The conversation this week is with Ayisha Tabbassum (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayisha-t-1a10b98a/) . Ayisha is a visionary technology leader with more than 10 years of experience in driving business infused technology initiatives and digital transformation in large enterprises. She's the founder and CEO of One Stop for Cloud, senior vice president at the New World Foundation and holds a master's in computer science from Indiana University Bloomington with multiple cloud certifications. Always someone to give back. She has been involved with the applied AI community for years. She has spoken at our applied AI conference. She's led sessions at our workshop Wednesday and is both passionate about learning new technologies and staying up to date with the latest trends in cloud computing and DevOps in AI.  If you are interested in learning about how AI is being applied across multiple industries, be sure to join us at a future AppliedAI Monthly meetup (https://appliedai.mn/) and help support us so we can make future Emerging Technologies North (https://emtechnorth.org/) non-profit events! • Emerging Technologies North (https://emtechnorth.org/) • AppliedAI Meetup (https://appliedai.mn/) Resources and Topics Mentioned in this Episode • One Stop For Cloud (https://onestopforcloud.com/) • The New World Foundation (https://thenewworld.foundation/) • Vertex AI Studio (https://cloud.google.com/generative-ai-studio) • CAMP IT Conferences (https://campconferences.com/) • Topmate.io (http://topmate.io) • Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/741805/co-intelligence-by-ethan-mollick/) Enjoy! Your host, Justin Grammens (https://www.linkedin.com/in/justingrammens/)

Join us for an insightful and forward-thinking event hosted by Applied AI, where we’ll explore how cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) can revolutionize refuse management and recycling in America. This session will focus on the development of smart, connected, and autonomous garbage trucks that not only improve operational efficiency but also contribute to a more sustainable future. Through engaging discussions, we’ll dive into real-world applications of AI and IoT that enhance route optimization, enable real-time monitoring, and support advanced sorting mechanisms to separate recyclables effectively. By leveraging these technologies, refuse management companies can reduce emissions, lower costs, and increase recycling rates, tackling one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Participants will gain insights into: AI in Refuse Management: How machine learning models can predict waste patterns and optimize operations. IoT-Driven Connectivity: Using sensors and smart devices to monitor bin levels, vehicle conditions, and recycling contamination in real time. Autonomous Trucks: The future of self-driving vehicles in waste collection and their potential to streamline workflows. Sustainability Impact: Practical steps to promote recycling and reduce landfill waste with technology. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast, a sustainability advocate, or a professional in refuse management, this event promises to spark innovative ideas and foster collaboration on reshaping America’s recycling systems. Meet Our Featured Speaker Brian Thomas has worked as Director of Engineering, leading global cross-functional engineering teams in multiple industries, including medical devices, autonomous electric vehicles, credit card machines, and military systems. He founded two start-up companies: "Clear Rock Technologies," a smart, connected pillbox, and "Internet Luxuries - Your Online Store for Fine Home Decor" - e-commerce for luxury home decor. Brian has degrees in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and an MBA. He is certified in Project Management, Cyber Security, and Lean Six Sigma. He holds multiple US Patents. Sponsors This event is sponsored by Lab651 & Recursive Awesome Organizers This event is part of the community interest groups series at Applied AI, where community members power sessions for niche interest areas through the Applied AI platform.

The conversation this week is with Caroline Holden (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolineswiftholden/) . Caroline is a dynamic creative technologist with more than seven years of experience across startups, venture capital, and media in Minneapolis and New York City. She's known for delivering impressive growth, including 10,000% year-over-year sales increase at Mercado, boosting YouTube engagement by 336 % at DataVolo, and amassing 43,000 views on her AI-focused YouTube channel. Caroline's achievements span managing major events like Twin Cities Startup Week, producing award-winning scripts, and driving innovation in strategy operations and marketing. She's collaborated with top brands like MasterCard and Verizon, and has a proven ability to find creative solutions to complex problems. Most recently, she was the growth and marketing manager at DataVolo, which was recently acquired by Snowflake in November.  If you are interested in learning about how AI is being applied across multiple industries, be sure to join us at a future AppliedAI Monthly meetup (https://appliedai.mn/) and help support us so we can make future Emerging Technologies North (https://emtechnorth.org/) non-profit events! • Emerging Technologies North (https://emtechnorth.org/) • AppliedAI Meetup (https://appliedai.mn/) Resources and Topics Mentioned in this Episode • carolineswiftholden.com (http://carolineswiftholden.com) • Mercado (https://www.mercato.com/) • Datavolo (https://datavolo.io/) • Minneapolis College of Art and Design (https://www.mcad.edu/) • HomSurfin (https://www.homsurfin.com/) • Snowflake (https://www.snowflake.com/en/) • Bubble (https://bubble.io/) • We Are the Nerds by Christine Lagorio-Chafkin (http://www.christinelagorio.com/we-are-the-nerds) • Range by David Epstein (https://www.amazon.com/Range-Generalists-Triumph-Specialized-World/dp/0735214484) • Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans (https://designingyour.life/books-designing-life-original-book/) Enjoy! Your host, Justin Grammens (https://www.linkedin.com/in/justingrammens/)

