In this episode of Empowering Exceptional, we are joined by Pizza Hut’s Chief Legal Officer Lauren Leahy. A V&E alum, Lauren is no stranger to innovation, beginning her legal career as a litigator and now managing legal operations for one of the world’s most famous restaurant chains. Lauren shares with us what it means to be a modern-day general counsel for a franchise business focused on customer experience, and what’s ahead for The Hut, including autonomous delivery, driverless cars, and more.

What does it take to develop a product with the potential to change the world? Just ask Magic Leap Inc., an innovative, fast-rising start-up whose augmented reality headset seamlessly blends the digital and physical worlds. In this episode, host Sean Becker and V&E IP partner Devika Kornbacher are joined by Purav Jesrani, a V&E alum and Senior Licensing Counsel of Magic Leap. Listen as Purav demonstrates how Magic Leap lets people – including Sean and Devika – interact with the world in ways never before possible.

Austin’s “Best CEO” and longtime V&E client Mark McClain joins us to talk about the importance of values and culture at his company, SailPoint, and his path from big tech to serial entrepreneur.

For this episode, we're joined by Manoj Saxena, a serial entrepreneur focused on artificial intelligence and augmented intelligence. A longtime client of V&E partner Paul Tobias, Manoj talks with Paul and Empowering Exceptional host Sean Becker about how he got his start in tech and shares his thoughts on what it takes to succeed in the startup space. He also explains the innovative work of his current startup, Cognitive Scale, as well as the mission of his nonprofit, Responsible AI.