The Wilmac Wire

We’ve all been stuck with bad service, and Adrian Swinscoe has spent nearly two decades refusing to accept it as normal. Today he’s a CX advisor, author and host of the Punk CX podcast, and he pushes brands and technology vendors to stop “coloring in” and start building experiences that put people first.

In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, host Emily McNulty sits down with Adrian to talk about how a frustration with bad service grew into the Punk CX movement, and why staying curious, staying humble and having the courage to hold a point of view are what keep him moving forward in an industry that too often plays it safe.

Here’s what you’ll hear about:

• How an economics degree, teaching in Cairo and a career in economic research led Adrian to CX
• Why he thinks of his writing and podcasting as a “public thinking digital notebook” for building trust at a distance
• How a few pints of Guinness started Punk CX, and the question at its heart: “Are you an artist or are you just coloring in?”
• Why AI should serve your vision rather than drive it, and why understanding the problem matters more than rushing to fix it
• Research showing that transformations succeed far more often when the people affected help shape the change

Episode Breakdown:
0:00 Welcome and introducing Adrian Swinscoe
2:47 This or that: writing books vs. podcasting, football vs. rugby, The Ramones vs. The Clash
7:39 From studying economics in Dundee to teaching in Cairo
16:09 Building “trust at a distance” through writing and Forbes
19:49 Why frustration with bad service keeps him in CX
27:29 How Punk CX was born
35:04 Helping CX technology vendors tell human stories
36:48 AI as a tool: spend 55 minutes understanding the problem
44:15 Curiosity, humility and not being afraid of a point of view
47:29 Where to find Adrian and his work

Connect with Adrian Swinscoe on LinkedIn

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Tipi Brookins knew as a child that she wanted a life in public safety, and that decision has taken her from Amtrak Police to chief of staff at DC’s Office of Unified Communications, all in service of her community. She now leads public safety engagement at GovWorx.

In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell sit down with Tipi to talk about what a healthy 911 culture looks like, and what working in so many different PSAPs taught her about the challenges centers face.

Here’s what you’ll hear about:

• What drew her to 911 as a kid, and her first calls at Amtrak’s national 911 center
• What working in very different PSAPs taught her about the challenges centers face
• A day in the life of a chief of staff at DC’s Office of Unified Communications
• What a healthy 911 culture looks like, and what makes a great supervisor
• Why moving from the center to the private sector felt like scaling her mission

Episode Breakdown:
0:00 Welcome and introducing Tipi Brookins
3:07 Icebreaker: This or That
7:44 What drew her to public safety, and her early days at Amtrak Police
12:49 How very different PSAPs shaped her view of the work
17:07 A day in the life of a chief of staff at DC’s OUC
20:34 What a healthy 911 culture looks like
25:25 What makes a great 911 supervisor
30:06 Moving from the center to the private sector
44:01 The mindset behind her career
45:41 What’s new from GovWorx

Connect with Tipi Brookins on LinkedIn

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John Provenzano got his start in Washington by spending three days walking the halls of Congress, knocking on every office in the Florida delegation until one hired him to open mail. Today he’s CEO of NENA, the National Emergency Number Association, representing more than 26,000 members.

In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, host Emily McNulty sits down with John to talk about his path from Capitol Hill to NENA, and what’s ahead for the 911 industry, including how professionals at every stage of their careers can get involved.

Here’s what you’ll hear about:

• How a handshake with a governor at age 13 sparked a lifelong pull toward politics
• Landing a mailroom job on Capitol Hill, and the six years that followed
• Stepping in as NENA’s CEO after 17 years under his predecessor, and what surprised him about the 911 community
• NENA’s new strategic plan, and how 911 professionals can get involved, from volunteering to on-demand online education
• Where the 911 SAVES Act stands, and why John thinks NG911 funding needs a new approach

Episode Breakdown:
0:00 Welcome and introducing John Provenzano
2:53 Icebreaker: This or That
6:47 What sparked his interest in politics
8:03 Landing his first job on Capitol Hill
17:53 Stepping in as NENA’s CEO
23:29 NENA’s new strategic plan and the Action Council
32:58 The 911 SAVES Act and the push to fund NG911
36:03 How NENA is thinking about AI
39:51 The mindset behind his career
41:27 How to get involved with NENA, including online education

Connect with John Provenzano on LinkedIn

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Kate Beale spent more than 20 years in Washington, D.C., and says its best-kept secret is how much bipartisan work happens quietly behind the scenes. Now she’s back home in Pittsford leading advocacy at the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce. 

In this local episode, recorded in person at Roc Vox Studios in Pittsford, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell sit down with Kate to talk about how federal advocacy translates to a regional level, and and what it will take to keep Rochester competitive. 

