1118: How Startups/Consumers are Driving Sustainable Packaging
Release Date: 02/20/2020
3535: HR at a Crossroads: Performance, Culture, and Technology
Tech Talks Daily
How is HR changing when AI, economic pressure, and rising employee expectations all collide at once? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I’m joined by Simon Noble, CEO of Cezanne HR, to unpack how the role of HR is evolving from a traditional support function into something far more closely tied to business performance. Simon shares why HR is increasingly being judged on outcomes like retention, capability building, and readiness for change, rather than policies, processes, or cost control. Yet despite that shift, many HR leaders still find themselves pulled back into a compliance-first...
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3534: Agentic AI at Scale: What 120 Million Monthly Conversations Really Mean
Tech Talks Daily
What does it really mean when AI moves from answering questions to making decisions that affect real people, real money, and real outcomes? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I’m joined by Joe Kim, CEO of Druid AI, for a grounded conversation about why agentic AI is becoming the focus for enterprises that have moved beyond experimentation. After years of hype around generative tools, many organizations are now facing a tougher question. Can AI be trusted to take action inside core business processes, and can it do so with the accuracy, security, and accountability that enterprises expect?...
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3533: Smart Cities, AI, and Sovereignty, Gorilla Technology’s CTO Explains What Works and What Fails
Tech Talks Daily
The world is building data centers, identity rails, and AI policy stacks at a speed that makes 2026 feel closer than it is. In this conversation, Rajesh Natarajan, Global Chief Technology Officer at Gorilla Technology Group, explains what it takes to engineer platforms that remain reliable, secure, and sovereign-ready for decades, especially when infrastructure must operate outside the safety net of constant cloud connectivity. Raj talks about quantum-safe networking as a current risk, not a future headline. Adversaries are capturing encrypted traffic today, betting on decrypting it later, and...
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3532: How AI Keeps Live Events Personal for Fans at Event Tickets Center
Tech Talks Daily
What makes live events feel personal in an age of algorithms making the calls? That’s the tension marketers are living in right now. Ben Kruger, Chief Marketing Officer at Event Tickets Center, sits at the center of this shift. He has spent 20 years shaping server-side systems and performance marketing strategies, including a decade of persistence chasing a role at Google before landing a position in New York just as eCommerce demand went into overdrive during the pandemic. Now, at ETC, he runs marketing for more than 130,000 live events simultaneously. It’s a scale that forces automation...
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3531: Scaling Without the Hype Inside Uploadcare’s Technical Philosophy
Tech Talks Daily
What does it really take to build software that can grow from a single line of code to millions of users a day without losing its soul along the way? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I’m joined by Alex Gusev, CTO at Uploadcare, for a wide-ranging conversation about scale, simplicity, and why leadership in technology starts with people long before it gets anywhere near frameworks or tooling. Alex has spent two decades building server-side systems, often inside small teams, and has seen firsthand how early decisions echo through a company’s future, for better and for worse. We talk...
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3530: Candy Crush Accessibility Lessons From a 200 Million Player Game
Tech Talks Daily
If you have ever opened Candy Crush over the holidays without thinking about the design decisions behind every swipe, this episode offers a rare look behind the curtain. I sit down with Abigail Rindo, Head of Creative at King, to unpack how accessibility has evolved from a well-meaning afterthought into a core creative and commercial practice inside one of the world’s most recognizable gaming studios. With more than 200 million people playing King’s games each month, Abigail explains why inclusive design cannot be treated as charity or compliance, but as a responsibility that...
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3529: How Ping Identity Sees the Next Chapter of Digital Identity
Tech Talks Daily
What does it actually mean to prove who we are online in 2025, and why does it still feel so fragile? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sit down with Alex Laurie from Ping Identity to talk about why digital identity has reached a real moment of tension in the UK. As more of our lives move online, from banking and healthcare to social platforms and government services, the gap between how identity should work and how it actually works keeps widening. Alex shares why the UK now feels out of step with other regions when it comes to online identity schemes, and how heavy reliance on...
