Wharton Tech Toks

In this episode of Wharton Tech Toks, host Gorav Menon (Wharton MBA ’27 and co-host of The Linen Suit & Plastic Tie) sits down with Lisa Yamner, Co-Founder & Chief Brands Officer at Daydream, for a deep dive into the future of AI-powered commerce and storytelling in fashion. Lisa shares her journey from helping launch Google’s first political advertising initiatives and building the tech g...

In this episode of  Tech Talks , Mahima Singh interviews Siddharth Singh, a published AI researcher, engineer and MS Computer Science Candidate at Stony Brook University. Siddharth shares insights on bridging research and engineering in real-world AI systems. He highlights the fundamental difference between researchers and engineers—where researchers focus on truth and rigor, engineers focus on bu...

In this episode of Tech Toks, Mahima Singh interviews Akshata Parab, Executive Director at Morgan Stanley, who shares her inspiring career journey, key inflection points, and the impact of AI on the financial services industry. Akshata discusses the importance of self-awareness, adaptability, and the role of AI in shaping competitive dynamics and long-term impacts in finance. She emphasizes the ne...

Join Debbie Cheng (WG'26) and Avanthika Ramesh (Senior Director of Product Management for Agentforce at Salesforce and WG'25) for a special behind the scenes look at the Salesforce Tower and its office perks.

In this episode of Tech Talks, Mahima Singh interviews Sakshi Jain, Head of Go-To-Market Strategy for North America at AWS, who shares her career journey and perspectives on the impact of AI on the technology industry. Sakshi reflects on her path from Microsoft to McKinsey to Amazon, emphasizing intentional learning, adaptability, and cross-functional experience as key drivers of growth. She highl...

In this episode of Wharton Tech Toks, Kirk Hachigian (Wharton MBA ’27) sits down with Clara Ma, CEO and Founder of Ask a Chief of Staff to break down what the Chief of Staff role actually is – and isn’t. Clara shares why it’s become one of the most sought-after roles in tech, the core pillars of the role (culture, operations, and strategy), and how the job changes from Series A to later-stage. Fro...

In this episode of Wharton Tech Toks, Kirk Hachigian (Wharton MBA '27) sits down with Julia Oberrotman (Wharton MBA '16), Senior Director of Corporate Strategy at Okta. Julia breaks down why identity security is about to get exponentially harder—and more critical—as AI agents start moving money, accessing sensitive data, and operating autonomously across systems. The conversation unpacks O...

In this episode of Wharton Tech Toks, host Debbie Cheng (WG’26) sits down with Carly Price (WEMBA ‘23) , Senior Director of Customer & Partner Experience Design at ServiceNow and founder of Liv Labs , a women’s health startup. Carly shares what it takes to lead design at scale across industries from retail and finance to automotive and enterprise SaaS. She opens up about launching Liv Labs and...

In this episode of Wharton Tech Toks, Kirk Hachigian (Wharton MBA '27) sits down with Justin Hannah, Senior Director of Marketing Technology and Automation at FanDuel Sports Network. Justin shares his career journey from a 40-person ad tech startup to leading MarTech at Hulu and FanDuel, breaking down the complex world of marketing technology. The conversation explores how customer data platfo...

In this episode of Wharton Tech Toks , host Gorav Menon (Wharton MBA ’27 and co-host of The Linen Suit & Plastic Tie ) sits down with Nick Martell of The Best One Yet for a deep dive into how top creators use storytelling, branding, and smart content strategy to shape the future of tech and media. Gorav uncovers Nick’s journey from Robinhood to building an independent media brand, the launch o...

In this episode of Wharton Tech Toks, Kirk Hachigian (Wharton MBA ‘27) sits down with David DellaPelle, CEO and Co-Founder of Dune Security, to discuss how Dune is modernizing security awareness training through a personalized, AI-driven approach. They explore how Dune moves beyond one-size-fits-all training, the evolving threat landscape, and the importance of integrations across the security sta...

In this episode of Wharton Tech Toks , Debbie Cheng (Wharton MBA Class of 2026) sits down with Leon Zhang, Co-Founder and CEO of BetterBasket. Leon shares his journey from launching grocery delivery operations at Uber to co-founding BetterBasket, a YC-backed startup helping grocers use data to optimize pricing in the face of inflation, digital transformation, and legacy systems. Leon also opens up...

