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Georgia Technology Summit 2025: Dr. Rajeeb Hazra with Quantinuum

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Atlanta Business Radio
Georgia Technology Summit 2025: Dr. Rajeeb Hazra with Quantinuum
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Georgia Technology Summit brings together 1000+ Georgia-focused technologists to network, learn, and engage with the latest trends in Georgia innovation. This year’s summit was held at the Woodruff Arts Center, a stunning and iconic cultural landmark located in the heart of Midtown Atlanta.

Rajeeb-HazraDr. Rajeeb Hazra has more than three decades of experience in supercomputing, quantum, and technical roles across the globe.

Prior to joining Quantinuum, he served as the General Manager, Compute and Networking Business Unit at Micron Technologies, and spent 25 years at Intel Corporation, leading the Enterprise and Government Group, Technical Computing Group, Supercomputer Architecture and Planning, and Systems Technology Research.

Before joining Intel, Raj was with the Lockheed Corporation based at NASA’s Langley Research Center. He prides himself on building high-performing teams with a growth mindset and a culture of truth and transparency.

Raj has a Ph.D. and Master’s degree in Computer Science from the College of William and Mary in Virginia, U.S., as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India, and holds 16 patents.

Connect with Raj on LinkedIn.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2025 at the Woodruff Arts Center. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here broadcasting live at the Georgia Technology Summit 2025. So excited to be talking to my next guest, Dr. Raj Hazra with Quantinuum. Welcome.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: Thanks. Thanks for having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I heard rumor has it you just got off the stage to give the keynote here.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: That’s right. I was on stage and I had the pleasure of talking about my most favorite topic. How is quantum computing going to revolutionize the planet and our lives?

Lee Kantor: Well, you know, we had Larry Williams on earlier, and he keeps mentioning quantum, quantum quantum, but he never explained it. Do you mind giving our listeners kind of a one on one 101 version of quantum.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: Sure. Quantum computing is computing the way nature does. As you know, nature is computing all the time. Right. Keeps counts, does additions subtractions in its own way to make things happen for us? It uses physical things. Of course, nature does not need semiconductors. It has its own things and physical things like atoms and lights and photons to do its own computing. Quantum computing is trying to compute the way nature computes using physical objects like, again, atoms or photons of light, to implement computing in the style that nature uses computing for. The advantage of that is, you know, nature computes with very low energy. It computes very powerfully using paradigms that we don’t fully understand. And it represents things in a way that is fundamentally different than the human way of approximating them so it can get us to better results, more accurate results, but far more efficient use of resources.

Lee Kantor: So how did this come about? Like who connected the dots to say there’s a better way of doing things?

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: You know, quantum physics has been around for a while. And, you know, the stalwarts of the quantum mechanics era, like Richard Feynman, once hypothesized that if you can, if nature computes, we should be able to do that as well. And that’s kicked off for many, many years now, this effort to go look at not quantum mechanics or making quantum computers, that is, building computers using the principles of quantum mechanics. That’s been a pursuit, a scientific pursuit. Now it’s become an industrial pursuit that companies such as ours and others actually building, harnessing control over quantum mechanics to build these computers. And these computers have gotten very, very capable and powerful already.

Lee Kantor: So what is kind of, um. What stage are we at now? What can it do that’s different than what a traditional computer can do?

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: So one of the first things is, you know, quantum computing was created for cryptography because it was such a powerful way to compute that it could encrypt things with much better keys. And, you know, if you didn’t have quantum computers, you could break those keys, um, or break the encryption. But, you know, it’s gone well beyond just cryptography. And the people, dark people do. And, you know, in, in the basements of buildings and stuff like that, it’s gone to where it’s now generating data on how chemical reactions happen, for instance, and simulating those kinds of phenomena that are actually fundamental for us to understand if we are going to use artificial intelligence and AI tools to understand and create and predict behavior. So just think of new ways to deliver drugs into your body, right? Creating new materials to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. How to generate water from water hydrogen so you can actually build hydrogen fuel cars. Understanding those things at a chemically accurate level, at a biologically accurate level, is what quantum computers can do that classical computers struggle to do, not just because they don’t have enough computing power, because the representation inside a classical computer is an approximation of that quantum phenomena.

Lee Kantor: So are we at a stage that it isn’t just kind of ideas in a person’s head, but it’s actually happening where there are drugs that are now being developed because of their leveraging this?

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: Absolutely. But we have from 20, you know, last year was kind of a turning point in the in the evolution of quantum computing because we built quantum computers that could not be simulated on classical computers. Up until then, every quantum computer someone had, you could simulate. So you could really not do anything unique for the first time in 2024, we have quantum computers that are generating unique data for the first time that you can generate with classical computers.

Lee Kantor: So if you had the so a classical computer, a traditional computer can’t do the things that are happening in a quantum computer. That’s what you’re saying, that there are now two different things. It’s not one thing that can simulate the other.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: So so yeah, that’s exactly it. The classical computers are not because of the computational power, but even the the mathematical framework that runs on it.

Lee Kantor: Is different.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: Is different. It’s good for the world we see. Right. We can model streets and bridges and joints and junctions. Right. We can’t model how to hide very complex molecules interact in a reaction.

Lee Kantor: Right. So now with these computers you can do that.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: We can do that. And we can add that information as training information for AI agents that are now much smarter. As a result, understanding how chemical reactions actually work and therefore being able to predict new materials or classify. Materials more accurately than you could ever do before.

Lee Kantor: Now is it something that can the person do both? Can you be an expert in the legacy computers and the quantum, or it’s going to require a new kind of mindset in order to leverage quantum.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: Quantum computing has its own things that you need to learn.

Lee Kantor: So there’s there its own language, there’s own way of doing.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: And own way of even thinking about the problem. What is a quantum algorithm is very different than a classical algorithm, but you raise a very good point. One does not. Quantum computing does not obsolete classical computing, because all of these use cases happen when classical and quantum computers are used together. Just just take the example of a classical AI engine, right. That’s trained with quantum data. So again the quantum computer is the input to the classical computer.

Lee Kantor: But then, is there going to be a time when quantum is going to replace the legacy where the quantum is going to be? The quantum AI is going to be the one dealing with what quantum is originating.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: There will be some problems where it will be more advantageous to run it on a quantum computer versus a classical computer. But for the broad, vast scale of things, particularly where AI is the computational agent, we foresee a very, very long time of coexistence of both kinds of computing. It’s the one plus one greater than two. That’s really the magic here.

Lee Kantor: And a very long time in today’s world. Is that a year like what is very long? What’s the what’s a very long time look like in your world?

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: A very long time is decades, if not centuries.

Lee Kantor: So it’s a long, long time.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: It’s a. Yeah, it’s a long, long.

Lee Kantor: Things are moving pretty quick.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: Yeah, that is true in technology. Things move very fast. But we’re talking decades, if ever.

Lee Kantor: And then when do you see a time when quantum is going to be just. We won’t be talking about it as this mystical thing that it’s going to be just part of the workflow.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: That era is we are at the beginning of that era. As I said, last year was kind of a watershed for both hardware and software to to be at a place where you could start looking at real problems to solve, like designing new drugs, like designing new chemicals. And so I think this will be very much in the next by the end of this decade. Certainly we would have we the general public will be able to say, and that thing was created with the help of a quantum computer and without it couldn’t have been done. So within this decade, we will have its ChatGPT moment.

Lee Kantor: Okay. So we’re not at a ChatGPT moment where the.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: We are very close to and have glimpses of. And that’s why companies like us are working 24 over seven, 365 to pull that future in.

Lee Kantor: So you’re just trying to accelerate to get here as fast as possible.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: As fast as humanly possible. A quantum leap forward, no pun intended.

Lee Kantor: So now, in your business, um, who is that ideal client? Who is the the, uh, person or the company that needs to be partnering?

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: So that’s the beauty of quantum computing. It’s not a niche. So my ideal clients are are big companies that are driving at the forefront of transportation, finance, energy, bio and life sciences. These are all companies that are in the discovery of new things. That is what drives their business forward. And that discovery needs a constant fuel of AI plus quantum in order for them to accelerate their business, differentiate their business, and win.

Lee Kantor: And then are you finding that they’re all open to conversations, or are some of them more, you know, are you getting that the typical early adopter laggard kind of model even?

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: We are certainly seeing a growing interest in quantum across the board. There are certainly folks who are moving faster than others. There are the early adopters. There are the the trailblazers, if you will. But in general, if you saw the industry five years ago, there were literally the Lewis and Clark’s who on any given day you could say, are they wise or foolish? Uh, but today it’s an industry that is accelerating to either lead or catch up.

Lee Kantor: And it’s one of those kind of, uh, points of inflection where you better pick a side if you’re not leading your of a.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: It is definitely at a point where if you’re not considering how quantum effects your business, you’re probably late.

Lee Kantor: So you got to pull the trigger. Like this is where you.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: Have to pull the trigger. You have to start understanding quantum computing. You have to start building your workforce within the company to understand how to use quantum computing, and then engage with the quantum industry to start doing use cases and experiments to then build your conviction. It is no longer about the next to next business cycle. It is.

Lee Kantor: You can’t wait to see what your competitor’s doing or it’s going to be. That’s right.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: That’s right.

Lee Kantor: So there is a cost of inaction.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: There’s a cost of inaction. There’s I would say the adoption of quantum and AI is going to be a tectonic decider, shift decider between people who were winners of the last era versus the new winners and those that have aggressively taken on the AI plus quantum mantra, if you will, or challenge have the best shot at being the winners again.

Lee Kantor: And second place it’s going to be it’s almost going to be last place if you’re not going to win this.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: Well, yeah, that’s that’s what the last 50 years of technology has taught us. Right. It’s very hard to be it’s very expensive to be a fast follower in this business.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. So, uh, if somebody wants to learn more, where should they go?

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: Well they’re certainly welcome to come to Quantinuum.

Lee Kantor: Mhm.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: And uh, because one of our corporate strategic objectives is not just to build the best hardware and software in the world, but to also ensure that we can help the world educate themselves on quantum. So we run hackathons, we run quantum readiness programs. And our website has a wealth of information on use cases and technologies in the quantum space. Great place to get started. Then, of course, there’s a lot more to do, hopefully hands on.

