The Health Pulse

Latest Episodes:

People, Technology and the Journey to a Healthier Tomorrow Oct 29, 2024

Lita Sands, Managing Director of Life Sciences at Deloitte, is passionate about how people and technology come together to create a healthier future.
In this episode, Sands explains to Host Alex Maiersperger why life sciences organizations must strengthen their relationships with health care and ensure data and analytics form the backbone of their companies. According to Sands, technology is easy, while change management and the partnership between business and IT represent critical challenges.
When it comes to generative AI, Sands advises life sciences organizations to focus on what she calls “no regrets bets,” emphasizing the importance of a person in the loop. Tune in to learn more.

Teaching Medical Students About Equity and AI Oct 01, 2024

Dr. James Hildreth, MD, PhD, President and CEO of Meharry Medical College, is a passionate leader speaking about health equity, the power of AI in medicine and how aspiring physicians can be supported throughout their studies.
In this episode, Hildreth speaks about the influence of social determinants of health-on-health equity and offers advice on reducing inequities. Host Alex Maiersperger and Hildreth discuss impactful AI use cases in health care, such as the documentation of notes from patient and physician interactions, so that physicians can focus their time on the patient. Hildreth explains that AI can accelerate the discovery of disease causes, drugs and new interventions and that representation matters so that the data sets from genome sequencing also include people of African ancestry to ensure discoveries are representative of the diverse population and interventions are working. Lastly, Hildreth shares his leadership experience in making medical school more affordable for aspiring doctors and the importance of exposure to technology and AI from an early age.

Unlocking the Potential of AI in Health Care: A Vision for Change Sep 10, 2024

Dr. Onyi Daniel, Sinai Health System Board Member and former Vice President for Data and Analytics Strategy at Highmark Health, is a passionate health tech leader who speaks about change management, AI use cases, health equity and the importance of responsible AI.

In this episode, Daniel shares her leadership experience and explains why it is incremental that health care leadership can articulate the vision for technological change and define the associated value. Host Alex Maiersperger and Daniel discuss emerging AI use cases in the health care industry, such as ambient listening or code generation, which can improve productivity and experience and reduce burnout. Despite the infinite opportunities that new technologies bring, Daniel emphasizes the importance of upstream data collection, data quality, governance and inclusion, ensuring models and outcomes represent diverse populations to enhance health equity.

AI, Imaging and the Race to Develop Therapies Aug 20, 2024

Artificial intelligence holds tremendous potential for advancing clinical research. On this episode of The Health Pulse podcast, host Alex Maiersperger connects with Dr. Greg Goldmacher, Associate Vice President for Clinical Research and Head of Clinical Imaging and Pathology at Merck. Goldmacher identifies AI’s ability to automate advanced image measurements and improve insight into disease biology to support clinical development. From a clinical radiology perspective, AI has the potential to improve diagnosis and opportunistic screening for earlier disease detection. Goldmacher leaves us with his thoughts on the synergies needed within life sciences organizations to bring clinical development and data science teams together and move AI projects from idea to execution.

Improving Health for All of Us Aug 06, 2024

In a world where your zip code can have as great an impact on your health as your genetic code, how can we create a healthier future for everyone? On this episode of The Health Pulse, we hear from Dr. Joyonna Gamble-George, a neuroscientist at the Yale School of Public Health, and Dr. Karriem Watson, Chief Engagement Officer of the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program, about how the All of Us program deepens our understanding of social determinants of health and addresses health care disparities.
The All of Us Research Program is a diverse, representative database composed of health data from more than 1 million people. The program has 10,000 registered users of different backgrounds and skill sets and helps them better understand and solve health challenges. Tune in to hear these health care research leaders reflect on the impact of precision medicine and how AI and other cutting-edge technology are advancing research and closing the digital divide.

A Conversation With an Oncology Legend Jul 16, 2024

Dr. Otis Brawley, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of oncology and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University, is passionate about cancer research, prevention and high-quality cancer care. He served as Chief Medical and Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President of the American Cancer Society from 2007 to 2018 and has published over 200 scientific articles.
In this episode, Dr. Brawley speaks about the impact of socioeconomic factors on cancer rates. Smoking, obesity and poverty are leading causes of cancer in the United States. With cancer rates rising, Dr. Brawley emphasizes the importance of prevention and risk reduction, including healthy lifestyle choices such as regular exercise and a healthy diet. Dr. Brawley is passionate about reducing cancer care disparities and saving lives with accessible, high-quality care, including appropriate screening, diagnostics and treatments. Having the correct data and technology in place can help to identify high-risk individuals and plan interventions early to prevent diseases. Lastly, Dr. Brawley shares valuable insights on carcinogens and practical tips on how to prevent cancer.

Empowering Cancer Patients With Lifesaving Information Jun 25, 2024

Dr. Maya Said, Founder and CEO of Outcomes4Me, aims to empower cancer patients worldwide to be proactive about their care with information and technology.

On this episode of The Health Pulse podcast, Said shares how a personal health scare illuminated for her how overwhelmed cancer patients feel when they face understanding their diagnosis and treatment options, finding the best providers and clinical trials, managing treatments and costs, and navigating their lives and relationships during treatment. The experience inspired her to launch the platform Outcomes4Me, which uses data and AI to help cancer patients become more informed and connected to improve their outcomes – at no cost.

Tune in to learn more about the role of data in addressing disparities in cancer care and how generative AI is poised to revolutionize treatment.

Health Care Interoperability and AI in Action Jun 11, 2024

Dr. Michael von Wagner, Chief Medical Informatics Officer at University Hospital Frankfurt and a pioneer in interoperability, speaks about the importance of a seamless data exchange for personalized patient treatments and efficient health care systems.

On this episode, Dr. von Wagner joins Alex Maiersperger to discuss health data standardization, new regulations, and two pioneering data and AI projects at University Hospital Frankfurt. A team of experts came together at the hospital to integrate data from different sources into a dashboard that monitors trends in the development of antibiotic resistance, enabling optimization of treatments. In another project, they collaborate with another major university hospital and general practitioners to combine research and clinical data on rare diseases to help GPs with evidence-based diagnoses.

Dr. von Wagner is optimistic about the future of health care with AI-based solutions for clinical decision support, but also explains why risks and opportunities need to be evaluated carefully. He emphasizes that the interoperability, flexibility and scalability of AI-based solutions are key to a successful future.

What to Really Expect From Generative AI May 21, 2024

GenAI is rapidly making the once impossible possible. On this episode of The Health Pulse, SAS’ AI Product Strategy Advisor Marinela Profi chats with Host Alex Maiersperger about just how fast the needle is moving and what we can and cannot likely expect large language models (LLMs) to solve anytime soon.

Some of the GenAI use cases Profi is most excited about are in the health care space, helping providers accelerate tasks and glean valuable information for diagnostic and care decisions. She shares a balanced perspective on the possibilities and caution required when applying generative technology in health care and life sciences, highlighting the importance of explainable AI and a human in the loop.

LLMs for everyone in health and life sciences? Apr 30, 2024

There is no shortage of interest around large language models (LLMs) in the health care and life sciences space. Are organizations able to successfully operationalize LLMs in a cost-efficient, regulatory-compliant and ethical manner?

On this episode of The Health Pulse podcast, SAS Global Medical Director Dr. Steve Kearney and host Alex Maiersperger discuss key considerations around the application of LLMs. Explore how organizations are improving data interoperability and converging across health care and life sciences – thus positively impacting patient outcomes and experiences.

Accelerating Health Equity With Technology and Trust Oct 03, 2023

Health equity is a hot topic in health care, and Dr. Pooja Mittal speaks about key success components, including the importance of trust, technology and strong relationships with communities.
Bringing health stakeholders and community members together is crucial to building trust and providing culturally relevant care that drives better health outcomes.
From a young age, Dr. Mittal realized that health care is not equitable, and challenging environmental conditions cause higher disease rates. With a mission to reduce health disparities, Dr. Mittal became a physician and Chief Health Equity Officer at Health Net.
She believes technology is key to making care more equitable and supporting patients from historically disadvantaged communities, as it enables access to data to better understand needs, access to telehealth, enabling patients to receive care remotely and access to culturally sensitive technology, supporting unique needs.

SAS opens up about open source in life sciences Sep 19, 2023

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, but there are many benefits to a balanced diet. That’s SAS’ philosophy around embracing and extending open source as explained by life sciences leaders Mark Lambrecht and Matt Becker on this episode of the Health Pulse Podcast. To keep up with the staggering pace of change, life sciences organizations need cutting-edge analytics and the flexibility to use different programming languages. Tune in for a candid conversation about the pros and cons of open source and commercial software and the importance of the statistical computing environment (SCE) in clinical research.

The Impact of Diagnostics on Health Care Sep 05, 2023

Bryan Vaughn is passionate about bending the cost curve in health care. As Senior Vice President, Hospitals and Health Systems at Labcorp, he focuses on the role of diagnostics in delivering better, more affordable care. On this episode, Vaughn notes that impactful partnerships across the health care ecosystem can help drive the cost of critical diagnostics down, creating a win for all stakeholders. When it comes to analytics, he is excited to see Labcorp’s wealth of health data empowering and informing patients and their doctors today—as well as the potential for predictive analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve health outcomes in the future.

Real-world data and the bigger picture of health Aug 29, 2023

Krishna Tangirala is an expert at uncovering insights about pharmaceutical products in the real world. He is Head of Data Analytics and Director of Field Outcomes Research at Organon Pharmaceuticals. In the first part of this episode, Tangirala talks to Alex about how stakeholders use health economics and outcomes research throughout the pharmaceutical life cycle to better understand the value, potential and safety of drug products. He also discusses new and emerging applications for real-world data (RWD) in pharma, including external control arms and digital twins and the potential for technology to solve challenges around managing, analyzing and visualizing data insights from RWD.
Next, Sherrine Eid, Global Lead for Real-World Evidence and Epidemiologist at SAS, joins Alex. Eid is passionate about mathematically modeling disease patterns and finding ways to intervene and improve outcomes. For her, it’s all about using the best tools at her disposal to help people live their healthiest, best lives. Eid discusses the role of RWD and connected devices to enable personalized medicine and shares her perspective on the value of personalized health information as a diabetes patient.

Modernizing public health with population health analytics Aug 08, 2023

Dr. Iulia Vann, Public Health Director in Guildford County, NC, is passionate about public health and data-driven decision making.

On this episode of the Health Pulse Podcast, Dr. Vann discusses the importance of prevention, the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic, lessons learned about closing gaps in data and analytics and resiliency.

Dr. Vann explains that effective public health strategies include strong relationships with local partners, communication and planning for health equity measures, like putting 40% of vaccines aside for historically marginalized communities. Data modernization is another crucial element for health organizations to serve their communities better. Requiring agencies to integrate data from different systems and ensuring the data is transparent and reliable is essential in making data-driven decisions as a public health agency. She explains how Guilford County partnered with SAS to create dashboards to monitor program performance and public health areas of focus, such as chronic diseases, cancer and environmental health, to make the best possible decisions for their community.

The promise of AI in pharmaceutical manufacturing Jul 25, 2023

SAS’ Andy Bayliss works with life sciences manufacturers, applying AI and machine learning to improve their processes at scale. On this episode of the Health Pulse Podcast, he tells Alex that pharmaceutical manufacturers are experts at reliably delivering high-quality products. They must be because it’s a highly regulated industry with a patient at the end of every product.
The opportunity to utilize technology energizes Bayliss. Technology like sensors and computer vision allows continuous monitoring to spot trends and potential deviations earlier in pharmaceutical manufacturing. It’s about giving the human expert additional insight to create meaningful action.

Is ethical AI the future of health care? Jul 11, 2023

Dr. Michel van Genderen, physician, AI leader and founder of the Datahub at Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, shares his passion for ethical AI in hospitals.
Could AI be a game-changer for the health care industry? Dr. van Genderen thinks so, and explains the two biggest global health care challenges are the shortage of personnel and an increasing health care demand. He believes trustworthy AI could alleviate these pressures and solve clinical challenges faster. For example, Erasmus Medical Center developed an AI model used in the intensive care unit that decreases the administrative workload for nurses.
Using AI in a responsible, ethical and sustainable manner is crucial to its adoption in clinical settings so that health care professionals trust AI when they use it at the bedside. To develop and deploy AI models in clinical settings, a group of multidisciplinary teams comes together, including data scientists, data engineers, physicians, nurses, patients and more, which is the remit of the Datahub at Erasmus Medical Center. Adhering to ethical guidelines is crucial when teams develop models, monitor their performance and adopt them in clinical or operational settings. Dr. van Genderen is optimistic that all industries will be able to benefit from AI, as long as decisions made with analytics and AI are ethical, trustworthy, explainable and fair.

Balancing data, analysis and speed in business decision making Jun 20, 2023

Steven Lehmann is passionate about the impact of data science in business. He is Head of Data Science and Analytics Strategy for Johnson & Johnson in EMEA. He also wrote the book Digital Jackpot on what it really takes to make data driven decisions that matter in business. Hint, the answer often isn’t more data. On this episode of the Health Pulse Podcast, he talks with Alex about the importance of telling the right story with data so that people will listen. He introduces the concept of data elasticity in finding the right balance between enough data and the speed at which you need to make business decisions in order to solve real-world problems. Data elasticity allows data scientists and business leaders to make strong recommendations with imperfect data, knowing that their recommendations would still hold within a reasonable margin of error in the data. When it comes to the explosion of data, AI and advanced analytics, he reminds us that these are excellent tools, but the individuals and organizations who can make the best use of them to drive impact will ultimately succeed.

