Exponential technologies, humanity-centric innovation, ethics in AI, passion and purpose, and the intersection of business and technology all point to one urgent question: How do we prepare the next generation to build solutions that are both economically viable and good for humanity? This is a question we explore with Pete Dulcamara - scientist, former VP of Research at Kimberly-Clark and author of High-Tech Heroes. We may be entering a new renaissance of innovation, driven by the convergenc...

Work-based learning is only as strong as the ecosystem around it, and this panel shows what happens when educators, employers, and students each do their part. Recorded at ACTE’s National Work-Based Learning Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, this keynote panel features the perspective of an educator, industrial employer, and a student and shares their best insights and practical advice for making WBL impactful. From the education side, Kathryn Dacier explains what it looks like when wor...

As AI and emerging technologies reshape work, HR is being pushed into a bigger role: making sure the company’s workforce strategy keeps pace with its business strategy. ▶️ Watch this episode on YouTube! In this episode, Matt Kirchner sits down with Dr. Peter Fasolo, former CHRO of Johnson & Johnson and now Director of the Institute for Leadership & Work at Boston University, to talk about the future workforce from one of the most senior vantage points in HR. Fasolo does not describe H...

Physical AI is the next major step for artificial intelligence, and FANUC’s collaboration with NVIDIA shows how that will look on the factory floor. Mike Cicco, President and CEO of FANUC America, highlights the partnership’s two major applications: digital and physical. On the digital side, FANUC robots can be brought into NVIDIA Omniverse and Isaac Sim, alongside FANUC’s ROBOGUIDE software, for simulation, virtual commissioning, digital-twin development, cycle-time evaluation, synthetic dat...

What if the future of technical talent is not Silicon Valley or public service, but a career path that moves fluidly between both? Arun Gupta sees that possibility from several angles: as a longtime venture capitalist, CEO of NobleReach Foundation, Stanford lecturer, and author of The Mission Generation. The strongest ideas and technologies only scale when they are matched with people who have resilience, curiosity, humility, and the ability to build strong teams. That same talent equation ma...

What can organizational leaders learn from military-tested leadership practices to realign teams, sharpen execution, and move forward with greater clarity? In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, Matt Kirchner sits down with Jay Richards, retired U.S. Navy Senior Chief, former Naval Special Warfare operator, CIA contractor, and author of The Standdown Framework: Advance Over Retreat. Richards brings a rare perspective shaped by elite military service, global special operations collaboration, a...

Nikki Gonzales has built a career at the intersection of industrial automation, software, and systems thinking, and in this episode, she makes the case that the next chapter of manufacturing won’t be defined by AI alone. It will be defined by how well people understand process, data, machines, and the interfaces that connect them. The future of automation is as much about human judgment and lifelong learning as it is about smarter technology. A big part of that story runs through the hu...

What skills actually matter in technical careers now that the work is more digital, more automated, and more interconnected? Industrial employers are not asking schools to choose between hard skills and soft skills. They're asking for both, and they still need the hard skills to come first. At Bosch, Justin Allen sees that every day: teamwork, drive, and professionalism matter, but technical problems don't get solved unless people understand the systems, tools, and engineering underneath them...

Imagine being able to track your brain health before serious decline sets in, understand your personal risk factors, and intervene early enough to help prevent dementia rather than simply react to it. In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, Matt Kirchner talks with Christin Glorioso, MD, PhD, founder and CEO of NeuroAge Therapeutics, about one of the most intriguing frontiers in health and longevity right now: whether brain aging can actually be measured, influenced, and in some cases pushed b...

Artificial intelligence is moving from novel feature to core infrastructure, and that shift is forcing companies, schools and regulators to confront a harder question than how to use the technology: how to govern it. In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, Matt Kirchner talks with Patrick Sullivan, Vice President of Strategy & Innovation at A-LIGN, about the emerging rules of the AI economy. From the EU AI Act and a patchwork of state-level regulation in the U.S. to new standards like ISO ...