The Catalyst by Softchoice

Softchoice
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A documentary-style podcast about how IT leaders tackle high-stakes transformations. Each episode weaves together real voices, expert insights, and compelling narratives that reveal universal challenges and practical wisdom. Season 7: "Small Teams, Big Dreams" explores the human stories behind IT transformations—from AI adoption experiments to burnout crises, from toxic job markets to infrastructure decisions that matter. These aren't polished case studies. These are authentic accounts from IT professionals navigating the same impossible gaps between expectations and resources that you face every day. From Softchoice, a World Wide Technology company.

  1. 6D AGO

    The Curiosity Episode: You're Not What You Know

    What got you here won't get you there. For most IT leaders, the path to the top was paved with expertise — knowing the systems, owning the decisions, having the answers. But something happens when that playbook stops working. Not a crash. Not a failure. Just a quiet plateau that tells you something needs to change. In this episode of The Catalyst, we explore what's on the other side of that wall: a shift toward curiosity, empowerment, and a fundamentally different way of leading. Featuring leadership coach Kirsten Schmidtke, curiosity researcher Dr. Deb Clary, and Benevity VP of Engineering Rob Woolley — three voices who all landed in the same place. What you'll take away: Why expertise becomes a trap for senior IT leaders — and how to recognize when it's happening to youThe one behaviour change Rob Woolley made that created what he calls "titanic shifts" in his leadershipWhat MIT-commissioned research reveals about the direct link between curiosity and organizational performanceWhy the best leaders aren't the ones with the most answers — and what they do insteadFeaturing: Rob Woolley, VP Core Platform & Data Engineering at Benevity | Kirsten Schmidtke, Leadership Coach & Growth Advisor | Dr. Deb Clary, Author of The Curiosity Curve (Fast Company Press) Learn more about Kirsten at kirstenschmidtke.com  Take Deb's curiosity assessment at debraclary.com  #ITLeadership #MidMarketIT #TheCatalyst #CuriousLeadership #Softchoice #LeadershipDevelopment #FutureOfIT The Catalyst by Softchoice is the podcast dedicated to exploring the intersection of humans and technology.

    24 min

  2. MAR 11

    The Agentic AI Episode: What IT Leaders Need to Know

    Every vendor in the industry is slapping the word "agentic" on their roadmap. But, what is agentic AI, really? And should IT leaders care? In this episode, we bring together three voices with very different answers: a skeptic who says it's rebranded orchestration, a strategist who says the reasoning layer is genuinely new, and a founder betting his company on it. Together, they cut through the noise and answer the question every IT leader is quietly asking: what should I actually do about agentic AI in 2026? Key takeaways: Why 80% of AI projects fail — and it has nothing to do with the technologyThe difference between "embedded agents" you're already using and custom agents you probably don't need yet"Start with your decisions, not your technology" — a practical framework for mid-market teamsHow to move AI from "pet project" to operationalized infrastructureFeaturing: Sean Larkin, Principal Architect at Softchoice, a World Wide Technology company | Scott Trump, Founder & CEO of Treva AI (former AWS, Google Cloud, Oracle) | Skip Vanderburg, Founder of Prioriti AI #AgenticAI #MidMarketIT #AIStrategy #TheCatalyst #Softchoice #ITLeadership The Catalyst by Softchoice is the podcast dedicated to exploring the intersection of humans and technology.

