Shows / The Tech Trek
The Tech Trek
The Tech Trek is a podcast about how founders, operators, and technology leaders build and scale technology companies. Each episode explores the decisions behind building products, teams, and technical organizations, with conversations spanning engineering, AI, data, product, hiring, leadership, and growth. Guests share what they are building, what they are learning, and how they are navigating the challenges that come with turning technology into a successful company.
Episodes
The Tech TrekHer Journey: Sales Leader to Cybersecurity CEO
In this episode, Amir sits down with Brooke Motta, CEO and co-founder of RAD Security, to unpack her career pivot from sales leadership to becoming a founder…
The Tech TrekForge Your Own Leadership Path
In this episode, Richard Girges, CTO at MNTN, breaks down the appeal and risk of emulating high-profile leaders like Elon Musk or Steve Jobs. From startup life…
The Tech TrekThe Secret to Winning a Two-Sided Marketplace
In this episode, Amir sits down with Brian McMahon, CEO and co-founder of Pickle—a fashion rental marketplace aiming to become the Airbnb for everyday items…
The Tech TrekDeepfakes Are Hacking the Workplace
In this episode, Amir sits down with Aaron Painter, CEO of Nametag, to explore how deepfakes and generative AI are reshaping identity security in the…
The Tech TrekAI Leadership When Nothing Is Certain
In this episode, Amir speaks with Anna Patterson, founder of Ceramic AI, about what it truly means to lead an AI-first company. They unpack the differences…
The Tech TrekHow to Secure the Software Supply Chain
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Matt Moore, CTO and co-founder of Chainguard, to explore the escalating importance of software supply…
The Tech TrekTreat AI Like a Partner, Not a Tool
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Christina Garcia, SVP of Engineering at Echo Global Logistics, shares her insights on integrating AI not as a replacement but…
The Tech TrekScaling with Purpose in the AI + Robotics Era
In this episode, Amir sits down with Anthony Jules, Co-Founder and CEO of Robust.AI, to explore how scaling lessons from the early days of Sapient translate…
The Tech TrekHow AI CAN SAVE Public Education
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Joe Philleo, founder and CEO of Edio, an AI platform transforming K-12 education. Joe shares his journey…
The Tech TrekThe Power of Personalization in Regulated Spaces
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Sus Misra, SVP of Data & Analytics at Solve(D) (IPG Health), to unpack what true precision targeting…
The Tech TrekHow Core Values Drive Real AI Impact
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Brian Clifford, Chief Data Officer at Amica Insurance, shares how his team translates core company values—like exceptional…
The Tech TrekYou Can’t Bolt On AI and Win
In this deep-dive episode, we explore what it truly means to be "AI-native" versus bolting AI onto existing products. Abhay Mitra, CTO of Nirvana Insurance…
The Tech TrekAI Is Changing the Role of Software Engineers
In this episode, we dive deep into the evolving relationship between engineering and product with Pranab Krishnan, CTO of Zeal - a payroll and payments…
The Tech TrekInnovation Isn’t a Buzzword—It’s a Culture
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Vinayak Kumar shares how his team at Lynx strikes a practical balance between innovation and efficiency in the heavily…
The Tech TrekThe Brutal Truth About Enterprise AI Adoption
In this episode, Amir speaks with Ameya Brid, Global Director of Data & Analytics at Invista, about the maturation of GenAI conversations in the enterprise…
The Tech TrekHow AI Is Changing Science
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Andy Beam, CTO of Lila Sciences, to explore how AI is transforming the messy, serendipitous nature of…
The Tech TrekWhy This Startup Hires Straight Out of College
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir speaks with Alexander Schlager, founder and CEO of AIceberg, about how his company has tackled the AI talent shortage by…
The Tech TrekHow Agentic AI Is Disrupting the Trades
Wyatt Smith, CEO of UpSmith, joins Amir to unpack how agentic AI is transforming the skilled trades industry. From dispatch optimization to human-in-the-loop…
The Tech TrekDon’t Build the Wrong AI Product
What separates a successful founder from the rest? In this episode, Harish Abbott—CEO and co-founder of Augment—breaks down how he repeatedly spots opportunity…
