The Georgian Impact Podcast | AI, ML & More

When we think about legal tech software, we think about value add discovery or document management. But with the explosion of AI, new opportunities are emerging. We're going to share a story about how technology can help lawyers help more people and you'll hear a word that might surprise you too: Justice. On this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, we'll be talking with the founders of one of Georgian's investments, a fascinating company with an absolutely wonderful name for a company in this space, Darrow. But, it's not the name that matters today. It's about an idea and the coming together of a vision. You'll Hear About: The role of AI in legal tech and litigation. Darrow's mission and approach to justice. Building class action lawsuits with data and AI. Addressing data biases and fostering trust. The significance of Darrow's PlaintiffLink offering. Darrow's human-centric company culture and social impact. Who are the Co-Founders of Darrow? Evyatar Ben Artzi is the Co-Founder and CEO at Darrow.ai. Evyatar harnesses his legal and technological experience to improve legal systems and societies, empowering people to make better decisions and become the authors of their own story. Evyatar assumed leadership roles in the collaborative and dynamic teams he has led and worked with, whether as a Combat Officer in the IDF, a clerk at the Israeli Supreme Court, as a Co-Founder of Yahav – a progressive education program – or as Co-Founder and CEO at Darrow, using AI to unearth the legal implications of real-world events. Gila Hayat is the Co-Founder and CEO at Darrow.ai. Prior to Darrow, she spent seven years in computer intelligence in the IDF, in part, focusing on classified projects on ethical issues of AI both in the military and police forces. She and her team earned presidential honors for their work.

We all get a few chuckles when autocorrect gets something wrong, but there's a lot of time-saving and face-saving value with autocorrect. But do we trust autocorrect? Yeah. We do, even with its errors. Maybe you can use ChatGPT to improve your productivity. Ask it to a cool question and maybe get a decent answer. That's fine. After all, it's just between you and ChatGPT. But, what if you're a software company and you're leveraging these technologies? You could be putting generative AI output in front of your users. On this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, it is time to talk about GenAI and trust. Angeline Yasodhara, an Applied Research Scientist at Georgian, is here to discuss the new world of GenAI. You'll Hear About: Differences between closed and open-source large language models (LLMs), advantages and disadvantages of each. Limitations and biases inherent in LLMs due to their training on Internet data. Treating LLMs as untrusted users and the need to restrict data access to minimize potential risks. The continuous learning process of LLMs through reinforcement learning from human feedback. Ethical issues and biases associated with LLMs, and the challenges of fostering creativity while avoiding misinformation. Collaboration between AI and security teams to identify and mitigate potential risks associated with LLM applications. Who is Angelina Yasodhara? Angeline Yasodhara is an Applied Research Scientist at Georgian, where she collaborates with companies to help accelerate their AI products. With expertise in the ethical and security implications of LLMs, she provides valuable insights into the advantages and challenges of closed vs. open-source LLMs.

Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start when it comes to generative AI. It’s not too hyperbolic to say that many different aspects of a business have the potential to be affected by this new technology. Today, we’re going to talk about something that’s behind the scenes for most people, although hopefully not this audience. It’s coding. On this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, we dive into the world of generative AI and its impact on coding, testing, and product design with guest Rodrigo Ceballos. Rodrigo is a Machine Learning Engineer at Georgian and provides firsthand experience and expertise, shedding light on the transformative power of AI in the tech industry. Exploring the exciting possibilities brought about by the fusion of human creativity and AI technology. You’ll Hear About: The progression of software engineering from low-level to high-level languages, culminating in the use of natural language for coding. The daily integration of generative AI, such as ChatGPT, in automating tasks and writing code. The role of large language models (LLMs) as an intermediate layer and a translation layer between different pieces of software. The impact of generative AI in automating functions, unit testing, and API interaction in programming. Using generative AI to brainstorm and guide game design, showing the versatility of AI in enhancing human creativity. The potential upside and downside of leveraging generative AI in streamlining processes and increasing efficiency. Who is Rodrigo Ceballos? With over six years of experience in AI research and engineering, Rodrigo Ceballos is a dedicated Machine Learning Engineer at Georgian. In his current role, Rodrigo collaborates with portfolio companies to implement solutions in computer vision, natural language processing and generative AI. Before joining Georgian, he served as an AI Research Engineer at PAIGE.ai, where he played a pivotal role in developing PaigeProstate, the world's first FDA-approved AI-assisted pathology diagnostic tool.

