Georgia Technology Summit 2024

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:21] We are broadcasting live from Signia Hotel in downtown Atlanta. We’re actually at the Georgia Technology Summit 2024. The halls are teaming. People are going into sessions. First up today, please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with Moveworks.ai, Mr. Max Reed. How you doing, man?

Max Reed: [00:00:43] I’m doing good. Thank you for having me here.

Stone Payton: [00:00:45] Well, it’s good to have you, man. What brings you guys to this summit?

Max Reed: [00:00:48] You know, we have a lot of great relationships and a lot of great partners in the area. So when there’s a chance to come out and actually see them face to face, we we love the opportunity.

Stone Payton: [00:00:59] So I just confessed to you before we came on air, Sharon and I were just talking about I maybe some applications for our work in the media industry. Are you guys finding that a lot of folks are really embracing this, have a ton of questions, and are coming to you just to start to get educated about AI? Yeah.

Max Reed: [00:01:18] You know, just coming into 2024, over 70% of CIOs had some top down initiative around AI and improving their business and making it more efficient. So a lot of the times when people reach out to us, it’s not really about anything specific that we do, but more about their overall AI strategy and just how to incorporate in the business where the low hanging fruit is and just how to fix up what is easiest first, and then getting to the hard stuff later.

Stone Payton: [00:01:46] Well, to me that sounds like great council, right? Start with that low hanging fruit. Some easy applications because, you know, Sharon and I were over here with world domination plans of AI, and we don’t even know what we’re talking about. I’m not even sure we really understand what AI is, but I’ll bet there are some misconceptions or some some doe eyed ideas about what to do. And then you guys can swing and say, hey, you know, what about if we go over here in this little corner and take a swing at this, is that more usually the scenario?

Max Reed: [00:02:11] Yeah. Every I think everyone uh, after ChatGPT, they think that AI is advancing at this extremely rapid pace and it is to an extent. But now it’s much more, you know, open AI and all these other large companies developing these LMS that’s really just kind of the engine for any AI product. At the end of the day, it’s all about how you utilize those LMS, what data. And in terms of like the vertex stores that you’re putting on them for specific applications. And so when we’re talking to a lot of these high level executives about how they’re how they want to incorporate it, I, we kind of have to ask them to take a step back at first and think of, you know, what use cases you want to go for, and then we can tackle it that way.

Stone Payton: [00:02:56] What a marvelous opportunity for me to show off. Maybe because I think I know what Lim is large language model that I get that right.

Max Reed: [00:03:04] 100%.

Stone Payton: [00:03:05] So I know just enough to be dangerous, right? I read a few articles. I’ve been talking to Sharon, I’ve been talking to my business partner Lee about it. All right, so what are you guys hoping to accomplish with your time here at the summit? What, uh, what would be a big win for you? What would be success for you guys here?

Max Reed: [00:03:20] For us, it’s all about just building relationships. So, you know, if we can have a few good conversations here, learn a little bit more about what people want to accomplish in 24, in terms of AI, what’s on their roadmap? Uh, then that would be a big win for us personally.

Stone Payton: [00:03:36] Okay, I got to back up. I got to know the backstory, man. How does one find themselves working in such a cool arena? Did you? I mean, when when I was playing cowboys and Indians, were you playing like AI guy or. But because this is also a reason you may not have even gone to school for AI. I don’t know what’s the back story, man.

Max Reed: [00:03:52] Yeah, I actually went to school to be a science education major. Uh, nothing remotely close to AI, but, uh, you know, when the opportunity came up, I was working in sales at a startup accelerator, and I was talking to a lot of AI companies. Obviously, once ChatGPT came around and everyone was using one of their plugins for their products. So, uh, you know, just through connections, working on accelerator, I was meeting all the startups in the space. Move works is the only, uh, startup on the Forbes Cloud 100. That’s an AI company. And so when I got the opportunity to kind of connect with some of the people there and possibly come on board, I took it.

Stone Payton: [00:04:33] That sounds like a really big deal to me. I confess, I don’t know what the Forbes 100 cloud thing is, but that’s that’s a big deal, huh?

Max Reed: [00:04:40] Yeah, it’s probably the top Forbes list, I’m going to say for any enterprise companies out there that are on the cloud.

Stone Payton: [00:04:49] Wow. Impressive. So you’ve been at this a little while now, right after you after you achieved some escape velocity from the startup world.

Max Reed: [00:04:57] About a year.

Stone Payton: [00:04:58] Okay. All right. So now that you’re a year in, what’s the most fun about it for you, man? What’s the what’s the most rewarding, you think?

Max Reed: [00:05:05] I think, you know, the most fun thing by far is that we’re. It’s not boring. It’s not boring. It’s not like we’re selling an air platform. For example, no offense to air platforms.

Stone Payton: [00:05:18] Uh, there goes our air sponsor.

Max Reed: [00:05:21] It’s, you know, you’re talking to people about something that’s exciting, something that they’re genuinely interested about. They want to learn about it. They want to hear about all the different applications. So you’re talking to people that have a lot of energy at the end of the day that want to make big transformations in their company. So just kind of getting to hear their overall strategy where they want to go with their business, it’s it’s great conversations. And I think, you know, I wouldn’t be having nearly as much fun with those conversations at any other company.

Stone Payton: [00:05:51] I’ll bet. All right. What’s the best way for folks to reach out, have a conversation with you or someone on your team kind of tap into your work and start to learn more. Website or some other magic place? I don’t know, you guys may have some other cool place to go. What’s the best way?

Max Reed: [00:06:06] Yeah. Uh great question. So you can obviously go to our site. We have it’s just move works.i or move Works.com one or the other. Uh, but we have a lot of different if you’re looking to learn, we just have a lot of customer use cases on our site, a lot of different articles about, you know, how you can get started in terms of building a copilot. If you are deciding to use ChatGPT to build a chatbot at your company right now? Uh, and that’s a great way to learn there. If you want to demo, there’s obviously, you know, a way to sign up for getting a demo on the site, but what is going to be a little bit more fun and is coming out in a month is we’re going to have a platform where you can just type in questions to our conversational AI engine online, just through your web browser. So if you really just want to play around with what we have, I’d say wait a month and then use that.

Stone Payton: [00:06:59] I love it. You’re eating your own chili there, right? Yeah. If you’re going to be in the AI world, you got to do the AI thing, right?

Max Reed: [00:07:05] We use our stuff all internally. Uh, you know, it’s it’s nice when you have a decent product and you actually get to see it in action.

Stone Payton: [00:07:13] Absolutely. Well, Max, it’s been a delight having you on the show, man. Thanks for joining us.

Max Reed: [00:07:19] No, I appreciate the opportunity. Thanks for having me.

Stone Payton: [00:07:21] Our pleasure. All right. We’ll be back in a few at Georgia Technology Summit 2024.

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:20] And we’re not in the studio at all. They let Sharon and I out to come to the Georgia Technology Summit 2024, celebrating their 25th anniversary. So that’s fun. Maybe there’ll be cake dancing girls. I don’t know, we’ll see. But it’s a lot of fun here. There’s a lot of activity already, but we’ve caught a spot here where a lot of folks are in session. So we’re talking to some of the folks that are here exhibiting and, uh, an old friend. So please join me in welcoming to the show with seven factor.io. Alyssa Tichenor, how are you doing?

Alyssa Tichenor: [00:00:52] I’m good. Yes. I’m here bright and early. Excited to be here. Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:00:56] I think you beat us here.

Alyssa Tichenor: [00:00:58] Yes. And thankfully I had yes, some of my crew stayed overnight, so they beat me down here. But yes, bright and early for sure.

Stone Payton: [00:01:04] So not your first rodeo because I think this is how we’ve met over the last year or two. Uh, what are you hoping to accomplish while you’re here this time?

Alyssa Tichenor: [00:01:12] Yeah, definitely. Um, so, yeah, seven factor has been a member of Tag for a few years. Technology Association of Georgia. So yeah, this is I think our second or third round being here at the Tag Tech Summit. So yeah, definitely just hoping to learn more about industry trends, what’s going on. And obviously spread the good word about seven factor. Shake some hands and just see you know what everyone else is up to in the tech industry. And make sure that we’re all communicating and seeing what’s on par and sharing some ideas.

Stone Payton: [00:01:35] So tell us a little bit about seven factor mission purpose. What are you out there trying to do for folks.

Alyssa Tichenor: [00:01:40] Yeah for sure. So seven factor software. Um, we’re in short, a software consulting firm. Um, so we contract out small teams of software engineers to go and work with clients, and that capacity can really look at anything. We kind of do solutions at scale. So whether that’s a small business that needs a mobile app starting from the ground up, a greenfield project like we call it, or a very large enterprise that’s maybe moving to the cloud or wants to move to a different cloud, needs some infrastructure work, maybe just update a legacy system, kind of anything in there. So we partner with businesses getting on the ground, either being their software team or working with their internal teams to help bring custom solutions to life.

Stone Payton: [00:02:13] So I got to ask, and this may save me a lot of money, but when a when a small business or a medium sized business like the Business RadioX network, when we start looking at maybe getting some software built, where does a project like that come off the rails? If we don’t know what we’re doing or we’re not talking to the right people? Yes.

Alyssa Tichenor: [00:02:32] So I think there can be a lot of gatekept thought in the software industry and in the tech industry in general. As someone who’s on the marketing side, I very much thought that tech was not for everyone. Seems to be like, you kind of have to know it to know it, but we don’t like to think that way. We think definitely software is for everyone. So I think what can happen with business leaders who need software help, it can seem very overwhelming. And then you can kind of get lost in the sales cycle of other companies. So seven factor is completely onshore, meaning all of our software engineers are here in the United States. They’re real people. Um, we don’t deal with offshore teams. So what can happen a lot is you pay for what you get. So you can as a small business, you want to be cost efficient, and you’re looking at a solution that might take a lot longer, but maybe be a lot cheaper. And you’re not really sure how exactly it’s going to work for you, but that might just be all you can afford. We definitely want to break down those stereotypes again. We do solutions at scale. We have programs for smaller businesses called our Force Multiplier Program, to really offer what you need in that capacity and to get you across that finish line and have it be built. Custom for longevity to work with your goals in the future. So definitely don’t get scared with all the buzzwords that I would say, definitely just do your do your research and just know that if something maybe sounds too good to be true in terms of price point, that it might actually be because there’s a lot going on here in the tech world.

Stone Payton: [00:03:47] That sounds like wise counsel is. Sure. So always. Have you always been in the software world or did you transition from a different industry?

Alyssa Tichenor: [00:03:55] Um, definitely. Well, I’m the director of marketing and operations here at Seven Factor, so I can talk the talk. Don’t put me in front of the code base. I might do a little bit so I can play my game just as well as I can, but, um, no. Never really thought that I was going to be in the tech space. Was a marketing person, really just wanted to connect with companies that had a story and a mission and a value that I could see in their end result, and got connected with our founder, Jeremy Duvall, fresh out of college. Um, and just saw the good work that they were doing. And he told me what it was like. I came in to see, and I saw that in the real world, in action, saw our software engineers caring about the code and the quality and the solutions that they were bringing, because this is helping people in the real world. And then I just never looked back. I’ve been here for almost five years now and wow. Yeah, watched us grow from a team of 18 to a team of 60. Now we’re in 17 different states across the United States helping clients of all sizes. It’s been an amazing ride. But yeah, definitely, if obviously someone listening to this probably in the tech world. But I do truly believe that tech is for everyone. And it’s been great to watch myself grow in it.

Stone Payton: [00:04:52] Well, that’s an encouraging message to hear because I definitely don’t identify as a as a techie. But I have some appreciation and it continues to evolve for the the high impact that tech done properly can have on my business and my ability to, to serve other people. So I think that’s, uh, that’s fantastic for sure.

Alyssa Tichenor: [00:05:13] There’s definitely a piece of it for everyone, as I’m sure we’re going to see here today. Yeah, there’s so many slices you can find. What inspires you in tech anywhere. So yeah, just go for.

Stone Payton: [00:05:20] So you’re in the marketing arena. How does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a firm like yours? I got to believe the sale. My instincts are that it’s more complex. It’s far more relationship driven. It’s not this transaction. You’re not selling popcorn here. I mean, this is.

Alyssa Tichenor: [00:05:37] Yes. You might have cracked the code of why we’re here today. Shaking hands? Very much so, yes. Okay. Um, yes, definitely. Thinking through the marketing strategy for seven factors, I was kind of there from the humble beginnings as this is challenging because our product is humans and we’re a very human centric company. So we want to talk about them in the light that these are real people. We have quality standards of our partnerships. We see our clients as our partners. We see our humans as trusted advisors. So we’re not order takers. We’re not just going to have the client say like we think it needs to be this. We’re not going to nod our heads yes. So there needs to be that like psychological safety in place. Um, so getting those messages across and really that was by doing showcasing what we’ve already done in the solutions and seeing how what we’re doing is kind of different in this space, especially for a company of our size and that it’s working. So I just keep continuing to tell the good stories, leaning on what’s factual and the data that we can use to support it. Um, and just investing more in our people. And I think our founder does that from the top down.

Stone Payton: [00:06:30] Well, I can tell you, after five minutes with you on air, I can see why Jeremy Duvall said, yes, we want you on this team. So congratulations on the success, the momentum. Enjoy today. And, uh, thanks for joining us on air. This has been fun to catch up.

Alyssa Tichenor: [00:06:45] Yeah. Of course. Thanks for having me.

Stone Payton: [00:06:46] All right. We’ll be back in a few at Georgia Technology Summit 2024.

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:20] And we are back broadcasting live from Signia Hotel. And we’re not in the studio. Sharon and I, they let us out to come talk to the folks at the Georgia Technology Summit 2024. They’re celebrating their 25th anniversary. We’re getting a chance to talk to some very interesting people. We’ve caught up with some old friends and making some new ones. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast for this session, Mr. Brendan Keegan and Eric Meadows. They are with Cisco Systems. Good morning gentlemen.

Eric Meadows: [00:00:51] That’s right.It’s not Cisco Foods, it’s Cisco Systems right?

Brendan Keegan: [00:00:53] Right.

Stone Payton: [00:00:55] That’s good to know man. All right. We’ll start with you, Brendan. Tell us a little bit about what brings you out here this morning, man.

Brendan Keegan: [00:01:00] Yeah, sure. So, um, I yeah, like like you said, work for Cisco Systems. Uh, we are a, I believe, a gold sponsor here today for the, uh, Technology Summit.

Stone Payton: [00:01:09] I did not get a check from Cisco, so I don’t know what.

Eric Meadows: [00:01:12] Our names are on the bag.

Stone Payton: [00:01:14] You’re not the radio sponsor.I can tell you that.

Brendan Keegan: [00:01:16] Somebody paid a little bit of money for this, uh, this sponsorship, but, yeah, we’re here just, uh, representing the company, saying hello to a lot of people. We’ve got some nice little giveaways and talking a little bit about what we’re doing here in the state and, you know, in the US and broadly too.

Stone Payton: [00:01:30] So fine, Eric, you’re just hanging out with him. You’re just hanging on to his coattails or.

Eric Meadows: [00:01:35] Pretty much I just follow Brendan around. That’s my job. Yeah.

Brendan Keegan: [00:01:38] It’s my assistant.

Eric Meadows: [00:01:39] Here I love. You know, Cisco has made a huge investment in Atlanta as a whole. Yeah, we have a regional, regional headquarters here, and we’re here to basically support that initiative along with what we do individually within the company.

Stone Payton: [00:01:52] So Cisco, you guys individually, are you members of this Technology association of Georgia?

Eric Meadows: [00:01:58] Yeah, actually, our CFO, Scott Heron, is on the board of GTA.

Stone Payton: [00:02:01] I feel like I’ve run across that name before. Maybe we’ve even conned him into coming on air over the years. We’ve been at this a while. I feel like I know that name.

Brendan Keegan: [00:02:09] He’s around here somewhere today. Yeah, yeah.

Eric Meadows: [00:02:11] We’ll send him over. Okay.

Stone Payton: [00:02:13] Fair enough. So, yeah. So tell me about being a member of the organization. Do you feel like it served you? Served you. Well, what’s the benefit in your in your mind?

Eric Meadows: [00:02:22] Um, yeah. Gta is a fantastic organization. You know, when you can unify all the voices around technology, um, in the state, um, you know, share, you know, what you’re doing, how you’re doing it. It’s funny, I was just in the Fedex office picking up some stuff, and, uh, a guy from a local company. Right. Cisco’s a global company. Yeah. He’s like, oh, you know, uh, you guys are a top 40. And I’m like, I don’t really know what that means, but thanks. Um, but it’s good to connect with people, right? And I was like, yeah, I’ll come over to your booth and talk to you and see what you’re doing. Um, I think he might think I have more power than I really do, but either way, he’s. You know, it’s that kind of connection that GTA drives, which I think is very valuable.

