The Beacon

On our latest podcast discussion, host Joe Ray sits down with Ashley Engl, Director of Technology, Learning, and Innovation at Walsh Insurance. From finance to operations to sales to technology leadership, Ashley has spent her career asking how technology can improve operations and the customer experience across the insurance industry.

Joe and Ashley talk about how Walsh evaluates and rolls out new tools, including an AI platform built specifically for insurance. They cover why governance and clear guidelines matter as much as the technology itself, how pilot groups and early champions help bring a whole team along, and how technology can become a culture builder that connects people across departments.

Every great business development can be traced back to people, process, or technology — and The Beacon exists to keep you learning and growing at the intersection of all three. Each episode, we sit down with business leaders who are tackling big challenges and shaping what's next for Western New York.

Stay up to date with the latest content from Lighthouse Technology Services, The Place for Technology Talent. Subscribe at GetTheBeacon.com to get all our newsletters and podcast episodes straight to your inbox.

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0:00 - Welcome back to The Beacon!

2:18 - Ashley's path from studying finance to insurance tech

6:49 - Finding where technology fits at Walsh Insurance

9:03 - Rolling out AI fit for insurance

13:40 - Modernizing the insurance customer experience

16:07 - Building habits: sharing AI wins across the business

19:49 - Security, governance, and providing direction

23:24 - How a "sandbox" of tools helps support adoption

26:33 - Technology as a culture builder

29:29 - Insurance technology on Ashley's wishlist

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Learn more about Walsh Insurance on their website.

Follow Walsh Insurance on LinkedIn.

Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn.

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Connect with Joe on LinkedIn.

The best candidates aren't on the market for weeks. They're on the market for days — sometimes hours. And the companies that secure the top technology talent they need are the ones with the most intentional hiring process.

That thread runs through this whole conversation with Lighthouse's Director of Technology Staffing Services, Brenda Czyz. Speed and quality aren't opposites in hiring. Getting both right requires something most organizations skip: doing the alignment work before the search begins. That starts with the job description, understanding what a great hire actually looks like, and knowing who needs to be involved in the hiring decision.

Brenda and host Joe Ray discuss what a well-designed hiring process really looks like from the inside, how the "unicorn mindset" can quietly sabotage the search for great candidates, and what an honest, fast feedback loop actually does for the people you're trying to hire.

They also dig into how AI is changing the game on both sides of the table — from AI-generated resumes that all start to look the same, to interview bots that fall apart the moment you ask a real follow-up question — and what the red flags look like when someone's talking about work they didn't actually do.

Subscribe to get more great stories and conversations like this at GetTheBeacon.com with Lighthouse Technology Services, The Place for Technology Talent.

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0:00 – Welcome to the show!

2:07 – Which Sabres player is most like your work style?

4:24 – The cost of a slow hiring process

7:21 – What forces hiring teams to slow down

10:27 – What does a well-designed hiring process look like?

14:24 – Honesty is key from all parties

16:06 – Balancing speed and quality in technical screening

20:26 – The AI conversation: fraud, bots, and detection

24:01 – Trusting your gut & red flags to watch for

28:00 – Where to connect with Brenda

The one constant is change. Anyone working in tech right now can feel that, even if it hasn't been said out loud. How do we adapt? How do we keep our humanity at the center of our work, and make a difference for those we serve?

This conversation with Pauline McKeown keeps coming back to one big idea: the human beings with the deepest experience are the ones best positioned to lead in an AI-augmented world. Whether you're a project manager, a software developer, or anyone trying to figure out where they fit as the tools keep changing, leading with our expertise and our purpose is how we keep doing impactful work.

Pauline and host Joe Ray dig into what AI actually looks like inside the organizations where she works, why the old software-era warning — garbage in, garbage out — matters more than ever in the age of agentic AI, and what it really takes to build tools and workflows that stick. They also talk about the real estate business Pauline runs on the side, where she's already put an AI agent to work, and what that hands-on experience taught her about the difference between novelty and genuine problem-solving.

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0:00 - Welcome to the show!

2:41 - Looking back at Women in Tech 2026

6:57 - AI in action

10:14 - Pauline finding her home in Buffalo

11:47 - AI in Buffalo projects and tech initiatives

13:54 - What businesses need to find success with AI

20:58 - Choosing when to keep work human

26:14 - Your experience is AI's context

32:00 - Humans still have to make decisions

34:12 - Treating your internal team like your customers

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Stay connected with Women in Tech WNY on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Watch Level Up With Lighthouse with Pauline and Joe on YouTube.

Connect with Pauline on LinkedIn.

Learn more about Lighthouse Technology Services, The Place for Technology and Talent.

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Connect with Joe on LinkedIn.

Every great business development can be traced back to people, process, or technology — and The Beacon exists to keep you learning and growing at the intersection of all three. Each episode, we'll sit down with people who are tackling big challenges and shaping what's next for Western New York.

Our leadoff guest is Dan Miner, one of Buffalo's most recognizable voices in business journalism and storytelling. Dan is VP of Storytelling at the 43North Foundation and the editor-in-chief of Series B(uffalo), the Foundation's content and storytelling platform.

Dan and host Joe Ray talk about how stories create real human connection, why Buffalo's legacy industries are still at the heart of so much new development here, and how a platform like Series B can move beyond content to become an engine for decision-making that drives lasting change.

Thanks for joining our newest content series at Lighthouse Technology Services, The Place for Technology Talent. Subscribe at GetTheBeacon.com to get all our newsletter and podcast episodes straight to your inbox.

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0:00 - Welcome to The Beacon!

0:45 - Introducing our guest

1:54 - Dan's beginnings as a journalist

5:08 - The thesis behind Series B(uffalo)

8:04 - Giving grassroots storytelling a home

10:54 - Stories as connection-builders

12:17 - Dan's Buffalo boomerang story

16:07 - New companies in legacy Buffalo industries

24:13 - How stories can shape decision-making

28:25 - Connect and start your own story

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Join the charge and check out all that Series B(uffalo) has to offer.

Follow Series B(uffalo) on LinkedIn.

Follow Series B(uffalo) on Instagram.

Connect with Dan on LinkedIn.

Learn more about Lighthouse Technology Services, The Place for Technology Talent.

Follow Lighthouse on LinkedIn.

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn.