Momenta I Digital Thread: Recent Episodes
Momenta
Make sense of the emerging technologies and catalysts driving industrial enterprises' digital transformation. Join Ken Forster as he speaks with industry thought leaders, practitioners, strategic thinkers, and entrepreneurs about recent technological developments and game-changing ideas. Each episode has a lot of helpful information and ideas about how businesses can use digital technology to change the world's economy for the better.
Unlock the future of industrial innovation! In the latest Momenta Podcast, Dr. Christian Bartsch shares 20+ years of digital transformation insights—from IoT to AR. Learn how to overcome challenges and empower teams. 🎧 Listen now!
Join us as we welcome Alistair Fulton, COO and VP of Ecosystem at Blues. With over 25 years of experience in IoT and IIoT, Alistair discusses building solutions, industry challenges, and future tech advancements.
Discover venture capital's multifaceted world and its role in fostering economic growth and entrepreneurship in Canada with Alexandre Préfontaine of BDC Capital's Industrial Innovation Venture Fund. Explore unique assessments, the importance of networks, and the excitement of team-driven success.
Tune in to Momenta's latest episode on Industrial Impact. Discover how Petr's journey from General Manager at Coating Technologies to founder of SprayVision is transforming the coating industry. Learn about the latest innovations in industrial coatings, including AI-driven solutions for precision, efficiency, and sustainability.
Tune in to episode 233 of Momenta's Industrial Impact podcast for an exclusive interview with Dr. Alessandro Butté, CEO of DataHow. Explore the journey of DataHow, insights into AI model-based bioprocessing, Dr. Butté's expertise in Quality by Design at Lonza, and the impact of Momenta's Series A funding. Get ready for a glimpse into future trends in bioprocessing and AI integration.
Annika Ölme, CTO and SVP of SKF, speaks about technological innovation and the industrial future. Drawing from her SKF Group tenure and leadership roles at Arcam and SAAB Radar Solutions, she highlights the importance of diversity in driving innovation. Join her for insights into navigating the evolving landscape of technology and industry.
Kence Anderson, CEO and Co-Founder of Composabl and author of "Designing Autonomous AI," shares powerful insights on how Artificial Intelligence revolutionizes industrial innovation and enhances business efficiency.
Embark on a transformative journey with Gilberto Loureiro, Co-founder of Smartex.ai. Discover his path from textile factories to entrepreneurship, and explore Smartex.ai’s mission to revolutionize the industry. Gain insights into their impactful work, Portugal’s startup scene, and technology trends in smart textiles.
Discover the latest episode of our Momenta Industrial Impact podcast series featuring Gayle Sheppard, Global Board Director at Astroscale. Gain insights from Gayle's extensive experience in the tech industry, including her roles at Bright Machines, Microsoft Asia, and Saffron Technology. Tune in for invaluable perspectives on industrial impact and innovation.
Dr. Timothy Chou is spearheading the Pediatric Moonshot initiative, revolutionizing pediatric healthcare! With cutting-edge image-sharing and AI technology, Pediatric Moonshot is set to enhance outcomes, cut costs, and ensure equity for children everywhere. Get ready for a healthcare transformation!
Discover Kimberly Eubank's strategy as BigAssFans' Chief Digital Information Officer to elevate from a $350M company to a billion-dollar powerhouse. Explore her roadmap for scaling: realigning processes, optimizing tech, & enhancing customer experience
Discover unique insights, leadership highlights, and the impact of the innovative Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring program on SMEs. Tune in for a compelling discussion on the dynamic intersection of academia and industry in shaping the future of manufacturing.
Discover Belden's evolution & gain insights from Hiran Bhadra, SVP of Strategy. Learn how Belden is creating value for customers by becoming a solution-oriented organization.
Discover HiveMQ’s CTO, Dominik Obermaier’s journey to co-found the most trusted MQTT platform. Learn about the data driven enterprise from an industry expert.
Discover the secrets of industrial data management in our latest podcast episode with Jonas Hellgren, CEO of APERIO, a front-runner in operational data quality.
Join Sandeep Pandya as he reflects on a decade of launching startups integrating AI into industries like trucking and steel. Learn about the challenges and triumphs, and explore the transformative power of technology in driving positive change within the ESG movement.
Today, we're thrilled to welcome Jonathan Weiss, Chief Revenue Officer at Eigen Innovations, a pioneer in limitless Industrial Machine Vision—a cutting-edge approach that goes beyond traditional boundaries.
How can decentralized networks transform manufacturing? Andrew Lamb, Chair of the Internet of Production Alliance, shares his vision how he uses 3D Printing and digital fabrication to enable ‘production by the masses’.
Explore the insightful podcast episode featuring Veena Lakkundi, SVP of Strategy and Corporate Development at Rockwell Automation. Discover her expertise in industrial innovation, digital transformation, and the future of the digital industry. Gain valuable insights into the key trends shaping the industry and learn how Rockwell Automation is enabling its customers and partners to lead the way.
Join us on the Digital Thread Podcast as we delve into the career of John Sirianni, Founder of Quantum Cybersecurity International, exploring his innovative solutions in semiconductor cybersecurity and his role in shaping the future of technology.
Tune in to the Digital Thread podcast featuring Sumit, the driving force behind minds.ai. His forward-looking perspectives on AI's future promise to spark innovative technological journeys. Minds.ai, dedicated to enhancing semiconductor manufacturing through AI, strives for increased productivity and waste reduction.
Listen to this week's podcast episode. Empowering Change: Christine Seymour's Journey as the Current VP Strategy and M&A for Smart Infrastructure at Siemens Strategy. Explore 23+ years of industry triumphs, innovation, and inclusive leadership.
Join us for a captivating conversation with Alessandro about the future of building technologies in self-storage.
In this episode, we delve into the transformative impact of Pico MES on US manufacturing. As Momenta's latest investment, Ryan Kuhlenbeck, Co-Founder and CEO of Pico MES, takes us on a journey from his factory town upbringing to pioneering innovation for small to mid-sized manufacturing.
Discover the visionary leadership of Himagiri Mukkamala, who led Pelion, a groundbreaking company that revolutionized IoT connectivity worldwide. Learn how Pelion left an indelible mark on the IoT ecosystem under his guidance, driving innovation and transformative change.
Discover Sid Verma's expertise in building profitable, high-growth digital businesses across diverse industries. From prominent roles at Astec Industries, Hitachi Vantara, and Siemens Advanta to seven years at Deloitte Digital, his transformative insights are not to be missed.
Don't miss this podcast featuring Suhas Patel, CEO and Founder of TVARIT, a German startup transforming sustainable manufacturing. Learn how they reduce waste and energy consumption in metal manufacturing.
Tune in as Ken Forster interviews manufacturing visionary Professor John Hart, Department Head of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and Director of the MIT Center for Additive and Digital Advanced Production Technologies.
Former Chief Strategy Officer of Seeq, the first data analytics app, Michael Risse talks about big data technologies and analytics. Michael has been a consultant, advisor, speaker, and founding partner at Seeq Corporation for over 25 years, turning industrial process data into actionable intelligence.
"Pioneering the IIoT: Insights from Matt Oberdorfer on his latest book, 'The Trailblazer's Guide to Industrial IoT.' Discover valuable insights for upgrading OT/IT infrastructure and leveraging AI, ML, and analytics for digital transformation in energy and manufacturing."
In this week's episode, join Ken Forster in a captivating interview with Praveen Rao, Global Head for Industrial IoT and Analytics in the Worldwide Specialist Organization (WWSO) at Amazon.
In this episode, Ken Forster interviews Jessica Poliner, President and CEO of relayr, the global Industrial IoT company that transforms real machine data into valuable insights. Learn about relayr's solutions and Jessica's experience as a transformational leader in diverse tech and industrial businesses.
Discover how Bill Aulet, MIT's Professor of Entrepreneurship, is revolutionizing entrepreneurship education worldwide. As Managing Director of Martin Trust Center, he empowers students to develop the skills and mindset to succeed as entrepreneurs.
Julio Mestroni, former Chief Commercial Officer – Power Digital, GE Digital - Digital Energy by Momenta
Join Marcel van Helten, President of Red Lion Controls, in a conversation on "Industrial Data." Learn about the current state of industrial data management and the latest trends.
Don't miss this week's episode as Ken Forster sits down with Alistair Fulton, a seasoned expert in wireless technology. As the former Senior Vice President and General Manager at Semtech, Alistair has an impressive track record of building successful businesses in the IoT/IIoT space. Tune in to gain valuable insights from this industry pro on the latest advancements in wireless tech and the future of connectivity.
Prepare to be captivated by an electrifying conversation with Michelle Bockman, former President of Stanley X and Chief Technology Officer of Stanley Black and Decker. Join host Ken Forster as he sits down with Michelle to discuss her remarkable achievements, leadership insights, and the future of innovation.
On our 200th episode, we have the honor of welcoming back Andrew Obin, a highly experienced analyst in the Industrial Software sector at BofA. In this episode, Andrew shares insights from his team's latest research report, which offers a remarkably positive outlook on the industrial space, with bullish trends and forecast predictions.
Former Chief Strategy Officer of Seeq, the first data analytics app, Michael Risse talks about big data technologies and analytics. He has been a consultant, advisor, speaker, and founding partner at Seeq Corporation for 25 years, turning industrial process data into actionable intelligence.
Neil Cawse, the founder and CEO of Geotab, the global leader in IoT and connected transportation, is being interviewed by Ken Forster and Doug Harp for the Digital Thread podcast.
Greg has worked in high-tech startups for over 30 years, focusing on customer leadership. His specialty is building teams, systems, and procedures for high-growth companies that focus on operations and customers. As an expert in hardware and SaaS, Greg has implemented over a million devices in over 100,000 locations.
Luke Smaul, the newest member of Momenta's Advisory team, has successfully spearheaded large multinational digital transformation projects for Fortune 100 companies; his passion is creating new business models across a range of verticals using IoT Edge sensors, big data, and advanced analytics.
This week's guest speaker is Andrew Obin, Managing Director at BofA. Andrew is an Industrial Software sector analyst, covering companies like Aspen, Carrier, Dover, Eaton, Emerson, GE, Johnson Controls, Rockwell Automation, and Trane, to name a few. Tune in to hear his perspective on the macro factors that influence these industrial enterprises and some of the key trends he is following.
This week's guest speaker is Jane Arnold, former VP, Manufacturing and Operations Technology, Stanley Black and Decker. Jane is a thought leader in Industry 4.0, and an 5.0- expert in manufacturing technology.
