The Georgian Impact Podcast | AI, ML & More

Machine learning isn’t just for the Googles and Facebooks of the world. But how can startups (or even, growth equity investment firms ) do data science right? Our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast is Ji Chao Zhang. He says that data scientist may be the most important job of the 21st century – but also the least understood. Luckily, Ji Chao understands it better than most – he’s the Director of Software Engineering here at Georgian Partners, and he and his team have consulted with scores of companies around our thesis areas including Applied Artificial Intelligence. You’ll hear about: Our in-house software development, including our work on TensorFlow Privacy How data scientists differ from data analysts Tips for building your in-house machine learning team Our Machine Learning Maturity Framework Andrew Ng’s AI Transformation Playbook The value of an iterative approach to ML Who is Ji Chao Zhang? Ji Chao Zhang is Georgian Partners’ Director of Software Engineering and a member of the Georgian Impact team. In that role he leads our internal software engineering efforts and supports portfolio engagements. Prior to joining Georgian Partners, Ji Chao was a Software Development Engineer at Amazon, where he worked on the design and development of the data platform, business analytics and machine learning systems to support supply chain optimization and fulfillment. Ji Chao holds a Master of Computer Science in computer software engineering from the University of Ottawa and a Bachelor of Engineering in computer science from Zhengzhou University.

The Gig economy. We know what that means. Outsourcing jobs. We know what that means. Working remotely. We know what that means. But what happens when all three are combined? Our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, Mary Gray, co-authored Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass and if you are growing your Machine Learning and AI investments Mary’s got some thoughts on the bad and the good behind what type of workers and workforce you might be needing to be able to proudly talk to your customers about the company you strive to be.You’ll hear about: The manual work behind many AI models A new model for employment relations How micro-employment platforms guarantee the skills you needHow to do good by your contract employees Who is Mary Gray?Mary Gray is Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and a fellow at the E.J. Safra Center for Ethics Fellow and Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society Faculty Affiliate at Harvard University. Using the tools of anthropology and critical media studies, Mary looks at how material conditions and everyday uses of technologies transform people’s lives.Her most recent book, "Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass," co-authored with computer scientist Siddharth Suri, explores the lives of people paid to train artificial intelligence and, increasingly, serve as “humans in the loop” delivering on-demand services.

“If you want to be a good data scientist, you should spend ~49% of your time developing your statistical intuition (i.e. how to ask good questions of the data), and ~49% of your time on domain knowledge (improving overall understanding of your field). Only ~2% on methods per se.” Nate Silver, a statistician and writer who analyzes sports, elections and more. In this week’s podcast Jon Prial is joined by Tara Khazaei, Chief Data Scientist, National AI Team, Customer Success Unit at Microsoft. Jon and Tara talk about how domain knowledge, as well as statistical intuition, make for more successful outcomes in machine learning projects. They discuss performance through the lens of projects Tara and her team have led at Microsoft. In this episode you’ll hear: Why you need enough, high-quality data The importance of iterating and validating your approach to achieve the best performance The challenges bias and explainability pose to ML projects Why domain knowledge is crucial for successful outcomes How to decide when your model is ready to go into production and why you need to go beyond accuracy Who is Taraneh Khazaei? Taraneh Khazaei is Chief Data Scientist on the National AI Team, Customer Success Unit at Microsoft. In this role, she advises Microsofts clients on how to adopt machine learning. Working with clients, Tara has researched the state of the art of speech to text methods and technologies, developed deep sequential modeling methods (e.g., use of embeddings, RNNs, and transformer networks) on terabytes of clickstream data to model and predict user online behavior and designed and developed an ML pipeline to predict the market price of a vehicle.

Do you know where your data goes? How can your control where it ends up and who it's sold to and then choose products that are trustworthy? In this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, Jon Prial is joined by Lisa Levasseur, founder of the Me2BAlliance. They discuss a future where consumers are more educated and companies adhere voluntarily to standards to earn the trust of their customers. You’ll hear about: Developing a standard for personal data management How to develop standards for products and services that are trustworthy Why business models are the foundation of trust How consumers can manage their data across businesses Who is Lisa Levasseur? Lisa Levasseur is the founder of the Me2BAlliance. Lisa has been a software professional for over 30 years, with her formative career years spent at Motorola, developing software for mobile phone infrastructure. M2B’s aim is to review technology products so you know right away if a product or service is treating you right.

