In this episode of The STEM Career Coach, Sabina Nawaz joins Donnie Maclary to unpack one of the most overlooked truths in leadership: pressure corrupts, not power. Drawing from her experience coaching CEOs across 20+ countries and leading executive development at Microsoft, Sabina shares how emotional pressure leads to “junk behaviour,” how power amplifies its impact, and how leaders can manage it through courage, micro habits, and blank space. If you’ve ever struggled with leading under stress, this episode is your toolkit for showing up with clarity, compassion, and strength.

What does it take to lead a global aerospace team in Malaysia without losing your company’s DNA?When aerospace leader Fergus Lopez set up a new operation in Malaysia, he made one bold decision: staff it entirely with local talent. In this episode, Fergus reveals how he built a high performing team in a country where some technicians had never even flown before, and how he bridged cultural gaps without compromising on safety, quality, or global excellence. From teaching “airport culture” to embedding respect and empowerment into everyday work, Fergus shares the practical leadership lessons any STEM professional can apply to build trust, adapt to new environments, and achieve world class results.Whether you are expanding into new markets, managing cross border teams, or looking to grow your career in STEM, this conversation delivers a blueprint for leading across cultures while staying true to your company’s core values.🚀 Looking to get ahead in your career?Sign up to our newsletter for expert advice, industry trends, and job opportunities: https://www.airswift.com/newsletter-s...✅ Explore our global jobs board: https://hubs.ly/Q02GXf-90🔔 Subscribe to Airswift’s YouTube: http://bit.ly/airswiftyoutube🌐 Learn more about us: https://www.airswift.com/about/👥 Join the Airswift family: https://www.airswift.com/employee/

What happens when a hospitality veteran launches a deep-tech lab—and starts hiring people based on grit, not degrees?In this episode, Henry Maillet, CEO of MultiPeak Global Innovation Lab, shares how he's disrupting startup incubation with a human-first, hardware-forward approach. From turning magnetic bedsheets into sleep tech to recruiting street-smart talent from developing nations, Henry’s innovation playbook is anything but typical.You’ll learn:• Why prototyping always starts with on-the-ground problems—not ideas• How Henry assesses cultural fit across global teams• The surprising reason he asks his team to leave after two years• Why academic credentials don’t matter nearly as much as resilience and curiosityWhether you're building a career, a company, or the next great idea—this one will challenge how you think about innovation, hiring, and leadership.🚀 Looking to get ahead in your career?Sign up to our newsletter for expert advice, industry trends, and job opportunities: https://www.airswift.com/newsletter-s...✅ Explore our global jobs board: https://hubs.ly/Q02GXf-90🔔 Subscribe to Airswift’s YouTube: http://bit.ly/airswiftyoutube🌐 Learn more about us: https://www.airswift.com/about/👥 Join the Airswift family: https://www.airswift.com/employee/

Salman Jaffer has built tech teams from London to Ho Chi Minh to Singapore—and he’s learned what actually makes them click. In this episode of The STEM Career Coach, Salman shares hard-won lessons from his global journey across telcos, fintech, and healthtech. From working with large corporates and early stage startups with successful exits, his path proves that creativity, curiosity, and courage matter more than degrees. You’ll hear why some of his best developers came from economics and journalism, how he balances human connection with technical leadership, and why “a few oddballs” might be the secret to your next great team.If you lead people, mentor talent, or want to pivot into STEM—this conversation will change how you think about teams, growth, and what truly drives innovation.🚀 Looking to get ahead in your career?Sign up to our newsletter for expert advice, industry trends, and job opportunities: https://www.airswift.com/newsletter-s...✅ Explore our global jobs board: https://hubs.ly/Q02GXf-90🔔 Subscribe to Airswift’s YouTube: http://bit.ly/airswiftyoutube🌐 Learn more about us: https://www.airswift.com/about/👥 Join the Airswift family: https://www.airswift.com/employee/

In this episode of The STEM Career Coach, Donnie Maclary sits down with Sumesh Rahavendra, Chief Digital & Strategy Leader at Pos Malaysia, to reveal how you can stop waiting for promotion and start leading at the level you aspire to right now. You’ll discover:

• Why “thinking better” beats just “working harder.” Sumesh explains that as you climb, success depends less on effort volume and more on evolving your thought process to match your aspirational role .
• How to act into your next role today. Learn to “think, feel, say and do things at a level you aspire to, not the level you’re in”—so you build credibility before your title catches up .
• The one empty chair you must always fill. Discover the CEO lesson that “the customer pays your salary… the customer pays your bonus,” and why leaving an empty seat for the end user transforms every decision .
• The three habits of high-impact STEM leaders: curiosity → deep dive → ownership. Adopt a founder’s mindset to tackle challenges as if they were your own venture
• Global leadership & remote hiring insights. From defining your “why” to navigating time zones and cultural nuances, Sumesh shares real advice on building and empowering distributed teams .

Whether you’re an early-career engineer or a senior technologist, this candid, framework-driven conversation gives you the exact mindsets and behaviors to step into leadership, before the promotion arrives.

