Utilizing Tech - The Podcast Series about New and Emerging Technologies

Tech Field Day | Futurum Media

Utilizing Tech is a seasonal podcast series that explores new, emerging, and practical technology in the modern enterprise. Each season spotlights an emerging area: three seasons on AI, plus dedicated seasons on CXL and Edge. Season Six revisited AI, while Seasons Seven and Eight—presented by Solidigm—examined AI Data Infrastructure and AI at the Edge. Season Nine turns to Agentic AI. Season 10 is presented by HPE.

  1. 11/24/2025

    09x09: AI Gets Personal with Agents Acting on Our Behalf

    Agentic AI is an autonomous system that learns, adapts, and uses tools on the behalf of its users. This final episode of Season 9 of Utilizing Tech brings hosts Stephen Foskett, Frederic Van Haren, and Guy Currier together to reflect on the lessons we've learned over the last few months. AI keeps advancing incredibly rapidly, and we timed this season with the emergence of practical agentic AI platforms, AI Field Day 7, and a report on enterprise AI from The Futurum Group. During the conversation, the panel references Kamiwaza, Articul8, ApertureData, NetApp, Perplexity, OpenAI, and more. Agents have to be personal, focused yet flexible, and capable of integrating with each other, data, and tools. We also discussed the need for platforms, with companies like OpenAI and Microsoft positioning themselves to be the platform for AI applications even as enterprise software companies like ServiceNow and Salesforce are trying to do the same. We also have many companies developing platforms for orchestration and operation of AI, and data platforms designed to support agents. Ultimately, agentic AI will be a core capability of next-generation applications, with autonomous agents interacting with tools and helping us perform daily tasks. Hosts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephen Foskett⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, President of the Tech Field Day Business Unit and Organizer of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tech Field Day Event Series⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Frederic Van Haren⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Founder and CTO of HighFens, Inc. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Guy Currier⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Chief Analyst at Visible Impact, The Futurum Group. For more episodes of Utilizing Tech, head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the dedicated website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and follow the show ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on X/Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    09x09: AI Gets Personal with Agents Acting on Our Behalf

  2. 11/17/2025

    09x08: A Realistic Approach to Agentic AI with Nick Patience of The Futurum Group

    As customers try to figure out how to present data to Agentic AI applications, many of them are realizing that it’s time for the storage infrastructure team to step up and take a seat at the table. In this episode of Utilizing Tech, recorded live at NetApp Insight in Las Vegas, hosts Stephen Foskett and Guy Currier from The Futurum Group sit down with Ingo Fuchs, Chief Technologist for AI at NetApp, to explore the critical role of data infrastructure in supporting enterprise AI and agentic AI applications. As organizations move AI workloads into production, traditional infrastructures—especially storage teams—must take a more active role in enabling performance, efficiency, and governance. Ingo emphasizes the emerging needs for data quality, control, compliance, and currency, particularly as AI agents begin making decisions and interacting with sensitive enterprise data. The conversation highlights how NetApp’s capabilities, such as AI Data Engine and native infrastructure integrations, enable real-time data pipeline management, enforce guardrails, and ensure consistent and secure data delivery. This shift represents a transformative intersection of storage, infrastructure, and AI operations, paving the way for scalable and reliable enterprise AI solutions. Guest: Nick Patience, VP and Practice Lead for AI at The Futurum Group Hosts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephen Foskett⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, President of the Tech Field Day Business Unit and Organizer of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tech Field Day Event Series⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Frederic Van Haren⁠⁠⁠⁠, Founder and CTO of HighFens, Inc. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Guy Currier⁠⁠⁠⁠, Chief Analyst at Visible Impact, The Futurum Group. For more episodes of Utilizing Tech, head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the dedicated website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and follow the show ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on X/Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    09x08: A Realistic Approach to Agentic AI with Nick Patience of The Futurum Group

  3. 11/10/2025

    09x07: Achieving Business Outcomes using Agentic AI with Luke Norris of Kamiwaza AI

