AlchemistX: Innovators Inside

Christy Canida, Senior Director at Alchemist, joins host Ian Bergman for a deep dive into the intricate universe of corporate innovation. Christy's diverse background, spanning from the biotech industry to the helm of startups like Instructables—which later found its home with Autodesk—paints a vibrant backdrop to their conversation.

Renowned startup pitch coach, political influencer, and now the mind behind an innovative dating platform, Bianca Praetorius, brings a wealth of diverse experiences to the table. In the latest episode of "AlchemistX Innovators Inside," Bianca sits down with host Ian Bergman to peel back the layers on her illustrious journey, offering listeners valuable insights and lessons along the way.

From an early passion ignited by Kurzweil's visionary writings to the creation of pioneering AI solutions, Hatalis chronicles his journey that defied convention. This episode promises a whirlwind tour of the AI landscape, examining its transformative potential in fields like marketing and delving into the nuances between academic AI theories and real-world applications. Bergman and Hatalis confront the pressing questions: How does AI's surge influence human creativity? Are we inching closer to a world overshadowed by our own creations? 

In this episode of Alchemist X Innovators Inside, host Ian Bergman sits down with JD Rico, the visionary founder of Vox QI. Drawing from his unique educational background in anthropology and economics, JD shares the evolution of Vox QI - an AI-powered platform reshaping the landscape of content marketing.

From the criticality of personalized content in today's saturated market to navigating the delicate balance between data utilization and privacy, the conversation delves deep into the heart of modern marketing. JD also casts light on the nuances of regional marketing, emphasizing the vast differences in customer personas even within proximal locations. With a focus on the transformative role of technology in aligning business offerings with genuine human needs, this episode offers a panoramic view of the intersection of AI, human behavior, and market demands.

Join host Ian Bergman on AlchemistX Innovators Inside Podcast as he delves into Julieta Miranda's journey from El Salvador to launching her revolutionary startup, Kid Drop. Discover how this single mom modernized kid transportation, faced entrepreneurial challenges head-on, and secured her first major investment from Dragon's Den. Dive into the importance of relationships in business, from school boards to community services. Don’t miss this episode where ambition meets innovation. 

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

• The process of pivoting from running a traditional family business to launching a startup and the associated challenges and opportunities.

• Strategies for identifying and addressing real-life problems with innovative solutions, as exemplified by Kid Drop's origin story.

• The importance of planning, financial preparedness, and learning from failures in the world of startups.

• The art of building and leveraging relationships for business growth, including collaborations and networking with key community stakeholders.

• Exploring funding and expansion opportunities, with insights into Julieta's experience on Dragon's Den and securing major investments.

Listen now to delve into the fascinating world of innovation!

Full show notes and resources at https://www.alchemistaccelerator.com/podcasts

Join host Ian Bergman in the latest Alchemist X Innovators Inside podcast episode as he dives deep into a fascinating discussion with Mike Gadsby, Chief Innovation Officer at O3 World. From graphic design to the cutting-edge R&D space, listen as Gadsby recounts his journey while highlighting the crux of innovation—problem-solving for better user outcomes. Explore the importance of balancing incremental and radical innovation, and learn about the promise of AI, specifically generative AI, in transforming digital user experiences. Delve into the world of chatbots and the potential of AI to make them more human-like. The episode also addresses the culture of innovation, embracing failure, and the correlation between customer and employee experiences. This engaging conversation offers a wealth of insights for future-focused innovators, leaders, and anyone passionate about design and user experience.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

• The journey through tech industry career transformations.

• The core principles of innovation.

• The role and potential of generative AI.

• The enhancement of chatbot interactions using AI.

• The importance of fostering innovation and a customer-centric culture.

Listen now to delve into the fascinating world of innovation!

Full show notes and resources at https://www.alchemistaccelerator.com/podcasts

Aleksandr Kravchenko is the Deputy Product Officer at EOS Data Analytics, an incredible geospatial data startup that was a recent participant in the AWS Space Accelerator powered by AlchemistX. Alex's product experience stretches back several years and several startups and builds on a prior career in journalism and politics.

