Tech Talks Daily

Neil C. Hughes

If every company is now a tech company and digital transformation is a journey rather than a destination, how do you keep up with the relentless pace of technological change?

Every day, Tech Talks Daily brings you insights from the brightest minds in tech, business, and innovation, breaking down complex ideas into clear, actionable takeaways.

Hosted by Neil C. Hughes, Tech Talks Daily explores how emerging technologies such as AI, cybersecurity, cloud computing, fintech, quantum computing, Web3, and more are shaping industries and solving real-world challenges in modern businesses.

Through candid conversations with industry leaders, CEOs, Fortune 500 executives, startup founders, and even the occasional celebrity, Tech Talks Daily uncovers the trends driving digital transformation and the strategies behind successful tech adoption. But this isn't just about buzzwords.

We go beyond the hype to demystify the biggest tech trends and determine their real-world impact. From cybersecurity and blockchain to AI sovereignty, robotics, and post-quantum cryptography, we explore the measurable difference these innovations can make.

Whether improving security, enhancing customer experiences, or driving business growth, we also investigate the ROI of cutting-edge tech projects, asking the tough questions about what works, what doesn't, and how businesses can maximize their investments.

Whether you're a business leader, IT professional, or simply curious about technology's role in our lives, you'll find engaging discussions that challenge perspectives, share diverse viewpoints, and spark new ideas.

New episodes are released daily, 365 days a year, breaking down complex ideas into clear, actionable takeaways around technology and the future of business.

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2,001 episodes
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Episodes2001

