Artwork for Tech Talks Daily
Technology

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.

  • 2,000 episodes
  • Updated Today

Episodes2000

  • Sep 26, 2021 · 26 min

    1731: How Tech Can Foster Great Inclusivity in the Workplace

    The case for diversity in the workplace is straightforward: it's the right thing to do, and numerous studies suggest it can drive better business performance, too. For example, a 2018 report found that gender-diverse executive teams, which make the most important strategic and operational decisions, were correlated with profitable outcomes across geographies; and companies with the most ethnically/culturally diverse boards worldwide are 43% more likely to experience higher profits. However, an organization might consider its workforce "diverse," but that doesn't mean all employees feel valued or are given the same opportunities. Far too often, because of unconscious bias, inclusivity is left out of the equation. In the past, unconscious bias was often perceived as subjective or circumstantial versus a larger systemic issue. Now, rather than taking action against an individual, emerging technologies are empowering business leaders to analyze the different ways that diversity and inclusion are hindered at a foundational level and inspire action to remove those factors from the equation. The team at Knockri, for instance, understands the detrimental effects unconscious bias has on applicants and organizations—and has designed a suite of AI-powered behavioral assessments that help eliminate these issues and shortlist the best-fit job candidates to interview during the early screening process of hiring. Knockri's CEO, Jahanzaib Ansario joins me in a conversation about how tech can foster great inclusivity in the workplace.

  • Sep 25, 2021 · 24 min

    1730: Unlock Your Digital Potential Through Experimentation and Personalisation

    The pandemic's impact on the acceleration of digital means that just providing a personalized experience to customers is no longer good enough. In order to succeed and stay one step ahead of the competition, brands need to embrace a data-driven approach to optimize every digital experience based on outcomes. Justin Anovick, Chief Product Officer at digital experience company, Optimizely joins me on Tech Talks Daily. We talk about how businesses can unlock digital potential through a combination of personalization and experimentation. Justin also discusses why it's so important to look beyond just personalisation and the importance of combining this with experimentation in order to move away from guesswork and gut decisions to use data to a more scientific approach that will provide customers with the best digital experience possible. About Optimizely With its digital experience platform (DXP), thy equip teams with the tools and insights they need to create and optimize in new ways. Now, companies can operate with data-driven confidence to create hyper-personalized experiences. Building sophisticated solutions has never been simpler. Optimizely's 900+ partners and 1100+ employees in offices around the globe are proud to help more than 9,000 brands, including Peloton, Uber, AMEX, WSJ, Santander, KLM and Mazda enrich their customer lifetime value, increase revenue and grow their brands. `

  • Sep 24, 2021 · 21 min

    1729: Octopus Energy Founder & CEO Greg Jackson

    Octopus Energy Founder & CEO Greg Jackson joins me on the Tech Talks Daily Podcast. Greg is inspired by giving customers the best experience at the cheapest price-point possible to drive the green energy revolution. We discuss how technology is reinventing the energy industry and tackling climate change. For years, the energy industry has been running on the software equivalent of floppy disks, but through the application of technology, Octopus Energy is bringing energy into the present day, innovating in the space through their tech platform - Kraken – to provide affordable and clean energy to millions across the globe with an unrivalled focus on the customer experience. Described as 'Amazon of energy' Octopus Energy are a global disrupter bringing energy towards a greener future. They currently serve 2.2 million customers with renewable, clean energy which their technology allows them to do cheaper and much more efficiently than anyone. They also license their technology to their competitors around the globe in USA, Australia & Japan reaching 15 million homes and currently growing at 100k per month.

  • Sep 23, 2021 · 20 min

    1728: How Spark Commodities is Empowering Trade With Technology

    Serial entrepreneur Tim Mendelssohn had an early entrepreneurial experience, starting his first company, Elephant Branded in university. Famously, it was featured in an episode of BBC's Be Your Own Boss. After that, he had a progressive career in technology and finance before becoming a CEO of Spark, including roles at Sony, Warner Brothers, BP, and Koch Supply and Trading. With no ability to code but passion for seeing how technology can fundamentally improve how the markets operate, Tim saw the flaws of markets and took on the challenge of using the technology to take on the competition of established companies with 50+ years in the industry. Spark Commodities was founded in 2019 with a mission to disrupt the trade in the commodity markets thanks to technology and data. Spark's key users are leading commodity market participants, exchanges and brokers focused on bringing value to customers suffering from expensive, unsophisticated legacy providers In February 2021, Spark beat legacy market players such as Baltic Exchange (250+ years), Platts (100 years) and Argus (50+ years) to secure a listing on ICE - an exceptional achievement for a startup. Tim Mendelssohn shares his inspirational story on Tech Talks Daily

