In this episode, we sit down with Maria Haight, Global Information Security Officer at Joyson Safety Systems, to talk about security, governance, and AI. Maria shares her path in tech, and discusses the difficult shift from hands-on technologist to strategic leader. She also covers her community work with CIOs Against Cancer, the Michigan Council of Women in Technology (MCWT) gala, and SIM Detroit.

On security, she explains why recovery and resilience matter as much as defense and why AI-enabled phishing, fake IT and HR calls, and spoofed messages from the boss are getting harder to spot. We dig into AI governance, including whether AI agents should get their own identities, the cost reality of AI in 2026, and the data privacy and IP limits customers put in their contracts. We also take on vendor sprawl and bad sales demos, tech debt and shadow IT in manufacturing, and the looming threat of post-quantum encryption.

Help Maria and the Michigan Council of Women in Tech fundraise for Michigan women and girls in tech.

This week, Alec Bantel joined us to discuss his new app, ACTIQO that helps families organize their kids’ activities. We talk about what it takes to go from idea to launch, including user testing, hiring, and figuring out what people actually want versus what they say they want. The conversation also covers the realities of raising funding while staying rooted in Detroit, and why building locally matters more than chasing Silicon Valley.

Comedian J Chris Newberg has a show on September 18 at Royal Oak Music Theater. We talk for a bit about his comedy style, what’s on his bucket list, and other projects he’s worked on. He tells us what draws him back to Detroit and compares the local comedy scene to other cities.

He’s giving away two tickets to the show! Listen to find out how you can claim one.