

The QTS Experience
Dave McCall
The most valuable commodity on earth today is data. How we make it, use it, move it & protect it. Join David McCall as he invites guests from all industries to talk about how they use data to drive their business & innovation in their market.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 25, 2023 • 1h 39min
Episode 150; Brian Magerko Open AI, ChatGPT, DALL-E, Deep Learning
We live in amazing times. There are Open AI tools available that enable those of us that are creative with a little “c” to explore and create without having to have the physical skills necessary to paint or draw. To write a screenplay, or compose and play music. There are still other tools can be used in the medical and mental health fields as a counselor or a radiologist. The potential of the applications and opportunities are mind-boggling to think of. I can’t help but ask myself, what’s the impact of these on the marketplace? On Trademark or ownership? On Society? I don’t make my living as an artist or a musician – so I don’t feel threatened by them. Should we trust them to diagnose medical conditions or perform counseling? What’s the consequence of “removing” more human interaction?
This week Dr Brian Magerko a Professor of Digital Media in the School of Literature, Media, and Culture and a Human-Centered Computing faculty member in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech. He is also the Graduate Director of the Digital Media grad program at Tech.
He earned a B.S. in Cognitive Science from Carnegie Mellon University and a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan.,
Brian has been in some form of this discussion for going on 30 years – and has a great perspective and insight to share.

Jan 24, 2023 • 1h 33min
Episode 149; Michael Lotfy
Michael is the Senior Vice President for Power Products over North America & Mexico & Central America at Schneider Electric.In this role, he has full responsibility for all aspects of Schneider Electric’s Offer, and Solution Development, including Strategy, R&D, Market Development, and Go-To-Market for the entire ANSI,NEMA, LV, and MV portfolio including Services.Michael is an advocate of advancing sustainability via building automation, Energy Management Smart Homes, and IoT including the implementation of AI and ML technologies to make the world a better place.Prior to joining Schneider Electric, Michael spent 15 years in various global and local leadership roles across various lines of business. His passions include Sustainability, Technology, and Diversity & Inclusion.

Jan 17, 2023 • 1h 18min
Episode 148; Brent Bensten
What’s a smart house? For the longest time I didn’t care what that meant – which is incredible when you consider I work in a data center where the ideas of the whole world live! When I learned that my home could not only automate brewing the coffee and getting the shower and lights ready – but could potentially predict what I needed and when I needed it …. My attention was piqued. So I invited my colleague Brent Bensten to come and talk to us about the world of smart devices.

Dec 28, 2022 • 1h 44min
James Cage; Episode 147
There are deep learning tools that are available to us today that have the power of magic. I can create a photorealistic image of an orangutan cowboy riding a glass lizard, just by using the power of language. I can speak something into existence, and most times you can't tell that a machine created it. That's pretty cool. Now, I don't know how valuable that picture would be, but the potential of the technology is incredible. That doesn't just happen in the world of fantasy and images, but in the world of poetry, creative writing, and who knows where else it will go. And that begs the question where is the line between machine and human reality and imagination? If we thought robots were going to disrupt the marketplace and perhaps take jobs, what's the consequence of the Internet getting involved? Well, I invited my friend James Cage to join us today. James studied data science and engineering from Georgia Tech University and has spent a career learning how to build and automate processes and tools. He regularly engages with these ideas in his new creative journey and has a fascinating story to tell and what it could mean to help human beings flourish. Join us for the conversation on this week's episode of the QTS Experience Podcast.
About Our Guest
James Cage is a data science and artificial intelligence hobbyist who might be described as "a handsome man in his 50s, f2.8, realistic, friendly, intelligent". At least, that was the prompt used by DALL-E, the image generation AI system, to create his headshot. In his former life, he was an industrial control and marketing specialist.
The attached headshot is photorealistic and completely accurate.
Image Attribution: "James Cage and DALL-E"

Dec 21, 2022 • 60min
IEIC Nap Event; Episode 146
This week I'm joined by several guests Scott Brown, Hunter Newby, Nigel Bayliff, and Anthony Romanello. Each of these men have had a role to play in the long history of building the Internet. The tools that we use and the future economic development of data centers and subsea cable landing stations. These are quick but important conversations. So join us for the discussion on this week's episode of The QTS Experience Podcast.