Newest first

Mar 16, 2022 · 26 min
1912: UiPath: Accelerating Human Achievement With Tech
UiPath is a leading robotic process automation (RPA) software company. Renzo Taal designs and manages the company's growth strategy for the EMEA region in close collaboration with the senior leadership team and has been recognized as one of the most influential young business leaders in the EMEA. We discuss the importance of retaining and attracting talent with automation education and how to best implement automation upskilling and reskilling programs within the context of the current job market. Finally, Renzo shares his story and how an increased awareness of the power of UiPath's end-to-end automation platform coupled with solid execution by the team resulted in a fiscal third-quarter ARR of $818 million, an increase of 58 percent year-over-year.
Mar 15, 2022 · 39 min
1911: Thales Group - Rise of the Sovereign Cloud.
Rob Ellis from Thales joins me in discussing the rise of the sovereign cloud. We discuss how data sovereignty is not just about localization; it's ensuring that nation-states can store their data in their own country and control access to it. There are now more than 1,800 data compliance laws companies must comply with on a global scale. I learn how this surge in regulation is creating a shift towards the containment and localisation of data and why we will see this more and more in the years to come. The public will become increasingly aware of these challenges too, with individual data sovereignty on the horizon. This will allow individuals to control where their data is and how it is used, strengthening the correlation between identity and data protection. Finally, we discuss how it's likely that more tech giants will build localized data centers to circumnavigate geographical barriers to business. This in turn will lead to an increasing level of investment from global cloud providers in the cloud infrastructure of nation-states, driving forward their ongoing digital transformation journey.
Mar 14, 2022 · 42 min
1910: BSI - How Cyber Vulnerabilities are Plaguing the Supply Chain
Cybersecurity vulnerabilities have been plaguing supply chains across industries. According to an analysis conducted by BSI, ransomware attacks on the supply chain have increased by 66 percent in the last three years, expediting the concern of cybersecurity for private companies. Considering these attacks range from targeting the sea modality to the trucking modality, tools to combat the threat of cyber-attacks on the supply chain have solidified in the last year, making it a central part of the United States cybersecurity policy. Mark Brown, Global Managing Director, Digital Trust Consulting Services at BSI joins me in a conversation about all this, along with cybersecurity risk and trends that are emerging along with how we can better prepare, Mark Brown joined BSI in February of 2021 as the Global Managing Director of the Consulting Services, Cyber Security, and Information Security business. In his role, Mark drives a new global focus on emerging technologies and risks such as IoT and Operational Technology (OT), increased cloud adoption, RPA Security, 5G security, and the CISO desire to achieve central management over the new converged digital arena, positioning cyber security as a business enabler. With over 25 years of in the industry, Mark brings a wealth of knowledge on the expanding cybersecurity marketplace as organizations grapple with digital transformation and addressing new technologies that bring new business risks. Mark has previously held global leadership roles across industry and professional services, including tenures as Global CISO at SABMiller plc, and Global CIO/CTO at Spectris plc, as well as leadership roles as a Partner at Wipro Ltd., and Ernst & Young (EY) LLP.
Mar 13, 2022 · 22 min
1909: How to Avoid Hasty Cloud Migrations
The COVID-19 pandemic has added many layers of complexity to the workplace, as companies are increasingly relying on technology to establish secure remote work capabilities. Since a multi-cloud IT infrastructure can provide exceptional benefits, including optimizing cost performance, avoiding vendor lock-in, and increasing reliability by distributing assets in the event of an IT crisis, it's no wonder so many companies are racing to adopt multi-cloud solutions. However, this rush to migrate sensitive data and business functions from on-premises to multiple clouds is leaving many organizations ill-prepared for security and compliance issues. Gartner has predicted that by 2025, 90% of the organizations that fail to control public cloud use will inappropriately share sensitive data. Companies that fail to employ security guardrails when planning a cloud migration are severely increasing their risk of misconfigurations that can lead to devastating security and compliance incidents. Keith Neilson, Technical Evangelist at CloudSphere joins me on Tech Talks Daily to discuss how companies can maintain a competitive edge and keep company data secure by leveraging a more agile cyber asset management approach.
Mar 12, 2022 · 30 min
1908: The Digital Transformation of Healthcare
Paddy Padmanabhan is the Founder and CEO of Damo Consulting Inc., a digital transformation and growth advisory firm focused on the healthcare sector. For over 20 years, Paddy has had a distinguished career in leadership roles working extensively as a technology strategist and trusted advisor to C-suite executives in large health systems and digital health firms. Paddy is also the author of the best-selling book Healthcare Digital Transformation - How Consumerism, Technology, and Pandemic are Accelerating the Future and The Big Unlock – Harnessing Data and Growing Digital Health Businesses in a Value-based Care Era. We discuss the top digital priorities for health systems today and the Digital transformation trends driving healthcare in 2022. We also talk about developing enterprise digital roadmaps and digital maturity in healthcare.
