#38. Trust, AI, and Digital Operations

#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

#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

#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

#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

#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