The TechEd Podcast

Matt Kirchner
  • 5.0 (42)
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

The TechEd Podcast sits at the intersection of technology, industry, innovation and the people who make progress possible. Hosted by Matt Kirchner, each episode features builders, executives, educators, and policymakers shaping what’s next—AI, automation, advanced manufacturing, energy, and the systems behind them. If you care about the future of work, the future of tech, and how talent actually gets built, you’re in the right place.

  1. 3D AGO

    Ask Us Anything: STEM Access, Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills & Lessons from the Manhattan Project

    Are employers hurting themselves by only asking for 'soft skills' and ignoring their real technical needs? How can homeschool students get the same access to STEM labs as students in traditional schools? And what can education leaders learn from the way the Manhattan Project mobilized talent and innovation to solve an enormous problem? These questions (and more!) came directly from the you, and we're answering them on this episode of Ask Us Anything. Entrepreneurship, career strategy, workforce skills, and the rapidly evolving role of AI in modern organizations - we cover them all! In this episode: The best times to take entrepreneurial risksWhy your professional network is probably bigger than you thinkThe "soft skills" issue and why employers are actually hurting themselves by asking educators to teach themRapid-fire real examples of AI being used in business3 Big Takeaways from this Episode: 1.Early-career risk can be an advantage for entrepreneurs. Matt explains that early in your career the consequences of failure are often much smaller, which makes it an ideal time to experiment with starting a business or pursuing a bold opportunity. With fewer financial obligations and more flexibility, young professionals often have the greatest ability to take meaningful risks. 2. Industry is hurting itself by only asking schools for soft skills instead of technical ones. Businesses frequently tell educators they want graduates who communicate well, collaborate, and show initiative. So why is industry so shocked that there aren't enough students with any technical background or interest? Employers: take a look at your job postings and start asking education to teach all the skills for those jobs: soft and technical (hard) skills alike. 3. Private schools have a unique opportunity to innovate in STEM education. Because they often have more flexibility than traditional public systems, private schools can move quickly to adopt emerging technologies, modern equipment, and new instructional models. That freedom creates an opportunity to design programs that expose students to advanced STEM fields earlier and more creatively. Resources in this Episode: Jack Dorsey’s Block to Lay Off 40% of Its Workforce in AI RemakeOppenheimer movieDeveloping an AI Strategy: Best Practices for Business Leaders - Todd Wanek, CEO of Ashley Furniture IndustriesUsing AI to Build Better Relationships with Your Network - Canay Deniz, CEO of RenMore notes & resources on the episode page! We want to hear from you! Send us a text. Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

    44 min

  2. MAR 10

    Design, Diagnosis and Data: Where AI Is Already Reshaping the Skilled Trades - Dr. Andrew Neuendorf, Associate Dean at DMACC

    What does the rise of AI mean for technical programs? Surprisingly, it's not a new concept to CTE fields. It is embedded in robotics, automation, diagnostics, and data modeling across modern manufacturing facilities today. In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, Matt Kirchner sits down with Dr. Andrew Neuendorf, Associate Dean of Manufacturing, Engineering, Trades, and Transportation at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC), to explore what applied AI actually means inside CTE programs and why education must move beyond generative AI. With a background in English and the humanities, Andrew offers a rare perspective on how artificial intelligence is perceived differently across academic disciplines. From robotics labs to industrial technician programs, he explains where AI has already been embedded for years, where disruption is coming next, and how community colleges can respond with clarity rather than panic. From design software disruption to AI-assisted troubleshooting and entry-level data modeling skills, this conversation will help technical educators think about applied artificial intelligence in their programs. In this episode: Why robotics and automation programs have been teaching AI longer than they realizeThe hidden risk inside CAD and design-heavy technical pathwaysHow students are using AI to troubleshoot equipment faster than faculty expectWhy the “trades are safe from AI” narrative may be dangerously simplisticWhy competency-based education might be a better model in this AI-driven world3 Big Takeaways from this Episode: 1. Applied AI has already been embedded in CTE for years. Robotics vision systems, PLC-driven automation, driver-assist sensors, and predictive maintenance models have quietly trained students in machine intelligence long before generative AI dominated headlines. The difference today is scale and accessibility, not the existence of AI itself. 2. The future disruption isn’t blue collar versus white collar — it’s discipline by discipline. Andrew argues that assuming the trades are immune to AI disruption is a strategic mistake, particularly in design-heavy roles like CAD and digital modeling. Education must evaluate AI’s impact at the skill level rather than rely on outdated workforce categories. 3. Students may lead the applied AI shift inside technical programs. From uploading robot manuals into NotebookLM to accelerating troubleshooting in automation labs, students are modeling AI-assisted problem solving in real time. Institutions that recognize this and structure learning around it will move faster than those focused solely on policing its use. Resources in this Episode: Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn Other resources: "Something Big is Happening" by Matt SchumerJensen Huang (NVIDIA) CES KeynoteSix Days in China: The Speed, Scale and Strategy Outpacing U.S. Innovation - Todd Wanek, CEO of Ashley FurnitureTry Google's NotWe want to hear from you! Send us a text. Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