  • Sep 22, 2021 · 20 min

    1727: The Serial Entrepreneur Merging his Love for the Ocean and Tech

    Serial entrepreneur, William West, has founded four startup companies; his most successful sold to a global outsourcing company. In addition, he's written two business books, was featured on CBS 60 Minutes and in FORBES, won twenty entrepreneurial awards, and made the Inc. 5000 list five times. Now, after twenty years building tech companies using VR, AR, and AI, West is building his piece-de resistance, a passionate endeavor merging his love for the sea with that of building companies. His most recent venture, Regatta VR, trained companies to tackle difficult HR issues and used cutting-edge VR technology to do it. Regatta Travel uses its technology to tackle more fun issues: planning the perfect vacation for you. If you want to shop, its app will send you to St. Bart's; if you want to hike the rain forest, to Dominica. And if you're a celebrity or a couple just wanting your privacy, Regatta's algorithm can handle that too. Regatta Travel Co. is built around its Waypoint app, which overcomes the Paradox of Choice typically associated with travel planning and engages the Dopamine Circle the way a dating app does. Unlike a dating app, every option is the crème de la crème and sure to delight – it's simply a matter of what the client wants to do on this trip. In fact, focusing on the activities their customers want to enjoy—the experience—is what sets Regatta apart from other travel companies. Instead of exhaustive lists of villas or boats that all look like, and leave customers unhappy with their eyes glazed over, Waypoint focuses on what vacationers want to do, and then aligns them with the top locations and accommodations on them. While Regatta's fleet, one of the largest in the travel industry, includes 1,000 boats, 1,000 villas, 4,000 planes, and 30 private islands across 50 countries, users will only see options based on their vacation vibe they're going for, and the activities they're most interested in enjoying on their trip.

  • Sep 21, 2021 · 20 min

    1726: The Student Tech Startup Story Behind StuDocu

    The Amsterdam-based scale-up StuDocu was founded in 2013 by four students, including CEO Marnix Broer, and StuDocu was born out of the need to share study resources more efficiently. Since launching, the company has expanded to markets like Australia, Canada, Germany, the UK, and the United States. It boasts more than 15 million monthly active users, helping the platform become the international leader in the document sharing space. Marnix shares his startup story and his belief that education is a resource that should be accessible to everyone and built the platform on that premise. In addition, Marnix feels strongly that education technology, particularly platforms like StuDocu, needs to complement teachers' and professors' work, creating ways for students to study for exams and learn the course material applicable in their careers in the future. Marnix also discusses the continued rise of EdTech over the past 18 months and how StuDocu recently received $50M in funding. I also learn why the solutions so desperately needed during COVID-19's study-from-home period will continue to be important as students return back to school. StuDocu utilizes a freemium model, where 80% of all documents on the site are free to access by all, and 20% fall into the premium category, which can be accessed by paying a small quarterly or annual fee or by uploading your own study materials for premium access.

  • Sep 21, 2021 · 38 min

    1725: Cult Wines - How Tech is Transforming the Wine Industry

    Tom Gearing is the CEO of Cult Wines, the global leader in fine wine investment. But I wanted to learn more about how Cult Wines is leveraging technology to disrupt the fine wine investment industry. Traditionally, fine wine investing was targeted to the "snooty" high-net-worth investor, but Tom uses technology to bring more accessibility, transparency, safety, and credibility to the industry. Tom grew up with an investment banker father who took him all over the vineyards of Europe as a boy, and he learned and sampled wine and is more knowledgeable about fine wine than people twice is his age. But his love for technology has been instrumental in making Cult Wines a leader in innovation. They released the first NFT in their industry for auction on OpenSea, and they are continuing to utilize blockchain and other technologies to set Cult Wines apart from its competitors. Tom shares his tech story and how he appeared on BBC's Apprentice a decade ago. He has also overseen the growth of the business, receiving several awards, including appearing on the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 in 2015 and 2017 and receiving a Queen's Award for International Trade. But here in 2021, he regularly appears as a market commentator on media outlets such as Bloomberg, CNBC Europe, CITYAM, and more.

