Future of Tech

In this episode, Avishai sits down with AI pioneer Yoav Shoham. Yoav was a professor of computer science at Stanford for 28 years, where he was the director of the AI Lab. He is also a serial entrepreneur and has founded various companies across industries. Most recently, he co-founded AI21 labs. AI21 Labs aims to take AI to the next level and builds LLMs for enterprises that make machines thought partners. Join him and Avishai for a great discussion, and hear why Yoav doesn't believe Gen AI truly exists, AI21’s mission, and his vision for the future.  The AI winter is over. AI is at the top of everyone’s mind today, but it has existed for decades. Yoav experienced the ‘AI Winter,’ a period during the 1990s when interest and funding in AI dropped. Yoav says that the effects of the winter have worn off, and that the learnings and changes from the period and beyond have helped us reach the AI boom of today.  Lots of experiments, little deployment. Yoav says that while there is mass experimentation with AI, there is much less deployment of the technology. Proving the ROI of AI is something companies like AI21 must do to encourage uptake from large enterprises.  Trust is key. Yoav identifies that reliability, predictability and explainability are key for LLMs. These models often don’t know when or why they are wrong. Ensuring that we can trust these models is key to their progression and adoption. Interested in further exploring the impact of GenAI? Tune in to Your Career: Is it Choice or Chance? Podcast for insightful discussions within the workplace domain.

The journey through GenAI continues! In this episdoe, Avishai enjoys talking to Dr. Sharon Zhou, founder and CEO of Lamini. Sharon's PhD in GenAI from Stanford along with her business career made the dialog intriguing. Sharon studied both classics and computer science at Harvard, and she has risen to be a pioneer in the GenAI space, having recently been named an MIT Tech Review 35 under 35. Building on our recent episode with NVIDIA’s CTO, this discussion will immerse listeners deeper into Large Language Learning Models.Key TakeawaysFine-tuning is key. As the competition in LLMs heats up, Sharon says that standing out is about taking your LLM from elementary school to PhD level through fine-tuning and strategically teaching models all the expertise they need to level up. Gen AI should be accessible. One of Sharon and the team at Lamini’s missions is to ensure that enterprises of all levels have access to Gen AI solutions, not simply those with huge budgets. Gen AI is the new calculator. Sharon points to how scared the education industry was when calculators first entered the markets and compare it to the current anxieties about Gen AI. Educational systems will have to adapt, and ultimately Gen AI and LLMs will help transform the education space. Interested in further exploring the impact of GenAI? Tune in to Your Career: Is it Choice or Chance? Podcast for insightful discussions within the workplace domain.

In this exciting episode, Avashai is joined by Michael Kagan, CTO of NVIDIA. He and Avishai dive into the challenges and opportunities faced by organizations when it comes to the explosion of Gen AI. Michael has been at the forefront of the tech space and is passionate about the potential implications of AI, and has said that we are experiencing AI's ‘iPhone moment.’ Don’t miss the exciting conversation to learn more about the future of Gen AI, as well as the exciting things happening at NVIDIA.Key Takeaways: Gen AI takes physical infrastructure. Michael mentions that many people overlook that the physical space, hardware and CPU needed to run Gen AI models is huge. This has implications for organizations as well as the environment that cannot be ignored. Gen AI will improve human collaboration. Michael emphasizes that he is excited about the potential of Gen AI when it comes to improving human collaboration. He believes Gen AI will help humans overcome language and cultural barriers that can impede effective collaboration. The world is exponential. Michael says that the world is exponential, and this includes Gen AI growth. He believes this new tech will come to impact all industries, and ultimately will allow humans to become more efficient and better at their jobs. Interested in further exploring the impact of GenAI? Tune in to Your Career: Is it Choice or Chance? Podcast for insightful discussions within the workplace domain.

Welcome back to Future of Tech! In this special season, Avishai sits down with some of the leading thinkers in Generative AI. In this episode, he is joined by Charles Lamanna, Corporate Vice President, Business Apps & Platforms at Microsoft. He and Avishai discuss what Microsoft is doing to educate their workforce about Gen AI, the impacts of Gen AI on large enterprises like Microsoft, and what he sees coming down the pipeline.    Key Takeaways: Charles is an AI optimist. Charles says he focuses on the fact that the majority of Gen AI use cases are human-directed. He believes humans will be able to leverage Gen AI to make their processes more efficient and productive, not replace them entirely.  Gen AI will be adopted across industries. Charles believes that AI will be harnessed by all industries, not just tech. He believes it will allow organizations to grow without compromising service.  Enterprises need to invest in employee learning. Charles stresses that in order to harness the power of Gen AI, enterprises should invest the time and money to properly train their workforce on how to use Gen AI, and how to do so securely. Interested in further exploring the impact of GenAI? Tune in to Your Career: Is it Choice or Chance? Podcast for insightful discussions within the workplace domain.

