The IT Crowd Podcast

Hosted by Upright Digital

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Latest episode

May 2026

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EN-US

About the show

Welcome to The IT Crowd Podcast, your go-to resource for industry news, IT consulting, cybersecurity, telecommunications, backup and recovery systems, and management and business consulting - all in one place. With an unmatched reach from top to bottom, our podcast connects business owners from leaders of highly notable corporations and tech entrepreneurs, to start-ups looking to build their network. Join us for expert insights and discussions across multiple industries, empowering you to make strategic IT decisions and drive your business forward.

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39 recent

May 31, 202637 min

#38. Trust, AI, and Digital Operations

Live from the opening day of the 2026 Baker Hughes Annual Meeting in Florence, Josh Lowrey and Richard Rodriguez sit down with Laura Van Beers and Aravind Yarlagadda to unpack Baker Hughes’ “Energy Equation” and the real challenges behind scaling digital in industrial operations. From the shift toward problem-driven solutions to the role of AI in modern operations, this conversation explores how companies are building trust in digital systems, while keeping humans firmly in the loop. 00:00 Live From Florence 00:29 Show Energy And Passion 01:19 Meet Laura And Aravind 06:24 IT Meets OT 08:50 From Products To Problems 12:16 Services And Domain Context 14:16 Human In The Loop 18:24 Bridging Generational Change 19:34 Training and Change 20:01 Integration Without Tool Sprawl 21:05 Two Product Paths 23:17 Breaking Data Silos 25:14 Contextualizing Asset Data 27:29 Innovation With Safety 29:07 Hype Versus Reality 31:32 Experimenting With New Tech 33:47 Scaling IT Into OT 36:33 Trust and Closing Thoughts

May 12, 20261 hr 12 min

#37. AI Hype vs. Execution, Data Governance & Cyber Resilience

AI is not the advantage anymore; execution is. From Upright Digital Media Studios in Houston, hosts Josh Lowrey and Richard Rodriguez welcome back Robby Gulri, Head of Advanced Technologies at Intelisys. The conversation explores the gap between AI hype and real execution—highlighting why successful AI strategies start with strong data governance, clear business outcomes, and cyber resilience. Gulri also breaks down practical AI use cases, rising cybersecurity risks, and why companies must shift from selling products to delivering solutions. 00:00 Podcast Kickoff 01:18 Meet Today’s Guest 03:51 Robbie’s Origin Story 04:51 Career Path and Role 07:09 Entrepreneur Roots 11:03 Why AI Is Mostly Hype 14:05 AI Governance and Guardrails 19:49 Consumer Expectations and CX 22:31 Real World AI Examples 24:49 Three AI Use Case Buckets 30:09 How LLMs Actually Work 31:54 AI Slop and Hallucinations 34:03 AI Email War Story 36:45 Energy and Social Costs 38:25 Security Implications Ahead 38:46 Phishing Gets Personal 39:30 AI Powered Cybercrime Markets 41:53 Zero Trust In Real Life 43:53 Security ROI For CEOs 46:55 SMBs Under Constant Attack 49:01 Cyber Resilience Mindset Shift 51:33 Cloud Shared Responsibility Reality 54:57 CIO Evolution And Misalignment 59:55 Is AI Really IT 01:01:41 FinOps Ownership Debate 01:04:55 Writing The SKU To Solution Book 01:10:06 Wrap Up And Where To Connect

April 14, 202644 min

#36. Brian Uhlmer on Power Systems for Data Center Demand

Can today’s power systems handle data center volatility? From the Thrive Energy Conference, The IT Crowd Podcast hosts Josh Lowrey and Richard Rodriguez sit down with Brian Uhlmer, CEO at EKU Power Drives, to break down what it really takes to manage extreme, real-time power demand. They dive into OEM-agnostic controls, mixed-asset integration, and why flexibility—not standardization—is becoming the key advantage in power-as-a-service. 00:00 Welcome From Vegas 00:33 Why Piper Sandler Matters 00:52 Meet Brian Olmer 02:45 Brian’s Career Journey 06:56 What EKU Builds 07:32 Data Centers Need Control 11:15 OEM Agnostic Power Mixing 12:55 Genesys and Maximus Stack 14:13 Integration Timelines 16:01 Controls as Growth Bottleneck 18:16 AI Demand Debate 20:01 AI Adoption Stories 24:39 Cybersecurity and Data Flow 26:03 Cybersecure Power Controls 26:51 Nuisance Trips Explained 27:12 Uptime Penalties Reality 28:47 Droop Logic And Sync 30:01 Why Grid Falls Short 32:26 Beyond Data Centers 33:30 Conference Target Customers 35:12 Founder Owned Funding 37:47 Standardizing Gen Sets 41:19 How To Find EKU 41:48 Stuttgart Speed Record Story 43:36 Wrap Up And CNBC Call