Lee Kantor: Now, where are you based? Here in Georgia. Where are you based?

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: We are based. We are a worldwide company. So our headquarters in Colorado, we are. And but we have eight locations all over the world. In three in the US, uh, three in the UK, Germany, Japan. And we are expanding very rapidly. So maybe Georgia is well on the cards.

Lee Kantor: So why was it important for you to come to the Georgia Technology Summit?

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: It was important to come here because I love the idea of being able to continue to talk about the possibility that quantum computing will have in every industry. And I love talking to those in forums that are looking at where to go next. Not trying to just preserve a legacy, but create the next one. And forums like this is a perfect place where you bring in the companies in a in a collaborative atmosphere. The leaders of these companies thinking about not just what they do well, but what they need to do well next. And being able to have that dialog.

Lee Kantor: Well, Raj, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Dr. Rajeeb Hazra: Thank you. Thank you for having me here.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Georgia Technology Summit 2025.

 

Georgia Technology Summit 2025: Vikram Ramani with Synovus

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Atlanta Business Radio
Georgia Technology Summit 2025: Vikram Ramani with Synovus
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Georgia-Technology-Summit

Georgia Technology Summit brings together 1000+ Georgia-focused technologists to network, learn, and engage with the latest trends in Georgia innovation. This year’s summit was held at the Woodruff Arts Center, a stunning and iconic cultural landmark located in the heart of Midtown Atlanta.

Vikram-RamaniVikram Ramani, CIO of Synovus, is a results-oriented leader with an excellent record managing technology organizations. He has  the ability to present a vision and to grow an organization in a highly competitive industry as an innovative problem solver, motivator and catalyst for change.

Vikram adds value through challenging established practices and delivering solutions to complex business problems. He achieves results through skilled diplomacy, teamwork, and collaboration.

Vickram is a proven operator known for building scalable processes and teams , as well as successfully delivering multi-million dollar technology programs.

Connect with Vikram on LinkedIn.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2025 at the Woodruff Arts Center. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here broadcasting live at Georgia Technology Summit 2025. So excited to be talking to my next guest. Uh, today we have Vikram Ramani with Synovus. Welcome.

Vikram Ramani: Thank you, thank you. Glad to be here.

Lee Kantor: Well, um, for our listeners, the two people out there who aren’t familiar with Synovus, do you mind sharing a little bit about mission purpose?

Vikram Ramani: Absolutely. So Synovus is a financial corporation. We’re a bank, $16 billion in assets. We’re the largest bank incorporated in Georgia right now. So we do, uh, commercial banking, small business, banking and consumer banking. And along with that we have wealth brokerage trust businesses as well. Uh, traditional bank trying to be, uh, grow, uh, in our area. And we are in the southeast and the five states in the southeast. And, uh, we have a lot of momentum behind us to get to be a bigger bank.

Lee Kantor: So how what’s the the banking kind of, uh, business climate today? There’s so many young people, especially, that are attracted to online only, and they’ve never walked into a bank. They probably never will walk into an actual physical location is part of Cenovus’s roadmap to have more or less, um, you know, actual brick and mortar stores. What how do how do you see that?

Vikram Ramani: It’s it’s it’s going to be a combination. When Covid hit us, we all thought that all the brick and mortars are going to go away. But five years after that, now you see that there’s more growing. And, you know, brick and mortars are becoming more experience centers like the bigger banks are doing, like Chase and so forth. So we will as a bank, as a regional bank, always have a good combination of both. We’re going to have that as well. And especially being a commercial bank, we deal with larger paychecks, larger sizes and so forth. And those, um, customers like to come into the branch to, uh, deal with us. So we’re going to have that. But on the on the other side, where the younger generation, the Gen Zs, who like to do everything out of the mobile, we also have a plan for that in terms of growing our digital footprint and so forth.

Lee Kantor: So how do you kind of view, uh, brick and mortar? Is it like kind of a community center? You want it to be a place where people feel comfortable going and building actual relationships, human to human, with some of the bankers? Like, what’s your view of that? Um, you know how that fits into your marketing?

Vikram Ramani: That is correct. Our operating model has been within the branches. We have relationship managers that really take care of the clients because, uh, cross-selling is very important. You start something, a small business account, you look at the customer, look at their wealth portfolio, try to see if they can kind of embed that into our product suite and so forth. So exactly that we want to kind of build a true relationship with our customers.

Lee Kantor: And then why is it important for Synovus to be part of the Tag community?

Vikram Ramani: So as you know, technology is right in the center of, uh, transformation for any industry, whether it’s manufacturing, financial services, fintech, and so forth. I’ve been in financial services fintech for all through my life over 25 plus years, and I feel that being a part of this organization, I’m also a board member and part of the executive committee. Uh, being part of this organization really puts us not just our bank, but the entire state in a place where we can grow our technology footprint and ecosystem. And that’s important to the bank, because that’s going to be the center of a lot of the transformation work that we’re going to put forward towards.

Lee Kantor: So how do you, as a leader of an organization like Synovus, how do you kind of get the employees to buy into that and want to participate, volunteer, take an active role in an organization, any business organization, but specifically since we’re here, like into Tag?

Vikram Ramani: Yeah. So I have been associated tag, even in my previous, uh, gigs and so forth. And, uh, it’s the art of influencing, right? You’ve got to it’s part of their career path. Networking is a very important thing. Uh, you’ve probably talked to a few of my peers from other, uh, corporations as well. Uh, previously. And just the power of us interacting, collaborating with the other CIO’s, other organizations is very helpful, especially in our industry, in the technology industry, where new things are getting rolled out. Like I, we talked to each other, each other CEOs see what’s working, what’s not working, and so forth. And, uh, that’s a big help. And my organization, the technology organization within Synovus. They are loving it. I bring them over. I think there’s about 5 or 10 people here today as well. And they’re loving the networking opportunity and the and the opportunity to collaborate with other people as well.

Lee Kantor: Are you finding that young people are embracing kind of this human to human, face to face interactions that a tag brings about, or is it are they more comfortable in kind of a digital online virtual interaction rather than, you know, coming here? And I mean, I’ve seen so many people hugging, shaking hands like they haven’t seen each other in a long time. Um, how do you kind of communicate the value of that to a young person who, you know, is a digital native that, you know, they’re best friends they may never have met in person?

Vikram Ramani: Yeah. I think when Covid hit us, I think it kind of just took us in a different way. But I think over the past two years, especially within our bank, where we’re encouraging people to come into the office, I’ve seen a lot more youngsters coming in into the office and wanting to meet people. Learn from the seniors, if you will, on what’s going on and so forth. Water cooler chats. Um, I feel we’re going in that direction right now. It’s kind of flipped. I think 21, 22 people were still kind of happy to stay home because of, um.

Lee Kantor: It’s convenient and Covid like.

Vikram Ramani: And exactly.

Lee Kantor: They were fitting kind of their work around their life. And now they got to fit their life around their work.

Vikram Ramani: Yeah. And I think that human touch is very important. And the, the younger generation probably doesn’t know that we’re really pushing for them to come into the office, work with others. And so far I’ve seen that, um, they want to come in more than, you know, the established, uh, employees and the organizations.

Lee Kantor: I think that there is a misconception about going back to the office and that something that young people, especially if they graduated and then started virtual and then they never got to experience, is that serendipity that happens in an office situation where you can just bump into somebody and get an answer to a question in two seconds. Those little kind of collisions that occur just naturally in the course of your day. I think the young people miss out on that. And there’s a lot of mentoring and opportunities that they’re not going to have because they don’t. They’re not in the room. When something great happens, someone says, see how that person handled that? That’s they can learn and just kind of accidentally that I think they missed out on. They don’t even know they missed out on.

Vikram Ramani: Exactly, exactly. And that’s what we’re promoting and encouraging our employees here. And I think if you look at most of the corporations in Atlanta, they’re going the same trajectory as well, um, to help that happen.

Lee Kantor: So now, uh, tell us about your upcoming speech. What are you talking about today?

Vikram Ramani: Oh, we’re we’re talking about AI. Uh, wow. Surprise is the first person.

Lee Kantor: Exactly AI today.

Vikram Ramani: That’s weird. Uh, I think I’m talking about AI across industries. I’ve got a great group of panelists there. Uh, some of my ex-colleagues as well. We’re just going to talk about AI in terms of how it’s going to be a competitive advantage. The goods and the bads are the scope of improvement that we need within those things as well. Because it’s a new technology. It’s super disruptive. How do you handle that across regulated industries like ours? Because we’re probably the most healthcare and financial services are the most regulated industry. So it’s going to be very interesting. Uh, discussion uh, this afternoon.

Lee Kantor: So any sneak peeks? Is there any spoilers you can give out?

Vikram Ramani: Uh. Nothing much. We’re we’re just, uh, going with the tide. Uh, so it’s, uh.

Lee Kantor: So where’s, uh, from a banking standpoint, where’s kind of the low hanging fruit for AI?

Vikram Ramani: Um, so in banking, because we deal with a lot of loans, deposits and so forth, you know, bringing biases, uh, is a big thing that we need to be very sensitive about. Um, so what we’re doing within financial services and banks is that the low hanging fruit is the operational efficiencies that happen. Happened, right? Um, you read 1000 pages of contracts every day. The legal department reads. I would be a great bet. Does not. Pii information does not. Anything else? We could easily build something that makes their life easier. Things like that. Call centers where people call in to do stuff. If you want to go and do an audit of those things, let’s start using an AI agent. Things like that is what we’re looking at right now. We don’t want to go into the areas where, uh, it could cause bias into lending, loans and so forth. We’re very careful not to touch that part. The, uh, the. And then so we’re focusing on the back end operational efficiencies part right now.

Lee Kantor: So what’s on the roadmap for Synovus over the next few years? What’s your vision of, uh, how big it can be and how how much better it can be?