Dec 14, 2022 • 1h 27min
Rob Enderle; Episode 145
Not too long ago, the most popular game on the planet was World of Warcraft. I confess I played it for more years than I care to admit, and my human rogue rags was a joy to play. What never occurred to me was the technology and innovation that made these games possible would someday lead to the hardware that would support blockchain, cryptocurrency, quantum computing and other incredibly powerful tools. And this week, I'm hosting Rob Enderle, a technology futurist, a writer, and to be honest, pretty spectacular character. My favorite kind. Rob has been reporting on technology before. Most of us knew to care about it. Our conversation this week is going to cover that hardware that I mentioned earlier, but also we're going to dove into the 3D Web. What is it? Why should we care? Along with the future of electric cars, which may surprise you, our grid and other important topics. Join us for the conversation on this week's episode of The QTS Experience Podcast.
About Our Guest:
Rob Enderle
Principal Analyst, Enderle Group, 389 Photinia Lane, San Jose, CA 95127 (Phone: 408-272-8560; E-mail: renderle@enderlegroup.com)
Rob is President and Principal Analyst of the Enderle Group, a forward looking emerging technology advisory firm. With over 25 years experience emerging technologies he has provided regional and global companies with guidance in how to better target customer needs; create new business opportunities; anticipate technology changes; select vendors and products; and present their products in the best possible light. Currently Rob focuses on the emerging technology trends in personal technology.
In addition Rob writes for TechNewsWorld, Computer World, Datamation, TGdaily, and Technology Pundits.Before founding the Enderle Group Rob was the Senior Research Fellow for Forrester Research and the Giga Information Group. While there he worked for and with companies like Microsoft, HP, IBM, Dell, Toshiba, Gateway, Sony, USAA, Texas Instruments, AMD, Intel, Credit Suisse First Boston, GM, Ford, and Siemens.Before Giga, Rob was with Dataquest covering client/server software where he became one of the most widely publicized technology analysts in the world. Before Dataquest Rob worked for IBM as was in IBM’s executive resource program. As part of that program he managed projects and people in Finance, Internal Audit, Competitive Analysis, Marketing, Security, and Planning.
Rob holds an AA in Merchandising, a BS in Business, and an MBA.
Rob sits on the advisory councils for Lenovo, Toshiba, AMD, HP, Dell, Philips, the Trusted Computing Group, and the Lifeboat Foundation.
Rob’s hobbies include Sporting Clays, PC Modding, Science Fiction, Home Automation, and Computer Gaming.

Dec 7, 2022 • 2h 8min
Adam Knobloch; Episode 144
You and I generate or manipulate data every ten minutes – that’s at least 96 times a day. And the movie, spreadsheet, TikTok, Tele-med, or whatever we interact with – lives in someone’s data center. That makes datacenters the most important part of your world that you never knew existed. Which is why I invited my good friend Adam Knobloch to come help us understand more of this hidden world. Join us for a great conversation – on the next QTS Experience.

Nov 30, 2022 • 1h 19min
Dr. Anna Erickson; Episode 143
One of the most important conversations we can be having today is energy. What type should we use? Its impact on the environment, the economy, its impact on politics, on our independence, and nuclear energy sits right in the middle of that discussion. Fair or unfair, it generates the most controversy.
But should it? Silicon Valley is betting on the future of nuclear energy. Our entire naval fleet runs on nuclear energy. NASA has even sent probes to space with nuclear energy. So with that in mind, I invited Dr. Anna Erickson to come and help us to understand what the conversation is about. Anna is the Associate Chair for Research and a Woodruff Professor at Georgia Tech.
She received both her M.S. and Ph.D. from M.I.T. and has spent her entire adult life in the heart of this discussion. It's an important and compelling conversation. So join me as I host Dr. Anna Erickson, as we discuss the potential and the risks of one of the most controversial discussions you can have today, nuclear energy.
About Our Guest
Anna Erickson is a Woodruff Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and group leader focused on creating and navigating projects in advanced nuclear reactor design, nuclear security, data analysis and machine learning. She is also the Director of the Consortium for Enabling Technologies and Innovation and a member of the Board of Directors for the American Nuclear Society. She is a strategy leader for problem formulation and execution and is an effective communicator at international conferences and invited seminars.

