Takeaways

• Ritesh started coding at a young age and has a deep passion for technology and music.
• The event promotion industry is challenging, with many events failing to turn a profit.
• Ticket Fairy was created to innovate the ticketing process and help promoters succeed.
• AI can significantly enhance operational efficiency in the events industry.
• Ritesh emphasizes the importance of community and connections in the music scene.
• The financial risks of event promotion often lead to personal sacrifices for promoters.
• Ritesh's journey includes a unique blend of tech and music, showcasing the power of passion.
• The importance of adapting to market changes, especially post-COVID, is crucial for event success.
• Ritesh's approach to fundraising involves building relationships and seeking advice before asking for money.
• The future of festivals relies on innovative solutions that support independent promoters.

00:00

Introduction to AI Tools and Demos

01:26

Exploring ChatGPT and Gemini for Work

06:17

Deep Dive into Gemini and Visual Tools

08:41

HeyGen and the Future of Digital Avatars

12:07

Ethics of AI and Deepfakes

15:22

The Role of AI in Creative Industries

19:19

VO3: AI Video Generation and Its Impact

29:57

Suno: AI Music Creation and Its Implications

35:08

Building Apps with AI: A Case Study

44:19

The Future of Work in an AI-Driven World

51:15

Final Thoughts and Future Predictions

Dive into this fascinating conversation where we explore how artificial intelligence is moving beyond automating mundane tasks to potentially saving millions of lives through revolutionary healthcare applications.

This episode takes you on a journey from practical business applications to groundbreaking medical innovations, revealing how:

• AI is augmenting human capabilities rather than replacing jobs
• Computer vision systems can predict breast cancer risk 5 years in advance
• AI-powered loan decisioning can reduce fraud while improving customer experience
• Protein folding prediction is accelerating medical breakthroughs at unprecedented speeds
• The conversation shifts from everyday AI implementation to what truly matters - using this technology to solve humanity's biggest challenges like cancer, heart disease, and other previously incurable conditions.

Ready to feel more optimistic about our AI future? Join us for this enlightening discussion that will transform how you think about artificial intelligence and its potential to create a better world for generations to come.

00:00 AI Innovations and Their Impact

03:32 Vibe Creation and Marketing Strategies

08:20 The Role of Generative AI in Creativity

11:50 Navigating the Future of AI and Creativity

15:48 The Evolution of Tools and Technologies

22:09 Google's Position in the AI Landscape

29:56 Humor and Creativity in Content Creation

32:33 The Nature of Originality in Art and Media

35:39 Embracing the Challenges of AI and Creativity

42:28 Advice for the Future: Embracing Change and Experimentation

Learn how Bright AI is turning outdated systems into intelligent networks that save money, protect the environment, and improve lives.

If you’re passionate about the future of technology and its potential to solve real-world problems, this episode is a must-listen.

What You’ll Discover in This Episode:

From Smart Homes to Smart Cities: How Alex Hawkinson's experience with SmartThings laid the groundwork for Bright AI.

The Problem with Aging Infrastructure: Why our water, energy, and other critical systems are in dire need of modernization.

The Power of Physical AI: How IoT, AI, and real-time automation are revolutionizing infrastructure.

Autonomous Inspection and Maintenance: How robots and AI are inspecting and repairing pipelines and other critical systems.

Augmenting Human Workers: How wearables and AI co-pilots are empowering blue-collar workers.

The Economic and Environmental Impact: How these technologies are driving productivity, efficiency, and sustainability.

The Future of Infrastructure: How Bright AI's platform is enabling the creation of a "physical graph" of intelligent systems.

The Potential of Edge AI and Sensors: How devices can learn and adapt to their environments, leading to new and unexpected use cases.

AI music is here, and the 2024 Grammys were the ultimate proof. Beyoncé is now a country artist, The Beatles won Best Rock Live Performance (with AI?!), and Tesla’s Autopilot is making bold life choices.

🚀 In this episode of Tech Roast, we break down:

⏩ AI’s takeover of the music industry (and why artists should be worried)

⏩ The Tesla autopilot chaos (Is it self-driving or self-destructing?)

⏩ Apple Vision Pro FAIL (Nobody saw this one coming… literally.)

⏩ Elon Musk vs. Reality (Mars? Sure. Running Tesla? Not so much.)

👀 Watch now, subscribe, and comment below: What was the dumbest tech moment this week? Let’s roast it together!

📌 Chapters:

0:00 Intro – Welcome to Tech Roast!

0:45 AI Judges the Grammys – Beyoncé Goes Country?!

3:30 The Beatles Win Best Live Performance (Wait, What?!)

6:15 Kanye West’s Wife’s Outfit Glitch

8:45 Apple Vision Pro: Did They See This Coming?

