In this week’s episode, Erik is joined by Jan Burian, Associate Vice President and Head of IDC Manufacturing Insights EMEA. His core research coverage includes Industry 4.0, digital transformation, and IT and automation tools. At IDC, their focus lies in aiding IT experts, corporate leaders, and investors in making informed decisions regarding technology investments and business tactics.

Our conversation delves into the intricate framework of the industrial Metaverse. Discover how businesses are meticulously constructing this landscape, piece by piece, with Jan shedding light on various technologies and specific use cases. Moreover, we explore the fascinating realm of generative AI and its application in industrial contexts. Learn how it serves as an intuitive interface within the industrial Metaverse, effectively navigating the complex terrain of data saturation.

Give it a listen and enjoy the podcast!

Key Questions:

●      What is industry metaverse and how does it work?

●      Scaling and scalability of metaverse as digital twin of the enterprise world.

●      What do you see today in terms of adoption of generative AI and solutions that are used in the industrial environment?

If you're curious to know more about our Jan Burian, you can find him on:

Website: https://www.idc.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janburian/?originalSubdomain=cz

During this week's episode, Erik interviewed Gil Dror, the Chief Technology Officer, and Sammy Kolt, the Chief Product Officer at SmartSense. SmartSense offers a solution that empowers organizations to leverage wireless sensors, digital technology, and advanced analytics, resulting in actionable insights based on remote sensing and artificial intelligence.

Throughout the discussion, we delved into the ways IoT facilitates workflow streamlining and introduces a novel approach to data-driven decision-making. Additionally, we explored how IoT is making a significant impact on the healthcare and food services industries, where it is utilized to enhance safety measures, ensure compliance with regulations, and maintain stringent quality control standards.

Listen and enjoy the show!

Key Questions:

● What solution stack does SmartSense utilize for its software and hardware?

● How do they ensure the longevity and efficiency of sensors and equipment?

● What enhancements have they implemented to enrich the user experience through their IoT solutions?

● What exciting developments can we expect in the realm of Smarter AI?

If you're curious to know more about our esteemed guests, Gil Dror and Sammy Kolt, you can find them on LinkedIn:

Gil Dror: https://www.linkedin.com/in/

In this episode, we talked with Dave Fick, co-founder and CEO of Mythic. Mythic has developed analog computing technology to deliver high-performance AI processors that are ten times more power-efficient and cost-effective than digital solutions. 

In this talk, we discussed why analog computing is uniquely well-suited for machine learning on the edge, due to low energy consumption, low latency, and high capability. We also talk about several industrial applications that are using analog computing today.

Key Questions:

●      What is analog computing?

●      What is the difference in form and cost structure for analog and digital solutions?

●      How does analog computing deal with 'messy data'?

This week, Erik and Darwin interviewed Paul McCarthy, Founder and CEO of Snapfix. Snapfix is the simplest maintenance platform on the planet, making maintenance easy with a streamlined system of photos and traffic lights that everyone can use. 

In this special episode of IoT One Podcast, Darwin Wang joined Erik Walenza as his co-host! Darwin is a multifaceted professional with a diverse education and career background, and previously as Head of Innovation at JLL.

In this talk, they discussed why the building management industry has been a laggard in technology adoption despite being among the largest sectors in the economy. They also explored the application of consumer app best practices for building enterprise solutions that can be used by frontline staff with little or no training. Listen and enjoy the show!

Key Questions: 

●      What are the challenges of the management industry that prevents digitalization?

●      What does the integration of systems for consumer apps look like today for providing solutions?

●      What does localization look like for building enterprise solutions?

Know more about our co-host for today’s episode, Darwin Wang by visiting his profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/d1wang/

In this episode, Erik talked with Jaume Sanpera, CEO and co-founder of Sateliot. Sateliot is the first satellite communication service provider that will offer satellite IoT connectivity.  

In this talk, Erik discussed why 85% of the earth remains unserved by terrestrial networks and how modern satellites can bring affordable connectivity to remote NB-IoT devices. He also explored the factors influencing satellite connectivity cost structure, including satellite manufacturing, launch, radio technology, and service contract structure. 

