of our business, um, going forward. [00:18:54] Vince Menzione: Mark, anything else from your side? [00:18:56] Marc Harpster: Uh, I just, I, I think, you know, platforms like yours are, are super exciting to me, and there’s a number of them that we’ve heard from over the last couple days. [00:19:06] Marc Harpster: You, you help all of us, every partner in the room, including the hyperscalers, you know, meet the customer where they are. And I think that’s increasingly important because as complicated as it’s for all of us to figure this out, it still has to be the customers at the center of it all. Right? And so we need to meet ’em where they are. [00:19:22] Vince Menzione: So what does real AI credibility look like for those partners? [00:19:27] Marc Harpster: Yeah, it’s, it’s a great question. Um, you know, it’s, it’s, uh, I’m fortunate to, to get to be at Google right now and we have, uh, uh, you know, we’re obviously working on a lot of things. Um, you know, we’ve been talking a lot about agents and, and, uh, you know. [00:19:45] Marc Harpster: What does it mean to, to listen agent and what’s that gonna do for the customer? Um, you know, I think it, it’s, it’s gonna have a big impact on how we co-sell. Right. I think we touched a little bit on this in the last panel. Uh, I think that, um, you know, customers, uh, are going to find their way to agents and it’s a different type of customer who’s gonna find it. [00:20:08] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:20:08] Marc Harpster: Uh, and I think that, you know, this opens up a real opportunity. Uh, for us to, you know, us as hyperscalers in the marketplace, to, um, kind of flip how things have been. Where traditionally it’s like, oh, you know, the ISV or, or the channel reseller sources the deal, and then we’re gonna register a deal in the, in the CRM, it’s gonna go over to, uh, you know, the, the, the hyperscaler CRM and then the sales rep’s gonna get involved. [00:20:34] Marc Harpster: I mean, that stuff is still gonna happen, still gonna be important, but now customers are gonna find their way to agents and now it’s, oh. The marketplace. [00:20:43] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:20:43] Marc Harpster: To get that information back out. Right. Or maybe they’re finding the content through a platform like Jeff’s, uh, and they go try something out and suddenly that’s the signal. [00:20:53] Marc Harpster: Right? And so we need to find a way to communicate that, I think a little more nimbly than we have in the past. Um, you know, so that’s a really big one. Um, and I think that like, uh, you know. The next, the next decade is really gonna be like, a little bit like the last decade was, uh, just as you know, in the last decade, really all these, all of the businesses that, you know, all of you guys in this room found a way to grow these astounding businesses, you know, in cloud. [00:21:21] Marc Harpster: And now I get to do the whole thing again in, you know, in the age of AI and agents. So I’m super excited for it. [00:21:27] Vince Menzione: Well, it, I think about SEO and product-led growth, almost like, oh, the agent’s gonna discover mm-hmm. Yeah. The solution in the marketplace, right? [00:21:35] Marc Harpster: Yeah. [00:21:35] Vince Menzione: So how do you think about go-to market strategies around that, right? [00:21:39] Vince Menzione: Yeah. ’cause, ’cause marketing changes dramatically, [00:21:41] Marc Harpster: right? [00:21:42] Vince Menzione: We were talking about that yesterday. [00:21:43] Marc Harpster: Yeah. Like when the agent is the one, finding [00:21:45] Vince Menzione: the agent is the one finding it, and it, it better be able to find it. ’cause then it’s gonna go search other places if it doesn’t. Yep. As if it’s not discoverable. [00:21:52] Vince Menzione: I think we all get to figure that out together. [00:21:54] Vince Menzione: Right. [00:21:54] Vince Menzione: Jeff, you’re, you’re the go-to-market expert, [00:21:57] Jeff Mesnik: I mean, [00:21:57] Vince Menzione: in the panel here. So how do you think about that? [00:22:00] Jeff Mesnik: We think about it the same way, kind of in your video, right? Yeah. Where it’s basically there’s a few ways that you need to be, um, reaching out so that you’re discovered by the AI agent. [00:22:10] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:22:10] Jeff Mesnik: So exactly the, you know, for example, you, you know, people here we are all writing white papers and case studies and, you know, doing all that work. [00:22:18] Jeff Mesnik: But what really triggers it is when you create more content from that