If you don’t use it, you lose it. Does the same apply to AI and our brains? Today, we're talking to Jacob Ward, journalist, AI ethics and safety advisor, and author of The Loop. We discuss why AI will dissolve our brains just like Google Maps dissolved our sense of direction, how our unconscious decision-making makes us vulnerable to AI manipulation, and why kids saying "clankers" might be our best hope for the future. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more a...
Jan 26, 2026•54 min
The culture is turning on billionaires, but who do you think is funding our technological progress? Today, we're talking to John McGinnis, Professor at Northwestern University and author of "Why Democracy Needs the Rich." We discuss why wealthy individuals are essential to technological progress and democracy, how professional influencers create incentive structures against the rich, and why America's AI dominance depends on venture capital and entrepreneurial coordination. All of this right her...
Jan 22, 2026•1 hr 1 min
How should you respond to the fastest shift in tech we've ever seen? Make more mistakes. Today, we're talking to Andrea Iorio, author of Between You and AI and former Chief Digital Officer at L'Oréal. We discuss why asking better questions matters more than having all the answers, how reverse mentoring can transform organizational learning, and why becoming antifragile through smart mistakes is the key to thriving alongside AI. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To pic...
Jan 19, 2026•53 min
THIS is how you keep your infrastructure costs from spiraling out of control. Today, we're talking to Albert Strasheim, CTO at Rippling. We discuss the cost crisis facing CTOs in the age of AI, how he reduced infrastructure costs by 30% while growing traffic by 25%, and why holding back feedback is actually the most selfish thing a leader can do. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Rippling, check out their website here ....
Jan 15, 2026•52 min
Has AI really become THIS powerful in the enterprise? Today, we're talking to Brian Elliott, CEO at Blitzy and Tom Jackson, CTO at RSM US LLP. We discuss how AI agents are autonomously completing months of development work in days, why organizational change management is now the biggest bottleneck in software development, and how enterprises are achieving 5x engineering velocity with agentic SDLC platforms. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Blitzy,...
Jan 12, 2026•33 min
This was the most useful, actionable advice we got on AI in 2025. Today, we're compiling the best AI content we got from our Modern CTO of 2025: Rob Duffy, CTO at HealthEdge. We discuss why AI demos aren't translating to production ROI, how to treat AI migration with the same rigor as cloud migration, and why technical leaders must use AI tools themselves to drive organizational transformation. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about HealthEdge, check ou...
Jan 08, 2026•20 min
Most people know booking.com. Almost nobody knows about the $100B+ travel empire behind it. Today, we're talking to Rob Ransom, Senior Vice President at Booking Holdings, about the business strategy behind booking.com, KAYAK, OpenTable, and more. We discuss how AI is transforming travel booking like mobile did a decade ago, why the best strategies prioritize simplicity over complexity, and how booking.com's legendary A/B testing culture removes politics from product decisions. All of this right ...
Jan 05, 2026•46 min
Today, we're doing something different: crowning the Modern CTO of 2025! In our first-ever year-end awards episode, we discuss the moments that stood out the most this year. From the most controversial moments to the wisest insights, we revisit the guests and clips that defined 2025 and reveal which tech leader earned the title of Modern CTO of the Year.
Dec 31, 2025•31 min
Shazam struggled to turn any profit for 6 straight years. But then the App Store changed everything. Today, we're talking to Chris Barton, Founder of Shazam. We discuss why they built a music recognition app eight years before the App Store launched, how they survived six consecutive years of near bankruptcy, and why eliminating the right friction is the key to massive user adoption. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about what Chris is up to, check out ...
Dec 29, 2025•41 min
Merry Christmas! Tune in next week to two of our favorite episodes of the year.
Dec 25, 2025•2 min
How did they reduce customer onboarding from 5 days to 7 minutes? Today, we're talking to Misha Keener, CTO at Flowable. We discuss why orchestration is more important than automation, how context engineering beats prompt engineering in agentic AI, and why enterprise readiness will separate winners from losers in 2025. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Flowable, check out their website here ....
