Peggy Smedley Show

Peggy talks about the fact that in today's society experience is as important as the products and services, as buyers are more likely to be loyal to a company that they trust. She profiles what today's customer looks like today and how technology and AI (artificial intelligence) can help deliver a better customer experience.http://peggysmedleyshow.com

Peggy and Alejandro Cantú Segura, founder and CEO, SkyAlert and Harold Schapelhouman, fire chief, Menlo Park Fire District,talk about how technology can help in case of emergency. CantúSegura shares about how technology can alert to earthquakes, saying cloud computing and the IoT (Internet of Things) make it possible, while Schapelhouman shares how it is using the technology in the fire department to respond faster. http://www.skyalertusa.com/

Peggy and James Arthur Ray, entrepreneur, author, life, and business coach, talk about the worker of the future and why we need to define leadership and recognize emotional intelligence today. He says that EQ is far and away proven to be more predictive in both life and business than IQ. The solution is self-awareness. https://www.jamesray.com/

Peggy dives into the topic of healthcare and how telehealth is going to make healthcare easier to access. She gives several examples including digital therapeutics, which is an emerging health discipline that uses tech to supplement or replace drugs. She adds that the healthcare space is on the cusp of doing some amazing things, saying the digital health space look healthy and is not going to let up anytime soon. http://peggysmedleyshow.com

Peggy and Joshua Peschel, assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, Iowa State University, talk about the younger generation and the evolution of robots, automation, and AI (artificial intelligence). He says Generation Z wants to see greater gratification and empowerment in the work they do and that they have an expectation that technology is going to be there. https://www.iastate.edu/

Peggy and Clara Hustad, director of channel marketing – business marketing, AT&T, defines intermodal and how technology will transform this industry. As one example, she points to rail, which is privately owned and owners inspect all of their track, which is impossible for humans to do alone. They dig into how technology can provide greater visibility into the supply chain. http://www.att.com/

Who is the next generation or Gen Z? Peggy answers! She digs into a recent report and research to identify who this generation is, three defining traits, and the two most universally important life goals of this generation. She identifies how this group are digital natives and want to give something back, and perhaps, most importantly, how this generation is going to change the future of work.http://peggysmedleyshow.com

Peggy wraps up the final segment of the show with comments from the audience about regulatory barriers to standards, the next generation, and sustained AI R&D investment. She says the next generation is our future and we need to think about an action plan that takes the next generation into consideration. http://peggysmedleyshow.com

Peggy and Don Korfhage, president, SQUEAKS and IGear, chat about what drives manufacturing today and why results-driven communication is so important. He talks about the drivers of this transformation: both technology and cultural, citing the importance of recognizing the evolution of technology and that the younger generations are very social, collaborative, and connected today. Today, he says we have an opportunity to look at technology and ask: how is manufacturing going to keep up with this onslaught of data coming through the IoT. http://www.squeaks.com/

Peggy digs into how AI (artificial intelligence) is changing the nature of work, saying that it will yield high economic benefits for the United States. She also highlights a new plan from NIST that identifies how the government needs to bolster AI standards. However, while it is a solid plan, she cautions that we need to make sure that we are creating AI standards that are flexible enough and to not forget that AI is only as good as the algorithms built by people. http://peggysmedleyshow.com

The challenge for businesses today is finding a great employee for the future. Peggy and Chad Storlie, author, Combat Leader to Corporate Leader and Battlefield to Business Success, retired Lieutenant Colonel, Special Forces, U.S. Army, talk about the unique skillsets of military veterans. He explains how they can help with team building, dealing with chaotic environments, and help you study your competition, among so much more. http://www.combattocorporate.com/

Peggy and Carlene Ileto, executive director, products and services delivery management office, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, talk about women in IT and the importance of failure.She also digs into how service centers are going high-tech today and that the efforts of reducing paper was a major effort at the IRS, but provided significant value. They also touch on the topics of cybersecurity, how to inspire the next generation, advice for youth, mentorship, and the need to focus on the job at hand. https://www.dhs.gov/

Peggy says data-center innovation is going to ramp up, as it is trending toward two poles: large and small. She says we need to push creative minds to be innovative and that data centers need to prioritize physical and digital security, no matter the size. http://peggysmedleyshow.com

Peggy and Kailu Guan, co-founder and chief creative officer, HelloAva, talk about bringing smart learning to skin care and healthcare products. She says it is very important to capture accuracy of how well product will work on user's skin and says the goal is to have AI (artificial intelligence) as a tool to empower the decision making process. https://www.helloava.co/

Peggy and Laz Vekiarides, CTO and cofounder, ClearSky Data, discuss the growth of data, edge computing, and the need for storage technology. He says the speed of light is finite, and as a corollary, our patience as human beings is limited. Edge computing helps by positioning resources you can interact with that are nearby. They also discuss the need for security. http://www.clearskydata.com

In 2025, each connected person will have at least one data interaction every 18 seconds. Peggy shares that we are expecting a whole lot of data traffic and we need to answer the question: How are we going to keep up with all the storage demands? She summarizes what data centers look like today and what is next.http://peggysmedleyshow.com

Peggy and Joshua Peschel, assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, Iowa State University, talk about the vast amount of data that exists in agriculture and how services that are sold in the cloud are becoming the new normal. He says there are two points of concern when looking at transmission of data and that we have a whole new level of security that we need to talk about.

