Silicon Zombies

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Aug 2026

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Demystifying emerging tech with the Best Brains, from the Bay...and Beyond! Millions of fans across 120+ countries 🌎 We feature founders, funders, and friends. For future shows, tech news, and more, check out our website: wwww.siliconzombies.com Tune in for the best brains from the Bay to beyond 🧟🧠

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September 4, 20261 hr 11 min

7 Years Under House Arrest, Still No Trial | Joby Weeks

Bitcoin Pioneer on House Arrest for 7 Years - Never Convicted, Never Sentenced, Never Tried Seven years. That's how long Joby Weeks has been on house arrest in Miami for allegedly selling unregistered securities — something that's now completely legal. He never had a trial, was never convicted, but 38 continuances and 12 prosecutors later, he's still waiting. This isn't a legal case anymore. It's political. And Joby's not backing down. He breaks down Operation Choke Point, why the government forced him to plead guilty to something he didn't do, what actually happened with Big Club and Bitcoin mining, and why the banking cartel came after him in the first place. Then his wife Dasha joins to explain why she walked away from traveling 100+ countries and freedom itself to be with a guy on an ankle bracelet — and somehow, they're happier than ever. A big thank you to our sponsors for making this one possible: @bancofcalifornia@truebindinginc@necodex@tuomglobal⏱️ Timestamps00:00 – Trailer01:21 – Welcome to Crypto Zombies Miami02:14 – The Movie Trailer: 7 Years on House Arrest03:02 – Operation Choke Point & Bitcoin Pioneers04:52 – Everything You Were Accused Of Is Legal Now05:07 – Why Did He Plead Guilty If He's Innocent?06:17 – The Big Club Story & Bitcoin Mining07:00 – Arrested at Tony Robbins Event With Shakes in Hand08:02 – Diesel Therapy: Bounced Jail to Jail for 11 Months09:52 – Forced Plea Deal & Constitutional Violations12:18 – 12 Prosecutors Quit After Reading His Motions14:02 – The Banking Cartel & SWIFT System Explained17:34 – Bitcoin Equals Freedom20:29 – Legal Routes, Deep State Lawyers & Political Cases24:00 – Mindset: Why He Smiles in Jail27:03 – First Thing He'll Do When Free28:41 – How Joby & Dasha Met in Miami40:39 – Why Dasha Said Yes to House Arrest Love52:01 – Do You Regret This Decision?56:00 – Atlas Shrugged & Investing in Free Energy58:45 – The Deal Flow Show: Shark Tank But Better60:10 – Eliminating Income Tax & Tariffs64:40 – The Coffee Mortgage Solution for 80 Million Renters67:00 – How to Reach Out & Connect69:07 – The Final Lesson: Fighting the Status Quo71:02 – Thank You & Where to Follow📕 About Silicon Zombies: Silicon Zombies is a Top 5% global podcast for AI, Venture Capital & Tech Innovation. 🏆 Straight from the heart of Silicon Valley, we bring you weekly deep-dives with elite AI engineers, VCs, and longevity innovators shaping the next decade. We cut through the hype vs. reality of emerging tech, SaaS, biohacking, and startup investing — no fluff, just real insight. Whether you're a founder building your network, an engineer chasing technical depth, or simply staying ahead of the curve, we bridge the gap. Insider access to the world's brightest tech minds. Weekly live streams with a global community across 100+ countries.🚀 Connect with Us: Instagram: @siliconzombiesX (Twitter): @siliconzombies TikTok: @siliconzombies Subscribe so you don't miss the conversations defining what comes next.

