The Tech Blog Writer Podcast - Inspired Tech Startup Stories & Interviews With Tech Leaders, Entrepreneurs And Innovators

Here’s the thing. Generative AI for visuals has shifted from a party trick to everyday craftwork, and few people sit closer to that shift than Ofir Bibi, VP of Research at Lightricks.  In this conversation, I wanted to understand how a company famous for Facetune, Photoleap, and Videoleap is building for a future where creators expect speed, control, and choice without a headache. What I found was a story about building core technology that serves real creative workflows, not the other way around. Ofir traces Lightricks’ journey from clever on-device tricks that made small screens feel powerful to today’s foundation models running in the cloud. The constant thread is usability. Making complex editing feel simple requires smart decisions in the background, and that mindset has shaped everything from their early mobile apps to LTX Studio, the company’s multi-model creative platform. Across the last three years, generative features moved from novelty to necessity, and that reality forced a bigger question: when

Artificial intelligence is no longer confined to experiments in labs or one-off pilot projects. For many enterprises, it is becoming the backbone of how they operate, innovate, and compete. But as companies race to deploy AI, the biggest challenge is not whether the technology works, but whether the foundations exist to scale it safely and effectively. In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I’m joined by Christian Buckner, Senior Vice President of Data and AI Platform at Altair, a company known for combining rocket science with data science. Christian unpacks the concept of an AI Fabric, a framework that harmonizes enterprise data and embeds AI directly into a universal model. Rather than scattered tools and isolated projects, the AI Fabric acts as a living system of intelligence, helping organizations move faster, make better decisions, and unlock new kinds of automation. We talk about how global enterprises from automotive suppliers to petrochemical giants are already using Altair’s technology to improve safe

What if meetings stopped draining your time and instead became engines for action? That’s the question driving Christoph Fleischmann, CEO of Arthur AI, and the conversation in today’s episode of Tech Talks Daily. Christoph has spent his career at the intersection of human potential and technology, and now he’s leading a company that wants to change how enterprises actually get work done. Arthur AI isn’t another tool to add to the stack. It’s a digital co-worker—an intelligent presence that joins meetings, captures knowledge, and keeps teams aligned across time zones and formats. Whether in XR spaces, on the web, or through conversational interfaces, Arthur AI blends real-time and asynchronous collaboration. The aim is to replace endless, inefficient meetings with something more dynamic: an environment where humans and AI collaborate side by side to deliver outcomes. This conversation goes beyond theory. Christoph shares how Fortune 500 companies are already using Arthur AI to align global strategies, manage c

Here’s the thing. Most enterprise AI talk today starts with chatbots and ends with glossy demos. Meanwhile, the data that actually runs a business lives in rows, columns, and time stamps. That gap is where my conversation with Vanja Josifovski, CEO of Kumo AI really comes alive. Vanja has spent two and a half decades helping companies turn data into decisions, from research roles at Yahoo and Google to steering product and engineering at Pinterest through its IPO and later leading Airbnb Homes. He’s now building Kumo AI to answer an old question with a new approach: how do you get accurate, production-grade predictions from relational data without spending months crafting a bespoke model for each use case? Vanja explains why structured business data has been underserved for years. Images and text behave nicely compared to the messy reality of multiple tables, mixed data types, and event histories. Traditional teams anticipate a prediction need, then kick off a long feature engineering and modeling process. Ku

When VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 launched in June, it marked more than just another release. It was the clearest signal yet that Broadcom is betting big on the modern private cloud. In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sat down with Prashanth Shenoy, who leads marketing and learning for the VCF division at Broadcom, to discuss what the launch means for enterprises and how those themes are playing out live at VMware Explore in Las Vegas. Prashanth shares how VCF 9.0 was designed to help enterprises operate private clouds with the same simplicity and scale as public hyperscalers, while keeping sovereignty, security, and cost predictability front and center. He explains why this release is more than an infrastructure update. It’s a shift toward a workload-agnostic, developer-centric platform where virtual machines, containers, and AI workloads can run side by side with a consistent operational experience. We also unpack Broadcom’s headline announcements at the show. From making VCF an AI-native platform to emb