April 7, 202634 min

#35. What Really Drives Energy Value? with Jim Gordon and Phil Lavis

What actually drives asset value in today’s energy market? Live from Thrive Energy Conference, The IT Crowd Podcast hosts Josh Lowrey and Richard Rodriguez sit down with Jim Gordon, Managing Director at Macquarie Group, and Phil Lavis to break down how capital really gets deployed—from asset-backed financing to operating leases. They cover how tech, data, and cybersecurity are reshaping risk, plus the impact of rising data center demand and early AI use in asset valuation. 00:00 Live From Thrive 01:10 Meet The Guests 01:52 Macquarie And Roles 03:12 Phil’s Background 04:07 What Macquarie Does 05:14 Financing Oilfield Gear 05:55 Jim’s Career Path 08:02 Valuing Tech Shifts 09:09 Asset Value Framework 11:04 Obsolescence And Cyber Risk 14:21 Deal Fit And Underwriting 15:32 Data Centers And GPUs 16:58 Why Macquarie Wins 17:22 Why Clients Choose Us 19:11 Happy Hour Sponsor Break 19:36 Operating Lease Explained 21:12 Residual Value Edge 22:29 Global Mining Remarketing 23:57 Tech Shifts In Equipment 27:19 AI In Asset Valuation 29:10 Our Real Value Proposition 31:48 Wrap Up And Thanks

March 31, 202642 min

#34. What’s Actually Holding AI Back in Energy? | Dennis Jol

AI is booming, but energy might be its biggest bottleneck. Live from the Daniel Energy Partners Thrive Energy Conference, hosts Josh Lowrey and Richard Rodriguez sit down with Dennis Jol, CEO of AIQ, to unpack what’s really slowing AI adoption, and why the answer is not what most think. From its roots with ADNOC and G42, to real deployments across the field, Jol reveals what’s working, what’s not, and where the biggest opportunity is being missed. 00:00 Live From Thrive 00:54 Studio Setup Story 02:00 Meet Dennis Jol 02:54 What Is AIQ 04:26 Dennis Career Path 06:01 AI for Energy 08:15 Data Sharing Gap 10:01 Breaking US Mindsets 13:25 US Market Reception 15:33 Scaling Beyond Pilots 18:10 UAE Moves Fast 19:41 Proven AI Products 22:06 How AIQ Builds Fast 23:56 Where To Learn More 24:28 Frac Roots And Margins 25:11 Productizing AI Use Cases 25:56 AI Commoditization And Energy 26:43 Data Centers As Refineries 27:19 Build Buy Or Keep IP 29:28 Transferable Tech And Focus 31:48 AI For All Themes 33:53 Curating Real AI Companies 35:23 Abu Dhabi Momentum 36:53 How To Connect And APEC 40:03 Donut Detour And Wrap Up 41:06 Final Thanks And Sign Off

March 10, 202649 min

#33. Jim Brady: How AI Is Transforming Oilfield Operations

AI in the oilfield sounds powerful, but can the industry trust it? Recorded at the 2026 Baker Hughes Annual Meeting in Florence, IT Crowd Podcast hosts Josh Lowrey and Richard Rodriguez sit down with Jim “James” Brady, Chief Digital Officer for Baker Hughes’ Oilfield Services & Equipment segment. Brady explains how digitalization is moving the industry from siloed data to collaborative, recommendation-driven decisions, and why trust, transparency, and domain expertise are essential to scale AI in energy. They also discuss tools like Lucida, optimizing production under real-world constraints, and how AI can act as a human capital extender in an industry facing talent shortages. 00:00 Live From Florence 01:33 Meet Jim Brady 03:37 Digital As Language 06:32 Breaking Data Silos 09:43 From Data To Recommendations 12:29 Efficiency And Transition 14:44 Trust And Pilots 17:36 Scaling Beyond Proof 20:18 Regional Adoption Differences 24:48 AI as Career Extender 26:32 Oil and Gas AI History 27:16 GenAI Unlocks Data 30:15 Measured AI Adoption 33:34 Hybrid Physics Plus AI 35:06 Reskilling and Code Gen 38:42 Avoiding Shiny Tech 43:11 Bold Energy Prediction 45:42 Conference Takeaways 46:40 AI for Safety Gains 49:04 Final Wrap and Thanks