Here’s what you’ll hear about: 

• Three years as a Peace Corps agriculture volunteer in Paraguay, and the lessons she carried into public policy 
• How her time in Washington shaped her approach to bipartisan work 
• What brought her back to Rochester, and what her first four months at the Chamber have looked like 
• What the Chamber is prioritizing for 2027, and why talent and workforce are near the top 
• Why Kate sees Rochester at an inflection point, and what the community needs more of right now 

Episode Breakdown: 
0:00 Welcome and introducing Kate Beale 
2:51 Icebreaker: This or That 
5:58 Why she left Rochester, and what pulled her into policy 
11:21 Three years in the Peace Corps in Paraguay 
19:17 Coming home and heading to Washington 
28:49 What brought her back to Rochester 
31:53 Her first four months at the Chamber 
38:48 The Chamber’s priorities for 2027, from workforce to the tech hub 
50:53 What excites her most about what’s ahead for the region 

Connect with Kate Beale on LinkedIn 

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Adam Hassan started his career as a field service engineer at Wilmac, working directly with customers on the ground before making the jump into sales. Nearly seven years and one pivotal career move later, he's Principal Sales Engineer at Axon, behind some of the biggest police service deployments in Canada.

In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell welcome back Adam to talk about what pushed him from field service into sales, how AI-powered translation is already changing roadside stops, and his honest timeline for when AI might actually answer a 911 call.

Here's what you'll hear about:

• Life as a Wilmac field service engineer, and the moment that pushed him toward sales
• Joining Axon back when it was still Taser International, before the rebrand
• How AI-powered translation on Axon body cameras is already changing roadside stops
• His honest timeline for when AI could plausibly take a 911 call, and why he doesn't think it's coming that soon
• What got him into angel investing, and the simple thesis behind it

Episode Breakdown:
0:00 Welcome back Adam Hassan
2:04 Icebreaker: This or That
5:58 How political science led him into technology, almost by accident
11:08 Life as a Wilmac field service engineer
14:57 Crossing from field service into sales
15:40 Joining Axon back when it was still Taser International
33:07 How AI-powered translation on Axon body cameras is changing roadside stops
36:05 His honest timeline for AI answering emergency calls
37:45 What got him into angel investing

Connect with Adam Hassan on LinkedIn

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In 1987, a fire at a London Underground station exposed a serious gap: police and fire crews had no reliable radio communication once they went underground. Duncan Swan, a young engineer at Philips at the time, spent the next two years helping fix it, building radio communications into all 123 stations.

In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell welcome their first UK-based guest of Season 3, Duncan, now Chief Operations Officer of British APCO, for a conversation on his four-decade career, what a global network of public safety associations can accomplish together, and where AI is (and isn't yet) earning trust in emergency response.

Here's what you'll hear about:

• How a fire at a London Underground station led to his first major public safety comms project
• Leading technical assurance on the UK's billion-pound Emergency Services Network
• How a global network of public safety associations helped catch a worldwide false-call surge
• Where AI is already helping in UK public safety, and where the industry still draws the line
• His take on how close AI is to earning the same trust people put in a human dispatcher

Episode Breakdown:
0:00 Welcome to our first UK-based guest of the season
2:16 Full introduction and background
3:00 Icebreaker: This or That
18:17 How a fire at a London Underground station led to his first major public safety project
25:57 Leading technical assurance on the UK's billion-pound Emergency Services Network
31:46 Taking the helm at British APCO
40:15 How a global network of public safety associations caught a worldwide false-call surge
43:14 Where AI is helping in public safety today, and where the industry draws the line
51:05 What AI means for training and supervision in the UK's emergency centers

Connect with Duncan Swan on LinkedIn

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Ten days after 9/11, Joe Grube spent a week sifting through the wreckage in New York City, sorting debris for anything that could help identify what was lost. It's one chapter in a 24-year public safety career that took him from dispatcher to captain to 911 coordinator, and eventually into the private sector at Wilmac and now Motorola Solutions.

In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell sit down with Joe in studio to talk about what sitting on every side of the table has taught him about the difference between a vendor and an industry partner, and where he sees 911 technology headed next.