    Although there's a lot of skepticism around generative AI, companies are finding incredible practical uses for these new capabilities. This episode of Utilizing Tech brings Luke Norris of Kamiwaza to discuss business outcomes that can be achieved by AI applications with hosts Guy Currier and Stephen Foskett. Agentic AI is an autonomous system that has a schedule, and action, or an interface to interact with it. Apps should represent the data rather than vice versa, so a dashboard should reconfigure and recompute to serve the needs of a user. Kamiwaza recently announced a capability to make applications accessible to people with disabilities, and this represents the kind of real-world benefit that can be delivered by AI. They previously worked with NOAA to make historic data more accessible to modern users. Luke Norris, CEO and Founder of Kamiwaza AI Hosts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephen Foskett⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, President of the Tech Field Day Business Unit and Organizer of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tech Field Day Event Series⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Frederic Van Haren⁠⁠⁠⁠, Founder and CTO of HighFens, Inc. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Guy Currier⁠⁠⁠⁠, Chief Analyst at Visible Impact, The Futurum Group. For more episodes of Utilizing Tech, head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the dedicated website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and follow the show ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on X/Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    09x07: Achieving Business Outcomes using Agentic AI with Luke Norris of Kamiwaza AI

  4. 11/03/2025

    09x06: AI Agents are Coming to the Real World with Olivier Blanchard of the Futurum Group

    We are surrounded by intelligent devices and these increasingly use various AI interfaces and processing capabilities to support the needs of users. This episode of Utilizing Tech focuses on edge AI and AI assistants and agents with Olivier Blanchard of The Futurum Group along with Frederic Van Haren and Stephen Foskett. We have all used so-called intelligent assistants, starting with Apple Siri and Amazon Alexa and continuing with Google, Microsoft, and many others. These voice interfaces are increasingly functioning as agents, connecting with various data sources and tools to perform tasks on the behalf of the user. AI assistants have arrived at the same overall paradigm as AI agents, and there is an inevitable crossover between these technologies, as the best of breed components are adopted. The needs of AI assistants has also lead to an increase in availability of specialized processing on PCs and even personal devices, and this helps offload the tremendous need for power and space of AI applications. Guest: Olivier Blanchard, Research Director at The Futurum Group Hosts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephen Foskett⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, President of the Tech Field Day Business Unit and Organizer of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tech Field Day Event Series⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Frederic Van Haren⁠⁠⁠, Founder and CTO of HighFens, Inc. ⁠⁠⁠Guy Currier⁠⁠⁠, Chief Analyst at Visible Impact, The Futurum Group. For more episodes of Utilizing Tech, head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the dedicated website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and follow the show ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on X/Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    09x06: AI Agents are Coming to the Real World with Olivier Blanchard of the Futurum Group

  5. 10/27/2025

    09x05: The Role of Data Infrastructure in Enterprise AI with Ingo Fuchs of NetApp

    As customers try to figure out how to present data to Agentic AI applications, many of them are realizing that it’s time for the storage infrastructure team to step up and take a seat at the table. In this episode of Utilizing Tech, recorded live at NetApp Insight in Las Vegas, hosts Stephen Foskett and Guy Currier from The Futurum Group sit down with Ingo Fuchs, Chief Technologist for AI at NetApp, to explore the critical role of data infrastructure in supporting enterprise AI and agentic AI applications. As organizations move AI workloads into production, traditional infrastructures—especially storage teams—must take a more active role in enabling performance, efficiency, and governance. Ingo emphasizes the emerging needs for data quality, control, compliance, and currency, particularly as AI agents begin making decisions and interacting with sensitive enterprise data. The conversation highlights how NetApp’s capabilities, such as AI Data Engine and native infrastructure integrations, enable real-time data pipeline management, enforce guardrails, and ensure consistent and secure data delivery. This shift represents a transformative intersection of storage, infrastructure, and AI operations, paving the way for scalable and reliable enterprise AI solutions.' Guest: Ingo Fuchs, Chief Technologist of AI at NetApp Hosts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephen Foskett⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, President of the Tech Field Day Business Unit and Organizer of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tech Field Day Event Series⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Frederic Van Haren⁠⁠⁠⁠, Founder and CTO of HighFens, Inc. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Guy Currier⁠⁠⁠⁠, Chief Analyst at Visible Impact, The Futurum Group. For more episodes of Utilizing Tech, head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the dedicated website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and follow the show ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on X/Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    09x05: The Role of Data Infrastructure in Enterprise AI with Ingo Fuchs of NetApp