We’ve all heard about how generative AI is changing almost every aspect of a business. If you crack open the door and peer in on the AI teams. You’ll see them playing with models and, no, we’re not talking about planes and trains. We’re talking about providing the correct inputs necessary to drive desired outputs in an AI model. On this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, we will be discussing the impact of generative AI and fine-tuning data strategy with Rohit Saha, an ML scientist at Georgian’s R&D team. Rohit will explore how large language models (LLMs) and fine-tuning are changing the AI landscape for businesses, the necessary skills for data science teams in the age of generative AI, and the pivotal role of dynamic data strategy in leveraging new technology effectively. You’ll Hear About: The role of fine-tuning in tailoring foundational AI models to specific use cases. How the landscape of ML and AI has evolved with the emergence of LLMs. Leveraging LLMs to enhance productivity and build enterprise software. Evolution of skills and talent required in the era of generative AI. Creating a dynamic data strategy and leveraging open source models for fine-tuning. Identifying golden use cases and the impact of LLMs on classification tasks. Who is Rohit Saha? Rohit Saha is an ML Scientist at Georgian's R&D team. He works with the portfolio companies to accelerate their data science roadmap by assisting them in scoping research problems, writing machine learning or AI code, and putting solutions into production. Rohit has worked across various projects, specializing in computer vision, natural language processing and large language models. His expertise lies in helping companies fine-tune and leverage large language models for enterprise software solutions.

Generative AI is redefining businesses with its capacity to write text, generate code, execute tasks, create images, and more. Gen AI is fundamentally changing how companies have to build their products.This is the first in a series of podcasts featuring our AI team, where they share their experiences on the generative AI work they've already done with more than 20 of our portfolio companies. In this episode, we are joined by two technical leaders of Georgian's R&D team Parinaz Sobhani and David Tingle. Parinaz is the Head of AI at Georgian and David is the team's Engagement Manager for our work with our customers. You’ll Hear About: How generative AI is reshaping businesses by excelling in text, code, task execution, and image generation.The importance of a cross-functional collaboration approach and a top-down problem-solving strategy in technology development.An overview of the historical focus of Georgian's AI team on data and machine learning.Exploration of the starting points for companies, including the use of foundational models from big tech companies and the role of first-party data in differentiation.Discussion on the crawl, walk, run stages of generative AI adoption, highlighting the importance of finding a golden use case and the need for a "trust-first" approach for future-proofing.

On this episode of the Georgian Impact podcast, we are talking to a guest we last had in 2020. Back in 2020, we were talking about AI and marketing and how to use things like automation tools to make our jobs easier. Now in 2023, generative AI tools are basically the biggest topic of conversation right now. So, we're here to break that down with Paul Roetzer.Paul is the author of several books on marketing and AI, including Marketing Artificial Intelligence, and he's the creator of the Marketing AI Conference.You'll Hear About:The evolution of generative AI tools in marketing.The role of AI in ideation and strategy, rather than writing.The adoption and integration of AI tools into marketing workflows.The impact of generative AI on content creation and strategy.Building an AI council within organizations.Developing responsible AI principles and policies.The importance of a moral compass in AI application.Transparency and disclaimers for AI usage.The future of AI in entrepreneurship, creativity and scientific breakthroughs.Addressing fears and concerns related to AI in the workplace.

On this episode of the Georgian Impact podcast, we’ll be breaking down the technologies that make up generative AI and how it works. From Large Language Models (LLMs) to deep learning, this podcast will help you understand how AI has evolved to get us to this point with GenAI and what he’s excited about in the space. Mahan Salehi, AI and LLM product manager at NVIDIA, will explain how the space has evolved from his experience at NVIDIA working with AI. You’ll Hear About: ● Machine learning vs. artificial intelligence.● The need for guidance for GenAI models.● Rules-based models vs. deep learning models.● The two pieces of generative AI.● How foundational models are trained.● The value of first-party data.● Mahan looking back and looking forward.● The impact on different industries.

Since our inception, Georgian has identified new trends that we believe will change the way companies do business. This kind of thinking resulted in our thesis areas like Applied AI, Conversational AI and Trust. In this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, we talk to Sonia Lagourgue, Georgian’s Head of Purpose & ESG and Emily Walsh, Lead Investor at Georgian. They will break down Georgian’s latest thesis area: Product-led Purpose. Simply put, Product-led Purpose is our view that the next generation of market-leading technology companies will not only deliver superior economic value but also a quantifiable positive impact on societal challenges. You’ll Hear About: ● Georgian’s purpose and what it takes to get the whole team engaged.● Where the purpose came from and its ties to Georgian’s history.● How Georgian’s Purpose Report holds us accountable. ● Why Georgian launched a Product-led Purpose thesis and what that really means.● How a strong top-level executive focus on purpose can motivate and drive a company forward.● The main pillars of the Product-led Purpose thesis.● The natural tension between pushing technology and purpose.

In this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast about the importance of purpose within a company, we talk to James Novak. The former CEO of Fiix Software — now a Rockwell Automation Company — explains the company’s journey of discovering its maintenance management solution could go beyond its utility and tackle real problems like climate change. Through that journey, they explained how a purpose was important for employee attrition, attracting consumers and so much more.