August 26, 202653 min

Real Wealth Is About the Wisdom Money Can't Buy | Ft. Uli Maybach

Real Wealth Is About the Wisdom Money Can't Buy | Ft. Uli Maybach The Secret Mindset Behind The Maybach Legacy | Uli Maybach Legacy and longevity are having a moment in Silicon Valley right now, and this episode gets into both, no fluff, no hype, just one guy who's been keeping a 143-year-old family business at the top of the peak talking honestly about what actually works. Uli Maybach runs one of the world's most iconic luxury brands, and he shows up with a 150-piece limited edition Maybach designed by Virgil Abloh sitting out front to prove it. Together with the room full of founders, investors, and builders, he breaks down why most founders miss the long game, what first principles actually mean versus just chasing trends, why form follows function, and what it takes to keep a family aligned across generations. Then the audience jumps in with sharp questions about succession planning, mentorship, AI, and whether anything built in tech today can actually survive a century .A big thank you to our sponsors for making this one possible: @theparkjames@bancofcalifornia@truebindinginc@necodex@tuomglobal⏱️ 📕About Silicon Zombies: Silicon Zombies is a Top 5% global podcast for AI, Venture Capital & Tech Innovation. 🏆 Straight from the heart of Silicon Valley, we bring you weekly deep-dives with elite AI engineers, VCs, and longevity innovators shaping the next decade. We cut through the hype vs. reality of emerging tech, SaaS, biohacking, and startup investing — no fluff, just real insight. Whether you're a founder building your network, an engineer chasing technical depth, or simply staying ahead of the curve, we bridge the gap. Insider access to the world's brightest tech minds. Weekly live streams with a global community across 100+ countries. 🚀Connect with Us: Instagram: @siliconzombiesX (Twitter): @siliconzombies TikTok: @siliconzombies Subscribe so you don't miss the conversations defining what comes next.

August 7, 202651 min

Legendary VCs Share Their Biggest Investment Regrets.

Two of the biggest names in venture capital sat down with us and didn't hold back — not on their wins, and definitely not on the deals that got away. We're talking Uber, Twitter, and a handful of others that would've made their fund several times over if they'd just said yes.They also break down how secondary markets actually work (hint: it's basically the used car lot of startup equity), how private companies like SpaceX and Anthropic get priced when there's no public market to check against, and why they'd both tell most people thinking about becoming a VC to just... not.If you've ever wondered what it's like to watch a deal you passed on turn into a 4,000x return, or you're trying to figure out how the private markets actually value companies, this one's worth the full watch.⏰ Timestamps00:00 – Intro01:28 – Welcome to the Zombies02:42 – Meet the Guests05:58 – The Real Work Starts After the First Check09:42 – What Is a Secondary Market?10:54 – Is Secondary Just Legalized Insider Trading?12:36 – The Used Car Market for Startup Equity13:39 – Why So Few Companies Go Public Anymore14:32 – Talking Anthropic, SpaceX & OpenAI15:35 – How Private Markets Actually Price a Company16:45 – SpaceX's Valuation Explosion21:27 – VCs Talking Geopolitics27:20 – Bringing Venture Access to Everyday Investors29:43 – Their Biggest Regrets: The Deals They Passed On32:06 – Missing Uber, Twitter & More33:50 – When a Good Deal Goes Bad36:56 – Data Centers: Picks, Shovels & Power38:19 – "Don't Become a VC"39:35 – Thoughts on One-Person, Vibe-Coded Startups42:25 – Advice for First-Time LPs44:33 – The Reverse Apple Hire Problem45:57 – Accelerators vs. Venture Studios49:54 – How Do You Build a Moat in AI?📕 About Silicon Zombies:Silicon Zombies is a Top 5% global podcast for AI, Venture Capital & Tech Innovation. 🏆 Straight from the heart of Silicon Valley, we bring you weekly deep-dives with elite AI engineers, VCs, and longevity innovators shaping the next decade. We cut through the hype vs. reality of emerging tech, SaaS, biohacking, and startup investing — no fluff, just real insight. Whether you're a founder building your network, an engineer chasing technical depth, or simply staying ahead of the curve, we bridge the gap. Insider access to the world's brightest tech minds. Weekly live streams with a global community across 100+ countries.🚀 Connect with Us:Instagram: @siliconzombiesX (Twitter): @siliconzombiesTikTok: @siliconzombiesSubscribe so you don't miss the conversations defining what comes next.