    54 min

  3. MAR 3

    The Rise of Verified Skills: How Trusted Credentials Create Real Workforce Value - Kathleen McNally, CEO of NOCTI

    The labor market is evolving faster than traditional signals of competence can keep up. Roles are shifting, technology is accelerating, and employers are searching for clearer ways to identify real capability. In that environment, degrees remain valuable, but verified skills are becoming increasingly central to hiring and advancement. In a marketplace now saturated with more than a million credentials, clarity has become the differentiator. Some credentials function as marketing tools. Others function as infrastructure for trust. The difference lies in independence, rigor, defensibility, and industry validation. In this conversation with Kathleen McNally, CEO of NOCTI, we explore how high-quality third-party credentials create reliable signals for employers, meaningful exit value for learners, and actionable tools for educators. From ISO-backed certification standards to performance testing and stackable micro-credentials, this episode reframes credentials as essential infrastructure for a more agile, skills-driven economy. In this Episode: Why employers are shifting from degree-first to skills-aware hiringWhat separates a participation badge from a legally defensible certificationHow micro-credentials create flexibility without sacrificing rigorHow “exit value” changes the way we think about graduationWhy performance-based assessment strengthens workforce confidence3 Big Takeaways 1. Verified credentials are strengthening the signal in a fast-moving labor market. As job roles evolve more quickly than traditional degree cycles, employers are seeking precise indicators of job-ready capability. Third-party certifications developed with national industry input provide measurable proof of occupational and technical competency. 2. Quality and independence determine whether a credential carries real weight. With more than a million credentials available, rigor is what separates noise from trust. ISO-aligned, legally defensible certifications built through independent subject matter experts reduce hiring risk and create consistency across regions and employers. 3. Micro-credentials are enabling lifelong learning with structure and momentum. Stackable certifications allow learners to document specific competencies at any stage of their career. Whether entering the workforce, reskilling mid-career, or adding new capabilities such as AI literacy, credentials create flexible on-ramps and sustained pathways for advancemen We want to hear from you! Send us a text. Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

    59 min

  4. FEB 24

    For Young Professionals, Workplace Courtesy Is No Longer a Given

    Over the past several years, many leaders have noticed a subtle but meaningful shift inside their organizations: the erosion of basic workplace courtesies, particularly from younger employees new to the professional workplace. Not misconduct; not ethical lapses. But something more subtle. Employees announcing time off instead of requesting it. Cameras off in meetings. Missed meetings treated casually. Messages left unanswered for a day or more. Delegating up. Matt Kirchner addresses these patterns directly, sharing firsthand stories from his own companies and examining what has changed in professional norms, and why. This is not a critique of younger employees. We're all for promoting emerging leaders and believe early-career professionals bring energy, ambition, and a willingness to attempt what others might dismiss. But many of these individuals also entered the workforce after losing formative years of in-person education, internships, and social development during COVID-era isolation. As a result, expectations that once felt intuitive often now require explicit instruction. This episode explores specific areas where standards are slipping and explains how organizations can reestablish expectations without embarrassment or blame. Matt closes with a practical framework for addressing unprofessional behavior consistently and constructively, with the goal of strengthening culture rather than policing it. Listen to Learn: The workplace behaviors that are quietly reshaping organizational cultureHow pandemic disruptions affected professional social developmentWhy virtual meeting norms have outsized cultural impactWhat “delegating up” reveals about accountability and ownershipA structured approach for restoring workplace standards without alienating newer employeesResources in this Episode: Read the article in Products Finishing: "Relearning Common Courtesies in the Workplace" Follow Matt on LinkedIn View more resources on the episode page! We want to hear from you! Send us a text. Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

    26 min

  5. FEB 17

    Career Exploration Without Barriers: A Middle & High School J-Term Experiment - Josh Davis & Melissa Phillips, Camanche CSD