  • Sep 20, 2021 · 26 min

    1724: Preparing for BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification)

    Both Google and Entrust recently announced support for email authentication specification BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification). A survey of 1,000+ US and UK adults from Red Sift, a leading cybersecurity company, looks at consumer interaction when brands are able to display their logos in an email inbox consistent with BIMI standards – revealing how this will affect consumer interaction with emails, open rates, buying behavior and brand recall. For example, the study found that BIMI has the greatest impact with Gen Z with 28% reporting that not deploying BIMI would negatively impact purchasing decisions. Rahul Powar, CEO, and Founder of Red Sift, joins me in a discussion about the rise of BIMI standards and what this will mean for marketing and security. We talk about the impact of BIMI and how this standard will translate into market value, why BIMI will be the new standard for logo visibility in email, and how BIMI will become a crucial part of security protocol in the future.

  • Sep 19, 2021 · 20 min

    1723: The Tech Transforming Reservations and Ordering in Hospitality

    Since its inception, SevenRooms has served hospitality operators from independent restaurateurs to global hospitality groups. They created the company to overcome a challenge they recognized within the industry: limited access to and ownership of guest data. Over the past ten years, they have built a platform that unlocks a 360-degree view of the guest journey and empowers operators to deliver highly personalized experiences to every on- and off-premise diner. As a result, they are leveraging technology to helping hospitality businesses, big and small, increase revenue and create loyal guests for life. Joel Montaniel, CEO & Co-Founder of SevenRooms, returns to the Tech Talks Daily Podcast for a catchup. We discuss on-premise and off-premise dining, vaccine passport mandates, and how customer's needs have evolved over the last 15 months. We also talk about how Joel sees hospitality adapting to these needs by leveraging technology. Finally, we discuss how restaurants can create a seamless journey that diners prefer from discovery to booking to the dining experience itself with technology.

  • Sep 18, 2021 · 30 min

    1722: NOK NOK - Talking Metal Payment Cards and Passwordless Authentication

    According to ABI Research, the market for metal payment cards is expanding rapidly and is expected to reach 90 million cards (cumulative) by 2025. In addition, CompoSecure, the category leader in metal payment cards, and Nok Nok Labs, the co-founder of the FIDO Alliance and leader in passwordless authentication, recently revealed they would bring to market the first Internet ID and Payment Card that can be used as a virtual ignition key for the authentication of a user into any digital service on any device. This new offering will combine Nok Nok's passwordless, secure and scalable authentication server with CompoSecure's three-factor authentication technology and patented metal NFC hardware to ensure a high level of security on any device or card. In addition, all transactions using the CompoSecure internet ID and payment card will be enabled to be used for either a POS or a card-not-present transaction. Other everyday use cases for the card include cryptocurrency transactions, eGaming, online gambling, and identity verification applications. Phil Dunkelberger joins me in a conversation about the recent announcement and shares insights from his career in tech. About Nok Nok Nok Nok is a trusted leader in passwordless consumer authentication to the world's largest organizations. Delivering the most innovative authentication solutions in the market today, Nok Nok empowers global organizations to improve the user experience to access digital services, while meeting the most advanced privacy and regulatory requirements. The Nok Nok™ S3 Authentication Suite integrates into existing security environments to deliver a proven, cost-effective, future-proof and standards-based passwordless consumer authentication solution. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, California, the company has delivered unique inventions and innovations that are protected by a robust global patent portfolio. As a founder of the FIDO Alliance and an inventor of FIDO specifications, Nok Nok is the expert in deploying standards-based authentication, and its industry leading customers and partners include BBVA, DDS, Inc., Ericsson, Fujitsu Limited, Hitachi, Intuit, Lenovo, MTRIX GmbH, NTT DATA, NTT DOCOMO, OneSpan, SoftBank, T-Mobile and Verizon.

  • Sep 17, 2021 · 32 min

    1721: How FIDO is Accelerating the Global Charge Past Passwords

    The FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance was formed in July 2012 to address the lack of interoperability among strong authentication technologies and remedy the problems users face with creating and remembering multiple usernames and passwords. By harnessing the collective expertise of hundreds of leading technology, consumer services, and government organizations, the FIDO Alliance enables simpler and stronger online experiences and more secure online identities and services. Did you know that every device you open right now has FIDO and WebAuthn through a simple API? FIDO Executive Director/CMO Andrew Shikiar discusses how the FIDO Alliance recognized a need for service provider help with User Experience, and for FIDO to take off, it needed some common elements to drive the change. I learn how Top Tech Design Engineers and UX Leads from companies such as VISA, Wells Fargo, Facebook, JP Morgan Chase, and Microsoft were involved in shaping the new UX guidelines and formed the UX Taskforce. Authentication is moving towards less dependence on knowledge and more on inherent authentication. I learn more about their mission to let people log in the same way they unlock their devices and make access easy for everyone by offering a standardized way of doing it.