August 2, 20261 hr 3 min

AWS Co-Founder Explains Why Traditional AI Strategies Are Failing Founders

What's the biggest lie executives tell themselves about AI? In this live episode, AWS co-founder Matt Domo — founding leader of Amazon Web Services' Database Division, Chairman of the US Space Force Association, and author of the #1 bestseller Everybody Wins — takes the Silicon Zombies stage to expose why 80% of AI pilots fail, why mass layoffs are just "bad decisions dressed in a tech costume," and why the AI window is the biggest platform shift he's seen in two decades — and the fastest closing. From building the infrastructure behind the modern internet at AWS, Microsoft SQL Server, and Rackspace, to advising governors, senators, and the Pentagon on space defense, Matt lays out the "ME Experience" and his Triple Win Model for turning AI ambition into real business outcomes.If you're a founder hunting for a defensible moat, an executive stuck in pilot purgatory, or a builder who wants to seize the next 18 months instead of watching them pass, this conversation is your playbook.Timestamps 00:00 – Intro 01:26 – Welcome to the Zombies: Housekeeping & Community Announcements 04:41 – Introducing Matt Domo: AWS Co-Founder & Space Force Chairman 06:47 – Platform Windows: Why AI Is the Biggest Shift Ever — and Closing Fastest 07:58 – Everybody Wins: The "ME Experience" & the Triple Win Model 09:46 – Experimentation vs. Strategy: Getting Teams Excited Without Fear 12:01 – Inside the Room: Meeting Politicians & Evangelizing Space 13:41 – 14,000 MPH & 100 Million Pieces of Junk: The Real Space Challenge 14:26 – Watchers, Talkers, and Doers: Focus, Speed & Agility 16:16 – Investing in the Space Economy: Build Your Own Thesis 18:21 – The Biggest Lie Executives Tell Themselves About AI 21:36 – Meta's 9,000 Layoffs: "Bad Decisions in a Tech Costume" 23:52 – Breaking Down Silos with the ME Experience 25:50 – Automating the Dirty, Dull & Dangerous (and the UBI Question) 26:35 – How the AWS Database Division Was Born: Lessons from the Cloud Shift 29:00 – Companies Matt Admires: Robinhood, Agents & Fractional Investing 30:48 – The Immersive Commerce Unlock: Reinventing How We Buy 31:42 – What Happens When You Only Fix One of the Three? 33:48 – What Should Founders Build? Moats, Cognitive Overload & Working Backwards 36:40 – Audience Q&A: De-Risking AI Transformation for Executives 39:08 – The Enterprise Architecture Blind Spot Nobody Sees Coming 41:32 – The Mind Is a Terrible Trap: Ship the 80% Solution 43:36 – Can AI Help Humans Grow? Trauma, Hope & the Alzheimer's Breakthrough 48:38 – Investing in Startups: FunDeFi & Tax-Free Private Investing in Your 401(k) 50:44 – Matt's Next 12 Months: The Window, the Book & Longevity 53:09 – From Pilot to Org-Wide Adoption: How to Actually Sell to the Enterprise 56:24 – AI for Good vs. AI for Evil: Governance & Accountability 57:37 – The Future of Autonomous Space Tech: Speed, Security & Signal61:04 – Closing: Everybody Wins, Shoutouts & Community Partners📕 Grab Matt's book "Everybody Wins: The Business Leader's Mission Possible Guide to AI Success" available at major retailers now.About Silicon Zombies:Silicon Zombies is a Top 5% global podcast for AI, Venture Capital & Tech Innovation. Straight from the heart of Silicon Valley, we bring you weekly deep-dives with elite AI engineers, VCs, and longevity innovators shaping the next decade. We cut through the hype vs. reality of emerging tech, SaaS, biohacking, and startup investing no fluff, just real insight. Whether you're a founder building your network, an engineer chasing technical depth, or simply staying ahead of the curve, we bridge the gap. Insider access to the world's brightest tech minds. Weekly live streams with a global community across 100+ countries. No-fluff breakdowns of AI breakthroughs and the future of humanity. Connect with Us:Follow Silicon Zombies on social media:Instagram: @siliconzombiesX (Twitter): @siliconzombiesTikTok: @siliconzombiesSubscribe so you don't miss the conversations defining what comes next.