This week, lace up your boots and be sure to stretch, because we have an exciting new Future of Tech to share with you! Avishai had a chance to sit down with Jonathan Lee, the Senior Director of Sports Performance Technology for Intel. If you never connected Intel and sports technology before, you certainly will after this conversation.  In this lively conversation, Jonathan dives deep into how Intel’s AI is benefiting all facets of sports, from player performance to fan experience, and even advanced athlete scouting in underserved areas. Throughout the episode, he shares countless ways in which Intel’s technology is affecting the world of athletics for elite professionals and weekend warriors alike, highlighting the myriad ways these innovations will impact sports on every level.  Enjoy the episode! Main Takeaways: Creating Scalable Athletic Solutions: Jonathan shares how AI solutions can scale to serve multiple types of athletes, from elite professionals to casual players, as well as benefiting the health and wellness space. AI and How It Will Redefine Athlete Scouting: Intel’s AI Scout is changing the way player performance is evaluated, using 3D analysis to objectively gauge an athlete’s potential against a growing field of competitors. Bringing Athletic Opportunities to Underserved Areas: Jonathan shares an inspiring story of how AI Scout made it possible for two unknown prospects from a remote village to be discovered and considered for an organized football program. Key Quotes:  (16:29)“For sports, there are many applications that involve, how do we get athletes to perform better. Or how do we enhance a broadcast so that a fan feels more engaged with the action?  And we're at an exciting place right now in technology where we have things that really bridged the gap between the athlete and the fan.” (18:19)“A lot of the things that we work on are meant to democratize and allow technology to be not just by the very elite athletes, but all the athletes on the team, and not just all the athletes on a pro or elite team, but actually down through your weekend warrior, your consumer, even in the health space as well.” (22:37): “We use computer vision to extract 25 or more key points from the body, and then whether you use one camera or multiple cameras, we can create a 3D model of the athlete. And then from there, we can calculate biomechanics, kinematics, and provide that to a developer, or in some cases, we've built our own applications on top of that. Again, this is without the use of any sensors or suits. It's just AI. (34:28): “Last year as a team, Purdue [baseball team] stole 48 bases. That put them at 130 first out of all the teams in the country. This year they stole 116, which ranked them number 10, right? And they had a great season. We're really at the cusp here on how to use tech to actually improve performance, right? And it's being demonstrated.”  (54:35): “Being able to, to provide that information in, in real-time or near real-time would be something that would, that, that, um, would make the gym experience a bit more compelling as well as safe.”  

We can be so passionate about tech that we can get caught up in its concepts and capabilities. But what is at the core of all technology? Our guest today, Mark Potter, the Chief Information Officer at Optus, says “that great technology is a result of people.” Mark’s fascinating career evolved from studying civil engineering to eventually working in the banking and telecommunications industries. The throughline for him has always been a desire to come up with solutions to challenges. Tune in for more of Mark’s story and learn how he keeps perspective on what he values the most. Enjoy this episode! Main Takeaways: Humanity is the Foundation: Mark reminds us that humanity is behind impressive tech. He also points out how a company with “purpose” attracts employees who are seeking the same. His view is that engineers want to be a part of performing meaningful work. Building a Career: In advice to up-and-coming talent, Mark advises that people focus more on attaining an employment situation with “career” potential rather than narrowly looking for a “job.” Leaning into a longer-term mindset is sage advice to build one’s career and life. The Future at Optus: In envisioning the future of Optus, Mark imagines a business that moves rapidly with simplified processes and where there is a great deal of interconnection. His vision is a beautiful one that’s hopefully realized in many companies. Maintaining Perspective: Shouldn’t we assess our values just as rigorously as our work data? Mark describes a process he’s undertaken to map out his priorities and then contemplate if he’s been focusing his attention on these values. Key Quotes: [05:58] “As a CIO, I think that great technology is a result of people. The paradox is great Technology is all about the people, and that's absolutely true across banking and telecommunications.” [09:03 - this is the correct timestamp. If I try to hyperlink, it goes to a different section] “And typically what I find is that great engineers want to solve real problems and get beyond tech for tech’s sake and get into tech for some sort of higher order purpose. And so our purpose is really key to the way that we attract and retain people and [it’s about] creating the opportunities for teams to have that real impact.” 16:49) “I'd love to see technology as just part of the product and product management. So you can imagine moving from a project management bias that we have at the moment into product management and then the technology is embedded [and] embraced within the product itself. So, the distance between a business stakeholder and an IT colleague is a lot more blurred than what it has been historically.” [29:57] “So I think platforms as an economy have kind of broken the economic paradigm of a traditional value chain.” [39:58] “I think organizations where there's a meritocracy rather than a bureaucracy is important where talent can be elevated based on merit. And then maybe, last but not least, organizations, that have got a culture where failure is okay. Learning through getting things a bit wrong is a great way to learn.”    

Intro: On this episode of Future of Tech, we speak to Chris Byers, CEO of Formstack. In 2010, Chris stepped in to lead Formstack as CEO for six months. Twelve years later, Chris has not only remained CEO, but the company has grown to 220 employees around the world and recently started fundraising at a billion dollar valuation. In this conversation, Chris discusses Formstack’s focus on intuitive, easy-to-use, no-code solutions. Plus we dive into Chris’s experiences and lessons learned as a CEO, as well as his advice for new CEOs. Enjoy this conversation. Main Takeaways: Evolution of Formstack: Chris dives into the evolution of Formstack and its journey as a startup, getting detailed about the work that the company does and its vision for the future. The Value of Fast Simplicity: Chris discusses Formstack’s intent to provide a no-code solution that is easy to learn. The company’s goal is for any individual contributor in any department to be able to figure out whether they can solve their problem on Formstack within 30 seconds. Chris’s Thoughts on Company Culture: Chris discusses company culture: how it has seasons, how it changes with remote work and what he thinks about when building culture at Formstack. Chris’s Advice for New CEOs: Chris shares his tips for new CEOs, as well as his experience stepping into the CEO role at a startup and a mistake he feels that he’s made throughout his leadership.   Key Quotes: (19:41) “...culture still works in phases and seasons. I think the culture, even that I built from say seven people to let's call it 50, actually had to change.There was a moment in time and I've seen this happen a couple different times, moments in time where we're no longer getting the results that we once were getting. And that ultimately goes back to culture. Are we hiring the right people and promoting the right people?”   (23:09) “I think our ability to succeed over time will always be because we make decisions that don't look like the next big software business. We make our own unique decisions that are innovative, that are different and maybe even cause people in those early days to be like, ‘wait, what are you doing? This doesn't make any sense to me.’”   (44:16) “...as we are in a remote environment, it's a different skillset to kind of build comradery across video, which is where so much of life now takes place. And so you're starting to have to find people who can engage that way.”   (45:38) “...one of the mistakes that I probably continue to make over and over and over again is I move too slow when something is not going well. I think as leaders, we often can quickly identify that a project isn't going well, a team member isn't working out and we are compassionate and we're empathetic. And so it makes us too patient, I think at times, and we put too much stock into the person that we're dealing with when we forget if a person is kind of failing their team or failing the organization, it's not just this one to one relationship that's kind of challenged, they're causing this challenge to like grow and grow and grow across the organization.”   (47:43) “If you're in peace time, I think the team is always the most important. Sometimes you're in something more like war time, where things are chaotic and nothing is as usual, the economy is in a weird place. And sometimes if somebody's being successful, I think you let 'em run. But in the long term, I'd say it always comes back to that ability to work with the team. The ability to kind of work together is the most important thing.”

