The Wilmac Wire

Wilmac Technologies
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Where the drivers behind customer interaction technology, AI, and community innovation share how they’re shaping what’s next.

  1. 3d ago

    Labor Day Break | Revisiting Our Conversation with Thomas Laird of Expivia & OttoQA

    We're taking a short Labor Day break, so we're re-airing one of our favorite conversations from earlier this season: Thomas Laird from back in February. Tom Laird was fired over the phone while driving to scout a high school basketball game — let go by the private equity firm that had just bought his family's call center and promised nothing would change. He had a pregnant wife, no plan B, and a handful of former employees willing to try again. That's how Expivia was born. In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell sit down with Tom, now CEO of Expivia Interaction Marketing Group and OttoQA, for one of Season 3's most unfiltered conversations about the real cost of AI in a contact center, and what it actually takes to build something back up from nothing. Here's what you'll hear about: Getting fired over the phone by private equity, and rebuilding with four employeesWhy AI integrations often take decades to pay for themselvesThe mistake he made pushing AI projects before customers' data was readyHis candid take on what's happened to industry conferencesWhere the CX platform wars (NICE, Five9, private equity) are headed nextWhy he still believes in bringing people into the office Episode Breakdown: 0:00 Welcome and introducing Tom Laird 1:58 Full introduction and background 3:09 Icebreaker: This or That 8:19 An unfiltered take on industry conferences 13:39 Growing up inside his family's call center business 17:34 Getting sidelined and fired by private equity 19:21 Rebuilding from four employees: the start of Expivia and OttoQA 44:51 Where the CX platform wars are headed next 45:56 The LiveVox integration everyone's watching 47:28 The AI mistake he made pushing too fast 48:59 The real cost of AI, and why the ROI takes decades 50:28 Where to find Tom, Expivia, and OttoQA Connect with Thomas Laird on LinkedIn Listen to more episodes of The Wilmac Wire: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | iHeart | Riverside

    Labor Day Break | Revisiting Our Conversation with Thomas Laird of Expivia & OttoQA

  2. Sep 3

    Summer Wrap | People & Product at Wilmac Technologies

    This week, we're turning the spotlight inward and catching up as we wrap up our summer. In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell trade the usual guest interview for a solo season catch-up, covering the new hires joining Wilmac this fall, early traction for Archie (Wilmac's first native AI product) with banks and trading floors, and why they brought in a former investment banker to help shape the product roadmap. Here's what you'll hear about: The new hires shaping Wilmac's fall: Alex Laporte, Hailey Gunther, and Chris CapuzzoWilmac's third straight year on Rochester's list of fastest growing companiesEarly traction for Archie, Wilmac's first native AI product, out on the road with banks and trading floorsWhy Wilmac brought in Nigel Riley to help scale product strategyHow Steve's own AI tool usage has shifted since the spring Episode Breakdown: 0:00 Welcome back, happy September 1:04 Catching up after a busy summer 2:28 Icebreakers 8:58 The new hires shaping Wilmac's fall 15:26 Maintaining momentum through the busiest stretch of the year 17:35 Wilmac's third straight year on the Fastest Growing Companies list 21:11 What's coming out of on-site customer visits for WFM and Replay 24:28 Bringing in Nigel Riley to help scale product strategy 28:00 How Steve's AI tool usage has shifted since the spring 31:07 What's ahead for the final 15 episodes of Season 3 Connect with Steve McDonnell and Emily McNulty on LinkedIn Listen to more episodes of The Wilmac Wire: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | iHeart | Riverside

    Summer Wrap | People & Product at Wilmac Technologies

  3. Aug 27

    D. Jeremy DeMar | From Rochester Dispatcher to 911 Thought Leader

    D. Jeremy DeMar grew up watching fire trucks roll past the movie theater where he worked, one street over from a firehouse in Webster, New York. Nearly three decades later, he's a nationally recognized 911 futurist who built his career just down the road at Monroe County ECD — the same 911 center that sits about five minutes from Wilmac's own headquarter office in Rochester, NY. In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell sit down with Jeremy — a Rochester native who spent 15 years at ECD before leading 911 centers in Springfield, Massachusetts and New Jersey, and now a speaker, thought leader, and host of his own podcast, Your911Future. The conversation covers what it was like going from the public to private sector, the important difference between a vendor and an industry partner, and where AI can genuinely help 911 without losing sight of the people doing the job. Here's what you'll hear about: How a high school job next door to a firehouse turned into a career in public safetyWhy he left ECD on a Friday and started a director job in a city he'd never visited by MondayThe real difference between a vendor and an industry partnerHow AI-driven image and sentiment analysis could catch signs of trauma supervisors missThe case for keeping non-emergency calls off telecommunicators' plates entirelyWhat inspired Jeremy to launch his own podcast, Your911Future Episode Breakdown: 0:00 Welcome back and introducing Jeremy DeMar 2:38 Full introduction and background 3:36 Icebreaker: This or That 12:32 How a high school fire explorer post started it all 15:40 Working his way up at Monroe County ECD 18:52 Choosing 911 over becoming a career firefighter 22:41 Leaving ECD on a Friday, starting in Springfield on a Monday 30:34 What sitting on the other side of the desk taught him about vendors vs. partners 36:35 The biggest surprise moving from public to private sector 44:46 Why the 911 community is warming up to AI faster than expected 46:12 Human in the loop vs. human on the loop 52:25 Using AI to protect telecommunicator wellness 57:22 The case for keeping non-emergency calls off the floor entirely 1:00:52 Why Jeremy launched Your 911 Future 1:05:24 Getting involved in NENA and APCO standards work 1:06:52 Where to find Jeremy and his podcast Connect with D. Jeremy DeMar on LinkedIn Listen to more episodes of The Wilmac Wire: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | iHeart | Riverside