Vikram Ramani: I think, uh, our journey started about two years back. We built the foundation. We don’t want to miss the bus on this very disruptive technology in AI. So we’ve built the foundation, a customized type of LM that we’ve built for us. And as and when all the boxes check on the areas that we can work on, it’ll start coming into it. I think this this technology is going to be super disruptive. But we’ve got to be careful. We’ve got to be methodical before we start implementing it. And that’s kind of what is going to drive some of my strategy as well going forward for the bank.

Lee Kantor: Now when it comes to growth, um, it’s Georgia based. And then you’re going to expand out from there.

Vikram Ramani: That’s the so so we’re in five states. We’re in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida and South Carolina. And um, a growth could happen many different ways. It could be organic growth going into a different state and so forth. It could be M&A and so forth. It’s a bigger discussion. I think this year, probably those type of discussions will uh, there’s a lot of, uh, you know, um, tailwinds. I would say with that, over the past two years, there’s a lot of headwinds in those type of discussions, because what happened to the banking industry with Silicon Valley falling and all that stuff. So this this year there’s going to be a lot of discussions on that. So but we’re focused on organic growth. That has to go on. We’re in the southeast. So um we’re going to continue to focus on that.

Lee Kantor: So how do you kind of compete against kind of these stadium banks that are, you know, plastering their name on, uh, big stadiums? The, the, the ones that are the mega brands. Like what? Where is your niche?

Vikram Ramani: We don’t we don’t really, uh, compete with the big banks like the JP Morgan Chase or the tourists of the world Bank of America and so forth. Regional banking has got its its, uh, place in the US economy. It’s more customer centric. Um, and that’s where we kind of focus on, uh, most regional banks are that way. Community banks are the same way and so forth. The mega banks are in every place, right? And it’s just volume that they have. So, um, that’s where we come in because we’re customer centricity is our model, and that’s where we, um, you know, grow.

Lee Kantor: So customer centric, community centric, really be visible within the community, serve the community, and then just kind of immerse yourself within that and then build the brand from there outward.

Vikram Ramani: That is correct. Yep.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, uh, about Synovus, what’s the best way to connect?

Vikram Ramani: You can start with me.

Lee Kantor: Uh, start with you.

Vikram Ramani: Yeah, you can start with me, and I can get you there. Obviously, our website’s got a lot of details in it. Um, then we can go from there.

Lee Kantor: All right. Well, Vikram, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work, and we appreciate you.

Vikram Ramani: Thank you very much.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll be back in a few. At Georgia Technology Summit 2025.

 

Georgia Technology Summit 2025: John Wilson with Spelman College

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ABR-Spelman-Feature
Atlanta Business Radio
Georgia Technology Summit 2025: John Wilson with Spelman College
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Georgia Technology Summit brings together 1000+ Georgia-focused technologists to network, learn, and engage with the latest trends in Georgia innovation. This year’s summit was held at the Woodruff Arts Center, a stunning and iconic cultural landmark located in the heart of Midtown Atlanta.

John-WilsonJohn B. Wilson, vice president and chief information officer for Spelman College, is responsible for modernizing and upgrading the campus technology infrastructure, an essential priority of the strategic plan.

Wilson and his team will partner with administrative units to create and use accessible and effective technology processes to promote innovation and support streamlined business operations and cutting edge technological capabilities, including data analytics, cybersecurity, automation and systems integration.

In addition, Wilson will work to strengthen the teaching and learning experience by collaborating with faculty and students to develop strategies that will impact educational outcomes through innovative technology.

Before joining Spelman, Wilson spent 17 years as a senior information technology manager at Emory University. Following Emory, he directed the enterprise information systems at Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was responsible for strategic planning and operational oversight for a staff of 50 developers, analysts and administrators.

Wilson received a bachelor’s degree in information and decision systems from San Diego State University. He obtained a Master of Business Administration from the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2025 at the Woodruff Arts Center. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here broadcasting live from Georgia Technology Summit 2025. So excited to be talking to my next guest, John Wilson with Spelman College. Welcome, John.

John Wilson: Thank you. I’m glad to be here.

Lee Kantor: Well, um, tell the folks, uh, what’s your role at Spelman?

John Wilson: Um, for about the last five and a half years, I have been the vice president of technology services and chief information officer at Spelman College.

Lee Kantor: So what does that job entail at a university?

John Wilson: So, uh, what? We’re a college. Um, so I basically oversee all technical operations. Everything from cybersecurity. We provide the network, enterprise applications, um, desktop support, all the computer things that you would expect.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? How did you get involved in this line of work?

John Wilson: Um, I’ve been in higher ed it for about 26 years. Um, I actually started off as a sales person in the private sector. I worked for, uh, Xerox Corporation and Johnson and Johnson. Um, I studied information technology as an undergrad. And then when I had a chance to, uh, go to Polaroid Corporation, um, I started getting into digital imaging and really started going down the IT path that way. Uh, started at Emory University here in Atlanta as a project manager, managing technical IT projects, and, uh, went from there to Georgia Tech and from Georgia Tech to Spelman.

Lee Kantor: So now, um, pretty much every guest we’ve had today has been talking about AI. How does AI fit into your world?

John Wilson: You know, I is very important to, uh, Spelman College and as well as the higher ed space in general. Um, we have the responsibility of ensuring that our students are prepared to go out into the world and compete, uh, for, uh, jobs that will afford them the lifestyle that they want. And I is a skill that you just have to have these days. And it’s going to be more so going forward. So we are in the process of identifying how to bring AI to campus in a way that is, um, safe, responsible, cost effective and adds value to what we do.

Lee Kantor: Now, are you using AI in your work?

John Wilson: I do, um, we have AI that’s embedded in several of our cybersecurity products. Um, it helps us so that we don’t have to manually crawl through logs and identify trends. The software is very helpful in that regard. Uh, we also use it for training. Um, some of the training platforms that are out there are very effective and save us a lot of time, quite honestly. Uh, so we’re using it there. And of course, of course, I use it in my own personal workflow for drafting documents and writing emails, etc..

Lee Kantor: Is it used at all like from a, um, kind of a client services client support manner that, um, a student could use it to help, you know, maybe answer a question or a prospective student.

John Wilson: That is a great question. And that is exactly what we’re working on now. Um, as we know, artificial intelligence requires, um, access to clean, relevant, curated data. And so we’re in the process now of creating our enterprise data store. Um, that will be the back end for our artificial intelligence capability.

Lee Kantor: So any advice for others out there in a similar situation, like how do you go about kind of creating that clean, curated data that the AI needs in order to serve up the right answers when the people ask the right questions.

John Wilson: Yeah. You know, there’s a there’s a bunch of different ways, um, to do it. The approach that that we’re going to take is using some sort of enterprise repository, and that will be populated by legacy systems. So as the data comes out of the legacy system and into the repository, it will be reviewed for accuracy and make sure that it’s harmonized as it goes in. Um, but, you know, there are AI models that actually go against transactional databases or legacy databases. Um, and so that’s an option as well. But I just appreciate the flexibility that comes with having your own, um, data lake, if you will, or Data Lake House.

Lee Kantor: Is there a place for capturing maybe knowledge from alumni and students where where they get it, you know, kind of answer questions out of their own mouth based on their own experiences.

John Wilson: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. You know, that’s that’s part of our ambitious goal with artificial intelligence is we want to start off as sort of a 24 over seven contact center where students can ask questions about classes and registration and financial aid and those types of things. But we’d also like to build it to the point where it has it contains all of our corporate memory, if you will, and prospects, students and alumni could ask it just about anything, but that’s down the road a bit. But that is the vision.

Lee Kantor: So is that something that it their technology is available today to make that dream come true, or is it something that it’s still in that no one’s figured that out?

John Wilson: No. I you know, I think I think the technology is definitely available. Um, but we have to we have to get the expertise. Um, and it’s a bit of a journey, you know, that’s something that we’d like to potentially manage ourselves. And we just need to, um, start to build that skill set in-house. And that’s why I put it on the roadmap. You know, it’s a few years down the road. We just have to build that skill set.

Lee Kantor: So how do you, um, attack an event like the Georgia Technology Summit? What are you hoping to get out of it?

John Wilson: Um, well, you know, I’m on the board of tag, and so it’s been a great experience for me to come out and just meet vendors. Um, talk to folks in our societies. Uh, meet with my peers. Um, you know, as a technology focused, um, meeting in the state of Georgia, it’s just a tremendous opportunity to meet people from other industries. Um, share ideas, hear how they’re tackling some of the same problems. So it’s something that I look forward to. I’ve participated. I think this is my fifth year in a row, and, um, I really look forward to it and enjoy being here.

Lee Kantor: Now, how would you recommend a young person who’s, um, maybe a potential a Spelman College, uh, student attack, an organization like tag? Like, how would you recommend they, um, get involved and and what areas do you think would bear the most fruit?

John Wilson: You know, that’s a great question. Um, the good thing about tag is we have so many different societies that cover everything from machine learning, artificial intelligence, fintech, uh, you name it, there’s something out there for everyone. So I would just encourage, if you’re interested, to go to tag Online.com, I believe it is uh or org. Org um, and look at the societies and find something that interests you. Um, I believe that the times and locations are listed as well. And just just go and start meeting people and talking to people. And if you think it’s a good fit, then feel free to join tag and take advantage of all that tag has to offer.

Lee Kantor: Now, as, um, do students of Spelman, do they kind of get the heads up about tag like that, or is that something that they’re encouraged to join and be part of.

John Wilson: It is it is. And last year or year before last, we had a pretty good the contingency of students that actually came to us. Um, Georgia Technology Summit, uh, you know, it’s kind of hard with students. They have a lot going on. Um, but I certainly make an effort to make them aware, um, as well as, uh, certain faculty advisers are aware so that they can help, uh, promote the message as well. So, yeah, we definitely want to get our students involved, uh, and get them out as much as possible. It’s just a matter of them finding the time and making the commitment to come.

Lee Kantor: Right. Because the connections are here where they’re going to get their next job is probably in this room right now.

John Wilson: You know, that’s that’s a very true statement. Um, I think these days it’s becoming more and more about networking and really having an opportunity to showcase your skills and your personality. And the best way to do that is really through a face to face meeting.