Stone Payton: [00:03:00] So you just carry yourself that way, man. You just exude power when you walk down the carpet. I told Sharon, go get that guy. We need him on the air. So, uh, how will you attack the day or the conference? Do you guys kind of divide and conquer? Do you try to make an effort to visit a lot of the exhibitors? Like what’s do you have a plan?

Brendan Keegan: [00:03:19] I think we’re my plan is to just kind of hang around the booth and say hello to as many people as I can. Yeah. Uh, kind of get the word out about what we’re doing. Um, and then, uh, yeah, just meet with some, you know, potential customers to maybe drive some more opportunities and business. But, uh, you know, we also have, I believe, a couple speakers that are going to be doing some of the keynotes, um, conversations today that actually are from Cisco, so. Oh, wow. Our, uh, senior vice president, she runs our Americas sales organization. She’s running the, uh, 10:00 session today. So, uh, Rachel Barger, we’re going to probably pop in there and watch her present today.

Stone Payton: [00:03:55] So. All right, so please forgive my ignorance. I really don’t know what it is you sell. And it’s probably this big, you know, breadth and depth of product and service. But as an example, what might someone come here learn about, end up having a conversation with you guys or somebody on your team about and end up doing with you guys?

Brendan Keegan: [00:04:14] Yeah. So I would say our primary business is networking, and that’s a very broad, you know, thing that we do for technology. But we have, you know, everything from switching and wireless and routers all the way to collaboration tools like WebEx, uh, meetings, uh, WebEx, video conferencing, call center, uh, you know, WebEx calling, which is our cloud calling platform.

Stone Payton: [00:04:37] So my wife has a real job and she’s on WebEx all the time. That’s like in a big company. So I’ve heard this. That’s right. Go ahead. I’m sorry I interrupted you. Oh, no, of course.

Brendan Keegan: [00:04:47] And, yeah, I mean, it’s very broad. So we have, uh, wireless, uh, we have security tools, we have collaboration. Like I said, we kind of really do it all. Um, and I think that’s kind of the power of Cisco. It’s. We’re not really. Too narrow in what we can offer. We can offer our customers really anything, you know, on the technology suite.

Eric Meadows: [00:05:05] Side, essentially, if you use the internet, you use Cisco. You just don’t know it. Ah, okay. Every, you know, 90 something, it wasn’t like 95% of the internet traffic in the world flows over Cisco. Mhm. Wow.

Brendan Keegan: [00:05:16] Sounds about right. Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:05:17] That is impressive. So it sounds like fun and and noble work as a person who has kind of gravitated to the sales side of whatever industry I was in at one time, it was consulting. Now it’s media. Uh, it also though strikes me as a, a far more complex, um, sales process marketing that, you know, like the Business RadioX you, you underwrite a show or you don’t, you know, or maybe you sponsor a house show or something, but I mean, the, the this, um, selling what you do is, uh, there’s all the technology, but it must be firmly grounded in building real relationships. And so, yeah, speak to that a little bit if you would.

Brendan Keegan: [00:06:01] Yeah. I mean, I think that’s kind of where it starts is, you know, making connections with people. Yeah. You know, it’s a, uh, it’s a business where we do a lot of talking and a lot of relationship building.

Stone Payton: [00:06:13] Nobody’s going to write you a check this afternoon. I don’t care how good today goes. Right.

Eric Meadows: [00:06:16] That would be. Probably not. Yeah, we’d love that.

Brendan Keegan: [00:06:19] I yeah, I don’t see that happening today.

Stone Payton: [00:06:21] Right, right.

Brendan Keegan: [00:06:22] But yeah. And I think it’s you know people they say you know, you buy from who you like. And I think that’s kind of what we’re here to do is, you know, get to know a lot of our people in the local Atlanta community. Um, you know, get our name out there a little bit. And, you know, ideally the the technology sales will come from there on out. So. Yeah. Um, yeah.

Eric Meadows: [00:06:42] I mean, if we’re solving helping people solve their problems daily, everything’s getting better. That that’s kind of where we’re coming from, right? We want to build those relationships and then help people solve their pain, uh, if whatever that might be, across any of the things that we do within our company, from a technology perspective, even outside of technology, we do a lot of charitable work. Um, really.

Stone Payton: [00:07:02] We’ll speak to that a little bit. Yeah.

Eric Meadows: [00:07:03] So Cisco does a lot of charity work. Well, first of all, we’re all empowered individually to give up to like $25,000 a year that the company will match so we can have a 50,000 impact. Wow. On, you know, on any given charity that we care for. Um, you know, I support ones called the Cumberland Academy here in Georgia. The Clean Water Project, which is, uh, creates, uh, it’s called Wheels and Water in Africa. Basically, we drill wells in remote, um, remote villages in Uganda. So we have the power to help really make an impact on the world, which is one of the great things about Cisco is that it’s not just about the company, but it’s about the community.

Stone Payton: [00:07:39] That is incredible. Are you familiar with the Stone Payton Foundation? We’ll talk after the show. No, I don’t mean to make light of it, because I think that is that is, uh, it’s moving for me. Yeah, and it’s intriguing. I would have never. I mean, I guess I would have anticipated some big PR push that. Hey, look, Cisco gave away a bunch of money over here or there, but it sounds like they are really making it real and accessible and empowering. The the the team. Yeah. To be a real a very.

Eric Meadows: [00:08:12] The beauty of it is it gives you the opportunity to support what you want. Right. There’s a lot of diversity within Cisco of of people. Right. You have people who are bald like me. You have people who have hair like Brendan. Right? Um, actually, yeah. Yeah. So, you know, but we have the opportunity to give to who we want to. And there’s also concerted efforts like, you know, going and doing things with, uh, um, you know, habitat for humanity or the covenant House, which are supported both locally. Right. Um, you know, that I can speak to when we go our sales conference, we actually do a whole session, uh, about a half a day of give back, like bagging toiletries for homeless people or, you know, things like that. So there’s a lot more to Cisco than just, hey, we’re a business. We want to make money. There’s a lot of giving back. And it’s great that we get to define kind of in our own ways how we give back.

Stone Payton: [00:09:01] Yeah. And you’re local. Yeah. Brendan, are you local or is you’re both here? Local?

Brendan Keegan: [00:09:05] I live about 20 minutes away from here.

Stone Payton: [00:09:07] Yeah. Oh, sweet. Yeah, well, we’re in Woodstock, so Sharon and I Business RadioX studios all over town, but Sharon and I drove in from Woodstock. But we’ll call ourselves local.

Eric Meadows: [00:09:16] How was 575 this morning? Was it a complete nightmare?

Stone Payton: [00:09:18] We came early enough that that it was fine, but I wouldn’t want to make this drive every morning. Next time we do this, you come to my studio. Yeah.

Eric Meadows: [00:09:25] I live in Smyrna, so I’ll be. Oh, sweet. Easy. That works.

Stone Payton: [00:09:27] Perfect. So, uh, how long have you guys been at this?

Brendan Keegan: [00:09:30] I’ve been with Cisco for about three years now. Yeah. Um, yeah, it’s been great. Been the highlight of my career so far.

Stone Payton: [00:09:37] So what’s the most fun about it for you, man? What’s the most rewarding?

Brendan Keegan: [00:09:40] You know, I think I like the. I love being out able to kind of get out and set my own schedule and do what I want. Yeah, there’s a lot of, you know, Cisco, actually, you know, we talked earlier about collaboration tools like that’s kind of a big part of what we do as our own companies. We enable our employees to kind of work from wherever and set their schedules and, you know, really embrace what we call hybrid work. So, um, I, you know, woke up today. I didn’t need to be at an office at 8 a.m. to kind of clock in and do all that stuff. Yeah. Um, they really, you know, give us the freedom and responsibility to, to, you know, do what we want and make the most of our day, you know, obviously, you know, making an impact on our job and all. But, uh, but yeah, I think that’s kind of my favorite thing is they really give you that autonomy to do what you want.

Stone Payton: [00:10:27] So, you know, in my line of work, because we do business interviews as business people, interviewing business people, I, I hear a lot about culture. I hear a lot of people speak about culture. We haven’t actually used that word at all. But the the Cisco culture sounds to me like something to really be proud of.

Eric Meadows: [00:10:44] And it is.

Stone Payton: [00:10:45] It is for me.

Eric Meadows: [00:10:47] You know, it’s funny because when you talk to people outside of Cisco, they’re like, oh, Cisco, they’re a sales driving organization. They, you know, they crack the whip. It’s a high performance organization, no doubt. But it’s really got a a caring culture. And I think that’s the best way to describe it.

Brendan Keegan: [00:11:03] And yeah, I mean, not to brag, but fortune magazine rated us the number one workplace in the US.

Eric Meadows: [00:11:09] Wow.

Brendan Keegan: [00:11:10] Number one. Number one. Wow. Last three years actually.

Stone Payton: [00:11:12] Man that’s better than your top 40 stat. That’s right.

Eric Meadows: [00:11:14] I was like, hey, Todd, I thought we were in top 40.

Stone Payton: [00:11:16] We were going to lead with that. We were going to make that the title of the thing, but not now.

Speaker5: [00:11:20] Yeah, we moved.

Eric Meadows: [00:11:20] From 40 to 1.

Stone Payton: [00:11:21] He’s he’s what we call a topper. Brendan is you know, you come in with a cool story and Brendan just comes in with one. He says.

Speaker5: [00:11:28] I know.

Eric Meadows: [00:11:28] This is like.

Brendan Keegan: [00:11:29] We’re talking culture.

Speaker5: [00:11:30] Yeah. Just fits. Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:11:33] Oh my goodness. So, uh, so again, you’ve got at least one of your execs doing a talk or a session.

Eric Meadows: [00:11:40] Several of them.

Speaker5: [00:11:40] Several, several.

Brendan Keegan: [00:11:41] And I think so we were talking about our presence in Georgia here. So Cisco is, uh, a San Jose based company that’s we started, um.

Eric Meadows: [00:11:50] That’s our bridge on our logo.

Speaker5: [00:11:51] Yeah, it’s the bridge. Sweet.

Brendan Keegan: [00:11:52] Okay, Cisco is San Francisco.

Speaker5: [00:11:55] Oh, um. All right. Few people put that together.

Stone Payton: [00:11:58] All right. I’m in the truck with you now as we stay down here. Yeah.

Speaker5: [00:12:01] And, um.

Brendan Keegan: [00:12:01] So so we, you know, we started out there, but we opened our space here in Atlanta, uh, last year. It was last April, actually, and we kind of planted our flag. This is going to be our East Coast hub. Um, our CEO actually is a Georgia native, and he has since moved back to Georgia. Oh, wow. Um, we have our CFO. Like I mentioned before, he’s here today somewhere. Uh, he lives in Atlanta. He’s a Georgia Tech alum himself. Um. That’s okay.

Stone Payton: [00:12:26] I bet he’s a nice guy.

Eric Meadows: [00:12:28] Hey, hey, slow down there.

Brendan Keegan: [00:12:29] Go jackets.

Speaker5: [00:12:30] Everybody.

Stone Payton: [00:12:31] Probably a lot of Georgia Tech folks walking these halls. I mean.

Speaker5: [00:12:34] Our.

Eric Meadows: [00:12:35] Our our office is actually on technically the Georgia Tech campus, isn’t it? It is. We share the space with Georgia Tech.

Speaker5: [00:12:40] It’s a Georgia.

Brendan Keegan: [00:12:40] Tech building too, actually.

Eric Meadows: [00:12:42] Yeah. The coda building center of. I don’t even know what Coda stands for.

Brendan Keegan: [00:12:46] I don’t know if it’s an acronym or not. Actually, somebody asked me that yesterday.

Eric Meadows: [00:12:49] It’s the center of something.

Speaker5: [00:12:51] Yeah.

Eric Meadows: [00:12:52] Center of our universe.

Stone Payton: [00:12:53] Uh, I was just teasing. I’m sure if I could have achieved some different test score on some of those tests coming out of high school, I would have been delighted to go to Georgia Tech.

Speaker5: [00:13:03] Join the club. You can try it now. Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:13:06] I’m a lost cause. Well, gentlemen, it’s been a real pleasure visiting with you. I can see why you’re successful. I can see why Cisco is successful. It’s, uh. It’s been great having you on the show, man. Thanks.

Eric Meadows: [00:13:18] We appreciate being.

Speaker5: [00:13:19] Here. Yeah. Thanks so much.

Stone Payton: [00:13:20] Our pleasure. All right. We’ll be back in a few from the show floor here at Georgia Technology Summit 2020 for.

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:20] And we are back broadcasting live from Georgia Technology Summit 2024. Stone Payton, Sharon Cline here with you. Our next guest. Please join me in welcoming to the program with Indestrl, Kal, how are you doing, man?

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:00:35] Doing great, doing great.

Stone Payton: [00:00:37] Well, it is a pleasure to have you on the show. Tell us a little bit about this organization. What are you out there trying to do for folks.

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:00:44] As an organization? What we are trying to do is democratize innovation, make it accessible to as many people as possible. At a broad level, that is what the company is about.

Stone Payton: [00:00:56] So what inspired you to pursue this this mission? I sense that you saw a gap, a void, an injustice or something, or just maybe just a way to help people to make money, I don’t know.

Speaker4: [00:01:07] Nah. Yeah.

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:01:09] Money is always there. Don’t money. Nothing runs right. But what made me get into this is when I was working in the corporate world. I was always motivated when I was doing something innovative, something new, something that energizes me. I wanted to spread that same joy that I felt by making it accessible to as many people as possible. So at a broad level, that is what the company is about.

Stone Payton: [00:01:37] So why is it not accessible for some or many, do you think?

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:01:42] I would say I’m fortunate, right? I had a good education, good background overall, right? I was supported by my family and friends and all the mentors along the way. I want to give back. So why it is not accessible. There can be multiple reasons, you know. There are too many to mention, but making it more accessible is what I am behind.

Stone Payton: [00:02:06] So why tag? Why? Why are you part of this organization?

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:02:10] This is the biggest organization of all the technology folks to come together great minds and share their experiences, as well as motivate other other folks as well as, you know, uplifting our great state of Georgia.

Stone Payton: [00:02:23] So the people here are some of them prospective clients, some of them prospective partners. What are some of the the folks walking the carpet here? Why do you want to get to know them better and build those relationships? You think?

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:02:37] For a business to thrive. You need to be a known entity, right? So building those partnerships and relationships at a personal level is really important in my mind. And that’s why I’m here just learning and sharing.

Stone Payton: [00:02:53] So you’re exhibiting are you an exhibitor or you’re just you’re visiting everyone else who is exhibiting or.

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:03:00] I don’t think what I sell is exhibiting here.

Stone Payton: [00:03:04] Okay, okay.

Speaker4: [00:03:05] All right, all right.

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:03:06] We need to get permission. Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:03:07] All right. So. So you’re. But you are visiting with people who are offering these products and services, and do you plan to attend some sessions or listen to some of the, the keynotes, that kind of thing? What are you going to do with your time here?

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:03:19] I attended the keynotes, and I’m looking forward for the evening session where the top ten, uh, startup companies are, uh, presenting, and I’m excited to see what they are doing and how they are innovating.

Stone Payton: [00:03:31] So for you, is there an ideal kind of, uh, client, is there a profile of someone that that you want to be working with or a certain type of industry?

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:03:42] Absolutely. I would say my key industry that I’m targeting right now is apart from B to C in the B to B space would be manufacturing and uh, also construction.

Stone Payton: [00:03:55] Okay. So let’s let’s take manufacturing for example. What if I were running a small to medium sized manufacturing operation. What are some things that I might see in my operation that would make me think, you know what, maybe we ought to reach out and have a conversation with Cal. Like, what are some some symptoms of things that could be better that, you know, maybe Cal can help us out with this.

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:04:18] Yeah, that’s a tall order. But let me explain what I think, okay?

Stone Payton: [00:04:22] Okay.

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:04:23] The way I look at any business, manufacturing is operational efficiency, right? Mm. Uh, let’s drill down a little bit there. Let’s say there is a company or a factory with, uh, multiple work centers. End of the day, it is overall equipment efficiency. Right? Then how do we keep the uptime? And, uh, using the latest technology? That is an innovation that is out there. Uh, I don’t want to use any buzzwords, the current trends. But at the same time, it is about the bottom line. The more efficient the process is, the better the bottom line will be, and that will be helping the companies grow their top line as well.

