The Tech Blog Writer Podcast - Inspired Tech Startup Stories & Interviews With Tech Leaders, Entrepreneurs And Innovators

As work environments undergo rapid transformation and distributed and hybrid workforces become the norm, the need for an efficient, smooth digital document creation and management process becomes paramount. Documents remain the essential glue of how business gets done, but many professionals are still stuck in manual legacy processes or facing challenges in their digital document creation. In today's episode, I explore the benefits of document automation and digitization of workflows with Nate Gilmore, CMO, PandaDoc. I also learn more about how this all-in-one document workflow automation platform helps fast scaling teams accelerate the ability to create, manage, and sign digital documents, including proposals, quotes, contracts, and more. On average, their customers achieve a 28% increase in close rate, an 18% increase in the average sales price, and a 65% decrease in the document creation time. We discuss the age-old story of how David is taking on Goliath in the world of SaaS dynamic documents and how clos

Amit Jain from ServiceMax joins me in a conversation about how digital transformation strategies and SaaS are reshaping and improving field service industries such as manufacturing, energy, healthcare, etc. I learn more about Asset Data Gravity and how AI influences field service and product design. About ServiceMax ServiceMax's mission is to help customers keep the world running with asset-centric field service management software. ServiceMax's mobile apps and cloud-based software provide a complete view of assets to field service teams. By optimizing field service operations, customers across all industries can better manage the complexities of service, support faster growth, and run more profitable, outcome-centric businesses.

Mikhael Lindholm from Stratodesk and Nitin Sharma from Citrix discuss how to provide an endpoint experience beyond the infrastructure. We talk about the advantages of using Citrix workspace in a Linux environment. About Mikael Mikael is an EUC, VDI, and virtualization industry veteran that has a long story with different jobs within industry-leading companies. He started as a Citrix Instructor in the early 2000. Mikael has spent his professional life in the world of virtualization and cloud and today saves the world at Stratodesk Software one endpoint at a time. In his free time, he spends time with his family, enjoying the Swiss Alps, mostly by foot and occasionally with his motorbike. About Stratodesk Stratodesk is the leading global innovator in EUC management and OS software. Stratodesk partners with Citrix to bring a greater level of efficiency, convenience, and security to Citrix VDI endpoints and organizations. Stratodesk NoTouch, our management, and OS software for VDI endpoints, is ready to connect t

Designed to bring the cloud to the cloudless, Thryv is an end-to-end client experience platform that has already helped nearly 50,000 small businesses across the country take their businesses to the cloud. Joe Walsh, CEO, Thryv joins me in a discussion about why a digital transformation is necessary for SMBs to remain competitive against their enterprise-level competition, as well as discuss the technology and tools available to help them do so. Joe shares the different aspects SMBs are presently being impacted by, the customer experience challenges in the changing climate and how the supply chain is changing business priorities for SMBs We also dive into the findings of the Thryv, Payments Dive 2022 Consumer Payments Survey, which takes a look at how payment strategies have changed over the past few months, what customers seek from vendors, and how they'll respond if a business doesn't offer their preferred payment method and more.

IT departments are often very siloed, with 75% of DevOps initiatives failing due to difficulties working across teams. Creating a community can break down these silos. Additionally, having a community forum can give IT departments support. When IT pros need support, they want it at all hours and prefer self-service that can come from online community forums. During the pandemic, every business was forced to go remote almost overnight and now explore the world of hybrid work. But behind all of this is the need for more tech. But where do you get that equipment at scale and how do you manage that at scale, improving the experience while keeping support calls low? David Sholkovitz from StarTech.com, joins me on Tech Talk Daily to explore this topic with me.

James Bayly is the Head of Business Development at SubQuery, a data as a service platform that speeds up querying and extracting blockchain data so anyone can take the data off-chain and build Web3 applications of the future. Since its launch in 2021, SubQuery has raised $10.8M, and the platform is serving millions of Polkadot data queries daily. James is also the Head of Business Development at OnFinality, a SaaS platform that supports blockchain teams worldwide by providing critical infrastructure so they can focus on building the next dApp. OnFinality's API service receives 700M+ daily API requests from blockchain developers. James joins me on Tech Talks Daily in a conversation about building decentralized networks with huge communities, sourcing data for cross-chain application development and building core infrastructure for the blockchain industry.

Kashable uses innovative technology to improve the financial well-being of working America with a commitment to both reliability and affordability. Ultimatley, it's a socially responsible financing solution for employees offered as an employer-sponsored voluntary benefit. I wanted to learn more about how it deploys innovative technology to offer immediate access to low-cost credit. Rishi Kumar, Founder of Kashable joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share his story. Rishi is also an engineer, an innovator, and a serial entrepreneur, who has built his career creating value at the nexus of technology and finance. As an MIT computer scientist and former derivatives trader on Wall Street, Rishi combined his engineering techniques in analyzing big data with cutting-edge financing and underwriting to create a cloud based solution that makes instant access to affordable on-demand credit available to every American worker.