Amanda L. Goltz, MPA is the U.S. Lead for Worldwide Healthcare Venture Capital and Startups at Amazon Web Services (AWS), responsible for managing a portfolio of digital health companies and driving opportunities with AWS's enterprise healthcare and life sciences business.  In a previous role at Amazon, Amanda led partnerships to power voice AI experiences at Alexa Health and Wellness.  Before coming to Amazon, Amanda was Vice President of Digital Innovation at BTG (now Boston Scientific), a global medtech, managing the portfolio of digital initiatives combining clinical interventions, device technology, and digital services to incorporate the patient experience and improve measurable outcomes.  As part of this role, Amanda founded Oncoverse, a software startup in cancer care, in a joint venture with CommonSpirit Health.  Previously, Amanda was the Director of Product Strategy and Innovation at Aetna, sourcing emerging solutions from the digital health and innovative networks marketplace, pairing them with employer clients, and directing implementation of the solutions at scale.  Amanda has led innovation and strategy initiatives at Pacific Business Group on Health, a large employer coalition; the State of California, MassGeneralBrigham, and New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.  Amanda advises several start-up companies as a mentor for the Alexa Fund, 500Startups, Rock Health, and StartXMed, the health and life sciences incubator for Stanford University.

Angela Lim is a serial health tech entrepreneur focused on innovative solutions and a former pediatric doctor at Auckland Hospital. She is the CEO and cofounder of Clearhead, a digital mental health company with a strong social mission to improve access to personalized care for everyone and empower them to maintain their well-being. Clearhead was one of the stars of the Community Safety and Wellness Accelerator, which is operated by AlchemistX in partnership with Alberta Innovates and the Edmonton Police Foundation.

Carolyn has over a decade of experience as a supply chain and operations expert in the consumer packaged goods industry. Formerly running operations at brands like Fiji Water and Beyond Meat, she's currently the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Tiny Organics, an early childhood nutrition company focused on shaping baby and toddler palates to prefer vegetables. Carolyn has been recognized by Partnership for a Healthier America as a member of their Shaping Early Palates Council and is a founding partner of the Veggies Early and Often campaign in 2022. She partnered with LinkedIn for their Welcome Professional campaign and was featured in their cross-platform content about the evolving definition of professionalism. She has a passion for mentoring entrepreneurs and serves as a mentor with Santander Bank's Cultivate Small Business Program supporting women, minority and immigrant owned early stage food businesses.

Don started out in the US Army before becoming a police detective specializing in fraud and computer crimes. He's been a special agent for the US Secret Service and an IT program director for the US Department of State. Most recently, he has been chief information officer for Nova Corporation, a Navajo Nation-owned firm that provides IT to federal agencies, and for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. And he was Chief Information Security Officer for Mednax, a national medical group, and he has worked with American Public Education, Inc., a provider of higher education. Don has been named one of the top 100 health care leaders and top 29 CISOs by the peer list community. He has a master's in science and an MBA from the University of Maryland Global College.

After almost eight years with Salesforce, Latrice was a senior director and regional vice president for Partner Marketing Field Distribution. Before joining Salesforce, Latrice worked as an executive and interactive producer with the branding agencies, Cibo Studio and Odopod. She has a degree in comparative literature from UC Berkeley, and she's an accomplished vocalist whose excellent 2006 album Illuminate is available on your favorite streaming service.

Michael is the co-founder and CEO of CodePath, a 503 nonprofit transforming computer science education for underrepresented minorities at over 50 colleges and universities, doubling in size every semester. Working closely with major technology companies such as Cognizant, Microsoft, and Facebook, CodePath.org is changing what's being taught and how it's being taught in CS programs nationwide to increase diversity in tech using a system-wide solution.

Prior to codepath.org, Michael founded three nonprofits and three tech startups starting at age 19. He was a founding board member for Women Who Code and co-founder of Segment, which went through Y Combinator in 2011 and is now valued at over $1,000,000,000.