What does it take to solve an intimidating problem that many feel is unsolvable?  Andrew Feldman, Co-founder and CEO of Cerebras Systems, can tell you, because he and his team engineered an unprecedented technological breakthrough. They set out to build a new class of computer system to accelerate Artificial Intelligence work. In the end, they built the fastest AI accelerator, based on the largest processor in the industry.  Tune in to hear his story, his thoughts on building and selling companies, and his career advice for aspiring founders. Enjoy this episode.   Main Takeaways: - Pioneering Solutions to Big Problems: Andrew explains his love of tackling big problems where there “isn’t a safety net” and his love of “fearless engineering.” He shares his experience searching for a solution that many thought couldn’t be found.  - Artificial Intelligence: Andrew discusses his thoughts on AI, how it could be used for extraordinary good and how it will permeate every facet of our lives moving forward. - Building and Selling Companies: Andrew discusses his experience building, leading and selling companies, diving into his decision making process for when to sell. - Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs: Andrew provides advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and also dives into the mistakes that he has made along the way. He stresses the need to focus on the customer, to build trust within your team and to build the right professional network. Key Quotes: In my experience, these aren't sitting on a park bench with an idea arriving like a child from Zeus's head fully formed, right? That's not the way they come. You articulate a problem….What choices are available to you to solve this?  You have to decide in your career what sort of problems you're going to attack. And you have to decide if you're more afraid of failing in pursuit of a really interesting big problem or succeeding at a mediocre problem. I think like every technology, [AI] has the opportunity for tremendous good and tremendous evil, both. I'd say the same for nuclear power. I'd say the same for, you know, any number of monstrous technologies. It is that their very power can be used for good or for bad. And I think that the technologies in AI can be used for evil and the exact same technology can be used for such good, it's extraordinary. And so the challenge is on us to manage it. I think it's a tremendous mistake to build a company to sell it. I think it's a tremendous mistake to have a religious view that you have to go public. You are using other people's money in what we do. You are building a company in partnership with people who are lending you part of their career, and you're the steward of that. I think one of the things young people should think about is they see resumes and they see LinkedIn links and it's success, lots of bullets, another success, lots of bullets. I think you can just ignore all that because nobody puts up their failures. You know, bad idea, six months wasted on a bad idea, millions of dollars destroyed because of arrogance, right? Nobody puts that on their LinkedIn. And so you get this, sort of like the Instagram version of a career, perfect angles, perfect lighting filters done properly. But that's not really the way careers went. 

Intro: How should businesses properly utilize a CFO?   Today’s guest is Ronit Maor, the Chief Financial Officer at the insurance and banking software provider Earnix. With nearly two decades of CFO experience, she is the perfect person to talk to about the intricacies of the CFO position, and how it has changed over the years.   On this episode of Future of Tech, Ronit explains how in successful businesses, the role of the CFO stretches far beyond mere budget management and into other essential strategic aspects within the company.   She also gives new CEOs some valuable advice about hiring a CFO and building a strong partnership with that person. Enjoy this episode.    Main Takeaways: It’s Not All Numbers: Ronit suggests that new CEOs not consider their Chief Financial Officer to be just a “glorified controller.” She insists that a CFO needs to be deeply involved in decision-making processes at a company rather than someone who only handles a budget.  Women in Leadership: In an effort to work toward greater representation for women in leadership roles, Ronit is a mentor at Woman2Woman, an Israeli organization that helps young aspiring women professionals reach their goals. Ronit suggests that more equitable representation will be positive for businesses. How SaaS Has Changed the CFO Position: Ronit offers a CFO’s perspective on how working at a company that provides SaaS compares to the more traditional enterprise software-driven businesses or even hardware companies. She claims that because SaaS requires companies to have ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue), CFOs have to consider their customers differently: “The sale never ends. You have to, all the time, know your customer, take care of it, [and] learn what the customer needs are. It’s a different way of work compared to… the old way that you’ve sold it once and that’s it.” Key Quotes:   [12:09] “Business is not very different in different companies, even if the technology is very different. So, one of the advantages CFO do have is the ability to move between industries and different types of markets even if the technologies are completely different, when the technology people have less flexibility than us.” [23:44] “So the more formal things that I’m doing is I'm a mentor in a organization called Woman2Woman, which is an organization established by people that got out of [the] 8200 army unit. And it's a mentoring for women… I think we have a group of like 50 mentors — senior people in the industries actually. It's not only one industry… You’ll find they’re senior women from all around the country. The organization is choosing each year 50 mentees — young women that want to get into this program [and] that want to become leaders in the industry.” [28:58] “If I need to choose one thing that will increase chances for success — nothing can guarantee success, of course — is having the right people… hiring people that are smarter and more knowledgeable in their specific professions. It's not always easy, but this is what people… what CEOs need to do.”  [35:26] “We mentioned ARR, which is the recurring revenues, which is the core thing that you have in SaaS. The fact that you have recurring revenues changes a lot the way you go after the markets, the customers, and you maintain them afterwards. The whole concept is that it's not a one time thing [where] you got the customer once and that's it, you're done. You have to maintain them.” [44:13] “The difference between public and private for a CFO… putting aside the pressure of being a CFO of a public company… but from the business side, when the company's public, the balance in the view and the decision-making between the short term and the long term is different from when you are a private company. When you are a private company, you can afford yourself… making… the right decision for the longer term, with less considerations of how the quarter will end. While when you are a public company you, as much as you will say that you are doing everything you can for the long term of the company, at the end of the day, you have the conference call with the investors and you report how the quarter ended, and the stock goes up or down, and your employees see [that] the stock goes up or down, and… it's very hard to ignore it. So you have to take into consideration also the short term considerations, which are not always the right balance for the business.”