Key Questions: 

• What is the cost trend for connecting an IoT device via satellite? 
• How does performance differ with satellite versus terrestrial communication? 
• What are the big use cases in satellite IoT connectivity? 

This week, we interviewed Jack Kang, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Customer Experience at SiFive. SiFive brings RISC V software and Silicon experts together to innovate with the modern software-driven approach to semiconductors. 

In this episode, we talked about the importance of the RISC V open standard for semiconductors to provide design freedom, vendor choice, and long-term tech stack flexibility. We also explored how companies, from automotive OEMs to wearable device manufacturers, are different in their products with custom designs on open standards. 

Key Questions: 

• What is the international standard behind RISC-V technology? 
• Who are the big contributors to RISC-V instruction set standards? 
• How do you see the future of RISC-V in the coming years? 

In this episode, we talked with Renan Devillieres, founder and CEO of OSS Ventures. OSS Ventures is a start-up studio that invests in the future of factory operations. They ideate, test, build and invest in great ideas to change the future of manufacturing.

In this talk, we discussed the role of start-ups in shaping the future of manufacturing and specific areas of breakthrough in this industry. We also covered the best practices for building a new venture like opportunity identification, product-market fit validation, and recruiting a leadership team. 

Key Questions:

• What is the current status of digital technology adoption in manufacturing?
• What are the challenges in finding the right technology providers, companies, and founders in manufacturing?
• What are the challenges for corporate ventures trying to explore areas outside their domain expertise?

In this episode, we talked with Leonard Marano, President of the Americas at Lectra. Lectra provides Industry 4.0 solutions to bridge the gap between the consumer and the factory bringing precision and flexibility to the design to production process.

In this talk, we discussed market trends driving Industry 4.0 adoption including mass customization, sustainability, nearshoring, and workforce shortages. We also explored how manufacturing in the fashion industry is evolving its supply chains to differentiate quality, cost, and speed to market.

Key Questions: 

●      How does mass customization affect the current market trends?

●      What factors affect people to invest more in technologies that promote sustainability?

●      How do nearshoring and workforce shortages drive automation?

This week, we interviewed Bryan DeBois, director of Industrial AI at RoviSys. RoviSys is a global system integrator that applies the most effective methods for building, analyzing, improving, and maintaining complex autonomous systems.

In this episode, we talk about the concept of autonomous AI that integrates deep reinforcement learning based on machine data with machine teaching based on the main expertise and improvement through simulation. We also explored the industrial landscape broadly, including the cost structure, ROI targets, use cases, cloud strategy, and emerging technologies like GPT4.

Key Questions:

●      What is autonomous AI?

●      What is the status of industrial AI in the S-curve of artificial intelligence?

●      What are the use cases that are fit for autonomous AI?

●      What is the cost structure for autonomous AI?

In this episode, we talked with Matt Oberdorfer, founder and CEO of Embassy of Things. Embassy of Things enables industrial enterprises to modernize and build their own operational cloud historians, industrial digital twins, and data lakes.

In this talk, we discussed how to modernize industrial data architecture to resolve development bottlenecks and simplify the path from a pilot scale. We also explored the application of generative AI to the industrial environment. 

Key Questions:

• What is your perspective on the human or organizational element as a bottleneck to moving from POC to scale?
• What is the architectural element for industrial data and industrial AI?
• What is the difference between generic AI and generative AI?

In this episode, we talked with Rob Hirschfeld, CEO and founder of RackN. RackN connects the tools people use to manage infrastructure to workflow pipelines through seamless automation across IT systems, platforms, and applications.

In this episode, we discussed the challenges of operating on-premise data centers and the need to automate processes as companies adopt edge computing. We also explored the development during the past 25 years of data center evolution, what has improved, and where we still need progress. 

Key Questions:

• What are the challenges nowadays for cloud infrastructure? 
• How have IoT and data centers evolved over the past 25 years? 
• How do companies adapt to edge computing?

In this week's episode, we interviewed Scott Hondros, Vice President of Professional Services at CenTrak. CenTrak helps healthcare facilities create a safe, and efficient healthcare environment through the deployment of industry-leading real-time location systems.

In this episode, we discussed how healthcare providers use IoT systems data to increase productivity, reduce operating costs and transform patient care. We also talked about machine-learning adoption to generate insights into asset utilization and the potential for the adoption of generative AI to create speech-based user interfaces.

Key Questions:

• Do you see people experimenting with a new business model around RTLS?
• What is the stakeholder relationship for large healthcare facilities?
• What is the future of voice-based interfaces for the healthcare industry?

For today's episode, we talked with Artem Kroupenev, Head of Strategy for Augury. Augury uses AI to detect machine failures before they occur by empowering the largest process manufacturers to integrate AI into their daily operations.

In this talk, we discussed how AI co-pilots transform the factory floor by guiding maintenance, quality, and production decisions with highly accurate diagnostics. We also explored the impact of GPT-4 and other large language models on how manufacturers use unstructured information and build more convenient user interfaces.

Key Questions:

• How would you apply AI and machine learning to the manufacturing environment?
• What does the journey look like for AI integration in industrial and manufacturing in the coming years?
• How do you work with unstructured information to build more convenient user interfaces?

In this episode, we talked to Cory O'Daniel, CEO and co-founder at Massdriver. Massdriver helps engineers deploy best-practice cloud architectures with integrated observability and security without being a DevOps expert.

In this talk, we discussed the evolution of DevOps and cloud computing and why traditional DevOps practices don't work well for many start-ups today. We also explored the promise of generative AI to alien DevOps programming.

Key Questions:

What industries are mostly involved in DevOps programming?

What are the improvements needed for DevOps nowadays?

How do you see the democratization of access to AI evolve right now?

This week, we interviewed Francesco Sammartini, Managing Director of Advanced Microwave Engineering (AME). AME provides end-to-end active safety solutions based on proprietary technology that helps companies achieve the highest level of safety for workers while maintaining operational efficiency.

In this episode, we discussed the transition from passive safety, or minimizing damage, to active safety focused on using intelligent systems to avoid dangers. We also explored the importance of a customer-centric approach in industrial environments to ensure that solutions that are designed for the needs of end-users and business processes.

Key Questions:

• What to look forward to in an active safety transition for companies?
• What are the solutions offered to meet the needs of end-users in industrial environments?
• What do you look forward to in new technology development, especially in using intelligent systems for active safety?

This week, we interviewed Johan Stokking, CTO and co-founder of The Things Industries. The Things Industries is the industry renown expert that provides an integrated chain of LoRaWAN products and services to help companies start building secured end-to-end solutions for themselves and their customers. 

In this episode, we discussed the value proposition of LoRaWAN and why it has survived and thrived in the fiercely competitive connectivity ecosystem. We also explored the business project behind the pricing models and why simplicity and transparency are critical for operators of large device fleets. 

Key Questions:  

• What is the development progress of LoRaWAN been since then?
• What are the factors that contributed to the success of LoRaWAN?  
• How do you break down the capabilities and processes around the LoRaWAN platform?
• How do you come up with the pricing model for your business? 

Our guest for this week is Shankar Somasundaram, founder and CEO of Asimily. Asimily is a medical IoT risk mediation platform that holistically secures mission-critical healthcare devices through inventory detection, cybersecurity management, and procurement to operation support.

In this episode, we discussed the unique challenges in securing the healthcare environment, from heterogeneous device fleets to the broad attack landscape and complex regulations. We also explored the importance of integrating operations in IT that can impact medical device performance.

Key Questions:

• What areas need focus for cybersecurity companies to address new threats in the market?
• How do you address the need to secure a hybrid and home healthcare environment?
• Where does the liability lie for cybersecurity issues in the healthcare industry?

This week, we interviewed Tarun Gupta, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Skylo Technologies. Skylo provides cost-effective coverage from space across the world by building an ecosystem of satellite operators, cellular providers, and technology partners. 

We talked about IoT and consumer use cases for the satellite that matured today, as well as the trends that will continue to drive adoption in the coming years. We also explored the importance of simplicity as end-users begin to expect universal connectivity. 

Key Questions:  

• When did the transition to having cost-effective satellite connectivity start to impact the market? 
• What changes do you expect in switching from a 4G network to a satellite connection? 
• What is the future of satellite technology for people who wants cost-effectiveness and simplicity in universal connectivity?  

In this episode, we talked with Pat Clawson, chairman and CEO of Resurface Labs. Resurface Labs is a data-driven API security service that uses continuous API scanning to detect and respond to the attack in real-time. 

We talked about the growing importance of APIs in modern software architecture and the challenges companies face in managing hundreds or thousands of APIs. We also explored the unique challenges in API security, such as broken object-level authorization, API parameter tampering, session hacking, and other exploit types. 

Key Questions:

●      What are the problems to solve in terms of API security service?

●      Why are existing security systems, like Firewalls and API gateway, insufficient to defend the API network?

●      What does the unknown zone leading to the attack surface indicate, as shown in the graph? (Please insert the link of the graph mentioned on the podcast)

●      What are the focus areas in API security for modern software services?

In this episode, we talked with Stefan Schwab, CEO of Enlighted. Enlighted is a leading, human-centered prop-tech provider of IoT solutions for space optimization, building management, business productivity, and sustainability. 

In this talk, we discussed the two megatrends that are reshaping the office today, the need for a hybrid workforce and the drive for sustainable building operations. We also talked about the long tail of use cases that leverage sensor data to improve employee productivity, track assets, and improve visibility into operations. 

Key Questions: 

• How do you balance the stakeholders' priorities with business sustainability?   
• What are the focus areas in portfolio development for analytics tools? 
• How would you help the company to entice employees to return to the office?   
• What is the future of the workplace that excites you the most?   

This week we interviewed Gabriel Rene, CEO of Verses. Verses is the company behind KOSM, the world's first network operating system for distributed intelligence.

In this episode, we discussed the coming explosion of AI-based super-tools built on the converging maturation of AI, IoT, robotics, and AR, like ChatGPT. We also explored the challenges facing this technology development, ranging from the need to lay a strong rules-based foundation to build safe AI to engage with governments and integration with legacy business systems.

Key Questions:

• How do we get the industry actively involved in creating solutions before the problem emerges?
• What is the future of society with a handful of systems developed by AI, Google, and entrepreneurs? 
• What are the human, regulatory, and business challenges for AI super tools?

In this episode, we talked with James Malley, co-founder and CEO of Paccurate. Paccurate provides containerization technology to the supply chain community that reduces cost, waste, and carbon consumption.

We discussed how trends toward higher product mix e-commerce and sustainability awareness impact packaging and shipping. We also explore how smart 3D packing APIs are used to upgrade existing WMS and TMS systems to reduce shipping and labor costs.  

Key Questions:

●      How are decisions in packaging and shipping affected by sustainability?

●      What does the solution process look like for smart 3D packing API?

●      What is the interface look like for your customers in WMS and TMS systems?

●      How do you calculate ROI for packaging solutions?

This week, our guest is Krzysztof Malicki, founder and CEO of TrustedTwin. TrustedTwin is an API-first solution for sharing real-time operation data with multiple partners powered by digital twins to build processes and enable services.

In this episode, we discussed the technical and business challenges in collaborating with operational data, including ownership, access, and ledger tracking. We also talked about the importance of data sharing to enable new solutions in business models like device services and data federation for platform plays.

Key Questions:

●      What are the essential elements of sharing operation data with your partners?

●      What are the functionalities of digital twin technology?

●      What are the two main types of customers that are using the platform?

●      What are the technical and legal challenges in operational data?

This week, we interviewed Nathan Clark, founder of Ganymede. Ganymede is the cloud-native data platform for life science companies focusing on integrating physical lab instruments with digital workflows. 

In this episode, we discussed the challenge of integrating and automating processes in life science research labs and manufacturing facilities. We also explored what the lab in the future will look like and how companies are leveraging the cloud today to improve productivity and guarantee compliance.

Key Questions:

●      What are the critical elements in automating the manufacturing process?

●      What are the roles of the primary and secondary users in setting up the data infrastructure for the lab? 

