We talk IoT – The Internet of Things Business Podcast

Hosted by Avnet Silica

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Oct 2026

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The We talk IoT podcast keeps you up to date with major developments in the world of the internet of things, IIoT, artificial intelligence, and cognitive computing. Our guests are leading industry experts, business professionals, and experienced journalists as they discuss some of today’s hottest tech topics and how they can help boost your bottom line. You can follow We talk IoT – the Internet of Things Business podcast anywhere you get your podcasts. About the host: Stefanie Ruth Heyduck is a science and tech journalist with over 20 years of experience. She has worked for renowned magazines, research institutions, and tech companies. Also, she is an experienced communications consultant and supports her clients with digital and content strategies and new work transformations.

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October 16, 2026Episode 9031 min

No Ctrl+Z: What physical AI changes on the warehouse floor – We Talk IoT #90

Warehouses run on data, yet that data often lags behind reality. The system shows a pallet on the shelf. The shelf stands empty. In this episode, Oana Jinga, co-founder and Chief Commercial and Product Officer of Dexory, explains what physical AI means. Digital AI is really good at giving answers, physical AI needs to sense, reason and act in the real world. And pressing Ctrl+Z is not an option. Dexory’s robots reach up to 18 metres, scan between 10,000 and 12,000 pallet locations an hour with cameras and lidar, and feed a live digital twin of the warehouse. Oana describes a site where 350 picking robots kept stalling at empty locations. A month after Dexory started scanning continuously, the site posted three record days. We also discuss who signs off on warehouse automation, why scaling from one site to hundreds is the real test for physical AI start-ups, and why Dexory sees its future as a data company rather than a robot maker. #PhysicalAI #WarehouseAutomation #Robotics #DigitalTwin #Logistics #Dexory #WeTalkIoT Summary of this week’s episode: 01:20 From a home robot to the warehouse floor 03:11 What physical AI means – and why there is no Ctrl+Z 04:44 Sense, reason, act: physical AI in the warehouse 06:06 What warehouse management systems miss 07:26 Data-driven automation vs conveyor belts and picking robots 09:33 The universal problem: data that is worse than you think 11:23 Use case: 350 picking robots and three record days 14:12 Why warehouse space is the industry’s currency 15:46 A 24/7 shift: 18 metres, cameras and lidar 18:02 Built to blend in on the warehouse floor 19:18 Adoption: who decides and what convinces them 20:47 The most common objection 21:34 The real test: scaling from one site to hundreds 23:21 How warehouse workers react to the robot 25:22 From robotics company to data company 27:44 Global customers and messy spaces Show notes: Oana Jinga: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oanajinga/ Dexory: https://www.dexory.com/ Read more about connected devices and physical AI: https://my.avnet.com/silica/resources/article/from-connected-devices-to-physical-ai/ Listen to the "We Talk IoT" Soundtrack on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/05MOV4OV2MH2in2txsAGtG?si=ad08112cb8d443f4 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-NvQ6VJYtE&list=PLLqgVFfZhDRVYmpEqbgajzDvGL4kACRDp About Avnet Silica: This podcast is brought to you by Avnet Silica—the Engineers of Evolution. Subscribe to our newsletters here: https://my.avnet.com/silica/resources/newsletter/ You can connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/silica-an-avnet-company/ . Or find us at www.avnet-silica.com .

