Disruption Drive

The traditional history of innovation follows a predictable script. New, transformative technology almost always starts as a luxury—a high-priced toy for early adopters.

Eventually getting adopted as aspirational consumers surge. Beep flips that script.

They take 'Space Age' technology of Autonomous Vehicles and putting it to work right now where it’s needed most: in our transit agencies, our universities, and our public squares.

They are solving the 'clunky' problems of the 'Old World'—congestion, labor shortages, and accessibility—by making high-tech transit a public utility rather than a private privilege.

I am joined today by Toby McGraw, Chief Revenue Officer at Beep and one of the foremost experts on Transport Systems

While everyone’s looking at robotaxis on sunny boulevards, Forterra is busy where the asphalt ends. 🌲🪖

Forget predictable lane lines. We’re talking about "GPS-denied," high-consequence environments where "edge cases" aren't the exception—they’re the entire job description.

From Defense to Commercial Heavy Logistics, Forterra is building autonomous systems for worlds where roads don't even exist and failure isn't an option.

Joining me on this special is Andy Sussman, who leads Commercial Growth at Forterra. Andy’s career spans the trifecta of Trucking, Logistics, and Mapping (he even owns and sells ski resort maps—talk about navigating tough terrain!). ⛷️🗺️

He is exactly the person to explain why the future of autonomous fleets isn't just on our streets, but in the rugged frontiers where the GPS goes dark.

The frontier to Mobility is currently blocked by a massive financial and technical bottleneck.

Training an autonomous vehicle or any autonomous system on the infinite list of edge cases is prohibitively expensive and technically complex.

And hence new market launches can often take more than a year.

What if you could compress that entire year into twenty-four hours?

I talk to Balint Pasztor from Diffuse Drive. Diffuse Drive is looking to bypass the physical data bottleneck through creating troves of photorealistic video replacing the grueling need for manual sensor processing.

Could it just be the key to democratizing the AV industry?

For decades, the auto industry was obsessed with the moment of sale. You built it, sold it, and moved on.

But the "one-and-done" era is dying. Today, the first purchase is just the opening act

My next guest is truly an expert on the Lifecycle of a Car.

Hakan Dogu is widely considered one of the Top 0.1% of the most influential executives in the Auto industry. He previously served as the SVP Of Aftersales for the Renault group and the CEO of Renault Turkey and also helped form the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi alliance where he pioneered the shift from volume to value.

When Hakan sees a car, he does not see a price point, but looks at it insteas as a 15 year asset.

My next guest is truly moving the needle beyond the “experiment” phase of self-driving cars, focusing instead on providing a luxury-grade user experience that treats the passenger as an esteemed guest rather than a Rider.

Shalin James Anto is the Founder and CEO of Pliyt, a revolutionary design for the car of the future.

With a background deep in Safety and Interior Design of vehicles including stints at Tesla, Shalin is now working on ensuring the rideshare of the future feels like First Class travel -

One Vehicle Four Pods.

Most people see a bus, a bike lane, or a bridge and think about getting from A to B. But my guest Peter Schenkman sees it as the circulatory system of the global economy.

Peter is a titan in the world of urban planning and a leading voice on Mobility as an Economic Engine.

Peter argues that transport isn’t just a public utility; it is the primary driver of social mobility, labor market density, and GDP growth.

When we move people better, we create wealth faster.

Today, we dive into why the most successful cities of the future won't just be the smartest—they'll be the most fluid.

Michigan put the "world on wheels." It's now taking it's legacy to the skies. 🚁

I recently sat down with Charlie Tyson, Technology Activation Director at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), to discuss how the state is architecting the Future of Mobility.

While Michigan is the heart of the automotive world, the next frontier is Advanced Air Mobility (AAM).

We talked:

- What is Michigan's unfair advantage?

- Michigan's "Whole of Government" Strategy for Mobility

- From Defense to Commercialization both in Automotives and Air Mobility

And how do we ensure a 200 lb appliance does not fall on your head?

Michigan is building the corridors, the regulations, and the manufacturing base to own the future. Don't miss out on it.

Historically, cars talked about torque, horsepower, and fuel efficiency. But in an era of Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs) and EVs, hardware is rapidly becoming a commodity.

I sat down with Jennifer Gallagher, Founder and CEO of Mach BD, to peel back the layers of the esoteric technology in automotive. Jennifer specializes in translating complex disruption into what actually matters for the driver.

We dove deep into the shift from supply-driven engineering to customer-centric experiences.

We talked:

If hardware is a commodity, what does a brand actually promise? Is it time to stop selling specs and start selling time, comfort, and connection?

With the rise of infotainment and productivity tools, is the car destined to become a "third place"?

The industry has long been pushed by regulations and suppliers. How can brands reclaim the narrative now that software—not steel—is the primary differentiator?

Can the automotive industry succeed where smartphones failed by prioritizing safety over the "attention economy"?

Jennifer’s perspective is a masterclass in how to build automotive ecosystems that don’t just move people from A to B, but actually enhance their lives.

What do you think? In 10 years, will you choose your next car based on its torque, or its ability to act as your most productive sanctuary?

We are starting off the New Year with a massive goal: reducing traffic congestion and, more importantly, saving lives.

I sat down with Robert Putt, the CEO and Founder of Argus AI, to discuss how they are redefining traffic safety.

Argus AI monitors and tracks traffic incidents in under 10 seconds. Compare that to the standard 6-16 minutes for commonly used navigation apps

We talked about:

The "How": achieving sub-10-second latency to detect incidents when the industry standard is ~100x higher

The Strategy: whether the goal is to disrupt current navigation giants or augment them with critical safety data.

The Infrastructure: leveraging traffic cameras and the concept of a "Universal Traffic Ontology" to normalize data and safety insights on all roads

The Vision: moving beyond just cameras to a future where AVs and commercial fleet dashcams create an explosion of data.

If you are interested in the future of mobility, safety tech, or how we handle the coming wave of visual data from AVs, you don't want to miss this one.

Everyone dreams of a shiny, driverless future, but Colleen McCracken (Necture, ex-Lyft, ex-Adobe) is asking, "Who changes the tires?"

Colleen is that unicorn who speaks both fluent "Software" and fluent "Fleet."

While the rest of the industry obsesses over AI, she’s obsessed with the one thing that actually stops the future in its tracks: Maintaining the Car.

We dig into:

• The real mobility inflection point (it’s not what you think).
• Future-proofing jobs: What can’t a robot do?
• The economics of fleet: Who pays when the driverless car breaks?
• Bonus: We somehow managed to fit in the Austrian alps, Wiener Schnitzels and Irish pronunciations into our conversation about logistics.

Stop guessing and start listening.