  6. 10/20/2025

    09x04: Bringing Agentic AI to Production with Articul8

    Most generative AI work has been fairly general purpose to date, but it is far more effective to develop expert models focused on specific industries. This episode of Utilizing Tech features Arun Subramaniyan, founder and CEO of Articul8 AI, in conversation with Guy Currier and Stephen Foskett. According to Arun, an agent is a model with a set of tools plus data that has agency to be called and interact with other agents. If these agents are domain-specific they can perform tasks more effectively than general purpose agents at certain points in this chain. Agentic AI is able to accomplish tasks previously thought impossible, and these systems keep improving. But people remain responsible for using and managing these systems. Costs can rise significantly if AI is used improper, but it is possible to deploy it profitably. Companies that can combine domain expertise with a novel AI-powered application are breaking free from the pack. Guest: Arun Subramaniyan, CEO and Founder of Articul8 AI Hosts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephen Foskett⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, President of the Tech Field Day Business Unit and Organizer of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tech Field Day Event Series⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Frederic Van Haren⁠⁠⁠, Founder and CTO of HighFens, Inc. ⁠⁠⁠Guy Currier⁠⁠⁠, Chief Analyst at Visible Impact, The Futurum Group. For more episodes of Utilizing Tech, head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the dedicated website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and follow the show ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on X/Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    09x04: Bringing Agentic AI to Production with Articul8

  7. 10/13/2025

    09x03: Bringing Agentic AI Applications to Market with Brad Shimmin of The Futurum Group

    From the very first episode of this podcast back in 2020, we've been focused on practical applications for AI technology, and we're starting to see these come to market with agentic tools. This episode of Utilizing Tech features Brad Shimmin, VP and Practice Lead for Data and Analytics at The Futurum Group discussing the ways AI is gaining autonomy with hosts Frederic Van Haren of HighFens and Stephen Foskett, organizer of AI Field Day. Agentic AI is all about autonomy, leveraging generative AI to perform actions on our behalf. There are many different types of agentic AI components, ranging from tools for data and analytics, connections and processes for integrating data, and end-user agents. Increasingly, model context protocol (MCP) is used to specify the capabilities and data for each of these tools, enabling them to work together as part of an agentic process. Frameworks like agent2agent (A2A) enable these components to work together. And models are becoming true platforms to serve the needs of users. Companies like OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Mistral are transforming their models into real agentic platforms, while Salesforce, Microsoft, Oracle, Google, and more are trying to support their business customers with Agentic AI. The Futurum Group is addressing this market with their new Signal reports, including a forthcoming one focused on agentic AI. Guest: Brad Shimmin, VP and Practice Lead, Data and Analytics at The Futurum Group Hosts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephen Foskett⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, President of the Tech Field Day Business Unit and Organizer of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tech Field Day Event Series⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Frederic Van Haren⁠⁠, Founder and CTO of HighFens, Inc. ⁠⁠Guy Currier⁠⁠, Chief Analyst at Visible Impact, The Futurum Group. For more episodes of Utilizing Tech, head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the dedicated website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and follow the show ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on X/Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    09x03: Bringing Agentic AI Applications to Market with Brad Shimmin of The Futurum Group

  8. 10/06/2025

    09x02: Moving Beyond Text for Agentic AI Applications with ApertureData

    Our online interactions include audio, video, and sensor data, but most AI applications are still focused on text. This episode of Utilizing Tech considers how we can integrate multimodal data with agentic applications with Vishakha Gupta, founder and CEO of ApertureData, Frederic Van Haren of HighFens, and Stephen Foskett of Tech Field Day. After decades of developing AI models to process spoken word, images, video, and other multimodal data, the ascendance of large language models has largely focused on text. This is changing, as AI applications are increasingly leveraging multimodal data, including text, audio, video, and sensors. Many agentic applications still pass data as structured or unstructured text, but it is possible to use multimedia data as well, for example passing a clip of a video from agent to agent if the system has true multimodal understanding. Enterprise applications are moving beyond text to include voice and video, data in PDFs like charts and diagrams, medical sensors and images, and more. Guest: Vishakha Gupta, CEO and Founder, ApertureData Hosts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephen Foskett⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, President of the Tech Field Day Business Unit and Organizer of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tech Field Day Event Series⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Frederic Van Haren⁠, Founder and CTO of HighFens, Inc. ⁠Guy Currier⁠, Chief Analyst at Visible Impact, The Futurum Group. For more episodes of Utilizing Tech, head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the dedicated website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and follow the show ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on X/Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    09x02: Moving Beyond Text for Agentic AI Applications with ApertureData
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About

Utilizing Tech is a seasonal podcast series that explores new, emerging, and practical technology in the modern enterprise. Each season spotlights an emerging area: three seasons on AI, plus dedicated seasons on CXL and Edge. Season Six revisited AI, while Seasons Seven and Eight—presented by Solidigm—examined AI Data Infrastructure and AI at the Edge. Season Nine turns to Agentic AI. Season 10 is presented by HPE.

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