Peggy Smedley Show

Peggy Smedley and Brian Baker, president and CEO, Sentry Equipment, talk about some of the greatest lessons learned running a 100-year-old company. He says he is proud of being a leader of an organization that has stood the test of time. They also discuss: Employee ownership and how it helps serve customers, communities, and workers. The five pillars it builds its culture on. How the business has...

Peggy Smedley and Ty Witmer, president and founder, ProjectTeam, talk about the CMMC  (cybersecurity maturity model certification) and why it is critical. He says since 2017 there have been rules in place for contractors working with the federal government to protect sensitive government data—and often it hasn't been enforced, but that enforcement starts now. They also discuss: What percentage are...

Peggy kicks off Women's History Month by unpacking the history of women in the workplace and looking at where we are today, in anticipation of Intl. Women's Day on March 8. She says we are making progress, but not fast enough, especially considering many industries have a dire worker shortage. She also: Discusses three new university research reports that suggest some big trends at work. Determine...

Peggy Smedley and Ani Aprahamian, Frank M. Freimann professor of physics, University of Notre Dame, talk about her research, energy conversion, and how nuclear energy fits into the equation. She says energy is essential to our lives and we have seen increased use of energy in the last 200 years. They also discuss: How we can reach carbon goals. The process of changing energy from one form to anoth...

Peggy Smedley and Brian Comiskey, futurist and senior director, Innovation & Trends, Consumer Technology Assn., talk about some of the big CES trends that will shape what happens next in 2025. He says even though we are looking back, the beauty of the show is it is about being a window to tomorrow, setting up for what the year ahead and beyond will look like. They also discuss: How AI (artificial...

Peggy talks about the uptick in data centers and the top priorities, top challenges, and top opportunities for data centers. She says data centers will be one of the big topics of conversation for 2025—much like gen AI (artificial intelligence) was a huge topic of conversation for 2024. She also discusses: The top priority among 41% of executives. 10 hurdles that stand in the way. Some cost cuttin...

Tom Bradicich, chief product officer and CTO, Arete, returns to continue the discussion with Peggy Smedley around AI (artificial intelligence) and how AI integration is impacting vertical markets. He shares use cases in healthcare, automotive, and utilities. They also discuss: The importance of attacking both the business process and the technology. AI limitations, 3 risk categories, and what we n...

Peggy Smedley and Kristen Garrett, manager of market research, Consumer Technology Assn., talk about what consumers are going to need to age in place. She says those aged 50 and older represents 46% of the U.S. adult population, and last year we saw 11,000 people turning 65 per day. They also discuss: Trends about aging in place from a recent consumer study. What consumers will need to age in plac...

Peggy talks about the hard numbers—and the risks with third-party access to tech systems. She says we need to know this is an ongoing uphill battle that we need to continually face, sharing her four-step approach. She also discusses: An example from more than a decade ago—and what we can learn about it. A new report that highlights some recent numbers. What steps we can take next to prepare for a...

Peggy Smedley and Tom Bradicich, chief product officer and CTO, Arete, talk about AI (artificial intelligence), outlining some of the notable breakthroughs. He gives a little history, saying AI has achieved celebrity status today. They also discuss: What happened in 1947 and 1948 to spur along AI and the earliest applications of AI. What Y2K, Orwell, and Oppenheimer have in common. Some of the int...

Peggy Smedley and Karen Panetta, fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, talk about how to stay ahead of AI (artificial intelligence) and the smart home. She says we saw the same trend when websites first came up, with phishing schemes—and we will go through the same learning cycle with AI and deep fakes. They also discuss: A safety checklist for how to tell when you are looking...

Peggy Smedley talks about one of the recent data breach reports. She says there were six mega-breaches in 2024, accounting for 85% of victim notices—and four of the largest breaches were preventable. She also discusses: Where we have been with cybersecurity in the past year—and what are the top five industries targeted. What we can surmise from today's nefarious characters—and what is needed to fi...