Lee Kantor: And joining an organization like this, volunteering, taking leadership roles demonstrate what you bring to the table because it’s a competitive, uh, workforce right now.

John Wilson: It really it really, really is. And, um, I think employers like to see folks who take initiative because quite honestly, um, all things being equal, everybody’s smart and ambitious. Um, but I think where you can differentiate yourself is to take the initiative to come out, shake hands, introduce yourself, start to share your narrative. And that’s going to leave an impression.

Lee Kantor: Right? Relationships matter.

John Wilson: Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more about Spelman, what’s the website there?

John Wilson: Uh, Spelman 1lspelman.edu. And, uh, there’s a wealth of information on the website. Uh, I would encourage any prospective or anybody who’s interested in coming to go and check it out.

Lee Kantor: Well, John, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

John Wilson: Thank you for having me. I enjoyed it.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor back in with you at Georgia Technology Summit 2025.

 

Georgia Technology Summit 2025: Larry Williams with Technology Association of Georgia

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Atlanta Business Radio
Georgia Technology Summit 2025: Larry Williams with Technology Association of Georgia
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Georgia Technology Summit brings together 1000+ Georgia-focused technologists to network, learn, and engage with the latest trends in Georgia innovation. This year’s summit was held at the Woodruff Arts Center, a stunning and iconic cultural landmark located in the heart of Midtown Atlanta.

Larry-WilliamsLarry K. Williams has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) for almost a decade.

He also leads the TAG Education Collaborative (TAG-Ed) benefiting workforce development across Georgia, and the National Technology Security Coalition (NTSC).

A lifelong leader in economic development, Mr. Williams has worked across the U.S. in policy, programming, finance, government affairs, and international relations.

Williams is a founding member of Fintech Atlanta, and Venture Atlanta, plus serves as a member and supporter of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Georgia Chamber, Atlanta CIOs Advisory Council, the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation, and the Atlanta Rotary Club.

Connect with Larry on LinkedIn.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2025 at the Woodruff Arts Center. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here broadcasting live from Georgia Technology Summit 2025. So excited to be talking to my next guest, Larry Williams with TAG. Larry, How are you doing?

Larry Williams: Doing great. Lee. How are you?

Lee Kantor: I am doing great.

Larry Williams: Delighted to have you back here again this year as.

Lee Kantor: Well, interviewing so many interesting people. Uh, tell us about the summit. Tell us about your vision for the summit and how it’s going today.

Larry Williams: Gosh, Lee, there’s so much going on here, but I’ll highlight a couple things. One, the summit this year is really focused on a new reality. It’s about AI and the quantum verse. So everyone’s talking about AI. What are the real opportunities that we can have here? Um, but we also have to be looking over the next horizon. And that’s quantum. It’s coming faster than most people think, but it’s going to be the next major disruptor as we really start to get, uh, get AI on the tracks. The thing that I’m really, really proud of and I’m interested in is we’ve got people that are really taking AI and creating commercial and business opportunities and applying it in the real world. There’s so much that we often hear it’s more about the theory or the fear around it, but these are people that have actually taken this wonderful tool that is going to be a major catalyst and a major disruptor for what we do. Um, probably the most transformational technology of our lifetime. And they’re actually putting real world applications, uh, uh, in place for it. For example, Brett Taylor was a keynote this morning. We did a great fireside chat with him. Bret Taylor is, um, he’s the chairman of OpenAI. So if you think ChatGPT, that’s what they do. Um, he is the guy who was thinking about Google Maps back in Google back when it was just creating, when we just called it, you know, machine learning and sort of the infancy of what is now AI. He’s the guy who created the thumbs up. He’s the former co-CEO of Salesforce. He was the former, uh, chair of Salesforce. This guy’s the real deal. And now he’s running a company called Sierra AI, which is focused on customer service and language and, you know, real language modeling. So these are the types of people that are taking these great technologies, bringing it down to the street. How do we improve people’s lives? How do we improve productivity and creating great opportunities out of it? Super thrilled about that.

Lee Kantor: So when you’re, uh, obviously as the leader of Tag and you’re having conversations with people, I’m sure, all over the globe when it comes to the latest technology. You mentioned AI. You mentioned quantum. How do you take kind of all of these things that are at the bleeding edge and then create a path for people here in Atlanta through tag to at least get their feet wet or immerse themselves or get the knowledge they need in order to deliver that back, like you said to their customers.

Larry Williams: So one of the, you know, part of the heart of Tag is connections. So a lot of it is making sure that we’re getting people connected. And so that they can learn that they can share, they can inspire each other about what these particular opportunities are. You know, Lee, I’ve always felt like business will find a way. If there’s an opportunity out there, you get the right people connected and in the right room together and they’ll, they’ll they’ll figure out the rest. Um, but as we think about bringing people together in a relative way, it’s, it’s getting them thinking about how how can we do something? What can we do to collaborate, to actually build the next generation of ingenuity? And that’s what what happens here. The other thing, and, Lee, I think you’ve heard me say this before. One thing about Atlanta and Georgia throughout the state is that we really are a group of people that think about what are the real applications for something. I’ll say that Georgia is where technology meets the real world. It’s not always the, you know, shiniest new gadget or the coolest new social app or the biggest trend. But we’ve got people that are building businesses, creating opportunities that drive revenue more than anywhere else in the world. That’s what happens here. And so I think as you see it, um, the companies that are here, the innovations that come out of here, whether it be through our universities like Georgia Tech or the entrepreneurs, uh, the people that are thinking about next generation of, uh, innovation. That’s what’s happening here. People are building real businesses.

Lee Kantor: So walk us through what happens. Like you hear about I. You hear about quantum, you hear that things are happening. These are the next big things. How do you take those concepts and actually integrate it into tag, so that there are a pathway for businesses to connect and turn into the community that you want them to. So business can find a way in those areas. Uh, you know, it’s one thing business can find a way, but they have to be in the right pond to find that way. And tag is the right pond in a lot of places. But how do you put them in, uh, relationships? And how do you give them the information they need so they can say, okay, quantum is next. That is real. If Larry says that I should be paying attention, I should be paying attention. And who should I meet? And how do you kind of facilitate that? How does it go from your head into the real world?

Larry Williams: You know, it’s it’s interesting because it’s there’s a lot of layers to what you just put out there. Um, and especially when we think about something like AI that really it’s, uh, a lot of people that are implementing things today are pioneers. And so we’re learning. And so what I’m learning here today, and this is a lot about what this conference is, um, when I was thinking about quantum, you know, and I really AI is the first opportunity in front of us right now is things that we’re really implementing and commercializing right now, today. Quantum is really over the next hill. I used to describe last year, I was saying it’s about three hills over. It’s coming fast. So to get back to to you know what we’re saying, I think what people are, are learning here is that there are people that have taken more finite, uh, opportunities. Uh, the example with Brett Taylor and Sierra AI thinking about customer service, and they’re implementing AI in a product that is actually solving a problem, that people have a pain point, so they’re not trying to boil the ocean. They’re trying to do something that is going to help people solve a, you know, or create a solution or solve a problem today. So there are people that are taking it and using it. How do we improve healthcare? That can be a longer cycle because of the regulatory environment. You know, HIPAA laws and things like that that they have to work along.

Larry Williams: But you’ll start seeing it in fintech and people are really taking, you know, pieces, as we say, pieces of the elephant because you can’t eat it all at once. And actually creating solutions will continue to help convene people and connect people throughout Tag. And then we’ll start to see, hey, did application over here for industry for an industry actually help, uh, you know, a seemingly disparate industry over here. But actually the solutions and the challenge was the same. That’s what we’ll continue to make those connections and create those dialogs. Quantum’s going to be the same thing. You know, there’s a you know, I shared a quote on stage a minute ago, said the pace of change has never been faster. The pace of change will never be slower. And that’s what we’re going to see. That’s what we’re seeing with AI, and that’s what we’re going to see with quantum. We’re going to continue to convene those people, connect them and make sure that they can, you know, get together and have great conversations and inspire each other. Another piece of it, there’s two other pieces that we do so much of, you know, people don’t always know about how much we do down at the state House, um, to lobby to make sure that we have good policies. So one things the lens that I look at things on when it comes from a policy point of view is what are the things that are either going to enable or inhibit innovation.

Larry Williams: And that’s how we have to look at the policies. And right now, again, AI is a bit of the wild, wild West. We have to think about what are the policies that will allow this to flourish. But also and I’m an optimist, but we’ve got to make sure that the technologies are flourishing to do good and to help our people. So, you know, to the point that we can, you know, and get it right and we’ll get it right. Then we can put the right parameters in there, you know, to keep the, you know, the bad players at bay and also utilize this great transformational technology to move us forward. The third piece, let me give you one more. And that is the workforce. So our workforce is not to become irrelevant. It’s going to be uh, but we have to make sure they stay relevant and it’s going to be, you know, the relevancy is going to be in a new world, a new reality, as we say here at the at the Georgia Technology Summit. Um, you know, people who master the skills of AI and other technologies that are come on, are still going to be in high demand and and very much needed. So we’ve got to make sure that people are prepared and armed with those skills to be able to operate in, in a new reality with AI and other technologies.

Lee Kantor: Now, I know as a leader, you’re already looking ahead at 2030. Uh, can you talk a little bit about how you see, uh, talent and the partnerships with, uh, some of the educational institutions, whether they be universities, whether they be, you know, kind of ad hoc academies or even, you know, maybe K through 12. How do you see, um, kind of the upskilling of that group in order to be ready for the change that’s going to happen, like you said, at a rapid pace, um, five years from now.

