The CTO Show with Mehmet Gonullu

In this episode of The CTO Show with Mehmet , I’m joined by Ahmad Saleem , Founder and CEO of Podyssey . Ahmad’s journey is anything but linear. From working as a geologist in mining and natural resources to earning a PhD in economics, moving into private equity, and eventually founding an AI startup, his path reflects deep curiosity, resilience, and systems thinking. We dive into why podcast disc...

Agentic AI is moving faster than enterprise readiness. Boards are pushing adoption. Teams are deploying agents at speed. But security, control, and operational discipline are lagging behind. In this episode, Mehmet sits down with Craig McLuckie , the co-creator of Kubernetes and founder of Stacklok, to unpack why most agentic AI initiatives break after the demo and what enterprises must do differe...

In this episode, Mehmet sits down with Ghazenfer Mansoor , Founder and CEO of Technology Rivers, to unpack why so many software products fail quietly and what actually separates ideas that ship and scale from those that die early. Drawing on two decades of experience and over 60 shipped applications, Ghazenfer shares hard-earned lessons on customer discovery, feature bloat, technical debt, AI with...

In this episode of The CTO Show with Mehmet , Mehmet sits down with Michael Ferranti , a seasoned tech executive and product leader at Unleash , to explore why DevOps alone can no longer meet the reliability, speed, and risk demands of modern software systems. From real-world outages at Google and Cloudflare to the rise of AI-driven delivery, this conversation introduces FeatureOps as the missing...

In this episode, Mehmet Gonullu sits down with Nat Natarajan , Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer at Globalization Partners, to explore what it really takes to deploy AI in highly regulated environments. From labor laws and compliance across dozens of countries to human-in-the-loop AI systems, Nat shares how Globalization Partners built explainable, trustworthy AI that enterprises c...

AI models are becoming commoditized, but deploying AI systems that deliver real ROI remains hard. In this episode, Mehmet sits down with Bryan Wood , Principal Architect at Snorkel AI , to unpack why data-centric AI, evaluation, and domain expertise are now the true differentiators. Bryan shares lessons from working with frontier AI labs and highly regulated enterprises, explains why most AI proje...

Live events generate massive attention, yet most venues have no idea who is actually attending. In this episode, Mehmet Gonullu sits down with Matt Zarracina , CEO and Co-Founder of True Tickets , to unpack the hidden infrastructure problem behind ticketing, identity, and audience ownership. Matt shares how legacy ticketing systems optimized for transactions, not relationships, and why “shadow aud...

In this episode of The CTO Show with Mehmet , I’m joined by Ahikam Kaufman , Co-Founder and CEO of Safebooks.ai, a seasoned finance executive turned entrepreneur with deep experience across startups, public companies, and large-scale acquisitions. We explore why finance has lagged behind other functions in digital transformation, how AI is fundamentally reshaping financial governance, and why the...

In this episode of The CTO Show with Mehmet , I sit down with Khaled Nazif , COO of DSquares , one of the most influential yet quietly powerful enterprise loyalty platforms in the MENA region. Khaled shares his journey from Stanford and Silicon Valley back to the region, where he helped scale DSquares into a 150M+ end-user platform serving banks, telcos, governments, and large enterprises across 1...

In this episode of The CTO Show with Mehmet , I’m joined by Alex Schlager , Founder and CEO of AIceberg , a company operating at the intersection of AI, cybersecurity, and explainability. We dive deep into why AI agents fundamentally change enterprise risk , how shadow AI is spreading across organizations, and why monitoring black-box models with other black boxes is a dangerous mistake. Alex expl...

Raising capital looks easy from the outside. In reality, it is one of the most misunderstood parts of building a startup. In this episode, Mehmet sits down with Daniel Nikic , a global investment researcher who has analyzed over 15,000 companies across the US, Europe, and the Middle East . Together, they unpack the hard truths founders need to understand about fundraising, investor psychology, mar...

In this episode, Gabriel Jarrosson, founder and managing partner at Lobster Capital, breaks down what truly drives breakout startups inside the world’s most competitive ecosystem. Before becoming a YC-focused investor, Gabriel built seven startups, failed four, and bootstrapped one to one million ARR alone — no co-founder, no employees, no AI. Today he invests exclusively in YC companies and share...