In this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, we talk to Tiffany Xingyu Wang, OpenWeb’s first-ever Chief Marketing Officer. With a mission to “save online conversations,” OpenWeb wants to improve the quality of conversations online while enabling conversation-based advertising, which allows brands to connect with their most active audiences. Through connecting with audiences, publishers can garner first-party data for ad targeting — a valuable tool as publishers prepare for the disappearance of third-party cookies.

In our first-ever episode of Bridging Web3, we’re talking about interoperability with Jon Kol from Hyperlane. Hyperlane allows developers to connect their apps across blockchains and are dedicated to interchain singularity. Our goal is to understand the building blocks to make Web3 more usable and drive adoption, and to understand the real-world opportunities in the long term

In this episode of the Georgian Impact podcast, we’re talking to Francois Chaubard, CEO of Focal Systems. Focal Systems leverages AI and cameras to automate many steps in the retail delivery supply chain.

In this episode on commercializing AI, we speak with Cameron Schuler, a key contributor to AI's game-changing prominence. Cameron is the Chief Commercialization Officer at the Vector Institute and is dedicated to advancing the transformative field of AI.

In this episode of the Georgian Impact podcast, we’ll be talking about one pillar of responsible AI: explainable AI. Explainability provides insight into what's training your data and how it's performing, so if something goes wrong you know exactly where to start looking for a solution. Fiddler.AI founder and CEO Krishna Gade breaks down how explainability provides insights into training data and performance, and why visibility on how this works enables trust.

In this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, we talk to PolyAI CEO and co-founder Nikola Mrkšić. PolyAI is a conversational AI company spun out of University of Cambridge research that builds voice assistants at scale in multiple languages. You'll get a helpful breakdown of the challenges of building conversational AI, what makes PolyAI different, and you’ll hear a demo of the tech in action. You’ll Hear About: ● Nikola Mrkšić and PolyAI’s vision ● The accuracy needed to ensure customers don’t become frustrated ● How PolyAI has surpassed previous generations of voice tech● Mapping non-linear customer journeys● How PolyAI develops conversation depth with their clients● How outbound calls differ● The ways in which PolyAI differentiates itself● Having the voice match the brand● Where Nikola sees voice tech going in five years

No matter how you get into entrepreneurship, once you're in the game, there are some common keys to success. On this episode of the Georgian Impact podcast, we talk to Neha Sampat founder and CEO of Contentstack. Contentstack is a pioneering headless content management system, a fast-growing space that could change how we consume content online. You’ll Hear About: ● Neha’s entrepreneurial journey and the beginning of Contentstack.● Working with the technical teams when you aren’t a technologist.● What does culture mean to Neha?● Neha’s lessons about entrepreneurship● Headless content management systems.● How customers have become more nimble using Contentstack.● Third-party integration and how it benefits Contentstack and its customers.● The MACH Alliance.● The importance of content as the heart of digital experiences.

Working from data has shifted from aggregation to getting helpful insight. With that change, it has become increasingly important to build an open-minded team with effective leadership. In this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, we talk to Brian Ritz, Director of Data Science Solutions at SPINS. SPINS connects wellness brands to their retail and omnichannel data, and they've partnered with over 300 brick-and-mortar retailers so far. Bringing advanced analytics to their clients allowing for deep fact-based decision-making.You’ll Hear About: ● How Brian has seen tech develop over the past few decades.● Ways to improve at getting more useful information from data.● Ensuring you don’t get caught up in just the tech and data science side of product development.● Will we reach a point where there is too much data?● Data moats and how they can provide a competitive advantage.● The need for companies to change or pivot.● The importance of communication when striving to be a good leader.● Diversity in your data and data team.

At Georgian, we love talking about self-sovereign identity. We’ve discussed it in previous episodes with Drummond Reed, the co-chair of Sovrin’s Governance Framework Working Group, Kaliya Young, a self-sovereign identity expert with over 20 years of experience in the field, and Mathieu Glaude, CEO of Northern Block. There’s a lot of layers to self-sovereign identity, and it’s easy to get lost in the noise of it all. We try to make it easy for you. In this episode, we cover it with Riley Hughes, Sovrin’s second employee and co-founder and CEO of Trinsic. Trinsic, which Georgian recently invested in, provides a cloud-based platform for credential verification and monitoring. You’ll Hear About: ● What is identity?● The different ways Trinsic can be used by developers.● Ways to disrupt or democratize the current model of identity.● Decentralized identity and its many use cases.● The continued need for anonymity in a digital identity world.● How identity will evolve with web 3 and the metaverse.

