The Future of VMware with AJ Kuftic of Expedient
The Bridgecast with Scott Kinka
Release Date: 03/05/2024
Giving Back Through Tech: The Mission of Tech4Change
The Bridgecast with Scott Kinka
In this episode of the Bridgecast, host Scott Kinka sits down with Jasmina Mueller and Brad Dupree to discuss the charitable organization Tech4Change. This organization brings together technology leaders to raise funds for various grassroots charities. During their discussion, they explore the mission behind Tech4Change and the fundraising strategies used, sharing impactful stories from their events. The conversation emphasizes the importance of community engagement and the potential for technology professionals to make a difference through charitable work. is a 501(c)(3)...
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The Future of Communication with Dialpad’s Mike Kane
The Bridgecast with Scott Kinka
Can AI make business communication smarter and sales more human? Scott Kinka and Mike Kane from Dialpad break down the future of AI-driven conversations, tech partnerships, and the power of emotional intelligence in sales. They cover Dialpad’s AI-driven growth, the role of emotional intelligence in sales, and how AI is reshaping customer interactions, security, and global tech partnerships. Tune in for insights on leveraging AI for smarter, more effective communication. is the leading AI-Powered Customer Intelligence Platform that completely transforms how the world works with one...
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2024 Year End Recap - Part Two
The Bridgecast with Scott Kinka
Sometimes, we think that new tech can solve old problems. For instance, can AI help employees be better at processes that don't exist? This is just one of the questions we tackle on this episode of The Bridgecast. In this conclusion to The Bridgecast’s 2024 Year-End series, Scott and Gene discuss key industry trends, reflections on the past year, and predictions for the future. The conversation highlights AI adoption challenges, the importance of human oversight in AI-driven processes, and the evolving nature of IT strategy. Topics discussed in this episode: • How IT budgets are...
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2024 Year End Recap - Part One
The Bridgecast with Scott Kinka
According to Sun Tzu, energy without strategy is chaos. This sentiment has never been more appropriate today, particularly concerning IT strategy and discussions around AI. In this year-end episode of The Bridgecast, Scott reflects on a monumental year for Bridgepointe Technologies and the broader IT industry. The conversation explores key themes that dominated the year, including AI governance and its impact on business strategy, the evolving role of IT leaders, and lessons from C-suite executives featured on the podcast. Topics discussed in this episode: ...
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ESPN’s CX Transformation: Using AI to Enhance Fan Support with Doug Kramon
The Bridgecast with Scott Kinka
Sports are a profoundly human experience—emotional, visceral, and passionately followed. While AI won’t replace athletes anytime soon, it’s increasingly shaping how fans engage with their favorite teams. In this episode of The Bridgecast, Scott Kinka sits down with Doug Kramon, Head of Customer Care and Fan Support at ESPN, to explore the evolving role of AI in sports customer experience. They discuss how generative AI plays a role in CX transformation and fan support, the power of emotional connections in customer care, and the challenges of balancing automation with human-centric...
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Refining Your 2025 AI Strategy with RapidScale’s Duane Barnes
The Bridgecast with Scott Kinka
A new year often means resolutions and plans for your business. And for 2025, one of those plans is likely focused on literally and figuratively getting your arms around your AI strategy. Making effective use of AI in 2025 means rewinding one whole hype cycle to the early 2020s to big data. That's the last big story we were all talking about. Organization, accuracy, availability, and, of course, security of your data are the essential building blocks for you to build a language model that is serviceable and accurate for your business. It's the core of your AI strategy. In this...
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The Bridgecast Live: Reimagining the Customer and Employee Relationship - Part Two
The Bridgecast with Scott Kinka
How is AI transforming IT leadership? AI solves no problems by itself. But with the proper workflows and systems around it, it drives real-world ROI. Rather than replacing humans, it can enable the next level of cross-functional collaboration. The panel explored AI's role in transforming business processes and IT leadership in part two of the 2024 Bridgepoint Tech Summit episode of The Bridgecast. The discussion focuses on AI’s potential to enhance human performance, streamline workflows, and enable cross-functional collaboration within organizations. The panel emphasizes...