11:30 Tesla’s Wild Malfunctions – Is It a Feature or a Bug?

14:00 Elon Musk’s New Side Quest – Federal Funds Edition

16:20 Australia’s Criminal Tracking Disaster (Seriously?!)

18:30 Outro – AI Will Replace Me Soon

Takeaways

• Voice AI technology can analyze the sound of a person's voice to detect early indications of mental health disorders.
• Early detection and intervention can lead to better outcomes and improved mental health.
• Privacy concerns surrounding voice data need to be addressed and transparency is crucial.
• Improving mental health can have a positive impact on workplace productivity.

Sound Bites

• "What if a voice technology could work out whether or not someone had early indication of anxiety, depression, or some form of mental stress? Would you want to know?"
• "We are able to measure the biomarkers, these signals that are coming from a specific data source. And in this case, it's your voice."
• "No machine can tell you that. You need clinicians. In fact, you need several clinicians to be able to make that determination over time."

She explains her journey to understanding screen addiction and outlines the principles and recommendations of ScreenStrong for reducing screen dependency and fostering healthier lifestyles for children.

The discussion also touches on the misconceptions around social media use in teenagers, the importance of setting boundaries, and the benefits of engaging in offline activities. Melanie emphasizes educating both parents and children on the dangers of screen time and advocates for proactive measures to cultivate real-life connections and balanced lifestyles.

We have split this into two episodes. The summary is across both episodes:

Dr. Zain Khalpey discusses the integration of AI and machine learning in cardiac surgery and the potential for reducing medical errors and improving patient outcomes. He emphasizes the importance of cross-pollination and continuous improvement in the field of medicine.

Dr. Khalpey shares his vision for an AI-driven healthcare ecosystem and highlights the need for collaboration between clinicians and data scientists. He also discusses the practical applications of AI in surgery, such as improving communication and decision-making within the surgical team. In this part of the conversation, Dr. Zain Khalpey discusses the use of AI in heart surgery and the development of the Kai AI algorithm. He also talks about the importance of wearables and heart rate variability in monitoring and predicting health conditions.

Dr. Khalpey addresses concerns about insurance companies using data for predictive analysis and denying coverage based on genetic predispositions. He emphasizes the need for responsible and ethical use of AI in healthcare and the importance of transparency and governance.

• AI and machine learning have the potential to reduce medical errors and improve patient outcomes in cardiac surgery.
• Cross-pollination and continuous improvement are essential in the field of medicine.
• Collaboration between clinicians and data scientists is crucial for the successful integration of AI in healthcare.
• Practical applications of AI in surgery include improving communication and decision-making within the surgical team. AI is being used in heart surgery to improve decision-making and patient outcomes.
• Wearables, such as the Ura Ring, have the potential to provide valuable health data, but their accuracy and trustworthiness need to be validated.
• Insurance companies may use AI and genetic data to deny coverage, highlighting the need for regulations and provisions to protect individuals.
• The responsible and ethical use of AI in healthcare is crucial, and transparency and governance are essential for building trust.
• Collaboration and communication between different stakeholders, including clinicians, data scientists, and patients, are necessary for successful AI implementation in healthcare. Dr. Khalpey’s humility and dedication to his patients are inspiring
• Technology can be used for good to improve people’s lives
• Prioritizing work-life balance is essential for personal well-being

We have split this into two episodes. The summary is across both episodes:

Dr. Zain Khalpey discusses the integration of AI and machine learning in cardiac surgery and the potential for reducing medical errors and improving patient outcomes. He emphasizes the importance of cross-pollination and continuous improvement in the field of medicine.

Dr. Khalpey shares his vision for an AI-driven healthcare ecosystem and highlights the need for collaboration between clinicians and data scientists. He also discusses the practical applications of AI in surgery, such as improving communication and decision-making within the surgical team. In this part of the conversation, Dr. Zain Khalpey discusses the use of AI in heart surgery and the development of the Kai AI algorithm. He also talks about the importance of wearables and heart rate variability in monitoring and predicting health conditions.

Dr. Khalpey addresses concerns about insurance companies using data for predictive analysis and denying coverage based on genetic predispositions. He emphasizes the need for responsible and ethical use of AI in healthcare and the importance of transparency and governance.