On this episode of the Georgian Impact podcast, we are joined by Kaliya Young. Kaliya is an expert in self-sovereign identity. You might know her as Identity Woman. Kaliya has spent the last 20 years developing a layer on the internet based on open standards, with the goal of empowering people.You’ll Hear About:● The Internet Identity Workshop that Kaliya co-founded in 2005.● What it means to have open standards for digital identity and its importance. ● What businesses would benefit most from SSI.● Challenges in creating a user-centric digital identity.● How data became siloed within a few companies.● The link between digital identity and Web3.● The need to create standards that reflect all backgrounds.

In part two of a two-part series on the Georgian Impact Podcast, we talk to Maggie Love, founder of SheFi and co-founder of W3BCLOUD. In part two, Maggie talks about how to get more underrepresented groups interested in Web3 and DeFi, what Maggie has learned about onboarding more people onto DeFi and the SheFi approach to education. In this podcast, you’ll hear about: How Maggie became interested in blockchainChallenges with onboarding more people onto Web3How SheFi makes it easier to break through Web3The importance of community in Web3

The old tech adage goes that you should move fast and break things, but moving fast could mean you could be leaving some of your users behind. According to our guest, the way we do design today is “broken.”On this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, we talk to Alwar Pillai, the CEO of Fable, a leading accessibility platform powered by people with disabilities. While many companies focus on trying to build for at least 80% of people, Alwar says, trying to build for people at the margins can lead to better design. “You suddenly are creating a product that is adaptable, more personable, more usable, and more customizable, which in turn makes the products accessible to everyone.”In our podcast, she talks about how companies can avoid just “checking a box” and actually get proactive about inclusive design. What you'll hear about: Alwar’s journey into accessible design Why inclusive design builds better productsOvercoming biases in UX design The mindset and approach needed to build inclusivity into design Case studies from FableHow Fable works with enterprise clientsWhat Fable is doing with its Series A

When it comes to quantum computing breaking encryption, it’s not a question of whether or not it will affect you, but when. In this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, we will be talking to Dr. Michele Mosca, CEO of evolutionQ. evolutionQ helps organizations work through all the various stages of getting ready secure as quantum technology advances. You’ll Hear About: ● The critical factors Dr. Mosca looks at when assessing risk.● The need for quantum risk assessments.● The current level of encryption available and how it performs.● Where Dr. Mosca sees the quantum industry going in the short term.● The new era we are entering into.● Does the hardware matter?● Where are quantum and encryption right now?● The importance of trust in the industry.

In part one of a two-part series on the Georgian Impact Podcast, we talk to Maggie Love, founder of SheFi and co-founder of W3BCLOUD. In part one, Maggie talks about her story, building the infrastructure needed to scale Web3 applications and how Layer 2 solutions can help us overcome scalability challenges. In part two, we’ll talk about how to get more underrepresented groups interested in Web3 and DeFi, what Maggie has learned about onboarding more people onto DeFi and the SheFi approach to education. In this podcast, you’ll hear about: ● How Maggie became interested in blockchain.● The evolution of blockchain into DeFi and Web3.● The challenges with scalability in blockchain.● How less friction around smart contracts would help with DeFi adoption.● The building blocks that can create the foundation for more mainstream adoption.

In this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, we sit down with Lauren Feld. Lauren is Head of Business Development at 3Box Labs, the company behind Ceramic, a decentralized data network that allows developers to build apps with Web3 data.Lauren breaks down the problems Ceramic is trying to solve and how we should understand digital identity in this new world. You'll Hear About: ● The difference in building Web3 applications compared to Web2.● Moving away from centralization and getting users back in control of their own data.● Different use cases for people building Web3.● The importance of identity in building Web3.● Where Ceramic lives in the ecosystem of Web3.● How protocols like Ceramic are helping to enable innovation.● Will existing data in Web2 move into Web3?● The role reputations will play in digital identity.● Crossover potential in centralized and decentralized projects. ● What a Web3 internet looks like.

Trolls or no trolls that is the question, and guess what? This could be in your control. In this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, we talk with Nadav Shoval CEO of OpenWeb. OpenWeb’s mission is to build a healthier open internet, starting with improving conversations.You’ll Hear About:● What trust means to Nadav.● The need for transparency when dealing with data.● Users taking back control of their data, preferences and ID.● How advertising needs to change and adapt.● Why conversations matter to Nadav and OpenWeb.● Where is the line between moderation and censorship?● How OpenWeb looks to encourage positive online interactions.● Evolving comments into conversations.● The balance of ML vs. people when it comes to moderation.● How OpenWeb demonstrates value to advertisers and publishers

In this episode, we have a wide-ranging discussion on privacy, competition and advertising with Vass Bednar. Vass is the Executive director of McMaster University's Master of Public Policy in Digital Society program and works at the intersection of public policy and technology in Canada. You’ll Hear About: ● DuckDuckGo as an alternative option for consumers in a data-driven world.● Apple’s approach to data collection.● Consumer concerns surrounding data collection.● The evolving way the digital economy is regulated.● A potential shift in the gig economy with a focus on workers.● How mega-companies will impact start-ups and innovation.● The importance of radical incrementalism when it comes to regulation.