The blockchain is a game-changing technology everyone's talking about. It's disrupting other technologies in the same way that the Internet did more than 20 years ago. The problem, however, is that few people seem to actually understand what it's all about and what its applications are for online security. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with entrepreneur and investor William Mougayar about what this important new technology at that intersection of software engineering, cryptography and gaming theory, and what it means for today's businesses. You'll hear about: The basics of the blockchain as an infrastructure layer (1:10) The role of the ledger in the blockchain (3:27) Bitcoin and Ethereum as blockchain applications (5:12) The implications of this technology for security (8:03) The adoption of blockchain technology in the financial services industry (9:54) What developers and business professionals should be doing about blockchain (12:45) Who Is William Mougayar? William Mougayar is the leading blockchain industry analyst and thought leader. As a long time industry insider, William is a prolific researcher, writer and theorist who has been described as the most sophisticated blockchain business thinker. His views and insights are well respected worldwide.William is the General Partner at Virtual Capital Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund, and currently on the Board of Directors of OB1, the OpenBazaar open-source protocol that is pioneering decentralized peer-to-peer commerce, a Board Advisor to the Ethereum Foundation, a member of OMERS Ventures Board of Advisors, an Advisory Board member to the Coin Center and Bloq, and founder of Startup Management.

We live in a world that’s increasingly fueled by data and analytics. But for companies to unlock the value all of that information represents, and improve business processes, they need some very specialized help. In this episode, Jon Prial talks to Georgian Partners’ own Chief Analytics Officer Chris Matys about data scientists. Find out what they do, where you can find them, and what it takes to build a successful data science team. You’ll hear about: Why companies are building their own data science teams (1:56) -What data scientists actually do (3:18) The four skill sets necessary for data science (4:07) Why it’s important to start your data science team with a product manager (5:08) How to approach data to glean insights (6:46) How data science needs change as companies scale (9:15) Why companies struggle to find data scientists and build data science teams (11:10) How to find and vet data scientists (13:10) When it does and doesn’t make sense to outsource data science (16:01) What factors determine whether data science teams succeed or fail (22:07)

Artificial intelligence is often perceived as a black box. Most companies don't know how to approach it and some even fear it. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Brian Garcia, Chief Technology and Product Officer at Welltok, one of the world's leading health optimization platforms. Together, they explore how Welltok is using artificial intelligence and IBM Watson to create better customer experiences with their data. They then focus in on how companies in other industries can start using these technologies to create greater value. You'll hear about: Welltok and its anchor platform, CaféWell (0:39) The company’s partnership with IBM Watson (2:14) The insights Welltok has gathered from its artificial intelligence projects (4:17) How companies can leverage artificial intelligence effectively (8:56) How to combat skepticism about artificial intelligence within your organization(10:38)

Target, Jeep, Ashley Madison. You don't have to look very far to find examples of major security breaches happening at businesses all around us. And it's not just the big guys that are at risk either. Companies large and small are finding themselves under attack. In this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, Jon Prial talks with veteran entrepreneur and CTO Richard Hyatt about why it's so important to put security first in your business, and why keeping your environments separate is such a critical part of that process. You'll hear about: Why keeping development and production environments separate is essential (1:15) The role of developers in security (5:09) Working with third-party vendors for security (7:54) Key security trends that businesses should be focusing on (9:25)

If you want to get deep insights into what's happening in tech, sometimes the best way to learn is by talking to VCs. In this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, Jon Prial chats to JS Cournoyer, general partner at RealVentures about the firm's fund and its approach to a variety of tech trends, including big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. Find out where the industry is headed directly from someone with his finger on the pulse. You'll hear about: The origins of Real Ventures (0:53) How Real Ventures supports its portfolio companies (5:24) The tech trends affecting today’s startups (8:32) How machine learning is relevant for startups (9:10) Acquiring talent to do machine learning well (14:04) How the security equation is changing for young companies (19:28)

Natural language processing (NLP) is a growing application of artificial intelligence. It can bring tremendous value to your client interactions and take your company down entirely new paths of process automation. In this episode, Jon Prial talks to Jason Brenier, CTO of Idibon, a San Francisco based company that provides cloud-based natural language processing services. Find out how your business can benefit from this amazing technology. You’ll hear about: -What Idibon does and how (1:03) -Idibon’s biggest challenge taking machine learning from research to applications (2:31) -What NLP is and the four things you can do with it (5:58) -Using NLP as the building blocks for more sophisticated systems (8:02) -What CEOs need to do leverage NLP within their existing infrastructure (9:50) -The type of skills that companies should be hiring for to succeed in the space (12:30) -Data needs for doing NLP (14:06)