In this episode, Kingsley Maunder breaks down one of the most overlooked aspects of startup building: proper validation. With over two decades in the startup ecosystem, building products used by Disney, EA Sports, Snap, and more, Kingsley shares the hard-won lessons behind his framework, The SALT Test . We explore how founders can turn raw ideas into validated products, avoid the assumption trap,...

In this conversation, Colin opens the curtain on how Sheets & Giggles became a breakout DTC success by doing things differently: selling before building, leaning into humor, making bold brand decisions, and prioritizing community and impact over hype. This episode is packed with practical lessons for founders navigating uncertainty, fundraising, pricing strategy, brand identity, and the deeper...

Mark Donnigan has spent decades helping deep tech and video technology startups translate complex products into commercial traction. In this conversation, we cover why early stage companies must stay lean, how to diagnose GTM confusion, and what AI first marketing looks like in practice. We also dig into the new buyer journey in B2B, why content is a serious competitive advantage, and why founder...

In this conversation, Mehmet is joined by Gerald Beuchelt and Subu Rao , two cybersecurity leaders from Acronis , to unpack the evolving threat landscape, the rise of AI in both offense and defense, and why cyber resilience has become a board-level priority. They break down what CISOs need to know, how MSPs can create new value, and what frameworks actually work in the real world. If you want a cl...

In this episode, Mehmet sits down with Radhika Dutt , author of Radical Product Thinking , to explore why OKRs and traditional performance frameworks often collapse under the realities of modern work. Radhika introduces OLA , a new approach built on puzzle-solving, continuous learning, and adaptability — designed for today’s fast-moving product, engineering, and startup environments. Together, the...

In this conversation, Jonathan breaks down the real state of AI adoption in GTM, why most revenue teams are still “stuck in the basics,” and how leaders can shift from dashboards to intelligence. He explains why CRM data hygiene is dead, how operational AI works behind the scenes, and what it truly means to run an AI native revenue team. From first principles thinking to reinvented GTM playbooks,...

In this episode, Mehmet sits down with Dr. Nico Augustin, Head of Research and Expeditions at OceanQuest, to uncover the mysteries of the deep ocean. From unexpected discoveries in the Atlantic to cutting edge underwater robotics, Dr. Nico reveals how little we know about the world beneath us and why the deep sea remains one of Earth’s last unexplored frontiers. The conversation covers the science...

In this episode, Mehmet sits down with Harish Chandramowli , Head of AI at Good Day Software, to explore how AI is reshaping the future of fashion, retail, and e-commerce operations. Harish shares his journey from cybersecurity engineering at Bloomberg and cloud security at MongoDB to building fashion-specific AI tools that solve real operational pain points around data chaos, messy workflows, and...

In this episode, Mehmet sits down with VC and author Ben Wiener to unpack one of the most practical, founder-friendly pitching frameworks in the startup world today. Ben is the creator of the HEART Framework and the author of the bestselling business fable Fever Pitch . He breaks down why most pitches fail, how investors actually think, and how founders can use storytelling to turn curiosity into...

In this powerful conversation, Wesley Eugene, SVP North America at HIT Global, joins Mehmet to explore a new framework for technology leadership. They go deep into human centered design, why digital transformations fail, how AI forces us to rethink what it means to work, and why empathy is now a competitive advantage. Wesley draws from years of experience in digital transformation, design thinking...

In this episode, Luv Kapur joins Mehmet to break down how composability is reshaping modern engineering. Luv is an engineering leader at Bit, working across their open source and enterprise platforms, and one of the earliest advocates for modular, reusable software as a way to unlock scale. They explore why composability matters, how modular systems speed up delivery, and the cultural shift requir...

In this powerful conversation, Christina Richardson — serial founder, resilience researcher, and founder of Foundology — joins Mehmet to unpack the real psychological journey of entrepreneurship. Christina shares the story behind her 2 AM wake-up call that wasn’t a heart attack but a full nervous system collapse. That moment led her to study over 400 founders, uncover patterns of burnout, and buil...

Digital transformation isn’t about technology — it’s about leadership, culture, and execution. In this episode, veteran CTO and transformation expert Tory Bjorklund joins Mehmet to debunk hype-driven transformation, explain why most initiatives fail, and share his proven framework for executing technology-driven change that sticks. Whether you’re scaling a startup or modernizing a large enterprise...