Between Fires and Futures: Real Conversations for Tech Leaders Navigating What’s Now—and What’s Next

What if the technology decision that saved your company money three years ago is the very thing slowing your growth today? In this season two finale of Between Fires and Futures , Tonya sits with Corey Wisdon to unpack one of the biggest hidden problems in mid-market IT: the long-term cost of “cheap and fast” infrastructure decisions. Corey shares the story of a $3 million enterprise deployment th...

AI is moving fast, but most leaders aren’t talking enough about the human side of what this moment is actually creating inside organizations: fear, uncertainty, imposter syndrome, and the pressure to adapt in real time.  In this conversation, Tonya sits down with leadership coach and business strategist Raheela Nanji to unpack what leadership really looks like in the AI era and why the biggest cha...

AI is accelerating cybersecurity threats faster than most organizations are prepared for, and this episode will challenge the way you think about security, visibility, and prevention in the age of AI. In this conversation, Tonya sits down with cybersecurity strategist John Fraser to unpack how AI is exposing security gaps inside organizations and why traditional “detect and respond” models are no...

If flexible work feels like the future but your infrastructure still feels stuck in the past, this episode is going to challenge how you think about connectivity, security, and control. In this conversation, Tonya sits down with Jess Jorgensen, founder and CEO of Go Roam Tech and Blush Technology Group, to unpack what’s really happening as work becomes untethered from place. From RVs and remote ca...

If AI feels like the right move but you’re still not seeing results, this episode reframes where the real problem is. In this conversation, Tonya sits down with Ray LaMarca, Director of Solutions Engineering at NetApp, to unpack why most AI initiatives stall out before they ever deliver value. It’s not the tools. It’s the foundation underneath them. They break down what’s actually going wrong behi...

If AI feels like the biggest opportunity (and risk) in your business right now, this episode reframes the conversation in a way most leaders are missing: it’s not an AI problem, it’s a data problem—and more importantly, it’s a thinking problem. In this conversation, Tonya sits down with Richard Walker, founder and CEO of Quick, to unpack what’s really driving outcomes in the AI era. Drawing on dec...

If telecom sits underneath everything in your business but rarely gets attention, this episode pulls back the curtain on why that invisibility is exactly where cost, inefficiency, and risk quietly accumulate. In this conversation, Tonya sits down with Stephen Hancock, founder and president of Socium IT, to unpack why telecom is one of the most overlooked (and under-optimized) layers inside IT. The...

If last week’s conversation challenged the way you think about cybersecurity discipline, this episode pushes that conversation into even more urgent territory: AI. In this continuation, Tonya sits down again with Scott Alldridge to unpack what happens when innovation outpaces governance. As organizations rapidly adopt AI tools—often without oversight—new risks emerge beneath the surface. From hidd...

If your organization believes it has “implemented zero trust” but things still feel uncertain beneath the surface, this episode challenges that assumption and reveals why cybersecurity gaps are often rooted in discipline, not tools. In this conversation, Tonya sits down with Scott Alldridge to unpack what he calls the “zero trust illusion” and why most organizations overestimate their cybersecurit...

If your IT initiatives keep stalling even with the right strategy, this episode pulls back the curtain on what’s really happening underneath and why talent decisions, not technology, are often the root cause. In this conversation, Tonya sits down with Clayton Dinger, a specialist in enterprise IT staffing who works behind the scenes with leaders navigating high-stakes delivery gaps. Drawing from y...

If you are a woman in tech leadership quietly wondering why success still feels exhausting, this episode names the invisible forces shaping that experience and what it actually takes to rise without burning out. In this conversation, Tonya sits down with engineering leader and leadership coach Jossie Haines, whose career includes leadership roles at Apple, Tile, and American Express. Today, she he...

If you are selling to IT leaders and wondering why your outreach is getting ignored, this episode explains the real shift happening inside enterprise buying: the modern IT buyer no longer needs a pitch. They need a partner. In this conversation, Tonya sits down with Global Consulting Group’s Lara Mayes, April Armijo, and Leslie Bonsett to unpack how enterprise technology buying has changed and why...