Peggy and Michael Ludden, futurist, speaker, product leader and developer platform expert, global head of developer advocacy, and principal augmented reality advocate, Bose, talk about how technology is a tool and how it impacts working trends. He says industries will be disrupted with technology, but historically working trends have always gotten better for humans, with new technology. He notes we are moving toward an economy of abundance versus an economy of scarcity and automation can bring opportunities.

Peggy explains why the data center market is growing. She says there is increasing demand from hyperscale cloud users and that hyperscale data centers are going up all over the world. Further, the growth of the data-center market is going to boost other industries such as construction.

Continuing the conversation, Peggy and Jaishree Subramania, Sr. Director, Azure IoT, Microsoft, talk about the next wave in the IoT, which will see leading companies break away from the pack. They talk about bringing IoT into business and the biggest takeaway from new research, as well as several use cases.

Peggy and Jaishree Subramania, Sr. Director, Azure IoT, Microsoft, talk about IoT adoption and security and findings in its new report. She also addresses that there are three key obstacles that threaten to hold companies back. They discuss that the IoT is foundational and serves as a gateway to business transformation, but that we need to address security.

Peggy highlights numbers related to IoT (Internet of Things) security and adoption from a new Microsoft report. She shares adoption numbers and address the fact that there is an IoT skills gap that impacts adoption of technology and that we need more skilled workers in the market. She also highlights Microsoft's key ingredients to IoT success.

Peggy and Scott Schober, CEO, Berkeley Varitronics Systems, and author of Hacked Again, discuss how credit card skimmers have evolved. He says we have to be extra careful at unfamiliar gas stations because cyber criminals can steal a lot of information at the pump. He explains in detail how credit card skimmers can steal information.

Are we all screwed? Peggy and Richard Forno, senior lecturer at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMBC) Dept. of computer science and electrical engineering, discuss the reality of cybersecurity. He explains that data breaches are happening all the time, so much so that we are becoming immune, and that we need to plan for things like if the cloud goes down.

Peggy continues the discussion on AI (artificial intelligence), offering tips. She asks: If an organization hasn't implemented a strategy, is it really prioritizing AI? She also digs into the top two reasons AI projects fail, saying the lack of a skilled staff is only going to worsen in the years ahead and companies need to prepare for it now.

Peggy and Barbara Roche, managing partner, SpeakWell Partners, talk about inspiring and leading a team. She shares the term VUCA, which means volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, and that if you are not effective at change management and change leadership, everyone will suffer. She suggests whatever can create certainty, use it.

Infrastructure projects have been plagued with waste and inefficiency. Peggy and Adam Klatzkin, vice president, business development for iTwin Services, Bentley Systems, discuss the impact of the digital twin on business. He says, on average, projects run one year behind schedule and predictive analytics can be leveraged on infrastructure projects. He also defines the digital twin and says it has to be synchronized with the physical asset and always reflects the reality.

The bad guys are out there! Peggy shares the latest on cyber intelligence, indicating that nearly 70% of incidents are due to human error. She asks: Can your employees spot a fake email? She digs into a couple of new reports, including one that highlights the three highest threat categories.

Peggy and James Arthur Ray, entrepreneur, author, life and business coach, talk about why leaders are unfit to lead in today's world, citing several reasons including the fact that leaders don't make decisions quickly enough. He says today's perfection is tomorrow's failure and that we need to invest time in emotional intelligence and self-awareness and look at return on impact and return on influence.

Peggy and Geoff Mulligan, CTO for IIoT, Jabil, and co-founder, Skylight Digital, discuss the inter-operability problem we face today and the need for open standards. He says we need to get out of our own way in how we interconnect things. He answers how to future proof and get started, pointing to the need for open APIs (application programming interfaces).

Peggy defines zero trust, saying at its core it is an approach to securing all access across an enterprise. She says zero trust systems never trust other systems, giving an analogy. She also walks through the history, saying zero trust was coined about a decade ago and Google is one of the reasons we are all talking about zero trust. She also walks through the five fundamental assertions of zero trust.

Peggy and Joshua Peschel, assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, Iowa State University, talk about cybersecurity in businesses, such as agriculture. He says security gets tricky and being able to secure devices is key. He says to be aware of bring your own IoT devices and that there is nothing wrong with being a little paranoid when it comes to technology.

Peggy and Ron Chebra, vice president of grid modernization, EnerNex, chat about how it is becoming so simple to set up an IoT device, and that we need to be acutely aware and manage all of the things that are part of the enterprise. He explains that data becomes a foundational basis for machine learning and AI, and the difference between being reactive and proactive can be huge. He shares specifically how sensors can begin to feed real-time information for situational awareness.

