AZ Tech Roundtable 2.0

Predicting the Future: AI, Geopolitics & Better Decision Making w/ Anthony Vinci of VICO - AZ TRT S07 EP10 (292) 6-28-2026       What We Learned This Week Think in Probabilities Great decision-makers don't predict one future. They prepare for multiple possible futures. Look for Leading Indicators Government budgets, regulations, elections, trade policy, and geopolitical developments often signal f...

Why Data Centers Are Becoming America's New Industrial Backbone w/ Tom Sullivan of Air2O - AZ TRT S07 EP09 (291) 6-14-2026         What We Learned This Week 1. AI Is Creating One of the Largest Infrastructure Booms in History The AI revolution isn't just software. It requires: physical buildings massive electrical systems cooling infrastructure energy innovation The data center buildout may become...

Flat-Fee Legal Services & the Rise of Fractional General Counsel w/ Ryan Hurley of Litix Legal - AZ TRT S07 EP08 (290) 5-28-2026       Things We Learned This Week Small businesses still need sophisticated legal strategy Even companies with only 5–10 employees need governance, operating agreements, cap tables, and employment structures built correctly from day one. The traditional legal billing mod...

High Growth, Higher Risk: The Business of Cannabis w/ Melissa Diaz of Highrock Accounting - AZ TRT S07 EP07 (289) 4-12-2026       What We Learned This Week Cannabis Companies Are Taxed on Gross Margin Because of 280E, they can't deduct ordinary business expenses — creating massive tax burdens. Federal Classification Drives Everything Schedule I status impacts taxation, banking, regulation, and inv...

From Clinical Need to Market: How Medical Devices Are Built w/ Stuart Broyles of MDM2 - AZ TRT S07 EP06 (288) 3-29-2026       What We Learned This Week:  Medical devices can take a decade to reach patients Bringing a medical device to market isn't quick. Phoenix is quietly becoming a major MedTech hub The Valley has a growing cluster of medical technology companies including: The biggest risk in m...

Designing Disruption: Electric Motor Bikes for Your Lifestyle w/ Tim Seward of Onyx Motors - AZ TRT S07 EP05 (287) 3-15-2026       Things We Learned This Week Friction Creates Opportunity - Tim's parking problem in San Francisco sparked the entire company. Build the Prototype First - Instead of over-pitching, he built it, rode it, and let the market validate it. Disruption Requires Bold Engineerin...

  Aging in Place: Safety, Technology, & Dignity w/ Drew Siefried of TruBlue Ally - AZ TRT S07 EP04 (286) 3-1-2026       Things We Learned This Week ·          America is aging rapidly - By 2030, 1 in 5 Americans will be over 65. ·          Most seniors want to stay in their homes - More than 80% of older adults prefer aging in place rather than moving to assisted living. ·          Technology is t...

Reinventing Retirement: The Future of the 401(k) w/ Ted Benna the Father of the 401k - AZ TRT S07 EP03 (285) 2-22-2026       Things We Learned This Week ·          The 401(k) Was Almost an Accident - A small 1978 tax provision turned into one of the most important financial innovations in modern history. ·          Regulation Built the Framework - The original law was only two pages. The real stru...

AZ TRT 2.0 - Solving the Worlds Problems through Design w/ Celeste Wilson of Form180 - AZ TRT S07 EP02 (285) 2-8-2026       Things We Learned This Week ·          People Are Remodeling Instead of Moving With rising home and land prices, homeowners are choosing to invest in their current homes—upgrading, expanding, and modernizing rather than starting over somewhere new. ·          Home Offices Are...

  Cybersecurity, Ransomware, + AI Usage Guardrails w/ Gary Perkins of CISO Global - AZ TRT S07 EP01 (284) 1-18-2026         What We Learned This Week: ·          Most cyber attacks are preventable Basic controls, training, and awareness can stop the majority of threats. ·          Humans are both the weakest link and the strongest defense Ongoing education and awareness turn employees into an effe...

  Pickleball & the Growth of Sports Enterprises & Investment   w/   Evan Floersch of the Texas Ranchers Pickleball Team - AZ TRT S06 EP21 (283) 11-23-2025           What We Learned This Week: 1. Pickleball is now fully professionalized with a unified league structure. The merger of PPA + MLP created a stable, closed league system with real team economics, structured seasons, and national distribut...

  Startups from Funding to Community   w/ Daniela Santagelo of Freeway - AZ TRT S06 EP15 (277) 10-19-2025       What We Learned This Week: Freeway - Helping Startups - Talent • Capital • Community Talent Retention & Reinvestment are key to building a Flywheel Phoenix Tech Ecosystem is growing, but not yet mature Always need more VC Funding + Deal Flow Government Partnership as enabler for Tech    ...