If you are a CIO, CTO, or IT leader who secured the AI budget but still are not seeing meaningful ROI, this episode names the real issue: adoption is the constraint. In this conversation, Tonya sits down with Robyn Anderson, AI adoption strategist and founder of JM AI, who has spent more than 20 years leading sales-driven growth and digital transformation. Robyn brings a practical operator’s lens...

If you are a CISO or IT leader who has invested in tools, training, and compliance programs yet still feels exposed, this episode confronts the uncomfortable truth: security doesn’t fail because of technology. It fails because of trust. In this conversation, Tonya sits down with Robert Siciliano, security expert, private investigator, and bestselling author with more than 30 years studying how cri...

If you are an IT leader feeling buried under nonstop urgency, executive AI mandates, rising security risk, and shrinking capacity, this episode speaks directly to the tension you are carrying.   In this conversation, Tonya sits down with Manuel Ruiz, a seasoned technology leader with decades of experience across enterprise environments including IBM and Sony, to explore how IT leaders can move fas...

If you are an IT leader carrying constant urgency, invisible pressure, and expectations that keep shifting faster than your organization can stabilize, this episode names what most leaders are experiencing but rarely talk about.   In this conversation, Tonya sits down with Dave Zaron, founder of Sovereign Leadership, to explore the human side of leadership under sustained pressure. Rather than foc...

If you still think AI is something your organization can “watch for another year,” this episode will change your mind. To open season two of Between Fires & Futures , Tonya welcomes back Allen Clingerman, Chief Technology Strategist at Dell, for a grounded, no-hype conversation about what has actually changed in AI since last spring and why 2026 is the year experimentation officially gives way...

If you’ve ever renewed an MSP contract while thinking, “This partnership isn’t working…but I don’t have the energy to fix it,” this episode is the one you’ve been waiting for.   In today’s conversation, Tonya sits down with Zack Aleksic, CTO and Principal Solutions Architect at Z7 Solutions, a firm trusted by public and private sector organizations for enterprise-grade cybersecurity, cloud, disast...

If you think you know IBM, this conversation will change that.   In this episode, Tonya sits down with Josh Kropf, Director for IBM Americas (Arrow), for a candid, energizing, myth-busting look at what it really takes for a 114-year-old tech giant to reinvent itself and why IBM’s transformation is one of the most compelling stories in enterprise technology right now.   From AI to hybrid cloud to a...

In this episode, Tonya sits down with Michelle Tinsley, CEO of Sciata, to cut through the noise and finally get honest about what it really takes to do AI right inside a modern organization. With 30 years of experience across Intel, startups, private equity, fundraising, M&A, and deep technical leadership, Michelle brings one of the most grounded, practical, and operationally experienced persp...

In this episode, Tonya sits down with Zack Aleksic, Founder and CTO of Z7 Solutions, to explore the evolving battlefield of cybersecurity—and what it really means to lead when attackers are already inside the walls. With more than 30 years of experience designing mission-critical infrastructure for government, defense, and enterprise organizations, Zack brings a rare dual perspective: a former tee...

In this episode, Tonya sits down with Josh Einstein , Cloud Architect, Software Developer, and AI Engineer at ConRes IT Solutions . With over two decades of experience spanning the dot-com boom, telecommunications, and now artificial intelligence, Josh has built solutions for emerging technologies long before they hit the mainstream. Today, he helps organizations design and deploy the next generat...

In this episode, Tonya sits down with Justin Young—Chief Technology Officer at Commercial Tool Group . With more than 25 years in IT leadership, Justin has navigated both large enterprise environments and mid-size manufacturing—where the risks are just as big, but the resources are often much smaller. He’s built his career on one central belief: cyber resilience isn’t about the latest tools—it’s a...

In this episode, Tonya sites down with Mike Lyles—Head of IT at Maxwell Leadership, keynote speaker, certified coach, and author of The Drive-Thru Is Not Always Faster . With more than 30 years of experience leading Fortune 50 IT teams, Mike has built organizations from the ground up and coached leaders across the globe. But what sets him apart isn’t just his credentials—it’s the way his people de...

In this episode of Tonya sits down with leadership visionary Leslie Ann Keeler to explore what it means to lead in an era defined by rapid AI innovation and constant change. With nearly two decades of experience guiding founders, executives, and teams through complexity, Leslie blends neuroscience, psychology, and ancient wisdom to help leaders embody the qualities AI cannot replace: presence, emo...