Tune in as Martin Cloake, CEO of Raven.ai, the automated contextualization and OEE software for manufacturers speaks about #ai, #industry40, #manufacturing, #continuousimprovement, and #digitaltransformation
Michael Cihra, a connected technology business leader who has spent the last 20 years focusing on the emerging edge of connected business. Michael's understanding of, and enthusiasm for, enterprise wireless data applications is unparalleled.
Find out how Shoreline set out to build a zero-friction asset performance management solution that's easy to use, delivers value very fast, doesn’t require historical data and is self-learning.
Nicolas Bürer, former Managing Director of Digital Switzerland, joins us today to talk about the successes and complexities of the Swiss and European digital ecosystems.
Dave Ayers, former VP of Innovation Strategy and Partnerships at Xylem, talks about the lessons learned across water technologies, energy management, and communication products and services over the past 40 years.
Girish Naganathan, CTO of Technicolor Connected Home discusses the rapid developments in the video and broadband segments, as well as how Technicolor is exploring industrial and commercial IoT opportunities.
Tune into Momenta's podcast with Nikhil Chauhan, Digital Transformation Officer, Wind River Systems, the leader in delivering software for mission-critical intelligent systems. In his role, Nikhil leads Industrial, Energy, and Health Tech industries globally. Given his Digital Transformation Officer title, find out how he approaches and engages with companies on behalf of Wind River?
Listen in as John Dyck, CEO of the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII), discusses their mission to enable rapid technology adoption to increase productivity, job growth, energy efficiency, safety, and time to market for businesses of all sizes and across all markets.
Tune in for our Mini-Series on Industrial Corporate Venture Capital – to find out what is important to large VC's and how this is impacting their investment strategy! Our first guest speaker is Thurston Cromwell, Vice President of Development and Innovation at Emerson, the head of Emerson Ventures, the company's corporate venture capital arm.
Tune into Momenta's podcast with Joe Perino, Principal Analyst & Advisor, LNS Research. Joe focuses on Industrial Transformation and operational excellence for oil and gas, manufacturing, and other asset-intensive industries.
Tune into Momenta's podcast with Alicia Asín Pérez, CEO and Co-founder of Libelium, a Spanish IT company that has created “Waspmote," a wireless, modular, and open-source sensor hardware platform for the Internet of Things. Alicia has been internationally awarded for her entrepreneurial career merits and contributions to technological innovation. Learn how a young female European entrepreneur set out 16 years ago to improve the world via technology.
It's necessary to think like a hacker to provide organizations with the appropriate security solutions. Ted Harrington is the author of the best-selling book, “Hackable" How to Do Application Security Right. Ted is also the leader of ethical hackers at Independent Security Evaluators (ISE), which assists businesses in developing better and more secure software. Listen in to learn what measures you need to take to guarantee your company has the right security solution.
Learn about Stephen Berard's incredible journey, triumphs, the meaning of Hyper-Converged Edge, its impact on OTs, and the technological trends he predicts. Stephen has over 25 years of expertise in software architecture, design, and operations and considers himself a Chief Technology Officer at heart.
Learn how Scalers.ai combines new IT products with industry knowledge and technology to accelerate product-market fit and deployment of the best technologies at a fraction of the cost.
Tune into Momenta's podcast with Suhail Jiwani, Chief Product Officer of Kelvin Inc., a developer of an industrial 3D motion intelligence industrial operating system for developing and operating control applications across the enterprise.
Momenta's podcast with Evgeni Gousev, Chairman, tinyML Foundation. The foundation, with over 10,000 members, guides the ecosystem's technological approach and educates key audiences. Tiny machine learning technologies and applications consume extremely little power, generally in the mW range or less. Find out more about this interesting community.
Tune into Momenta's podcast with Andreas Nauerz, Managing Director, Co-CEO & CTO of Bosch.IO, a worldwide interdisciplinary expert group that helps drive Bosch's AI and IoT (AIoT) strategy. Discover how to accelerate the digital transformation of your company.
Momenta's podcast interviews Dirk Ramhorst, former Chief Digital Officer and Chief Information Officer of Wacker Chemie, a $6 billion German multinational chemical company employing over 16,000 people. Tune in to learn how Dirk handled CDO and CIO responsibilities for five years simultaneously.
Gary Chandler, CTO, QiO, a company providing AI solutions to optimize industrial assets, has spent the last five years focusing on delivering Internet of Things technology to large industrials to help them realize their Digital Roadmap.
Visit Momenta for additional resources on Digital Industry ---> https://www.momenta.one/insights
Jaap Groot, CEO of Ignion and LPWAN industry specialist, addresses the current state of the LPWAN market, developments, trends, and the recent news that Sigfox has filed for bankruptcy.
Watch our webinar on LPWAN ---> https://www.momenta.one/lpwan-technologies-top-criteria
Dr. Tanja Rückert is the former SAP EVP & COO Development to President IoT & Digital Supply Chain. She was named Chief Digital Officer of the Bosch Group in July 2021. Bosch is in the midst of one of the most significant transitions in its history. Learn more about her role in driving this transition.
Discover Digital Asset Management defined, key trends, and why it is critical for Digital solutions today ---> https://www.momenta.one/digital-asset-management-key-trends
Seán O'Reagain, the acting head of Industry 5.0 at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, discusses Industry 5.0.
Watch our webinar on Industry 5.0 ---> https://momenta.one/
Next-Gen Computer Vision Technology for Manufacturing
In this episode, Ken Forster talks with Christopher Van Dyke, CEO of Overview AI. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Overview is a company building reliable, adaptable computer vision systems for any factory.
Discover Digital Asset Management defined, key trends, and why it is critical for Digital solutions today ---> https://www.momenta.one/digital-asset-management-key-trends
Ken Forster speaks with Tim Bucher, the Chief Operating Officer of Agtonomy, a company on a mission to build a sustainable future for local farms, turning tractors and other agricultural equipment into autonomous
Watch our webinar on-demand and Discover Digital Asset Management defined, key trends and why it is critical for Digital solutions today ----> https://www.momenta.one/digital-asset-management-key-trends
The Fastest and Most Cost-Effective Way To Add Wireless Connectivity To Any Product. In this episode, Ken Forster talks to Mobeen Khan, the Chief Operating Officer of Blues Wireless a full-stack solution to connect any device to the cloud.
Watch our webinar on Industry 5.0 ---> https://momenta.one/
Redefining What's Possible - Girish Juneja, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of Dover Corporation, a diversified global manufacturer and solutions provider with annual revenue of over $7 billion.
Visi Momenta for more free resources on digital industry ----> https://www.momenta.one
Momenta's podcast with Babur Ozden, Vice President of SparkCognition, speaks about his company's work building the world's leading AI platforms to drive reliability, efficiency, security, and automation for industrial and global enterprises. Visit Momenta for more resources on digital industry ---> https://www.momenta.one
In this week's Digital Thread episode, we present Jamshed Dubash a global CEO who is passionate about integrating IoT 'edge' sensors, big data, and advanced analytics to assist businesses in increasing operational efficiencies.
Discover more resources on digital industry ----> https://www.momenta.one
In this episode, Andy Bane, CEO of Element Analytics. Based in Silicon Valley, Element is an industrial analytics software company that makes data work for people, proactively surfacing insight where it's needed most.
David C. King, CEO of FogHorn Systems, a Silicon Valley startup that provides edge intelligence software for industrial and commercial IoT applications, in this episode.
Ken Forster speaks with Dr. Zhenzhong Su, CEO, and Co-Founder of Fixposition, a Swiss startup that provides precise positioning for autonomous things. Fixposition is Momenta's most recent investment from our Digital Industry Fund.
In this week's episode, Ken Forster speaks with Robert Marcus, Founder, and CEO of Alpha10X. Specialized in AI, Robert is a former Silicon Valley venture capitalist, investment banker, public company CEO, Microsoft Manager, and founder of several successfully exited companies.
In today's episode, Ken Forster talks to Prith Banerjee, Chief Technology Officer at ANSYS, a leader in engineering simulation.
Ken welcomes Roberto Siagri to speak about this new book "Servitization for a Sustainable Future Without Limits to Growth." Tune in to find out how Industry 5 will differ from Industry 4.0.
RJ Mahadev, President of Aiota, helping reshape the construction industry using cloud-based AIoT and Digital Twin Technologies
Cyril Perducat, SVP & Chief Technology Officer, Rockwell Automation, speaks with Ken Forster about Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, edge, operations management, and how well Rockwell is positioned to enable the next generation of Smart Manufacturing.
Find out how data is going to be the future backbone of business. Francesco Bonfiglio, Chief Executive Officer of GAIA-X, a digital ecosystem initiative working to create an environment in which data can be shared and stored under the control of data owners.
Jay Onda, Corporate Venture Capital Advisory Board member for the National Venture Capital Association, Jay has been at the forefront of innovation, technology, and design for nearly two decades. - working with corporations and governments globally to inspire, teach, and coach organizations looking to embrace innovation-best practices.
An evolutionary and revolutionary perspective on Digital Transformation - Combining digital, physical, and human capabilities Sean Clay, Group Director of Spirax-Sarco Engineering, an FTSE100 world-leader in thermal energy management, pumping, and fluid path technologies - speaks about their Digital Transformation strategy.
New Data Revolution - Milind Chitgupakar -Modak Analytics Find out why more and more organizations are turning to big data analytics.
In this week’s podcast, Ken Forster interviews Hussam Mansour, Founder & CEO of WasteHero, a leading end-to-end smart waste collection solution provider. Hussam's vision is to become the largest waste collector in the world, without owning a single truck. Find out how!
John Candish discusses his career path of 25 years developing and scaling connectivity companies; the inspiration he had to build a mobile connectivity ecosystem, and how to take that to connect enterprises and mobile operators.
In this week’s podcast, Ken Forster interviews Dr. Brian "Beam" Maue, the cofounder of AFWERX, a talented, nationwide team connecting innovators and creating accelerated technological and cultural agility for the 680,000 members of the United States Air Force.
Dr. Maue, or 'Beam' as he prefers to be called, is a decorated officer with a 21-year track record of mission-accomplishments ranging from ICBM launch officer and nuclear budget analyst to treaty officer and U.S. Air Force Academy assistant professor, including civil service duties developing new hypersonic and ICBM weapon options.
