What's Up with Tech?

Evan Kirstel
  • 5.0 (1)
  • TECHNOLOGY

Tech Transformation with Evan Kirstel: A podcast exploring the latest trends and innovations in the tech industry, and how businesses can leverage them for growth, diving into the world of B2B, discussing strategies, trends, and sharing insights from industry leaders!With over three decades in telecom and IT, I've mastered the art of transforming social media into a dynamic platform for audience engagement, community building, and establishing thought leadership. My approach isn't about personal brand promotion but about delivering educational and informative content to cultivate a sustainable, long-term business presence. I am the leading content creator in areas like Enterprise AI, UCaaS, CPaaS, CCaaS, Cloud, Telecom, 5G and more!

  1. 2D AGO

    From Skepticism To Science: How Photobiomodulation Reduces Pain, Heals Tissue, And Boosts Performance

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com What if pain relief, faster recovery, and better sleep were a matter of getting the right light to the right place with the right dose? We sit down with Tom Kerber, engineer-turned-inventor and founder of SunPowerLED, alongside Dr. Hayman Buwan, physician and medical advisor, are bringing together deep engineering rigor and clinical insight to rethink how light-based technologies are applied in real-world health and performance settings. We unpack photobiomodulation—the clinical side of red and near infrared light—and why some devices deliver real change while others barely scratch the surface. Tom shares the unlikely path from blue-light dental curing to red-light cancer adjuncts and a personal back injury that proved how fast high-power LEDs can dial down pain. He explains the physics that most people miss: tissue is hungry, so you need total optical power and a large emitting area to drive photons deep into joints and brain tissue. That’s why cooling and engineering matter—air-cooled arrays that sustain output without bulky heat sinks let you get meaningful doses in minutes, not half-hour marathons. Hayman brings the clinic: shoulder mobility restored in a six-minute session, knee and tendon pain easing quickly, dental patients healing from oral mucositis, and wounds closing faster with pre- and post-op light. On the brain side, we dig into concussion recovery, migraine interruption at aura, improved sleep quality across users, and early work in aphasia, autism, long COVID, and cognitive decline. We talk safety, where pulsing may require oversight, and why underpowered products fuel skepticism. You’ll hear about university collaborations targeting mood, opioid craving, and neuro recovery, plus why standardized protocols and dosing are the bridge from anecdotes to indications. If you’ve wondered whether red light is hype or a true modality, this conversation gives you the science, the specs, and the stories to tell the difference. Subscribe, share with someone who needs relief today, and leave a review with the one condition you’re most curious to see treated next. Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AICan't keep up with AI? We've got you. Everyday AI helps you keep up and get ahead.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    35 min

  2. 3D AGO

    Inside The Business Of Recognition And Why Credibility Wins

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com Trophies are easy to buy; credibility is not. We sit down with Russ Fordyce, Chief Recognition Officer at Business Intelligence Group, to unpack how modern awards can be rigorous, transparent, and genuinely valuable for marketers under pressure to prove results. From volunteer judges with track records to blockchain certificates that verify logos across the web, Russ explains how trustworthy recognition turns into search-friendly proof that buyers and even AI systems can validate. We dig into why the old models struggled—small panels, popularity contests, and murky criteria—and how a distributed, community-led approach fixes scale and fairness. Judges review a manageable set of entries, earn micro-credentials for service, and are themselves evaluated for quality. That structure keeps standards high while opening doors to niche categories that big shows ignore. Along the way, Russ shares memorable wins, from a solo founder behind BenjiLock turning recognition into Shark Tank momentum, to TD Bank’s creative use of enterprise tech across immersive learning and Roblox engagement. For marketers navigating the shift from classic SEO to generative engine optimization, this conversation hits the heart of what works now: white-hat proof. Verified awards create durable authority signals that LLMs and search systems can trust, supporting your brand story with evidence rather than ad spend. If you’re building in B2B tech and feel drowned out by bigger budgets, you’ll find a pragmatic path forward through community, validation, and disciplined storytelling. Ready to earn visibility instead of renting it? Subscribe for more conversations like this, share with a teammate who needs a credibility boost, and leave a review to help others find the show. Want to get involved? Go to we love techawards.com or visit bintelligence.com and check out my awards program at welovetechawards.com Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    15 min