September 24, 2026Episode 8925 min

From Runway to Real-Time: Data Lands on the Airport Ramp — We Talk IoT #89

Airports run on machines many passengers don’t even notice. Tugs, loaders, de-icing truck, hundreds of vehicles are moving across the tarmac every hour. If only one gets it wrong, the cost is not just downtime, it’s safety. Matthias Moulinier, VP of Product and Customer Success at Adveez, explains how connected ground support equipment (GSE) is changing life on the ramp. He walks us through the system that tracks who drives what, when and how. From badge-scan access control to automatic speed reductions when a seatbelt is not engaged. We explore how airports balance their fleets in summer and winter seasons, and how data helps operators avoid over-buying equipment. We talk electrification, autonomous GSE and what you learn from tracking more than 30.000 vehicles across 280 airports. #GSE #airport #IoT #fleetmanagement #saftey #wetalkiot Summary of this week’s episode: 01:34 Matthias's background and role at Adveez 02:08 How airports are evolving as GSE gets connected 03:41 What Adveez actually builds: hardware, cloud, and platform 05:47 Life before Adveez: paper-based, or no tracking at all 06:40 Badge-scan access control and driver authorisation 08:36 Seatbelt monitoring and automatic speed reduction 09:47 Fleet management: real-time visibility and utilisation data 13:58 Electrification: state-of-charge alerts and charger data 18:48 What's next: autonomous GSE on the ramp 23:04 Adveez by the numbers: 32,000+ tracked assets, 280+ airports Show notes: Matthias Moulinier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthias-moulinier-1a8b5359/ Adveez: https://adveez.com Listen to the “We Talk IoT” Soundtrack on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/05MOV4OV2MH2in2txsAGtG?si=ad08112cb8d443f4 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-NvQ6VJYtE&list=PLLqgVFfZhDRVYmpEqbgajzDvGL4kACRDp About Avnet Silica: This podcast is brought to you by Avnet Silica — the Engineers of Evolution. Subscribe to our newsletters here: https://my.avnet.com/silica/resources/newsletter/ You can connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/silica-an-avnet-company/ . Or find us at www.avnet-silica.com .

September 10, 2026Episode 8827 min

Nobody forges their own screwdriver: Inside the chip-down versus module debate — We Talk IoT #88

Harvesters, buses and mining machines are becoming rolling computers. The hardware inside them has to last decades. Yet the AI running on top of it changes every quarter. Ralf Kapahnke from Tria Technologies and Frank Neelen from Avnet Silica discuss where the CAV CAV (Commercial and Agricultural Vehicles) market is heading. Cameras that spot-treat pesticide or milking robots that turn farmers into a roboticists, are just two use cases we cover. And the decision facing every OEM: solder the processor onto your own board, or fit a module. #CAV #embedded #functionalsafety #agritech #edgeai #iot #wetalkiot Summary of this week’s episode: 01:30 What CAV means 03:20 Why AI and connectivity change the requirements 04:10 Functional safety: when a tractor meets a human being 06:30 Talking to your machine: LLMs moving from cloud to chip 07:15 AI-driven autonomy, from drone irrigation to predictive maintenance 09:00 Spot-treating pesticide with camera-based systems 10:45 Autonomous milking robots 13:30 Beyond agriculture: street cleaning, buses and people counting 15:20 Mining: robots underground 16:30 What keeps developers awake — and why software now leads hardware 19:00 What chip-down actually means 20:30 The module case: less risk, faster time to market 23:00 Where scalability pays off for an OEM 24:00 Volume, ARM versus x86, and the OSM trend 26:30 Modularity as a business strategy Show notes: Ralf Kapahnke: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralf-kapahnke-a713b912b/ Frank Neelen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-neelen-93008376/ Tria Technologies — commercial and agricultural vehicles: https://www.tria-technologies.com/commercial-agricultural-vehicles/ The episode with AGCO Fendt is called “From the cab to the cloud: How AGCO Fendt is making smart farming real”: https://my.avnet.com/silica/resources/podcast/episode-86-agco-fendt-makes-smart-farming-real/ Listen to the “We Talk IoT” Soundtrack on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/05MOV4OV2MH2in2txsAGtG?si=ad08112cb8d443f4 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-NvQ6VJYtE&list=PLLqgVFfZhDRVYmpEqbgajzDvGL4kACRDp About Avnet Silica: This podcast is brought to you by Avnet Silica — the Engineers of Evolution. Subscribe to our newsletters here: https://my.avnet.com/silica/resources/newsletter/ You can connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/silica-an-avnet-company/ . Or find us at www.avnet-silica.com .

July 23, 2026Episode 8721 min

When GPUs sing together: Solving the AI data centre power spike – We Talk IoT #87

