Tech Field Day Podcast
Tech Field Day·352 episodes
The Tech Field Day Podcast is the only podcast that dares to be both on topic, or on premise, and sometimes on location, bringing together a group of independent IT luminaries and experts in their field from around the Enterprise to discuss a single idea revolving around their technological knowledge base and skillset. This podcast is hosted by Stephen Foskett, Organizer of the Tech Field Day event series, and Tom Hollingsworth, Tech Field Day Event Lead.
Episodes
Learn more about Networking Field Day 40 here. Telemetry has become a critical component of modern networking, but organizations need better ways to harness the growing volume of data. In this episode of the Tech Field Day Podcast, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Scott Robohn, Jason Gintert, and Pete Welcher to discuss how telemetry provides real-time insights into network performance, user behavior, and system health. They explore how diverse data sources—from network devices to applications and user endpoints—enable more informed, data-driven decisions. The panel also highlights the importance of turning telemetry into actionable insights through integration, analytics, and clear KPIs, while addressing challenges like data overload by focusing on relevant metrics and proper data structuring.Panelists: Scott Robohn, Founder, Solutional Pete Welcher, Networking ExpertJason Gintert, Consultant, Bits in FlightHosts:Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, <a href="https:
Learn more about Cloud Field Day 25 here.The Internet is often characterized as full of cat pictures and manipulative social media, yet the Internet is home to thousands of websites and communities that deliver massive public benefit. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Denny Cherry, Lino Telera, Shala Warner, and Alastair Cooke, who all took part in Cloud Field Day in Santa Clara. The discussion highlights two key non-commercial organizations: the Internet Archive and SETI. The Internet Archive does monumental work in preserving digital and human culture, including a trillion web pages and physical books, funded by large and small community donations and distributed globally to build resilience against censorship and ensure accessibility. SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) is explored from its early distributed computing efforts with SETI@home to its current use of advanced AI and powerful GPUs to process terabits of radio telescope data and explore laser communication, also touching on citizen science initiatives like crowdsourced "All-Sky Camera" projects. Ultimately, the panel celebrates how the internet continues to enable significant advancements in scientific research, cultural preservation, and community building, emphasizing its ongoing potential for positive global impact.Panelists: Denny CherryLino TeleraShala WarnerHosts:Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/techfieldday.com
Learn more and register for Qlik Connect here.Generative AI is more connected to the world of business intelligence and data analytics than any other area of enterprise IT technology. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast, recorded prior to Qlik Connect 2026, features Brendan Grady of Qlik joining Brian Booden and Gina Rosenthal to consider how this market is advancing. Although we started talking about agentic AI over a year ago, it is still quite rare to see impactful agents deployed in business processes and we expect to hear more about this at the event. We are also talking about data quality again, especially in light of AI applications, which are both users and producers of data. The goal of many is to use AI to help extract value from various data sources, structured and unstructured, and Qlik is well-positioned to achieve this. Join Qlik and Tech Field Day at Qlik Connect in Orlando, Florida in April!Qlik Representative: Brendan Grady, General Manager of the AI and Analytics Business Unit at QlikPanelists: Gina Rosenthal, Founder of Digital Sunshine SolutionsBrian Booden, Managing Director at BB Data ServicesHosts: Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow <a href="https://techfieldday.com/" target="_bla
Learn more about Tech Field Day at RSAC here.Data Protection is a critical component of security but it needs more features to meet the challenges of today’s attack environments. In this episode, Tom Hollingsworth and Jack Poller discuss how data protection companies like Veeam, Commvault, and Object First offer solutions like immutability and identity protection as solutions to modern problems. They talk about the importance of having a holistic business strategy that directs restoration efforts such as realistic RPO and RTO objectives. Lastly they discuss how data protection companies can use events like RSAC to get the word out about their latest features.Panelists: Jack Poller, Principal Analyst at Paradigm TechnicaHosts: Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Learn more about Cloud Field Day 25 here.The rising cost of memory and storage, driven by the massive AI build out, might make on-premises datacenters uneconomical, and drive more cloud adoption. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Ned Bellavance, Jim Czuprynski, and Alastair Cooke considering whether it is better to wait out the shortages or design for their effects. The core problem is the significant increase in costs for RAM and storage components like SSDs and hard drives, which is making on-premises infrastructure upgrades financially challenging for many organizations. This surge in prices is largely driven by substantial, long-term procurement agreements made by major cloud providers and companies developing AI data centers, leading to a global supply constraint. There are differing strategies for businesses to cope with this environment, including enhancing resource efficiency, optimizing software, and potentially leveraging the secondary hardware market or extending the life of existing equipment. The conversation also delves into broader industry impacts, such as the potential for AI to self-optimize resource usage, the challenges in building new, resource-intensive data centers due to power and water concerns, and predictions for when these current market conditions might stabilize and component prices could return to more typical levels.Panelists: Ned Bellavance, Content Creator, Ned in the CloudsJim Czuprynski, Chief Storyteller, Zero Defect ComputingHosts:Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, <a hr
There’s more to security than AI models and keeping them safe. Identity and user security are sure to be hot topics during this year’s RSAC Conference. In this episode, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Jack Poller and Drew Conry-Murray as they discuss what’s hot in the non-AI areas of security. They discuss the importance of identity-based security and how it can be extended to include non-human employees. They also discuss how enterprises are focused on securing browsers with extensions and not forcing a specific application. The guests debate the advantages and disadvantages of all of these aspects as well as how AI will eventually provide additional context around them all.Panelists: Jack Poller, Principal Analyst at Paradigm TechnicaDrew Conry-Murray, Editor-in-Chief at Packet PushersTom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or
