The Innovators Playbook

Artificial intelligence is transforming healthcare—but technology alone isn't innovation. In this episode of The Innovator's Playbook , Seth Narayanan speaks with Nick Yaitsky , former Chief AI Officer and Head of Enterprise Architecture at Wellstar, about what it really takes to bring AI into clinical environments. From agentic AI and clinical decision support to leadership, trust, and the future...

What separates market leaders from technically superior products that never gain traction? In this episode, Seth Narayanan sits down with Domenic Ravita, AI Product Marketing Leader at Teradata, to explore the intersection of technology innovation, go-to-market strategy, and the future of Agentic AI. Domenic shares lessons from his journey through Accenture, startups, TIBCO, SingleStore, and Terad...

Dr. Sajad Zalzala, physician, telehealth pioneer, and founder of the Optional Aging Academy, joins Seth Narayanan to explore how longevity is shifting from theory to practice. This conversation dives into the Seven Drivers of Aging, the limitations of reactive healthcare, and how AI and telemedicine are enabling personalized prevention at scale. If you’re thinking about health, performance, or the...

In this episode of The Innovator’s Playbook , Kelley Bowen, Co-Founder of Mirour and Founder of Group Creative, shares her insights on building brands that go beyond visuals to drive real business growth. We explore how branding acts as a decision-making system, how startups can apply enterprise-level brand thinking, and how AI is reshaping creative industries. Kelley also shares her journey from...

Dr. Hamed Fesharaki, CEO and Co-Founder of Adra, joins The Innovator’s Playbook to share how he transitioned from dentist to AI startup founder. After scaling a large dental operation, he saw firsthand how inefficient clinical data and claims systems were—and set out to fix them. This episode explores how AI is transforming dental workflows, improving revenue cycle management, and reducing adminis...

In this episode of The Innovator’s Playbook, Seth Narayanan speaks with Zane Ball, CTO of the Open Compute Project, about how the technology industry is building the infrastructure behind today’s AI revolution. Zane shares insights from decades working across large engineering organizations and global technology ecosystems. The conversation explores how open collaboration is accelerating innovatio...

Kulbir Singh, Founder and CEO of Rexpt, shares how voice AI is evolving from simple chatbots into autonomous agents capable of running real business workflows. Drawing on more than a decade in AI and automation, he explains why voice will become the primary interface for software and how agentic systems are reshaping organizations. The conversation covers startup lessons, building defensible AI pr...

Mike Sperling, Founder of Sperling Interactive, joins Seth Narayanan to discuss how modern marketing has evolved into a blend of creativity, analytics, and technology. From scaling an agency through referrals to using AI chatbots, AI agents, and personalized automation, Mike explains how marketing today must focus on measurable business impact—not vanity metrics. He shares practical insights into...

How do you innovate inside one of the world’s most regulated industries? In this episode, Seth Narayanan speaks with Gaurav Roy, CTO of Accelya, about transforming airline retail through open platforms, APIs, and AI-driven experiences. Gaurav shares lessons from a career spanning mobile operating systems, cloud transformation, and global enterprise technology. Together, they explore why airlines m...

Keith McFarlane, CTO of Globality, joins The Innovator’s Playbook to unpack how innovation actually happens inside large enterprises. Drawing from his career at Microsoft, Bell Labs, Oracle, and beyond, Keith explores why process can stifle creativity, how AI delivers value when paired with deep domain expertise, and what it takes to modernize legacy platforms at scale. This episode is essential l...

Ryan Ridgway, Founder of Cirrus Capital Partners, joins The Innovator’s Playbook to discuss how capital fuels innovation and why not all growth should be venture-funded. Ryan shares his journey from entrepreneur to investor, how sales shaped his leadership mindset, and what today’s AI boom means for founders and operators. This episode explores capital efficiency, AI consolidation, and the leaders...

Dr. Brianna Rhue is a practicing optometrist, multi-practice owner, and the CEO of Dr. Contact Lens. In this episode, she shares her journey from the exam room to building a high-growth health-tech platform serving clinicians nationwide. The conversation explores leadership without formal training, lessons learned as a non-technical founder, and why customer success and systems matter more than sh...

Steven Meyer, CIO at New York Ophthalmology, joins The Innovator’s Playbook to explore the real challenges holding healthcare technology back—and what it will take to move the industry forward. Steven shares his journey from hands-on technician to healthcare technology leader and offers clear insights into EHR fragmentation, AI’s untapped potential in medical practices, and the growing importance...