July 18, 202654 min

The One Thing AI Can't Replace (featuring Tenny Pinheiro)

In this episode, recorded on location in Venice, Italy, celebrated author and founder Tenny Pinheiro (ex-Meta AR, Design Sprint School, Kinds) makes the counterintuitive case that friction — not speed — is what saves products from crashing and burning. From bridging engineers and designers on Meta's AR glasses team, to building Kinds (a product that maps the human self far beyond Myers-Briggs), Tenny breaks down why compressed, distributed teams are replacing traditional org charts, why software engineers may be more at risk than designers, and why Venice — not Florence — was the world's first internet.If you're a designer terrified of AI, an engineer wondering what survives the agentic wave, or a founder deciding what to build in 2026, this conversation is your blueprint for staying irreplaceable.⏰ Timestamps 00:00 – Trailer 01:22 – Intro: Live from Venice with Tenny Pinheiro 02:00 – Creative Destruction: Is Design Even Necessary Anymore? 03:24 – Teams of One? Why the Future Is Compressed, Distributed Teams 05:47 – The Counterintuitive Truth: A Designer's Job Is to Create Friction 06:55 – Inside Meta AR: Bridging Engineers and Designers on Smart Glasses 08:27 – What Is Kinds? Mapping the Self Beyond Myers-Briggs 11:14 – 300 Studies & 75 Valley Experiments: Rebuilding for the Agentic Era 12:41 – Founder-to-Founder Matching: Solving Startups' #1 Killer 13:38 – Why Venice Was the First Internet (Distribution Beats Genius) 16:01 – Community as Infrastructure: If Events Die, Silicon Valley Dies 16:48 – Lisbon Rising: Crypto Taxes & Why Governments Should Get Out of the Way 20:10 – Blockchain's Comeback: Privacy Layers & Lessons from the NFT Crash 22:36 – More Data, More Problems: Compliance Traps in the AI Gold Rush 25:17 – The Designer in 6 Months: Autonomous Orchestrator of Agents 26:35 – Can You Quantify Taste? Curation vs. Holding the Product Thesis 29:02 – "Be So Good They're Afraid to Ship Without You" 31:18 – The Psychology of Data Hoarding: Why Engineers Grab Everything 33:04 – The Trust Handshake: Mapping User Trust Across the Journey 34:16 – Forward-Deployed Friction: Getting Close to the Customer Problem 35:52 – AI-Moderated User Testing: 1,000 Tests Instead of 13 37:48 – What to Build in 2026: Escaping the Tech Bubble 41:33 – B2B vs. B2C: Where the Real AI Adoption Wedge Is 43:49 – The McDonald's Chatbot Problem: AI Is Still the Wild West 45:35 – Micro-Expressions, Paul Ekman & a Wide-Open Product Idea 49:57 – Design Sprint School Reborn: Rewriting an Award-Winning Program 51:34 – "You're Living Through the Model T Moment — Stop Complaining" 52:25 – Outro: Venice, Lisbon & What's NextAbout Silicon Zombies:Silicon Zombies is a Top 5% global podcast for AI, Venture Capital & Tech Innovation. 🏆 Straight from the heart of Silicon Valley, we bring you weekly deep-dives with elite AI engineers, VCs, and longevity innovators shaping the next decade. We cut through the hype vs. reality of emerging tech, SaaS, biohacking, and startup investing — no fluff, just real insight. Whether you're a founder building your network, an engineer chasing technical depth, or simply staying ahead of the curve, we bridge the gap. Insider access to the world's brightest tech minds. Weekly live streams with a global community across 100+ countries. No-fluff breakdowns of AI breakthroughs and the future of humanity.🚀 Connect with Us:Follow Silicon Zombies on social media:Instagram: @siliconzombies X (Twitter): @siliconzombies TikTok: @siliconzombiespodcast Subscribe so you don't miss the conversations defining what comes next.🎵 Music:Rachel Sandy – Helios Ignites / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

June 21, 202640 min

Build an App & Get Clients in 45 Days (No-Code Claude Tutorial) I Ft. Igor Krysnakh