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3528: How Boomi Thinks About Scaling AI Without Losing Control
Tech Talks Daily
What does it really mean to keep humans at the center of AI when agentic systems are accelerating faster than most organizations can govern them? At AWS re:Invent, I sat down with Michael Bachman from Boomi for a wide-ranging conversation that cut through the hype and focused on the harder questions many leaders are quietly asking. Michael leads technical and market research at Boomi, spending his time looking five to ten years ahead and translating future signals into decisions companies need to make today. That long view shaped a thoughtful discussion on human-centric AI, trust versus...
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3527: How AWS Is Building Trust Into Responsible AI Adoption
Tech Talks Daily
What does responsible AI really look like when it moves beyond policy papers and starts shaping who gets to build, create, and lead in the next phase of the digital economy? In this conversation recorded during AWS re:Invent, I’m joined by Diya Wynn, Principal for Responsible AI and Global AI Public Policy at Amazon Web Services. With more than 25 years of experience spanning the internet, e-commerce, mobile, cloud, and artificial intelligence, Diya brings a grounded and deeply human perspective to a topic that is often reduced to technical debates or regulatory headlines. Our discussion...
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3526: TinyMCE and the Human Side of Developer Experience
Tech Talks Daily
What does it really mean to support developers in a world where the tools are getting smarter, the expectations are higher, and the human side of technology is easier to forget? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sit down with Frédéric Harper, Senior Developer Relations Manager at TinyMCE, for a thoughtful conversation about what it takes to serve developer communities with credibility, empathy, and long-term intent. With more than twenty years in the tech industry, Fred’s career spans hands-on web development, open source advocacy, and senior DevRel roles at companies including...
info_outlineRecycling and the necessity for greater sustainability have been top of mind for years. As climate change continues to accelerate, many feel they are doing their part by increasing their recycling efforts, especially of plastics.
However, the uncomfortable truth is that most plastics cannot be recycled and will sit in a landfill or burned. According to the Plastic Pollution Coalition, about six times more post-consumer plastic waste is burned in the U.S. than is domestically recycled. While plastic that makes it to a landfill will stay for thousands of years and may never truly disintegrate.
The convenience afforded to us by e-commerce, globalization, and plastics is destroying the planet. Consumers are wising up and choosing brands based on their commitment to sustainability. Accenture found that more than 80% of people surveyed said they felt it was "important or extremely important" for companies to design environmentally conscious products.
As we continue into 2020, this sentiment will be the driving force behind the pledge for the adoption of sustainable packaging from large corporations. However, while it is admirable to make that pledge, are large corporations truly equipped to make the switch?
As the founder and CEO of VentureFuel, a leading innovation consultancy, Fred Schonenberg joins me on the Tech Talks Daily podcast to talk about how new innovations in sustainable packaging from startups will facilitate the move to greater adoption by large corporations. We also discuss the types technology and innovations being used to create sustainable packages
For over 15 years, Fred has introduced new formats, first-to-market opportunities and is known for his award-winning creative solutions and ability to forge strategic partnerships to grow revenue. He is a frequent speaker at industry events such as SXSW, Ad Tech, Advertising Week, IAB, OMMA, and thought-leader published in everything from The Huffington Post, Business Insider, Media Post, The Drum, Tech.co, Creator Magazine, Advertising Week, Event Marketer, etc.
I also learn how VentureFuel helps established companies discover and implement new technologies that drive measurable growth. Described as "the secret weapon" to top corporate innovators, their "Excelerator" is a repeatable innovation framework that delivers consistent cutting-edge solutions with tangible results.
VentureFuel has helped over 100 established companies (Netflix, Beam Suntory, General Mills, Microsoft, Hershey's, The Chicago Cubs, etc.) discover breakthrough technologies and innovations that drove growth, competitive advantage, and tangible results such as 18.7% sales lift, over $10 million in savings and purchase intent increases of 5x.