Could the bird flu cause the next pandemic? May 30, 2023

Dr. Meg Schaeffer, an Epidemiologist and Public Health Advisor at SAS and an elite athlete and champion for health equity, is a perfect example of what passion for public health looks like.

In this episode, Dr. Schaeffer speaks about the evolution of the bird flu and explains that North America, Europe, Asia and some African countries are in the midst of the largest bird flu outbreak, with millions of birds culled. Monitoring outbreaks is crucial to predict the future of health care and to prevent a human pandemic. She also talks about health equity and the importance of combining quantitative with qualitative data to understand population needs and challenges. This helps design effective programs that reduce inequities. There is currently a lack of qualitative data, leading to resource misalignments, Schaeffer explains. Combining interviews, focus groups and text data with advanced analytics could be the key to currently overlooked insights. Despite challenges the health care industry is facing, being an elite, world-ranked triathlete has taught Dr. Schaeffer there is always a way – that temporary discomfort leads to success. She is optimistic about the future of health care with the dedication of the public health workforce and cutting-edge software, supporting decision-making processes.

The right tools for the right questions to fight cancer May 02, 2023

Dr. Richardus Vonk, VP, Head of Oncology Statistics and Data Management at Bayer, wants to see cancer become a manageable disease in his lifetime. With as many as one in two people getting cancer at some point in their lives, the goal to better treat and eventually prevent and cure cancer is incredibly impactful. On this episode of the Health Pulse Podcast, Vonk sits down with host Alex Maiersperger to discuss the role of data, analytics, AI and automation in advancing cancer research and drug development. He explains that AI is playing an important role in early detection of cancer but has yet to find widespread adoption in drug development. Automation is important because it frees up time at the end of clinical trials to explore the science and uncover valuable insights to inform care. When it comes to analytics software, Vonk thinks the future is a mix of commercial and open source. What’s more important according to Vonk, is expanding access and ability to share data, while protecting patient privacy, and using the right tool to answer the right questions.

The Health Pulse S3E12: From radical to routine: The use of Bayesian statistics in clinical trials Nov 15, 2022

More than a decade ago, Bruno Boulanger made a big bet on applying Bayesian statistics in clinical trials. At the time, very few in the industry thought the method, which applies probabilities to statistical problems, had a place in clinical development. Boulanger saw an opportunity, founding a company that quickly grew and was acquired by CRO PharmaLex in 2018, where he now serves as global head of statistics and data science.

In this episode, Boulanger explains how Bayesian statistics uses probability and prediction to solve challenges in the increasingly complex world of clinical research and clinical trial design. Bayesian statistics allows researchers to expand decision making for clinical trials beyond its participants, which is imperative for trials targeting rare diseases. Looking forward, Boulanger is optimistic about the expansion of therapeutic innovation combined with digitalization and data science to meet the unmet needs of patients.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S3E11: Is Value-Based Care Failing? Nov 01, 2022

What makes value-based care work? Bryony Winn shares her views on key enablers, implementation challenges and how they can be overcome. Winn is President of Health Solutions at Elevance Health. Being born and raised in Africa, educated in the UK, having worked in Europe as a consultant and moved to the United Stated, Bryony Winn has a truly international career path and a wealth of knowledge of different health care systems.

On this episode, host Alex Maiersperger and Winn talk about the role technology plays in integrating care systems. She tells us a big challenge is patients are often treated for conditions in isolation, without taking a whole-person approach. Data integration and deep partnerships across different health and social care providers are crucial for full transparency and insights into a person’s whole health, enabling providers and payers to make value-based care work and tailor care more effectively.

Simultaneously, Winn addresses some criticism value-based care models have received, as some don’t believe the concept is working. She explains the industry’s initial narrow view, believing the shift to value-based care is only a change of payment models. Winn emphasizes data integration and infrastructure around payment models are needed. Despite some of the challenges and criticism, she remains optimistic about value-based care models and their role in affordability, high quality care and high experience scores.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S3E10: Are Genomics the Key to Placebo-Free Clinical Trials? Oct 18, 2022

Are placebo-free clinical trials the next normal? Nino da Silva thinks so. In this episode, he shares his views on trends in drug development and clinical research, including the integration of genetic data into drug development with synthetic control arms and the importance of data protection.

Da Silva is an international leader in medical informatics, health care and business strategy. He is currently Deputy Managing Director at BC Platforms, a Singapore-based global data science solutions leader in personalized health, drug discovery and life sciences research.

Guest host Antonio De Castro talks with da Silva about advancements in drug discovery and development by combining genetic data with phenotypic data. For example, synthetic control arms incorporate external health data into clinical trials to speed up drug development, reduce trial costs and address ethical concerns. Improved access to data from many research fields and the real world make the adoption of synthetic control arms possible. Da Silva explains the importance of trusted research environments (TRE) and trusted collaboration environments (TCE) in enabling highly dynamic research with analytics, while protecting citizens’ data privacy. Also critical to this work is the ability to harmonize and make comparable data from multiple sources and geographies. Da Silva leaves us with his thoughts on the importance of diversity and representation in clinical trials and the role of the Asia Pacific region as a growing R&D hub for life sciences.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S3E9: Using Genetic Information to Improve Patient and Population Health Oct 04, 2022

Levana Sani is co-founder and CEO of NalaGenetics, a company bringing individual genetic information to patients and health care settings in Southeast Asia.

On this episode, Sani talks with SAS’ Antonio De Castro about the importance of ethnic diversity in genetic research. She explains that polygenetic risk scores, which calculate a single score for many variants in the human genome, are greatly improved when genetic samples from multiple ethnic groups are included. Sani and De Castro also discuss a range of considerations around making individual genetic information available to patients, providers and payers, including health data privacy, delivering practical recommendations to patients based on their genetics, and delivering the right information at the right time to improve health outcomes for individuals and the population.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S3E8: Is The Great Pandemic Yet to Come? Sep 20, 2022

Could the bird flu cause the next pandemic? Dr. Robert Redfield thinks so, and shares his views on the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic and lessons to prepare for new infectious diseases. Redfield is a virologist and former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Advisor to the Governor of Maryland and Senior Medical Advisor at PERSOWN.
Dr. Redfield joins host Alex Maiersperger to speak about public health measures against the COVID-19 pandemic and shares insights into what has worked, what hasn’t, and what learnings decision makers could apply in the future. The main challenge, in the United States, he explains, is that the public health infrastructure is extremely underfunded, leading to a lack of resources, including the workforce, equipment and funding for a modern data infrastructure.

Building public health resilience - an approach that ensures public health systems have enough equipment and trained staff to respond to a pandemic - while maintaining the quality of routine health services, is a major need Redfield speaks about. He suggests redundant resources can be diverted to diagnostics for chronic diseases, when there is no pandemic. Dr. Redfield believes the great pandemic is yet to come, which will likely be a bird flu pandemic with significant mortality rates. Having the mRNA technology in place to produce effective vaccines, is key a scientific advancement Dr. Redfield speaks about. However, he also highlights manufacturing and scalability issues slow down a fast response. Despite some of the challenges public health agencies are facing, Dr. Redfield remains optimistic about the future, as he shares his confidence in science and the power of modern medicine.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S3E7: The future of clinical trial recruitment is digital, and patients are the biggest winners Sep 06, 2022

Tobias Kruse never dreamed of being an entrepreneur. He recognized a problem he knew he could solve and founded the clinical trial recruitment company Trials24, where he is now CEO.

On this episode, Kruse shares his company’s inception story with Alex. As a young scientist working on a clinical trial, Kruse realized that dated, print-based patient recruitment tactics weren’t working. He had learned a thing or two about online marketing from one of his side hustles and decided to take a leap. He launched Trials24 to digitalize patient recruitment and to speed up drug development timelines. The company’s digital-first approach helps address the lack of diversity in clinical research by targeting awareness campaigns to underserved communities and recruiting more diverse populations for clinical trials.

Kruse knows digitalization is the future of patient recruitment, bringing better patient experiences and more representative clinical trials.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S3E6: Saving Lives With Better, Faster, Affordable Diagnostics Aug 23, 2022

Eric Doherty is President of PERSOWN, the company striving to make a lifesaving impact by delivering accurate, rapid and affordable diagnostics to the point of care anywhere in the world.

In this episode of The Health Pulse, Doherty joins host Alex Maiersperger to discuss disparities in global health care and how access to high-quality, low-cost diagnostics can help close the gap. Doherty shares the shocking statistic that there are 0.23 doctors per 10,000 people in the world’s poorest countries. What’s more, diagnostic errors account for the deaths of 7 million children per year worldwide.

PERSOWN addresses devastating global health care access disparities with high-quality, affordable diagnostics with results in under two minutes. The company is working on assays for various applications, including COVID-19, tuberculosis, sepsis, breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and concussions. Doherty shares an inspiring vision of the role of technology in health care innovation and the importance of personal ownership of health care data.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S3E5: The Role of Patient-Centricity in Improving Health Worldwide Jul 26, 2022

SAS’ Antonio De Castro is a truly global citizen. Having lived in Southeast Asia and Europe, now working for a US company, he joined Alex from a studio in Singapore to talk global and local trends in the wake of COVID-19 and his passion for data and analytics in health care. Later in this season of the Health Pulse podcast, he’ll be jumping into the conversation as guest host for Asia Pacific.

De Castro loves mathematics and problem solving and has a background in nutritional research. These passions shape his perspective on consumerism in health care and life sciences, where patient-centricity is contributing to significant advances, including decentralized clinical trials and more informed and engaged patient populations.

De Castro is infectiously optimistic that today’s global health care challenges will drive innovation that leads to a healthier tomorrow."

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S3E4: The End of Global Supply Chains? Jul 12, 2022

What has disruption taught us about global supply chains? Dr. Robert Handfield shares his vision on what agile and resilient supply chain models look like in the future. He is Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at North Carolina State University, as well as Founder and Executive Director of The Supply Chain Resource Cooperative.
On this episode, Handfield joins host Alex Maiersperger to talk about the impact of the pandemic on global supply chains and provides insights into what has worked, what hasn’t, and what learnings we can apply in the future.

Handfield speaks about the dependency on global supply chains for urgent medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as masks and disinfectants, and inadequate national stock, due to a just-in-time inventory management system. Having strategic national stockpiles in place has become a major governmental and industry focus, as well as the effort to increase domestic sourcing of certain medical and pharmaceutical products.

Handfield speaks about a shift towards regional supply chains and near shoring, a concept where a company transfers work to suppliers nearby in the region where possible, despite continuing to remain dependent on certain products from global supply chains. Finally, Handfield emphasizes that having the right technology, training and workforce in place, will be key to resilient and agile supply chain systems in the future.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S3E3: Why Forecast Agility Is King in the New World of Supply Chain Disruption Jun 28, 2022

For Felipe Sotelo, it’s all about priorities. That’s why Dad & Husband are the titles on his LinkedIn profile. It’s also why he now believes demand forecast agility is more important than accuracy in the post-pandemic world of supply chain disruptions.

On this episode of The Health Pulse, positive thinker, business reinvention leader and writer Sotelo joins host Alex Maiersperger to share his insights as a supply chain leader for organizations including Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceuticals and PepsiCo. Forecast accuracy can never be perfect, and in a scenario full of disruptions, Sotelo argues that it’s more important to focus on agility and speed so that organizations can respond more effectively to disruptions. In his opinion, prioritization plays a big role, and the organizations that succeed are those that have both a strong leadership strategy and investment in technology and analytics to drive insights into keeping the strategy on track. The main focus now is regulating supply chains to ensure essential equipment is available. And, the new normal will prioritize both cost efficiency and reliability over cost efficiency alone.

When asked about a light at the end of the tunnel for pandemic-related disruption, Sotelo predicts we won’t see it before 2024. But, that doesn’t keep him from being optimistic about the role of supply chain leaders in shaping a better, more sustainable future.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S3E2: Meet your digital health twin of the future Jun 14, 2022

Is it too much to expect health care to deliver delightful experiences? Dr. Koen Kas doesn’t think so, and his vision includes digital twins, personal data stores and preventive medicine. He is a health care visionary, digital health and biomarker expert, health-tech entrepreneur, Professor of Molecular Oncology and Digital Health at the University of Ghent, international keynote speaker and author of Sick No More and Your Guide to Delight.
Host Alex Maiersperger and Kas talk about the concept of delight thinking, an approach that requires stakeholders to think outside the box – creating new health care delivery models, never imagined. Kas explains the fundamental difference between design thinking and delight thinking. Delight thinking has the patient at its core, rewarding health care systems for keeping patients healthy.

Kas also speaks about the role of a digital twin for the future of health care and how far we are in the development. The twin is a full representation of the holistic health of a human, combining all health data from different sources into an avatar. Testing preventive or clinical measures on the avatar will enable a visualization of health outcomes, before implementing them on the human.

Health care by default is another health care concept Kas introduces during the episode, including seamless health care via sensors in homes and automatic alerts to medical professionals.

