The Forward Slash Podcast

Callibrity
  • 5.0 (9)
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  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Brought to you by Callibrity, The Forward Slash dives into the world of software engineering, digital transformation, and the future of technology, featuring insights from the people who live and breathe it every day. 

  1. 3D AGO

    /shadow AI: bringing it into the light

    If AI is already embedded in your teams’ workflows, are you leading it — or reacting to it?  This week, Holly Laiveling, CTO at FEG Investment Advisors, shares what enterprise AI adoption really looks like inside complex, regulated environments. As generative AI moves from experiment to everyday tool, we break down how technology leaders can shift from gatekeeper to enabler through practical AI governance, tiered access models, and production-ready guardrails.James and Holly also explore how to buy back time through automation, close the judgment gap, and evolve IT from control center to strategic partner.

    57 min

  2. FEB 11

    /platform engineering: the AI inflection point

    If AI is the future of infrastructure, why does production still feel experimental? Joel Vasallo, Senior Director of Platform Engineering at TAG (The Aspen Group), joins us to explore what AI adoption actually looks like inside real production environments. From agent gateways and MCP servers to AI-assisted monitoring, we discuss the operational tradeoffs, why many pilots never scale, and what it really takes to move from cloud-native to AI-native.

    1h 1m

  3. FEB 4

    /AI productivity: effort vs outcomes

    What happens when AI adoption becomes a leadership challenge, instead of a technology change? This week, James sits down with Nikki Barua, CEO and co-founder of Flipwork, to explore why AI progress often stalls even after real investment. They unpack the growing gap between executive expectations and team readiness, why traditional change management no longer works, and how leaders can rethink identity, value, and work itself in an AI-first era.

    55 min

  4. JAN 28

    /leadership: escaping constant firefighting

    When everything feels urgent, how do you make progress instead of just reacting?In this episode, we talk with Erkang Zheng, founder of JupiterOne and Ariso, about why so many leaders get stuck in reactive mode and what it takes to build systems that hold up under pressure. They explore proactive leadership, lessons from scaling companies, and how AI and better structure can help teams move from constant firefighting to real momentum.

    1h 1m

  5. JAN 21

    /AI impact: still waiting

    If AI is so powerful, why hasn’t it changed your organization the way you expected?In this episode, James sits down with strategy advisor Justin Trombold to unpack why GenAI progress feels slower than promised and why the biggest barriers usually aren’t technical. They explore what organizational readiness really means, how small workflow wins create momentum, when agentic automation is worth the risk, and how to avoid scaling the wrong things too early. A grounded conversation for tech leaders turning experimentation into real impact.

    1h 9m

  6. JAN 14

    /AI analytics: the adoption problem

    Why do AI analytics tools look impressive… but still don’t get used?James Carman talks with Pete Hunt, CEO of Dagster Labs and one of the original engineers behind React, about what it really takes for AI-powered analytics to stick. They unpack why adoption is often the biggest challenge (not accuracy), how bringing analytics into Slack changes decision-making, and what “fast, directionally correct” can unlock when teams trust the path to an answer.

    1h 10m

  7. JAN 7

    /production-ready AI: the prototype trap

    If AI can build a prototype in a day, why does shipping still take months?In this episode, James Carman is joined by David Arenas, a senior technology leader across industrial automation, fintech, and global data platforms. Together, they unpack why AI is accelerating development, but also making the gap between demo and production more expensive. They break down what it takes to ship AI-built work at enterprise scale.

    55 min

  8. 12/31/2025

    /AI on AI: a reality check with chatGPT

    What did we actually learn about AI this year?To close out 2025, James interviews an unexpected guest: ChatGPT. They talk honestly about what teams got wrong, what actually improved, and why AI’s biggest wins came from small workflow shifts — not sweeping transformation. They also dig into software engineering, documentation, onboarding, junior engineers, and what tech leaders will need to operationalize in 2026 as AI becomes a system, not a tool.

    26 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

Brought to you by Callibrity, The Forward Slash dives into the world of software engineering, digital transformation, and the future of technology, featuring insights from the people who live and breathe it every day. 

Information

  • Creator
    Callibrity
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    61
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Callibrity
  • Show Website
    The Forward Slash Podcast