David Weaver

Episode 08: Workforce Management, Work-Life Balance & Deductive Intelligence

May 22, 2018 David Weaver Artificial Intelligence, General 29:34

We had Dr. Jörg Herbers, senior VP of the workforce management division at INFORM Software as our guest in episode 8. The interview starts with some details about what workforce management entails and covered some of the trends and challenges within the space. Jörg presented the topic of deductive intelligence and talked about how it can help address the numerous challenges associated with workforce management. Jörg talks about some of the benefits for companies associated with deductive intelligence and how it differs from classical programming techniques. As always, we ended the interview with a look into what the future may hold for workforce management. So without further ado, here is my interview with Dr. Jörg Herbers:

Show Notes

Introduction Jörg Herbers (3:05)

Buzzer Beater Round (3:37)

Workforce Management defined (5:52)

What are the major trends and challenges in the workforce management space? (7:50)

What is Deductive Intelligence? (10:05)

Where does Deductive Intelligence have its roots? (10:52)

Why did you decide to coin the term? (12:16)

What makes Deductive Intelligence so interesting for the workforce management space? (13:22)

How is Deductive Intelligence different than classical programming techniques?  (14:46)

Practical Examples for the use of Deductive Intelligence (18:12)

What does the future hold for Deductive Intelligence? (21:22)

How do you see the workforce management space developing in the coming years? (24:30)

What are the top 3 benefits of Deductive Intelligence for planners in workforce management? (26:10)

 

Visit Jörg Herbers on LinkedIn.

Episode 07: Ridesharing

May 4, 2018 David Weaver General 31:27

We had Russel Olinger, CEO of Whipster, as our guest in this episode. Whipster is a service that allows ride sharers to compare fares, arrival times and availability of ride share options, all in one app. The interview starts with some details about what ridesharing is and how the industry is developing. We talked about how ridesharing is much bigger than the two companies that come to mind, Uber and Lyft, when the topic is being discussed.  After that, we got into some more details about the role Whipster is playing in the ridesharing industry. Russel also provided some great insights into what it takes to launch a successful app. As always, we ended the interview with a look into what the future may hold for the ridesharing industry.

All in all, Russel provides some great insights into the ridesharing industry and I would like to thank Alexandra Wilkinson, a member of my LinkedIn network, for connecting me with Russel and suggesting the topic of ridesharing for the show.

Show Notes

Elevator Pitch: what is Whipster (3:04)

Buzzer Beater Round (3:50)

The importance of the human connection in ridesharing (5:43)

Russel’s background/official introduction (7:00)

What is ridesharing and how is it different than carpooling and car sharing? (9:18)

State of the ridesharing industry (10:44)

Would you get rid of your own car? (12:42)

Who is benefitting most from the ridesharing tech? (14:45)

What role is Whipster playing in the ridesharing space? (16:30)

Impact on public transportation (19:08)

Competitors for Whipster (21:00)

Biggest hurdle so far getting an app established in the ridesharing space (22:52)

Tips for the successful launch of an app (25:50)

How will the rideshare market develop in the coming years? (28:22)

Visit Russel Olinger on LinkedIn

Download the Whipster App.

Episode 06: Virtual Reality – More Than Just Gaming

April 17, 2018 David Weaver General, Virtual and Augmented Reality 31:19

I recently had a chat with Annie Harper to discuss the topic of virtual reality. Annie is the CEO of Equal Reality, a company focused on creating social educational experiences using virtual reality. In the interview, Annie defined virtual reality and talked about how it differs from augmented reality. We looked at some practical business applications and discussed how virtual reality is a great fit for educational and training purposes. We also took a quick detour to discuss some of Annie’s experiences as an entrepreneur. We ended the interview with a look into what the future may hold for the virtual reality industry. So without further ado, here is my interview with Annie Harper:

Show Notes

Buzzer Beater Round (3:20)

Annie introduces herself and her work (6:06)

What is virtual reality (VR)? (7:44)

Difference between VR and augmented reality (9:56)

Current state of the VR industry (12:54)

What are some of the coolest use cases providing business value? (13:37)

What is Equal Reality doing in the VR space? (17:47)

What makes VR so good for the topic of empathy and learning? (20:42)

VR and data collection (23:14)

Annie’s experience thus far as n entrepreneur (24:14)

The future of the VR industry (27:02)

If you have any questions regarding this episode, be sure to write us an email at buzzittalk@gmail.com or connect with Annie Harper on LinkedIn!

Episode 05: Business Intelligence Trends and Challenges

March 29, 2018 David Weaver Business Intelligence 31:16

I recently sat down with Dr. Boris Michel to discuss the topic of Business Intelligence. Boris is a part of INFORM’s Business Intelligence unit and has worked with some very large and exciting companies in their quests to more intelligently use the data they collect in the business arena. In the interview, we got into some questions that help discover what is hidden behind this shiny, fancy term of business intelligence. Boris talks about some of the latest trends and challenges associated with business intelligence, and we close out the interview with a peak into what the future may hold for this field. So without further ado, here is my interview with Dr. Boris Michel:

Show Notes

Introduction Boris Michel (3:02)

Buzzer Beater round – 5 rapid fire questions (4:35)

Pie Chart or Bar Graph? (7:14)

What is Business Intelligence (BI) all about? (8:10)

Finding relations in seemingly unrelated data (10:42)

How BI goes beyond data visualization (12:09)

Decision-making based on prepared data (14:20)

Challenge of data quality (16:00)

Other challenges for successful use of BI (18:31)

Does every company need a data scientist (19:37)

Current trends in the BI space (22:27)

Chatbots and BI (23:43)

BI and IoT (26:37)

Specific industry with most potential for BI? (27:41)

BI in 2020 – a peak into the future (28:30)

If you have any questions regarding this episode, be sure to write us an email at buzzittalk@gmail.com or connect with Dr. Boris Michel on LinkedIn!

Episode 04: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning & Operations Research

March 15, 2018 David Weaver Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning 33:18

In episode 04, I sat down with Dr. Ulrich Dorndorf to discuss the topics of operations research, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Ulrich is the chief technical officer for INFORM Software and is a member of the executive board for the operations research association based in Germany.

In this episode, we look at some general definitions for these technologies and how we are interacting with them on a daily basis. We dive into several practical examples of how businesses can benefit from their successful implementation as well as the changing role of humans within some industries. While predicting the future in the tech space is often a shot in the dark, we nevertheless discussed how these technologies may further impact our lives in the coming years. So without further ado, here is my interview with Dr. Ulrich Dorndorf:

Show Notes:

Introduction Ulrich Dorndorf (2:35)

Interesting Artificial Intelligence (AI) Headlines from recent weeks (3:37)

Definition AI (7:11)

Definition Machine Learning (ML) (8:58)

Have ML capabilities reached their limits? (11:10)

Operations Research (OR) (12:37)

Are AI and OR complimentary technologies? (16:18)

Examples of AI applications in the business world (18:21)

Is the end of human work in some industries upon us? (23:04)

Are AI powered robots going to take over the world? (26:05)

Predictions for these technologies in the coming years (29:28)

Episode 03: Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrencies

March 1, 2018 David Weaver Blockchain, General 48:49

In episode 03, I had the opportunity to speak with Jeff George from RGL Forensics and Joshua McDougall from Duff and Phelps on the topics of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

In this episode, aside from covering the general definitions for blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, we looked at some practical examples for the use of cryptocurrencies as well as some issues surrounding these emerging assets. Josh and Jeff also shared their insights on how people using cryptocurrencies can stay safe and they provide some tips on how to avoid Ponzi schemes. So without further ado, here is my interview with Jeff George and Joshua McDougall:

 

Show Notes:

Introductions: Jeff George and Joshua McDougall (3:27)

General Terminology: cryptocurrencies and blockchain (5:26)

Seizing or acquiring blockchain based assets (12:33)

Validating a transaction (15:22)

Can anyone have a cryptocurrency wallet? (19:03)

What are the risks associated with possessing these assets? (19:34)

Options for using recently obtained cryptocurrencies (21:17)

What is the safest way to set up a cryptocurrency account? (23:24)

How are assets being traced on blockchains? (26:08)

Can anyone create a coin? (28:39)

Are there examples of fraudulent initial coin offerings? (32:21)

Does a cryptocurrency need to have blockchain technology? (35:33)

What are some other potential applications for #blockchain tech? (39:10)

Would Jeff and Josh sell their cars for bitcoins? (42:10)

Where will cryptocurrency and blockchain tech be in 5 years? (44:14)

You can Connect with Jeff George and Joshua McDougall on LinkedIn.

Episode 02: Optimized Decision Making with Analytics

February 15, 2018 David Weaver Analytics 34:06

I recently sat down with Prof. Dr. Marco Lübbecke, currently a professor and the chair for the Operations Research department at the RWTH Aachen (Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen) – the largest technical university in Germany.