In this episode of  Wharton Tech Toks , Debbie Cheng (Wharton MBA Class of 2026) sits down with Avanthika Ramesh, Senior Director of Product Management for Agentforce at Salesforce (Wharton MBA Class of 2025). They dive into Avanthika’s career journey from engineering at Berkeley to building AI-driven products at Salesforce, including her work on chatbots, Web3, and generative agents. Avanthika sh...

In this episode, Julien Guiot sits down with Jim Alderson-Smith, Managing Director at Crux, to unpack how Crux is transforming capital markets for clean energy. They explore the company’s role in facilitating efficient financing through transferable tax credits and debt marketplaces, aiming to make clean energy funding more liquid and accessible. The conversation dives into the evolution of tax eq...

In this episode Tanika Mehra interviews Tanay Kothari, Co-founder & CEO of Wispr Flow , an AI-powered voice-first productivity tool designed to help professionals communicate faster and more naturally. Wispr Flow is pioneering a screen-free, voice-first future where professionals can dictate messages, edit text with natural voice commands, and boost productivity 3x faster than typing . Backed...

Join us for this episode with Dr. Craig Joseph, Chief Medical Officer at Nordic Global and co-author of Designing for Health . Craig shares his journey from practicing pediatrics to becoming a national thought leader in healthcare IT and clinical informatics. We dive into his experience with EHRs like Epic and Cerner, the challenges of designing tech doctors actually want to use, and where AI fits...

Join us for this episode with Leigh Engel, Senior Product Manager for Enterprise AI at NVIDIA. Leigh’s journey spans media, consulting, and big tech firms like Apple and WPP before landing in product leadership at one of the world’s top AI companies. We explore her career pivots, how she balances innovation with user-centered design, and her take on evaluating AI models like GPT-4 and Llama for en...

In this episode, Julien Guiot sits down with Ryan Graciano, Co-Founder and Head of Product at Credit Karma to discuss the story behind Credit Karma, exploring how the company disrupted personal finance by offering free credit scores and personalized financial insights. We dive into the challenges and opportunities of building trust in the finance sector, Credit Karma’s innovative approach to user-...

Francesca Migliori is a global digital and e-commerce executive with expertise in omnichannel strategies, CRM, and startup advisement. Join us in this exciting episode as Debbie Cheng (Wharton Class of 2026) and Francesca Migliori discuss her journey from Wharton to investment banking to leadership roles across various organizations including Gucci and Loro Piana. She shares riveting stories leadi...

Join us for this episode with Elizabeth Pemmerl, Chief Revenue Officer at GitHub. Elizabeth shares her journey from early roles in marketing and PR to leading revenue strategy at one of the world’s most influential developer platforms. We discuss her decade-long rise through GitHub, how the company is leveraging AI, and what it takes to lead with both ambition and balance. This is a must-listen if...

In this episode, Julien Guiot sits down with Ian Samuels, Founding Partner at New System Ventures, to discuss how the firm backs ambitious founders building solutions for a decarbonized future. Ian shares his perspective on investing in hard tech, the role of government in accelerating climate innovation, and why now is the moment for deep, systems-level change. The conversation covers topics like...

Please join Julien Guiot for this episode with Vas Natarajan, a partner at Accel, a leading global venture firm. In this episode, we dive into Vas’ background, his path into venture, and more specific questions around how Vas spots lasting value in the AI space or how startups can overcome the distribution advantages of incumbents today. Additionally, we discuss how to identify strong founders and...

In this episode, Julien Guiot sits down with Jake Wieseneck, Principal at Maniv Mobility, to explore the firm's strategic approach to investing in transportation innovation and mobility technologies. Jake shares insights into how Maniv identifies and supports early-stage startups that are digitizing and decarbonizing the movement of people and goods. They discuss key trends shaping the future...

Join us for this episode with Claire Lecarpentier, Director of Product Strategy & Operations for Platform AI at ServiceNow. After experiences in consulting and corporate venture, Claire transitioned to Product Strategy at leading enterprise service provider ServiceNow. This is a great episode if you are interested in learning how to transition from consulting or banking into the technology ind...

In this episode, we sit down with Pete Schork, a Principal at the Broadscale Group, to discuss the firm's unique approach to investing in climate, energy, and industrial solutions. Pete explains how Broadscale strategically leverages partnerships with large corporations and family offices to scale impactful climate technologies, highlighting their investments in electric vehicle infrastructure...