What's Up with Tech?

Evan Kirstel
  • 5,0 (1)
  • TECHNOLOGIES

Tech Transformation with Evan Kirstel: A podcast exploring the latest trends and innovations in the tech industry, and how businesses can leverage them for growth, diving into the world of B2B, discussing strategies, trends, and sharing insights from industry leaders!With over three decades in telecom and IT, I've mastered the art of transforming social media into a dynamic platform for audience engagement, community building, and establishing thought leadership. My approach isn't about personal brand promotion but about delivering educational and informative content to cultivate a sustainable, long-term business presence. I am the leading content creator in areas like Enterprise AI, UCaaS, CPaaS, CCaaS, Cloud, Telecom, 5G and more!

  1. -1 J

    From Edge to Core: Reimagining Enterprise Networks in the Age of AI

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com The networking landscape is experiencing a seismic shift as artificial intelligence transforms traditional connectivity into intelligent, business-driven infrastructure. Gary Sidhu, Senior Vice President of Product Engineering at GTT, takes us on a fascinating journey through this evolution, explaining how networks are evolving from "dumb pipes" to strategic "business compasses." At the heart of this transformation is GTT's Envision platform, which connects enterprises to their data and applications globally through edge and core infrastructure components. Sidhu articulates how AI is enabling intent-based networking, where administrators can simply state business goals like "prioritize video conferencing" and let intelligent systems handle the complex technical configurations. This capability allows businesses to become more responsive and agile without requiring specialized networking knowledge. Perhaps most compelling is Sidhu's exploration of the emerging "agentic ecosystem" – a world where autonomous AI agents will generate unprecedented network demands, potentially requiring "infinite bandwidth." This future presents both enormous challenges and opportunities for enterprise networking, necessitating new approaches to traffic prioritization, edge computing, and security frameworks that can authenticate non-human network participants. GTT is preparing for this future by building its own "AI factory" with dedicated GPU infrastructure and sophisticated information architecture that powers both internal operations and customer-facing capabilities. Ready to prepare your network for the AI revolution? Discover how GTT's approach to networking security can transform your business infrastructure from a utility into a strategic asset that provides actionable intelligence and adapts automatically to your needs. Crossing BordersCrossing Borders is a podcast by Neema, a cross border payments platform that...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    25 min

  2. -2 J

    Unleashing AI in Telecom: TUPL's Automation and AI Revolution

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com The telecommunications industry faces unprecedented challenges in operational efficiency, customer experience, and digital transformation. Enter TUPL – the quiet powerhouse revolutionizing how telecom giants handle everything from network operations to technical customer care. Meet Rafael Ballesteros of TUPL, who shares the remarkable journey of this Seattle-headquartered company with R&D roots in Malaga, Spain. With seven years at TUPL (including a brief "boomerang" departure that brought him back), Rafa reveals how their AI-powered automation platform has become indispensable to giants like T-Mobile, where 40,000 customer care representatives use their solutions nationwide. The results? Up to 80% of customer incidents resolved automatically, saving operators hundreds of millions of dollars annually. What sets TUPL apart is their thoughtful approach to AI integration. While embracing the capabilities of large language models, they maintain critical guardrails through traditional AI methods. "In network operations, you want to be correct almost 100% of the time – you don't want hallucinations," Rafa explains. This philosophy has earned them trust across the telecom landscape, from T-Mobile in the US to Deutsche Telekom in Europe, where their power-saving application is deployed across nearly ten countries. Tupl built TupleOS – a no-code, low-code platform that enables rapid development of telecom solutions. This agility, combined with deep domain expertise, allows them to create and modify workflows in days rather than months, often without requiring specialized technical knowledge. Now, they're expanding beyond telecom into critical facilities management and manufacturing quality control, with their CTO relocating to Boston to strengthen their American presence. Ready to discover how AI-powered automation can transform your operations while maintaining reliability? Explore TUPL's approach to building intelligent systems that deliver measurable results without compromising on accuracy or control. Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    16 min

