WEBVTT
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Hello, and welcome to the Tech Glow Up, live from AWE 2026.
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It's day three.
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Our voices are tired, but energy is still high.
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I am here with Poz Long, Director of Creative Technology for Sports, Media, and Entertainment at Salesforce.
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You got it.
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Amazing.
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Not only a boss title- Yeah but one that makes me have so many questions.
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First, welcome.
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Thank you.
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Can you tell me what does a creative technologist, working in sports, media, and entertainment at Salesforce, arguably a technology not many people think of terribly creatively- tell me what it's like doing creative technology— Yeah uh, in a very large and omnipresent company.
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Yeah.
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Thank you.
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Yeah.
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Um, I love that question because I think— Mm yeah, like, it, it's not what people immediately think, and I, um, my job is to prove you wrong.
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So
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my...
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Actually, my job is to help people understand our products through experiences.
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Um, as you may have heard— Mm-hmm some of our products are a little bit tough to understand, or they're a little bit, uh, abstract.
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And I think the best way to create that, that understanding and those strong relationships that are positive is through experiences that, like, move people and that are useful for people— Mm-hmm and that, um, help them to achieve something.
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So that is my goal.
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My background in XR is, uh, across Meta and Apple, and something I'm really proud of is a VR synoptophore that I created for pediatrics.
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So that's sort of-
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Can you- the me story describe a synoptophore to me?
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It's a new term.
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Yes.
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Yeah.
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A synoptophore, um, if you've been to the eye doctor, um, is- Mm typically a very heavy, old machine.
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Um, and there's actually, like, one person in Tennessee that can fix this old machine, uh, which creates a lot of bottlenecks for the folks that need to do these measurements.
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When the eye is out of alignment.
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And it's a- actually pretty common.
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And so when children go to get these things measured, it's, like, kinda not fun.
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Mm-hmm.
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Um, and our goal was to, one, figure out if it was possible to use eye tracking to measure this, and it is clinically possible to do this to the, the level of fidelity we need.
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Um, but also it's, it's a lot more fun than staring into an, an, an old machine- Mm-hmm um, that may or may not, be working all the time.
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So it, it was a great project and, and super fun.
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and I learned a ton.
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Amazing.
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I wasn't expecting we were gonna get, like, a health tech for kids angle in the mix as well.
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Yeah.
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Uh, love it! How do you become a creative technology at a company so giant like Salesforce?
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Like, what- what's the origin story and, like, the pieces that came together to, to get you to where you are today?
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That is such a good question.
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Um- And it's, like, looking back, it looks like I did it on purpose, but it certainly wasn't intentional.
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Yo, claim it.
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Yeah.
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Claim it.
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Uh, I, I think, and this actually leads, there's, there's a whole hot take around this- so, like, yeah, my, like, my background, I actually have a theater degree.
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I went to school, I studied theater.
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I, I, I did that because I love storytelling, and I really did not want to commit to one thing.
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The idea of becoming a, a doctor or a lawyer, my parents really wanted a lawyer or a doctor, um, I was probably trending lawyer, I, I just didn't want to do one thing.
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and that felt like a, like really difficult to, like, have to be stuck doing one thing.
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but if you do theater, you're doing something new all the time- Mm-hmm and you are constantly learning.
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And my personality's very suited to that.
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So I studied theater, graduated, and immediately realized that I didn't have the confidence to sell my own art.
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But I did have reality TV.
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It happened that in New York at the time, that was the thing.
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Mm-hmm.
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Um, and so there were plenty of opportunities to, uh, do post-production, so I did that for some time.
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I ended up doing a cooking show called America's Test Kitchen.
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And then moved to the Bay Area because I liked the weather.
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Was making music videos with a band that went through there, and I thought,"Why not?" and moved, and then realized I, there was no film and television industry in the Bay Area.
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No.
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Uh, I landed in tech.
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Um, and so it was, there was no plan.
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I, I wish I could say that there was.
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But, but honestly, I think following, like, what makes sense at the moment- Mm-hmm is, is a pretty good strategy ultimately.
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Uh, as somebody that went to college on a scholarship for theater, uh, I relate a lot to this story.
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and the thing that, you mentioned, one, it is a very technology creative, field, right?
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And often, regardless of your role in a theater, you're playing many roles, you're doing many things.
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And so you're building a set one day, you're rehearsing lines one day, you're front of house selling tickets the other day, and so, you get a full sort of engaged perspective in how things work and come together.
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And I feel like that is also what a creative technologist has to do.
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You're, you have to understand the business, you have to understand the clients, and otherwise.
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I'm so curious.
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You sort of teased these experiences that help to tell the story or bring people in to the complex ecosystem at Salesforce.
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Can you give me some examples or sort of talk through a, a project that would sort of help paint that picture a little bit more?
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Yeah, totally.
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That, that was the glow up I have for you.
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Amazing.
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Yeah.
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My glow up, my goal- Yes and why I'm here at AWE- Yes is to start to bring more spatial into the activations that we're doing.
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Love it! Yeah!
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Um, previously in the year, I had the great pleasure of working with MrBeast on a Super Bowl activation.
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Um- Oh,
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just one of those.
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Just like you do.
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And it was a large scale puzzle game that was- Mm-hmm launched at the Super Bowl and took place over 27 days.
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Took 27 days to solve this puzzle using a Slackbot that we created just for this, and it, it was o- our way of introducing the Slackbot- Mm-hmm and getting some people who had never used an LLM before to try it and use it and h- use it for a purpose- Mm-hmm that actually solved the problem for them, and that was amazing.
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Yeah.
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Um, and I had some ideas about how this could have had, like, a, a spatial layer.
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Mm-hmm.
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Like, could there have been some Pokemon Go element of, of, of hunting around?
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we had six weeks to do it in, and so we haven't- Mm-hmm achieved that yet, but I do think there is a lot of potential.
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Mm.
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Um, and I think really what I'm looking for here is understanding the hardware, understanding what's possible, and then for the customer, uh, whoever it is that we end up partnering with, it really has to be the right audience.
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They have to be wanting to try this thing with this hardware- Mm-hmm um, so that it's, like, a natural fit, and it helps our products show up in just the right way.
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Yeah.
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There's a ton of opportunity, but it, it just has to be the right fit, and so that's, that's kind of what I'm here for.
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S-
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that, like, equation of, like, right customer, right experience, right technology that enables it is, like, pretty magic when it happens.
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Oftentimes we hope that if we have, like, two of those leg- one or two of those legs, that stool's gonna still stand up.
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How, especially when we're thinking about, like, cutting-edge technologies that people might not have experienced yet, and we're, like, trying to think about big, magical experiences, how do you help guide and coach organizations like Salesforce or the partners that you're working with, right?
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Like, working with a MrBeast, like, it's not just getting your team on board, but, like, also making sure MrBeast feels good about, you know...
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what's your approach for bringing people on board with spatial ideas and interactions that also, like, tick those, like, three requirements that you called out?
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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That's a great question,'cause it- it's- it's different every time.
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Yeah.
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And I think-
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I wanna know.
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I've, I've...
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Right.
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Don't we all?
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Like, what are the magic words I can say to my partner to make them wanna do this?
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Mm-hmm.
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And I don't think it- it, there's one set.
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Like, it- it really, it depends on what that person is thinking about- Mm and what's keeping them up at night, and what is most important to them right now.
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Mm-hmm.
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Um, and I don't know if you've noticed, but things have accelerated, and that thing can be a moving target.
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And it's really just about listening to them- Mm-hmm and- and meeting with them, and understanding, you know, kind of where their biggest kind of fears lie- Yeah in- in the space, and, like, what they see as the biggest thing to tick off their list for their customer.
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Mm-hmm.
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Um, and that differs for every single partner, and they all have a different culture and way of seeing the world, and way of processing things.
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Yeah.
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Um, so yeah.
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I- I don't, I wouldn't say there's a clean answer that will neatly fit to any enterprise, but, um, if you're someone who's willing to sit down and listen, and- and really talk things through- Mm-hmm um, and not let them, like, kind of nod along, which I think- Very often, people, they want you to have a good experience in that meeting, and they- Mm there- there's this, like, human nature thing where they kind of wanna give you what you wanna hear.
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But it's like, no, but really, what do your customers care about?
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What are they gonna love?
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What are, what's gonna make them go,"Holy moly," like- Mm-hmm"I have to use this thing."
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Yeah.
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And until you have the answer to that and you're sure, like, it's probably not the right time.
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So- If it were only that easy that you could ask those stakeholders and partners,"What do you actually need?" Right?
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"What do you actually want?" Yeah.
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'Cause, like, sometimes we don't know, and we can't express it.
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So do you have tools or approaches you u- like to use to learn, like, the difference between what a customer is saying and the need that they're expressing underlying?
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Like, how do you decipher that?
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How do you, how do you, What questions do you ask, or do you have frameworks on how you approach that discovery?
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Yeah.
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I, I guess I'd never really thought about structured frameworks- but I do have some tricks.
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Um, yeah, I do.
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I, I find, like, yeah, very often people will kind of give you a, a very vague answer or a high-level answer, and you wanna see what's under that.
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Mm-hmm.
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I ask them what they're currently doing.
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Like,"What have you tried?
