Future State Now: A Business Technology Podcast

Latest Episodes:

EP 04: Increasing Decision Capacity Post AI Oct 15, 2026

Show notes

In this podcast, Stacy Gordon sits down with John Greisner, a management consultant at LiminalArc, to explore why AI doesn't remove your software delivery bottleneck so much as move it. Drawing on Goldratt's theory of constraints from The Goal, John walks through what happens once engineering gets fast and cheap: the real slow point shifts to product management, funding cadence, and how much change your customers can actually absorb.

Stacy and John dig into why flooding your backlog with every new idea only makes that constraint worse, and why deciding better, smaller, and more often works instead. Watch so you can stop chasing engineering speed as the finish line, start treating decision capacity as your real constraint, and finally get the return on AI adoption that an operating model built for a slower era has been quietly blocking.

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EP 03: Deliberate and Data-Driven App Modernization Oct 14, 2026

Show notes

Discover how organizations use business capability heatmaps and domain alignment to make deliberate, data-driven, and defensible modernization decisions that deliver business value at every step of the journey.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liminalarcgroup

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liminalarcgroup

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liminalarcgroup/

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EP 02: The Real Reason 79% of App Modernizations Fail Oct 13, 2026

Show notes

Nearly 80% of enterprise application modernization efforts fail, and the reason has nothing to do with choosing the wrong technology. In this conversation, Melissa Roberts, business architect and value engineer at LiminalArc, explains why modernization programs are designed to produce technology outcomes rather than business results, and why that design flaw kills them.

Melissa Roberts and Stacy Gordon walk through the four primary drivers forcing enterprises to modernize, the IT/business alignment problem that stalls most programs before they start, and how a capabilities-driven strategy changes what a modernization program is designed to deliver. If you're leading or influencing a legacy modernization initiative, this is the diagnostic you've been missing.
Wanting More?
Why Most App Modernization Efforts Fail, and How a Capabilities-Driven Strategy Can Stop the Billion-Dollar Bleed: https://go.liminalarc.co/75j
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EP 01: A Working AI Pilot Proves Nothing Sep 23, 2026

Show notes

A working AI pilot proves less than most executives assume. This episode digs into why AI initiatives clear a demo and then stall in production, and the constraint is rarely the model. It's whether the organization's data, applications, and ownership structure are actually ready to run on it. That readiness gap shows up two ways: AI use turning into the next shadow IT, and teams mistaking individual productivity wins for organizational proof. The conversation also breaks down a framework for sorting what AI can already do inside a business from what it can't do yet, and why context, not model quality, is becoming the real differentiator.

Host Stacy Gordon talks with LiminalArc CEO Mike Cottmeyer in the relaunch episode of Future State Now, formerly SoundNotes, tracing the company's shift from LeadingAgile to LiminalArc and what AI transformation means as the next chapter of enterprise change.

Why AI Fails and What You Can Do About It

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How Cloud Rescue Enables Enterprise Transformation Jun 13, 2024

Show notes

Many companies are moving to the cloud only to realize that they aren’t getting the cloud benefits. Not only are they not able to improve performance and scalability, but they’re also paying more than they were before. The reality is that the economic drivers pushing these companies into the cloud, inevitably lead to large lift and shifts where monolithic, legacy applications get moved to the cloud without the necessary modernization required to reap the rewards of cloud migration.

Today, those same companies that moved to the cloud are looking to move back on-prem or toward a hybrid environment to cut costs, but what if there’s another way? What if you could strategically refactor your applications after they’ve been moved to the cloud and rescue your cloud initiative? Learn how cloud rescue can get you the benefits of the cloud while reducing costs.

How to Economically Justify Transformation by Cutting Down on Cloud Costs Jun 06, 2024

Show notes

For many organizations, cloud costs are spiraling out of control, causing them to rethink their cloud commitment. Some are exiting the cloud altogether and moving back on-prem. But what if there was a different way? An iterative and incremental way to start reaping the benefits of the cloud today without disrupting innovation or performance. In this panel discussion, we explore how LeadingAgile helps our clients reduce their cloud spend and economically justify transformation without disrupting things like innovation and performance.