Demetria is the assistant professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado. Her career has taken a unique path. She has an MBA from the New York Institute of Technology and a PhD in communications from the University of Georgia. She's worked at Johnson and Johnson and the VA and is a certified spin instructor. Today, her focus is on helping health care professionals and leadership teams develop and implement adaptive, sustainable strategies that produce results that address inequities in care delivery. These strategies oftentimes require creative, disruptive, innovative and unconventional ideas.

Who is Jennifer Kim?

Jennifer worked at Lever, the groundbreaking recruiting software company where she held every role from strategy to product to customer success to chief of staff. After leaving Lever, Jennifer founded Startup Recruiting Bootcamp, which aims to revolutionize how tech companies hire. She's also a prolific startup advisor and writer on tech culture.

Get ready to learn!

Michael Moreno is the business development manager for VCs and start-ups at a little bookstore I.T. shop up in Seattle called Amazon Web Services. You may have heard of it. He is also a former CIA Officer with an MBA from UC Berkeley. Mike co-founded a startup of his own, Vault to bring clean energy infrastructure to the Middle East. He is a prolific advisor to start-ups and a venture partner with NextGen.

Peter is the new Executive Director for the Korea Innovation Center (KIC) Silicon Valley Support Startups, launching their products and services in North America through acceleration programs, industry expertise, and capital networks. It also helps North American startups launch their products and services in Asia via South Korea. Peter is himself a four-time founder of Social Radio Company, AlcaCruz, Fantage and Anoxis, and a prolific advisor to any investor in startups. He has an MBA from the University of Rochester, and a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from Sogang University.

Tiffany is the Head of Product, Agile and DevOps Solutions at Atlassian and the former COO, CRO and member of the Board of Directors at NEA Security Startup for All Secure. She's a prolific investor and advisor to startups, and a veteran of Silicon Valley storage startups, Cohesity and Nutanix. Tiffany also has a computer systems engineering degree from Stanford, and an MBA from Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

Neha Is Founder and CEO at Contentstack, a leading content management system and content experience platform adopted by brands including Best Buy, Chase, Holiday Inn, Iceland Air, Morningstar, Miami Heat, Shell and Walmart. Previously, Neha was Founder and CEO of digital experience platform, Built.io, which was acquired by German software powerhouse, Software AG, in September 2018. She's also the host of the podcast, Dreammakers with Neha Sampat, featuring conversations with trailblazing women who pursue profit and purpose.

Who is Ashif Mawji?

Ashif is a serial entrepreneur who strives for efficiency in everything he is involved with. He's a venture partner with Rising Tide, a venture capital firm investing primarily in the information technology and healthcare life sciences markets. He sits on the boards of the Telus Friendly Future Foundation, Invest Alberta, the Edmonton Police Service Foundation, Hockey Canada Foundation, and the Sarah McLachlan School of Music, among many others. Ashif has 12 patents and speaks three languages. It's so great to have you on the show.

Have a listen to what he has to say!

Who is Noriya Tarutani?

Noriya is the executive director of the Japanese External Trade Organization in San Francisco. With 15 years of experience in international business and new market strategy, Noriya has helped more than 500 Japanese companies to expand their business all over the world. Noriya has deep domain expertise across artificial intelligence and deep learning to name a few.

Strap in for a great episode!

Who is Corey Quinn?

Corey is really smart and professionally funny. He's the chief cloud economist for Duckbill Group, a consulting firm that helps companies fix their horrifying Amazon Web Services bill. This is accompanied by his newsletter, Last Week in AWS and his podcast, Screaming in the Cloud. 

Get ready to have a blast!

Who is Adam Odessky?

Adam is the founder and CEO of Sensely and a graduate of Alchemist Accelerator. Before Sensely, he spent three years at Orange Silicon Valley, and came from a leading product management role at Microsoft's TellMe Networks and Oracle. He has an MBA from the University of San Francisco and a computer science degree from Urbana-Champaign, home of the Mosaic browser.

Get ready to meet Adam!

Who is Diana Joseph?