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What, what, what's working for you now?
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What is actually not working for you now?" Mm-hmm.
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I noticed this research item.
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I found this out.
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Is this actually true, or would you say that's not true for you?" And like, give them things to react to.
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Mm-hmm.
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Um, this is kind of the same as working in, like, a theatrical environment or a film environment.
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Like- Mm what does this director need to make a decision?
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What does this business ma- decision maker need to make a decision?
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What do they care about?
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Mm-hmm.
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And what do they care about that they're not telling me?
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Yeah.
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And, like, how can I draw that out of them and, and build trust really?
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Like, ultimately they need to know you're on their side and not just trying to get your next promo or whatever.
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Mm-hmm.
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I often have worn, like, product marketing roles, and often when I engage with, like, developers almost immediately the assumption is that marketing is there to put a spin on something.
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And when I show up asking like,"What do the users use?" Or like,"This is what I'm hearing from our clients," like, it's, it's such an amazing way to, like, flip the script and get them to, like, pay attention because it's like, wait, no, I, I care about the customers.
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Maybe, like, I'm gonna argue with you about who cares about the customer more because, like- in many times, right, being on the front of those stories and interactions, like, you hear it, you learn it.
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And, so I'm gonna keep pushing on this one question.
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My brain is obsessed with like how do you do spatial for like data, for context, for financial?
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Like, how does that, how do those things come together?
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And I've often joked that like there are some things that are good for VR and there are some, like, tasks that are horrible for it, and specifically, like doing financial data, anything feels just incredibly hard with like controllers and hand gestures and, like, keyboards that don't have keys.
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So I- I'm curious, like, how do you approach like spatial concepts and high data concepts, uh, in the types of experiences and stories that you're trying to tell?
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That's such an interesting question because, yeah.
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Why, like- Yeah that sounds terrible, what you just described.
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Yeah.
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I wouldn't want to participate in that.
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Like,
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I don't like using my f- my TV remote to enter passwords- Oh, for
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sure.
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Yeah
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let alone in a headset.
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Yeah.
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You know?
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And that's the first check.
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Like, would I want to do this thing?
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Mm-hmm.
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Absolutely not.
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Like, I, I would not approach that.
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Um, however, like for, MrBeast as an example- Mm-hmm we created this Slackbot that was intended to help solve the puzzle.
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Yeah.
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We then created the hardest puzzle you could possibly imagine using a, a, a team of-
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Which is a great...
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Like, I'm already interested, right?
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Yes.
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Lone Shark Games, uh, designed the most in- incredibly difficult puzzle you could imagine.
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Mm-hmm.
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And in order to solve it, you needed the Slackbot.
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Mm-hmm.
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So then it, it was just like a natural use case that you were like- Mm-hmm"Oh, thank God I have this thing and I can ask it stuff." Um, and that was ultimately how Colin Sanders, who was the winner was able to solve the puzzle.
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And I, I think it's just- That's rad it must be a natural fit- Mm-hmm for the thing that your audience wants.
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I'm sure there are many ways to use data that are actually a natural fit, but like- Mm-hmm what you described with, like, the inputs not working, I think I have some thoughts around hardware in general.
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I've seen a lot of really cool stuff here.
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There's this thing by Mudra that- Mm-hmm where you can kind of use your hand naturally with your glasses.
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that there's like, they're kind of all separated from each other.
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There's nothing that now lives all in the package that, that does everything I want.
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There's, there's a ring and there's, you know, there's a, platform.
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RP1.
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Mm-hmm.
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RP1, And everyone's kind of building in these different areas and it, and it, like, it's kind of converging into- Mm-hmm one unified ecosystem, but I don't think we're there yet.
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Mm-hmm.
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And I think it's actually the use cases that start to drive that.
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And what I think is really interesting about right now is that now with Claude, anyone can build anything, and it gives access to people to come with their very niche, unique problem that no one else is really thinking about, and quickly prototype something, and then take that and show it to the hardware maker and say like,"Hey, I have this use case, like can you help build with me?" Mm-hmm.
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And I think that does a lot to push us forward.
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Mm-hmm.
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Ooh
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The question you're asking is, like, Does it have to be these boring things?
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So I actually have some thoughts on boring.
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I think we, boring problems are actually the move.
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Uh, w- our, our tendency-
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Yo
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we need to, we need to look for the boring problems.
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We, we, we go to the flashy, beautiful Walkabout Mini Golf, I love you guys.
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Like, it's the best space in the world, and it's so cool.
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Mm-hmm But it's not for everybody.
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Mm-hmm.
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And, and I, what I hear all the time is,"Well, I'm not a gamer.
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I'm not putting that on." Like,"I'm not a gamer." I
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don't like to walk about-"I'm not
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that identity."
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in VR.
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That's my thing.
00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:02.960
I mean, I
00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:04.700
li- I will, I will die for Walkabout.
00:14:04.700 --> 00:14:04.730
Oh.
00:14:04.730 --> 00:14:05.029
But
00:14:05.370 --> 00:14:05.779
Gorgeous.
00:14:05.779 --> 00:14:08.259
The, the amount of community that happens- Oh, my God.
00:14:08.590 --> 00:14:10.690
Yeah in that space is like- It was just my very favorite it's way more than a game.
00:14:10.830 --> 00:14:12.570
Um- Yeah however, it's not for everyone.
00:14:12.580 --> 00:14:14.830
And, and what is for everyone i- is different.
00:14:15.179 --> 00:14:25.139
And I think when you tackle the boring problems, the I'm on my way home, and the Target's right there, and I need shoes for my kids, and it knows that, and so it tells me that I stop'cause there's a s- a sale there.
00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:29.335
And, oh, there's that reminder for that school event, and it's, these are all related to my kids.
00:14:29.335 --> 00:14:29.524
Mm-hmm.
00:14:29.524 --> 00:14:31.919
But, like, all the stuff, all the boring stuff
00:14:33.220 --> 00:14:33.330
that
00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:34.399
you have to check off your list-
00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:34.460
These are very personal user stories.
00:14:34.460 --> 00:14:43.110
Yeah yeah, like, i- if, if someone could ma- wave a magic wand and make that stuff easy for me- Mm-hmm I would get first in line, and I think there's a lot of other people out there that feel that way, too.
00:14:43.330 --> 00:14:45.519
And so it doesn't have to be the most beautiful thing.
00:14:45.690 --> 00:14:47.690
It doesn't have to be the shiniest, coolest thing.
00:14:47.990 --> 00:14:52.600
Just do something useful, and that will solve, you know, a, for a lot of the resistance.
00:14:52.909 --> 00:14:53.320
Yeah.
00:14:53.634 --> 00:14:54.745
I'm gonna let that one cook.
00:14:54.794 --> 00:14:55.764
That's gorgeous.
00:14:56.287 --> 00:14:56.667
We're here at AWE.
00:14:58.037 --> 00:14:59.326
This is the Tech Glow Up.
00:15:00.006 --> 00:15:09.653
I like to ask about the transitions, the transformations, the rebirth, the glow up that you think the industry needs to make.
00:15:09.682 --> 00:15:18.082
And I think in this, like, very enterprise kind of conversation, there's a lot of conversation, right, like, in tech that, like, enterprise is the main client.
00:15:18.082 --> 00:15:19.773
This is everybody's business model.
00:15:19.958 --> 00:15:22.485
But I wanna hear it the other way around.
00:15:22.551 --> 00:15:34.846
What does the industry need to do to glow up, to meet enterprise needs, and to be a better partner to enterprise in the next 6 to 12 months?
00:15:35.505 --> 00:15:35.745
Hmm.
00:15:36.099 --> 00:15:36.479
Dang.
00:15:36.528 --> 00:15:42.568
Yeah, now I wanna ask for the magic words to say to my leadership to- you know, make them unlock the budget and have the money fall from the sky.
00:15:42.589 --> 00:15:42.599
Mm.
00:15:42.599 --> 00:15:47.999
But I, I d- I do think that, like, the storytelling- Mm-hmm i- is really useful.
00:15:48.038 --> 00:15:54.589
Um, I, I've experienced a bunch of demos, um, and they're all over the map as far as, like, all the different things that can be done.
00:15:54.928 --> 00:16:22.318
Um, but the more awareness, I think, the peripherals have of the waveguide makers, of the audio, spatial audio folks, like, the w- the way that they can connect the through line because they're separate companies now- Mm-hmm and it's not a complete ecosystem, the more they're talking about each other and have an awareness of, like, the whole picture and can package that up for us, um, it will give me less work to do to then package it up- Mm-hmm for my leadership.
00:16:22.325 --> 00:16:28.166
but also, like, the, the better we'll be able to understand our use cases and plug them in there, because companies wanna innovate.
00:16:28.196 --> 00:16:29.806
Like, we do not wanna be left behind.
00:16:29.806 --> 00:16:33.436
We do not wanna be thought of as dinosaur enterprise companies.
00:16:33.505 --> 00:16:33.735
Mm-hmm.
00:16:34.096 --> 00:16:37.796
We wanna be thought of as the agentic enterprise, and we are building it as fast as we can.
00:16:37.806 --> 00:16:38.265
Mm-hmm.