Intro: The odds of an entrepreneurial venture succeeding are, statistically speaking, not stacked in the founder’s favor. This is something that Asaf Peled, Founder and CEO of Minute Media, was well aware of when he left his career as a tech investor to found his own tech startup. Today, Minute Media owns 6 major media brands, is considered the third largest online sports publisher in the world, and serves over 350 million fans.    On the podcast today, Asaf dives into the work that he does at Minute Media and the evolution of the company. He also shares his personal entrepreneurial journey, outlining the mistakes and tough moments along the way.    Tune in to hear his thoughts on leading a tech company, culture, talent retention and more.     Main Takeaways: The Evolution of Minute Media: Asaf describes the unique combination of tech and content work that is done at Minute Media, sharing the initial idea, how they have evolved over time, and what the company looks like now.  Asaf’s Entrepreneurial Journey: Asaf shares his background and decision to move from investing into entrepreneurship. He dives into some of the tougher moments in the journey, talking about the struggle to get funding in early days and the mistakes that he has learned from along the way.  Three Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs: Asaf says that it is essential to have an inherent passion for the work that you are doing and for your idea. He also stresses the benefits of taking a unique technology angle that is not being used by traditional competitors in your space and advises finding a founding team that will stay for the long run. Asaf’s Thoughts on Company Culture: Asaf discusses the competition for talent and the company culture at Minute Media. He explains that his focus on culture stems from his belief that it is the reason for their high retention rates and is what will set Minute Media apart in the long run.  Key Quotes: (16:48) “...people is key and your partners when you're starting is really key. I think the one thing we really focused on from day one, we realized our secret sauce was the passion for sports combined with technology. So in addition to building a strong kind of tech team, we made sure we were hiring a significant team of global, passionate fans.”   (32:01) “I actually feel comfortable, more and more over time, to use my intuition and gut feeling. If it's only me at the end of the day who has to make that kind of lonely decision, I'm trying to reach out to the less rational parts in me and listen to them, as well.”    (35:22) “I would say the first couple of years were really tough because we’re very enthusiastic about the idea, but then as we’re trying to build a business, we realized it's actually a tough space. Not too many companies are able to raise money. VCs were not too enthusiastic investing in our space in the first few years...really raising money and establishing credibility and gaining traction with investors the first couple of years was tough because the space was nonexistent….And we were not sure we were going to survive it.”   (37:04) “We can always pay more and throw more parties, but I feel that there is one thing that's quite unique about Minute Media, which is we have, I feel, a very colorful, engaging and sticky culture. We have many, many, many people who have been with us for many, many years. It probably has to do with the initial passion for what we do. So I think there is something special about that, which to me is the number one reason for the very high retention rates.” (39:05) “…it's been so difficult to get to where we are right now, but it can also shift, shift and change very quickly, very rapidly, and can change tomorrow, right? If anything, it probably taught me not to take anything for granted because it looks very shiny from the outside, but there's so much work and effort and rollercoaster and ups and downs put into it.”

Cybersecurity has become increasingly complicated with the rise of the Internet of Things. How do we protect critical data as it transfers from 1st party to 3rd party devices and services? What are the challenges of modern-day cybersecurity? How can they be addressed? On this episode of Future in Tech, Nadir Izrael, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Armis, discusses how their platform helps enterprises mitigate risks within the current threat landscape. He also shares his experiences as a founder, some of the tougher moments throughout the journey and his advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. Enjoy this episode!  Main Takeaways: Founding a Company: Nadir shares his personal experience cofounding Armis, as well as some of the tougher moments in his entrepreneurial journey and his advice for aspiring founders. Mapping Devices and Assets: Armis was founded when Nadir and his cofounder realized that many enterprises didn’t even know what devices and assets they had, let alone how to map them to mitigate security risk. He shares how the company has evolved to serve as the “Google maps of an organization”. Addressing Challenges in IOT Security: Nadir outlines the challenges he sees in IOT security and how Armis addresses those challenges. This discussion covers topics like network complexity, agentless security, outdated operating systems, supply chain issues and more. Maintaining Team Enthusiasm: Nadir discusses building a passionate team as a startup grows and argues that transparency is key to maintaining a strong company culture.         Key Quotes: (09:28) “These days, we understand that the real problem organizations have is just scale. Networks are the largest they've ever been by several orders of magnitude compared to a few years ago. There's no longer even a network; there's no longer even a perimeter…. all these different changes, still manifest in the very same question from before of what do I have? What do I need to know about it? How do I manage and secure it?”   (40:19) “I think that we had a really, really great executive team in the beginning, but very few of them are with us today. I think that we've had to, as the company grew and matured, change different personas, figure out who's the right person for a job at any given point in time. And this is difficult. When you start as a startup, you start as a real family. People create bonds. These are not just people you work with. These are people that are family and having to make changes like that is difficult.”   (41:57) “I think most founders when they start companies, they think about the idea 90 percent of the time and other aspects of the company they give very little thought to in the beginning. It's exciting to think about ideas. It's exciting to think about what you could build and what you could do, but the reality is that the team, especially the founding team, is so, so, so much more important than the idea.”   (43:12) “…founding a company is all about listening. Listening to investors, listening to other people in the company, listening to clients, listening to partners, just basically listening all the time and trying to apply that knowledge and not your own convictions about the world, at least until a certain point in the company.”   (48:28) “The thing that I think we noticed the most is the way to maintain enthusiasm and the way to maintain the inclusiveness or that feeling of being a part of something big and important, is to be super transparent. If you are transparent with people about things, even the most basic things, they feel like it's a two way street. They feel like you're giving them all the information they need; you trust them. And so they're part of that same journey.”