Finally, he emphasizes the key to prevention and personalized medicine is data integration and encourages health care systems to reward providers and citizens for preventing, predicting and reversing diseases.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S3E1: The (Not So) Secret to Making Cancer Care More Equitable and Effective Jun 01, 2022

Dr. Sean Khozin is on a mission to break down silos and improve access to quality cancer care for all. Khozin is a board-certified oncologist, physician scientist, data scientist and the CEO of ASCO’s CancerLinQ, a nonprofit health technology company focused on improving health outcomes for all patients with cancer.

On this episode of The Health Pulse, Khozin joins host Alex Maiersperger to discuss how his organization is democratizing access to the best cancer care by bringing real-world evidence based tools to the point of care. As Khozin explains, only about 5% of cancer patients can access clinical trials. This means in oncology, clinical trial data often lacks external validity because it represents highly selective patient populations. CancerLinQ helps close the gap using real-world data to develop algorithmic support tools to inform personalized, multi-modal patient care in near-real time. Khozin also discusses precision medicine and reflects on how far we’ve come and opportunities to improve, particularly in the area of health care delivery. He also shares his perspective on regulatory science as translational science.

From deriving insight from complex data to tackling treatment artifacts we need to unlearn, Khozin shares his vision for improving precision and why data convergence at the point of care leaves him optimistic about a major inflection point for cancer treatment in the next 10 years.

Transcript available here.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Electrifying AI S3E1: Electricity Industry in Australia - A Global Perspective Mar 22, 2022

Our mission at ElectrifingAI is to bring you up-to-date insights on the latest developments taking shape in the electricity sector. Along the way, we’ll help demystify the connection between the greatest machine ever built — the electric grid — and the greatest enabler of our time — data analytics. To help us do that, we’ll have a series of guests who hold a variety of different roles within the industry. And for this episode, it’s a privilege to begin our third season … and our broader view of the electricity industry landscape … with someone who’s had a hand in crafting what that landscape looks like in his home country.

Brett Redman is the CEO of Transgrid in Australia. Transgrid operates and manages the high voltage electricity transmission network in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory … connecting generators, distributors and major end users. And Brett is a seasoned executive who has … among other roles … previously served as the CEO of AGL and the chair of the Australian Energy Council.

Just a decade ago, one could argue that the electricity industry was primarily a physical business, centralized in its existence, and with a very narrow view of customers and innovation. That world has changed drastically as innovation has shifted from the tangible to intangible. Hear from Brett his thoughts on how the industry is evolving and where we are headed into the future.

About one in four Australian homes have rooftop solar panels, a larger share than in any other major economy, and the rate of installations far outpaces the global average. The country is well ahead of Germany, Japan and California, which are widely considered leaders in clean energy. But that great progress undoubtedly brings new complexities for grid operators and others who are tasked with ensuring uninterrupted service. We will hear from Brett his perspectives on such challenges and initiatives that are top on mind for him.

Have questions or would like to share your thoughts? Jump into the discussion and reach out to Sal at https://www.sas.com/en/experts/sal-gill.html.... Or email us at: ElectrifyingAIpodcast@sas.com

Learn more at http://www.sas.com/utilities.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S2E6: Improving Maternal Health through AI and Biomedical Science Dec 15, 2021

In this episode, Greg speaks with Professor Patricia Maguire, Director of University College Dublin’s Institute for Discovery. The Institute’s mission is to drive interdisciplinary research at UCD. Maguire is a biomedical scientist. Her research focuses on platelets, an interest that began 25 years ago when her father suffered his first heart attack and she recognized the need for better diagnostics in the clinic.

Maguire explains that platelets circulate in our blood, picking up information along the way, which makes them a ready source of biomarkers. In one project, Maguire’s team works closely with three large maternity hospitals in Dublin, Ireland, on a study that has found new diagnostic markers for preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a huge problem worldwide, affecting one in ten pregnancies, and killing 50,000 women and 500,000 babies and causing 5 million premature births each year, according to Maguire. Her team’s goal on the project is to bring diagnostic data from blood platelets together with all other available data on a mother during pregnancy and apply Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to extract insights that can be delivered to a clinician to inform critical care decisions, such as when a baby should be born. The analysis of multimodal data that can then be delivered to the computer screen of a clinician is an experience Maguire describes as augmented intelligence to support clinical decision making.

Maguire says the ultimate dream of the team on this project is to partner with government and industry to bring the preeclampsia algorithm and diagnostic product to every woman who needs it around the world, saving lives. She also shares her thoughts on the importance of democratizing AI and analytics to improve knowledge sharing and collaboration from academia into the real world.

A transcript of this episode can be found here.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S2E5: Creating a Healthier World with Ethical AI Dec 08, 2021

On this episode, Greg catches up colleague Reggie Townsend, director of the Data Ethics Practice at SAS. Recognizing the increasing market need around data ethics, SAS formed the practice to establish principles and processes for governing Artificial Intelligence (AI). Townsend defines AI as an algorithm or set of instructions given to a computer for decision making. He explains that the market definition of AI is now the entire analytics life cycle from the initial ingestion of data through to analytic modeling, data visualization and the decisions that are ultimately made. While examples of unethical AI, such as discriminatory hiring and lending practices, necessarily get a lot of attention, there are many more examples where AI is used to our benefit. Data science is deployed to optimize many aspects of daily life from our banking experience to flight routes to recommendation engines.

SAS’ Data Ethics Practice applies a human-centric approach to upholding principles such as transparency, accountability and inclusivity in data science. Townsend challenges his team to start by considering the impact of technology on the most vulnerable populations. Understanding bias plays an imperative role. For example, Black neighborhoods in the US, like the one where Townsend grew up in Chicago, are more likely to be food deserts. The people in those communities lack access to healthy food and have poorer health outcomes as a result. When evaluating health data, it is critical to understand the facts and historical context behind the data in order to deliver effective decisions and solutions that are free of bias. Looking forward, Townsend is hopeful that the ethical development and deployment of AI-related technology can lead to brighter futures for all people.

A transcript of this episode can be found here.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S2E4: Healthier Living Through Epigenetics Analysis Nov 24, 2021

On this episode, Greg is joined by Dr. Melissa Strong, founder and lead data scientist for IndiOmics. Her background is in molecular biology and epigenetics—or how our environment can affect our gene expression. The idea behind IndiOmics started when Dr. Strong was pregnant with her son and interested in better understanding chemical exposure in utero. The organization’s mission is to educate the public about common chemicals that have the ability to affect us on a cellular level and what we can do to avoid or prevent exposure. Much of its work focuses on endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Participants receive a kit, provide a sample from home and ship the kit to the IndiOmics laboratory. When the results are ready, they can login for a personalized look at what they’ve been exposed to, how it’s affecting them on a molecular level and steps they can take to avoid or prevent additional exposure. For example, they may be able to cut down on EDC exposure by not heating or microwaving plastics. Dr. Strong explains that our gene expression is not set in stone, and our environment and behaviors play a significant role in determining our health. Particularly with EDCs, science has demonstrated the toxicity of even very low levels of chemical exposure. To learn more about what you can do to reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals, even if you don’t know your levels, Dr. Strong recommends visiting the Environmental Working Group’s website, www.ewg.org, and referencing the IndiOmics Healthy Living Pocket Guide at www.indiomics.org/pocket-guide. Looking to the future, Dr. Strong is encouraged by younger generations’ awareness around this issue and believes that consumer demand will drive action on the part of manufacturers and regulators alike to further reduce the use of harmful chemicals in consumer products. She also believes that blood tests on endocrine exposures will eventually become a part of routine medical care, empowering more people to understand their exposure levels and take steps to improve their health.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S2E3: Eradicating Disparities in Cancer Care with Social Determinants of Health Data Nov 10, 2021

On this episode, Greg Horne talks with Dr. Robert Winn, Director at VCU Massey Cancer Center. Dr. Winn is the second ever African American to be director of a cancer center in the United States. Growing up as the child of a 15-year-old mother, he didn’t dream of becoming a doctor, but two priests in his life saw his potential and helped him to get on a path that eventually led to medical school. In his role at Massey Cancer Center and his life, Dr. Winn focuses on two goals – eradicating cancer and eradicating disparities in access to quality health care wherever they exist. People who have access to quality treatment receive it. It’s that simple. And, trust and affordability play a critical role. As Dr. Winn explains, in order to earn people’s trust in science, the scientific and medical community must be trustworthy. That’s why Massey Cancer Center is working on a trustworthiness scale to measure how they are doing with their patients.

Dr. Winn also shares his perspective on the role of health data convergence in improving health outcomes and the importance of using data from the community to improve scientific questions and address social determinants of health. When it comes to disparities in health care, we already know that a patient’s zip code has a significant impact on their health outcomes. Taken a step further, we can look at the implications of racism historically and identify how it is impacting health outcomes for African Americans today.

Another foundational value for Dr. Winn is respect for humanity. He describes his awe and humility at both the power and limitations of science in treating cancer. He recognizes that there are some cancers and diseases that even today’s best medicine cannot fix. This is when it is imperative for cancer centers to ensure patients have the best possible palliative care to support their transition from this life. Finally, Dr. Winn leaves us with his thoughts on the cancer center of the future and the importance of data to better understand population health and communities.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S2E2: The Next Evolution of Decentralized Clinical Trials Oct 27, 2021

On this episode, Greg Horne interviews Craig Lipset, advisor, advocate and educator in the area of decentralized clinical trials and the former head of clinical innovation at Pfizer. During his time at Pfizer, Craig helped design and lead the first fully remote, decentralized trial. Surprisingly, that was more than a decade ago. In fact, Craig explains that the methods, investment and even the regulatory readiness around decentralized trials existed in the industry long before the pandemic. The lock-down disruption caused by COVID-19 in early 2020 delivered a key missing piece – meaningful adoption as the industry worked quickly to mitigate delays to ongoing research and spin up new trials to address the virus.

Craig and Greg further discuss the potential for decentralized trials to make participation in clinical research more convenient and accessible to diverse and representative patient populations. Unique support is required to achieve this objective. Decentralized trial participants need specialized technical and emotional support to ensure they have a positive experience and are able to stay compliant with study protocols. In developing nations, decentralized methods can help researchers expand their work into areas where infrastructure may be lacking, but it’s critical to be mindful of the digital divide and ensure that the appropriate support is provided.

Craig leaves us with his perspective on the role of decentralized trials in helping health care deliver clinical research as a care option. For example, the technology offers new ways to engage with non-investigator physicians to improve engagement with community health care and democratize access to clinical research.

A transcript of this episode can be found here.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse S2E1: Improving Health Equity and Health Outcomes with Analytics Oct 14, 2021

On this episode host Greg Horne interviews David Rhew, M.D., Global Chief Medical Officer & VP of Healthcare for Microsoft, on the role of technology in health care. Dr. Rhew, who has a background in infectious disease management, observed early in his career that evidence-based practices often lead to better health outcomes, but they aren’t adhered to consistently. From there he set out on a digital transformation journey that quickly brought him into health tech and eventually Microsoft. Dr. Rhew and Greg discuss the role of technology in delivering the right information at the right time to improve patient experience and outcomes. For example, in one cardiac rehab program where patients were offered the option to participation digitally, completion rate jumped from 40 to 80 percent and 30-day hospital readmissions dropped from 12 percent to less than 1 percent. Quite simply, making things easier for patients improves care and reduces costs. According to Dr. Rhew, the next horizon in health care will be around making data more interoperable so that the industry can bring it into a common platform and analyze it to drive actionable insights that improve care. And, Dr. Rhew leaves us with his parting thoughts on technology’s capacity to improve health equity and access.