00:16:38.306 --> 00:16:41.765
Um, and the, the things that help us do that are demonstrating that to our customers.
00:16:41.775 --> 00:16:42.166
So,
00:16:42.446 --> 00:16:43.025
um- I love that you said- make it
00:16:43.346 --> 00:16:43.535
easy.
00:16:44.066 --> 00:16:45.816
I love that you said demonstrating.
00:16:46.456 --> 00:16:47.446
Uh, I, I'm gonna...
00:16:47.625 --> 00:16:54.745
I love this point and, like, please make it easier for your customers to do business with you.
00:16:55.596 --> 00:16:57.296
They want, they want to.
00:16:57.716 --> 00:17:03.125
So, like, learn what it takes to be supportive to an enterprise and, like, get together on it.
00:17:03.347 --> 00:17:21.124
When you're talking about this agent, the thing that I loved was that you showed the value of agentic support without telling anybody that they were going to have an agent there with them all the time helping them on their way.
00:17:21.413 --> 00:17:27.493
It was just part of the experience and the puzzle that you put in front of them.
00:17:27.834 --> 00:17:28.713
It's part of the story.
00:17:28.993 --> 00:17:29.213
Right.
00:17:29.478 --> 00:17:40.394
And instead of the story being,"We built a technology that will change something that you're already doing," to like,"Look, this thing was helpful when you wanted it." Love that.
00:17:41.057 --> 00:18:00.953
When I talk with healthcare leaders about AI, this is total side quest, one of the things that I heard frequently is if an agent can be helpful with a task it was intended to do, you will build trust, and you will start to get questions about the other pressing problems in that person's life.
00:18:01.261 --> 00:18:17.501
And I don't know if this agent was able to, but I'm curious, did you notice or do you have data where people started to trust the advice of the puzzle agent and started asking other questions in the channel?
00:18:17.758 --> 00:18:18.627
That's really interesting.
00:18:18.637 --> 00:18:22.127
The only, like, official story I have- Mm-hmm is Colin's,'cause we recorded it.
00:18:22.307 --> 00:18:22.417
Yes.
00:18:22.417 --> 00:18:22.518
Yeah.
00:18:22.557 --> 00:18:25.867
But he did say he, he'd noticed some things in the commercial.
00:18:25.867 --> 00:18:27.097
There were clues hidden everywhere.
00:18:27.319 --> 00:18:28.369
I didn't even know where they were.
00:18:28.380 --> 00:18:28.400
Yeah.
00:18:28.470 --> 00:18:32.509
And, and he noticed some things, and then he went to the Slack bot- Mm-hmm and he kind of plugged them in.
00:18:32.509 --> 00:18:42.150
And the way that it worked was there was conversational side, and then there was this thing called a puzzle card- Mm-hmm which sort of mirrored the, uh, canvas that we have in Slack- Mm-hmm that if you use Slack, it's just a document.
00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:42.559
Love it.
00:18:42.769 --> 00:18:43.339
Um, and- Oh my gosh
00:18:43.390 --> 00:18:50.670
and he would then, like, populate his puzzle cards with the things that he was finding, and it helped him sort out th- and, and, and manage that.
00:18:50.769 --> 00:18:51.250
Mm-hmm.
00:18:51.259 --> 00:18:53.369
Lots of different ideas all over the place.
00:18:53.410 --> 00:18:56.680
Really difficult to put together into one overarching thing.
00:18:56.690 --> 00:18:56.940
Mm-hmm.
00:18:56.940 --> 00:18:59.450
Summaries are what AI is, like, best at.
00:18:59.460 --> 00:18:59.900
It really...
00:18:59.910 --> 00:19:04.900
Like, if it takes- Mm-hmm your stuff, you can reliably expect it to manage that in a way that makes sense.
00:19:05.349 --> 00:19:10.829
Um, and so I think, you know, that, that was a really obvious, useful use case for him.
00:19:10.839 --> 00:19:10.869
Mm-hmm.
00:19:11.002 --> 00:19:19.823
the sort of knock-on effect of, right, using the chat bot, and like,"Oh, I need a place to put these, these answers.
00:19:19.883 --> 00:19:20.722
How can I start to visual...
00:19:20.722 --> 00:19:23.313
Oh, well, there's this canvas that's also here." Right?
00:19:23.516 --> 00:19:24.307
so love it.
00:19:24.368 --> 00:19:29.711
Keeping on the glow up theme, let's turn it inward a little bit to the work that you're doing.
00:19:29.925 --> 00:19:39.664
What's the, like, six-month glow up goals that you have, for working and, building more immersive experiences in the stories that you're telling?
00:19:39.724 --> 00:19:39.984
Yeah.
00:19:40.255 --> 00:19:40.634
Yeah.
00:19:40.954 --> 00:19:42.255
I have so many ideas,
00:19:42.625 --> 00:19:43.684
so- Don't we all?
00:19:43.684 --> 00:19:44.634
I, you know, it...
00:19:44.865 --> 00:19:47.805
And it, it's really, it is just about finding the right fit.
00:19:47.965 --> 00:19:49.875
I think we have a, a number of great partners.
00:19:49.875 --> 00:19:51.556
We just signed with FIFA, pretty exciting.
00:19:51.556 --> 00:19:53.563
F1 is one of our historical partners.
00:19:53.613 --> 00:19:55.113
And, like, all of those are very nuanced.
00:19:55.250 --> 00:19:59.180
I have a few prototypes that I've, I've, I've talked through.
00:19:59.420 --> 00:20:01.369
Um, the Rayneos, have you, have you tried those ones?
00:20:01.400 --> 00:20:04.630
The, um- Mm-hmm I got the latest device at CES this year.
00:20:04.630 --> 00:20:05.069
Amazing.
00:20:05.069 --> 00:20:09.160
Um, kind of looking through how to do storytelling in spaces.
00:20:09.262 --> 00:20:13.202
I won't go too deep into that one'cause it's not totally baked, but, um, yeah, like, the...
00:20:13.393 --> 00:20:26.752
I think it's really just, like, for me, the, the partner that is most curious about this space- Mm-hmm um, and then the conversation that I could have to help them understand the utility.
00:20:26.847 --> 00:20:32.397
one thing that has been kind of, uh, I think an unblock for us at Salesforce- Mm-hmm is Headless 360.
00:20:32.634 --> 00:20:37.484
which if you are not following SAS, uh, Twitter- Mm-hmm uh, sorry, SAS X- Mm.
00:20:37.555 --> 00:20:47.115
Um, you, you may not have noticed- Mm-hmm um, the, the, the Headless 360 is essentially all of your Salesforce organization, previously accessible sometimes only through UI.
00:20:47.306 --> 00:20:47.435
Mm-hmm.
00:20:47.435 --> 00:20:48.715
Um, that is no longer.
00:20:48.715 --> 00:20:51.705
Now you are able to use that as a back end on any form factor.
00:20:51.715 --> 00:20:58.526
So that means the glasses can now talk to my Salesforce organization, and maybe even say,"Oh, that, I, I...
00:20:58.536 --> 00:21:03.905
That customer in front of you right here at AWE, like, here, here's the data that you have on them.
00:21:04.086 --> 00:21:05.915
Here's the last conversation you had with them.
00:21:06.155 --> 00:21:11.082
Um, here's a next step you could pursue right this instant." And, you know, I don't know, like, why don't we build that?
00:21:11.082 --> 00:21:11.152
I have an
00:21:11.461 --> 00:21:14.852
introduction for you- on that specific topic.
00:21:14.912 --> 00:21:34.811
Uh, so cool, and also if you remove the flat spreadsheet based UI from the financial and, like, customer documents that I'm used to in using in Salesforce tools- Then using that data in space becomes a lot easier.
00:21:35.271 --> 00:21:35.582
Yes.
00:21:35.692 --> 00:21:35.862
Right?
00:21:35.862 --> 00:21:35.991
Yes.
00:21:35.991 --> 00:21:50.451
Because, like, my complaint was you're, you're asking me to fill a flat 2D thing in a 3D space where I don't have the same tools, and what you're talking about is I'm gonna give you your data so that, like, the UI isn't a limit.
00:21:50.791 --> 00:21:51.122
Right.
00:21:51.132 --> 00:21:53.872
I mean, no- humans are not talking- Yeah to us anymore.
00:21:53.882 --> 00:21:53.922
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:21:53.922 --> 00:21:55.731
Like, no one's doing all that.
00:21:55.731 --> 00:21:55.872
Yeah.
00:21:55.872 --> 00:21:57.652
Like, we're, we're sending the robot to do that stuff.
00:21:57.652 --> 00:21:57.892
Yeah.
00:21:57.951 --> 00:21:58.612
And so they...
00:21:58.832 --> 00:22:04.491
We wanna make it easy to send the robot to do the stuff, and then now the only limit is, like, what can you think of to do with your stuff?
00:22:04.982 --> 00:22:05.532
I love it.
00:22:05.722 --> 00:22:13.643
Kind of in the same way that Snap's, like, made a really organized GitHub, like you're organizing so that your agents can...
00:22:13.915 --> 00:22:14.675
That's cool.
00:22:14.675 --> 00:22:14.715
Yeah,
00:22:14.715 --> 00:22:14.945
yeah.
