Peggy Smedley Show

Peggy Smedley talks about how AR (augmented reality) is impacting the retail sector. She explains AR will be adopted where it will provide the most value and it will explode in this sector in the next several years. She adds that Wal-Mart is leading the way in adopting AR technologies. She says now the company is taking its VR (virtual reality) initiatives further, leveraging headsets that make le...

Peggy and Chris Westfall, author, Leadership Language: Using Authentic Communication to Drive Results, talk about communication, and he says just because you say something doesn't mean you should. Communication is key to success or unintended consequences. If you want to create a message with impact, you have to focus on leadership language. He points to a statistic: 69% of managers surveyed were...

Peggy is joined by Carol Bartucci, president, Crisp Consulting, who says her goal is to really help people with IT—including developing a strategy and planning. She says companies can do a five-year plan, but they have to be constantly reevaluating it. She says it is good to do pilots and proofs of concept and it is essential to have integration with existing systems. The reality is people don't l...

Peggy Smedley says research suggests the global blockchain in energy market will grow tremendously in the next decade. For example, in countries like Japan, utilities are testing blockchain tech to determine the value it can offer. She also says there are seven different uses for this technology in energy. She adds that blockchain can help address some of the core challenges in the healthcare indu...

Peggy and Elise Keith, co-founder, Lucid Meetings, and author of "Where the Action Is: The Meetings that Make or Break Your Organization", discuss meetings. Keith says every aspect of our world is moving faster, and thus we need to bring the people together. For many, meetings are just something that people do—it is not something leaders get training in. She suggests that is not always safe. Some...

Peggy chats with Senthil Ramakrishnan, lead member of technical staff in AT&T's Internet of Things organization, who says one of the first steps with cybersecurity is understanding what IoT is—and it starts at the c-level. The primary mistake companies make is they deploy IoT without understanding the difference between IT and IoT. Often, they don't include the new cybersecurity challenges that th...

Peggy Smedley says too many businesses are undergoing an IoT (Internet of Things) transformation lack a cybersecurity understanding. She says cybersecurity is the c-suite's job too, suggesting responsibility for risk starts at the top and involves everyone. She encourages c-suite executives to engage themselves in cybersecurity and the company's digital transformation. She also looks at cyber insu...

Peggy and Christian Crews, foresight and transformative growth lead, Kalypso, talk about what happens when IoT devices get abandoned by technology developers. He says there are two levels: if you are a company buyer versus if you are an end consumer. He asks: Is it core to the value you are delivering or is it context—something that is allowing you to deliver value separately. If it is core, you n...

Peggy chats with Ben Dolmar, director of software development, The Nerdery, about how people getting into the IoT space look at technology and what they could do. He suggests looking at the needs and the workflow—and then measuring and streamlining. When you go to bring something like this to market, start with a plan and then do research, he says, and next test with groups of people. Then as the...

Peggy Smedley tells the story of smart-home devices that were left orphaned in many people's home. She talks about the fallout when technology is abandoned as a result of mergers and acquisitions. She says the FCC sums it up, when it listed the questions IoT businesses should ask itself. Security is another big concern with orphaned technology, as vulnerability could put consumers' lives at risk....

Peggy and Josh Peschel, assistant professor, agricultural and biosystems engineering, Iowa State University, says we have been seeing orphaned technology for decades. In some respects, it depends on which part of the technology market, as little guys are more innovative, but have technology that disappears tomorrow, while the big guys are able to absorb those things. An ecosystem enables a company...

Peggy chats with Mobeen Khan, AVP product marketing management Internet of Things Solutions, AT&T, who says the cadre of customers and the customer interaction was just amazing at the AT&T Business Summit last month. Also, he explains that AT&T is becoming very embedded in different verticals. He says the challenges faced by each vertical is different in nature. For example, fleets need to comply...