In this week’s podcast, Ken Forster speaks with Kairus Tarapore, former Chief Human Resources Officer of Xylem, a leading global water technology company committed to developing innovative technology solutions to the world’s water and critical infrastructure challenges. For more than 30 years, Kairus has provided executive leadership for human resources across industry-leading companies such as Xylem, Babcock & Wilcox, Ceridian, and General Electric. He's provided leadership across the US, Canada, and India with cross-functional experience across sales, marketing, supply chain, and Lean Six Sigma quality.
Momenta Digital Thread Podcast – Venture Industrialist - Michael Dolbec, Managing Partner, Momenta
Roberto Siagri, is the founder and recent CEO of Eurotech, a global company that integrates hardware-software services and expertise to deliver building blocks for entire Internet of Things solutions. Roberto founded Eurotech in 1992, leading the business as CEO through its public listing in 2015, which was rated the best performing IPO in Europe for that year, and just recently handed over the reins to the next generation of leadership. Prior to Eurotech Roberto already had a strong presence in ICT as CTO of HTE ASEM, now part of Rockwell.
Vatsal Shah, the Founder & CEO of Litmus, the leading provider of unified Edge to Cloud platform for Industrial Internet of Things
In this week’s podcast, Ken Forster interviews Simon Kampa, CEO & Co-Founder Senseye.
Simon has over twenty years leading the development of mission-critical software, across industry, aerospace, and defense. Before Senseye, he was Managing Director of Critical Software (UK) where he expanded its operation and established its focus on data analytics systems for complex machineries such as helicopters, aircraft, and trains. Simon then co-founded Senseye to disrupt the Predictive Maintenance domain with a fully automated and turnkey solution targeted at the wider industrial sector. Simon holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Southampton.
In this week’s podcast, Ken Forster interviews Jerry O'Gorman, V.P of Advantech IIoT.
Prior to its acquisition by Advantech, Jerry served as CEO of B+B Smartworx US and Managing Director of B+B Smartworx EMEA, located in Ireland. Jerry has over 30 years of experience in Business Leadership, General Management, and International Sales and Marketing for a variety of technology-based companies – across Industrial Automation and IoT-related industries. He has been particularly active in mergers and acquisitions with a strong track record of success through technology and channel development as well as new business case initiatives.
Perspectives on Fog and Edge computing!
In this week’s podcast, Ken Forster interviews Flavio Bonomi, Founder of Nebbiolo.
Dr. Bonomi is a technology expert and visionary with experience that spans from low-level devices and silicon to the broad level of networking and computing systems. He spent 14 years at Cisco Systems, leading advanced R&D, and was named a Cisco Fellow. He also literally coined the term ‘Fog Computing’. Prior to Cisco, Flavio worked at several Bay Area startups and was at AT&T Bell Labs, where he was a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff. He received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University as well as a BSc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pavia, Italy. A consummate learner, he has published 100+ papers in technical journals and conference proceedings and is a co-inventor in 60+ USA and International Patents.
Some of the discussion points during this interview were: What were some of your early wins and lessons learned at the several networking startups? What were some of the highlights as a distinguished engineer, a VP, and Head of Advanced Architecture and Research at Cisco Systems? You coined the term ‘Fog Computing’. What was this new pattern you were describing? What compelled you to start Nebbiolo and to focus on the Industrial Automation space and what were some of your key use cases and wins? You exited the company to long-time investor TTTech. What were some of your lessons learned and what would you have done differently? What do you see in the next decade for Edge / Fog – especially in Digital Industry? So, now that Nebbiolo is behind you, what’s next?
Make sure to tune in….
In this week’s podcast, Eva Schönleitner, CEO at Crate.io and former Group VP Digital Partnerships at ABB.
Eva has over 20 years of international experience in technology and industries. She was most recently Head of Digital Partnerships at the global industrial company ABB based in Switzerland. Prior she held senior management positions over 20 years in the US in sales, marketing, and product management roles in global technology companies such as Microsoft and VMware, as well as management consulting roles with Deloitte and IBM. She is an Austrian native, having studied chemistry and mathematics at the Kepler University in Linz, and holds an MBA from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
134 Scott Everett - CEO & Co Founder at Eigen Inovation
Video capturing solution for the manufacturing sector.
Dr. Puente was most recently, the co-founder at Fractus and Fractus Antennas where he was co-inventor of Virtual Antenna, the technology that enables IoT and Mobile devices to embed a tiny chip antenna component to deliver full mobile connectivity. Carles was nominated to the European Inventor Award (2014), named Technology Pioneers by the World Economic Forum (2005) and awarded the IST Grand Prize by the European Commission (1998). He is an inventor in 145 patents, has co-authored 150 scientific papers, and is a professor at BarcelonaTech (UPC), where he earned his PhD. He has taught graduate courses on technology and patent management at Penn-Wharton, ESADE Business School and CEIPI.
In this week’s podcast, Ken Forster interviews Rafael R. Salmi, Global President Richardson RFPD Technology CEO & BoardMember.
The lens of a product guy focused on Manufacturing
In this week’s podcast, Ken Forster interviews Harinderpal Hanspal, Founder and Principal of Thing Company and thought leader on Open Manufacturing.
Hans is a technology industry veteran and entrepreneur driving technology-enabled business and product transformations in technology, industrial, telecom and media companies. His technology and operations experience span over two decades of turning scrappy startup and corporate innovation ideas into growth-oriented and profitable businesses based on transactional and recurring revenue models. Hans co-founded Nurego in 2013 to help Industrial IoT platforms transform their legacy quote-to-cash systems to support subscription, pay-per-use, and pay-per-outcome revenue models for their IoT and software-enabled products and services. He sold the company to GE in 2017 and went on to lead GE Digital’s Platform Monetization and Customer Development strategy. Earlier in his career, Hans held global sales, product management, corporate strategy, and customer success leadership positions at several enterprise software and hardware companies, including Pivotal Software, VMware, and EMC Corporation (now Dell EMC). In his spare time, Hans leads Seattle’s 4100+ member IoT Hub Meetup group.
Sustainable energy transition with digital transformation at scale!
In this week’s podcast, Ken Forster interviews Mahesh Sudhakaran, the Chief Digital Officer for IBM’s Energy, Environment and Utilities Industry business
Mahesh has over 18 years with IBM and Schneider Electric, and is a recognized thought leader in the Energy & Utilities, Industrial and Industry 4.0 space. He is a frequent speaker in global industry forums on AI and IoT. In 2020, he was elected to the IBM Industry Academy, an elite cohort of preeminent technology leaders. Mahesh has a BS in Electrical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Cambridge. He is a global shaper and has lived in 7 countries and loves the milieu of technology, culture and business.
In this week’s podcast, Ken Forster interviews Ihab Hourani, CTO and Founder, Axino. Axino AI is Momenta’s newest portfolio company and headquartered in Switzerland, a company providing Food Quality as a Service.
Ihab is a seasoned executive and entrepreneur in the wireless and IoT sectors, with a 20-year career spanning from executive management to design engineering, marketing, business development, and start-up founder. With a start developing sophisticated verification systems for nuclear weapon tests, he has since been at the forefront of remote sensing and monitoring. Among the other companies he has worked for are Oracle, T-Systems and Ascom, before founding Axino. Ihab holds an BSc in Computer Science from the University of Vienna.
Motivated by growing initiatives into sizeable businesses!
In this week’s podcast, Ken Forster interviews Hardy Schmidbauer, Senior Vice President of IoT for Kudelski Group, the world leader in digital security, headquartered in Switzerland and Arizona.
Hardy is a seasoned executive and entrepreneur in the wireless, semiconductor and IoT sectors, with a 20-year career spanning from executive management to design engineering, marketing, business development, and start-up founder. He played an instrumental role in the development of the wireless and IoT ecosystem through management, R&D, and marketing roles in support of LoRa, LoRaWAN and other wireless protocols. Among the other companies he has worked for are Silicon Labs, Semtech Corporation, and DSP Group. Hardy holds an MBA from Santa Clara University and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Oregon State University.
The success of a Niche AIoT Business Model!
In this week’s podcast, Ken Forster interviews K.C Liu, Chairman and co-founder of Advantech, a nearly $2 billion global industrial intelligence leader.
After working for Hewlett Packard as an R&D Engineer and later a sales engineer, K.C. joined two HP colleagues to found Advantech in 1983, as a leader in innovative, embedded and automation products and solutions. He has led the company as Chairman ever since, driving the company to be recognized as a Top 10 Global Brand from Taiwan by Interbrand every year since 2013.
In this week’s podcast, Ken Forster interviews Duncan Greatwood, CEO of Xage Security, the first and only blockchain-protected security platform for the Industrial IOT. (We are proud investors behind Xage).
Duncan is a serial founder and successful CEO, having sold Topsy Labs, the leader in social media search and analytics to Apple in 2013, and PostPath, the email, collaboration and security company to Cisco in 2008. Previously, Duncan held Vice President roles in Marketing, Corporate Development and Sales at Virata, as well as earlier engineering and product marketing positions at Madge Networks. Duncan holds a B.A. (Mathematics) and M.Sc. (Computer Science) from Oxford University and an M.B.A. from London Business School.
125 Conversation with Matt Bigge , Partner at Crosslink Capital - Investing in Plausible Science Fiction
Thomas Nicholls is an experienced and recognized digital marketing leader and public speaker on IoT and AI solutions for industry. As Executive Vice President of Communications at Sigfox, Thomas co-invented the term LPWA and played a strategic role in building the founding ecosystems for low-power IoT connectivity and first large-scale deployments.
As CMO of companies such as Delair and Alteia, Thomas lead the marketing strategy for startups driving the industry's use of drones and Machine Learning solutions to extract business insights for companies across a wide range of industries. Today, Thomas is a full-time startup advisor and helps companies around the world improve their marketing strategies.
Baz Khuti, Co-Founder & Strategic Advisor QiO Technologies, a company helping make the Industry 4.0 vision a reality in conversation with Ken Forster.
A technology and business visionary, Baz has held executive leadership positions at GE as CTO Cloud, Emerson Electric as Chief Architect and Invensys as Chief Architect. Over 30 years he has brought to market, leading software products from idea to industry standard, with six industrial software patents and several prestigious industry awards across the UK, US and Asia. Baz holds a MSc in computer science.
Find out how the future of Internet Of Energy innovation (IoE) is evolving and the impact this digital accelerator has had on IoE. In this week’s podcast, we interview Ryan Warena, Co-Founder and President of Geli. A company built on the Internet Of Energy , which happens to be one of our earliest investments.
