As part of our new partnership with Summit, Ron and Ed welcome Shannon Kaiser, a technology leader whose career spans cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, application hosting, and managed services. Shannon shares how Summit helps organizations navigate the increasingly complex world of IT while maintaining the security, reliability, and performance businesses depend on every day.
About Shannon Kaiser
Shannon Kaiser is General Manager of Application Hosting at Summit and a veteran technology executive with extensive experience in cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, application delivery, and managed services. Having led engineering, operations, and technology teams throughout his career, Shannon focuses on helping organizations build secure, scalable environments that support business growth while reducing operational risk.
SHOW NOTES
Segment one
Welcome to The Soul of Enterprise, Shannon Kaiser! Shannon is General Manager of Application Hosting at Summit. https://summithq.com/
What belief about business did Shannon hold in his 20s and has now completely abandoned? “That business was only about the dollars and cents.”
What do most accounting firm leaders consistently get wrong about technology? “That they think they can consume it as individual tools.”
What business or technology cliche would you like to see retired immediately? “That technology makes us more efficient”
What’s your approach to AI? Do you see this as utopia, or dystopia? “I think that the amount of productivity we will get from these tools will be amazing. […] We are not prepared for what is actually happening in real time today.”
Segment two
“Technology is a way to build trust, continuity, operationally, and the ability to continue to service.” —Shannon Kaiser, Summit
“The biggest misconception is that risk is a technology problem. Hollywood has taught us that there are hackers behind keyboards in dark rooms typing furiously at their keyboard.” —Shannon Kaiser, Summit
On why ransomware attacks are prevalent: “It isn’t the people per se. It’s the status quo and policy that the people are following and the lack of rigor in reviewing it.” —Shannon Kaiser, Summit
Segment three
Life After Google by George Gilder https://www.amazon.com/Life-After-Google-Blockchain-Economy/dp/1621575764
The three pieces to good system access and passwords: something you know, something you have, and something you are
Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick https://www.amazon.com/Co-Intelligence-Living-Working-Ethan-Mollick/dp/059371671X
“Over the next five years this isn’t going to be just about adopting AI. It’s going to be about how we govern it.” —Shannon Kaiser, Summit
From Shannon Kaiser as the AI tip of the day: Before you accept any answer, always ask your AI, “What else do you need to be good?”
Segment four
From Ed Kless on project management: “The number one reason for project failure is that very rarely is a project actually properly initiated.”
From Ed again on project management: “Most people want to compress the planning process into a shorter time period because they want to get to execution. Then they execute. Then after that, there’s this really long phase called fix-it.”
A big THANK YOU to Shannon Kaiser for joining us today! Shannon is the General Manager, Application Hosting at Summit. Learn more at this link https://summithq.com/
Bonus Content is Available As Well
Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.
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