Ecosystemic Futures

This hard-hitting episode exposes the alarming crisis of healthcare-acquired infections in U.S. facilities - and the ecosystemic factors compounding the threat. Our guest, Sarah Beatty of Culturewell, pulls no punches in critiquing the reactive "firefighting" status quo within the healthcare system... a passionately well-intended system, yet increasingly missing the life-saving answers readily available in the meta-data. Beatty shares startling data and argues that the missing link is facility-specific environmental monitoring to precisely identify hygiene gaps and deploy cleaning resources—and data-driven solutions. Join this vital discussion shaping the pathway from a reactive to proactive, data-driven model for infection prevention - one resilient to the intensifying challenges across interconnected environments straining healthcare systems. Beatty makes a powerful case for waging and winning this winnable war. Guest: Sarah Beatty, Founder & CEO, Culturewell Co-Hosts: James Villarrubia, White House Presidential Innovation Fellow & Digital Strategist for CAS, NASA Marco Annunziata, Co-Founder, Annunziata + Desai Partners Series Hosts: Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works

Dive into the power of regenerative agriculture to revitalize our food ecosystems. This episode explores the ways regenerative farming methods can enhance soil health and unlock more nutrient-dense foods - nourishing people and planet. Guest Tina Owens, a leader at the intersection of agriculture, tech and wellness, illuminates the pivotal role emerging technologies play in optimizing and scaling regenerative practices. We discuss the ways AI, molecular mapping, and lifecycle assessments are reshaping food production into ecosystem-reviving force. Don't miss this compelling vision for an ecosystemic future of sustainable nourishment. Guest: Tina Owens, Managing Director @ Nutrient Density Alliance, Strategic Advisor @ Regenerative Food Systems Investment, Non-Profit Board Member of Non-GMO Project and Mad Agriculture & Farmer Co-Hosts: Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works Series Hosts: Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works  

The US Government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is actively working to establish the framework for a commercial economy on the moon - convening an ecosystemic collaboration to make it happen by 2035. DARPA's program manager for this project, called Luna10, Michael Nayak, call sign Orbit, joins the podcast to discuss the approach of leveraging what we know from Earth economies and commercial industries in order to create a unified, self-sustaining lunar economy. To activate the ecosystem for the lunar economy - Orbit and team are convening 12 commerical entities and a host of value chain enablers to build the framework. Join us for more fascinating discussions regarding the ways that ecosystems are shaping new economic engines. Guest: Michael Nayak, call sign Orbit, Program Manager for DARPA program Luna10 and Logic Co-Hosts: Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works Series Hosts: Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works

The intergenerational transmission of values, norms, and aspirations has always shaped expectations for transcendent belonging. What does it mean to live a good life, to be successful? The integrated ecosystem that supports human flourishing encompasses all aspects of society, industry, and policy. With generative AI anticipated to impact society more than any other technological advancement in recent decades - we now face the first generation, specifically Gen Alpha, that will age entirely with the benefits and opportunities of this advanced technology. In this episode, Mica Le John - entrepreneur, educator, and writer - joins us to tug at the core threads that bind all people regardless of demographic and explore ways that intergenerational collaboration with advanced technologies can lead to solutions for wicked problems and a more resilient future for humanity. Guest: Mica Le John, Entrepreneur, Educator & Writer Co-Hosts: Mark Stephen Meadows, Science Fiction Writer / Researcher for CAS, NASA Edward Powell, PhD, CEO, TensorX, Inc Series Hosts: Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works

We're often unaware of security vulnerabilities until there's a breach. In today's rush to leverage AI, organizations often overestimate security and underestimate risk, while teams expose unique AI threats to otherwise reasonably safe businesses.   Organizations are also changing the way they use AI - shifting from owning it to renting it. This delivers faster results but less control over important data and access, introducing risks that organizations may not yet fully recognize. Protect AI leaders join us to explain the differences between "safe," "secure," and "governed" in AI and how to safely create an AI-empowered future.   Guests:  Daryan "D" Dehghanpisheh, Co-Founder, Protect AI Marcello Salvati, Senior Engineer & Researcher, Protect AI   Co-Hosts: James Villarrubia, White House Presidential Innovation Fellow & Digital Strategist for CAS, NASA Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works    Series Hosts: Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works