A transcript of this episode can be found here.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: Stacking the impact of clinical research to address unmet needs in health care. Sep 03, 2021

Jennifer Byrne, CEO of contract research organization Javara Research, has a lifelong passion for serving patient populations through clinical research. On this episode, Jennifer shares with Greg the concept of learning health systems that improve health care through research. Javara brings a lot of the traditional advantages that a CRO brings to pharma to health care systems through an integrated research organization approach. The organization's strategic vision and partnerships are centered around bringing clinical research opportunities to health care systems to meet unmet patient needs while simultaneously partnering with pharma to address the data and scientific needs to clinical trials. Jennifer explains how analytics and AI are used to deep dive into electronic health records and other health data sources to identify potential clinical trial participants and connect the right patient with the right trial and the right time. Greg asked Jennifer about the role of bias in clinical research, and she shares her experience around bias that patients and physicians aren’t as interested in participating in clinical research as they actually are. Technology can assist in physician and patient outreach and engagement, so that patients can come to clinical research with their trusted physician and keep their clinical trial participation in sync with their overall health care journey. They also discuss opportunities to use technology to deliver optimal and more patient-centric clinical trial participation.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: Modern Consumers Want to Know: How The Pharmaceutical Industry is Influencing Supply Chain Traceability Aug 20, 2021

Grainne Lynch, Senior Manager and Traceability Lead for Accenture, helps pharmaceutical companies be compliant with supply chain legislation around preventing counterfeit medicines from entering the supply chain. Her expertise is around helping pharmaceutical manufacturers implement common capabilities and coding to allow tracking and tracing of products at the unit level. On this episode, Grainne explains to Greg that the pharmaceutical industry is on the forefront of a consumer-led trend demanding the ability to track and trace products end-to-end throughout the supply chain. Now more than ever, consumers want to know a product’s entire history—where it came from, how materials were sourced, where and when it was manufactured, and the process by which it was approved. And, consumers expect companies to be responsible for making good decisions throughout the supply chain. This trend toward greater tracking and tracing is being seen in many industries, and as Grainne explains, life sciences is a natural leader because the industry already has GxP requirements in place. Data and analytics of course play a critical role. For example, most pharmaceutical products require refrigeration, and devices are used to monitor and measure refrigeration throughout the supply chain to ensure the proper temperature level is maintained. Grianne leaves us with her thoughts on the importance of pharmaceutical traceability to the future growth of the industry as a whole.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: Follow the Money to Predict the Future of Health Care Aug 06, 2021

Jessica DaMassa is the Executive Producer and Host of video series, What’s the Future, Health?, where she interviews key stakeholders in health tech to uncover unique perspectives on where the industry is headed. On this episode of The Health Pulse, Jessica briefly switches from her usual role as interviewer to share her observations on the trends to watch right now in health care. She shares with Greg several clues on the future based on the unprecedented funding pouring into the health tech space since the early months of the pandemic. Start ups focused on improving analysis of data from electronic health records (EHRs), particularly those focused on gleaning predictive value from EHR data, are hot. Jessica also identified trends around funding for later-stage start ups, which indicates these companies are gaining traction, and an expansion in private equity money in the health tech space. So, where is all this new funding going? Jessica identified three key focus areas – mental health; technology that helps navigate patients into and through the health care system (also know as digital front doors); and AI implementation specifically in the areas of clinical trials and automation of health care administration. Greg and Jessica also discuss key considerations around identifying and controlling for bias in AI. Looking ahead to delivery of care, Jessica sees the home as a place of care will be a key pandemic trend that is here to stay. Her advice for start ups? Make sure you understand the payment model!

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: Removing Logistical Barriers to Health Care with Uber Health Jul 23, 2021

Caitlin Donovan is the Global Head of Uber Health. In this role, she’s responsible for figuring out how to fix logistical issues in health care. Caitlin begins by sharing why she’s so inspired by her role at Uber Health. Coming from a variety of health care executive roles, Caitlin observed that all too often what goes wrong in patient care isn’t clinical—it’s what happens when they aren’t in front of their provider. Maybe they don’t have transportation to an appointment, their prescription didn’t arrive or they don’t have access to the food they need. At Uber Health, Caitlin focuses on connecting the dots through data and analytics to solve these challenges. Much of what she does is aimed at helping population health experts address social determinants of health. Uber Health started in 2018 with a focus on providing a HIPPA-secure delivery platform to improve access to care and benefit patient populations. The platform uses data and predictive analytics to intervene earlier to ensure that patients get the care they need by allowing population health case managers to securely order services for patients. This approach improves compliance to patient care plans by solving logistical problems before they derail care. Finally, Caitlin shares her thoughts on the biggest health care challenges that Uber Health will tackle next.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: From basketball to mental health data, Dr. Dawnté Early drives a community-centric approach Jul 09, 2021

Dr. Dawnté Early (she/her) is the Chief of Research and Evaluation for the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission in California. Dr. Early joined Greg for a chat about whole person care, and she shared that her love of sports (she played college basketball and coached her children’s teams) instilled a desire to give back to her community. In her current role, Dr. Early supports the Commission’s mission is to transform the mental health system so that everyone who needs care in California receives high-quality and culturally competent care. A big part of her job is bringing together mental health data at the individual level with data from different agencies, such as criminal justice, education, quarterly wage, and death and birth data, to identify social determinants of health and uncover disparities. The commission also plays a key role in engaging with other agencies and systems to help support early intervention and care. Greg asks about the challenge of overcoming stigma in mental health, and Dr. Early shares that having conversations that normalize and contextualize mental health needs is critical, as is using humanizing language around mental health. The Commission plays role in ensuring these conversations are taking place and that the community is engaged throughout the process—in determining what questions to ask the data and by giving input on how data-driven insights can impact effective policy. Lastly, Dr. Early shares her vision for the Commission’s role in connecting data to policy to community to outcomes in order to drive more early intervention and prevention in mental health for the betterment of individuals, families and communities.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: A Pharma CIO’s Prescription for Building a Data-Driven Culture Jun 25, 2021

On this episode, Greg is joined by Herman De Prins, Global CIO of UCB. UCB is a mid-sized global biopharma company focusing on immunology and neurology. Herman describes UCB’s journey into artificial intelligence (AI) projects aimed at treatments for epilepsy. Herman also shares how UCB promoted data literacy and AI among its staff of more than 8,000 people. The programs UCB has put in place have been very effective in driving enthusiasm for data-driven decision making throughout the company. In fact, Herman shares that their challenge isn’t around internal resistance to AI, it’s prioritizing the many potential projects brought forth by the team. UCB also has a process for evaluating projects based on the strength of the business cases behind them. Herman emphasized that there is value in AI across the pharmaceutical value chain, particularly in R&D and commercial. For example, last year UCB teamed up with Microsoft on the Moonshot Initiative where they used AI to conduct research on potential treatments for COVID-19 and reduced the time typically required for that research from six months to three days. Greg and Herman conclude their chat by discussing the future of AI and Herman’s thoughts on the potential opportunities and pitfalls in a world where AI will increasingly be embedded in technology products all around us.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Electrifying AI: Building tomorrow today Jun 17, 2021

Peter Muhoro has a front row seat for the ongoing energy transition, so the VP of strategy and technology at Rappahannock Electric Cooperative is the perfect guest to talk with host Sal Gill about what it will require for utilities to start building tomorrow today. On the Season 2 finale of Electrifying AI, Peter and Sal discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the expectations of electricity consumers, how the business model for electric utilities could be in for a massive change, and how data and analytics are primed to help utilities shape the future of energy — if those utilities can overcome entrenched cultures and legacy systems. At the end of their conversation, Peter makes his pick for our Electrifying AI playlist on Spotify and throws in a bonus viral video to be on the lookout for! Listen to his suggestion here, then make your recommendations for a song by tweeting @TheElectricSal. We just might include your selection and send you some Electrifying AI swag to say thanks. Learn more at sas.com/utilities and check out additional episodes of Electrifying AI at sas.transistor.fm or on your favorite podcast platform. Thank you for a stellar second season of Electrifying AI! We’ll be back with Season 3 after a summer break.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

Connect with Peter on: Twitter | LinkedIn
Connect with Sal on: Twitter | LinkedIn
Learn about Sal’s expertise
Visit Rappahannock Electric Cooperative’s website
Electrifying AI Spotify playlist
SAS Energy & Utilities on the web
Our new Electrifying AI landing page

Check out additional episodes of the Electrifying AI podcast series at sas.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Electrifying AI podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Did you know that you can watch Electrifying AI too? Find our episodes on YouTube here.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Electrifying AI podcast, send us an email to electrifyingaipodcast@sas.com.

About our guest:

Peter Muhoro is the vice president for strategy and technology at Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, a member-owned utility that provides electric service to almost 170,000 connections in portions of 22 Virginia counties. Peter has more than 15 years of experience in the energy industry, including roles at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and leadership positions at co-ops in Texas and Virginia. He’s a board member for the Smart Electric Power Alliance and has earned a bachelor’s degree from Hampton University, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

About our host:

Sal Gill heads digital strategy and market innovation for SAS Energy & Utilities. He has worked for major energy companies and seen firsthand how electricity transforms lives, from bringing power to remote communities to pioneering innovations that will accelerate renewable technologies. As the global community continues to seek alternatives to satisfy its appetite for energy, Sal is constantly searching for new ideas that take advantage of both the electric grid, known as the largest machine humans have ever built, and the greatest enabler of our time, data analytics.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: Linking data sources to see the bigger picture in public health. Jun 11, 2021

On this episode, Greg talks with Dana Bernson, epidemiologist and Director of Special Analytic Projects at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, about her work to use data and analytics to guide public health planning and crisis response. Dana shares insights from the department’s initial effort to link data sources across state government to get more contextual information to help address the opioid epidemic. Not surprisingly, one data set often gives us a piece of the puzzle, but linking multiple data sources at the individual level tells a bigger story. For example, the department discovered that the risk of overdose following a release from incarceration is 120 times higher than the risk for the general population. Data linkage is critical to understanding social determinants of health to inform effective policy and intervention. This is also true of the COVID-19 pandemic, where Dana’s team is exploring the impact of the pandemic on underserved populations including communities of color, the homeless, people who have been incarcerated, people with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders, and pregnant and postpartum women. Finally, Dana shares an update on what has become known as the Public Health Data Warehouse project, which is a research tool that enables analysis of public health priorities and trends, including substance abuse, and maternal and child health. The warehouse establishes the infrastructure to link 24 data systems, covering 98% of the state population. Dana is hopeful that following the coronavirus crisis, public health will receive more consistent and sustainable funding for projects like hers that ultimately support a more complete and proactive approach to health.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Electrifying AI: An even greater grid Jun 03, 2021

Ahad Esmaeilian is helping drive us toward the electricity system of the future. The director of business development for Avangrid, Ahad has earned a Ph.D. from Texas A&M and holds master’s degrees from universities in both the U.S. and his home country of Iran. And while Ahad’s daily focus is to work across the industry to advance clean energy through the interconnection of wind, solar and other utility-scale renewable energy resources, his academic and professional careers have largely focused on digital grids. That means he and host Sal Gill have plenty to talk about in this technical chat around how utilities can build an even greater grid. Join them for a discussion about the business of clean energy, the importance of peeking behind the meter and how to harness the power of analytics, AI and machine learning to prepare the platform of the future. At the end of their conversation, Ahad gives us some insight into the songs he sings while driving around in his car through his suggestion for our Electrifying AI playlist on Spotify! Listen to his pick here, then make your recommendations for a song by tweeting @TheElectricSal. We just might include your selection and send you some Electrifying AI swag to say thanks. Learn more at sas.com/utilities and check out additional episodes of Electrifying AI at sas.transistor.fm or on your favorite podcast platform.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

Connect with Ahad on: LinkedIn
Connect with Sal on: Twitter | LinkedIn
Learn about Sal’s expertise
Electrifying AI Spotify playlist
SAS Energy & Utilities on the web
Our new Electrifying AI landing page

Check out additional episodes of the Electrifying AI podcast series at sas.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Electrifying AI podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Did you know that you can watch Electrifying AI too? Find our episodes on YouTube here.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Electrifying AI podcast, send us an email to electrifyingaipodcast@sas.com.

About our guest:

Ahad Esmaeilian is the director or business development for Avangrid, a diversified energy and utility company that boasts $30 billion in assets, and operations in 25 U.S. states and dozens of countries. Ahad earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tehran, a Master of Business Administration from Clarkson University and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University. His resume includes prior roles at the Smart Grid Center (TEES) and the New York Power Authority.

About our host:

Sal Gill heads digital strategy and market innovation for SAS Energy & Utilities. He has worked for major energy companies and seen firsthand how electricity transforms lives, from bringing power to remote communities to pioneering innovations that will accelerate renewable technologies. As the global community continues to seek alternatives to satisfy its appetite for energy, Sal is constantly searching for new ideas that take advantage of both the electric grid, known as the largest machine humans have ever built, and the greatest enabler of our time, data analytics.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: In life sciences, change is hard but worth it when it comes to digital transformation. May 28, 2021

On this episode, Greg chats with SAS EMEA life sciences sales director Jonathan Riches about digital transformation in pharma. Jonathan argues that while buzzword technology like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning get a lot of attention, it’s really culture and change-management that determine an organization’s success with digital transformation. Why? The life sciences industry is highly regulated by necessity, and many pharmaceutical companies have been around for one hundred or more years. So, while change is challenging for any organization, it is especially challenging for pharma. According to Jonathan, life sciences organizations must back up their analytics evolution with ample training, empowerment around individual growth and C-level commitment to data-driven decision making. Greg points out that we see this in health care as well, where most medical providers don’t go to school to be data scientists, but they are evolving in their roles to use data and analytics more. And in pharma, Jonathan points out that we’re seeing more recruiting from other sectors such as retail, CPG and banking in order to leverage learned experiences from those industries. For the past decade or two, pharma has been using analytics and statistics to prove the efficacy and safety of drugs in order to obtain regulatory approval. There is now recognition that pharma can go much deeper by leveraging real world evidence in clinical development or forecasting analytics in demand planning. This kind of evolution requires changes and new skills to job roles within pharma. Greg and Jonathan also discuss the complexities of supply chains in pharma where specialty therapies often need to be produced near the patients they will treat. Jonathan offers his advice for pharmaceutical companies who want to accelerate digital transformation. The projects need to be led by the business and business challenge with collaboration and support from IT. Start slow and design data and analytics platforms to the business challenges they need to solve. Finally, Jonathan offers his predictions for the future of transformation in supply chain, digital engagement with health care providers and even patients, real world evidence, devices, personalized medicine, and collaboration and data sharing across the value chain.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Electrifying AI: An equitable energy transition May 20, 2021

Dawn James is a violinist, a geoscientist, a mom and a technology solutions professional. She could even help you understand how fluvial sedimentology works! But those descriptors only scratch the surface of the experience and expertise Dawn brings to her role as the U.S. director of sustainability and environmental services at Microsoft. On this episode of Electrifying AI, Dawn joins host Sal Gill to examine how analytics, artificial intelligence and cloud technologies are playing a role in the ongoing energy transition — and how players in the electricity industry can utilize them to ensure that no one is left behind. Plus, she shares her insight on why a tech company such as Microsoft, which is a strategic partner with SAS, is so invested in an equitable energy transition. At the end of their inspiring conversation, Dawn offers Sal her stirring suggestion for our Electrifying AI playlist on Spotify! Listen to her pick here, then make your recommendations for a song by tweeting @TheElectricSal. We just might include your song and send you some Electrifying AI swag to say thanks. Learn more at sas.com/utilities and check out additional episodes of Electrifying AI at sas.transistor.fm or on your favorite podcast platform.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

Learn more about environmental sustainability at Microsoft
Dawn James on: Twitter | LinkedIn
Connect with Sal on: Twitter | LinkedIn
Learn about Sal’s expertise
Electrifying AI Spotify playlist
SAS Energy & Utilities on the web
Our new Electrifying AI landing page

Check out additional episodes of the Electrifying AI podcast series at sas.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Electrifying AI podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Did you know that you can watch Electrifying AI too? Find our episodes on YouTube here.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Electrifying AI podcast, send us an email to electrifyingaipodcast@sas.com.