Intro: Business leaders can reasonably feel overwhelmed, at times, with the volume of software solutions in the world that may or may not be helpful to their companies.   On this episode of Future of Tech, Godard Abel, the Co-founder and CEO of G2, explains how G2 has created a marketplace where business leaders can check out useful software reviews.   Godard also shares lessons he learned along his entrepreneurial path, including learning a practice to increase his consciousness and to allow himself to feel and process his emotions. Enjoy this episode!    Main Takeaways: G2’s Place in the Market: Godard describes G2: “At G2, we’re aiming to build the place you go for software. When we founded the company in 2012, we called it a Yelp for business software.” G2’s goal is to create a space for credible, helpful reviews of software solutions. Godard chats about how this service helps efficiently crowdsource software reviews and that this ends up being constructive for B2B software sellers and buyers. Working on Multiple Projects: It’s easy to marvel at how entrepreneurs like Godard can work on multiple projects simultaneously. Godard demystifies his ability to do so. He talks about how he does not manage every project; in truth, he is part of a team of entrepreneurs who take on different roles on projects. Becoming a Better Leader: Born from overcoming earlier business stresses, Godard shares how he sought out a coach that helped teach him consciousness and mindfulness techniques and how to experience and process his feelings. He has found that these strategies have helped him manage stress and become a better leader. Advice for Entrepreneurs: Godard offers that budding entrepreneurs should hone in on their intention rather than going overly broad. He also points to the power of passion for seeing one through inevitable challenges that come with building a new business.   Key Quotes: [00:30] “At G2, we’re aiming to build the place you go for software. When we founded the company in 2012, we called it a Yelp for business software. And the idea is as software is eating the world, G2 is a buffet where you can find over a hundred thousand different business apps. And I think the amazing thing about our industry [is that] there's been so much innovation, but, entrepreneurs, software entrepreneurs have built purpose-built applications for every business function [and] every industry, and G2 is the one place you can go to find all those apps.”   [12:03] “I think we focus on our culture and [at] G2 we've defined our ‘peak culture’ and ‘PEAK’ is a mnemonic that stands for ‘performance, entrepreneurship, authenticity, and kindness.’ And so we really want to have a ‘peak culture.’”   [30:49] “And I think what I advise startups is to go very narrow at the beginning. And I think a lot of startup pitches are like, ‘Oh, I have a huge TAM. I'm going to sell to everybody.’ I actually think that's exactly the wrong answer. Pick up very much a niche, because there's already a hundred thousand software apps. So I think pick one use case, one industry, [and] do that better than anyone. And just at the beginning, just focus — Make sure your first five, 10 customers are really successful [by] solving that one problem better than anyone else and then scale from there.”   [34:22] “I don't think you can control your emotions. I think… more, it's like, feel your emotions [and} accept them. So for me, it's more accepting what is, and actually becoming more aware of your feelings.”   [41:19] “I do think all the great entrepreneurs, they have some greater purpose and greater vision that they're kind of metaphorically willing to die for. And so I think that that's really important is that you have that for your vision for your company, so that you will keep going [and] you will persevere. And I do believe with that, ultimately you can usually find a way to succeed.”

How essential is technology to the success of a business? How can CDOs and CTOs best enable digital transformation in their organizations?  Marcus East, Chief Digital Officer at T-Mobile, has been fascinated with technology ever since a teacher provided him with access to a computer when he was eight years old. This led him to work in technology for major brands including Apple, Google, National Geographic, and now T-Mobile. On this episode of Future in Tech, Marcus shares his passion for using technology to transform businesses. Tune in to hear the lessons he has learned throughout his career, his advice for entrepreneurs and CIOs, and more. Enjoy this episode!  Main Takeaways: Technology enables digital transformation: Mark explains that while many companies have a clear vision and understand what they would like their customers to experience, the execution is very important. He argues that “the most important aspect of a digital transformation is the enabling technologies that allow you to bring it to life.”  The importance of a diverse workforce: Mark explains why having a workforce that reflects the society that you live in is “good business” and how important it is to get the best person for the job regardless of their background, gender, etc.  Guidance for young entrepreneurs: Mark provides three pieces of advice for young entrepreneurs. He explains how essential it is to seek out guidance , to think about the business model in addition to the product and the importance of a strong team. Advice for CIOs and CDOs: Mark provides three pieces of advice for CIOs and CDOs. He dives into the importance of “building relationships” and “stakeholder management,” establishing a “clear vision” and becoming a great “people leader.”    Key Quotes: [02:52] “The most important aspect of a digital transformation is the enabling technologies that allow you to bring it to life.”    [05:33] “... In some organizations, technology isn't necessarily given a seat at the table. And so strategic decisions are being made without really having a deep appreciation or understanding for technology. And sometimes technologists allow themselves to become order takers. Now this is something I have a strong adversity to…Technology is enabling transformation. It's enabling businesses to innovate in a way they couldn't do before. And so for businesses to be successful, they have to make sure that technology is represented at the top table.”   [20:58] “Diversity, equity, and inclusion are incredibly important for a couple of reasons. One of them… is this idea that in the digital space you are building products and experiences for your customers and your customers look different. They have different values. You can't just build products for one particular cohort or one particular segment. So I think it's important for the teams that are building those products and designing those products to basically represent the society that you're operating within… So [it] is just good business.”    [31:52] “I would advise any CIO, CDO, CTO, make sure you build those relationships with your stakeholders because it's a tough job… There are very few people in the organization that will have the same level of skill and experience that you have, but you are so critical to the success of your organization that there'll be times when, if you don't have the strong, personal relationship with all of your stakeholders, it's going to  go wrong.”    [48:37] “When I was at National Geographic… one of the jokes there was that most initiatives, products, [and] programs started on the whiteboard in my office because the environment and the culture that we built there was that if somebody had an idea, they would poke their head in my door and say, ‘Hey, can I just test something with you?’ We'd go onto the whiteboard. We would test it. And it's my belief that as a leader, if I'm not able to do that, then my team loses some of the value of my leadership. So being there for my team is probably my number one priority” 