• AI and machine learning have the potential to reduce medical errors and improve patient outcomes in cardiac surgery.
• Cross-pollination and continuous improvement are essential in the field of medicine.
• Collaboration between clinicians and data scientists is crucial for the successful integration of AI in healthcare.
• Practical applications of AI in surgery include improving communication and decision-making within the surgical team. AI is being used in heart surgery to improve decision-making and patient outcomes.
• Wearables, such as the Ura Ring, have the potential to provide valuable health data, but their accuracy and trustworthiness need to be validated.
• Insurance companies may use AI and genetic data to deny coverage, highlighting the need for regulations and provisions to protect individuals.
• The responsible and ethical use of AI in healthcare is crucial, and transparency and governance are essential for building trust.
• Collaboration and communication between different stakeholders, including clinicians, data scientists, and patients, are necessary for successful AI implementation in healthcare. Dr. Khalpey's humility and dedication to his patients are inspiring
• Technology can be used for good to improve people's lives
• Prioritizing work-life balance is essential for personal well-being

• Randy Bean, the Godfather of CDAOs, a global authority on data analytics and author of “Fail Fast, Learn Faster: Lessons in Data-Driven Leadership in an Age of Disruption, Big Data, and AI”
• Michelle Finneran Dennedy, the OG Chief Privacy Officer at McAfee, Intel and Cisco, author of “The Privacy Engineer's Manifesto” now leading the charge at PrivacyCode
• Yassir Abousselham, whose CISO expertise spans Google, Okta, Splunk, UiPath and now advisors global CISOs worldwide in his latest venture, Silicon Valley Cyber
• Hosted by Carrie Mott, MD of Flywheel Marketing and SaaS Marketing Expert

Key topics include:

• Crafting smart data governance and privacy frameworks to fuel AI innovation while keeping data management robust.
• Embracing the AI Upskill movement, as a staggering 61% of workers are now wielding AI in their daily tasks, yet a mere 46% of top companies have established a solid data culture.
• Unpacking the strategic rise of CAIOs within data-centric organizations and their role in steering organisations through both the risks and opportunities of an AI Era.
• The responsibility and proficiency of Board and C-Suite members in providing oversight to data pipelines and the AI lifecycle within their businesses.
• The role of data hygiene, centralization, and provenance in enhancing collaborative data quality and management, especially given that only 37% of quality improvement initiatives are successful.
• What’s keeping CISOs up at night? Including data and model poisoning and AI-enhanced cyber threats.
• How do we mitigate the impact of AI-generated misinformation and deepfakes as the world braces for a year of elections involving nearly half its population?
• And crucially, how to foster cross-departmental synergy to harness the competitive edge AI offers.

This panel isn't just a conversation—it's a strategic playbook for cross functional leaders to leverage data effectively in the dawn of AI, ensuring readiness for the monumental shifts ahead. Engage with these thought leaders as they chart a course for thriving in a world where data isn't just an asset; it's the currency of innovation.

Takeaways

• AI has the potential to significantly increase productivity, with some estimates suggesting a 4X to 10X increase in knowledge workers' productivity.
• The rise of AI raises questions about the need for more humans in organizations if every human becomes 10X as productive.
• AI is disrupting mundane tasks in fields like accounting and law, potentially replacing the need for human involvement in these areas.
• While AI can generate content and artwork, there is still value in human creativity and the unique perspectives and emotions it brings.
• The future of AI raises ethical considerations and the need for responsible development and implementation to ensure the well-being of humanity.

Sound Bites

• "Do we really need more humans in our organization if every human is 10X as productive every day?"
• "Take the robot out of the human so that humans can do more meaningful work."
• "AI will kill the mediocre."

In this episode, the hosts are joined by Nick King, the founder of Data Kinetic, to discuss the role of AI in healthcare. Nick shares his experience of observing open heart surgery and highlights the complexity of the surgical process. They explore the importance of data in healthcare and the challenges of managing medical records. The conversation also touches on the privacy of healthcare data and the need for responsible AI models. They discuss the potential of AI to improve healthcare outcomes and reduce costs. The episode concludes with a focus on the growing interest in personal health and wellness. In this conversation, Nick King discusses the potential of AI in healthcare, personalized medicine, and climate transformation. The discussion touches on the challenges of food and health, the need for personalized healthcare, and the ethical concerns surrounding genetic testing and insurance coverage. Nick also explains Data Kinetic's approach to AI, which involves building specialized agents and models to address complex problems. The conversation concludes with a reflection on the impact of AI on our lives and the importance of conscious understanding and control.

Takeaways

• Observing open heart surgery provides insights into the complexity of the surgical process and the importance of data in healthcare.
• The privacy of healthcare data is crucial, and individuals should have the right to choose what happens with their data.
• AI has the potential to improve healthcare outcomes by analyzing data and predicting health risks.
• The business model for AI in healthcare involves solving specific problems and collaborating with healthcare providers.
• There is a growing interest in personal health and wellness, with individuals taking more responsibility for their own health. The biggest challenge in maintaining health and losing weight is food and nutrition.
• AI has the potential to personalize healthcare and predict future health conditions based on genetic makeup.
• Ethical concerns arise regarding the use of AI in insurance coverage and the potential for discrimination based on genetic information.
• Data Kinetic's approach to AI involves building specialized agents and models to address complex problems in healthcare, energy, and climate transformation.