Ryan brings over 10 years of experience in computational and battery R&D, as well as energy storage business and control platform technologies, with several patents in energy storage and energy computing technologies. Ryan holds degrees in chemical engineering from UC Santiago, a PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a post-doc research at Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC and MIT. He loves long-lived energy networks and his goal in life is to see the world operated on a renewably energized Internet of Energy.
Find out what new capabilities organizations need to be successful in the digital economy?
In this week’s podcast, we interview Ryan McManus, a globally recognized expert speaker, writer, educator, and adviser on digital transformation, emerging technologies, and the future of strategy.
Over the past 25 years, Ryan's focus has been on developing, designing and deploying new digital businesses, following the thread of emerging technology capabilities. During his career, Ryan served as President for Everything, one of the world’s leading IoT Smart products platform company, was Strategy CCO for Accenture’s digital transformation business. In his current role, Ryan is the founder and CEO of Techtonic io, a strategic growth options SAS platform.
Find out how Conversation Labs is applying Sound Data technology to Monitor Water Consumption
In this week’s podcast, we interview Mark Kovscek, CEO of Conversation Labs, a company providing acoustic water conservation technologies. Conversation Labs is one of Momenta Ventures' recent investments and is the frontier of using sound data to resolve problems. They provide solutions to monitor water consumption, detect leaks, and provide insights that help customers optimize conservation measures.
Mark describes himself as a mathematician, inventor, and entrepreneur. He has spent his career consulting, building products, and delivering solutions to address multibillion-dollar challenges. His passion is mathematics and using advance analytics to address real-world problems.
117 podcast. Leading from the Edge - Conversation with Frank Klemens Corporate Venture Capital | Lean Partnerships | Bringing the Outside In | Connector and Growth Leader
In this week’s episode, we feature Joseph Bradley, President of Technology and Digital for NEOM, someone who is truly building the future.
112 Conversation with Eric Litt - Global Senior Executive Driving Operational Excellence
Podcast #111 Conversation with Lt. Col. JJ Snow Chief Technology Officer at United States Air Force/AFWERX
109 Podcast. Conversation with Michael Redding, Former Managing Director, Accenture Ventures
107 Podcast. Conversation with Maarten Ectors -Chief Innovation Officer for Legal & General
Podcast #104 Conversation with Geoffrey Baird, Senior Managing Director of Value Creation at LLR Partners
Podcast #102 with Ashtad Engineer, Head of Technology for the Energy Business & VP of Tech & Digitization at Adani
Momenta Partners Podcast. Conversation with Jeff Christian CEO of Jeff Christian Partners.
Podcast #99 - Conversation with Evangelos Simoudis – Managing Director of Synapse Partners & Author
In our conversation, Neil discusses his digital industry journey as a cybersecurity and supply chain practitioner, and how this led to him founding AKUA. He shares his experience across information security and physical device security as well as key learnings being an early leader in active RFID tracking. Neil also touches on the continued impact of COVID-19 and how it has exposed inherent weaknesses in global supply chain.
Digital Leadership Podcast – conversation with Kal Patel, CEO & Co-Founder of BrightInsight
Blaine Mathieu has had a long and successful career as a CEO, CMO, and CPO at public and private software and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) companies. Most recently, Blaine was the CMO and CPO at VANTIQ - a platform for creating the next generation of real-time industrial applications using AI and IoT. Currently, Mr. Mathieu currently serves as Advisory Partner with Momenta Partners to help drive the growth of startups to medium sized innovators in Digital Industry. Blaine has been a critical hand in helping build immense growth in both private software companies and public technology juggernauts.
Mr. Mathieu currently serves as Advisory Partner with Momenta Partners to help drive the growth of startups to medium sized innovators in Digital Industry. In our conversation, we discussed companies shifting to a XaaS model - or "anything" as-a-Service - and how emerging technologies are enablers of these new business models that weren’t nearly as possible before. In addition, we briefly touch on the impact of COVID-19 and how relative the XaaS model will be going forward in our new normal.
This podcast is essential listening for startups who are looking for insights on growing their business and exploring new solutions. Blaine's extensive knowledge in digital and innovative business models provide an outline on how to strategize for the future.
85 Conversation with Kristina Peterson – CEO of Mayflower Partners. Digital Leadership series podcast by Momenta Partners
An experienced veteran of the vehicle OEM space, Alan Berger has spent 25+ years in international product development in the highway vehicle industry, including most recently as CTO at CNH Industrial. Prior to CNH, Alan worked at Volvo Construction Equipment for nine years, holding various roles throughout his tenure. Alan holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.
In our conversation, Alan and I discussed how vehicle OEMs will continue to integrate digital within equipment. Alan elaborated on the impact of organizational structure on successful innovation and how enterprises can begin their digital change. We explored the role of OEMs with regards to increased data availability and concluded with Alan giving his thoughts on the future of OEMs.
This podcast provides valuable insight for those looking to learn more about digital integration for OEMs. OEMs play an important role in the growth of digital as they are increasingly expected to provide customers with smarter products. The vehicle sector has been an important, pioneering area for digital innovation and Alan’s experience enables him to provide valued perspectives that are relevant across various industries.
Peter Bryant has extensive experience advising companies – both large and small – on how to adapt to digital disruption. His career began in enterprise software, an industry in which he spent 25 years. Peter currently serves as Managing Partner at Clareo, a leading growth strategy firm and he also sits on the board of Chrysalix Venture Capital. Peter received his Bachelor of Commerce and Administration in Accounting from Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand). He is the co-author of the book Growth Champions: The Battle for Sustained Innovation Leadership.
In our conversation, Peter and I discussed how digital technology and disruption has manifested across various industries. We explored the impact of differing organizational structures on digital success and looked at how enterprises handle data. Peter then gave his thoughts on how he sees digital innovation unfolding over the next decade.
This podcast is essential listening for anyone looking to gain actionable insight into the impact of digital disruption on enterprise functioning. The rapid and continuous innovation of digital technologies presents both opportunities and difficulties for organizations. Capabilities that can truly transform entire processes exist, but the abundance of technological options and entrenched inertia can render integration quite challenging.
Heather Engel is an experienced veteran of the cybersecurity space who has worked in the field for nearly 20 years. Heather currently serves as the Managing Partner of Strategic Cyber Partners, a firm which she founded. Working with both governmental and industry clients, Heather advises on several security areas including overall management and program development, risk, incident response, data, and executive support. Heather’s prior experience includes working with the United States’ Department of Defense.
In our conversation, Heather and I discussed an array of issues pertaining to enterprise cybersecurity. Topics explored include IT/OT, blockchain, the role of data, and more. We posited on the future of enterprise cybersecurity and Heather elaborated on how the space has changed over her career. We also looked at the make-up of strong organizational cybersecurity strategy in the age of digital transformation and as the threat landscape persistently evolves.
76 Industrial Insight Transformations with Leif Eriksen, Insights Partner at Momenta by Momenta
Al Velosa has been following the Industrial IoT market as an analyst for many years, and our conversation covered a wide range of topics. We discuss a number of the key use cases and best practices for success that he has seen, along with some of the key industries leading the way. We discuss the challenges involved with integrating business outcomes, technology and organizational culture, and some of the obstacles still commonly faced in the market. He shares his views on IoT platforms, AI and Machine Learning, Blockchain and the evolution of Digital Twins. Lastly you shares his vision for the future where Digital Twins become integrative and anticipatory parts of business and daily life.
Jon Sobel is Co-founder and CEO of Sight Machine, a provider of software solutions that help manufacturing firms gain visibility and insights into their operations to drive efficiencies, cost savings and better outcomes. Our conversation covered a range of topics including his experience working with open source at SourceForge, working around the energy industry in the early days of Tesla, and the experiences of visiting dozens of manufacturing plants at the genesis of Sight Machine. He discusses the unique challenges that manufacturing data presents, along with some of the best practices and considerations for success. He relates some of the organizational obstacles that impede adoption of analytic technologies in manufacturing and discusses the role that AI plays in next generation vision.
Usman Haque has used his training as an architect to inform an extensive career designing smart city projects. His work at Umbrellium goes much farther than what is typically thought of as smart cities – he has applied a creative approach to create greater engagement of citizens in public spaces, anticipating changes and evolution to deliver a better quality of life. We discuss the considerations involved in designing and implementing projects and the approach, the value of platforms and toolkits (along with the evolution of Pachube and the Urban Innovation Toolkit) as well as Thingful, the IoT data search engine.
Flavia Tata Nardini is the CEO and Co-founder of Fleet.Space, a startup based in Adelaide, Australia focused on delivering satellite-powered communications networks that enable true IoT solutions across multiple industries – energy, agriculture, environmental and other areas. She shares her experience working for the European Space Agency, and how the evolution of technologies relating to communications and low earth orbit satellites pave the way for a new generation of connectivity solutions. She shares how Fleet is leveraging the LoRaWAN standard, nanosatellites and edge computing to enable a rapidly growing ecosystem of customers and partners to build out intelligent solutions that were previously cost prohibitive and impossible for non military or government users. Finally she shares some of the challenges that the space industry faces near-term, along with the strategy for Fleet Space following its recent capital raise.
Francois Laborie is President of Cognite North America. Our conversation covered his background working in aerospace for EADS (now Airbus) and how his first hand experience working with supply chains, the assembly line and early iterations of augmented reality helped shape his views of how information analysis is critical to optimizing business processes. We discuss some of the unique aspects of working with industrial data, and he highlights the work that Cognite is doing with key clients to help bridge disparate information systems and deliver relevant value add insights to users.
Dean Nelson is Chairman and Founder of Infrastructure Masons, with a 30 year career in technology working at companies including Sun Microsystems, Ebay and Uber Technologies. Our conversation explored the work that Infrastructure Masons is doing to help advance training, education, mentoring and internships to cultivate the next generation of talent need to design, build and manage the explosive growth of hyper-scale data centers, edge computing and other critical infrastructure for the information age. He shares the challenges facing the industry with the pending shortages of talent, the broad interdisciplinary skills in demand and the global nature of the industry. He also shares some of his own perspectives on the demands involved with souring and delivering the massive data center capacity required to support the explosive volumes of video and other applications today and in the future. He also shares some of the implications of the “Jetsons”-like Uber Elevate service, which could transform cities as we know them.
