Innovation Heroes

Smart cities in action: How Cary, NC is pioneering municipal innovation

What happens when a small town in North Carolina embraces cutting-edge technology to become a leader in smart city innovation? In this episode, host Ed McNamara is joined by SHI’s Senior Vice President of Public Sector Sales, Denise Collison, and special guest Dan Ault, Assistant Town Manager and Chief Innovation Officer for Cary, North Carolina.  

Together, they dive into the challenges and successes of digital transformation in local government. Ault shares insights on pioneering smart city initiatives, securing critical infrastructure, and improving citizen engagement, while Collison adds her expertise on navigating the unique complexities of public sector technology adoption. 

Through this conversation, listeners get a glimpse of how municipalities like Cary are leveraging technology to create more connected, efficient, and secure communities. From the use of sensors to mitigate stormwater risks to the implementation of a groundbreaking 311 system, Ault’s work exemplifies the future of digital government.  

Listen to the full episode below or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Featuring: Dan Ault, Assistant Town Manager and Chief Innovation Officer of the Town of Cary, North Carolina and Denise Collison, Senior Vice-President of Public Sector Sales at SHI 

The AI breakthrough in breast cancer detection

What if the key to detecting cancer earlier—and saving thousands of lives—lies in AI? Host Ed McNamara explores how Kheiron Medical is making that a reality. Joined by Peter Kecskemethy, CEO and co-founder, and Sarah Kerruish, Chief Strategy Officer, they delve into the groundbreaking technology behind Mia® – Kheiron’s AI-powered tool that is revolutionizing breast cancer detection by detecting what the human eye might miss. 

Named one of the biggest medical breakthroughs of 2023, Mia® is proving its potential in real-world clinical settings, boosting breast cancer detection rates and offering hope to thousands of women. Peter and Sarah share the challenges, triumphs, and future of AI in healthcare, offering a glimpse into how technology is reshaping cancer diagnostics and changing lives.  

Listen to the full episode below or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Featuring: Peter Kecskemethy, CEO and co-founder of Kheiron Medical, and Sarah Kerruish, Chief Strategy Officer. 

Mastering AI and zero trust with Chris Louie and Brian Deitch of Zscaler

As AI continues to dominate conversations around digital transformation, its implications for cybersecurity are becoming impossible to ignore. In this latest episode of Innovation Heroes, we dive into the dynamic world of AI and cybersecurity with two expert guests, Chris Louie, Customer Success Architect, and Brian Deitch, Chief Technology Evangelist at Zscaler.  

As leaders in cloud security and popular podcasters of the show PEBCAK, Louie and Deitch break down the critical intersections between artificial intelligence and Zero Trust security. They share practical insights into how AI is transforming threat detection and response, and explore the evolving use cases of AI in business.  

Join us as we discuss both the opportunities and threats posed by AI and how businesses can protect themselves in an increasingly digital world. 

Listen to the full episode below or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Featuring: Brian Deitch, Chief Technology Evangelist at Zscaler and Chris Louie, Customer Success Architect at Zscaler.  

Turning failure into future innovation

How can failure fuel future success? To answer this question, Ed McNamara meets with two remarkable guests: Michael Stern, the former General Counsel at General Magic and CEO of Spellbound Productions and Veronica Miles, COO of General Magic Workshops. The conversation revolves around one of Silicon Valley’s most iconic "failures"—General Magic—a company that was far ahead of its time and whose work laid the foundation for much of the technology we use every day. 

Together, Miles and Stern reflect on General Magic's legacy, the revolutionary innovations it brought forth, and the valuable lessons it offers to the next generation of innovators.

Featuring: Michael Stern, formally General Counsel at General Magic and executive producer of the General Magic film, and Veronica Miles, COO of General Magic Workshops  

SHI's Innovation Heroes is a podcast exploring the people and businesses driving change in our drastically disrupted world. 

Industry 4.0 in space: exploring the final frontier of innovation

Welcome to Season 6 of Innovation Heroes. On this episode, Ed McNamara is joined by SHI Field CTO Dave Gruver to explore the transformative power of Industry 4.0 technologies across various sectors—including healthcare, retail, and manufacturing.  

But that's not all––we're setting our sights even higher, looking at how these advancements are propelling us into space. With insights from Intel’s Stacey Shulman, VP of Health, Education, and Consumer Industries, this episode delves into how space innovation is poised to revolutionize the business landscape.  

Discover the challenges, opportunities, and future trends of Industry 4.0 and how businesses can prepare to thrive in this new era. Tune in now to learn how SHI is helping businesses solve what's next, both on Earth and beyond. 

Listen to the full episode below or wherever you get your podcasts.  

Featuring: Dave Gruver, SHI Field CTO and Stacey Shulman, VP Health, Education and Consumer Industries, NEX Group at Intel 

SHI's Innovation Heroes is a podcast exploring the people and businesses driving change in our drastically disrupted world. 