AI data centres have a problem that no one talks about enough. When GPUs synchronise and fire together, power demand spikes exponentially, in milliseconds. Legacy backup systems were never built for this. Oversizing the grid is expensive. Throttling GPU utilisation wastes the very infrastructure operators are paying for. Ramesh Narasimhan, EVP, CCO and CFO at Nyobolt, explains how the Cambridge deep-tech startup evolved from a university materials lab into a full solutions provider. And how its Dynamic Response System addresses the power spike problem at the rack level, in real time. Ramesh discusses Nyobolt's journey from a vacuum cleaner prototype to a partnership with Symbotic's warehouse robots, the case for ultra-fast charging over high energy density, and why the company's core lesson applies as much to startups as to battery chemistry: don't confuse your product with your purpose. #battery #fastcharging #AIDataCentre #robotics #IoT #WeTalkIoT Summary of this week's episode: 01:08 From automotive to deep-tech: Ramesh's background 02:00 Nyobolt's origin: Cambridge materials lab to commercial company 03:03 What forced the shift from materials to solutions provider 05:05 The secret sauce: what Nyobolt's battery does differently 06:47 Charging a car in under five minutes, and why range obsession misses the point 09:42 The AI data centre power problem explained 12:25 The Dynamic Response System vs. conventional UPS 13:55 Off-grid in Rajasthan: what the MoU actually means 14:50 Symbotic and the warehouse robot use case 16:02 Humanoids, trade-offs, and scaling the supply chain 17:55 Where Nyobolt focuses and why 19:05 Looking ahead: changing how industries think about operations 20:05 The talent ecosystem around Cambridge Show notes: Ramesh Narasimhan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramesh-narasimhan-201ab3a/ Nyobolt Dynamic Response System: https://nyobolt.com/ai-data-centre-power-solutions/ Listen to the "We Talk IoT" Soundtrack on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/05MOV4OV2MH2in2txsAGtG?si=ad08112cb8d443f4 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-NvQ6VJYtE&list=PLLqgVFfZhDRVYmpEqbgajzDvGL4kACRDp About Avnet Silica: This podcast is brought to you by Avnet Silica — the Engineers of Evolution. Subscribe to our newsletters here: https://my.avnet.com/silica/resources/newsletter/ You can connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/silica-an-avnet-company/ . Or find us at www.avnet-silica.com .

June 25, 2026Episode 8630 min

From the cab to the cloud: How AGCO Fendt is making smart farming real – We Talk IoT #86

Smart farming has been a promise for decades. GPS guidance, variable-rate application, autonomous tractors, the technology has been on the horizon for so long that it is easy to miss how much of it has already arrived. In this episode, Andreas Gatti, manager digital products & FendtOne at AGCO Fendt, takes us through what precision agriculture actually delivers today, and where the hard problems still remain. Andreas explains how the PTx Trimble joint venture, formed by AGCO and Trimble in 2024, is turning Fendt from a machine manufacturer into a full farm ecosystem provider. We discuss what it means to treat 25-centimetre sections of a field independently, why full autonomy is less about driving and more about work quality, and how smart machines are quietly eliminating hours of paperwork for farmers who never asked for a digital transformation. We also ask the harder questions: who owns the data, whether the business case holds without subsidies, and which adoption barrier the industry consistently underestimates. #smartfarming #precisionagriculture #agtech #IoT #WeTalkIoT Summary of this week’s episode: 01:30 Andreas introduces himself and AGCO Fendt 03:45 What PTx Trimble changes for farmers 07:10 How Fendt defines smart farming — and what is already delivering results 11:20 Mixed fleets and interoperability in practice 14:30 The biggest benefit: driver, owner, or office? 16:00 Where farm autonomy stands today — and what is still in the way 22:10 Treating every 25 centimetres differently: precision application 27:00 Data ownership, security, and GDPR 31:30 Smart farming and climate change: mitigation or marketing? 35:00 Adoption barriers: cost, skills, connectivity — and the one nobody talks about 40:20 What Andreas is watching on the horizon Show notes: Andreas Gatti: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreas-gatti-b09195104/ Smart farming: https://www.fendt.com/de/smart-farming Smart agriculture: https://my.avnet.com/silica/solutions/markets/smart-city/smart-agriculture/ Listen to the “We Talk IoT” Soundtrack on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/05MOV4OV2MH2in2txsAGtG?si=ad08112cb8d443f4 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-NvQ6VJYtE&list=PLLqgVFfZhDRVYmpEqbgajzDvGL4kACRDp About Avnet Silica: This podcast is brought to you by Avnet Silica - the Engineers of Evolution. Subscribe to our newsletters here: https://my.avnet.com/silica/resources/newsletter/ You can connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/silica-an-avnet-company/ . Or find us at www.avnet-silica.com .