Rita Gunther McGrath is a world-renowned business strategist, author and Professor at Columbia Business School who has dedicated her career to helping identify how to anticipate, plan for and manage disruptive change. Our conversation covered a broad range of topics including the principles of Discovery-Driven planning, which she pioneered in the mid 1990s and was the first major management approach to embace the idea that change is a constant in business – and which led to development of the Lean Startup methodology. She shares insights into how the nature of competitive advantage has changed, leaving businesses vulnerable and in need of fresh strategies to address the opportunities and risks of digital business. We discuss a range of examples of successful leadership, and explore how the dynamics around Big Tech are different but in many ways similar to past monopolies. Finally she shares the ideas around her new book.
Jay Allardyce is the Chief Product Officer and Head of Customer Success at Uptake Software. Our conversation touched on his extensive background in technology and analytics from his time at HP, Vertica, and GE prior to joining Uptake. We discuss the evolution of the market around analytic software, some of the key experiences and lessons from working with different types of customers and business problems, and the unique value-add that AI provides when embedded in business process. We discuss the landscape of IoT platforms and the critical elements for success both in terms of the platform as well as in organizations adopting advanced connected solutions, and dive into some of the aspects of the energy industry that make it a unique, and exciting sector for innovation. Lastly, he shares his vision for AI-powered transformation and the unique opportunities across different industries today.
SingularityNET – An Open Approach to AI Innovation – a Conversation with Arif Khan Chief Marketing Officer of SingularityNET
SingularityNET is an open source-based platform for developing and sharing artificial intelligence co-founded by Ben Goertzel and David Hanson of Hanson Robotics (best know for the Sophia robot). In our conversation with Arif Khan, CMO for SingularityNET, he outlines the current challenges relating to the centralization of AI capabilities and the risks that come when bad actors exploit systems that lack transparency. He shares the open source vision for SingularityNET, a platform and community dedicated to enabling collaborative, open development and sharing of AI and machine learning technologies. The opportunities and vision of the project, along with the accelerator and incubated businesses, seek to democratize access to innovation and powerful capabilities in a transparent and egalitarian fashion. Lastly, he shares some of the relevant work ongoing to leverage robots to help people with meditation, a confluence of technology and humanity to provide better outcomes.
Lory Kehoe has scaled ConsenSys Ireland from a single employee a year ago to 42 today to meet the demands of the company’s broad client base. In our conversation he shares his background in strategy, explaining how Consensys, led by Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, is leading the way in enterprise adoption of blockchain technologies. He shares a number of notable projects including Kongo.im, which is a trade finance company, as well as the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum which is focused on educating and informing policy. Consensys is focused on leveraging the size and scale of the Ethereum community of developers and stakeholders, which is over 30X the size of the next largest blockchain project. The company is working to realize the visions of companies as they look to take advantage of blockchain-enabled transformation from physical to digital, from illiquid to liquid assets, how to tokenize and sell previously illiquid, discrete assets in new ways. Consensys Ireland is at the forefront of efforts in the EU.
Marc Fleury is a technologist, physicist, investor, musician and something of a Renaissance man. We discuss the history of the open source company he founded, JBoss, which was sold to Red Hat, along with some of the advantages, challenges and insights that came from building a business around an open source enterprise middleware product. We then dive into Marc’s focus on Smart Cities and the role that cryptocurrencies and blockchain could play into the future as a critical funding mechanism for Smart Cities projects. He shares is insights comparing and contrasting the current state of the industry in Smart Cities along with the blockchain/crypto community. Lastly he shares his work around the Church of Sound, which combines his deep interest in physics, music and consciousness. Marc is a deep thinker with a broad range of interests that he weaves together in a fascinating conversation.
Sadagopan Singam is Senior Vice President Global, and Business Head, Cloud Native SaaS at HCL Technologies. Our conversation explored his experiences working to implement enterprise applications around the globe, and how the different paces of adoption across regions and key lessons learned have proven relevant for subsequent waves of technology innovation. He shares his methodical approach to breaking down the key priorities needed to effect successful digital transformation, along with the impact of regulation and governance. The conversation explores the evolutionary processes that organizations need to undergo to be able to harness the value captured in their data, then apply analysis and insights to drive not just efficiencies but whole new approaches to their business. Finally, he shares his optimism for human creativity boosted by technology to help solve the biggest problems of our era.
Rob Massoudi is the Head of Rob Massoudi is the Head of Digital Transformation at ABB and our conversation covered a range of topics, including the nature of digital transformation, the value of business expertise in driving change, and the efforts underway at ABB to leverage concepts such as Digital Twins and IoT best practices to create value among the company’s global clients. Rob is passionate about the coming transformation of energy and transportation with the rise of solar, wind and electric vehicles, and our conversation dove into the implications across the ecosystem when autos and fleets become electrified. He shared his insights on who, and where the most advanced efforts are underway to effect change, the role of industry and government, and the implications for utilities and automakers among others. He also provides a view into why Europe and Asia are accelerating the transition, and what the U.S. needs to do to catch up. at ABB and our conversation covered a range of topics, including the nature of digital transformation, the value of business expertise in driving change, and the efforts underway at ABB to leverage concepts such as Digital Twins and IoT best practices to create value among the company’s global clients. Rob is passionate about the coming transformation of energy and transportation with the rise of solar, wind and electric vehicles, and our conversation dove into the implications across the ecosystem when autos and fleets become electrified. He shared his insights on who, and where the most advanced efforts are underway to effect change, the role of industry and government, and the implications for utilities and automakers among others. He also provides a view into why Europe and Asia are accelerating the transition, and what the U.S. needs to do to catch up.
XYO is creating a distributed network for location services leveraging the power of blockchain and IoT devices. In our conversation, Markus shares the reasons why the availability of high-accuracy, verifiable and immutable location records can provide huge potential benefits for industry, particularly supply chain and logistics. In this conversation, he outlines the company’s technology, strategy and vision for using blockchain to deliver the next generation of intelligent, location based IoT services.
Markus mined his first Bitcoin in 2013 and has been captivated by blockchain technologies ever since. Markus has over 15 years experience in building, managing and growing companies around the globe. Markus is originally from Germany (with English as his second language), and specializes in getting the most out of companies by implementing data-driven systems and utilizing the key talents of each employee to get the best out of his team. After dropping out of his Ph.D. studies at Bocconi University, Markus began working with companies in hyper-growth industries around the globe. Markus has led cutting-edge technology ventures such as Novacore, 'sterkly', Hive Media and Koiyo.
Rich Stiennon is a long-time Industry Analyst and Author of Secure Industry Analyst: The Cio's Journey. One of the key points of the book is that businesses are currently in the midst of transitioning to Office 365 for email and Office tools. In the book, Stiennon explores journey of 16 leading enterprises around the world including Schneider, GE, Fannie Mae, Siemens, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. Our discussion explores how the adoption of SaaS applications becomes a starting point for technological trannsformation, and how Office365 has had the most dramatic impact on enterprise IT infrastructure in decades. We explore how networks are impacted by this transition, and most importantly how the paradigm of security itself is changing, and actually improving.
Julie Albright, Ph.D Digital Sociologist at the University of Southern California and a Board Member of Infrastructure Masons. We discuss her new book, Left to Their Own Devices – How Digital Natives are Reshaping the American Dream. The central thesis of the book is that the rise of the Internet and digital technologies is causing people to become untethered – from relationships, work, institutions, even society itself. This phenomenon is manifesting among Millennials most prominently, though the impact is touching later generations as well. We discuss what it means to be untethered, the emerging values of the untethered generation, how these changes are affecting how people work, live and relate to one another. Digital technologies are “recoding our operating systems” as people become increasingly disconnected from nature and traditional ways of learning. We also explore the impact on businesses such as retailers, along with ramifications of increasing AI-driven automation. Lastly she shares some of the positive outcomes of a connected society and provides a call to action.
Babur Ozden is founder and CEO of Maana, a software based Knowledge Platform. Our conversation explored the origins of the company, which focuses on capturing best practices and tacit knowledge of business processes to provide employees with domain-specific software assistance created through extensive analysis of historical data. He discusses the challenges of deriving actionable knowledge from silo-ed data, and the principles behind the creation of the Maana Computational Knowledge Graph that powers the company’s solutions. He also shares why and how the company turned its focused to the energy industry and provided examples of successful use cases of the platform, shared insights around competition, risks and vision for the future.
Sander Klous is Professor of Big Data Ecosystems at the University of Amsterdam and Partner in charge of Big Data and Analytics for KPMG in the Netherlands. Our conversation explored the key issues of trust, governance and ethics in analytics and AI, following on his books We are Big Data and Building Trust in a Smart Society. He is currently working on creating an ethical framework that would enable auditing of analytics and algorithms in a way similar to how audited financial statements represent a trusted presentation of business results. He shares insights into the current thinking around ethics in AI, outlining key risks from analytics and the value of trust. Lastly, he shares examples of how the City of Amsterdam is leading the field in applying ethical frameworks to analytics.
“JT” Jean Turgeon is VP and CTO for Digital Transformation at Avaya, with a career in technology and communications that spans decades Our conversation explored different dimensions of digital transformation, including the evolution of IoT and the impact across multiple industries. JT shared where Avaya is focusing its digital transformation efforts, in particular in the Health Care, Public Safety and the Hospitality industries. One of the key points he makes is that companies should start small and build on incremental successes rather then trying to “boil the ocean”. He also shares his insights on the compelling opportunities around AI, blockchain, VR and other emerging technologies.
53 How Crate.io Helps Drive Digital Transformation a conversation with Christian Lutz by Momenta
David Bauer has a long career managing risk- as a CTO, Chief Risk Officer, Chief Information Security Officer and COO for Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and other institutions. In our conversation he discusses assessing and managing risk to digital transformation strategies, going beyond the topic of cybersecurity covered in our earlier podcast. He shares the complexities involved with ensuring that digital processes are mapped appropriately, how to evaluate the user experience on apps, highlighting failures and successes. He also outlines the strategic risk assessment framework he has developed, offering insights into different criteria – both quantitative and qualitative. Lastly, he provides useful advice for companies embarking on their digital transformation strategies.
Mike Flannagan’s extensive experience in technology and Connected Industry has placed him at the nexus of the evolution of industrial IoT and digital transformation. Our conversation explored best practices around digital transformation, the role that technology companies can play in helping to drive changes to business processes and the value add of analytics in broad context. He shared perspectives on how best to bridge the culture gaps between technology and core business along with framing priorities and considerations to best position for digital success. The discussion turned to AI – the implications, potential and challenges as these technologies have moved to the forefront of business discussions. Most important, we discussed the risks of historical biases becoming encoded in future algorithms, and the imperative to ensuring that diverse voices and opportunities harness the best talent in the fairest possible manner.
