The next generation of technology giants may not be built in software. They may be built in factories. In this episode of Technoventure, Peter High speaks with Lior Susan, Founder and Managing Partner of Eclipse, about why AI, robotics, and industrial innovation are transforming the economics of American manufacturing. Lior explains Eclipse’s five-forces framework for building industrial companies and why physical industries represent a significant opportunity for venture capital. They explore:
Series: Technovation with Peter High
Mastercard processes billions of transactions, and fraud doesn’t wait for rules-based systems to catch up. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Nirav Mehta, Chief Technology Officer at Mastercard Services, about how the company uses AI to score transactions in the milliseconds between a card tap and approval, and what it takes to build that kind of infrastructure at scale. Nirav leads engineering, analytics, and decisioning for Mastercard’s $14B Services business, which spans
Series: Technovation with Peter High
Proving AI works was never the hard part. The hard part is industrializing it. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Dilip Venkatachari, Chief Information and Technology Officer at U.S. Bank, about what it actually takes to move from scattered AI experiments to a common platform with reusable components and measurable outcomes. Drawing from eight years leading technology at one of the country's largest banks, Venkatachari explains how U.S. Bank treats model risk management and
Series: Technovation with Peter High
AI is reshaping every stage of pharmaceutical distribution, but only if the organization is built to absorb it. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Pawan Verma, Executive Vice President and Chief Data and Information Officer at Cencora, about leading technology and data strategy at one of the world’s largest healthcare companies ($320B+ in revenue, 5 million pharmaceuticals moving through its network daily). Verma joined Cencora in 2024 after serving as Global CIO at MetLife,
Series: Technovation with Peter High
A digital-only bank can’t afford to retrofit security. Ally Financial builds it in from the start. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Spencer Cremers, Chief Information Security Officer at Ally Financial, about designing security and resiliency into cloud infrastructure by default — and what that requires organizationally. Cremers spent 20+ years at Ally progressing through divisional CIO and engineering roles before becoming CISO, including a stretch as interim Chief Inform
Series: Technovation with Peter High
What separates a great founder from a great company? For XYZ Venture Capital Founder and Managing Partner Ross Fubini, execution is only part of the equation. The company also needs to find its “wave.” In this episode of Technoventure, Fubini joins Peter High to unpack the investment philosophy behind XYZ’s bets on founder networks, defense technology, and AI. Drawing on his experience as an engineer, entrepreneur, executive coach, and investor, he explores: Why XYZ built an early thesis around
Series: Technovation with Peter High
In this episode of Technovation, Nationwide CTO Michael Carrel joins Peter High to discuss how the company is building an AI-ready workforce while modernizing technology across its insurance and financial services businesses. Carrel explains why Nationwide made everyday AI available to associates across the company and paired access with future-ready learning sprints, manager certifications, and role-specific skill development. He also shares how Nationwide is applying generative and agentic AI
Series: Technovation with Peter High
What happens when AI moves beyond generating content and starts autonomously optimizing the physical world? In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Riaz Raihan, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of Trane Technologies, about how the company is applying AI, connected equipment, and massive volumes of IoT data to make buildings more autonomous and energy efficient. Riaz explains how BrainBox AI acts as an “autopilot” for complex HVAC systems, continuously making small
Series: Technovation with Peter High
For Goodyear CIO Raman Mehta, enterprise AI cannot remain stuck in pilot mode. His mandate is to bring a startup mindset to a 128-year-old manufacturer by making speed a strategy and turning AI experimentation into measurable business impact. In this episode of Technovation, Raman joins Peter High to discuss Goodyear’s push toward industrial-scale AI, Lighthouse Projects, enterprise-grade intelligence, and connected manufacturing. He explains why trusted master data is essential for AI systems t
Series: Technovation with Peter High
Bobcat is transforming machines that were once physical “tool carriers” into software-enabled, connected products. Behind that evolution is a broader effort to modernize the digital foundation of the business. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Bobcat Chief Digital Officer Roy Greco about harmonizing global processes, building a trusted data intelligence platform, and scaling practical AI applications. They explore how Bobcat is: Building a digital foundation for faster grow
Series: Technovation with Peter High
Before the market is obvious, what gives an investor the conviction to act? In this episode of Technoventure, Peter High speaks with Shardul Shah, Partner at Index Ventures, about why exceptional founders can matter more than early market signals. Shardul shares lessons from investing in companies including Datadog and Wiz and explains how he evaluates conviction, high agency, and founders who can “hold contradiction with ease.” They also explore: How AI is reshaping enterprise software and infr
Series: Technovation with Peter High
Moving from reactive operations to predictive AI starts with trusted data. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Ajay Waghray, EVP and Chief Information Officer of PG&E, about the technology, data, process, and people transformation behind the company’s shift toward more predictive and proactive operations. Waghray explains how PG&E combines trusted asset, weather, environmental, sensor, and smart-meter data to support continuous monitoring and AI-driven decision-making. He sha
Series: Technovation with Peter High
