Reza Vakili

Moving AI from pilot to production requires operationalizing risk, aligning stakeholders across sales, product, and risk, and translating technical complexity into business impact. If teams can’t connect bias to brand equity, or security to business continuity, adoption slows down fast. That’s why I believe the embedded GTM executive model is becoming essential. AI can’t be tossed over the wall from product to sales. The wall has to come down. Leaders who can operate across functions and turn uncertainty into measurable value will separate experimentation from real scale. I shared more of my perspective in a recent interview, including what creates “zombie AI” and what actually drives commercial velocity. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eCXUE_ip

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Excited to share some great insights for vendors from the latest Gartner technology buying research, AI Vendor Race: 2026 Planned Investments Outlook for Custom-Build Initiatives https://lnkd.in/gktDgWTk. Investing in services to support AI initiatives topped the list for this year. Given the complexity of custom-builds in the AI era — and the drive for value capture in 2026 — it is encouraging that many companies are prioritizing services as a strategic spend. Gartner clients can access the full research note on the Gartner website. Thanks Derry Finkeldey and Hank Barnes for leading this research, and Brayden Napoli for taking the lead on this note.

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NEW, ANNOUNCING 'amalgamy.ai'… Where Compute Intelligence Becomes OneThisWay Global Announces amalgamy.ai, Its Unified AI Software Platform for Intelligent Infrastructure. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SAN JOSE, CA – October 20, 2025 ThisWay Global, award-winning leader in the AI software industry, announces the release of its groundbreaking product suite, amalgamy.ai, built for every organization that uses CPU and GPU chips inside any environment. Amalgamy.ai maximizes AI margins and revenue for hyperscalers, neo-clouds and enterprise, while expanding, secure, high-performing compute power for researchers and sovereign ecosystems. Derived from the word amalgamation; the merging of diverse elements into a unified, stronger whole, amalgamy.ai embodies the next evolution of artificial intelligence and high performance computing. It is the first platform engineered to seamlessly bind all compute capacity together so that every silicon chip, no matter the type or the manufacturer, can work together. The amalgamy.ai software sits on the customer’s side of operations, introducing no additional risk and seamlessly delivering proven return on investment. “Our AI software platform, amalgamy.ai, represents a new kind of compute and data center intelligence, one that doesn’t replace people, but enables them to make the greatest use of every server, GPU, and hour, amplifying human capability,” said Angela Hood, CEO and Founder of ThisWay Global. “With amalgamy.ai, every CPU and GPU, from NVIDIA to AMD to Intel, can now work together as one synchronized intelligence, unlocking a new dimension of performance and enabling organizations to realize the full potential of modern compute. ”What amalgamy.ai does: Amalgamy.ai provides a modular software suite of AI orchestration technology that integrates directly with existing enterprise, academic, and government systems, turning fragmented CPU and GPU infrastructure into a cohesive, intelligent multi-tenant ecosystem; in the cloud, on-premise and in hybrid environments. Key capabilities include: Unified Intelligence Layer: Connects diverse compute resources, even in multi-tenant environments. Secure Sovereign AI Core: Ensures compliance with state, federal, international and private sector data governance standards. Scalable Integration: Extensible from GPU-dense compute clusters to enterprise cloud and edge environments. Why It Matters In an age where data, silicon chip fragmentation and cloud dependency limit innovation, amalgamy.ai provides software that allows organizations to achieve greater observability, computational intelligence, unification of their workflows, accelerate discovery, minimize waste and increase margins. By combining ThisWay Global’s proven expertise in AI orchestration, automation, and utilization intelligence, amalgamy.ai delivers a single, integrated platform that turns complexity into clarity and computation into capability.

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1. Flawed AI benchmarks put enterprise budgets at risk, revealing potential misconceptions in decision-making. 2. Clinccheck Live integrates AI planning into Invisalign dental treatments, enhancing patient care. 3. OpenAI invests heavily, securing AI compute partnerships with AWS in a move reflecting its multi-cloud strategy. 4. NVIDIA collaborates with South Korea on sovereign AI initiatives at the APEC CEO Summit.