This week we have a special episode of Future of Tech!   Avishai recently got a chance to sit down with Eric Boyer, The EVP of Customer Technology Platforms at AT&T to discuss how current and future innovations are going to have massive ripple effects into the businesses of tomorrow.    The world is more connected than ever because of the internet, and this interconnectedness will only increase. How will all this interconnection empower individuals and businesses?   Today’s guest Eric Boyer, the EVP of Customer Technology Platforms at AT&T, is an ideal person to speak about technology’s ability to connect people and ideas, and talk about how technology is being utilized strategically in business.   On this episode of Future of Tech, Eric shares his thoughts about the potential force artificial intelligence and 5G may have in changing our world.   He also gives some guidance on how business leaders can approach digitally transforming their own companies. Enjoy the episode.    Main Takeaways: A Culture of Digital Transformation: For Eric, digital transformation begins with culture. According to him, “it starts with people.” He suggests that after getting one’s people bought into the goal, “the easy part is picking the technologies.” Eric also describes how ATT is transforming to make sure that customers can shift smoothly between multiple products and channels. The Importance of Communication: Eric explains how communication is an essential part of leadership to get a team moving in the desired direction. He also suggests that clearly communicating the company’s goal may help to retain talent. The Impact of AI and 5G: Regarding AI, Eric makes the point that sometimes people get caught in the hype. That said, he offers that: “AI is not going to solve all the world’s problems today. It will, if used correctly, I believe, solve a lot of problems tomorrow.” Concerning 5G, Eric sees the amazing potential of 5G but muses how many of its life-changing applications may be beyond current notions of the impact that it will have.   Key Quotes: [37:41] “And the place that we’re in, and what I tell my team today is, historically… technology has almost been viewed as a cost center. And now, it is a strategic partner that plays a critical role at the decision making table — where we need a business strategy and… before the ink is dry on the business strategy, you have to have a technology strategy that immediately aligns for the execution of that business strategy. That’s the place that we are today in our evolution. I think tomorrow the technology strategy and the business strategy are being done together by the same people.” [07:29] “We have a business that is largely built on a technology stack that is a bit dated. And we made major investments to build a very modern microservices based set of technologies to interconnect with those platforms to help us bring e-commerce to our customers and help significantly ease the ability of our customers… to do business with us.” [09:13] “I think it starts with people. And then… I think it becomes culture. And I think the technology change is almost easy once you’ve aligned your people around a mission and you’ve created the culture that you need. The easy part is picking the technologies. The hard part is getting people aligned to build those technologies out to meet the purposes that you’re trying to achieve.” [21:09] “I believe we do retain more people if they feel like they’re involved and they’re part of the cause. But as importantly is, I think, we’re able to get more done as a team. I think people are able to contribute more if they really feel bought in and they understand the purpose of what we’re trying to do and why we’re trying to do it. I think we tend to get more done as a team when everybody’s on board and a part of the solution.” [25:58] “I think it’s a fool’s game to sort of get sucked into, ‘Okay… everything is going to be answered because we’re connected to this AI solution.’ With that said, I think AI is extremely powerful… You have to be thoughtful about your architecture and how your data is being managed. And if you are, then I think you can smartly deploy AI throughout your architecture, and you can iterate your way to very positive outcomes. And so, AI is not going to solve all the world’s problems today. It will, if used correctly, I believe, solve a lot of problems tomorrow. And it will grow into those solutions over time.” [46:21] “I would say, absolutely, that one should invest in a technology career and invest in education in technology. But I think you need to think broadly about that because even if you want to spend the majority of your career in technology, you'll be so much more effective if you have appreciation for the other parts of business that work together with technology to achieve the outcomes that we all hope to achieve.” 

Regulations can be incredibly burdensome to companies operating globally. Managing workers and their pay across countries with very particular regulations can be extremely difficult. Yet, as the world is increasingly technologically connected and remote work has taken off, the workforce is likely to become even more internationally interconnected for companies. Eynat Guez, the Co-founder and CEO of Papaya Global, explains how Papaya’s platform simplifies payroll complexities and automates procedures.    On this episode of Future of Tech, Eynat also gives straightforward takes concerning difficulties and successes in her entrepreneurial career and offers advice to those who may wish to follow in her footsteps. Additionally, Eynat shares her passion for supporting women on their career journeys and for having diversity in the workforce. Enjoy this episode!    Main Takeaways: Overcoming Regulations: Of course, some regulations are necessary, but they can become burdensome to companies managing an international workforce and payroll across a variety of countries. Eynat explains how even the terminology can be different among certain nations, and, therefore, confusing for taking care of payroll, etc. She describes how Papaya’s platform can handle this complexity for companies while automating procedures. Entrepreneurial Lessons: Pivotal lessons can be learned through hard times and successes too. Eynat gives direct takes on some of the difficulties she’s had as well as the successes, and the lessons she’s learned from all her experiences. Every experience has something to teach if one is willing to accept the lesson. Giving Back and Promoting Diversity: When a person has success, it’s good to support others on their journeys too. Eynat demonstrates this mentality as she strives to lift up young women in their careers through mentorship. She also speaks passionately about the need for diversity at companies and the benefits of having a truly diverse workforce.   Key Quotes: [23:19] “First, I think that, in general, when you are building a company, you are always starting with a very small team and you don't know what you don't know. You have this idea in mind and so on, and if you keep the same people in the room — the one that looks like you [and] thinks like you, that eventually you all [have] exactly the same opinion…You're probably going to miss tons of stuff. You're gonna miss a lot of stuff in thinking about the market. You're going to miss a lot of stuff of how you build things. You're going to miss a lot of stuff in communication. So diversity is a key in general. Second, I think that men and women — we are different creatures in many aspects. And eventually, when you are keeping [an] equal gender environment or trying to keep [an] equal gender environment, it just allows people to be their better self and to respect others better.”   [29:21] “So I'm a very detailed person. So I normally [am] very, very much involved on the bits and the bite of the organization [and] probably too much, but this is my way to gain confidence and to understand how to take [a] business decision. And the second thing that I think that every CEO should do is invest 20 or 30% from his time or her time in strategy; not on the here and now, but of where this company needs to be in a year time, two years time, three years time, and what we need to do currently in order to make it happen. Because if you don't invest in the future, you won't get there.”   [32:40] “What to try and avoid is, eventually, not keeping your focus because you will always have those distractions; other business ideas, some compelling offers, some business development, some great things that you think that, ‘Yeah, we should do this and this and this and that.’ And eventually focus is the one main thing that you need to keep. Not being on focus, is the one thing that you need to avoid because we all know that eventually there is as much as we can complete. You can't do everything.”    [33:55] “You need to avoid staying in places where you know you made mistakes. I mean, as quick as possible. We all have this way…or desire to try and correct things. We know that they're not going to the right way, but we give them another chance and we say, ‘Okay, let's see.’ Eventually, you know best. if you understand that you did a mistake, it can be [a] hiring mistake. It can be a commercial mistake. It can be a product mistake. Just fix that. Just throw everything to the garbage as quickly [as possible] and eventually start over because every day that you're going to spend on designing the wrong product is the day that you did spend designing the right product.”   [37:22] “So we are currently designing or renovating a new office for Papaya, and I've been asked, ‘How do I see this office?’ And I say, ‘It's not an office any longer. This is a space where people come because they want to have a nice place to work.’ They want to hang out with people. They need to attend meetings, but I don’t see it as this is my desk [or] this is my chair. I'm going to sit here and work. I think that you are going to come to the office when you have an intent to do things in the office, or when you have intent to meet people, both socially and both for…work purposes. But I think this is not going backwards any longer. I think we already kind of changed the way that we work in this aspect.”  