At VMware Explore in Las Vegas, the buzz wasn’t just about generative AI, but about where and how it should run. My guest is Tasha Drew, Director of Engineering for the AI team in the VMware Cloud Foundation division at Broadcom, who has been at the center of this conversation. Fresh off the main stage, where she helped debut VMware’s new Private AI Services and Intelligent Assist for VMware Cloud Foundation, Tasha joins me to unpack what these announcements mean for enterprises grappling with privacy, cost, and integration challenges. Tasha explains why private AI is resonating so strongly in 2025, outlining the three pillars that define it: protecting sensitive intellectual property, managing regulated or high-value data, and ensuring role-based control of fine-tuned models. She shares how organizations often start their AI journey in the public cloud, but as experimentation turns to production, cost pressures, data compliance, and proximity to data drive them toward private AI. We also dive into VMware’s o

Factories don’t usually make headlines at tech conferences, but what Audi is doing inside its production labs is anything but ordinary. At VMware Explore in Las Vegas, I sat down with Dr. Henning Löser, Head of the Audi Production Lab, to talk about how the automaker is reinventing its factory floor with a software-first mindset. Henning leads a small team he jokingly calls “the nerds of production,” but their work is changing how cars are built. Instead of replacing entire lines for every new piece of technology, Audi has found a way to bring the speed and flexibility of IT into the world of industrial automation. The result is Edge Cloud 4 Production, a system that takes virtualization technology normally reserved for data centers and applies it directly to manufacturing. In our conversation, Henning explained why virtual PLCs may be one of the biggest breakthroughs yet. They look invisible to workers on the line but give maintenance teams new transparency and resilience. We explored how replacing thousands

In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I speak with Jane Ostler from Kantar, the world’s leading marketing data and analytics company, whose clients include Google, Diageo, AB InBev, Unilever, and Kraft Heinz. Jane brings clarity to a debate often clouded by headlines, explaining why AI should be seen as a creative sparring partner, not a rival. She outlines how Kantar is helping brands balance efficiency with inspiration, and why the best marketing in the years ahead will come from humans and machines working together. We explore Kantar’s research into how marketers really feel about AI adoption, uncovering why so many projects stall in pilot phase, and what steps can help teams move from experimentation to execution. Jane also discusses the importance of data quality as the foundation of effective AI, drawing comparisons to the early days of GDPR when oversight and governance first became front of mind. From Coca-Cola’s AI-assisted Christmas ads to predictive analytics that help brands allocate budgets with g

The enterprise network is under pressure like never before. Hybrid environments, cloud migrations, edge deployments, and the sudden surge in AI workloads have made it increasingly difficult to keep application connectivity secure and reliable. The old model of device-by-device, rule-based network management can’t keep up with today’s hyperconnected, API-driven world. In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sit down with Kyle Wickert, Field Chief Technology Officer at AlgoSec, to discuss the future of network management in the age of platformization. With more than a decade at AlgoSec and years of hands-on experience working with some of the world’s largest enterprises, Kyle brings an unfiltered view of the challenges and opportunities that IT leaders are facing right now. We talk about why enterprises are rapidly shifting to platform-based models to simplify network security, but also why that strategy can start to break down when dealing with multi-vendor environments. Kyle explains the fragmentation across c

AI is rapidly becoming part of the healthcare system, powering everything from diagnostic tools and medical devices to patient monitoring and hospital operations. But while the potential is extraordinary, the risks are equally stark. Many hospitals are adopting AI without the safeguards needed to protect patient safety, leaving critical systems exposed to threats that most in the sector have never faced before. In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I speak with Ty Greenhalgh, Healthcare Industry Principal at Claroty, about why healthcare’s AI rush could come at a dangerous cost if security does not keep pace. Ty explains how novel threats like adversarial prompts, model poisoning, and decision manipulation could compromise clinical systems in ways that are very different from traditional cyberattacks. These are not just theoretical scenarios. AI-driven misinformation or manipulated diagnostics could directly impact patient care. We explore why the first step for hospitals is building a clear AI asset inventory