Sound Bites

Chapters

00:00

Introduction and Background

01:02

Personal Updates

01:22

Observing Open Heart Surgery

04:04

The Role of Data in Healthcare

06:21

Assessing Data Points for Predictive Analysis

07:43

The Complexity of Medical Records

08:01

The Importance of Data Privacy

10:49

The Role of AI in Healthcare

12:05

The Vision for AI in Medicine

13:36

The Business Model for AI in Healthcare

20:37

Innovation and Adoption of AI in Healthcare

25:53

Improving Healthcare Accessibility and Affordability

28:15

The Cost of Healthcare and Personal Responsibility

31:15

Growing Interest in Personal Health and Wellness

31:32

The Challenge of Food and Health

32:55

Personalized Healthcare and Genetic Testing

35:19

Ethical Concerns and Insurance Coverage

38:23

Data Kinetic's Approach to AI

43:30

Applying AI in Healthcare, Energy, and Climate Transformation

53:10

The Impact of AI on Our Lives

Takeaways

• App downloads were up 1%, to 257 Billion. That’s 489,000 apps downloaded per minute. 
• Consumer spending hit a new high at $171 billion (+3% YoY) following a 2% YoY dip in 2022.  That’s $325,000 per minute. 
• On average we are spending 5 hours per day, per user in mobile apps. That’s up 6% and it equates to ⅓ of our daily awake hours.
• So with everyone spending more time in apps, it makes sense that mobile ad spend is up 8% to $362 Billion! 
• 11.1% increase in app spend to $64B

Interesting Outtakes

• Ellie had a Blackberry at University :)
• Truth Social, a social media app owned by Donald Trump, gained popularity quickly.
• Mobile ads are increasingly focused on video content.
• Consumers are more willing to pay for apps due to improved quality and experiences.
• Government-sponsored concerts have seen increased demand.
• Caution should be exercised when consuming information from certain apps.

Takeaways

• AI adoption in businesses is high, with 88% of organizations using some form of AI.
• Customizing AI for personalized experiences, such as automated email sends and highly personalized offers, can enhance customer journeys.
• ROI and uncertainty around AI remain key concerns for businesses, but small successes and value demonstrations can help maintain momentum.
• Experimentation and training are crucial for organizations to fully leverage AI's potential.
• AI has the potential to support and enhance creativity in industries like marketing and design
• Re-skilling and adapting to new technologies is essential for job security in industries where automation is prevalent.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Name Change

01:04 Introducing AI and Twilio's Growth Report

04:12 Customizing AI for Personalized Experiences

05:05 ROI and Uncertainty with AI

06:53 Experimentation and Training with AI

08:17 AI in the Creative Industry

09:17 Re-skilling and Job Security

As the digital realm becomes increasingly competitive, the insights provided in this report are essential for any organization looking to leverage data-driven strategies to achieve a competitive edge in 2024.

The big stats in this years Digital Benchmarks Report, that we extracted were:

• 60% of brands saw a reduction in traffic which also came a higher cost.
• Last year was a 1/3 frustration metric for users, this year it’s 2/5. So there is a big gap to be closed between what users expect and what they are being delivered.
• Overall conversions are down by 5.5% which is not great, considering the traffic volumes are also down.
• Lastly the biggest takeaway is how far off mobile traffic is from web traffic. At nearly 60% brands needs to think and act mobile first.

This is our take on the the report.

My tope 3 highlights:

1) 88% of execs feel that 2024 will have a higher rate of change

2) Technology and AI are the single biggest driver of change

3) 52% of execs fear their organisation is not ready to adapt

To download the full report head over to the Accenture Website:

I found Brian headed to Melbourne, and I took the chance to grab him for 30 mins and over a champagne we hit some big topics;

• Mega and Micro Trends; how do we keep up?
• AI - How do we embrace it?
• What's going on with Digital Experience? Are we getting it right or wrong?
• Champagne or Wine? That was an easy topic.
• Q on Q vs Long Term Vision. How to balance both.
• Cultural and leadership Empathy.

It was a fun chat, and my brain was nicely spent. As usual I wish I had more time.

But what if the board didn't agree to let the company pivot, right when it was in the midst of leading the market? To allow itself to basically disrupt themselves. What if the team didn't come up with the idea that it had to reinvent itself?

For those that don’t know, Dynatrace monitors the performance of applications, the clouds they run in, and the users accessing and using these apps for nearly every enterprise out there. The tech 'heads' call it observability, in that their software can observe all the inner workings of all these applications, services, infrastructure, networks, and everything else in between. 

And given the world is run on apps, and they are increasingly complicated, it’s a fairly important observation. A single line of code is wrong, and the software stops. 