Stone Payton: [00:05:01] So do you find when you come into a situation like that? The answer really isn’t I don’t want to call it simple, but it’s not all this crazy complex, you know, save the world answer and you can see it pretty quickly. It’s just that because you have a fresh set of eyes and a different perspective, maybe a more objective perspective, you’re able to see it, call it out and help them take some action on it. Uh, that maybe it’s difficult for them because they’re just right there in the weeds of it.

Speaker4: [00:05:30] Yeah.

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:05:30] That’s a very good way to put it. Right. People who are in the weeds and, uh, if you can’t, there is a saying you can’t see the picture if you are inside the frame. So I.

Speaker4: [00:05:41] Like it. Yeah.

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:05:42] You need somebody external to come in and take a look at it. It need not be me, but anybody. Right. Um, then what we bring to the table is extensive experience in various industries. Uh, and, uh, look at the overall business process and understand the human element of the business process, where there are levers that can be pulled or triggered to make it more efficient.

Stone Payton: [00:06:09] It’s interesting that you bring up the human element, because one of the things I’m, uh, beginning to open my my eyes and I guess my heart too, because we’ve had a handful of conversations this morning, already on air with several people in different aspects of the technology world. And I guess I came here this morning thinking that technology was so transactional and mechanistic, and every conversation has been so heavily laced with the human element. Right? The at the end of the day, there’s still that the human element is a critical part, maybe the most important part of all of it, isn’t it?

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:06:44] Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker4: [00:06:46] I mean.

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:06:47] Everybody is a little bit apprehensive of the way the world is going on in terms of technology. Right. Mhm. Uh, take the case of generative AI right now with uh, ChatGPT that came up in 2022, uh, November and uh, became uh, pervasive right now. And there are so many things going on. People are a little bit afraid that we will eventually end up in a society similar to the movie Wall-E. But, you know, it might happen. It might not. I’m not the guy to predict that, number one. And, um. No matter what we do, we have to stay grounded. And, um, human element is one of the key ingredient that we need to focus on. End of the day, no matter what technology we bring to the table, to the businesses to make them more efficient, it is still the human on the other side looking at how can I make this business more efficient? And let’s say the factory workforce, they are looking at more better ways to do their jobs and get some satisfaction and, uh, newer ways, innovative ways of handling their work. So then again, it boils down to democratizing innovation.

Stone Payton: [00:08:00] Very well said. All right. What’s the best way for our listeners to learn more? Is there a website or some way to connect with you?

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:08:07] Absolutely. I have a website. Uh it’s www.industrial.com I and s.r.l. dot com.

Stone Payton: [00:08:16] Well Cal thanks for coming to visit with us man. Enjoy the event and don’t be a stranger. Swing back by sometime and catch us up on what you’re learning, okay?

Kalyan Sriramaneni : [00:08:25] Absolutely. Thanks a lot for the opportunity.

Stone Payton: [00:08:27] Our pleasure. All right. We’ll be back in a few from Georgia Technology Summit 2024.

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:20] And we are back broadcasting live from Georgia Technology Summit 2024. The halls are buzzing. They got out of the session, they’re visiting all the tables. And we are going to have a great time in this one. Please join me in welcoming to the show with System Technology Works, Mr. Luis Guzman. How are you, man?

Luis Guzman: [00:00:41] I’m doing all right. I’m doing all right. Enjoying the place.

Stone Payton: [00:00:44] So did you attend the keynote? The session that just let out a little while ago?

Luis Guzman: [00:00:48] Uh, I was not able to attend the keynote. I was more attending to my table. Yeah. Presentation of the robot.

Stone Payton: [00:00:55] All right, so tell us a little bit about that. So you were presenting?

Luis Guzman: [00:00:59] Yeah. Yes. We, um, one of the 40 top 40, uh, innovative companies of of Georgia. And we are a robotics company which are producing humanoid robots and implementing AI to it.

Stone Payton: [00:01:13] Well, it’s got to feel good to be one of the top 40. Yeah.

Luis Guzman: [00:01:15] Oh, yes. Yes.

Stone Payton: [00:01:17] So tell us a little bit about your association with Tag. Has this been have you been part of Tag for a long time?

Luis Guzman: [00:01:24] Just being part of Tag for a while. But it has been a wonderful experience. Yeah. Yes.

Stone Payton: [00:01:29] So what do you feel like it brings to the party? Is that the relationships? Is it the events.

Luis Guzman: [00:01:34] It brings people at the high, uh, high level technical and understanding of the business and trying to the true business of, uh, Georgia.

Stone Payton: [00:01:44] A lot of IQ points work in this carpet, I think. Maybe. Huh. Yeah. So smart folks and some good folks. So what is the what’s a win for you coming out of this. Like come this weekend, you look back on it and you say, you know what, I’m really glad I was there. We got this accomplished. We got that accomplished. What would be a win for you, you think?

Luis Guzman: [00:02:02] I think the connections and the people actually seeing the the product, uh, working live, uh, I think is a big win. You can never get this many people coming into an office space. So this is this is the office space right now.

Stone Payton: [00:02:20] So how did you get into this space? What were you doing before you were working with this robot technology?

Luis Guzman: [00:02:25] So before I started working with robot technology, I used to work for the Weather Channel. I was at a, um. Software. Yeah. Yes.

Stone Payton: [00:02:34] I got to know what prompted the switch. Man, that was a bold move. I think.

Luis Guzman: [00:02:39] Um, to me is, uh, you know, I’m a I like the hardware, the software, and, uh, always fascinated with robotics. Yeah. Uh, humanoid robots, I think right now is that they’re taking off. But, um, it’s been a passion of mine for eight years, so I’ve been working on it for quite some time.

Stone Payton: [00:02:58] It’s it’s been.

Luis Guzman: [00:02:58] Brewing. It’s been brewing. Exactly.

Stone Payton: [00:03:00] The storm was. Yes. Was brewing.

Luis Guzman: [00:03:04] Yes.

Stone Payton: [00:03:04] So how does the whole sales and marketing thing work? Are there people here who might at some point write you a check, or is this more of a the people you need to collaborate with to get to people who will write you checks, or how is that going to work?

Luis Guzman: [00:03:18] Uh, that’s.

Stone Payton: [00:03:19] Twofold. Yeah.

Luis Guzman: [00:03:20] Okay. Right now, um, I’m already meeting people to do the POCs, so, uh, proof of concepts. Okay, so I got, uh, already a couple lined up. Um, and those are the people. Then you start talking about how can we, uh, write a check for it?

Stone Payton: [00:03:35] See, I’m getting smarter already, if you ask me. Ten minutes ago. What’s a POC? I don’t know, but in my next interview, I’m going to say, well, tell me about your POC. Tell me about that process. Oh my gracious, what fun. So, uh, going forward, what are your world domination plans? Six months, nine months, 18 months? How do you think?

Luis Guzman: [00:03:54] So the world domination plan is more having a robot that does multi languages. Um, uh, receptionist to and also upper uh, promoting peace and at the same time, uh, an educational product uh, for young um students like, uh, high school seniors and college students to be able to program AI into the robot.

Stone Payton: [00:04:19] I thought I was being facetious when I asked that question. I think you are going to take over the world with that. All right. So let’s drill down and just take a fun use case, because there must be a gazillion. But let’s just let’s just take a fun use case that you’re either excited about, hoping to come to fruition one day and drill down a little bit, or, um, one that you already have in play this further along than we might realize.

Luis Guzman: [00:04:41] So right now, um, every, um, every semester I have a group of, um, interns, uh, about six interns, um, uh, that come from the Fulton County to work, uh, work their, um, internship program. In my, uh, in my office. They are programing this robot, seeing the excitement of these kids as they’re programing I and seeing it, uh, how you call it respond because it’s actually they see a live the robot responds with what they programing it into. And um, that is uh, I think, uh, that’s a fulfilling feeling that, you know, is is working like, you know, I imagined it.

Stone Payton: [00:05:26] You must sleep really well at night. It’s got to be incredibly rewarding work.

Luis Guzman: [00:05:30] Yeah, it is, it is.

Stone Payton: [00:05:33] Oh my goodness. And I have that kind of impact on people that, you know, are going to have impact on other people’s lives. You just you really can’t even anticipate how that continues to, to evolve and.

Luis Guzman: [00:05:43] How that’s going to.

Stone Payton: [00:05:44] Grow. Yeah. Yes. All right. So are there particular people you want to meet while you’re here, particular, uh, talks. You do want to try to catch or you just kind of going with the flow.

Luis Guzman: [00:05:56] I am a newbie. I’m going with the flow and letting it letting it ride.

Stone Payton: [00:06:01] Well, congratulations on hitting the top 40, man. That’s got to feel good.

Luis Guzman: [00:06:05] It does.

Stone Payton: [00:06:06] Well, keep up the good work. Congratulations on the momentum. Let us know if there’s anything we can be doing at the Business RadioX family to support your efforts. But one of the things I hope you’ll do is keep us posted. Let let us kind of continue to follow the story and something that might be fun. If you’d like to do it sometime, maybe we can set up a special, uh, segment. Maybe we sit down with some of your interns and you and maybe one of your early adopters, maybe. And, uh, kind of chronicle that, uh, proof of concept journey. That might be fun, huh?

Luis Guzman: [00:06:36] That would be awesome.

Stone Payton: [00:06:37] That’d be all right, man. Well, thank you so much for joining us.

Luis Guzman: [00:06:40] Thank you for inviting me.

Stone Payton: [00:06:42] All right. We’ll be back in a few from Georgia Technology Summit 2024.

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:20] Well, we are broadcasting live. We’re nowhere near the studio. Sharon Cline and Stone Payton here with you. We got out of our hole there in Woodstock, Georgia and came down to the Signia Hotel. We are broadcasting live from Georgia Technology Summit 2024, and it’s, uh, it’s just buzzing with activity. We’re catching up with some old friends, making some new ones. Please join me in welcoming back to the Business RadioX microphone with risk3sixty?

Christian Hyatt: [00:00:48] That’s right.

Stone Payton: [00:00:49] All right, Mr. Christian Hyatt. Good to see you, man.

Christian Hyatt: [00:00:53] Thank you. I’m happy to be here.

Stone Payton: [00:00:54] Well, we’re glad to have you. I know you didn’t just come for me. So what were you hoping to accomplish by being here, man? Yeah.

Christian Hyatt: [00:01:01] So our company was top ten of the innovative company. So we’re here to receive an award, and I have to get on that huge stage out there for five minutes.

Stone Payton: [00:01:08] All right, we’re shutting the production down. When they when they hand that out, we’re going to be like entourage. Now you.

Christian Hyatt: [00:01:12] Can start a wave in the crowd or.

Stone Payton: [00:01:14] Something. I love top ten. Congratulations very much. Yeah. Oh yeah. That is cool. All right. So tell us a little bit about about this organization. What are you out there trying to do for folks. Yeah.

Christian Hyatt: [00:01:24] So, uh, wrist 360 people might not be aware, but cybercrime is a $12 trillion industry. If it was an economy, it’d be the third largest economy after the US and China. So one of the things that’s happened is, uh, companies have a huge amount of regulation and compliance because of the cybersecurity threat. And that’s what our company does. We help companies navigate the regulations and the compliance and take what is typically a multi-million dollar endeavor for a very large company. Try to cut that in half through software, through people, save them a lot of money, help them build a great program. And that’s really our mission.

Stone Payton: [00:01:55] Christian, you’re scaring me because. No, it’s that important, right. And and I guess when I think when I hear words like cybersecurity, I think of the bank, or occasionally I’ll get a note that says, hey, we had or I’ll get something in the mail. We had to notify you. There’s some breach and some other system on the day to day basis. It feels like, oh, that’s a big company problem. Yeah, but it’s not just a great big, huge company problem. Is it? Like it’s a very individual problem.

Christian Hyatt: [00:02:20] Like everyone’s already aware of the things like social media. Like your information is out there, your emails, uh, your personal information. And that is getting breached. You see that in a headline that goes to the dark web. So it has a very real personal application for each of us. But what a lot of people don’t know is it has a huge business implication, because all of our businesses rely on other businesses to do business. So we’re outsourcing our HR, we’re outsourcing our accounting system, so on and so forth. And it’s our third parties that are getting breached that are impacting our companies. So there’s a really important trust relationship between the company and the third party. And the way the industry is solving that is through these security certifications through, uh, through the compliance exercises that I mentioned. And we’re trying to help those companies build that trust so that they know that they’re doing right by each other.

Stone Payton: [00:03:05] I would think that would be incredibly important now, and will only continue to get more and more important when I’m trying to sell a B2B service or really nail down a long strategic partnership, an enduring strategic partnership, I got to have this in my back. If I don’t, it’s going to be like the Carfax. When you’re buying a car, you can’t show me the Carfax. I’m not interested. Right?

Christian Hyatt: [00:03:26] That’s just like how it is. So like, I make the joke and I don’t mean this, but I say, hey, no one does cybersecurity because they’re good folks. They’re not just building a cybersecurity program, although some do. The reason they’re doing it is because there’s a multi-million dollar contract on the line. You know, they can’t do business with this really big business unless they have these certifications, because it’s required in contract. So by the time a company is calling us, they either have a whole slew of compliance requirements or a new, uh, compliance requirement they’re trying to navigate. And we try to make that easy, easy for them and kind of remove the hidden tax of this whole ecosystem that exists.

Stone Payton: [00:03:58] So are you working then with relatively small midsize companies? Not necessarily the great big huge ones. Is there a place in your world for the or do you refer them out to a different type of?

Christian Hyatt: [00:04:08] We do work with some smaller companies. Most of the companies that we work with are companies who’ve never heard with their B2B technology companies, okay, that don’t necessarily serve consumers, but they’re typically pretty large. Um, our target market is the enterprise because they have very complex, uh, important issues. But you’re seeing more and more like startups are seeing this because you’re a startup tech company. You want to do business with this big company, and suddenly they’re throwing these regulations at you. Right? Right. So it’s really interesting how small the companies that are impacted. We work with a couple companies that are 2 or 3 people, and just to do their first ever contract, they have to do this stuff. Mostly we work with the big enterprises though.

Stone Payton: [00:04:43] All right. So your personal role in all of this, are you out? Are you like on the sales and marketing side of most of this, or are you in the back room eating Cheetos and writing code like.

Christian Hyatt: [00:04:52] I’m the I’m the founder and CEO? Oh, wow. Yeah. So I started this company about eight years ago. Uh, my role today is really just leading through people. So although we’re a tech. Organization. We’re a people organization. So almost all day I’m thinking about how to get the best people in the door, how to motivate people, how to lead through others. And we just try to build what we call craftsmen, people who are excellent at their job. They can go off and serve customers really, really well, build great technology and solve hard problems. So my number one job really is just to harness the energy of our team to go serve those clients and do important things. I see.

Stone Payton: [00:05:22] I’m so biased, Sharon. He’s just too young and too handsome to be running an organization like this. So I just I just figured he was like the hotshot sales guy right on the on the I do I.

Christian Hyatt: [00:05:31] Do sells out of necessity, I guess. But mostly it’s just telling people the good word, you know?

Stone Payton: [00:05:36] Oh, but no, this is great. This is very fortuitous because I got a ton that I want to learn from you. And one is creating a culture like the one that you’ve described. Uh, I guess you’ve had to you’ve had to get good at recruiting, developing, not just going and getting them, but then keeping them. Any, any counsel you have to offer. Yeah. Any of us on that front, man.

Christian Hyatt: [00:05:58] That’s where I spend most of my time thinking, uh, yeah. I’ll tell you, one of the things that had a huge influence on me is, uh, probably the most famous, one of the most famous business authors ever, Jim Collins, who wrote good to. Great. Yeah, yeah, but he wrote a lesser known book that’s a 40 page, 46 page book called Turning the Flywheel. And if you think about a flywheel, it’s really hard to get momentum at first. You’re trying to pull this flywheel, but over time, if you focus your energy, you get momentum. So we built our flywheel as a business all around people. So it’s hiring strange renegades, hiring the best people, developing craftsmen. So, you know, paying for their certifications, training programs. And then we try to let those craftsmen build artisan products, which is our great software, all of our services. Then we build an inimitable brand based on those great projects. I mean, just like people, when people love your products, your brand gets better. And if you have a great brand, well, you can recruit more great people. So it’s a very people centric business model. So whenever we make investment decisions as an organization, if it’s not one of those core elements of the flywheel, we have to rethink why we’re doing that thing. So it just helps me maintain a lot of focus and discipline on what I’m trying to focus on as a CEO.