The Tech TrekBuilding AI Products? Start Here
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir speaks with Patrick Leung, CTO of Faro Health, about what it takes to lead an engineering organization through a…
The Tech TrekShe’s Building the Future of AI Conversations
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Sunita Verma, CTO at Character AI and former engineering leader at Google. Sunita shares how she’s…
The Tech TrekSoft Skills Built This Startup
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Emily Long, the CEO and co-founder of Edera, a deep tech startup focused on secure infrastructure. Emily…
The Tech TrekAI vs AI: The Cybersecurity War
Arlene Watson, a product and engineering leader in the cybersecurity space with experience at CrowdStrike, ServiceNow, and Tenable, joins the show to unpack…
The Tech TrekEducation at the AI Crossroads
In this episode, Amir sits down with David Marchick, Dean of the Kogod School of Business at American University, to explore how AI is transforming higher…
The Tech TrekWhy Tech Debt Isn’t the Enemy
In this episode, Amir sits down with Brent Keator, an expert advisor at Primary Venture Partners, to unpack one of the most debated engineering challenges…
The Tech TrekIt’s Not the Idea, It’s the Execution
In this episode, Amir Bormand sits down with Andy White, CEO of ClosingLock, to talk through his journey from PhD engineer to startup founder. Andy shares the…
The Tech TrekFrom Blame to Belonging in Engineering Teams
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir Bormand talks with Jason Wells, Head of Engineering at BrowserBase, about building a high-performance culture rooted in…
The Tech TrekEngineering the Next Energy Breakthrough
In this episode, Amir Bormand sits down with Kieran Furlong, CEO and co-founder of Realta Fusion, to explore the unique path of a deep tech startup spun out of…
The Tech TrekBuilding Engineering Cultures That Deliver
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Clark Downum, CTO at Redox, to unpack the deeper dynamics between engineering, product, and business…
The Tech TrekThe Youngest in the Room and Still Leading It
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Daniel Whatley, co-founder and technical lead at Vividly, shares his journey launching a startup while still a student at…
The Tech TrekEngineering with Empathy — How to Lead Align and Grow
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir is joined by Jonathan Myron, VP of Engineering at Healthie, to dive into what it really takes to lead engineering teams…
The Tech TrekWinning Your First 90 Days as a Data Leader
What should you really be asking during your interview as a tech leader? And once you land the role, how do you manage expectations, reduce technical debt, and…
The Tech TrekHiring for Potential, Not Just Pedigree
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Brendan Grove, CTO and co-founder at PrizeOut, shares how his non-traditional background shaped his leadership style and…
The Tech TrekNavigating Leadership at Every Stage
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Ronak Vyas, Co-Founder and CTO of Lead Bank, to explore how leadership principles remain constant even as…
The Tech TrekScaling with Purpose: Building the Future of Green Hydrogen
In this episode, Marty Neese, CEO of Verdagy, joins Amir to unpack what it takes to scale a company in one of the most innovative and high-stakes…
The Tech TrekEngineering Culture in an AI-First World
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir chats with Rob Williams, co-founder and CTO at Read AI, about what it truly means to be an AI-native company. Rob shares…
The Tech TrekBuilding Culture Through Unreasonable Hospitality
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Abhi Sharma, CEO and Co-Founder of Relyance AI, to unpack the philosophy of "unreasonable hospitality"—a…
The Tech TrekFind Your Edge in a Crowded Market
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Sasha Gainullin, CEO of Battleface, to explore how focusing on a small, underserved niche in the travel…
The Tech TrekBehind the Uptime: How AI Keeps the Internet Running
In this episode, Amir Bormand sits down with Tony Speller, Division SVP of Technical Operations and Engineering at Comcast, to explore how AI is quietly but…
The Tech TrekBuilding AI Agents with Purpose
