Host Keith Shaw talks with Marci Maddox, vice president of research and content for IDC’s Tech Buyer Digital Platform, about the ways in which artificial intelligence is shaking up the IT sourcing and procurement process for large companies. With agentic AI on the way and concerns around trust, accuracy and risk, how will AI be able to prove itself as a way to improve the procurement process?

Host Keith Shaw talks with Dustin York, an adjunct professor at the University of Florida who teaches a graduate-level class called “The science of going viral”. With social media becoming more of an entertainment media, many of the rules have changed around what content becomes a hit versus a flop. The two also discuss why so many companies fail at social media branding or whether they are trying too hard on their social channels.

Host Keith Shaw talks with Mika Yamamoto, chief customer and marketing officer at Freshworks, about their latest survey of 4,000 knowledge workers. The survey said not only are workers embracing AI in their jobs, they’re demanding more from their employers and getting promotions because of the technology.

Employees want more AI—and leaders are listening

https://www.freshworks.com/theworks/performance/freshworks-global-ai-workplace-report-2024/

Two AI developer strategies: Hire engineers or let AI do the work

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3836092/two-ai-developer-strategies-hire-engineers-or-let-ai-do-the-work.html

Host Keith Shaw talks with Ken Mingis from Computerworld and Macworld’s Michael Simon about Apple’s latest battles with the U.K. and Europe over protecting users’ data from governments and side-loading applications on the iPhone. The Apple crew also discusses what we can expect from Apple in 2025, whether the company will be creating a follow-up product to the Vision Pro, and whether the company has moved on from the Steve Jobs legacy on the eve of what would have been his 70th birthday.

Within the financial services spaces, many companies are fast-moving when it comes to technology innovation, but in general the banking space has been slower moving and more conservative, due to regulations and concerns about data privacy. Will this likely continue as companies explore generative AI and agentic AI technologies? Olly Downs, Chief Technology & AI Officer at Curinos, joins the show to discuss where banks, credit-card companies and other financial services firms will deploy AI agents.

Going beyond traditional generative AI chatbots and even agentic AI workflows, the next phase within the workplace, especially for tasks that are mundane, will be performed by ‘digital employees’ alongside humans. But what does this mean? Will digital employees be treated the same as other human co-workers? Will they have to sit through job interviews and meetings? (short answer: yes) Gou Rao, co-founder of NeuBird, chats with Keith about this brave new future of work that might be right around the corner.

Innovations in the AI space continue to disrupt the technology space, and recent news about Chinese startup DeepSeek not only disrupted financial markets, but enterprise concerns as well. Debo Dutta, Chief AI Officer at Nutanix, joins the show to discuss his top AI trends for 2025 and what businesses need to do now to prepare for the constant disruptions in AI.

Advances in artificial intelligence, networking and software are allowing sensor companies to create new use cases for “older” technologies. For example, millimeter wave technology once aimed at creating a better VR experience within the home can now be used to detect falls for older residents living at home. Gregg Rouse, president of Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM), joins the show to discuss advances in sensor technologies and what new use cases will emerge from them.

With new AI tools disrupting companies and workplaces around the world, are we soon approaching a new way of work that goes beyond the agricultural, industrial and information ages? What will happen if we get to a place where humans won’t be ‘working’ in a traditional sense that we’ve all grown up with? Aneesh Raman, the Chief Economic Opportunity Officer at LinkedIn, joins the show to discuss a new paradigm where humans still have jobs and will be ‘working’, but where the nature of work is focused on skills rather than jobs and titles.

Is agentic AI technology the next phase of generative artificial intelligence, or are there some other AI technologies on the horizon? What is being overhyped versus actual projects that will have business impact? Michael Cohen, global chief data & analytics officer at Plus Company, joins the show to discuss the evolutionary nature of generative AI, and where the world is heading next.