Tech Talks Daily

Joshua Altman, founder of beltway.media and fractional chief communications officer, helps organizations simplify and align their messaging. He explains the CCO role in shaping perception, trust, and consistent storytelling. Conversations cover why simplicity beats overcommunication, taming tool and AI-driven noise, practical AI use for research, and cutting tool sprawl to regain time and alignment.

Zubair Magrey, co-founder and CEO of Ergodic and former aerospace engineer, builds world-model AI for enterprise decisions. He explains structured simulations that model cause and effect. He contrasts pattern-matching ML with physics-aware models that respect capacity and time. He walks through supply-chain and manufacturing scenarios and discusses practical adoption and ROI.

Ondřej Chrastina, a developer relations pro with roots in QA and development, shares his journey across CMS and data platforms. He discusses supporting diverse developer personas, why showing working examples builds trust, the hidden importance of CKEditor inside many products, HTML editing complexities, and the value of long-term maintenance and integrator-focused support.

Join Ravi Nemalikanti, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Abrigo, as he dives into the world of responsible AI in banking. With experience building solutions for over 2,500 community banks, Ravi explains why the sector demands transparency and accountability from AI systems. He shares insights on invisible AI assistants enhancing workflows, the role of human judgment in tech, and the crucial need for explainable models. Discover how these innovations help smaller banks navigate regulatory challenges while maintaining trust with their communities.

Vijay Rajendran, founder, former venture investor, and UC Berkeley instructor, dives into the unfiltered realities of startup life. He highlights why creating what customers truly want is more complex than it appears. Beyond just pitching, Vijay emphasizes the importance of evaluating investors as partners and adapting leadership styles from 'chief everything' to 'chief enablement.' He also discusses critical growth stages for founders and the often-overlooked need for regular co-founder check-ins to prevent conflict. A refreshing and practical take on navigating the startup landscape!

Dr. Werner Engelbrecht, Senior Director of Strategy at Veeva Systems, shares his extensive experience in clinical research and regulatory strategy. He dives into how evolving regulations like GDPR and the AI Act are shaping transparency and collaboration in life sciences. Rather than seeing compliance as a hurdle, Werner emphasizes it as an opportunity for innovation and patient trust. He also discusses practical AI applications in drug discovery and the challenges of patient recruitment amidst genomic complexities, alongside emerging technologies like blockchain for data integrity.

Kate Hayward, UK Managing Director at Xero and a leader in accounting technology, discusses the transformative impact of AI on the accounting profession. She explains how technology is not just speeding up workflows but reshaping them for greater efficiency and profitability. With AI helping firms shift towards advisory roles, Kate shares valuable insights on enhancing analytical skills through financial education. The conversation also highlights the evolving expectations of clients and the importance of balancing technology with trust and human connections.

In this engaging discussion, Jason Ambrose, CEO of People.ai, sheds light on transforming sales activity into actionable insights. He highlights how the phase of AI pilots is fading, and leaders now demand measurable results. Jason illustrates the chaos of activity data overwhelming sales teams and argues for simplifying workflows through AI. He also discusses how tools like ChatGPT are redefining enterprise software, advocating for focus on human judgment in sales rather than complete automation. A thought-provoking listen on the future of sales!

In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sat down with Keith Zubchevich, CEO of Conviva, to unpack one of the most honest analogies I have heard about today's AI rollout. Keith compares modern AI agents to toddlers being sent out to get a job, full of promise, curious, and energetic, yet still lacking the judgment and context required to operate safely in the real world. It is a simple metaphor, but it captures a tension many leaders are feeling as generative AI matures in theory while so many deployments stumble in practice. As ChatGPT approaches its third birthday, the narrative suggests that GenAI has grown up. Yet Keith argues that this sense of maturity is misleading, especially inside enterprises chasing measurable returns. He explains why so many pilots stall or quietly disappoint, not because the models lack intelligence, but because organizations often release agents without clear outcomes, real-time oversight, or an understanding of how customers actually experience those interactions. The result is AI that appears to function well internally while quietly frustrating users or failing to complete the job it was meant to do. We also dig into the now infamous Chevrolet chatbot incident that sold a $76,000 vehicle for one dollar, using it as a lens to examine what happens when agents are left without boundaries or supervision. Keith makes a strong case that the next chapter of enterprise AI will not be defined by ever-larger models, but by visibility. He shares why observing behavior, patterns, sentiment, and efficiency in real time matters more than chasing raw accuracy, especially once AI moves from internal workflows into customer-facing roles. This conversation will resonate with anyone under pressure to scale AI quickly while worrying about brand risk, accountability, and trust. Keith offers a grounded view of what effective AI "parenting" looks like inside modern organizations, and why measuring the customer experience remains the most reliable signal of whether an AI system is actually growing up or simply creating new problems at speed. As leaders rush to put agents into production, are we truly ready to guide them, or are we sending toddlers into the workforce and hoping for the best? Useful Links Connect with Keith Zubchevich Learn more about Conviva Chevrolet Dealer Chatbot Agrees to Sell Tahoe for $1 Thanks to our sponsors, Alcor, for supporting the show.

In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sit down with Imran Nino Eškić and Boštjan Kirm from HyperBUNKER to unpack a problem many organisations only discover in their darkest hour. Backups are supposed to be the safety net, yet in real ransomware incidents, they are often the first thing attackers dismantle. Speaking with two people who cut their teeth in data recovery labs across 50,000 real cases gave me a very different perspective on what resilience actually looks like. They explain why so many so-called "air-gapped" or "immutable" backups still depend on identities, APIs, and network pathways that can be abused. We talk through how modern attackers patiently map environments for weeks before neutralising recovery systems, and why that shift makes true physical isolation more relevant than ever. What struck me most was how calmly they described failure scenarios that would keep most leaders awake at night. The heart of the conversation centres on HyperBUNKER's offline vault and its spaceship-style double airlock design. Data enters through a one-way hardware channel, the network door closes, and only then is information moved into a completely cold vault with no address, no credentials, and no remote access. I also reflect on seeing the black box in person at the IT Press Tour in Athens and why it feels less like a gadget and more like a last-resort lifeline. We finish by talking about how businesses should decide what truly belongs in that protected 10 percent of data, and why this is as much a leadership decision as an IT one. If everything vanished tomorrow, what would your company need to breathe again, and would it actually survive? Useful LInks Connect with Imran Nino Eškić Connect With Boštjan Kirm Learn More about HyperBUNKER Lear more about the IT Press Tour Thanks to our sponsors, Alcor, for supporting the show.