Peggy Smedley Show

Peggy Smedley and Amy Waninger, inclusive leadership expert and author of Moving from Panic to Purpose, talk about how different sectors respond to change, where they get stuck, and some tips for what it really takes to lead through unrelenting change. She shares an example of a big work change she went through.

They also discuss:

· The process and steps to address a big change.

· How to make this happen in a project-driven environ...

Peggy Smedley and Michelle Pellegrin, IBM’s VP and Global Managing Director for Microsoft, talk about smarter hybrid cloud operations and giving customers a unified approach to managing cloud infrastructure. She says bringing into IBM really strengthens the joint work IBM is already doing with Microsoft.

They also discuss:

· How they are giving customers a unified approach to managing cloud infrastructure.

· What Microsoft and Hash...

Peggy digs into how agentic AI (artificial intelligence) is poised to redefine transportation, sharing examples, growth projections, and new opportunities. She urges not to get caught up in the hype but rather focus on the way technology can provide real value and ROI (return on investment).

She also discusses:

· Some key use cases in the transportation industry.

· A paradox that we must consider.

· Five steps transportation leader...

Peggy Smedley and Paula Caligiuri, cofounder and CEO, Skiilify, and DMSB distinguished professor of International Business, Northeastern University, talk about cultural agility and why it is important for business. She is an organizational psychologist, and she has done research on helping people get better at working across cultures.

They also discuss:

· Helping individuals develop durable soft skills.

· How AI (artificial intelli...

Dan Miklovic, founder, Lean Manufacturing Research and leader, Third Eye Advisory, talk about tariffs and how tariffs impact the ability to invest in automation, AI (artificial intelligence), and the workforce. He says tariffs have their place and it is a very fine balance to walk.

They also discuss:

· When tariffs are in fact effective.

· The challenges that exist with tariffs.

· Examples of tariffs on specific products that can h...

Peggy unpacks how agentic AI (artificial intelligence) is set to revolutionize the energy sector. With the energy market under pressure from infrastructure strain, cybersecurity threats, and the push for sustainability, she explains how AI agents can drive smarter, more autonomous, and more resilient systems across the grid.

She also discusses:

• How many energy companies are using gen AI—and why they still haven’t seen breakthr...

Peggy Smedley and Adan Banda, senior geospatial data manager, and Brandon Mann, geospatial analyst, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, talk about GIS (geographic information systems) and how the technology is applied to complex infrastructures. Adan says DFW airport is a very large airport—larger than the island of Manhattan—which requires a single source of truth. Brandon says people are flying more—a 5% increase year over y...

Peggy Smedley and Donna Laquidara-Carr, industry insights research director, Dodge Construction Network, talk about the soft skills needed to attract more workers to the construction industry. She says they did a survey about the cost of poor collaboration.

They also discuss:

• How many interactions contractors have daily with people from other companies—and how many involve some sort of conflict.
• How many found positive team dy...

Peggy unpacks how agentic AI (artificial intelligence) is poised to transform the manufacturing industry—and why 97% of industrial manufacturing CEOs say digital and tech transformation is now a top priority. With the sector facing a perfect storm of labor shortages, rising costs, and geopolitical pressures, she explains how AI agents can unlock smarter, more adaptive operations on the factory floor.

She also discusses:

• The ro...

Peggy and Jonathan Eig, author, talk about his book King, A Life, and what he learned about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., while writing the book. He says King was a person who had a lot of troubles and failures, and was prone to depression, and yet he continued to believe in God and America and believed it was worth all the sacrifice.

They also discuss:

• The recently released pages of FBI files and the impact on the civil rights...

Peggy and Donna Laquidara-Carr, industry insights research director, Dodge Construction Network, talk about a new study and some of the biggest obstacles that are preventing more workers from joining the construction industry. She says there were two pieces to the study: surveying contractors and the general population.

They also discuss:

• The top way construction professionals are drawn into the industry.
• How to expand beyond ...

Peggy digs into agentic AI (artificial intelligence) and its transformative potential for the construction industry. She explores how this next evolution of AI—capable of autonomous reasoning and decision-making—can address some of the industry’s most pressing challenges from labor shortages to supply-chain complexity.

She also discusses:

• The staggering growth forecast of the agentic AI market.
• Why small and midsized construct...

Peggy Smedley and Yury Gomez, global commercial head for supply chain manufacturing and mobility industries, Microsoft, talk about the acceleration of AI (artificial intelligence) and agentic AI. She says supply chains are getting drastically overwhelmed once again, with geopolitical conflicts, but the good news is Microsoft is changing how the supply chain is done with technology because technology is really changing the game. 

Th...

Peggy Smedley and Maria Pacheco, assistant professor of computer science, University of Colorado Boulder, discuss the results of a study surrounding AI (artificial intelligence) solving sudoku puzzles. She says the more complex the problems, the more difficult the time the tools had at solving them.

They also discuss:

• Why even the best tools had a hard time reasoning why they came to an answer.
• The three stages to the language...

Peggy unpacks the who, what, when, where, why, and how of ambient invisible intelligence—and what it means for the way we live and work. She explores how this technology will quietly transform our homes, cities, hospitals, and factories, enabling more natural and intuitive human experience. 

She also discusses:

• The timeline for widespread adoption and how some vertical markets are already embracing ambient intelligence.
• Why ad...

Peggy Smedley and Dan Gaylin, president and CEO, NORC, author, Fact Forward, talk about what brought him to the idea for his new book. He says he has a desire to help make sure our most important decisions are informed by good data and not led astray by faulty data.

They also discuss:

• Why the data ecosystem has become so messy.
• The four main data errors that anyone can commit and the ways to guard against them.
• How to create a...

Peggy Smedley and Dan Miklovic, founder, Lean Manufacturing Research and leader, Third Eye Advisory, talk about how we can prepare workers for the factory of the future. He says manufacturers need to be the best in the industry and the best in the world to be competitive, explaining how automation and machinery have and will change the manufacturing industry.

They also discuss:

• What the team of the future is going to look like...

Peggy Smedley unpacks the who, what, when, where, why, and how of AI agentic swarms—and what they mean for the future. She discusses the role of intelligent AI agentic swarms in everything from logistics to defense.

She also discusses:

• The estimated value of the global swarm robotics market through 2033.
• Why agentic swarm collaboration marks a new chapter for AI.
• Her candid thoughts on the opportunities, risks, and what comes ...

Peggy Smedley and Akshitha Sriraman, assistant professor, Carnegie Melon University, discuss new research and why it is important to design scalable and efficient data center systems. She says her research focuses on large-scale data center systems and how to make the servers more sustainable and circular.

They also discuss:

• Open-source tooling infrastructure and open-source datasets and benchmarks.
• The correlation between cos...