Tech Talks Daily

Donna Loughlin is the Founder of LMGPR and is best known for her work with futurists and innovators. She has launched more than 500 companies taking them from stealth to market leaders since forming her agency in 2002. She is also the host of BeforeItHappened, a leading narrative podcast featuring visionaries and the moments, events, and realizations that inspired them to change our lives for the better. Donna joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share her inspirational story as a woman in tech and insights gained from the evolution of Silicon Valley. I also learn more about how she launched a public relations firm with the sole purpose of helping visionaries tell their story to the world—almost 20 years ago. Two decades later, her podcast takes a deep dive into a singular lightbulb moment that inspired the visionaries to push forward and change our lives. We also talk about the global tech skills shortage and what we need to do to ensure we attract more women in STEM.

Wireless charging applications are almost endless, from powering IoT applications like smart retail, building automation, smart home, digital advertising, touchless appliances, and industrial sensors. Ori Mor co-founder and Chief Business Officer of Wi-Charge, joins me on Tech Talks Daily. The Israeli-based start-up is the first company to bring wireless charging from exciting potential to actual commercial deployments. Wi-Charge's patented infrared wireless power technology safely and efficiently delivers several watts of power to client devices at room-sized distances. It frees end-users from being tethered to wires or limited usage due to power constraints and gives product designers the power they need to usher in the next generation of mobile smart devices.

While the tech industry's teams have seamlessly evolved into remote and hybrid-based work operations - what's still missing when it comes to how companies operate as cohesive cultural units working in this disrupted fashion? And within a business setting - how do you define trust and empathy in tech companies? These are just a few topics I explore with today's guest. Chris Williams, Chief Operating Officer for Interaction Associates, joins me on Tech Talks Daily Podcast. Interaction Associates is best known for introducing the concept and practice of group facilitation to the business world in the early 1970's. For over 50 years, IA has provided thousands of leaders and teams with practical, simple, and effective programs, tools, and techniques for leading, meeting, and working better across functions, viewpoints, and geographies. We explore how leaders can take concrete steps to build trust and empathy in the workplace - especially virtually and what sort of technology and protocols come into play. Finally, we discuss how it can impact building trust and empathy and what can be done to optimize technology to make and sustain connections for teams vs disrupt them?

The quality and quantity of food we depend on are at risk — from weather extremes and scarcity of cropland to supply-chain dysfunction and war. Consumers are demanding more nutritious and sustainable food. Governments are mandating that growers use less water and energy to produce crops. Innovation in agriculture has exploded with so much hype and promise. But how can we move away from hype and toward agtech solutions for producing more nutritious, sustainable food at scale? AgriFORCE is an agtech IP development company also listed on NASDAQ that aims to facilitate resource-conservative, high-yield food production for consumers while creating sustainable, long-term jobs for local communities. The AgriFORCE vision is to be a leader in delivering plant-based foods and products through advanced and sustainable AgTech solution platforms that make positive change in the world—from seed to table. Whether it's reshaping greenhouse design to harness the power of the sun, reimagining ways to capture the full nutrient value of crops or reigniting the passion and purpose of the next generation of growers through education and support, AgriFORCE is on a mission to break down the siloes of a fragmented industry and forging a better way to feed the planet. These are just a few of the topics I discuss with Ingo Mueller in today's episode of Tech Talks Daily.

I recently discovered a company called Topia that is leveraging technology to help communities bring people together to build stronger and more meaningful connections through shared experiences. Daniel Liebskind joins me on Tech Talks Daily to discuss how companies can use the metaverse today to create value for their prospects, customers, and community. In addition, we explore the ethical considerations of the evolving internet and how to prevent dystopian outcomes. Finally, we discuss how different technology trends converge into systems and paradigm shifts and how people can prepare, gain skills, and shape their expectations for the future

Have you heard? From angry Adele fans to broken robot vacuums, millions were hit by the suspension of services that use Cloud. Robot vacuums ceased sucking, WiFi cameras stopped watching, and eager Tinder daters were left unable to "swipe right" on their smartphone apps. These are just a few of the many recent news stories that highlight how Cloud technology is everywhere. Cloud is widely seen as helping deliver value to customers through innovation, improved resilience, and positive sustainability impact. But it also has its imperfections. Can Cloud fail us? Should you be investing in Cloud skills? And is it time to remediate Cloud? These are just a few areas I explore with today's guest. Alina Timofeeva is a multi-award-winning Principal at Oliver Wyman who helps major organisations adopt Cloud so they can deliver on their business ambitions in a safe and cost-effective way. She was recognized by 7 industry awards only in 2021, including Cloud Professional and Digital Leader. Outside of work Alina actively gives back to the community, through mentoring immigrants and women of diverse cultural and social backgrounds - so we can all look at our failure as an opportunity, instead of a setback. Her recent TEDxTalk "Fail but never give up" was watched by over 500 000 people and translated into 20 languages globally.