About our guest:

Dawn James is the U.S. director of sustainability and environmental sciences for Microsoft, and she has a track record of excellence that includes prior work at Halliburton and the U.S. Geological Survey. An energy industry veteran, Dawn studied geology at Franklin & Marshall College and California State University, Northridge, as well as data science and big data analytics at MIT. Dawn is a violinist, a geoscientist, a mom and a technology solutions professional.

About our host:

Sal Gill heads digital strategy and market innovation for SAS Energy & Utilities. He has worked for major energy companies and seen firsthand how electricity transforms lives, from bringing power to remote communities to pioneering innovations that will accelerate renewable technologies. As the global community continues to seek alternatives to satisfy its appetite for energy, Sal is constantly searching for new ideas that take advantage of both the electric grid, known as the largest machine humans have ever built, and the greatest enabler of our time, data analytics.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Reimagine Marketing: Reflections & Projections: Season One May 18, 2021

We’ve moved! Find us at https://reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm/ as we continue to ponder the future of customer experience.

The Reimagine Marketing podcast explores how marketing organizations are re-inventing themselves in the age of the digital consumer. This episode features two of our global co-hosts, Wilson Raj and Steven Hofmans, as they review Season One episodes and guests, explore some of the hot topics facing marketers today and share some of the potential topics we’ll unpack during Season Two.

This podcast covers:

Recaps of
- Episode 2: Butcher Shop as Math House – Connecting with Tomorrow's Digital Consumer, Today
- Episode 8: Ethical AI Meets Privacy – Avoid the Paparazzi Effect
- Episode 9: Digitizing Southern Hospitality
Potential topics we’ll cover in Season Two, including:
- Fan experience
- Marketing planning in the digital age
- The evolution of CX and how to make it more participatory.
- AI-powered marketing – the balance of artificial intelligence and human intelligence.

We’re excited to share that you’ll now find us on our own dedicated channel – so go search for Reimagine Marketing on your favorite podcast platforms. Subscribe today for show notes, to hear previous episodes and to catch Season 2 content as it drops later this summer. Don’t forget to join us when we return with more personalities, paradigms and practices on the future of marketing and CX. Thank you for listening!

Check out additional episodes of the Reimagine Marketing podcast series at reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Reimagine Marketing podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Visit sas.com/reimaginemarketingpodcast to learn more about our guests, upcoming episodes and more.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Reimagine Marketing podcast, send us an email: reimaginemarketingpodcast@sas.com.

About our guests:

Wilson Raj is the Global Director of Customer Intelligence at SAS, responsible for the marketing of SAS’ AI-powered marketing solutions. He has been a marketing leader at Fortune Global 500® companies such as Microsoft, Medtronic and Philips, and advised C-level executives about digital strategy while at award-winning agencies Publicis Groupe, VML/Young & Rubicam and Wunderman. Wilson is often featured in keynotes and in major media publications such as Adweek, CMSWire, CRM Magazine, Forbes, InformationWeek, MarketingProfs, ZDNet, and more.
Steven Hofmans is a customer experience advisor on a mission to make every citizen a happy customer. Steven believes today’s customer experience needs to be personalized, zero effort, frictionless, proactive and about the customer. He helps marketing, sales and service departments to explore how they can revolutionize their marketing processes in order to reach that customer experience of the future. Using inspiring presentations and practical examples, he wants to show what proactive customer experience could look like.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: What can public and private sector health care learn from military medicine? May 14, 2021

On this episode Major General Elder Granger, M.D. US Army (retired) joins Greg to discuss health care and the military. Dr. Granger currently the President and CEO of THE 5Ps, LLC, a health care, education, and leadership consulting organization. He also serves on the board of directors for CignaHealth, Cerner and Defense Logistics Health. Dr. Granger’s interest in medicine started young with a high school science project on sickle cell anemia. Dr. Granger also participated in a summer program for the Arkansas National Guard in high school and later joined the National Guard, which began his military career. Dr. Granger became an active duty army medic before college and participated in ROTC throughout college and medical school. Greg begins by asking how medicine in the military is different from the private sector. Dr. Granger explains that in the military you learn to provide good medicine in challenging environments. For a condition like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), screening is critical and service men and women are routinely screened pre-deployment, during deployment and post-deployment. The private sector has a lot to learn from the military on screening and treatment for PTSD, and this can be applied to patients struggling with trauma from the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid epidemic and other events. Dr. Granger emphasizes the importance of removing the stigma around mental health and improving access to mental health services. He shared insights from a new study by Cigna on building greater resilience to reduce the health impacts of stressful circumstances. https://cignaresilience.com/ He also shared that telehealth can play a key role in improving access to care moving forward. Data from electronic health records (EHRs) can be used to get a more holistic view of patient health and identify early warning signs for mental health challenges and addiction. Data and enabling technology such as AI will play a pivotal role in the next big innovations in health care, including a future where Dr. Granger predicts we’ll be able to address social determinants of health head on to improve health and health care for all. Finally, Dr. Granger shares his best advice for the current administration on how to improve health care in the United States.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Electrifying AI: A big deal May 06, 2021

Earth Day offers an annual opportunity to reflect on and advance climate action, but this year’s observance brought with it some big news. Among other aims, the Biden Administration announced that the United States will target reducing emissions by 50 percent by 2030, as compared to 2005 levels. Other initiatives were announced around how to help developing countries establish net-zero strategies, how to transform the transportation sector and how to harness the potential of solar, wind and energy storage — among many others. That leaves the electricity industry with plenty to talk about and plenty to do. On this episode of Electrifying AI, Dr. Joe Nyangon, a senior industry consultant for power and utilities innovation here at SAS, joins us to break down the news and examine how the energy and utilities sector can move forward. Plus, Joe gives us his pick for our new Electrifying AI playlist on Spotify! Listen to his suggestion here, then make your recommendations for a song by tweeting @TheElectricSal. We just might include your pick and send you some Electrifying AI swag to say thanks. Learn more at sas.com/utilities and check out additional episodes of Electrifying AI at sas.transistor.fm or on your favorite podcast platform.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

WhiteHouse.gov: President Biden’s Leaders Summit on Climate
Dr. Joe Nyangon on Twitter | LinkedIn
Joe’s recent webinar on DERs, grid resilience and regulatory innovation
Connect with Sal: Twitter | LinkedIn
Learn about Sal’s expertise
Electrifying AI Spotify playlist
SAS Energy & Utilities on the web

Check out additional episodes of the Electrifying AI podcast series at sas.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Electrifying AI podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Did you know that you can watch Electrifying AI too? Find our episodes on YouTube here.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Electrifying AI podcast, send us an email to electrifyingaipodcast@sas.com.

About our guest:

With more than 15 years of experience in the energy sector, Joe Nyangon leads the design and development of advanced analytics solutions targeting decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization domains at SAS. Joe was previously a postdoctoral researcher in energy economics and engineering systems at the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Delaware. Before that, he was a consultant at the United Nations in New York and is a TED fellow. Joe earned a PhD from the University of Delaware and holds master’s degrees from Columbia University and the University of Greenwich. He’s an active member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences, the United States Association for Energy Economics, the International Association for Energy Economics, and Project Management Institute.

About our host:

Sal Gill heads digital strategy and market innovation for SAS Energy & Utilities. He has worked for major energy companies and seen firsthand how electricity transforms lives, from bringing power to remote communities to pioneering innovations that will accelerate renewable technologies. As the global community continues to seek alternatives to satisfy its appetite for energy, Sal is constantly searching for new ideas that take advantage of both the electric grid, known as the largest machine humans have ever built, and the greatest enabler of our time, data analytics.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Reimagine Marketing: Digitizing Southern Hospitality May 04, 2021

We’ve moved! Find us at https://reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm/ as we continue to ponder the future of customer experience.

“The modern (today’s) definition of Southern Hospitality is combining the ease and comfort of a digital interaction with the trust that your individual experience is unique and important.” – Clark Twiddy

In a “socially distant” market, the hotel industry is among the hardest hit. Like many industries, hospitality will see both substantial and subtle shifts in the post-pandemic era. In this episode of Reimagine Marketing, Wilson Raj welcomes Clark Twiddy, President of Twiddy & Company to examine a set of recovery scenarios for hotels. On the consumer side, Wilson and Clark explore what guests say will make them feel safe when traveling, including contactless check-ins and check-outs, and an added emphasis on trust. Because “luxury is not a price point, it’s an experience.”

This podcast covers:

How hospitality and travel brands are rethinking marketing efforts, moving from transaction-oriented to value-oriented.
The importance of being fast and digitally relevant while building common trust to reinforce engagements and relationships.
How to develop new processes and implement new technologies to adapt quickly to a changing market
The significance of creating a culture that promotes agility, innovation and collaboration.
Considerations for accelerating not just recovery, but resiliency, in the hospitality industry.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

Experience 2030 Pulse Report: The Acceleration of Digital Engagement, Personalization and Trust
Experience 2030 Resources: Learn more about what defines today’s customer experience and how consumers and brands will evolve through the year 2030.
Old-fashioned hospitality starts with cutting edge-analytics: Learn how SAS Analytics helps Twiddy & Company orchestrate the ideal vacation
Connect with Wilson: LinkedIn | Twitter
Connect with Clark: LinkedIn | Twitter | Twiddy & Company

Check out additional episodes of the Reimagine Marketing podcast series at reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Reimagine Marketing podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Visit https://www.sas.com/en_us/explore/reimagine-marketing-podcast.html to learn more about our guests, upcoming episodes and more.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Reimagine Marketing podcast, send us an email: reimaginemarketingpodcast@sas.com.

About our guests:

Wilson Raj is global director of customer intelligence for SAS, responsible for global marketing to establish, evolve and evangelize SAS’ analytics-powered marketing solutions. Raj has held global leadership positions in marketing at Fortune Global 500® companies including Microsoft, Novell. Medtronic, and Philips, and advised C-level executives about digital strategy while at award-winning agencies Publicis Groupe, VML/Young & Rubicam and Wunderman. Raj has been featured in major media publications such as Adweek, CMSWire, CNBC.com, Forbes, InformationWeek, MarTech Advisor, MarketingProfs, ZDNet and more.
Clark Twiddy is president of Twiddy & Company Realtors, a hospitality and property management firm along North Carolina's Outer Banks. With more than 40 years as a second-generation family business, Twiddy & Company balances personal experience for customers with an aggressive commitment to data-based innovation. As a small business, Twiddy & Company has been an early deployer of advanced technology in the vacation rental space nationally.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: Is 'The customer is always right' the key to commercial breakthroughs in pharma? Apr 30, 2021

Mike Turner, customer intelligence guru at SAS, joins Greg for a chat about customer intelligence in life sciences. Pharma organizations don’t think of their customers in the same way that retailers do, but they do have customers, including the health care professionals (HCPs) who prescribe their medicinal products and clinical trial subjects. The adoption of customer intelligence programs in pharma accelerated dramatically at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic because organizations were forced to shift to digital engagement very quickly. Greg asks about key takeaways from other industries that are applicable to life sciences. Mike shares examples from the CPG (consumer packaged goods) industry where they are striving to build direct relationships with the people who use their products without disrupting the relationship between those customers and retailer networks that distribute them. The CPG industry also strives to understand their customers relationships with their products, including when, how and why they use them. The pharmaceutical life cycle is made of complex networks from discovery all the way through to patients receiving medications as part of treatment pathways. Analytical insights around the customers involved at various touch points along the way has the potential to transform engagement in the industry. Mike and Greg also discuss readiness within pharmaceutical companies to shift their sales and marketing programs toward a strategic view of customer insights and engagement and the challenges they may need to overcome. Finally, Mike shares his predictions for the next opportunities for breakthroughs in the application of customer intelligence in pharma, including the potential for Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to play a key role in the administration of therapies.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Electrifying AI: If not us, then who? Apr 22, 2021

The job of a leader is much more difficult than it once was, according to Bill Boulding, the dean of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Dean Boulding is an expert on leadership — and on this episode of Electrifying AI, he joins host Sal Gill to discuss what leaders in the electricity industry need to focus on for 2021 and beyond. Their conversation spans change management, corporate responsibility, climate change, decarbonization and how the industry can fend off or emerge from crises of leadership and public trust. Plus, Dean Boulding gives us the most extensive suggestions yet for our new Electrifying AI playlist on Spotify! Listen to his playlist picks here, then make your suggestion for a song by tweeting @TheElectricSal. We just might include your pick and send you some Electrifying AI swag to say thanks. Learn more at sas.com/utilities and check out additional episodes of Electrifying AI at sas.transistor.fm or on your favorite podcast platform.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

· Dean Bill Boulding on Twitter | LinkedIn

· Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business on Twitter | LinkedIn

· Duke Fuqua’s website

· Connect with Sal: Twitter | LinkedIn

· Learn about Sal’s expertise

· Electrifying AI Spotify playlist

· SAS Energy & Utilities on the web

Check out additional episodes of the Electrifying AI podcast series at sas.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Electrifying AI podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Did you know that you can watch Electrifying AI too? Find our episodes on YouTube here.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Electrifying AI podcast, send us an email to electrifyingaipodcast@sas.com.