Ready to uncover the playbook for inclusive STEM leadership? In this episode of The STEM Career Coach, host Donnie Maclary sits down with Telle Whitney—co-founder of the Grace Hopper Celebration and veteran advocate for women in tech—to discover the “6 Cs” that drive high-performing, diverse teams. You’ll learn: - Creativity & Curiosity: How seeking out cognitive dissonance sparks breakthrough innovation - Courage & Confidence: Real-world steps to embrace risk and own your voice - Community & Communication: Building authentic mentorship and sponsorship programs that scale - Global Perspectives: Strategies for nurturing inclusive cultures from Asia to Austin - Mental Health & Belonging: Practical tips to support under-represented talentWhether you’re charting your first internship or eyeing a leadership role, Telle’s candid stories and proven frameworks will give you the insight and inspiration to lead—and thrive—in any STEM environment. Hit play now and take your first step toward mastering these core principles!🚀 Looking to get ahead in your career?Sign up to our newsletter for expert advice, industry trends, and job opportunities: https://www.airswift.com/newsletter-s...✅ Explore our global jobs board: https://hubs.ly/Q02GXf-90🔔 Subscribe to Airswift’s YouTube: http://bit.ly/airswiftyoutube🌐 Learn more about us: https://www.airswift.com/about/👥 Join the Airswift family: https://www.airswift.com/employee/

What does human-centered leadership look like in the age of AI?In this highlight reel from Season 2 of the AI to Z podcast, we bring together powerful moments from ten remarkable guests—executives, innovators, and thinkers reshaping the way we work, lead, and build trust with technology.🎙️ Featured Guests & Topics: - Julie Flowers on using AI to personalize hiring and put candidates first - Carl Marci on tech addiction, mental health, and reclaiming attention - Todd Unger on fixing customer journeys with smart automation - Pearl Chu on inclusion, authenticity, and recognition in global teams - Fumbi Chima on what real transformation and innovation demand - Leslie Vickrey on AI as a tool—not a replacement—for human connection - Megan Roudebush on ethics, governance, and designing AI for good - Richard Lord on AI in finance, responsibility, and pragmatic adoption - Lauren B. Jones on digital fluency, bias removal, and fearless adaptation - Russ Neuman on evolutionary intelligence, societal shifts, and regulationThis is your blueprint for leading with confidence, empathy, and strategic clarity in a time of unprecedented change.🧠 Whether you're building a team, launching innovation, or adapting your career—these insights are your edge.🚀 Looking to get ahead in your career?Sign up to our newsletter for expert advice, industry trends, and job opportunities: https://www.airswift.com/newsletter-s...✅ Explore our global jobs board: https://hubs.ly/Q02GXf-90🔔 Subscribe to Airswift’s YouTube: http://bit.ly/airswiftyoutube🌐 Learn more about us: https://www.airswift.com/about/👥 Join the Airswift family: https://www.airswift.com/employee/

What does it take to lead in an AI-powered world?In this highlight reel from Season 1 of the AI to Z podcast, we bring together the most powerful insights from ten visionary guests. You’ll hear from executives, founders, technologists, and change agents on what it really means to navigate transformation—with AI, with people, and with purpose.🎙️ Featured Guests & Topics: - Hagen Wenzek on how AI improves consistency in healthcare decisions - Wayne Butterfield on redesigning work for automation - Jill Porubovic on navigating resistance and IT change - Jennifer Ives on tech ROI, data strategy, and engaging future talent - John Higginson on inclusive leadership and solving for fairness - Casey Jacox on humility, accountability, and winning relationships - Lisa Sun on authentic confidence and vulnerability in leadership - Merav Yuravlivker on data literacy, remote culture, and responsible AI - Ken Corriveau on AI ethics, adaptability, and future jobsThis is a masterclass in modern leadership, culture-building, and the real human dynamics behind AI adoption.🧠 Whether you're a tech executive, team leader, or just curious about how top minds are thinking—this is your shortcut to the ideas that matter.

In this episode, we explore how the digital breadcrumbs you leave behind—everything from your Instagram posts to your phone’s sleep data—can paint a surprisingly vivid picture of who you are. But how much of that picture are you even aware of? And what happens when others—researchers, companies, or algorithms—see it before you do? Join us as we dive into the science of human behavior through data, uncovering how identity, intention, and unintentional habits all come together in ways that may surprise you.🚀 Looking to get ahead in your career?Sign up to our newsletter for expert career advice, industry insights, and the latest job opportunities: https://www.airswift.com/newsletter-s...✅ Sign up to our jobs board: https://hubs.ly/Q02GXf-90🔔 Subscribe to learn more about Airswift: http://bit.ly/airswiftyoutube🌐 Find out more about Airswift here: https://www.airswift.com/about/👥 Want to join the Airswift family? Check out vacancies: https://www.airswift.com/employee/

How can you capture clean, standardized data from any point-of-sale system—without ripping and replacing your tech stack?Our guest, Jakub Ruzicka, Chief Product and Technology Officer at EYOS, breaks it down. Drawing on his background in statistics, NLP, and scale-up leadership, Jakub shares how his team is solving one of retail’s messiest challenges: fragmented transaction data and limited visibility into offline sales.YRS has developed a platform-agnostic solution that sits directly on any POS device, providing real-time insights, marketing visibility, and even fraud detection potential—without the need for hundreds of custom integrations.“The main value it really brings is that it sits on top of any point of sale device... the normal way how companies would get insights into such data would be pretty much integrating hundreds of APIs... and especially in regions like South Asia, this might be quite tricky. Just capturing everyone is impossible without a universal solution.” – Jakub RuzickaWhether you’re in retail, fintech, marketing, or data strategy, this conversation answers key questions about where AI and product thinking are merging to deliver real business outcomes.If you’ve ever wrestled with messy integrations, incomplete dashboards, or missed opportunities because of poor data visibility—this one’s for you.