  AZ Bio Week & Life Sciences Innovation w/   Joan Koerber-Walker - AZ TRT S06 EP19 (281) 10-12-2025   Things We Learned This Week AZ Bio mission to improve life and bioscience,  & make AZ a Top Ten Bioscience state AZ Bio Week 2025 - Oct. - 5 Days Talks, Events & Awards AZ Advances - nonprofit donation to biotech startups Aqualung T herapeutics is treating inflammation in the lungs, get people of...

Offense + Defense: The 90-Second Plan to Retire Without Fear - Balance growth and guaranteed income to protect your lifestyle — and never worry about running out of money.   - AZ TRT S06 EP18 (280) 9-21-2025               What We Learned This Week ·          Offense + Defense is the Key to Wealth Financial freedom isn't just about hustling harder or chasing returns — it's about balancing offense (...

Inside Real Estate Syndication Investing: Returns, Risks, & Opportunity Zones w/ Adam Gower of GowerCrowd   - AZ TRT S06 EP17 (279) 9-7-2025       What We Learned This Week: Real estate syndications let accredited investors pool money with a sponsor to buy large properties. Investors earn preferred returns, dividends, and tax perks like depreciation and 1031 exchanges. These deals are illiquid, lo...

The New Wave of AI-First SaaS Companies Serving SMBs w/ Cooper Simson of Martell Ventures - AZ TRT S06 EP16 (278) 8-24-2025       What We Learned This Week: ·          Political & product risk can kill a business overnight. ·          AI is lowering barriers to software creation while eliminating low-value roles. ·          SMBs are ripe for AI adoption, especially in workflow automation & marketi...

Cybersecurity & Compliance   w/ Paige Hanson of Secure Labs - AZ TRT S06 EP15 (277) 8-17-2025       What We Learned This Week: A cybersecurity breach can cost more than just data—it can damage infrastructure and destroy client confidence. Even smaller companies (50–100 employees) need structured safeguards, compliance, and often outside MSSPs to stay secure. Secure Labs provides a roadmap for comp...

Voxify: AI Voice Assistant for Small Business w/ David Duguan   - AZ TRT S06 EP14 (276) 8-3-2025       What We Learned This Week AI Assistant software Aurora for phones Small Business are overwhelmed with many aspects of business from sales to customer service Bad Customer Service costs $ in lost revenue AI Adoption by business is growing as they go from not knowing, to known David is from Ghana i...

Business Lessons from the Movies - The Founder & the Start of McDonalds   - AZ TRT S06 EP13 (275) 7-27-2025              What We Learned This Week: Speedee Service System - assembly line approach invents the fast-food industry, replicated to this day What Business Are You In? - McDonald's is a Real Estate Company w/ an estimated $42B in Real Estate Holdings It's the Name, McDonald's - Branding - f...

Tech Productivity to AI to Cybersecurity to Sports Cars - Best of Tech 1st half 2025   - AZ TRT S06 EP12 (274) 7-6-2025       What We Learned This Week ChatGPT is an AI chatbot, developed by OpenAI, that can engage in human-like conversations Obvious Future is building Machine Learning (AI) programs to be used onsite for a business Oilstain Lab creates high end retro futuristic designer sports car...

  LiquidTrust: A New Era of Cross-Border Payment Protection for Small Business w/ Saujin Yi - AZ TRT S06 EP11 (273) 6-29-2025       What We Learned This Week ·          SMBs Face Major Risk in Cross-Border Payments Small businesses are exposed to significant risk when dealing with international suppliers, lacking the same protections that consumers receive. ·          Traditional Bank Wires Are Ou...

Health Insurance is Rigged & Controlled by the Big Companies w/ Donvan Ryckis of Ethos Benefits   - AZ TRT S06 EP10 (272) 6-15-2025               What We Learned This Week Health Insurance is primarily run by the Big 4 - BUCA: Blue Cross United Healthcare, CIGNA, Aetna To Insurance Co's – Premium = Revenue, and they are not going lower profits, so no incentive to lower costs Health insurance emplo...

  5 Types of Income to Create Infinite Income   - AZ TRT S06 EP09 (271) 5-25-2025               What We Learned This Week Multiple Streams of Income strategy 5 Types of Income – Career, Investment, Retirement Account, Pension, Tax Free Diversification of income provides you security and freedom Build Infinite Income thru initial investment, and profits pay off loans, then go on forever George Luca...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – how the Algorithm Connects Us All Revisited AZ TRT 2.0 – S06 EP08 (270) 5-11-2025   What We Learned This Week: AI is inter-connected with so many technologies & you use AI often on a daily basis AI is a part of almost all industries from Healthcare, Finance to Defense Human in the Loop - humans will always be needed to Interpret the Data, but AI will assist Software...

AI Arms Race from ChatGPT to Deepseek - AZ TRT S06 EP08 (269) 4-20-2025               What We Learned This Week AI Arms Race is real with the major tech co's involved ChatGPT by OpenAI is considering the top chat AI program Google has Gemini (was Bard), Microsoft has CoPilot, Amazon has Claude / Alexa Deepseek is a startup from China that has disrupted AI landscape with a more cost effective AI mo...