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The Bridgecast Live: Reimagining the Customer and Employee Relationship (Part One)
The Bridgecast with Scott Kinka
Is your business experiencing AI fatigue? Right now, AI is all anyone is talking about…but too many conversations are about tech and innovation when they should be about getting measurable outcomes. In this live episode of The Bridgecast, recorded at the Bridgepointe Tech Summit 2024, we sat down with thought leaders from Dialpad, Observe AI, Talkdesk, and Vonage so they could share some timely insights on how companies are cutting through the AI hype and making it work. We talk about how AI is transforming customer and employee experiences with some real-life success stories, practical...
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Building Your Personal Brand in the Era of Virtual Meetings with Zoom’s Patrick Kelley
The Bridgecast with Scott Kinka
There are five generations in the workforce today, and every one speaks, communicates, and collaborates differently. You have to meet them all where they are—generally in their homes behind screens. While your personal brand used to be based on how you interacted with people in the real world, now, what happens on screen is your brand, and you need to invest in it. In this episode of The Bridgecast, Scott interviews Patrick Kelley, Distinguished Architect at Zoom, who shares insights on optimizing online meetings and video conferencing. Patrick — also known as — discusses...
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Mentorship Matters: Lessons from a CTO with Performive’s Ryan DiRocco
The Bridgecast with Scott Kinka
Have you ever noticed that being an entrepreneur and an IT leader require nearly the same skills? On this episode of the Bridgecast, Scott sits down with Ryan DiRocco, CTO of . We explore that intersection and how experience and mentorship play critical roles in both realms. We discuss why mentorship is essential—not just when you lack specific skills but even when you think you’ve covered them. It's a lot like using an MSP to deliver a product. Sure, you could go it alone, but sometimes it's worth paying more to avoid costly mistakes. Like an MSP, mentorship can save you time,...
info_outlineOn this episode of The Bridge, I’m joined by AJ Kuftic, Product Manager at Expedient. We’re talking about the future of VMware and so much more.
Expedient is a data center and cloud services provider offering infrastructure as a service (IaaS) with local operations in Pittsburgh, PA, Baltimore, MD, Boston, MA, Cleveland, OH, Columbus, OH, Denver, CO, Indianapolis, IN, Memphis, TN, Milwaukee, WI, and Phoenix, AZ. Ranked as one of the Top 3 managed services providers worldwide on Channel Futures' MSP 501 list, Expedient’s converged solutions enable clients to focus on strategic business innovation, while the Expedient team handles operation of the information technology needed to support it. Expedient data centers are compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as well as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Service Organization Control (SOC) reports are published annually for all locations.
During our conversation, we discussed what’s happening with the VMware Broadcom situation and broke down the implications, including the background, impacts on service providers and customers, and the anticipated timeline for adjustment and optimization efforts.
Topics covered in this episode:
● AJ’s background and career experiences.
● An overview of the Expedient brand and its evolution of services to meet current market demands.
● The importance of understanding client pain points.
● Adaptation strategies for services providers and how the shift from per-gigabyte RAM to per-core licensing facilitates "bring your own licensing" capability.
● Changes in the private cloud model.
● The investment in service providers by Broadcom.
● How VMware's shift towards bundling products under Broadcom's ownership contrasts with its previous approach of avoiding shelfware and the impacts of this approach.
● The impacts of the transition from perpetual to subscription licensing.
● The general trend towards subscription models.
● Factors of consideration for alternative platforms.
● Predictions for the next 12 to 18 months.
Links for this episode:
Productivity AI with Expedient’s Brad Reynolds
ABOUT AJ KUFTIC
AJ Kuftic is Product Manager for Expedient. AJ has over 15 years of experience as a customer and partner helping end users build solutions that are sustainable and easy to manage. Having knowledge across various silos of IT infrastructure gives AJ a unique perspective of the pain points and what customers are looking to improve.
When AJ isn’t thinking about the next big thing, he spends his time with his wife and 2 children trying to bake the perfect loaf of bread.
CONTACT AJ
LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajkuftic/
Web. https://expedient.com/knowledgebase/blog/authors/aj-kuftic/