Momenta I Digital Thread

Mark Jeffrey is Co Founder and CEO of Guardian Circle, a blockchain-based startup focused on enabling people anywhere in the world to summon critical help from their smartphone. He’s an accomplished entrepreneur and CEO as well as a published author. Our conversation explores his path through technology, becoming one of the first podcasters to serialize fiction, the characteristics that make blockchain special and some of the key applications. We discuss the origins and goals of Guardian Circle, the ongoing regulatory challenges in the cryptoasset market, key distinctions between the NEO, EOS and Ethereum blockchains, and the obstacles to mainstream adoption of blockchain based applications. He also shares commentary on notables startups including Spotcoin, EOS Lynx and Neon Wallet.

Sean Parham is Group VP and Head of Product Management for the ABB Ability Platform. In our conversation, he covered his origins helping the telecom industry migrate the transition to broadband, and the lessons learned that apply today. The discussion touched on the concept of “Maslows Hierarchy of Value”, the parallels of systems management applied to the challenges of managing distributed assets and the broad implications of how technology impacts multiple industries. The conversation also addresses the disruption coming from two simultaneous revolutions in IT and energy and how this changes the way that energy is generated and delivered, through microgrids, with green energy and storage. Robotics is not to be feared as it solves the undersupply of talent and people. Current areas of technology focus for startups include batteries and the consumer drone market.

Mike Dolbec is Executive Managing Director of GE Ventures, and in this episode of the podcast we cover his background, beginning with his work at the legendary Xerox PARC, the origins of his venture investing career and observations on recurring patterns in the technology industry. With a perspective on AI that dates back to the 1980s, he provides perspectives on the evolution of in the market, and the different applications of AI technologies. He also provides an overview of the distinctions between traditional IT and Industrial IoT technologies, providing insights around the differences that entrepreneurs and investors need to take into account when selling tech to industrial customers. Lastly, he discusses some of the areas of investment including edge computing, with companies including Iotium, Foghorn and Balena (formerly Resin.io), as well as industrial inspection startups such as Avitas and oil and gas-focused startups like Maana.

George Matthew is the CEO and Chairman of Kespry, a provider of Aerial Intelligence solutions for heavy industry – construction, mining, paper and pulp, and insurance. Kespry’s custom built drones capture visual information from the air, helping its clients create digital twins to improve performance, visibility and reduce risk. Our conversation focused more on the company than we do typically, as Kespry is a proxy for the use of drones in industrial IoT. The discussion covered some of the challenges, opportunities and successes from the collection of high resolution visual imagery and application of AI-enhanced analytics as well as the broad opportunities ahead. Noteworthy startups highlighted include Uptake Software, C3IOT, and Cape Analytics.

Rami Avidan is a serial entrepreneur and former CEO of Wyless Group and Tele2 IoT and was creating connected solutions for customers even before the terms M2M and IoT came into broad usage. Our conversation touched on the growing interest in driving social impact from business today, the evolution of what has come to be known as IoT and key dynamics involved in advancing success. He highlights key distinctions in the evolution of carriers and connectivity resellers, the importance of building an ecosystem and best practices to cultivate success, the importance of leadership in advancing digital transformation, and the multiple dimensions of business value being created across different industries.

Richard Soley is CEO of the Object Management Group, Executive Chairman of the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) and founder of the IoT Solutions World Congress. In this special edition of the Edge Podcast recorded on site in Barcelona, he shares some of the notable developments coming out of the conference. The IoT Solutions World Congress is differentiated from other events through the focus on end users and case studies, showcasing test bed work shepherded by the IIC. In our conversation, Richard Soley shares stories and examples of notable work underway, the potential for productivity gains across industries, and the view that manufacturing represents the industry with the most to gain from connecting assets and advanced analytics. Additionally he discusses the launch of the IIC’s new Resource Hub. Finally he shares a fascinating story about standards that connected the design of Space Shuttle booster with the Ancient Romans.

Syed “Z” Hosain is CTO and Founder of Aeris Communications. Our conversation covered the origins of Aeris, which has been delivering connectivity solutions in the market since before M2M and IoT were common terms. “Z” shared his perspective on the challenges in the early days of Connected Industry, along with some of the advances and innovations including layering on analytics that helped Aeris evolve with its customers. He highlighted a number of significant advances in health care, where there are notable use cases both in critical care and for every day monitoring for patients with chronic conditions like diabetes. Looking forward, he sees enormous opportunities for Connected Industry, though security remains a key concern for everyone. “Z” is also a huge fan of Science Fiction, with a collection of over 6,000 books, and shares a couple of his favorite authors.

Our conversation with Param Singh covered his recent blog posts “Is IoT a Viable Market” and “The Long Tail of IoT”. The evolution of IoT has seen a lot of focus on bespoke solutions, and our conversation explores the distinctions between the types of use cases that are replicable, and those that fall along the “Long Tail”. The importance of business value is a recurring theme in our conversation, as companies that succeed tend to follow the most practical use cases for technologies. One interesting startup worthy of note is Brighton.ai, which is developing speech recognition technologies that are vertically oriented.

Our discussion with Ganesh Bell, President of Uptake focused on how the application of Machine Learning and AI is driving a new generation of solutions that go beyond enterprise software and business process automation. With the data created by machines and other contextual data, it’s possible to tackle far more complex, and industry specific challenges with Machine Learning and AI. He shared his view that Industrial IoT adoption is both slow and fast, while data presents an ongoing challenge to manage. Successes come from building a belief system, creating new measures for the business, embracing the diversity of people, experience and diversity of thought.

Kelly Wanser is a technologist and entrepreneur, Executive Director of SilverLining, a not for profit climate research organization. Previously she was Principle Director of the The Marine Cloud Brightening Project, a program focused on research in reflecting sunlight to reduce heat in climate. She also sits on the Board of Directors for BioCarbon Engineering. Our conversation focused on the application of technology to address the challenges of climate change, and how the initiatives she works with are looking to expand on research in the public sector. Kelly is an articulate advocate of the imperative to marshal the resources of Silicon Valley’s tech innovators to address the pressing global issues of our era.