CTO Confessions Brought to you by IT Labs

Technology leaders sit in an incredibly important organizational seat in this day and age. Their role is to deliver technology and give the business the capability to compete, innovate, and stay relevant. Our guest on this CTO Confessions Podcast speaks to this subject. In particular, leadership plays a huge role in how their people go about their tasks and the incumbent culture their work emerges from. Key takeaways from the Podcast are: - The fundamental role of tech leaders and why it's not just about delivering technology. - The part that documentation can play in supporting the work you do, and some inspiration around avoiding documentation debt. As we know, any debt, be it technical or the likes, always comes back to bite us on the backside if we don't address it. - Thinking about your thinking when solving problems. These are just to name a few with many more takeaways embedded in the Podcast. We hope you enjoy its as much as we did hosting it. Our Guest: Alain Briancon, PhD LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alain-briancon-phd-70115a/ Website: https://www.cerebriai.com/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Warby Parker is a big name in the spectacle industry, so it was exciting to have Sung Choi, their Senior Director of engineering, come onto the show and share his wisdom. Sung is a true Agilist and seated in a company that seems to create the perfect environment for the values and principles of Agile to thrive. The key takeaways from the Podcast are: - The power of leading with Integrity - Aligning around values and principles to deliver customer-centric business value from the technology space - Using the "commanders intent" to inspire a solution mindset in the teams and allowing autonomy to flourish Our guest: Sung Choi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sung-choi-201b643/ Website: https://www.warbyparker.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/warbyparker Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

IT Labs takes pride in finding and speaking to CTOs with fascinating tech journeys. Well, here's another interesting one that started in the military and ended up at the helm of an organization's tech function. Charles White, CTO at Foretnix, shares his journey and insights into areas that he is passionate about, from leadership to security and novel architectures. It would be safe to say Charles covers much wisdom-filled ground in this podcast. One particularly striking aspect of Charles's voyage is how an injury changed his life path and in what manner he built on it. An inspiring lesson for all of us. Key takeaways from the podcast are: - Becoming a CTO (The Journey from military to CTO) - Leadership tips on creating high performing teams and holding the vision for your people - The responsibility of leading and coordinating security and technology, with a share of next-generation advances - What attribute-driven architectures are and how they can be something to consider Our Guest: Charles White LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-white-030a177/ Company Website: https://www.fornetix.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/fornetix Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

There is much talk about AI and ML (Machine learning). The terms are misused, and the hype around them creates much confusion. So what can they offer in real terms, if anything? Well, Felix Hovsepian joins us on CTO confessions to clear up the subject and explore some interesting use cases. Key takeaways from the Podcast are: - Why ML and AI are not the same things - Examples of AI and ML - Generative design - AI at the Edge - Being a tech leader in R&D Felix is a colorful character with interesting ideas in several fields. After listening, share your thoughts on AI/ML. Are these fields starting to emerge from the hype cycle? Our Guest: Felix Hovsepian LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felixhovsepian/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlueManifold Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

The Lessons of Amazon: Tech Leadership Tips from an Insider It's always interesting when you meet people that have navigated from one field into another. In this episode, we speak with a scientist that did a spectacular, successful, and exciting jump into the tech world. You may have heard of the company that our guest, David Glick, ended up in; Amazon! David Glick got emersed into the "Amazonian" culture, describing how it moulded his tech leadership. Now CTO at FLEXE (a flexible on-demand warehousing and fulfilment company), he shares his leadership wisdom. Key takeaways are: - The layer cake of leadership (how to enhance and advance your tech career - Lessons from Leading in Amazon - The truth about AI/ML Our Guest: David Glick LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidglick1/ Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/flexe/ Our Host: TC Gill LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrtcgill/ Email: tc@it-labs.com Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

