Georgian Partners

The evolution of natural language processing means that <a href="https://georgian.io/what-is-conversational-ai/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">chatbots</a> are finally learning how to, well, chat. In this episode, we talk with Jeff Orkin, head of Drift's AI Lab who is using AI to create positive, personalized customer interactions in real-time, at scale.

Jeff Orkin is the Head of the Drift AI Lab and has been developing systems to understand human behavior and language for over 20 years. He was the founder and CEO of Giant Otter where he built on his Ph.D research at the MIT Media Lab, using machine learning to mine actionable insights from recordings of people talking to one another. Prior to MIT, Jeff spent a decade working in the videogame industry. 

Jeff Orkin

Head of the Drift AI Lab

AI Chatbots at Drift with Jeff Orkin

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On Georgian's Impact Podcast,  we get into the latest tech trends and how they impact growth-stage software companies. 

Jon talks with folks from around the tech ecosystem at the intersection of business and technology. 


The Georgian Impact Podcast | AI, ML & More

For most of us, backing up files has become a part of everyday life. Throughout the years, there have been many ways to back up one’s information. We’ve gone from paper, CDs, hard drives, flash drives, and the new king, the cloud.	In this episode of the Georgian Podcast, we’ll be talking to Mike Potter, Co-Founder &amp; CEO of Rewind, to understand how cloud-based storage systems work and what it means for your data.&nbsp;You’ll hear about:·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;How cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) storage providers backup their data and what that means for your information·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Why third party applications can cause some issues·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The benefits and inner workings of Rewind's cloud backup system·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Building a culture within a company

Mike Potter is Co-Founder & CEO of Rewind, where the focus remains on protecting your data. Rewind has been trusted by over 80,000 businesses that use SaaS tools to backup their data. Mike has a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from McMaster University (1994-1999), and a General M.B.A from the University of Ottawa (2003-2004).

Mike Potter

Co-Founder & CEO of Rewind

Rewind CEO Mike Potter On Backing up the Cloud, the Risk 3rd Party Applications Pose & Building a Time Machine for SaaS Apps

You might think that selling consumer products has never been easier. Not so fast. Sure, e-commerce is everywhere and is becoming more user-friendly by the minute, but where do you start? Who do you market to? How and where should you advertise? Digital advertising offers myriad of options, but with options, come decisions. Big decisions. That’s where Zeze Peters and Beam.city DNA come in. In this episode of the Georgian Podcast, we’ll be talking to Zeze Peters, Founder &amp; CEO of Beam.city DNA, to understand how digital advertising and AI go hand in hand. You’ll hear about:· How to spend your advertising budget effectively· The future of A.I in digital advertising· Striking a balance between the creative side and the business side of advertising· The effects of COVID-19 on retailers and what retail is going to look like in the future· Fundraising as a black entrepreneur

Zeze Peters is Founder & CEO of Beam.city DNA, Partner In Residence at Elevate eCommerce North Accelerator, Entrepreneur In Residence at The DMZ, and Rocket-scientist to boot. He’s focused on growing the digital advertising world by merging it with ever-evolving AI. Zeze earned his Master of Engineering (MEng) from Cornell University in 2008 and his Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) from the University of Guelph in 2007.

Zeze Peters 

CEO at Beam.city DNA

The Future of Digital Advertising with Beam.city DNA

Simplifying the Digital Advertising Process with Beam.city DNA

Human interaction, there’s a lot we know but a lot to learn. AI and conversational data can help us in this learning process. In this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, we will be talking with Raphael Cohen, previously the VP of Research at Chorus.ai and currently the Senior Director of Data Science at ZoomInfo. Recently acquired by ZoomInfo, Chorus.ai helps teams make decisions using the insights you'd get if you were sitting in on every sales or customer success call. You’ll Hear About:● Chorus.ai’s mission and how they help people get better at conversations.● Understanding that one size doesn’t fit all and the need to build a product that enables people to understand their sales processes.● How Chorus handles the massive amounts of data and adapts to the different ways organizations work.● The impact Chorus’ work has at a management level.● Wav2vec and how it will impact learning the structures of speech from audio.● Why cutting down on compute resources was necessary for a model’s success.● How Chorus sells their technology and differentiates themselves.

Raphael Cohen, Senior Direct of Data Science at ZoomInfo and previously VP of Research at Chorus.ai (recently acquired by ZoomInfo), works on technology that takes conversations and turns them into data and information. Raphael is experienced with data science and machine learning in the domains of health care, sales, customer journey and IT. His background is in neuro-linguistic programming, with a PhD in the field of understanding health records and genetics.

Raphael Cohen

Senior Director of Data Science

Learning using AI and Conversational Data with Chorus.ai

With the right focus, history can inform us today; you find the parallels. Thinking back can help you know your market, know your customers and potential customers. Rob Rastovich is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. He is the CTO of ThingLogix and focuses on driving digital transformation across many industries using IoT and AI.

Rob Rastovich is the CTO of ThingLogix, an Internet of Things services and solutions company that is transforming the way companies interact with their customers, products and people. He has been involved in technology for almost three decades, from early e-commerce to establishing Amazon’s AWS IoT.

Rob Rastovich 

CTO at ThingLogix

Driving Digital Transformation using IoT and AI with Rob Rastovich

Charles Radclyffe is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. He is a partner at EthicsGrade who specializes in evaluating companies' ESG credentials. In other words, he hunts for watermelons—companies that look green on the outside but are anything but in the middle. You’ll hear about digital ethics and how it fits with ESG, the need to engage with stakeholders and find out what matters to them and how the AI Act will affect those working in high-risk areas.

Charles Radclyffe is a serial entrepreneur who has focused his career on solving tough technology challenges for some of the world’s largest organizations. In addition to providing advisory services to clients, Charles has built and sold three technology companies so far in his career. Past roles include Head of Technology at Deutsche Bank Labs in London and Associate Partner at Elixirr. He was until recently Head of AI at Fidelity International. Charles is currently a Forbes contributing writer and is a Visiting Fellow of the University of Bristol. Charles holds an MA in Law from Cambridge, and his hobbies include golf, motorsport, science fiction and early modern history.

Charles Radclyffe

Partner at EthicsGrade

Data and Digital Ethics in ESG

In this new world of machine learning and AI, where data basically writes code and algorithms, MLOps has developed into something broad and very important. So much so that a huge community has developed around this space. David Aponte and Demetrios Brinkmann are our guests on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. David is a Software Engineer at Microsoft with a focus on MLOps. Demetrios is the Community Coordinator for the MLOps Community and also works in the ethical AI space. Together they will break down MLOps and why it is so important. You’ll Hear About:<ul><li>The MLOps community and how it has grown.</li><li>How MLOps compares with other fields and what sets it apart.</li><li>The challenges of integrating ML with product management.</li><li>How the MLOps community works to address accuracy and bias.</li><li>The need to diversify the community with not only technical side of things but also the ethical.</li><li>How the cloud has influenced the rate of development.</li></ul>

Demetrios Brinkmann is the Community Coordinator for the MLOps Community and hosts a podcast focused on MLOps. Demetrios has been immersing himself in the Machine Learning world by interviewing experts weekly in the MLOps.community meetups.

Demetrios Brinkmann

Community Coordinator at MLOps Community

David Aponte is a Software Engineer at Microsoft and a Content Lead for the MLOps Community. He has a passion for teaching, learning and collaborating, and loves building and designing ML systems. David has a Bachelor of Science from Montclair State University and a Master of Science from Merrimack College.

David Aponte 

Software Engineer at Microsoft and Content Lead at MLOps Community

ML Ops with Demetrios Brinkmann and David Aponte 

What do you think of when thinking about innovation, particularly around AI? Probably an interesting software startup, but why not big established companies? If you don’t think of them you might be missing an opportunity to understand innovation at scale, with complex technical and organizational issues as well.&nbsp;Peter Poon and Yevgeniy Vahlis are our guests on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. Peter is the head of Canadian Digital Product Management Capabilities and Innovation at BMO. Yevgeniy is the founder and head of BMO AI Labs and they will show you how a large enterprise can find that sweet spot between creating a small team of experts and building enthusiasm for emerging technology across an entire company. You’ll Hear About:<ul><li>Establishing a team to drive AI across the enterprise.</li><li>The challenges in figuring out how to apply AI to the vast amounts of data at BMO. </li><li>Finding a basic use case that impacts many customers, alerting them to cash flow shortfalls. </li><li>How they provide a nudge to change consumer behavior using a very simple interface with complex deep learning behind it.</li><li>The need to set up privacy measures from the very beginning to clear a path for you to do great work. </li><li>The overwhelmingly positive feedback and customer engagement to the recommendations. </li><li>Other use cases across BMO and the other teams desire to get on the AI train. </li></ul>

Peter is the Head, Canadian Digital Product Management, Capabilities & Innovation at BMO Bank of Montreal. He is responsible for leading the digital product management function across Canadian self-service experiences, enterprise capabilities, in addition to driving the bank’s digital innovation agenda via R&D, ecosystem partnerships and IP portfolio development. Prior to joining BMO, Peter led an early-stage fintech to a successful exit and also held progressively senior roles at TD Financial Group and JP Morgan Chase. Outside of the office, Peter advises a number of fintech startups across North America and supports digital entrepreneurship in the community through engagements with Ryerson University, Brainstation and other ecosystem partners.

Peter Poon

Head, Canadian Digital Product Management, Capabilities & Innovation at BMO 

Yevgeniy Vahlis is the Founder and Head of the BMO AI Labs. Prior to joining BMO, Yevgeniy built machine learning research groups at Borealis AI and Georgian Partners and worked closely with startups to introduce applied research into their products. Yevgeniy kicked off his career at AT&T Labs in New York as a research scientist after completing his PhD in Computer Science at the University of Toronto and a year of postdoctoral studies at Columbia University.

RECENT EPISODES

SEASON 2021

ABOUT THE SHOW

The Georgian Impact Podcast | AI, ML & More

Jon Prial

RECENT EPISODES

SEASON 2021

Rewind CEO Mike Potter On Backing up the Cloud, the Risk 3rd Party Applications Pose & Building a Time Machine for SaaS Apps

The Future of Digital Advertising with Beam.city DNA

Learning using AI and Conversational Data with Chorus.ai

Driving Digital Transformation using IoT and AI with Rob Rastovich

Data and Digital Ethics in ESG

ML Ops with Demetrios Brinkmann and David Aponte

The Story of AI Transformation at BMO

ABOUT THE SHOW

The Georgian Impact Podcast | AI, ML & More

Jon Prial