Dec 22, 2025•55 min
Peacock has become a streaming giant. How did they scale it to millions of users? Today, we're talking to António Vieira, Director of Global Apps Engineering at Sky. We discuss how Peacock handles 30% of internet traffic during major NFL games, why live streaming is exponentially harder than video on demand, and how AI is being used to create personalized content experiences with synthetic voices. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Sky, check out th...
Dec 18, 2025•55 min
All tech is witchcraft…until it isn’t. Today, we're talking to Sam Ransbotham, AI editor at MIT Sloan Management Review and host of the Me, Myself, and AI podcast. We discuss why 76% of executives now view AI as a coworker rather than a tool, how healthcare privacy laws from 1996 can't handle modern AI capabilities, and why cheaper coding will create more programming jobs instead of eliminating them. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! Thank you to Digital Ocean for spo...
Dec 15, 2025•54 min
They’ve created a “Google Translate” for the cloud, and it’s changing everything. Today, we're talking to Brad Parks, CloudOps and Private Cloud Leader at HPE. We discuss how Morpheus is bringing cloud operating models to on-premises infrastructure, why hybrid cloud is an inevitability rather than a strategy for most enterprises, and how HPE is helping IT teams eliminate vendor lock-in while maintaining workload portability across any infrastructure. All of this right here, right now, on the Mod...
Dec 11, 2025•36 min
How is the biggest newspaper in the United States using GenAI? Today, we're talking to Jason Sobel, CTO at The New York Times. We discuss how technology is transforming journalism for the digital age, why 70% of journalism jobs have disappeared in the last 25 years, and how The New York Times uses AI to enhance reporting without replacing human journalists. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! Thank you to Digital Ocean for sponsoring this episode. For simple cloud and p...
Dec 08, 2025•52 min
Gartner placed them in the highest corner of their Magic Quadrant. Why is HPE leading their industry? Today, we're talking to Brian Gruttadauria, CTO of Hybrid Cloud at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. We discuss how agentic AI is transforming hybrid cloud infrastructure, why human-in-the-loop will remain critical for enterprise AI adoption, and how HPE went from 20% to 92% GitHub Copilot adoption in just over a year. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To get learn more abo...
Dec 04, 2025•48 min
When will customer service be run entirely by bots? Today, we're talking to Adrian McDermott, CTO at Zendesk, about how AI agents are transforming customer experience. We discuss why automation drives escalation instead of elimination, how Zendesk is moving from seat-based to outcome-based pricing with their resolution platform, and why the future of leadership requires being more like a slot machine than a vending machine. Thank you to Digital Ocean for sponsoring this episode. For simple cloud...
Dec 01, 2025•59 min
This is some of the best advice we’ve ever heard on managing teams. Today, we're talking to Mark Porter, CTO at dbt Labs. We discuss why knowing your audience is the foundation of effective communication, how to create psychological safety for escalation without surprises, and why hiring remarkable talent requires unconventional tactics like asking for negative references and spending six hours with final candidates. Thank you to Digital Ocean for sponsoring this episode. For simple cloud and po...
Nov 27, 2025•26 min
When he went to investors, nobody believed that the internet would be a big deal. Today, we're talking to Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard, the Father of the Cable Modem. We discuss how he invented broadband when no one believed home internet would succeed, why letting your product do the talking beats PowerPoint presentations, and how to distinguish between technology hype and delivery reality in the age of AI. Thank you to Digital Ocean for sponsoring this episode. For simple cloud and powerful AI that’s ...
Nov 24, 2025•57 min
THIS is how you can actually leverage AI to transform your business in a realistic timeframe. Today, we're talking to Rebecca Carr, CEO at SmartRecruiters, about how she led a complete AI transformation of her company in eighteen months without asking the board for permission. We discuss why 58% of job applications are now completed by AI agents, how she threw out her entire product roadmap to build an AI-native recruiting platform, and why traditional jobs won't exist in five years. All of this...
Nov 20, 2025•55 min
It’s lonely at the top. But being lonely is actually a choice. Today, we're talking to Jay Owen, CEO at Business Builders. We discuss how leading in ministry has changed his approach to business leadership, why loneliness at the top is actually a choice, and how AI tools like vibe coding are enabling agencies to build $50,000 solutions in just one week for a few hundred dollars. Thank you to Digital Ocean for sponsoring this episode. For simple cloud and powerful AI that’s built to scale, check ...