00:22:15.685 --> 00:22:16.096
Okay.
00:22:16.182 --> 00:22:18.262
You kind of got spicy earlier.
00:22:19.022 --> 00:22:30.863
But I'm curious, at this point in time, do you have a hot take to share about AI, tech, culture in general?
00:22:30.893 --> 00:22:31.563
Your choice.
00:22:31.583 --> 00:22:32.423
Yeah, yeah.
00:22:32.442 --> 00:22:33.472
So we did touch on this.
00:22:33.563 --> 00:22:35.502
Um- Mm-hmm my hot take is career goals are stupid.
00:22:35.740 --> 00:22:37.849
And hear me out.
00:22:37.900 --> 00:22:39.660
No, I'm already on board.
00:22:39.660 --> 00:22:40.299
Um, I think they're dumb.
00:22:40.299 --> 00:22:40.329
I think they're...
00:22:40.329 --> 00:22:44.079
We put so much pressure on ourselves to achieve some career identity.
00:22:44.140 --> 00:22:44.390
Mm.
00:22:44.420 --> 00:22:47.390
And, you know, identity is like a whole hot mess to begin with.
00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:54.140
And then on top of it, we have to have this title, and there's these specific titles that maybe we're aiming for.
00:22:54.539 --> 00:23:01.309
Um, and every time that I have been successful, it has been because I find some fascination with something.
00:23:01.579 --> 00:23:02.690
Um, and VR just...
00:23:02.730 --> 00:23:06.279
In 2016, someone gave me a Gear VR, and with the dinosaurs.
00:23:06.289 --> 00:23:06.769
You remember that?
00:23:07.059 --> 00:23:09.849
And I was just like,"Oh my God, like this- Mm-hmm changes everything.
00:23:09.849 --> 00:23:12.650
I have to do this now." Um, and I couldn't stop.
00:23:12.680 --> 00:23:22.289
And I think just by pursuing things that you're really excited about, that you're really passionate about- Mm-hmm that solve a problem for you- Yeah um, you will very often find a person that also finds value in that or a company.
00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:27.450
And amassing more and more of those, then there is a summary, and that is then your title.
00:23:27.880 --> 00:23:41.019
So it's not that you should pursue some job description, it's more that you should do the job and do the things that are really important to you and stay close to that and learning, and then whatever title you get is just a summary of all those things that are actually you.
00:23:41.935 --> 00:23:43.096
I'm loving this so much.
00:23:43.125 --> 00:23:51.846
I, I like ha- I'm internally screaming, uh, because I have to like sit on my hands and make space for that answer.
00:23:52.146 --> 00:23:57.029
I teach graduate students at University of Oregon, and like,"What is a job?
00:23:57.269 --> 00:23:58.690
How am I supposed to do this?
00:23:58.730 --> 00:24:05.779
Oh my God, I'm supposed to be perfect out of the box," is like one of the most common things I hear forever.
00:24:06.420 --> 00:24:29.063
And with the like perspective and experience and time that I have, I've found I'm way less interested in the titles and names that I put on what I do, and like the people, the problems, the way we go about trying to fill our days with work, uh, means a whole lot more to me.
00:24:29.153 --> 00:24:36.396
So, that's probably gonna be the advice that I keep repeating to other people when they ask me how my day's been this week, so thank you.
00:24:36.606 --> 00:24:36.886
Yeah.
00:24:37.355 --> 00:24:55.157
Poz, your expertise and perspective, really resonates for me, and I'm sure other folks out there trying to do meaningful work that matters to customers and showcases, right, the cool shit, the cool technology and tools- Yeah that we're building.
00:24:55.617 --> 00:25:03.587
Thank you for joining me to talk about the cool work you're doing at Innovation at the highest levels.
00:25:03.698 --> 00:25:09.097
I can't wait to check in on what your next glow up's gonna be and your next big collab, so.
00:25:09.897 --> 00:25:12.028
It has been my absolute pleasure, Nathan.
00:25:12.127 --> 00:25:12.357
Yeah.
00:25:12.357 --> 00:25:13.327
This was such a great conversation.
00:25:13.327 --> 00:25:13.748
Thank you.
00:25:13.758 --> 00:25:13.768
Oh
00:25:13.938 --> 00:25:14.417
my gosh.
00:25:14.478 --> 00:25:16.157
Thanks for joining me on The Tech Glow Up.
00:00:00.050 --> 00:00:05.179
Hello, and welcome to the Tech Glow Up, live from AWE 2026.
00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:07.589
It's day three.
00:00:07.809 --> 00:00:11.259
Our voices are tired, but energy is still high.
00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:19.690
I am here with Poz Long, Director of Creative Technology for Sports, Media, and Entertainment at Salesforce.
00:00:20.310 --> 00:00:20.731
You got it.
00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:22.131
Amazing.
00:00:22.490 --> 00:00:27.800
Not only a boss title- Yeah but one that makes me have so many questions.
00:00:27.850 --> 00:00:28.931
First, welcome.
00:00:29.094 --> 00:00:29.515
Thank you.
00:00:29.609 --> 00:00:49.962
Can you tell me what does a creative technologist, working in sports, media, and entertainment at Salesforce, arguably a technology not many people think of terribly creatively- tell me what it's like doing creative technology— Yeah uh, in a very large and omnipresent company.
00:00:50.072 --> 00:00:50.371
Yeah.
00:00:50.371 --> 00:00:50.862
Thank you.
00:00:50.871 --> 00:00:50.892
Yeah.
00:00:50.902 --> 00:00:58.582
Um, I love that question because I think— Mm yeah, like, it, it's not what people immediately think, and I, um, my job is to prove you wrong.
00:00:59.531 --> 00:00:59.601
So
00:01:00.142 --> 00:01:00.301
my...
00:01:00.301 --> 00:01:03.871
Actually, my job is to help people understand our products through experiences.
00:01:04.162 --> 00:01:09.962
Um, as you may have heard— Mm-hmm some of our products are a little bit tough to understand, or they're a little bit, uh, abstract.
00:01:10.012 --> 00:01:21.302
And I think the best way to create that, that understanding and those strong relationships that are positive is through experiences that, like, move people and that are useful for people— Mm-hmm and that, um, help them to achieve something.
00:01:21.302 --> 00:01:22.522
So that is my goal.
00:01:22.802 --> 00:01:30.682
My background in XR is, uh, across Meta and Apple, and something I'm really proud of is a VR synoptophore that I created for pediatrics.
00:01:30.984 --> 00:01:31.734
So that's sort of-
00:01:31.885 --> 00:01:34.995
Can you- the me story describe a synoptophore to me?
00:01:35.004 --> 00:01:35.894
It's a new term.
00:01:35.974 --> 00:01:36.185
Yes.
00:01:36.194 --> 00:01:36.375
Yeah.
00:01:36.504 --> 00:01:42.564
A synoptophore, um, if you've been to the eye doctor, um, is- Mm typically a very heavy, old machine.
00:01:42.605 --> 00:01:50.545
Um, and there's actually, like, one person in Tennessee that can fix this old machine, uh, which creates a lot of bottlenecks for the folks that need to do these measurements.
00:01:50.605 --> 00:01:51.995
When the eye is out of alignment.
00:01:52.091 --> 00:01:53.382
And it's a- actually pretty common.
00:01:53.421 --> 00:01:57.701
And so when children go to get these things measured, it's, like, kinda not fun.
00:01:57.902 --> 00:01:58.061
Mm-hmm.
00:01:58.111 --> 00:02:06.311
Um, and our goal was to, one, figure out if it was possible to use eye tracking to measure this, and it is clinically possible to do this to the, the level of fidelity we need.
00:02:06.591 --> 00:02:12.859
Um, but also it's, it's a lot more fun than staring into an, an, an old machine- Mm-hmm um, that may or may not, be working all the time.
00:02:13.128 --> 00:02:15.609
So it, it was a great project and, and super fun.
00:02:15.628 --> 00:02:16.391
and I learned a ton.
00:02:16.731 --> 00:02:17.551
Amazing.
00:02:17.653 --> 00:02:23.674
I wasn't expecting we were gonna get, like, a health tech for kids angle in the mix as well.
00:02:23.713 --> 00:02:23.973
Yeah.
00:02:24.054 --> 00:02:31.741
Uh, love it! How do you become a creative technology at a company so giant like Salesforce?
00:02:31.950 --> 00:02:38.251
Like, what- what's the origin story and, like, the pieces that came together to, to get you to where you are today?
00:02:38.730 --> 00:02:41.091
That is such a good question.
00:02:41.211 --> 00:02:46.450
Um- And it's, like, looking back, it looks like I did it on purpose, but it certainly wasn't intentional.
00:02:46.450 --> 00:02:47.010
Yo, claim it.
00:02:47.100 --> 00:02:47.450
Yeah.
00:02:47.461 --> 00:02:47.850
Claim it.
00:02:47.881 --> 00:02:55.480
Uh, I, I think, and this actually leads, there's, there's a whole hot take around this- so, like, yeah, my, like, my background, I actually have a theater degree.
00:02:55.627 --> 00:02:56.646
I went to school, I studied theater.
00:02:56.667 --> 00:03:00.556
I, I, I did that because I love storytelling, and I really did not want to commit to one thing.