In part 2 of our discussion on Machine Learning, Georgian Partners’ Madalin Mihailescu continues his conversation with Jeremy Barnes, founder and CEO of Datacratic. In addition to learning about Datacratic and its machine learning database (MLDB) offering, you’ll also find out about other tools and services CTOs need for training machine learning models, the latest trends shaping the machine learning field and much more. You’ll hear about: Jeremy’s company Datacratic and the tools it offers (0:49) Business design points to make machine learning more effective (3:03) How Datacratic built its machine learning data base (MLDB) system (3:39) Use cases for MLDB (4:53) The steps R&D need to take to productize machine learning (8:27) The tools and services for training machine learning models (10:37) Levels of lock-in for businesses using IBM Watson (16:35) Machine learning trends (19:27)

For B2B SaaS companies, creating value is the name of the game and critical for long-term success. But doing so is never easy. It takes discipline and a razor-sharp focus on the few key drivers that truly matter. In this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, Jon Prial talks to a veteran entrepreneur who knows this all too well. As the former founder and CEO of PeopleAnswers, a predictive talent analytics software company, Gab Goncalves has been there and done that. Find out what it took for him to sell the business in 2014 at more than seven times revenue. You'll hear about: Why getting your value proposition right matters so much (1:50) The importance of having a truly defensible business (4:42) How scalability fits in (5:44) The implications of doubling your revenue (7:45) How churn can drive strategy (10:12) Competition and the rules of engagement (13:00) Being purposeful when working on renewals (15:32) The key elements of an exit (16:30)

Everyone’s talking about machine learning and how it can be applied to solving some of today’s top business problems. CTOs know that it’s becoming an imperative for building successful software products. But is it really the answer and, if so, how can companies overcome the many execution gaps that exist? In this first episode of a two-part series, Georgian Partners’ Madalin Mihailescu talks with Jeremy Barnes, the Founder and CEO of Datacratic to get some unique perspectives about both the technological and business sides of machine learning. You’ll hear about: Jeremy’s definition of machine learning (5:42) The other areas of pattern recognition fall under machine learning (6:46) Why businesses should care about machine learning (9:17) How machine learning is evolving as a tool for solving business problems (12:45) Realistic applications for machine learning today versus expectations (13:39) The complexities of applying machine learning (16:27) The current state for ensuring model quality in production (19:16) Incorporating safeguards into systems (21:12)

Montréal isn't just a beautiful city, it's also a hotbed of activity for deep learning. Fueled by ambitious entrepreneurs and some ground-breaking research coming out of the University of Montréal, the city is at the forefront of machine learning, deep learning, and artificial intelligence. In this episode, Jon Prial is joined by Georgian Partners' Ben Wilde for a fascinating discussion with two machine learning practitioners: Nicolas Chapados, Chief Science Officer at Imagia, and Jean-François Gagné, Entrepreneur in Residence at Real Ventures. Learn from these experts about what it takes to successfully leverage this technology in your own business. You'll hear about: Why Montréal is one of the world’s most dynamic cities for machine learning (0:50) The types and stage of companies that Real Ventures typically invests in (7:51) What it takes to incorporate machine learning into an early stage company (8:53) Data acquisition and the transferability of deep learning models to other domains (12:04) The University of Montréal’s use of models for and research around image analysis (15:40) How the University’s research is coming to market and the opportunities that creates (19:17) The availability of data and its implications and opportunities are for early-stage companies (22:10) How deep learning can facilitate smarter decision-making (24:57) What the open sourcing of Google’s TensorFlow means for deep learning (27:40) Typical applications for Theano (29:45)

Serial tech entrepreneurs who have built successful companies time and again have deep knowledge and expertise. When you can get them to open up and reveal their secrets to success it’s a great opportunity to learn. In this episode, Ben Wilde interviews Michael Hyatt, the founder of BlueCat Networks and Dyadem, as well as a well-known investor and speaker, and one of the hosts of the TV show Dragon’s Den. Find out what it takes to succeed in today’s cut-throat tech world. You'll hear about: -Working on your strengths and partnering for your weaknesses (3:35) -The importance of hiring big egos and letting your people make decisions (4:20) -Why autonomy and purpose are the keys to retaining top talent (6:48) -How to hire the right people (8:13) -Why tech companies need to be able to pivot (10:35) -The characteristics of great board members (13:04) -Some of Michael's biggest missteps and lessons learned (15:57) -The difference between good and great products (19:06) -The importance of security as a fundamental product feature (21:28) -Emerging opportunities in the life sciences(22:52) -Why you should and shouldn’t be worried about technology (26:13) -Why humans are bad at predicting the future (29:20) -The massive opportunities yet to emerge online (31:16)