Across industries, empowering creatives tends to lead to great results because they are the engine of whatever is being created. This is true for developers just as it would be for any sort of creative. As technology becomes more advanced and the world more interconnected, security concerns also become more pronounced too. Therefore, builders must consider security as they make their products and help operate them too. Guy Podjarny, the Co-Founder and President of Snyk, understands that security practices and platforms must focus on developers. On this episode of Future of Tech, Guy discusses how the security industry has moved to a DevSecOps mentality where developers are brought into the security process. He chats about the importance of empathizing with users when creating products. Guy shares his motivations for his podcast, “The Secure Developer,” as well as for writing books. He also offers up some great advice for future entrepreneurs. Enjoy this episode!     Main Takeaways: The importance of Empathy When Creating a Product: Empathy is a quality that improves relationships between people. It’s also, according to Guy, essential when building any product, including a product for developers like Snyk. People do not need to have someone else’s experience to interact with them or even to serve them, but they do need to attempt to deeply understand their experiences and needs. Creating Community and Clarifying Ideas: It’s fascinating to hear why someone continues to put effort into creative projects over time. Concerning his podcast, Guy shares he appreciates the chats and how it’s beneficial to the greater security industry as well. Guy is also a prolific author of books and shares that he writes them, in part, because it helps him to clarify his ideas.    Being Prepared for the Ride: The entrepreneurial journey is not for the faint at heart. Guy compares the experience of being involved in a startup to a ”roller coaster.” He suggests that an awareness of this reality is helpful knowledge for a person who is about to go on this… ride. With this knowledge, he explains, one could assess other areas outside their work life to see if they are ready to dive into the start-up world.   Having Good Boundaries: Having strong boundaries helps to care for, and protect, key areas of life. Guy shares how he has developed clear rules between his work and family life, so that he is able to honor his family time. Certainly, it’s not easy to place limitations on work, especially in a world that is so interconnected and where work is often so accessible. Even though that may be the case and work is important, so too is everything outside of work, especially one’s family.   Key Quotes:    (11:05) “The light bulb moment that we had was that if you want developers to embrace security, you have to think about developers first. You have to not take an auditor practice and just think about how do you plug it into a development environment but the other way around — think about how do you build a developer tool that would tackle security?    (08:06)  “DevSecOps is really fundamentally around doing to security what has happened to ops and bringing security into that fold. And so transforming security from that sort of central organization that is off to the side to something that is embedded into the regular practices of developing and operating and securing software end-to-end and changing how security is done to go from auditing and local services…to platform builders. And focusing on empowering the application teams — the teams that are actually building and operating the software to ensure that it's secure.   (15:03) “I think more important than sort of saying ‘Developers are the only ones to build for developers’ is to ensure that whatever it is that you're building, you invest in empathy [and] you invest in talking to customers and not just to the buyers, but to the users of the product.”   (41:54) “Because we are a developer-first company, we are a depth-first company. So what we do is we build deep solutions and all of our products started as narrow, but deep products that were excellent for a specific stack or a specific use case in need. And then once we feel like we've nailed the experience, we expand to support additional stacks.”   (48:45) “Startups are hard and what they do is – they're a roller coaster. So the highs are very high and the lows are very low, and you can have a dozen of them in a given day. And they're not necessarily proportional to the success or the failure. You could not have a customer succeed, or even just say the wrong thing and you can be in a pretty low situation. But the highs are really high and you can equally be super thrilled and high on it. So I think you want to know that you are ready for something like that. For example, what other roller coasters are happening in your life at the moment? Is it the right time for you to do it or not?    

