What's Up with Tech?

Evan Kirstel
  • 5.0 (1)
  • TECHNOLOGY

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. 6H AGO

    Building An Agentic Operating System For Cybersecurity And Beyond

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com Agentic AI is no longer a side experiment running in a lab. It’s starting to look like the next operating layer inside the enterprise, and that raises a hard question: do you want a scattered collection of point tools, or a standardized agentic operating system that your teams can actually run? I sit down with Anurag Gurtu Chief Executive Officer @ AIRRIVED to unpack what “agentic OS” means in practical terms. We get specific about the three pillars that make agentic AI useful at scale: adapting a language model to your enterprise data, adding deep reasoning so it can synthesize and rationalize like a real analyst, and then deploying autonomous agents to take controlled action. We also dig into real enterprise cybersecurity needs across security operations, identity management and governance, risk, compliance, vulnerability management, and the growing challenge of shadow AI. We zoom out to the messy reality of adoption: too many pilots, too many vendors, and too many tools designed for developers instead of practitioners. Anurag explains why objective-driven automation beats brittle playbooks, why governance and auditability have to be built in, and how fast proof-of-concepts can turn “AI hype” into measurable ROI. We also touch on open source momentum and why Arrived is building in a more secure, governed direction with Etherclaw. If you’re building an enterprise AI strategy, leading a security program, or trying to prove value beyond demos, this conversation will sharpen how you think about standardization, productivity, and control. Subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a review with the biggest hurdle you’re facing in adopting agentic AI. Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    19 min

  2. 1D AGO

    Device Management Without The Drama

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com AI is everywhere in IT operations right now, but most sysadmins don’t need more buzzwords. We need fewer tickets, cleaner patching, faster deployments, and a clear view of what’s happening across every device. That’s why we sat down with Jaren Nichols, President and COO of PDQ to talk about modern enterprise device management the way admins actually live it: too many endpoints, too many apps, constant updates, and zero tolerance for security gaps. We get into the real pressure point behind “software sprawl” as every department adopts new tools, including AI-driven apps, and IT inherits the responsibility for uptime, support, and security. Jaron breaks down three practical places AI can help right now: faster how-to research, smarter reporting that surfaces outdated versions and risks, and higher-level support for creating policies and workflows. We also dig into the part that matters most when automation gets powerful: transparency. If you can’t see permissions, execution order, and outcomes, you’re building a black box that will fail at the worst time. From there, we zoom out to the bigger trends shaping endpoint management and AIOps: the shift toward a single pane of glass, the consolidation of roles across Windows, Mac, networking, DevOps, and security, and why legacy tools won’t disappear as fast as people claim. We close with what the next generation of sysadmins looks like when things go right: more visibility, policy-driven objectives, and faster execution without sacrificing control. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with the admin who owns patch Tuesday, and leave a review if it helped. What’s the biggest “this shouldn’t be that hard” moment in your IT environment right now? Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    20 min

  3. 3D AGO

    From Martech Stacks To AI Ecosystems For Modern Marketing

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com The martech stack used to feel complicated. Then generative AI showed up and turned “complicated” into “constantly changing.” We sit down with Scott Brinker, the analyst behind ChiefMartec, to unpack what’s really happening as marketing teams move from a familiar martech stack to a broader AI ecosystem filled with new tools, copilots, and early stage agents layered on top of the systems we already depend on. We get concrete about what still anchors modern marketing technology: a system of record for customer data (CRM in many B2B orgs and often a CDP in B2C), a platform for orchestration through marketing automation and messaging, and a web layer like a CMS or DXP. From there, the stack diversifies fast based on industry, maturity, and team bandwidth, which explains why some organizations can experiment aggressively while smaller teams are still holding marketing ops together with sheer willpower. From a leadership angle, Scott makes a blunt point: you can’t automate what you can’t define. If you want AI automation that protects authentic brand voice, you need clear guardrails, documented standards, and real ownership, not vague “it’s in our culture” assumptions. We also look ahead to a shift that may surprise a lot of marketers, AI used by customers, including AI search behavior and the possibility of inbox agents that reshape email marketing and customer engagement. If you care about AI strategy, marketing operations, martech governance, and what skills the next generation of marketing leaders will need, this conversation will sharpen how you think. Subscribe, share this with a marketing leader who’s drowning in tools, and leave a review with the biggest AI change you’re navigating right now. Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    23 min

  4. 6D AGO

    From Manual Alert Triage To Autonomous Security Operations

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com Manual SOC work is collapsing under its own weight. After RSAC, we sit down with Dave Mcginnis, who leads IBM Consulting’s threat management practice, to get brutally practical about what “autonomous security operations” really means when you strip away the marketing. The headline is simple: humans can’t be the bottleneck in threat monitoring anymore, and “AI-assisted” alert triage won’t cut it when machines can generate more detections than teams can ever click through. We talk through the hard parts that decide whether autonomous SOC automation helps or harms: investigation depth, evidence, and accountability. Dave explains why the new problem isn’t finding a needle in a haystack, it’s finding a needle in a stack of needles and why autonomous investigation has to examine every IP, domain, email, and hash, then document the reasoning for forensics. From there, we explore how response can move past traditional SOAR runbooks toward agents that can connect directly to identity systems, cloud controls, and application platforms. The conversation also turns to people and risk. What happens to SOC roles when tier-one work fades, where domain expertise still matters, and why tuning, threat intelligence, and integration become the real jobs. Finally, we look at the uncomfortable truth: adversaries use generative AI too, lowering the barrier to sophisticated attacks. If you’re building a modern cybersecurity program, this is a roadmap for thinking end to end, not tool by tool. Subscribe for more, share this with a security leader on your team, and leave a review with your biggest question about autonomous security operations. Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    25 min

