The STEMINISTS Podcast

Cut through the AI buzz and get to the real story of what’s shaping tech! In this special year-end episode of The STEMINISTS Podcast, hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams take a reflective look back at the transformative year of 2025 and cast their expert predictions for what lies ahead in 2026.  Join us as we share highlights you might have missed in a year defined by rapid innovation and critical...

Sick of shuffling data around just to get your AI going? Let’s learn how to crush those roadblocks with STEMINISTS hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams, as they pull back the curtain with some exciting news straight from AWS re:Invent. It will upend how you handle cloud storage, making AI and analytics not just easier, but ruthless in efficiency.  We sit down with Vidhya Nagarajan, Senior Product M...

How much Hollywood movie magic and great stories are we missing because the right technology is locked away? In this special episode of The STEMINISTS podcast, recorded live at NetApp Insight, hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams shine our spotlight on Lisa Watts, CEO of Cree8 and CEO Monthly's “CEO of the Year.”    Lisa tells us how Cree8 is shattering the "glass walls" of movie and video producti...

Is moving everything back from the public cloud the right answer to rising costs and complexity? Or is "cloud repatriation" just as extreme as the "all-in" cloud strategy that came before it? Join us as we get real with Cecile Kellam, NetApp’s Senior Solutions Architect and one of our faves who really knows her way around a cloud stack.  Cecile isn’t here for one-size-fits-all answers. She dishes...

What is high performance compute and what happens if you choose the wrong infrastructure for your HPC workloads? Join us in Las Vegas for a special edition at NetApp Insight, as The STEMINISTS welcomes our very first CEO, Rebecca Pinheiro. She’s also the  founder of Neuvys, and takes us for smart and practical dive into what the best infrastructure for HPC is, how it works, and what we can do bett...

In this special Las Vegas edition, we come to you from NetApp INSIGHT 2025, where we sit down with some phenomenal women shaking up the industry. Gladys Kline, VP of Partners & Alliances at GDT, joins us first as a leader who rewrites the script on network security.   Ready to think smarter about your security? Gladys doesn’t just talk theory—she gives you the real-world strategies for layerin...

Think building enterprise AI takes a massive team and a mountain of resources? Think again. In this episode NetApp’s Senior Director of IT Data & Analytics, Anju Mohan, returns to turn the “build vs. buy” debate on its head—proving that the right vision and a nimble, hungry team can deliver transformative results faster than you think. Also learn about NetApp’s remarkable journey with Net AI C...

By now you should know the GenAI hype train is littered with failed projects. In fact, according to MIT, a staggering 95% of generative AI rollouts don’t make it off the runway—caught in endless debates over building bespoke solutions or slapping on an off-the-shelf fix.  This episode of The STEMINISTS Podcast gets right to the point. Hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams put Anju Mohan—NetApp’s AI...

Ransomware “bad actors” are getting smarter and faster. Are you? Hackers are upping their game with double extortion schemes, data theft, and AI-driven sneak attacks that bypass traditional defenses.  Cheryl George, Senior Product Manager at NetApp, joins Tech Gurus Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams to break down how cybercriminals are weaponizing AI and why behavioral analytics is the ace up your sle...

Disaggregated infrastructure for enterprise AI. It’s a mouthful, but it could completely change your business and boost your bottom line. In this episode of The STEMINISTS Podcast, tech gurus Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams are joined by NetApp’s Kris Cornwall to discuss what you must know to make your data “AI ready with no compromises.”  As AI moves from experiment to essential business processes,...

When CISOs and data storage teams join forces, the organization’s defense moves from patchwork to powerhouse. In this episode of The STEMINISTS, hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams tap into the sharp mind of CSO Hall of Famer Mignona Cote to dissect what really happens when security meets storage. This partnership is a MUST!  Mignona pulls no punches—revealing how empathy and trust smash silos, wh...

What IS sovereign cloud, and why is everyone suddenly talking about it? In this episode, we bring back the brilliant Cecile Kellam, senior solutions architect at NetApp, to break it all down, alongside our very own Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams. Cecile doesn’t just demystify sovereign cloud—she shares why it’s become one of the hottest topics in tech.  From geopolitical drama to protecting your or...

