Winners' Circle

Roger Brown is helping consumers give phones, laptops, tablets, and other electronics a second life. At Allstate Protection Plans, Roger works at the intersection of device protection, trade-ins, reuse, repair, and sustainability. Allstate Protection Plans recently won a 2026 Sustainability Award for its program with Staples, which makes it easier for customers to trade in old devices and instantly receive value through a Staples g...

Chris Shyrock is helping Atlantic.Net strengthen customer support in one of the most demanding environments in technology: cloud infrastructure and data centers. As Director of Support Services, Chris leads the team responsible for supporting customers who rely on Atlantic.Net for cloud services, colocation, dedicated hosting, managed services, and infrastructure they cannot afford to have fail.

In this episode, Russ and Chris explo...

Selva Murali is helping design the chips that power AI factories, data centers, laptops, and the connected devices shaping modern life. As a staff-level engineer at AMD, Selva works on leading-edge semiconductor technology nodes, circuit design, physical implementation, and the use of AI and machine learning to improve chip performance, power, and area.

In this episode, Russ and Selva discuss what it really takes to build faster, sm...

Chris Schueler is helping large, complex organizations rethink cybersecurity for an AI-accelerated threat environment. At Cyderes, Chris leads a pure-play cybersecurity company focused on managed security, transformation, operations, identity, non-human identity, and proactive threat defense. Cyderes recently won a Fortress Cybersecurity Award, with Chris recognized as an executive leadership winner.

In this episode, Russ and Chris ...

Keith Hollender is helping enterprises rethink cybersecurity as AI changes both attack and defense. At Arcova, Keith and his team work with large organizations to solve complex security challenges with a practitioner-led approach built around flexibility, execution, and client trust. Arcova recently won a Fortress Cybersecurity Award for its work helping enterprises strengthen their security programs in a fast-changing threat envir...

Mike Maynard has spent decades helping technical B2B companies communicate clearly, reach the right audiences, and turn complex ideas into effective marketing. As Managing Director of Napier, Mike brings a rare mix of engineering, sales, and marketing experience to industries like telecom, semiconductors, industrial automation, and technical B2B. He is also one of BIG’s All-Star Judges, recognized for his thoughtful work revi...

Becca Toth is helping redefine CRM for the AI era. At SugarAI, Becca is focused on how AI, CRM, ERP data, and revenue signals can come together to help sales teams make better decisions and take the right next action. SugarCRM recently won a SAMI Award for its work helping organizations organize, understand, and act on the data inside their sales, prospecting, and marketing engines.

In this episode, Russ and Becca discuss how CRM ha...

Sanjay Castelino is helping organizations protect sensitive data as AI, SaaS, cloud, remote work, and agentic systems expand the modern attack surface. At Skyhigh Security, Sanjay focuses on Secure Service Edge, data protection, AI governance, and helping enterprises control how people and systems access and use critical information. Skyhigh Security recently won a Fortress Cybersecurity Award for its work protecting organizations ...

Eddy Zervigon is helping enterprises prepare for the shift to post quantum cryptography. As CEO of Quantum Xchange, Eddy is focused on helping organizations secure critical data before quantum computing changes the rules of encryption. Quantum Xchange recently won a Fortress Cybersecurity Award for its work helping enterprises build a more agile approach to cryptographic security.

In this episode, Russ and Eddy discuss why post quan...

Sandeep Rachapudi is helping enterprises navigate the shift from digital transformation to AI transformation. As an IT services expert at Tata Consultancy Services, Sandeep has spent more than two decades working across fintech, cloud migration, digital transformation, generative AI, and now agentic AI. He is also one of BIG’s 2025 All-Star Judges, recognized for his commitment to reviewing nominations, providing thoughtful f...

Harshit Kohli is helping enterprises understand where AI, cloud, streaming analytics, and cybersecurity are heading next. As a Senior Technical Account Manager at Amazon Web Services and a GenAI streaming specialist, Harshit works with customers on cloud adoption, artificial intelligence adoption, and real-time data use cases. He is also pursuing a doctorate in artificial intelligence and continues to serve as one of BIG’s Al...

Sasibhushan Rao Chanthati, Senior Software Engineer at Hirekeyz and a two time BIG All Star Judge for Information Technology, joins the Winners' Circle to talk about agentic AI, the FinOps boom, small versus large language models, and his own original research into detecting IT burnout with AI.

Guest info: Sasibhushan Rao Chanthati, Senior Software Engineer, Hirekeyz.

Chapters

• [00:00] Welcome and congratulations on being ...

Amy Worley is helping business leaders rethink privacy, cybersecurity, AI governance, and data protection as one connected challenge. As a Managing Director at BRG, Amy brings a rare mix of experience as a former trial lawyer, in-house privacy leader, consultant, expert witness, and author of The Confidence Advantage. BRG recently won an AI Excellence Award, recognizing work at the intersection of AI, privacy, cybersecurity, and go...

Matt Spiegel is helping law firms rethink growth, client relationships, and the business side of practicing law. As CEO and Co-Founder of Lawmatics, Matt leads a legal tech company built to help law firms manage leads, automate marketing, track performance, improve intake, and strengthen the client journey from first contact through future referrals. Lawmatics recently won a Best Places to Work award, recognizing the culture Matt a...

Kim Canning is helping Kaplan expand access to career readiness, test prep, licensure prep, credentialing, and professional development resources through a new model built for universities and students. As VP of Strategic Partnerships at Kaplan, Kim works with colleges and universities to bring Kaplan’s All Access License to learners at scale. Kaplan recently won a BIG Awards for Business honor for the program.

In this episode...

Stephen Garcia is helping BreachRX bring structure, governance, and accountability to one of the most chaotic moments any organization can face: a cyber incident. As Chief Information Security Officer at BreachRX, Stephen brings years of experience from the customer side of cybersecurity, including work across financial services, technology, gaming, and enterprise environments. BreachRX recently won a Fortress Cybersecurity Award f...

Avi Kedmi is helping SysAid rethink what customer service can look like in the age of AI. As CEO and Founder of SysAid, Avi leads a global IT service management company serving mid-sized clients in more than 100 countries. SysAid recently won an Excellence in Customer Service Award for its transformation of customer care using its own AI-driven tools, systems, and processes.

In this episode, Russ and Avi explore how SysAid improved ...

Dr. Tina Srivastava is helping Badge rethink authentication for a world where humans, machines, and AI agents all need to prove they are who they say they are. As Co-Founder of Badge Inc., Dr. Tina is working to eliminate stored secrets from authentication and create a more secure root of trust for identity. Badge recently won a Fortress Cybersecurity Award for its work building a trust layer for the AI era.

In this episode, Russ an...

Theresa Bui is helping SymphonyAI bring operational AI into some of the world’s largest enterprises. As CMO of SymphonyAI, Theresa works across a company serving customers in retail, financial services, manufacturing, enterprise IT, and media. SymphonyAI recently won three AI Excellence Awards for products built to help companies deploy AI at scale.

In this episode, Russ and Theresa explore what makes SymphonyAI a vertical AI ...