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What does a law firm actually learn after living with a DIY Azure lakehouse for five years? In this episode of Overruled by Data, Reanna Martinez, Director of Innovation, Systems and Data at Munger, Tolles & Olson shares what five years of real-world lakehouse experience taught the firm about governance, security, access control, the true cost of sustaining a homegrown data platform over time, and what prompted a change. If your firm is building its own platform, or thinking about it, this conversation offers rare, hard-earned perspective from someone who has lived the full journey. 🎙️ Listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/evWWiTeX

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Catch the highlights from our newest blog: Zoom Introduces Realtime Media Streams Zoom has unveiled Realtime Media Streams (RTMS), giving developers secure, real-time access to audio, video, and transcript data from Zoom Meetings. Designed for AI integration, RTMS supports use cases like transcription, compliance monitoring, and live CRM updates. Learn more about this announcement by reading our full blog post: https://hubs.li/Q03xm5xh0 #AICollaborationTools #DeveloperTools #WorkflowAutomation https://hubs.li/Q03xm5xh0

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In this episode of #TheAIForecast, Egnyte CEO Vineet Jain breaks down one of enterprise AI’s biggest challenges: protecting corporate data while enabling innovation. From shadow IT to domain-specific LLMs, Vineet shares why 2025 is the year for smart experimentation and why governance must lead the way. Listen now: https://lnkd.in/gT3bZ-MD

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Five Big Leadership Lessons I Took From Cisco’s AI Summit The most useful AI conversations today focus less on demos and more on solving real business problems. Watching Cisco’s AI Summit remotely, what stood out was how clearly speakers centered on impact, execution, and the next 12 months of adoption. I think about AI, leadership, and infrastructure strategy. 1. Models Are Ready, Companies Aren’t Frontier models and AI tooling have crossed a major capability threshold. Interfaces, copilots, and workflow integrations are now strong enough that adoption should be accelerating. The real gap is absorption. Many organizations have powerful tools but still run old processes, with limited governance and little behavioral change. Leaders who personally use AI, ask for AI-assisted work, and normalize experimentation are the ones who unlock broader usage. 2. Agents Need Guardrails To Unlock Speed A key theme was the rise of agents: systems that plan, call tools, and execute multi-step work. The future looks less like “chatting with a bot” and more like delegating tasks and supervising outcomes. Humans shift into roles of intent-setter and reviewer. But trust is the bottleneck. Without clear permissions, visibility, and fail-safes, teams move cautiously. Strong guardrails turn that fear into confidence and speed. 3. Physical AI Extends Impact Beyond The Screen Physical AI brings intelligence into the real world through perception, robotics, and spatial understanding. This connects AI to frontline environments in healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, and field service. It’s the bridge between drafting text and transforming how physical work gets done. Leaders need to start mapping where embodied and spatial intelligence could augment operations, not just office workflows. 4. Infrastructure And Power Are Now Strategic The summit also underscored that AI depends on very tangible constraints: compute, power, land, cooling, and build times. Data center capacity and energy availability are becoming strategic choke points. Compute is turning into a core economic resource. Networking, security, and efficiency are no longer back-office issues; they sit at the heart of competitive advantage and AI strategy. 5. How I’m Approaching The Next 12 Months Prioritize absorption: redesign workflows and change management, not just tools. Make AI visible as a leadership behavior: use it, ask for it, and reward experimentation. Invest in guardrails to go faster safely: policies, permissions, monitoring, and education. Treat infrastructure as part of AI strategy: understand where workloads run and what limits capacity. Encourage teams: the people who test, learn, and iterate quickly will drive the most value. #CiscoAISummit #AILeadership #AgenticAI #EnterpriseAI #DigitalTransformation #AIInfrastructure Follow Cliff K. Locks for strategic leadership insights by clicking Follow and then tapping the 🔔 https://lnkd.in/eb4U8prk

