Pop Up Birthday - Tech Companies Giving Back
Release Date: 11/05/2024
Designing the Future with Josh Shabtai from Lowe's Innovation Labs
Austin Tech Connect: The Podcast For The Austin Technology Ecosystem, Business Leaders, and Tech Entrepreneurs!
Lowe’s Style Studio and the Rise of Spatial Commerce In this episode of Austin Tech Connect, Thom Singer speaks with Josh Shabtai, Senior Director of Spatial Commerce at Lowe’s Innovation Labs, about the intersection of retail, real estate, and immersive technology. Lowe’s has just launched its newest innovation, Lowe’s Style Studio—a virtual reality experience that empowers customers to design and visualize kitchen spaces in an interactive, high-fidelity VR environment. The very first market in the country to experience this cutting-edge technology? Austin, Texas. The conversation...
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Austin Tech Hall of Fame Inductees Announced
Austin Tech Connect: The Podcast For The Austin Technology Ecosystem, Business Leaders, and Tech Entrepreneurs!
This week, the Austin Technology Council announced the Legacy / Foundational inductees for 2025. This is the second year of an eight-year launch. You cannot drop 70 names into a hall of fame all in one day, so we decided to add eight people a year so they can be adequately celebrated. In addition to the Legacy/Foundational inductees, we will announce the 2025 inductee, and the first-time founder award winner will be announced at the May 7th cocktail reception. Congratulations to Angelos Angelou, Joshua Baer, Bob Fabbio, Joe Liemandt, Pike Powers, Carol Thompson, John Thornton, and Ellen...
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The Maverick’s Path: From NASA to Wearables That Save Lives with Jean-Anne Booth
Austin Tech Connect: The Podcast For The Austin Technology Ecosystem, Business Leaders, and Tech Entrepreneurs!
In this episode of Austin Tech Connect, Thom Singer sits down with Jean Anne Booth, founder and CEO of UnaliWear, for a dynamic conversation about her remarkable journey through Austin's tech ecosystem. From her early engineering days at NASA and AMD to building startups acquired by Apple and TI, Jean Anne shares insights on innovation, resilience, and what it means to be a “maverick” in the tech world. They explore the origin story of UnaliWear's product; an award-winning wearable that empowers independence for seniors... and the passion behind creating tech that truly serves people. Jean...
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Community Powers Entrepreneurial Success with Mat Kordell
Austin Tech Connect: The Podcast For The Austin Technology Ecosystem, Business Leaders, and Tech Entrepreneurs!
In this episode of Austin Tech Connect, Thom Singer sits down with Mat Kordell, Co-Founder and COO of CyberStreams, for a conversation that hits at the heart of entrepreneurship, community, and opportunity. Mat shares how his journey from working the help desk to running a multi-location MSP wasn’t fueled by luck or algorithms... it was powered by human connections. From networking events to industry meetups, Mat’s biggest business moves came from showing up. He didn’t meet his co-founder, business partner, or acquisition targets through cold emails... he met them in person. Now...
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2025 Austin Tech Hall of Fame
Austin Tech Connect: The Podcast For The Austin Technology Ecosystem, Business Leaders, and Tech Entrepreneurs!
In this special episode of Austin Tech Connect, host Thom Singer takes listeners behind the scenes of the Austin Tech Hall of Fame ... a community-driven initiative launched by the Austin Technology Council to celebrate the individuals who have shaped Austin into a world-class tech hub. With the second annual celebration on the horizon, Thom shares the "why" behind this important program, how it was inspired by a brief start in 2013, and why the current version is being thoughtfully rolled out as an 8-year launch. Each year, eight foundational figures from Austin’s tech history will be...
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Industrial Tech and Cybersecurity with Pat Dixon
Austin Tech Connect: The Podcast For The Austin Technology Ecosystem, Business Leaders, and Tech Entrepreneurs!