The rise and fall of MoltBot is a sign that AI Agents are being rushed to deployment. How much of your data can you trust to AI Agents? In this episode of the Tech Field Day podcast, Girard Kavelines and Aunudrei Oliver join Alastair Cooke to cast an eye over AI agent security and data security. ClaudeBot exploded into popular consciousness as an AI helper that could gain new skills and help organize and simplify your life. Following the name changes to MoltBot and OpenClaw, some issues came to light. OpenClaw learned new skills by installing software from a highly open repository. Malware authors jumped on board and put data-stealing software into popular skills. The cautionary tale here is that your data needs protection from bad actors, and basic security practices are vital. The rush to deploy an agent or any new technology often tramples on good governance and security practices, with predictable poor outcomes. AI agents will undoubtedly bring great value to businesses and individuals, provided that robust controls are built in from the start.Panelists: Girard Kavelines, Networking and Security Engineer, Aqueduct Technologies, Inc.Aunudrei Oliver, Cybersecurity ExecutiveHosts:Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
The rise of AI tooling and agents in the enterprise has created a gap with identity security platforms. Addressing that gap remains challenging when so much is still unclear about how users and agents interact. In this episode of the Tech Field Day podcast, brought to you by 1Password, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Kate Scarcella, Jack Poller, and Sanjay Ramnath of 1Password.The panel discusses the shift from client-server models to the new agentic landscape. They talk about the challenges of tracking activity and how static credential management is unable to keep up. They also talk about the need for business to lead the change in IT and enable security to keep up with the current velocity of features. They also discuss how there needs to be a shift in the way that companies develop and apply security policy to users, both physical and digital.Learn more about 1Password: Website: https://1password.comLink: https://1password.com/developer-security Blog: https://1password.com/blog1Password Representative: Sanjay Ramnath, VP, Product & Solutions MarketingGuests: Jack Poller, Principal Analyst at Paradigm TechnicaKate Scarcella, Chair Person at the CD Foundation, a Cybersecurity FoundationHosts:Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/techfiel
Learn more about AI Infrastructure Field Day 4 here. AI has driven your datacenter designs and is now moving outwards through your whole network. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Lee Peterson from Cisco discussing AI and networks with Andy Banta, Jack Poller, and Alastair Cooke. The discussion explores how AI is "escaping the data center" and becoming pervasive across the network, necessitating a dual focus on “networking for AI” and “AI for networking.” The former involves building robust, high-performance, and secure infrastructure, particularly at the edge, to support AI workloads like real-time inference. The goal is to support new applications such as robotics, fraud detection, and small language models, moving beyond traditional cloud-centric deployments to a more federated model. The latter leverages AI to manage, optimize, troubleshoot, and secure the network itself, with Cisco utilizing deep network learning models, historical data, and expertise to create AI assistants that enable intent-based networking and streamline operations. Additionally, the conversation emphasizes the critical role of advanced security, including hardware-accelerated post-quantum cryptography, to protect data in this evolving, AI-driven environment from future decryption threats.Cisco Representative: Lee Peterson, VP of Product, CiscoAndy Banta, Storage and Infrastructure ConsultantJack Poller, Principal Analyst at Paradigm TechnicaHosts:Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage <a href="https://x.com/techfieldda
Learn more about AI Infrastructure Field Day 4 here. The big headlines that we're seeing around the massive funding of large AI companies are a distraction from the reality that AI is being built and used in business applications. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Frederic Van Haren, Chris Grundemann, Brian Martin, and Alastair Cooke reflecting after AI Infrastructure Field Day in Santa Clara. Popular news often covers the creation of large, general purpose AI models, yet the real-world application of AI through inference is where most companies see a return on their investment. Similarly, the common understanding of "AI" is as a single topic, without a more granular view that differentiates between rules-based systems, traditional machine learning, and emergent generative models like Large Language Models (LLMs). Specialized AI models will be vital for cost-effective applications with enhanced efficiency and the integration of diverse AI capabilities into agentic architectures. Advanced security protocols and regulatory frameworks are vital to mitigate novel vulnerabilities, organizations must adapt to an extraordinarily rapid pace of technological evolution. AI has already had a profound impact on software development, potentially enabling widespread custom application creation.Panelists: Frederic Van Haren, CTO and Founder of HighFens, Inc.Brian Martin, VP of Data Center Performance at Signal 65Chris Grundemann, Executive Consultant at Khadga ConsultingHosts:Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current e
Learn more about AI Infrastructure Field Day 4 here. As we build out AI infrastructure and applications we need resource efficiency, continuously buying more horsepower cannot go on forever. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Pete Welcher, Gina Rosenthal, Andy Banta, and Alastair Cooke hoping for a more efficient AI future. Large language models are trained using massive farms of GPUs and massive amounts of Internet data, so we expect to use large farms of GPUs and unstructured data to run those LLMs. Those large farms have led to scarcity of GPUs, and now RAM price increases that are impeding businesses building their own large AI infrastructure. Task-specific AIs, that use more efficient, task-specific models should be the future of Agentic AI and AI embedded in applications. More efficient and targeted AI may be the only way to get business value from the investment, especially in resource constrained edge environments. Does every AI problem need a twenty billion parameter model? More mature use of LLMs and AI will focus on reducing the cost of delivering inference to applications, your staff, and your customers.Panelists: Gina Rosenthal, Product Marketing ManagerPete Welcher, Networking ExpertAndy Banta, Storage and Infrastructure ConsultantHosts:Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/com
View upcoming Tech Field Day events here. Modern security needs more than checklists. Instead of working down a process you need to start thinking like the attackers trying to get into your systems. In this episode of the Tech Field Day Podcast, Jay Cuthrell and Girard Kavelines join Tom Hollingsworth to discuss how Microsoft Sentinel helps bring this new security strategy to your environment.They discuss the advances that have been made in data lake technology, including the increased retention time offered by Microsoft. They also talk about the way that graphs help train new security analysts to understand the way that attackers think. They discuss how you can adapt your plans in the new year to take advantage of new offerings and the questions you should be asking to make sure you’re not missing out.Girard Kavelines, Networking and Security Engineer, Aqueduct Technologies, Inc.Jay Cuthrell, Chief Product Officer, NexusTekHosts:Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Watch the Hammerspace presentations from AI Infrastructure Field Day here. Learn more about Hammerspace on their website hereModern data mobility is challenging the laws of physics; the speed of light is a fundamental limit for moving signals. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Kurt Kuckein from Hammerspace discussing data movement and management with Jim Jones, Jack Poller, Andy Banta, and Alastair Cooke. The challenge is that the distributed nature of data, spread across the globe, creates significant obstacles for AI, particularly regarding the speed of light and power consumption. We delve into overcoming these limitations through technologies that facilitate data access and movement, touching on concepts such as efficient storage solutions (Open Flash Platform), the importance of centralized data management, and the agility required for evolving AI workloads. While the underlying principles of data management are not new, the scale and complexity of AI necessitate innovative approaches to ensure data can be accessed and utilized effectively, regardless of its physical location.Hammerspace Representative: Kurt Kuckein, Sr. Director of AI Product MarketingPanelists:Jim Jones, Sr. Product Infrastructure Architect at 11:11 SystemsJack Poller, Principal Analyst at Paradigm TechnicaAndy Banta, ConsultantHosts:Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the
View upcoming Tech Field Day events here. 2025 was a big year for both HPE and Juniper, but 2026 is the year when the real integration starts. In this episode of the Tech Field Day podcast, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by wireless experts Jonathan Davis and Keith Parsons as they look at the acquisition of Juniper Networks by HPE and what the future holds for the new combined company.They discuss how the culture of the two companies is coming together as well as the unification of their management platforms. They look at the differences between Juniper Mist and Aruba Central and which platform will be the one users log into going forward. The guests also look at the competition between Cisco and HPE and how the race will develop as customers look to refresh their installations and what they are likely to choose.Panelists: Keith Parsons, Managing Director of Wireless LAN Professionals, Inc.Jonathan Davis, Wi-Fi and Networking ExpertHosts:Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Check out upcoming Tech Field Day events on our website.2025 was the year of AI Mania. Everyone wants you to know where they stand with AI in their product. Tech Field Day has a different approach. In this special year end episode, Tom Hollingsworth, Stephen Foskett, and Alastair Cooke look back at the discussions and deep dives into AI and how Tech Field Day grounded them all in practical real terms. Our event leads discuss the boring reality of AI tools and how AI has a dual nature that must be understood to get real value. They also debate the changing landscape of security where AI is concerned, including the importance of data sovereignty. They wrap up with a focus on the fundamentals and how Tech Field Day continues to make those important for the community at large.Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field DayAlastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayStephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
AI is writing a large proportion of modern software and Generative AI coding tools make enterprise applications worse. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast looks at AI generated applications with Calvin Hendryx-Parker, Jim Czuprynski, Jay Cuthrell, and Alastair Cooke. Satya Nadella says that up to 30% of the code Microsoft writes is AI generated, AWS is at about 25% AI generated code. We ponder whether there is a link between this AI generated code and the quality of the Windows 11 codebase, possibly even the recent AWS outage? Calvin has hands-on experience with a range of AI coding tools, finding he uses different AI tools for specialist tasks in his development projects. The easy task for AI coding is translating existing applications from one platform version to another, or rewriting existing application code in new languages. Both these tasks are onerous for human developers and ideal for an AI assistant. The unanswered question is whether generative AI tools can handle creating new functionality in enterprise applications, can AI fulfill the role of the senior developer or software architect?Host: Alastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayPanelists: Jim Czuprynski, Chief Storyteller at Zero Defect ComputingJay Cuthrell, Chief Product Officer at NexusTekCalvin Hendryx-Parker, CTO and Founder of Six Feet UpFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Watch presentations from Networking Field Day 39 here. Automation is the best way to scale network deployment and operations. But the lack of formal standards in the field cause delays and wasted resources. In this episode of the Tech Field Day Podcast, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Denise Donohue, Steve Puluka, and Kevin Myers. They discuss how some common things have emerged more from consensus and not from formalized standards bodies. The panel also discuss the value of using open ideas and not being forced into a single-vendor solution. They also discuss regulations and the likelihood that an organization like the IETF or IEEE will pick up the task of formalizing automation standards.Host: Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field Day.Panelists:Steve Puluka, Network ArchitectDenise Donohue, Network Architect and Technical AuthorKevin Myers, Network ArchitectFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Watch the presentations from Cloud Field Day 24 here.Simplification in IT is an illusion; increasing complexity outpaces every effort to simplify. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast, recorded on-site at Cloud Field Day 24, features Camberley Bates, Nathan Nielsen, Guy Currier, and Alastair Cooke. Cloud services and centralized management platforms offer simplified interfaces but also introduce a multitude of choices and underlying complexities. History matters; advancements from mainframes to PCs demonstrate continuously shifting goalposts, while the more recent integration of cloud and AI contributes to increased complexity. It may be that AI brings simply advanced simplicity, yet it may also bring the unintended consequence of people becoming "ignorant" of how IT works. CIOs and CTOs need to think strategically to manage increasingly complex environments, striking a balance between patchwork fixes and long-term strategic approaches.Host: Alastair Cooke, Event Lead at Tech Field DayPanelists:Guy Currier, Chief Analyst at Visible Impact, The Futurum GroupCamberley BatesNathan NielsenFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our w
