Innovation Heroes

Hosted by SHI

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Mar 2026

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About the show

Innovation Heroes is a podcast exploring the people and businesses driving change in our drastically disrupted world. Host Ed McNamara explores some of the most inspiring stories of business innovation in the post-pandemic era.

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60 recent

June 29, 2023Episode 138 min

The PR Firm That Disrupted Itself with AI

What if instead of being disrupted, you became the disruptor? In the first episode of Season 5, we hear from Greg Matusky, the President and Founder of GregoryFCA. Matusky discusses his journey of embracing Generative AI in his PR firm, transforming their operations and culture. He shares how the advent of ChatGPT has revolutionized his firm's processes, and his vision of progressing from an age of information to an age of wisdom and intelligence. Tune in to learn about Matusky's insights on AI's role in public relations and how he's fostering a culture of innovation within his team. Featuring: Greg Matusky, President and Founder of GregoryFCA Innovation Heroes is an SHI podcast. New episodes are now available on Youtube and all major podcast platforms. Visit https://blog.shi.com/podcasts/

September 16, 2025Episode 11 min

Innovation Heroes – Season 7: Real Voices, Real Risks, Real Answers

SHI's Innovation Heroes is back. After hitting #1 on the Apple Technology charts, Season 7 brings twelve no-fluff episodes on the real risks and real answers facing IT leaders today—from cybercrime that runs like a Fortune 500 to the power of accessibility in tech. It's a new season— with a clear mission: Bringing you conversations that cut through the noise and give IT leaders what they actually need: clarity, courage, and practical insight. Season 7 dives into the stories behind today’s biggest technology challenges: cybercrime operating like Fortune 500 companies, AI vulnerabilities hiding in plain sight, and the transformative power of accessibility in IT. From deepfakes to Deaflympians, this season brings you voices from the frontlines—security experts, innovators, and unlikely pioneers—sharing what’s really at stake and how to navigate it. Twelve episodes. Zero fluff. Just the kind of conversations that save you time, sharpen your thinking, and make you better at your job. --- Follow now, wherever you get your podcasts or at SHI.com/heroes Watch full video episodes on our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SHICorporation/podcasts Brought to you by SHI: From seamless hardware and software procurement solutions to licensing advisory, data center configuration, ITAM, and AI services, SHI has all your IT needs covered.

May 18, 2023Episode 1726 min

Best of Innovation Heroes: Robots to the Rescue

With all the doom and gloom about AI, we ask: Are robots and AI the key to unlocking a brighter future for humanity? This new Best of compilation delves into the extraordinary ways these technologies are revolutionizing our world. Featuring discussions about crimefighting robots, social robotics and AI’s real-life applications in the creative industries, IT and our workplace. Prepare to be inspired as we explore the limitless possibilities that robots and AI hold in shaping a better tomorrow for all. This episode features our conversations with: William Santana Li, Knightscope’s Chairman and CEO: Listen to full episode Will Ramey, Sr. Director, Global Head of Developer Programs at NVIDIA: Listen to full episode Frauke Zeller and Lauren Dwyer, two leading social robotics scientists at Toronto Metropolitan University: Listen to full episode Ruslan Khamidullin, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Filmustage: Listen to full episode Sonny Hudson, Collaboration Specialist of Partners at Cisco, Adan Jardine, Assitant Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Rutgers University and Matthew Stone, Professor and Chair of the Computer Science Department at Rutgers New Brunswick: Listen to full episode

July 15, 2021Episode 1029 min

Canada’s Cutest Delivery Robot featuring Tiny Mile’s Omar Elawi

On this episode of Innovation Heroes, Peter is joined by Omar Elawi of Tiny Mile Robotics, a company in Canada that is making robots mainstream with what they dub “Canada’s cutest delivery robot”, Geoffrey. They discuss real life use cases of robotics, both in present day and looking to the future. Plus, we go on a journey exploring the wide and wonderful world of robots across industries and use cases. This episode of Innovation Heroes is brought to you by SHI Esports. If you're in the education industry and want to bring Esports to your student body, visit shi.com/esports to learn more.

October 26, 2023Episode 1942 min

The Barcode Creator on Changing Our Supply Chain Forever

It was fairly recent history when supermarket food items had to be manually restamped each time the price increased, with clerks running up and down the aisles to do inventory. Paul McEnroe, creator of the barcode, remembers searching for cans with lower price tags from the back of the shelf when shopping for his mother. Now, barcodes are all around us, scanned ten billion times a day. On today’s episode, we dive into the fascinating story of its creation and the decades of innovation that changed retail and manufacturing around the world. In the 1960s, McEnroe hired seven engineers considered “harder to manage" for a start-up-like project at IBM to tackle applications at the periphery of computers. The team created the first commercial application of laser technology, the barcode scanner, and the magnetic code for Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) marking. McEnroe outlines how this technology vastly increased supermarket efficiency, despite initial pushback including picket lines at stores and new state laws. He also discusses the QR code, which he sees as an extension of the barcode. This episode is brought to you by SHI’s new generative AI briefings. Uncover your road map to innovation with a series of briefings and workshops designed by our technology experts. Contact your Account Executive or visit shi.com to learn more. Innovation Heroes is an SHI podcast. New episodes are now available on Youtube and all major podcast platforms. Visit https://blog.shi.com/podcasts/