May 21, 2026Episode 8528 min

No app required: The NB-IoT pill dispenser changing medication management in care homes — We Talk IoT #85

Around 50% of medications are not taken on time. In ageing societies, the consequences range from hospital readmissions to preventable deaths. The costs run into millions of euros every year. In this episode, Daniel Böber, hardware developer at wirewire, explains how his three-person team tackled this problem with the ANABOX smart. A connected pill dispenser that runs on NB-IoT, requires no Wi-Fi, and is already deployed in nursing homes across Europe. The patient never touches an app. The carer does. Daniel discusses the deliberate design choice to keep the device analogue-looking and the digital layer invisible to the patient; the regulatory journey through EU MDR Class I certification and pharmacy approval; and what it takes to get a health insurer to add a hardware product to its catalogue. He also reflects honestly on what went wrong, including a full hardware redesign after elderly users couldn't open the compartments, and on wirewire's broader ambition to digitalise everyday objects unobtrusively. #NB-IoT #SmartHealth #IoT #MedicationManagement #HealthTech #AgeTech #WeTalkIoT Summary of this week's episode: 01:37 Wirewire and Mission 02:28 Why Doses Get Missed 03:52 Inside the Smart Pillbox 04:59 Why NB IoT Connectivity 06:30 Caregiver App Design 08:41 Patient Alerts and UX 10:31 Real World Rollout 14:16 Costs and Reimbursement 15:24 Break and Sponsor 15:50 Regulatory Approval Journey 17:06 Insurance Listing Explained 18:09 Scaling Across Europe 19:38 Analog Products Made Smart 21:06 Startup Lessons Learned 22:46 What’s Next and Partnerships 24:22 Hardware Advice and Support Show Notes: Daniel Böber (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielboe1/ ANABOX smart: https://anabox-smart.de/en Anmed GmbH: https://anmed.de Avnet Silica: NB-IoT — Flexibility is Key: https://my.avnet.com/silica/resources/article/nb-iot-flexibility-is-key/ Listen to the "We Talk IoT" Soundtrack on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/05MOV4OV2MH2in2txsAGtG?si=ad08112cb8d443f4 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-NvQ6VJYtE&list=PLLqgVFfZhDRVYmpEqbgajzDvGL4kACRDp About Avnet Silica: This podcast is brought to you by Avnet Silica — the Engineers of Evolution. Subscribe to our newsletters here: https://my.avnet.com/silica/resources/newsletter/ You can connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/silica-an-avnet-company/ . Or find us at www.avnet-silica.com .

April 30, 2026Episode 8429 min

Change the OS, stop the train: Why industrial software stability is non-negotiable – We Talk IoT #84

Most people think they know Windows. Industrial OEMs know better. In this episode, Yann Stridde, Senior Business Development Manager for Microsoft Windows IoT at Avnet Silica, explains why the operating system running a factory robot, a crane in Dubai, or a medical imaging device is fundamentally different from the one on your office PC – and why that difference matters more than ever. Windows IoT Enterprise is not a new product. Its roots go back to Windows Embedded in the late nineties. But the stakes around it have never been higher. The EU Cyber Resilience Act is coming into force. Windows 10 IoT Enterprise has reached end of support. And industrial OEMs face a hard question: how do you manage a 10-year device lifecycle when AI is reshaping the landscape every 18 months? Yann walks us through the certification chain behind a train brake system to show why changing an OS mid-lifecycle can literally stop a train at the station. He explains what Microsoft's 10-year Long-Term Servicing Channel actually guarantees – and where its limits lie. And he makes the case that for small OEMs who have to build their own security patches, peace of mind has a price worth paying. We also explore LiRISE, the ARM-based edge AI solution from Liebherr-Components and Reycom, shown at Embedded World 2026. A real-world example of Windows IoT on ARM running in harsh environments without active cooling, and why power efficiency is now a competitive requirement, not a nice-to-have. Tune in to find out what the industrial world demands from an operating system, and why the answer is not the Windows you know. #windowsiot #embeddedsystems #cybersecurity #cyberresilienceact #iot #oem #arm #lirise #avnetsilica #wetalkiot Summary of this week’s episode: 01:30 Yann's background: from Microsoft to Avnet Silica 03:00 Why IoT devices need their own version of Windows 06:30 Avnet Silica: advisory, licensing, and consulting for OEMs 08:30 Ten years of LTSC support: realistic in the AI era? 10:30 The train certification story: why OS stability is non-negotiable 15:00 Windows 10 IoT end of support: what OEMs must do now 17:30 Security and the EU Cyber Resilience Act 21:30 Choosing the right embedded OS: the key questions 23:30 LiRISE: Windows IoT on ARM at Embedded World 2026 26:30 ARM architecture, passive cooling, and the power efficiency argument 28:30 Use cases beyond industrial: kiosks, data centres, and more Show notes: Yann Stridde: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yannstridde/ Avnet Silica – Windows IoT Embedded Software: https://my.avnet.com/msembedded/embedded-software/overview LiRISE® – Liebherr-Components and Reycom IoT solution: https://www.liebherr.com/en-us/components/solutions/iot-solutions/e2e-iot-edge-gateway-solution-6654887 Listen to the “We Talk IoT” Soundtrack on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/05MOV4OV2MH2in2txsAGtG?si=ad08112cb8d443f4 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-NvQ6VJYtE&list=PLLqgVFfZhDRVYmpEqbgajzDvGL4kACRDp About Avnet Silica: This podcast is brought to you by Avnet Silica—the Engineers of Evolution. Subscribe to our newsletters here: https://my.avnet.com/silica/resources/newsletter/ You can connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/silica-an-avnet-company/ . Or find us at www.avnet-silica.com .