Ladies Learning Code (LLC) is a not-for-profit organization with the goal of teaching 200,000 Canadian women and youth to code by 2020. It’s a fantastic organization that Georgian Partners is proud to support. In this episode, Steve Leightell speaks to two of LLC’s founders, Melissa Sariffodeen and Laura Plant, to learn more about who the organization works with, what their goals and objectives are, and how they’re making a difference in tens of thousands of lives each year. You'll learn about: • What LLC is and how it works (0:32) • The women in tech problem and what it means (1:47) • Some of the LLC’s success stories (6:55) • How LLC exposes students to other tech companies (12:08) • Some of the challenges LLC has overcome over the past five years (13:02) • The LLC’s main objectives (15:00) • The demographics of LLC’s target audience (18:49) • How to get involved and offer your support to LLC (21:34)

Supply chains are critically important to many businesses, and managing them effectively is often the key to competing in the global market place. That’s because even small mistakes can translate into delays, missed opportunities and lost revenue. In this episode, Georgian Partners’ Tyson Baber speaks with Gary Meyers, the CEO of FusionOps, a provider of supply chain analytics that helps companies save money, increase revenue, and improve customer service. Find out about changes in the supply chain management landscape, what you need to be thinking about to manage your supply chain as well as how to build a business that’s steeped in analytics. You’ll hear about: -How supply chain management is evolving and where the opportunities lie (1:26) -How to optimize your supply chain end to end (5:14) -Taking your supply chain beyond basic reporting and business intelligence (7:47) -How FusionOps helps its customers address their data and analytics challenges (9:56) -Overcoming common concerns about shifting supply chain information into the cloud (12:11) -What the IoT means for supply chain management (14:39) -The importance of context in managing your supply chain (17:12) -Gary’s advice for other CEOs building enterprise SaaS companies (20:36)

Privacy is something that matters to individuals and to governments. It's also something that every business needs to incorporate into its strategy. In this episode, Jon Prial welcomes Mark Vecchiarelli, who spent years working for Ontario’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. They talk about the importance of being transparent and the implications of privacy for today's companies. You'll hear about: -How companies should be thinking about privacy (1:23) -Whether or not privacy is dead (2:20) -How much governments and companies should be regulating privacy (4:41) -How to Change the perspective of the C-Suite around privacy (8:15) -Bringing privacy by design to your entire company (10:40) -How founders and CEOs can embrace privacy(12:51) -Playing the long game when it comes to getting information (17:50) -Whether people will ever truly be in charge of their own data(19:55)

Identity theft. Fraudulent transactions. Security breaches. We hear about issues like these all the time. In this episode, Jon Prial talks to Ori Eisen, the Founder and CEO of Trusona, a company that provides guarantees authentication so you really know who is on the other end of a login or transaction. Learn from a security expert just how susceptible you and your business are to security threats, and what you need to be doing to keep your confidential information safe. You'll hear about: -What CEOs need to be thinking about to be secure(3:30) -Whether new technologies such as chip cards and NFC are really helping ensure security (4:54) -When we might reach the point where data breaches ruin companies (7:36) -The importance of getting employees on board with security (9:07) -Building a culture of security(11:02) -Whether small companies need to be worried about security (12:25) -Tools and maturity models for measuring security (14:43) -Where to get started with security (15:58)

Every year, millions of older Americans are readmitted to the hospital, costing Medicare (and tax payers) billions of dollars. And yet 76 percent of those hospital readmissions are avoidable. The key is knowing how to prevent them. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Wes Little, the business line manager at Kinnser, a software company in the home healthcare space that is using its massive data set to help solve the problem. You'll hear about: -Why hospital readmissions are a problem and what’s being done about it (0:42) -How Kinnser helps in the home healthcare space(3:49) -The type of data Kinnser used to help solve the hospital readmission problem (5:15) -Maintaining patients’ healthcare data privacy (6:06) -What Kinnser’s data reveals about predictors of hospital readmission (7:06) -How clinical managers can benefit from these insights (12:14) -Results from early adopters of Kinnser’s RiskPoint product (16:17)