00:03:00.806 --> 00:03:09.817
The idea of becoming a, a doctor or a lawyer, my parents really wanted a lawyer or a doctor, um, I was probably trending lawyer, I, I just didn't want to do one thing.
00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:13.360
and that felt like a, like really difficult to, like, have to be stuck doing one thing.
00:03:13.444 --> 00:03:17.875
but if you do theater, you're doing something new all the time- Mm-hmm and you are constantly learning.
00:03:18.145 --> 00:03:19.694
And my personality's very suited to that.
00:03:19.705 --> 00:03:24.634
So I studied theater, graduated, and immediately realized that I didn't have the confidence to sell my own art.
00:03:24.820 --> 00:03:26.721
But I did have reality TV.
00:03:26.751 --> 00:03:29.751
It happened that in New York at the time, that was the thing.
00:03:29.751 --> 00:03:29.811
Mm-hmm.
00:03:29.811 --> 00:03:34.820
Um, and so there were plenty of opportunities to, uh, do post-production, so I did that for some time.
00:03:34.820 --> 00:03:37.320
I ended up doing a cooking show called America's Test Kitchen.
00:03:37.631 --> 00:03:40.320
And then moved to the Bay Area because I liked the weather.
00:03:40.640 --> 00:03:49.591
Was making music videos with a band that went through there, and I thought,"Why not?" and moved, and then realized I, there was no film and television industry in the Bay Area.
00:03:49.950 --> 00:03:50.091
No.
00:03:50.181 --> 00:03:51.091
Uh, I landed in tech.
00:03:51.580 --> 00:03:53.941
Um, and so it was, there was no plan.
00:03:53.991 --> 00:03:55.341
I, I wish I could say that there was.
00:03:55.401 --> 00:04:01.681
But, but honestly, I think following, like, what makes sense at the moment- Mm-hmm is, is a pretty good strategy ultimately.
00:04:01.790 --> 00:04:09.580
Uh, as somebody that went to college on a scholarship for theater, uh, I relate a lot to this story.
00:04:09.657 --> 00:04:14.955
and the thing that, you mentioned, one, it is a very technology creative, field, right?
00:04:14.974 --> 00:04:22.105
And often, regardless of your role in a theater, you're playing many roles, you're doing many things.
00:04:22.105 --> 00:04:34.677
And so you're building a set one day, you're rehearsing lines one day, you're front of house selling tickets the other day, and so, you get a full sort of engaged perspective in how things work and come together.
00:04:34.855 --> 00:04:39.154
And I feel like that is also what a creative technologist has to do.
00:04:39.404 --> 00:04:43.904
You're, you have to understand the business, you have to understand the clients, and otherwise.
00:04:44.072 --> 00:04:45.442
I'm so curious.
00:04:45.482 --> 00:04:53.982
You sort of teased these experiences that help to tell the story or bring people in to the complex ecosystem at Salesforce.
00:04:54.271 --> 00:05:01.545
Can you give me some examples or sort of talk through a, a project that would sort of help paint that picture a little bit more?
00:05:01.745 --> 00:05:02.504
Yeah, totally.
00:05:02.504 --> 00:05:04.634
That, that was the glow up I have for you.
00:05:04.644 --> 00:05:05.165
Amazing.
00:05:05.175 --> 00:05:05.194
Yeah.
00:05:05.225 --> 00:05:11.779
My glow up, my goal- Yes and why I'm here at AWE- Yes is to start to bring more spatial into the activations that we're doing.
00:05:11.779 --> 00:05:12.480
Love it! Yeah!
00:05:12.490 --> 00:05:19.029
Um, previously in the year, I had the great pleasure of working with MrBeast on a Super Bowl activation.
00:05:19.339 --> 00:05:19.589
Um- Oh,
00:05:19.589 --> 00:05:20.980
just one of those.
00:05:21.709 --> 00:05:22.360
Just like you do.
00:05:22.860 --> 00:05:28.269
And it was a large scale puzzle game that was- Mm-hmm launched at the Super Bowl and took place over 27 days.
00:05:28.269 --> 00:05:46.269
Took 27 days to solve this puzzle using a Slackbot that we created just for this, and it, it was o- our way of introducing the Slackbot- Mm-hmm and getting some people who had never used an LLM before to try it and use it and h- use it for a purpose- Mm-hmm that actually solved the problem for them, and that was amazing.
00:05:46.300 --> 00:05:46.589
Yeah.
00:05:46.689 --> 00:05:50.519
Um, and I had some ideas about how this could have had, like, a, a spatial layer.
00:05:50.529 --> 00:05:50.550
Mm-hmm.
00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:55.100
Like, could there have been some Pokemon Go element of, of, of hunting around?
00:05:55.307 --> 00:06:00.166
we had six weeks to do it in, and so we haven't- Mm-hmm achieved that yet, but I do think there is a lot of potential.
00:06:00.336 --> 00:06:00.346
Mm.
00:06:00.586 --> 00:06:12.137
Um, and I think really what I'm looking for here is understanding the hardware, understanding what's possible, and then for the customer, uh, whoever it is that we end up partnering with, it really has to be the right audience.
00:06:12.137 --> 00:06:20.536
They have to be wanting to try this thing with this hardware- Mm-hmm um, so that it's, like, a natural fit, and it helps our products show up in just the right way.
00:06:20.637 --> 00:06:20.937
Yeah.
00:06:20.937 --> 00:06:26.297
There's a ton of opportunity, but it, it just has to be the right fit, and so that's, that's kind of what I'm here for.
00:06:26.297 --> 00:06:26.317
S-
00:06:26.824 --> 00:06:38.824
that, like, equation of, like, right customer, right experience, right technology that enables it is, like, pretty magic when it happens.
00:06:38.899 --> 00:06:47.286
Oftentimes we hope that if we have, like, two of those leg- one or two of those legs, that stool's gonna still stand up.
00:06:47.365 --> 00:07:06.069
How, especially when we're thinking about, like, cutting-edge technologies that people might not have experienced yet, and we're, like, trying to think about big, magical experiences, how do you help guide and coach organizations like Salesforce or the partners that you're working with, right?
00:07:06.069 --> 00:07:13.459
Like, working with a MrBeast, like, it's not just getting your team on board, but, like, also making sure MrBeast feels good about, you know...
00:07:13.625 --> 00:07:24.685
what's your approach for bringing people on board with spatial ideas and interactions that also, like, tick those, like, three requirements that you called out?
00:07:24.685 --> 00:07:25.245
Yeah.
00:07:25.245 --> 00:07:25.526
Yeah.
00:07:25.586 --> 00:07:28.255
That's a great question,'cause it- it's- it's different every time.
00:07:28.266 --> 00:07:28.286
Yeah.
00:07:28.305 --> 00:07:28.855
And I think-
00:07:28.925 --> 00:07:29.386
I wanna know.
00:07:29.425 --> 00:07:29.946
I've, I've...
00:07:30.086 --> 00:07:30.355
Right.
00:07:30.355 --> 00:07:30.815
Don't we all?
00:07:30.865 --> 00:07:34.136
Like, what are the magic words I can say to my partner to make them wanna do this?
00:07:34.235 --> 00:07:34.386
Mm-hmm.
00:07:34.386 --> 00:07:36.446
And I don't think it- it, there's one set.
00:07:36.485 --> 00:07:43.615
Like, it- it really, it depends on what that person is thinking about- Mm and what's keeping them up at night, and what is most important to them right now.
00:07:43.725 --> 00:07:44.196
Mm-hmm.
00:07:44.196 --> 00:07:48.336
Um, and I don't know if you've noticed, but things have accelerated, and that thing can be a moving target.
00:07:48.906 --> 00:08:03.935
And it's really just about listening to them- Mm-hmm and- and meeting with them, and understanding, you know, kind of where their biggest kind of fears lie- Yeah in- in the space, and, like, what they see as the biggest thing to tick off their list for their customer.
00:08:03.946 --> 00:08:03.975
Mm-hmm.
00:08:04.346 --> 00:08:10.636
Um, and that differs for every single partner, and they all have a different culture and way of seeing the world, and way of processing things.
00:08:10.665 --> 00:08:10.985
Yeah.
00:08:11.125 --> 00:08:12.076
Um, so yeah.
00:08:12.125 --> 00:08:33.556
I- I don't, I wouldn't say there's a clean answer that will neatly fit to any enterprise, but, um, if you're someone who's willing to sit down and listen, and- and really talk things through- Mm-hmm um, and not let them, like, kind of nod along, which I think- Very often, people, they want you to have a good experience in that meeting, and they- Mm there- there's this, like, human nature thing where they kind of wanna give you what you wanna hear.
00:08:33.556 --> 00:08:36.405
But it's like, no, but really, what do your customers care about?
00:08:36.556 --> 00:08:37.676
What are they gonna love?
00:08:37.696 --> 00:08:41.245
What are, what's gonna make them go,"Holy moly," like- Mm-hmm"I have to use this thing."
00:08:41.306 --> 00:08:41.806
Yeah.
00:08:41.926 --> 00:08:45.785
And until you have the answer to that and you're sure, like, it's probably not the right time.