Peggy discusses AI (artificial intelligence) hurdles, such as cyber concerns, and why it is far better to know the hurdles up front. She also digs into the numbers, explaining that AI will soon be part of the enterprise in all industries, with 63% of enterprises having adopted machine learning.

Peggy and Ella Atkins, IEEE senior member and professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan, talk about the ways people can be involved with technology—on earth or in space. Atkins explains that she was always fascinated by airplanes and aerospace made a lot of sense to her. She says robots can do a lot more mundane tasks that humans have been responsible for in past mission and that gender and race don't matter when it comes to exploring space.

Peggy and Tanya Silva, director of project & process management, Breadware, chat about women in the Internet of Things. She shares a little bit about her company and her journey into the technology space, explaining she was hired as the second woman in her company, but now it is about 40-to-60% female-to-male ratio. Silva offers advice to young girls today: If you have technical skills or ideas, have faith in yourself and go build it.

Peggy says 5G is going to impact the future of IoT-enabled medicine, with tele-medicine applications flourishing because of 5G. She adds that tele-health could save companies billions of dollars a year and shares an example of how 5G can help enable remote surgery. She continues that today we are talking about the Internet of Skills and we need to be thinking about how AR, VR, and 5G can digitize skills.

Peggy and Renee Tyler, director of transportation services, City of Dubuque, Iowa, tells her story that represents a core of women who want to pursue dreams and change careers. She also details how technology can help make things better and how to encourage women of different culture to step into roles. She also offers some key advice including: Prepare for what you want to do and who you want to be.

Peggy and Sharon Jones, eagle lab engineer, Barclays UK Ventures, discuss how to inspire young people, in the age of emerging technologies. She explains that what she is seeing in young people now is a drive and enthusiasm in what they can do and the real focus has to be on guiding our next generation to tailor their ideas. She also discusses how the progress of technology is happening very quickly.

Peggy says AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) are going to change the workforce. She points to a few sectors that are going to change such as education and retail, with remote work being more possible than ever before. She says retailers are looking for new ways to engage customers in the buying experience. Further, she talks about how 5G will accelerate AR and VR.

Peggy and Terri Lewis, director of digital for power generation, Caterpillar, talk about connecting product with people. She shares that the transformation is in the process and changing business. Further, she says Caterpillar spends a lot of time watching how people operate and identify the transformation in the process. She also talks about her experience visiting a diamond mine.

Peggy and Eric Schaeffer, senior managing director, Accenture, talk about how digital technologies are changing the entire experience and that today consumers and businesses are more interested in the outcomes, rather than the features of the product. He says we are at the beginning of the journey and recommends the steps for manufacturers to take. He suggests that a key component is to partner.

Peggy and Susan Dalton, vice president of smart technologies and IoT, GCP Applied Technologies, talk about how to create a diverse workplace. She shares how it offers technology for the concrete industry and her career experience. They also discuss how discrimination in construction has changed throughout the years and the importance of mentors.

Peggy and David Van Dorselaer, industry solutions GM for manufacturing, transportation, and CPG, AT&T Business, talk about how 5G is bringing a revolution in manufacturing and transportation. He explains how digital transformation means so many different things to different companies and that customer requirements are changing. He gives examples of how manufacturing is going to change with the advent of new technologies. Also, he gives tips for how businesses can get started.

Peggy says 5G is going to support the growth of the IoT (Internet of Things) in sectors like retail and manufacturing. She explains how 5G is going to disrupt manufacturing and help the factories of tomorrow derive insights from operational intelligence, pointing to specific examples of how 5G can help.

Peggy and John Pletz, senior reporter technology and airlines, Crain's, talk about how cities are going to be become more connected and smarter with the help of 5G. More specifically, he focuses on what Chicago has been doing to be more of a leader, than a follower, when it comes to tech infrastructure with the help of local companies.

Peggy and Jonathan Adelstein, president and CEO, Wireless Infrastructure Assn., talk about what we need to build five times the amount of infrastructure we have, in the next 5 years, to get to 5G. He explains the cost of making the move, and how it will need to be implemented both in urban and rural areas. He says getting government involved and using public-private partnerships will help. 5G is going to open up a whole new world.

Peggy says the growing demand for low latency is not the only reason we need 5G. It will add jobs, add to the GDP, and lower latency by a factor of a 100 over the current 4G. However, there are going to be many hurdles that need to be overcome like hardware, infrastructure, and software. She says to make the move we have to start taking the steps now.

Peggy and Christian Terwiesch, book author and professor of operations and information management, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, talk about how connectivity is changing the customer experience. He distinguishes between the different types of connected relationships and how a connected strategy starts with understanding your customer. He suggests that companies understand how to touch customers early on in the journey and how small data can often give insights into customers.

Peggy and Chris Pearson, president, 5G Americas, talk about everything as it relates to 5G. He explains that we are using radio frequencies that we have never used before for cellular and that we can get great speeds with 5G. He also highlights the three big use cases for 5G and says that it is being designed to be more transformational for society. Additionally, 5G is a national priority in many countries across the globe.