  3. 4D AGO

    Design, Disruption, And The Next Wave

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com Most companies call it innovation when they add a feature. Real disruption is when you build the thing that makes the old one irrelevant. That’s where this conversation starts. JJ de la Torre, founder and CEO of **Raven**, joins us to talk about what leaders consistently get wrong about digitalization, transformation, and “innovation theater”—and how to re-anchor teams around revenue and outcomes instead of decks and demos. We dig into why the classic services model keeps breaking down. Strategy writes slides. Product ships features. Marketing wins awards. No one owns the result. JJ walks through Raven’s end-to-end model where think, build, and sell operate as a single accountable system. It sounds obvious. It’s not. That shift rewires how ideas get vetted, how products are built, and how success is measured. Then we tackle AI—minus the hype. The real opportunity isn’t cost cutting. It’s redesigning the business model. Where can AI remove an entire step in the value chain? Enable performance-based pricing? Create revenue streams that didn’t exist last year? If AI isn’t changing how you make money, it’s just a faster expense line. At the core of the conversation is design as a discipline for transformation. JJ’s book, **Transformation Designed**, frames design as a blueprint for results: center on the customer, validate with behavior, and turn insight into something teams can actually ship. We talk about why design-led companies outperform, how to avoid CES-style “innovation” nobody needs, and the hardest move of all—detachment. Killing today’s winner to create tomorrow’s business, the way Apple let the iPhone eclipse the iPod. We wrap with what’s next for Raven: co-investment and variable models that share risk and upside with clients across the US, Europe, and Latin America. If you’re planning a 2026 reorg, here’s the gut check: does it change what you build, how you sell it, and how you get paid? If not, you’re just rearranging furniture. Subscribe. Share it with someone who actually owns a P&L. And leave a review telling us which legacy product you’d sunset first. Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    20 min

  4. 12/29/2025

    Building Resilient Energy Networks With Decentralized IoT

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com What if every meter in a city became a tiny base station? That simple shift unlocks coverage where towers fail, slashes operating costs, and floods the grid with the data it needs to stay resilient under the weight of electrification. We sit down with Wirepas CEO Teppo Hemiä to unpack how a fully decentralized mesh lets devices make local decisions on channel, power, and routing—no single point of failure, no shouting across long distances, and no fragile tuning from a central controller. We trace the journey from early cellular breakthroughs to an edge-first architecture built for smart grids, smart metering, and industrial IoT at massive scale. Tippo explains why electrification flips the data problem on its head: rooftop solar, EV charging, and dynamic tariffs demand millions of reliable data points and two-way control. Real-world case studies from Oslo’s million-node deployment to India’s 300-million-meter landscape show how the mesh holds up in basements, metal cabinets, slums with extreme density, and even container ships where multipath overwhelms conventional radios. By embedding backhaul into a fraction of meters, deployments get simpler, cheaper, and faster—devices self-form the network and keep it healthy. We dig into economics and standards too. With NR+ aligning the technology to the 5G family, utilities avoid lock-in while gaining a path to sub-second reads and grid-grade reliability. A new low-power milestone—mesh routers sipping around 20 microamps on Nordic’s latest silicon—opens the door to battery-powered routing and multi-year autonomy. The takeaway is clear: decentralization, spectrum efficiency, and autonomy are the keystones for a resilient, data-rich energy future. Subscribe, share with a colleague building smart energy systems, and leave a review with your biggest question about scaling IoT for the grid. Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AICan't keep up with AI? We've got you. Everyday AI helps you keep up and get ahead.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    26 min

  5. 12/26/2025

    Inside The We Love Tech Awards: Real Innovation, Real Impact

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com CES is about to flood every feed with AI demos and wall-sized screens, but the real breakthroughs are quieter: teams turning bold ideas into measurable results. We sat down to unpack how the We Love Tech Awards celebrate that kind of progress—transparent judging, practical innovation, and stories you can actually learn from. We revisit standout winners who proved utility at scale: TD’s immersive learning programs that used VR and AR to deliver real training outcomes, a playful banking experiment on Roblox that still respected user value, and enterprise CX leaders who applied generative AI to increase satisfaction while cutting handle time. Along the way, we talk about why recognition programs matter when news cycles skew negative, and how celebrating builders can lift morale, validate products, and sharpen a brand’s narrative. You’ll also get a behind-the-scenes look at our judging model. Thousands of volunteer experts—engineers, PMs, and operators—score entries and share actionable feedback, turning a trophy into a roadmap. We dig into categories spanning AI, cloud, cybersecurity, SaaS, IoT, and leadership, then outline how to craft a winning nomination: define the problem, show the implementation, quantify outcomes, and include the lessons learned. With CES days away and nominations due by late March, there’s time to gather the right metrics and stories that prove your work scales. Before we sign off, we share a few gear picks for creators tackling noisy events and remote workflows—from minimalist e-ink dashboards that cut phone time to compact wireless mics that make a phone feel like a pocket studio. Ready to spotlight tech that works? Subscribe, share this with a teammate, and leave a review with the one metric you’re proudest of from the past year. Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    15 min