Here's what you'll hear about:

• Starting as a dispatcher almost by accident, and working his way up to captain
• His time helping with recovery efforts in New York City after 9/11
• What moving from public sector leadership to private sector sales taught him
• The real difference between a vendor and an industry partner, from someone who's sat on both sides
• Using AI to redact body camera footage in minutes instead of days
• His honest take on where 911 technology is headed next

Episode Breakdown:
0:00 Welcome and introducing Joe Grube
2:46 Icebreaker: This or That
8:09 Starting as a dispatcher almost by accident, in 1987
25:34 Helping with recovery efforts in New York City after 9/11
29:04 Leaving 24 years in law enforcement for Wilmac
41:26 What moving from sales to customer success taught him
48:41 The real difference between a vendor and an industry partner
53:33 Using AI to redact body camera footage in minutes instead of days
56:41 Where 911 technology is headed next

Connect with Joe Grube on LinkedIn

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After graduating from Kenyon College with a political science degree, Alex LaPorte spent his time coaching tennis and chasing down startups, determined to learn a business from the ground up. That search eventually led him to Wilmac, where he's now VP of Implementation and Customer Success. 

In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell sit down with Alex less than a month into his tenure, covering his path from customer support rep to VP, what actually separates an industry partner from a vendor, and what he's already rebuilding in his first few weeks on the job. 

Here's what you'll hear about: 

• Chasing down startups after college, and how tennis shaped his approach to leading a team 
• The acquisition at Vonage that taught him trust is won or lost during implementation 
• Why he calls himself a "servant leader," and how that shows up in how he runs a team 
• What actually separates an industry partner from a vendor, in his own words 
• What he's already rebuilding in his first month at Wilmac 

Episode Breakdown: 

0:00 Welcome and introducing Alex Laporte 

2:36 Icebreaker: This or That 

8:04 How political science at Kenyon led him into telecom 

11:18 What tennis taught him about leadership 

14:26 What Vonage taught him about implementation and trust 

19:33 What drew him to Wilmac 

23:24 What surprised him about Wilmac's speed and culture 

30:22 What actually separates a partner from a vendor 

34:49 What he's building in his first weeks at Wilmac 

Connect with Alex LaPorte on LinkedIn 

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We're taking a short Labor Day break, so we're re-airing one of our favorite conversations from earlier this season: Thomas Laird from back in February.

Tom Laird was fired over the phone while driving to scout a high school basketball game — let go by the private equity firm that had just bought his family's call center and promised nothing would change. He had a pregnant wife, no plan B, and a handful of former employees willing to try again. That's how Expivia was born. In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell sit down with Tom, now CEO of Expivia Interaction Marketing Group and OttoQA, for one of Season 3's most unfiltered conversations about the real cost of AI in a contact center, and what it actually takes to build something back up from nothing.

Here's what you'll hear about:

• Getting fired over the phone by private equity, and rebuilding with four employees
• Why AI integrations often take decades to pay for themselves
• The mistake he made pushing AI projects before customers' data was ready
• His candid take on what's happened to industry conferences
• Where the CX platform wars (NICE, Five9, private equity) are headed next
• Why he still believes in bringing people into the office

Episode Breakdown:
0:00 Welcome and introducing Tom Laird
1:58 Full introduction and background
3:09 Icebreaker: This or That
8:19 An unfiltered take on industry conferences
13:39 Growing up inside his family's call center business
17:34 Getting sidelined and fired by private equity
19:21 Rebuilding from four employees: the start of Expivia and OttoQA
44:51 Where the CX platform wars are headed next
45:56 The LiveVox integration everyone's watching
47:28 The AI mistake he made pushing too fast
48:59 The real cost of AI, and why the ROI takes decades
50:28 Where to find Tom, Expivia, and OttoQA

Connect with Thomas Laird on LinkedIn

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This week, we're turning the spotlight inward and catching up as we wrap up our summer. In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell trade the usual guest interview for a solo season catch-up, covering the new hires joining Wilmac this fall, early traction for Archie (Wilmac's first native AI product) with banks and trading floors, and why they brought in a former investment banker to help shape the product roadmap.

Here's what you'll hear about:

• The new hires shaping Wilmac's fall: Alex Laporte, Hailey Gunther, and Chris Capuzzo
• Wilmac's third straight year on Rochester's list of fastest growing companies
• Early traction for Archie, Wilmac's first native AI product, out on the road with banks and trading floors
• Why Wilmac brought in Nigel Riley to help scale product strategy
• How Steve's own AI tool usage has shifted since the spring

Episode Breakdown:
0:00 Welcome back, happy September
1:04 Catching up after a busy summer
2:28 Icebreakers
8:58 The new hires shaping Wilmac's fall
15:26 Maintaining momentum through the busiest stretch of the year
17:35 Wilmac's third straight year on the Fastest Growing Companies list
21:11 What's coming out of on-site customer visits for WFM and Replay
24:28 Bringing in Nigel Riley to help scale product strategy
28:00 How Steve's AI tool usage has shifted since the spring
31:07 What's ahead for the final 15 episodes of Season 3

Connect with Steve McDonnell and Emily McNulty on LinkedIn

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