Kim Sinclair joins me in our studio for Episode #095 of Underserved. Kim spent college in Friartown, leading the pep band on the road for fun and adventure supporting Providence College sports. After stints working for the Department of Revenue and consulting, Kim found herself moving into the healthcare payer and provider space at Boston Medical Center's health plan. By asking many questions she learned the many intricacies of the insurance side, which helped implement the Massachusetts Healthcare reform project “Romneycare” (the state predecessor to federal "Obamacare"). We talk about not wanting to be a CIO and then becoming one, being forced to make layoffs as your first foray into management, and some unusual requests serviced during COVID.   LINKS   linkedin.com/in/kim-sinclair Doberman Rescue Unlimited - Doberman Dog Rescue of New England - Doberman Rescue Unltd (dru.org) Heartworm Basics - American Heartworm Society Providence College https://www.providence.edu/ 

Underserved

Ep. 095, Leader of the Band

Taco Bell CTO Steve Plank is my guest for Episode #094 of Underserved. Steve rose quickly through the ranks in heavily regulated industries helping to manage document compliance. It took 4 trips to Taco Bell's headquarters to switch industries and get a job offer. Since then Steve has spearheaded Taco Bell's digital transformation, resulting in billions of e-commerce revenue and tighter relationships with their ravenous customer base.  Also covered are the Temple/UMass basketball rivalry in the 1990s, if/when to get your MBA, and moving from buy to build.   LinkedIn: Steve Plank: https://www.linkedin.com/in/plankstephen/ Gary Charbonneau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gacharbonneau/ Sue Jean Lin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suejeanlin/ Dirty Money (Season 1: Episode Drug Short) https://www.netflix.com/title/80118100 Taco Bell: https://www.tacobell.com/ The Taco Bell Foundation: https://www.tacobellfoundation.org/ 

Ep. 094, Keep Living Más

Susan Kelly is our guest for Underserved episode #093. Susan fell in love with computers early on, being curious about technology and loving the time/aggravation saver of spell check. She leaned into product management early in her career, in telecom, education technology, and call center software. We also talk about how companies struggle to allow employees to grieve a loss, watching a technology sea change wipe out your project, and going to bat for your direct reports.   Susan on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-kelly-mba/ Faire https://www.faire.com/ The Beetle Cat, a New England classic https://beetlecat.com/ The Ideal 18 sailboat https://shumwaymarine.com/ideal18/ The Soggy Dollar, home of the Painkiller https://www.soggydollar.com/ 

Ep. 093, Ruining the Curve

Yan Robert joins us as our guest for Episode #092 of Underserved. Yan grew up in Quebec like JP Beaudry, one of our previous guests, and even attended the same university in this small world. Yan was ahead of his time with an Internet directory he founded in the late 1990s. We talk about his ongoing work with SAP and the new chapter in his career surrounding it.   Yan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yanrobert/ SAPTopia website : www.sap-topia.com SAPTopia LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/saptopia-consulting-llc

Ep. 092, Mindfully Hyperactive

Episode #091 features Sesh Tirumala, CIO of PagerDuty. Sesh is a podcast veteran, and shares with us his experiences implementing systems in 120-degree heat, being a technologist in Appalachia,  and managing incremental IT costs. Sesh has felt the pain of having to justify IT's existence, proving it is a revenue generator and not just a cost center. We also talk about implementing charitable giving in small companies vs. large companies.   Sesh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sesh-tirumala-449a93/ PagerDuty: https://www.pagerduty.com/ Sesh on CIO Classified Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/make-big-data-work-for-your-business-with-michael/id1528611923?i=1000558165883 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seshtirumala/