Stone Payton: [00:07:01] I just want to read your book whenever you write it, if you haven’t yet, and I do have a.

Christian Hyatt: [00:07:05] Book coming out in in May. It’s called Security Team Operating System. Oh, sweet. It takes all the lessons that I’ve learned as a CEO of a security company and reapplies them for security leaders in their context.

Stone Payton: [00:07:17] Oh, I can’t wait. And when you do, you come join us in one of the studios. Or if we have to, we’ll do a virtual interview, but we’ll get the word out about that. So what are you hoping to accomplish this week being down here? What’s a what’s a win for you being here?

Christian Hyatt: [00:07:28] Um, gratitude. Like, I was born raised here in Atlanta, uh, educated at University of Georgia, did my MBA at Georgia Tech. So the Georgia Technology Summit for me is just an opportunity to, like, be with other tech leaders and appreciate that moment and, uh, getting a little bit of recognition, which is really nice and unexpected. So, I mean, I think just gratitude is what we’re here for today.

Stone Payton: [00:07:48] Oh, man. Well, I’m certainly filled with gratitude. It’s really been a delight having you on the program. And you, uh, you know, I’m a little long in the tooth than you are. Uh, and it sounds like maybe not quite as accomplished, but I just hanging out with you is fun. So much. Yes. Well, congratulations on the momentum. Congratulations on the honors that are well deserved. Keep us posted. Let us know what’s happening in your world. I’m quite sincere. Uh, I really would like to catch up with you when you get ready to release that book. I would love to. And, uh, I definitely will be, uh, will be reading. Well, thank you for joining us, man. Thank you so much.

Christian Hyatt: [00:08:21] It’s been a pleasure to be here.

Stone Payton: [00:08:22] All right. We’ll be back in a few from Georgia Technology Summit 2024.

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:20] And we are back broadcasting live from Georgia Technology Summit 2024. Stone Payton here with you. No, we’re not in studio. We are here at the Signia Hotel and this thing is just brimming with activity. People are starting to fall into the next set of sessions, I believe. But you guys are in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast CEO with Cantaloupe. Ravi, how are you, man?

Ravi Venkatesan: [00:00:45] Stone, it’s great to be here. Doing wonderful. It’s been an incredible summit so far.

Stone Payton: [00:00:50] So yeah, we’re only kind of late morning and it looks like a lot’s been accomplished. Yeah, yeah.

Ravi Venkatesan: [00:00:55] It’s been, uh, it’s been rocking out of the gate. You know, we, uh, we are first time exhibitors here, and our booth has been humming. You know, I brought six people here, and I’m thinking I should have brought 60.

Stone Payton: [00:01:07] Wow. So what is the key? Because, you know, not everyone has that kind of success in a exhibit environment. Did you just get lucky or did you set up a strategy that going into this that you think really helped you get the most out of being here?

Ravi Venkatesan: [00:01:21] I think from an Atlanta technology companies, we are one of the best kept secrets. We actually are the largest technology company on the planet in terms of powering self-service commerce storefronts in plain English cases like vending, laundromats, parking, car wash, dog wash, anywhere where you can buy a product or a service and make a payment without a store clerk helping you or an attendant helping you. That’s what we build, and we have 1.2 million such storefronts and do over a billion transactions a year. So we are kind of, you know, under the radar a lot of times, but but very cool technology that is becoming more and more relevant as people want to buy without interacting with another human being to, to pay and get their products or services.

Stone Payton: [00:02:10] Well, it’s impressive and it is. At least it was a secret to me. I you know, of course, I’ve, uh, interacted with all of those things, right? Except not the dog wash for a while. I’ve grown out of the dogs, but, you know, the parking and all that. Yeah, sure. Every day. So coming here are there are there people here you’re looking to partner with? Are there people here who might at some point be doing business directly with you? What are some of the objectives I guess, yeah.

Ravi Venkatesan: [00:02:33] When it comes to software and particularly payments, you know, what’s now? Contemporary terms is fintech or financial technology. Atlanta has practically become the world’s capital. 80% of the world’s payments actually in one shape or form, run through an Atlanta company. So, you know, it’s just a great ecosystem to be here for recruiting talent, for finding partners, uh, you know, for just working with even customers. Uh, we do a lot with companies here. So it’s it’s been nice to be here. Uh, our company was traditionally or historically headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania. But now most of the executive team is here, and our major presence is started shifting, uh, to Atlanta. And so I’m proud to say we are kind of an Atlanta based company, but I’ve been in Atlanta 22 years, my whole professional career. So. Oh, have you really? I like having our base here.

Stone Payton: [00:03:27] So you’ve always been involved with technology or commerce or or or both or did you kind of make some big shifts along the way?

Ravi Venkatesan: [00:03:36] Um, always with technology in one shape or form. I kind of grew up at Accenture, early part of my career, and then moved to a company, public company called Seebeyond, where we did cloud based infrastructure as a service, and then, uh, moved to a company called bridge two, where we did a lot of loyalty, rewards, redemption, and then to a company called backed, you.

Stone Payton: [00:03:56] Can’t hold a job, Robbie.

Ravi Venkatesan: [00:03:58] Where it was well backed was crypto options and futures. And then then I came to cantaloupe from there. So different, different things. But all in technology and all in financial technology of one, one kind or another.

Stone Payton: [00:04:10] It seems like a very exciting field. Uh, I mentioned in a conversation earlier a lot of IQ points walk in these carpets here. It’s like a lot of a lot of smart, passionate, dedicated folks who just have some cool stuff going on. Yeah.

Ravi Venkatesan: [00:04:23] I, you know, again, I think that’s where, uh, even financial technology in Atlanta and that ecosystem sometimes flies under the radar. You know, people look at Silicon Valley and how vibrant it is. I think fintech in Atlanta is equally vibrant or more. And the future is really bright.

Stone Payton: [00:04:41] So being a CEO, you got you got a lot in your field of view. And you have to make some choices about where you’re going to spend time, energy, resources. But I have to believe that, uh, a very important aspect of that must be trying to, uh, architect the culture, like creating what you want the environment to, to be like. Do you spend a lot of energy thinking about that and trying to to shape the culture going forward?

Ravi Venkatesan: [00:05:09] Absolutely. I mean, that’s job number one, right? It’s the old saying culture eats strategy for breakfast. I think it’s literally true. Yeah. Uh, I certainly try to live that every day from a cantaloupe culture perspective. What I’ve tried to do since I’ve been in the role is really build a culture of adaptability and resilience, because that’s what today’s extreme uncertainty world, where, you know, we’re moving from a trend of globalization to a trend of de globalization. Supply chains are completely, you know, re swizzling themselves. A lot of my sourcing of electronics and components that go into payment terminals is shifted from China to, uh, to Mexico and to five other places. So, so with that kind of uncertainty, the the culture we’ve tried to build is people that are nimble and that are collaborative and that are comfortable with not knowing and figuring it out and, you know, finding the people that can help them. So that’s that’s how I would describe it in a nutshell.

Stone Payton: [00:06:12] Well, it sounds like a noble pursuit. And I can see why that would get you energized to, to try to find, to recruit those folks. And then you’ve got to develop them. And to your point, whatever success looks like today, I mean, that’s a lot of it is a moving target, isn’t it?

Ravi Venkatesan: [00:06:28] It is a moving target. And, you know, one of the things I’ve seen companies do, which I’ve learned from, you know, you always try to learn from doing it wrong and learn from mistakes. Mistakes teach you more than success does. Right? So. Right, right. The the biggest mistake I’ve seen companies make is they set very aggressive short tum goals and then they set not very aggressive if at all long Tum goals. And I do it the opposite way. I said very realistic and very uh achievable short tum goals. And I set very lofty and audacious longer Tum goals because that works way better. And by the way research proves that people underestimate what they can do in the long tum and overestimate what they can do in the short tum.

Stone Payton: [00:07:13] Interesting. I’m sure that’s true. I’ve never really thought about it in that frame, but that makes a lot, makes a lot of sense. So you obviously get a great deal out of your participation in tag. And I can I can see it in your eyes. I can hear it in your voice. And, uh, anecdotally, through some of the ways that you’re sharing that you’re interacting with folks, what tips, if any, would you have for other people who are entering into this ecosystem to. What would you encourage them to do or not do to help them get the most out of a resource like like tag?

Ravi Venkatesan: [00:07:45] So I’ve been associated with Tag for many years, being in technology and being in Atlanta. Um, and I’m a recent board member at Tag as well. So I’m very passionate about what the organization does and how it serves the technology community in Atlanta, but more importantly, how it’s creating a bridge between technology and other non technology businesses in the Atlanta ecosystem. And more specifically, when we think about where businesses are going, especially with the advent of artificial intelligence, there’s going to be no business that is not a technology business. Everybody is going through. You know, an overused Tum is digital transformation. But in plain and simple terms, everybody is looking at everything that they do as part of their operations and what can be automated and what can be technology enabled to make themselves more efficient, more productive. And I think the technology companies that are in Atlanta and as well as elsewhere, can play a big role in helping Atlanta and Georgia companies go through that transformation, and Tag plays a pivotal role in connecting those dots.

Stone Payton: [00:08:56] Well, I feel like you’ve answered that question before. You’re very articulate about that and passionate. Let’s just say.

Ravi Venkatesan: [00:09:01] I’ve thought about it.

Stone Payton: [00:09:03] Well, Robbie, it has been a real delight having you on the show, man. Thanks for making the time. I’m going to let you get back to it, but I can’t thank you enough for joining us. Keep up the good work, man.

Ravi Venkatesan: [00:09:13] Absolutely. Thank you. So I appreciate it.

Stone Payton: [00:09:15] Our pleasure. All right. We’ll be back in a few from Georgia Technology Summit 2020 for.

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:20] And we are back broadcasting live from Georgia Technology Summit 2024. Stone Payton Sharon Cline here with you. We are not in studio. We are here at the Signia Hotel. It is so much fun. There’s a I’ve mentioned in the last couple of conversations, there are a lot of IQ points walking this carpet here, and, uh, it’s been so much fun catching up with some old friends, making some new ones. This is going to be a fun one. Please join me in welcoming back to the Business RadioX microphone, Founder of Collective Insights Consulting and the man himself, Kyle Tothill. How are you, man?

Kyle Tothill: [00:00:58] Stone Payton: I’m doing great. What an exciting day. Super energized to have the mayor and the governor come. And as the board chair for Tag for 2024, I couldn’t be more excited and happy with the results so far. It’s it’s a packed house. We sold out all of our tickets. Uh, and it’s super exciting.

Stone Payton: [00:01:14] I can only begin to imagine what it must take time, energy, resources just to get something like this in motion, much less pull it off. And you guys have done it, man. It’s a.

Kyle Tothill: [00:01:25] Process. It starts. It starts many, many, many, many months, in some cases years in advance. And, uh, it takes a committee of very committed volunteers and tag staff to plan it. The logistics, you know, the invitations, the sponsorship, raising the money. And Tag is primarily a volunteer led organization. It has a staff, but most of the big events that we we pull off are led by our board members or our executive committee members or volunteers.

Stone Payton: [00:01:55] So whenever we are talking to an organization about coming out and doing an on site broadcast, we tell them, you know, we’d really like to visit with a handful of bright, passionate people. If you’ve got any anybody like that in mind, line them up for us. We never run short of that at a tag event. Yeah.

Kyle Tothill: [00:02:11] This is, uh, this organization was started 25 years ago. Wow. Yeah. And, uh, a handful of the technology community stakeholders, people from, you know, wind or from the Southeastern Software Association or a handful of smaller groups, you know, decided that it’d be way better to get together, put together a collaborative ecosystem and, and manage that from a single platform. And they named it tag and started it right after the Olympics, like maybe a couple of years after that, give or take. And, uh, it’s amazing to see the power of a connected ecosystem and what the power of a sharing ecosystem really can do. Uh, and those founders and early tag leaders had no idea what was in store, but they knew there was a wave coming and they wrote it. And so, um, there’s a lot of brilliant people that have moved to Atlanta. There’s a lot of folks that, uh, companies that have come to Atlanta and, uh, you said IQ points. I tell you, it’s it’s an honor just to be around a lot of these folks, um, and some of our great entrepreneurs and great tech leaders, great, uh, business leaders. Um, it’s great.

Stone Payton: [00:03:13] So you’ve clearly chosen to take on some leadership responsibility here in the Tag organization, and you’ve done it long enough now to know better if you didn’t enjoy it and not and not continue to do it. So I’m operating under the impression that you do enjoy it a great deal. What is the most rewarding about that part of your life? What are you? What’s the most fun about being that integrally involved in Tag for you?

Kyle Tothill: [00:03:37] Well, number one, you know, I’m committed to being, uh, a stakeholder in the community in which I serve. And I think that’s just utterly natural for me. Um, I’m an extrovert. It’s like the ultimate extrovert extroverts Paradise. Uh, so, um, but I think what gives me a lot of joy is seeing the impact that this community can have. And, you know, as the, as the chair and someone that’s been on the executive committee for a while and been focused on shaping the vision of the organization, um, I really have encouraged the organization to open open its aperture tag is, uh, really now kind of the Innovation Association of Georgia. We’re serving such a broader community of people, and we’re making a lot of change. And, you know, I mean, what’s not to like being a part of ATL, being part of our success story, being here at these transformative times and being involved with all these great people doing amazing things, you know, from from scoring big and making big money and making people wealthy all the way to mobilizing people’s careers that weren’t in tech, that now are in tech and have access to, you know, to the richness of this, of this type of career.

Stone Payton: [00:04:45] All right. Let’s talk a little bit about collective insights, man. Tell us what you’re up to with that.

Kyle Tothill: [00:04:49] Well, Collective Insights uh, started in 2015. We we founded it out of, uh, EIA, uh, which is, uh, you know, a professional recruiting organization. We help. Build high performance technology and sales organizations and do search work for a pretty diverse set of organizations around, around the country and around the world. And collective insights came out of that organization. So Collective Insights is a business transformation, technology modernization, and talent solutions business.

Stone Payton: [00:05:15] Wow, that’s a mouthful. But you said you were working on shrinking it.

Kyle Tothill: [00:05:18] Nice. I’m trying to I’m trying to make it more elegant. But I tell you, it’s that’s what we do. And, uh, you know, we serve global enterprise. So, uh, most of the organizations that collective insight serves are billion dollar plus organizations. Okay.

Stone Payton: [00:05:30] Yeah. So what do you enjoy about that?

Kyle Tothill: [00:05:32] Wow. Um, what do I enjoy about that I enjoy building I’m a builder. I’m a I’m a visionary, uh, entrepreneur. Uh, I’m not a management consultant. Right, right. Um, I love helping people achieve their objectives. And I love helping leaders transform their businesses. Uh, and I love being a part of the story. I mean, I think that’s kind of what you get with me. If you know me, you’re like, yeah, man, you just want to be in, don’t you? You just want to be part of the know and part of the do and get after it. And I think that that’s that’s amazing. And when you’re around people that are excellent, you know, like you said, high IQ points, high driven people, ambitious a-players it’s infectious. Right. So, um. I love collective insights. I love my IR team. I love the impact that we’ve made on the community and in the lives of our constituents. And you know, I couldn’t be happier and more passionate about it.

Stone Payton: [00:06:18] So I know you’re wearing a couple of different hats while you’re here, but how will you attack the day? What will you do with your time?

Kyle Tothill: [00:06:25] I’m going to meet a lot of people like this guy.

Stone Payton: [00:06:27] Yeah, it’s hard to interview this guy and not be distracted because everybody knows him and he’s paparazzi covering the whole area, but it’s fun.

Kyle Tothill: [00:06:35] So, uh, number one, I wanted to get, you know, I introduced the mayor had the great honor of introducing our technology. Mayor Andre Dickens, who’s a total ba, uh, if, uh, if you’ve gotten a chance to know him, he’s one of us. He went to Georgia Tech. I went to Auburn, but he went to Georgia Tech, which I call close to home. Uh, I grew up here in Georgia as well, in Roswell, and, uh, he’s amazing. Governor Kemp has been amazing. So bringing those guys and getting those guys engaged, having both of them unite under one flag, um, it’s pretty rare. And it’s a model for the rest of the country. So I get pretty I get pretty excited about that. Yeah. Um, you know, so that was a big part of the day. And then, you know, I’ve got an opportunity to introduce our tag Impact award, uh, which is the award for the top volunteers inside of our organization. Oh, neat. So that’s super cool. Um, you know, I’ve got I’ve got some dignitary responsibilities there, but my number one thing that I’m going to be doing today is pressing the flesh, man. Yeah. Connecting with great people. You know, hugging people that I know. You know, this is the one opportunity, you know, uh, in the, you know, in of the year that all of us come together in this disparate ecosystem and, uh, it’s great, man. You know, I get a lot of energy from it.