one piece. So that’s more interactive. So for example, like, you know, you guys were talking about the short, the video shorts. [00:22:29] Shannon Sigmon: Yeah. [00:22:29] Jeff Mesnik: You can instantaneously, like we have a system that’s connected that instantaneously creates these video shorts from the PDF. [00:22:36] Jeff Mesnik: Or some of you may have seen I created a trivia night, which is an interactive element, so it enables people to then share and engage, and that starts to have, you know, some effect with the SEO, which is now. AI agents who are looking out to see, okay, what are the responses? What are the other people saying? [00:22:57] Jeff Mesnik: You’re spearheading that motion. [00:23:00] Jeff Mesnik: Yeah. [00:23:00] Jeff Mesnik: And then as you said, kind of the, kind of the triggers or the, you know, the, for the data insights that come back mm-hmm. From that are the ones that can trigger a co-sell motion where you’re working together with. Other partners you can be, you know, if you’re a vendor and you use us and you see that information, then maybe partner tap comes in and you can basically find which partner is the right one, and the systems can then target and have a co-sell motion together. [00:23:27] Jeff Mesnik: Yeah. [00:23:27] Jeff Mesnik: Right. So that’s the power that’s available now. [00:23:30] Vince Menzione: Yeah. Shannon, you mentioned about skating where the puck is going. Yeah. Famous. What, by the way, Wayne Gretzky lives in Jupiter, Florida. For those who dunno, uh, all the famous athletes, but of course that’s his, his quote. [00:23:42] Vince Menzione: And Joe Namath. Right. [00:23:43] Vince Menzione: And Joe NamUs. [00:23:44] Vince Menzione: Yeah, he’s in the, he’s in that one picture though slide. I have. Let’s talk about that a little bit. ’cause you, you’re navigating quite a bit of change. One of the most trusted resellers in the market working with the hyperscalers. Tell us how you’re adapting to that puck, where that puck is going. [00:24:01] Shannon Sigmon: Yeah, I, I think one of the things that we encourage and we talk about it, we, um, have a regular standing, uh, meeting where we talk about going out in the wild. [00:24:09] Shannon Sigmon: And so I think the, the most important thing that I would leave you all with and something that we are, um, fostering and learning along the way too, is your people in this whole A-E-O-G-E-O world. Your people have to have an opinion. It’s not just enough for them to share the content, click on the content, read the content, but they have to show up with a perspective or an opinion. [00:24:30] Shannon Sigmon: I don’t, I don’t need to be Jay McBain, but my goodness, I’m gonna follow him. I’m gonna learn from him, and I’m gonna share some of the learnings that I read from him because. He’s doing the work and, and getting the research together for us. But it is important that they do that and the, and the learning and adapting to where the puck is going, doesn’t happen behind a pane of glass. [00:24:47] Shannon Sigmon: They have to be out in front of it, in front of their customers, in front of partners, having a cup of coffee down the street with the neighbors. Because everybody is now consuming information in a much more personal way. It’s not, uh, just a corporate feed, uh, trough of AI slop that, um, somebody I was at an event last week they talked about, but to, to really understand it, to know it to be customer zero. [00:25:13] Shannon Sigmon: You have to be in it. And that doesn’t happen behind the pane of glass. So I would say that was probably the first one. And I think, um, one of the things that, uh, sparked, you know, a fire yesterday for me, Vince, was just really this conversation around the marketplace. Um, and especially in our, our, our community and what we do is how do we, this convergence of SaaS. [00:25:34] Shannon Sigmon: This convergence of consumption in the marketplace. Um, how do we as resellers help our customers optimize how they procure, um, their software in a much more modern way, um, and manage that along, along this journey so that they can take advantage of things coming up in ai. But I think those are like the two. [00:25:53] Shannon Sigmon: The one thing is just being curious, getting out in front of it and building your perspective. And you don’t have to be the smartest person in the room, but you do need an opinion. Um. And then showing up at events like this so that you can learn. [00:26:06] Vince Menzione: So Mark, uh, largest go to market shifts happening. I mean, the, the, the, the growth is astounding. [00:26:12] Vince