Podcast Title: Adaptivate Podcast

Episode Title: 5. Innovating In The Long Cycle

Welcome to the Adaptive Podcast, a podcast that inspires industry leaders to leverage technology and new ideas to learn how to adapt, grow their businesses, and create better organizations! In each episode, host Jeremy Miller, a marketer with GE Appliances and student of business and innovation, talks with technologists, engineers, and business leaders about how their experiences have shaped their mindsets. In this particular episode, he speaks with former colleague and current Vice President of Software Products at Aclara, Frank Brooks Jr.

The conversations begins with a bit of background, as Frank shares about his role at Aclara and his origins in the field. Currently, he owns the company’s ecosystem of software products and concentrates on providing users with the analytics that may be of interest to them. Prior to that, he has worked throughout the energy sector in roles with industries such as power plants, oil and gas.

Jeremy asks Frank to share his latest observations in the current market given the recent hack of government infrastructure. According to Jeremy, the first concern is in making sure information can flow from a meter to the utility’s billing system. Aclara protects their data through encryption and using a private network. The other concern is in protecting the personal data of their customers. He says a big reason why companies are prime for hacker attacks is when software systems aren’t regularly updated.

They discuss new innovations in the energy space in the last 10 years. Frank shares a common thread he has noticed among people in leadership positions in regards to choosing specific areas which will generate the most impact. It’s rather helpful to think of things in bit-size chunks rather approach the entire issue at hand all at once. This ensures that the project at hand is organic, self sustaining and will persist if it is right.

Jeremy then brings up the topic of the future of the industry and whether any major milestones have been met. The problem, Frank says, is that the process tends to become interrupted after data is collected. To overcome this hurdle, real-time solutions must be at hand. Discussing Artificial Intelligence, they bring uo the fact that a company like Netflix couldn’t exist without it, which Frank says will become even more common moving forward. Until the utility industry has no choice but to adapt, the process will be slow. Additionally, companies have to weigh the risk and reward of adopting new software. 

As the conversation comes to a close, Frank recommends some resources for someone who is interested in learning more about the field. Finally, he offers his advice for companies looking for their next product to best serve their customers. First, he says, consider the ‘why’s’, then move to figuring out what the actual problem is and how to get to the bottom of it.

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Learn more about Jeremy Miller and Frank Brooks Jr. 

Welcome to the Adaptive Podcast, a podcast that inspires industry leaders to leverage technology and new ideas to learn how to adapt, grow their businesses, and create better organizations! Each episode, host Jeremy Miller, a marketer with GE Appliances and student of business and innovation, talks with technologists, engineers, and business leaders about how their experiences have shaped their mindsets. In this particular episode, he speaks with former colleague and current Managing Partner at Alpha Intelligence Capital Antoine Blondeau about the future of teamwork.

The conversation begins with a bit of background, as Antoine shares his own origins as a young person interested in Artificial Intelligence. In the late 90s, he worked with a team to construct the first word prediction engine as SMS was on the rise. He then became CEO of the company which eventually developed Siri and worked for Sentient Technologies. Now, he runs a fund and helps founders and entrepreneurs succeed. His work allows him to go deep in understanding how projects and businesses are built around AI.

Next, Antoine explains the thesis of Alpha Intelligence Capital, which he deems an industrial agnostic company. He then shares his predictions regarding the future of AI, an industry in which he believes we have only begun to see the tip of the iceberg in terms of its possibilities and innovation. The topic of collaborative workplaces arises and can be defined as the marrying of people and machines, so they may work effectively alongside one another. Antoine says this notion starts in the manufacturing line and extends to the enterprise, citing telehealth as one prevalent example.

Jeremy then asks Antoine when he believes we will begin to see the real impact of collaboration in white collar workplaces. Eventually, he believes AI enterprises will force humans to put more of an emphasis on teamwork when brainstorming breakthrough ideas. Companies who embark on this early on will have an advantage and be on the forefront. This industrialization will help achieve the desired productivity that humans alone likely can’t keep up with.

The speed of innovation will only drive the speed for integration and opennesses towards embracing new technologies. He refers to the advances in appliances and home devices, but the issues faced with integrating these technologies into actual homes. The efforts aren’t only for productivity, but also the comfort, fun and entertainment these innovations provide.

Finally, they discuss whether the efforts of these technological advances are sincere. Since the speed of innovation these days are so high, something that was cutting-edge three years ago may now fall flat. The industry is so fast moving that technology has largely become a commodity. In closing, Antoine plugs the book The Singularity Is Nearer and Ossia Radio for further insights into the future of Artificial Intelligence.

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Learn more about Jeremy Miller and Antoine Blondeau.

Podcast Title: Adaptivate Podcast

Episode Title: 3. The Future of Work 

Welcome to the Adaptive Podcast, a podcast that inspires industry leaders to leverage technology and new ideas to learn how to adapt, grow their businesses, and create better organizations! Each episode, host Jeremy Miller, a marketer with GE Appliances and student of business and innovation, talks with technologists, engineers, and business leaders about how their experiences have shaped their mindsets. In this particular episode, he speaks with former colleague and current Google Solutions Manager David White about the future of work.

The conversation begins with a bit of background, as David shares his own “origin story” as a professional in the tech field. A tech support role, work for several UN organizations and startups, and more finally led him to Google in 2019. Now, as a Google employee in a sales role, he works on shifting focus from particular offerings to finding the best solutions to unique customer problems. Much of his recent attention has been centered on Microsoft and virtual desktop as a portion of infrastructure modernization.

Turning to the future of work, David first explains how he sees things changing now. Recent changes, in large part produced by the COVID-19 pandemic, have been a matter of acceleration rather than complete novelty. Specifically focusing on the tech side of things, David works through an example question that he and his colleagues have had to consider - that of how to settle the issue of laptop security so that employees can work from anywhere. 

Moving forward, he explains other details of the changing workplace and their implications. Some companies may never bring employees back to an office, and even those that do may never situate them in permanent work stations again. This shift to more remote work has allowed companies to hire the best and the brightest from anywhere, and tends to bring higher employee satisfaction rates. However, it also removes the inherently valuable space for “water cooler” conversations - conversations companies are trying to create space for in new ways. 

Not every industry has been impacted by recent workforce changes in the same ways, of course. Returning to the example of extending cloud reliance and securities such that virtual desktop programs aren’t needed, David details how some companies’ rates of change will be affected by their reliance on legacy apps and need for specialized resources. The world of computing is going, in many ways, the same way as the world of phones has gone, but this process is not without its hiccups as different technologies evolve at different rates.  

As the conversation moves to a close, David offers thoughts on the social significance of workplace (and tech more broadly) changes, explains how he anticipates more tech integration on the horizon, offers advice to listeners in the business of building living spaces to suit the changing needs of the day, and plugs his future book and insight from kids’ little league.

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Learn more about Jeremy Miller and David White