And with it, … that companies ability to transact. You’ve seen examples of this, almost weekly, on the news, when airlines are forced to shut down flights, point of sale systems go down, or heaven forbid Facebook goes down. 

Thankfully the systems that run these systems are getting smarter, with AI, and the likelihood of whatsapp being down is less and less. What a relief. 

So how on earth do you come up with the monitoring software that debugs the software that runs the world? 

Where do you start? 

Why? 

And given how quickly the world changes, and with it, tech changes, how do you keep pace with all the latest tech, scale, and modern systems. 

Not easily. 

Bernd Greifeneder is the founder of Dynatrace. His role now is CTO, visionary leader, and honestly cultural identity of Dynatrace. I was lucky to work with him, and see first hand, not only his ability to grasp what’s next, but to inspire teams to be ready, and to execute on the changes needed to be the best. I joined as a marketing leader in the first wave of APM, I was part of the transformation you will hear about, as well as the successful IPO.  Leaving not long after this, in the middle of covid to come home from the US with my family, that’s where I left the story, and I was so keen to find out what has been going on. 

Turns out … quite a lot. 

I have watched and admired the rise of Honeycomb from a very close vantage point. Formerly in my role at Dynatrace, who is also a leader in this observability space, I saw them quietly go about their business, without really ruffling any feathers. The Datadog's, New Relic's, Appdynamics, and Dynatracers of the world would end up in head to head battles. We'd be quick to jibe back about each other's capabilities but Honeycomb seemed to be walking to the beat of it's own drum.

It fascinated me to the point that I really wanted to know more.

In this podcast, I had a long sit down, with Christine Yen, the companies co-founder and CEO. We talked about the companies origin and original idea, early success, through the challenges with Go To Market, and being a female tech leader.

Enjoy. I certainly did.

"If you have customers, or want customers, you really need to be thinking about privacy up front. It can no longer be an afterthought." Michelle Finneran Dennedy

I’ve been thinking about privacy a fair bit. And in talking to some entrepreneurs, that have an app, they are hell bent on collecting data, but haven’t really thought through their data strategy. 

What can I collect? How? Where is it stored? 

Too often I hear; yeah well Google and Meta does it therefore I can right? 

No. 

I sense a perfect storm might be brewing. The collection of data, the ability to process it, the ability to piece it all together, and the ability to profile people from it.

In intrigued me to the point that I thought I really need to talk to someone about it. I don’t mean old mate down at the pub who’s typically response is; 

Yeah na mate, I don’t really care what they know about me, I’m just not that interesting. 

This podcast isn’t for old mate.

This podcast is for people that are interested in the in’s and outs of privacy from an expert that not only wrote the book on the topic, started the Chief privacy functions of some of the largest companies, but has gone out on a limb, to start her own company hell bent on educating people about privacy and ensuring the next generation of leaders get their privacy strategies, documented, ethically tested, and are sustainably sound. 

She makes Privacy sound cool. I really didn't think that was possible.

Michelle Finneran Dennedy

Michelle literally wrote the book on privacy engineering that raised a generation of ethical, empathetic, and business-minded privacy professionals. She is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of Privacycode.ai, a start-up privacy engineering platform for business-focused privacy teams.

Before PrivacyCode, she held seminal Chief Privacy Officer roles at Cisco, McAfee/Intel, and Sun Microsystems. She also served as CEO of the data company Drumwave.

She holds a JD from the Fordham University School of Law.

Follow Michelle on Twitter: @mdennedy.

In this podcast we talk to Beena about the evolution of AI, and draw some interesting conclusions on it's maturity, the challenges of adopting AI in companies, and what the future could hold for AI.

"Will AI cure cancer in the next 5 years?"

"Yes, with human help".

Beena is an extremely knowledgable business leader, and author of a fantastic and groundbreaking book, Trustworthy AI.

We just don't seem to ever talk about mental health. And this is a problem.

According to the World Health Organisation there are over 700,000 suicides each year. That number is simply heart breaking.

And whilst there is no evidence that the pandemic cause an increase in suicide rates, the majority of governments, have seen a dramatic increase in mental health support services, and our workforce productivity has slowed with the burden of home schooling, juggling kids, losing jobs, and worrying about the future.

Mental health issues affect so many of us. It's proposed that nearly 50% of the population suffer from one form of mental health illness in their life time. And so the feelings of anxiousness, a loss of productivity, a lack of self worth .... these are not uncommon, and yet for the vast majority of the population, we are simply not working as productively as we could.

And maybe it's because we don't know how to address mental health issues in the workplace?

My guest on this podcast, is Greg Muller. Greg is a successful businessman, has floated a company on the ASX, but more importantly, he is currently channeling his efforts toward organizations that are addressing significant social challenges.