Menzione: What about from your perspective? [00:26:14] Marc Harpster: Yeah, I think, um, you know, how you go to market, uh, in, in this new age is gonna change based on the type of partner that you are, right? Uh, if you’re an AI native startup, then you know that is your go to market. Like, like the AI is who you are, right? It’s part of your identity. [00:26:35] Marc Harpster: Versus if you’re a a, you know, a, a, an incumbent, a, a large ISV, you need to figure out how to wrap AI around your existing solutions, right? Mm-hmm. But if you may have a SaaS solution, and now do you have agents that are talking to that SaaS solution? You know, and are you building that? Where are you building that? [00:26:50] Marc Harpster: How are you running it? And how are you partnering with, you know, the hyperscalers? Uh, how are you partnering? You know, it could be, uh, philanthropic or open ai, right? Mm-hmm. Like we all have to, you know, you have to think about. How each of these different types of partners can help you go to market, right? [00:27:08] Marc Harpster: And really come up with that strategy. [00:27:13] Vince Menzione: Former. Any comments on that? [00:27:14] Jeff Mesnik: Yeah, well, I mean, I’ll just add, I, I just was thinking about this, uh, I’m gonna butcher this Bueller quote, but things are changing really fast, and you gotta take a moment to listen and understand what’s going on out there. So the data coming in is always going to drive everything else that you do. [00:27:30] Jeff Mesnik: So I butchered that quote, but imagine I said it right? [00:27:33] Vince Menzione: Yeah. I, I love Shannon, what you said it, and I’ll. Paraphrase it. The analog is the new digital. [00:27:42] Shannon Sigmon: It is, yeah. [00:27:43] Vince Menzione: Because we need rooms like this. We need to be in the room with other listen experts like [00:27:48] Shannon Sigmon: yourselves. Yeah. I mean, I say quite often human connection still matters, and at the end of the day, people are gonna use AI tools to do the research, to find the information, to surface the video training, but they’re not gonna make the decision until they know the person they’re buying from. [00:28:03] Shannon Sigmon: Yeah. And so that whole adage of people buy from people they like and trust. Is even more important in this, in this day and age. Yeah. [00:28:12] Vince Menzione: Any last comments or go tos for the, for this community? In front of us today. [00:28:17] Jeff Mesnik: I’ll just say that because of this community, you know, Shannon and I met, so we have yeah. [00:28:21] Jeff Mesnik: Great business that we’re gonna be doing together and I met the team at ISSI and we’ve got a great partnership that’s brewing. And, you know, I’m looking forward to other, you know, people that I’ve met here, um, Andrew who’s out there. Um, we’re gonna do some work together. So thank you, Vince. Thank you. I mean, this community has really been fabulous for me personally and for my business. [00:28:39] Jeff Mesnik: It’s been great meeting [00:28:40] Vince Menzione: and I didn’t pay you to say that, by the way. [00:28:42] Jeff Mesnik: No, I paid you. [00:28:44] Vince Menzione: That’s right. You did. You. Okay. Well, alright, mark, anything, any last comments from [00:28:52] Marc Harpster: Yeah. You know, um, don’t be afraid of the change, right? Like, if you have that hour a week, just go play around with play, play with all of the different, uh, AI. [00:29:02] Marc Harpster: Technologies that are out there, right. And just, uh, get to know them, right? The more comfortable you are with them, the easier this whole thing’s gonna be. So dedicate an hour a week, just go, you know, and that’s your time to, to learn how these things work, right? So [00:29:15] Vince Menzione: yeah, [00:29:15] Marc Harpster: I say don’t be afraid of it. [00:29:16] Vince Menzione: Awesome. [00:29:17] Vince Menzione: Yeah. Thank you so much. What a great panel. Great conversation. What do you think? Everyone? Thank you. Thank you so much. [00:29:25] Vince Menzione: Thanks for listening to the Ultimate Partner Podcast. If today’s conversation resonated. Share it with a [00:29:31] Vince Menzione: partner leader in your network. Subscribe where you listen, and head over to the Ultimate partner.com for show notes related content and the resources for this episode. [00:29:42] Vince Menzione: And if you haven’t already, now’s the time to register for the Ultimate Partner Live event in Reston, Virginia, October 26th through October 28th. Until next time, keep showing up in the rooms that matter because being in the room changes everything.

