Episode 1: Intro & Interview With LinkedIn Pulse Star John White
Release Date: 07/10/2015
Tech Talks Daily
What happens when we finally admit that stopping every cyberattack was never realistic in the first place? That is the thread running through this conversation, recorded at the start of the year when reflection tends to be more honest and the noise dial is turned down a little. I was joined by returning guest Raghu Nandakumara from Illumio, nearly three years after our last discussion, to pick up a question that has aged far too well. How do organizations talk about cybersecurity value when breaches keep happening anyway? This episode is less about shiny tools and more about uncomfortable...
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What really happens inside an organization when a cyber incident hits and the neat incident response plan starts to fall apart? That question sat at the heart of my return conversation with Max Vetter, VP of Cyber at Immersive. It has been a big year for breaches, public fallout, and eye-watering financial losses, and this episode goes beyond headlines to examine what cyber crisis management actually looks like when pressure, uncertainty, and human behavior collide. Max brings a rare perspective shaped by years in law enforcement, intelligence work, and hands-on cyber defense, and he is...
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What happens when the web browser stops being a passive window to information and starts acting like an intelligent coworker, and why does that suddenly make security everyone’s problem? At the start of 2026, I sat down with Michael Shieh from Mammoth Cyber to unpack a shift that is quietly redefining how work gets done. AI browsers are moving fast from consumer curiosity to enterprise reality, embedding agentic AI directly into the place where most work already happens, the browser. Search, research, comparison, analysis, and decision support are no longer separate steps. They are becoming...
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What happens when engineering teams can finally see the business impact of every technical decision they make? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sat down with Chris Cooney, Director of Advocacy at Coralogix, to unpack why observability is no longer just an engineering concern, but a strategic lever for the entire business. Chris joined me fresh from AWS re:Invent, where he had challenged a long-standing assumption that technical signals such as CPU usage, error rates, and logs belong only in engineering silos. Instead, he argues that these signals, when enriched and interpreted correctly,...
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What does real AI transformation look like when leaders stop chasing prototypes and start demanding outcomes they can actually measure? That question sat at the center of my conversation with Alex Cross, Chief Technology Officer for EMEA at CI&T, alongside Melissa Smith, as we unpacked why so many organizations feel stuck between AI ambition and business reality. There is no shortage of excitement around AI, but there is growing skepticism too, especially from leadership teams who have seen pilots come and go without clear return. This episode focuses on how CI&T is addressing that gap...
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What does AI-led transformation actually look like when it moves beyond pilots, hype, and slide decks and starts changing how work gets done every day? That question framed my conversation with Venk Korla, CEO of HGS, at a time when many organizations feel both excited and exhausted by AI. Boards want results, teams are buried in proofs of concept, and leaders are under pressure to show progress without breaking trust, budgets, or operations. This episode cuts through that tension and focuses on what it takes to turn ambition into outcomes. Venk shared how HGS thinks about what he calls...
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What if the biggest breakthrough in weight management is not a new diet, but finally seeing how your body responds in real time? That question sat at the center of my conversation with Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer, CEO and co-founder of Signos, a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and AI-powered health platform built to help people manage weight by understanding their metabolism. January is when motivation is high and the wellness noise is loud, but it is also when a lot of people realize how hard it is to stick with generic advice that does not fit real life. This episode is about why...
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What if your website could spot its own problems, fix them, and quietly make more money while you focus on building your business? That question sat at the heart of my conversation with Aviv Frenkel, co-founder and CEO of Moonshot AI, and it speaks to a frustration almost every founder and digital leader recognizes. Traffic is expensive, attention is fragile, and even small issues in design or flow can quietly drain revenue for months before anyone notices. Traditional optimization often means long cycles, internal debates, and teams juggling analytics, design tools, and testing platforms...
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What happens when decades of supply chain planning collide with AI, volatility, and a world that no longer moves at a predictable pace? That question sat at the heart of my conversation with Piet Buyck, a serial entrepreneur whose career spans early optimization engines, cloud-era planning systems, and now AI-driven decision environments. Speaking from Antwerp just days before the holidays, Piet brought a calm, grounded perspective shaped by years inside organizations operating under real commercial pressure. His journey includes building Garvis, an AI-native planning platform later acquired...
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Today's episode is a conversation with Bret Kinsella, recorded while he was in Las Vegas for CES and preparing to step onto the AI stage. Bret brings a rare combination of long-term perspective and hands-on experience. As General Manager of Fuel iX at TELUS Digital, he operates generative AI systems at a scale most enterprises never see, processing trillions of tokens and delivering measurable business outcomes for global organizations. That vantage point gives him a clear view of both the promise of generative AI and the uncomfortable truths many teams are still avoiding. Together, we...
info_outlineIn this first episode, Neil talks about his blogging journey on the LinkedIn Publishing platform and interviews John White who shares his experiences and success with blogging on LinkedIn.
Show Notes
Exactly 12 months ago today, I was given access to contribute my professional insights on the LinkedIn publishing platform that was being rolled out to its members. One Year later, I have published 83 blog posts that have reached nearly 1 million article views and somehow amassed over 7,000 followers along the way.
The greatest reward I have received from writing on LinkedIn is developing real friendships with like-minded individuals on a similar journey.

There is a long list of real friendships with fellow writers such as John White, Dustin McKissen and Paul Drury along with many others who inspire me to improve. On a recent holiday to New York, I even met with another LinkedIn friend and mentor Tom Ziegler at the White Horse Tavern where Dylan Thomas famously enjoyed his last whiskey.
There are many discussions of how technology is separating us rather than uniting us all. However, my experience of the last 12 months has proved that engaging with your audience and genuine networking that is not used for some kind of cynical self-gain is the essence of how humans learn from each other and move forward.
What Next?
Now that my fear of hitting the publish on a blog post is a distant memory combined with the knowledge that engagement is about conversations rather than dialogue, a new idea was born. On average there are around 66,000 people reading my blog posts each month, rather than this remain a one-way conversation, I want to engage with every reader.
The same fear of hitting publish has returned as my first Podcast became available oniTunes, RSS and Web, where I interview the prolific John White about his similar journey on LinkedIn long-form posting.
Podcasting allows me to open up this new communications channel and broadcast your thoughts that I am hoping might even challenge my thought process too. My plan is to offer an open invite to anyone that would like to feature in an interview. You could even just message me from your phone with a recording of a few words with your view on of the latest tech trend posts that I publish here on LinkedIn.
This idea was born out of a moment of madness and a genuine desire to connect with each and every one of my readers. Maybe, John Lennon said it best with the lyrics ‘You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us’.