Stone Payton: [00:07:43] Well, I can tell that you actually draw energy from it. I know tomorrow you’re probably going to crash. Or the day after I’m getting on a.

Kyle Tothill: [00:07:48] Plane and going to Costa Rica tomorrow with my family. So, like, this is like, full burnout. Like Max. Max burnout. My thank yous will go out tomorrow on the plane, and then I’m going to unplug for a few days.

Stone Payton: [00:07:58] All right. Well, we’re going to let you get back to it, but let’s do leave our listeners with some easy, uh, coordinates for getting to learning more about collective insights or connecting and learning more about Dag. Well, the number.

Kyle Tothill: [00:08:08] One thing you can do if you want to learn a little bit about Collective Insights, is follow us on LinkedIn. We push out a lot of content around some of the things that we’re doing for our customers. We love to share our thoughts and our collective insights with everybody. So that’s number one. And of course, you can visit the website or you can just connect with me on LinkedIn. I’m at Kyle Tothill at LinkedIn. It’s pretty easy for me. I was original LinkedIn guy many, many, many decades ago. Um, so that’s pretty easy. You know, if you want to learn about Ehya, you can go to the website. It’s really easy if to schedule, you know, an appointment with one of our top recruiters or one of our top, you know, account managers to learn about how we can help you. Um, if you want to engage with tag, it’s tag online. Org I highly recommend that you look through tag, look through some of the things that we’re doing from a major events perspective. There’s always an opportunity to lean in there, join tag, or, you know, get engaged. With our societies. We have 18 amazing societies. Some of them are tech related, some of them are functional related. Whether you’re marketing or sales leadership or our cloud society or infosec. If you’re into it, get connected with that and get in and volunteer. Get your hands dirty. You know, you’re, uh, you’re not going to get a ton out of tag just coming to the events. I mean, you’ll get connections and make some catalytic connections, but you really get a lot of value out of it when you lean in lead. And it really does transform you, um, into a leader when you get engaged with this organization. It’s amazing actually.

Stone Payton: [00:09:24] Well, keep up the good work. Enjoy some well deserved time. Time off. Don’t be a stranger. You know, we’re quite sincere when we say, let’s do this again and let’s stay. Stay connected. But it’s it’s been a real pleasure having you stop by and visit with us, man.

Kyle Tothill: [00:09:37] Thank you very much, I appreciate it. Thanks for having.

Stone Payton: [00:09:39] Me. Our pleasure. All right. We’ll be back in a few from Georgia Technology Summit 2024.

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:20] So actually, nowhere near the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia are Stone Payton and Sharon Cline here with you? We’re actually broadcasting live from the Signia hotel, and it’s for the Georgia Technology Summit 2024. They’re celebrating a lot of things, including their 25th anniversary. So it’s an exciting time. The place is brimming. You got people coming and going from sessions. You got people visiting tables. And I got to tell you, we do a lot of conference and trade show work. We have for almost 20 years now. And, uh, it’s usually not, not this busy in teaming. And, and, you know, you’re not seeing people at the booths throwing the frisbees back and forth with each other. They’re actually engaging and are having real conversations. So we’re delighted to have you join us. And you guys are in for a real treat for this segment. Please join me in welcoming to the show with First Ignition, Managing Director John Wilson. How you doing man?

John Wilson: [00:01:12] Doing great, Stone.

Stone Payton: [00:01:13] And, uh, you know, I might have done you a disservice because I know from talking to you before we went on air, that’s about one of nine hats that you wear, right? That’s just like one of your day jobs.

John Wilson: [00:01:23] Well, if you live long enough, you can actually have a few.

Stone Payton: [00:01:27] So we’ve got a lot to talk about. Or at least I’d like to, but let’s start there. At first ignition. Tell us a little bit about that organization.

John Wilson: [00:01:34] So that’s just my my in-house shop that I use for advising and working with start up technologies, you know, that I’ve done over the years. I’ve had the luxury of being a serial founder and investor and advisor and, and you know, you give back. And so tag is a great way to do that. And so for quite a while, I’ve been working with Dennis Ax and the other members of the top ten selection committee. We’ve uh, we’ve got a little process underway always that each year looks at, you know, you know, over 100 companies whittles it down to the top 40 innovative companies. And we, you know, they’re here at the show and then we choose the top ten after a kind of a tough selection process to get down from 40 to 10. And they’re on stage today. And so it’s a it’s just a great it’s a great day to visit all these people. And like you said you see everybody.

Stone Payton: [00:02:32] Oh that’s going to be fun. So we’ll actually be able to see the ten that make the cut. But it’s what an honor to even be considered in 100, much less make the 40. Uh oh. That’s going to be an exciting. Well, I don’t know. I’m saying exciting. I guess part of it could be a little bit arduous because you feel like, oh, man, number 42 was really good, you know? Right. Is there some of that emotional pull?

John Wilson: [00:02:53] Well, there is, and in fact, we’ve been tracking, uh, we’ve been doing this from, you know, for over a decade. And, and the fun thing is to watch companies return to the competition. We’ve got companies that have cycled through, been a top 40 a couple of times, then won a top ten. We’ve got we keep track of those that become unicorns. We’ve had a lot of unicorns here and several of them that were named along the way. You’ll see sitting at the the table of the Hall of Fame, they’ve already been inducted into the Hall of Fame. I had pleasure talking to a couple of people over there this morning. And it just it just it’s a great community.

Stone Payton: [00:03:31] So I got a quick unicorn side story for you. My business partner. His name is Lee Kantor. He actually founded Business RadioX. He’s the CEO. I jumped on his coattails 20 years ago. Uh, but he has designed and commissioned a design of a t shirt with a rhinoceros on it. And the slogan is. What do you mean I’m not a unicorn? But I like the sentiment of that because. Because maybe all of us can be, in our own way, a unicorn. Right?

John Wilson: [00:03:57] Exactly. Yeah. And, you know, we I remind people good businesses are good businesses. Yes.

Stone Payton: [00:04:02] Yes, absolutely. All right. So I can’t imagine how you even had time to come talk to us. So so thank you for that. But like what are you going to do. You got to be running around like crazy today with all your responsibilities. Or is it now that was all up till last night. And now you can just kind of ah.

John Wilson: [00:04:18] No, it’s a nice it’s a nice way to see everybody in the community that’s here. It is busy. You hope people get work done by, you know, doing a deal here or there in the, in the corners. But but this is a day to celebrate the fact that George is such an innovative state. I mean, it’s amazing. The governor started off this morning. Uh, we we really are lucky and blessed to have a governor and a mayor that are so focused on technology as an underpinning part of the the state’s economy. And, you know, it’s it’s very unusual to have a, you know, a good large city mayor and a good governor working together on things like this. So we. We should be. We should count our blessings well.

Stone Payton: [00:05:01] And even if they aren’t together, and I don’t know that they aren’t on a on a lot of other stuff, they certainly seem to be together around this. That’s right. Right.

John Wilson: [00:05:09] That’s right. Economic development brings everybody together. It does do a deal.

Stone Payton: [00:05:14] So you’re seeing a lot, uh, you know, we’ve already picked up on some trends, a lot of, uh, conversation around AI, some conversation around robotics and all kinds of things that maybe hasn’t made it to our table yet, but, um, I’m picking up some, some stuff around national security. There’s some cool stuff happening in that space.

John Wilson: [00:05:32] Yeah, well, it’s interesting Georgia’s had a role in some key national security plays for many, many years. Remember we Georgia Tech, you know, was the the home of a number of inventions that came to radio, to television, to broadcasting towers, to radar and the like. And, and they’re both our commercial and national security implications of all of those. And we are you know, this was one of the early nodes of the backbone of the internet on the East Coast called Arpanet at the time. And wow, before that, this little piece was called Suranet. The Southeastern University Research Association and Georgia Tech was the was the endpoint. And so there’s a there’s a long history of national security here. I mean, I moved back here at the time when the C-5a was flying around in the air, and you saw that we produced a number of them here. Uh, there are some more recent, uh, jets that have come off the line at Lockheed. But what’s most interesting to me are the number of startup companies that are in the space, whether they’re in satellites, satellite imagery. There’s a company over in industrious right now, over in Ponce City Market called Dante. That’s that literally does a fusion of all the different systems that satellites provide for both commercial and for national security, uh, customers. So it’s it’s very, very impressive. Uh, we also, if you’ve heard the name of a company called Anduril, which is really big in the defense technology world, um, they make a lot of drones are, um, Anduril acquired a little local Atlanta company called area I. And that’s why you see Anduril logos all around town. Um hum. Um, and they, uh, they make a variety of things that are available in commercial settings as well as national security settings. So, so we play a role and that’s, that’s nice to see.

Stone Payton: [00:07:37] It must be fun for a guy like you. You must run into new and exciting and fresh ideas or applications of older ideas all the time.

John Wilson: [00:07:48] Well, that’s one of the interesting things. There’s a startup, uh, here today that’s working in a space in the payment space that that started as another startup and then evolved into a second one. First one was a success, got sold. Second one is is in a specific vertical. Um, we’ve got another startup that, um, you’ll see that is in the aerospace sector that will deliver a piece of news today, um, to this stage about their work. And they’re out at PDK, uh, and they have a hypersonics company. So if you’ve heard of the concept of, of very, very fast airplanes, missiles, things of that nature operating above, uh, say Mach five, that’s, uh, that’s exactly the space this company Hermeus is involved in. And you’ll just you will be very, very surprised. Their goal is to do a hypersonic commercial airliners. So you could leave. You could leave Atlanta and be in London in 90 minutes. Wow. You could cross the Pacific in three hours. So, you know, kind of a different way of thinking about, um, about how we can move people and goods. But there are also national security implications of that. And so they they are a major, uh, recipient of funds from the Defense Innovation Unit, which is the government’s large investor in startups in this space.

Stone Payton: [00:09:25] So for me, I haven’t interviewed anyone at this type of conference this last since this time last year. So my head’s been exploding all morning for you. It’s like a it’s a Tuesday morning. Yeah. Oh, here’s a supersonic thing. Here’s a national security. Oh look what they’re doing at I. But that is part of, uh, I’m operating under the impression, part of the distinct advantage, um, and value in being part of tag. Yes. Just speak to what from your perspective, what are some of the advantages of being part of Tag?

John Wilson: [00:09:54] So in the case of of Atlanta, we’re really blessed to have, uh, organizations like Tag here because they provide the communications network the backbone for all the growth in this space for us. And so, uh, tag gives a way for, for individuals who are involved in the startup community to get involved, people in existing large firms to also give back. And so it’s quite a it’s quite a good network. Um, you know, there are tons of committees. There’s, you know, dozens of ways to be involved in tag. And Larry’s done an incredible job. Larry. And the board, uh, just worked very hard on on bringing this to the table. And so a new technology will pop up, say, in the biotech space or in the, uh, aeronautics space, and they’ll they’ll bump into tag one way or another.

Stone Payton: [00:10:50] Right? Right. So, uh, but you bring something up that strikes me as a genius model and maybe just evolved over time, or maybe somebody really, you know, crafted this from day one. You got this huge organization, tons of people, people fly in and, you know, to join all this, but you’ve also got these small kind of focus groups. So it’s a it seems like it would be a very approachable way to be part of a very powerful organization, if you just will stick your toe in and start getting involved in.

John Wilson: [00:11:20] Yeah, exactly. I mean, there are, you know, dozens of, of, uh, societies and organizations within Tag societies.

Stone Payton: [00:11:27] That’s the word I was searching for. Yeah.

John Wilson: [00:11:29] If you’re focused on the concept of, of, uh, employee, uh, growing a workforce, um, uh, there are multiple ways within tag to do it. And Larry talked from the stage earlier about that. Um, if you’re interested in AI, if you’re interested in in machine learning, all of those things are there. In fact, you know, one of the one of the best presentations I’ve heard in a long time on AI, uh, was the Gartner presentation a few minutes ago, just before the break when I walked in here and, uh, the the presenter gave a vision by asking a question. And the question was, if you, uh, woke up and I’m going to I’m going to trash his his description, but I’m going to try to tell the joke again. If you woke up one morning and the person that, uh, was your significant other for the last 20 years turned out to be a machine, would you stay or would you go, or would you try to reprogram them? And so is he as he as he shared that that that paradox. Everybody okay. Raise your hands. So it’s pretty evenly split between the stay and go types and the the go types are the ones who are really scared of the stay types are more curious. And the can you program just don’t get it. Because if that person’s a machine, you’re not going to be able to program them.

Stone Payton: [00:12:52] Oh, wow. That is funny. All right. What’s the best way for people to connect? I had a couple of different levels. If they’d like to reach out and have a conversation with you about any of these trends, or about the work that you’re doing to help individually, I want to leave them with some coordinates, a way to do that, but also best way to get, you know, plugged in to tag this whole, this whole ecosystem.

John Wilson: [00:13:13] Well, there’s there’s just, you know, go tag online. Org I think is the is the website for tag and and just take a quick look at all of the opportunities to, to be involved. Uh, in my case, I’m easy to reach. I’ve got a little website called First ignition.com and that’ll, that’ll tell you how to find me and better than anything else. But, you know, I encourage everybody, no matter how small or how large your entity is, uh, to, you know, reach out to these different resources and to become involved.

Stone Payton: [00:13:47] Yeah. Well, thanks for coming to visit with us, man. Thanks so much.

John Wilson: [00:13:50] John, I enjoyed this.

Stone Payton: [00:13:51] So did I. All right. We’ll be back in a few from Georgia Technology Summit 2024.

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:20] And we are broadcasting live here at the Georgia Technology Summit, the 25th anniversary of the summit here on 2024. We’re really lucky to have some really great people to chat with who are associated with TAG and one of our happy people in the booth, this is JaLorean Hayes with MealMaps.Org. Welcome.

JaLorean Hayes: [00:00:41] Hi. Thank you for having me.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:43] You’re welcome. So how long have you been associated with I guess, um, the Technology Association of Georgia, has this been a new association for you?

JaLorean Hayes: [00:00:53] Yes, it’s actually pretty new. I found out about them a few months back, when they were looking for companies to see how innovative they were, to see if they were one of the top 40. So just about 2 or 3 months ago, I found out about them.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:07] Wow. That’s amazing. And now look, here you are.

JaLorean Hayes: [00:01:09] Yes, here I am.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:10] So tell me about your company meal maps.

JaLorean Hayes: [00:01:13] So meal maps is a platform for people with chronic health conditions. So what we do is provide recipes for people with eight conditions that we cover right now. So they create their account. They’ll select from one to all eight conditions. And the only thing they see are recipes that have been created by a team of health professionals specifically for those chronic conditions. So we pretty much take the guesswork out of what a person can eat.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:38] Wow. That’s amazing. And it’s such a great idea when you’re considering someone who’s not feeling 100%. The last thing that they need to worry about is whether or not they have the energy to try to find the right food for themselves.

JaLorean Hayes: [00:01:52] Definitely. And it’s so easy to get lost in the sauce. As they say, when you’re looking for recipes online, to find something specific for high blood pressure is fine, or specific for diabetes is fine. But when you start to consider a person with 2 or 3 health conditions and it gets even harder.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:11] So how did you come up with the concept of this of meal maps?

JaLorean Hayes: [00:02:15] Um, a few years ago, I was actually visiting my mom in Houston, and I had to force her to go to the doctor. Uh, she wasn’t doing well, and she was actually diagnosed with three conditions at once. And so I was in the grocery store just standing there, completely lost. I have a master’s degree in public health, and I’m also a registered nurse, and I, I just was lost. And, um, when I went back to work a few days later, I just started listening more intently to my clients, and they were having the same issues. I was doing disease management at the time, and they were having the same issues. They knew what they could eat for one condition, but when it came to the, um, second or third condition, they they weren’t sure. And so that’s how maps was born.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:57] But such a great idea. Um, given that people who are struggling in any way their main resource can be the internet, right? So to be able to have access to information right away is so smart of you to harness technology like that, to give them options for the betterment of their health.

JaLorean Hayes: [00:03:14] Yes. Well thank you.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:15] You’re welcome. So how did you create your platform and get get into actually having your own business that you actually can go to?

