846: Enterprises are rapidly accelerating their artificial intelligence strategies as new tools emerge, and the executives at these companies are constantly looking for ways AI can solve big problems that have plagued them for decades. Seeing this niche as an opportunity, Gustavo Sapoznik, the founder and CEO of ASAPP, has led the company toward building products that leverage AI/ML tools to solve the world’s most difficult problems. In this interview, Gustavo sits down with Peter High to describe the journey he went through starting up ASAPP, the value it provides companies, and what inspired him to start down the path of entrepreneurship. Throughout his career, Gustavo has gathered many unique insights on the evolution and potential of artificial intelligence and shares some of what he has learned throughout the conversation. More broadly, Gustavo discusses his personal entrepreneurship journey and his advice for those looking to follow in his footsteps.
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845: As with most industries, artificial intelligence has had an immeasurable impact on the entrepreneurial journey and the types of offerings being provided to enterprises from start-ups. In this episode of Technovation, Samsara co-founders Sanjit Biswas and John Bicket join Peter High in a conversation about the genesis story behind the company, its rationale for selling into physical operations, and how artificial intelligence is changing the start-up landscape. Both executives explain the role of AI at the company, the convergence of IT and OT within the industrial sector, and how they came to focus on the industrial sector when starting Samsara. They share how they overcame the learning curve associated with operating in an unfamiliar industry, the evolution of generative AI applications within the industrial sector, and how they’ve built their team with the right skills in technology. Finally, they share their lessons from scaling the business to become a publicly traded company, the trends in technology that are on their radar for the future, and the learnings they’ve taken away from their entrepreneurial journey.
844: The railway industry has gone through a number of technological transformations since its inception, and is again transforming to take full advantage of the latest tools available to rail companies. In this episode of Technovation, Judith Apshago, CDO at Amtrak, joins Peter High in a discussion about her team’s efforts in modernizing the company’s legacy systems. Judith explains the method of bringing mobile technology to employees as a way of improving efficiency and productivity as well as implementing sensors and AI tools into newly manufactured fleets in order to ensure safety and security. She also talks about her focus on sustainability and reducing emissions over the next few years. Finally, Judith reflects on her career journey and provides advice for executives looking to grow into a similar role as hers.
843: The introduction of DevOps and Agile practices revolutionized organizational management, but while these practices helped organizations tackle once-daunting challenges, other problems still remained. In order to help these companies develop better mechanisms for problem-solving and create high-performance teams, award-winning CTO Gene Kim along with his co-author Dr. Steven J. Spear wrote Wiring the Winning Organization with a groundbreaking new theory of organizational management. In this episode, Gene joins Peter in a conversation about this theory and how organizations can win by using three key approaches: slowification, simplification, and amplification. Throughout the conversation, Gene explains each of these three approaches, describes in detail the research he conducted on their benefits, and exemplifies what a successful adoption of that approach looks like. Finally, Gene shares his broader perspective on the evolution of IT, leadership, and organizational management.
842: Software development, like the tech landscape as a whole, is constantly evolving, and the pace of change is faster than ever. Now, with the advent of generative AI and ChatGPT, a significant paradigm shift is occurring. Varun Mohan, co-founder and CEO of the code acceleration toolkit Codeium, joins Peter High on the broadcast to explain this shift and how generative AI is being leveraged to accelerate coding and the software development lifecycle. Varun shares the genesis story of Codeium, the benefit his infrastructure background had on building the company, and the trends he noticed signaling the impact of artificial intelligence on software development. He shares the future ahead for generative AI as a whole, the value proposition that Codeium’s generative AI toolkit offers its customers and the best practices that executives should follow when partnering with generative AI vendors. Finally, Varun talks about how Codeium competes with larger-scale organizations, the company’s plans with its new Series B investment, and the lessons he learned from his career.
841: The product development lifecycle includes a list of many disparate stakeholders that if not aligned properly, can result in disagreements, delays, and potential negative financial impacts. At Northrop Grumman, CIO John Russell has developed a “digital thread” that brings every stakeholder together to align the team before the product hits production. In this interview, John discusses the concept behind the “digital thread” and other methods he has adopted to create a more efficient enterprise. He explains the sanctity of data in a highly sensitive industry, the advantages of implementing automation across the organization, the implications of AI on talent development, and the critical process of including cybersecurity early in the product development process. Finally, John looks ahead at trends in AI and remote collaboration and reflects on the key elements of his career ascension.
840: Adopting a customer-focused culture requires the implementation of internal processes that allow the organization to quickly deliver improvements to the client experience. In this interview, Michael Hicks, CIO at Jackson, shares how he has fostered a customer-oriented culture by understanding the customer journey and setting up an agile architecture with the customer at the center. Michael underlines Jackson’s commitment to customer service and a strong technology strategy that includes data, AI, portfolio management, and more. He speaks about the rationale behind centralizing IT across the organization, separating the CIO and CTO responsibilities, and adopting agile practices on his team. Given his diverse set of leadership experiences, Michael shares how his non-IT background prepared him for the CIO role and what lessons he has brought to his current role. Finally, Michael looks ahead at trends in APIs, AI, and digital experiences that continue to shape the financial industry.
839: The healthcare industry is constantly evolving and finding uses for new and emerging technologies. Zeeshan Tariq, CIO at Zimmer Biomet, shares his experience exploring the use cases of AI in this latest episode and explains his metrics-based approach to driving that transformation internally. Zeeshan describes the company’s transition from purely medical devices to a full healthcare solutions provider and what new operating models came along with that transition. He details the company’s adoption of KPIs for every facet of performance and why it has led to immense success in benchmarking over the last few years. Zeeshan also discusses the value of artificial intelligence, the advantages of collaborating with strategic partners, and the challenges of collaborating with a global team. Finally, Zeeshan looks ahead at the trends in emerging technologies that are on his radar and the advice he has for those early in their careers.
838: There’s no shame in being called a “geek”. In fact, according to Andrew McAfee, it’s actually a compliment. In this episode, Andrew, co-founder of MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy, shares insight into the research he’s conducted while writing his latest book “The Geek Way”. He explains the ‘Four Norms’ of geeks; science, ownership, speed, & openness; and how companies can foster and navigate a culture that follows ‘the geek way’. Andrew discusses what it means to adopt Agile, how to leverage Agile practices to accelerate the pace of innovation, and why companies often get trapped in planning-heavy processes. Finally, Andrew looks back on his career and the learnings he has drawn from his writing process.
837: The media and publishing industry has undergone a massive evolution over the years as more and more readers prefer a digital experience. To talk about this shift in customer expectations towards digital, Sanjay Bhakta, Chief Product & Technology Officer at Condé Nast, joins Peter High on the broadcast and speaks about the company’s digital-first strategy. He begins with an overview of his role that combines product and technology and explains the rationale behind having a single executive focused on both. He shares his insights on centralizing the IT function across his global team, building offshore capabilities like the Condé Nast Technology Lab in India, and his transition from traditional IT to broader engineering responsibilities. Finally, Sanjay talks about the trends on his radar for the coming years, the ethics behind generative AI in media, and his reflections from across his career.
