The Tech Trek

Ken Ringdahl, CTO at Emburse, joins The Tech Trek to share what it really looks like to grow from engineer to CTO without losing your love for building. He talks about staying close to the code while leading a three hundred person org, how he learned the business side on the job instead of through an MBA, and why curiosity is still his strongest tool. If you are an engineer who cares about leaders...

Karan Talati, cofounder and CEO at First Resonance, joins me to unpack what modern manufacturing really looks like inside factories that build rockets, drones, reactors, and other complex hardware. We dig into why only a small slice of factories run on real systems today, what a true factory operating system unlocks, and how that connects directly to national security and the AI boom. If you care...

Michael Marmo, founder and chief executive of CurbWaste, joins The Tech Trek to share how he went from catching fastballs in Europe to building software that runs the daily work of waste haulers. We walk through the very human side of leaving a sports identity, starting at the bottom in a family waste business, and finally asking a simple question about founding a company. Why not me If you are si...

Jason Ash, Chief of Data at Symetra, joins the show to unpack how a mid sized insurer is rebuilding its data stack and culture so business and technology actually pull in the same direction. He shares how his team brings actuaries, product leaders, and engineers into one data platform, and why opening that platform to non technical contributors has been a turning point. If you work in a regulated...

Chris Morgan, VP of Data Science at Lincoln Financial Group, joins me to unpack what a real data culture looks like inside a complex, highly regulated business that has policies on the books for decades. We talk about how to turn Gen AI buzz into real value, why governance and quality suddenly matter to everyone, and how to tackle data technical debt without stalling delivery. Chris shares concret...

Varun Puri, CEO and cofounder of Yoodli, joins the show to talk about using AI role play to transform how people practice for high stakes conversations, from sales calls to job interviews to tough manager chats. He breaks down how Yoodli went from a consumer public speaking tool to a serious enterprise platform used by teams at Google, Snowflake, Databricks, and more, all while staying anchored in...

Mike Collins, CEO of Alumni Ventures, joins Amir to unpack what it really means to democratize venture capital and why the next wave of value creation will happen in private markets long before it hits the public exchanges. He explains how Alumni Ventures lets accredited investors build a meaningful venture portfolio, why diversification and time matter more than stock picking, and how this model...

Chinmay Barve, VP of Engineering at Nooks AI, joins the show to break down what the first sixty to ninety days look like when you step into a senior leadership role at a fast moving AI company. He explains how to build trust quickly, how to find real problems worth solving, and how to avoid the trap of either rushing change or waiting too long to act. This conversation is a practical playbook for...

Digital IDs are about to reshape how we prove who we are online. Peter Horadan, CEO at Vouched, joins the show to break down what this shift really means for trust, privacy, and the rise of agent driven systems. He explains why digital IDs will remove huge amounts of friction, stop common fraud paths, and change how we secure everything from bank accounts to AI agents acting on our behalf. This is...

Most people still think of AI in medicine as a novelty. Matt Pavelle sees it as the new first step in patient care. In this episode, Matt breaks down how Doctronic built an AI doctor that can gather history, follow clinical guidelines, produce full treatment plans, and then hand everything to a real physician who can review it in minutes. It is private by default, aligned with top primary care doc...

Chris Church, VP of Engineering at Rainforest, breaks down why a zero bug policy is more than a technical choice. It is a mindset, an operating model, and a culture shift that shapes how engineering teams build, release, and support software at scale. In this conversation he goes inside the habits that actually make quality a strategic advantage and explains how small releases, strong visibility,...

Snehal Antani, co founder and CEO of Horizon3 AI, joins the show for a conversation about how veterans bring rare leadership strengths to fast moving companies. He pulls back the curtain on the world of special operations, shares what industry leaders often miss when interviewing former service members, and explains why these leaders are some of the most prepared problem solvers you can hire. This...

Chandni Jain, VP of Engineering at Checkr, joins the show to talk about what it takes to build a real culture of ownership. She explains how clarity, trust, and true empowerment help teams move faster and work better together. You will also hear how leaders can bring out stronger initiative and confidence in their people. This episode gives a simple and useful guide for anyone who wants to lead wi...