JaLorean Hayes: [00:03:24] Um, so I hired a developer. Um, we kind of walked through what my, my goals were with the business, and, um, we mapped out how that would work as far as the algorithm in the background, because the client should have the easy part, which is to log in and see what they can eat. So we just mapped out how that would look in the background. And then, um, what that would look like down the road with us doing different integrations. Like right now, one of the integrations we have is being able to order the groceries from the meal plans that you set up. So it’s a lot easier than like, I don’t like to shop out.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:59] Yeah, you may know the recipe, but you still have to get all of the ingredients, right?

JaLorean Hayes: [00:04:03] Right. So being able to get the ingredients makes it a lot easier to get it right from the recipe instead of having to, um, go to the store. But if you do like to stop and shop in the store, then we also have where you can create your grocery list from your your meal plans and everything.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:19] So how are you marketing yourself as you are, um, promoting this, this company?

JaLorean Hayes: [00:04:25] Um, most of our marketing right now is on social media. Um, and then we do some events similar to this, but not as large of a scale, but, um, events just where we can meet people, um, do different, like, educational events. So, uh, because that’s one of our main components too, is actually learning. Um, I don’t want to just show somebody what they can eat. I want them to know how they can create those recipes themselves. Or if they decide to go out to eat, then they know what it is that they’re looking for whenever they go out to eat. So I’m doing education in various places as.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:59] Well. So how has your experience been here at Tag? Has there been any kind of surprise to you as you’ve been walking around?

JaLorean Hayes: [00:05:07] Uh, it’s been good to see a lot of different companies. Uh, I don’t think I was as aware of how much technology really takes over our lives, but seeing the tech in all of these different companies, it has been a little mind blowing.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:23] But, you know, you’re right in there with them, with your company.

JaLorean Hayes: [00:05:27] Funny enough, I didn’t know I was a tech company until October. Oh.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:31] Well, congrats.

Speaker3: [00:05:34] Thank you. Well, when you.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:35] Think about it, you are using exactly what technology is is for, you know, for the betterment of people.

JaLorean Hayes: [00:05:41] Yes, definitely. I, um, I thought I was just a health and wellness company until I went to an event, um, in October, um, with this company. Her sweet spot is my my mentor. And. Yeah, that’s when she told me, no, you’re a tech company. And which is how I even ended up looking at tag and thinking, oh.

Speaker3: [00:06:02] I should be associated here. Yeah, that’s what you’re.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:05] Amongst really good company. Everyone that has got their niche, of course, but I haven’t heard of of one that’s exactly like yours. And it kind of makes me think how, how important this is and how, um, so many people’s lives can be affected by it. And it’s it’s not there. I’ve never seen it yet. So it’s so exciting.

JaLorean Hayes: [00:06:23] Well, thank you. So just, uh, some quick statistics.

Speaker3: [00:06:26] Let’s hear it.

JaLorean Hayes: [00:06:27] 60% of Americans have at least one chronic health condition, and then 42% have two or more. So it’s definitely something that’s needed.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:37] Absolutely. Are you finding it to be successful? Are you surprised at how well it’s going or any anything that you would wish you had known before you got started?

JaLorean Hayes: [00:06:49] Uh, uh, probably that, uh, the work would be very intensive.

Speaker3: [00:06:56] Uh.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:56] Well, yeah. Right. It’s 24, seven kind of work, you know.

JaLorean Hayes: [00:07:00] Yes. And I mean, I knew it would be hard. I’m not afraid of hard work by any means, but, um, being a founder CEO just requires a lot more than being a worker bee.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:12] Well, that’s so true. Well, and with social media being 24 seven, you never do really feel like you can have a complete downtime or a vacation. You know, if you’re kind of handling everything on your own. Well, we’re so excited to have you come in and let everyone know that this exists. And I think it just seems so important given the statistics that you have. But even just people in my own personal life, I’m sure they would love to know that they have a resource to be able to set them up for their best health.

Speaker3: [00:07:40] Yes.

JaLorean Hayes: [00:07:41] Well, we are at meal maps.org mil maps.org.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:46] Well, I can’t thank you enough. Jillian, you’re just a pleasure to talk to and it’s so inspiring to see that you’re doing something that is really, truly, um, helpful for everyone. And everyone knows someone who’s got a health issue. So giving a resource that can make them better, it’s actually very inspiring. Thank you for having such a good heart.

JaLorean Hayes: [00:08:05] Thank you, and thank you for having me here today.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:08] You are welcome. And thank you again, all for listening. And we will be back, uh, with our next interviewer at the Georgia Technology Summit 2020 for.

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:20] And welcome back to the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 here at the Signia Hotel. We’re so excited to have Megan Heinze. That’s how you say your name, right?

Mega Heinze: [00:00:30] Heinze.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:31] Heinze. Got it. Megan Heinze here in the booth. I’m so excited to talk to you. Because you were just saying you’re the co-host here.

Mega Heinze: [00:00:38] Yes, I am the co-host. This was amazing. This year, we had over a thousand attendees at the Georgia Technology Summit. And what is even more amazing to me is that how quickly we all got it together. So 90 days ago, I was nominated again to be the co-host for three years in a row and we didn’t have a staff, uh, tag yet. A brand new staff came on 60 days before the event. So everybody together, the whole entire tag board, um, including the tag staff, got together and kicked off this amazing event. We got the governor to come in, the mayor, Monica Kaufman Pearson, who was just amazing. I heard it was, oh my God, so inspiring. It was inspiring. And the fact that she thought, okay, back in the day, you know, you’re talking about 1973. She’s like, all right, I’m going to get that job. She’s like, all right. Somebody already told me I was bad at the news. I’m going to be a reporter and I’m going to do it however I can. And the fact that she took modeling, she’s like, I’m going to be the best speaker in the world. I’m going to do anything I can. And the fact in 1975, she beat out Oprah Winfrey was just.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:50] Oh, that’s a feather in her cap. I imagine I would take that as a large feather in my cap.

Mega Heinze: [00:01:56] I think she does. But she gets really upset because Oprah always digs into her like, oh, you took my job. Oh.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:03] Well, listen, she was where she was supposed to be looking at how successful she’s been and some of the adversity that she’s had. Um, just knowing that even though she’s somewhat retired, you know, she still is affecting the world in a positive way. It is inspiring.

Mega Heinze: [00:02:17] Absolutely. Um, I think there’s two things on that is one is also talking about what’s important from a news perspective to making sure that you actually know where you’re getting your news from. And then the second thing, being a powerful woman as well. So yesterday I thought was really interesting. She talked to 350 women at the Cherokee, um, and Country Club, and she was talking about breast cancer awareness. And today, you know, this month, the month of March is women. Um, and one of the things that I think is important is a lot of people forget about breast cancer awareness. Um, a lot of us just don’t think about it. I’m also a breast cancer survivor as well. And she’s 27 years. I’m only three years. Well, congratulations. Well thank you, but it’s not about that. But women need to be advocates for their own health. And oftentimes we don’t because we’re worried about our kids. We’re worried about jobs. We’re worried about everybody else but ourselves. And at the end of the day, if you’re not healthy, it’s just like when you’re on the plane, if you don’t put that oxygen mask on first, you got to take care of yourself first.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:20] It’s true. I love that there’s that promotion of helping each other and reminding each other how those are important things to keep track of. You’re right, it’s very easy for most people, like in our in an industry, even technology industry, no matter what, you’re putting other people and other thoughts ahead of yourself. I mean, I love the fact that you are like, I’m going to dig in to make this work this year and I’m going to get people together. I don’t care what it costs me. And look at how successful you’ve been now, like having this over a thousand attendees. It’s incredible.

Mega Heinze: [00:03:50] Yes, we sold out, so we had 1175. Holy cow.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:55] Could you believe it? I’m thinking how stressful that must have been 90 days ago to not even have any of this put together. And then now you’re looking around at. Yeah, all the people’s lives that you’re affecting.

Mega Heinze: [00:04:06] So the hotel was just finished. I don’t know if you know that I didn’t. So when I went to go visit in January, I was a little bit nervous. Uh, but they said John Lennon sang here, you’re going to be fine, because that last year at the Georgia World Congress Center and the acoustics were terrible at the very beginning, it sounded like we were all the adults from peanuts, and I wanted to make sure the acoustics were perfect. And so I came down here. I had just had knee surgery, so I had a big brace on and crutches because I wanted to make sure this was the best place to have it. And it is.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:39] Look at you. Look how much you’re accomplishing. You know, even putting putting things that are important for yourself, you know, kind of aside so that you can really make sure that this is as successful as it possibly can be.

Mega Heinze: [00:04:51] Well, when I sign up for something, I want to make sure it’s successful.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:53] Well it is, don’t you feel like it is? I mean, it’s so impressive.

Mega Heinze: [00:04:57] Yes, it is successful and. Again, I just want to thank everybody that helped out. I mean, we have our sponsors, we have the fabulous tag board, the fabulous people that work at Tag, but even the employees of the Signia Hotel, I mean, they were just phenomenal when I was walking around here saying, we’ll help you with anything you need. And I love that. And the fact that you guys are here too, just promoting us, we really appreciate it.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:19] How long have you been associated with Tag?

Mega Heinze: [00:05:21] So I joined in December of 2020 and you know, during Covid and I was like, I need to meet people. So right before Covid, I closed my offices here in March of 2020. Um, but that was already thought of because there was only 60 people in the area. And I was like, okay, we’re going to save some money. Well, I didn’t know that I wasn’t going to be able to travel after I know.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:44] Right. That was the exact moment, right? Ground zero of pandemic.

Mega Heinze: [00:05:48] So I joined the board in 2020, December 2020. And right away they said, okay, you get to be the content chair for the Georgia Technology Summit. And I guess they liked my content so well that for three years in a row now, I’ve been the co-host for the Georgia Technology Summit, uh, which has been phenomenal. I mean, it’s just a great way to meet people through the Technology Association of Georgia and all the different societies. You know, really when we say we’re like networking, engaging, etc., I think it’s important because we all learn from each other.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:22] It’s true. Is there anything been surprising to you this year that you’ve seen with vendors or with some of the speakers in terms of technology?

Mega Heinze: [00:06:32] I think Daryl with the artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence is so big this year after ChatGPT and while watching the video grow, etc., there’s so much focus on it. Um, and the fact that, you know, he’s a little bit more like, okay, yes, there’s 50% of us that are fine with technology and artificial intelligence, the other 50% are not fine with it. A few years ago, which is funny, at the Georgia Technology Summit, you know, I was talking about content. I did lead the panel on the rise of the machines and artificial intelligence. No kidding. So it’s kind of funny that we’re going full circle, that people are now really, really talking about it. Yeah. It’s so pervasive, isn’t it?

Sharon Cline: [00:07:12] It’s kind of everywhere as it is. Um, well, that’s actually really exciting to see that, how much you’re able to promote something that is affecting so many people’s lives, you know. Yes.

Mega Heinze: [00:07:24] And people don’t realize it, that artificial intelligence and machine learning has been there forever. Um, so it’s not a brand new concept. We’ve had it for a long time, but people don’t realize it. Not really. Until ChatGPT came out was like really public awareness, which is kind of crazy. But we’ve had machine learning and artificial intelligence for a very long time, and it gets better every single day. Um, yeah, it could be scary. But as Daryl said from Gartner, if you put some governance around it, you can control it.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:53] What would make this feel like a complete home run of an event for you?

Mega Heinze: [00:07:57] I want everybody to post on their social media that they came, um, and they’re back here next year. And I hopefully every single vendor that we see here today will be back next year as well. Um, you know, that’s to me is that if there’s that engagement from the day you leave here to all the way to next year, um, that would be exciting. And that you want to join the Technology Association of Georgia?

Sharon Cline: [00:08:22] You know, it’s I think you might be needing a bigger space at some point, given that you sold out this year, and it just gets bigger and bigger every year. How exciting. Yes. Well, I mean, you’re doing good work. You’re working really hard. You’re encouraging people to have an open minds about the different ways technology affects our lives. And so I thank you so much for for being such an advocate for not just the vendors, but for people like the average people who lives are going to be affected, whether we’re ready or not, with the technology that’s coming.

Mega Heinze: [00:08:50] Absolutely. Thank you.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:52] You’re welcome. And thank you all again for, uh, tuning in. And we will have our next, uh, interview in just a little bit from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024.

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:20] And we are broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024. We are so excited to have another vendor here. This is Sam Reagin from CoreSight. And what’s really cool about your company is that what we’re talking about a lot of times is an actual product that people can touch or purchase exactly to be able to use on their home computers. But you’ve got something kind of a different concept here that I’m kind of curious about. Tell me about it. Yeah.

Sam Reagin: [00:00:48] So CoreSight is a data center company. We have two data centers here in Atlanta. We’re in 11 markets around the country, and we have 28 data centers total. So what we sell really is a very simple product. It’s space and power for business customers to put their IT equipment, servers, storage, that kind of stuff in a data center that allows them to have access to carriers, uh, cloud infrastructure that they can then build their, uh, data center products within, within our data centers.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:21] Right. So it’s like you were saying, you’re selling real estate, which is an interesting concept when we’re talking about technology. Yeah.

Sam Reagin: [00:01:27] So we’re a real estate investment trust. And really we do sell real estate. We sell, you know, uh, for real estate investment trusts, the important thing is to deploy capital. So they raise capital, they deploy that capital and they charge rent. So, you know, instead of doing a big, uh, you know, mall or, uh, uh, rental property, we do data centers.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:49] Does it just grow exponentially year after year?

Sam Reagin: [00:01:53] Uh, basically the the if you think about it, the metric that everyone talks about is the the amount of data in the world doubles every year. Holy cow. So it doubles every year. So if you think about just yourself, how much more pictures do you take? How much more storage do you need on your iPhone every time you upgrade it? Data doubles every year.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:12] So here you are at the Technology Summit. How long have you been associated with the Technology Association of Georgia?

Sam Reagin: [00:02:18] Uh, I’ve been through a couple of different companies for over the last ten years.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:22] Wow, that’s a long time. You must have seen a lot of changes over the years, haven’t you?

Sam Reagin: [00:02:25] I have, it’s a great organization. It’s a really good way from a sales person perspective, which is what I am, to meet new people and meet prospects and to network.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:34] So how long have you been in the industry then? It’s been over ten years.

Sam Reagin: [00:02:37] Yeah. So I’ve been in the industry for 30 years plus. Wow. Um, you know, started mostly in telecom and worked my way into data centers.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:45] So here you are at the summit. You’re meeting a whole bunch of other people that are obviously in the same industry as you. Is anything surprised you as you’ve been here this year?

Sam Reagin: [00:02:53] You know, I’ve been able to meet with two prospects that I’ve been trying to get in touch with over the last, you know, two months. Both of them just showed up at the booth and said, hello. So what are the. That was awesome.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:05] That’s what’s the benefit of having this organization. And yeah, and being part of the summit. So tell me about American Tower.

Sam Reagin: [00:03:11] So American Tower is our parent company. Uh, there are the largest real estate, one of the largest real estate investment trusts in the world. They own cell phone towers. We own about 50,000 cell phone towers in the United States. We? Oh, we own 180,000 towers of globally. So it’s a it’s a company you’ve never heard of before, but it’s a $100 billion market cap company.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:33] What do you think people don’t know about your industry?

Sam Reagin: [00:03:36] You know, I think most people don’t know where their data is stored. So, you know, if they’re if they’re a customer of AWS or Google or, you know, uh, Azure, Microsoft Azure, they don’t really know where their data is stored. If so, what I always tell people is, you know, the cloud lives in our data centers. So in most cases that’s not exactly true. Those guys Google, Microsoft and Amazon have their own data centers, but it’s the same concept.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:03] So how do you feel that, um, artificial intelligence is affecting your industry?

Sam Reagin: [00:04:08] Artificial intelligence for the data center industry is great, mainly because if you think about the standard we have today for equipment that people put in these racks that we sell, that we, you know, lease to them, it’s usually 5 to 10kW, uh, per rack, but the AI racks are 20 to 40kW. So for us, it’s really just we can pack more equipment into the data centers that we have as long as we can get the power.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:36] So you were talking about native Onramps. What is a native onramp?