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Did you hear!? 78% of global companies say they're using Al; 42% of large enterprises have it in production; new AI tools claim to save us 2.5 hrs a week but 95% of all Al projects fail to deliver real value. Either way, the numbers don't add up. That’s why some can call it a bubble… while others are proclaiming it’s the next Industrial Revolution only with 10x bigger impact; realized 10x faster. We get it. Al is everywhere AND teams still struggle to make it do what they need it to do during their busy days and often frustrating complex work environments. That's why I'm excited to share the story behind Computer: our vision for an Al teammate that's as reliable, collaborative, and context-aware as the best human colleagues. Curious about what it takes to move from hype to habit? Read my latest blog for the full journey: https://dvrv.ai/46uiaRS

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#AI is transforming the ways we think, work, and test. Tricentis' VP of #ArtificialIntelligence & #MachineLearning David Colwell sat down with Demetri Panici on the #AIAgents Podcast to explore the real-world implications of #GenerativeAI, the capabilities (and limitations) of emerging large language models, and how Tricentis is leading innovation in #SoftwareTesting. Listen to the full episode here ➡️ https://gag.gl/KGatsZ

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This year, we’re thrilled to announce our new partnership with Cognizant combining XTEL’s AI-driven Revenue Management and advanced Trade Promotion Management (TPM) capabilities with Cognizant’s AI-powered Revenue Growth Management (RGM) solutions. Together, we’re helping the world’s leading CPG companies unlock smarter, more profitable growth through intelligence, automation, and precision at scale. #AI #RevenueManagement #CPG #RGM #Partnership #Growth Brandon Savoy, Benjamin Peart, Alan Skiles,Cheyenne Tessier, Jake Wood, John Keating, Steve Le Rhun, Alfredo Donati, Lucas Kronibus, Guillaume B., Andrew McKairnes, Eric Bickel,Andres Amadeo Jejen Paez, doug stewart, Gregory McNitt, Mike Milanowski, Ahsan Jameel, Xavier Banti Joseph Jang, Sandeep Chaudhary

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Great conversation this weekend at the SoCal Tech Forum with Alex Esterly from iT1, where we explored how modern infrastructure is evolving in a world shaped by cloud computing, AI workloads, and increasing cyber risk. Alex shared insights from more than 30 years of experience in IT leadership and infrastructure architecture, discussing how organizations are shifting from hardware-centric thinking to platform-driven operations and resilient infrastructure design. Some key takeaways from the discussion: - Infrastructure strategy is now a business resilience decision, not just a technical one - Modern environments require automation-first operations and hybrid architectures - AI-assisted IT operations are beginning to reduce operational toil and improve system reliability - Designing infrastructure for failure and recovery is more important than focusing only on prevention A special thank you to iT1, one of our valued sponsors, whose support helps power the mission at the SoCal Tech Forum and enables us to continue bringing together technologists, entrepreneurs, and innovators across Southern California. And thank you to everyone who joined us at FoundrSpace in Rancho Cucamonga for another great morning of conversation, networking, coffee, and community. Looking forward to seeing everyone next month at the forum, where we introduce ☁ Ben Schreiner ☁ (he/him/dude)! #SoCalTechForum #TechCommunity #Infrastructure #Cloud #AI #TechnologyLeadership

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When it comes to business model innovation, it’s not about chasing shiny new ideas. It’s about how they fit - with operational rigor, customer value, and ecosystem strength - that drives long-term success. 🔹 Research of nearly 300 companies across two tech eras reveals: Novelty alone won't guarantee top performance. The magic is in the system design, not just the spark. 🔹 Spotify, for example, revolutionized music streaming through novelty, yes, but also balanced that with efficiency and customer lock-in to dominate. 🔹 In 2025, AI is not just a tool but a strategic lever for business model innovation. According to IBM, 85% of executives expect AI to enable new business models this year, while 44% plan to use AI specifically to drive innovation. Key principles for leaders considering business model innovation now: 1. Pair novelty with operational discipline — don’t sacrifice efficiency for the new. 2. Design to lock in customers by delivering ongoing value. 3. Build complementary partnerships to amplify reach and capabilities. 4. Tailor innovations to your company’s unique context — size, strategy, industry trends. 5. Leverage AI and emerging tech thoughtfully, to transform value creation and capture. The best innovators don’t just do new. They engineer balanced, adaptable systems designed to win in complex markets.