    28 min

  3. FEB 25

    The Incident Response Episode: What Really Happens When Ransomware Hits

    When David Koopmans' IT manager started sending strange messages to employees, David knew something was wrong. By then, threat actors had been inside his network for 30 days. What followed was a ransomware nightmare that cost $14 million, put David in the hospital, and ended with him being let go—despite years of warning leadership they needed to invest in security. In this episode, we follow David's story from chaos to recovery, with expert context from Fortinet's incident response team on what actually happens when the call comes in (spoiler: it's always Friday afternoon), the critical mistakes that make attacks worse, and why 30 minutes a week of preparation could be the difference between survival and catastrophe. Key Takeaways: Why "we're not a target" is the most dangerous assumption in securitThe common mistake that lets attackers hit you twiceHow tabletop exercises helped one company respond to a near-identical real incidentThe 30-minute weekly habit that separates prepared teams from overwhelmed ones Featuring:  David Koopmans (CIO, MMT Ambulance), Josh Brewer (Softchoice), John Simmons (FortiGuard IR Lead, Americas), John Hollenberger (FortiGuard Proactive Lead) ==== This episode is brought to you by Fortinet When a cyber incident hits, the difference between chaos and recovery comes down to preparation. Learn how FortiGuard Incident Response Services can help your team respond faster and recover stronger at softchoice.com/fortinet ==== Resources • FortiGuard Incident Response Services: softchoice.com/fortinet • Book: "Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercises: From Planning to Execution" by John Hollenberger (No Starch Press, October 2024) The Catalyst by Softchoice is the podcast dedicated to exploring the intersection of humans and technology.

    25 min

  4. FEB 11

    The Multi-Cloud Mandate: How Agentic AI Became the Unexpected Answer

    Multi-cloud used to be a dirty word — something that happened to you through mergers, shadow IT, or teams gone rogue with corporate cards. But the walls came down, the standards converged, and best-of-breed finally seemed within reach. Then AI arrived with a whole new layer of complexity. Or did it? In this episode, we explore how agentic AI might actually solve the thing that made multi-cloud hard in the first place. Three cloud experts—Jack French from World Wide Technology, Alex Kozaris from Softchoice's AWS practice, and Ron Espinosa from Softchoice's Google Cloud team—break down what's changed, what matters for mid-market teams, and why the "gold record" might finally be possible.   Key Takeaways: • Why 90% of organizations are already multi-cloud (whether they planned to be or not) • How abstraction layers and platform engineering help smaller teams manage complexity • What each major cloud does best: AWS for builders, Microsoft for productivity, Google for data/AI • The compliance curve ball forcing some organizations into multi-cloud for AI governance • How agentic AI creates "connective tissue" that makes integration problems irrelevant   Featuring: • Jack French, Senior Director of Cloud, World Wide Technology • Alex Kozaris, Public Cloud Leader for AWS, Softchoice • Ron Espinosa, Google Cloud Category Director, Softchoice The Catalyst by Softchoice is the podcast dedicated to exploring the intersection of humans and technology.

    27 min

  5. JAN 28

    The Save Money Episode: Foundation Over Flash

    Everyone's chasing AI. Meanwhile, most organizations are wasting 25-30% of their software budget on tools nobody uses. In this episode, we meet James Malek, Senior VP of IT Infrastructure at Lexitas, who inherited chaos—45 acquisitions in five years, no structured IT department, and a hodgepodge of contracts everywhere. Instead of chasing the next shiny thing, James took a different approach: foundation first. What his team discovered when they finally got visibility into their software estate—including 300 employees using ChatGPT at a legal services company handling sensitive data—changed everything. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why software waste persists despite decades of awareness—and what actually fixes it • How one company consolidated seven separate ShareFile contracts into one • The shadow AI problem hiding in your organization right now • Why you can't do it all yourself—and what to do instead Featuring: • James Malek, Senior VP of IT Infrastructure, Lexitas • Elizabeth D'Amico, Manager, SAM Programs & Enablement, Softchoice • Josh Brewer, Account Executive, Softchoice The Catalyst by Softchoice is the podcast dedicated to exploring the intersection of humans and technology.