Natural language generation (NLG) is a technology that allows companies to take vast quantities of data and turn them into compelling narratives that communicate the valuable insights they contain. In this episode, Jon Prial talks to Stuart Frankel, the CEO and Co-Founder of Narrative Science. Find out about the amazing advances in NLG technology and how this particular type of artificial intelligence is changing the way that many companies do business. You'll hear about: -Narrative Science and how it helps data rich companies become more efficient(1:03) -The difference between natural language processing and natural language generation (3:12) -Why NLG projects have to start with communication goals, not data (5:29) -The limits of data visualization (8:01) -Turning various types of data into narratives (9:59) -Why Narrative Science initially didn’t call itself an AI company (16:15) -Leveraging other AI engines versus doing everything yourself (18:11) -Measuring success and getting better with AI solutions (20:08) -Approaching the many aspects of AI to create a successful strategy (21:29) -The maturity of the NLG industry (23:06) -Where CEOs should start with AI (24:15)

Artificial intelligence is starting to reach the point where it can make your interactions with computers and software seem much more authentic and real. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Eric Adrian, CEO of Davi, a French company that helps its customers transform their digital relationships into human ones. Find out how that company is using AI in innovative ways to help humanize today’s digital world. You’ll hear about: -The need for better customer interactions (1:23) -The importance of context and long-running customer conversations (4:35) -What CEOs should be doing to embrace AI (6:00) -Using in-house versus third-party resources to support your AI strategy (8:00) -How AI is evolving (12:48) -Why Davi calls themselves The Humanizers (17:17) -Building empathy into AI systems (22:38) -Lessons learned while building an AI business (24.25)

Has the mobile security industry had it all wrong for years? It has spent billions of dollars applying the concepts that work for PCs to mobile devices with little success. In this episode, Jon Prial talks to Andrew Hoog, the CEO and Co-Founder of NowSecure, a mobile security provider that helps enterprises secure their apps and their devices. They go deep into mobile security and what enterprises need to be doing to manage this growing area of risk. You’ll hear about: -The security challenges with mobile devices (4:41) -The best ways to access mobile apps (6:43) -Dealing with the challenges of a bring-your-own-device strategy (9:00) -The four areas that drive risk in your phone (13:45) -Instant apps and the future of mobile security (19:58) -The role of trust in app adoption (23:38) -The importance of two-factor authentication (25:26) -What CEOs should be doing about security (32:30)

We all know that technology is rapidly advancing and changing the way that companies do business in the process. As a CEO or entrepreneur, you need to understand that evolution and what it means in practical terms for your company’s operations. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with David Court, a Director and Senior Partner in McKinsey & Company’s Dallas Office. Find out what it means to be analytical in your business, where the big tech disruptions are going to be coming from, and what you need to do to get ready for them. You’ll hear about: -How IT has gone from a control mechanism to a means of managing your business (1:41) -How CEOs should think about keeping up with tech issues(4:44) -Where responsibility for analytics should lie in your company(6:09) -How analytics tend to work in organizations (9:13) -What a CEO needs to do first to embrace analytics (10:42) -The evolution of digital first to be more than just analytics (14:00) - Machine learning, the digitization of processes, and looking to ahead to the next five years (18:15)

When you think about the blockchain, you probably think about a public ledger that lets you move money securely from one place to another. But the reality is that it's about more than that. It's a way to safely share all kinds of information. In this episode, Georgian Partners' Ben Wilde talks with Alex Tapscott, the CEO and Founder of Northwest Passage Ventures, about the implications of the blockchain in financial services and beyond. You'll hear about: -The limitations of the traditional Internet for payments (2:41) -The underlying reasons why the promise of the Internet was unfulfilled (4:28) -Bitcoin and the peer-to-peer economy (7:13) -The broader applications of the blockchain (8:04) -Who’s adopting the technology (10:44) -Misconceptions about the blockchain (14: 47) -The rise of private blockchains (17:45) -How banks are using the blockchain to trade with each other (21:24) -How NASDAQ is reinventing its business with the blockchain (24:13) -Opportunities for blockchain beyond financial services (26:16)

Not all that long ago, bounty hunters were burly guys who apprehended fugitives using brute force in exchange for a reward or "bounty." And while those types of bounty hunters still exist, these days the vast majority of them are hackers looking for bugs. In this episode of the Impact Podcast, Jon Prial talks with Katie Moussouris, a highly regarded computer security researcher who's best known for creating the bug bounty program at Microsoft. You'll hear about: -Results from the recent Hack the Pentagon Program (1:15) -What companies can learn from the government’s approach to engaging with the hacker community (2:36) -How to determine if your organization is ready for a bug bounty program (5:40) -Issues larger enterprises face versus smaller startups (7:20) -Maturity models for assessing vulnerability (11:28) -Best practices for engineering teams (14:54) -The keys to success for bug bounty programs going forward (17:44)