  6. 12/23/2025

    From Guesswork To Answers: How People.ai Transforms Sales

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com Forecast calls shouldn’t feel like theater. We sat down with People got ai’s new CEO Jason Ambrose to unpack how turning raw activity—emails, meetings, call transcripts—into crisp answers can transform forecasting, end CRM fatigue, and give leaders the clarity they actually need. Instead of forcing reps to feed fields, the platform reads what is already happening and returns guidance you can use right now: which deals are at risk, which stakeholders are missing, and where to act to hit the number. We trace People ai’s path from early activity capture to training models on billions of interactions across years of market shocks. That history pays off when patterns shift; the system sees signals static dashboards miss. Jason explains why most forecasting rituals only assign accountability, not risk, and how a risk-first approach reframes the conversation: timing, probability, engagement, and next best actions. The result is a plan you can execute, not a spreadsheet you defend. We also dig into the CRM reality. Systems of record still matter, but the monolithic UI is giving way to flexible experiences, agents, and chat surfaces that pull answers into the tools your teams already use. Executives want to ask open questions—what’s happening in Japan, where a product stands—and get a directionally correct answer in minutes, not days. Agents are set to automate internal churn like account plans, win wires, and pricing checks, so sellers spend more time with customers and less time in tabs. Jason’s vision is simple and ambitious: make accurate, actionable answers available anywhere, integrate with the stack you have, and scale from pilot wins to trusted operations. If you’re ready to replace hunches with clarity, tune in, share with a teammate, and leave a review so we can keep bringing you conversations that cut through the noise. Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    21 min

  7. 12/22/2025

    How Gifting Pink Socks Sparked A Culture Of Human Connection Across Healthcare And Beyond

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com A bright pair of pink socks walked into HIMSS and walked out as a global symbol of connection. We sit down with Nick Adkins to unpack how a playful gesture turned into 300,000 gifts, a nonprofit rooted in kindness, and a book that invites all of us to love more and fear less. Nick takes us back to 2015, when he and cofounder Andrew Richards skipped the booth, packed a backpack with socks, and discovered the power of intentional gifting to break silos in healthcare. From viral photos and a TEDx talk to collaborations with hospitals, schools, and even astronauts, the Pink Socks movement shows how a small token can open big conversations. The new book, Pink Socks: How A Pair Of Socks Became A Symbol Of Love And Connection, weaves ten years of stories for three audiences: longtime community members, the Pink Socks-curious, and anyone craving a simple path back to empathy. We go inside the moment that changed everything: a raw, post-talk conversation at Stanford’s MedX with a lung transplant recipient whose story turned socks into a practice of holding space. Nick explains why connection, not just connectivity, heals teams and cultures, and how leaders can model empathy in ways that shift entire companies—sometimes starting with a poem. Practical ideas abound: put down the phone, introduce yourself to the person next to you, use a small, visible token to spark dialogue, and watch a tense room—say, a long post office line—soften into patience. If your heart is ready for a clear, human reset, this conversation offers a map. Explore pinksocks.life, discover how the nonprofit supports schools and community projects, and consider gifting the interactive hardcover with QR codes that bring stories to life. If this story resonates, share the episode with a friend, subscribe for more human-centered conversations, and leave a review to help others find us. Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AICan't keep up with AI? We've got you. Everyday AI helps you keep up and get ahead.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    31 min

  8. 12/19/2025

    Build Fast, Govern Faster: The Real Path To Agentic Success

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com What if the secret to scaling AI agents has nothing to do with better prompts and everything to do with smarter integration? We sit down with Rich Waldron Co-founder & CEO of Tray dot ai to unpack how an integration-first architecture turns agent hype into measurable business outcomes. From cloud-native orchestration to resilient API handling, Rich explains why the hardest part of agents isn’t connectivity—it’s everything behind it: concurrency, retries, governance, logging, and security. We dig into the real reasons enterprise pilots stall and the pattern he sees among programs that succeed: IT-led, department-partnered builds with clear ROI, tight scopes, and fast iteration cycles. Rich shares a standout customer story migrating hundreds of integrations off a legacy vendor while launching agentic workflows on a single governed platform—delivering 60% lower integration costs and three times faster builds. Along the way, we explore how engineering teams use AI coding tools to prototype faster and offload grunt work, freeing time for architecture and testing without threatening roles. If you’re choosing where to start, accelerators for ITSM, HR, support, and knowledge make time-to-value tangible and create a structure teams can adapt to proprietary data and processes. We also cover the growing priority of enterprise governance: controlling which tools agents can access, how data moves, and how identities map across systems. Rich outlines Tray’s Agent Gateway for MCP—adding authentication and permissioning and exposing Trey-built tools to other services in a controlled way—so CIOs can move quickly without giving away the keys to the kingdom. Ready to move from pilot to production with confidence? Follow, share, and leave a review to tell us where your organization is on the journey—and what’s blocking your next agent from going live. Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    17 min
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About

Tech Transformation with Evan Kirstel: A podcast exploring the latest trends and innovations in the tech industry, and how businesses can leverage them for growth, diving into the world of B2B, discussing strategies, trends, and sharing insights from industry leaders!With over three decades in telecom and IT, I've mastered the art of transforming social media into a dynamic platform for audience engagement, community building, and establishing thought leadership. My approach isn't about personal brand promotion but about delivering educational and informative content to cultivate a sustainable, long-term business presence. I am the leading content creator in areas like Enterprise AI, UCaaS, CPaaS, CCaaS, Cloud, Telecom, 5G and more!

Information

  • Creator
    Evan Kirstel
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    585
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 TechInfluencer
  • Show Website
    What's Up with Tech?