Shouldn’t you own and control your identity? It is yours after all. That's the idea behind self-sovereign identity — the idea that you control your own data without intervening administrative authorities. Mathieu Glaude is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact podcast. Mathieu Glaude is the CEO of Northern Block and helps enable organizations to build digital trust platforms. He also has his own podcast on SSI, called SSI Orbit, which informs a lot of our conversation here. You’ll Hear About:● What is self-sovereign identity?● Digital trust and what falls under that umbrella.● How issuers, holders and verifiers make up the trust triangle.● Similarities and differences between SSI and crypto.● The challenges with interoperability when establishing an ecosystem of digital trust.● What it will take to get SSI into the mainstream.● How this might create opportunities for tech founders.

Cybersecurity is a topic that is not to be taken lightly. We're working with Georgian's Head of Security and Privacy, Alex Manea, to bring you a series of content for your company's cybersecurity needs. In this episode, we approach the cybersecurity landscape metaphorically — we take you back to the middle ages where castles, kings, and knights existed. Think of your company as the castle you're protecting and dive into the systems to consider when creating a security architecture. You'll hear about: Cybersecurity attacks and how to prevent themWays to spread out your risks Hiring security experts internally or externallyDetecting potential security threats Drawing the line to protect the company while being mindful of legislation and employees' rights Responding to a DDoS attack What we can learn from the SolarWinds attack Anonymity and what it means for your data

For most of us, backing up files has become a part of everyday life. Throughout the years, there have been many ways to back up one’s information. We’ve gone from paper, CDs, hard drives, flash drives, and the new king, the cloud. In this episode of the Georgian Podcast, we’ll be talking to Mike Potter, Co-Founder & CEO of Rewind, to understand how cloud-based storage systems work and what it means for your data. You’ll hear about:· How cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) storage providers backup their data and what that means for your information· Why third party applications can cause some issues· The benefits and inner workings of Rewind's cloud backup system· Building a culture within a company

You might think that selling consumer products has never been easier. Not so fast. Sure, e-commerce is everywhere and is becoming more user-friendly by the minute, but where do you start? Who do you market to? How and where should you advertise? Digital advertising offers myriad of options, but with options, come decisions. Big decisions. That’s where Zeze Peters and Beam.city DNA come in.In this episode of the Georgian Podcast, we’ll be talking to Zeze Peters, Founder & CEO of Beam.city DNA, to understand how digital advertising and AI go hand in hand.You’ll hear about:· How to spend your advertising budget effectively· The future of A.I in digital advertising· Striking a balance between the creative side and the business side of advertising· The effects of COVID-19 on retailers and what retail is going to look like in the future· Fundraising as a black entrepreneur

With the right focus, history can inform us today; you find the parallels. Thinking back can help you know your market, know your customers and potential customers. Rob Rastovich is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. He is the CTO of ThingLogix and focuses on driving digital transformation across many industries using IoT and AI.

Charles Radclyffe is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. He is a partner at EthicsGrade who specializes in evaluating companies' ESG credentials. In other words, he hunts for watermelons—companies that look green on the outside but are anything but in the middle.You’ll hear about digital ethics and how it fits with ESG, the need to engage with stakeholders and find out what matters to them and how the AI Act will affect those working in high-risk areas.

In this new world of machine learning and AI, where data basically writes code and algorithms, MLOps has developed into something broad and very important. So much so that a huge community has developed around this space.David Aponte and Demetrios Brinkmann are our guests on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. David is a Software Engineer at Microsoft with a focus on MLOps. Demetrios is the Community Coordinator for the MLOps Community and also works in the ethical AI space. Together they will break down MLOps and why it is so important.You’ll Hear About:The MLOps community and how it has grown.How MLOps compares with other fields and what sets it apart.The challenges of integrating ML with product management.How the MLOps community works to address accuracy and bias.The need to diversify the community with not only technical side of things but also the ethical.How the cloud has influenced the rate of development.

What do you think of when thinking about innovation, particularly around AI? Probably an interesting software startup, but why not big established companies? If you don’t think of them you might be missing an opportunity to understand innovation at scale, with complex technical and organizational issues as well. Peter Poon and Yevgeniy Vahlis are our guests on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. Peter is the head of Canadian Digital Product Management Capabilities and Innovation at BMO. Yevgeniy is the founder and head of BMO AI Labs and they will show you how a large enterprise can find that sweet spot between creating a small team of experts and building enthusiasm for emerging technology across an entire company.You’ll Hear About:Establishing a team to drive AI across the enterprise.The challenges in figuring out how to apply AI to the vast amounts of data at BMO. Finding a basic use case that impacts many customers, alerting them to cash flow shortfalls. How they provide a nudge to change consumer behavior using a very simple interface with complex deep learning behind it.The need to set up privacy measures from the very beginning to clear a path for you to do great work. The overwhelmingly positive feedback and customer engagement to the recommendations. Other use cases across BMO and the other teams desire to get on the AI train.

