The Great Indoors

Enterprise AI is no longer about experimentation alone. The real challenge now is scaling it in a way that delivers measurable value, holds up operationally, and avoids descending into chaos.In this episode of The Great Indoors, Matthew Roberts is joined by Mark Austin, Vice President of Data Science and AI at AT&T, for a grounded conversation on what it really takes to industrialize AI inside a large enterprise. With generative AI now making up the majority of his organization’s work, Mark explains why governance, ROI discipline, and structured execution have become essential to moving from isolated projects to enterprise-wide impact. Together, they explore the difference between “vibe coding” and what Mark calls AI fuel coding, why fine-tuned models may offer the rare combination of better, faster, and cheaper, and how AT&T is thinking about agents, orchestration, and AI systems that can operate at scale.

At the Mobile World Congress 2026, one theme rose above everything else: generative AI. Amdocs CEO, Shimie Hortig, joins The Great Indoors to discuss the shift from AI excitement to real-world execution. As generative AI dominates the conversation, Shimie explains that while the technology is advancing at extraordinary speed, enterprise adoption remains far behind. The result is what he calls the “value gap” which is the growing distance between what AI is capable of and what organizations are actually able to implement in ways that deliver measurable results.  Together with Matthew Roberts, Shimie explores why closing that gap is so difficult, from security and integration to compliance and organizational change. Recorded live in Barcelona, the episode also captures the intensity of MWC itself and the importance of direct customer feedback in shaping what comes next. At its core, this is a conversation about moving from possibility to practice and about what it will take for the industry to turn AI momentum into real business value.

At MWC Barcelona 2026, the conversation around AI is no longer confined to software. It is becoming physical, personal, and deeply tied to the future of connectivity.In this episode, Matthew Roberts welcomes Don McGuire, EVP & Chief Marketing Officer at Qualcomm, back to the podcast for a wide-ranging conversation on what AI-native networks, emerging device form factors, and the next era of telecom could really mean in practice. From Qualcomm’s latest announcements around 6G, wearable platforms, agentic modems, and Wi-Fi 8 to the bigger question of how operators evolve in an AI-first world, Don lays out a vision in which connectivity becomes more intelligent, more anticipatory, and more embedded in everyday life.The discussion also explores the role of the modern CMO in navigating AI’s competing narratives, why human-led and AI-powered may be the most important balance for marketers to get right, and how younger generations are already treating AI less like a tool and more like a thought partner.

MWC Barcelona 2026 made one thing clear: the telecom industry is entering a new phase, where AI feels more tangible, policy feels more urgent, and innovation is being judged by its real-world impact.In this episode, Matthew Roberts welcomes Lara Dewarr, CMO of the GSMA, back to the podcast for a wide-ranging conversation on what this year’s event revealed about the future of connectivity. From AI’s shift into more embodied, agentic, and consumer-facing experiences to the growing importance of inclusion, regulation, and practical use cases, Lara offers a front-row view of where the industry is heading next. She reflects on 20 years of MWC in Barcelona, the role the event plays in bringing together industry and government, and why marketers, operators, and policymakers are now all grappling with the same challenges. The conversation also explores the risk of leaving communities behind in the AI era, the need for more locally relevant technology, and why sectors like healthcare may be next in line for telecom-led transformation.So if you are interested in the absolute latest from MWC and what it means for telecom on a larger scale, press play!

What do a telecom CEO serving millions of people and a startup R&D leader building a new platform from scratch have in common? More than you might think. Live from MWC Barcelona 2026, Matthew Roberts is back to kick off Season 12 of The Great Indoors. In this episode, two conversations come together to explore how leadership and invention are deeply connected. First, Matt welcomes Carl Raymond Cruz, President and CEO of Globe Telecom. Carl reflects on the responsibility of leading a company that touches everyday life across the Philippines, and shares how Globe is working to expand digital inclusion, modernize the customer experience, and protect people from digital harm. Then, Matt speaks with Val Gorokhovsky, VP of R&D at 31 Concept, whose team has spent the last year building a new telecom intelligence platform for Deep Packet Intelligence which ensures data transfer security. From nation-building to startup building, this episode shows that the future of telecom will not be shaped by technology alone, but by leaders who know how to turn invention into impact.

Returning to the podcast with host Matthew Roberts is Stephanie Ormston, AVP of Product Innovation at AT&T, to explore shifting narratives and public perception of AI in 2026. Starting with practical use cases, they examine how AI continues to impact both individuals and organizations. From there, the conversation expands into the themes still top of mind today: human–AI collaboration, real consumer value, mixed public sentiment, and whether we should be concerned that younger generations are developing an AI-native way of thinking.Despite all this rapid change, Stephanie is adamant that storytelling and authenticity still reign supreme, because when technology companies lose sight of that fact, they risk repeating the failures of the past.

In this episode of The Great Indoors, Shelly Palmer, tech strategist and CEO of The Palmer Group returns for his third appearance to explain why the digital world has become unrecognizable in just two years since his last appearance. Listeners will gain an inside look at the brutal reality of the media business, where traditional purchase funnels have collapsed in favor of short-form video and zero-click AI search results. The conversation provides a roadmap for the transition from simple automation to agentic AI.  Autonomous systems that can now plan and initiate tasks independently and explores the rise of vibe coding, where English becomes the new programming language. So if you’re fascinated by media, machine learning, and the conversations shaping what comes next, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

A modern AI education has to wrestle with more than just new tools. It has to ask deeper questions, like how do we understand the models we’re building? Who trains them? And who actually gets access to the results?To explore those questions, Matthew Roberts is joined by Dr. Kiesha King, Head of Education Strategy, as they compare the classroom to the boardroom on technology readiness. With this in mind, they look at the ethics, equity, and access challenges of artificial intelligence, discussing the models that can both empower and exclude. And despite all the innovation, Dr. King makes it clear why the teacher still matters. Finally, they look at both the promise and the pressure of AI in education, taking a close look at over-reliance, protection laws, and the other checks that need to be in place. If you want to understand how people are really learning with AI, let this episode be your lesson.

Are you ready for an uncomfortable question… What happens to your data after you die?Buckle up — in this episode, Matthew Roberts is joined by Carl Öhman, Associate Professor at Uppsala University and author of The Afterlife of Data, to explore what becomes of our personal information after death and the ethical, political, and cultural consequences of our digital legacies.Tune in as Matt seeks Carl’s perspective on what happens when today’s tech giants gain access to the data of millions of deceased users. Together, they dive into how “death data” might be regulated, monetized, and ultimately controlled. From advertising and memorialized profiles to data ownership and the recording of history, this episode opens Pandora’s box at the intersection of morality, business, and memory.This episode may not have all the answers, but it undeniably has all the questions you should be asking.

Modern technology doesn’t run on code alone, it runs on data. Generated constantly and often invisibly, it shapes how our health is understood, and few people understand this better than Sheena Franklin.Joining Matthew Roberts in this episode, Sheena is a digital health founder, women’s health advocate, and recognized voice in inclusive data and AI policy. Together, they unpack the historical biases embedded in clinical research, the challenges of unstructured and siloed healthcare data, and the growing role of wearables, AI, and regulation in shaping modern care.The conversation looks beyond innovation to stewardship, examining who owns health data, how it is governed, and why women’s health has become a catalyst for broader transformation across the healthcare ecosystem.Technology is only as powerful as the care and consideration behind it—this episode is a reminder of what’s at stake, and who the future of healthcare is really being built for.