The way we discover, consume, and trust news is changing faster than at any point in modern history. Audiences are no longer loyal to platforms, distribution is no longer owned, and technology, especially AI, is reshaping not just how content is delivered, but how media organizations think about their very purpose and sustainability.

Today’s guest sits right at the intersection of media, technology, and strategy. Allison McHenry is a seasoned media and tech leader who has spent her career helping news organizations navigate digital transformation, audience strategy, and the hard business questions that come with building sustainable, mission-driven media in a fragmented world.

In this conversation we will talk about how people are actually consuming news today and how distribution strategies are being rethought from the ground up, through the lens of Allison's story and experience as a Technology and Product Leader in this space. 

This is a thoughtful, honest conversation about the future of news, and what it will take to build media organizations that truly serve people in the years ahead.

My guest today is Bobby Tahir,  a highly experienced CTO and technology executive with a track record of building, scaling, and modernizing engineering organizations in high-growth and private equity–backed companies.

In this conversation, we unpack what really changes for a CTO the moment private equity enters the picture: the shift in expectations, the compressed timelines for value creation, and the strategic mistakes that can quietly derail even strong technical leaders. Bobby shares what PE-backed CTOs often underestimate,  and what the best ones do differently when the pressure is on.

We also dig into how AI is reshaping the CTO role in very real ways. Not the hype, but how it actually changes where a CTO spends their time, which teams feel the impact most, and where productivity gains are truly showing up versus being oversold.

And finally, we get into people leadership, specifically the hard realities of leading distributed and outsourced engineering teams across cultures and geographies. Bobby offers a grounded take on what great leadership looks like today when teams may never share the same room, but standards still can’t slip.

If you’re a CTO, a technical leader, or anyone navigating scale under pressure, this one’s for you.

Bobby, thank you so much for being here!

Today’s guest lives right at the intersection where strategy, technology, and organizational reality collide.

Noureddine Oirkha is a Strategy & Transformation Director at Deloitte, where he works with large, complex organizations on some of their most ambitious, and most risky, initiatives: digital transformations, global ERP implementations, and enterprise-wide change programs. This is the kind of work where decisions ripple across thousands of people, dozens of systems, and years of execution.

In this conversation, we will unpack what digital transformation really means when you strip away the marketing language, why so many large ERP and transformation programs struggle or fail, and why process, discipline, and fundamentals matter just as much as vision and outcomes. 

If you’ve ever wondered why transformation is so hard, why it fails so often, or how to do it with more honesty and rigor, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

Today’s guest has lived through several major waves of technology, and helped shape a few of them along the way. Rupen Chanda is currently the CTO at Bluescape, and over the years he’s held senior engineering and product leadership roles at companies like Adobe and BlackBerry, working at the intersection of platforms, collaboration, and large-scale technology change.

In this conversation, we go beyond titles and talk about the inflection points that shaped Rupen’s career, how mindset plays a role in navigating uncertainty, and what it’s really like to lead teams through constant technological disruption. We’ll dive deep into AI, how Rupen sees it transforming the tech industry over the next decade, how he’s applying it in practice at Bluescape, and what concepts like “Industry 5.0” mean when theory meets reality.

We’ll also explore what this rapid pace of change means for education, careers, and personal growth, and why human qualities still matter deeply in an AI-driven world. And to round things out, we’ll step away from the keyboard and talk about how Rupen recharges, stays inspired, and keeps perspective outside of tech.

Enjoy!

We often wonder why the transition from being a great engineer to becoming a great leader feels so hard.

Why do some individual contributors thrive when they step into leadership, while others struggle?

At what point does technical excellence stop being enough, and what new skills need to take its place?

How much do networking and personal branding really matter in an engineering career, and why do so many engineers resist them? 

These are the kinds of questions and topics we’ll be exploring today with our guest, Mitch Kosowski.

Mitch is an experienced engineering leader who has lived this journey firsthand, from individual contributor to team lead and now executive leadership.

He’s deeply thoughtful about what effective leadership actually looks like in practice, how engineers can grow into influence without abandoning their technical roots, and how intentional networking and personal branding can accelerate career growth.

Enjoy!

Today’s guest is Franco Pinto, CTO and co-founder of The Mobile-First Company, a startup helping small businesses build mobile-first digital experiences without the traditional complexity of software development.

Franco is an engineer and entrepreneur from Argentina who has built his career at the intersection of technology, product, and scale. Alongside his co-founder, Jérémy Goillot, he’s growing a truly global company with teams in Buenos Aires, Miami, and Paris, and an ambitious expansion into the U.S. market.

In this episode, we’ll explore Franco’s journey and the milestones that shaped him, the founding story of The Mobile-First Company, and why they chose a horizontal, general-purpose platform over a vertical approach. We’ll also talk about building a cross-border founding partnership, leveraging LATAM talent, scaling globally, what drives Franco, and how he disconnects outside of work.

Enjoy!

Today’s guest is Karl-Gustav Kallasmaa; founder, engineer, and one of the sharpest voices thinking about how AI is changing search, visibility, and attention on the internet. 

He’s built search systems from the ground up and now helps companies understand how they’re discovered by AI, not humans. 

We’ll talk about AI retrieval, startup lessons, and what founders are getting wrong about visibility today. 

Let’s dive in.

Today’s guest is Mo Balakrishnan, a software engineering leader working at the intersection of building products, leading teams, and navigating the fast-moving world of AI.

In this episode, we’ll talk about how Mo is using AI in his own work, how it’s changing the way teams build software, and what engineers should be excited, or cautious, about as AI becomes part of everyday development. We’ll explore how quickly ideas can now turn into prototypes, whether the AI hype is real or overblown, and how the role of the software engineer is evolving.

And of course, we’ll get to know Mo beyond work, what he’s experimenting with and what he enjoys outside of tech.

Enjoy!

Today on The Future of the Future, we’re joined by someone who embodies the intersection of creativity, entrepreneurship, and human-centered innovation: Simone Vascotto.

Simone is a founder, builder, and global thinker whose work spans branding, marketing, human capital, and now, through his latest venture, HumanaQ, the future of how organizations understand and empower their people.

His journey has taken him across industries and across borders, shaping a unique perspective on what it really takes to create companies that are both meaningful and sustainable.

In this conversation, we  will dig into the origins of HumanaQ, the milestones that shaped Simone's career, and the lessons he’s learned about balancing passion and skill with financial sustainability.

It’s a conversation about culture, vision, discipline, and what it means to build with intention in a world that’s constantly changing.

Simone, thank you so much for being here!

If you follow me, you know there is a phrase I like to say over and over.

Relationships Matter.

The way we get along... with coworkers, clients, etc, matters. We want to have fun and thrive in our own unique ways.

Well, today's guest is a living testament of this mantra.

Mickeli Bedore is a relationship builder. He is amazing at it!

And I want you to hear his story, what he does for a living, and HOW he does it.

Enjoy!