Watch Infoblox and more Security Field Day 14 videos here.DNS security is no longer optional. This service is not only being attacked by nefarious actors but it is also being leveraged in ways to compromise users and exfiltrate data. In this episode of the Tech Field Day podcast, brought to you by Infoblox, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Jack Poller and Cricket Liu. They talk about the historical openness of DNS and how that has led to it becoming easy to see what users are doing and create ways to manipulate them. They discuss ways to secure the protocol and how companies like Infoblox are extending the capabilities for future security.Infoblox RepresentativeCricket Liu, EVP Engineering, Chief DNS Architect. and Senior FellowHost: Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field Day.Panelist:Jack Poller, Principal Analyst at Paradigm TechnicaFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Learn more about Tech Field Day Experience at KubeCon here.In a world of well-managed Kubernetes, we hoped that infrastructure finally wouldn’t matter. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features John Willis and Guy Currier wishing that infrastructure didn’t matter, with Alastair Cooke. Every new infrastructure revolution claims to make infrastructure invisible, from virtualization through HCI and cloud to containers and Kubernetes. The reality has always been that these revolutions shift the definition of infrastructure and bring some new aspect to be managed. Developers building features and applications want to focus on satisfying some business need, not considering storage devices and network configurations. Virtualization and Kubernetes both made delivering infrastructure easier, but neither eliminated infrastructure architecture and management. The dream of self-deploying and self-organizing infrastructure is as distant as it ever was. Agentic AI is the latest new hope to eliminate infrastructure challenges, yet it brings its own complex infrastructure requirements. Will we ever stop caring about IT infrastructure?Host: Alastair Cooke, Event Lead for Tech Field DayGuests:Guy Currier, Research Director for The Futurum GroupJohn Willis, Owner of Botchagalupe TechnologiesFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and <a href="https://
Learn more about Networking Field Day 39 here.The industry has embraced AI for every possible problem. Operations will eventually embrace it as well but questions remain about how it will be implemented. In this episode, Tom Hollingsworth sits down with Pete Welcher, Rita Younger, and Jonathan Davis to discuss the issues that remain with implementing AI into an operations workflow. They discuss licensing and procurement, the need for institutional knowledge, and how this will all work in a multivendor world. They wrap up with some guidance about how to approach your next big AIOps project.Host: Tom Hollingsworth, Event Lead for Tech Field Day.Panelists:Rita Younger, Practice Lead for Data Center Networking, WWTPete Welcher, Networking ExpertJonathan Davis, Senior Wireless and Network Engineer, East DataCommFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Learn more about AI Field Day 7 on our website.Despite widespread skepticism, AI is already widely used in the enterprise, often in the form of so-called shadow applications outside traditional IT. This episode of the Tech Field Day Podcast, recorded on the eve of AI Field Day, features delegates Ryan Booth and Dave Graham discussing the real state of AI adoption in the enterprise with host Stephen Foskett. Just like the advent of the PC, generative AI is widely used across businesses, typically on a bring-your-own basis rather than as a coordinated effort by the IT department. The same process happened in the Software-as-a-Service world, where each department and even individual adopted multiple tools that met their needs. There will soon be a reckoning, where businesses try to get their hands around all of the AI applications being used across the enterprise. The next step is to develop a plan to control sprawl of tools, models, data, and subscriptions to ensure that this shadow AI doesn't become a risk to the company. Then companies need to be prepared as AI agents become critical to their operations, likely also deployed by individuals without corporate control.Host: Stephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field Day. Panelists: Dave Graham, Head of Marketing at MLCommonsRyan BoothFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/
Learn more about Cloud Field Day 24 here. Private cloud is not just virtualization 4.0, self-service VM deployment doesn’t fulfil the same need as the Public Cloud. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Mike Graff, Jon Hildebrand, and Alastair Cooke. Private cloud has evolved from simple virtualization to a more comprehensive, cloud-like experience, emphasizing the need for on-premises infrastructure to offer the same developer-friendly tools and APIs as public clouds. Some application repatriation is driven by cost concerns and enabled by rise of technologies like Kubernetes and OpenShift for managing containerized workloads. A unified control plane for hybrid cloud environments is vital, as is accurate cost accounting for on-premises resources. Enterprises will search for a hybrid approach where developers can deploy applications without needing to worry about the underlying infrastructure.Host: Alastair Cooke, Event Lead for Tech Field DayPanelists: Mike Graff, Infrastructure Architecture Director at DolbyJon Hildebrand, Independent Contractor, CloudFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Projects to deliver applications to edge locations will fail without comprehensive fleet lifecycle management. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Sachin Vasudeva from Zededa discussing the importance of long-term edge management with Guy Currier and Alastair Cooke. There are unique challenges of managing edge deployments compared to cloud or on-premises environments. Focusing on business logic and application outputs while leveraging infrastructure providers to handle the complexities of packaging, deploying, and monitoring AI models enables diverse edge environments. Edge locations might have different hardware deployed, intermittent connectivity, requiring a balance between standardization and flexibility in managing edge devices and applications. Teams with rapid responsiveness and adaptation will better enable their business to respond to changing conditions, especially with the rapid pace of AI innovation.Guest: Sachin Vasudeva, VP of Product at ZEDEDAHosts: Alastair Cooke, Tech Field Day Event LeadGuy Currier, Research Director at The Futurum GroupFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
More Information on Commvault ShiftEvery company lives in fear of a ransomware attack, whether they have suffered one or not, and this is even more critical in the era of AI. This episode of the Tech Field Day Podcast looks forward to Commvault SHIFT in November with a discussion of the importance of data protection to AI applications with Tim Zonca from Commvault, frequent delegate Gina Rosenthal, and host Stephen Foskett. AI applications are reliant on good data, and yet this same technology makes it easier for attackers to breach corporate controls. Today’s social engineering and phishing is more convincing than ever thanks to generative AI, and this has helped ransomware crews to adopt larger and more powerful attacks. Ransomware is a massive business, and it isn’t going away any time soon. At the same time, GenAI applications offer a new attack surface, as agentic AI is empowered to take action based on untrusted inputs. Not only can we not stop ransomware, but the pace and technical capabilities of these attacks keeps accelerating. There is reason for optimism, however, as data protection tools keep getting better. Today’s AI-optimized tools can effectively categorize data, burst or migrate to different locations, and roll back or recover from corruption or compromise. In the future, we will see increasing use of AI to monitor systems and data, detecting patterns and hardening the attack surface.Guest: Tim Zonca, VP of Portfolio Marketing at CommvaultHost:Stephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayGina Rosenthal, Principal Product Marketing Manager, Digital Sunshine SolutionsFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage <a href="https://x.com/techfieldday/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target