  • Sep 16, 2021 · 23 min

    1720: How Tech is Transforming Wealth and Asset Management

    Anthony Caiafa, Chief Technology Officer at SS&C Technologies joins me in a conversation about how automation and AI can help the finance industry's burnout problem, further exasperated by the pandemic and the loom of a hybrid workforce. We also talk about where technology fits in to revolutionize the traditional wealth and asset manager role, and the reception from Wall Street to these broadening tech capabilities. Anthony is a technology leader and innovator with a deep understanding and experience across the entire stack. SS&C has emerged as the largest hedge fund, private equity, and transfer agency in the world, growing to over 25K employees, 18K+ clients, and over 200+ products and solutions in its portfolio, in its 35 years in operation. I also learn more about how it is rooting itself first as a technology company, and always looking to bring automation, advanced technology, and digital transformation to a traditionally antiquated industry known for being slow adopters amidst mass regulations and compliance restrictions.

  • Sep 15, 2021 · 26 min

    1719: Meet BUX, Europe's Fastest-Growing Neobroker

    Recent research by the Bank of Ireland reveals that many people have become accidental savers during the Covid-19 crisis. Understandably, half of those surveyed want to build up a rainy day fund for the future. Moreover, within today's climate of low interest rates and high living costs, many are considering investing as a way to make their money go further. Offering a new investment alternative for the Irish market, BUX, Europe's fastest-growing neobroker, officially launched its zero-commission investing app, BUX Zero, in Ireland this week, making it the first exclusively mobile platform to offer investing in the country. The arrival of BUX Zero in Ireland promises to make investing easier and more affordable through commission-free investing. In addition, BUX aims to remedy the findings that only 23% of people claim to have sufficient knowledge of markets and investment options. It is a platform that provides intuitive tools to start investing and educational content that helps users to invest responsibly. Yorick Naeff, CEO of BUX, joins me on the podcast to share the story behind the company. I also learn how BUX's flagship platform, BUX Zero, is making commission-free investing more accessible and allows users to invest in the companies they believe in.

  • Sep 14, 2021 · 22 min

    1718: The Tech Combining Data, Influencer Strategy, Social Insights, and Brand Storytelling.

    Captiv8 CEO and co-founder Krishna Subramanian joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share his tech journey. Krishna is an expert in mobile advertising. Before creating Captiv8 in 2015, he was a co-founder at BlueLithium, an online advertising network that Yahoo acquired for $300 million after becoming the fifth largest ad network in the US and the second-largest in the UK. He then went on to co-found Mobclix, a mobile ad exchange network, which went on to be acquired by Velti, where Krishna then became the CMO. Captiv8 started as a social listening tool and has grown to become a leading Influencer Marketing company that offers a fully self-service, AI-powered platform and a managed service marketplace. We also discuss their partnership with LiveRamp to turn brands' first-party data into scalable influencer campaigns.

  • Sep 13, 2021 · 27 min

    1717: How Businesses are Impacted by Employee Identity Theft

    Emily Snell, President of Allstate Identity Protection, joins me on Tech Talks Daily. Allstate Identity Protection, formerly known as InfoArmor, has been a leader in the employee benefits space for over 13 years and provides advanced identity and privacy protection to more than 30% of the Fortune 500. Emily shared her insights into how identity theft impacts businesses. We discuss how personal data is most commonly stolen from employees and what costs employers incur from these breaches. We also discuss why and how companies should better protect employees and themselves against identity theft.

  • Sep 12, 2021 · 38 min

    1716: Why IT Needs Closer Collaboration Between Business and Academia

    Alois Reitbauer, VP, Chief Technical Strategist, and Head of Innovation Lab at Dynatrace, returns to Tech Talks Daily to discuss how forging stronger links between business and academia will drive the next wave of digital innovation. Alois has 20 years of software experience, starting as a developer before moving into tech strategy. Passionate about all things tech, he is also a co-chair for the App Delivery Special Interest Group for the CNCF (Cloud Native Computing Foundation). In his role as Head of Innovation Lab at Dynatrace, Alois is responsible for Dynatrace Research, which has a team made up of academic researchers from the University of Linz, Austria, and passionate software experts from Dynatrace, to spearhead research into future technologies that can solve the challenges facing the most advanced use cases for modern data systems. He shares why he believes this approach exemplifies the broader need for the IT industry to champion closer collaboration between business and academia, covering: Accelerating innovation – 89% of CIOs say digital transformation has accelerated, and 58% believe it will continue to speed up. However, organisations are struggling to keep up with this fast-paced innovation. Partnering with academia can help bring new knowledge, fresh thinking, and novel ways of working into a business to help accelerate the charge towards new digital frontiers. However, these partnerships are often viewed as a CSR initiative rather than being a core part of the R&D process, which limits their potential. Forging stronger links – Alois believes academic partnerships can drive more meaningful impact if they sit firmly within the business. This helps provide more direction and enables academic partners to dedicate research efforts to solving current or pressing business challenges, which can't be done in a classroom. Organisations should create joint innovation teams, including university researchers, developers, and other business stakeholders, with practical knowledge of the company's systems, processes, and vision. Think fast, build fast, learn fast – With access to real-world business experience and first-hand knowledge of the challenges organisations are trying to solve, academics can create solutions that truly change the world instead of developing a theory that takes years to be tested. This can help foster a 'think fast, build fast, fail fast' mentality that accelerates the pace of digital innovation and drives the next wave of transformation.