Worried AI might be coming for your job? You’re not alone—but it’s not all doom and gloom. In this episode of The STEMINISTS Podcast, co-hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams dive into the rise of Agentic AI, a next-gen evolution of generative AI that doesn’t just suggest ideas—it takes action. From fixing code vulnerabilities to hunting down sales leads, this tech is stepping into roles that once r...

Did you know that unstructured data makes up a staggering 80-90% of all the data in the world? And yet, most businesses have no idea how to manage it. In this episode of The Steminists, hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams team up with the always-insightful Darnell Fatigati, Principal Product Marketing Manager at NetApp, to break down why unstructured data is the key to unlocking AI’s true potentia...

How do you give your customers what they need to grow their business? And how do you build it, so it protects your data and enhances your AI capabilities? In this episode of “The STEMINISTS,” we sit down with Priya Idgunji, VP of Engineering for ONTAP at NetApp, to explore the pivotal role of translating customer needs into creating modern, customer-centric products. How should engineering leaders...

Ever wonder what it takes to bring the enchanting worlds of Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and The Wild Robot to the big screen?  Join hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams as they chat with Kate Swanborg, Senior Vice President of Technology Communications and Strategic Alliances at DreamWorks Animation, to uncover the cutting-edge tech and partnership that powers these iconic films and the excitement behind...

Ready to challenge the status quo? The STEMINISTS podcast is pulling no punches this week, as hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams chat with NetApp’s own Banu Sundhar, a powerhouse in technical marketing, about what it really takes to modernize. Forget the pretty PowerPoints—Banu exposes why tackling just applications or infrastructure in isolation will leave your tech team stuck in the past. With...

How do you dominate the tech industry through killer partnerships? In this episode, Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams get real with Jenni Flinders, SVP of Worldwide Partner Group at NetApp, to uncover the raw truth about what it takes to turn collaboration into cash and attract, grow and retain great Sales partners.  Jenni is a powerhouse consistently ranked among the top channel sales leaders. She sp...

Is AI turning our brains to mush? Hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams are joined by Karissa “KB” Breen, the sharp-tongued cybersecurity journalist behind the popular podcast, KBKast, for a no-holds-barred look at how AI is rewriting the rules of the game.  From the sneaky rise of unsanctioned “shadow AI” tools to the unnervingly convincing world of deepfakes, KB doesn’t shy away from calling out t...

The results are in! According to NetApp’s AI Space Race survey, only 15% of AI initiatives succeed… and the barrier isn’t ambition. It’s alignment.  In this episode, NetApp CMO Gabie Boko joins Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams to unpack what’s really holding organizations back: The disconnect between people, data, and strategy.  Data silos. Fragmented ownership. Misaligned priorities. These aren’t ju...

What happens when enterprise AI grows up? Hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams team up with Nichole Paschal, Senior AI Product Marketer at NetApp, to unpack how businesses are shifting from flashy, GPU-heavy solutions to smarter, nimbler AI, powered by CPUs. Nichole, a strategist who’s mastered the art of crafting growth and execution blueprints across diverse teams, shares her insider perspective...

Is your AI playing fair? Maybe yes, maybe no. Join Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams as they chat with Naomi DeMarco, a pro in AI bias and data governance, about how bias sneaks into AI systems and wreaks havoc.    From hiring tools that exclude women to medical models that fail entire groups, this conversation gets into the real-world consequences of biased AI. And the stakes are high—unchecked bias...

Ever wondered if “cloud-first” is still the smartest move? Join your favorite dynamic duo, Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams, as they chat with Jenny Marshall, global go-to-market strategy leader at NetApp, about why it might be time to rethink that playbook.   Jenny unpacks the shift from the old-school “cloud-first” mandate to the savvier “intelligent application placement” approach. It’s not about...

What’s the #1 way your business can get hacked? Cyber criminals are relentless, but YOU can be smarter! Listen to this episode of “The STEMINISTS” to find out!  Hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams welcome back Darnell Fatigati, a powerhouse in technical marketing at NetApp, to tell you how you can fight back ASAP against ransomware. With years of experience in tech and telecom, Darnell brings expe...

Welcome back to Part 2 of our conversation with Accenture’s Sarah Bartel on thriving in the age of AI. While last week’s episode explored how leaders must evolve their teams to meet AI’s challenges, this episode focuses on YOU, the individual. How can you secure your value and stay ahead as AI rapidly transforms the workplace? Sarah joins our hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams and introduces "No...