Politely Pushy with Eric Chemi

Imagine this: You’re at a physician appointment. In the background, innovative technology documents your conversation and creates accurate notes for your physician to reference later. Need a prescription? Ambient clinical intelligence (ACI) works alongside a generative AI program to deliver appropriate and available prescription treatments that match your insurance requirements, all without pullin...

The 2024 awards season is right around the corner, and winning is on the brain.  If you’re preparing to submit for upcoming industry awards, there’s no one better to consult than PR industry veteran and awards secret weapon Betsy Quinn.  Betsy has dedicated her career to zeroing in on the “why” behind the work. Her expertise in informing and directing brand strategy and messaging led her to establ...

And with that, the 2023 season comes to an end. But what’s the benefit of jumping into the new year without proper reflection of the past 365 days? Ken Jacobs returns to the Politely Pushy podcast to give a masterclass in leadership. In his conversation with Eric, Ken discusses the steps to lead through a downturn expertly – something many leaders have faced this year. The PR, communications, and...

When Jonathan Evans, Founder of KinectAir, isn’t building software that charters Pilatus PC-12 aircraft on a KinectAir flight, he’s chatting with Eric on a new Politely Pushy episode. Jonathan dives into the novelty of regional air mobility and the niche KinectAir occupies in on-demand private charter: accessibility and decreased environmental impact. He also explains how a strong team behind the...

Data privacy, ESG, AI? Laurence Evans of Reputation Leaders and Eric cover it all and more on today’s Politely Pushy episode! AI has veered its head once more, this time as a major ESG issue - I know, we’re as surprised as you are. According to Laurence, AI has proven to be more of an opportunity than a threat with limitless possibilities, but the question on everyone’s mind really is: What is AI...

Dan Head is the brand new CEO of Phrasee, the AI-based digital marketing company. One of the first things on his to-do list: a sit down with Politely Pushy.   Dan tells Eric why he took the job, what his role as CEO will be, and the priorities he’ll be focusing on. He also explains where he thinks the future is for brands and AI companies alike, along with some of the obstacles that still exist de...

We’re joined today by Adriel Sanchez from WalkMe. Adriel is ready to talk shop…and how we should view the hype around AI. He shares the concerns of many about what all-automated-everything might mean for our future. Adriel explains that we’re not that far off from a very transformative experience. That’s where WalkMe comes in. The company has been in the change management business for a while, hel...

If you’ve ever been a victim of data hacking or a privacy leak, this one’s for you! Today we’re talking about data privacy with Ryan Lasmaili, CEO of Vaultree. Ryan is driven to solve major cybersecurity problems with his biggest undertaking to date: solving today’s and tomorrow’s data encryption and protection challenges. With a background in financial mathematics, how did he come to be the perso...

After years of working in the real estate industry, Thomas Ma saw the shift toward large proptech and decided to develop a new way for agents to showcase their listings. REAL Messenger (REAL) is the No. 1 social app for real estate, and Thomas’ goal, he says, is to make agents’ lives easier. One way that REAL is shaking up the space is adding a video feature to listings that give buyers more than...

Our conversation with Sheena Iyengar is a lesson in creativity and power. Sheena is an author, professor and “expert on choice and decision-making.” Her book "Think Bigger: How to innovate" has just been released, after her breakthrough award-winner "The Art of Choosing". Today she speaks with Eric about how to maximize your potential, the importance of finding out what happens...

Bospar’s Curtis Sparrer and Cannes’ most famous drag queen Michael Sanchez AKA  Holly White are both joining us on today’s episode of Politely Pushy. When Curtis attended Cannes Lions last year, he noticed there wasn’t any LGBTQIA+ nightclubs for attendees. This year, he took a page from Bospar’s tech clients (who are always looking to meet a need) and launched a pop-up LGTBQIA+ bar for anyone int...

Today we’re tackling a new subject for Politely Pushy: fertility and family planning. “It’s a human experience,” says Tamar Knoller when speaking about infertility. It’s not just for the LGBTQIA+ community, or for 40-year old women, and that’s a myth that HRC Fertility is fighting to debunk. Other myths: IVF is expensive and inaccessible, and infertility is just a female issue. In fact, 30% of inf...

