Innovation Heroes

The ABCs of Teaching AI to Talk

In today’s episode, Peter is joined by Sonny Hudson, Collaboration Specialist of Partners at Cisco to discuss the ground-breaking work being done on the new Cisco Webex and how it’s changing the way we interact with each other and our work. Plus, Peter meets up with two linguistics professors from Rutgers University to find out how artificial intelligence is being used to help machines “talk” — and just how long it will be until AI can compete with human language acquisition. The implications for the future of tech, business and society are massive.

This episode is brought to you by Cisco Webex. Visit SHI.com/Cisco to learn more.

Who needs a Holodeck when you’ve got THIS!?

Peter is joined by Microsoft's Director of Mixed Reality Strategic Partnerships, Eric Kamont, one of the first people Microsoft hired to run business development on the HoloLens headset and platform six years ago. Since then, mixed reality has advanced leaps and bounds and today there is no shortage of powerful new use cases as we grapple with the pandemic. Discover how MR is becoming a key tool across industries like medicine, space and communications.

 

This episode is sponsored by Microsoft Azure. Visit SHI.com/MicrosoftAzure to learn more

All Roads Lead to Electric with Keegan Tully

Our current transportation system isn’t sustainable. Threats of climate change, stuttered fuel production and more contribute to the growing need to reimagine our standards – globally. Yet, there are major challenges to rebuilding this infrastructure. Peter is joined by Keegan Tully, Director of Business Development at Ontario Power Generation, the largest energy creator in Ontario, and General Manager of the Ivy Charging Network, a company leading the way in the shift to electric vehicles. From cost, to implementation, to creating solutions for those known in the industry as "garage orphans,” Keegan breaks down the challenges and reflects on the solutions innovators like The Ivy Charging Network are working on behind the scenes. 

This episode is brought to you by PureStorage. Visit shi.com/pure to learn more.

Democratizing the Cloud with Google’s Omar Dajani

The cloud has become fundamental in scaling business, and not getting left behind in our modern world. And while the democratization of cloud was well underway before the pandemic, that shift is being accelerated exponentially. On today's episode of Innovation Heroes, Peter is joined by Google public cloud expert, Omar Dajani. They reflect on what open source and increasing access to cloud means for business leaders. They discuss the emergence of new cloud strategies, the results they are driving (cloud tech played a key role in development of the COVID-19 vaccines), and what the future holds. They also dig into the news around open source and hybrid cloud, and share some inspiring stories of innovation heroes using cloud to drive change.

This episode of Innovation Heroes is brought to you by Android Enterprise Essentials. Visit SHI.com/AndroidEnterprise to learn more.

Vaccines were just the beginning: Intel’s Stacey Shulman talks AI healthcare revolution

The urgency brought on by COVID-19 sparked revolutionary changes in the healthcare industry -- and they’re going to change the way we fight diseases and elevate care, long after the pandemic. In this episode, Peter Bean is once again joined by Stacey Shulman, Intel’s Vice President of the Internet of Things Group and General Manager of Health, Life Science and Emerging Technologies. Together, they explore the impacts COVID-19 has had on driving progress, why collaboration was the secret ingredient, and what the future has in store for this new era of AI-driven healthcare. 

 

This episode of Innovation Heroes is brought to you by Intel vPro® Platform 11th Gen  

Client Devices, delivering the highest performance and most comprehensive hardware based security. Learn more at shi.com/intel  

Beyond the virtual happy hour: There has to be a better way

We’ve seen countless examples of how innovation is helping us all stay connected and productive in this new remote everything world. But there are a few things business and IT leaders are still struggling to get right – like building a vibrant, meaningful workplace culture at distance. There has to be a better way than the virtual happy hour, right? 

 

To find out, Peter Bean meets with Wavy co-founder and CEO, Shawn Hewat. Since the start of the pandemic, she’s been on a mission to build meaningful, engaging experiences at a distance that promote healthy and purposeful office culture – and better business as a result. 

 

Plus: Peter shares his favorite pranks you can pull on your colleagues – at distance – for April Fools.  
 

This episode of Innovation Heroes is brought to you by Windows 10 Pro devices, powered by the Intel vPro platform. It’s time to rise to the challenge with modern devices, so we can all go forward together. Visit SHI.com/RiseToTheChallenge to learn more 

Innovation to the Rescue!

Welcome to Season 2 of SHI's Innovation Heroes — a podcast exploring the people and businesses giving us hope in a drastically disrupted world. In Season 1, we saw entire industries transform in the face of COVID-19. Now, as our world continues to evolve at an unprecedented rate, host Peter Bean will be looking to the future, exploring stories of hope, perseverance and achievement. New episodes coming every two weeks starting March 25, featuring the unsung heroes of the digital world, such as Intel’s VP of IoT Stacey Shulman, Google public cloud evangelist Omar Dajani and Wavy co-founder Shawn Hewat.

Ben Chodor and the Human Side of Virtual Events

Ben Chodor is an entrepreneur, innovator and pioneer of social video, digital health and interactive, streaming content. As President of Intrado Digital Media, Ben leads the organization in expanding best-in-class solutions for more than 12,000 global customers with their mission-critical communications. He is also the author of the new book, “Transitioning to Virtual and Hybrid Events: How to Create, Adapt, and Market an Engaging Online Experience.” 

 

He met up with Peter to discuss the upheaval taking place in the billion-dollar corporate events industry -- and what the future holds for online, physical and virtual events. The bottom line: Virtual events are here to stay. But organizers will need to throw out the old playbook and start with a fresh, human-first perspective if they want to be successful during and after the pandemic. 

 

SHI’s Innovation Heroes will return in 2021. Subscribe now to be the first to hear our Season 2 trailer.

Jaron Lanier and The Social Dilemma (Enterprise Edition)

Jaron Lanier is a musician, computer scientist and renowned technology philosopher who has enjoyed a colourful career in art and technology. He is the author of “Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now.” As one of the forefathers of virtual reality, he is also the inventor of the Nintendo Powerglove and Microsoft Team’s Together Mode. He was recently featured in Netflix’s The Social Dilemma, exploring the dangerous impacts of social media on our daily lives.

 

On today’s episode of Innovation Heroes, Peter and Jaron explore how social media’s dark side is creeping into the enterprise, the future of virtual reality and Jaron’s work with Microsoft through-out the COVID-19 pandemic, including Microsoft’s Together Mode.

 

You can learn more about Jaron at http://www.jaronlanier.com/

The Long Awaited Death of Cubicles

Has the rapid shift to remote working brought on the end of the cubicle?  Or was it just the much-needed kick in the ribs we needed to reinvent and reimagine the legacy office? For business leaders, maintaining employee productivity and business continuity are just the beginning. What about all that money they’ve spent on high-tech conference rooms and office real estate? How will they onboard new employees and positively embrace “Digital by Default” cultures, as we dance on the graves of boardroom meetings and water cooler chats? On today’s episode of Innovation Heroes, Peter Bean chats with Sam Kennedy, Chief Product Evangelist at Poly and Jared Kaplan, Global Head of Technology at Teneo, about the future of the modern workplace and how technology can help us get there.

 

Are you reinventing your modern workplace experience? See how SHI can help: SHI.com/digitalworkplace