Peggy Smedley says we can expect 12.86 billion IoT sensors and devices to be in use by 2020 in the consumer sector alone, and vertical-specific sensors and devices will exceed 3 billion by 2020, but she says the IoT has to work to do before it starts living up to all the hype. She explains that as an industry, we need to be really meticulous and slightly cautious when bringing IoT devices and solu...

Peggy wraps up the show by talking with Robin Raskin, founder, Living in Digital Times, who explains says users get frustrated when each device requires an app of its own. She reveals that there are already more devices than humans on the planet. As an example, a thermostat can be set, or it can learn behaviors about you and can save you money and time. The new generation of IoT devices will have...

Peggy chats with Heikki Laine, VP of product & strategy, Cognata, who says the company was founded two years ago, offering technology for autonomous vehicle testing. Autonomous vehicles have huge potential to increase safety on the road and improve mobility, but in order to keep that momentum and maintain public support, there is a lot that needs to go on beyond just technology, he explains. We ne...

Peggy Smedley says there is a lot happening in the world of AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning. She's a big fan of making technology available to more people, saying more companies are using resources and taking a look at sustainability. She is also looking forward to how big companies are going to tackle issues with help of AI, machine learning, and IoT (Internet of Things). The Io...

Peggy is joined by Chris Penrose, president, Internet of Things, AT&T Business, and James Brehm, founder and chief technology evangelist, James Brehm & Associates, who identify the biggest hurdles of the IoT including security, integrating IoT into business, scaling IoT, and lack of talent. Penrose explains how AT&T is helping manage security end-to-end. They also talk about the trends going forwa...

Peggy Smedley chats with Chris Penrose, president, Internet of Things, AT&T Business, and James Brehm, founder and chief technology evangelist, James Brehm & Associates, about the approval of new LPWA network technologies and the verticals seeing the most IoT (Internet of Things) penetration including connected car, healthcare, retail, smart cities, and more. They also discuss the AT&T Foundry and...

Peggy and Christian Crews, foresight and transformative growth lead, Kalypso, says success is being able to leverage datasets and get new sets of data coming into the product development lifecycle. He adds that now we are starting to get data out to end of life and warranty issues are just the beginning. We are now getting a closed-loop innovation cycle, he says. He explains we are going to need t...

Peggy talks with Kiva Allgood, chief commercial development officer, GE Ventures, who says she grew up on a farm and the phone did one thing, but now a phone does many things. In the consumer realm, a device serves multiple purposes—and this is beginning to extend to industrial. She says every industry has its own unique set of data and collecting data is more difficult than anticipated, but techn...

Peggy Smedley answers the questions: Can artificial intelligence brew a better beer and can machine learning make better cannabis-related recommendations? She explains that there are a number of applications for AI and machine learning and they are changing the game for manufacturing. She says one of the greatest opportunities for manufacturing is to create personalized products, with manufacturin...

Peggy and Jeremy Hitchcock, founder and CEO, Minim, talk about the DDoS attack against Dyn in October 2016, which served as the inspiration for Minim. He says the number of connected devices installed in our home is growing, but they are not necessarily put together with the best software. He says the best thing manufacturers can do is make sure their devices auto-update by default. He explains it...

Peggy speaks with Chad Markle, partner, Kalypso, about connected manufacturing, who says manufacturing has relied on advancing technologies to get a competitive edge. Manufacturers are used to exploring technologies and are focused on ROI, he explains. He adds that the focus in the beginning is to find an enlightened executive and then develop a solid strategy. He suggests keeping it small in the...

Peggy Smedley takes a moment to pause and remember the deadly attacks of September 11, outlining who a first responder is and the goal of using technology, which is to set first responders up for success by giving them the best resources available to perform their duties. She also says there are some exciting new applications of connected technologies that can help people get help in times of need...

Peggy and Joshua Peschel, assistant professor, agriculture and biosystems engineering, Iowa State University, says some of the most interesting things going on are with small-scale manufacturing—and these manufacturers need to have access to AI (artificial intelligence) and robotics. He explains it is important because it is going to allow them to get into some new and different markets. He adds t...