Larry Williams: You know, we just rolled out today on stage our vision 2030, uh, uh, plan. And that’s exactly that’s one of the key components of it. We’ve got to really think about how, you know, continuing to connect as we do promote this great ecosystem, you know, influence through our lobbying. But educate is going to be critical. So we’ve got, you know, nobody’s going to solve this alone. But the demand. Listen, this is a business imperative that we have to make sure that we have the most relevant technology and innovation workforce in the world, and that we have them right here in Georgia. And the way that we’re going to do that is through partnerships. There is going to be a great and a huge role for our to continue to work with our well-known four year universities in four years and beyond. And then we’ve also got to work with our technical college system of Georgia, and we have some great partnerships with them already, helping prepare people for for AI and for other jobs. But the private sector is going to be critical in all of this as well. There’s a lot of programs out there that are helping develop people, and we really got to think about how we make sure that everybody across the state is getting plugged into this great prosperity that we’re experiencing, and it’s all driven by technology. Lee, you know, you know this. Georgia has been ranked number one place to do business 11 years in a row.

Larry Williams: That’s unprecedented. It was unprecedented at seven years in a row. And we keep it going. And it’s not because we sit back on our laurels. I can assure you that we’re always thinking about what’s next. Yesteryear when. When we were coming up, Lee, people used to move to where the jobs are today. The jobs are moving or the employers are moving to where the talent is. People are coming to Atlanta. People are coming to Georgia because they know about the workforce that we have. We’ve got to keep up. And the only way we’re going to keep up with that, man, that demand is to make sure that we’re engaging. It’s all hands on deck. We need all of our smart people across our states and everybody smart. We need them trained, and we need to get them plugged in to the great opportunities, to the great careers. This isn’t just about jobs. These are careers that people can have the ability to advance themselves. And then we need to be able to use every, every avenue that we can, four year universities up our our friends at the Technical college System of Georgia, private, um, educators, other ways to get training, even in house. That’s what we’re doing, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do. And we’re going to make that. I think we have about we have well over 100,000 jobs, new jobs that we’re going to have to fill over the next few years.

Lee Kantor: And we need to have a path for the people who are successfully exiting to stay around here and stick around and kind of fund the next ventures.

Larry Williams: You’re exactly right. So, you know, that’s part of that whole ecosystem. It is about, you know, it’s making sure that our great enterprises have great policies, great tax climate, great business climate to be able to thrive here. But we’ve also got to have the the great ecosystem about how do we, you know, generate new ideas and how do we help those, those those ideas grow and flourish here. I just had a chance to do a fireside chat with Toyota. He’s the founder of Calendly. So you know, Calendly sure. You know, what a, you know, sort of a maybe a simple what you think is a simple problem. But everybody had it. How do I effectively calendar, um, or manage my calendar? He came up with a great solution in about 2014. I believe he has scaled that to be a multi-billion dollar enterprise. So that’s the type of things that we want to continue to encourage here, to be able to connect to previous success people. His success, his connection was with, uh, David Cummings, who was a great entrepreneur, had a great exit with Pardot, created the Atlanta Tech Village. All of these connections have helped create and drive, uh, again, that next generation of innovation. So you’re dead on. We got to get more capital here, and we got to continue to plug them in with that capital.

Lee Kantor: And I hope the South Downtown initiative, um.

Larry Williams: Is that incredible?

Lee Kantor: It’s formative.

Larry Williams: It is transformative. And it’s so funny to hear David tell the story as well, because if you think about where all of the major corporations that were the icons of Atlanta, that’s where they all started. Right, exactly.

Lee Kantor: You know, what’s old is new again, right?

Larry Williams: Exactly. So.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to connect with tag online, what’s the the best way to do that.

Larry Williams: Tag online.org. You you said it. So please look for us on the website and be delighted to talk with you more. And also or look at our events page on there and come to some of our society events. They are all inspiring.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, there’s events for every special interest group, anything, uh, that touches technology, which as you mentioned earlier, is pretty much everything, uh, that’s happening in the economy. Well, Larry Williams, thank you so much for sharing your story, doing such important work. And we appreciate you.

Larry Williams: Thank you. Lee.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll be back in a few. At Georgia Technology Summit 2025.

 

Georgia Technology Summit 2025: Jason Sankey with City of Atlanta

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ABR-City-of-Atlanta-Feature
Atlanta Business Radio
Georgia Technology Summit 2025: Jason Sankey with City of Atlanta
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Georgia-Technology-Summit

Georgia Technology Summit brings together 1000+ Georgia-focused technologists to network, learn, and engage with the latest trends in Georgia innovation. This year’s summit was held at the Woodruff Arts Center, a stunning and iconic cultural landmark located in the heart of Midtown Atlanta.

Jason-SankeyJason Sankey, CIO City of Atlanta, is an Executive with over 18 years of experience in a broad spectrum of business disciplines including; information technology, operations, corporate treasury, and fund administration. Strategic business partner with the ability to effectively manage across business lines while driving decisions.

His goal is to balance innovation with a realistic approach of advancing technology by integrating strategy with a sound service delivery model.

Connect with Jason on LinkedIn.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2025 at the Woodruff Arts Center. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here broadcasting live from Georgia Technology Summit 2025. So excited to be talking to my next guest, Jason Sankey with the City of Atlanta. Welcome.

Jason Sankey: Thank you. Glad to be here.

Lee Kantor: Um, so as the CIO of the City of Atlanta, what? Tell us a little bit about what that job did. Uh, what do you do in there? It sounds like an overwhelming job. I wouldn’t even know how to begin.

Jason Sankey: It does keep me quite busy. So I actually, uh, have two roles with the city. Uh, so as chief information officer, I oversee all technology for all departments throughout the city. And I also am commissioner of the Department of Atlanta Information Management. So if you think about that, it’s more technology operations, making sure that we have the infrastructure everyone needs in order to move day to day business forward.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? How do you even get a job like that? Like what do you need to know to even get a job like that? I can’t even wrap my head around it. It seems so, so many moving parts.

Jason Sankey: Well, the first thing you need to know. Technology.

Lee Kantor: I’m sure that helps.

Jason Sankey: It does, it does. It helps quite a bit. Uh, but I’ve been a chief information officer for the past decade, uh, at three different organizations. Uh, and prior to that, I was, uh, on the private sector side of the world with Citigroup. So I was a vice president at Citigroup for about a decade. Uh, prior to joining the public sector. Um, but it’s really understanding not only technology, but strategy building our strategy around, in this case, Mayor Andre Dickens. Uh, he has four goals for the city. Uh, one safe city. A City of opportunity for all, a city built for the future and an effective and ethical government. And when I think about that, technology is truly the nucleus of how we drive that vision forward. So it’s understanding that strategy, understanding the goals and then executing on them.

Lee Kantor: So when you get into this role, how do you kind of get started on this going from private sector to public sector? It just seems like a whole different way and a different speed of doing anything.

Jason Sankey: Oh, completely different from a private sector perspective, especially working for Citibank. Uh, understanding that the end goal is the bottom line, the end goal for what we do with the city is all about community and all about lives. So if you think about technology and the services that we provide, I’ll use 911 as an example. Uh, a second loss is a second that we can potentially put someone in danger. So making sure that from a community standpoint that everything runs smoothly And that services are, as expected to make sure that we’re really pushing the city of Atlanta forward.

Lee Kantor: So how do you go about recruiting talent into the public sector versus you would recruiting talent for the private sector?

Jason Sankey: So there has to be a passion for the public sector. Uh, we’re not as competitive as the Microsoft and Googles of the world, and they’re here in Atlanta. Uh, so they’re kind of a competitor, although they’re a partner when it comes to solutions. Uh, they’re a competitor when it comes to recruiting talent. So it’s really helping this incoming class of talent to understand that what you do truly makes a difference. And that is a different feeling than adding to a bottom line of a sell sheet.

Lee Kantor: So. So what are their characteristics or traits of an individual that has that mentality and that mindset of serving versus, you know, making as much money as possible?

Jason Sankey: I think it’s it’s exposure. So we have through the mayor’s, uh, summer youth internship program. We bring in interns every year, and they actually get a chance to experience what we do and how we do it. And that opens that dynamic. And I tell people this, I say, if I can go back in time and I can start my career over, I would actually start my career in the public sector because of what we do. So I think it’s that exposure. So through internship programs, we also have, um, a rotational program that we started up here recently that gives people just the opportunity to see what we do and how it impacts people, uh, through a fellowship. Uh, those are the the opportunities that really open people’s minds to, uh, a greater form of giving.

Lee Kantor: And because the impact is different. Right. Like that’s at the heart of this, the impact they’re making in the public sector is affecting a lot, a lot of people in more personal ways, I would think.

Jason Sankey: Indeed, indeed. And from a compensation perspective, we are competitive. We’re just not as competitive as those top tier organizations.

Lee Kantor: And the stock options probably are different.

Jason Sankey: Very different, very different.

Lee Kantor: Uh, tell us about why you got involved with the Tag board of directors.

Jason Sankey: So when I came to the city of Atlanta about four years ago, believe it or not, uh, it feels like 40, but that’s a good thing. Uh, depending on the day of.

Lee Kantor: The government time.

Jason Sankey: Yes, indeed. Indeed. Worse than dog years. But, uh, I met the president and CEO of Tag, uh, Larry Williams, and he talked to me about the opportunity, and I got a chance to see what tag was doing throughout the state of Georgia and really the impact that it has from a technology perspective. Uh, not only on, uh, the events like this great summit that we’re doing today, but also on the community. And I said, let me let me try it out. And then I decided to join the board after a little while, and I’m so happy that I did because of everything that I’ve been able to accomplish over these past three years through Tag and the relationships I’ve built and really the network, I would say my network is stronger here in metro Atlanta, and I’ve been here for going on four years. Then where I came from, where I had a very large network as well, but I was there for much longer, about ten years. But through Tag, I was able to build these relationships that I can’t say enough about.

Lee Kantor: So, um, what do you think makes Atlanta different than maybe the other places you’ve been to?

Jason Sankey: I think it is just more forward thinking, right? So I lived in New York City for a while. I lived in Columbus, Ohio for a while, and the strategies were different here in Atlanta. I could just see the the mindset of small business development, of entrepreneurship, of the drive that I think, uh, the, the metro Atlanta area brings to the community. I haven’t seen anything like it. Even when I lived in New York, people moved very fast. And they they chase different things. But the communities that come together here in Atlanta are like nothing else.

