The Tech Talks Daily Podcast Neil C. Hughes

How can a fashion-forward brand like Steve Madden redefine the intersection of style and technology? In this episode of the Tech Talks Daily Podcast, I'm live at Cisco Live, engaging with Steve Madden's top tech minds: Kamran Siddique, VP, CISO & Head of Infrastructure, and Nitin Srivastava, Director of IT Infrastructure & Operations.
We delve into the dynamic world of retail technology and explore how Steve Madden, a brand celebrated for its trendy footwear and accessories, leverages cutting-edge technology to enhance customer experiences worldwide. Despite its traditional association with fashion rather than tech, Steve Madden is making significant strides in integrating technology into its operations, particularly with its recent shift to a new SaaS-based POS system designed for iPads.

During our discussion, Kamran will share insights on the crucial security measures Steve Madden prioritizes to protect customer data and ensure transaction integrity. We'll uncover how the brand maintains a balance between robust security protocols and a seamless user experience, especially in high-traffic retail settings. Furthermore, Kamran will reflect on the evolving role of a CISO in the retail sector, particularly as digital and SaaS-based solutions become more prevalent.

We will also hear about the challenges of aligning IT infrastructure with broader business strategies and the metrics that are pivotal in evaluating the effectiveness of IT security and infrastructure efforts.

Join us as we uncover the technological pulses behind a global fashion giant at one of the biggest tech events of the year. After listening, what do you think are the biggest tech challenges facing the retail industry today? Share your thoughts and join the conversation.

How is technology reshaping the way businesses connect with their customers? Today on Tech Talks Daily, I, Neil Hughes, sit down with Shad Aul, Senior Manager of Network Engineering at Lowe's, to uncover how the home improvement giant is transforming its customer interactions through a groundbreaking collaboration with Cisco.
In our discussion, Shad delves into the strategic shift from a traditional on-premise solution to a unified SaaS platform using Cisco Webex Contact Center. This bold move not only streamlines operations across 25 business units and accommodates 8,781 agents but also plays a pivotal role in reducing Lowe's IT overheads and licensing costs significantly. With over 1 million customer calls handled seamlessly in the first quarter of 2024 alone, Lowe's exemplifies how scalability and reliability in technology can lead to superior customer service.
Moreover, we explore how this technological overhaul is not just about efficiency but also enhancing customer satisfaction through a seamless omnichannel experience that meets evolving consumer expectations. Shad shares insights on the integration of advanced AI applications, set to redefine the future of customer engagements and drive Lowe’s forward in attracting top-tier tech talent.
Join us as we discuss the intricacies of implementing such extensive changes without interrupting business flow and the ongoing benefits of Cisco's Lifecycle Services in speeding up the realization of business value through AI-driven outcomes.
What could this mean for the future of retail and customer service? Share your thoughts and join the conversation as we delve into the intersection of innovation, customer satisfaction, and business growth.

In this episode, we explore the exciting developments in space technology with Liz Seward, Head of Space Strategy and Market Development at BAE Systems. 
With a background in business development, marketing, thermal engineering, and mission systems engineering, Liz has worked on notable projects such as the ExoMars rover and a mission to return a sample from an asteroid. She is also a prominent figure in Women in Aerospace Europe and the International Astronautical Federation.
Our conversation begins with an introduction to the role of space in defense, emphasizing the need for earth observation and near-real-time intelligence for multi-domain operations. Liz explains how space technology provides critical capabilities for global monitoring, weather forecasting, mapping, and communications, all essential for modern defense strategies.
We delve into BAE Systems' re-entry into the space sector after 20 years, highlighting the Azalea project. Azalea is a groundbreaking initiative combining multiple sensors and machine learning for faster data analysis. It uses software-defined radios, synthetic aperture radar, and onboard processing to fuse multi-sensor data such as RF, radar, and optical, providing actionable insights rapidly. This project aims to reduce the time from data capture to useful information for operators, marking a significant advancement in earth observation capabilities.
Liz also discusses the future of space innovation, focusing on dual-use capabilities that serve both defense and civilian needs. She shares insights on software-defined satellites that can be reprogrammed to meet different use cases securely and the UK’s efforts to establish supportive regulations around space sustainability and debris mitigation.
A critical aspect of our discussion is the urgent need for talent development in the new space age. Liz introduces BAE Systems' launch of the UK's first-ever space engineering apprenticeship program. This initiative aims to build a talent pipeline by combining part-time work at BAE with a part-time engineering degree from the University of Portsmouth. The program seeks to attract passionate individuals eager to work on hands-on space projects, including the Azalea project.
Throughout the episode, Liz provides a comprehensive view of how BAE Systems measures success, both in delivering new capabilities to key customers like the UK government and in providing solutions internationally to allied countries. For the Azalea project, success is defined by its ability to offer step-change earth observation capabilities.
Join us as we uncover the innovative strategies and projects at BAE Systems that are set to shape the future of space technology. How is your organization preparing for advancements in space capabilities? Share your thoughts and join the conversation.