  3. -2 J

    Backup Nirvana: One View, 90 Workloads, Zero Headaches

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com The data protection landscape has fundamentally changed. Gone are the days when IT leaders maintained complete control over data housed solely in on-premises environments. Today's reality is vastly more complex – a scattered ecosystem of on-premises systems, multiple clouds, and countless SaaS applications that Andy from HYCU aptly describes as "everything is everywhere all at once." In this eye-opening conversation, we explore HYCU's groundbreaking expansion of its rCloud platform to protect over 90 workloads across on-premises, public cloud, and SaaS environments – all through a unified interface. This represents a quantum leap beyond the industry norm, where organizations typically juggle six to nine different backup solutions just to maintain basic protection. Andy reveals how this fragmentation creates administrative nightmares, escalates costs, and introduces significant security vulnerabilities that modern organizations can no longer afford. The discussion dives deep into HYCU's enhanced cyber resilience capabilities through its R-Shield scanner, bringing real-time anomaly detection and malware scanning that operates directly at the source – eliminating the third-party risks that plague traditional approaches. We also explore their pioneering protection for AI infrastructure, including vector databases and data warehouses that form the backbone of modern AI systems. As Andy explains, corruption or deletion of this data can lead to model degradation and loss of trust, making robust protection essential for organizations investing in AI capabilities. Whether you're struggling with backup fatigue, concerned about ransomware targeting your recovery systems, or planning your organization's AI strategy, this conversation offers valuable insights into the future of data protection. Listen now to discover how consolidation, intelligence, and automation are reshaping what's possible in safeguarding your most critical digital assets. Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    12 min

  4. -3 J

    Private AI Revolution: Broadcom's VMware Explore Highlights

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com The explosion of generative AI has created an urgent need for enterprises to run AI workloads on-premises to protect sensitive data, maintain governance, and safeguard intellectual property. In this illuminating conversation with Tasha Drew, who leads the engineering team for private AI services within VMware Cloud Foundation, we explore how Broadcom is transforming enterprise AI infrastructure following their landmark announcements at VMware Explorer. Tasha reveals how VMware's AI platform, now baked directly into VCF, enables organizations to implement comprehensive model governance, scale models efficiently as a service, and programmatically prepare data for RAG applications. What's particularly fascinating is VMware's commitment to "dogfooding" their own platform by using it to deliver VCF Intelligent Assist, ensuring the technology is constantly tested and improved under real-world conditions. One surprising trend Tasha highlights is how organizations are increasingly migrating bare metal AI workloads to VCF for superior enterprise manageability. While data science teams may start with bare metal for experimentation, production AI workloads demand the scheduled maintenance, workload mobility, and scalability that VCF has perfected over decades. This shift underscores a fundamental truth: as AI matures within enterprises, infrastructure management becomes just as critical as model performance. The conversation explores VMware's partnerships with AMD, NVIDIA, Intel, and Canonical, emphasizing their commitment to an open ecosystem approach that lets customers choose the hardware and software stack that best suits their specific AI use cases. Looking toward the future, Tasha shares exciting developments around Model-Context-Protocol (MCP) integration, agent builder capabilities, and tools for enterprises to safely implement agentic AI workflows with proper authentication and governance. With real-world examples from customers like Walmart and manufacturing environments that require air-gapped AI infrastructure, this episode provides a comprehensive look at how VMware is making enterprise-grade AI infrastructure accessible, manageable, and secure. Don't miss Tasha's insights on what's coming next, including the technical preview of Intelligent Assist expected early next year. Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    13 min