More information on NetApp InsightRunning enterprise applications in production is a lot different from the AI experiments many of us have been involved with so far. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast, recorded prior to NetApp Insight 2025, features Ingo Fuchs from NetApp along with Gina Rosenthal, Glenn Dekhayser, and Stephen Foskett. AI applications often start as experiments with a limited data set, but once these are moved to production there are many critical decisions to be made. Data must be classified and cleaned, removing personal and financial data and proprietary information before it even reaches an LLM. Data also must be structured for embedding and vectorization prior to use by an LLM. And we have to ensure that data is up to date or the application will not serve the customer properly. Finally we have to consider whether it is proper and ethical to share and act on this data. Many of the challenges facing modern AI applications are similar to the historic issues faced by enterprise storage, and this is an area in which NetApp and their customers have decades of experience.NetApp Representative: Ingo Fuchs, Chief Technologist of AI at NetAppHost:Stephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayGina Rosenthal, Principal Product Marketing Manager, Digital Sunshine SolutionsGlenn Dekhayser, Global Principal Technologist at Equinix Follow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter</
Learn more about Security Field Day here.Passwords create friction and therefore users find ways around them. New technology such as secure enclaves and PKI allow us to create better solutions like passkeys. In this episode of the Tech Field Day Podcast. Alan Shimel and Kate Scarcella join Tom Hollingsworth to discuss the problems with traditional passwords and how passkeys overcome them. They also talk about why it has taken so long to adopt passkeys and what barriers remain to full implementation. The wrap up with a look at what might lay ahead on the horizon for the future of user security.HostTom Hollingsworth, Event Lead at Tech Field DayPanelistsAlan Shimel, CEO of Techstrong GroupKate Scarcella, Cybersecurity Architect and Security ExpertFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
AI will need less HBM (high bandwidth memory) because flash memory unification is changing training and inference. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Sebastien Jean from Phison, Max Mortillaro, Brian Martin, and Alastair Cooke. Training, fine-tuning, and inference with Large Language Models traditionally use GPUs with high bandwidth memory to hold entire data models and data sets. Phison’s aiDaptiv+ framework offers the ability to trade lower cost of infrastructure against training speed or allow larger data sets (context) for inference. This approach enables users to balance cost, compute, and memory needs, making larger models accessible without requiring top-of-the-line GPUs, and giving smaller companies more access to generative AI.Learn more about Phison's solutions here.Phsion Representative: Sebastien Jean, CTO of Phison ElectronicsHostAlastair Cooke, Tech Field Day Event LeadPanelistsBrian Martin, VP of AI and Datacenter Performance at Signal65Max Mortillaro, Chief Research Officer at Osmium GroupFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or <a href="https://techfieldday.com/" rel="ugc noopener norefe
Learn more about AI Infrastructure Field Day 3 here.Hardware always matters, especially in AI and now software is automating your AI data centre infrastructure. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Gina Rosenthal, Barton George, Andy Banta, and Alastair Cooke. Generative AI brought new hardware into enterprise data centres; GPUs, TPUs, NPUs, XPUs all offload AI processing from CPUs for more performance and efficiency. Feeding these accelerators requires fast networks and fast storage, common topics for AI Infrastructure Field Day events. In parallel, sophisticated software to automate the deployment and operation of this new hardware is vital to return value fast and optimize the value from the hardware investment. Automation platforms are moving up towards delivering multiple AI applications on shared XPU infrastructure, where AI inference delivers the business value.HostAlastair Cooke, Tech Field Day Event LeadPanelistsGina Rosenthal, Digital Sunshine SolutionsAndy Banta, MagnitionlOBarton George, Al Infrastructure and Cloud SpecialistFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
You aren’t in the business of twiddling the dials, even though the dials may still be important. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Guy Currier, Jay Cuthrell, and Alastair Cooke. Knowledge of all the dials and controls has historically been a defining characteristic of infrastructure experts. The introduction of infrastructure as a service, then as code, and policy as code have shifted focus to more abstracted controls. Do these abstractions reduce the value of knowing every feature and setting, or eliminate the value of technology specialists? Generative AI and business-as-code may spell the end of the dial twiddlers. Optimizing every setting at every level in an infrastructure and application is probably not valuable to business, but there are still places where maximum business value comes from detailed knowledge of those dials.HostAlastair Cooke, Tech Field Day Event LeadPanelists:Guy Currier, Chief Analyst, Visible Impact, Part of the Futurum GroupJay Cuthrell, Chief Product Officer, NexusTekFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Agentic AI is reshaping the IT landscape and networking is no exception. Building upon the previous research into machine learning means we have a head start on harnessing that power. In this episode of the Tech Field Day podcast, brought to you by HPE Juniper Networking, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Keith Parsons and Sunalini Sankhavaram. They talk about how agentic AI is driving new methods for operating networks and helping humans concentrate on real problems instead of menial tasks. They also discuss how agentic AI can power self-driving networks where configuration and provisioning are done automatically or with a minimum of effort to ensure resiliency and enhance user expectations.HPE Juniper Networking Panelist: Sunalini Sankhavaram, VP Product Management, AIOps for Enterprise Networking HPE Juniper NetworkingPanelists: Keith Parsons, Managing Director, Wireless LAN, Professionals ConferenceFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Converged networking is creating complexity with network operations and engineering teams. Ensuring that users are able to access resources and complete workflows means being up-to-date with the latest technology behind the scenes. You need a trusted partner to make it all happen with minimal issues.In this episode of the Tech Field Day Podcast, brought to you by HPE Aruba Networking, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Chris Grundemann, Jeff Olson, and Adam Fuoss as they discuss the growing challenges with networking and how HPE Aruba Networking is addressing them. They talk about SASE and SSE and how tools such as Cloud-Native NAC and SASE AI Copilot work together to address the needs of the modern network. These features, debuted at Black Hat 2025, help teams by making sense of the network and keeping it secure from intruders.They discuss how AI is going to accelerate operations teams while providing context and understanding for challenges. They also talk about how cloud native principles an apply to both online and on-prem configurations. The panel wraps up with a discussion of the importance of a sole-source provider for these solutions and how HPE Aruba Networking is addressing the integration of recent acquisitions.Learn more here.HPE SASE Landing PageHPE Black Hat 2025 Press ReleaseHPE Juniper Networks Panelists:Jeff Olson, Director, SD-WAN Product and Technical MarketingAdam Fuoss, Vice President, Product Management, SD-WANPanelists:Chris Grundemann, Network Infrastructure AdvisorFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, <a href="http