Civilization came together when people agreed on a shared "code" about building communities and cities. Today, some believe there is a need for a new layer of accountable, transparent, and contestable code - to support our digitally-enabled society. Join us for a conversation with Ben Cerveny, President and Founder of the Foundation for Public Code, an organization helping public institutions develop and maintain public code in a tech-empowered society.   While it may seem that tech giants have the edge on developing systems at scale - the public sector can assume a leading role in the development of public code, and inform beneficial future pathways for society. Barcelona, Estonia, Taiwan, and Ukraine have all created public code-based efforts - in this episode we delve into these innovative efforts that are paving the way with ecosystemic methodologies, protocols, and community engagement programs.   Guest: Ben Cerveny, President & Chairman of the Board for Foundation for Public Code   Co-Hosts: Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works Mark Stephen Meadows, Science Fiction Writer / Researcher for CAS, NASA   Series Hosts: Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works  

How do you solve the problem of trust? Confidence is a prerequisite for large-scale adoption. With the deluge of speculation about Generative AI, organizations everywhere are establishing regulations and certifications to solve for fidelity, trust, and assurance. We're also seeing substantial debate regarding the viability of such efforts at this stage in the adoption of AI-empowered capabilities. Guest Emre Kazim is the co-Founder and co-CEO of Holistic AI, a hot startup empowering organizations to adopt and scale AI with confidence - which at its core, is solving the problem of trust. Emre shares an overview of the current ecosystems within and across the AI landscape - policy, industry, and society... federal, state, and local levels of activity. The path to AI governance is heating up and challenges us to answer the difficult questions - who will be the ultimate arbiter of trust and what are those entities' self-interests; what trade-offs are made and tolerated within AI-enabled systems of trust; what gaps exist between AI-powered capabilities, regulations, and policy... As you might suspect, the proximity of policy-making to the development of the capabilities they govern is key. Controlling the harm depends upon understanding the specific use case, the context of use, and the underlying layers of operability and interoperability - enabling a more precise assessment of the corresponding risk. Steady experimentation in practical, tangible use cases are the path forward enabling the real shift possible with AI.  At the core - trust comes from confidence, and confidence comes from using these systems over time. Good governance will come from the same ecosystem that innovated these capabilities. Guest: Emre Kazim, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Holistic AI Co-Hosts: James Villarrubia, White House Presidential Innovation Fellow & Digital Strategist for CAS, NASA G. Edward Powell, PhD, CEO, TensorX, Inc Series Hosts: Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works

Join our co-hosts and guest Jan Bunge, Director at Squint/Opera, who has built global partnerships and leveraged advanced technologies to support large city planning projects. This episode delves into the benefits of leveraging virtual experience twins to help establish alignment and trust within diverse stakeholder networks. We explore the unique ways that AI can help simplify complexity and accelerate outcomes - while affording the flexibility needed for evolving priorities. This insightful discussion cuts through the hype of advanced technologies to offer practical examples, use cases, and suggestions to help avoid some of the traps that ensnare adopters of these powerful tools. Guest: Jan Bunge, Director, Squint/Opera Co-Hosts: Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works Mark Stephen Meadows, Science Fiction Writer / Researcher for CAS, NASA Series  Hosts: Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works

We have to remember AI does not think like humans and it's risky to attribute too much understanding and knowledge to AI solutions - especially when used in healthcare scenarios.   Guest technologist and entrepreneur Steve Schwartz provides an overview of the evolution of AI for a non-technical audience - sharing insights from a healthcare perspective on AI's capability, bias concerns, and how to use AI within a layered approach for truly powerful partnerships between people and technology.   Guest: Steve Schwartz, Startup Founder and CTO, Owner at Alfa Jango   Co-Hosts: G. Edward Powell, PhD, CEO, TensorX, Inc James Villarrubia, White House Presidential Innovation Fellow & Digital Strategist for CAS, NASA   Series Hosts: Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works   Shownotes: Link to Steve Schwartz' AI for Non-technical Investors presentation https://youtu.be/FngMleT_A_U

Technology and AI are changing the calculus on which categories of work are assigned to human versus digital agents. Co-hosts James Villarrubia and Dyan Finkhousen connect with Richard Susskind, President of the Society for Computers and Law to discuss his perspective on the history of AI and how it's informing potential futures for all professions. Guest: Richard Susskind, President, Society for Computers and Law Co-Hosts: James Villarrubia, White House Presidential Innovation Fellow & Digital Strategist for CAS, NASA Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works