Marketing has evolved from a shot in the dark to marketing automation solutions that enable incredibly detailed measurements. Now advertising is programmatic, tools abound in the marketing automation submarket to measure click throughs, dwell time and so much more. Paul Roetzer is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. He is the founder and CEO of Marketing AI Institute and PR 20/20. Paul helps transform marketing by focusing on the current and future potential of AI, machine learning, deep learning and cognitive computing. You’ll Hear About:The marketing industry’s understanding and adoption rate of AI technology. Making machine learning more approachable through demonstrating use cases. The effectiveness of technology in elevating content strategies. The value in having different perspectives and backgrounds on teams to avoid bias. Ensuring that the tools you are using integrate with one another to avoid siloed data. Different AI marketing roles that will be needed in the future.

The evolution of natural language processing means that chatbots are finally learning how to, well, chat. In this episode, we talk with Jeff Orkin, head of Drift's AI Lab who is using AI to create positive, personalized customer interactions in real-time, at scale. You’ll Hear About:Jeff’s background in video game development and how it led to his startup Giant Otter.Why context is the key to conversations.Drift’s acquisition of Giant Otter and how the two benefitted each other. How using a “human in the loop” leads to smarter chatbots, and avoids pitfalls of the past. How Drift’s platform allows non-experts to build complex bots. The need for multidisciplinary and diverse teams when working on bots.

Tech jobs are in huge demand, so as the interviewer you need to understand what you are looking for. How does your company compare to other companies the candidate may be looking at? Are you focused only on the skills needed right now, or are you focused on what you will need as your company grows? Hiring the right technical candidate for your company couldn’t be more challenging than it is today. Kathryn Christie is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. She is the Head of People at Georgian, and will help you to understand what it takes to determine who’s right for your company, and how to get them to yes. You’ll Hear About: The important role culture plays in recruitment. How smaller companies can leverage their vision to attract technical candidates. How to assess candidates on their work and the work you need to get done. Understanding what stage your company is at, hiring to address what is required now and down the road. The importance of creating a recruiting organization mindset.

When AI needs a personality, you need a team of creatives to work hand-in-with hand the technical folks. Deborah Harrison, our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, is one of those creatives. She talks about how she and her team at Microsoft developed Cortana, Microsoft's conversational assistant.

It used to be you could trust what you saw. With the prevalence of deep fakes and other synthetic media, today it isn’t always so easy knowing what is real and what isn’t. Kathryn Harrison is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. She is the founder and CEO of the DeepTrust Alliance and FixFake, a company with the data and expertise to find fakes and fight fraud.

Imagine a future where our technology interacts with us the same way we do with one another through conversation, perception and empathy. Dr. Rana el Kaliouby is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. She is the CEO and Co-founder of Affectiva, a pioneer in the field of Emotion AI and Human Perception AI and author of the book Girl Decoded. You’ll Hear About: ● Her journey to humanize technology starting from The American University in Cairo, to Cambridge, and then MIT. ● How her life experiences helped to influence and inspire her vision for technology. ● Her transition from working with people with autism to commercial uses of her techniques. ● The challenge of turning down opportunities in order to stay true to established core values. ● The importance of diversity in not just your team, but also in the data. ● Work life balance and making mental health a priority.

Is there such a thing as a problem people wish they had? When it comes to challenges in scaling your business, the answer is yes. Allan Leinwand is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. He is the Senior Vice President of Engineering at Slack, this is a person who knows all about scaling.

You might think that getting your customer base to adopt your AI product is a sales and marketing challenge. But it starts much earlier in the product lifecycle, with empathy for your customers’ problems, creating solutions that fit into their workflow and building trust that you’re treating their data with care. Three pillars of AI product management. Frank Emery, our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, takes us through how Fiix is accomplishing this. They’re connecting teams, tools, data and processes to get critical insights, scale maintenance programs and boost asset performance.

With the growing pervasiveness of AI and machine learning, knowing how to effectively implement it in software development is key. But the idea of “just take X and add AI” isn’t a cure-all. So, when? How? Where? Daniel Faggella is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. He is the CEO and Head of Research at Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research, a research and advisory company working with business leaders to help develop a winning strategy.

