Qlik Connect: Mary Kern On Building AI People Will Actually Use
Release Date: 04/18/2026
Citi Wealth Unveils “Citi Sky” – An AI-Powered Member of the Citi Wealth Team, Built Using Google Cloud and Google DeepMind Technologies
Tech Talks Daily
What happens when your financial advisor is no longer limited by time, availability, or even geography, but is always there when you need them, ready to listen, respond, and guide you in real time? At Citi’s announcement at Google Cloud Next 2026, I sat down with Joe Bonanno, Head of Wealth Intelligence, and Karolina Belwal, Global Head of Data Intelligence and Automation for Citi Wealth, to unpack what could become a defining shift in how wealth management is delivered. The launch of Citi Sky, built in partnership with Google Cloud and powered by Google DeepMind, is not another digital...
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How Alison Kay Sees AWS Driving The Move From AI Adoption To Transformation
Tech Talks Daily
Are businesses really making progress with AI, or are many still stuck using it for the digital equivalent of making phone calls on a smartphone? In this episode, I sit down with Alison Kay, VP / Managing Director AWS UKI, to unpack what is actually happening behind the headlines of AI adoption across the UK. On paper, the numbers look strong. Around 64% of UK businesses are now using AI, a sharp rise from the previous year. But when you look closer, the story shifts. Only one in four organizations have moved into more advanced use cases, where real productivity gains, efficiency...
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Inside AWS At 20: Werner Vogels On The Moment Everything Changed
Tech Talks Daily
What if one of the most influential figures in modern technology had almost ignored the opportunity that would define his career? In this episode, I sit down with Werner Vogels, Chief Technology Officer at Amazon, to explore the story behind Amazon Web Services as it marks its 20th anniversary, and how a near-dismissed phone call turned into a front-row seat to one of the biggest shifts in computing history. Werner takes me back to the early days when Amazon was still seen as “just a bookstore,” and shares what he discovered when he first stepped inside what he calls Amazon’s...
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SAS Innovate: Turning Messy Data Into Meaningful Decisions With AI In Healthcare
Tech Talks Daily
Can faster access to real-world data actually change patient outcomes, or are we still too reliant on controlled clinical trials to see the full picture? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Alex Asiimwe, Executive Director of Epidemiology at Gilead Sciences, to explore a topic that doesn’t get enough attention in the AI conversation, real-world evidence. While much of the industry focuses on AI in drug discovery or diagnostics, Alex brings a different perspective, one rooted in what happens after treatments reach real patients in the real world. As he explains, clinical trials may be the...
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Freshworks CEO On The SaaS-pocalypse And What Comes Next For Software
Tech Talks Daily
In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I welcome back Dennis Woodside, CEO of Freshworks, to unpack the growing conversation around the so-called SaaS-pocalypse and what it really means for the future of software businesses. There is no shortage of dramatic headlines suggesting SaaS is under threat, but Dennis offers a far more practical perspective. He explains that this is less about the collapse of software and more about a major reset in how software is judged, bought, and valued. As AI changes customer expectations, businesses are no longer willing to pay for incremental features or vague...
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Google Cloud Next 2026: How Workspace Intelligence Is Redefining The Future Of Work
Tech Talks Daily
How much of your working day is actually spent doing meaningful work, and how much is lost chasing emails, searching for documents, sitting in meetings, and trying to remember where that one important conversation happened? At Google Cloud Next in Las Vegas, I sat down with Yulie Kwon Kim, Vice President of Product for Google Workspace at Google, to talk about how AI is changing the way billions of people work every day. Yulie leads the products many of us rely on constantly, Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and newer tools like Google Vids. At this year’s event, she...
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Google Cloud Next 2026: How Agentic AI Is Transforming Financial Services
Tech Talks Daily
What happens when one of the world’s most heavily regulated industries starts moving at AI speed? At Google Cloud Next in Las Vegas, I sat down with Sid Nadella, Director of Financial Services and Market Leader at Google Cloud, to talk about how AI is reshaping banking, wealth management, and capital markets from the inside out. With more than 20 years of financial services experience, including a long career at Goldman Sachs, Sid brings a rare perspective on how traditional institutions are balancing innovation with regulation, trust, and zero tolerance for error. We explore why the...
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Tenable On Agentic AI, Exposure Gaps, And The Next Big Security Risk
Tech Talks Daily
What happens when AI starts moving faster than the people meant to control it? In this episode, I’m joined by Bernard Montel, Field CTO EMEA at Tenable, for a timely conversation about the AI risks many organizations may be underestimating. Bernard believes we are heading toward a defining AI accident and that the first major incident may come through speed, scale, and unintended consequences rather than a malicious attack. We talk about why so many companies feel pressure to adopt AI at pace, while visibility, governance, and control struggle to keep up. Bernard describes this moment as...
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The Role Of Technology In Creating Healthier, Smarter Buildings
Tech Talks Daily
What if the smartest climate technology strategy isn’t about inventing something new, but rethinking the buildings we already spend 90% of our lives in? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sit down with Ben Stapleton, Chief Executive Officer of US Green Building Council California, or USGBC California, to discuss why buildings sit at the center of sustainability, resilience, and community well-being. From energy use and air quality to wildfire resilience and climate justice, Ben makes a compelling case that the built environment may be one of the most practical places to create real...
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Certinia And Spaulding Ridge On AI, ROI, And Services Teams
Tech Talks Daily
How is AI really changing professional services work today, beyond the demos, predictions, and LinkedIn hype? In today’s episode, I’m joined by DJ Paoni, CEO of Certinia, and Jay Laabs, CEO of Spaulding Ridge, to discuss how AI is already being used inside services organizations to improve project delivery, resource planning, workforce optimization, and client outcomes. DJ shares what a hybrid workforce of people and AI agents looks like in practice. Rather than thinking of AI as a search bar, he explains why services firms should think of agents as specialized colleagues that can handle...
info_outlineHow do you turn powerful AI technology into something customers actually trust, adopt, and use?
Recording live from Qlik Connect, I sat down with Mary Kern, Vice President of Analytics Product Go-To-Market at Qlik, to explore one of the most overlooked challenges in enterprise AI today. Not building the technology, but making it real for the people expected to use it every day.
Because while AI innovation is moving at incredible speed, many organizations are still struggling with a much more practical question. How do you move from exciting product announcements and pilot projects to real adoption, measurable outcomes, and business value?
In our conversation, Mary shares how Qlik is approaching that challenge by shifting the focus away from shiny features and toward outcomes that matter. We discuss why agentic AI is creating so much excitement, why customers are often much closer to operationalizing it than they realize, and how years of investment in data quality, governance, and analytics are now becoming the foundation for what comes next.
We also talk about the growing importance of trusted data and context, especially as AI moves from generating insights to influencing decisions and actions. Mary explains why simply adding a large language model on top of existing systems rarely works, and why organizations need to think more carefully about how AI is trained, governed, and integrated into the environments where people already work.
There is also a refreshingly honest conversation around cost, experimentation, and imperfection. Mary makes the case that organizations should start now, even if the data is not perfect, because using AI often reveals where the real gaps are and what needs to improve next.
So as businesses look ahead to the next 12 months, what will separate those who successfully scale AI from those still stuck in pilot mode? And are we spending too much time talking about the technology, and not enough time understanding how people will actually use it?
Join me for a candid conversation from the heart of Qlik Connect, and let me know your thoughts. Is your organization closing the gap between AI capability and real adoption, or is that still the biggest challenge?