Diana is the CEO of the Corporate Accelerator Forum, a veteran of Citrix Systems and Adobe, and has studied at Stanford and Northwestern. As a former high-tech innovation director with a doctorate in learning sciences, she brings together techniques from motivational psychology, education, design, thinking, and lean startup. 

And now, she's on the show!

Who is Brad Henrickson?

Brad's a leadership coach and the co-organizer of the San Francisco CTO Club. He's the former CTO of Scoop Technologies and VP of Engineering at Earnest. Brad co-founded two startups of his own, Shotwell Products and Zoosk. He has a computer science degree from the University of Washington and spent six years at Microsoft. 

And today, he's on AXII!

Who is Ian Bergman?

Ian is a startup advisor, investor and self-described corporate innovation agitator. He's recently a 14 year veteran of Microsoft, where he worked in partner channel strategy, hardware planning and engineering, and Azure Cloud. While there he went on to be the Global Managing Director of Microsoft for startups, overseeing startup acceleration, global innovation, and engagement with Microsoft startup ecosystems around the world. Before joining Microsoft, Ian co-founded the political news site Raw Story. He has an MBA from the University of Washington and a BA in politics and French from Oberlin College. 

It's time to get to know Ian!

Who is Veronica Siranosian?

Veronica is a vice president in the AECOM Digital and Innovation Group, advancing digital delivery and innovation in infrastructure planning, design and delivery. With a background in public and private sector transportation and land use planning, Veronica works with public agencies and private clients to understand, proactively plan for, and realize the future of infrastructure. Her passion is to leverage technologies to better connect people to opportunities and to create more equitable places.   

Welcome to the show Veronica!

Who is Jacob LaPorte?

Jacob LaPorte, PhD, is the Co-Founder & Global Head of The Novartis Biome at Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation. Previously he founded Snapdragon Chemistry with luminaries in the field of flow chemistry. And he is a former Harvard chemist and McKinsey & Company consultant who is passionate about leading digital transformations to improve.

So wonderful to have him on the show!

Who is Tiffani Alvidrez?

Tiffiny joined Instacart as its Public Policy Manager after a dazzling career in government that began in the California state legislature as Chief of Staff to the California State Senate to Holly J. Mitchell. She also served as policy analyst to the California Department of Transportation and Drug and Alcohol Programs and special assisted in the California governor's office. 

Today, AXII!

Who is Andi Mann?

Andi was an analyst at Enterprise Management Associates and went on to be a VP in the office of the CTO at CA Technologies, where he was responsible for product strategy and marketing. From there, he went to a spectacular term at Splunk as CTO of DevOps which led to now where he is Chief Technology Officer at Qumu.

Today, Innovators Inside!

Who is Fernanda Bordin?

Fernanda is the Senior Manager for Innovation at Gerdau Next. The new business arm of Gerdau, the largest producer of long steel in Latin America. Before coming to Gerdau, Fernanda worked with open Innovation and data analytics at NASA via the laboratory of Innovation Science at Harvard and managed the business incubation program at Mercedes-Benz R&D North America. 

And now, AXII welcomes her to the community!

Who is Jez Humble?

Jez works in Site Reliability Engineering at Google and teaches at UC Berkeley. He previously co-founded the amazingly influential DevOps Research and Assessment, DORA. And co-conducted the annual State of DevOps Report. Before that was stints at 18F, the legendary Obama-era federal agency that modernized several digital services and thought works. 

Get ready to meet Jez!

Who is Shige Ihara?

Shigeto is the president and CEO of NEC X launched in 2018 by NEC Corp, formerly Nippon Electric Company. NEC X is a Palo Alto-based business incubator that fast-tracks technologies and business ideas selected from inside and outside NEC. Not only is AlchemistX working with them on their current accelerator batch, but we got Shige on our show!

You're going to love Shige!

Who is Kathy Chill?