Can you really build a profitable tech business from scratch in just 45 days? 🚀 In this episode, entrepreneur and technical founder Igor Krasnykh breaks down how he shattered a 9-month development timeline, shrinking it down to just 5 days, using Claude Code. From rapid front-end prototyping to scaling a 1.5 trillion-dollar e-commerce business model on AWS without a dedicated engineering team, Igor reveals the exact AI blueprint for modern solopreneurs.If you want to stop working for someone else, eliminate traditional tech bottlenecks, and launch your own software empire using the power of agentic AI, this breakdown is for you. ⏰ Timestamps00:00 – Intro: The 45-Day Business Empire01:15 – Why the Future of Business is Solopreneurship02:45 – The Collapse of the MVP Timeline04:10 – What is Claude Code? (Breaking Down Anthropic's Ecosystem)05:30 – 9 Months to 5 Days: Rebuilding a Front-End with AI07:50 – Hardware & Tools Needed to Start Your Empire Today09:15 – Security & Data Privacy: Free vs. Enterprise Claude11:05 – The E-Commerce Pivot: From Syncing Data to Business Signals13:20 – How to Prompt Claude Code with "Additive UI Design"15:00 – Advanced Coding: Building 30-Page Markdown Specs with Claude Chat16:45 – Is "Vibe Coding" Replacing Traditional Engineering Teams?18:30 – Overcoming Scale and Database Failures with AI20:15 – No AWS Certifications? How to Deploy Infrastructure with AI22:00 – The Visual Unlock: Troubleshooting Errors with Screenshots24:15 – Choosing the Right Model: Claude Sonnet vs. Opus vs. Haiku26:00 – How AI Completely Destroyed the "Software Moat"28:10 – Maximizing Revenue: Separating Noise from Signals in E-CommerceAbout Silicon Zombies:Silicon Zombies is a Top 5% global podcast for AI, Venture Capital & Tech Innovation. 🏆Straight from the heart of Silicon Valley, we bring you weekly deep-dives with elite AI engineers, VCs, and longevity innovators shaping the next decade. We cut through the hype vs. reality of emerging tech, SaaS, biohacking, and startup investing no fluff, just real insight.Whether you're a founder building your network, an engineer chasing technical depth, or simply staying ahead of the curve, we bridge the gap.Insider access to the world's brightest tech mindsWeekly live streams with a global community across 90+ countriesNo-fluff breakdowns of AI breakthroughs and the future of humanity🚀 Connect with Us:Follow Silicon Zombies on social media:Instagram: @siliconzombiesX (Twitter): @siliconzombiesTikTok: @siliconzombiesSubscribe so you don't miss the conversations defining what comes next.

June 15, 202635 min

Surviving FAKE INVESTORS (Red Flags) ft. Marco Gradari / CEO at MGvision (Rome, Italy)

The Zombies are in ROME! 🇮🇹 Capital Predators: How MGvision’s Marco Gradari Survived Fake Investors & Navigated the US-Europe DivideNot all capital is created equal, and some of it comes with a toxic cost. In this episode, we sit down with Marco Gradari (Founder & CEO, MGvision Srl) to break down the operational red flags that every founder misses until it’s too late.We cover: The Survival Blueprint: Marco’s firsthand experience dealing with unsavory characters and the exact leverage points he used to escape a toxic situation. Ecosystem Asymmetry: A realistic comparison between the US and Italian startup landscapes; funding structures, cultural risk aversion, and future trajectories. The Investor Lens: What a battle-tested founder turned investor actually looks for when evaluating team grit and market viability.📌 https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-gradari-768b2b9/ JOIN THE COMMUNITY #FounderSurvival #VentureCapital #StartupFunding #Entrepreneurship #SiliconValley #TechEcosystems

June 15, 202630 min

The Real #1 Cause Of Aging (It's Not Your Diet) | Peter Crone

What if the #1 thing aging you isn't sugar or skipping your supplements but the conversation in your own head? Peter Crone, "The Mind Architect," walks into a room full of biohackers and makes a claim almost no one in longevity wants to hear: stress is aging you, and you can't out-supplement a mind stuck in fight-or-flight. He breaks down why "trying not to age" speeds it up, why presence beats any pill, and the three words he told a man haunted by his past that changed everything About Peter Crone Peter Crone, known as "The Mind Architect," is a thought leader in human potential and performance. He works with leaders, athletes, and VIPs to redesign the subconscious mind that drives behavior shifting people from a life of stress to one of freedom and joy. His work has earned praise from names like PGA champion Charles Howell III and CBS Sports' Jim Nantz, and he reaches over a million people through his platform and the Finding Freedom podcast. Learn more about Peter: petercrone.com | @petercrone on Instagram About Silicon ZombiesSilicon Zombies is a Top 5% global podcast for AI, Venture Capital & Tech Innovation. 🏆Straight from the heart of Silicon Valley, we bring you weekly deep-dives with elite AI engineers, VCs, and longevity innovators shaping the next decade. We cut through the hype vs. reality of emerging tech, SaaS, biohacking, and startup investing no fluff, just real insight. Whether you're a founder building your network, an engineer chasing technical depth, or simply staying ahead of the curve, we bridge the gap.Insider access to the world's brightest tech mindsWeekly live streams with a global community across 90+ countries Follow Silicon Zombies on social media: Instagram: @siliconzombies X (Twitter): @siliconzombies TikTok: @siliconzombiespodcast #SiliconZombies #PeterCrone #Longevity #Biohacking #StressAndAging #TheMindArchitect #Mindset #humanpotential