Over the last year, we have seen a rapid increase in the number of cyberattacks on cloud environments, with breaches having potentially disastrous consequences. The rise has even led to CISA releasing guidance and legislation on how to improve cloud security. However, the issue of securing cloud environments does not have to be as complex as it is sometimes made out to be. Far too many breaches result from organizations relaxing their security settings on cloud resources or simple cloud misconfigurations. Therefore, what extra security checks and training should organizations be implementing to reduce the risk of breach? Gadi Naor, VP of Software Engineering, Cloud Security at Rapid7 joins me today on Tech Talks Daily to discuss why cloud security does not need to be such a complex problem as once thought. In addition, we discuss which sectors are most vulnerable to cloud misconfigurations and how data breaches in the cloud can result in further attacks, for example, social engineering attacks. We also talk about how organizations have helped contribute to the rise in attacks, including relaxing security settings and deploying unencrypted instances on the cloud. Finally, discuss what organizations can do to ensure that cloud misconfigurations are resolved.

Dr. Robert Blumofe (Bobby), EVP and CTO of Akamai Technologies, discusses where the bar has been set for digital transformation at the enterprise level and how organisations globally can keep pace with those setting the gold standard. We also discuss how those lagging in their digital journey can catch up without exposing their security infrastructures to risk. We talk about the pivotal role that Zero Trust plays in defending against increasing cyber-attacks in the new world of work. Finally, we explore why the centralised cybersecurity model underpinned by a centralised technology stack is no longer effective against cyber threats that increasingly originate from the edge of a network. Akamai is a cloud company that helps companies build, deliver, and secure digital experiences. The company has more than 8,000 employees worldwide and, in 2021, generated $3.5 billion globally. More than 50% of the Fortune 500 use Akamai's products and services, and its customers include the likes of Lufthansa, Airbnb, and Honda.

Did you know there has been a fundamental restructuring of cybercrime cartels thanks to a booming dark web economy of scale? Powerful cybercriminal groups now operate like multinational corporations and are relied upon by traditional crime syndicates to carry out illegal activities such as extortion and money laundering. As a result, cybercrime cartels are more organized than ever before and often enjoy greater protection and resources from the nation-states that view them as national assets. A recent report from VMware found that 63% of financial institutions experienced an increase in destructive attacks, a 17% increase from last year. Destructive attacks are launched punitively to destroy, disrupt, or degrade victim systems by taking actions such as encrypting files, deleting data, destroying hard drives, terminating connections, or executing malicious code. Tom Kellermann, Head of Cybersecurity Strategy, joins me on Tech Talks Daily to discuss the findings in the report and share his insights. About Tom Kellermann Tom Kellermann is the Head of Cybersecurity Strategy for VMware Inc. Previously, Tom held the position of Chief Cybersecurity Officer for Carbon Black Inc. Before joining Carbon Black, Tom was the CEO and founder of Strategic Cyber Ventures. In 2020, he was appointed to the Cyber Investigations Advisory Board for the United States Secret Service. Additionally, on January 19, 2017, Tom was appointed the Wilson Center's Global Fellow for Cyber Policy. Tom previously held the positions of Chief Cybersecurity Officer for Trend Micro; Vice President of Security for Core Security and Deputy CISO for the World Bank Treasury. In 2008 Tom was appointed a commissioner on the Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th President of the United States. In 2003 he co-authored the Book "Electronic Safety and Soundness: Securing Finance in a New Age."

Red Box, the AI voice software specialist, is enabling enterprise businesses to capture and unlock the power of their voice data to drive digital transformation, AI innovation, and compliance – all while giving their customers full ownership of their data. Voice data, both from internal communications and customer interactions, is commonly overlooked in informing an enterprise's decision-making. However, it is amongst the most powerful data sets a business can own! Pete Ellis, Red Box's Chief Product Office, talks about the many ways voice data is the fuel for change businesses need and provides a crucial foundation for digital transformation and AI deployments. We also discuss how data ownership is a key part in unlocking the benefits from AI and analytics tools, and how many businesses are losing out on this valuable asset because of things like paywalls and extra charges for exporting data.