When AI makes everyone a software builder, who governs what gets built? In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Thomas Kinsella, Co-Founder and COO of Tines, about the rise of “wild code”: invisible and ungoverned agents, automations, scripts, and workflows spreading across the enterprise. Kinsella explores how CIOs can encourage AI experimentation while creating the visibility, security, and controls required at scale. Key topics include: How “wild code” is changing enterprise A
Series: Technovation with Peter High
AI transformation should start with business value, not technology. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Derrick Pledger, Chief Digital and Information Officer of Maximus, about how he is reimagining work for an AI-driven enterprise. Derrick explains why Maximus defines ROI before launching AI pilots, how the company evaluates whether legacy processes can survive in an agentic world, and why every employee receives AI training. He also discusses building a failure-friendly inn
Series: Technovation with Peter High
Healthcare doesn’t lack data. The challenge is connecting it. In this episode of Technovation, Mouli Venkatesan, EVP and Chief Information & Technology Officer of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, joins Peter High to discuss how interoperability, AI, and shared technology foundations can help create a more connected healthcare system. Mouli explores how the Blue system balances national scale with local delivery, why longitudinal data matters to value-based care, and how BCBSA approaches A
Series: Technovation with Peter High
AI may be transformational, but that does not mean every great company needs to be an AI company. In this episode of Technoventure, Peter High speaks with Matt Witheiler, Head of Late-Stage Growth at Wellington Management, about how one of the world’s largest asset managers evaluates companies approaching the public markets. Matt explains why valuation risk becomes critical at the late stage, what separates durable businesses from short-term trades, and how Wellington thinks about AI across tech
Series: Technovation with Peter High
Enterprise AI is moving beyond experimentation toward a harder question: where does it actually create measurable business value? In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Nikhil Narvekar, CIO and SVP of Global Business Services at Graphic Packaging Holding Company, about building an AI strategy around tangible outcomes. Narvekar explains how Graphic Packaging is applying AI to supply chain and logistics, reconsidering the need for a single ERP after 23 acquisitions and counting, a
Series: Technovation with Peter High
Better AI starts with better data, and for Vulcan Materials CIO Krzysztof Soltan that means simplifying first. In this episode of Technovation, Krzysztof Soltan joins Peter High to discuss how Vulcan Materials is modernizing its technology foundation across more than 400 aggregate operations. He explains why reducing system complexity, strengthening master data governance, and investing in talent are foundational to the company’s AI ambitions. The conversation also explores Vulcan’s multi-year d
Series: Technovation with Peter High
What happens when AI gives healthcare workers more time to do the work only humans can do? Nathan Frank, Chief Digital and Technology Officer of Aetna, joins Peter High to discuss how Aetna is scaling AI across healthcare while keeping people at the center. Frank shares how AI-enabled workflows are giving care-management nurses 90 minutes back per day, reducing the administrative burden of navigating clinical notes and multiple systems. He also explains how Aetna is building on years of investme
Series: Technovation with Peter High
AI may make professional services faster, but Grant Thornton Advisors CIO Mike Kempe believes the bigger opportunity is to rethink what clients are actually buying. In this episode of Technovation, Kempe joins Peter High to discuss how Grant Thornton is using AI to reimagine professional services from the ground up. He explains why simply automating individual steps leaves much of AI’s potential untapped, how the firm keeps human judgment at the center of AI-enabled work, and why trust and gover
Series: Technovation with Peter High
What separates an exceptional executive from an outlier founder? For Sequoia Capital partner Bogomil Balkansky, learning the difference required recalibrating his own definition of talent. In this episode of Technoventure, Peter High speaks with Balkansky about how Sequoia evaluates founders when there is little data to rely on, why intuition matters in early-stage investing, and what his experiences at VMware and Bebop taught him about building enduring companies. They also explore the evolutio
Series: Technovation with Peter High
The smartest AI model may no longer be the biggest constraint on enterprise AI. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Retool Co-Founder and CEO David Hsu about why the next frontier is the “harness” around the model: the context, tools, governance, and human approvals that allow AI to do meaningful work inside an enterprise. David explains why knowledge workers are still too often acting as the API for AI, how enterprises can democratize software development without sacrificing
Series: Technovation with Peter High
The next evolution of enterprise networks is not more automation, it is autonomy. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Verizon CTO Yago Tenorio about how Verizon is building toward Level 4 network autonomy, where AI agents operate as “digital colleagues” under human supervision. Yago explains how autonomous systems could reduce incident resolution from hours to seconds, identify customer experience gaps traditional network monitoring cannot see, and operate safely through obse
Series: Technovation with Peter High
What drives someone to spend decades pursuing artificial general intelligence, not for wealth, but for scientific discovery? In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with bestselling author and financial historian Sebastian Mallaby about his new book, The Infinity Machine, which chronicles the remarkable journey of DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis and the global race to build artificial general intelligence (AGI). Drawing on more than 30 hours of interviews with Hassabis and conversa
Series: Technovation with Peter High
Technology transformation isn’t about AI, it’s about building the foundations that make AI possible. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High sits down with Michael Wisler, Senior Executive Vice President of Technology and Operations at M&T Bank, to explore how the bank spent nearly a decade rebuilding its engineering culture, reducing technical debt, modernizing its data foundation, and transforming technology into a strategic business capability. Wisler explains why changing organizational