Kathy Chill is a business development powerhouse. She spent 10 years at Citrix where she grew the SAAS business from 30 million to half a billion dollars - making Citrix one of the 10 biggest SAAS companies on Earth. But that was just the first act of a distinguished career. Kathy went on to found the awesomely named, Chill Strategic Partners, where she helps companies around the world accelerate time to market. Her clients include everything from early stage startups to established public and private enterprises. She provides both strategic guidance and hands-on operational support to folks launching new products in new markets. Kathy's particularly good at helping clients evaluate and capitalize on new market opportunities - the very core of Corporate Innovation. 

What a delight to have her indeed!

Who is Laura Merling?

Laura Marling is the Digital Transformation Officer Automotive for Google. Before joining Google, she was Managing Director and Chief Digital Officer for Slalom, providing business and product strategy to multi-billion dollar companies in technology, transportation, energy, cpg, retail, healthcare, and education. She served as Chief Digital Officer for Collins Aerospace and Vice President, Digital Products for Ford and AT&T. 

Of course we had to get her on the show, she's awesome!

Who is Jesper Frederiksen?

Jesper Fredrickson was president of research and development for Danaher. Since then Jesper has served as Chief Innovation Officer at Banfield Pet Hospital, at Mars company, and then at Mars Veterinary health care. Today he is VP and Digital Executive for Velux, a Danish manufacturing company. Jesper attended INSEAD at the Syed School of Business at the University of Oxford. And now, AXII! 

You're going to love this one!

Who is Alan Boehme?

For‌ ‌about‌ ‌a‌ ‌dozen‌ ‌years‌ ‌corporate‌ ‌Innovation‌ ‌in‌ ‌Silicon‌ ‌Valley‌ ‌has‌ ‌been‌ ‌synonymous‌ ‌with‌ ‌Alan‌ ‌Boehme.‌ ‌From‌ ‌stints‌‌ ‌‌at‌ ‌DHL,‌ ‌General‌ ‌Electric,‌ and  ‌ING‌ , ‌Alan‌ ‌went‌ ‌on‌ ‌to‌ ‌a‌ ‌spectacular‌ ‌career‌ ‌at‌ ‌Coca-Cola‌ ‌rising‌ ‌and‌ ‌rising‌ ‌through‌ ‌that‌ ‌company‌ ‌to‌ ‌become‌ ‌Global‌ ‌CTO,‌ ‌Chief‌ ‌Innovation‌ ‌officer‌ ‌and‌ ‌head‌ ‌of‌ ‌Enterprise‌ ‌Architecture.‌ ‌After‌ ‌leaving‌ ‌Coca-Cola,‌ ‌he‌ ‌advised‌ ‌all‌ ‌kinds‌ ‌of‌ ‌infrastructure‌ ‌startup‌ ‌companies‌ ‌from‌ ‌Netskope‌ ‌to‌ ‌VeloCloud.‌ ‌Then‌ ‌he‌ ‌took‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌Chief‌ ‌Innovation‌ ‌Officer‌ ‌role‌ ‌at‌ ‌Procter‌ ‌&‌ ‌Gamble.‌‌ ‌‌Today,‌ ‌he’s‌ ‌CTO‌ ‌for‌ ‌H&M‌ ‌group.‌‌ ‌‌But‌ ‌a‌ ‌recitation‌ ‌of‌ ‌his‌ ‌titles‌ ‌doesn't‌ ‌do‌ ‌justice‌ ‌to‌ ‌Alan‌ ‌and‌ ‌his‌ ‌impact.‌‌ ‌‌He‌ ‌knows‌ ‌everyone‌ ‌and‌ ‌is‌ ‌endlessly‌ ‌generous‌ ‌with‌ ‌his‌ ‌time‌ ‌and‌ ‌insight.‌‌ ‌‌He‌ ‌is‌ ‌a‌ ‌pioneer‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌Innovation‌ ‌model‌ ‌in‌ ‌which‌ ‌a‌ ‌large‌ ‌corporation‌ ‌has‌ ‌eyes‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌ears‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌ground‌ ‌here‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌valley.‌‌ ‌‌It's‌ ‌hard‌ ‌to‌ ‌imagine‌ ‌anyone‌ ‌better‌ ‌qualified‌ ‌to‌ ‌talk‌ ‌about‌ ‌why‌ ‌corporate‌ ‌Innovation‌ ‌is‌ ‌hard.‌ 

Enjoy this talk as much as we did!