October 29, 2020Episode 327 min

Hotels of the Future: Making Travel and Tourism Safer with Innovation

A few months before the pandemic hit, Intel helped create The Sinclair, easily one of the coolest, most futuristic hotels you’ve ever seen. Now, nine months into lockdowns, we’re being encouraged to stay home and stay safe, resulting in empty hotels and great uncertainty for the tourism and travel industries. On today’s episode of SHI’s Innovation Heroes, Peter interviews Stacey Shulman, Vice President IoT (Internet of Things) at Intel. Together, they discuss the changes the tourism industry is making to keep guests safe and how hotels like The Sinclair might reveal the technological path forward to keeping the industry alive. Connect with the Innovation Heroes at SHI to transform your business: https://www.shi.com/ To see photos of The Sinclair’s operator, Farukh Aslam, visit https://blog.shi.com.

February 19, 2026Episode 1127 min

When AI Can’t Afford to Be Wrong: Inside Bot Auto’s Autonomous Trucking Mission

Everyone’s talking about AI that writes code and answers questions. But what happens when AI has to operate in the physical world, where mistakes don’t just generate weird sentences, they have real consequences? On this episode of Innovation Heroes, host Ed McNamara sits down with Tete Xiao, VP of Engineering and AI at Bot Auto, to explore what it actually takes to deploy AI that touches the real world. Tete helped create Meta’s Segment Anything model—a breakthrough that changed how machines understand images—and now he’s applying a decade of cutting-edge research to one of AI’s hardest challenges: making trucks drive themselves safely on U.S. highways. Key takeaways: Why physical AI is “broadly underhyped” despite billion-dollar robotics headlines How simulation lets autonomous systems explore scenarios too dangerous to test in real life What “truly driver-out” operations mean—and why it’s so much harder than having someone in the backseat Lessons IT leaders can apply when deploying any AI system with real-world consequences For anyone thinking about AI in manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, or security, this conversation is essential listening.

January 25, 2024Episode 1241 min

Storage Warriors: Resiliency at the Intersection of Access and Security

In 2019, the City of New Orleans was hit by a cyberattack and came to a halt. Within hours, thousands of servers, virtual machines, and computers were shut down. They were told by the National Guard that they needed to build a completely new infrastructure. This week, we discuss the unsung heroes in data storage, those defending against cybersecurity attacks, building new infrastructure, and supporting AI innovation. Andrew Miller, Lead Principal Technologist of the Americas, Pure Storage, outlines how they were able to replace the entire storage footprint in New Orleans. He outlines the conversations he has with customers about resiliency, what he calls the intersection of disaster recovery and security. We also explore the changing landscape of storage and cloud in 2024, and the current trends in threats like ransomware. Miller provides tips for data protection, developing security frameworks, and getting buy-in for security spend. Featured Guest: Andrew Miller, Lead Principal Technologist of the Americas, Pure Storage Read his blog Hear Andrew on the Pure Report Podcast Join Andrew’s monthly Coffee Break webinar Find his socials This episode is brought to you by Pure Storage. Turn bottlenecks into breakthroughs with Pure’s modern data experience. Talk to an expert today and learn more at shi.com/brands/pure-storage. Innovation Heroes is an SHI podcast. New episodes are now available on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Visit https://blog.shi.com/podcasts/.

October 15, 2020Episode 126 min

The No Ivy League: The New Post-Secondary Experience in the Age of COVID-19

The global pandemic forced educational institutions around the world to switch to online and hybrid learning in a matter of weeks -- making our schools more reliant on digital transformation than ever before. What followed was a crash course in adopting modern technologies and building up new, robust infrastructures to transform learning. But, what impact will this new model have on our students, particularly those in post-secondary institutions, as we shape the leaders of tomorrow? On the premiere episode of Innovation Heroes, host Peter Bean chats with Nina Angelo, VP of Product Marketing at Top Hat, about the future of higher education and what innovation heroes are doing to support change in a drastically disrupted world. Connect with the Innovation Heroes at SHI to transform your business: https://www.shi.com/ Learn more about Top Hat’s education software and active learning app at https://tophat.com/

October 6, 2022Episode 130 min

How to Solve the Labor Crisis with Intel’s Stacey Shulman

Welcome back to season four of Innovation Heroes! In this episode, Ed unpacks the challenges posed by a growing labor shortage with one of his all-time favorite guests, Stacey Shulman, Intel’s Vice President of Health, Education and Consumer Industries. Stacey explains how transformational businesses need to start leveraging technology to hyperautomate the repetitive tasks that get in the way of more meaningful work, so that organizations can focus on solving the problems that matter most to their customers. Featuring guest Stacey Shulman, Vice President of Health, Education and Consumer Industries at Intel. This episode of Innovation Heroes is brought to you by Intel vPro, An Intel Evo Design. To learn more visit: https://www.shi.com/brands/intel/client-solutions/vpro-platform.

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