Lee Kantor: How do you see the kind of public, private collaboration that happens here? I believe that that’s kind of unique from the rest of the country, and the way that the business community works with the government sector, and how everybody seems to kind of work together in a pretty efficient manner, relatively.

Jason Sankey: Yeah. We can’t do what we do from a city perspective without our partners. We just can’t do it. We don’t have the scale. Uh, in some cases we don’t have the capability. Right? So as we look at generative AI and what the speed, I’ll say the speed of how fast, uh, that capability is growing without our partnerships that we have, uh, we wouldn’t be able to keep up. So I think it’s core to really driving things forward. And one thing that businesses realize over the years, in this case, if the city of Atlanta is successful, we’re all successful.

Lee Kantor: So if there’s talent out there that wants to explore the, uh, public sector, what’s the best way to connect with you or somebody on the team to at least learn more?

Jason Sankey: So we have our internship program that’s kicking off in May. Um, you can connect with me on LinkedIn. Uh, you can connect with our team, uh, on LinkedIn. Department of Atlanta information management. Uh, and always look at our, our website. We’re always recruiting new opportunities and would be happy to, uh, have more conversations on opportunities to to join the public sector.

Lee Kantor: Well, Jason, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Jason Sankey: Thank you. Lee.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor back in a few. At Georgia Technology Summit 2025.

 

Georgia Technology Summit 2025: Javier Delgado with Quadion Technologies

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ABR-Quadion-Technologies-Feature
Atlanta Business Radio
Georgia Technology Summit 2025: Javier Delgado with Quadion Technologies
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Georgia-Technology-Summit

Georgia Technology Summit brings together 1000+ Georgia-focused technologists to network, learn, and engage with the latest trends in Georgia innovation. This year’s summit was held at the Woodruff Arts Center, a stunning and iconic cultural landmark located in the heart of Midtown Atlanta.

Javier-DelgadoJavier Delgado, CEO of Quadion Technologies, helps teams solve IT related problems with an agile, results-oriented, continuous-improvement approach.

Over his 25+ year career he’s assisted companies in streamlining the delivery of customised, highly adaptable, enterprise-level solutions. Javier does so by applying a combination of lean principles, agile practices and cutting edge technology.

Connect with Javier on LinkedIn.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2025 at the Woodruff Arts Center. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here broadcasting live from Georgia Technology Summit 2025. So excited to be talking to my next guest, Javier Delgado with Quadion Technologies. Welcome.

Javier Delgado: Hello.

Lee Kantor: Well, uh, Javier, share a little bit about how you serving, folks?

Javier Delgado: Well, we are a customer, a custom software development company. Most of our team works from Latin America. What we mostly do is we service US companies with this software development teams from, uh, Latin America, mostly Argentina, but several other countries in Latin America also.

Lee Kantor: And then what type of services are you providing your clients.

Javier Delgado: It’s a single service, really. It’s custom software development. What we do is we interact with the IT departments of our clients and we build software for them.

Lee Kantor: So, um, what’s an example of some of the work that you’ve done? So, uh, an enterprise is an enterprise level companies that hire you or companies of all sizes.

Javier Delgado: Yeah, we we have like two, two different, very different flavors. Our ideal customer, yes, they are very big companies, mostly corporations. We are currently working with four fortune 500 companies. In those cases, what we do is we build teams that work with these companies, uh, building, uh, different types of software. For them. It could be new products, it could be integrations of existing back office, back office systems. Since what we do is custom, it differs from project to project. One project may be one thing and the next could be something entirely, entirely different. And so in these cases, what we typically have is a huge team working with these companies and building one piece of software after the other. And the other flavor would be working with way smaller companies, mainly startups. And well, they they typically need a software product done. And we build it for them.

Lee Kantor: So you’re working with funded startups and you become kind of their technologist. Correct. So they’re coming to you with an idea and you’re executing it on their behalf.

Javier Delgado: Yes, we we may help with the product development, but the idea is theirs and the product is theirs. Whatever. Everything we do, we don’t own the pie. Everything is for our clients.

Lee Kantor: And then so are you based here in Georgia. And then you’re the kind of the tech team is overseas. Is that how you work?

Javier Delgado: Correct. We have a US based company. It’s actually based in Florida. That company and and most of our team is working from Latin America. We have a company in Argentina also.

Lee Kantor: So the US folks are the sales arm, correct?

Javier Delgado: Yes.

Lee Kantor: So, um, how’d you find out if you were based in in Florida? How’d you find out about Tag and the Georgia Technology Summit?

Javier Delgado: Well, we’ve been working with clients in Atlanta since we started. Uh, so even though our company is based in Florida, many of our clients are in other cities in the US.

Lee Kantor: And then so do you have boots on the ground in the other cities you work in, or is it primarily just, uh, Georgia and Florida and then you.

Javier Delgado: We yeah, we currently have clients in Florida, in Georgia and New York, in in Chicago, in Illinois. And those are the biggest ones. We used to work with the West Coast, but it’s easier for us, the East Coast, because of the time time zone.

Lee Kantor: Right. So then you’re So you have people that are actually in those cities here in the US as kind of the account reps or the salespeople internally.

Javier Delgado: Well, we have a business development developers here in Georgia, and the more we move around quite a lot. But yes, mostly it’s Georgia and us guys from Latin America coming over here.

Lee Kantor: Right? So the people that are here in the, in the US are, are kind of meeting with the clients. They’re just, you know, having the relationship with the clients, trying to understand what their challenges are and then making sure that you’re delivering what they need. Yes.

Javier Delgado: Uh, the people we have here in the US, they do the initial contact because once the project starts, what we have is a real close relationship between the development team or our client. So we want the development team to be a very embedded in what they need to do. So after we start working. It’s the development team, the one who meets regularly with the client in order to see if things are going according to plan.

Lee Kantor: So what was the genesis of the idea? How did this company come about?

Javier Delgado: Well, we started working, me and my partners. We started working with similar companies in the past as employees, and at one point in time, we decided that we had to own our own. Uh, we got a lucky we got a few clients right away, and one client led to the next one. And that’s what led us here. It’s been 20 years already. The company turned 20 last year.

Lee Kantor: Wow. Congratulations. And it was always you were always deploying, um, Latin American talent? Yes.

Javier Delgado: Yes. We found out that the there’s a very good sync between Argentina and Latin America and the US, uh, because of, uh, we have a similar culture. We really understand how things should be done over here. Well, the cultural affinity, the time zone also helps a lot. And we found out very early that we could work very easily with the US from Latin America.

Lee Kantor: Is there some, uh, advice you can give folks who maybe have never worked in worked with Latin American talent before? Is there some do’s and don’ts culturally to get it right? Yeah.

Javier Delgado: Um, yes. Even though there’s there are similarities, there are also things that are quite different. So the first the first suggestion is that there needs to be a, an initial phase as short as possible, where both parties get to know each other and get in sync. And really, there’s very good talent in Latin America. It’s just a matter of getting these teams in sync and getting the Latin American teams. Uh. To know what what the expectations are on this end. Once that’s set, it’s like magic.

Lee Kantor: And then you’ve been doing this 20 years. So when they work with you, you already can smooth that over and be, I would imagine, get people up and running faster and more effectively than somebody just trying this on their own.

Javier Delgado: Probably, yes. We’ve learned, we’ve learned.

Lee Kantor: You have some scar tissue.

Javier Delgado: Yes. And that’s it. And and that’s something unique about this type of business. Since what we do is different in each project, we have to learn because we do custom software, we we never do the same thing twice. We do we do software for specific companies to solve specific problems. So if this is a problem that is a recurring problem, there’s probably probably a ready product then that solves it. People call us whenever they need something new. So we need to learn and we need to learn fast.

Lee Kantor: Is there a story you can share? Uh, maybe a success story? Don’t name the name of the company, but maybe the challenge that they gave you and how you were able to help them get to a new level and.

Javier Delgado: Yes. Um. Uh, I have a story. It’s a good. It’s a good one because of the context. Uh, there was this company. It was in Florida. It was an engineering company. They were hired by the state in order to provide services after disasters where if a hurricane hit a city or a flood hit a city, there’s a number of things that need to happen at once in order to get to get the city back on track. Well, this engineering company was hired to fix things after a flood or a hurricane. They needed a piece of software in order to deploy their teams, and to have a real time information on what those teams need to do. Well, we have them building that software. That software was actually deployed. And as far as I know, in almost ten disasters. And the results were great.

Lee Kantor: Wow. That’s amazing. So if somebody wants to learn more and get more information or have a conversation with you or somebody on the team, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Javier Delgado: Well, you can reach us by means of our website. It’s triple. Com. You can also look for us in LinkedIn. We are quite into technologies and you can look me up on LinkedIn Javier Delgado. Uh, I always answer whoever gets in touch with me.

Lee Kantor: Well, Javier, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Javier Delgado: Thanks a lot.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor back in a few at Georgia Technology Summit 2025.

 

Georgia Technology Summit 2025: Yogs Jayaprakasam with Deluxe

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Atlanta Business Radio
Georgia Technology Summit 2025: Yogs Jayaprakasam with Deluxe
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Georgia Technology Summit brings together 1000+ Georgia-focused technologists to network, learn, and engage with the latest trends in Georgia innovation. This year’s summit was held at the Woodruff Arts Center, a stunning and iconic cultural landmark located in the heart of Midtown Atlanta.

Yogs-JayaprakasamYogaraj (Yogs) Jayaprakasam joined Deluxe Corporation in May 2022 as Chief Technology and Digital Officer and a member of the Executive Leadership team, leading all aspects of Deluxe’s technology, digital assets, DATA and AI capabilities, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and business resiliency.

Yogs has an extensive, distinguished background in financial services and payments, leading large-scale technology organizations for American Express, Cognizant Technology Solutions and a Start-up for more than 20 years. His expertise spans Multi-Cloud Payment Platforms, MarTech, Open Banking APIs, Client & Partner integrations, Data & Analytics Platforms, and other key areas.

