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

AI-driven cloud optimization platform that slashes cloud cost, optimizes DevOps, and automates disaster prevention. Leon Kuperman, CTO Cast AI, discusses how AI powers cloud automation. We explore exactly what value AI brings to the table and why simple automation is not enough. We also discuss the Top 3 tips for businesses adopting cloud automation. On the subject of cloud cost management, we look at the big picture of what management optimization is and the main reasons it's complicated (hint: cloud providers aren't exactly helping most of the time). But we talk about how automation helps with cloud costs and how AI brings this automation up a notch. I also learn more about Leon's story in techand how he started his career at IBM when he was just 19, but realized very early that he was best suited in the startup world so in 1998 started his first company and has been working through the battle scars ever since. A few companies to mention - Zenedge (acquired by Oracle), CUJO. 

Matija Kovac from Taia Translations discusses the future of machine translation, how localization can enhance global strategy and how AI is revamping the translation industry. He also shares his entrepreneurial story, knowledge, and industry insights. Taia Translations is a modern translation platform, where they help companies translate their documents, websites, and other content with AI-assisted, human perfected translations. If advanced neural machine translation is good enough, you can get your files translated, with formatting intact, in just a few seconds. But when you need a professional touch, you can order from a range of services, right inside the app.  The Taia Translations app was created to make the ordering process as seamless as possible, as we are aware that ordering translations can be a bit time-consuming. You drag 'n' drop your document into the uploader, select the right parameters for your needs, and just a few moments later your project is being reviewed by TAIA's project management. Ba

Over the past two decades, companies have increasingly used new web, cloud, and mobile technologies to address business challenges and realize new business opportunities. However, the recent pandemic turned this digital business wave into a tsunami, as organizations scrambled to create new digital properties to address supply chain management, customer relationships, employee communications, and other urgent business problems.   As these companies accelerated their use of digital to address their pandemic-related business problems practically overnight, many came to a realization: the quick, discreet, iterative, do it or die approach they took to digital initiatives during the pandemic succeeded in addressing their immediate pandemic business challenges, even if these initiatives now need further refinement. Endava is a leading next-generation technology services provider working to help businesses accelerate disruption by delivering rapid evolution to enterprises. They saw a 20%+ year-on-year growth in their

Philippe Humeau is the Founder of CrowdSec, an open-source multiplayer firewall that can analyze visitor behavior & provide an adapted response to all kinds of attacks. In addition, it leverages crowd power to generate a global IP reputation database to protect the user network. Today, users come from 110+ countries, approximately block 700,000+ malevolent IPs by quarter, and the company also raised $5M in funding! Phillipe has also received an MBA in Computer Sciences from EPITA, created five start-ups, and seeded 10 of them. Philippe joins me on Tech Talks Daily to discuss the biggest issues currently facing cybersecurity and how open-source cybersecurity platforms combat them. We discuss why multiplayer firewalls can help limit zero-day attacks and minimize cyberware from attempting to 'divide and conquer' businesses. Philippe also shares how malevolent IP attacks are growing and how everyday users equip themselves to protect their data.

Every great idea starts with a problem. For Eric Johnson, it was simple: dental insurance was broken. The founder and CEO of membersy is a digital health company democratizing access to quality, affordable dental care through subscription-based dentistry. While building his career in the dental care space, Eric founded membersy in 2015 with the mission of helping dental professionals take back the dental care narrative from big insurance companies through pricing transparency and a personalized membership experience for patients. It became the first and largest subscription-focused company in the dental industry, providing Dental Service Organizations (DSOs) of all sizes with the tech, marketing, and administration infrastructure to launch and grow a modern membership experience. Today, more than 4,000 dental practices and close to 1 million members across the United States utilize membersy's advanced subscription platform for a more personal and connected dental care experience. Eric shares the tech startup

In light of the recent Log4Shell vulnerability that has been dominating the headlines, I invited Asad Ali, Senior Director, Global Centre of Excellence at Dynatrace to join me on Tech Talks Daily. We talk about the longer-term impact this vulnerability will have on the way organizations handle their cybersecurity practices and the next steps they can take in the more immediate term.   Some organizations may not even know they are affected or which instances of the vulnerability are most urgent to address. For example, not all cases will be present in applications exposed to public networks and reveal sensitive data to malicious attackers.   We discuss why the dynamic and complex nature of today's cloud environments has broken traditional approaches to application security. We also talk about how an AI-driven approach can help dramatically speed up risk and impact analysis of the vulnerability by automatically and continuously identifying and prioritizing instances that access critical databases or file system

Anamarie Huerta Franc is the head of SAP Labs US in Palo Alto. Her charter for one of the largest software companies in the world is an ambitious one - to build a collaborative community across the thousands of developers working in the United States on SAP's broad range of cloud-based software groups, which includes technologies such as Concur (expense management), SuccessFactors (human capital management) and Fieldglass (vendor management system). Hiring, motivating, and retaining employees has always been a challenge for software companies, but no more so than today when the demand for developers has never been higher and when companies are grappling with workplace and culture issues driven by COVID-19 and the evolving definitions and expectations of the workplace. One of Anamarie's charters is to challenge the traditional corporate assumptions that community and culture can only be built in a physical office and determine how to balance flexibility and accountability. As an example of Anamarie's efforts,