Ep. 091, Chief Integration Officer

Our guest for Episode 090 of Underserved is Joe Frascati. Joe moved several times as a teen, honing his skills in quickly sizing up new social situations and identifying the players and roles. This skill served him well in his career, from a retail startup to the legendary Silicon Graphics and beyond. We also talk about Stevedoring, electric buses and their charging demands, and VTOL as the flying car that might actually come to be.   CIO Marathon: https://www.ciseeducationfund.com/marathon Merritt College Cybersecurity Program: https://www.merrittsecurity.com/ Predictive Index: https://www.predictiveindex.com/ The StrataFusion Group: https://www.stratafusion.com/ And for your comedic pleasure - Coleco Football! https://youtu.be/FBLZY-cjJUs

Ep. 090, From Guitar to Keyboard

The Underserved Podcast kicks off Season 8 with Rob Moore, recording from across the pond in the UK. Rob figured out there is no grad school application deadline if you apply overseas, and fell in love with England. Early in his professional career, his company developed a podcast marketing tool (of all things!), which we discuss in detail. Also covered - NBA data analysis for fun at Per Thirty Six, CoPilot as a productivity enhancer, and tech decision reduction.   Churnkey https://churnkey.co PerThirtySix (Sports Analytics) https://perthirtysix.com My Twitter https://twitter.com/robmoo_re Wavve https://wavve.co

Ep. 089, As the World Churns

We cap off Season Seven with our guest Jason Oberg, Ph.D. Jason grew up in Hawaii surfing and enjoying the outdoors, but computer gaming brought him inside and online. After moving to California and earning three degrees, he left UCSB and UCSD to start a company in the hardware security space. We discuss American chip production, following the letter of the law on grant money, and the hardware root of trust.   Jason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonoberg/  Cycuity website: https://cycuity.com/ Cycuity solutions: https://cycuity.com/solutions/   Blog article on the history of hardware security https://cycuity.com/type/blog/history-of-hardware-security/  Jason on Google Scholar https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FNQjt4oAAAAJ&hl=en  

Ep. 088, Root of Trust

Texas transplant Joe Forrester is featured in Episode #087 of Underserved. Joe wanted to be a pilot after watching the original "Top Gun", but colorblindness trumped his enthusiasm and determination. Instead, he cut his teeth in cellular billing software, which was followed by learning how to manage marketing data in the automotive industry.  This skill treated him well for several years across many verticals, ultimately leading to a gig bringing this marketing horsepower to small and medium-sized businesses. Also covered: turning recalls into a positive experience, conquest campaigns, and the Great Flood of '17.   Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeforrester/ First Job: www.convergys.com Second Job: www.acxiom.com Third Job: www.choreograph.com Current Job: www.choozle.com Guitar Youtube sites mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/@MartyMusic and https://www.youtube.com/@BrettPapa

Ep. 087, Master Data Marketing

David Rose walks the road less traveled. A serial entrepreneur for over 30 years, David has envisioned and built more products than most people can imagine. In Episode #086, we talk about his "oscillation lifestyle" - moving back and forth from learning to teaching, teaching to implementing, investing to being invested in, and many more aspects of life. By staying humble and open to learning, David has founded many successful companies, authored two books, won awards and patents for his inventions, and has become a pioneer in the Augmented Reality industry, aka the real-world Metaverse.   David on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_L._Rose David's latest book, Super Sight: https://www.supersight.world/ Clearwater AR: https://www.clearwater.ar/ Home Outside: https://homeoutside.com/ David's first book, Enchanted Objects: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Enchanted-Objects/David-Rose/9781476725642

Ep. 086, Oscillation Lifestyle

Ben Hodson came in to record with us at Syrinx Studios in October. The first half of our conversation is Season Seven's Episode #085. We had a lot of ground to cover, and this bonus episode takes us from when we met one another at Monster up to the present day. Topics covered include the struggle to automate and version control relational databases, the jarring freedom of Prague, and how fast you can make a 1997 Supra go on Route 2.   Best speaker system in the world! http://Www.sonos.com Info on the new Ariel EV https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a41053003/ariel-hipercar/ Active downforce EV sets record https://youtu.be/7BYfgjg2dyM Video including the Supra we discuss.  It is the one with the plate &Uwish https://youtu.be/_02JY0j7qkw  