00:08:46.126 --> 00:08:54.823
So- If it were only that easy that you could ask those stakeholders and partners,"What do you actually need?" Right?
00:08:54.864 --> 00:08:56.254
"What do you actually want?" Yeah.
00:08:56.254 --> 00:08:59.293
'Cause, like, sometimes we don't know, and we can't express it.
00:08:59.864 --> 00:09:13.803
So do you have tools or approaches you u- like to use to learn, like, the difference between what a customer is saying and the need that they're expressing underlying?
00:09:13.803 --> 00:09:15.234
Like, how do you decipher that?
00:09:15.234 --> 00:09:21.086
How do you, how do you, What questions do you ask, or do you have frameworks on how you approach that discovery?
00:09:21.307 --> 00:09:21.687
Yeah.
00:09:21.687 --> 00:09:24.996
I, I guess I'd never really thought about structured frameworks- but I do have some tricks.
00:09:25.517 --> 00:09:26.397
Um, yeah, I do.
00:09:26.427 --> 00:09:33.897
I, I find, like, yeah, very often people will kind of give you a, a very vague answer or a high-level answer, and you wanna see what's under that.
00:09:33.907 --> 00:09:33.937
Mm-hmm.
00:09:34.072 --> 00:09:35.302
I ask them what they're currently doing.
00:09:35.302 --> 00:09:36.201
Like,"What have you tried?
00:09:36.221 --> 00:09:37.652
What, what, what's working for you now?
00:09:37.662 --> 00:09:39.501
What is actually not working for you now?" Mm-hmm.
00:09:39.684 --> 00:09:41.654
I noticed this research item.
00:09:41.715 --> 00:09:42.875
I found this out.
00:09:43.164 --> 00:09:48.184
Is this actually true, or would you say that's not true for you?" And like, give them things to react to.
00:09:48.195 --> 00:09:48.225
Mm-hmm.
00:09:48.434 --> 00:09:52.644
Um, this is kind of the same as working in, like, a theatrical environment or a film environment.
00:09:52.654 --> 00:09:54.774
Like- Mm what does this director need to make a decision?
00:09:54.904 --> 00:09:57.985
What does this business ma- decision maker need to make a decision?
00:09:58.164 --> 00:09:59.085
What do they care about?
00:09:59.174 --> 00:09:59.315
Mm-hmm.
00:09:59.325 --> 00:10:01.174
And what do they care about that they're not telling me?
00:10:01.184 --> 00:10:01.205
Yeah.
00:10:01.215 --> 00:10:04.414
And, like, how can I draw that out of them and, and build trust really?
00:10:04.455 --> 00:10:10.754
Like, ultimately they need to know you're on their side and not just trying to get your next promo or whatever.
00:10:11.044 --> 00:10:11.774
Mm-hmm.
00:10:11.955 --> 00:10:24.198
I often have worn, like, product marketing roles, and often when I engage with, like, developers almost immediately the assumption is that marketing is there to put a spin on something.
00:10:24.198 --> 00:10:39.438
And when I show up asking like,"What do the users use?" Or like,"This is what I'm hearing from our clients," like, it's, it's such an amazing way to, like, flip the script and get them to, like, pay attention because it's like, wait, no, I, I care about the customers.
00:10:39.438 --> 00:10:52.375
Maybe, like, I'm gonna argue with you about who cares about the customer more because, like- in many times, right, being on the front of those stories and interactions, like, you hear it, you learn it.
00:10:52.375 --> 00:10:55.173
And, so I'm gonna keep pushing on this one question.
00:10:55.298 --> 00:11:01.207
My brain is obsessed with like how do you do spatial for like data, for context, for financial?
00:11:01.437 --> 00:11:03.788
Like, how does that, how do those things come together?
00:11:03.977 --> 00:11:28.323
And I've often joked that like there are some things that are good for VR and there are some, like, tasks that are horrible for it, and specifically, like doing financial data, anything feels just incredibly hard with like controllers and hand gestures and, like, keyboards that don't have keys.
00:11:28.774 --> 00:11:39.077
So I- I'm curious, like, how do you approach like spatial concepts and high data concepts, uh, in the types of experiences and stories that you're trying to tell?
00:11:39.248 --> 00:11:41.467
That's such an interesting question because, yeah.
00:11:41.488 --> 00:11:43.658
Why, like- Yeah that sounds terrible, what you just described.
00:11:43.937 --> 00:11:44.028
Yeah.
00:11:44.217 --> 00:11:45.557
I wouldn't want to participate in that.
00:11:45.567 --> 00:11:45.597
Like,
00:11:45.668 --> 00:11:48.957
I don't like using my f- my TV remote to enter passwords- Oh, for
00:11:48.957 --> 00:11:49.268
sure.
00:11:49.278 --> 00:11:49.298
Yeah
00:11:49.307 --> 00:11:50.807
let alone in a headset.
00:11:51.278 --> 00:11:51.597
Yeah.
00:11:51.597 --> 00:11:51.668
You know?
00:11:51.668 --> 00:11:52.408
And that's the first check.
00:11:52.408 --> 00:11:53.758
Like, would I want to do this thing?
00:11:53.768 --> 00:11:53.798
Mm-hmm.
00:11:53.817 --> 00:11:54.477
Absolutely not.
00:11:54.477 --> 00:11:55.557
Like, I, I would not approach that.
00:11:55.888 --> 00:12:00.677
Um, however, like for, MrBeast as an example- Mm-hmm we created this Slackbot that was intended to help solve the puzzle.
00:12:00.727 --> 00:12:00.957
Yeah.
00:12:01.038 --> 00:12:05.094
We then created the hardest puzzle you could possibly imagine using a, a, a team of-
00:12:05.214 --> 00:12:05.653
Which is a great...
00:12:05.703 --> 00:12:06.994
Like, I'm already interested, right?
00:12:07.024 --> 00:12:07.234
Yes.
00:12:07.283 --> 00:12:11.283
Lone Shark Games, uh, designed the most in- incredibly difficult puzzle you could imagine.
00:12:11.293 --> 00:12:11.653
Mm-hmm.
00:12:11.683 --> 00:12:13.563
And in order to solve it, you needed the Slackbot.
00:12:13.563 --> 00:12:13.943
Mm-hmm.
00:12:13.953 --> 00:12:23.933
So then it, it was just like a natural use case that you were like- Mm-hmm"Oh, thank God I have this thing and I can ask it stuff." Um, and that was ultimately how Colin Sanders, who was the winner was able to solve the puzzle.
00:12:24.344 --> 00:12:30.264
And I, I think it's just- That's rad it must be a natural fit- Mm-hmm for the thing that your audience wants.
00:12:30.313 --> 00:12:40.124
I'm sure there are many ways to use data that are actually a natural fit, but like- Mm-hmm what you described with, like, the inputs not working, I think I have some thoughts around hardware in general.
00:12:40.144 --> 00:12:41.624
I've seen a lot of really cool stuff here.
00:12:41.624 --> 00:12:46.594
There's this thing by Mudra that- Mm-hmm where you can kind of use your hand naturally with your glasses.
00:12:46.659 --> 00:12:50.299
that there's like, they're kind of all separated from each other.
00:12:50.470 --> 00:12:54.549
There's nothing that now lives all in the package that, that does everything I want.
00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:57.450
There's, there's a ring and there's, you know, there's a, platform.
00:12:57.500 --> 00:12:57.769
RP1.
00:12:57.769 --> 00:12:57.779
Mm-hmm.
00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:08.557
RP1, And everyone's kind of building in these different areas and it, and it, like, it's kind of converging into- Mm-hmm one unified ecosystem, but I don't think we're there yet.
00:13:08.567 --> 00:13:08.596
Mm-hmm.
00:13:08.907 --> 00:13:12.366
And I think it's actually the use cases that start to drive that.
00:13:12.386 --> 00:13:31.476
And what I think is really interesting about right now is that now with Claude, anyone can build anything, and it gives access to people to come with their very niche, unique problem that no one else is really thinking about, and quickly prototype something, and then take that and show it to the hardware maker and say like,"Hey, I have this use case, like can you help build with me?" Mm-hmm.
00:13:31.527 --> 00:13:33.876
And I think that does a lot to push us forward.
00:13:34.326 --> 00:13:34.778
Mm-hmm.
00:13:34.778 --> 00:13:35.607
Ooh
00:13:35.658 --> 00:13:38.113
The question you're asking is, like, Does it have to be these boring things?
00:13:38.113 --> 00:13:39.773
So I actually have some thoughts on boring.
00:13:39.972 --> 00:13:42.822
I think we, boring problems are actually the move.
00:13:43.302 --> 00:13:44.462
Uh, w- our, our tendency-
00:13:44.462 --> 00:13:44.602
Yo
00:13:45.052 --> 00:13:46.462
we need to, we need to look for the boring problems.
00:13:46.462 --> 00:13:51.033
We, we, we go to the flashy, beautiful Walkabout Mini Golf, I love you guys.
00:13:51.043 --> 00:13:53.539
Like, it's the best space in the world, and it's so cool.
00:13:53.549 --> 00:13:55.080
Mm-hmm But it's not for everybody.
00:13:55.090 --> 00:13:55.279
Mm-hmm.