Innovation Heroes returns with season 6

Innovation Heroes is back, bringing with it an exciting new format and a roster of elite guests. Hosted by Ed McNamara, Season 6 is here to help business leaders solve what’s next. 

Each episode explores groundbreaking innovations across industries, from advances in healthcare and cybersecurity to the latest developments in AI and even outerspace IT. Innovation Heroes continues to shine a spotlight on the IT professionals driving transformational change in an ever-evolving world. 

Don’t miss the debut of Season 6 next week. Be sure to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts to stay ahead of the curve. 

 

Storage Warriors: Resiliency at the Intersection of Access and Security

In 2019, the City of New Orleans was hit by a cyberattack and came to a halt. Within hours, thousands of servers, virtual machines, and computers were shut down. They were told by the National Guard that they needed to build a completely new infrastructure. 

 

This week, we discuss the unsung heroes in data storage, those defending against cybersecurity attacks, building new infrastructure, and supporting AI innovation. Andrew Miller, Lead Principal Technologist of the Americas, Pure Storage, outlines how they were able to replace the entire storage footprint in New Orleans. He outlines the conversations he has with customers about resiliency, what he calls the intersection of disaster recovery and security. 

 

We also explore the changing landscape of storage and cloud in 2024, and the current trends in threats like ransomware. Miller provides tips for data protection, developing security frameworks, and getting buy-in for security spend. 

 

Featured Guest:

Andrew Miller, Lead Principal Technologist of the Americas, Pure Storage

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This episode is brought to you by Pure Storage. Turn bottlenecks into breakthroughs with Pure’s modern data experience. Talk to an expert today and learn more at shi.com/brands/pure-storage.

Innovation Heroes is an SHI podcast. New episodes are now available on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Visit https://blog.shi.com/podcasts/. 

 

How Design Thinking Drives Innovation

Design-led companies such as Apple, Starbucks, and Airbnb outperform the S&P 500 index by 219%. The question is why?

Today’s guest Paul Stonick -- VP of SCADpro, the Savannah College of Art and Design’s in-house design studio -- says he has the answer.

Paul says this human-centered approach to problem solving unleashes creativity in any organization. Design can solve everything, says Stonick. On the episode, he dives into how to create real change within an organization by developing a culture of test and learn. He outlines the five steps of design thinking and stresses the importance of mapping design back to investment strategies, this being the best way to break through corporate obstructionism.

 

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This episode is brought to you by We Got Your Mac, a new podcast from SHI, exploring the benefits and challenges of large-scale Mac adoption across the enterprise. Check out We Got Your Mac wherever you get podcasts or go to wegotyourmac.com for all the episodes, plus free bonus resources and content.

Innovation Heroes is an SHI podcast. New episodes are now available on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Visit https://blog.shi.com/podcasts/.

Bonus Episode: Want to innovate? Listen to We Got Your Mac

We’re taking December off – but don't worry, we’ll be back in January with all new episodes of Innovation Heroes. Happy holidays!

On today’s bonus episode: Ed chats with Victoria Barber, Senior Director of Strategic Insights at SHI, about her new podcast We Got Your Mac – and why it’s time business leaders take a closer look at Mac.

To put it simply: If you want to innovate, you need to give your people choice. It doesn't hurt that Mac comes with tons of business benefits, including boosting efficiency and your employer value proposition.

For business leaders facing “the Mac question,” this podcast is for you. Discover new episodes every two weeks, now streaming at WeGotYourMac.com – or wherever you get your podcasts.

 

We Got Your Mac:

Listen now to full episodes: https://link.chtbl.com/WGYM_IHbonusep

Get bonus resources and more information: wegotyourmac.com https://experience.shi.com/wegotyourmac

Addicted to Your Health: How Video Game Techniques Built Digital Personalities

Charles “Chuck” Rinker wants people to be as addicted to their own health as some are to video games. He should know – he was the director behind EA Sports’ NCAA/Madden series. Now, as CEO and Founder of PRSONAS by nuMedia Innovations Inc, he’s bringing digital personalities to industries, such as the healthcare sector.  

Rinker discusses his career trajectory, starting out in cattle farming and then going on to Black Ops military simulation work. But his career pivoted after he and his wife battled three bouts of cancer between them. 

PRSONAS’s digital assistants can do tasks such as wayfinding, answering questions, and taking surveys, freeing up the time of healthcare workers and aiding in clinical trial recruitment. Rinker discusses how the technology was developed, with early advice from a Disney Imagineering SVP on avoiding the uncanny valley effect. Rinker outlines how they use GenAI, as well as the roles of UX and CX, and how the technology is being used now in an array of sectors, including airports, banks, and commercial markets.  

This episode is brought to you by We Got Your Mac, a new podcast from SHI, exploring the benefits and challenges of large-scale Mac adoption across the enterprise. Find We Got Your Mac wherever you get podcasts or go to wegotyourmac.com for all the episodes, plus free bonus resources and content.  

Innovation Heroes is an SHI podcast. New episodes are now available on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Visit https://blog.shi.com/podcasts/.