Tech Talks Daily

What if the biggest obstacle to successful AI adoption isn't the technology at all, but the state of your data and the way work gets done inside your business? In this episode, I speak with Jim Spignardo, Director of Cloud Strategy & AI Enablement at ProArch, about why so many AI initiatives struggle to deliver lasting value and what business leaders should be doing before deploying the next AI to...

What if the biggest advantage of building a global team has very little to do with reducing costs? In today's episode, I speak with Nicolas Bivero, CEO of Penbrothers, about what it really takes to build high-performing distributed teams in an AI-driven world. Having spent decades working across Asia and helping businesses build remote teams in the Philippines, Nicolas offers a refreshingly practi...

Have public sector organizations reached the point where AI is no longer an experiment but an operational necessity? In this episode, I welcome Carmen Taglienti, CTO of Insight Public Sector, to discuss why AI is moving beyond chatbots and pilots to become part of the everyday workflows that support government services. As budgets tighten and expectations continue to rise, public sector teams are...

What keeps the digital world running safely behind the scenes, and why are so many organizations only now discovering that one of their most important security foundations is becoming increasingly difficult to manage? In this episode, I sit down with Lakshmi Hanspal, Chief Trust Officer at DigiCert, to demystify Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and explain why it quietly powers almost every secure...

What does meaningful engagement look like in today's classroom? And as AI becomes part of everyday teaching, how can technology help teachers inspire curiosity without adding even more pressure to an already demanding profession? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I'm joined by Jon Neale, Growth Director for UK and Ireland at Kahoot!, and one of the UK's most respected voices in education techno...

What if the biggest barrier to successful AI isn't the model itself, but the lack of context behind every decision your teams make? As AI agents become more capable, how do organisations ensure they understand the people, projects, documentation, and history that shape real work? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, recorded at Team '26, I'm joined by Taroon Mandhana, CTO of AI and Teamwork at Atl...

What happens when customer service moves beyond answering questions and starts anticipating needs, coordinating actions, and resolving problems with AI? And what does that mean for the future of the contact center? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I'm joined by Jonathan Barouch, Vice President and General Manager of Contact Center at Zendesk, to discuss the company's vision for the next genera...

What happens when a company best known for garage door openers decides to compete with the biggest names in smart home technology? Can a business built on hardware reinvent itself as an AI-powered software company without losing the trust that made it successful in the first place? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I welcome Jeff Meredith, CEO of Chamberlain Group, to discuss one of the more fa...

What happens when the biggest AI security risk isn't the technology itself, but the people using it? In this episode, I sit down with Cormac Whelan, CEO of Nitro Software, to discuss why organizations need to rethink their approach to AI adoption. With research showing that 68% of C-suite executives are bypassing approved AI tools in favor of their own, we explore how an "ask forgiveness, not perm...

What if the biggest weakness in cybersecurity isn't the technology, but the way defenders communicate with each other? Cybercriminals openly exchange techniques, vulnerabilities, and attack methods, constantly learning from one another. Meanwhile, many organizations remain reluctant to share details of breaches, investigations, or lessons learned. In this episode, I sit down with Lee Sult, Chief I...

What happens when a consulting company decides that adding AI to existing workflows isn't enough? In this episode, Mal Vivek, CEO and co-founder of zeb, joins me to discuss the launch of Substrate, an AI-native operating architecture that challenges many assumptions about enterprise consulting, software delivery, and AI adoption. Rather than layering AI onto legacy processes, zeb made the bold dec...

Can organizations really call themselves AI-ready if their data foundations still have gaps? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sit down with Dave Shuman, Chief Data Officer at Precisely, to discuss the findings from the company's latest State of Data Integrity and AI Readiness Report. Drawing on insights from more than 500 senior IT leaders across the US and Europe, Dave explains why many org...