Greg co-founded a not-for-profit charitable foundation in 2020, The United Project Foundation focused on the early detection of mental health risks at work. His work, and the work of the United Project Foundation volunteers, is based around governance and training for company leaders to help facilitate a healthy, and happy, workforce. This is no easy task, but like my favourite peloton quote 'it's never easy, but it's always worth it.'

Greg is also working with Nestd, who provide quality, architectural yet affordable, self-contained compact living solutions to the retirement, tourism and holiday home sectors. So basically think - quality prefabricated tiny houses. That's pretty cool, but what is cooler is, Nestd is a social enterprise of the Kids Under Cover charity where all the Profits from every Nestd home sold go to fund Kids Under Cover’s life-changing work with youth who are at risk of homelessness.

About Greg Muller

For over 25 years, Greg has established himself as a highly regarded business leader, entrepreneur, innovator and commercialisation expert in corporate and government business, both domestically and internationally.

Greg specialises in strategy, growth and commercialisation advisory, governance, capital raisings and digital technology. A deep, curious and expansive thinker, Greg challenges existing ways of working to help businesses and leaders reposition and deliver accelerated growth.

Across his career, Greg has been the recipient of multiple business, industry and innovation awards, achieved multiple exits of companies he founded, including listing a technology business he founded on the ASX in 2016. He is an experienced Chairperson and is a Non-Executive Director on numerous company boards and is a sought-after speaker and mentor.

Greg now prioritises his time supporting purpose-led organisations and entrepreneurs who have a vision and commitment to deliver widespread impact for humanity and the environment; delivered ethically and sustainably, at scale. His project and investment portfolio is primary focused in health, housing, food and technology.

In 2020, Greg co-founded a not-for-profit charitable foundation, The United Project focused on the early detection of mental health risks at work.

Greg holds an MBA (University of Melbourne), Bachelor of Applied Science...]]>Mental health is something we don't really talk that much about. And yet, with the increase in social media, a pandemic that caused the biggest disruption to our work and life, and of course the constant fears now of an impending recession, mental health is just something we all should be talking more about.

We just don't seem to ever talk about mental health. And this is a problem.

According to the World Health Organisation there are over 700,000 suicides each year. That number is simply heart breaking.

And whilst there is no evidence that the pandemic cause an increase in suicide rates, the majority of governments, have seen a dramatic increase in mental health support services, and our workforce productivity has slowed with the burden of home schooling, juggling kids, losing jobs, and worrying about the future.

Mental health issues affect so many of us. It's proposed that nearly 50% of the population suffer from one form of mental health illness in their life time. And so the feelings of anxiousness, a loss of productivity, a lack of self worth .... these are not uncommon, and yet for the vast majority of the population, we are simply not working as productively as we could.

And maybe it's because we don't know how to address mental health issues in the workplace?

My guest on this podcast, is Greg Muller. Greg is a successful businessman, has floated a company on the ASX, but more importantly, he is currently channeling his efforts toward organizations that are addressing significant social challenges.

Greg co-founded a not-for-profit charitable foundation in 2020, The United Project Foundation focused on the early detection of mental health risks at work. His work, and the work of the United Project Foundation volunteers, is based around governance and training for company leaders to help facilitate a healthy, and happy, workforce. This is no easy task, but like my favourite peloton quote 'it's never easy, but it's always worth it.'

Greg is also working with Nestd, who provide quality, architectural yet affordable, self-contained compact living solutions to the retirement, tourism and holiday home sectors. So basically think - quality prefabricated tiny houses. That's pretty cool, but what is cooler is, Nestd is a social enterprise of the Kids Under Cover charity where all the Profits from every Nestd home sold go to fund Kids Under Cover’s life-changing work with youth who are at risk of homelessness.

About Greg Muller

For over 25 years, Greg has established himself as a highly regarded business leader, entrepreneur, innovator and commercialisation expert in corporate and government business, both domestically and internationally.

Greg specialises in strategy, growth and commercialisation advisory, governance, capital raisings and digital technology. A deep, curious and expansive thinker, Greg challenges existing ways of working to help businesses and leaders reposition and deliver accelerated growth.

Across his career, Greg has been the recipient of multiple business, industry and innovation awards, achieved multiple exits of companies he founded, including listing a technology business he founded on the ASX in 2016. He is an experienced Chairperson and is a Non-Executive Director on numerous company boards and is a sought-after speaker and mentor.

Greg now prioritises his time supporting purpose-led organisations and entrepreneurs who have a vision and commitment to deliver widespread impact for humanity and the environment; delivered ethically and sustainably, at scale. His project and investment portfolio is primary focused in health, housing, food and technology.

In 2020, Greg co-founded a not-for-profit charitable foundation, The United Project focused on the early detection of mental health risks at work.