In 2007, a cyber attack rocked Estonia, affecting parliament, banks, and media outlets. It was an event that cast a spotlight on cyber security and that also gave rise to a number of new businesses. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Lee Cocking, the SVP Products at Guardtime, an industrial blockchain platform that’s being used to power digital transformation. In a fascinating discussion, they look at how the blockchain is making it possible to take digital security to a whole new level. You’ll hear about: -How Guardtime was formed in response to cyber attack in Estonia (1:10) -Why blockchain is suitable for security solutions (2:04) -Pubic key infrastucture (PKI) vs. keyless signature infrastructure (KSI) (3:26) -Building layers on top of the blockchain (6:45) -Public versus private blockchains (8:17) -Guardtime’s data protection solutions (10:14) -Physical assets in the blockchain (14:33) -How CEOs should think about the blockchain and security (17:45) -Skillsets that companies need to hire for security (19:13)

Every once in a while, a trend comes along that changes everything. That's certainly true in technology. Just look at cloud, mobile, and big data. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Justin LaFayette, the co-founder of Georgian Partners, about four foundational trends that are poised to have a major impact on every software company: applied analytics, applied artificial intelligence, messaging for business and security first. You'll hear about: -What constitutes foundational tech trends that have the potential to reshape markets (1:53) -An overview of applied analytics (4:38) -The origins and value of applied analytics (5:59) -How to use data effectively and get applied analytics right (7:09) -Artificial intelligence (8:22) -Whether AI will ever reach the level of human intelligence (11:18) -The implications and opportunities of messaging for business (11:50) -Injecting your company’s value into messaging streams (13:45) -Becoming more secure by putting security front and center (15:55) -Security as a differentiator (19:10)

AI-powered chatbots are becoming increasingly pervasive. As they become more and more sophisticated, they’re starting to provide real value by making our lives easier. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Erik Kalviainen, the co-founder of Meya, a company that helps businesses build and host bots. Find out more about the tremendous opportunity that bots represent and learn some of the tricks to getting them right. You’ll hear about: -What bots are and aren’t (1:50) -Why bots might become more pervasive than apps (3:08) -The differences between bots and search engines (4:38) -When using bots does and doesn't make sense (9:25) -Evolving from short-term transactions to longer-term interactions (10:21) -Principles of bot design (11:34) -The best use cases for bots (13:29) -How AI, conversational UX and bots are evolving (19:03) -The case for bots in financial planning (21:39) -Building and launching a bot solution (23:10) -How the nature of bots might change as they become pervasive (26:30) -The point at which bots should become a priority (27:35)

Security first cuts across all areas of software companies, including development, technology, human resources, culture, marketing, hiring and the C-Suite. It's not about building a bigger security wall, but rather fundamentally changing the way your business operates. In this episode, Ben Wilde interviews Yevgeniy Vahlis, Georgian Partners' new Director Security First. Together they do a deep dive on this important topic and what it means for your software company. You'll hear about: -What security first means in the context of a software company (3:22) -Examples of how security first can change a software company (3:56) -Apple as an example of a company taking a strong position on security and privacy (6:02) -The role of cryptography in creating more secure software (7:12) -Practical examples of how security first makes it way into product discussions (10:36) -Whether or not collecting data and protecting people's privacy are mutually exclusive (12:02) -How CEOs should approach understanding security first and hiring the right people (14:02) -Attributes of qualified security first candidates (16:35) -The role of cryptography in creating more secure software (7:12) -Practical examples of how security first makes it way into product discussions (10:36) -Whether or not collecting data and protecting people's privacy are mutually exclusive (12:02) -How CEOs should approach understanding security first and hiring the right people (14:02) -Attributes of qualified security first candidates (16:35)

At Georgian Partners, we usually talk about tech trends that impact the software industry. But in many cases, those trends are also having a major impact elsewhere. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Kyle McNamara, EVP and co-head of Technology at Scotiabank, along with Dubie Cunningham, the VP of Innovation. Together, they discuss some of the major trends impacting the financial services industry and how Scotiabank is tackling disruption head on. You'll hear about: -Why Scotiabank created its Digital Factory (1:20) -The kind of talent that Scotiabank is recruiting for its Digital Factory (3:51) -Scotiabank’s partnership with Kabbage (4:32) -What to look for when partnering with fintech companies (5:32) -The importance of mobile in the banking industry (8:11) -How blockchain is affecting banking (11:00) -Managing blockchain and privacy (11:58)