April 9, 2026Episode 8337 min

100 TOPS, Zero Production: Why Edge AI Projects Die Between Demo and Deployment – We Talk IoT #83

Edge AI promised intelligence everywhere. The reality? Most projects die between proof of concept and production. In this episode, Amir Sherman from DeepX and Michaël Uyttersprot from Avnet Silica reveal why moving AI from comfortable development kits to demanding industrial environments isn't just difficult. It's a maze of incompatible metrics, hidden power costs, and integration nightmares that catch companies off guard. We discuss why TOPS ratings mislead engineers, how ChatGPT triggered a wave of failed internal deployments, and what it takes to run vision AI in factories, delivery robots, and smart cities where five-watt power budgets matter more than marketing specifications. From Hyundai's factory robots to Baidu's Chinese character recognition systems, Amir and Michaël share real deployments that work, and explain the 50 years of embedded experience that AI code generators cannot replace. If you've wondered why edge AI keeps hitting walls nobody discusses in vendor presentations, this conversation delivers the answers. #EdgeAI #DeepX #IndustrialIoT #VisionAI #NPU #WeTalkIoT Summary of this week's episode: 01:45 Guest Introductions: Amir Sherman and Michaël Uyttersprot 03:29 The Edge AI Market Landscape: TinyML to High-End NPUs 06:47 Why Edge AI Projects Fail in Production 09:18 The TOPS Trap: Why Performance Metrics Mislead 11:50 Choosing Hardware: Why It's More Complex Than It Looks 16:28 Real Deployments: Delivery Robots and Chinese OCR 19:29 Vision AI in European Factories and AGVs 21:32 Generative AI at the Edge: 20 Billion Parameters in Five Watts 23:52 Smart Cities: Traffic Lights and Vision Language Models 27:22 What Engineers Need to Understand About Edge AI 30:48 Why 50 Years of Experience Still Matters 33:13 Bohemian Rhapsody and AI-Generated Llama Songs Show notes: Amir Sherman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherman-bizdev/ Michaël Uyttersprot: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micha%C3%ABl-uyttersprot-aaa971211/ DeepX: https://deepx.ai/ DeepX at Avnet Silica: https://my.avnet.com/silica/manufacturers/m/deepx/ Listen to the "We Talk IoT" Soundtrack on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/05MOV4OV2MH2in2txsAGtG?si=ad08112cb8d443f4 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-NvQ6VJYtE&list=PLLqgVFfZhDRVYmpEqbgajzDvGL4kACRDp About Avnet Silica: This podcast is brought to you by Avnet Silica—the Engineers of Evolution. Subscribe to our newsletters here: https://my.avnet.com/silica/resources/newsletter/ You can connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/silica-an-avnet-company/ Or find us at www.avnet-silica.com