In this episode of Austin Tech Connect, Thom Singer sits down with Pat Dixon, President of DPAS, to discuss the intersection of operational technology (OT) and cybersecurity in industrial facilities. Pat shares insights on the evolution of industrial tech, how automation has shaped industries like water treatment and manufacturing, and the security risks unique to critical infrastructure. Key topics include: The 4th Industrial Revolution and how industrial facilities were ahead of mainstream tech in digital automation. The growing threat of cyberattacks, not just from the internet but from...
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Meta-LLM - Melelem with Joe McCall and Nik Kairinos
Austin Tech Connect: The Podcast For The Austin Technology Ecosystem, Business Leaders, and Tech Entrepreneurs!
In this episode of Austin Tech Connect, host Thom Singer sits down with Joe McCall and Nikolas Kairinos, co-founders of Melelem, a groundbreaking AI company redefining how Large Language Models (LLMs) learn and evolve. Melelem continuously refines itself in real-time, eliminating the need for multiple AI subscriptions. The conversation dives deep into the future of AI, exploring how advancements in machine learning and self-learning AI models are reshaping industries. Nikolas shares his perspective on the rapid acceleration of AI capabilities, the shift from traditional neural networks to...
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Making AI Work for Your Business (Without the Waste) with Piyanka Jain
Austin Tech Connect: The Podcast For The Austin Technology Ecosystem, Business Leaders, and Tech Entrepreneurs!
In this episode of Austin Tech Connect, the Austin Technology Council CEO, Thom Singer, sits down with Piyanka Jain, CEO of Aryng, to cut through the AI buzz and get to the real impact of artificial intelligence in business. With over 20 years of experience,,, building AI models long before it was trendy... Piya shares her insights on: ✅ The biggest hiring mistakes companies make when bringing on AI talent ✅ Why most AI investments are wasted (and how to avoid it) ✅ The role of first-principles thinking in driving business growth ✅ How Aryng is changing the game with Enola, a 24/7...
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All Companies Are Tech Companies - Interview with the CIO of James Avery Jewelry Harsha Bellur
Austin Tech Connect: The Podcast For The Austin Technology Ecosystem, Business Leaders, and Tech Entrepreneurs!
All Companies are Tech Companies: In the modern era, all companies are tech companies. We used to have a line between traditional business and tech.... but now that line has blurred. People do not often think about how businesses in all industries rely on, create, and utilize technology. In this interview, Thom Singer talks to Harsha Bellur, the CIO at Texas based James Avery Jewelry. This 70 year old company now uses tech in design and manufacturing, as well as all other aspects of their business. Harsha has had an interesting career journey, from working in his fathers...
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Why Government Policy Matters To Tech Companies
Austin Tech Connect: The Podcast For The Austin Technology Ecosystem, Business Leaders, and Tech Entrepreneurs!
This week on Austin Tech Connect we tackle the world of government policy, and why it matters to Austin’s small and mid-sized tech companies. Our guest is Lindsay Ries, Director of Government Affairs at TECNA (The Technology Council’s of North America). Lindsay has two decades of experience in Washington DC policy, and is committed to helping growth oriented technology companies have their voices heard on Capitol Hill. In this interview she talks about how the Austin Technology Council and TECNA are working to influence and educate our elected officials on policy that...
info_outlineAbout Kathi Haralson:
Kathi Haralson is the current ED of Pop-Up Birthday and before that was the Executive Director of the Eanes Education Foundation where she raised over $3 million each year and funded the salaries of over 200 teachers.
Before becoming an ED, Kathi was the Development Director for Partnerships for Children and served as the President of The Junior League of Austin and started 2 programs, FIT and Kids Giving Back while purchasing the property for the League’s new headquarters.
Committed to the community in which she works and lives, Kathi has volunteered with the Ronald McDonald House, Dell Children’s, Partnerships for Children, Tarrytown Methodist Church, AFP and Impact Austin.
Kathi sits on the board of Helping Hand Home and was previously the chair of the HHH Crystal Ball.
Kathi has 2 daughters, Kaitlee- a graduate of The University of Texas and Riley- a recent graduate of Washington and Lee University and an extremely supportive husband of 30 years, John Haralson.