SME tech leader tips, from a successful serial startup CTO - Creating a startup culture in SME organizations for hyper-growth, innovation, and business survival One of the consistent things we see here at IT Labs through our 'Teams as a Service' (TaaS) and Business Agility consulting is companies' need to have a startup mindset. Especially if they are in a phase of innovation to get one step ahead of competitors. Some of you may be thinking when wouldn't this be the case :) Well, many SMEs know the lessons but have forgotten them through their journey of growth. It's almost like growth creates some form of 'wisdom amnesia.' Though IT Labs target audience is not startup's, but because we are learners, we actively seek out these nimble little organizations' voices to see what they are innovating and how they work. We desire to pick out their gems of advice and understanding through the lessons of success and beautiful moments of failure, to garner revived thinking for our community of technology leaders. Well, Steve Books, CTO at Slingshot Technologies, joined us for an enlightening discussion on his serial startup journey. He's what we like to call a starter-upper. I know not a real word, but it's what we call someone who consistently gets involved in startups and nurtures them to exit. So here's your opportunity to get a look under the covers of someone with a startup mindset and see things in a little bit more detail. Key takeaways from the Podcast are: Lessons from a series of startups and exits Tips on getting the most out of teams How to make remote working work for you as a tech leader Why business cannibalism is bizarrely good for your organization Our Guest: Steve Books LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevebooks/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevebooks/) Website: https://www.getslingshot.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/OnScaleInc Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Leading technology with a toothbrush - How to create customer-centric innovation and market disruption Tech leaders sit at the heart of an organization. They are the enablers of the businesses in this digital world we live in. Decisions they make, impact the present, and mold the future. In this episode of CTO Confessions, we speak to the tech leader of a very niche business. They have taken the simple toothbrush and added an impressive dimension to it. Marrying the world of personal preventative dental health care with that of dental insurance, through a technology-enabled toothbrush. What you might call "smart dental care." Brian Hough, Dental Beams CTO, joins us to talk about his tech challenges and wisdom around creating a truly customer-centric product. He describes how, through organizational and tech leadership, Dental Beam creates a strong feedback loop between the development teams and the needs of the end customer. Forming tight awareness and close feedback loops to get the product offering absolutely right. Key takeaways from the Podcast are: - Why it's important to invest in development that sets the groundwork for future innovation and product agility - Creating high performing engineering teams that fully own their work. - How to improve the success of a product by having more eyes on the customer's needs Our Guest: Brian Hough LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brhough/ Website: https://polished.js.org/  (OSS) Twitter: https://twitter.com/b_hough Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Humanizing AI - The future is not all AI dystopia & terminator (creating technology ethics, transparency, and fairness) You hear a lot about AI. It's a bit of a buzz word, right?! Often misused and misreported. One area that is starting to get a lot of debate space is the ethics around this mystifying and still futuristic technology. It's an important subject that is starting to have an impact on our everyday lives. As we all know, the world we live in is full of data, and it's creating more and more consistently and relentlessly. With big data comes opportunities to be one step ahead, to help, to enhance human life, and on the dark side, oppress and control. So the subject of ethics around this subject is an important one. One that we should all take heed of. Especially us tech leaders out there. Swathi Young shares her expertise in this Podcast, her hopes, and her vision for AI. Especially around the ethics and impact it has on us humans now, and in the future. Swathi is an expert in the field of ethics and AI. In fact, at the time of the recording of this Podcast, she was currently working with the US Government creating an ethics framework for this emergent technology Key takeaways from the Podcast are: What is Humanizing data? How can we start considering the ethics of AI? What is 'Sentiment Analysis'? Tips for tech leaders on where to start when considering AI in their products and organizations Our Guest: Swathi Young LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swathiyoung/ Website: https://integritym.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SwathiSambhani Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw )

A new shiny large-scale simulation tool for the SME toolbox - Democratizing super-computing power that's easy to use, low cost, and on tap Whenever one reflects on huge steps in innovation, we usually see some disruptive democratizing of capabilities. Where the tools of the elite, and those with deep pockets, become available to the masses. Well, that's what this Podcast is about! It's about democratizing this ability to have the capabilities of large super compute platforms, brought to the toolbox of SME businesses. In the context of this disruptive story is an interesting and passionate tech leader, David Freed. CTO of OnScale, a company that is leading the way in achieving the democratization of high-level computing for large scale simulation. David is a self-confessed computer engineering geek with a background in Physics, chemical engineering, and a PhD in fluid dynamics (in the context of Nuclear waste disposal). A heady mix of subjects all converging on a passion for bringing disruption to a niche market, thus gifting groundbreaking capabilities to the SME market. David shares his desires and vision for OnScales platform, his leadership style to achieve this, and what he wishes for tech leaders out there. Key takeaways from the Podcast are: How novel solutions can bring historically expensive, out of reach capabilities to the masses by being bold, creative, and establishing cost-reducing ideas. How businesses can accelerate innovation through affordable large scale simulations (removing complexity and need for deep expertise) How to be a leader in a disruptive business and getting the best out of your teams Our Guest: David Freed LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmfreed/ Website: https://onscale.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/OnScaleInc Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Tech-ing up the construction industry - Lessons from a construction industry CTO Do you think the building industry is tech-savvy? It's a good question. To some degree, it's yes and no. Through this Podcast, we shine a light on the current state of affairs. It seems that the industry is on the cusp of a step-change. Its finally making attempts to bring technology and infrastructures that have advanced so many other sectors into its arena. Bringing technology, new tools, and the use of big data to strengthen its ability to create thriving, innovative, and efficient businesses. Well, Jeff Olin, Vice President of Technology at HomeSphere, is a person with many years of experience from software programming, to project/product management, to leading technology groups. He joins us in this Podcast to share his thoughts on leading tech within his current role, in an industry that's finding its feet in the modern digital world. Jeff is clearly passionate about doing his part to help the construction industry catch up. Find out about what HomeSphere do, and the tips that Jeff has to offer on creating highly flexible architectures for customer-centric products, at two ends of the building industry (builders and their building suppliers) Key takeaways from the Podcast are: How the construction industry is picking up the technology pace, and how it can improve its bottom line Creating an architecture that makes it easy to maintain and deliver customer-centric outcomes Leading as a CTO with Agile in mindset Our Guest: Jeff Olin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffolin/ Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/homesphere/ Our Host: TC Gill LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrtcgill/ Email: tc@it-labs.com Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)