    D. Jeremy DeMar | From Rochester Dispatcher to 911 Thought Leader

  4. Aug 20

    Dru Clarke | From Call Taker to Assistant Director, Culture in 911, & Building with Fairfax

    A dispatcher once posted in a 911 Facebook group that she was ready to quit the industry for good, until she heard Dru Clarke speak at a conference. She's still in the field today because of it. That's the kind of impact Dru's built a second career around, on top of his day job running one of the largest 911 centers in the country. In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell sit down with Dru Clarke — Assistant Director of Operations at Fairfax County's 911 Center and founder of Change Talk, a leadership training firm for public safety professionals nationwide — for a conversation about the culture shift 911 needs and why the industry's staffing crisis is about more than pay, plus a look at how Fairfax is approaching AI without losing the human element that makes the job matter. Here's what you'll hear about: Dru's unlikely path into 911 (he originally wanted to be a coroner)How founding Change Talk started as a favor and turned into a second callingWhy "people before policy" means giving respect instead of making people earn itThe real cost of 911's staffing crisis, and what Fairfax is doing differentlyWhat actually separates a vendor from a partner, and the story behind Fairfax's partnership with Wilmac Continuity WFMHow Fairfax is approaching AI carefully, starting with non-emergency calls before anything elseThe drone-as-first-responder program aiming for a zero-minute response time Episode Breakdown: 0:00 Welcome and introducing Dru Clarke 0:44 Icebreaker: This or That 5:00 How Dru ended up in 911 instead of becoming a coroner 6:28 Working through every role at Fairfax 18:40 Founding Change Talk almost by accident 22:35 The story that keeps Dru doing this work 26:03 Why culture became his focus 30:14 The command-and-control culture holding 911 back 34:29 Balancing new technology with a people-first approach 37:18 What makes an industry partner, not just a vendor 39:56 The story behind Fairfax's partnership with Wilmac Continuity WFM 44:29 How Fairfax is approaching AI, carefully 52:05 Drones as first responders and the push toward zero-minute response 53:14 Where to find Dru and Fairfax County Connect with Dru on LinkedIn Listen to more episodes of The Wilmac Wire: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | iHeart | Riverside

    Dru Clarke | From Call Taker to Assistant Director, Culture in 911, & Building with Fairfax

  5. Aug 13

    Live from APCO 2026

    Wilmac just wrapped its first-ever booth at APCO 2026, and by every account it's the biggest public safety event the team's ever set foot in — a Silver Sponsor badge, a Telecommunicator of the Year award presentation, and a floor packed with more 911 professionals than they've seen in one room in a long time. In this special live episode of The Wilmac Wire, host Emily McNulty brings listeners onto the APCO 2026 floor in San Antonio for a series of quick conversations with the Wilmac team. She catches up with Steve McDonnell, Bob Pease, John McDonnell, Hailey Gunther, and first-time guest Della Mauler of First Line, covering what it's like to show up at the industry's biggest stage, and why the 911 community keeps pulling people back year after year. Here's what you'll hear about: Steve McDonnell on APCO 2026 being Wilmac's biggest conference showing yet, and presenting the Telecommunicator of the Year awardBob Pease on running demos nonstop, and the "full circle moment" of meeting the customers who actually use the productDella Mauler on nearly 40 years in public safety, and why AI is the buzzword keeping the whole industry on its toesJohn McDonnell on leading his first APCO thought leadership session and how it compares to smaller regional showsHailey Gunther on her second major conference, and reuniting with people she met just a month earlier at NENA Episode Breakdown: 0:00 Live from the APCO 2026 floor 01:55 Steve McDonnell 04:27 Bob Pease 07:03 Della Mauler 08:58 John McDonnell 10:18 Hailey Gunther Listen to more episodes of The Wilmac Wire: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | iHeart | Riverside

  6. Aug 6

    Joe Gianni | Motivational Intelligence, the Science of Leadership, & Building a Business