Greg holds an MBA (University of Melbourne), Bachelor of Applied Science (University of SA), a Certificate in FinTech Risks & Ethics (University of Hong Hong) and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Follow Greg on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregmulleraus/

Check out The United Project Foundation - https://www.theunitedproject.net/

Donate to The United Project to support them in delivering their impact - https://donorbox.org/the-united-project or use PayPal.Me  - https://paypal.me/theunitedproject   

I hope you enjoy this podcast.

And whilst we humans have argued one way or another for 4 day weeks and working from home, it tended to be an exception rather than a norm.

And it seemed like just when we reached a tipping point, where work related stress was higher than ever, and we were working longer hours that we ever have before, we went remote. And replaced our in office back to back meetings for days on zoom calls.

It's fair to say 'shit got real weird' when we finished up our work Zoom, then transitioned straight into 'happy hour' with the same mob, whilst playing strange party games.

So now what?

We haven't quite come to terms yet with what successful working can and should look like. More so, it's not the same for every culture, industry, company and generation. A generation that is used to going to an office, vs a generation that graduated at home for instance.

How do we define the new ways of working? Who is getting it right? And how are people feeling about their own productivity and self empowerment.

Jeez that's a fair bit to tackle in one podcast. So in this chat I had Derek Laney, an evangelist from Slack, join me in my home studio to dissect some of these topics. And hot-off the press is the latest research report that Slack has conducted which has some remarkable statistics.

I hope you enjoy this podcast and for more information on Derek and the report he was sharing in this podcast please see below.

Research

• https://futureforum.com/pulse-survey/ 

Book

• https://futureforum.com/how-the-future-works/
• Harvard Business Review, Stop the Meeting Madness, August 2017

About Derek

Derek has held a broad range of roles in his 25-year technology career from startup developer, product manager, consultant, offshore development leader, solutions engineer and product marketing executive.

Derek now works as an evangelist helping organisations adapt for the future of work and advising on tech trends and the learnings of Slack customers.

Derek spent 15 years at Salesforce, working with the Salesforce ecosystem and the local technology industry in Australia, Asia and India exploring digital and customer experience. Derek has spent 9 years leading product marketing teams; 6 years in solutions consulting; 8 years developing and implementing software.

“I want to make work simpler, more pleasant, and more productive, I love experimenting with my own work-life joining Slack’s own Digital Headquarters from on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland or when towing a caravan around Australia.“

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- The infamous story behind the analytics revolution he started in MBL.

- How he became a critical decision maker in player recruitment, team tactics, and even player 'in game' tactics

- He shares some of his favourite player selections and the careers that almost might not have been, if it wasn't for analytical decision making

- And lastly how AI will change the way we live, work and play.

Ari is a rare dude. It's not wonder he is held in such high regard by all that come across him. From owners of major league baseball and basketball teams, to musicians like Eddie Vedder. Yes, Ari has hung out with Eddie on many occasions, and he shares how the Pearl Jam front man took his guitar onto the street to busk outside a Chicago Cubs game, with very little fanfare.

This podcast came about as a chance encounter. I stumbled on Libby’s name replying to a comment from fitness tech brand Peloton, asking ‘when is the treadmill coming to Australia’? As a fellow obsessed Peloton devotee, I reached out, as I was naturally inquisitive to hear how an Australia Olympic champion was using the platform.

Libby is a wonderful human as you’ll hear in this podcast. The sort of person that, after you listen to this podcast, it will feel as though you’ve known her for years. An honest, open, hilarious, and humble human. It’s absolutely no surprise to anyone as to why the country fell in love with her as an athlete, and why she continues to inspire people through her podcast, and her work outside of the pool.

Could she be the first influencer to lead a Peloton community in Australia? Absolutely. I’d certainly take every single one of her classes!

This podcast openly discusses mental health and depression. If you are struggling with mental health challenges, or feel the need to talk to anyone, please do reach out to Beyond Blue. We both, Libby and I, feel that depression is something that should be openly discussed and normalised. Please don’t feel afraid to have a conversation.

Beyond Blue: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/get-immediate-support

That's what you think when you think digital transformation right? blah blah.

But Rich Nanda brings a fresh perspective because he is a believer in continuous change. He is a principle at Deloitte Consulting and the co-author of the "The Transformation Myth". I swore I would never read another book on digital transformation, so it was refreshing to pick up a book that was dispelling common theories.

If you learn nothing in this podcast, except one thing, I encourage you to walk away with this point.

Companies KNOW they need to be data driven, but aren't. I asked on a scale of 1-10 where he things most companies sit, and he said 2.

Why?

Attitude.

We have all we need to be successful today, but the motivation, the urgency, the culture is what is missing for so many. And culture isn't built over night. It's built over time.

Find people that are wanting to make a difference, and can do it in a way that builds high performing teams, and you might just find that transformation isn't even a thing. It's just a way of work.