Nov 17, 2025•52 min
Web3 crashed and burned when it first rolled out. But now, it’s picking up steam in gaming. Today, we're talking to Chris Hewish, President at Xsolla. We discuss why the first wave of Web3 gaming collapsed into pyramid schemes, how blockchain technology is being reimagined to enhance gameplay instead of replace it, and why creator economies and decentralized ownership could finally solve the cold start problem that's been holding back mass adoption. All of this right here, right now, on the Mode...
Nov 13, 2025•50 min
He walked away from a cushy job to build products in his garage. Here’s how he made it work. Today, we're talking to Scott Henderson, CTO and Co-founder at Celigo. We discuss why AI needs minimal autonomy instead of maximum freedom, how the future of SaaS is chat-to-validate rather than click-to-execute, and why the most expensive AI mistake is adopting it too slowly rather than spending too much. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Celigo, check out...
Nov 10, 2025•52 min
Everyone is rushing to master AI, but what does that mean for software security? Today, we're talking to Henrik Plate and Amod Gupta from Endor Labs about their State of Dependency Management report. We discuss how AI coding assistants are introducing new security vulnerabilities, why 90% of security issues exist in code you're not even using, and how malware is now hijacking local AI agents to steal credentials. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To read Endor Labs' S...
Nov 06, 2025•51 min
Is journalism being threatened or enhanced by modern technology? Today, we're talking to Dylan Jacques, Chief Product and Technology Officer at The Telegraph. We discuss how AI is transforming news consumption patterns, why maintaining journalistic standards is critical in the age of LLMs, and how publishers can adapt by shipping features faster while preserving the human element of journalism. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! Thank you to Digital Ocean for sponsorin...
Nov 03, 2025•43 min
AI is more powerful than ever, but companies are way overhyping this one feature. Today, we're talking to Bryan McCann, CTO and co-founder at You.com. We discuss why CTOs need to start asking deeper questions about meaning, how AI is forcing us to rethink consciousness and intelligence, and why treating AI with respect might actually help you become a better person. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! Thank you to Digital Ocean for sponsoring this episode. For simple cl...
Oct 30, 2025•56 min
AI is more powerful than ever, but companies are way overhyping this one feature. Today, we're talking to Yotam Yemini, CEO of Causely. We discuss why AI SREs are getting so much hype right now, how companies can make the benefits of AI in operations tangible, and why understanding the limitations of language models is crucial for effective implementation in SRE work. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Causely, check out their website here ....
Oct 27, 2025•39 min
Lenovo has been a global leader in computing for decades. Where are they heading next? Today, we're talking to Art Hu, SVP and CTO at Lenovo. We discuss Lenovo's transformation into a services-led company, the future of personal computing and AI twins, and how CTOs can prepare their organizations for the AI revolution. Thank you to Digital Ocean for sponsoring this episode. For simple cloud and powerful AI that’s built to scale, check out Digital Ocean here . All of this right here, right now, o...
Oct 23, 2025•53 min
Yahoo was there in the earliest days of the internet, but what are they up to now? Today, we're talking to Lee Zen, CTO at Yahoo. We discuss Yahoo's continued relevance in the digital age, how they're leveraging AI and cloud technology to navigate the expanding digital wilderness, and why authenticity and transparency are crucial in tech leadership. Thanks to Fin for sponsoring this episode. To learn more about the #1 AI agent for customer support, go to fin.ai/cto. All of this right here, right...
Oct 20, 2025•51 min
ChatGPT is the single fastest growing product of all-time, and he was there to launch it. Today, we're talking to Zach Kass, former head of go-to-market at OpenAI. We discuss the story behind launching ChatGPT, how society can responsibly adopt AI, and why societal thresholds are crucial for the integration of new technologies. Thank you to Digital Ocean for sponsoring this episode. For simple cloud and powerful AI that’s built to scale, check out Digital Ocean here . All of this right here, rig...
Oct 16, 2025•1 hr 10 min