About our guest:

Bill Boulding is the dean and J.B. Fuqua Professor of Business Administration at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He serves as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Council on Values and the board of the Graduate Management Admission Council, which is the organization that administers the GMAT exam. He received his BA in Economics from Swarthmore College and his Ph.D. in Managerial Sciences and Applied Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. His research interests lie at the intersection of management, marketing and strategy. Of particular interest to Dean Boulding is evaluating how managers make decisions and how consumers respond to those decisions.

About our host:

Sal Gill heads digital strategy and market innovation for SAS Energy & Utilities. He has worked for major energy companies and seen firsthand how electricity transforms lives, from bringing power to remote communities to pioneering innovations that will accelerate renewable technologies. As the global community continues to seek alternatives to satisfy its appetite for energy, Sal is constantly searching for new ideas that take advantage of both the electric grid, known as the largest machine humans have ever built, and the greatest enabler of our time, data analytics.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Reimagine Marketing: Ethical AI Meets Privacy: Avoid the Paparazzi Effect Apr 20, 2021

We’ve moved! Find us at https://reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm/ as we continue to ponder the future of customer experience.

In this episode of Reimagine Marketing, Steven Hofmans welcomes Mieke De Ketelaere of IMEC and Ruben Missine of Colruyt Group to discuss artificial intelligence and ethics. Steven, Mieke and Ruben explore the potential risk of AI for consumers and citizens today, how consumers can protect themselves from unethical AI, and how companies should organize to ensure ethical AI approaches.

This podcast covers:

How digital privacy is like celebrity – and whether AI is the next paparazzi.
The potential for AI to democratize data, and how the most trustworthy organizations will prevail (not the most competent).
The concept of weaponizing AI and how to define when something is ethical or not.
Considerations for AI managers when faced with ethical AI issues and issues surrounding unconscious bias.
How companies can develop a good inner compass for ethical AI and how to monitor and train models for what they are intended to accomplish.
Consumer protections from unethical AI.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI), presented by the High-Level Expert Group on AI (AI HLEG) to the European Commission, April 2019
Resources from Mieke De Ketelaere: Check out gmdeketelaere.com for information about her latest book – Wanted: Human-AI Translators, keynote details and more.

Check out additional episodes of the Reimagine Marketing podcast series at reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Reimagine Marketing podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Visit https://www.sas.com/en_us/explore/reimagine-marketing-podcast.html to learn more about our guests, upcoming episodes and more.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Reimagine Marketing podcast, send us an email: reimaginemarketingpodcast@sas.com.

About our guests:

Steven Hofmans is a customer experience advisor on a mission to make every citizen a happy customer. Steven believes today’s customer experience needs to be personalized, zero effort, frictionless, proactive and about the customer. He helps marketing, sales and service departments to explore how they can revolutionize their marketing processes in order to reach that customer experience of the future. Using inspiring presentations and practical examples, he wants to show what proactive customer experience could look like.
Mieke De Ketelaere is Program Director AI at IMEC. Mieke specialized in robotics and artificial intelligence during her studies, and over the last 25 years, she has worked for several multinationals including IBM, Microsoft, SAP and SAS, focused on all aspects of data and analytics. At IMEC, Mieke is responsible for the development and rollout of AI strategy. Mieke is a frequently requested keynote speaker on the topics of digitalization, demystifying AI and data privacy and a bestselling author. Her book Wanted: Human-AI Translators is available for pre-order now.
Ruben Missine is the division manager of business analytics, intelligence and digital transformation at Colruyt Group, a retailer in Belgium that is known and proud to be very active around ethical and sustainable business practices. Ruben holds a master’s degree in history and business administration and has helped different AI teams grow cross department making an impact on the customer experience and society.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: Exploring the evolution and future of clinical trial data sharing Apr 16, 2021

Andrew Freeman is the former Head of Medical Policy and Data Disclosure Governance at GlaxoSmithKline. Andrew joined Greg recently to discuss his experience at the forefront of the industry initiative to make patient-level data from clinical trials available for research. Andrew believes the results of clinical studies in humans should be made available for three key reasons. First, there are excellent scientific reasons to allow other researchers to review and evaluate findings and to make those findings available so that they can potentially lead to new discoveries. Secondly, there is an ethical obligation because when patients agree to participate in clinical research they do so for the betterment of medicine and science, and publishing is a way to maximize that effect. Thirdly because clinical research directly relates to health care interventions that are used in patients, it’s important that all the information on the benefits and risks of that intervention are made available to providers. The industry as a whole has made great strides in this area, but there are also opportunities for further transparency. For example, there are opportunities to improve access to scientific research and papers for patients. Additionally, the data should be shared in a way that is relevant and useable to those who want to access it. Anonymizing data is also hugely important when sharing data to protect the privacy of patient participants, so that’s an important consideration. Andrew shares some of the developments in the industry in the past decade that have made data sharing more beneficial and imperative for pharmaceutical sponsors. Finally, Andrew gives us his thoughts on the success of the data sharing movement to date and where the movement is headed in the future.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Electrifying AI: The path to carbon-free energy Apr 08, 2021

The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) is a nonprofit organization that boasts almost 1,200 members across electric utilities, corporations and the public sector. The group envisions a carbon-free energy system by 2050, and on this episode of Electrifying AI, SEPA president and CEO Julia Hamm joins host Sal Gill to lay out the path to carbon-free energy as she sees it. Julia and Sal discuss both the short-term and long-term steps needed to reach zero carbon, the role artificial intelligence will play in the push for clean energy, whether we’ve reached “a tipping point” and how Julia earned a 10/10 from Room Rater while working from home. Head to our Electrifying AI playlist on Spotify to hear Julia’s selection, Regulate by Warren G and Nate Dogg, then make your suggestion for a song by tweeting to @TheElectricSal. We just might include your pick and send you some Electrifying AI swag to say thanks!

Join us again in two weeks as the dean of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business talks with us about leadership, change management and decarbonization.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

Julia Hamm on Twitter | LinkedIn
SEPA on Twitter | LinkedIn
SEPA’s website
Connect with Sal: Twitter | LinkedIn
Learn about Sal’s expertise
Electrifying AI Spotify playlist
SAS Energy & Utilities on the web

Check out additional episodes of the Electrifying AI podcast series at sas.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Electrifying AI podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Did you know that you can watch Electrifying AI too? Find our episodes on YouTube here.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Electrifying AI podcast, send us an email to electrifyingaipodcast@sas.com.

About our guest:

Julia Hamm has served as SEPA’s president and CEO since 2004, providing leadership and strategic direction for the organization. She is responsible for guiding and overseeing all of SEPA’s research, education and collaboration activities for its 1,200 member companies and the broader energy industry. Julia is a visionary leader at the center of the transformation underway in the electric power sector to a clean and modern energy future. For the past 20 years she has been advising and collaborating with utilities, solution providers and government agencies on business models, grid modernization, and clean energy policies, strategies and programs.

About our host:

Sal Gill heads digital strategy and market innovation for SAS Energy & Utilities. He has worked for major energy companies and seen firsthand how electricity transforms lives, from bringing power to remote communities to pioneering innovations that will accelerate renewable technologies. As the global community continues to seek alternatives to satisfy its appetite for energy, Sal is constantly searching for new ideas that take advantage of both the electric grid, known as the largest machine humans have ever built, and the greatest enabler of our time, data analytics.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Reimagine Marketing: Experience 2030 – Actions for a New CX Operating Model Apr 06, 2021

We’ve moved! Find us at https://reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm/ as we continue to ponder the future of customer experience.

In this episode of Reimagine Marketing, Wilson Raj and Daniel Newman discuss one of the key goals of our Experience 2030 global research – to identify the buzzwords we’re all hearing and to identify what’s real and what’s not, what’s practical and what’s hype. Wilson and Daniel demystify themes such as AI, the customer journey, real-time analytics and the supposed death of the CMO. Learn about the actionable steps featured in the Experience 2030 playbook and hear several customer examples.

In prior episodes, Wilson and Daniel focused on key themes of the global Experience 2030 study: smart and immersive technologies, loyalty in the digital age the evolving nature of trust. This episode highlights some key actions brands can take NOW to prepare for customer experiences in the future.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

Experience 2030 Resources: Learn more about what defines today’s customer experience and how consumers and brands will evolve through the year 2030.
Discover more resources from Futurum Research: https://futurumresearch.com/
Connect with Daniel: LinkedIn | Twitter
Connect with Wilson: LinkedIn | Twitter

Check out additional episodes of the Reimagine Marketing podcast series at reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Reimagine Marketing podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Visit https://www.sas.com/en_us/explore/reimagine-marketing-podcast.html to learn more about our guests, upcoming episodes and more.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Reimagine Marketing podcast, send us an email: reimaginemarketingpodcast@sas.com.

About our guests:

Wilson Raj is global director of customer intelligence for SAS, responsible for global marketing to establish, evolve and evangelize SAS’ analytics-powered marketing solutions. Raj has held global leadership positions in marketing at Fortune Global 500® companies including Microsoft, Novell. Medtronic, and Philips, and advised C-level executives about digital strategy while at award-winning agencies Publicis Groupe, VML/Young & Rubicam and Wunderman. Raj has been featured in major media publications such as Adweek, CMSWire, CNBC.com, Forbes, InformationWeek, MarTech Advisor, MarketingProfs, ZDNet and more.
Daniel Newman is the Principal Analyst and founding partner of Futurum Research and the CEO of Broadsuite Media Group. Newman works with the world’s largest technology brands exploring digital transformation and how it is influencing the enterprise. From big data to IoT to cloud computing, Newman makes the connections between business, people and tech that companies need in order to benefit most from their technology projects.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: The race for return on investment in commercial pharma Apr 02, 2021

Analytics holds the potential to drive Billions in gains for the life sciences industry in the commercialization phase. Greg hosts SAS Industry Consultant Patrick Homer to discuss analytics use cases in commercial pharma. Before joining SAS, Patrick spent more than 20 years in pharmaceutical sales leadership. At SAS, he worked to develop solutions that use predictive modeling to help commercial pharma leaders make their sales and marketing strategies more effective by targeting the right prescribers. Patrick also shares his work in engagement analytics to improve marketing campaigns for health care providers (HCPs), including how analytics helped a major global pharma company transform its COVID-19 webinar campaign from a bust to a big success by leveraging insights from engagement analytics. Webinars and other online events have exploded in health care and life sciences since the onset of the pandemic, and we can expect a digital-first approach to remain after society reopens. This means the competition for online participants in these events will remain fierce. Analytics holds the key to a competitive edge.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Electrifying AI: What to watch for in 2021 Mar 25, 2021

Much like the electricity industry itself, Electrifying AI is undergoing a transformation. With a new host and a series of energy experts on tap to lend their insight, our second season is getting underway with a bang! Host Sal Gill is joined by journalist David Roberts from Volts to dissect the big trends that will affect the electricity sector in 2021: from the Biden Administration to extreme weather events like what we’ve seen in Texas to the continued digitization of energy, and more. Also new for this season is our Electrifying AI playlist on Spotify. Listen along all season as our guests make their song recommendations, then rock out to their suggestions. Tweet to @TheElectricSal with the song you want to hear on the playlist and we just might include it and send you some Electrifying AI swag to say thanks!

Join us again in two weeks as the president and CEO of the Smart Electric Power Alliance talks with us about the path to carbon-free energy.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

David Roberts on Twitter
Volts, David’s new online community
David’s archive at Vox
More on “shifting baselines syndrome”
Connect with Sal: Twitter | LinkedIn
Learn about Sal’s expertise
Electrifying AI Spotify playlist
SAS Energy & Utilities on the web

Check out additional episodes of the Electrifying AI podcast series at sas.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Electrifying AI podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Did you know that you can watch Electrifying AI too? Find our episodes on YouTube here.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Electrifying AI podcast, send us an email to electrifyingaipodcast@sas.com.