Mar 11, 2022 · 30 min
1907: How Trace Network Labs is Enabling Lifestyle For Metaverse
Trace Network Labs is creating an ecosystem that will allow an individual to create their own exclusive virtual space, live their lives, and roam freely across. They aim to enable the evolution of the luxury lifestyle for the metaverses as the boundaries between real and virtual continue to blur. Lokesh Rao discusses how the Metaverse will change the way people connect with others and express themselves through clothing, accessories, etc. We also discuss what this will mean for consumers and brands and how NFTs will continue to revolutionize the fashion industry. We also talk about how technology has changed and influenced fashion over recent years and what we might expect from the convergence of blockchain and fashion.
Mar 10, 2022 · 19 min
1906: Data Intelligence and The Future of the Data Catalog
Steve Neat, GM EMEA of a large Enterprise Data Catalog and Data Governance company called Alation, joins me in a conversation about Data Intelligence. IDC recently coined the term to mean a system that delivers trustworthy, reliable data. We discuss how Alation is credited with creating the data catalog product category, how this relates to data intelligence, and why a number of the world's best known brands are now turning to data intelligence to create a more data-driven culture. I learn how an ability to better understand and trust data across an organization leads to creating communities around data where people can reach out to each other and share information.
Mar 9, 2022 · 26 min
1905: The Tech Helping Businesses Stay Carbon Neutral.
We all care about climate change - but it's not always easy to know what to do about it. So what are the best things we can do - and how can we quantify our impact? Treepoints is the easiest way to do good and earn rewards along the way. With Treepoints, not only will you offset your carbon footprint, but you'll support projects that deliver life-changing benefits to vulnerable communities and local ecosystems. Treepoints had raised £150k to help us reach our goal of planting 67 million trees (one for every UK resident) within the next five years. But I wanted to learn more about how technology brings all this to life. Jacob Wedderburn-Day returns to the podcast to talk about all this and much more.
Mar 8, 2022 · 22 min
1904: The Future Of D2C Tech Beyond Performance Marketing
Building on Shopify and selling on Facebook won't work anymore for the brands as this is just pushing CAC through the roof, leaving brands struggling for profitability and growth. Organically reimagining commerce is the only way for digitally native brands to win in every normal. dotkonnekt is building the industry's first Experiential Commerce platform, purpose-built for brands to grow their D2C channel organically. How? By converging Content, Community, and Commerce and scripting a composable and unique experience for their customers visiting their site. The commerce platforms that exist today, Shopify's of the world were built for Retailers and SMB's, hence brands feel stuck, with no room for creativity, in their templatized and monolithic architectures. Started amid a pandemic last year by 2 retail enthusiasts & industry veterans Dhiraj (in Bangalore) & Chandan (in the US), who in their previous avatars have led this space for 2.5 decades.
Mar 7, 2022 · 33 min
1903: Is It Time to Automate Your Unified Communications?
The recent pandemic response has elevated the importance of simplified administration of UCC platforms like Teams to senior management who are navigating a highly complex hybrid working environment with increasingly distributed workforces. However, the fragmentation of technology in the UCC space has actually led to a disunification of communications, meaning that the challenge for businesses now is to re-unify and automate management and user administration, freeing admin specialists to do the work they need to do, and employees to work, collaborate and innovate. Kurmi is a company that works with the likes of Verizon, NTT, Orange, BP, L'Oreal, BNP Paribas, etc to handle the automated provisioning of around 5 million people worldwide to ensure that employees have the tools and platforms they need to get working ASAP. Eric Olson, VP Sales Americas joins me in a conversation about the multitude of different platforms like Teams, Google, Avaya, Cisco etc, and collaboration tools that organizations need to navigate. We also discuss how things like 'the great resignation' and hybrid working have created greater pressure for admin teams and why automation can alleviate the burden.
Mar 6, 2022 · 35 min
1902: Now®️ - The Tech Supporting Small and Minority-Owned Businesses
Lara Hodgson is the CEO and co-founder of Now®️, a fintech startup enabling minority-owned small businesses to grow through its invoice payment solution that redefines how and when companies get paid. Lara also serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Harvard Business School and is an internationally recognized speaker, leading seminars on creativity, innovation, and access to capital. Lara joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share lessons from the growing pains of starting her own small business with Stacey Abrams and their guide for entrepreneurs highlighted in their upcoming book, Level Up. In 2010, they created NowAccount because they were sick of waiting for their customers to pay. Initially, they celebrated when they landed a big contract, but weeks and weeks would pass and payment would still be outstanding. They needed working capital to continue business operations and their cash was tied up in their invoices. Everyone told them to get a line of credit or try factoring, and they thought, "Why should we have to borrow money or factor when we are the free bank to our customers? There had to be a better way!" I also learn more about her entrepreneurial journey as a female founder and startup story about how and why she co-founded Now®️. Finally, we discuss the ongoing effects of COVID-19 on small businesses and the importance of supporting small, minority-owned businesses.