May 21, 202622 min

The $10 Trillion Energy Shift Nobody Is Talking About!

The $10 Trillion Energy Revolution: Live from Startup Grind Featuring Ben, Dr. Alicia Castillo Holley, & Nikhil The shift to sustainable energy is the largest capital reallocation in history...but the consensus is wrong. Recorded live at Startup Grind, the Zombies bypass the hype to expose the cold physics and contrarian economics of the $10 trillion transition. The Breakdown The Equity Trap: Why seeking "just capital" is a founder’s biggest mistake. Learn how reducing capital needs - not just raising more - is the only way to protect equity and 10x your multiples. The Space Pivot: A radical argument for why energy isn't the final frontier. As computing power outpaces terrestrial infrastructure, the real exit is in orbit. The Biology of Climate: You can’t make a baby in one month with nine women. Discover why energy tech follows the laws of biology, not software, and why ignoring "incompressible time" leads to investment ruin. brought to you by: www.TUOM.com www.upmarket.co/sz wwww.truebinding.com www.necodex.com

April 13, 202645 min

How to Build the Future (While Everyone Else is Panicking) | Pablos Holman

Silicon Valley is hungry for something real. For too long, the industry has been snacking on easy SaaS wins while the "hard stuff" - the atoms, energy, and machines that actually run the world - was left on the table. In Episode 214 of Silicon Zombies, world-renowned inventor and hacker Pablos Holman returns to the show to teach us how to hunt bigger game.Pablos is a "Zero to One" architect who treats the physical world like an open-source playground. From laying the groundwork for Blue Origin with Jeff Bezos to building nuclear reactors and robots at Intellectual Ventures Lab, Pablos uses technology as a superpower to reimagine the human experience.We’re diving deep into the "Great Rebuild": The Atoms vs. Bits Pivot: Why the smartest money is moving back to space, energy, and "ignored" industries. The Automation Upgrade: Dissecting how robots aren’t stealing jobs; they’re killing the drudgery to "power up" humanity. Beachhead Technologies : How orbital science and autonomous tech are the first steps toward a total global reimagining (and maybe even UBI). Anti-Doomerism: Why we refuse to hide under the covers. We have the best people and the best tools - it’s time to stop fearing the future and start building it.If you’re tired of the AI hype and ready for the Deep Tech revolution, this episode is your roadmap.00:00 Welcome Back Pablo00:53 Alaska Origins02:02 Blue Origin Beginnings03:06 Early Internet Hacker Kid05:06 Elon SpaceX Lessons06:28 Chipmaking Supply Chain09:14 Moores Law Is Over10:48 TerraFab And Timelines12:46 Energy Toaster Metric14:07 Deep Future Deep Tech15:55 Intellectual Ventures Lab18:23 Biggest Failure Manufacturing20:51 Tshirt Waste And Automation22:02 Salsa And Davos Hacking25:15 AI Doomerism Thesis25:47 AI Tools Renaissance26:45 Energy Crunch Reality27:00 Nuclear Fear Fork28:27 Buried Reactor Breakthrough30:33 Chipmaking Disruption32:12 Meaningful Human Futures36:42 China And Open Models40:11 Building An Invention Lab43:29 Hype Versus Reality45:52 Keeping Up Cognitively48:24 Closing Thanks And BooksFollow Pablos Holman: www.linkedin.com/in/pablos08 Huge thanks to our sponsors for making this feast possible: The Park James Hotel (Our incredible host) TUOM Necodex TrueBinding UpMarket #SiliconZombies #DeepTech #PablosHolman #FutureOfTech #AI #Automation #Innovation