Conversational interfaces, chatbots and natural language processing are all integral parts of what we like to call messaging for business. In this episode, Ben Wilde interviews Georgian Partners' Jason Brenier, a new member of the firm's Impact Team with deep expertise in instant messaging and conversational agents. You'll hear about: -What’s driving the adoption of conversational interfaces (1:12) -How natural language processing will advance conversational interfaces (3:30) -The techniques being applied in conversational interfaces (6:34) -The evolution of text interaction (7:23) -Automation’s role in conversational interfaces (9:08) -Where companies are focusing their efforts on chatbots (10:28) -How sophisticated chatbots are (11:49) -What bot designers should be thinking about from a language perspective (13:18) -Bot design properties you need to keep in mind (14:34) -Key benefits of conversational interfaces (18:35) -Examples of business applications of the technology (19:22)

The costs of data breaches are rising quickly. Just look at the recently disclosed 2014 data breach at Yahoo that's now threatening to derail Verizon's acquisition of the internet company. There's no doubt security is hard, but many organizations overlook the basics of getting security right. One of those is the importance of culture in leading an organisation toward better security. At Georgian Partners’ recent annual portfolio conference, Seth Purcell, CTO at Signpost, gave a quick and insightful talk about security, why it's not just about technology and the need to develop a culture of security. You’ll hear about: - The nature of security - Why security is not just a feature you add - The problem with users - The importance of culture in security - How to build a culture of security

At Georgian Partners’ recent annual portfolio conference, Jason Brenier hosted a panel discussion with a variety of experts representing the full range of the conversational business stack. In this episode, Jon Prial brings you highlights from that discussion. You’ll hear from Andy Mauro, the CEO of chatbot building platform Automat; from Joe Rideout, Product Manager of Expression at messaging platform provider Kik; and from Amanda Parker, the CEO of SimplyInsight, a provider of data analysis as a service. You’ll hear about: -The verticals most interested in bots and where opportunities for disruption lie -The future of emoji and other forms of conversational expression -The role of automation in messaging -Guidelines for integrating humans into messaging -Capturing and applying user feedback and data -Building a messaging first business -The role of voice in messaging

Did you know that more people use and interact with messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Snapchat than they do with social media apps? The question is why are messaging apps so important and how did they get that way? And what opportunities do they present? In this episode of the Impact Podcast, Joe Rideout, product manager at Kik, a messaging app with over 300 million users, answers those questions and more. You’ll hear about: -Some of the trends that gave rise to messaging platforms like Kik -The three attributes of messaging apps that make them so powerful -Why there’s so much hype around bots -WeChat as an example of what’s to come in messaging -The ongoing debate around apps vs bots

Machine learning is everywhere. It’s a basic foundation for artificial intelligence, it’s driving a fundamental change in the way that programmers approach their work, and it’s so ubiquitous and good, that we often don’t even know when it’s around. In this episode, we share a presentation from Inmar Givoni, director of machine learning at Kindred.ai, in which she shares her insights on the future of machine learning. You'll hear about: -What machine learning is and common applications of it (1:21) -Why we’re in the middle of a machine learning and data revolution (3:54) -What big data is (7:11) -Practical considerations for e-commerce and other domains (8:05) -Data-driven products (16:20) -Future of machine learning (20:25)

Have you every said "please" or "thank you" to a bot, even when you knew there wasn't a person at the other end? In this episode, Jon Prial interviews Dennis R. Mortensen, the CEO of x.ai, a company that has used artificial intelligence to develop Amy and Andrew, two AI-powered bots that will manage your calendar for you. The thing is that they're so good at it, and so completely convincing, that most people forget they're interacting with a piece of software. Together, Jon and Dennis look under the hood at the AI powering this impressive solution and how keep highly sensitive data secure factors into the equation. You’ll hear about: -The evolution of user interfaces and what matters most (2:05) -The rapid rate at which people start thinking of software as being human (4:41) -Security considerations and how to protect data (5:51) -Training machine learning algorithms to handled the nuances of language (10:21) -The role of humans in supporting x.ai (13:57) -Dimensions for thinking about security (18:01) -Monitoring AI to avoid subversion (23:08) -Who’s responsible for security at x.ai (25:40)

Want to know what the million-dollar question is that everyone in tech is trying to answer right now? It’s how do you use artificial intelligence to solve actual business problems. We’ve brought together a panel of experts, including Urs Muller of NVIDIA, Mohamed Musbah, VP of Product at Maluuba, Laura Jackson, a data scientist at PrecisionLender, and our own Chief Analytics Officer, Chris Matys, to try to figure this out in a fascinating panel discussion that you won't want to miss.