Shawn Taikratoke, CEO and co founder of Mozee, joins the show to unpack one of the biggest questions in mobility today. How close are we to real autonomous transportation and what will actually move the needle in our cities. Shawn breaks down why the future is not a single robotaxi dream, but a more human centered shift in public transit that solves the first and last mile in a smarter way. If you...

Mike Hanson, CTO at Clockwise, joins the show to break down how our relationship with computers is changing as language based systems reshape expectations. We explore why natural storytelling feels so intuitive with today’s AI tools, how context is becoming the new currency of great software, and why narrow AI is often more powerful than the industry hype suggests. This conversation gives tech lea...

Soham Mazumdar, CEO and co founder of Wisdom AI, joins the show to talk about what it really takes to build again after major exits at Facebook and Rubrik. We get into the mindset shift required for a new startup, the danger of relying too much on past playbooks, and how to stay grounded when expectations rise. If you want a real look at repeat founder decision making, this is the conversation to...

In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Sadi Khan, Co-Founder and CEO of Aven, to unpack how technology can make capital fairer for everyone. Sadi explains how Aven is tackling one of the world’s biggest inefficiencies—the trillion-dollar burden of consumer credit card debt—and why the solution lies in reducing the cost of capital through innovation. This is a deep dive into building...

Svetlana Zavelskaya, Head of Software Engineering for Data Platform and Infrastructure at Quanata, joins the show to unpack what it really takes to make the “impossible” possible in tech. From re-architecting a startup codebase to scaling innovation inside an insurance giant, she shares how her team turns complex R&D challenges into production-ready systems. This conversation dives deep into e...

Nikhil Gupta, founder and CTO of Vapi, joins Amir to talk about how voice AI is reshaping the way we connect with businesses. From customer support to healthcare, Nikhil explains how voice agents can bring back the human side of digital interactions. This is a look at where real conversation meets real technology and what happens when machines start to understand us like people do. Key Takeaways •...

Alex Daniels, Founder and CTO at Predoc, joins the show to share how he is building a mission driven healthtech company that is changing how medical data is accessed and used. He opens up about the personal story that inspired Predoc, how he keeps culture authentic while scaling, and what zero turnover really looks like in a startup. From hiring philosophies to equity design to managing context sw...

Jordan Tigani, CEO and cofounder of MotherDuck, knows what world class infrastructure looks like. He spent years building Google BigQuery before taking those lessons into the startup world. In this episode, he breaks down why building infrastructure products is fundamentally different from typical SaaS and why founders who don’t understand that difference are in for a painful surprise. What You&#3...

Ogi Kavazovic, co-founder and CEO of House Rx, joins the show to unpack what most product leaders miss about building for enterprise software. Drawing from two decades in tech, Ogi breaks down how product management shifts when you move from B2C or “B to small B” to true enterprise—what he calls “B to Big B.” He explains why traditional user research frameworks don’t hold up, how buyer research sh...

Astasia Myers, General Partner at Felicis, breaks down how venture capital is betting on AI and why over 80% of their recent investments are in this space. But this isn’t just another “AI is the future” conversation. We dig into the real ROI happening right now in healthcare voice agents, why MIT says 95% of GenAI projects fail to reach production, and what needs to happen for that number to flip....

In this episode, Amir sits down with Taofeek Rabiu, VP of Engineering at Etsy, to unpack a distinction that most organizations miss: being a people leader is not the same as being a people manager. If you have ever wondered why some teams thrive under pressure while others crumble, or why trust feels so hard to build in engineering orgs, this conversation has answers. Taofeek shares how leadership...

Ion Feldman, CTO at Rightway, has learned to love one thing about scaling a company from a kitchen table to nearly 1,000 employees: his job completely changes every six months. In this episode, Ion shares what it means to lead engineering when the role refuses to stay still—from writing code in the early days to building product, security, and data teams, and now shaping AI infrastructure. He expl...