Most recently at American Express, Yogs led the technology teams supporting the company’s B2B Digital Channels, Corporate Cards, Virtual Payments, B2B payments and API Platforms, Commercial Data platforms and other key areas. He holds several patents, and also co-led various innovation efforts including a recent innovation partnership with one of the largest cloud and CRM technology providers.

Yogs received his bachelor’s degree in Physics from University of Madras, India, and a master’s degree in Computer Applications from Bharathidasan University, India. He also has a Chief Technology Officer Certification from University of California, Berkeley.

Connect with Yogs on LinkedIn.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2025 at the Woodruff Arts Center. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here broadcasting live from Georgia Technology Summit 2025. So excited to be talking to my next guest Yogs Jayaprakasam with Deluxe Corporation. Welcome.

Yogs Jayaprakasam: Thank you. I’m happy to be here.

Lee Kantor: Uh, for the two people out there that aren’t familiar, can you share a little bit about Deluxe? How you serving folks?

Yogs Jayaprakasam: Fantastic. Uh, Deluxe is a 110 year check printing company. So our founder invented the first checkbook that we all still use. And, uh, we are a $2.2 billion publicly traded company. Beyond check. We now also make, uh, digital payment Processing platforms. B2b payments and data driven marketing solutions as well. We work with 4000 financial institutions and millions of small businesses and mid-sized companies across the country.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your role with Deluxe?

Yogs Jayaprakasam: I lead their technology and digital organization for the company, so my team is responsible for driving the technology systems.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? How’d you get involved in this line of work?

Yogs Jayaprakasam: That’s a great question. So I started my career back in India after my post-graduation in computer applications. So I have background in working for startup companies that built web websites and mobile products. Then I was in consulting for a bit, but before taking this exciting job with deluxe, I worked for American Express for 13 years. So I believe a lot of the listeners would know American Express. It’s a fantastic card brand. So there is a lot of similarities between what the transformation Amex went through. If you don’t know, Amex used to be a traveler’s check company that evolved into digital payments Months now, Tada deluxe is transforming in from check company to become digital payments and data, uh, which is a commonality that excited me to come be part of this transformation.

Lee Kantor: So what’s it like for a legacy company like deluxe where like you like you said, the first checkbook. Yes. And to to have the foresight and still be relevant today is an amazing achievement, right. To be able to kind of move with the times to the point we are today where we’re getting into, you know, less and less checks. Right? So how do you like how important was the culture of, of innovation that that the deluxe must have? And how are you helping lead that culture through this transformation?

Yogs Jayaprakasam: I think that’s a fantastic question. Um, because culture eats strategy for breakfast is a very common, uh, saying, and I personally believe in that. So what I mean by that is if you pay attention to as a company what you do, you do certain problem solving for your customers. And as things move with time, the way you solve that problem keeps changing too. It’s up to the people and the culture. You have to pay attention to what is changing. So in the context of deluxe, if you really seriously think about it, our initial problem solving for the customer is issuing a check, which is an alternative form of form of payment from the currencies that we have. So now the payment mode from paper check to credit cards and digital payments and everything. We are still solving the same problem and that’s what we are trying to do. As tech becomes less relevant, how do you replace that with the solutions that is relevant to the customers too? So we focus on our customers and we focus on our communities because we believe as we help small businesses and mid-size companies succeed, they contribute to the economy and they contribute back to the workforce, which creates a virtuous cycle.

Lee Kantor: But to make that shift, a lot of companies weren’t able to kind of make that change and really get to the heart of what it is, the value they’re delivering to customers. A lot of companies get hung up with, well, this is how we do this so that the, the how we do it is the thing and it’s really not the how we do it. It’s the why we do it.

Yogs Jayaprakasam: I, uh, that’s that’s a very insightful, uh, statement that you just made there. If you really understand why we exist and continue to be true to that purpose, then solving that problem becomes easier. To what I mean by that is, of course, every company exists to make money and contribute to their shareholders. That is a judicial job that we all have to do. But it it cannot be at the cost of forgetting what you’re supposed to do for your customers, right? Focusing on your customers and then focusing on your employees takes care of focusing on the shareholder promises that you make to. And that’s what we fundamentally believe in.

Lee Kantor: So how do you like what advice would you give an organization that might have maybe fallen in love too much with the nuts and bolts of their product or service and are kind of forgetting, like, okay, what are our customers really need? And what uniquely can we be delivering to them that’s different and special?

Yogs Jayaprakasam: My advice would be, uh, shift your focus from falling in love with what you are good at doing to falling in love with the problem you are solving for your customer. If you are very clear on the problem you solve for your customer. Just like how I explained, the problem we solve is creating alternative payment solution for our customer. Then you will start to find what is the best way to solve that problem. And that changes with time, with process, with technology evolution. You will constantly experiment to find the best solution to solve it. And that’s my recommendation. Stop falling in love with what you are good at. Start falling in love with what you are committed to. Solving the problem for your customer.

Lee Kantor: But I, like you said earlier, that’s a cultural issue because a lot of times it’s going to require some of the times it’s going to require you to abandon things and to, you know, the sunk cost is real. And a lot of people don’t want to pay that price when it comes to sunk costs, especially in technology or things they’ve invested a lot of, or even maybe brand identity, you know, to make that shift. It takes a lot of leadership.

Yogs Jayaprakasam: Yeah, I think that’s a very good point. Often companies that are focused too much on today’s profitability forget that for you to sustain your own profitability. Sustained investment in technology and innovative culture is critical. So what I mean by that is if you don’t invest today and over a period of time, you either become too expensive to maintain every old things that you have inside your company, whether it is old systems and databases and everything. But if you invest to stay current, the managing those technology becomes cheaper and cheaper as you go as well. So for example, we used to be on so many data centers running all of our own servers before. So now we consolidated our footprint to a much smaller data center and moved to public cloud. It not only reduced our cost, of course, initially you have to make some incremental investment to do that, share.

Lee Kantor: The change.

Yogs Jayaprakasam: It. Right now it reduced the cost, but also because we are already on public cloud, we are able to innovate faster because the public cloud providers are already enabling generative AI, artificial intelligence, machine learning, all the cutting edge thing that is coming to become available now, you are paying for the use of it. You are not making one time big investment like you used to make as well. So even though the thought of it looks daunting, unless you go through that process, you are not going to have the same profitable growth that you can enjoy in the future as well.

Lee Kantor: So now, why was it important for you and deluxe to have you become part of the Tag board of directors? Like what was the thinking there?

Yogs Jayaprakasam: So there are two reasons. One, uh, our CEO has this, uh, pretty much a mandate or a requirement. Part of our goal that every one of our executive leadership team should sit in a not for profit organization. And, uh, Tag is a relevant organization for me and my role. Because being a technology leader, you cannot solve it all by yourself. You got to be connected to the industry where you have like minded people who can bring similar problems that you are trying to solve to. So tag made all the difference in the world for me to be part of that as well. So it is 2 in 1 opportunity. So there is a need for me to be in a non not for profit board. But being in a technology driven, not for profit board is very relevant for me and the company as well.

Lee Kantor: So, um, what did you spoke here at the summit or have you spoke yet?

Yogs Jayaprakasam: I’m going to be speaking at 1250. In a panel discussion that talks about, is AI going to change the CEO’s job, or should we let AI to change the job of CEO?

Lee Kantor: So any spoilers? Is it going to change the job?

Yogs Jayaprakasam: I think I will change how we do our jobs. So it will replace people who don’t use AI to do the job with people who know how to use AI to do the job better.

Lee Kantor: So, uh, your advice is to lean into AI. Don’t run away from it.

Yogs Jayaprakasam: My advice is not only lean into AI, but also be part of shaping how AI should be used because the narrative today is, oh, it is going to come and change my job. If we let any technology, not just AI, it will do what you don’t want it to do. We got to be part of shaping what are the things we want AI to do? What are the things we don’t want AI to do? As an example, I don’t want my nurse’s job to be fully done by. I want a human telling me how I feel. What is my health? All of those things, and those are the things we need to consciously contribute and shape the laws shape as a tag, as it plays a bigger role, because we can influence the community and then go influence the law as well.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more about deluxe, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Yogs Jayaprakasam: D e l u Xe.com Xe.com is our website and we share all the great products that we do, how we are modernizing, what problems we are solving for our customer. We would love to talk to anyone who is interested in what we do to help them solve their needs.

Lee Kantor: Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today, doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Yogs Jayaprakasam: Thank you so much for the opportunity to be here.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor back in a few. At Georgia Technology Summit 2025.

 

Georgia Technology Summit 2025: Caroline Cochran with Qgenda

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Atlanta Business Radio
Georgia Technology Summit 2025: Caroline Cochran with Qgenda
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Georgia Technology Summit brings together 1000+ Georgia-focused technologists to network, learn, and engage with the latest trends in Georgia innovation. This year’s summit was held at the Woodruff Arts Center, a stunning and iconic cultural landmark located in the heart of Midtown Atlanta.

Caroline-CochranAs Chief People Officer, Caroline Cochran is responsible for developing and executing QGenda’s people strategy around the employee lifecycle.

She oversees all aspects of human resources including talent acquisition, strategic business partnerships, learning and organizational development, and compensation and benefits strategy, as well as culture and employee engagement.

Prior to her focus on people, learning, and culture, Caroline leveraged her background in technology to build and lead risk, compliance and audit practices for several public companies including Secureworks, a Dell Technology company. She is a graduate of the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.

Connect with Caroline on LinkedIn.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Georgia Technology Summit 2025 at the Woodruff Arts Center. This is Business RadioX. And now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here broadcasting live from Georgia Technology Summit 2025. So excited to be talking to my next guest, Caroline Cochran with Qgenda. Welcome.

Caroline Cochran: Thank you.

Lee Kantor: Well, for folks who aren’t familiar, can you tell us a little bit about Qgenda? How are you serving folks?

Caroline Cochran: Sure. We are a healthcare workforce management platform, uh, focused on, um, you know, making sure healthcare providers are deployed when and where they’re needed. Um, so we do that through a number of ways, whether it’s scheduling for physicians, nurses, staff, um, the credentialing, onboarding of of those individuals as well. Um, so we create a whole workforce platform.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? How did you get involved with this line of work?