I recently discovered Candu, a product-led experience builder that helps any team improve their existing SaaS product without code. Ultimatley, anyone can strategically embed UI components to create personalized, in-product content experiences that engage users throughout the customer lifecycle. The company has also raised $5 million in seed funding, and I wanted to learn more about the story behind all this. Jonathan Anderson, co-founder, and CEO of Candu, joins me on Tech Talks Daily to reveal all. We also discuss the pros and cons of using no-code for business software development and the power of personalized user interfaces in your product adoption journey.

The recent news surrounding the Log4j vulnerability exposes the many cracks that exist within information security tools. Unfortunately, most technologies lack the visibility to detect critical vulnerabilities creating massive enterprise-wide challenges. When I learned that Lakeside software technology is so unique that it identifies dormant vulnerabilities before they become a massive threat to organizations' information security, I felt compelled to find out more. Ryan Purvis, Head of Solutions, Lakeside Software, joins me on Tech Talks Daily. Ryan is focused on helping Lakeside customers solve complex problems and transform their businesses through the strategic application of our technology. In his 20+ year career, Ryan has led cross-functional teams in multiple roles, ranging from Chief Information Officer for HiLo Maritime Risk Management to Director for Cyber Defence at UBS and Engineering Lead for JP Morgan Chase. Ryan divides his time between the UK and South Africa. We discuss why many leading infor

The fastest-growing part of the world's waste stream is e-waste (unwanted or unusable consumer electronics). This is because technology continues to improve or evolve faster and faster, so electronics become outdated more quickly. Electronic items should not be thrown in the trash (or in landfills) because they contain toxins such as lead, mercury, and cadmium that can leach into the soil and water supplies. For these reasons alone, all electronics should be responsibly recycled. But they seldom are. A company called ERI specializes in the environmentally safe and socially responsible dismantling of electronic waste and ensures 100% data destruction and compliance. John Shegerian is the co-founder and Chairman/CEO of ERI. He is also the author of a book about hardware hacking called the Insecurity of Everything, which went to #1 on Amazon in the cybersecurity category. I invited him on Tech Talks Daily to discuss the scale of the problem and how e-waste plays a pivotal role in the circular economy. We discuss

Sidetrade recently revealed B2B global payment trends from its unique Data Lake – industry-first predictive payment intelligence map of 20.7 million companies worldwide Sidetrade CTO Mark Sheldon joins me on Tech Talks Daily to discuss the recent launch of Sidetrade's AI-powered Data Lake which I an industry first for finance leaders. It is the most unique data lake of B2B payment behaviours on the market and combines true AI with real-time collaborative intelligence. With this publicly available AI-powered data lake, finance teams can become more strategic and forward-looking and can use predictive analytics to benchmark and make more strategic business decisions vs. leveraging traditional, tactical/reactive data. We discuss how technology enables finance teams to transform into futurist teams and the power of AI over RPA in the finance function. Mark also reveals the biggest myths about building and maintaining a huge data lake. Finally, I learn more about how Sidetrade has also been featured as a leader

Jay Patel, VP Business Development, GM imi Mobile (Cisco acquisition) - the state and future of Communications Platform as a Service and Customer Experience; running a startup to being part of Cisco post-acquisition Jay Patel is the VP & GM of Cisco's Webex CPaaS initiative and joined Cisco when the company he ran was acquired for $730m in 2021. He helped start IMImobile PLC and as CEO led it to a successful IPO in 2014 and then to its exit to Cisco. Today he is working on combining the IMI platforms with relevant technologies from Webex to create solutions that help our clients deliver the world's best customer experiences. We sat down at Cisco Live and explored the Communications Platforms as a Service landscape. I learn more about how cloud-based messaging APIs help Customers use the technology to interact with clients over voice, SMS, email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Apple Business Chat, WeChat and Google RCS. Jay also shares a few tips for founders listening to our conversation and what

While at Cisco Live, I learned how American Football is being transformed by technology with a tour of the Allegiant Stadium, the home of the Las Vegas Raiders. But, in today's episode, I wanted to turn my attention to the role of technology in Formula 1 McLaren Racing recently announced a multi-year partnership extension and expansion with Cisco as an Official Technology Partner of the McLaren Formula 1 Team from 2022. But I wanted to learn more about how Cisco's technology will help with enterprise networking, Wi-Fi, digital signage, collaboration, and more. At Cisco Live, I sat down with Edward Green, Head of Commercial Technology, McLaren, to explore how technology has transformed F1 and why marginal gains mean everything. I also learn more about how Cisco and Webex are fueling innovation at McLaren. We discuss the importance of finding the perfect tech partner for a team like McClaren and how the relationship with Cisco enables both parties to deliver great things together. We also talk about the growth

98% of the meetings moving forward will have at least one participant that's not in the same physical space as everyone else. That means every meeting will have someone not in the same location, and if these people feel left out, we have regressed. This is just one of the many reasons Jeetu Patel, EVP and General Manager, Security & Collaboration at Cisco, believes hybrid work is broken. Meetings are impacted by the audio and video quality. But it's networking and connectivity that users reply on the most. Employees connecting on insecure networks and unmanaged devices into unsanctioned apps in many businesses are also causing cybersecurity concerns. If these words resonate, it's because we all know there are problems with hybrid working, but Cisco is on a mission to solve them. Jeetu shares the big announcements made at Cisco Live to resolve many problems with hybrid working. We also discuss the Cisco security cloud vision.