About our guest:

David Robertsis a journalist who has spent more than 15 years thinking and writing about the intersection of clean energy and politics. For much of that time he wrote for Grist and Vox, but he’s recently created his own online community called, appropriately enough, Volts. David has appeared on a variety of TV shows, radio programs, and podcasts, such as MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, Pod Save America and the Why is this Happening? podcast.

About our host:

Sal Gill heads digital strategy and market innovation for SAS Energy & Utilities. He has worked for major energy companies and seen firsthand how electricity transforms lives, from bringing power to remote communities to pioneering innovations that will accelerate renewable technologies. As the global community continues to seek alternatives to satisfy its appetite for energy, Sal is constantly searching for new ideas that take advantage of both the electric grid, known as the largest machine humans have ever built, and the greatest enabler of our time, data analytics.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Reimagine Marketing: Experience 2030 – The Evolving Nature of Digital Trust Mar 23, 2021

We’ve moved! Find us at https://reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm/ as we continue to ponder the future of customer experience.

There’s no doubt that the brands that can create personalized engagements with smart and immersive technologies will also boost both loyalty and profitability. But there’s a catch. Customers have some serious concerns about how their data is being used, stored and shared.

This episode of Reimagine Marketing focuses on the exchange of value between brands and consumers, and what companies can do from a data and marketing perspective to engender trust from their customers. Wilson Raj and Daniel Newman discuss how brands can offer the perfect blend of trust and technology.

Join us for the next episode of Reimagine Marketing as Wilson and Daniel highlight some key actions brands can take NOW to prepare for customer experiences in the future.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

Experience 2030 Resources: Learn more about what defines today’s customer experience and how consumers and brands will evolve through the year 2030.
Discover more resources from Futurum Research: https://futurumresearch.com/
Connect with Daniel: LinkedIn | Twitter
Connect with Wilson: LinkedIn | Twitter

Check out additional episodes of the Reimagine Marketing podcast series at reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Reimagine Marketing podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Visit https://www.sas.com/en_us/explore/reimagine-marketing-podcast.html to learn more about our guests, upcoming episodes and more.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Reimagine Marketing podcast, send us an email: reimaginemarketingpodcast@sas.com.

About our guests:

Wilson Raj is global director of customer intelligence for SAS, responsible for global marketing to establish, evolve and evangelize SAS’ analytics-powered marketing solutions. Raj has held global leadership positions in marketing at Fortune Global 500® companies including Microsoft, Novell. Medtronic, and Philips, and advised C-level executives about digital strategy while at award-winning agencies Publicis Groupe, VML/Young & Rubicam and Wunderman. Raj has been featured in major media publications such as Adweek, CMSWire, CNBC.com, Forbes, InformationWeek, MarTech Advisor, MarketingProfs, ZDNet and more.
Daniel Newman is the Principal Analyst and founding partner of Futurum Research and the CEO of Broadsuite Media Group. Newman works with the world’s largest technology brands exploring digital transformation and how it is influencing the enterprise. From big data to IoT to cloud computing, Newman makes the connections between business, people and tech that companies need in order to benefit most from their technology projects.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: A healthy dose of vaccine reality Mar 19, 2021

SAS Medical Director Steve Kearney joins Greg to discuss COVID-19 vaccines and what the early data is telling us about how the massive effort to vaccinate the world’s population is going. Data gives us insight around how vaccination is going for different populations and locales, the logistics involved in the effort, and importantly, how we can get vaccines to underserved populations. Health outcomes data plays a role in educating the public and encouraging vaccination. It can also be used to clear up misperceptions around the efficacy of approved vaccines. We simply don’t have the data yet to compare one vaccine head-to-head with another with so many variables at play. What about those underserved populations? The data shows us that vaccination in these communities may actually be progressing much more than the early, static data initially suspected. Understanding gaps in data, the data you have and what the data you have can and cannot tell you is paramount. And, real-time data is much more accurate than static data points when conditions are changing rapidly on the ground. Unfortunately, many governments did not have real-time data around the pandemic and vaccination efforts until recently. Greg and Steve end their conversation on a positive note by looking at what good news we’re learning from the data. For example, mass vaccination sites seem to be working. People are motivated to get vaccinated to stay well, protect others and get back to normal life.
All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Reimagine Marketing: Experience 2030 – Loyalty in the Digital Age Mar 09, 2021

We’ve moved! Find us at https://reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm/ as we continue to ponder the future of customer experience.

It’s not about loyalty programs, it’s about a loyalty mindset – a loyalty program has to be but one arrow in your quiver.

In this episode of the Reimagine Marketing podcast, Wilson Raj and Daniel Newman discuss how loyalty begins before a customer becomes – or even considers becoming – a customer. Wilson and Daniel showcase the Orlando Magic as an example of implied loyalty (recognition, engagement, transaction loyalty), and share examples of brands who use these loyalty types to infuse loyalty throughout the customer journey.

Join us for our next Reimagine Marketing episode where we’ll address the issue of digital trust and how brands can offer the perfect blend of trust and technology.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

Experience 2030 Resources: Learn more about what defines today’s customer experience and how consumers and brands will evolve through the year 2030.
Discover more resources from Futurum Research: https://futurumresearch.com/
Connect with Daniel: LinkedIn | Twitter
Connect with Wilson: LinkedIn | Twitter

Check out additional episodes of the Reimagine Marketing podcast series at reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Reimagine Marketing podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Visit https://www.sas.com/en_us/explore/reimagine-marketing-podcast.html to learn more about our guests, upcoming episodes and more.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Reimagine Marketing podcast, send us an email: reimaginemarketingpodcast@sas.com.

About our guests:

Wilson Raj is global director of customer intelligence for SAS, responsible for global marketing to establish, evolve and evangelize SAS’ analytics-powered marketing solutions. Raj has held global leadership positions in marketing at Fortune Global 500® companies including Microsoft, Novell. Medtronic, and Philips, and advised C-level executives about digital strategy while at award-winning agencies Publicis Groupe, VML/Young & Rubicam and Wunderman. Raj has been featured in major media publications such as Adweek, CMSWire, CNBC.com, Forbes, InformationWeek, MarTech Advisor, MarketingProfs, ZDNet and more.
Daniel Newman is the Principal Analyst and founding partner of Futurum Research and the CEO of Broadsuite Media Group. Newman works with the world’s largest technology brands exploring digital transformation and how it is influencing the enterprise. From big data to IoT to cloud computing, Newman makes the connections between business, people and tech that companies need in order to benefit most from their technology projects.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: AI and Bias in Healthcare Mar 05, 2021

Data scientist Hiwot Tesfaye joins Greg for a conversation about the use of algorithms in health care and how models can introduce bias. Algorithms are used broadly in health care to influence access to care, improving health outcomes, addressing costs, etc. A lot of the use cases Hiwot sees are related to risk mitigation. In these cases, algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) are used to learn historical patterns and make predictions around the risk of things like a patient not showing up for an appointment or not adhering to treatment plans. There is great promise in these types of use cases, but also a lot of pitfalls that we need to be aware of. The accuracy of health care algorithms is really important, and we need to design them so that they are accurate for everyone. Hiwot and Greg discuss examples where health care algorithms missed the mark, especially around race and the impact on care in communities of color. Hiwot explained that awareness of the potential for bias, particularly around issues tied to race, is the first and most critical step to improving the accuracy of health care algorithms. Age, gender and socioeconomic biases are also important to examine.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Reimagine Marketing: Experience 2030 – Immersive Technology > Bridging the Customer Experience Divide Feb 23, 2021

We’ve moved! Find us at https://reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm/ as we continue to ponder the future of customer experience.

How immersive do people really want their tech to be?

Consumers are dipping their toes in immersive technology, whether they even realize it or not. And the opportunities created for brands to engage with their consumers through Snapchat and Instagram filters, heads-up driving displays, and augmented reality shopping experiences.

In this episode of the Reimagine Marketing podcast, Wilson Raj and Daniel Newman chat about how brands need to reinvent themselves to keep up with tech-savvy consumers. Wilson and Daniel discuss different types of immersive tech (including augmented reality, chatbots and IoT/sensor-driven world), the findings from our Experience 2030 research and share industry specifics from retail, banking and manufacturing.

Join us for the next episode of the Reimagine Marketing podcast as Wilson and Daniel continue their deep dive into Experience 2030. They will talk about how brands can build, sustain and strengthen brand loyalty in the digital age.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

Experience 2030 Resources: Learn more about what defines today’s customer experience and how consumers and brands will evolve through the year 2030.
Discover more resources from Futurum Research: https://futurumresearch.com/
Connect with Daniel: LinkedIn | Twitter
Connect with Wilson: LinkedIn | Twitter

Check out additional episodes of the Reimagine Marketing podcast series at reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Reimagine Marketing podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Visit https://www.sas.com/en_us/explore/reimagine-marketing-podcast.html to learn more about our guests, upcoming episodes and more.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Reimagine Marketing podcast, send us an email: reimaginemarketingpodcast@sas.com.

About our guests:

Wilson Raj is global director of customer intelligence for SAS, responsible for global marketing to establish, evolve and evangelize SAS’ analytics-powered marketing solutions. Raj has held global leadership positions in marketing at Fortune Global 500® companies including Microsoft, Novell. Medtronic, and Philips, and advised C-level executives about digital strategy while at award-winning agencies Publicis Groupe, VML/Young & Rubicam and Wunderman. Raj has been featured in major media publications such as Adweek, CMSWire, CNBC.com, Forbes, InformationWeek, MarTech Advisor, MarketingProfs, ZDNet and more.
Daniel Newman is the Principal Analyst and founding partner of Futurum Research and the CEO of Broadsuite Media Group. Newman works with the world’s largest technology brands exploring digital transformation and how it is influencing the enterprise. From big data to IoT to cloud computing, Newman makes the connections between business, people and tech that companies need in order to benefit most from their technology projects.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: The Role of Telemedicine in advancing Whole Person Care Feb 19, 2021

Behavioral care expert and psychologist Josh Morgan joins Greg to talk about the role of telemedicine in whole person care. Josh shares his journey from practitioner to data psychologist as he discovered the importance of understanding and removing systemic barriers to mental health. Access to care is a challenge, especially in mental health where everything from social stigma to inadequate health insurance coverage to lack of transportation can prevent patients from getting the help they need. Can telehealth help remove some of these barriers? Josh explains that it can for a lot of reasons. Virtual care is more discreet. It can also allow access from anywhere where the technology is available. Josh also shares the importance of looking at social determinants and how they impact behavioral health policy. We have an opportunity to expand data to get a more complete picture of the needs of patients, the programs that are most helpful and the effectiveness of the system in delivering care to those who need it most. But, what does quality mental healthcare look like? It’s about much more than reducing hospitalizations. How do we measure and incentivize extremely important but subjective outcomes like hope? Josh suggests that natural language processing and text analytics give us the tools to begin measuring the subjective more effectively in health care. And, if we can measure it, we can improve it. Now, that’s something to be hopeful about.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The Health Pulse: Welcome to the Health Pulse Podcast Feb 19, 2021

Dr. Mark Lambrecht, Director of the Global Health and Life Sciences Practice at SAS, joins host Greg Horne to discuss the impact of the pandemic on the health care and life sciences industries and other exciting trends impacting the industry. From vaccinating everyone in the world to the boom of telehealth, COVID-19 has forced innovation at warp speed in the way that only a major crisis can. Mark and Greg discuss the role of data, analytics and digitalization in making these innovations possible and the importance of the democratization of analytics to allow everyone to contribute to solutions. Which virtual health advancements are here to stay? How will clinical trials evolve? What is the next frontier for evolution? Greg and Mark touch on it all.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Reimagine Marketing: Experience 2030 - Future-Proof Your Customer Strategy Feb 09, 2021

We’ve moved! Find us at https://reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm/ as we continue to ponder the future of customer experience.

From an idea that started at a trashcan, Wilson Raj welcomes Daniel Newman, Principal Analyst and Founding Partner of Futurum Research, to discuss what the future of customer experience will look like and how technology will change the way we engage – with brands, with content and with each other.

This episode of Reimagine Marketing introduces the audience to Experience 2030, a collaboration between SAS and Futurum Research. This ambitious, global survey – involving 4,000 consumers, executives, marketers and tech experts – led us to five key themes that will inform the future of CX, including smart technology, immersive technology, trust-enabling technology, loyalty in the digital age and agility & automation.

What will the future of customer experience look like?
How will technologies like AI, smart devices, drones, virtual and augmented reality change the way consumers and brands relate to each other?

Join us next time as Wilson Raj welcomes back Daniel Newman to the Reimagine Marketing podcast. Wilson and Daniel will discuss immersive technology and how brands can reinvent themselves to keep up with tech-savvy consumers.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

Experience 2030 Resources: Learn more about what defines today’s customer experience and how consumers and brands will evolve through the year 2030.
Discover more resources from Futurum Research: https://futurumresearch.com/
Connect with Daniel: LinkedIn | Twitter
Connect with Wilson: LinkedIn | Twitter

Check out additional episodes of the Reimagine Marketing podcast series at reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Reimagine Marketing podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Visit https://www.sas.com/en_us/explore/reimagine-marketing-podcast.html to learn more about our guests, upcoming episodes and more.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Reimagine Marketing podcast, send us an email: reimaginemarketingpodcast@sas.com.

