Innovation Heroes

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/.  

 

 

The Barcode Creator on Changing Our Supply Chain Forever

It was fairly recent history when supermarket food items had to be manually restamped each time the price increased, with clerks running up and down the aisles to do inventory. Paul McEnroe, creator of the barcode, remembers searching for cans with lower price tags from the back of the shelf when shopping for his mother.  

Now, barcodes are all around us, scanned ten billion times a day. On today’s episode, we dive into the fascinating story of its creation and the decades of innovation that changed retail and manufacturing around the world.  

In the 1960s, McEnroe hired seven engineers considered “harder to manage" for a start-up-like project at IBM to tackle applications at the periphery of computers. The team created the first commercial application of laser technology, the barcode scanner, and the magnetic code for Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) marking. McEnroe outlines how this technology vastly increased supermarket efficiency, despite initial pushback including picket lines at stores and new state laws. He also discusses the QR code, which he sees as an extension of the barcode.  

This episode is brought to you by SHI’s new generative AI briefings. 

Uncover your road map to innovation with a series of briefings and workshops designed by our technology experts. Contact your Account Executive or visit shi.com to learn more.  

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

Granny’s Brand No More: Kenmore CEO Revitalizes 100-Year-Old Company

You may think of Kenmore as your grandmother's brand. It’s true – the name first appeared on sewing machines in 1913. But the brand has been revitalized by their current CEO Sri Solur. In just 18 months, he’s doubled licensing revenue and scaled to thousands of new locations and online. This week, he talks about how he's brought innovation to this 100-year old company by using software development principles and agile business methods, from his background in wearable technology and robotics.

Kenmore previously sold everyday appliances, such as fridges, washing machines, and vacuums, exclusively at Sears department stores, but went through a tipping point when Sears declared bankruptcy. Just 18 months ago, it was nearly impossible to find Kenmore products on shelves. Now they’re in more than 5200 locations, including Target.

Solur shares the techniques he brought from the technical world to Kenmore, including leaning in on quality and speed of operations. He also talks about his advice to other legacy companies for appealing to younger generations, including through energy security and decarbonization initiatives.

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

Cyber Warriors: From the Dark Web to the Frontlines

They’re protecting the US energy grid, monitoring the dark web, and even getting shot at in Ukraine. Threat intelligence agencies are taking down bad actors daily in the world of cybersecurity. This week, Ed talks to Joe Marshall, Senior Security Strategist at Cisco Talos Intelligence Group, one of the largest of its kind in the world.

History-making cybersecurity events are happening in Ukraine and Marshall has been on the ground there twice, maintaining critical infrastructure. He discusses the potential for threats against critical US infrastructure, the evolution of cybersecurity, and emerging trends to be aware of. 

 

This episode is brought to you by Cisco. Anticipate, act, and simplify with the Cisco Secure Firewall. To learn more, call your SHI Account Executive or go to shiciscosecurity.com

 

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