Sam Reagin: [00:04:40] So one of the things that makes that’s one of the things that makes Corsette unique, is that we have gone through the process to have these cloud companies Google, Microsoft, uh, AWS, Alibaba, Oracle, IBM, they build what’s called a cloud on ramp within our data center. And that’s really a direct connection from our customers in that data center directly into the cloud. So it’s just like instead of having to go to the public internet to get to your AWS instance, you can get to your instance directly from our data center into into the cloud. We also have built a private software defined network that connects all of our data centers together, and also connects. So you can buy in Atlanta. We don’t have a direct connect yet for AWS, but you can direct connect in in Virginia or in Chicago or in Los Angeles. So it allows customers to have a lot of times if they’re a big AWS user, they want an East presence and a central and a West or East and West. We can offer them that on this private network.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:41] Do you, um, how do you, uh, navigate, um, security in this, in this technology?

Sam Reagin: [00:05:49] So for us security, we are we’re very big on compliance. So we’re there’s a industry standard called Soc2 type two, where a soc2 type two data center. Really for us, it’s more physical security because we don’t actually touch customer’s data. We they bring their own servers and storage and stuff and put it into our racks, but we don’t touch any of that stuff.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:09] That’s so interesting, isn’t it?

Sam Reagin: [00:06:10] Yeah. So what we do is provide security as far as perimeter security. So fences around our around our data centers, then actual security people in each data center and then, you know, things like what used to be called a mantrap. Now it’s a security vestibule where you go into one door. That other door has to stop. You have to use your badge. So we use badge and bio. So it’s, uh, it’s like in the.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:29] Movies, right?

Sam Reagin: [00:06:30] Yep. It’s like a bat scanning the retina. Uh, some data centers do use retina scan. We use. We use fingerprints.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:36] Oh, wow. So that’s amazing, actually. You know, it’s funny you say that because, of course, it’s conceptual. Like, oh, my pictures are in the cloud. But if something actually happens to that cloud, so to speak, then my pictures are technically gone.

Sam Reagin: [00:06:49] They are. Or you might not have access to them for a couple of days until they, you know, restore.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:53] Are there backups to the backups to the backups?

Sam Reagin: [00:06:55] Yep. That’s all to our customers do that though. We only provide, like I said, so a very simple business model, just space and power and interconnect.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:02] What are you hoping to accomplish here at the.

Sam Reagin: [00:07:05] For me it’s I’m in sales. So for me it’s really just, you know, having good conversations with either people at, you know, prospects or, you know, just anybody. Right. Just tell the story. Make sure they know we’re here. Make sure they know about us. As a company.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:19] Where would you like to see yourself in five years? Ten years? What would you like to see your company grow to do.

Sam Reagin: [00:07:24] So our company is continuing to grow, right? We’re in a very big growth mode. So we’re looking at this, what we’re calling in the next five years a double double. We’re going to double the size of the company and then double it again in the next five years. So that’s what we’re looking for.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:37] Oh my goodness. Sounds like you’re in the right place. Right time right people around you. Yeah.

Sam Reagin: [00:07:42] It’s a really fun job here in Atlanta.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:44] You’re here in Atlanta here in Atlanta.

Sam Reagin: [00:07:45] So I’m yeah, I’m here in Atlanta. And I am the salesperson for the two data centers that we have here.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:51] Wow. Well, I mean, I feel like I kind of know a little bit more than I did five minutes ago. Well, I feel a little smarter. Listen, I appreciate that, because you’re right. I actually never really thought about the physical location because everything is so conceptual with a cloud. It’s in the cloud or it’s out there in the universe somewhere. Right. But you actually have a physical location that you protect.

Sam Reagin: [00:08:10] Exactly. So clouds live in data centers.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:13] Who’s your ideal customer, then?

Sam Reagin: [00:08:14] Our ideal customer. We you know, we are, uh, we sell to all sizes of customers. So everything from a startup company that only has one rack of equipment up to customers that buy megawatts. So for us, it’s really just technology focused customers that need to have space and power.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:33] Well, maybe next year when you come in, your company is doubled in size. What? No. Next year, five years, five years, doubled. Doubled. Doubled in size. You’ll have your own little wing. There you go. We’ll come by. Well, I can’t thank you enough for sitting down with us and giving us kind of a glimpse into what it’s like to be you and your business. Thank you very.

Sam Reagin: [00:08:48] Much for having me.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:49] You’re welcome. And we’ll be back shortly with more interviews at the Georgia Technology Summit 2020 for.

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:20] And we are broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 down in Atlanta, Georgia, the heart of downtown. And we’ve got another interview we’re excited to have in our booth. Elkanah Reed with work opti. I don’t know anything about WORKOPTI. Tell me about your company.

Elkanah Reed: [00:00:39] Okay, well very quickly, what WORKOPTI does is that we allow leaders to see it and solve it. How we do that is that work? Opti is technology that will connect into your tenant. So typically the tenant in a mid-market company or an enterprise is going to be like a Microsoft, a uh, Google, GCP, AWS and all downstream SaaS to pull all the information leaders need into one dashboard utilizing AI so that they can see it and solve it.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:12] So you’re giving them more control.

Elkanah Reed: [00:01:14] And more visibility and accountability, because not only are we showing what is being done, but who’s doing it.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:21] Well, my goodness, you’re in the right place here at the Georgia Technology Summit.

Elkanah Reed: [00:01:25] I am really blessed because not only, um, am I blessed to be surrounded by such innovators and such luminaries like Kyle Porter of Salesloft and David Cummings. But work was selected as one of the top 40 innovative companies in Georgia this year.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:43] Oh my gosh, you must be so proud.

Elkanah Reed: [00:01:45] Oh no, I’m super proud.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:46] Super proud. How long have you been associated with the Technology Association of Georgia?

Elkanah Reed: [00:01:50] Uh, that’s a good question. A number of years. So last year they selected our company as one of the top five early stage startups in all of Georgia. And then also I was a part of the Tag Pathways to Leadership. So when Doctor Daniels recently was talking on stage about really optimizing every level of the workforce in Georgia, I’m a part of that process.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:10] So how did you come up with the concept of your company?

Elkanah Reed: [00:02:12] That’s a very good question. So this company actually came out of a different company. So in 2020 I had built a branded content workflow management solution. So I’m also a CTO and I have two kids under the age of six, five year old, four year old. They need to eat, so I need to sell it. So I’m meeting with executives in what I’ll call high Covid. And normally meetings that would be in person were now online. And executives at places like Viacom, CBS, now known as Paramount Network, C-suite leaders at PepsiCo were saying, Elkanah, I’m getting 65 page PDF documents expected to log into multiple video meetings. And I’m not necessarily getting the information that I need easily to make decisions. I like an aspect of that branded content workflow management system that you built, which was a Kanban board at its core, but I would love to use it for strategy. And so as I heard, all of these leaders tell me that across sectors, I was like, maybe there’s something here. So I decided, well, if you will use it for free and let me monitor you by you having a meeting with me once a week, 15 minutes to let me understand how you want to manage your strategy using my technology. Then I can actually build a solution to help you see it and solve it. So we did that, gave it out to leaders at places like Amazon, Adidas, Twitter produced over 55 case studies, and our software has been proven to increase productivity by 93% and decrease meetings by 25% on average for 93%.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:50] Yeah.

Elkanah Reed: [00:03:50] Outliers. We’ve seen them increase their productivity by like 115% others. You know, some people are decreasing meetings by 40%. You know. And what that really means is that literally if you’ve got. Five meetings. Two of them don’t belong there. We’re trying to find those two that don’t belong.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:09] So who’s your ideal client? Let’s say I come to you and I’m your ideal client. Describe me.

Elkanah Reed: [00:04:16] So my ideal client is the growth minded functional executive. So they’re a business unit leader at a mid-sized or large enterprise. And they understand that if I don’t have alignment, this business doesn’t grow. So they’re already proactively investing in technology. They may not be technical, but they understand that if I can see it. Then I can solve it. And so with a simple Kanban board we’re talking like three columns to do in progress. Done. Our software is a very approachable. So we can go in and solve some really hard technical problems like edge computing, really connecting everything within the business. But the leader can see it in a way where it’s very accessible. And so we’re looking for those people that really want to make innovation pay. That’s your ideal client.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:12] Gotcha. And it’s interesting too, because you’re talking about technology that’s growing and growing and growing every year.

Elkanah Reed: [00:05:17] Exactly. Exponentially, exponentially, especially in the age of AI. Um, we’re in the business of making AI pay. So it’s not just having generative solutions that will help you write code better or let you summarize meetings. It’s about how does those efficiencies attach to strategy to make you more money. That’s what work is about.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:41] Do you do you feel like there’s something that people don’t really understand about the basic concept of you? What would you want to tell people?

Elkanah Reed: [00:05:49] I love people. That’s really if you really think about me as a person. And that’s a good question. And how I built this company were very relational. One of our greatest relationships that we have was with the Hyperscaler Microsoft. Right? I was recently last week in three cities in five days with them, but it really was the people that caused me to leave. My wife and my kids fly across the US to really connect in person, because it’s really your people that are driving your business, and we want to give you the visibility into people, processes and technology in a simple Kanban board with worked so that you can see it and solve it.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:32] I always think it’s fascinating that technology is so focused on non on computers on, you know, obviously not human brain but how important humans are to this industry. Can you talk a little bit about that.

Elkanah Reed: [00:06:44] So right now we’re here live at the Georgia Technology Summit. Our governor was here. And what you’ll see as the. Connective tissue between all the companies, all the people is a desire to put humanity first. As we build Georgia into a tier one innovation, economy and technology ecosystem. So I would encourage all of the listeners to really start to think about that. If you have a technical problem, who are the people that we can bring around the metaphorical table to have conversations so that collectively we can create solutions?

Sharon Cline: [00:07:29] What are you hoping to get out of the Technology Summit today? What would you what would make it feel like a home run being here today?

Elkanah Reed: [00:07:36] Honestly, I’ve already had a home run. I’ve been able to authentically connect with leaders across sectors and have some really good conversations around what the future of AI looks like within enterprises. But then also, I just want to be open to serendipity. So like as long as I’m having continuous serendipity today, it’s a home run.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:01] And that’s, you know, that has nothing to do with computers, does it has nothing to do with technology. Really?

Elkanah Reed: [00:08:05] Exactly. I am an interesting type of CTO. I’m getting laughs here.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:13] Yeah, but isn’t that your unique selling product?

Elkanah Reed: [00:08:15] Exactly. Because I love people.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:17] Yeah, people are still the heart of what we’re doing. Exactly. Protecting and helping. Um, I always think about what you’re talking about with AI, you know, are there concerns about nefarious people using AI in ways that are are not going to be beneficial?

Elkanah Reed: [00:08:33] No. Of course. And so, like, I think of AI as something that needs to be continuously monitored. And so it’s important that we as leaders take a responsible scope to how we deploy AI. So I’m actually working with like some of the foremost AI ethicists to make sure in how we develop AI solutions here at work and how we deploy them is in line with ethical standards that we believe are going to become paramount, like globally, especially with what’s coming out of Europe.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:09] You’re still talking about humans, too. It’s like you’re talking about the monitoring is actually human brains.

Elkanah Reed: [00:09:14] No, exactly. We need that. Like. And the interesting thing about artificial intelligence, and I believe Daryl from Gartner alluded to it, is that AI does not work without humans. We’ve done studies that once you have an AI feeding an AI, there is a high amount of hallucinations. Basically it lies. So what’s going to be its truth, though? Um, what’s going to be essential is that the human input remains consistent. And so if we can insert our humanity into this new age of technology or this new paradigm, I think we’re going to get as much value as we got from the smartphone.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:57] When you’re talking about lying, are you referring to the fact that a computer decided to lie in order to get bypass the Captcha code?

Elkanah Reed: [00:10:06] No, I’m talking about lying. As in like so. A GPT GPT generative pre-trained transformer right chat GPT can only aggregate data from the internet. It does not know whether that data is true or not. Yes, that’s what I mean by lie.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:24] Yeah, it’s not actively lying. It’s just grabbing what it could be. True or not true. And no one’s monitoring that.

Elkanah Reed: [00:10:28] And it’s about exactly. It’s about the human saying, you know what? That’s not true. That’s not even factual.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:36] All right, well, where would you like to see your company in five years? When we come here with Business RadioX booth. Where are you going to be, huh? With your big team.

Elkanah Reed: [00:10:43] Oh, no.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:44] No, no, with your team.

Elkanah Reed: [00:10:45] That that is going to be the blessing. So, like, right now we’re in 2024. So we’re talking like 2029. So we’re got the 2029. We’re doing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue close to $1 billion. And we’ve created ten x value for our customers.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:05] All right. The Georgia Technology Summit 2029 Sharon will be the COO. Sorry I had to throw that in there. That’s cool. I’m excited. I’m excited to see where you go. I mean, you clearly are making huge strides in this industry. It’s very exciting. Are you an Atlanta native? Georgia native?

Elkanah Reed: [00:11:25] Oh, that’s a good question. I went to Morehouse College on a full academic scholarship. Congrats to Morehouse. Um, but I am a New York native, so native grew up in New York, married my eighth grade prom date. She also was a New Yorker.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:37] This is so sweet.

Elkanah Reed: [00:11:38] No, she is the love of my life, the co-founder of my family and all that I do. And actually, the reason that I’m still here in Georgia, because she made the executive decision. We got back in 2019 that my kids have a backyard. Um, and we’re coming from LA and New York. Um, so Georgia is amazing. And then being integrated into the Technology Association of Georgia, I am incubated over at, uh, Atlanta Tech Village under Ali and David Cummings. These ecosystems allow me to believe that we can HQ in Georgia and fan out. So like I’m big on Georgia. I love it well.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:15] And also promote a healthy family environment, you know.

Elkanah Reed: [00:12:18] 100% like I do this for my wife and my kids, and I want other people to have the same ability to create the family that they want to. And I think that it’s important that as it’s already been shared here, that we have the jobs of the future that can create the economy of the future.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:36] Well, this is so exciting. It’s I’m excited to see where you’re going to be next year and in 2029 as well. If there’s anything that Business RadioX can do to help promote your company. And if we’re we can be any, any kind of help to you. That’s our that’s our joy. So just having you here today, giving us an insight in what it’s like to be you, it’s been so much fun for us. Thank you.

Elkanah Reed: [00:12:56] Oh, thank you for this moment. And, um, I look forward to continuing to be a guest on business radio. This is fun, and I’m excited for how you all tell the stories of leaders at every phase.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:08] It’s one of our. The best things about Business RadioX is like from the smallest to the biggest companies, we don’t care. We’re just happy. People are following their dreams, believing in what they want. The American Dream.

Elkanah Reed: [00:13:19] 100%.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:20] Well, thank you so much, I really appreciate thank you so very much.

Elkanah Reed: [00:13:23] This is amazing. Yeah, this is great.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:25] We’ll be we’ll we’ll be back shortly with the Georgia Technology Summit 2024.

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:20] And we are broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 here in downtown Atlanta. So excited to have something near and dear to my heart, which is Kennesaw State University, where I got my degree. We are excited to interview Renee Bourbeau. Tell me how you’re associated with the Georgia Technology Summit.

Renee Bourbeau: [00:00:40] Sharon, thanks so much. And hootie hoo.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:42] Hootie hoo.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:43] Our alum,

Sharon Cline: [00:00:45] My daughter’s an alum as well. This is very exciting for me. So.

Renee Bourbeau: [00:00:48] Oh great. Well it’s a pleasure to be here. We are so proud to partner with Technology Association of Georgia and be here at the summit. We believe obviously in innovation and technology advancements and with artificial intelligence as well.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:03] So it’s interesting because I get emails sometimes about the fact that you have this artificial intelligence and digital marketing program that you can sign up for, and I think you completed in nine weeks, 12 weeks, something like that. It just seems like such a great place to go. If you’re looking for a new way to be involved in this digital technology landscape.

Renee Bourbeau: [00:01:23] For sure. We have a variety of certificates at Coles College of Business, the second largest business school in the state of Georgia, I might add. And in addition to that, we also, for our MBA, have a new concentration in digital marketing.

Renee Bourbeau: [00:01:38] So we are really making an effort to incorporate artificial intelligence into all of our existing concentrations. And with digital marketing coming online in the fall and information security and assurance and also entrepreneurship and innovation.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:53] So I graduated in 2012, 12 years ago. Technology has changed so much in that time. What are you seeing as the main ways that technology is changing, not only in the business sense, but in as as a student?

