Tech Talks Daily

Recent reports show that DeFi exploits totaled $12 billion in 2021. Between this fraud spike, the social engineering attack at Robinhood, and the recent Google Play scam, it's more critical than ever that cybersecurity becomes an embedded part of cryptocurrency. Tammy Kahn, co-founder and CEO of BTblock has a team of some of the best dedicated DeFi logic security analysts. Having performed cybersecurity code reviews of the software supporting major blockchain protocols, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Cardano, she and her team continuously observe how significant an impact security concerns have on widespread adoption. With crypto scams and fraud skyrocketing, Tammy discusses some of the core issues plaguing the industry in 2022. We talk about why until 'basic' users can feel their funds are secure, the adoption of crypto and other types of micro-investing will remain slower. Too much is at risk; people may not know the answer, but many know enough to be scared.

We also explore why we need more than cyber training needs to happen and why it needs to be built from the code up.

Hannes Bend is on a mission to improve mental health at work with technology. His work was inspired by when he felt disconnected and depressed until he discovered mindfulness. This moment led to him founding breahting.ai, which allows users to focus solely on where it belongs.

breathing.ai uses the webcam and machine learning to detect vital signs (heart rate and respiration) and stress and then adapts and personalizes the screen's colors, fonts, and UI to the user's wellbeing. Breathing.ai founder and CEO Hannes Bend developed award-winning technological projects with cross-disciplinary collaborations with top researchers and labs.

Hannes joins me on Tech Talks Daily and shares how he has worked with my mentor friend Wim "The Iceman" Hof since 2015 to develop pioneering AR biofeedback projects that inspired the breathing.ai startup and its technology.

I also learned how Wim's breathwork, in-depth meditation practices in Myanmar, and yoga transformed Hannes from decades of anxiety and depression to living healthy and happy. Finally, we discuss how breathing.ai develops patented machine learning technologies to adapt and personalize screens and audio interactions to each user.

Big Tech sees your data—your clicks, your online shopping choices, your browsing history, as the most valuable stuff on earth. Datacappy consists of independent developers worried about the sudden loss of online privacy. Digital insecurity and what's been called "Surveillance Capitalism" are serious problems for our kids, ourselves, and you. And not a lot of people are doing anything about it.

At Datacappy they see your data as yours. They think your clicks are your business. If your children want to research tigers and rocket ships, they should be able to do so without an unaccountable corporation using that data to build a profile of them and profit off it. I wanted to learn more about how they are helping users preserve their privacy, use the internet securely, and keep their information under their control.

Marco Bellin, the author of PrivacyParent.com and engineer behind Datacappy VPN (built on the open-source WireGuard), joins me on the Tech Talks Daily podcast in a conversation about the year ahead threats to consumer data privacy from more apps, advantageous data selling to malware via USB ports. We also discuss how the US is trying to catch up to its peers with a national data privacy law.

Peter Hurley is a world-famous photographer, an official partner of Canon and B&H Photos. He is also the creator of Headshot Crew, the world's largest team of headshot and portrait photographers. As a man who spins many plates, he also an inspiring TedTalks and has authored The Headshot - an in-depth book on the importance of a proper headshot and how to take the best shots possible.

More recently, he launched the first-ever photography-inspired NFT collection, Shabangrs. Named in honor of Peter's catchphrase, "Shabang!" the collection features 10,000 unique pieces that come with utilities and enter holders into giveaways, raffles, and more.

Ownership of Shabangrs NFTs will automatically grant you citizenship in Shabangrsville, a virtual city in the Metaverse. In addition, Shabangrs citizens will have access to exclusive lifetime perks and rewards as well as access to a flourishing community of the world's best photographers and creators.

Peter joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share his story that began by earning his stripes in the photography industry and why he feels that NFTs are the logical next step for the photography industry.

Allan Cole was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson's disease five years ago, at the age of 48. He subsequently started PD Wise, a blog and community hub aimed at telling stories, providing education, and building community among those living with Parkinson's and their loved ones. I wanted to learn more about how he was using technology to help others.

I quickly learned that Allan had published Counseling Persons with Parkinson's Disease (Oxford). He has two additional books that will be published this year, Discerning the Way: Lesson's from Parkinson's Disease and In the Care of Plenty: Poems (Cascade).

So I invited Allan Cole to the podcast to discuss Parkinson's, which is yes is progressive, and currently, there is no cure. However, there are lots to be hopeful for, and as this is a tech podcast, the role he sees technology playing in helping people.

The state of the global supply chain has hit the headlines recently, and it has dramatically impacted both businesses and consumers. This got me thinking about the challenges in the trucking/logistics companies and the most significant technical challenges for the transportation industry right now.

Wendy Greenland, CEO of Openforce, joins me on Tech Talks Daily to explore this topic with me. Openforce, the provider of technology-driven and insuretech solutions for transportation companies, offering onboarding, settlement, compliance and insurance services for managing independent contractor workforces.