Caroline Cochran: Oh, and in HR.

Lee Kantor: Yeah.

Caroline Cochran: Well, yeah. Well, so I’m the chief people officer. I have not been a career long, uh, HR professional. I started my career at a number of technology public companies, um, in the compliance audit space. Um, but I found myself with the opportunity to hop into HR, uh, in my last role during the pandemic. So go big or go home. That’s it. Yeah. Yes. Um, so, uh, drinking through a fire hose there. But it was it was a really great opportunity to build a team, which I’ve done several times, um, and kind of focused on the new way we work. Um, so, but since then, I evolved and, uh, stepped into agenda about two and a half years ago, um, to help them scale and grow, um, as they have been, um, we have been growing rapidly over the last few years, gone from 300 employees to almost 800 now. Um, so that’s been my role and how I arrived here.

Lee Kantor: So why was it important for you to get involved with tag?

Caroline Cochran: Oh, tag. So I’ve known Larry for a number of years. The tag CEO.

Lee Kantor: So he volun told you? Yeah.

Caroline Cochran: He volun told me. No, it was actually when I actually after I joined, after I stepped into HR as the chief people officer at my prior company. Um, you know. Yeah, I had the opportunity to step into tag with Larry, uh, and team and, um, haven’t looked back.

Lee Kantor: And then for folks, do you mind giving like, kind of the elevator pitch when you talk to other people about tag and why it’s important to get involved?

Caroline Cochran: Oh, yeah. I think you know why. It was important to me. And I feel like it would be important to others, too, is just having the ability to influence, you know, the technology ecosystem in Georgia. Um, we get a seat at the table, which is really unique. Um, driving whether it’s, um, you know, through, um, the education, how we’re going to be educating and offering, uh, in developing talent in the Atlanta space, uh, or in the Georgia market brought more broadly. Um, but really, it’s it’s got that critical role of influence. Um, and that’s why it’s so important to me.

Lee Kantor: So have you had a chance to work with other organizations like Tag and some of the other work that you’ve done.

Caroline Cochran: Yeah, sure. I’ve done a number of others maybe focused on women in technology, um, and other kind of executive leadership type, um, type organizations in the past.

Lee Kantor: Were they around the country or was it have you primarily worked here in Georgia?

Caroline Cochran: Yeah, primarily here in Georgia. Yeah.

Lee Kantor: Now, your speaker as well.

Caroline Cochran: Today I was yes, I already I just who just stepped off the stage completed my duties.

Lee Kantor: What was your what would you talk about?

Caroline Cochran: Uh, I, um, spoke on and introduced a video that is sharing the 2030 vision for tag. Uh, we’ve been developing this over the last couple of months. Um, as a member of the board. Um, we’ve been creating, you know what? What’s our vision for 2030? What do we want to be? What does what do we want tag to influence? What do we want to drive over the next five years?

Lee Kantor: So is there any can you share a little bit about what you talked about or what you saw?

Caroline Cochran: Yeah. Yeah. So so there was a great video. I was very brief in my comments on stage brief, but, you know, fabulous. Um, but uh, no, the video shared just kind of the pillars of what that vision is to promote, to connect and to elevate, uh, throughout the technology ecosystem in Georgia. Um, I have a particular passion where I’m spending a lot of time helping with this drive. This vision is around education. Uh, and just kind of you can imagine with my role as being a chief people officer. Sure. But wanting to develop and develop talent in Georgia. Um, so I’ll be spending a lot of time with Loretta, one of your your previous guests, um, kind of working on what that can be, how we can partner, uh, with, uh, educational institutions around Georgia, um, how we can get maybe potential certification programs in place and help prepare the workforce for the future.

Lee Kantor: Now, is that going to involve maybe expanding, uh, or just kind of not just thinking that university is the only path that there’s going to be? We’re going to have to kind of cast a wider net and really kind of reach people where they are in terms of certifications and things like that.

Caroline Cochran: Absolutely. Yeah. It’s not just university based. Absolutely. So, um, there are many programs. My company has actually gotten involved in an apprenticeship program. Um, so we have a number of apprentices in our at Q agenda that are focused in the technology space and have different technology roles. Um, so that’s one really important arm of kind of what we do. And um, through tagged as well. So yeah, it’s broad and not just focused on universities.

Lee Kantor: Can you share maybe some best practices or some ways to leverage that apprentice program? Like I know that you’re implementing it in your firm, but if somebody had maybe hadn’t considered it or thinking about it. What are some do’s and don’ts? What are some best practices?

Caroline Cochran: Yeah. Well, I think, um, what we did and I think what others should do could, could do to when if they’re considering something like this. First of all, it’s about building a pipeline of talent. Right. And it’s also about supporting folks that are learning and new. So there’s kind of a two fold benefit to it really. Um, and we looked across our organization at the teams that are growing, at the teams that are innovating, at the teams that have the ability and the cycles to teach at the same time as executing whatever their mission is or whatever their function is. Um, so we have we’ve spent um, we have two, two roles now we’ll be broadening, um, as, as we move forward. But within our, our kind of back office IT systems as well as our development teams. Um, and it really creates a great opportunity to, uh, teach someone, your company, your methodologies, your way of doing things. You’re also educating them, giving them real life experience. And we’re actually working on hiring one of them full time right now, too. So just kind of considering, you know, you have to have the time to invest, but also the opportunities where, you know, you can have folks that have been trained generally but haven’t had been able to have the chance yet to really focus on whatever, uh, subject matter area that they’re, you’re offering.

Lee Kantor: So how do you kind of teach a person an apprentice, maybe differently than you would teach an intern, or how you would teach an employee, like, how do you kind of, um, at least within, internally have that type of leadership that can instruct that individual. And it might it’s probably slightly different in each one of those constituents. Right. An apprentice versus intern versus an employee.

Caroline Cochran: Yes. Yeah. So, you know, interns, you kind of give them you let them get their feet wet here and there. Right. Give them a few projects. It’s short term too. Right. So they’ve got like three months and you. And then you let them let them go. Um, but from an apprentice perspective, there’s just you can immerse them immediately into your team. You can immerse them immediately into whether it’s a particular project, um, or a process. And it’s on the job learning, which if you look at how adults learn, 70% of it’s on the job, right? You learn a little bit in the classroom, maybe a little bit on your own, but really it’s on the job learning. And so when you have somebody who’s full time immersed in your team, um, with leader, a leader who has the capability to, um, to mold and shape and, and develop, uh, which is a really important part of it. You really can’t just put these apprentices and think that they’re going to be successful on their own. No, it’s not set. And forget it. So it takes time and investment and it takes someone who has the ability and the passion to do that. Um, but so, um, but really, it’s not terribly different from like, a new employee, but you do. You are starting more with basics. You need to have, um, you know, some very detailed actions, some very detailed support for them as well. Um, but, uh, so it just goes a little bit deeper and requires a little bit more investment than maybe your average new employee.

Lee Kantor: So when you’re when you have kind of an apprentice lined up, how do you find the appropriate person in the organization to kind of manage that? And is there kind of some training that you have to do to help them, you know, get the most out of The Apprentice?

Caroline Cochran: Yeah. So it’s new for us, right? So we just started doing this this year, but we did create. So we’re very familiar with our people leaders and the teams within our organization. So we targeted a few areas a few a few folks and say are you interested in this? And our development team resoundingly, yes. Because because.

Lee Kantor: They’re hungry.

Caroline Cochran: They’re hungry for it and they’re yeah. Talent is is not um, readily available in the development space, right? It’s limited. So and it’s very attractive to, to be able to mold somebody right, right to exactly what you want them to do, as opposed to having someone who may have.

Lee Kantor: To fix some bad habits.

Caroline Cochran: Yeah, exactly. They may have they may have done things differently in another role. So that’s what’s so appealing. Um, but we did we we focused on finding, you know, the, the managers in our, our team that are already really capable managers. Right. Um, and do that. Well, just, um, and that’s.

Lee Kantor: A.

Caroline Cochran: Pro.

Lee Kantor: Tip there.

Caroline Cochran: That’s a pro tip.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. Choose wisely.

Caroline Cochran: Choose choose wisely. Choose their leader wisely. Um, but um, but yeah, it’s it’s been a fabulous experience for us. Um, and I hope we’re going to be getting we have one now like I said, two now in two different areas. But our development teams, we’re going to be expanding it.

Lee Kantor: So you’re pretty bullish that this is something that you’re going to be able to expand.

Caroline Cochran: Very bullish I mean we’re just hiring one now as a full time employee. She’s been with us almost a year. Um, so it’s a year long program right. So you do really kind.

Lee Kantor: Of look at it long term. This is an internship over the summer. This is.

Caroline Cochran: Right. This is not an internship. It’s a commitment. Right?

Lee Kantor: On both sides.

Caroline Cochran: Yep. Both sides. It’s a full time job. It’s a commitment. And it’s an opportunity to prove yourself, to learn and get a full time role.

Lee Kantor: And you’re happy because now this person is ready to go.

Caroline Cochran: Ready to go. They’re ready to go. We’ve trained them for a year, right. We know that they are motivated. We know that they are capable. And we now we know that they know what we want them to do, right? Yeah, exactly.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more about Shugendo, what is the best way to do that? Is there a website? What’s the best way to connect?

Caroline Cochran: Yeah, we have Sina.com as our website. Also, we’re very active on LinkedIn and all of our open roles are posted out there. So yeah, check us out.

Lee Kantor: All right. Well, Caroline, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Caroline Cochran: Thank you.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor back in a few. At Georgia Technology Summit 2025.

 

Georgia Technology Summit 2025

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Georgia Technology Summit brings together 1000+ Georgia-focused technologists to network, learn, and engage with the latest trends in Georgia innovation. This year’s summit was held at the Woodruff Arts Center, a stunning and iconic cultural landmark located in the heart of Midtown Atlanta.

Reggie-MarableReggie Marable, Head of Sales, Sierra

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Laura-Gibson-LamontheLaura Gibson-Lamothe, Georgia Fintech Academy

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