Nov 23, 2022 • 51min
Phillip Koblence & Nabeel Mahmood; Episode 142
My conversation this week is with the original Digital nomads Nabeel Mahmood and Phil Koblence, the founders of The Nomad Futurist Foundation and Podcast. In this quick conversation we discuss how the coding within the U.S. Emergency alert system may have tremendous flaws, the emerging AI within Fintech, and the good work The Nomad Futurist Foundation is attempting to accomplish. Please, enjoy the conversation – on this week's episode of The QTS Experience Podcast.
About Our Guests
Phillip Koblence
Phillip Koblence co-founded NYI (www.nyi.net) in 1996. Since then, he has successfully navigated through an ever-shifting infrastructure landscape and grown the company from a single data center in Lower Manhattan to a robust network with executional capabilities in key national and international markets. His leadership over a span of more than twenty years has positioned NYI as a leader in hybrid infrastructure solutions. Part of NYI’s success is due to the strong emphasis placed on building lasting relationships with clients. Through this focus on customer experience, and an ability to cut through complexity and hype, NYI has set the bar in the industry for high-touch infrastructure solutions. Phillip is a frequent speaker at industry events and has been profiled by Data Center Knowledge, TheWHIR, MSPMentor, and NJ BIZ. He has also contributed to CRN and NJ Business Magazine. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, with an engineering degree.
Nabeel Mahmood
Nabeel Mahmood is a Technologist, Futurist, and a Keynote Speaker. His career is driven by one question – what’s next? He is passionate about the power of technology to deliver competitive and transformational change and the need to develop digital leadership that will create the enterprise of the future. He believes strongly in simplification, with a purpose.
Nabeel brings 20 plus years of experience leading large-scale global technology organizations through seasons of explosive growth via M&A, global expansion, implementing new business models, and technology innovation. His expertise include leading organizations through transformation changes, connecting IT to the needs of the business, technology innovation, Big Data, Cloud, ERP, IoT, AI, ML, RPA, Mobility, and Data Centers. He brings a unique blend of experiences spanning the entire breadth of technology from Grid to Chip. At heart he’s a true technologist and futurist, he is a proven strategist, winsome communicator, and leader with extraordinary vision and operational expertise within large, complex organizations.
Nabeel is a strategic CXO identifying opportunities that are being underpinned by emerging technologies and is an advisor to CIO’s, CTO’s and CEO’s across a number of industries. He servers on multiple boards of private and publicly traded companies, including United Security Bank.

Nov 16, 2022 • 1h 44min
Sergey Plis; Episode 141
It's impossible to have a conversation about A.I. or machine learning without also talking about neural networks. The thing is, most of us think we know what it is, and some of us have an opinion on what machine learning is. But very few people actually know what a neural network is; why it matters? Do these networks evolve like the human brain? What are the ethical implications of building an infrastructure like that? Are they secure? My conversation today is with Sergey Plis, a professor of computer science at Georgia State University and the director of Machine Learning at the Center for Translational Research in Neuro Imaging and Data Science (TReNDS). He and his collaborators received funding recently from the NSF and the New Age to study casual connections in the brain. Obviously, Sergey likes to keep things busy. Please enjoy this incredible and fascinating conversation on this week's episode of The QTS Experience Podcast.
About Our Guest
As an Associate Professor of Computer Science and a Director of Machine Learning at the Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging & Data Science, I like to keep things busy. Probably for that reason, I have three kids, two cats and a dog. I travel often, moved a few times recently, and have painted rooms and houses everywhere I go.
My research focuses on developing computational instruments that enable knowledge extraction from observational multimodal data collected at different temporal and spatial scales. I believe we can provide the neuroimaging community with a more robust, reliable understanding of directed connectivity in the brain.
We can’t just poke around in living human brain to see how it works. I and my collaborators are honored to have received $1.3 million from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study causal connections in the brain. Here are only a few of my other accomplishments:
Published one of the first demonstrations of the versatile potential of deep learning methods for the field in 2013 and since then my group developed a number of deep learning approaches to neuroimaging.
Developed the theories in complex time series including a number of algorithms creating a new subarea in causal research.
Developed efficient algorithms for matrix factorization.
Enabled research on federated datasets with a focus on preserving privacy, inspiring a project for creating a framework to enable research on decentralized data.