If you haven’t already, start working with Generative AI now and make sure to control your ongoing costs. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Russ Fellows, Mitch Lewis, and Brian Martin, all from Signal65, and is hosted by Alastair Cooke. Generative AI is delivering value to businesses of all sizes, but significant evolution in models and technologies remains before maturity is achieved. Experimentation is essential to understand the value of new technologies, starting with cloud resources or small-scale on-premises servers. Business value is derived from the inference stage, where AI tools generate actionable information for users. Generative AI is like a knowledgeable and well-intentioned intern; someone more senior must ensure AI is given good instructions and check their work. In production, grounding and guard rails are vital to keep your AI an asset, not a liability.HostAlastair Cooke, Tech Field Day Event LeadSignal65 Representatives: Russ Fellows, VP of Signal65Brian Martin, AI and Datacenter Lead at Signal65Mitch Lewis, Research Analyst at Signal65Follow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Enterprise networking is too large and complex, we need AI Operations. This spotlight episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Bob Friday and Ben Baker, both from Juniper Networks, with Jack Poller and Alastair Cooke. Modern enterprise networks reach far beyond the well-controlled walls of data centres and corporate buildings. The rate of change enabled by public cloud platforms makes an enterprise network highly dynamic. Access to cloud and on-premises applications over the Internet means your users are dependent on many network elements outside of your control. Bob founded Mist Networks to help businesses manage the complexity of user-to-cloud networking. Juniper Networks acquired Mist, and now HPE has acquired Juniper. I don’t think he is alone in seeing the necessity of using AI to manage complex and critical networks. Yet new tools always bring new challenges; the cost of AI infrastructure may be a concern, and Generative AI has challenges with hallucinations. The security and governance practices around AI tools are still developing, and the non-deterministic nature of AI needs careful consideration.HostAlastair Cooke, Tech Field Day Event LeadJuniper Representatives: Bob Friday, Chief AI Officer at HPE Juniper NetworksBen Baker, Data Center Marketing at HPE Juniper NetworksDelegatesJack Poller, Principal Analyst, Paradigm TechnicaFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Network engineers are the firefighters and knowledge bases of enterprise IT, however the role of a network engineer is rapidly evolving. With the rise of automation, orchestration, and AI, the familiar image of an engineer hunched over a command-line interface (CLI) is giving way, leading many to question the future of their profession. In this episode, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Ryan Harris, Chris Grundemann, and Nathan Nielsen as they discuss how the perception of their role has shifted, the continuous need for learning and adaptation, and whether the CLI is truly dead.The conversation explores the challenges and opportunities presented by these technological advancements, highlighting how network engineers are embracing new tools like chatbots and GUIs for enhanced visualization. While some aspects of the job, like manual CLI work, may be diminishing, the core principles of understanding network functionality remain core to the role of the network engineer. The panel talks about identity crisis in a field where continuous learning is essential, contrasting it with professions like doctors and lawyers who deal with slower-changing fundamentals. They discuss the value of specialization versus being a generalist, the concept of the “pitchfork engineer,” and ultimately, how redefining their identity as lifelong learners can help network engineers thrive in this ever-changing landscape.Learn more about Networking Field Day 38 here.Host: Tom Hollingsworth, Tech Field Day Event LeadPanelists: Ryan Harris, Senior Network EngineerChris Grundemann, Network Infrastructure ConsultantNathan Nielson, Principal Solutions ArchitectFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage <a href="https://x.com/techfieldday/" target="_blank
As Tech Field Day heads to SHARE in Cleveland, we are considering the many ways the mainframe has been re-imagined and re-built for the AI era. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Cynthia Overby of Rocket Software and SHARE, Derek Britton, and Jeffrey Powers discussing the modern mainframe with Stephen Foskett. Walk around the SHARE conference and you’ll see the same concepts and technologies that you would find at any other conference: AI, security, data management, software development, and connectivity. Although the mainframe platform is radically different from the so-called open systems used in the cloud and elsewhere, IBM has re-engineered the new z17 mainframe for the AI age. The mainframe hosts the most valuable data in the world, and if AI is going to be used it has to run locally. That’s why IBM added a second-generation AI accelerator to the latest Telum II processor, the Spyre Accelerator, and z/OS itself. We’re excited to be bringing Tech Field Day to SHARE to learn more about the modern mainframe and share the state of the art with our audience. Host: Stephen Foskett, Organizer and President of Tech Field DayPanel:Cynthia Overby, Director Strategic Security Solutions at Rocket SoftwareDerek Britton, Chief Marketing Officer, PopUp MainframeJeffrey Powers, Founder of Geekazine.comFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/techfielddaypod.bsky.s
The proposed remedies for the HPE acquisition of Juniper Networks did a real disservice to Juniper Mist. The confusion around what’s going on with the proposed Juniper AIOps for Mist auction have professionals asking a lot of questions. In this episode, recorded on the eve of the close of the acquisition, Tom Hollingsworth sits down with Sam Clements, Jake Snyder, and Ed Weadon to make sense of it all. There are discussions about what exactly is included in the auction and what benefit will come from the license to use Juniper AIOps for Mist. Also discussed is who might be a good bidder for the solution and how long it will take for them to get any real value from it.Host: Tom HollingsworthPanelists:Sam ClementsEd WeadonJake SnyderFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Enterprise networks are complicated but outsourcing all of the operations team doesn’t lead to better outcomes. It’s important to remember that enterprise covers a wide range of network definitions. In this episode, Ed Weadon, Chris Grundemann, and Jody Lemoine join Tom Hollingsworth as they discuss how businesses see the network and IT in general as a cost center instead of value generation. They also talk about the various sizes of networks and why each of them has issues with the most popular outsourcing methods. They also discuss the human factor and why not all managed providers can give you the same level of service.Learn more about Networking Field Day 38 here.Host: Tom Hollingsworth, Tech Field Day Event LeadPanelists: Ed Weadon, Networking EngineerChris Grundemann, ConsultantJody Lemoine, Wireless Networking EngineerFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Passwords have served their use in the enterprise. We need to start moving away from simple passwords as an authentication mechanism. In this episode of the Tech Field Day podcast, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Tony Efantis, Karen Lopez, and Fernando Montenegro as they discuss the premise that we are long past passwords, exploring the complexities and frustrations of relying on