The conversation this week is with Jean Machart (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanmachart/) . Jean is a transformation executive leading companies by applying digital and artificial intelligence to create future-forward products, services, and experiences. She enables growth at scale with industry-leading companies, Fortune 5 Healthcare, Fortune 200 Financial Services, and more, and is prepared to lead the next transformation. She's an artificial intelligence entrepreneur in residence at Digital DX Ventures,a  board member at Asbury Communities for Senior Living and HTEC, and recently was a chief operating officer at Children's Cancer Research Fund. Jean holds an MBA in information technology from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and completed the “Competing in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” from Harvard Business School's Executive Education Program.  If you are interested in learning about how AI is being applied across multiple industries, be sure to join us at a future AppliedAI Monthly meetup (https://appliedai.mn/) and help support us so we can make future Emerging Technologies North (https://emtechnorth.org/) non-profit events! • Emerging Technologies North (https://emtechnorth.org/) • AppliedAI Meetup (https://appliedai.mn/) Resources and Topics Mentioned in this Episode • DigitalDx Ventures (https://www.digitaldxventures.com/) • Asbury Communities for Senior Living (https://www.asbury.org/) • Children's Cancer Research Fund. (https://childrenscancer.org/) • HTEC (https://htec.com/) • Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/741805/co-intelligence-by-ethan-mollick/) • Competing in the Age of AI by Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani (https://www.amazon.com/Competing-Age-AI-Leadership-Algorithms-ebook/dp/B07MWCTNSD) Enjoy! Your host, Justin Grammens (https://www.linkedin.com/in/justingrammens/)

Everyone's an expert these days with AI. Youtube channels are abundant claiming "Major AI MODEL BREAKTHROUGHS!" and "Mega-Advanced AI Model Training By People Way Smarter Than You." It's easy to all of sudden feel like you're behind when we haven't really even started yet. So, yeah, what's the deal with that? The deal is that we've all gotten pretty darn good using these tools for a variety of research and writing/editing tasks, and they've proven their worth. So what's next? I'll take you down a little journey about relatively simple things you can do just on the other side of the street from what you're currently doing. But on this "Level 200" of AI advancement, I believe there are some major personal breakthroughs as you begin to see and create value well beyond personal utility to solving team problems or a customer problem or, gasp, starting a new company because you had AI write software for you simply because you could and you did. Let's explore AND SHARE what we're doing beyond the norm by creating new value as a result of simply being smarter all of a sudden. Meet Our Featured Speaker It was 1995. Ciceron was born over drinks and dinner at an Italian bistro in San Francisco as one of the first digital agencies in the US. At that time, few believed in the Internet really. There was no Google. No YouTube. No WiFi. No streaming audio, video or on-demand programming. People hated it when web pages had images on them because they would have to wait for them to load. It seemed rickety and pointless. Fast forward to 2025. The Internet turned out to be super real, and now we're on the next step change in technology with AI, blockchain, clean energy, and fintech all converging upon one another. And Ciceron continues to slash at the vines of the future, extracting value from chaos for its clients, 30 years later. Andrew is a sought-after speaker on a host of topics related to digital transformation, from the advancement of AI and business intelligence to data-driven marketing performance. Enjoy! Justin, Emily, Allison Applied AI