Recent reports show that DeFi exploits totaled $12 billion in 2021. Between this fraud spike, the social engineering attack at Robinhood, and the recent Google Play scam, it's more critical than ever that cybersecurity becomes an embedded part of cryptocurrency.    Tammy Kahn, co-founder and CEO of BTblock has a team of some of the best dedicated DeFi logic security analysts. Having performed cybersecurity code reviews of the software supporting major blockchain protocols, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Cardano, she and her team continuously observe how significant an impact security concerns have on widespread adoption.   With crypto scams and fraud skyrocketing, Tammy discusses some of the core issues plaguing the industry in 2022. We talk about why until 'basic' users can feel their funds are secure, the adoption of crypto and other types of micro-investing will remain slower. Too much is at risk; people may not know the answer, but many know enough to be scared. We also explore why we need more

Hannes Bend is on a mission to improve mental health at work with technology. His work was inspired by when he felt disconnected and depressed until he discovered mindfulness. This moment led to him founding breahting.ai, which allows users to focus solely on where it belongs. breathing.ai uses the webcam and machine learning to detect vital signs (heart rate and respiration) and stress and then adapts and personalizes the screen's colors, fonts, and UI to the user's wellbeing. Breathing.ai founder and CEO Hannes Bend developed award-winning technological projects with cross-disciplinary collaborations with top researchers and labs. Hannes joins me on Tech Talks Daily and shares how he has worked with my mentor friend Wim "The Iceman" Hof since 2015 to develop pioneering AR biofeedback projects that inspired the breathing.ai startup and its technology. I also learned how Wim's breathwork, in-depth meditation practices in Myanmar, and yoga transformed Hannes from decades of anxiety and depression to living hea

Big Tech sees your data—your clicks, your online shopping choices, your browsing history, as the most valuable stuff on earth. Datacappy consists of independent developers worried about the sudden loss of online privacy. Digital insecurity and what's been called "Surveillance Capitalism" are serious problems for our kids, ourselves, and you. And not a lot of people are doing anything about it. At Datacappy they see your data as yours. They think your clicks are your business. If your children want to research tigers and rocket ships, they should be able to do so without an unaccountable corporation using that data to build a profile of them and profit off it. I wanted to learn more about how they are helping users preserve their privacy, use the internet securely, and keep their information under their control. Marco Bellin, the author of PrivacyParent.com and engineer behind Datacappy VPN (built on the open-source WireGuard), joins me on the Tech Talks Daily podcast in a conversation about the year ahead thr

Peter Hurley is a world-famous photographer, an official partner of Canon and B&H Photos. He is also the creator of Headshot Crew, the world's largest team of headshot and portrait photographers. As a man who spins many plates, he also an inspiring TedTalks and has authored The Headshot - an in-depth book on the importance of a proper headshot and how to take the best shots possible. More recently, he launched the first-ever photography-inspired NFT collection, Shabangrs. Named in honor of Peter's catchphrase, "Shabang!" the collection features 10,000 unique pieces that come with utilities and enter holders into giveaways, raffles, and more.  Ownership of Shabangrs NFTs will automatically grant you citizenship in Shabangrsville, a virtual city in the Metaverse. In addition, Shabangrs citizens will have access to exclusive lifetime perks and rewards as well as access to a flourishing community of the world's best photographers and creators. Peter joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share his story that began b

Allan Cole was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson's disease five years ago, at the age of 48. He subsequently started PD Wise, a blog and community hub aimed at telling stories, providing education, and building community among those living with Parkinson's and their loved ones. I wanted to learn more about how he was using technology to help others. I quickly learned that Allan had published Counseling Persons with Parkinson's Disease (Oxford). He has two additional books that will be published this year, Discerning the Way: Lesson's from Parkinson's Disease and In the Care of Plenty: Poems (Cascade). So I invited Allan Cole to the podcast to discuss Parkinson's, which is yes is progressive, and currently, there is no cure. However, there are lots to be hopeful for, and as this is a tech podcast, the role he sees technology playing in helping people.

The state of the global supply chain has hit the headlines recently, and it has dramatically impacted both businesses and consumers. This got me thinking about the challenges in the trucking/logistics companies and the most significant technical challenges for the transportation industry right now. Wendy Greenland, CEO of Openforce, joins me on Tech Talks Daily to explore this topic with me. Openforce, the provider of technology-driven and insuretech solutions for transportation companies, offering onboarding, settlement, compliance and insurance services for managing independent contractor workforces. Through the transparent and collaborative leadership of CEO Wendy Greenland, Openforce is well-positioned at the forefront of where technology and the shifting modern labor markets converge. According to a recent survey by MIT and Deloitte, tailwinds are driving the new world of work. 33% of companies plan to utilize a 1099 workforce in the next 18-24 months. Of those companies, 52% plan to implement a technolo