In November, Alex Adamopoulos, CEO of Emergn, joined me on Tech Talks Daily to talk about transformation fatigue and why so many well-intentioned change programs leave people drained rather than inspired. This time, he’s back with a sharper question: if traditional transformation is broken, what actually works? His answer is refreshingly direct. Product thinking is strategic thinking, and it belongs everywhere in the enterprise, not just in product teams. In our conversation, Alex explains why HR, finance, and even legal teams now need product strategy skills as much as engineers or designers. He introduces Praxis, Emergn’s newly launched platform that rebrands their long-standing VFQ approach and now embeds product thinking across entire organizations. With its AI-powered coach Stella, Praxis is designed to support continuous learning while helping teams make better day-to-day decisions. We also discuss why outcomes, not deliverables, have become the accurate measure of digital success. Alex likens it to lea

In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, Neil sits down with Sean Li, co-founder and CEO of Magic Labs, to explore the intersection of crypto wallets, artificial intelligence, and the future of autonomous finance. Sean shares how Magic Labs has already onboarded over 50 million crypto wallets by pioneering simple login methods using email and SMS. Now, with Magic Newton, Sean is pushing into new territory where AI agents could securely manage digital assets on our behalf. From AI "concierges" executing investment strategies to cryptographic policy engines enforcing trust and control, the vision is clear: a financial internet where humans set the intent and machines handle the execution. We discuss the challenges of today’s fragmented crypto experience, how smart wallets and AI could abstract away complexity, and why Sean believes everyone with an email address will eventually have multiple agents acting on their behalf. You'll also hear why he compares this shift to building a digital institution or constitution

In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I’m joined for the third time by Justin Banon, the founder of Boson Protocol. A lot has changed since his last appearance. What started as a bold idea to decentralize e-commerce has now evolved into an ambitious, AI-first infrastructure aiming to redefine how we buy, sell, and interact with value itself. Justin walks us through the evolution of Boson. It began as a system for peer-to-peer digital and physical commerce, aiming to remove intermediaries like Amazon from the process. The next step was Fermion, a protocol designed specifically for high-value assets such as luxury goods, fine art, and real estate. Now, Boson is launching the Metasystem, a full-scale framework designed for what Justin calls “agentic commerce,” where AI agents transact on behalf of users. We talk about what that future looks like. Imagine an AI that not only shops for you but negotiates, verifies, and settles transactions securely. Justin predicts that in just a few years, these agents will outnum

What do you do when your technical brilliance doesn’t translate into clear, compelling communication? That’s where Salvatore Manzi comes in. With a background in business communication and a career spent coaching leaders across tech, finance, and global policy, Salvatore helps bold thinkers bring clarity and connection to even the most complex ideas. In this episode, we talk about the communication challenges that many technical leaders face—especially when speaking to non-technical stakeholders. Whether you’re leading a product team, presenting in a high-stakes board meeting, or trying to assert your voice in a fast-paced discussion, Salvatore offers practical strategies that go far beyond public speaking tips. His insights are grounded in two decades of real-world experience, from coaching TEDx speakers and United Nations delegates to guiding SVPs through business model pivots and helping raise hundreds of millions in funding. We explore how data-driven leaders can use storytelling without compromising accu

The global pet industry has long been riddled with problems. From low-welfare breeding practices to online scams, the darker side of pet rehoming often goes unchecked. But what if there was a way to combine animal protection with a sustainable, profitable business model? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I speak with Axel Lagercrantz, co-founder and CEO of Pet Media Group, the company behind platforms like Pets4Homes in the UK and Lancaster Puppies in the US. Axel shares the story of how two friends with backgrounds in finance and tech came together to rethink what ethical pet ownership and commerce should look like. Since 2018, PMG has been working to remove anonymity and reduce fraud across pet marketplaces by embedding ethical standards directly into their platform’s infrastructure. We explore how PMG uses custom-built AI to scan tens of thousands of images every day for signs of mistreatment, as well as to flag suspicious documentation and chat messages. Axel explains why ID verification, device finger