I invited Marco on the show to talk about the enormous buzzword “analytics” – or “big data analytics” – These words are being thrown around in news stories and corporate updates around the globe: descriptive analytics, diagnostic analytics, predictive analytics and prescriptive analytics.

In this episode, Marco provides some helpful definitions and practical examples for each type of analytics and notes where companies can benefit most from the data they are collecting.

In the previous episode, we heard from Dr. Fraud, who mentioned some recent research revealing that in the next six months there is going to be more data available than in all of human history. The big question is what are companies doing with all of this data – Or what can companies do with all of this data? That is where these analytics buzzwords are coming into play, and we address these questions in episode 2 of buzzITtalk:

Show Notes

Marco Lübbecke introduces himself and focus of research (2:21)

Why studying mathematics is a great idea (4:17)

Different Types of analytics (8:00)

Descriptive analytics defined (10:33)

Diagnostic analytics defined (12:04)

Predictive analytics defined (13:20)

Prescriptive analytics defined (15:47)

Brief talk about cognitive analytics (20:55)

Does prescriptive analytics make better decisions than humans? (22:00)

Which type of analytics is receiving the most attention – where should companies be focusing their attention? (24:55)

What are some areas where prescriptive analytics has been proven most successful and where can it not be applied at all? (28:29)

What applications will we see in the future based on prescriptive analytics? (31:50)

Connect with Marco Lübbecke on Twitter to continue the discussion on analytics, or leave a comment below!

Subscribe to buzzITtalk:

Click here to listen to the Pilot Episode of buzzITtalk

Episode 01: Fighting Tech Savvy Fraudsters with Tech

January 30, 2018 David Weaver General, Machine Learning 00:23:43

In this episode, I sat down with Michael Skiba, better known in the fraud fighting community as “Dr. Fraud”. Michael is an international expert on economic crime. He holds an MBA and a PhD with a research focus on fraud and economic crime and is considered one of the leading researchers in this area. He has been a college professor for more than ten years and currently holds the role of Program Chair of Criminal Justice at Colorado State University Global Campus.

Our conversation covered the importance of leveraging today’s technology to fight the tech-savvy cyber criminals. We also cover some of the trends that can help keep financial institutions safe in 2018 and some of the steps businesses can take to curb the costs associated with cybercrime.

Show Notes

Dr. Fraud background / research focus (2:30)

Psychology of Fraud (4:19) Link to book on Amazon >> Psychology of Fraud

Most at-risk industries targeted by economic criminals (7:00)

Trends financial institutions could keep an eye on to help keep them safe in 2018 (8:33)

What can banks do to better protect themselves from fraud (11:42)

Identifying outliers in banking activity – digital fingerprints (14:30)

What role is machine learning playing in the fraud fighting space (15:47)

What sets the cyber criminal apart from other criminals? (19:05)

First steps businesses can take to curb costs associated with cybercrime (21:48)

If you have any questions for Dr. Fraud, feel free to leave a comment or reach out per email at buzzittalk@gmail.com

Subscribe to buzzITtalk:

Click here to listen to the Pilot Episode of buzzITtalk

Episode 0: buzzITtalk Pilot

January 18, 2018 David Weaver Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, General, Machine Learning 0:10:04

Welcome everyone to the pilot episode of buzzITtalk – the podcast where we talk buzzwords and the latest trends within the tech industry – with the goal of helping businesses and decision makers go beyond the buzz.

In this episode I take you through some basic definitions so we are all on the same page when it comes to “buzz” “buzzwords” “IT” and the “Tech Industry”

Furthermore, I cover the overall goals we want to reach with the podcast.

As a quick text form summary:

Our aim is to create fun, entertaining, and most importantly, informative content in order to enable cross industry learning in the tech space. We will take the latest IT Buzzwords and put them to the test as far as actual business value is concerned. We will accomplish this by interviewing tech experts from various industries.

Hopefully I was able to peak your interest a bit in this pilot episode –  Thanks for tuning in! If you have any questions for me, feel free to send an email to buzzittalk@gmail.com – or and reach out to me on one of the various social media channels I have listed on the “show team” page. The same holds true if you are interested in being a guest on the show. If you have IT buzzword you would like to share your thoughts on, let me know!

Additional show notes:

Format of Podcast (1:54)

Buzz, Buzzword, IT Defined (2:45)

Goal of the Podcast (5:07)