Mar 5, 2022 · 31 min
1901: Exploring Data-Driven Growth With The NPD Group
Darren Person joins me on Tech Talks Daily. As Global CIO, Darren leads NPD's Technology Group, encompassing the company's operations and technology organizations, and is responsible for spearheading the development of NPD's next-generation platform, addressing clients' needs through innovations in data and analytics. Today's episode explores the opportunities beyond Silicon Valley, and we discuss where to find the best tech jobs across America. Darren also shares advice on how to find the right company to further your career in tech and shares tips on why a career in technology is the best investment you can make. Finally, we discuss the importance of data-driven decision-making across organizations, and the guest offers some strategic advice for CIOs on building a future-proof tech workforce.
Mar 4, 2022 · 17 min
1900: Breaking the Boundaries of Techno-Polymers Additive Manufacturing
Founded in 2015, Roboze was created to redesign the global supply chain through its patented ultra-precise 3D printing technology for super materials, leveraging a proprietary CARBON PEEK material - the highest performing 3D printing super polymer in the entire industry. Roboze currently works with GE, Bosch, Airbus, and other global organizations across space, energy/sustainable energy, medical, manufacturing, and more to design and create end-use parts. The company recently released the world's largest 3D printer equipped with a heated chamber for the fast production of incredibly strong non-metallic parts and is the creator of additive manufacturing systems with the highest accuracy and repeatability in the world. I invited Alessio Lorusso onto Tech Talks Daily to learn more about his tech startup story, 3D printing, and much more.
Mar 3, 2022 · 47 min
1899: RCRDSHP - Digitisation and the Future of Music Collections
Digital collectibles platform, RCRDSHP, has just embarked on a brand new journey with RCRDSHP Studio. Developing a space for artists and fans to engage with each other in such an innovative and personalized web3 environment is everything RCRDSHP has aimed to do, and now it is here for the world to explore. Far from the big tech hype and commercial bluster surrounding NFTs and web3, thousands of projects and collectives are quietly shaping new music communities via decentralized tech. These grassroots, often fan-driven efforts blend experiences, collaboration, collective creation and investment with ever-evolving creativity. RCRDSHP wants more of these experiments to flourish. To make this happen, the web3 music platform has launched RCRDSHP Studio, a home base that provides the tools for music lovers and artists to experiment together with all that web3 offers. RCRDSHP Studio gives music fans a base and the tools to play around with new web3 experiences, from collectively creating something to running a remix contest to supporting a cause that matters. These experiences take place primarily on Discord and Twitch, NFTs, and the legacy music business to build a bridge to music's web3 future. It's part of RCRDSHP's ongoing mission to find new ways to assert music's value and create sustainable artist livelihoods. Obie Fernandez joins me in a discussion about the future of our music collections.
Mar 2, 2022 · 29 min
1898: Securing the Mobile Workforce
Denis O'Shea joins me on Tech Talks Daily in a discussion about securing remote workers using their personal devices. We also talk about balancing security with employee experience, and he shares a few tips around running a paper-less, server-less, password-less business. Finally, I learn more about the story behind Mobile Mentor. Denis O'Shea founded Mobile Mentor in New Zealand in 2004. Since then, the company has helped millions of people unlock the full potential of their technology. In 2017, O'Shea moved to Nashville, Tennessee to launch the company's US business, with a focus on securing the mobile workforce in industries such as healthcare, education, finance, and government services. Mobile Mentor is a global leader in the endpoint ecosystem, helping clients navigate the right balance between security and employee experience. The company was named Microsoft's 2021 Global Partner of the year for Modern Endpoint Management primarily for their work helping Alive Hospice safely treat patients during COVID 19. In addition to being a top Microsoft partner, they are also certified by Apple and Google. In addition, mobile Mentor has recently worked with Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Michigan Medicine, Mayo Clinic, and the US Coast Guard.
Mar 1, 2022 · 26 min
1897: The Tech Helping People Create & Sell Online Courses & Coaching