    Joe Gianni's mentor once told him: "If you were a ditch digger, you'd be the best damn ditch digger there ever was." That's the philosophy Joe has spent almost 40 years turning into a business — Motivational Intelligence, or MQ, a framework now used by 40% of the Fortune 500 across 95 countries. In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell sit down with Joe Gianni — CEO of 2logical and a mentor and friend to Wilmac for over 30 years — to talk about why MQ matters more than IQ or EQ in the age of AI, the real story behind Wilmac and 2logical's decades-long partnership, and what separates people who build something big from people who don't. Here's what you'll hear about: What Motivational Intelligence (MQ) actually is, and why Joe says it matters more than IQ or EQThe mentor who taught Joe to recruit, sell, and lead, and the letter that changed the course of his careerWhy an "abundance mindset" is the real difference-maker, whether you're a CEO or a ditch diggerThe Gulf of Mexico story: how one company's decision under pressure landed them massive new contractsWhere AI fits into MQ, and why Joe says it'll create more jobs, not fewerHow the 30-year partnership between Wilmac and 2logical actually began Episode Breakdown: 0:00 Welcome and introducing Joe Gianni 2:19 Full introduction and background 3:21 Icebreaker: This or That 7:52 How Joe met his wife and ended up in Rochester 8:57 Becoming the youngest regional manager at McMillan 13:24 What his mentor Randy taught him about recruiting 19:20 Leaving McMillan to found 2logical 21:33 The letter that changed the course of his career 23:28 IQ, EQ, and the case for MQ 31:12 Why most people think in minimums instead of abundance 35:08 "The best damn ditch digger there ever was" 36:16 Betting big during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill 38:37 Where AI fits into motivational intelligence 43:21 Why Joe's stayed in Rochester for 40+ years 45:06 How the Wilmac and 2logical partnership began 48:06 What's next for 2logical 50:09 Where to find Joe and 2logical Connect with Joe on LinkedIn Listen to more episodes of The Wilmac Wire: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | iHeart | Riverside

  7. Jul 30

    Kevin Surace | What’s Changed in AI, the Power Players, & Enabling Rochester to Build

    Kevin Surace has a rule: use AI five times an hour. Not five times a day, five times an HOUR, whether he's building a spreadsheet, drafting a keynote deck, or writing a Broadway musical. He says 99% of people he talks to are nowhere close, and that one of their competitors already is. In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell welcome back Kevin Surace — AI pioneer, inventor of the modern virtual assistant, and Chairman/CTO of Advanced.ai — for a wide-ranging conversation on the model wars between OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, why coding jobs are shifting instead of disappearing, and how his company Token is stopping AI-driven identity hacks with biometrics. Here's what you'll hear about: Kevin's "five times an hour" rule, and why most people are already behindInside the model wars: OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and why Kevin calls foundation models a coming commodityWhy security awareness training barely moves the needle — and the biometric fix his company Token is building insteadThe real reason coding jobs aren't disappearing, and why nobody cares how you got the result anymoreThe Joy Success Cycle, Kevin's new book dropping September 1, and his one-complaint-a-day ruleWhether Rochester is actually building a real AI startup ecosystem Episode Breakdown: 0:00 Welcome back, Kevin Surace 2:09 Introducing Kevin's background 3:56 Icebreaker: This or That 6:40 The model wars: OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and the "commodity model" debate 12:53 Kevin's path into virtual assistants and General Magic 27:09 How Nvidia stumbled into the AI chip business 31:05 Kevin's "five times an hour" AI rule 35:44 Claude Design and the disappearing "interim step" 41:23 Why coding jobs are changing, not disappearing 45:30 The Joy Success Cycle and the one-complaint-a-day rule 52:44 Is Rochester building a real AI startup ecosystem? 58:33 Token, biometric security, and stopping AI-driven hacks 1:04:05 Where to find Kevin, and his new book Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn Listen to more episodes of The Wilmac Wire: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | iHeart | Riverside

  8. Jul 23

    Adam Timm | The Healthy Dispatcher, 911 Culture Reform, & the Wellness Crisis

    Adam Timm spent over ten years at LAPD earning a nickname he didn't know about until years later: "Angry Adam." A near-firing forced him into a six-week mindfulness class — and what he learned became a program that cut sick time at his center by 45%, and eventually a company, three books, and a career telling 911 leaders the thing they don't want to hear: the best CAD system, consoles, or AI transcription tool won't fix a broken culture. In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell talk with Timm — founder of The Healthy Dispatcher — about the real cost of culture, why 70% of 911 calls aren't emergencies, and where AI actually fits into the future of the call floor. Here's what you'll hear about: The six-week class that turned "Angry Adam" aroundThe real cost case for culture: turnover, liability, complianceWhy "wellness program" is often a misnomerAI's growing role in non-emergency call handlingThe push to get telecommunicators recognized as first responders Episode Breakdown 0:00 Welcome and introducing Adam Timm 0:55 Icebreaker 6:31 How Adam became a 911 dispatcher at LAPD 12:15 "Angry Adam" and the class that changed everything 26:35 Founding The Healthy Dispatcher 32:04 Wellness as a misnomer 37:20 "Just a dispatcher": public perception and reclassification 41:25 The financial case for investing in culture 45:05 Where tech can — and can't — help 48:47 AI and the future of non-emergency calls 51:49 Adam's message and where to find him Connect with Adam on LinkedIn Listen to more episodes of The Wilmac Wire: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | iHeart | Riverside

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About

Where the drivers behind customer interaction technology, AI, and community innovation share how they’re shaping what’s next.

Information

  • Creator
    Wilmac Technologies
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    83
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Wilmac Technologies
  • Show Website
    The Wilmac Wire