Series: Technovation with Peter High
The companies that define an era often appear irrational before they appear inevitable. In this episode of Technoventure, Peter High speaks with FPV Ventures Co-Founder & Managing Partner Wesley Chan about building products at Google, founding Google Ventures, investing against consensus, and recognizing founders with 100-year visions. Wesley explains how first-principles thinking helped him identify companies such as Canva and why the most important investment question may be, “What if it goes
Series: Technovation with Peter High
Artificial intelligence isn’t the transformation, it’s the catalyst. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Francesco Tinto, Chief Information & Global Business Services Officer at Kimberly-Clark, about why enterprise AI success depends on far more than technology. Francesco explains how Kimberly-Clark’s Powering Care strategy combines data, AI, operating model transformation, and process redesign to drive sustainable growth across one of the world’s most recognized consumer pro
Series: Technovation with Peter High
Professional services is undergoing its biggest transformation in decades, and AI is only part of the story. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Jim Peko, CEO of Grant Thornton Advisors LLC, about how the firm is redefining the professional services model through private equity, platform consolidation, strategic acquisitions, and a $1 billion technology investment. Jim explains why incremental change is no longer enough, why data will become the true competitive differentiato
Series: Technovation with Peter High
Artificial intelligence may be transforming how companies are built, but Avi Eyal believes the fundamentals of identifying exceptional founders haven’t changed. In this episode of Technoventure, Peter High sits down with Avi Eyal, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Entrée Capital, to discuss what separates enduring companies from the rest. Drawing on years of experience investing in early-stage technology companies, Avi shares how his firm’s investment philosophy continues to prioritize people,
Series: Technovation with Peter High
What gives one enterprise an AI advantage over another? According to Atlassian Chief Product & AI Officer Tamar Yehoshua, it’s not simply access to the latest models, it’s the depth of enterprise context. In this episode of Technovation, Tamar joins Peter High to discuss how Atlassian is leveraging decades of workflow history through its Teamwork Graph to power AI across Jira, Confluence, and Rovo. She explains why enterprise context is becoming the defining ingredient for AI success, how softwa
Series: Technovation with Peter High
AI is transforming travel, but according to Priceline CTO Sejal Amin, technology alone isn’t enough. The real competitive advantage comes from redesigning how organizations work. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Sejal about leading technology strategy at one of the world’s largest online travel platforms. They explore how Priceline built Penny, its fully agentic AI travel assistant, why preference data is becoming more valuable than behavioral data alone, and how product o
Series: Technovation with Peter High
What if the key to breakthrough innovation isn’t more freedom—but better constraints? In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with bestselling author David Epstein about the surprising ideas behind his newest book, Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better. Drawing on examples from Apple, Pixar, Bell Labs, General Magic, Bach, Dr. Seuss, and scientific research, David explains why carefully designed constraints often produce more creativity, better decisions, and stronger leaders
Series: Technovation with Peter High
Zoom became synonymous with video meetings, but its next chapter is about delivering business outcomes through AI. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Gary Sorrentino, Global CIO of Zoom, about the company’s evolution from a video conferencing platform to an enterprise AI platform designed to move organizations “from conversation to completion.” Drawing on nearly five decades in technology leadership, Gary explains why CIOs should prioritize integrated AI platforms over disco
Series: Technovation with Peter High
For more than four decades, Annie Lamont, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Oak HC/FT, has invested through every major technology wave, from the early days of personal computing and biotech to cloud software, fintech, and today’s AI revolution. In this episode of Technoventure, Annie joins Peter High to discuss what separates enduring investors from those who fade with changing markets. She reflects on lessons learned from working alongside pioneering entrepreneurs, explains why continual rein
Series: Technovation with Peter High
In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Alex Holt, Field CTO at ElevenLabs, about what separates successful enterprise AI initiatives from those that never move beyond the proof of concept. Alex explains how ElevenLabs combines cutting-edge AI research, enterprise-grade products, and forward-deployed engineering to help organizations deploy voice AI at scale. He also discusses why AI success depends on tying every implementation to measurable business outcomes, how voice agents a
Series: Technovation with Peter High
Technology creates competitive advantage when it helps the business move faster, remove friction, and solve customer problems more effectively. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Bhaskar Ramachandran, Vice President and Global CIO of PPG, about transforming IT from a support function into a strategic business capability. Bhaskar explains how PPG’s cloud-only strategy accelerates acquisitions, strengthens security, and creates a foundation for AI. He also shares how Formulati
Series: Technovation with Peter High
How can AI help farmers produce more with fewer resources? That’s the challenge driving digital transformation at AGCO. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Jena Holtberg-Benge, Chief Digital & Information Officer at AGCO, about how AI, precision agriculture, connected equipment, and data are reshaping modern farming. Drawing on her unique background leading both business operations and technology, Jena explains why successful AI initiatives begin with customer problems, not t
Series: Technovation with Peter High