Industrial IoT Spotlight
Peter Rohde-Chen, Erik Walenza
The Industrial IoT Spotlight Podcast shines a light on digital solutions that are impacting businesses today. Our mission is to feature the companies that are building the next generation of enterprise technologies, from architecture design to data management to business model innovation.
Our hosts, Peter Rohde-Chen and Erik Walenza, are friends and entrepreneurs based in Shanghai, China. The Industrial IoT Spotlight is produced by Asia Growth Partners, a group of technology experts and business leaders, who help technology companies and corporates navigate technology development, implementation, and adoption in Asia.
Don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn @asia-growth-partners-agp or visit our website at https://asiagrowthpartners.com. You can contact Erik directly at erik.walenza@asiagrowthpartners.com
Our hosts, Peter Rohde-Chen and Erik Walenza, are friends and entrepreneurs based in Shanghai, China. The Industrial IoT Spotlight is produced by Asia Growth Partners, a group of technology experts and business leaders, who help technology companies and corporates navigate technology development, implementation, and adoption in Asia.
Don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn @asia-growth-partners-agp or visit our website at https://asiagrowthpartners.com. You can contact Erik directly at erik.walenza@asiagrowthpartners.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 29, 2023 • 36min
EP 187 - Building the industrial metaverse, step by step
In this week's episode, Erik is joined by Jan Burian, Associate Vice President and Head of IDC Manufacturing Insights EMEA. His core research coverage includes Industry 4.0, digital transformation, and IT and automation tools. At IDC, their focus lies in aiding IT experts, corporate leaders, and investors in making informed decisions regarding technology investments and business tactics. Our conversation delves into the intricate framework of the industrial Metaverse. Discover how businesses are meticulously constructing this landscape, piece by piece, with Jan shedding light on various technologies and specific use cases. Moreover, we explore the fascinating realm of generative AI and its application in industrial contexts. Learn how it serves as an intuitive interface within the industrial Metaverse, effectively navigating the complex terrain of data saturation. Give it a listen and enjoy the podcast! Key Questions: ● What is industry metaverse and how does it work? ● Scaling and scalability of metaverse as digital twin of the enterprise world. ● What do you see today in terms of adoption of generative AI and solutions that are used in the industrial environment? If you're curious to know more about our Jan Burian, you can find him on: Website: https://www.idc.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janburian/?originalSubdomain=cz

Aug 21, 2023 • 47min
EP 186 - How does IoT enable workflow streamlining in cold chains?
Gil Dror, CTO, and Sammy Kolt, CPO at SmartSense discuss how IoT enables workflow streamlining in cold chains. They delve into benefits like remote sensing, AI, and data-driven decision-making. They also explore IoT's impact on healthcare and food services industries, ensuring safety, compliance, and quality control.

Aug 9, 2023 • 45min
EP 185 - Bringing AI to the edge with analog computing
In this episode, we talked with Dave Fick, co-founder and CEO of Mythic. Mythic has developed analog computing technology to deliver high-performance AI processors that are ten times more power-efficient and cost-effective than digital solutions. In this talk, we discussed why analog computing is uniquely well-suited for machine learning on the edge, due to low energy consumption, low latency, and high capability. We also talk about several industrial applications that are using analog computing today. Key Questions: ● What is analog computing? ● What is the difference in form and cost structure for analog and digital solutions? ● How does analog computing deal with 'messy data'?

Jul 24, 2023 • 46min
EP 184 - Winning the Maintenance Market with a Focus on Simplicity
This week, Erik and Darwin interviewed Paul McCarthy, Founder and CEO of Snapfix. Snapfix is the simplest maintenance platform on the planet, making maintenance easy with a streamlined system of photos and traffic lights that everyone can use. In this special episode of IoT One Podcast, Darwin Wang joined Erik Walenza as his co-host! Darwin is a multifaceted professional with a diverse education and career background, and previously as Head of Innovation at JLL. In this talk, they discussed why the building management industry has been a laggard in technology adoption despite being among the largest sectors in the economy. They also explored the application of consumer app best practices for building enterprise solutions that can be used by frontline staff with little or no training. Listen and enjoy the show! Key Questions: ● What are the challenges of the management industry that prevents digitalization? ● What does the integration of systems for consumer apps look like today for providing solutions? ● What does localization look like for building enterprise solutions? Know more about our co-host for today's episode, Darwin Wang by visiting his profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/d1wang/