  • Sep 11, 2021 · 19 min

    1715: How the Human-AI Relationship Will Define the Future of Work

    Josh Feast, MIT alumnus and CEO and co-founder of AI company, Cogito joins me on the Tech Talks Daily podcast to share his story and how the human-AI relationship will define the future of work. We explore how we can extend ourselves with AI, teach AI to understand us better and create human-AI interactions that work in the moment. I learn more about how Cogito provides aware human technology to help professionals elevate their performance. Cogito's contact center AI instantly analyzes hundreds of conversational behaviors to provide live in-call guidance combined with a real-time measure of customer experience. The technology is augmenting the emotional intelligence of thousands of agents in the world's most successful enterprises – improving sales results, delivering world-class service and enhancing the quality of care. Backed by Goldman Sachs, Romulus Capital, and Salesforce Ventures. We also discuss how they produce innovative technology that drives customer success and helps people live more productive lives.

  • Sep 10, 2021 · 25 min

    1714: How Tech Is Building & Monetizing Communities

    Today I have an inspirational tech startup story to share with a New York mom turned technology entrepreneur by turning her parenting into a passion! What makes her story stand out is she caught the eyes of leading investors like Sequoia Surge, Unilever Ventures, and Qualgro, who recently announced a $9 million investment into her company. Today's guest is Tamanna Dhamija. She founded Baby Destination after she had her first child a few years ago. The online parenting community she built grew into a community resource for 2 million parents. Tamanna and her co-founders saw that online communities were built and managed by passionate people, but they could not monetize these passions into a source of income. This insight led them to create Convosight, which built the technology tools to help community managers on Facebook, Reddit, and Discord to earn from their passion and drive the creation of the passion economy. In the last year, Convosight's community members grew exponentially from 34 million to 300 million. In the last 12 months, Convosight has also made nearly $1 million in payouts to community managers. Tamanna shares her inspirational story and the role that tech plays in bringing online communities together.

  • Sep 9, 2021 · 28 min

    1713: The Tech Changing In-Store Shopping Experiences

    The customer journey is blurring the line between digital and physical experiences. Therefore, retailers should look to create consistent, convenient, and inspirational customer experiences in their brick-and-mortar stores while providing the physical touch, engagement, and interaction with products. By investing in AR, VR, AI, and gesture technology, businesses can focus on improving omnichannel shopping experience to optimise engagement opportunities with customers both online and in-store, while also allowing the retailer to get to know the customer better and provide customised offerings such as personalised samples, loyalty points or discounts. I invited Valtech MD Chris Daplyn onto the podcast to share his insights into the technology guiding the future high street. Chris has over 20 years of experience in the digital agency landscape. He is a proven leader with a passion for bringing together diverse talent to connect brands and audiences in relevant and contemporary ways. Before joining Valtech, Chris has led the significant growth of several businesses as managing director of Wunderman, and most recently, as CEO of Mirum in Europe.

  • Sep 8, 2021 · 30 min

    1712: The AI-powered Candidate Search and Data Hub Transforming Recruitment

    Steve Jiang, CEO, and co-founder of Hiretual, a leader in AI-powered recruitment software, joins me on Tech Talks Daily. Steven's background is far from ordinary. From growing up in a small rural town in China to becoming a pioneer leader in his industry, he always possessed a steadfast dedication to differentiate himself from his peers - leading him to build an innovative company in his own vision. As companies around the country experience the crisis to find candidates for their job openings (9.3 million job openings, to be exact), now more than ever is the time to find the right tools to help fill the gap. I learn more about how Hiretual's software can help transform the recruiting process for companies across the board – it has even become a key resource for those in the recruiting and sourcing industry by helping businesses cut their sourcing time by as much as 80%. Steven shares why AI is helping the post-pandemic hiring market, his experience in the technology and recruiting industry, and the story behind the creation of Hiretual.