Under the "Great Resignation," millions of people are leaving their jobs to start their own businesses. However, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20% of those businesses will fail within the first year. And those that do survive the first year will likely not turn a significant profit for quite some time — if ever. What if people could keep their day jobs and monetize their expertise without significant risk or time and capital expenditure? Well, that's exactly what Kajabi is doing. With Kajabi, users have a single platform to publish, market, and sell online courses, membership sites, communities, and other digital products. Tens of thousands of entrepreneurs rely on Kajabi to build and manage their online businesses, and the company has helped these entrepreneurs generate over $2 billion in sales from nearly 50 million customers to date. As an example of how people are growing their businesses on Kajabi, Dr. Jamie Wilkey earned $230,000 in 2021 on Kajabi through her online class that teaches pharmacists to use personalized medicine to change the trajectory of their careers. Ahad Khan is the CEO of Kajabi, an all-in-one platform for knowledge entrepreneurs and creators to build, market, and sell educational content. I learn more about the story behind Kajabi and how they are helping people and businesses with their tech.
Feb 28, 2022 · 13 min
1896: LANDR: The Tech Behind The Creative Tools for Musicians
A company called LANDR recently set off my tech spidey senses when they launched Chromatic, a first-of-its-kind virtual instrument featuring exclusive sounds by well-known artists, session players and producers. These sound sets are grouped by color and mood to spark more creativity for music makers. With an impressive streaming library growing with new material in the next month, including artist-generated sound sets by 2020 Grammy nominee D Smoke (Best New Artist, Best Rap Album) and platinum selling Montreal singer-songwriter Ariane Moffatt (with her SOMMM collective), Chromatic offers the artist community a playable interface they can use in producing new works. Chromatic will soon incorporate royalty splits for creators who are contributing sound sets and those who utilize them in their works, generating potential new revenue streams for artists everywhere while allowing for artful collaboration and exchange in a unique way. It will function as an intriguing additional asset artists can use to promote their recordings and projects and boost their income. Khaled Said shares the story behind LANDR.
Feb 27, 2022 · 30 min
1895: Preparing For a Touchless Future
Tina D'Agostin is the CEO of Alcatraz AI, an artificial intelligence company that employs facial authentication technology to create autonomous access control solutions for enterprises. D'Agostin previously served as the Chief Revenue Officer for Alcatraz AI, responsible for driving top-line growth and expanding Alcatraz's footprint globally. As CEO, she plans to take Alcatraz AI into its next chapter to modernize the access control industry. Tina brings over 25 years of experience within the security technology and solutions industry, with leadership experience building high-performing organizations in hardware, IT, and smart technologies. Prior to Alcatraz AI, D'Agostin was the General Manager of Building Technology & Solutions at Johnson Controls, focused on delivering smart building technologies to global companies. Tina earned her undergraduate degree and her MBA from Rockford University. An avid and lifelong student, she has continued her education at Stanford University, receiving professional certifications in Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Energy Innovation & Emerging Technologies. Tina currently serves on the board at the Bay Area Council and is a contributing member of the Forbes Technology Council. In today's episode, we discuss the touchless future awaiting all of us as well as how buildings are getting smarter and how these technologies evolving are making for safer physical environments.
Feb 26, 2022 · 24 min
1894: Why Startups Should Care About Cybersecurity
Should small startups care about cybersecurity? Did you know that the average cost of a ransomware attack is $500k? For most small businesses and startups, this means they go out of business. Even if they can afford to pay the ransom, the reputation damage is permanent. For that reason, more than 60% of small businesses & startups never survive the attack. Scary statistics. Brian Fritton, CEO & Founder of Havoc Shield shares how they've taken the technical and legal ocean of complexity in the security arena and turned it into a simple step-by-step action plan that integrates many of the products, services, and policies companies normally need to wade through and implement individually. Brian discusses why cybersecurity is not only for the big players as 43% of attacks target brands under 500 employees. He also shares easy-to-apply strategies that can literally save the businesses of everyone listening. Finally, we talk about how something as simple as putting a cybersecurity badge on your website increases the conversion rate by more than 5%. And that's just one of the underleveraged strategies.
Feb 25, 2022 · 31 min
1893: The Tech Changing How We Teach and Learn
Panos Siozos is the Co-Founder and CEO of LearnWorlds, an online course platform for creating, selling and promoting online courses. He formerly worked in the European Parliament as a policy adviser for research and innovation issues (2009-2014). He is currently 'tasting his own medicine' having co-founded his edtech SaaS startup. LearnWorlds is a powerful, easy-to-use and reliable training solution for individuals and enterprises. A fully customizable, white-label solution to train employees and associates, educate customers, or sell online courses to a wide audience. The cloud-based e-learning platform offers Professionals, Entrepreneurs & Training Managers a solution tailored to their specific needs and a team of experts to help achieve your goals. Much more than just selling online courses, LearnWorlds comes with a built-in Social Community. But I wanted to learn more about the technology that makes it easy for anyone to create, market, and sell the most engaging online courses. Panos joins in on Tech Talks Daily shares the story behind LearnWorlds, how the pandemic affected the way we learn, market trends, and surge in demand.