With the growing adoption of solar power generation across homes and businesses there’s growing need for solutions that simplify the evolution of the grid, and improve ROI. PowerLedger is at the forefront of a new generation of Distributed Energy Management Systems (DERMS), with a platform that enables energy to be sourced from multiple modes of generation and monetized in different ways. Our conversation explored the key macro drivers behind the company’s origins. David Martin explains the company’s origins, the role of blockchain in its technology, and the different aspects of its solutions. Of particular note are the company’s live projects, including a microgrid in Bangkok, projects in Japan and California. While the transition to clean energy generation is revolutionary in many respects, PowerLedger is seeking to ease the challenges of transition and make change as evolutionary as possible.
Joe Weiss works as the Managing Partner of Applied Control Solutions and Managing Director of the ISA99 standards organization. He has a deep background in control systems security, and has been active in the cyber security community around control systems for decades. Control systems are everywhere in every type of power generation, substation, pipeline, manufacturing, transportation, medical, pharmaceuticals – and security is often not understood. Our conversation covered a range of topics including how security is only a small part of control system challenges, the three “legs” of security (physical, IT security and control systems), the cultural challenges to raising appropriate security awareness, and areas where security has been overlooked. He provides a look into the magnitude of the problem, while pointing to encouraging areas of progress.
Bill Ruh is CEO of Digital Business at LendLease Group, a global developer and construction company for high rise and other real estate developments. Previously, he was the Chief Digital Officer for all of GE and CEO of GE Digital. Our conversation explored the nature of digital transformation, the considerations for creating goals and aligning the organization for success. One of the key insights is that transformation for industrial firms draws from best practices of technology companies, and the core principle is that technology companies’ missions are tied to asset optimization and better outcomes. He also shared how large companies need to think of transformation in two speeds – shorter term and longer term, where Speed 1 is the quarter to quarter focus and Speed 2 is the long term “moon shots”. He compares and contrasts the innovation mindset and approaches between startups and established companies, and shares best practices for larger companies to bridge the cultural gaps between their legacy and digital businesses. He also shares his views of the futyre of the construction and real estate industries enabled by the transformative impact of new technologies, which he is spearheading in his new role at LendLease.
Dan Nadav is the CEO of EnviroPower, a company that is innovating traditional technology to create a cheap, alternative approach to generating primary and secondary power from a unique modification to a boiler that is typically employed in homes and apartment buildings. We discuss how EnviroPower has developed a micro-generator solution that turns energy that ordinarily would be wasted into electricity, and how this approach avoids the challenges faced by other alternative forms of generation such as solar by building on equipment that’s already widely used. Our conversation explores the potential use cases for the SmartWatt technology, such as the ability to create virtual power plants from communities that network homes into a micro-grid. We also discuss the types of customers the company is working with, along with the attractive ROI.
SK Reddy is a the Chief Product Office of AI at Hexagon. Our conversation went deep into AI some of the critical developments in the market, notable research in the area, key industry applications and use cases of the technology. The conversation covers some of the key enabling factors, in particular the rise of collaboration and open sourcing playing a key role accelerating the development and adoption of technologies. He details several dramatic innovations including Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), Back Propagation, AI Frameworks from Google, Facebook, Amazon and others, as well as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANSS) and Reinforcement Learning.
Rick Bullotta founded two companies that have been pivotal in the development of connected industry: Lighthammer (acquired by SAP in 2005) and Thingworx (acquired by PTC in 2014) and he is now an adviser to Microsoft Azure IoT. He’s a passionate advocate of new technologies and innovation, and enjoys the disclaimer that “80% is fact and 20% is BS - and I don’t know which is which”. Our conversation explores his personal background in industrial technology, and how the insights gained from his experiences at Wonderware helped shape the vision for the companies he started. Exploring the genesis of Lighthammer and Thingworx, the discussion touches on why blue-collar tasks benefit from an IT-driven “multiplier effect”, how innovation comes from empowered customers, and how simple visibility can kick-start profound changes in industrial businesses. Other topics covered include the market landscape around IoT platforms, potential of AI and machine learning, the potential and pitfalls around blockchain, and the future of connected industry. Areas of particular interest in technology include meta-sensing technologies around drones and robotics, simplifying the last foot of connectivity, 5G technologies and a company called Wave.io that seeks create events and alerting without relying on audio.
Donna Moore leads The LoRa Alliance™, a 500-strong consortium dedicated to advancing innovation, interoperability and adoption of the LoRaWAN™ Standard. Our conversation explores the background of the Alliance, the key characteristics of LoRaWAN™ chips and the open standard, and some of the work that the Alliance is facilitating across the ecosystem. LoRa benefits from being a second mover in the low-power wide area market, with much of the evangelizing benefiting awareness of the advantages and implications. Currently there are over 100 network carriers and presence in over 100 coungtries, so the standard is becoming truly global. With the rapid growth of the ecosystem, The LoRa Alliance™ is helping to accelerate adoption across use cases, industries and markets.
This is the first episode of our Digital Leadership Series, which highlights the insights of digital transformation leaders in industry. Our first guest is Guido Jouret, the Chief Digital Officer of ABB, who was also a previous guest on our Edge podcast.
Our conversation explored Guido Jouret’s core principles around digital transformation, best practices for implementation as well as key lessons as they have applied in his career. Notably, we explore the implications of how the coming transition in transportation from internal combustion engines to self-driving electric powered transportation has implications all across the value chain.
Wienke Giezeman is Initiator of The Things Network and CEO of The Things Industries. His work is deeply focused on the LoRa standard for low-power wide-area connectivity. Our discussion explored some of the factors that drove the creation of the LoRa standard, some of the critical use cases that provide proof points for adoption, the critical role of collaboration and alliances in building the ecosystem and some of the early use success stories in the LoRa ecosystem. In particular, Wienke shares the story of connected mousetraps in Amsterdam, connected buildings and connected cows in New Zealand. Some notable startups include Teralytic, a soil health company, myDevices, which has built a layer on top of LoRa and Xignal, the smart mousetrap company.
Rumi Morales is a Partner at Outlier Ventures, an investment firm focused on early stage companies with an investment horizon of 10-20 years driven by an investment thesis focused on convergence of AI, Blockchain and IoT. Our conversation covers her experience surviving the Asian Financial crises, the burst of the dot.coms and the global financial crisis - and how lessons from those experiences helped shape her views. She shares her experience managing venture investments at CME Group, navigating the digital disruption in trading and the appeal of AI and blockchain technologies in financial markets. The discussion also covered promising use cases for blockchain and IoT, the implications of “Crypto Winter” and comparisons of Blockchain and AI as the “troubled child who talks about everything” and the “quiet teenager that goes to their room and closes the door without saying anything”. Companies discussed include SmartCognition, Haja Networks, IOTA, Sovrn, Fetch.AI, Ocean Protocol and Botanic/SEED.
Bill Schmarzo is CTO of IoT and Analytics at Hitachi Vantara and Executive Fellow at the San Francisco School of Management. Our discussion covered Bill’s origins in data warehousing and business intelligence, how and why he had to “unlearn” traditional approaches to embrace Big Data techniques. The conversation explores some of the differences in approach between business intelligence, big data and IoT analytics, along with how Hadoop fundamentally changed the economics of data. He shares some of the vision Hitachi Vantara and the application-first approach along with the benefits that come with having Hitachi’s other businesses as a customer. Companies he’s most interested in are those that are automating machine learning to bring it to the masses including Big Squid.
Bonnie Lind is VP of Business Development for Pathion and Trevor Curwin is VP of Energy Market for Greensparc are both passionate and articulate advocates for a future of decentralized clean energy as both work at clean-tech companies. Our conversation covered some of the recent history of clean-tech – the overshoot of initial technologies a decade ago, why and how there have been positive changes that pave the way for adoption of clean energy generation. Topics covered in the discussion include the dynamics of micro-grids, the challenges and opportunities involved with integrated multiple types of generation into traditional grids, and the role that software plays in orchestrating and managing a more decentralized, heterogeneous energy infrastructure. We also explore the challenges ahead for utilities, both economic and structural, as well as the potential opportunities ahead for new players to enter the market. We discuss the potential role of AI and advanced analytics along with interesting new companies such as Pisces and ElectriQ Power.
In our conversation with David Mount, parter at the VC firm G2VP, he shares some of his experiences working with companies in the energy and industrial sector. He discusses some of the unique characteristics that lead to success, the interactions with key customers, and the need for VCs to adjust their perspective to customer success when working in the industrial sector. He also compares and contrasts how and why certain industries have been moved faster and been more successful in digitalizing their businesses, and discusses the potential unleashed by AI, machine learning and other technologies. Finally, he highlights notable startups in the space including Kelvin, Alea, Zomi, Xage and Particle.In
Mark Jeffrey is Co Founder and CEO of Guardian Circle, a blockchain-based startup focused on enabling people anywhere in the world to summon critical help from their smartphone. He’s an accomplished entrepreneur and CEO as well as a published author. Our conversation explores his path through technology, becoming one of the first podcasters to serialize fiction, the characteristics that make blockchain special and some of the key applications.
We discuss the origins and goals of Guardian Circle, the ongoing regulatory challenges in the cryptoasset market, key distinctions between the NEO, EOS and Ethereum blockchains, and the obstacles to mainstream adoption of blockchain based applications.
He also shares commentary on notables startups including Spotcoin, EOS Lynx and Neon Wallet.
Sean Parham is Group VP and Head of Product Management for the ABB Ability Platform. In our conversation, he covered his origins helping the telecom industry migrate the transition to broadband, and the lessons learned that apply today. The discussion touched on the concept of “Maslows Hierarchy of Value”, the parallels of systems management applied to the challenges of managing distributed assets and the broad implications of how technology impacts multiple industries.
The conversation also addresses the disruption coming from two simultaneous revolutions in IT and energy and how this changes the way that energy is generated and delivered, through microgrids, with green energy and storage. Robotics is not to be feared as it solves the undersupply of talent and people. Current areas of technology focus for startups include batteries and the consumer drone market.
Mike Dolbec is Executive Managing Director of GE Ventures, and in this episode of the podcast we cover his background, beginning with his work at the legendary Xerox PARC, the origins of his venture investing career and observations on recurring patterns in the technology industry.