When you think about artificial intelligence, you may not immediately think of banks. But a growing number of fintech companies are turning to AI to help them better serve their customers. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Carl Ryden, the CEO and Co-Founder of PrecisionLender, as well as with George Neal, the company’s Chief Analytics Officer. They discuss how the company created Andi, a powerful fintech bot designed to help commercial relationship managers and commercial bankers win better deals and build stronger relationships with their customers.

Gary McGraw is the Vice President of Security Technology at Synopsys, the best-selling author of "Software Security" and 11 other books, and the man behind the Silver Bullet Security Podcast. In this episode, Ben Wilde interviews him about everything from the BSIMM and OWASP Top 10 to software security best practices and how to get companies to start thinking about security early and often. https://www.garymcgraw.com/ https://www.bsimm.com/ https://cybersecurity.ieee.org/center-for-secure-design/ https://www.maxmyinterest.com/

Machine learning is being deployed everywhere, and it's fueling today's artificial intelligence revolution. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Parinaz Sobhani, Georgian Partners' new Director of Machine Learning. A Ph.D. candidate in artificial intelligence at the University of Ottawa, Parinaz explains machine learning and highlights some of the latest thinking about where this exciting technology will be heading in the coming years.

When it comes to security, we’re living in interesting times. Nation states are playing roles we’ve never seen before, or at least been privy to. And more and more large-scale ransomware attacks and breaches are taking place, while executives are losing their job because of cyber security issues. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Ed Amoroso, AT&T’s former chief security officer and a true leader in the field of cyber security. Find out about the challenges of security in the digital age and how to become a security first business. Learn more by checking out: https://www.tag-cyber.com/Annual/2017/ https://georgianpartners.com/security-first/

Face-to-face communication is increasingly being supplanted by messaging that's typically much shorter in nature and often happens without any context. For the machines given the task of trying to interpret those messages, this is often a lot easier said than done. In this episode of the Impact Podcast, Jon Prial talks with Saif Mohammed from the National Research Council in Canada about speech and text analysis. Find out how machines are starting to look beyond mere words to try to understand the emotions behind what's being said. http://saifmohammad.com http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/news/a53378/saddest-radiohead-song-graph/

We live in a digital world where companies like Facebook and Google have a lot of data about who you are and what you like. Meanwhile large enterprises such as banks, insurance companies and retailers also have their fair share of data about you. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Steve Irvine. Until recently, Steve was Facebook's Global Head of Partner Programs, but he has since gone on to found Integrate.ai, a new startup that's using artificial intelligence to make the interactions between people and businesses more natural and effective. Find out how his new company is bridging the gap between social and business data to more accurately predict what people want.

It's no secret that Asia is leading the world in messaging with platforms like WeChat and Line. Yet when it comes to security, it's a bit of a different story. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Cédric Jeannot, a cryptography and security expert, and the founder and CEO of APrivacy, a company that provides the banking industry with information security and tracking services.

When the US House of Representatives passed a controversial law about Internet privacy earlier this year, several news outlets published security advice suggesting that you should use the Tor network or a commercial virtual private network (VPN) to protect yourself. Both of those suggestions turned out to bad ideas. In this episode, Ben Wilde talks with Dan Guido, the founder of a New York-based security consultancy called Trail of Bits, about the trouble with Tor and commercial VPNs.

Small businesses need to be able to communicate efficiently with their customers. Increasingly, however, those customers don't want to be called or emailed, and they certainly can't be bothered to download and use a custom app. The solution is to reach them where they already are through text messages and messaging platforms. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Doug Marinaro, the CEO of Riptide, a company that connects businesses and customers using SMS and Facebook Messenger. Find out about the growing trend toward conversational business and how Riptide is capitalizing on it to help small businesses reach their customers.

In this episode, Jon Prial continues his conversation about differential privacy with Yevgeniy Vahlis, Georgian Partners' Director of Security First. Find out more about how differential privacy works as Yevgeniy explains it using simple, every day examples. He then goes on to describe why differential privacy isn't just for the likes of Google and Apple, but rather something that most companies should be taking a close look at.

Apple made headlines in 2016 when it started talking about differential privacy. But what exactly is it? And what opportunities can it create for your business to aggregate and share your customers' data to get better results without compromising their privacy? In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Yevgeniy Vahlis, Georgian Partners' Director of Security First, to get a primer on differential privacy and understand what it's all about.

People have been talking to each other for millennia. But we've only been talking to machines for a very short time. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with Nandini Stocker, former Head of Conversational Design Advocacy and Partnerships at Google. Find out about voice user interfaces (VUIs) are evolving to help businesses create better experiences for their customers.