As AI tools become increasingly embedded in the workplace, the future of work hangs in a delicate balance between automation and opportunity. In this episode, J.D. Seraphine, founder and CEO of Raiinmaker, joins Neil to challenge the dominant narrative of AI-driven job loss. Instead, he offers a bold vision—one where technology enhances human creativity, not replaces it. J.D. shares how Raiinmaker is merging Web3 and AI to build platforms that reward human contribution, decentralize value, and give people a voice in shaping the future of artificial intelligence. We explore what it means to create ethical, human-led AI systems, how businesses can support young workers through upskilling and mentorship, and why the biggest challenge may not be employee readiness—but leadership inertia. From entry-level displacement to data ethics, from complementary currencies to AI-generated video training, this conversation goes far beyond the hype. J.D. also speaks candidly about the real risks ahead—alongside the unpreceden

David Hawig never set out to work in blockchain. He began his career in health tech, drawn to the potential of scaling impactful solutions. But it was the promise of a more transparent and user-controlled internet that ultimately led him to the Web3 Foundation, where he now serves as Director of Ecosystem Development and Investor Relations. In our conversation on the Tech Talks Daily Podcast, David shares why Web3 is not just a trend or buzzword, but a complete rethink of how digital systems should function. He describes a world where users own their data, can verify transactions without relying on central authorities, and can move between services without friction. To David, the Web3 movement is not about hype or speculation. It's about enabling a future where the internet is built on truth, not trust. At the heart of the Web3 Foundation’s work is Polkadot, a protocol designed to solve the scalability and interoperability challenges that plague many early blockchain networks. David explains that Polkadot’s s

When most people think of Wikipedia, they picture an endless scroll of human-readable pages. But there’s another side to this ecosystem, one designed not just for people but also for machines. It’s called Wikidata, and if you haven’t heard of it, that’s exactly why this conversation matters. In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I’m joined by Lydia Pintscher, Wikidata Portfolio Manager at Wikimedia Deutschland, for a deep look into how structured, open data is quietly powering civic tech, cultural preservation, and knowledge equity across the globe. Wikidata is the backbone that helps turn static knowledge into something living, adaptable, and scalable. With over 117 million items, 1.65 billion semantic statements, and more than 2.34 billion edits, it's become one of the largest collaborative datasets in the world. But it’s not just the size that makes it impressive. It’s what people are doing with it. Lydia shares how volunteers and developers are building tools for everything from investigative journalism to

What does it take to make AI actually work at enterprise scale? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I’m joined by Ryan Steelberg, CEO of Veritone, to unpack the very real challenges and opportunities that come with bringing artificial intelligence into complex industries like media, law enforcement, and government. Ryan has been building AI solutions long before it became headline news. He co-founded Veritone in 2014 with a mission to solve the unstructured data problem. Think audio, video, and other media that doesn't fit neatly into rows and columns. Now, Veritone isn’t just talking about AI. It’s powering more than 3,000 clients across sectors with real applications that drive measurable ROI. We get into what it means to work with unstructured data at scale, and how Veritone processed over 58 million hours of media in 2024 alone. Ryan explains why traditional enterprises struggle to operationalize AI and how Veritone has evolved from a platform company into a creator of end-user applications designed for

Is the future of finance programmable? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I’m joined by Ryan Galvankar, founder of Plaza Finance, to explore how programmable derivatives and on-chain bonds are reshaping the way we think about risk, leverage, and asset management in crypto. Plaza Finance isn’t just another DeFi protocol. Since launching its core system on Base in April 2025, the team has introduced two standout tokens: bondETH and levETH. These programmable derivative tokens split Ethereum into customizable risk profiles, allowing both institutional and retail investors to choose their exposure with precision. Under Ryan’s leadership, Plaza has already attracted over 600,000 testnet users, $2 million in early deposits, and $2.5 million in pre-seed funding. Ryan explains why this matters. Today’s DeFi tools tend to sit at either extreme—ultra-safe or wildly speculative. Plaza aims to bridge that gap with products that reflect the diversity of traditional finance, yet remain liquid and composable across Ethere