Join us for an engaging afternoon as we explore the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and discovery. In this session, we'll cover how AI technologies can enhance and revolutionize the discovery process, highlighting practical applications and real-world implementations. Our featured speaker, Gary Koelling, will share insights on leveraging AI to improve discovery processes, followed by interactive group discussions where participants will workshop their own product discovery situations. To make the most of this collaborative session, we encourage all attendees to come prepared with a specific product discovery challenge or situation from their work that they'd like to explore with the group. Participants will have the opportunity to: Learn about innovative AI applications in discovery processes Workshop their own product discovery situations with peers Understand practical implementation strategies Share experiences, challenges, and wins in implementing AI solutions Whether you’re an active AI practitioner or product professional starting your AI journey, this event promises to provide valuable insights and networking opportunities. Remember to bring a product discovery situation/challenge/win from your work to make the most of our collaborative discussion session! Meet Our Featured Speaker Gary Koelling, currently Director of Product at Bison Transport, leads high-performing teams focused on developing products that create compelling customer and carrier experiences. Previously at Best Buy as Director of Digital Experience and Content Platforms, he led the discovery, testing, and implementation of digital and cross-channel content platforms. His background spans both the transportation and retail sectors, giving him unique insights into using AI to enhance product discovery and customer experience. Sponsors This event is sponsored by Lab651 & Recursive Awesome Organizers This event is part of the community interest groups series at Applied AI, where community members power sessions for niche interest areas through the Applied AI platform. This event is organized and hosted by Cameron Gross, John DeBauche, and Beth-Alison Berggren. Thank you to the Applied AI Team, Justin Grammens Emily McCarthy Allison Widmark

The conversation this week is with   Michael Pitt, MD (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebpitt/) . Mike is an award winning educator, speaker, pediatrician, and entrepreneur. He's the co founder and CEO of Q-Rounds (https://www.q-rounds.com/) , a B2B SaaS for hospital systems, whose flagship product is a cloud based AI powered rounding cue, which provides notifications via text message to families of when to expect the provider for daily rounds. This information updates in real time as rounds progress and offers one click telehealth connectivity. or family or medical consultants to join virtually. He is also a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota and is a graduate of the John Hopkins School of Medicine. If you are interested in learning about how AI is being applied across multiple industries, be sure to join us at a future AppliedAI Monthly meetup (https://appliedai.mn/) and help support us so we can make future Emerging Technologies North (https://emtechnorth.org/) non-profit events! • Emerging Technologies North (https://emtechnorth.org/) • AppliedAI Meetup (https://appliedai.mn/) Resources and Topics Mentioned in this Episode • Q-Rounds (https://www.q-rounds.com/) • Jack's Basket (https://jacksbasket.org/) • Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (https://www.amazon.com/Revenge-Tipping-Point-Overstories-Superspreaders/dp/0316575801) • Discovery Launchpad (https://research.umn.edu/units/techcomm/startups/discovery-launchpad) • Medical Alley (https://medicalalley.org/) • Minnesota Founders (https://www.mnfounders.org/) • Minnesota Cup (https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/mn-cup) Enjoy! Your host, Justin Grammens (https://www.linkedin.com/in/justingrammens/)

The conversation this week is with David Howard (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davemikeh1024/) . David is a multidisciplinary data scientist and researcher with more than six years of industry experience and eight years in academia. He's been focused on pioneering advancements in generative AI and driving decision-making through insightful analytics, predictive modeling, and advanced data interpretation. As a Ph. D. and former professor in mathematics with research in computer algorithms, he specializes in harnessing complex mathematical theories and applying them in practical ways to solve real-world problems. Makes a lot of sense being on this podcast because we really love applications. He is currently leading technical advancements at CoxAuto (https://www.coxautoinc.com/) with a robust team of 45 data scientists, where his current role involves educating and mentoring others on the utilization of large language models in generative AI. Always an educator, like myself, he hosts a bi-weekly seminar called Mundane to Masterful, educating more than 100 people as he demonstrates generative AI and its transformative potential across various industries. If you are interested in learning about how AI is being applied across multiple industries, be sure to join us at a future AppliedAI Monthly meetup (https://appliedai.mn/) and help support us so we can make future Emerging Technologies North (https://emtechnorth.org/) non-profit events! • Emerging Technologies North (https://emtechnorth.org/) • AppliedAI Meetup (https://appliedai.mn/) Resources and Topics Mentioned in this Episode • CoxAuto (https://www.coxautoinc.com/) • Pythagorean Triples (https://www.mathsisfun.com/pythagorean_triples.html) • FleetNet America (https://fleetnetamerica.com/) • Ready Logistics (https://www.readylogistics.com/) • Gartner hype cycle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gartner_hype_cycle) • Bayesian statistics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayesian_statistics) • MTEB Leaderboard (https://huggingface.co/spaces/mteb/leaderboard) • Retrieval-Augmented Generation AI (https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/retrieval-augmented-generation/) Enjoy! Your host, Justin Grammens (https://www.linkedin.com/in/justingrammens/)