●      How would you structure the tech stack, and where are you interfacing with other legacy systems and technologies 

●      How do people measure the objective benefits in the manufacturing and R&D side of the business?

Our guest for this week is Jared Huke, founder and CEO of Daito Design. Daito Design is a strategy, consulting, and design firm focused on creating impactful innovations for enterprises.

In this episode, we talked about how user-centric design can improve the success of IoT solution deployment in the energy sector. We also explored the complex interactions between user experience, business design, technology development, and risk management.

Key Questions:

• What is the landscape of digital projects in the energy sector from a user-centric perspective?
• How does the energy sector differ from other sectors in terms of interface?
• How do you align your business model to provide a user-centric design and functionality in IoT service?

This week, our guest is Malcolm Hawker, Chief Data Officer of Profisee. Profisee is a cloud-native master data management solution that helps enterprises solve data quality and governance issues.

In this talk, we discussed the challenges related to data management, from integration between systems to standardizing workflows. We also explored how blockchain can impact data governance by making it easier to manage data sharing between supply chain partners.

Key Questions:

• How do you segregate jobs to be done in data management?
• What are the distinct challenges for each platform and data set?
• How centralized does network data mover tend to be?

This week, we interviewed Ivo Rook, Chief Operating Officer and President of 1NCE. 1NCE is a leading provider of connectivity and software for IoT at a global flat rate. They offer fast, secure, and reliable cellular connectivity and services in more than 110 countries.

In this episode, we discussed trends in IoT adoption and the telecommunications industry that enabled the 1NCE business model to grow rapidly in recent years. We also explored the non-technical challenges related to scaling IoT, like business case economics, servicing cost, supply chain, and the overall need for simplicity.

 Key Questions: 

• What technological shifts are driving business demand for global IoT connectivity services today? 
• What is the cost structure behind the total cost of customer deployment solutions for IoT device roaming?
• What are IoT device manufacturer, operator and user priorities and requirements for roaming services? 
• How are telco operators partnering to deliver services for IoT devices globally?

This week, our guest is Dominik Obermaier, CTO of HiveMQ. HiveMQ helps companies connect devices to the internet by enabling fast, secure, efficient, scalable, and reliable bi-directional data movement between devices and the Cloud.

In this talk, we dive deep into the IoT protocol landscape as we focus on MQTT and the surrounding standards in enabling software. We also explored the critical role of open standards and open-source software in an efficient and dynamic marketplace that promotes innovation.

Key Questions:

• What is an IoT protocol, and how does it differ from a standard and connectivity technology?
• What are the different MQTT alternatives for communication with devices?
• How has the functionality of MQTT changed over time?
• How do you define the appropriate communication protocol for particular use cases?

In this episode, we spoke with Natali Tshuva, co-founder and CEO of Sternum. Sternum provides cybersecurity and data visibility throughout the product life-cycle process using embedded self-protection and monitoring solutions for resource-constrained devices.

We discussed the cybersecurity threat landscape for IoT devices and why hacking a device is significantly easier than securing a device. We also explored the potential to unlock hidden data points from device operations to provide operational visibility and insights to operators and manufacturers.

Key Questions:

• What are emerging challenges in the current IoT cybersecurity landscape?
• What device security capabilities are missing from traditional cybersecurity solutions?
• What is the decision process for manufacturers and operators in assessing cybersecurity partners?
• How can cybersecurity solutions be used to better understand device operations and user behavior?

This week, our guest is Justin Beals, CEO and co-founder at Strike Graph. Strike Graph is a compliance SAS solution that simplifies security certifications such as SOC 2, ISOO 27001, HIPAA, and PCI DSS compliance.

In this episode, we discussed the importance of an effective compliance program for technology companies to meet customer requirements and reduce the time to close sales. We also explored the evolving landscape of security in compliance standards as regulators and companies seek to stay ahead of security threats.

Key Questions:

• Can you describe the landscape of cybersecurity and compliance standards for technology companies?
• What is the significant difference in requirements between traditional internet-connected and IoT devices?
• What are the challenges technology providers, software providers, device manufacturers, or operators face based on their operating model?