them for myriad online accounts. The conversation highlights the concept of economic externalities, where developers easily implement simple passwords, but the burden of managing hundreds of unique credentials falls on the individual user. While passwords were initially designed for basic authentication, there has been a shift towards alternative mechanisms like one-time codes sent to email or passkeys because of user laziness and the security risks associated with password reuse and compromised credentials. Ultimately, what is needed a balanced, risk-based authentication approach is necessary, tailoring security levels to the sensitivity of the data being protected, and leveraging technologies like biometrics and background risk assessments to create a more convenient and secure user experience, even as attackers continue to evolve their methods.Panelists: Fernando Montenegro, VP and Practice Leader, Cybersecurity Research at The Futurum GroupKaren Lopez, Data Security ExpertTony Efantis, Network Security ExpertFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Watch the Presentations from Mobility Field Day here.One of the most anticipated features of Wi-Fi 7 isn’t ready for the public. Worse yet, it may never deliver on the promise of fast, reliable wireless connectivity. In this episode, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Allyn Crowe, Peter Mackenzie, and Chris Reed as they discuss the way that multi-link operation (MLO) has been included in the specification for Wi-Fi 7 yet not quite implemented. They highlight the technical difficulties of deploying such a complicated protocol and how vendors are trying to squeeze every drop of performance out of their hardware. They wrap up with advice on whether or not to plan your next deployment around a technology that isn’t quite ready yet.Host:Tom HollingsworthTech Field Day: https://techfieldday.com/people/tom-hollingsworth/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/networkingnerd Panelists: Allyn Crowe, Principal Engineer at NexumTech Field Day: https://techfieldday.com/people/allyn-crowe/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allyn-crowe/ Peter Mackenzie, Cofounder of Wi-CoTech Field Day: https://techfieldday.com/people/peter-mackenzie/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mackenziewifi/Chris Reed, Principal Consultant at VerizonTech Field Day: https://techfieldday.com/people/chris-reed/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thecmreed/Follow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Learn More from the AI Infrastructure Field Day PresentationsAI demands specialized data center designs due to its unique hardware utilization and networking needs, which require a new type of infrastructure. This Tech Field Day Podcast episode features Denise Donohue, Karen Lopez, Lino Telera, and Alastair Cooke. Network design has been a consistent part of the AI infrastructure discussions at Tech Field Day events. The need for a dedicated network to interconnect GPUs differentiates AI training and fine-tuning networks from general-purpose computing. The vast power demand for high-density GPU servers highlights a further need for different data centers with liquid cooling and massive power distribution. Model training is only one part of the AI pipeline; business value is delivered by AI inference with a different set of needs and a closer eye on financial management. Inference will likely require servers with GPUs and high-speed local storage, but not the same networking density as training and fine-tuning. Inference will also need servers adjacent to existing general-purpose infrastructure running existing business applications. Some businesses may be able to fit their AI applications into their existing data centers, but many will need to build or rent new infrastructure.HostAlastair Cooke, Tech Field Day Event LeadPanelists: Karen LopezLino TeleraDenise Donohue Follow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/tech-field-day" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopen
Learn more about Tech Field Day at Cisco Live!Modern networking is being disrupted in the data center but user-facing networking has largely stagnated. Users are getting slightly faster connections but everything feels mostly the same. In this episode, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Sam Clements and Ed Weadon as they discuss innovation in the edge of the network. They talk about how companies like Cisco have been trying to bring users into the modern era. They talk about the centralization of management in the cloud and how competition has driven those moves. They also look ahead to Cisco Live and discuss the releases they would most like to see at the event.Host: Tom HollingsworthPanelists:Sam ClementsEd WeadonFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Learn More about Cloud Field Day 23Keeping every application and every scrap of data on the public cloud becomes very expensive; we need to improve our cloud economics. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Vriti Magee, Mitch Lewis, and Alastair Cooke. The belief that data is the new oil has led many companies to retain every piece of data they generate, often in object storage on public cloud platforms. The continuous growth of this data leads to a growing bill from the cloud provider, often with no clear plan in place for recouping the value of the money spent. Generative AI requires training data, which is another reason to retain everything; again, there needs to be value returned to the business. New designs for cloud applications must include data management and managed retention as key criteria. Sustainable, honest designs that enable business change are vital for delivering value back to the business.HostAlastair Cooke, Tech Field Day Event LeadPanelists: Mitch LewisVriti MageeFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Event Page: https://techfieldday.com/event/xfd13/Compliance reinforces the state of security in your organization. However, compliance in and of itself is not security. In this episode of the Tech Field Day Podcast, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Jack Poller and Milou Meier as they discuss the nuance between securing your organization and ensuring compliance. They discuss the challenges with audits and the “checkbox” mentality that has become common. They also discuss how organizations face different challenges globally and how you can help ensure that you aren’t being exposed to problems in the future.Host: Tom Hollingsworth, Tech Field Day Event LeadTech Field Day: https://techfieldday.com/people/tom-hollingsworth/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/networkingnerd/ PanelMilou MeierTech Field Day: https://techfieldday.com/people/milou-meier/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/milou-lammers-meier-9815824b/Jack PollerTech Field Day: https://techfieldday.com/people/jack-poller/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackpoller/ Follow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Learn More about Catchpoint at Cloud Field DayYour Internet Application is full of unknowns, which will affect its performance and availability for your customers. This episode of the Tech Field Day Podcast features Catchpoint CEO and co-founder Mehdi Daoudi, Eric Wright, Jon Myer, and Alastair Cooke. Internet applications are seldom self-contained, relying on other web services for specialized functions and needing responses from the services before a final response to a user. Functions such as DDoS protection, tracking, embedded advertising, and other valuable services enable faster application feature development, but at what cost? Any delayed response from these services can slow down your application for your users, leading to dissatisfaction, even when your servers perform beautifully. Remember that the services you choose to use may, in turn, use other external services. Catchpoint champions user-centric monitoring and Internet Performance Monitoring (IPM) to complement existing APM tools. Visibility of issues outside your data center is vital to identifying issues before they become helpdesk tickets or application outages. If this Tech Field Day Podcast episode piques your interest, watch the Catchpoint appearance at Cloud Field Day on YouTube.Catchpoint Representative: Mehdi Dauodi, Cofounder and CEO, CatchpointHost: Alastair Cooke, Tech Field Day Event LeadPanelists: Eric Wright, Chief Content Officer, GTM DeltaJon Myer, Chief Content Creator, Myer MediaFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Blu