In this episode, I sit down with Martin Reynolds, the Field CTO at Harness, to explore the rise of platform engineering as developers strive to accelerate digital innovation amidst rising costs and tightened budgets. Martin sheds light on the importance of internal developer portals (IDPs) in this evolving landscape. He argues that IDPs are crucial for ensuring developers can build at scale without increasing toil, especially given the rising complexity of software delivery pipelines in the cloud-native era.
IDPs provide developers with a single pane of glass, allowing access to the necessary capabilities and infrastructure to deploy code and manage services efficiently. Much like how a bank’s customers need not worry about the backend processes when making a deposit, an IDP encapsulates the development infrastructure, enabling developers to focus solely on writing and committing code rather than getting bogged down by complex deployment processes.
Martin discusses how this trend is set to further disrupt the developer experience and accelerate transformation in 2024. He highlights that platform engineering helps solve non-coding tasks (toil) by providing a reliable, secure platform with automated pipelines for quick and consistent software delivery. This approach allows developers to focus on coding, thereby enhancing productivity and innovation.
We delve into how IDPs act as a gateway and orchestrator for all developer tools, tasks, and resources, offering visibility into existing services, security, and costs. This prevents reinventing the wheel and allows for self-service access to tooling, infrastructure, and pipelines, ultimately enabling more agile and rapid delivery compared to traditional environments.
Martin emphasizes the benefits of IDPs, such as improved productivity, accelerated innovation, and reduced onboarding time for new developers. However, successful adoption of IDPs requires treating developers as customers, understanding their needs, and integrating familiar tools to provide a seamless experience.
Looking ahead, Martin envisions a future where AI assistants augment IDPs, providing contextual information and recommendations without replacing developers. The goal is to shift information left, ensuring developers have the right context at the right time to make informed decisions.
Join us as we uncover how platform engineering and IDPs are revolutionizing the developer experience, driving digital transformation, and shaping the future of software delivery. How are you adapting to these changes in your development processes? Share your thoughts and join the conversation.




 

What real-world impact is AI having on businesses today? How do we measure its success? These are the questions we are exploring at the Experience 2024 event by Genesis in Denver, Colorado. Amid the buzz about AI, I want to dig deeper and uncover tangible examples of its business value.
In this episode, I speak with Louise Phillips, Vice President of Customer Centres at Virgin Atlantic, and Michael Johnson, Operational Change Manager at Virgin Atlantic. They reveal how Virgin Atlantic is leveraging AI to revolutionize customer and employee experiences. They also share remarkable outcomes such as a 25-point improvement in customer satisfaction and a 12-point increase in employee happiness within just a year.
We explore how AI is used to create smarter, more cohesive experiences, including the implementation of predictive routing, voice segmentation bots, and bot flows. Louise and Michael explain how these technologies have transformed Virgin Atlantic's customer journey, particularly for transatlantic routes, and how they've allowed the company to quantify and improve service.
They also discuss future advancements, such as Agent Assist and predictive engagement, that promise to further enhance operations and customer experiences. As the event concludes, they reflect on their partnership with Genesys and the exciting potential of AI.
Join us as we dive into the real-world impact of AI on business, the measurable successes, and the future possibilities. How do you see AI shaping the future of business? Share your thoughts and join the conversation.
 

In this episode, we dive into the evolving landscape of AI integration and security with Kara Sprague, Chief Product Officer and EVP at F5. IDC predicts that by 2025, organizations will allocate over 40% of their core IT spend to artificial intelligence-related initiatives. Just as enterprises raced to the cloud, companies today are scrambling to integrate AI into their IT architecture. The challenge? They must cut existing IT costs to remain competitive.
We discuss how companies need to implement AI technology quickly and reliably while fending off new cybersecurity threats created by AI. Managing the cost and complexity proves challenging for IT budgets. In previous years, IT leaders rushed to onboard cloud services, only to struggle with network complexity and cloud spend. To avoid repeating these mistakes, enterprises must streamline and conserve IT spend to power and protect their AI-based applications and APIs across various environments—be it the edge, cloud, or on-premises.
Kara shares insights on the growing wave of companies reallocating resources to use AI to strengthen and protect their AI-based applications and APIs. She highlights how F5 customers utilize F5’s new AI-based distributed cloud services to support and secure their AI-based apps and APIs across every IT environment.
During our conversation, we delve into the crisis and complexity enterprises face with hybrid multi-cloud environments. Apps are now spread across multiple locations, including multiple clouds, SaaS, edge locations, and corporate data centers, increasing operational complexity. This dispersion brings higher costs from siloed operations and inefficient traffic routing, while expanding the API attack surface creates significant security risks.
Kara explains how AI will drive more apps, APIs, and associated security risks, necessitating architectural changes to manage these hybrid environments effectively. F5 aims to simplify hybrid multi-cloud management with consistent policies across different environments, making the integration process seamless and secure.
We also explore how F5 provides consistent capabilities and flexibility across on-premises, cloud, and SaaS deployment models, ensuring that organizations can maintain robust security and performance. Kara discusses the unique solutions F5 offers for API and distributed cloud security, addressing the growing need for a different approach to securing APIs compared to traditional web apps.
One of the critical aspects we cover is how F5 helps protect against AI-powered threats, such as malicious bots, with advanced anti-bot solutions. Kara highlights the importance of developing new security capabilities tailored to the unique vulnerabilities of AI models and services. We reflect on lessons learned from the complexities of cloud adoption and emphasize the need for architectural intent to avoid similar challenges with AI integration.
Additionally, Kara shares how F5’s Distributed Cloud solutions simplify networking across environments, significantly reducing appliance upgrade times from hours to minutes. This streamlining of processes allows organizations to focus more on innovation and less on operational burdens.
As we look to the future, Kara expresses excitement about the promise and challenges of AI. While AI presents a tremendous opportunity to accelerate digital capabilities, it also requires rethinking architectures and security strategies to manage the associated complexity effectively.
Join us as we uncover the real-world impact of AI on IT architecture, the critical importance of API security, and the future of hybrid multi-cloud environments. How are you preparing for the integration of AI in your business? Share your thoughts and join the conversation.