    Imagine giving middle and high school students a full week to explore careers without grades, homework, or “regular” classes. That’s the core idea behind Camanche Community School District's J-term: a dedicated pause in the academic grind that turns school into a career-exploration lab, where 5th-12th grade students can test-drive career fields, build confidence, and discover options they didn’t even know existed.  That's right: J-term is no longer only reserved for the college experience. What makes this model so compelling is the way it engages students & teachers in a way that the traditional classroom never could. Middle and High School Principals Melissa Phillips and Josh Davis saw higher engagement and clearer direction in this real-world, hands-on week of learning. You see it in the outcomes and reactions: the high school generated 100+ internships, the middle school reported zero office referrals that week, attendance hit a high-water mark, and the community showed up in force. In this episode: Why a “no grades, no homework” week can reveal a different version of students and teachers.How J-term creates equity in exposure by removing barriers families can’t always overcome on their own. Why employers and community partners are more likely to say “yes” to short, high-impact experiences than longer commitments. How a J-term can reshape course choices and future plans, helping students move from “I don’t know” to a real next step. 3 Big Takeaways from this Episode: 1. A grades-free, hands-on week can encourage a different level of student engagement. At the middle school, they saw zero office referrals and “not one student” sent down for behavior during J-term. The deeper lesson is that when the goal shifts from performance to exploration, more students lean in because the experience finally matches how they learn best.  2. J-term is an equity play because it reduces the “who you know” advantage. The high school framed it explicitly as removing barriers for families who “don’t have the means” or the pathway to get students these opportunities on their own. Guardrails like requiring internships not be at a student’s current job help ensure the week is about new exposure, not just extending what already exists.  3. Short, real-world exposure can change trajectories faster than a semester of coursework. One student had such a strong internship experience that she reworked her schedule to keep going back, and it shifted her likely postsecondary plan toward education. The big insight is that a one-week “test drive” creates clarity either way, helping students confirm a direction or rule one out while the stakes are still low.  Resources in this Episode: Read about Camanche CSD's J-Term week Visit Camanche CSD See more on the episode page! We want to hear from you! Send us a text. Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

    47 min

  6. FEB 10

    You Don't Have a Data Problem. You Have an Intelligence Problem - The Hive Health

    Your organization doesn’t have a data problem. It has an intelligence problem: the gap between having information and being able to act on it with speed, clarity, and confidence. That gap shows up everywhere: hospitals, schools, manufacturers, and any team drowning in dashboards while leaders still wait on someone to “find the story.” Rick Anderson (Chairman & CEO, The Hive Health) is back to show just how much AI has impacted one organization in 12 months. Enter Corby Furrer (Harvard AI fellow, builder since college) and Will Furrer (former NFL quarterback turned COO). Together, they've built what they call a "trade intelligence platform" - not another analytics tool, but a system that encodes economic expectations, reconciles them against purchasing reality in real-time, and tells people exactly what action to take when behavior drifts off course. Intelligence isn't about regression models anymore. It's about knowing what "good looks like," verifying AI assumptions through human-in-the-loop, and translating observations into stories that change behavior when delivered by the people who speak the right language (physician to physician, engineer to engineer, teacher to teacher, not consultant to administrator). Sustainable change requires three legs: understanding the rules of the game, seeing what's actually happening (not what's supposed to happen), and coaching insights through stakeholders who can shift behavior. AI scales when it creates shared clarity people can validate and act on repeatedly, not when it generates reports that collect dust behind the CEO's desk. In this episode: Why your organization can have endless dashboards and still lack decision-grade intelligence. What must be true for leaders to trust AI results enough to act on them. How a data observation becomes a story for the change agent that actually drives behavior change. How coding and product building changes when AI can generate code, and why knowing “what good looks like” matters.Why one-time improvements fade, and what it takes to build a repeatable system.3 Big Takeaways from this Episode: 1. Decision-grade intelligence starts with clear expectations and a next action. The bridge from data to intelligence = what should happen, reconciling it against what is happening, and using that gap to drive the next corrective step. The takeaway is widely applicable: if you cannot state the intended economic or operational outcome, you cannot reliably diagnose variance or drive consistent performance. 2. If the improvement is not repeatable, it is not a solution. Build a system that codifies the work, monitors performance against targets, and keeps savings from reverting once the project ends. The real value in AI projects is durable behavior change and ongoing detection of the next opportunity, not a one-time finding. 3. Insights only matter when they are delivered to the change agent as a story that drives action. A data observation has to become a narrative that the person who can change the behavior will actually respond to. In the AI era, that elevates a specific skill stack: storytelling, curiosity, and building, because trust and adoption live or die in communication and execution, not in the existence of a model.  Links & resources We want to hear from you! Send us a text. Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

    1h 2m

  7. FEB 3

    Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Energy Dominance, Critical Minerals, and Intelligence Factories