We’re joined this week by Brendon Craigie, founder of Tyto PR. Tyto is an international PR agency, and much like Bospar, has operated as a remote agency even before COVID. So what made Brendon decide to build a fully remote company? He knew he could create a better way of running a business. He also found that the best way to make his employees care is to give them power, or a pride of ownership....

Wondering what’s going on with the banking crisis? Thankfully, Simon Grunfeld is here to shed some light on the situation, including some of the differences between the various bank closures. In this episode of Politely Pushy, he talks about Web3 and what it means for our money. According to Simon, Web3 is the “digital version of sticking it in the vault” (or under your mattress, in the cookie jar...

Elena Davidson, CEO of UK-based Liberty Comms and long-time Bospar friend, joins us this week in a long-overdue conversation about tech PR and how she’s preparing to face the upcoming economic crisis. The key to withstanding challenges, Elena says, is equal parts sticking to what you do best, but always being willing to adjust to changes. And while there are some noted differences in PR practices...

Aloha from Hawaii, with this week’s guest John Merrifield. Hailed as the “Don Draper of Asia,” John’s journey to working with brands like Adidas and Singapore Airlines actually started on the waves of the California coast. Though he’s done a lot of world-famous work in the ad world, he’ll tell you that he’s a surfer with an advertising problem, not the other way around. He loved to write from his...

What motivates people to do good work?   That’s the question on Jamie Aitken and Doug Dennerline’s mind as they tackle some of the American workforce’s most challenging problems. The answer, they discovered, is quickly changing due in large part to the pandemic. Luckily for us, they compiled their research in their new book “Make Work Better,” chronicling among other things: how great bosses lead,...

We’re joined today by Israel's “top marketer” Hillel Fuld, here to talk about working with tech startups and giants alike. Hillel says there’s only one thing he looks for before he embarks on a new journey with a company: good people. How quickly can he tell if people are good?, our host asks. “Within 30 seconds.” That, plus injecting humor into his work and life, are what keep Hillel on the...

Juda Englemayer is the crisis communications expert who takes on a lot of taboo clients that many people won’t touch. You have heard their famous names in the media. They are controversial and, dare we say, “unsavory” (our host says it for us) individuals. Juda doesn’t take these well-known, shunned people on as clients willy nilly; he sits down with a lawyer and with his intuition first to see if...

Today we have a fascinating discussion with Alex Zekoff, the CEO of Thoughtful. It’s interesting because bots have often gotten a bad or questionable rep. But here’s the thing: bots can be your friends in automation and helping humans organize and streamline their tasks, tackling that process and more at scale. Alex founded Thoughtful to employ intelligent bots that supercharge operations for orga...

Today we welcome Katie Banks to the podcast. Based out of Dublin, Katie is Nitro's vice president of global people and workplace. Nitro helps accelerate businesses globally through digital documents resulting in powerful productivity for all. Katie discusses how important it is for companies to look out for their employees and handle the most challenging human resource situations – like layof...

Today we welcome Shamir Karkal, Chief Strategy Officer of Sila , to the podcast. Sila means “strength” in Russian, and Shamir wants you to know that having a secure payments platform (using robust APIs) is vital in a world where software is delivered over the Internet. How does Sila ensure that this payment platform is entirely secure? How does it prevent fraud and identity theft? And how are user...

As they say in the U.K., today’s episode of Politely Pushy would best be accompanied by a “cuppa.” That is because Jon Geater sits down with our host and speaks to us in the most elegant Queen’s English (the royal majesty’s accent, that is – no reference to that borough in New York). Jon discusses how complexities related to the supply chain can compromise trust and how his company developed techn...

Shekar Ayyar is a CEO committed to delivering the best network architecture for clients, the “plumbing” underneath their 5G architecture. Words like “inflation” and “recession” don’t scare him; he considers himself an eternal optimist committed to meeting the needs of companies that have to keep up with 5G networks. He founded Arrcus to enhance business efficiency through superior network connecti...

Today we are joined by Stacy Quackenbush and Paige Dansinger, two women building “worlds” in the metaverse, providing people with the opportunity to learn and engage through virtual reality spaces. The metaverse hasn’t exactly gotten the greatest rep since Facebook changed its name. But Stacy and Paige explain how there is a lot of misinformation that abounds about this fascinating technological a...