00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:57.279
And, and I, what I hear all the time is,"Well, I'm not a gamer.
00:13:57.289 --> 00:13:59.549
I'm not putting that on." Like,"I'm not a gamer." I
00:13:59.549 --> 00:14:00.289
don't like to walk about-"I'm not
00:14:00.509 --> 00:14:01.080
that identity."
00:14:01.129 --> 00:14:01.669
in VR.
00:14:02.340 --> 00:14:02.450
That's my thing.
00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:02.960
I mean, I
00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:04.700
li- I will, I will die for Walkabout.
00:14:04.700 --> 00:14:04.730
Oh.
00:14:04.730 --> 00:14:05.029
But
00:14:05.370 --> 00:14:05.779
Gorgeous.
00:14:05.779 --> 00:14:08.259
The, the amount of community that happens- Oh, my God.
00:14:08.590 --> 00:14:10.690
Yeah in that space is like- It was just my very favorite it's way more than a game.
00:14:10.830 --> 00:14:12.570
Um- Yeah however, it's not for everyone.
00:14:12.580 --> 00:14:14.830
And, and what is for everyone i- is different.
00:14:15.179 --> 00:14:25.139
And I think when you tackle the boring problems, the I'm on my way home, and the Target's right there, and I need shoes for my kids, and it knows that, and so it tells me that I stop'cause there's a s- a sale there.
00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:29.335
And, oh, there's that reminder for that school event, and it's, these are all related to my kids.
00:14:29.335 --> 00:14:29.524
Mm-hmm.
00:14:29.524 --> 00:14:31.919
But, like, all the stuff, all the boring stuff
00:14:33.220 --> 00:14:33.330
that
00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:34.399
you have to check off your list-
00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:34.460
These are very personal user stories.
00:14:34.460 --> 00:14:43.110
Yeah yeah, like, i- if, if someone could ma- wave a magic wand and make that stuff easy for me- Mm-hmm I would get first in line, and I think there's a lot of other people out there that feel that way, too.
00:14:43.330 --> 00:14:45.519
And so it doesn't have to be the most beautiful thing.
00:14:45.690 --> 00:14:47.690
It doesn't have to be the shiniest, coolest thing.
00:14:47.990 --> 00:14:52.600
Just do something useful, and that will solve, you know, a, for a lot of the resistance.
00:14:52.909 --> 00:14:53.320
Yeah.
00:14:53.634 --> 00:14:54.745
I'm gonna let that one cook.
00:14:54.794 --> 00:14:55.764
That's gorgeous.
00:14:56.287 --> 00:14:56.667
We're here at AWE.
00:14:58.037 --> 00:14:59.326
This is the Tech Glow Up.
00:15:00.006 --> 00:15:09.653
I like to ask about the transitions, the transformations, the rebirth, the glow up that you think the industry needs to make.
00:15:09.682 --> 00:15:18.082
And I think in this, like, very enterprise kind of conversation, there's a lot of conversation, right, like, in tech that, like, enterprise is the main client.
00:15:18.082 --> 00:15:19.773
This is everybody's business model.
00:15:19.958 --> 00:15:22.485
But I wanna hear it the other way around.
00:15:22.551 --> 00:15:34.846
What does the industry need to do to glow up, to meet enterprise needs, and to be a better partner to enterprise in the next 6 to 12 months?
00:15:35.505 --> 00:15:35.745
Hmm.
00:15:36.099 --> 00:15:36.479
Dang.
00:15:36.528 --> 00:15:42.568
Yeah, now I wanna ask for the magic words to say to my leadership to- you know, make them unlock the budget and have the money fall from the sky.
00:15:42.589 --> 00:15:42.599
Mm.
00:15:42.599 --> 00:15:47.999
But I, I d- I do think that, like, the storytelling- Mm-hmm i- is really useful.
00:15:48.038 --> 00:15:54.589
Um, I, I've experienced a bunch of demos, um, and they're all over the map as far as, like, all the different things that can be done.
00:15:54.928 --> 00:16:22.318
Um, but the more awareness, I think, the peripherals have of the waveguide makers, of the audio, spatial audio folks, like, the w- the way that they can connect the through line because they're separate companies now- Mm-hmm and it's not a complete ecosystem, the more they're talking about each other and have an awareness of, like, the whole picture and can package that up for us, um, it will give me less work to do to then package it up- Mm-hmm for my leadership.
00:16:22.325 --> 00:16:28.166
but also, like, the, the better we'll be able to understand our use cases and plug them in there, because companies wanna innovate.
00:16:28.196 --> 00:16:29.806
Like, we do not wanna be left behind.
00:16:29.806 --> 00:16:33.436
We do not wanna be thought of as dinosaur enterprise companies.
00:16:33.505 --> 00:16:33.735
Mm-hmm.
00:16:34.096 --> 00:16:37.796
We wanna be thought of as the agentic enterprise, and we are building it as fast as we can.
00:16:37.806 --> 00:16:38.265
Mm-hmm.
00:16:38.306 --> 00:16:41.765
Um, and the, the things that help us do that are demonstrating that to our customers.
00:16:41.775 --> 00:16:42.166
So,
00:16:42.446 --> 00:16:43.025
um- I love that you said- make it
00:16:43.346 --> 00:16:43.535
easy.
00:16:44.066 --> 00:16:45.816
I love that you said demonstrating.
00:16:46.456 --> 00:16:47.446
Uh, I, I'm gonna...
00:16:47.625 --> 00:16:54.745
I love this point and, like, please make it easier for your customers to do business with you.
00:16:55.596 --> 00:16:57.296
They want, they want to.
00:16:57.716 --> 00:17:03.125
So, like, learn what it takes to be supportive to an enterprise and, like, get together on it.
00:17:03.347 --> 00:17:21.124
When you're talking about this agent, the thing that I loved was that you showed the value of agentic support without telling anybody that they were going to have an agent there with them all the time helping them on their way.
00:17:21.413 --> 00:17:27.493
It was just part of the experience and the puzzle that you put in front of them.
00:17:27.834 --> 00:17:28.713
It's part of the story.
00:17:28.993 --> 00:17:29.213
Right.
00:17:29.478 --> 00:17:40.394
And instead of the story being,"We built a technology that will change something that you're already doing," to like,"Look, this thing was helpful when you wanted it." Love that.
00:17:41.057 --> 00:18:00.953
When I talk with healthcare leaders about AI, this is total side quest, one of the things that I heard frequently is if an agent can be helpful with a task it was intended to do, you will build trust, and you will start to get questions about the other pressing problems in that person's life.
00:18:01.261 --> 00:18:17.501
And I don't know if this agent was able to, but I'm curious, did you notice or do you have data where people started to trust the advice of the puzzle agent and started asking other questions in the channel?
00:18:17.758 --> 00:18:18.627
That's really interesting.
00:18:18.637 --> 00:18:22.127
The only, like, official story I have- Mm-hmm is Colin's,'cause we recorded it.
00:18:22.307 --> 00:18:22.417
Yes.
00:18:22.417 --> 00:18:22.518
Yeah.
00:18:22.557 --> 00:18:25.867
But he did say he, he'd noticed some things in the commercial.
00:18:25.867 --> 00:18:27.097
There were clues hidden everywhere.
00:18:27.319 --> 00:18:28.369
I didn't even know where they were.
00:18:28.380 --> 00:18:28.400
Yeah.
00:18:28.470 --> 00:18:32.509
And, and he noticed some things, and then he went to the Slack bot- Mm-hmm and he kind of plugged them in.
00:18:32.509 --> 00:18:42.150
And the way that it worked was there was conversational side, and then there was this thing called a puzzle card- Mm-hmm which sort of mirrored the, uh, canvas that we have in Slack- Mm-hmm that if you use Slack, it's just a document.
00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:42.559
Love it.
00:18:42.769 --> 00:18:43.339
Um, and- Oh my gosh
00:18:43.390 --> 00:18:50.670
and he would then, like, populate his puzzle cards with the things that he was finding, and it helped him sort out th- and, and, and manage that.
00:18:50.769 --> 00:18:51.250
Mm-hmm.
00:18:51.259 --> 00:18:53.369
Lots of different ideas all over the place.
00:18:53.410 --> 00:18:56.680
Really difficult to put together into one overarching thing.
00:18:56.690 --> 00:18:56.940
Mm-hmm.
00:18:56.940 --> 00:18:59.450
Summaries are what AI is, like, best at.
00:18:59.460 --> 00:18:59.900
It really...
00:18:59.910 --> 00:19:04.900
Like, if it takes- Mm-hmm your stuff, you can reliably expect it to manage that in a way that makes sense.
00:19:05.349 --> 00:19:10.829
Um, and so I think, you know, that, that was a really obvious, useful use case for him.
00:19:10.839 --> 00:19:10.869
Mm-hmm.
00:19:11.002 --> 00:19:19.823
the sort of knock-on effect of, right, using the chat bot, and like,"Oh, I need a place to put these, these answers.
00:19:19.883 --> 00:19:20.722
How can I start to visual...
00:19:20.722 --> 00:19:23.313
Oh, well, there's this canvas that's also here." Right?
00:19:23.516 --> 00:19:24.307
so love it.