A recent Gartner survey revealed that nearly 80% of workers are using collaboration tools for work in 2021, up from just over half of workers in 2019. While many organizations relied on productivity platforms before the pandemic, the emergence of remote and hybrid work models has proven just how vital an all-in-one solution is to maintain workplace collaboration and efficiency. ClickUp, the world's first productivity platform, recently announced they raised $400 million in Series C funding -- the largest funding round to date in the workplace productivity market. This funding puts ClickUp at a $4 billion valuation, which will be used to support the creation of 600 European jobs, a regional European HQ, and a new development center. ClickUp's unique offering in the market has fueled their success as one of the fastest-growing SaaS startups in the world -- ClickUp is the only solution that replaces all individual workplace productivity tools within a single, unified platform. In less than 18 months, the company

Before launching this daily tech podcast and writing about technology, I was an IT guy. So I was the first port of call for any problems with Finance applications and upgrades to applications like SAGE in a corporate environment. The shift to digital-first accounting is seen as imperative by nearly all accountants – with new Sage research showing 99% of accountants are using some form of digital accounting. Fast forward six years, and I will be talking to SAGE about their new product that accountants design for accountants, 'and it's called Sage for Accountants. It's a practice management suite that provides client onboarding, connected client management, productivity tools, data collection and intelligent reporting, bookkeeping, payroll, and compliance. The product applies to general practices of all sizes. Chris Downing, Director of Product Marketing, Sage & Gerty Bester, Director of Product Marketing, Sage, join me on Tech Talks Daily to share their stories. They are both former chartered accountants.

With the announcement of the UK publishing its first AI Strategy - a ten-year plan fit to make the UK an AI Superpower - it will be to businesses' detriment to not capitalize on the power of AI and automation. However, with this rapid shift towards automation, one of the primary areas of value is often overlooked — enabling humans to focus on what matters and strategically control the acceleration. Romain Picard, Vice President EMEA, of the recently acquired multi-billion-dollar enterprise data cloud company Cloudera, believes in a world dominated by robots, chatbots, drones, and other machine learning and artificial intelligence-powered technologies, the power of human touch is still relevant. Romain joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share his insight on why acceleration shouldn't run rampant without control. We also discuss how it is essential that, alongside automation, we form bold strategies that keep our focus on what's essential — human ingenuity. Finally, we talk about the ability automation provides f

Over the last two years, the lockdowns have seen adults flirt with burnout as they now find themselves permanently tethered to their office. Children have also experienced stress with masks in schools, being socially distanced from their friends, etc. However, in a world where people of all ages are feeling stressed, I invited Liam Joe Blackwood from Stressbox on the podcast to discuss how technology contributes to stress and how it can also help relieve it. I learn how StressBox provides a psychological assessment and treatment service for individuals experiencing stress, anxiety, and other related difficulties.

In 2022 (and beyond), personalization is more important than ever. There is no room for broad, generalized marketing. Instead, customers crave and expect personalized experiences that subtly enable them to discover and find products they actually want. Data science is a powerful way to take personalization to the next level. However, it's not always readily accessible or actionable without engineers or data scientists. Breinify is a personalization platform on a mission to democratize data science by finding ways to make predictive capabilities accessible to non-technical, yet data-driven marketing teams. Breinify's AI solution enables enterprise marketers to deliver predictive personalization in real-time and build more meaningful customer experiences. The platform blends traditional machine learning with temporal AI to predict a consumer's future interests, needs, and behaviors. The algorithms enable dynamic segmentation and fully individualized personalization, which minimizes the manual involvement requir

RackN Digital Rebar standardizes the full lifecycle management of your infrastructure, mitigating risk and taming automation helping you innovate faster. Rob Hirschfeld founder RackN, an Austin-based start-up that develops software to help automate data centres joins me on Tech Talks Daily. Rob has been in the cloud and infrastructure space for nearly 15 years and has done everything from working with early ESX betas to serving four terms on the OpenStack Foundation Board. Rob believes that the technology of running data centers and applications on cloud is just part of the bigger story. We discuss why Rob believes developers often develop infrastructure incorrectly and why he is a strong advocate for lean/agile processes. We also talk about the increasing focus on automation, the impact of open-source software, and its emphasis on agility and fast decision-making.

Organizations infected with the Conti ransomware affiliate programs malware who refuse to negotiate a ransom payment are added to Conti's victim-shaming blog, where confidential files stolen from victims may be published or sold. But, sometime over the last 48 hours, US security expert Brian Krebs has reported that the cybercriminal syndicate has updated its victim-shaming blog to indicate that it is now selling access to many of the organizations it has hacked: Ilia Kolochenko, Founder of ImmuniWeb and a member of Europol Data Protection Experts Network, joins me on Tech Talks Daily to discuss why this new marketplace indicates that well-organized cybercriminals are not afraid of law enforcement agencies anymore. We also talk about how criminals create mature, agile, and multistakeholder ecosystems similar to legitimate businesses and how cybercriminals are creating online subscriptions, free trials, and discount systems for recurrent customers to maximize their profits. Finally, we explore the most signific