Peggy and Calum Mair, commercial director, North America, EPD, talk about sourcing materials for construction and the impact tariffs could have on the industry. He says tariffs from Canada and Mexico have the potential to really shake up the construction space. They also discuss: The pros and cons of tariffs. The hidden opportunities for the construction industry. What we can expect in the next 12...

Peggy Smedley and Karen Panetta, fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, talk about trends with AI (artificial intelligence) and smart homes and how it can help with energy efficiency. She says the most visible things people see are energy efficiency, health, and monitoring the smart home—but it is also in our appliances. They also discuss: An example of what makes an energy effi...

Peggy talks about opportunities, drivers, and trends for industrial robots. She shares what manufacturers need to do to prepare for a robotic future, saying robots are coming—and in some instances, they are already here. She also discusses: How much the market is anticipated to grow. An example of a robot in space and what's happening in warehouses. Five trends to watch in the year ahead. peggysme...

Peggy Smedley and Zoltan Nagy, director, Intelligent Environments Lab, talk about what is happening to our data and who is actually looking at it. He says with the democratization of collecting data, the challenge is no longer can we get the data or how do we store all this data, but rather it is what do we do with all this data. They also discuss: If we are moving too fast without understanding w...

Peggy Smedley and Deborah Perry Piscione, cofounder, Work3 Institute and coauthor, Employment Is Dead , talk about the 10 operating principles of work and how gen AI (artificial intelligence) can provide advanced training and upskilling. She explains how she and her coauthor came up with the title for the book. They also discuss: The difference between employment and employability. How technology...

Peggy discusses gen AI (artificial intelligence), data centers, and President Trump's announcement of the Stargate project. She says gen AI is transforming many things—but we need the infrastructure to help spur growth. She also discusses: Demand, growth, and trends surrounding data center infrastructure. Details surrounding the Stargate project. A case study of how one company is seizing an oppor...

Peggy Smedley and Brian Green, director of technology ethics, The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University, discuss ethics and technology. He says ethics is both the theory and practice of how to make good decisions, perform good actions, and ultimately become a good person. They also discuss: How ethics has evolved in the past several decades. How companies can create their own...

Peggy Smedley and Grant Quasha, CEO, Eco Material Technologies, discuss his personal experience in the green cement sector and how it will develop in the coming years. He says the cement and concrete sectors are much bigger than people think, essentially there are 30 billion tons a year of concrete that are poured around the world. It is the most used manmade material in the world, just right behi...

Peggy talks about new research that has come out about cybersecurity and gives her ideas for how to build greater cybersecurity awareness. She says we need to shift our perspective, and we need better cyber resilience, as cybersecurity needs to be a priority across the entire organization. She also discusses: How many companies fail to conduct cybersecurity audits. The report card for Fortune 500...

Peggy Smedley and John Reed, global solutions leader, manufacturing and mobility industries, Microsoft, talk about key customer learnings and automotive takeaways from CES 2025 and how it will shape the year ahead. He says the centerpiece was the customers, including manufacturers, and digital, whether it was the technology from Microsoft or that the customers are building. They also discuss: Four...

Peggy Smedley talks about the hard reality that if we make devices smarter and more autonomous, then we are naturally going to consume more energy. She says as we build a better tomorrow, we must consider a three-legged stool that we must build upon in the year ahead. She also discusses: How much global data center electricity consumption will grow by 2030. If we must consider lazy robots. What we...

Peggy Smedley and Jason Heron, head of clean fuels for North America, Airbus, talk about how the company is pioneering sustainable aerospace in the fourth wave of aerospace. He says sustainability is at the forefront of a lot of conversations, and the company is focused on a jet fuel that has a sustainable component that reduces the lifecycle of carbon emissions for that fuel, making air travel mo...

Peggy Smedley and Reddy Mallidi, AI strategist, COO, chief AI officer, and author of AI Unleashed, talk about a new book, AI Unleashed, and how generative AI (artificial intelligence) is transforming business and the art of AI leadership. He shares a story from 2019 when he needed to screen 50 million accounts for export compliance and how AI helped improve the customer experience. They also discu...