Serial entrepreneur Todd Blankenbecler , CEO of Zeeno Robotics , joins Seth Narayanan on The Innovator’s Playbook to share what he’s learned from decades of building, scaling, and selling companies in the orthodontic tech industry. He reveals lessons from startup grind to acquisition strategy and explains how robotics and AI are transforming everyday workflows in dental and medical practices. This...

How do you lead innovation responsibly in an AI-powered world? In this episode, Rodrigo Senra , VP of Engineering for Data & AI at Loadsmart , joins Seth Narayanan to share lessons from 30 years in tech — from building Brazil’s Python movement to pioneering AI in logistics. They discuss how AI is transforming freight automation, the real risks behind the hype, and why ethics and curiosity may...

What happens when AI stops being a feature and becomes the foundation of commerce itself? In this episode of The Innovators Playbook Podcast , host Seth Narayanan speaks with Ankush Goyal, CPTO of Fabric. From scaling Orbitz to building an AI-native CRM at RelateIQ and Salesforce, and transforming post-purchase platforms at Narvar, Ankush reveals why legacy rule-based systems are no longer enough....

What does it take to turn a personal challenge into a groundbreaking company? In this episode of The Innovators Playbook Podcast , host Seth Narayanan speaks with Akshita Iyer, Founder & CEO of Ome Kitchen. From her neuroscience background to building a connected device featured on Shark Tank , Akshita shares the behind-the-scenes reality of scaling hardware, navigating supply chain chaos, and...

Lesley Jordan, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Clinicom, joins Seth Narayanan to share how AI is transforming the landscape of mental and behavioral healthcare. From adaptive assessments and longitudinal patient tracking to LLM-generated SOAP notes and robust HIPAA/CFR compliance—this episode uncovers the building blocks of a tech-first healthcare platform. Key discussion points: The diffe...

In this episode of The Innovators Playbook , host Seth Narayanan sits down with Chris Mallinson, Director of Software Engineering at Nanotronics, to explore the high-stakes world where robotics, AI, and precision manufacturing converge. Chris shares how his teams build cutting-edge inspection tools for the semiconductor industry, the challenges of integrating hardware and software, and why one sma...

Patrick Hill, CTO of Mott Corporation, joins The Innovators Playbook to reveal how precision filtration powers the most demanding industries on Earth — from aerospace to semiconductors to AI data centers. In this episode, Patrick unpacks: Why AI hardware depends on next-gen cooling and ultra-pure filtration How additive manufacturing enables performance traditional methods can’t What nuclear power...

Francis Govers has spent decades pushing the frontier of robotics, from building machines for NASA to designing autonomous helicopters at Airbus. But in today’s AI-hyped world, he’s refreshingly honest about what works... and what doesn’t. In this episode, Francis shares why generative AI still can’t match professional standards for complex tasks, how swarm behavior inspires drone coordination, an...

Is your credentialing system future-ready, or just outdated paperwork dressed in tech? CTO Rebecca Sutter of ASE joins The Innovator’s Playbook to share how she’s building real AI use cases inside a 50-year-old nonprofit. From adaptive testing and blockchain credentials to AI-driven QA , this is the inside story of how to align people, platforms, and purpose. In this episode: Why AI isn’t replacin...

How does someone go from playing rock shows to reinventing disinfection? In this episode, Parker Sipes,CTO and President of Annihilare, shares his unconventional journey from music to chemistry to entrepreneurship. Seth Narayanan sits down with Parker to unpack how his team is using electrochemistry, IOT, and software to reimagine how safe, scalable disinfectants are produced and delivered. Inside...

What happens when one person wears both the CTO and CFO hats in a data-driven, regulated industry like animal health? In this episode of The Innovator’s Playbook , Seth Narayanan sits down with Brian Gathagan, CTO and CFO at Animalytix, to explore his career journey from COBOL programmer to executive leader. Brian shares insights on how quantum computing could reshape analytics, the role of AI in...

What does real innovation look like in a world flooded with buzzwords? Brian Hiatt—former CIO/CTO with 30+ years at Xerox, HP, and startups—joins Seth Narayanan to share how he built tech that actually drives business results. From early cloud adoption to AI’s impact on software engineering, Brian breaks down what works, what doesn’t, and what’s coming next. If you’re a tech leader, product builde...