Renee Bourbeau: [00:02:07] Well, that’s a great question. I mean, obviously technology and with the advancements in artificial intelligence and business intelligence or business analytics, um, there’s really something for everyone, regardless of your hard skill set. Um, I somewhat levels the playing field in terms of hard skills and coding skills. And so we’re really seeing that students have an opportunity, whatever their forte is, to sort of pursue that, um, as it relates to technology. And so I do believe that there’s an opportunity for MBAs to capitalize on their notorious soft skills, um, by incorporating AI to maybe bridge some gaps.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:47] Well, so you were in the perfect place in order to kind of be right on the cutting edge here at the Georgia Technology Summit to see what, um, different ways they’re being used as well. Correct?

Renee Bourbeau: [00:02:57] Absolutely. And, um, just came from the generative AI panel, which was standing room only and very interesting. And, um, one of my key takeaways from it is, um, the ability for the mastery of language to be kind of an emerging major asset and skill. And, and I wholeheartedly agree with that.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:19] So you were saying, like the mastery of language in terms of prompts that you use?

Renee Bourbeau: [00:03:23] Yes, prompts. And of course, using that language to research, uh, in order to get the correct answer, um, of course, we need to have that maybe domain expertise to know what the correct answer is. But I believe that an MBA can also ultimately help someone achieve that.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:40] So is that what you do at Kennesaw is you help to promote all of all of the advanced technologies that we’re using these days.

Renee Bourbeau: [00:03:46] We do. I mean, we really we partner with industry. We have an advisory board full of industry experts on these topics, and we listen to them. We stay curious. We embrace innovation. We want to provide a qualified workforce, uh, to really help, I would say local businesses to hire local.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:08] Wow. That’s I mean, it’s so encouraging. That doesn’t mean you have to be global. You can still affect people that are directly around you in your geographic area.

Renee Bourbeau: [00:04:17] Yeah. For sure. I mean, Kennesaw State is largely, uh, regional in population. Of course, we do have the MBA, the web MBA, where a student can ultimately be anywhere and join in virtually. But most of our students for the evening, MBA and executive MBA are in person with a high flex option. And so we are attracting students from the regional area.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:39] It’s kind of nice, like, you know, to be able to go somewhere and know that someone graduated from KSU like I did, it’s kind of like, I don’t know, heartwarming to me. I’m like, look, we went through the same kind of experience and the football team doing so well and just seeing things grow. It’s I mean, it’s the second largest university in Georgia these days, right?

Renee Bourbeau: [00:04:56] Yeah, absolutely. And last year our basketball team was in March Madness. For the first time, so that was very exciting as well. But, you know, it’s interesting as I walk around the the expo hall here today at the TAG summit, everyone that I interact with knows someone either in their family or friend who went to Ccsu, and it just really makes me proud.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:16] So how long have you has Kennesaw been associated with Tag?

Renee Bourbeau: [00:05:21] Uh, for several years. And we expect that the the relationship will continue to grow. Um, of course, we also have a new degree, a master’s degree in AI coming online through the College of Computing, which we’re excited about as well. That will probably be down in the Marietta campus.And so we see a lot of opportunities, a lot of synergies here.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:40] What are you seeing as you’re here that has been very surprising at the summit? Is there anything that you’re sort of like, oh, we need to be be more involved in this? Because that’s what’s cool about the summit is, is seeing kind of cutting edge technologies and what’s happening these days. Um, that is never even something that’s in my mind, I couldn’t imagine.

Renee Bourbeau: [00:05:59] Great question. I think there is a slight return to relationship building. Uh, I really picking up on that today. I mean, and just in recent months, people are happy to be back in person. They’re happy to be in the same room with one another, maybe reconnecting with old friends or making new friends, new partnerships or relationships. So I I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by that today. But, um, you know, just being a technology summit, I wasn’t sure what to expect with that, but, um, you know, happy to see that here. And I see that to continue.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:32] We have been talking to some of the other vendors and people who are participating today about how important it is to still have that human factor, because so many people consider technology as something taking away a job or taking away a human person, but actually it’s still incredibly important. Can you talk about that aspect of technology? Yeah, the human side.

Renee Bourbeau: [00:06:53] Absolutely. I mean, at the end of the day, business is about people. And so having that, you know, whether you’re serving people or whether people are involved in building the business, people are involved. And so it’s really nice to see that partnership with technology. I think this is a great example of that, how people ultimately can fuel advancements. People can feel innovation.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:17] Well, what would make today feel like a very successful day for you? Well, thanks. I mean, I think people just learning a little more about Kennesaw State and learning that Ccsu’s MBA program is committed to innovation, technology, and that we want our students to be prepared with all of the skills that they’re going to need to add value to their employer immediately, or maybe start their own business. They can do that here as well.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:41] So if I were a student considering different colleges, what would you want to tell a student to encourage them to go to KSU?

Renee Bourbeau: [00:07:47] The premium value of KSU is just extraordinary. Our MBA program costs only around $20,000 total, and the return on investment is phenomenal for our students.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:00] Well, I look at myself and I think, and this is the truth, I would not be here on the radio with Stone and Business RadioX had I not gotten my, um, education with Kennesaw State University.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:12] It opened so many doors for me that I never imagined would have happened, and I really do credit it to the school and to the different internships that I was associated with. I have met some of the most wonderful professors, just people. The whole experience was so positive for me. I was sad to leave. I didn’t want to be a career, you know, student, but I definitely was sad to leave it behind because I felt like I really got so much from my value as a student there. I really did.

Renee Bourbeau: [00:08:39] Well, Sharon, I don’t think we could have a better testimonial.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:42] Oh well, it’s the truth. I’m a huge fan and now I have a really great magnet that I can put on the back of my Prius that says, Hootie hoo! I’m so excited you don’t know.

Renee Bourbeau: [00:08:54] It’s a pleasure to be here. Great to meet you.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:57] Thank you so much for being here and giving us a little insight into what’s happening behind the scenes at Kennesaw State University. So much to look forward to as technology continues to evolve, and I can’t wait to come back and hopefully see what else is on the horizon for you all.

Renee Bourbeau: [00:09:10] Absolutely. Come check us out anytime.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:12] Well, thank you all too for listening at this latest interview at the Georgia Technology Summit. We’ll be back.

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024 at the Signia Hotel in Atlanta. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:20] And we are back from the Georgia Technology Summit 2024. Stone Payton, Sharon Cline here with you. They let us out of the studio to come and mix and mingle with some smart, passionate folks. We’re kind of winding it down. I feel like we’re we’re hitting our home stretch. And, uh, we have had some marvelous conversations. This is going to be no exception. Please join me in welcoming back to the Business RadioX microphone with Illoominus, Ms. Noelle London. How have you been doing?

Noelle London: [00:00:51] Well, it’s been a minute and it’s really fun to be back.

Stone Payton: [00:00:54] Well, you’re looking great. You’re sounding great. I get the idea that you’ve had a very productive day here.

Noelle London: [00:01:00] Yeah, yeah, we, uh, just got off the stage. Um, we were a part of the top ten companies that were pitching, and so, um, just got off the stage, and so you’re you’re catching me. But I’m, uh, excited to be here, and, um, it’s really fun to hear about all of the amazing technology that’s being created in Georgia, um, just across so many different industries and, and applications.

Stone Payton: [00:01:26] So I’m so humbled and inspired at the same time. We’ve had these marvelous conversations with these 12 year olds. They they come to the microphone and they and they built this company and they sold off that company, and they’re doing this thing.

Noelle London: [00:01:38] I’m going to give a shout out to my eye cream, uh, give them an endorsement. Uh, if you’re saying 12 year olds.

Stone Payton: [00:01:47] Uh, all right. So luminous, tell us a little bit about this outfit. What are y’all doing? Yeah.

Noelle London: [00:01:52] So with the luminous, we’re an Atlanta based company. We are a turnkey people insights platform that essentially sits on top of, integrates and learns from a disparate HR technology stack. We bring that information together and then pair your internal information with companies across the market. So essentially what we’re doing is turnkey people analytics for companies so that they can become more people first and make better strategic air decisions. Wow, what.

Stone Payton: [00:02:24] A noble pursuit. It sounds like a very tall order to me to be able to go out and get that information, um, aggregate it, assimilate it, and then put it in a form that that a layperson like I can actually use to better my company.

Noelle London: [00:02:37] Exactly, exactly. So that piece around so many companies have a lot of different tools that aren’t talking to each other. Um, so they’re not set up for success when you have a dozen different tools and important parts of that data live in different places. So essentially what we’re doing is bringing that information together, making normalizing it. So apples are talking to apples, and then we visualize that data and tell you where to focus your efforts.

Stone Payton: [00:03:04] So if I’m neck deep in an organization, I’m, you know, kind of I’m in the weeds. Right. And I’m and I’m running my, my organization. What are some things that I might see or be on the lookout for that suggest to me that, you know what? We probably ought to have a conversation with Noel. We got we got to we got to be doing better at this and less of this and more of that.

Noelle London: [00:03:24] Yeah, it’s I mean, most organizations that over are over about 500 employees. But those organizations that maybe they just, you know, implemented a new tool and, you know, hey, I’ve got important data living in this tool, but then I’ve got another tool over here that I need to use because I love it and it’s helping me do my work better. Basically, what we’re saying is use all the tools that you want to use that help you do the work best, but we really want to give you that visibility about what’s happening across those tools. So especially if you’ve implemented something new in the last year or so and you’re starting to see some gaps of, hey, this is great for certain parts of the puzzle, but I still have some questions. That’s a great time to come to us. Um, I’d also say, you know, what we notice is a lot of companies are growing through acquisition, especially right now. And so what that means is you want to integrate that company as fast as possible. So being able to bring together those multiple systems from different companies and have them talk to each other and say, say, um, be able to interpret that important information that’s coming through that. That’s another great time to come to us.

Noelle London: [00:04:32] You know, one thing that we’ve really noticed in particular lately is, um, working with companies that have a large front line workforce. So thinking about companies like retail organizations, media and entertainment organizations, those organizations have a large front line workforce. Um, it also is really hard for organizations to retain a front line workforce. Right now, you think about a retailer, you know, sometimes they’re losing up to 70. Percent of their workforce every single 90 days, they might lose someone for a store across the street that’s paying $2 more per hour. So really understanding that’s expensive to a business to hire someone, train someone onboard someone. So really being able to look at how do we keep our high performers, how do we better understand what makes these employees tick? Um, so that, you know, by being able to use something like an illuminous platform where you’re able to understand which sources of candidates are more likely to stay longer. So I know to double down in those areas, or if I’m having issues and I’m noticing that I’m having hot spots of attrition, can I start to pull in that engagement data, those surveys, to really understand why individuals might be leaving. So I can solve for the root causes?

Stone Payton: [00:05:48] Well, if you guys were anywhere near this articulate about what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, and why in these presentations you described, uh, I think you’re going to go away with the trophy or.

Noelle London: [00:06:00] I think you have about four more minutes of voting. So, uh, we want to send out your show notes, get your votes in, everyone go vote.

Stone Payton: [00:06:08] So. But what has that experience been like? And the reason I’m asking is I got to believe, you know, win, lose or draw, just living through that experience and helping you solidify your own thinking and crystallizing, uh, the way that you articulate the value that you’re bringing that has to have its own rewards. Just participating in the process.

Noelle London: [00:06:26] Yeah, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this has been a, uh, yeah, a long time coming. I think that you and I had the chance to talk some years ago when we were working on another project with, uh, one of your friends from Georgia State, Lexie Newhouse. But, um, you know, this is, uh, it’s, uh, been been a long time coming of knowing, you know, uh, just waiting on what’s the right thing that we want to go solve for. What’s the thing we want to wake up every single day and, uh, and try and solve.

Stone Payton: [00:06:57] So you’ve got that on your plate while you’re here. But, uh, I’m also operating under the impression that you’re here to connect, build relationships, uh, continue to to cultivate existing relationships. Have you had an opportunity to focus on that yet? Yet much?

Noelle London: [00:07:11] Yeah, we have a, um, a booth as a part of the tag, uh, Technology Summit. And so it’s been a great opportunity for us to show our platform, um, and show the capabilities of what we have. We have some fun, uh, swag over there, you know, matches of lighting the way first to people, first workplaces. So, um, it’s been fun. We also have, um, we have a community. So I talked a little bit about the software, uh, and the technology platform that we have to support organizations. Another thing that we do at Illuminous is we have a community of people, leaders that we bring together regularly to share their expertise and to share best practices. Because a lot of the times within organizations, people are sometimes feeling like they’re on their own. You know, I’m I’m dealing with attrition in my frontline workers. Is this number good? Is it bad? I have no idea. And so it’s really important to, um, you know, bring those leaders together so that they can support each other. So our head of community, Courtney Bird Swafford, um, she’s here with us today. Um, and so we’re talking a little bit about some of the upcoming events that we have on May 1st, bringing together a couple of different communities of people leaders here in Atlanta. Uh, and then we also have a webinar upcoming on May 16th on root causes of attrition. So in addition to talking about the technology, because we are at a technology summit, of course, we’re also just talking about how we can bring leaders together so they don’t feel so alone as they’re going through some of these key challenges in their organizations.

Stone Payton: [00:08:40] And it strikes me that if you can impact retention even just a little bit, and it sounds to me like you can impact it a lot, but even if you can just impact it a little bit, it must have tremendous implications for the for the bottom line. You are.

Noelle London: [00:08:52] So right. And I think that, um, you know, so much of the expense when you think about an HR budget is on hiring someone, training them, onboarding them, and especially if you’re thinking about someone’s not staying 100 days, that’s an extremely high budget, um, to be spending for people to walk straight out the door. So sometimes what we find within retailers, um, is it’s up to about 3% of their annual store revenue. Um, is the cost of this frontline worker attrition. So even if you think about a small family owned grocer that’s out of North Carolina, that’s a $2 billion company. I mean, that’s $100 million plus issue every single year. And so if an organization is saying, hey, this is a problem, I’m going to stand up a team to try and solve this for me. Uh, we’re going to stand up our own kind of visualization of that tool that’s a year later that that’s oftentimes going to be implemented, and that’s $100 million later even for that midsize company. So absolutely has business impacts. And I think that that’s something that’s really, um, important to us. Um, and what we’re seeing with our customers, you know, we work with people first organizations. And those organizations realize that there is a direct correlation between their people’s experience and their overall business productivity and the overall, you know, performance of the business as well. So we’re really helping to tell that story because I think that anecdotally, we know that there’s a linkage there. Um, and now because we’re able to bring that business data together with the people data, we’re able to tell that story.

Stone Payton: [00:10:38] Well, and you tell it extremely well. Is that your formal role in the organization or do you wear some other hats as well?

Noelle London: [00:10:45] We wear all the hats. We’re an early stage company, right? Right. Uh, yeah. So I’m founder and CEO of the company. And so that means, uh, we do a little bit of everything.

Stone Payton: [00:10:54] And take out the trash. Yeah.

Noelle London: [00:10:56] Oh, yeah. My favorite is, uh, you know, you get a lot of inbound emails when you have the, the title of CEO. And so my favorite inbound is, uh, asking me whether we need janitorial services. I was like, you’re going to take my job. You know, that’s what I do.

Stone Payton: [00:11:11] So what do you feel like it has meant for you and your team to be a part of Tag?

Noelle London: [00:11:16] Yeah. I mean, I think that building in Atlanta, it’s, um. It’s a special place. Um, I moved here about six years ago to actually work with the mayor’s office of helping to attract, uh, technology startups to move to Atlanta. And, um, you know, I think that Atlanta’s a very special place to build and that we have so many companies here across so many different industries. And so, as you are, um, thinking about, you know, getting to product market fit, finding your ideal customers, you get so much exposure by being in Atlanta. And, you know, organizations like Tag with bringing people together so that you’re getting that feedback from potential customers. It’s really invaluable. Um, so this is a great, uh, event and example of that of, um, you know, bringing, uh, people are, you know, just kind of a couple of, uh, points of separation away and, uh, tagged as a great job of bringing us together in Atlanta.

Stone Payton: [00:12:14] So I got to confess to you, I was kind of hitting my afternoon low. I was seeking out a cup of coffee, maybe some dessert. But you’ve got me re-energized. Now I’m ready to attack the world. It’s such an inspiring story. It’s so fun to to follow what you’re doing. Congratulations on the momentum, and thanks for coming and visiting with us. And, uh, we’ll be listening intently here in a little while. But regardless of how that vote comes out, you’ve, uh, you’ve accomplished so much in such a short period of time and really appreciate you sharing your insight and your perspective.

Noelle London: [00:12:44] Absolutely. Thanks for helping to tell the story of, uh, innovators like ourselves. It matters and it makes a difference. So appreciate.

Stone Payton: [00:12:52] It. Absolutely. Our pleasure. All right. We’ll be back in a bit at Georgia Technology Summit 2024.