Who is Cindy Alvarez?

Cindy is the author of Lean Customer Development and the Director of Customer Research for Github where she works to understand what helps developers collaborate to build effective solutions and drive change within their organizations. She came to GitHub and Microsoft from Yammer where she was Director of User Experience. Cindy's passionate about diversity and inclusion; supporting women, black, Latino, and girls in tech.

We're so glad to share her talk with us!

Who is Sam Ramji?

Sam's currently the Chief Strategy Officer for DataStax. In his 25 year Silicon Valley career he's been instrumental in creating two, billion dollar markets. The Enterprise Service Bus during his time at BA systems and API management when he was at Apigee. Notably, Sam laid the foundation for open source at Microsoft back in the aughts. When to do this was next to unthinkable. Now, of course Microsoft owns GitHub and is a titan thought leader in free software. Thanks in no small part to Sam's work. 

He's also done time at Google and Autodesk and is a prolific adviser to everyone from early stage startups to massive enterprises. He has a degree in Cognitive Science from UC San Diego and still plays around with machine learning and AI just for fun. 

We're so glad to share Sam's story with you all!

Who is Christi Zuber?

Christi is the founder and managing director of Aspen Labs and holds a Doctorate in Design and Innovation from Coventry University. She's also on the faculty of Northwestern, and has served as Fellowship faculty for Arizona State. This all is the culmination of a distinguished career in Corporate Innovation that included founding and directing The Innovation Consultancy for Kaiser Permanente. 

We're so happy to share our wonderful conversation with you!

Who is Corbett Gilliam?

Corbett Gilliam is the corporate development manager for the world-renowned Advanced Technology Development Center. The ATDC is a science and business incubator that's part of the Enterprise Innovation Institute at Georgia Tech. 

We're so glad to share Corbett's story with you all!

Who is Louis Stewart?

Louis is currently the Head of Strategic Initiatives for NVIDIA's developer ecosystem. NVIDIA of course being the maker of legendary GPU’s and the enabler of our current golden age of video games. Prior to NVIDIA, Lewis was the city of Sacramento's first Chief Innovation Officer, charged with promoting and driving long-term economic growth and job creation through Innovation. Before that he spent seven years as California’s Deputy Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development.

He grew up in France and Italy, played professional basketball in Peru and Belgium, and has a degree from Santa Clara University. 

And with that, we would love for you to Meet Mr. Stewart!

Who is Jeanne Morain?

Our friend Jeanne began her career in startups and made her first big splash when BMC Software acquired Marimba.

Marimba was the company founded by Kim Polese, the original product manager for the Java programming language. It was a precursor to basically, everything we take for granted today: containers, orchestration, device management, patch management. It ended up being sold to Samsung and it’s still in use at Starbucks powering everything from cars to fridges. Without it there’s no continuous delivery, there’s no DevOps.

In working to integrate Marimba’s software, Jeanne became a pioneer in the development of business service management, the foundation for what we now call digital transformation. From BMC Jeanne moved to executive roles with Thinstall, which was acquired by VMware, InstallFree and Flexera. In the middle of all this she also wrote the definitive books on desktop virtualization: Client4Cloud; and digital transformation: Visible Ops Private Cloud. She’s a highly sought-after advisor to executive boards and CEOs and is now working on a digital transformation startup of her own.

So join Jeanne and Rachel as they try to get to the bottom of why corporate innovation is hard.

Who is Mike Dolbec?

Well, Mike has had a tremendously distinguished career across both institutional and corporate VC, including stints at Kleiner Perkins, Greylock, 3Com, and Orange. From 2012, he is the executive managing director of GE Ventures. He's been on the boards of a bunch of deep tech companies as well! He's currently a science and innovation council member for BHP, one of the world's biggest mining companies.  

And now you have the chance to join Mike and Rachel as they try to get to the bottom of why corporate innovation is hard.