Contacting Mike Cottmeyer

If you’d like to contact Mike, you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/
X: x.com/mcottmeyer
Email: mike@leadingagile.com

Contacting Len Greski

If you'd like to contact Len, you can reach him at:

Email: len.greski@leadingagile.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonardgreski/

Contacting Matt Van Vleet

If you'd like to contact Matt, you can reach him at:

Email: matt.vanvleet@leadingagile.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-van-vleet-8788342/

Contacting Rick McMichael

If you'd like to contact Rick, you can reach him at:

Email: rick.mcmichael@leadingagile.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickmcmichael/

How the Need for Security is Driving the Need for Transformation May 23, 2024

Show notes

What are some of the challenges of securing a legacy monolith in the midst of a technology modernization project? What's the impact of AI on infrastructure and security? And why are we partnering with Rampart AI to ensure our clients can become cloud-ready safely and securely?

We answer all this and more in our latest podcast.

Contacting Mike Cottmeyer

If you’d like to contact Mike, you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/
X: x.com/mcottmeyer
Email: mike@leadingagile.com

Contacting Lee Krause

If you'd like to contact Lee, you can reach him at:

Rampart AI: https://www.rampart-ai.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-krause-512763/

How to Align Your Product-Driven Organization to the Customer Experience Apr 04, 2024

Show notes

A big part of becoming a truly product-driven organization is getting better at understanding the needs of your customers, and improving your products to meet their needs. In this video, Mary, Dave, and Lance take on the topic of customer journey mapping and show you how this tool can help you align around the needs of your customer. They’ll explain how this technique can identify the customer experience and put specific actions in place to court correct and wee out any of the negative experiences customers are having with your product.

Contacting Mary Lloyd

If you’d like to contact Mary, you can reach her at:

LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/mary-lloyd/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mary-lawson-lloyd/
Email: mary.lloyd@leadingagile.com

Contacting Lance Kind

If you'd like to contact Lance, you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/lance-kind/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lancer-kind/
X: x.com/LancerKind
Email: lance.kind@leadingagile.com

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave, you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
X: x.com/mrsungo
Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

Interested in CSM or CSPO Training?

You can find all the details at www.leadingagile.com/scrum-training/

Product Development: Using Systems Thinking to Achieve Better Business Outcomes Apr 02, 2024

Show notes

We’re back with an all-new episode of SoundNotes where we discuss the nature of products. What are they? How are they different from services and experiences? And does it really even matter? Watch this week’s spirited conversation to see how we’re thinking about and defining products, and discover how your organization might be spinning its wheels by even having the debate.

Contacting Mary Lloyd

If you’d like to contact Mary, you can reach her at:

LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/mary-lloyd/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mary-lawson-lloyd/
Email: mary.lloyd@leadingagile.com

Contacting Andrew Young

If you'd like to contact Andrew, you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/andrew-young/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/atyoung/
Twitter: x.com/exclamation101
Email: andrew.young@leadingagile.com

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave, you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
X: x.com/mrsungo
Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

Interested in CSM or CSPO Training?

You can find all the details at www.leadingagile.com/scrum-training/

Using Value Stream Maps to Identify Improvement Opportunities Mar 28, 2024

Show notes

In this third installment of our value stream mapping series, Mary shows Lance and Dave how to apply the technique of value stream mapping to your business architecture and capabilities so that you can make more informed, intentional, data-driven decisions to improve your business.

Contacting Mary Lloyd

If you’d like to contact Mary, you can reach her at:

LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/mary-lloyd/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mary-lawson-lloyd/
Email: mary.lloyd@leadingagile.com

Contacting Lance Kind

If you'd like to contact Lance, you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/lance-kind/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lancer-kind/
X: x.com/LancerKind
Email: lance.kind@leadingagile.com

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave, you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
X: x.com/mrsungo
Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

Interested in CSM or CSPO Training?

You can find all the details at www.leadingagile.com/scrum-training/