    The U.S. Department of the Interior manages the nation’s most consequential assets—public lands and waters, energy resources, and critical minerals—making it a crucial center for AI capabilities, national security, and workforce opportunity. In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, host Matt Kirchner sits down with Doug Burgum, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, to connect the dots between Interior's responsibilities and the next generation of innovation in the U.S. Today, Interior manages 500 million acres of public land, plus subsurface and undersea resources, territories, and the nation’s historic sites, national parks, Fish & Wildlife, and offshore energy footprint. All of those resources are tied to America's opportunity to innovate in areas like artificial intelligence. Secretary Burgum frames AI data centers as “intelligence factories”, industrial-scale facilities that convert electricity into intelligence, and argues the next wave of competitiveness will be decided by scalable energy and the materials supply chain behind it. We get into rare earth minerals, nuclear power, the tech and energy race with China, and the opportunities for today's students to pursue cutting-edge careers. The episode also widens the lens to the country’s long-term innovation narrative. Burgum ties today’s tech inflection point to America 250 and the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library—a reminder that public lands, history, and national ambition can be part of how we inspire the next generation to build. In this episode: The shift from AI as software to AI as physical infrastructure — and why land, power, and materials suddenly matterWhy data centers are becoming “intelligence factories” — and what that changes about how AI scalesThe truth about rare earth minerals — (why they aren’t actually "rare") and why processing is the real bottleneckThe nuclear energy race with China — and why speed, not discovery, is the deciding factorWhere the real career opportunities are emerging — far beyond software, deep into energy, minerals, and infrastructureResources in this Episode: Visit the U.S. Department of the Interior More resources from this episode: Bureau of Indian EducationTheodore Roosevelt Presidential LibraryMore notes & resources on the episode page! https://techedpodcast.com/burgum2 We want to hear from you! Send us a text. Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

    52 min

  8. JAN 27

    Cultural Mapping: How to Build Trust and Influence In Your Organization - Dr. Ben Johnson and Bobby Dodd

    Most leaders have a vision, a plan, and the authority to move it forward, but real momentum shows up when you understand how culture is being shaped through trust and influence behind the scenes. Host Matt Kirchner sits down with Dr. Ben Johnson, Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Schools at Bismarck Public Schools, and Bobby Dodd, Assistant Principal at May River High School, co-authors of Intentional Influence. They break down how influence really spreads inside an organization, in schools, in business, and in industry, and why the people with the most impact are often not the ones with the biggest titles. At the center of the conversation is their cultural mapping framework—making the invisible influence network visible. You’ll hear how to identify formal and informal influencers, classify commitment on a five-point scale, and invest your time where it will actually shift the culture instead of just managing noise. In this episode: How to move a team from compliance to commitment—without pressure, politics, or performative buy-inWhy “trust is the currency of culture,” and how to build it in everyday leadership momentsThe cultural mapping basics: formal vs. informal leaders, a five-point commitment scale, and understanding how influence flows throughout your organizationThe difference between positional power and personal power, and why titles can create action without creating true alignment“Energy vampires” and the “pinging effect”: how attitudes spread through a team, and how strong leaders respond in a way that protects momentum3 Big Takeaways from this Episode: 1. Lasting change is a culture outcome, not a plan outcome. Compliance can produce short-term execution, but commitment is what sustains new behaviors when nobody is watching. The work is to build alignment and trust so people internalize the “why” and carry the standard forward. 2. Cultural mapping helps you lead the real organization, not just the org chart. Influence runs through informal networks of credibility and relationships, and the highest-impact people often do not have the biggest titles. When you identify formal and informal influencers and where people sit on a commitment scale, you can invest your time where it will actually shift the culture. 3. Influence spreads fast, so leaders have to manage energy and momentum intentionally. “Energy vampires” and the “pinging effect” are real, and unchecked negativity multiplies through the network. The goal is not to label people, but to understand what’s driving resistance, address it directly, and redirect influence toward the commitments the organization is trying to build. Resources in this Episode: Get the book Intentional Influence: Harnessing Cultural Mapping to Build Commitment More resources on the show notes page: https://techedpodcast.com/influence We want to hear from you! Send us a text. Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

    48 min
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About

The TechEd Podcast sits at the intersection of technology, industry, innovation and the people who make progress possible. Hosted by Matt Kirchner, each episode features builders, executives, educators, and policymakers shaping what’s next—AI, automation, advanced manufacturing, energy, and the systems behind them. If you care about the future of work, the future of tech, and how talent actually gets built, you’re in the right place.

Information

  • Creator
    Matt Kirchner
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    261
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The TechEd Podcast
  • Show Website
    The TechEd Podcast

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