  5. -4 J

    Security, Multi-Cloud, and the Future of Enterprise Networks

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com The digital infrastructure landscape has fundamentally changed. What was once a simple utility—broadband connectivity—has evolved into a strategic asset requiring sophisticated architecture, security considerations, and specialized expertise. In this insightful conversation with James Coberly CTO/ COO of Massive Networks, we explore why the traditional carrier-customer relationship must evolve to meet modern business demands. James brings 35+ years of telecommunications experience to bear on the challenges facing today's MSPs and enterprises. He articulates a vision where carriers serve as true partners rather than mere vendors, providing not just connectivity but engineering support, design consultation, and ongoing relationship management. This approach addresses a critical gap in the market, where technical professionals often find themselves without adequate carrier support to properly implement and maintain complex network environments. Security emerges as a central theme throughout our discussion. As James poignantly observes, "The network is the forgotten, redheaded stepchild. Sometimes when you're talking about security, everybody's worried about the front door. But once the front door is open, how far can they go?" This perspective highlights the necessity of proper network segmentation, with business networks isolated from guest access and IoT deployments. By treating the internet as the "unprotected cousin" it truly is, organizations can build more resilient architectures that limit potential damage from breaches. The conversation also tackles the complexities of multi-cloud connectivity, where organizations need seamless access to AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and other providers without sacrificing security or performance. Massive Networks' approach includes cloud router services and private connectivity options that eliminate internet exposure while maintaining flexibility. For MSPs supporting clients across diverse environments, this capability proves particularly valuable. Whether you're an MSP looking to enhance your service offerings or an enterprise rethinking your network strategy, this episode provides practical insights on segmentation, isolation, and future-proofing your digital infrastructure. Don't miss our closing thoughts on micro-segmentation as a security strategy and the importance of designing networks with containment in mind from day one. Crossing BordersCrossing Borders is a podcast by Neema, a cross border payments platform that...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    25 min

  6. -5 J

    Resilience, Security, and the Future of Industrial IoT

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com The evolution of industrial IoT is transforming how businesses approach connectivity, resilience, and edge intelligence. Digi International stands at the forefront of this revolution, having journeyed from a hardware-focused connected devices company to a comprehensive solutions provider over its 40-year history. What makes this transformation remarkable is how Digi has woven together hardware excellence with sophisticated software, connectivity, and perhaps most importantly - exceptional service. As their leader explains, service isn't just about fixing broken devices; it's about understanding the context of each deployment and helping customers achieve their desired outcomes. In a world where customer service has become increasingly automated and impersonal, Digi's commitment to responsive, knowledgeable support serves as a key differentiator in complex industrial environments. The conversation explores how artificial intelligence at the edge is revolutionizing industrial operations. Rather than sending data from remote equipment back to central systems for analysis and decision-making, edge AI allows for immediate action directly at the device level. This capability is already enabling automated service ticket management without human intervention and will increasingly allow for predictive maintenance that prevents failures before they occur - something anyone who's dealt with persistently broken elevators or ice machines can appreciate. Security and resilience form the backbone of Digi's approach, with multi-layered strategies that begin at the hardware level and extend through software, monitoring, and third-party certifications. As wireless technologies evolve, Digi maintains a pragmatic perspective, favoring cellular for wide-area applications while acknowledging the complex trade-offs in local-area networks. The future holds tremendous promise as technologies like 5G mature and new standards emerge for specialized applications like renewable energy management, pointing toward an increasingly connected and intelligent industrial landscape. Crossing BordersCrossing Borders is a podcast by Neema, a cross border payments platform that...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    25 min

  7. 4 SEPT.