About our guests:

Wilson Raj is global director of customer intelligence for SAS, responsible for global marketing to establish, evolve and evangelize SAS’ analytics-powered marketing solutions. Raj has held global leadership positions in marketing at Fortune Global 500® companies including Microsoft, Novell. Medtronic, and Philips, and advised C-level executives about digital strategy while at award-winning agencies Publicis Groupe, VML/Young & Rubicam and Wunderman. Raj has been featured in major media publications such as Adweek, CMSWire, CNBC.com, Forbes, InformationWeek, MarTech Advisor, MarketingProfs, ZDNet and more.
Daniel Newman is the Principal Analyst and founding partner of Futurum Research and the CEO of Broadsuite Media Group. Newman works with the world’s largest technology brands exploring digital transformation and how it is influencing the enterprise. From big data to IoT to cloud computing, Newman makes the connections between business, people and tech that companies need in order to benefit most from their technology projects.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Reimagine Marketing: Butcher Shop as Math House – Connecting with Tomorrow’s Digital Consumer, Today Jan 26, 2021

We’ve moved! Find us at https://reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm/ as we continue to ponder the future of customer experience.

In this episode of Reimagine Marketing, Wilson Raj welcomes guest Bernard Marr, best-selling author, futurist and strategic business advisor. Wilson and Bernard discuss the impacts of disruptions (COVID-19, economic uncertainty, etc.) on consumer behaviors and CX trends and answer key questions about how the consumer engagements and brand relationships may be shifting or evolving in this new environment.

This podcast covers:

Why this topic important, and why we’re having this particular conversation right now.
What we’re seeing across other industries, what trends are rising, what issues CX leaders typically face and the role of technology and data.
How we’ve seen marketers address these challenges and how others have overcome these hurdles.
What listeners can do right now and what’s coming next.

Join us next time as Wilson Raj welcomes Daniel Newman – principal analyst and founder of Futurum Research – to the Reimagine Marketing podcast. Wilson and Daniel will spend several episodes diving into our Experience 2030 global research and provide the macro trends we uncovered about how consumers, brands and technology will evolve through 2030.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

Connecting with the New Digital Customer: An on-demand webinar featuring Wilson and Bernard, as they discuss why marketers must adopt new operating models that involve integrated technology investments in analytics and automation.
Experience 2030 Pulse Report: A re-examination of our prior research providing context, clarity and confidence for today and tomorrow
Resources from Bernard Marr: Check out bernardmarr.com for his latest book, articles, videos and more.
Connect with Bernard: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Podcast | YouTube
Connect with Wilson: LinkedIn | Twitter

Check out additional episodes of the Reimagine Marketing podcast series at reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Reimagine Marketing podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Visit https://www.sas.com/en_us/explore/reimagine-marketing-podcast.html to learn more about our guests, upcoming episodes and more.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Reimagine Marketing podcast, send us an email: reimaginemarketingpodcast@sas.com.

About our guests:

Wilson Raj is global director of customer intelligence for SAS, responsible for global marketing to establish, evolve and evangelize SAS’ analytics-powered marketing solutions. Raj has held global leadership positions in marketing at Fortune Global 500® companies including Microsoft, Novell. Medtronic, and Philips, and advised C-level executives about digital strategy while at award-winning agencies Publicis Groupe, VML/Young & Rubicam and Wunderman. Raj has been featured in major media publications such as Adweek, CMSWire, CNBC.com, Forbes, InformationWeek, MarTech Advisor, MarketingProfs, ZDNet and more.
Bernard Marr is a world-renowned futurist, influencer and thought leader in the field of business and technology. He is the author of 18 best-selling books, writes a regular column for Forbes and advises and coaches many of the world’s best-known organizations. He has 2 million social media followers and was ranked by LinkedIn as one of the top 5 business influencers in the world and the No 1 influencer in the UK.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Reimagine Marketing: Welcome to the Reimagine Marketing Podcast Jan 12, 2021

We’ve moved! Find us at https://reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm/ as we continue to ponder the future of customer experience.

“A brand isn’t what you say it is, it’s what people say it is when you stop talking.” – Justin Theng

In this debut episode of Reimagine Marketing, marketing pundits Steven Hofmans, Wilson Raj and Justin Theng dive into the key challenges that marketers are facing today, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on brands and customer loyalty.

In this episode, Steven, Wilson and Justin start off by sharing the quotes that define their craft and discuss:

How to decipher between hype and innovation, the importance of customer satisfaction and frictionless customer journeys.
The full-circle evolution of marketing and why customer delight should underpin everything you do.
Tapping into an essence and an ethos that defines your brand to the folks who matter, and the importance of brand authenticity and empathy.

Join us next time as Wilson Raj welcomes Bernard Marr – best-selling author, keynote speaker, futurist, and strategic business and technology advisor– to the Reimagine Marketing podcast. Wilson and Bernard will discuss how to connect with the new digital customer. In a “socially distant” world, the use of smart and immersive digital technology and AI-fueled automation isn’t an option – it’s inescapable. If consumers amplify their digital expectations, then brands must keep pace.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode.

Experience 2030 Interactive Portal
Discover a wealth of resources to help you to future-proof your customer experience strategy.
Customer Experience - Now and Into the Future
Read this e-book to learn about five key trends to focus on for the coming decade.

Check out additional episodes of the Reimagine Marketing podcast series at reimagine-marketing.transistor.fm.

Subscribe to the Reimagine Marketing podcast so you never miss a future episode.
Visit https://www.sas.com/en_us/explore/reimagine-marketing-podcast.html to learn more about our guests, upcoming episodes and more.
If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Reimagine Marketing podcast, send us an email: reimaginemarketingpodcast@sas.com.

About our hosts:

Steven Hofmans is a customer experience advisor on a mission to make every citizen a happy customer. Steven believes today’s customer experience needs to be personalized, zero effort, frictionless, proactive and about the customer. He helps marketing, sales and service departments to explore how they can revolutionize their marketing processes in order to reach that customer experience of the future. Using inspiring presentations and practical examples, he wants to show what proactive customer experience could look like.

Wilson Raj is global director of customer intelligence for SAS, responsible for global marketing to establish, evolve and evangelize SAS’ analytics-powered marketing solutions. Raj has held global leadership positions in marketing at Fortune Global 500® companies including Microsoft, Novell. Medtronic, and Philips, and advised C-level executives about digital strategy while at award-winning agencies Publicis Groupe, VML/Young & Rubicam and Wunderman. Raj has been featured in major media publications such as Adweek, CMSWire, CNBC.com, Forbes, InformationWeek, MarTech Advisor, MarketingProfs, ZDNet and more.

Justin Theng has spent the last 20 years helping grow the revenue of hundreds of organizations ranging from large household brand names to small businesses and startups. As a multi-award-winning marketer, speaker and author, Justin’s belief is that customer analytics empowers customer delight. His brand experience extends across Spotify, Volkswagen, Coca-Cola, Telstra, ABC, Yahoo and McDonalds. Justin manages to remove the confusion and hype around AI and marketing with his easy to implement frameworks for attracting, converting and delighting.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Electrifying AI: The Holy Grail Dec 17, 2020

This episode is the last crusade of Electrifying AI’s first season and we’re in search of answers about the Holy Grail: energy storage. Our industry expert, Sal Gill, believes energy storage is set to transform our world. So what will the electric utility industry look like when the dust settles? We examine the possibilities that are on the horizon for the industry itself and for its customers.

Join us again in early 2021 when Electrifying AI returns for its second season! Until then, be sure to visit sas.com/utilities to learn more about the connection between the greatest machine ever built (the electric grid) and the greatest enabler of our time (data analytics).

Here’s a list of links to references for the topics we covered in this episode:

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Electrifying AI: Your next greatest investment Dec 03, 2020

While the electric utility industry is undergoing a fundamental shift, so are its customers. How they use (or in some cases produce) energy, their expectations and their preferences are all changing … quickly! Nowhere is that more evident than with the adoption of electric vehicles. At the same time, global carbon emissions have dropped more than 8% during the coronavirus pandemic. So, is a world of clean energy transportation — accelerated by COVID-19 – just around the corner? In this episode, Simon Hughes and Sal Gill discuss shifting consumer attitudes and behaviors as well as how the electric utility industry is responding to this new landscape.

Join us in two weeks for the final episode of our inaugural season, The Holy Grail. We’ll examine how the electric utility industry will look when the dust from this current transformation settles and we’ll discuss the possibilities on the horizon.

Here’s a list of links to references for the topics we covered in this episode:

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Electrifying AI: Energy Independence Anthem Nov 19, 2020

The electric utility industry, for all of its innovations over the years, has an entrenched business model. In this episode of Electrifying AI, we look at changing business models for the industry and examine what “energy independence” means.

More to the point, we discuss:

Microgrids
“Prosumers,” peer-to-peer power trading and transactive energy
Energy as a service
Virtual power plants

Join us in two weeks for our next episode, Your Next Greatest Investment. We’ll look at shifting consumer attitudes and behaviors, and how the electric utility industry is responding to this new consumer-driven energy landscape.

Here’s a list of links to references for the topics we covered in this episode:

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Electrifying AI: Saving our Planet Nov 05, 2020

As concerns about the climate and environment become more pronounced we’ll take a look at how this is impacting the electric utility industry and how the industry is responding. Themes include changes in the industry, the brave new world of renewables, and democratizing energy.

More specifically in this episode we’ll be looking at:

Heavyweight investors are swinging behind renewables
Accelerating renewable adoption, including growth in offshore wind and solar PV, the arguments around utility scale renewables vs distributed renewables, and interconnection challenges for renewables in the US
California rolling blackouts

Join us next time for our next episode which we are calling Energy Independence Anthem. The electric utility industry, for all of its innovations over the years, has an entrenched business model. We’ll look at changing business models for the industry and what “energy independence” means.

Here is a listing of links to references for the topics we covered in this episode:

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Electrifying AI: Electricity Pandemified Oct 22, 2020

In this, our second episode we're going to cover the Covid-19 pandemic and its affect upon the power industry.

Clearly, the Covid-19 pandemic has involved personal tragedy for some people, and significant economic and lifestyle impacts for all. In terms of the Power Industry, effects have included:

Effect on individuals
- Job losses mounting / furlough People not paying bills - rents ...etc.
- Banks, Insurance and power companies allowing customers to defer payments
Effect on Power Companies
- How to fund/support large-scale, expensive infrastructures?
- Will prices have to rise / write-off bad debts?
- Power companies will be forced to look at operational efficiencies: Cash flow forecasting
- Fraud identification - corporations & companies; supply-chain for utilities Procurement Integrity - Revenue Assurance?
Changing patterns of:
- Electricity Generation Electricity Consumption…Introducing the Duck Curve! The Duck Curve (generation)
- More and more solar installations - middle of day is peak generating for solar When the sun goes down, where's the power gone?
- Generator's Response Base load may not be enough?
  - Huge ramp up required from traditional generators. Demand ≠consumption - because people can generate their own power
  - Conventional generation cannot switch on & off Not agile enough: Also - oil/coal are high polluters Many are being retired - to help countries achieve clean-energy goals
  - New Paradigm for Generators Reduced need for conventionally generated power? Renewables increasingly in the mix alongside regular capacity but need to plug gaps in energy provision quickly?
  - Demand-forecasting
  - Accurate weather forecasting - affects solar & wind effectiveness
  - Impacts of - storms/hurricanes/fires SAS concepts of analytics, forecasting & constraint-based optimization

In our next episode, Change is in the air! We’ll discuss how climate change is no longer a millennial, Gen Z, save the world topic or some poster with a polar bear. It has moved up the agenda and is now getting significant backing from the largest private equity funders, to the tech industry, and even major oil and gas players. We will explore what the future holds for green and uncover how we can turn a song into a modern-day miracle.
Here is a listing of links to references for the topics we covered in this episode:

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

Electrifying AI: An Electric World Order Oct 08, 2020

When we were thinking about the huge changes that we see in the Electric Power industry, and how we could communicate these, we realized that podcasting was the only way to go. That way, we can keep it brief & informal, but at the same time keep things candid, honest and only loosely scripted. The hope is to deliver insightful & informed commentary that demystifies energy industry transformations (the what) and decodes them (the now what).

This, our inaugural episode, looks at:

People and places for energy AI
- Recognition today is stronger with IT or back-office related domains, but is this the best place to start?
- The core people, those that actually design and operate the grid find themselves trying to sort the AI hype from reality.
Consumer involvement: Not just where they buy their power, but can even generate their own - solar, wind, micro-grids sell back.
Demystifying the connection between the greatest machine ever built and the greatest enabler of our time, data analytics.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll explore a range of issues, including:

The political landscape
How businesses are changing their own energy profiles
Operationalize Analytics
Scale & size
Supernatural powers
Complexities of managing and operating these physical estates
Infrastructures are huge and organizations seek to optimize
Optimizing costs /resources
Intelligent sensors machines

Join us next time for our next episode which we are calling Electricity Pandemified, where we will explore how Covid-19 has shaped and will go on to shape the Power Industry Electricity Pandemified - in amongst all the gloom and concerns about jobs, recessions, there are opportunities.

Here is a listing of links to references for the topics we covered in this episode:

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

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