Cisco Live ignites creativity, delivers practical know-how, and accelerates the connections that fuel the digital future. But what does that mean in the real world? Today I explore the technology behind Las Vegas and help everyone see the entertainment capital in a different light. Living on the edge may conjure up images of the City of Las Vegas, a city exploding with growth and more than 40 million visitors per year. And with this many residents and visitors, Michael Sherwood, CIO, is living on the edge of technology with IoT and edge computing solutions by Cisco. "With Cisco's advanced cloud applications for connected and automated vehicle technology, the City of Las Vegas has not only advanced digital initiatives but has also delivered real traffic benefits for residents and visitors in the areas of traffic safety and pedestrian protection. The partnership with Cisco has also allowed the City of Las Vegas to expand our data sharing strategy rapidly and securely, which directly supports our region's integr

Tackling meeting fatigue is a big topic at Cisco Live on the show floor. But Webex Hologram is on a mission to solve this problem with 3D immersive collaboration. The real-time meeting solution takes advantage of Augmented Reality headsets combining meeting functionality with immersive 3D. So I invited Edel Joyce on the podcast to give me an overview of what it is and the problems it solves. Edel Joyce is an experienced high performing senior manager with 20 years of industry experience. She has held pivotal roles across Engineering Design, Operations, Customer Experience, Governance, and Strategy in the Technology sector. Most recently, she is leading the productization of Webex Hologram, the industry's first holographic collaboration system, taking it from its innovative roots to a full mainstream product.

The St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD), is a socioeconomically and geographically diverse area based in Longmont, Colorado. SVVSD is home to 60 schools, 33,000 students and spans 411 miles. A St. Vrain's core value is that each student should have equal access to the classes and learning tools they need to succeed. To bridge this gap, SVVSD Leadership soon recognized that Cisco collaboration tools could help SVVSD for staff, educators, and students close the digital divide. Michelle Bourgeois, CTO, St. Vrain Valley School District, joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share her journey in tech and the importance of finding the right tech partner to bring your vision to life. In addition, we discuss the massive culture shift that impacted staff and students and how they got everyone on board to embrace new ways of teaching and learning. We also discuss reimagining the future of education to benefit every student and reduce the digital divide.

Quantum computing is still a while away from widespread commercial application, but another technology could become available much sooner – quantum sensing. Quantum sensors can measure different physical properties, including temperature, magnetic field, and rotation, with extreme sensitivity. These sensitives give the technology distinct advantages for applications including communication, infrastructure monitoring, navigation, and radar. Henry White, Lead Technologist in Sensing at BAE Systems, joins me in a conversation on 'Making Sense of Quantum Sensing'? We discuss what the technology is in more detail, as well as the current and potential real-world applications of quantum sensing, such as threat detection in the military or at airports.

Matthew Rocklin, the creator of Dask, the popular Python native distributed computing library. Matthew is also a founder and CEO of Coiled, which helps teams run Dask in the cloud. The past decade has seen a boom in several open source tools built specifically for data scientists. However, most of these projects struggle to gain wide adoption. Matthew is one of the few leaders in the developer tools space who knows how to build things that data scientists love. Matthew believes that for a data science tool to be successful, it must be human-centric. Data science is a diverse field. It should be easy for any data scientist to pick up a tool and quickly adapt it to their unique use case. Coiled is built on the success of Dask and is being used by thousands of data scientists and engineers in organizations like NASA, Capital One, Anthem Health, and the USAF to combat climate change, perform a credit risk analysis, and manage supply chains. Matthew shares his entrepreneurial path and offers tips on building a h

Jack Li is the CEO and founder of Datassential. He took a 2-man company in 2001 and created a global food and beverage digital research powerhouse that helps brands like Target Foods, Jack in the Box, and General Mills innovate with data. This is the company that predicted the rise of avocado toast and is helping restaurants and food service providers match new menu items with consumer preferences. Specifically, they focus on making food data more usable for these brands through digital tools. For example, one of their tools allows you to enter in a new menu item you're considering and see data on how likely consumers are to enjoy it, or how to alter it to improve its appeal. Jack joins me on Tech Talks Daily to discuss how he grew the company, how Datassential predicts food trends, and the practice of merging data science with the art of food. We talk about the tech behind food trend insights, the different models Datassential uses to judge the performance of certain dishes, and how these tools benefit its