  5. APR 2

    AI For The Trades

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com Trade businesses keep our world running, but most of them operate on painfully thin margins. We talk with Fred Voccola CEO from Simpro Group about what happens when you bring practical AI to the job site and the back office, not as hype, but as an operating platform for the trades that helps contractors finish more work right the first time. We get specific about where the ROI shows up fast: cutting “retreads” (repeat visits) by improving job prep, making sure the right technician arrives with the right materials, and optimizing routes and scheduling. Fred breaks down how AI agents can act like affordable digital staff, doing the kind of job-prep, collections follow-up, documentation, and optimization work that only huge companies can normally afford. The payoff is better job profitability, fewer wasted truck rolls, and a real chance to move from 5% to 7% profit margins toward something closer to 20%+. We also dig into customer experience and why service expectations are rising. With ambient listening and automated documentation, the system can capture the “little” details that matter, then prep the next technician with the right context. Finally, we look at the next generation of skilled trades workers, including real-time training support via wearables, plus a preview of Simpro Lightning and its new AI brain and agents. If you care about AI in construction, field service management, job site productivity, and the future of skilled trades, listen, share this with a contractor friend, and leave a review with your biggest question about AI on the job. Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    26 min

  6. APR 1

    Enterprise Voice AI That Actually Works

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com Pressing zero to reach a human should not be the default plan. We talk with Fred Fontes CEO from Acclaim about what’s finally making enterprise voice-first AI work in the real world, especially inside regulated industries like banking and financial services where compliance, auditability, and data security are not negotiable. For teams burned by old IVR trees and brittle chatbots, the conversation gets practical fast: what has changed in the underlying models, and what has to change in how we deploy and control them. We dig into the idea of sovereignty and why many CIOs and CTOs feel trapped between the need to innovate and the risk of sending sensitive customer data through multiple third-party clouds. Fred explains how controllable voice AI agents, strong guardrails, and enterprise-grade orchestration can turn “cool demos” into dependable contact center automation. We also get into domain-specific benchmarking, because a universal speech-to-text score does not matter if you cannot accurately transcribe a noisy telephony call about banking topics. Then we go beneath the hood on outcomes: banking collections use cases showing six to eight percentage points higher recovery rates, the ability to A/B test messaging quickly, and why interaction costs can drop dramatically when conversations are faster, more accurate, and handled in parallel. We also talk about the human side, shifting agents toward higher-value customer experience work, and the hardest obstacle left: integration with systems of record and enterprise workflows. If you’re building or buying conversational AI, listen closely, share this with a teammate who owns CX or security, and subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what your biggest blocker is to deploying voice AI at scale. Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    16 min

  7. MAR 31

    How The We Love Tech Awards Spot Real Innovation

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com AI is making a weird problem even worse: it’s getting harder to tell what’s authentic. That’s why we sat down with Russ from Business Intelligence Group to talk about the We Love Tech Awards ( https://welovetechawards.com/) and what real, transparent judging looks like when trust is on the line. We get specific about how awards can be more than marketing, especially when real people review nominations, score the work, and give feedback that founders and product teams can actually use. We also zoom out to what we’re seeing across the tech landscape right now. From CES to Mobile World Congress, HIMSS, and Enterprise Connect, the energy isn’t just “more AI.” It’s the shift from trials and proofs of concept to real deployments in hospitals, warehouses, and frontline environments. We talk MedTech and digital health, customer experience and contact center technology, cloud apps, and why this moment feels like a true burst of innovation even with macro uncertainty hanging over everything. Then we go where awards don’t go often enough: people. Russ shares a striking stat that fewer than 10% of business award nominations are for individuals, and we make the case that recognition should match the humanity behind the work. We also cover digital certificates, including blockchain-based credentials that can live on LinkedIn, and we lay out the practical timeline: the nomination deadline is March 27, followed by a judging window supported by thousands of judges worldwide. If you’re building a product, leading an innovation team, or know someone who deserves real recognition, listen now, share this with your network, and leave a review. Who are you nominating this year? Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    13 min

  8. MAR 27

    Autonomous Networks Now

    Interested in being a guest? Email us at admin@evankirstel.com AI hype is everywhere at Mobile World Congress, so we went looking for something rarer: real operational proof. From the Ericsson booth in Barcelona, we sit down with Ibrahim Eldeftar, who leads Cognitive Network Solutions product and portfolio for telco AI software, and Claudia Muñiz Garcia, Global Head of Sales for the same unit, to talk about what it actually takes to run autonomous networks. We break down the autonomy journey in plain language: moving from manual ways of working to systems that can sense, analyze, decide, and execute, with intent-based networking as the layer that helps unlock Level 4 autonomy. Ibrahim shares where carriers really are today (around Level 2 on average) and why many are publicly targeting Level 4 by 2028 to 2030. The driver is network complexity plus rising expectations for “networks for AI” that can support new AI workloads and millions of connected devices without brittle operations. Claudia explains why Ericsson is being recognized for 5G RAN automation platforms, from standards compliance and security to commercial deployments and scale, and how an open rApp ecosystem accelerates innovation. Then we get into the part operators care about most: outcomes. You’ll hear concrete results from trials and deployments, including major OPEX efficiency gains, fewer issues through anomaly detection and root-cause approaches, spectral efficiency improvements, and a standout uplink story where AI optimization drives meaningful uplink quality and throughput gains. If you care about network automation, 5G RAN, telco AI, rApps, and the practical road to Level 4 autonomous networks, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a network leader on your team, and leave a review with the one autonomy question you want answered next. Support the show More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel

    9 min
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About

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!

Information

  • Creator
    Evan Kirstel
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    631
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 TechInfluencer
  • Show Website
    What's Up with Tech?