Kevin Slavin is a rare individual. On stage he has presented Ted Talks on algorithms and stock markets, which has been viewed over 2 million times. He has been a game developer, founded a spatially aware technology platform company, and now has been focused on helping humans make sense of the smallest matter in the world - metagenomics.

We could go on and on, because this conversation does that. It does it because the topic is so damn interesting, it was impossible to cut anything. Listening to the end will reward the patient listener.

Some of his policies formed in his time in government, exist to this day. In this podcast we delve into all forms of interesting commentary including the right for the US Defence Department to attack cyber criminals, the usual China and Russia debate, and we end the discussion talking about his current role and why he is so excited about the potential of AI.

This story is a cool one, where we are joined my Co-Managing Director Matt Heine. What did and didn’t surprise me, was that Matt naturally found himself talking about AI and Microservices. These are topics that are naturally suited to me, but not often that suited to a business leader.

It’s also local to us Melbourne folks, so local in fact we recorded this in a room, all together, for the first time in what felt like years.

This is the tech seeking human podcast brought to you by DataRobot.

In this podcast Gene talks about the evolution of DevOps, his favourite inspirations, how enterprises are evolving into software development houses, and how to benchmark your DevOps maturity.

His story telling includes a fantastic 'mind altering' reflection on running, maintaining, and developing the software that runs the Navy, as well as 'software updates that can be deployed' whilst a car is driving.

You will buy his book, or one of the books he recommends during this podcast.

Gene talks fast, is super resourceful, so it's awesome to have this recorded so you can hit pause and reflect!

1. The ethical ideology of AI leaders including Google, Microsoft and Facebook. How they acquired AI, what they've done with it, what they might do with it.
2. Why did everyone choose to sell their AI to Google? Ethics?
3. Facebook - Ethical AI or not?
4. The difference between the US Government access to AI and China.

It's a fascinating chat for anyone that is interesting in AI, social media, privacy, ethics and the rise of big tech.

She is an advisor on the Australian Governments Data Advisory Council, hails from Perth, Western Australia, and despite nearly giving birth on the podcast, holds a conversation around AI with charm.

You following?

Pay attention because this is exactly what is not happening, and Nathaniel Raymond, a thought provoking professor and TED Talk activist, is going to help you realize that the 'wild west' of data governance needs to end. It's life threatening, it's a threat to democracy and it's a threat to our way of life.

This podcast is long. But if you are patient, you'll leave enlightened.

Adam Cheyer is the co-founder of Siri. In this conversation, Adam shares his story on being approached by Steve Jobs, turning down and offer to join Apple, and eventually partnering to bring Siri to the world. He shares the origins of Siri, his vision for it, and more generally his thinking around open AI, and the future of AI.

Many associate Steve Jobs with revolutionising computing, the iPhone, music and the Apple ecosystem. But perhaps his greatest accomplishment, was bringing AI to the masses.

In this podcast you will, for the first time, hear Adam Cheyer open up about how Steve felt about Siri.

The fact is, Siri was launched the day after Steve Jobs passed away.

"Steve Jobs was clinging to life to see the launch of Siri." According to Steve Jobs', Personal Assistant.

We have less than 50% probability of society surviving the next 50 years. Max Tegmark, a leading scientist and authority on AI, is adamant that the future we want, is the future we need to design. This isn't science fiction. Max founded the 'Future of Life Institute, which counts Elon Musk and Larry Page as members, to drive a global agenda toward a future where AI helps, not hinders.

The risks are plentiful - we could develop AI systems that 'outsmart us', selfish leaders could create an AI powered nuclear war, but the rewards are even greater. Redistribution of wealth so we can work in jobs we want to work in, healthcare and education could be greatly improved, poverty could be eliminated, and we can do more of what we like doing.

But this reality requires thinking and acting on the possibilities of AI and designing a way to control and work with this technology.  It requires a global shared vision. But getting there doesn't seem as simple as it sounds.

Tricia Wang is a tech ethnographer, studying the behaviour of how people analyze data using technology, and in this podcast she shares some critical stories and best practices for how companies should redefine their approach to data analysis.

In this podcast, so many of the strategies shared by Tricia seem painfully simple, and yet why is it that we don’t practice them. “Get close to the customer.” So many companies say this, but why are they failing miserably at truly understanding what the customer wants, and actually delivering on it.

The big themes that will make you go ‘mmm’;

• Why it’s important to find meaning in your data
• You think you’re close to your customer but are you really understanding and serving their needs, wants and desires
• Reporting overload is at pandemic levels
• The ‘department of the unknown’ might unlock the secrets to the insights you need
• AI needs human to interpret, translate and action.
• ‘The Spatial Collapse’ defines our current work/life/play, but how will it evolve?