00:19:24.368 --> 00:19:29.711
Keeping on the glow up theme, let's turn it inward a little bit to the work that you're doing.
00:19:29.925 --> 00:19:39.664
What's the, like, six-month glow up goals that you have, for working and, building more immersive experiences in the stories that you're telling?
00:19:39.724 --> 00:19:39.984
Yeah.
00:19:40.255 --> 00:19:40.634
Yeah.
00:19:40.954 --> 00:19:42.255
I have so many ideas,
00:19:42.625 --> 00:19:43.684
so- Don't we all?
00:19:43.684 --> 00:19:44.634
I, you know, it...
00:19:44.865 --> 00:19:47.805
And it, it's really, it is just about finding the right fit.
00:19:47.965 --> 00:19:49.875
I think we have a, a number of great partners.
00:19:49.875 --> 00:19:51.556
We just signed with FIFA, pretty exciting.
00:19:51.556 --> 00:19:53.563
F1 is one of our historical partners.
00:19:53.613 --> 00:19:55.113
And, like, all of those are very nuanced.
00:19:55.250 --> 00:19:59.180
I have a few prototypes that I've, I've, I've talked through.
00:19:59.420 --> 00:20:01.369
Um, the Rayneos, have you, have you tried those ones?
00:20:01.400 --> 00:20:04.630
The, um- Mm-hmm I got the latest device at CES this year.
00:20:04.630 --> 00:20:05.069
Amazing.
00:20:05.069 --> 00:20:09.160
Um, kind of looking through how to do storytelling in spaces.
00:20:09.262 --> 00:20:13.202
I won't go too deep into that one'cause it's not totally baked, but, um, yeah, like, the...
00:20:13.393 --> 00:20:26.752
I think it's really just, like, for me, the, the partner that is most curious about this space- Mm-hmm um, and then the conversation that I could have to help them understand the utility.
00:20:26.847 --> 00:20:32.397
one thing that has been kind of, uh, I think an unblock for us at Salesforce- Mm-hmm is Headless 360.
00:20:32.634 --> 00:20:37.484
which if you are not following SAS, uh, Twitter- Mm-hmm uh, sorry, SAS X- Mm.
00:20:37.555 --> 00:20:47.115
Um, you, you may not have noticed- Mm-hmm um, the, the, the Headless 360 is essentially all of your Salesforce organization, previously accessible sometimes only through UI.
00:20:47.306 --> 00:20:47.435
Mm-hmm.
00:20:47.435 --> 00:20:48.715
Um, that is no longer.
00:20:48.715 --> 00:20:51.705
Now you are able to use that as a back end on any form factor.
00:20:51.715 --> 00:20:58.526
So that means the glasses can now talk to my Salesforce organization, and maybe even say,"Oh, that, I, I...
00:20:58.536 --> 00:21:03.905
That customer in front of you right here at AWE, like, here, here's the data that you have on them.
00:21:04.086 --> 00:21:05.915
Here's the last conversation you had with them.
00:21:06.155 --> 00:21:11.082
Um, here's a next step you could pursue right this instant." And, you know, I don't know, like, why don't we build that?
00:21:11.082 --> 00:21:11.152
I have an
00:21:11.461 --> 00:21:14.852
introduction for you- on that specific topic.
00:21:14.912 --> 00:21:34.811
Uh, so cool, and also if you remove the flat spreadsheet based UI from the financial and, like, customer documents that I'm used to in using in Salesforce tools- Then using that data in space becomes a lot easier.
00:21:35.271 --> 00:21:35.582
Yes.
00:21:35.692 --> 00:21:35.862
Right?
00:21:35.862 --> 00:21:35.991
Yes.
00:21:35.991 --> 00:21:50.451
Because, like, my complaint was you're, you're asking me to fill a flat 2D thing in a 3D space where I don't have the same tools, and what you're talking about is I'm gonna give you your data so that, like, the UI isn't a limit.
00:21:50.791 --> 00:21:51.122
Right.
00:21:51.132 --> 00:21:53.872
I mean, no- humans are not talking- Yeah to us anymore.
00:21:53.882 --> 00:21:53.922
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:21:53.922 --> 00:21:55.731
Like, no one's doing all that.
00:21:55.731 --> 00:21:55.872
Yeah.
00:21:55.872 --> 00:21:57.652
Like, we're, we're sending the robot to do that stuff.
00:21:57.652 --> 00:21:57.892
Yeah.
00:21:57.951 --> 00:21:58.612
And so they...
00:21:58.832 --> 00:22:04.491
We wanna make it easy to send the robot to do the stuff, and then now the only limit is, like, what can you think of to do with your stuff?
00:22:04.982 --> 00:22:05.532
I love it.
00:22:05.722 --> 00:22:13.643
Kind of in the same way that Snap's, like, made a really organized GitHub, like you're organizing so that your agents can...
00:22:13.915 --> 00:22:14.675
That's cool.
00:22:14.675 --> 00:22:14.715
Yeah,
00:22:14.715 --> 00:22:14.945
yeah.
00:22:15.685 --> 00:22:16.096
Okay.
00:22:16.182 --> 00:22:18.262
You kind of got spicy earlier.
00:22:19.022 --> 00:22:30.863
But I'm curious, at this point in time, do you have a hot take to share about AI, tech, culture in general?
00:22:30.893 --> 00:22:31.563
Your choice.
00:22:31.583 --> 00:22:32.423
Yeah, yeah.
00:22:32.442 --> 00:22:33.472
So we did touch on this.
00:22:33.563 --> 00:22:35.502
Um- Mm-hmm my hot take is career goals are stupid.
00:22:35.740 --> 00:22:37.849
And hear me out.
00:22:37.900 --> 00:22:39.660
No, I'm already on board.
00:22:39.660 --> 00:22:40.299
Um, I think they're dumb.
00:22:40.299 --> 00:22:40.329
I think they're...
00:22:40.329 --> 00:22:44.079
We put so much pressure on ourselves to achieve some career identity.
00:22:44.140 --> 00:22:44.390
Mm.
00:22:44.420 --> 00:22:47.390
And, you know, identity is like a whole hot mess to begin with.
00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:54.140
And then on top of it, we have to have this title, and there's these specific titles that maybe we're aiming for.
00:22:54.539 --> 00:23:01.309
Um, and every time that I have been successful, it has been because I find some fascination with something.
00:23:01.579 --> 00:23:02.690
Um, and VR just...
00:23:02.730 --> 00:23:06.279
In 2016, someone gave me a Gear VR, and with the dinosaurs.
00:23:06.289 --> 00:23:06.769
You remember that?
00:23:07.059 --> 00:23:09.849
And I was just like,"Oh my God, like this- Mm-hmm changes everything.
00:23:09.849 --> 00:23:12.650
I have to do this now." Um, and I couldn't stop.
00:23:12.680 --> 00:23:22.289
And I think just by pursuing things that you're really excited about, that you're really passionate about- Mm-hmm that solve a problem for you- Yeah um, you will very often find a person that also finds value in that or a company.
00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:27.450
And amassing more and more of those, then there is a summary, and that is then your title.
00:23:27.880 --> 00:23:41.019
So it's not that you should pursue some job description, it's more that you should do the job and do the things that are really important to you and stay close to that and learning, and then whatever title you get is just a summary of all those things that are actually you.
00:23:41.935 --> 00:23:43.096
I'm loving this so much.
00:23:43.125 --> 00:23:51.846
I, I like ha- I'm internally screaming, uh, because I have to like sit on my hands and make space for that answer.
00:23:52.146 --> 00:23:57.029
I teach graduate students at University of Oregon, and like,"What is a job?
00:23:57.269 --> 00:23:58.690
How am I supposed to do this?
00:23:58.730 --> 00:24:05.779
Oh my God, I'm supposed to be perfect out of the box," is like one of the most common things I hear forever.
00:24:06.420 --> 00:24:29.063
And with the like perspective and experience and time that I have, I've found I'm way less interested in the titles and names that I put on what I do, and like the people, the problems, the way we go about trying to fill our days with work, uh, means a whole lot more to me.
00:24:29.153 --> 00:24:36.396
So, that's probably gonna be the advice that I keep repeating to other people when they ask me how my day's been this week, so thank you.
00:24:36.606 --> 00:24:36.886
Yeah.
00:24:37.355 --> 00:24:55.157
Poz, your expertise and perspective, really resonates for me, and I'm sure other folks out there trying to do meaningful work that matters to customers and showcases, right, the cool shit, the cool technology and tools- Yeah that we're building.
00:24:55.617 --> 00:25:03.587
Thank you for joining me to talk about the cool work you're doing at Innovation at the highest levels.
00:25:03.698 --> 00:25:09.097
I can't wait to check in on what your next glow up's gonna be and your next big collab, so.
00:25:09.897 --> 00:25:12.028
It has been my absolute pleasure, Nathan.
00:25:12.127 --> 00:25:12.357
Yeah.
00:25:12.357 --> 00:25:13.327
This was such a great conversation.
00:25:13.327 --> 00:25:13.748
Thank you.
00:25:13.758 --> 00:25:13.768
Oh
00:25:13.938 --> 00:25:14.417
my gosh.
00:25:14.478 --> 00:25:16.157
Thanks for joining me on The Tech Glow Up.