December 16, 2025Episode 3231 min

#32. AI & the Future of Drilling with William Fox

Live from the Daniel Energy Partners BBQ in Midland, hosts Josh Lowrey and Richard Rodriguez sit down with William Fox, General Manager of Drilling at Cova, to discuss how AI and automation are reshaping the oil and gas industry. From predictive drilling to generative programs, get a sneak peek at the innovations driving efficiency, safety, and what’s coming next over the next 24 months. Tune in now! 00:00 Welcome to the IT Crowd Podcast 00:07 Setting the Scene: Annual Energy Partners Barbecue 00:34 Event Overview and Audience Engagement 01:15 Introducing Richard Rodriguez 02:29 Special Guest: William Fox from Cova 04:00 Technological Innovations in Oil and Gas 04:49 Challenges and Opportunities in Digital Adoption 07:50 Generative AI and Machine Learning in Action 14:13 Success Stories and Future Prospects 16:30 The Value of Automation and Efficiency 17:10 Stuck Pipe Prediction Models 18:35 Customer Success and Market Growth 19:53 Adoption of AI and Machine Learning 21:10 Tailored Solutions for Clients 24:54 Future Tech Roadmap 29:31 Community and Networking at the Barbecue 31:27 Closing Remarks and Social Media

December 9, 202536 min

#31. Revolutionizing Oil & Gas: GeoForce's Journey at the Permian Basin BBQ

How is AI reshaping asset tracking in oil & gas? Join hosts Josh Lowery and Richard Rodriguez live from the Permian Basin BBQ as they sit down with Roopa Misra, SVP of Account Management at GeoForce. In this short but insightful conversation, they explore GeoForce’s journey from early energy trading to today’s AI-powered tracking, and what this evolution means for safety, efficiency, and the future of the industry. Tune in NOW! 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:36 Event Overview and Guest Introduction 02:43 Guest Background and Career Journey 04:54 Technological Advancements in Oil and Gas 10:47 Safety Innovations and Product Development 15:07 Data Utilization and Asset Management 20:09 Introduction to Powered Asset Class 20:27 Importance of Maintenance and Alerts 21:22 Role of AI in Predictive Maintenance 22:18 Advancements in AI and Technology 25:39 Customer Feedback and Integration 33:31 Global Presence and Commitment 36:19 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

October 29, 202525 min

#30. Solution Stack | Digital Evolution with Jay Slaughter: AI, Insurance, and the Future of Business

What makes someone walk away from a successful corporate career to start over? That’s exactly what Jay Slaughter did. Once the CIO at Tokio Marine, Jay decided to trade boardrooms for building his own insurance agency, and the story behind that decision is full of lessons about courage, innovation, and purpose. In this episode of Solution Stack , host Richard Rodriguez sits down with Jay to talk about how technology has evolved, the real impact of AI on business, and what digital modernization looks like from someone who’s lived on both sides, corporate and entrepreneurial. They unpack the risks, the rewards, and the human side of adopting new tech and how following your gut can sometimes be the smartest business decision you’ll ever make. 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:40 Guest Introduction: Jay Slaughter 01:27 Technology and Modernization in Insurance 02:32 AI and Risk Management 03:53 Challenges in Modernization 08:02 Jay's Career Transition 10:11 Starting a New Business: Slaughter Family Insurance 11:54 The Importance of Proper Insurance Coverage 19:54 Leveraging Technology in Insurance 23:15 Conclusion and Contact Information

October 14, 202530 min

#29. Solution Stack | From SIP to AI: How IntelePeer Is Powering the Future of Automation

Discover how IntelePeer is reshaping the future of intelligent automation In this episode of The Solution Stack , host Richard Rodriguez talks with Aqeel Shahid, SVP of Channel Sales at IntelePeer, about the company’s evolution from SIP to AI and automation, its partnerships with OpenAI and Azure, and the importance of data privacy. They also share practical steps to start an AI journey, key timelines, and real-world use cases across industries. Tune in now! 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 00:20 Overview of IntelliPeer 01:13 AI and Automation Solutions 03:00 Privacy and Compliance Measures 05:38 Starting the AI Journey 11:50 Implementation and Change Management 15:57 Industry Use Cases and Success Stories 23:50 Customer Support and Sentiment Analysis 30:02 Conclusion and Contact Information