Season 1

Please join me in celebrating the 44th, and final episode of Season 1, with a very, very special guest. We'll be back soon with more stories of innovation and entrepreneurship from founders, CEO's and Product Leaders of disruptive and innovative products. - Nathan C. Leslie Shannon, Head of Trend and Innovation Scouting at Nokia, reveals how a 160-year-old company continues to lead by relentlessly...

With over a decade in XR and a career that began in marketing and product development, Thaisa Yamamura is dedicated to bridging the gap between complex engineering and creative user needs, bringing innovative 3D, XR, and spatial computing technologies from prototype to market. Thaisa Yamamura is the Head of XR Products and Business Development at Sony Electronics, where she leads the creation and ...

Aidan Wolf is the Co-Founder and CEO of DreamPark, a company reinventing the future of theme parks by bringing massive, multiplayer, mixed-reality experiences anywhere—malls, parks, or even your own backyard. With a background spanning games, social apps, and AR, Aidan and his team are proving that immersive play can spark joy, community, and real-world revitalization. Key Takeaways: Downloadable ...

Meet the humble leader who used AR to send women to the moon and saved millions along the way! (And that's just one of the impressive things she's done with XR and AI!) Shelley Peterson is the founder of Wizard Wells and a pioneering leader in applying augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and AI to solve real-world enterprise problems. Drawing from her deep experience in aerospace and immer...

Dr. Diane Bowser is Senior Manager of Emerging Technologies at Lenovo and founder of CodeReal, bringing a rare blend of R&D leadership, arts background, and startup hustle to the world of XR (extended reality) and wearables. Key Takeaways: Bridging Startup and Enterprise: Diane operates at the intersection of nimble startup energy (CodeReal) and scale-driven corporate innovation (Lenovo). She ...

Christina Heller is an Senior Producer at Meta Reality Labs Entertainment and multimedia producer with over 11 years of experience in XR innovation. From launching two startups—VR Playhouse and Meta Stage—to producing indie film "Unexpected Treasures," Christina embodies the creative spirit that drives breakthrough storytelling across emerging media platforms. Key Takeaways: Technology as Enhancem...

Jim Keyes, bestselling author of “Education is Freedom” and former CEO of Blockbuster and 7-Eleven, is a living example of how access to knowledge can transform a life. Jim’s journey began in a tumultuous, disrupted household, where independence was forced on him at an early age. Rather than letting these disadvantages define him, Jim embraced education—not to climb the professional ladder, but as...

Nils Pihl is the CEO and founder of Auki Labs, a deep-tech company redefining how augmented reality (AR) can power meaningful social and business experiences. What started in 2019 as a passion project to create AR overlays for tabletop games like Warhammer quickly evolved into a multimillion-dollar company at the forefront of spatial computing. Nils shares his conviction that new business models a...

Cathy Hackl, renowned futurist and CE “Godmother of the Metaverse,” is at the forefront of exploring how AI and immersive technologies are transforming human relationships, intimacy, and connection. In this episode, Cathy shares her personal experiments dating AI “boyfriends,” her vision for the future of dating, and why she believes technology can enhance—not diminish—our capacity for meaningful ...