Through the transparent and collaborative leadership of CEO Wendy Greenland, Openforce is well-positioned at the forefront of where technology and the shifting modern labor markets converge. According to a recent survey by MIT and Deloitte, tailwinds are driving the new world of work. 33% of companies plan to utilize a 1099 workforce in the next 18-24 months. Of those companies, 52% plan to implement a technology platform to manage them.

With vast experience in technology leadership and, most recently, transportation, Wendy provides a unique skill set to bridge the gap between companies and independent contractors–that only technology can do.

Wendy brings nearly 30 years of experience and leadership to Openforce, focused on developing and delivering technology-driven business services and solutions, providing outstanding client service, and driving profitable revenue growth. Within Openforce, she drives the organization's mission and creates a standard of quality to provide best-in-class products and services to our contractors and clients.

A recent Gartner survey revealed that nearly 80% of workers are using collaboration tools for work in 2021, up from just over half of workers in 2019. While many organizations relied on productivity platforms before the pandemic, the emergence of remote and hybrid work models has proven just how vital an all-in-one solution is to maintain workplace collaboration and efficiency.

ClickUp, the world's first productivity platform, recently announced they raised $400 million in Series C funding -- the largest funding round to date in the workplace productivity market. This funding puts ClickUp at a $4 billion valuation, which will be used to support the creation of 600 European jobs, a regional European HQ, and a new development center.

ClickUp's unique offering in the market has fueled their success as one of the fastest-growing SaaS startups in the world -- ClickUp is the only solution that replaces all individual workplace productivity tools within a single, unified platform. In less than 18 months, the company has raised $535 million in funding ($35M Series A in June 2020; $135M Series B in December 2020.)

In the last year, the company has tripled its revenue and grown its user base from 200,000 to 800,000 teams worldwide and has more than 85,000 paying customers, including teams at McDonald's, Booking.com, and Netflix to name a few. Zeb Evans, ClickUp founder, shares how he has taken ClickUp from a 50-person Series A startup to a $4 billion-dollar company.

Before launching this daily tech podcast and writing about technology, I was an IT guy. So I was the first port of call for any problems with Finance applications and upgrades to applications like SAGE in a corporate environment. The shift to digital-first accounting is seen as imperative by nearly all accountants – with new Sage research showing 99% of accountants are using some form of digital accounting.

Fast forward six years, and I will be talking to SAGE about their new product that accountants design for accountants, 'and it's called Sage for Accountants. It's a practice management suite that provides client onboarding, connected client management, productivity tools, data collection and intelligent reporting, bookkeeping, payroll, and compliance. The product applies to general practices of all sizes.

Chris Downing, Director of Product Marketing, Sage & Gerty Bester, Director of Product Marketing, Sage, join me on Tech Talks Daily to share their stories. They are both former chartered accountants. They will be discussing why they've invested so much time and resource into this new product, how they involved their customers in its development and how it can help accountants meet practical demands in a challenging marketplace.

Designed by accountants for accountants, I learn how Sage for Accountants is removing the friction from practice management by providing onboarding, connected client management, and productivity tools, truly digitized data collection and intelligent reporting, bookkeeping, payroll, and compliance.

We also discuss how by digitising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks, and governments, the SAGE digital network connects SMBs, removes friction, and delivers insights. Knocking down barriers also means using our time, technology, and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality, and climate crises.

With the announcement of the UK publishing its first AI Strategy - a ten-year plan fit to make the UK an AI Superpower - it will be to businesses' detriment to not capitalize on the power of AI and automation. However, with this rapid shift towards automation, one of the primary areas of value is often overlooked — enabling humans to focus on what matters and strategically control the acceleration.

Romain Picard, Vice President EMEA, of the recently acquired multi-billion-dollar enterprise data cloud company Cloudera, believes in a world dominated by robots, chatbots, drones, and other machine learning and artificial intelligence-powered technologies, the power of human touch is still relevant. Romain joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share his insight on why acceleration shouldn't run rampant without control. We also discuss how it is essential that, alongside automation, we form bold strategies that keep our focus on what's essential — human ingenuity. Finally, we talk about the ability automation provides for teams to bring their A-Game more, increase productivity and growth.

Maybe now is the time for businesses to reimagine their culture to one that uses automation to its fullest value and celebrates human capabilities at their best

Over the last two years, the lockdowns have seen adults flirt with burnout as they now find themselves permanently tethered to their office. Children have also experienced stress with masks in schools, being socially distanced from their friends, etc.

However, in a world where people of all ages are feeling stressed, I invited Liam Joe Blackwood from Stressbox on the podcast to discuss how technology contributes to stress and how it can also help relieve it. I learn how StressBox provides a psychological assessment and treatment service for individuals experiencing stress, anxiety, and other related difficulties.