Leading on privacy means more than compliance and technical solutions. To excel, companies should also foster a privacy culture. Vivian Byrwa, our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, discusses how cultural guardrails can reinforce policy and technical guardrails. Vivian is the privacy counsel at Spotify and has close to a decade of experience focusing on privacy and its implications for companies. You’ll Hear About: Privacy culture and how internal attitudes can affect data protection and privacy. The importance of policy and technical guardrails but also the need for cultural guardrails. The difference between being compliant and doing the right thing, when privacy and ethics intersect. Resources: 50 Stats Showing Why Companies Need to Prioritize Privacy The Modern Privacy Program Needs Cultural Guardrails Who is Vivian Byrwa? Vivian Byrwa has spent nearly a decade focused on privacy and how it affects companies. Her focus on privacy began while working at Herrick, Feinstein LLP and later at Davis & Gilbert LLP. She joined Spotify in 2019 as the first and only U.S. based privacy counsel and helps develop and maintain Spotify’s global privacy program with a focus on advertising and marketing, creator related issues and student data.

In real life we identify ourselves with a passport, driver’s license, or other government ID - and we use the same ID in multiple places. But digital identity isn’t so easy, and doing digital credentials badly can leave users and systems vulnerable. Drummond Reed is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. He is the Chief Trust Officer at Evernym - a company at the forefront of a rapidly growing movement to decentralize digital identity. Their approach is called Self Sovereign Identity or SSI, and it makes the process of proving your identity in a digital space much more straightforward. You’ll Hear About: Self Sovereign Identity or SSI, and how a Digital Wallet and Digital Agent will streamline the process of sharing the necessary credentials within the digital realm. The role biometrics play as one piece of the “chain of trust” of authentication. How SSI differentiates itself from federated identity when it comes to privacy and security. The possibility to store not only your credentials in your digital wallet but also micro-credentials. The growth and adoption of verifiable credentials and SSI. The different roles of Evernym and Sovrin Foundation. Who is Drummond Reed? Drummond has spent over two decades working on Internet identity, security, privacy, and trust frameworks. He joined Evernym as Chief Trust Officer after Evernym’s acquisition of Respect Network, where he was CEO, co-founder, and co-author of the Respect Trust Framework. Drummond has served as co-chair of the OASIS XDI Technical Committee since 2004, the new semantic data interchange protocol that implements Privacy by Design. Prior to starting Respect Network, Drummond was Executive Director of two industry foundations: the Information Card Foundation and the Open Identity Exchange, the international not-for-profit clearinghouse for Internet trust frameworks. He has also served as a founding board member of the OpenID Foundation, ISTPA, XDI.org, and Identity Commons.

As an early or growth stage company, scaling is always top of mind. Skills are scarce and expensive, so machine learning and AI have to be the foundation you build on. And balancing this opportunity with the challenges it brings is key. On this special edition of the Georgian Impact Podcast we’ll be getting insights on this fascinating topic from Alistar Croll, Beckie Wood, Leslie Fein, Harper Reed, and Jana Eggers. A group uniquely qualified to bring an expanded view of the role of an AI Project Manager. You’ll hear about: The unique challenges of scale-stage growth, and what it means to software developers. How AI Product Managers must navigate between: ethics, technology, business acumen, statistics, design, and customer development. The importance of Product/Market fit, and how tools like V2MOM can help. How the wrong team, set of testers, or almost anything else can make ML and AI products behave badly. The need for a diverse team working towards a common goal, and why sometimes you need to step outside your comfortable tech bubble. Who is Alistar Croll? Alistar Croll is a visiting Professor at Harvard Business School and teaches a course entitled “Big Data and Critical Thinking.” Alistar has been directly involved in the launch of major conferences such as: O’Reilly’s Strata, Techweb’s Cloud Connect, and Interop’s Enterprise Cloud Summit. He graduated from Dalhousie University with a B.Com (Honours) and an advanced major in Strategic Marketing. Who is Beckie Wood? Becky Wood is an advisor at VSCO, and was recently Vice President of Product Management and Insights at Pandora. While there she led both music and non-music content strategic product expansion. Along with her team, Beckie helped launch podcasts for millions of listeners and deliver personalized recommendations. She also provided data-and-user research insights that drove product strategy and prioritization decisions. Who is Leslie Fein? Leslie Fein is an advisor at a firm based in San Francisco called Enjoy the Work. Leslie and Enjoy the Work partner with CEO’s and founders of startups through seed and even as far as series C and D funding, teaching the craft of entrepreneurship. Who is Harper Reed? Harper Reed is a technologist that predicts the future for a living. As the CTO of the Obama 2012 campaign Harper brought a tech mentality to a political level. As the co-founder of Modest Inc. Harper garnered the attention of PayPal with the technology he developed leading to PayPal acquiring them only a few years after launch. His roles as Head of Commerce and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at PayPal helped him guide his team into the future of e-commerce. Harper is an MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow, sits on the advisory board for IIT Computer Science and the Royal United Service Institute, and is on the Cornell College Board of Trustees. Who is Jana Eggers? Jana Eggers is the CEO of Nara Logics, a neuroscience-based artificial intelligence company with a focus on turning big data into smart actions. Her understanding of customers and technology comes from technology and executive positions at Intuit, Blackbeard, Lycos and as CEO of Spreadshirt. Jana received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science at Hendrix College, followed by graduate school at PRI and supercomputing research at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