With a perspective on AI that dates back to the 1980s, he provides perspectives on the evolution of in the market, and the different applications of AI technologies. He also provides an overview of the distinctions between traditional IT and Industrial IoT technologies, providing insights around the differences that entrepreneurs and investors need to take into account when selling tech to industrial customers.
Lastly, he discusses some of the areas of investment including edge computing, with companies including Iotium, Foghorn and Balena (formerly Resin.io), as well as industrial inspection startups such as Avitas and oil and gas-focused startups like Maana.
George Matthew is the CEO and Chairman of Kespry, a provider of Aerial Intelligence solutions for heavy industry – construction, mining, paper and pulp, and insurance. Kespry’s custom built drones capture visual information from the air, helping its clients create digital twins to improve performance, visibility and reduce risk. Our conversation focused more on the company than we do typically, as Kespry is a proxy for the use of drones in industrial IoT. The discussion covered some of the challenges, opportunities and successes from the collection of high resolution visual imagery and application of AI-enhanced analytics as well as the broad opportunities ahead. Noteworthy startups highlighted include Uptake Software, C3IOT, and Cape Analytics.
Rami Avidan is a serial entrepreneur and former CEO of Wyless Group and Tele2 IoT and was creating connected solutions for customers even before the terms M2M and IoT came into broad usage. Our conversation touched on the growing interest in driving social impact from business today, the evolution of what has come to be known as IoT and key dynamics involved in advancing success. He highlights key distinctions in the evolution of carriers and connectivity resellers, the importance of building an ecosystem and best practices to cultivate success, the importance of leadership in advancing digital transformation, and the multiple dimensions of business value being created across different industries.
Richard Soley is CEO of the Object Management Group, Executive Chairman of the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) and founder of the IoT Solutions World Congress. In this special edition of the Edge Podcast recorded on site in Barcelona, he shares some of the notable developments coming out of the conference. The IoT Solutions World Congress is differentiated from other events through the focus on end users and case studies, showcasing test bed work shepherded by the IIC. In our conversation, Richard Soley shares stories and examples of notable work underway, the potential for productivity gains across industries, and the view that manufacturing represents the industry with the most to gain from connecting assets and advanced analytics. Additionally he discusses the launch of the IIC’s new Resource Hub. Finally he shares a fascinating story about standards that connected the design of Space Shuttle booster with the Ancient Romans.
Syed “Z” Hosain is CTO and Founder of Aeris Communications. Our conversation covered the origins of Aeris, which has been delivering connectivity solutions in the market since before M2M and IoT were common terms. “Z” shared his perspective on the challenges in the early days of Connected Industry, along with some of the advances and innovations including layering on analytics that helped Aeris evolve with its customers. He highlighted a number of significant advances in health care, where there are notable use cases both in critical care and for every day monitoring for patients with chronic conditions like diabetes. Looking forward, he sees enormous opportunities for Connected Industry, though security remains a key concern for everyone. “Z” is also a huge fan of Science Fiction, with a collection of over 6,000 books, and shares a couple of his favorite authors.
Our conversation with Param Singh covered his recent blog posts “Is IoT a Viable Market” and “The Long Tail of IoT”. The evolution of IoT has seen a lot of focus on bespoke solutions, and our conversation explores the distinctions between the types of use cases that are replicable, and those that fall along the “Long Tail”. The importance of business value is a recurring theme in our conversation, as companies that succeed tend to follow the most practical use cases for technologies. One interesting startup worthy of note is Brighton.ai, which is developing speech recognition technologies that are vertically oriented.
Our discussion with Ganesh Bell, President of Uptake focused on how the application of Machine Learning and AI is driving a new generation of solutions that go beyond enterprise software and business process automation. With the data created by machines and other contextual data, it’s possible to tackle far more complex, and industry specific challenges with Machine Learning and AI. He shared his view that Industrial IoT adoption is both slow and fast, while data presents an ongoing challenge to manage. Successes come from building a belief system, creating new measures for the business, embracing the diversity of people, experience and diversity of thought.
Kelly Wanser is a technologist and entrepreneur, Executive Director of SilverLining, a not for profit climate research organization. Previously she was Principle Director of the The Marine Cloud Brightening Project, a program focused on research in reflecting sunlight to reduce heat in climate. She also sits on the Board of Directors for BioCarbon Engineering. Our conversation focused on the application of technology to address the challenges of climate change, and how the initiatives she works with are looking to expand on research in the public sector. Kelly is an articulate advocate of the imperative to marshal the resources of Silicon Valley’s tech innovators to address the pressing global issues of our era.
Dr. Thuc Vu is an entrepreneur and co-founder of OhmniLabs and Kambria, a decentralized open innovation platform focused on accelerating the development and adoption of the world's most advanced robotic technologies. Our conversation covered a range of topics, including the differences between industrial and consumer robotics, key advances in AI, the role of game theory in designing collaborative systems, and the promising opportunities for robotics in health care, education and senior care. We also explore the broader market dynamics in the robotics markets and the burgeoning tech scene in Vietnam.
Author Max Borders tackles an broad range of topics relating to his new book The Social Singularity: How decentralization will allow us to transcend politics, create global prosperity, and avoid the robot apocalypse. Our conversation covered the factors that have led to the current political disfunction in the US, how unbalanced incentives evolve over time and the profound implications of decentralization. Drawing from the arguments outlined in the book, Borders applies a philosophical lens to understand the roots of decentralization, and how blockchain and related technologies have the potential to reshape power dynamics in organizations, the evolution of hierarchies in society, and the structural dynamics of economies and culture.
For Dan Yarmoluk, Director of IoT for AETK Technologies, work takes him wherever the “rubber hits the road” in Industrial IoT. Based in the Midwest, Dan’s customers include traditional manufacturing firms with a conservative bias toward adoption of new technologies. One of the key observations is that early IoT projects often misaligned the type of data collected from machines, for instance lacking the granularity necessary to derive business value from data analytics. He discusses the value of being close to the customer, which is too often overlooked by vendors, as key to driving value from IoT initiatives, as well as his view that we are seeing an inflection in the market as more traditional companies are realizing the value of connected industry projects. While Dan’s an enthusiastic advocate for emerging technologies, he shares a pragmatic bias that’s key to success for more conservative industries in their digitization journey.
Rob Tiffany is a technologist, CTO, board member, blogger, entrepreneur and thought leader in the IoT market. Our conversation covered his origins in the 1990s building connected systems for vending machine business using technologies considered primitive by today’s standards. We follow the progression of the industry through the evolution of powerful enabling technologies while fundamental principles forged during his early experience inform the success of his work at larger companies including Microsoft and Hitachi. A key message to the industry is the need to focus on the basics like connecting machines for visibility and operational efficiencies – the more advanced technologies like AI and Blockchain are interesting, but there’s important value that’s being overlooked today – and real business needs to be met.
Guido Jouret is the Chief Digital Officer at ABB, a technology leader in power grids, electrification products, industrial automation and robotics and motion. Our conversation covered a wide range of topics, including the dynamics of digitizing traditional operational technologies, the importance of Industrial IoT platforms particularly ABB’s Ability platform, the multi-faceted partnership with Microsoft and the demands of bridging operational and information technology paradigms. The discussion highlighted several customer success stories in mining, autonomous shipping and utilities, addressing the massive potential of AI to transform industries and sectors including energy, power grids, transportation and manufacturing. The key for the future will be a digital operating system that will enable far more distributed networks to evolve, while finding people with the skills to address the increasingly complex technical demands of a connected world remains a challenge.
Charlie Oliver is the CEO and founder of ServedFresh Media and founder of Tech2025, a leading technology focused community based in the New York City area. Our conversation covered the emergence of online communities in the late 2000s and the genesis of Tech2025 in late 2016. She discusses the divide that exists between people that work in the tech industry and average citizens, and the potential value that emerges from putting people together from different backgrounds. Charlie shares her observations of the changing views of AI and tech companies by the public, and the need for to have collaborative conversations to avert further backlash against the tech industry. Charlie is an experience podcaster and communicator, and this conversation highlights the challenges and opportunities that emerge from curated communities.
Our conversation with Fred Krueger, CEO of Workcoin addressed a range of issues related to blockchain technology – the promise, the technological shortcomings, critical innovations to drive adoption and the critical role of stable coins. In the podcast, Fred shares what he saw that makes blockchain technology such a breakthrough, he discusses the technological shortcomings of the Ethereum blockchain and the challenges involved with the difficult user experience. Also, the coming generation of easy to use wallets such as EOS Lynx that will make it easy to transact cryptocurrencies and his expectation that we are on the verge of a major demand inflection as several technologies provide truly scalable infrastructure. He also discusses the market dynamics around the rise of freelancing that led him to found Workcoin, and the impact of regulation on how blockchain companies will increasingly be funded.
Our conversation with Vivek Wadhwa touched on a broad array of topics, following up on his two most recent books The Driver in the Driverless Car and Your Happiness Was Hacked: Why Tech Is Winning the Battle to Control Your Brain--and How to Fight Back. Our conversation covered the nature of exponential technologies as a foundation concept, along with the implications of AI/Machine Learning. He provided an optimistic outlook around self-driving cars and solar energy cost curves, with a bit of tempered enthusiasm around human gene-editing (CRISPr). The ways that technology is designed to hijack our attention, and how love, work and interpersonal relationships are being impacted are the focus of his new book, and he provides suggestions for us to better manage the disruption of technology in our lives.
Our conversation with Sloan Brakefied CEO and Jon Fox, Chairman of Fr8 Network covered the current state of the global supply chain, and the inherent inefficiencies of paper based processes. Brakefied and Fox discuss the unique technology challenges faced with the supply chain and how blockchain technology represents a new approach to solving long time challenges for market participants. The conversation touched on key use cases where blockchain technology could be transformative, the challenges of evangelizing new technologies and a look into the future.
David White is a principal at Ontos Global, a boutique consulting firm based in Berkeley, CA and the author of Rethinking Culture: Embodied Cognition and the Origin of Culture in Organizations. Our conversation explored his deep background into organizational culture, the evolution of cognitive anthropology and some of the misperception around culture - what it is, why it’s important, and why it’s so difficult for organizations to change. White discussed insights from the past 30 years of research into the brain, illuminating how organizational culture is shaped by the industry and the daily tasks of the people within. Our conversation explores the role of language, leadership and technology, challenges and new approaches for organizations to transform their culture to become more effective.