March 19, 2026Episode 8225 min

Don’t digitise the waste: How signal towers became IoT devices – We talk IoT #82

Industry 4.0 promises data-driven manufacturing. Reality delivers machines from the 1990s, mixed protocols, and no budget to replace everything. The gap between digital ambition and brownfield constraints, the challenge of retrofitting IoT into existing facilities with legacy equipment, stops most factories before they start. In this episode, Armin Vogelsang from WERMA explains how WeAssist bridges that gap by turning signal towers – those coloured status lights that factories already have – into wireless IIoT data collection points. No rewiring, no downtime, no requirement to understand machine protocols. We explore why going "from zero to 100" fails in manufacturing, how Lean Production's eight types of waste (Tim Woods) guide IoT implementation, and what happened when Hermes Einrichtungs Service eliminated the waste of unnecessary motion by letting warehouse workers press a button instead of running through the hall. This is about practical IoT adoption for manufacturers who can't afford to rip everything out and start again. #IIoT #LeanProduction #Manufacturing #Logistics #Industry40 #WeTalkIoT Summary of this week's episode: 01:45 The Problem With "Zero to 100" Digital Transformation 03:20 Why Signal Towers Make Perfect IoT Interfaces 05:15 Understanding Brownfield Constraints 07:40 The Eight Types of Waste in Lean Production (Tim Woods) 10:25 Hermes Case Study: From Chaos to Calm 14:30 Technical Architecture: Wireless, Cloud, No Rewiring 18:10 User Acceptance as Critical Success Factor 21:45 Beyond Manufacturing: Logistics Applications 24:20 The Platform Myth: Why One IoT Solution Won't Cover Everything Show notes: Armin Vogelsang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/armin-vogelsang-3538a8177/ WERMA WeAssist: https://www.werma.com/us/weassist/ Hermes Einrichtungs Service case study: https://www.werma.com/us/knowledge/success-stories/hermes-einrichtungs-service/ Lean Production and the eight wastes: https://www.werma.com/en/knowledge/tech-talks/lean-production/ Listen to the "We Talk IoT" Soundtrack on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/05MOV4OV2MH2in2txsAGtG?si=ad08112cb8d443f4 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-NvQ6VJYtE&list=PLLqgVFfZhDRVYmpEqbgajzDvGL4kACRDp About Avnet Silica: This podcast is brought to you by Avnet Silica – the Engineers of Evolution. Subscribe to our newsletters here: https://my.avnet.com/silica/resources/newsletter/ You can connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/silica-an-avnet-company/ . Or find us at www.avnet-silica.com.

March 6, 2026Episode 8126 min

Chips, Grit, and "Girl on Fire": Emily Yang on Leadership, Mentorship, and Moving Up – We Talk IoT #81

The semiconductor industry has a pipeline problem. Women enter the field, but somewhere between mid-management and the executive level, they disappear. Emily Yang knows this from experience, and she’s doing something about it. In an industry where innovation is currency, Emily Yang has built a career on the belief that the best way to succeed is to lift others up. As Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing at Diodes Incorporated, she's not only driven transformative growth, but also championed mentorship and community impact, embodying perfectly this year's International Women's Day theme: give to gain. Emily discusses what effective leadership actually looks like across cultures. She explains how Diodes transformed from a discrete component supplier into a solutions-led organisation, why humanoid robotics is the emerging application she’s most excited about, and why geopolitical supply chain disruption is the challenge the industry isn’t talking about loudly enough. She also makes the case for mentorship as a structural fix, not a feel-good programme. #IWD2026 #GiveToGain #Leadership #Semiconductors #STEM #Mentorship #WeTalkIoT Summary of this week’s episode: 01:30 Emily’s career path: from customer service rep to SVP 04:30 How leadership style evolves when you’ve been on every rung 07:00 Transforming Diodes: from component sales to solution selling 09:30 Executive presence and communicating vision to a global team 11:30 Leadership philosophy: trust, advocacy, and the carrot approach 13:30 Diodes’ technology portfolio: MOSFETs, signal integrity, PCIe Gen 6 15:30 Humanoid robotics: the emerging application worth watching 18:00 Leading across cultures: what employee survey scores reveal 21:00 The Women in High Tech Mentoring Programme and why it works 24:00 On sponsors, self-doubt, and working your way up without a map 26:00 The geopolitical supply chain challenge no one discusses enough 27:30 Lessons learned: define your leadership style before someone else does 29:00 Work-life integration and closing advice to women in the industry Show notes: Emily Yang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-yang-153a69/ You can get in touch with her: emily.yang@diodes.com Global Semiconductor Alliance — Women’s Leadership Initiative: https://designthesolution.org/about-wli/ Listen to the “We Talk IoT” Soundtrack on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/05MOV4OV2MH2in2txsAGtG?si=ad08112cb8d443f4 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-NvQ6VJYtE&list=PLLqgVFfZhDRVYmpEqbgajzDvGL4kACRDp About Avnet Silica: This podcast is brought to you by Avnet Silica—the Engineers of Evolution. Subscribe to our newsletters here: https://my.avnet.com/silica/resources/newsletter/ You can connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/silica-an-avnet-company/ . Or find us at www.avnet-silica.com .