TechChannel

Data and AI expert Dr. Fern Halper discusses how organizations should be addressing the risk of cognitive atrophy as machines take over human mental tasks. Dr. Halper, author of “Data Makes the World Go ‘Round: The Data, Tech, and Trust Behind AI Success,” has been thinking about AI since the 1990s, when she served as a lead analyst working on machine learning at Bell Labs. Currently, she advises...

In the final days of his COMMON Europe presidency, Juan Manuel Alcudia reflects on the challenges and triumphs of the last four years, the multicultural extravaganza that is COMMON Europe Congress 2026, and why European IBM Power shops are ahead when it comes to modernization. Then, he closes the conversation by explaining why communities like COMMON Europe might be all the more important as AI co...

Steve Bradshaw, a longtime member of the COMMON Europe Advisory Council (CEAC), joins Andy Wig on IT Social Hour to discuss the top priorities of the European Power community, how he helped bring the F8 key to IBM i, the challenges and joys of serving a diverse constituency, and how to make tech conferences pay for themselves.

The mainframe is already modern; it's the applications and mindsets that need to catch up—and organizations are increasingly recognizing this reality, says Mark Schettenhelm, a principal product manager at BMC working on DevEx products. The 45-year mainframe veteran joins Andy Wig on IT Social Hour to explain how mainframers' mindsets influence development outcomes, how those attitudes are changin...

Jaqui Lynch, a current IBM Power consultant and former mainframer, recounts how her sense of humor and work ethic helped her persevere in a male-dominated field.

John Rhodes, CTO at CM First Group, joins Andy Wig on IT Social Hour to look at the Q1 survey results of TechPulse, TechChannel's new micro-survey program. Rhodes provides insights on the rapid rise of AI as an essential technology, how technologies that lower barriers to entry help address the skills gap, and why some organizations put security on the back burner ... until they get burned.

Mike Schuett, marketing director at TL Ashford, joins Andy Wig to look at the first three months of TechChannel's new micro-survey program, TechPulse. As he inspects the results, Schuett provides his thoughts on the predominance of hybrid cloud, the challenges of posed by the skills gap, and the value of having a trusted centralized data source.

Niall Ashley, a technical consultant at Vertali, shares his unique perspective on the mainframe industry in this episode of IT Social Hour. Ashley describes his professional origins in the aerospace industry, the value of challenging the “because we’ve always done it this way” mentality, how mainframers are like bakers, and the mainframe’s past—and potentially future—role in the video game industr...

IBM i consultant Marius Le Roux joins Charlie Guarino on TechTalk SMB to discuss the friendly community surrounding IBM i, why authoring the IBM i 7.6 Redbook made him feel like a spy, why AI might one day be seen as an OS, and more.

Coming from an array of unique backgrounds, this collection of standout early-career technologists explain the keys to their success on IBM Power and IBM Z systems.

'IT Social Hour': Meet the 'Big Iron Bits' Team (Including Chaz and Reg!) by TechChannel

PC Richard & Son, an appliance and electronics retailer with 60 stores in the northeastern U.S., has about 35 developers on its IT team. And in this current age of job-hopping, they have an average tenure of just under 17 years with the company. Steve Wolk, the company's CTO and a distinguished IBM i evangelist, goes on TechTalk SMB to explain how other companies might enjoy similar success in att...

Megan Olson, software engineer and product manager at Fortra, joins Charlie Guarino on "TechTalk SMB" to discuss the critical role of mentorship in the IBM i community and the importance of building "unicorns," among other topics.

For this episode of TechTalk SMB, Charlie Guarino interviews worldwide thought leader on AI for IBM Power, Dr. Sebastian Lehrig. Dr. Lehrig describes unique value the Power platform provides for AI workloads and discusses the challenges many organizations are facing in moving pilots to production and achieving measurable ROI.

Dr. Joe Gulla, author of TechChannel's "z/OS and Friends" series, joins Andy Wig on IT Social Hour to discuss how he went from music theory major to mainframe devotee, why he still gets emotional about the mainframe, and why, at age 72, "z/Architecture Principals of Operation" still fills him with wonder.

"If we don't change voluntarily, we'll be forced to change." Executive leader and training coach Eddie Turner joins TechTalk SMB host Charlie Guarino to discuss how leaders can navigate this current era of disruption. Turner urges leaders to embrace change, avoid complacency and cultivate a "sixth sense" that can help them understand their new reality.

George Totev, chief information security officer at Trustero, joins Charlie Guarino on TechTalk SMB. He addresses the new security considerations accompanying the rise of AI, such as shadow AI and the ramifications of agentic AI, including its implications for proof of identity and hacking.

Brian Silverman, author of the TechChannel series, "The Business of AI," explains the factors that companies must consider as they develop a plan to leverage the capabilities of AI. Silverman also addresses the ethical considerations of AI implementation, IBM's AI focus and the way AI will impact businesses in the years to come.

In the latest episode of "IT Social Hour," Charlie Guarino, Dawn May and Liam Barry Allan tell us what it's like putting themselves out there as expert presenters.

The executive director of COMMON North America joins Charlie Guarino to provide an update on the user group, highlighting the community and familial atmosphere found at COMMON events and providing an overview of COMMON's international expansion.

NOVIPRO's Karoline Pierre has seen a lot on her personal journey from Brazil to Canada.

Scott Forstie of IBM i joins Charlie Guarino on TechTalk SMB to talk about enhancements in the new IBM i releases, including new SQL capabilities, improved authority collection for IFS and security advances such as MFA.

Modernization, a continuous process that goes beyond code re-writes, means many different things to many different people, IBM's Amy Anderson tells Charlie Guarino on TechTalk SMB.

Mainframers Reg Harbeck, Craig Mullins, Janet Sun and Sean Rooney explain the responsibilities and perks that come with being an IBM Champion and recount how they earned the distinction.

Duane Baer joins Reg Harbeck on TechTalk Enterprise to describe the 43 years he has spent running a mainframe consulting company, assisting clients with everything from installations to disaster recovery.