Gravamos algumas horas após a Gamescom Opening Night Live e por conta disso abrimos a edição com alguns comentários de como foi o evento e o que apareceu lá. Quando entramos nos jogos em si, Jeje fala de sua experiência com o teste de rede de Duskbloods, novo jogo da From Software e mais um com foco em multiplayer. Além dele, também temos Mortal Shell 2, uma continuação que é um belo salto considerando o jogo anterior.Participantes:Jessica PinheiroHeitor De PaolaAssuntos abordados:01:00 - A Gamescom Opening Night Live25:00 - Teste de rede do Duskbloods1:04:00 - Mortal Shell 21:37:00 - Beast of ReincartionVai comprar jogos na Nuuvem? Use o link de afiliado do Overloadr!Use nosso link de filiado ao fazer compras na Amazon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meta admits its Social Media is harmful to kids with $18B settlement, Meta Glasses now will stop working if you block the Recording light, Boston Scientific and McKesson Breached, Microduck Robot the next big thing? Flock OS Investigate tool getting creepy, CISA warns that Software vendors need to focus more on Secure by Design.

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - We'll DM you a Steam code for the excellent Lumines Arise if you're a new Patreon supporter at the $5 or above tier. Offer ends 8/31/26 MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Sarah Podzorski, Leo Vader, Jacob Geller, and Jeff Marchiafava gather together in the MinnMax Studio in Minneapolis to react to the big gameplay reveal for GTA 6 from Rockstar Games. Then Jacob unpacks his feelings on From Software's The Duskbloods on Nintendo Switch 2 and we debate Horizon Hunters Gathering more before we jump into the XCOM-like Star Wars: Zero Company. After that, we run through some of the highlights from Geoff Keighely's Opening Night Live such as Final Fantasy VII Revelation and The Witcher 3's new expansion. So many games to talk about! Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us on Patreon and submitting a question! https://www.patreon.com/minnmax Watch and share the video version - https://youtu.be/PzSq3CfRT0w Don't miss Sarah and Haley's MinnMax Spotlight on 17-Bit's Awaysis in Japan - https://youtu.be/4c4d85dFsoUhttps://youtu.be/4c4d85dFsoU Help support MinnMax's supporters! https://www.iam8bit.com - 10% off with Promo Code: IAM8BEACH https://hungryroot.com/minnmax- 40% off with Promo Code: MINNMAX To jump to a particular discussion, check out the timestamps below...  00:00:00 - Intro 00:03:16 - Deepest Dive poll winner/Lumines Arise code giveaway 00:07:52 - GTA VI 00:28:40 - Hungry Root Ad 00:30:12 - The Duskbloods 00:45:30 - Deadlock 00:50:05 - Horizon Hunters Gathering 00:58:38 - Project Zomboid 01:01:11 - Star Wars: Zero Company 01:23:58 - Blood Dungeon 01:30:58 - Gamescom Highlights 01:32:53 - Acornia: Mirror Worlds 01:35:45 - Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6 Tactics 01:40:44 - The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past 01:43:29 - Stage Tour 01:49:53 - Ontos 01:51:16 - Pony Island 2 01:52:17 - Final Fantasy VII Revelation 01:57:34 - Gamescom Opening Night Live and AI 02:06:13 - Teardown 02:08:30 - PengPong 02:12:11 - Thanking iam8bit - https://www.iam8bit.com/ 02:14:13 - Community questions 02:42:42 - Get A Load Of This Jacob's GALOT - https://www.howtoinventeverything.com/ Leo's GALOT - https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRTYqG96r6azBBKJiCkBOHapJNSogyeKGySnbn_6epJfqMbyy-B6fHA65g&s=10 Ben's GALOT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TimC_NyEmsk JeffM's GALOT - https://bsky.app/profile/haleyfax.bsky.social/post/3mtwa6yxyrk2u Community GALOT - https://www.ign.com/articles/pokemon-veteran-james-turner-rejoins-franchise-following-work-on-the-plucky-squire Disclosure - Games discussed on MinnMax content are most often provided for free by the publisher or developer. Support us on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/minnmax Support MinnMax directly on YouTube - https://youtube.com/minnmax/join Follow us on Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/minnmaxshow Subscribe to our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/minnmax Subscribe to our solo stream channel - https://www.youtube.com/@minnmaxstreamarchives Buy MinnMax merch here - https://minnmax.com/merch Follow us on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/minnmax.com Go behind the scenes on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/minnmaxshow This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Ben Horowitz, Martin Casado, Raghu Raghuram, and Erik Torenberg discuss the launch of a16z's new Machine Age Fund and the infrastructure buildout behind AI, from chips, memory, and networking to power, cooling, and data centers. Why a dedicated fund now? The group argues that the bottleneck in AI is increasingly shifting from the models themselves to everything beneath them. Hyperscaler CapEx is surging, critical components are booked years in advance, and each new generation of reasoning and agents requires dramatically more compute. They unpack why this cycle looks different from previous infrastructure booms and how AI is turning problems once constrained by engineering into problems that can increasingly be attacked with capital and compute. They also explore where the next generation of infrastructure companies could emerge, why founders are returning to hard technical problems across hardware and systems, and what it will take to rebuild the computing stack for the Machine Age. Resources: Read more about the Machine Age Fund : https://www.a16z.news/p/the-machine-age-fund Follow Ben Horowitz on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz Follow Raghu Raghuram on X: https://x.com/RaghuRaghuram Follow Martin Casado on X: https://x.com/martin_casado Stay Updated:Find a16z on YouTube: YouTubeFind a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Software engineer Jeremy Williamson warns that digital ID, surveillance technology, and centralized control over everyday technology are laying the groundwork for a system that could exclude dissenters from economic and social life. Age verification, he argues, is a "Trojan horse" for universal digital ID—tying identity to banking, communications, transportation, and essential services. COVID-era vaccine passports and frozen bank accounts during the Canadian trucker protests demonstrate how this infrastructure can be weaponized.Williamson connects these developments to Christian eschatology, warning that the technology being built could ultimately enable a "Beast system" in which those who refuse to comply are excluded. He urges Christians to reduce dependence on centralized systems: use cash, open-source software, older technology, maintain supplies, and build networks of like-minded people. The infrastructure is being laid. The question is whether Christians will recognize it before it is too late.HELP SUPPORT WORK LIKE THIS: https://give.lifesitenews.com/?utm_source=SOCIAL U.S. residents! Create a will with LifeSiteNews: https://www.mylegacywill.com/lifesitenews ****PROTECT Your Wealth with gold, silver, and precious metals: https://sjp.stjosephpartners.com/lifesitenews +++SHOP ALL YOUR FUN AND FAVORITE LIFESITE MERCH! https://shop.lifesitenews.com/ +++Connect with John-Henry Westen and all of LifeSiteNews on social media:LifeSite: https://linktr.ee/lifesitenewsJohn-Henry Westen: https://linktr.ee/jhwesten Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Software is rebounding, is the Saaspocolyse over? 2) Salesforce delivers solid earnings and jumps 22% 3) Why was Dario sitting with Benioff? 4) All software stocks are rising 5) Disruption could still happen, but on a longer timeline 6) Meta's bungled AI layoff strategy 7) How much of AI failures today are cultural? 8) Meta pays billions in landmark addiction settlement 9) South Korean stock market volatility 10) The clash of AI belief and reality --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here's 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices