1151: Douglas Ferguson, Voltage Control: Beyond The Prototype
Release Date: 03/24/2020
3427: Can Smarter Compression Help Save the Planet? CompressionX Think so
Tech Talks Daily
What if the way we store data is shaping the planet’s future? That thought has been on my mind ever since attending the IT Press Tour in Amsterdam, where I first connected with today’s guest. With global data creation forecast to hit 510 zettabytes by 2030, and data centers already consuming staggering amounts of power, the conversation is no longer about whether change is needed but about how we approach it. Joining me on the podcast is Nicholas Stavrinou, co-founder of CompressionX, a company rethinking lossless compression. Nicholas shares how a mathematical paradox in a university...
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3426: Aura Technology at TechSummit25: XDR, Secure Edge, Real Outcomes
Tech Talks Daily
I recorded this episode at Barracuda TechSummit25 in Alpbach, Austria, a mountain village that looks like a postcard and hosts some of the most grounded security conversations you will hear all year. My guest is Richard Flanders, Commercial Director at Aura Technology, a managed service provider on the south coast of England that supports public sector organisations and tightly regulated commercial clients. Richard arrived as part of Barracuda’s Partner Advisory Board, which means he spends as much time feeding customer reality back into product teams as he does comparing notes with peers in...
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3425: Barracuda XDR: From Football Playbooks to Home Alone Tactics
Tech Talks Daily
I recorded this conversation at Barracuda TechSummit25 in Alpbach, Austria, where the mountains feel close enough to touch and the discussions get very real very quickly. My guests are Adam Khan, VP of Global Security Operations at Barracuda XDR, and Eric Russo, Director of SOC Defensive Security. Together they run the teams that watch, interpret, and act when attacks move across email, identity, network, cloud, and endpoints. Their keynote used the language of sport to make sense of modern defense, and it worked. You will hear why football tactics map cleanly to security, how roles and...
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3424: Barracuda TechSummit 25: Secure Today, Ready Tomorrow
Tech Talks Daily
I recorded this conversation in Alpbach, Austria, a village that looks like a postcard and hosts a very serious tech gathering. TechSummit25 is Barracuda’s deeply technical event, and it shows. The rooms are packed with solution architects, product managers, and engineers comparing notes with customers who run these systems every day. It is the kind of environment where product direction and real-world pain points meet over a coffee, then head straight into a lab to test an idea. My guest today is Neal Bradbury, Chief Product Officer at Barracuda, who leads engineering, product management,...
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3423: Johnson Controls Explains How to Cut Data Center Cooling Energy by 40%
Tech Talks Daily
In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I’m joined by Todd Grabowski from Johnson Controls to unpack the physics, products, and design choices shaping the next generation of data center cooling. It’s a practical conversation that moves from chips and compressors to water, power, and land constraints, and what it really takes to keep modern infrastructure reliable at scale. Todd brings three decades of experience to the table and a front-row view of how Johnson Controls and the York brand have kept their focus on energy efficiency, reliability, and sustainability for more than a century. That...
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3422: Meet Symphion and the Print Fleet Cybersecurity as a Service
Tech Talks Daily
I’ve spent years talking about endpoint security, yet printers rarely enter the conversation. Today, that blind spot takes center stage. I’m joined by Jim LaRoe, CEO of Symphion, to unpack why printers now represent one of the most exposed corners of the enterprise and what can be done about it. Jim’s team protects fleets that range from a few hundred devices to tens of thousands, and the picture he paints is stark. In many organizations, printers make up 20 to 30 percent of endpoints, and almost all of them are left in a factory default state. That means open ports, default passwords,...
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Marketing Intelligence After Cookies: How Funnel Turns Data Into Decisions
Tech Talks Daily
Marketing teams used to have a simple enough job: follow the click, count the conversions, and shift the budget accordingly. But that world is gone. GDPR, iOS restrictions, and browser-level changes have left most attribution models broken or unreliable. So what now? In this episode, I sat down with Fredrik Skansen, CEO of Funnel, to unpack how marketing intelligence actually works in a world where data is partial, journeys are fragmented, and the old models don’t hold. Since founding Funnel in 2014, Fredrik has grown the company into a platform that supports over 2,600 brands and handles...
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Why FeatureOps Might Be the Future of Software Delivery
Tech Talks Daily
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From Bots To Agents: Building Trustworthy Autonomy With Hakkōda, an IBM Company
Tech Talks Daily
I invited Atalia Horenshtien to unpack a topic many leaders are wrestling with right now. Everyone is talking about AI agents, yet most teams are still living with rule based bots, brittle scripts, and a fair bit of anxiety about handing decisions to software. Atalia has lived through the full arc, from early machine learning and automated pipelines to today’s agent frameworks inside large enterprises. She is an AI and data strategist, a former data scientist and software engineer, and has just joined Hakoda, an IBM company, to help global brands move from experiments to outcomes. The timing...
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3418: Scaling IoT Security with Real Time Visibility at Wireless Logic
Tech Talks Daily
Here’s the thing. Connecting thousands of devices is the easy part. Keeping them resilient and secure as you grow is where the real work lives. In this episode, I sit down with Iain Davidson, Senior Product Manager at Wireless Logic, to unpack what happens when connectivity, security, and operations meet in the real world. Wireless Logic connects a new IoT device every 18 seconds, with more than 18 million active subscriptions across 165 countries and partnerships with over 750 mobile networks. That reach brings hard lessons about where projects stall, where breaches begin, and how to build...
info_outlineIn a time of uncertainty where we are all surrounded by hype, fear, and all things related to the Coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 alerts, I want to bring in hope, optimism, and new solutions via this daily tech podcast. Today, I wanted to learn more about Design Sprints and how they can help teams unite even when working from home.
If you have ever found yourself asking, What are Design Sprints? Why are Design Sprints so valuable? When should teams conduct Design Sprints or just want a few tips for running a successful Design Sprint and what to do with the information after the Design Sprint is over, you are in a for a treat today.
Voltage Control was founded by Douglas Ferguson, an entrepreneur and technologist with over 20 years of experience. With his unique combination of expertise in technology, product strategy, and design thinking, Voltage Control offers trusted guidance to companies who want to jumpstart their product or project with an impactful innovation workshop. Austin-based Voltage Control designs and leads custom innovation workshops and Design Sprints, as developed by Google Ventures.
In addition to workshop facilitation, Voltage Control engages with organizations for Digital Transformation, Innovation Training, Corporate Summits, and Strategic Planning. Douglas is also the author of Beyond the Prototype, a new book that offers a six-step plan for companies struggling with the shift from discovery to launch.
Prior to Voltage Control, Douglas held CTO positions at numerous Austin startups, where he led product and engineering teams using agile, lean, and human-centered design principles. While CTO at Twyla, Douglas worked directly with Google Ventures running Design Sprints and now brings this experience and process to companies everywhere.
Douglas also recently published his first book, Beyond the Prototype, which offers a six-step plan for companies struggling with the shift from discovery to launch. Douglas is active in the Austin startup community where he serves on the board of several non-profits, mentors startups, and advises early-stage ventures. He spends his free time patching up modular synthesizers, playing guitar, and taking photographs. He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Join me in learning from Douglas, who outlines everything companies need to know before, during, and after conducting a Design Sprint.