Learn More about Infoblox at Cloud Field DayManaging hybrid-cloud networks is complex due to differing architectures and naming between on-premises and the multiple public cloud platforms. This Tech Field Day Podcast episode features Glenn Sullivan, Senior Director of Product Management at Infoblox, Eric Wright, and Alastair Cooke. Each public cloud has a unique management console and network management paradigm; none provides deep integration with each other or with on-premises networking. It is left to individual customers to assemble a jigsaw of pieces into a coherent whole. Customers may not plan to use multiple public clouds, but through different project requirements or mergers and acquisitions, most large organizations find themselves in a hybrid multi-cloud environment. Combining fast-changing public cloud applications with on-premises applications further complicates network management, requiring an automation-based approach. Infoblox UDDI (Universal DNS, DHCP, and IPAM) provides a consistent, automatable interface to manage and operate basic network infrastructure across all enterprise locations. UDDI includes bi-directional operation where changes using cloud-native consoles are visible in UDDI and vice versa.Guest: Glenn Sullivan, Senior Director of Product Management at InfobloxHost: Alastair Cooke, Tech Field Day Event LeadPanelists: Eric Wright, Chief Content Officer, GTM DeltaFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or <a href="https://techfieldday.com/" rel="ugc noopen
Learn More about Mobility Field Day 13Modern Wi-Fi connections rely on more than just raw throughput to measure performance. The complexity of wireless as a medium makes the user experience more varied and creates difficulties in troubleshooting. In this episode, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Keith Parsons, Rocky Gregory, and Ron Westfall as they discuss the state of Wi-Fi and how performance works. They talk about the challenges with properly designed wireless networks and how data sheets make assumptions about the environment. They also discuss user expectations for performance and how workflows involve many moving parts that can impact overall user experiences.Host: Tom Hollingsworth, Tech Field Day Event LeadPanelists: Ron Westfall, Research Director at The Futurum GroupRocky Gregory, Principal Architect at EVOTEKKeith Parsons, Managing Director at Wireless LAN Professionals ConferenceFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Register for Qlik Connect: https://www.qlikconnect.com/AI ought to be able to help businesses derive value from their data, but not all AI applications have a solid foundation. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast looks forward to Qlik Connect 2025, featuring delegates Gina Rosenthal and Jim Czuprynski discussing the importance of data with Nick Magnuson of Qlik and host Stephen Foskett. Last year Qlik introduced Answers, a RAG AI product that delivers intelligence from unstructured data. This year we expect to see much more integration with structured data, analytics, business intelligence, and agentic AI, as Qlik's customers seek to deliver innovative solutions. Mature organizations are focused on building a solid governance foundation for their data, ensuring responsible and ethical use in AI applications. The advent of agentic AI raises more concerns, as autonomous agents are empowered to take action without human involvement. Responsible use must include strict limits and human supervision to make sure AI agents remain controlled. We're looking forward to customer stories, technical takeaways, and maybe some new product introductions at Qlik Connect this year!Qlik Representative: Nick Magnuson, Head of AI at QlikHost: Stephen Foskett, President and Organizer of Tech Field DayPanelists: Gina Rosenthal, Founder of Digital Sunshine SolutionsJim Czuprynski, Chief Storyteller at Zero Defect ComputingFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and on LinkedIn, or visit our website.
Learn more about AI Infrastructure Field Day 2Mature technologies deliver business value by integration into boring production applications, so AI needs to be boring. This Tech Field Day Podcast episode features Max Mortillaro, Guy Currier, Jay Cuthrell, and Alastair Cooke. AI has frequently been in the public news, many organizations are busy building AI infrastructure and pipelines, and vendors have tagged their applications with AI to ride the hype. Yet, business value is usually delivered in applications that serve customers rather than generating headlines. The first steps towards AI being a functional but boring part of production applications have emerged, with interoperability mechanisms like MCP and A2A are vital steps towards pervasive AI. Options for Small Language Models (SLM) are opening up more cost-effective use of generative AI, while predictive AI continues to be the standard boring production AI. Data and output safety are other areas for development; avoiding GenAI hallucinations, model poisoning, and data leakage is vital for AI to become boring. Eventually, Generative AI will be as invisible and valuable in mainstream business applications, leading to a return on all the current investments. Host: Alastair Cooke, Tech Field Day Event LeadPanelists: Guy Currier, Chief Analyst at Visible ImpactJay Cuthrell, Chief Product Officer at NexustekMax Mortillaro, Head of Research at Osmium Data GroupFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, on Bluesky, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/tech-field-day" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank
Learn more about Networking Field Day 37The definition of traditional security technologies must evolve to meet new use cases. Networks that use virtual constructs to segregate traffic are just as air gapped as physical separation. In this episode, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Carole Warner Reece, John Osmon, and Jason Gintert discuss why the standard for hyper secure systems has always been physical separation. They look at how the terminology is being changed to support new use cases with virtual separation and whether or not those new networks can meet the high standards of the older versions. They also discuss the need for precision in terminology and how to avoid falling back on marketing terms that can create confusion with unsuspecting consumers.Host:Tom Hollingsworth, Practice Leader at The Futurum Group and Tech Field Day Event LeadPanelists: Carole Warner Reece, Network Architect and ExpertJason Gintert, Cofounder and Board Chairman, US Networking User AssociationJohn Osmon, Network and Broadband Access ExpertFollow the Tech Field Day Podcast on X/Twitter or on Bluesky and use the Hashtag #TFDPodcast to join the discussion. Listen to more episodes on the podcast page of the website.Follow Tech Field Day for more information on upcoming and current event coverage on X/Twitter, <a href="https://bsky.
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