Jul 13, 2023 • 36min
EP 183 - Making 5G NB-IoT Connectivity Affordable by Satellite
In this episode, Erik talked with Jaume Sanpera, CEO and co-founder of Sateliot. Sateliot is the first satellite communication service provider that will offer satellite IoT connectivity. In this talk, Erik discussed why 85% of the earth remains unserved by terrestrial networks and how modern satellites can bring affordable connectivity to remote NB-IoT devices. He also explored the factors influencing satellite connectivity cost structure, including satellite manufacturing, launch, radio technology, and service contract structure. Key Questions: What is the cost trend for connecting an IoT device via satellite? How does performance differ with satellite versus terrestrial communication? What are the big use cases in satellite IoT connectivity?

Jul 5, 2023 • 45min
EP 182 - Bringing Open Standards to Semiconductor Design
This week, we interviewed Jack Kang, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Customer Experience at SiFive. SiFive brings RISC V software and Silicon experts together to innovate with the modern software-driven approach to semiconductors. In this episode, we talked about the importance of the RISC V open standard for semiconductors to provide design freedom, vendor choice, and long-term tech stack flexibility. We also explored how companies, from automotive OEMs to wearable device manufacturers, are different in their products with custom designs on open standards. Key Questions: What is the international standard behind RISC-V technology? Who are the big contributors to RISC-V instruction set standards? How do you see the future of RISC-V in the coming years?

Jun 27, 2023 • 43min
EP 181 - Manufacturing Tech Venture Building
In this episode, we talked with Renan Devillieres, founder and CEO of OSS Ventures. OSS Ventures is a start-up studio that invests in the future of factory operations. They ideate, test, build and invest in great ideas to change the future of manufacturing. In this talk, we discussed the role of start-ups in shaping the future of manufacturing and specific areas of breakthrough in this industry. We also covered the best practices for building a new venture like opportunity identification, product-market fit validation, and recruiting a leadership team. Key Questions: ● What is the current status of digital technology adoption in manufacturing? ● What are the challenges in finding the right technology providers, companies, and founders in manufacturing? ● What are the challenges for corporate ventures trying to explore areas outside their domain expertise?

Jun 15, 2023 • 42min
EP 180 - How to simplify the path from industrial AI pilot to scale
Founder and CEO of Embassy of Things, Matt Oberdorfer, discusses modernizing industrial data architecture, overcoming development bottlenecks, and simplifying the path from pilot to scale. The conversation explores generative AI in industrial settings, addressing human and organizational challenges, architectural elements, and the difference between generic and generative AI.

Jun 5, 2023 • 36min
EP 179 - Bridging the gap between consumers and factories
In this episode, we talked with Leonard Marano, President of the Americas at Lectra. Lectra provides Industry 4.0 solutions to bridge the gap between the consumer and the factory bringing precision and flexibility to the design to production process. In this talk, we discussed market trends driving Industry 4.0 adoption including mass customization, sustainability, nearshoring, and workforce shortages. We also explored how manufacturing in the fashion industry is evolving its supply chains to differentiate quality, cost, and speed to market. Key Questions: ● How does mass customization affect the current market trends? ● What factors affect people to invest more in technologies that promote sustainability? ● How do nearshoring and workforce shortages drive automation?

6 snips
May 29, 2023 • 42min
EP 178 - Replicate human decision making in industrial environments with Autonomous AI
This week, we interviewed Bryan DeBois, director of Industrial AI at RoviSys. RoviSys is a global system integrator that applies the most effective methods for building, analyzing, improving, and maintaining complex autonomous systems. In this episode, we talk about the concept of autonomous AI that integrates deep reinforcement learning based on machine data with machine teaching based on the main expertise and improvement through simulation. We also explored the industrial landscape broadly, including the cost structure, ROI targets, use cases, cloud strategy, and emerging technologies like GPT4. Key Questions: ● What is autonomous AI? ● What is the status of industrial AI in the S-curve of artificial intelligence? ● What are the use cases that are fit for autonomous AI? ● What is the cost structure for autonomous AI?