    21 min

  6. JAN 14

    The School’s Broken Episode: What AI Did to Education—And Who's Fixing It

    AI is transforming education—but not evenly, and not easily. In this episode of The Catalyst, we step inside classrooms, school boards, and districts, navigating the AI revolution with tight budgets, limited staff, and high stakes for students. From fears around cheating and data privacy to confusion over licensing and unused tools already paid for, this conversation reveals what AI adoption really looks like in public education. Featuring educators, IT leaders, and policy thinkers on the front lines, the episode explores what schools are getting wrong, what’s quietly working, and why the biggest barrier to AI in education may no longer be money—but people and readiness. You’ll hear from: Drew Olsson, Director of AI & Instructional Technology, Agua Fria Union High School DistrictSophie McQueen, Resource Teacher & Board Consultant, Conseil scolaire ViaMondeJosé Antonio Bowen, Senior Fellow, AAC&U; Author, Teaching with AISandali Amunugama, Microsoft Education Specialist, Softchoice Key takeaways: Why academic integrity fears are masking a deeper relationship problemHow most schools already have AI tools they aren’t usingWhat happens when AI costs drop—but training and trust don’tWhy meaningful adoption spreads teacher-to-teacher, not top-down This episode is a candid look at what it takes to move forward when guidance is unclear, expectations are high, and standing still isn’t an option. — Learn how Softchoice, a World Wide Technology company, helps public sector and education teams do more: softchoice.com/public-sector. The Catalyst by Softchoice is the podcast dedicated to exploring the intersection of humans and technology.

    28 min

  7. 2025-12-31

    The Small Teams Episode: When IT Needs to Punch Above Its Weight

    Enterprise expectations. Startup-sized teams. And zero margin for failure. Across museums, national parks, retail stores, and nonprofit organizations, mid-market IT leaders are being asked to do more than ever—with fewer people, tighter budgets, and growing complexity. Most burn out. Some figure it out. In this episode, The Catalyst brings together two leaders navigating that reality from different sides of the work: Scott Gagon, Network Security Engineer, Event NetworkTariq Chaudhri, VP of Technology, Goodwill of Northwest North CarolinaTogether, they explore what it takes for small IT teams to support enterprise-scale environments—and why trusted partnerships are often the difference between survival and real progress. You’ll hear: How small IT teams manage massive, distributed operationsWhy empathy, mission, and decisiveness matter as much as toolsHow partners like Softchoice become force multipliers—not vendorsThe Catalyst by Softchoice is the podcast dedicated to exploring the intersection of humans and technology.

    25 min

  8. 2025-12-10

    The AI Failure Episode: Why Asking the Wrong Question is To Blame

    When mid-market IT leaders call about AI, most ask the wrong question. Instead of “What problem are we solving?” they jump straight to “Which LLM should we use?” — a mindset that helps explain why 95% of AI pilots fail to deliver measurable business returns. In this episode, two of Softchoice’s leading AI experts — Sean Larkin, AI Principal Architect, and Ron Espinosa, Director, Google Cloud Category — break down why technology-first thinking derails AI initiatives before they start. From market validation to crawl-walk-run design, they reveal how organizations can escape the hype cycle and build AI solutions that actually work. Key takeaways: Why “What LLM should we use?” is the wrong first questionHow market validation prevents multimillion-dollar failuresWhy data hygiene is still the most overlooked riskWhat crawl-walk-run actually means in AI deploymentsHow executive alignment eliminates costly blind spots between IT and business teamsGuests Sean Larkin, AI Principal Architect, SoftchoiceRon Espinosa, Director, Google Cloud Category, SoftchoiceThis episode is packed with field stories, hard truths, and practical frameworks mid-market organizations can apply immediately. --- Take the first step in your AI journey Book your Executive Alignment Session today: https://www.softchoice.com/solutions/ai-and-data/executive-alignment-session The Catalyst by Softchoice is the podcast dedicated to exploring the intersection of humans and technology.

    28 min
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About

A documentary-style podcast about how IT leaders tackle high-stakes transformations. Each episode weaves together real voices, expert insights, and compelling narratives that reveal universal challenges and practical wisdom. Season 7: "Small Teams, Big Dreams" explores the human stories behind IT transformations—from AI adoption experiments to burnout crises, from toxic job markets to infrastructure decisions that matter. These aren't polished case studies. These are authentic accounts from IT professionals navigating the same impossible gaps between expectations and resources that you face every day. From Softchoice, a World Wide Technology company.

Information

  • Creator
    Softchoice
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    105
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Catalyst by Softchoice
  • Show Website
    The Catalyst by Softchoice

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