In this episode, Amir sits down with Nirman Dave, co-founder and CEO of Zams, an enterprise AI platform built to help businesses design and deploy AI agents…
The Tech TrekBuilding Emotionally Intelligent AI
In this episode of The Tech Trek, I sit down with Artem Rodichev, Founder & CEO of Ex-Human, to explore the emerging world of empathetic generative AI. We…
The Tech TrekFinding the Good: Building Product Teams with Intent
What does it mean to find out what your team is actually good at—and how do you use that insight to grow, scale, and lead effectively? In this episode, Amir…
The Tech TrekFrom Spy Dreams to Startup CEO: A Founder’s Journey
In this episode, Amir sits down with Zach Barney, Co-founder and CEO of Mobly, the system of record for event marketers. Zach’s story takes us from his early…
The Tech TrekEngineering Leadership: Driving Business Outcomes from Engineering
Join us in this insightful conversation with Eric Valasek as we explore the crucial relationship between CEOs, product teams, and engineering leaders. Eric…
The Tech TrekExploring Open Source AI
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir Bormand sits down with Shang Wang, Co-founder and CTO of CentML, to explore the dynamic landscape of open source AI…
The Tech TrekUnlocking Sales Productivity with Agentic AI
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Andrew Levy, CEO and Co-founder of AirCover.ai, to explore how agentic AI is transforming the sales…
The Tech TrekImproving & Automating Healthcare Data Quality
Guest: Viraj Narayanan, CEO of Cornerstone AI 🔑 Key Takeaways Healthcare data is messy by default. It's generated by countless sources with different…
The Tech TrekStartup Playbook: Building Product-First Teams with Engineers
On this episode of The Tech Trek, we're diving deep into the intersection of engineering, product, and business thinking with Vineet Goel — Co-Founder and…
The Tech TrekHow to Build an Effective Onboarding Plan
In this episode, Amir sits down with Meg Henry, Head of People & Talent at Companyon Ventures, to unpack a critical—yet often overlooked—aspect of growing…
The Tech TrekData Culture: Building the Data Engine Driving WHOOP
In this episode, Carlos Peralta returns to The Tech Trek to dive deep into data culture in the wearable tech space, sharing how WHOOP turns petabytes of…
The Tech TrekFounder’s Playbook: Startup Lessons for the Long Game
In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir Bormand sits down with Max Mergenthaler-Canseco, CEO and co-founder of Nixla, to explore the nuanced reality behind…
The Tech TrekBuilding a Cybersecurity Startup with NSA Tech
In this episode, I sit down with Jason Rogers, CEO & Co-Founder of Invary, to explore an unconventional approach to building a cybersecurity startup—leveraging…
The Tech TrekFrom Data to Decisions: Why the Right Questions Matter
In this episode, Amir sits down with Kaustav Das to discuss one of the most critical yet challenging aspects of analytics—asking the right questions. They…
The Tech TrekFounder’s Playbook: Turning Passion into Product
What happens when you build a business around what you genuinely love? In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Michael Farb, CEO of Boatsetter —…
The Tech TrekDriving B2B AI Innovation
In this episode, Zachary Hanif, VP of AI, ML, and Data at Twilio, joins Amir to talk about the engine behind B2B AI innovation. From selecting the right tools…
The Tech TrekA CEO’s Guide: Aligning Business & Engineering Teams
In this episode, Amir chats with Bobby Touran, the non-technical CEO and co-founder of Rainbow, an insurance tech company that thrives on strong engineering…
The Tech TrekThe Leadership Blueprint: Building High-Performing Tech Teams
In this episode, Vijay Sankararaman breaks down how to intentionally build a low-churn, high-impact team culture. Whether you’re a tech leader, manager, or…
The Tech TrekTech Leader’s Guide: Building Data Products
In this episode, Amir sits down with Santhosh Kumar, Head of Data at Trepp, to unpack the evolving world of Data as a Product. Data is no longer just a support…
The Tech TrekFrom Finance to Founding a Tech Startup
In this episode, Amir sits down with Trevor Lee, Co-founder and CEO of Myko AI, to unpack his unconventional leap from the finance world to building a…
The Tech TrekHow to Be an Effective CTO: A Guide to Balancing Vision, Execution, and Building Trust
In this episode, Amir is joined by Sachin Nene to explore what it really takes to thrive as a modern CTO. Sachin shares actionable strategies for balancing…