Everyone who cares about business and investing either wants to be a unicorn or discover one. But what does it take to be a unicorn or to have the ability to find one in a business environment replete with so many other creatures? Gigi Levy Weiss, General Partner at NFX, knows what it is like to be a unicorn, to identify unicorns, and to support their development. As a child, Gigi’s attraction to tech was first activated through a love of video games. Then, his adult career began as a pilot. After serving in the Air Force, he founded several startups, worked as the Division President of Amdocs, and then was CEO of 888 Holding, an online gaming company. Following his own business success, he turned his attention to acting as an angel investor. Eventually, he became a partner of the venture capital firm, NFX, to offer more hands-on guidance to founders. On this episode of Future of Tech, Gigi offers his thoughts on promising industries for future investment, including: fintech, synthetic biology, gaming, crypto, and marketplaces. Gigi contends that A.I. is now cutting across many industries rather than simply being a part of standalone businesses. He also shares the wisdom he has learned along his entrepreneurial journey that can be helpful to current and future founders. Enjoy this episode!    Main Takeaways: Giving Back to Other Entrepreneurs and to Country: A passion for service can be a very strong motivation. Gigi explains that he is driven by a desire to help entrepreneurs. He also refers to his passion for supporting Israel and its economy. He believes that “Israeli high tech is the new Zionism.” In both cases, Gigi is passionate about giving back. Local Leaders Versus Global Leaders: Gigi draws a distinction between companies that are focused on becoming a local leader, in a particular country, for instance, and those with the intention of becoming a worldwide leader. From an investment perspective, he reveals that NFX is focused on supporting those businesses that are striving for global leadership. Different Patterns for Success: When trying to discover unicorns, there can be a reasonable tendency to look for particular patterns. Gigi suggests that the path for success can be very different, however. He points to the Facebook model of moving very quickly even if something is not perfect as opposed to the Instagram model of waiting until everything is just right before releasing something. It’s inarguable that both companies had success yet their approaches were fundamentally different. Advice for Future Unicorns: The path to becoming a unicorn for a founder is not easy. There is an intensity to the work that one cannot avoid. Gigi describes how working a lot is necessary for success but that it can take a toll on personal commitments. He suggests that founders must surround themselves with supportive people.

To really solve a new problem, it’s essential to look at the reality of the current issue itself. Though it can be helpful to use past context, sometimes that can be a trap because the “solutions” are old ones and don’t really apply to the current situation. With technology developing so quickly, there are entire foundational systems today that did not exist a decade ago. Ami Luttwak, the Co-Founder and CTO of Wiz, a company disrupting cloud security by providing a single platform that reveals all exposures, expresses how it’s important to look at the cloud as an entirely new technology with different security needs. According to him, on-prem security mentalities combined with fragmented scanning systems are not able to address the complexity of the cloud. On this episode of Future of Tech, Ami shares his entrepreneurial journey and the lessons he’s learned along the way that are now earning great results at Wiz. He reveals that he had an interest in computer science when he was growing up, but that it was his time in the army that sculpted him into becoming a technology leader, eager to create new solutions. Enjoy this episode!  Main Takeaways: Looking at the Cloud With Fresh Eyes: The cloud is a different type of technology than what previously existed, and, therefore, the old methods of on-prem security do not necessarily apply. Ami makes the case that the cloud must be considered as an entirely new entity that security be developed around and applied to directly. Three Cloud Security Considerations: Since the cloud is unique, Ami contends that “people, process, and technology” are three areas that must adapt in order to promote security. According to him, those in security must learn new skills. In addition, he points out that the development process is now different because of the volume of developers. He also suggests that the technology must evolve to reveal all aspects of a complex cloud and potential vulnerabilities. FInding Exposures in Totality: One issue with cloud security is that typically it’s been a challenge to scan all databases for exposure. Ami suggests a single tool, without relying on agents, is essential to scan for all possible issues. Wiz’s platform, for instance, has the ability to scan VMs, containers, and servers. Creating With Scale and a Great Team: Ami explains that he and his fellow co-founders of Wiz learned two helpful lessons during their experience developing the company Adallom, and then working at Microsoft after Microsoft acquired it. The first was to build with scale in mind from the very beginning of the creative process. The second aspect was to build a product that can be used across multiple platforms. Ami expresses that these lessons were then applied to creating Wiz. Whether making a security platform, or any other sort of product, this mentality will serve developers well. Additionally, Ami offers that the foundational component in any startup is a great team.

Mickey Boodaei, the CEO and Co-Founder of Transmit Security discusses how the world can move on from passwords. Mickey also explains what he’s learned about attracting and retaining talent, and he offers some guidance to the next generation of entrepreneurs. One of the great identity security concerns for consumers and businesses is the vulnerability of passwords. The security solution to password breaches by bad actors so far has been to increase the amount and complexity of passwords. At this rate, the future of identity security could be a world where people are totally overwhelmed by the passwords in their lives. Perhaps the world is already at that place? Alternatively, Mickey Boodaei, the CEO and Co-Founder of Transmit Security, has a different vision — a future without passwords that is more secure but with better useability that benefits consumers and businesses. On this episode of Future of Tech, Mickey chats about how biometric data held securely on a personal device combined with the implementation of corresponding cryptographic keys can be used to verify identity rather than using passwords. He also passes on information he’s learned about finding and retaining top talent, and offers advice to the next generation of entrepreneurs. Enjoy this episode!    Main Takeaways: Getting Rid of Passwords: Until this point, the lack of security regarding passwords has mostly resulted in more complex passwords. Now, however, advances in biometric data have proved game changing. Mickey suggested that technology involving biometric data secured on individual devices and then connected to verifiable cryptographic keys has the ability to make passwords a thing of the past. Competing for Talent: Mickey explained how the competition for engineering talent has become more fierce all over the world. He revealed how this latest huge amount of funding Transmit Security received has helped tell the story of Transmit more broadly, and how this has been an asset in attracting talent. Advice for the Next Generation: Mickey suggested that those just starting out in their careers have lots of opportunity to either work for established companies or begin a more entrepreneurial journey. He made the point that having a passion for entrepreneurship is of utmost importance for those choosing to walk down that path. In reflecting on lessons he’s learned in his tech security career, which spans two decades, Mickey advised that honoring family time is highly valuable.

So you want to build a unicorn. Learn from tech leaders and investors that have accomplished this feat, this upcoming season on Future of Tech.