    Reusable Identity: The Digital TSA PreCheck

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com The digital identity revolution is here, and it's transforming how we verify who we are online. In this fascinating conversation, Raj from Trua explains how their innovative approach to identity verification is creating what amounts to a "TSA PreCheck for the digital age" - a system where you verify your identity once and reuse it countless times without repeatedly sharing your sensitive personal information. As data breaches continue to plague major institutions and AI makes identity fraud increasingly sophisticated, our current approach of repeatedly collecting and storing personal information for every digital transaction has become unsustainable. Trua's solution combines verification of personal attributes with biometric confirmation to create a comprehensive "trust credential for life" that's continuously updated and verified. This approach is revolutionizing hiring processes across industries. Traditional background checks take 5-10 days and can only be conducted after a job offer due to regulations. With Trua, candidates obtain their credentials ahead of time, allowing for same-day hiring - a game-changer for high-turnover industries like restaurants and gig economy platforms. For high-assurance sectors like transportation, continuous screening provides ongoing safety verification that could prevent tragedies like the recent Florida Turnpike incident involving an unlicensed truck driver. Perhaps most exciting is Trua's potential to combat the chaos of AI-generated resumes flooding HR departments. By requiring a Trua ID with each application, employers can instantly verify that a real, verified person is behind each resume, dramatically improving the quality of applicant pools and helping qualified candidates stand out. Implementation is remarkably straightforward with no complex software to install. The system automatically handles compliance with relevant regulations, reducing burdens on HR teams and minimizing litigation risks. As we look toward a future where millions of jobs will be reshored to the US, having a reliable, efficient identity verification system will be essential for connecting qualified candidates with opportunities. Ready to bring order to your verification processes and accelerate your hiring timeline? Visit truainc.com to learn how you can implement this revolutionary approach to digital identity. Crossing BordersCrossing Borders is a podcast by Neema, a cross border payments platform that...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    27 min

  8. 3 SEPT.

    AI isn't replacing accountants—it's turning them into strategic advisors.

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com What happens when cutting-edge AI meets the traditionally conservative world of accounting? A revolution that's transforming how high-net-worth individuals and family offices manage their wealth. Meet Brian, CEO of Montreal-based Wealth Write-Up, who brings a fascinating perspective on how technology is reshaping investment accounting. Having implemented AI solutions across multiple industries for over a decade, he's now applying those lessons to the financial world with remarkable results. The numbers tell a compelling story: high-net-worth clients often generate over 100,000 financial transactions annually. Traditionally, processing this data required armies of accountants manually entering information—a process that could take months and cost upwards of $100,000 in professional fees. AI-powered solutions are dramatically reducing this burden while improving accuracy. But this isn't about replacing accountants; it's about elevating them. By automating routine tasks, accounting professionals can transform into strategic advisors who provide genuine value beyond compliance. They gain the time and tools to identify tax optimization opportunities, navigate cross-jurisdictional complexities, and help clients make informed decisions about their wealth. The timing couldn't be more critical. With the Great Wealth Transfer looming—where trillions will move from Baby Boomers to younger generations—sophisticated planning tools are essential. Modern accounting platforms aren't just tracking numbers; they're helping preserve legacies across generations. There's still skepticism, of course. One major client even included an explicit AI opt-out clause in their contract. But as Brian notes, the pressure for adoption isn't coming from technology vendors—it's coming from clients themselves who are experiencing AI in other aspects of their lives and demanding similar innovations from their financial advisors. Want to understand how financial technology is evolving beyond spreadsheets and manual processes? Listen now to discover what happens when accounting meets artificial intelligence. Crossing BordersCrossing Borders is a podcast by Neema, a cross border payments platform that...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    25 min
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À propos

Tech Transformation with Evan Kirstel: A podcast exploring the latest trends and innovations in the tech industry, and how businesses can leverage them for growth, diving into the world of B2B, discussing strategies, trends, and sharing insights from industry leaders!With over three decades in telecom and IT, I've mastered the art of transforming social media into a dynamic platform for audience engagement, community building, and establishing thought leadership. My approach isn't about personal brand promotion but about delivering educational and informative content to cultivate a sustainable, long-term business presence. I am the leading content creator in areas like Enterprise AI, UCaaS, CPaaS, CCaaS, Cloud, Telecom, 5G and more!

Informations

  • Création
    Evan Kirstel
  • Années d’activité
    2024 - 2025
  • Épisodes
    499
  • Classification
    Tous publics
  • Copyright
    © 2025 TechInfluencer
  • Site web de l’émission
    What's Up with Tech?