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The Information has a great read for anyone around #AI and #AIDataCenters. That being the early, yet persistent, move from a # SaaS/user/seat pricing to #UsageBased pricing. As hard as this might be to apprecaite this actually good for the sector. The record breaking investment over the past years has the market finally forcing #financialdiscipline and actual #ROI focused #investments and #contracts. The biggest outstanding question is whether these changes can take effect in time to avoid the potential financial meltdown if contract breakage and revenue leaks happen from defaults. What do you think? #management #venturecapital #privateequity #capitalmarkets #AI #AIInvestments https://lnkd.in/ewxJP6vN

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The agentic era needs more than powerful models. It needs systems of record, enterprise data, governance, and orchestration. That is not something you bolt on after the fact. It is built over decades, alongside the world's largest organisations. The frontier-model ecosystem is catching up to what enterprise customers already run in production. Great post by Madhav Thattai, EVP & GM Agentforce at salesforce.

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IBM just launched new AI agentic capabilities with IBM watsonx Orchestrate. Here’s what you’re getting: 1️⃣ Pre-built agents for Sales and Procurement packaged up with domain-expertise, integrations, and tools 2️⃣ Agent and Flow Builders to make it easier to build and scale your own agents 3️⃣ Agent Analytics to enable builders to monitor agent performance and debug agent execution 4️⃣ AI Gateway to bring your own model or use IBM Granite

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If you missed enterprise cyber and AI storage leader Infinidat at Gartner IOCS last week, join us TOMORROW (Dec 18) as we discuss the critical trends in enterprise storage at the 7th Annual Insight Jam Conference in our keynote address: "Key Enterprise Storage Topics For Machine Age Market Architecture". Tune in at 8am PT/11am/4pm GMT/5pm CET to explore how 2026 will unfold for enterprise storage: • Cyber storage resilience and its critical importance to an overall corporate cyber security strategy • AI - both enterprise storage for AI applications and workloads and also the use of AI inside of storage systems for ease of management and to cut costs • The impact of enterprise storage on power budgets and power efficiency • How enterprise storage can dramatically reduce IT CAPEX, IT OPEX, and IT resource needs https://bit.ly/48T0osy Oren Yesharim David Beltrán Vera David Humes II David Sawyer David Muench Tim Dales Bill Basinas Fran Bruno David Lubrano Benjamin Lew Tom Manganaro Tom Dionne Daniel Potts Donato Ceccomancini Marco Meraviglia ☁ Andrea Sappia Andrea Fraietta Marcus Benham Juliet McMullen Anthony DeLisio Karine Haase Lynsy (Calvario) Marshall Rebecca Kraushaar Revital Aharon-Frimerman Kfir Kayakov Shira Ginsburg Solutions Review Tim King Maleeha Haider Jonathan Paula 📸Craig Hibbert Bob Stone Pete Byrne Paul S. Gaccione Paul Stewart George Deveau James Meyers Gene Kussmann JT Lewis Lee Bushnell

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Howdy America !! Immensely pleased to welcome Naveen Merudi to Protectt.ai as VP Sales, America—based out of San Francisco   As Protectt.ai continues to expand globally, Naveen will lead the AI Native Mobile App security Platform and our latest #innovation Agentic AI Security platform in USA market !! He brings in rich experience in enterprise technology, #cybersecurity, and SaaS go-to-market leadership, with a strong track record of building markets, scaling revenue, and developing high-performing teams across global regions.   Delighted to welcome a leader whose expertise and market perspective will contribute significantly to securing global brands and scaling the adoption of Protectt.ai's innovative security platform in North America.

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