BONUS Episode - Modern History

I have known Ben Hodson for over 20 years, and when he came in to record we went over most of those years and back a few more in Episode #085 of Underserved. The first part of our conversation is this regular episode entitled "Ancient History." We start with Ben's step-grandfather cultivating Ben's curiosity and love of experimentation/iteration to find solutions. This theme would follow Ben through his career, from hardware stores to online job boards to smart speakers. We continue the conversation (including our overlapping Monster years) in the bonus episode entitled, "Modern History."   Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-hodson-560b75/ Link to a nice article on my Step grandfather. https://www.nae.edu/29182/Mr-Frederick-J-Hooven Article about a paper he wrote about the disappearance of Amelia Earhart https://earharttruth.wordpress.com/tag/the-hooven-report/ Amazon book about my Step grandfather  https://www.amazon.com/Planes-Trains-Automobiles-More-Inventions/dp/1735599921/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=5a95d530-e2f6-4ffe-a857-7dfd861b344b Some videos of drag racing the Firehawk. https://youtu.be/F0UGXlQ41Cg High school slasher film starring me as the psycho in the raincoat.. https://youtu.be/vAOUriJnNRQ

Ep. 085, Ancient History

Our 84th episode features Madhu Rajagopalan, Head of Engineering at Wellframe. Madhu's eyes were opened early when he saw how much more malleable software was than hardware. He quickly moved from electrical engineering to software development. This career path led him to several interesting stints at Iron Mountain, HP, and DraftKings prior to his current job. Also discussed - distributed systems development, Boston's embarrassment of sports championship riches, and playing the mridangam. https://www.sastra.edu/ - My college in India My musical instrument -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mridangam My charity - https://www.newenglandhemophilia.org/ Cathode ray oscilloscope program - (not the one built by my friend) https://www.softpedia.com/get/Others/Home-Education/Virtual-C-R-O.shtml Flashdraft - https://www.draftkings.com/flash-draft?wpsrc=Organic%20Search&wpaffn=Google&wpkw=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.draftkings.com%2Fflash-draft&wpcn=flash-draft 

Ep. 084, Banging the Drum

Rachel Cossar grew up a nationally ranked rhythmic gymnast in Canada. In Episode #083 of Underserved, we discover her journey from those early competitions to the Boston ballet to working with artificial intelligence to improve body language. It turns out that non-verbal body communication matters a lot (think of your last Zoom call!) and Rachel nurtured that idea through proof of concept into founding a company. We discuss making the tough transitions while remaining true to yourself, the Roux Institute Techstars Accelerator, and being a trapeze artist as a hobby. Rachel on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-cossar/ Virtual Sapiens Presence Assessment Free Trial - Curious to see how people perceive you on video ?  Virtual Sapiens Sidekick Free Trial - Get your very own, secret in-call coach - give yourself the unfair advantage:) Rachel's TEDx talk  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzxZ28yU5_U 

Ep. 083, From Ballet to Body Language AI

Episode #082 of Underserved is our first one recorded 9.5 time zones apart. Naresh Pillai joined us from India, where he has returned to bootstrap a startup called OpineWorks. Prior to this, Naresh spent time developing software both in India and the United States. We worked together when he was in Texas, developing telematics software to power connected vehicles. We talk about being the trusted "proof of concept" engineer, technology disrupting the restaurant industry, motorcycling up mountains, and underrated Indian cuisine.   Naresh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nareshpillai/ https://restodx.com/ https://opineworks.com/ One of the motorcycle rides https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCW4Xlqf_WY

Ep. 082, Order Up

Underserved is the podcast for the rest of the technology industry. No startup or gadget worship, just real stories, lessons, and interesting topics from real people in the technology industry. Special emphasis on software development culture and history.

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Underserved

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