When companies start leading with trust, they win. Jes Ellacott is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. Jes manages the content marketing and creative services team at Fiix Software, which is upending the way companies track equipment maintenance. Fiix is on a mission to bring trust to the forefront of everything they do, and Jes is leveraging her background in journalism to build trust among customers, employees, and the broader community. You’ll hear about: Why communicating trust as a core value internally is an important early step. How citing sources, talking to experts, avoiding clickbait titles, and adhering to journalistic ethics can build trust in marketing. Trust in the era of COVID-19, and how empathy in messaging is key. How a data driven company stepped back from hard metrics to build trust through culture change. The value of pointing out and encouraging trust building behaviours at all levels of a company. Who is Jes Ellacott? Jes Ellacott is Content Marketing Manager at Fiix Software, a cloud-based CMMS is disrupting the market by revolutionizing how thousands of companies worldwide schedule, organize, and track maintenance. She has a degree in Journalism from Carleton University, and a Graduate Certificate in Documentary Production from Algonquin College. Before Fiix she was Blog Editor and Content Manager for Technavio.

A solid data strategy can prevent your company from running aground and turning a huge opportunity into a horrible mess. Dan Wu is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. Dan is a superstar commentator in the privacy and data governance space. He’s leveraging his Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Policy and his law degree to help protect people and their data. Dan believes that the best way to do that is through data strategies formed by cross-functional teams that include input from governance, analytics, marketing and product departments. You’ll hear about: What we can learn from the botched launch of the Apple Credit Card Why every company needs a data strategy How regulation, like the Algorithmic Transparency Act, could add protections for consumers and accountability for business Offensive vs. defensive data strategy – HBR Article Where responsibility for inaction leading to data breaches should lie Data risks businesses face, including biased algorithms, sharing data with the wrong people, 3rd party data breaches, insider incidents, and technical mistakes Why data ethics need to go beyond what’s strictly legal in order to establish and maintain trust. AI Now’s 2019 report that touches on ethical inequality risk factors in AI Who is Dan Wu? Dan Wu is the Privacy Counsel & Legal Engineer at Immuta, a leading automated data governance platform for analytics. He writes about purposeful data strategy on TechCrunch and LinkedIn. He holds a J.D. & Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Deep Fakes are incredibly realistic impersonations that blur the line between truth and fiction. So what happens when the tech to make them is available to everyone? We’re about to find out. Kundan Kumar is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. He is co-founder of Lyrebird AI, and now heads up research at Descript. Descript is making it vastly easier for anyone to manipulate audio, even to the point of inserting words that were never actually said. This brings up obvious ethical, trust, and security questions. Fortunately that’s something Kundan and the company are putting a lot of thought into. You’ll hear about: How anyone can create a voice-double, and the ethical questions that raises. Automating common audio editing tasks like removing ums and ah, and bleeping swear words. Georgian’s podcast production workflow – and how we manipulate what you hear. How these new technologies are, in many ways, evolutions of exiting machine-assistance features like auto-correct, and Google’s Smart Compose Maintaining trust when trickery is effortless and skepticism is ubiquitous. Who is Kundan Kumar? Kundan Kumar is Research Lead at Descript and co-founder of Lyrebird AI. He is a PHd student at Mila, Quebec’s artificial intelligence institute, where he works on generative models for sequences e.g. speech and music.

Working from home isn’t new, but today an unprecedented number of people are “telecommuting” for the first time – whether they want to or not. Our guest on this special edition of the Georgian Impact Podcast is Ben Wilde, our VP of Business Development & Marketing. Ben manages a team in Toronto from his home office in New Zealand. He’s been leading from afar for years, and shares his tips and insights with all those adapting to new ways of working during the global pandemic and beyond. You’ll hear about: How work may change forever A.C. (After Coronavirus) Informal management of remote teams when you can’t pop by their desks Etiquette for video meetings and time-shifted communication Creating boundaries and structure when working from home Building trust through casual conversations and social bonding Being conscious about your approach to remote work Who is Ben Wilde? Ben Wilde is Vice President Business Development & Marketing at Georgian Partners and a member of the Georgian Impact team. He provides input to overall strategy including product management and product marketing. Ben has more than 20 years of experience in the software industry, and has held senior product management and strategy roles at IBM, Informix, and a range of early and growth-stage startups. Ben holds a BTech (Hons) in product development from Massey University, New Zealand.