Microsoft has emerged as one of the most important technology players in the Internet of Things. Sam George takes our conversation through the origins and evolution of Microsoft’s IoT strategy, touching on the key product offerings, the role of partnerships and customers behind the fundamental drive to make everything simpler for users. Our discussion covered platforms, analytics and AI, the role of blockchain, edge computing and Sam highlights a number of key use cases. Lastly, Sam provides a view of what to expect from Microsoft’s IoT focus on the future.
Atti Riazi is the CIO of the UN shared how technology has played an integral role in her life since she was a child, leading to her role today. She discussed the implications of technological evolution, the potential to address meaningful global challenges and the need to engage public and private partnerships to address the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, the ability for technologies to address the problems of human trafficking and refugees is highly promising. This comes with a dark side however on the dark web, and Riazi calls for participation in the UN’s Digital Blue Helmets, a global network dedicated to fighting security and other threats of the connected age.
The Coming Clean Energy Wave – How Analytics, IT and People Will Power Transformative Change - An interview with Dr. Chandu Visweswariah, CEO and Founder of Utopus Insights, a Vestas Wind Systems A/S company.
Dr. Chandu Visweswariah leads one of the most forward thinking teams in all of energy. Utopus Insights (acquired by Vestas in February 2018) applies deep analytics and domain expertise to energy transmission and distribution and clean energy production assets. In our conversation, Chandu outlines the powerful forces setting the stage for clean energy (mostly solar and wind) to become dominant in the future. He discusses lessons from building his own zero-carbon home, the multiple dimensions of digitizing the energy industry, unique technology dynamics involved with energy and his optimistic visions for a future powered by clean sources. He also shares some of the obstacles and challenges ahead for utilities and governments to effectively traverse the coming transition of the energy markets.
Navigating Connected Industry - from AI to Quantum Computing - A conversation with Cisco’s VP of Strategic Innovation Maciej Kranz
Maciej Kranz is one of the most prominent thought leaders in IoT, and his book Building the Internet of Things and blog are essential reading for anyone interested in the topics. Our conversation covered the changes in the market and surprises since the launch of his book in 2016, his views on the current state of the market and evolution across industries. He discusses the primacy of security and the surprise that so many organizations need help – which drove him to publish his companion workbook. We also covered key topics such as the evolving architectures of IoT, Intelligent Edge and Fog Computing, how China is approaching IoT, and the importance of AI. As the market moves from optimization to digital transformation, and Maciej provides essential advice to those looking to make the jump.
What the future of tech holds – Parsing 2018 predictions - A conversation with Duncan Stewart, Head of TMT Research for Deloitte Canada.
Duncan Stewart is the author of Deloitte’s annual Tech, Media and Telecom Predictions, which provides specific forecasts around tech trends and provides extensive strategic food for thought for businesses in all industries. Our conversation covered the predictions regarding Augmented Reality, the “invisible innovation” of the smartphone and other topics. Most surprising are the colossal price declines in Machine Learning made possible by new generations of GPUs and FPGAs. Duncan predicts that corporate use of AI and machine learning technologies will double this year and again in 2019. We also discuss the implications of today’s “ad-allergic” media consumers and the expected fallout from recent controversies around data ownership. This is an episode you will not want to miss!
Brian Gilmore I Our conversation with Brian Gilmore covered a range of Connected Industry topics. We discussed the evolution of IoT as it relates to data analytics, and he highlighted how connectivity and technologies have outpaced the ability for organizations to effectively embrace the technology. The conversation covered some of the ways that different industries are using connected technologies as well as the challenges to success. Brian highlighted the critical role that security plays in delivering on a connected future, and the need to embrace simple steps to ensure systems are protected.
Prof. Ahmed Banafa I Named the No. 1 Top Voice To Follow in Tech by LinkedInOne, Prof. Ahmed Banafa of San Jose State University, one of the top IoT writers, speakers and thought leaders, with research published on Forbes, MIT Technology Review, ComputerWorld, Techonomy, he is a contributor to IEEE-IoT, LinkedIn, IBMCloud, IBM Big Data Analytics Hub, HPE Insights and he has appeared as an expert in new tech with appearances on ABC, NBC , CBS, FOX and other media outlets. Our conversation covered a lot of ground, focusing on IoT from the perspectives of Technology, business and society. We discussed the different dynamics at play across consumer and enterprise technology, the regulatory backdrop, and the evolving demands around security safety and privacy. Banafa weaves in broad perspective on the dynamics of the IoT industry and provides details insights into the power of AI and Machine Learning as well as Blockchain technology. Looking forward he sees the rise of quantum computing as one of the most consequential innovations ahead of us.
Dale Calder I Our conversation with Dale Calder, founder of FactorySoft, Axeda and RevTwo, covered the origins of this pioneering work connecting manufacturing equipment to IT systems, then the instruction of connectivity to extend visibility into machines with Axeda. Dale’s unique talent is the ability to identify critical business pain points and create focused solutions, particularly in industrial settings. He shares how latest company RevTwo has applied the lessons of connecting and analyzing industrial data to the broad-based challenges of providing efficient support and service. Dale has “flipped the script” with Axeda’s approach, and he articulates how he’s doing this again with Axeda, leveraging cutting edge AI technology to anticipate the coming era of connected, intelligent and (hopefully) self-repairing systems.
Pete Wassell I Our discussion with Pete Wassell covered his history in the wearable technology space, working with pioneers and mentors like Steve Mann, Steven Feiner, Christina Pereyand others in collaboration to bring wearable technology to the enterprise. The conversation explored the origins of augmented reality technology, use cases, challenges and opportunities extending the management and security of AR and VR headsets to industry. Pete outlined how blockchain technologies are playing a critical role in the development of Augmate’s capabilities, and discusses characteristics of several leading technologies. Pete explained his long-term vision for the evolution of businesses, society and markets powered by disruptive technologies.
Kate Mitchell I Our conversation with Kate Mitchell reviewed her experience working at Oracle with Larry Ellison in the midst of the database wars, the emergence of data warehousing and analytics and what led to successes in the first era of data analysis. Our conversation also covered the significant changes afoot with the transition from a centralized to decentralized infrastructure – from cloud/mobile to intelligent edge computing – along with the key considerations involved with choosing and deploying the appropriate technology to the right business problem in order to get the right information to the right place at the right time. Looking forward, Kate discussed the potential for AI and machine learning to drive profound transformation of business.
Paul Glynn & Joe Quinn I Our conversation with Paul and Joe covered the team’s background in networking and big data, and the origins of Davra as an IoT Application Enablement Platform. Topics in the discussion included the different types of platforms, and how platforms help enable cross domain collaboration in large organizations, especially cities and big enterprises. We also discussed the potential use cases – and hard realities of blockchain in Connected Industry, and the advantages, pitfalls and potential from the applications of machine learning and AI to Connected Industry.
Bruce Weed I Navigating Disruptive Technologies: an exploration of AI, Big Data, Cognitive Computing, Blockchain and IoT Bruce Weed
Our conversation with Bruce Weed covered a lot of ground around disruptive technologies – with a central point that the most significant innovations are coming from the combination of IoT, AI/Cognitive and Blockchain used in combination. Bruce helps simplify the concepts around IoT, AI and Blockchain, and provides a wealth of tips, insights and resources for individuals and companies starting out on their journey. Our conversation covers the basics and the nuances of these technologies, tracing the developmental arc of technology and industries, and providing many practical examples of use cases for AI and Blockchain in an IoT context across health care, supply chain, manufacturing and other industries.
Lauren Salisbury I Shepherding Connected Transformation: Making Digital Change Succeed for People and Business Our conversation with Momenta’s Lauren Salisbury touched about the arc of experience working with successive generation of connected industry, and she spends time defining what digital transformation is. Lauren expands on what makes for successful Connected Industry solutions, and discusses the importance of ecosystems in achieving transformation. One of the key tenets of success is sourcing and cultivating talent, and Digital Transformation requires new sets of skills that don’t map to traditional roles. Lauren also weighs in on the differences between the European and US markets and Australia/New Zealand following her recent relocation.
Ralf Schulze I Deep experience working in manufacturing, automotive and industrials with a broad background working in Connected Industry and digital transformation, our conversation with Ralf covered the challenges that traditional product companies face in making the transition to delivering connected products, how cutting edge manufacturing companies use real-time location technologies for quality assurance, and the downstream ramifications organizationally and economically from Connected Industry adoption.
David Bauer I Helping to bring Morgan Stanley’s first website online and at Merrill Lynch being the first major bank to outsource major security services, David has been working professionally with IT security since the late 1980s, being a pioneer in the security field. Our conversation explored his history as one of the first Chief Information Security Officers on Wall Street, from his experience at Bell Labs through Wall Street and his current advisory work. He discusses the role of regulations helping companies improve their security, and shares valuable insights to help small and medium size businesses.
Nick Gogerty I A college major in cultural anthropology, MBA, investor, hedge fund analyst, entrepreneur, academic – to analyzing the nature of innovation, competition and the life cycles of companies and industries, Nick Gogerty has a unique baground. Our conversation explored how his research into survivability of companies led him to seek out first principles – a framework to apply to investing at any stage of a corporate life cycle. Nick’s work is relevant for anyone that’s involved with strategy, investing and entrepreneurship, and our discussion touched on how experience curves impact price/performance in emerging industries, the “Paradox of Growth” and how innovative criteria lead to success or failure. He also spoke about SolarCoin, which he co-founded, and his thesis about the coming clean disruption of energy and transportations.
Tony Seba, RethinkX I Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation
Tony Seba’s work on the impact of disruptive technologies has been highly influential to major decision makers in the investment community, in industry and governments worldwide. Our conversation explored the principles behind his framework for analyzing disruptive technologies, then we dove into the thesis behind his 2014 book Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation. Tony discusses how the cost curves for solar, batteries, electric vehicles and autonomous cars have followed his predictions to the letter (batteries are even cheaper than he forecast). He shares the bold prediction that 2021 will be the year the Level 4 self-driving cars hit the mainstream and give rise to an ecosystem of Transportation as a Service businesses that provide transportation at 10X cheaper than today. Tony foresees that the 2020s will be a decade a major disruption across all industries, as households on average will be able to save $6,000 per year on auto expenses and the resulting boost will generate trillions of dollars of value throughout the economy. Our conversation explored Tony also shares his advice for auto companies, and those in the oil business – as well as others facing significant disruption.