How prepared are businesses for a new wave of attacks targeting the apps, APIs, and AI systems now powering digital growth? In this episode, I speak with Richard Meeus from Akamai Technologies about the latest findings from Akamai's State of the Internet report, with a focus on apps, APIs, and DDoS activity across EMEA. Richard explains why APIs have become such an attractive target for attackers,...

What happens when AI agents start talking to customers more often than humans do? In this episode, I'm joined by Robert Gerstmann, co-founder and Chief Evangelist at Sinch, to discuss what may be the biggest shift in business communications since SMS transformed how organizations connected with customers. As someone who helped build Sinch from a bootstrapped startup into a global communications pl...

What happens when a single lost network packet can disrupt hours of manufacturing? Recorded at Cisco Live, this episode features John Hoenemier, Director of Network Security Operations at GlobalFoundries, one of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers. While most people think about microchips only when they buy a smartphone, laptop, car, or connected device, the reality is that modern life...

What does it take to deliver reliable connectivity to a floating city carrying thousands of guests across the world's oceans? Recorded at Cisco Live, this episode features Diogo Almeida, Head of IT Infrastructure at AIDA Cruises, and Amine Belhad, IT Network Architect at AIDA Cruises. Together, they share what happens behind the scenes to keep one of Europe's leading cruise fleets connected while...

Recorded at Cisco Live, this episode features Mark Rodrigue, Senior Network Engineer at Room & Board. This furniture retailer has built its reputation around design expertise, long-term customer relationships, and personalized service. While many retailers focus on transactions, Room & Board takes a different approach, helping customers make decisions about products they may live with for years or...

What happens when one of the world's largest enterprise software companies declares that it is no longer a software company, but an AI company? At SAP Sapphire, I caught up with James Bates, Head of Customer Advisory at SAP UK & Ireland, to discuss the company's vision for what it calls the Autonomous Enterprise and why this year's event felt different from any SAP conference before it. From stand...

How do healthcare organizations continue innovating while protecting some of the most sensitive data in existence? Recorded at Cisco Live, this episode features Kevin Ludwig, Associate Vice President of Information Technology at XiFin, and Jeff Kronlage, CEO of CrossConnect Engineering.  Together, they provide a behind-the-scenes look at the technology infrastructure supporting healthcare billing,...

What does it take to move from AI experimentation to real business impact? Recording during Google Cloud Summit London 2026 at Tobacco Dock, I had the opportunity to speak with Maureen Costello, Vice President for UKI and Sub-Saharan Africa at Google Cloud, about one of the biggest shifts currently taking place across technology and business. After years of discussion around generative AI, the foc...

What does strategy look like when the technology industry seems to change every few months? Recorded at Cisco Live, this episode features Ammar Maraqa, Cisco's Chief Strategy Officer, whose role spans corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, venture investments, technology incubation, strategic partnerships, and long-term planning. Few people have a broader view of where the technology indust...

Can technology and AI genuinely improve lives at scale, or are we still spending too much time talking about potential rather than outcomes? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sit down with Hala Hanna, Executive Director of MIT Solve, as the organization marks its tenth anniversary. Over the last decade, MIT Solve has supported more than 500 innovators, helped solutions reach hundreds of milli...

What happens when software can be built and shipped faster than ever, but trust becomes the real challenge? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sit down with Dean Hickman-Smith, Chief Revenue Officer at Testlio, to discuss why software quality has become a boardroom issue in the age of AI.  As organizations race to release new features, deploy AI-powered experiences, and automate development wo...

What happens when a camera company starts thinking less about lenses and specifications and more about how people actually capture and share their lives? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I spoke with Max Richter from Insta360 about the company's journey from pioneering 360-degree cameras to building a much broader ecosystem of hardware, software, AI tools, and creator-focused workflows. While...

What happens when a company focused on drug discovery and life sciences encounters a data problem that nobody else seems able to solve? Recorded at the IT Press Tour in Boston, this episode explores the fascinating story behind Paradigm4 and how a challenge in large-scale biomedical research ultimately led to the creation of flexFS, a cloud-native filesystem designed to tackle some of today's bigg...