Connected Conversations

When Yik Yak matched thousands of students for a three-week experiment, the team expected almost everyone to want romance. What people actually reached for says something about all of us.In this clip from Connected...

When no one knows your name, do you tell the truth, or do you show your worst? In this episode of Connected Conversations, Elena Petrova sits down with Kyle Venn, CEO of Yik Yak, for a serious look at what an...

What if the most inclusive team you could build starts with one reframe: the human first, the role second? Lisa Mae Brunson has spent a decade building Wonder Women Tech, the conferences, hackathons, and STEAM programs...

Ten languages moved freely through the house Sheriff Issaka grew up in. Then he came to the US and watched the people he loved most be unable to say a word to each other. In this episode, Elena Petrova sits down with...

The story continues. And it gets stranger. In 1978, Rick Smolan was twenty-eight years old andphotographing an eleven-year-old girl in Korea when her grandmother made an impossible request. Part 1 of this conversation...

Rick Smolan has spent more than four decades telling stories that connect people across cultures, generations, and technologies.In this mini episode of Connected Conversations, Rick explains how storytelling has evolved...

Rick Smolan was twenty-eight years old, photographing for Time magazine, when a dying grandmother in a Korean village asked him to take her eleven-year-old granddaughter to America. He said yes — and that yes set the...

How do you know whether an AI solution is actually useful — or just good marketing?In this mini episode of Connected Conversations, Elena Petrova sits down with Muhammad Atif, President and CTO of PureLogics, to unpack...

Most organizations are racing to deploy AI. Far fewer are asking what responsible governance should look like before they do. In this episode of Connected Conversations, Elena Petrova sits down with Muhammad Atif...

What happens when every business starts using the same AI tools? According to Masha Sharma, VP of Merchant Experience at Groupon, we are entering a world where marketing risks becoming predictable, repetitive, and...

"In eighteen months, most small-business owners won't be talking to their customers. They'll be talking to their agents." Masha Sharma leads merchant experience at Groupon — over a million small businesses, many of them...

AI, Inclusion, Digital Learning, and Why Human Connection Still Matters with Bryan Chicas In this episode of Connected Conversations, Elena Petrova sits down with Bryan Chicas, Program Engagement Specialist at...

Most people think visibility builds a business. It doesn’t. Connection does. In this episode of Connected Conversations , Naowshaba Ferdous breaks down what it really takes to build a brand that people trust, remember...

Jordana Cole explains how to navigate uncertainty, AI anxiety, and change—by focusing on what you can actually control.

You’re not as logical as you think. And that might be your biggest advantage as a leader. In this episode of Connected Conversations , hosted by Elena Petrova (Founder & CEO of Ad Astra, Inc. and AdAstraConnect), we sit...