Future Focused CXOs is where founders and executives share the systems, decisions, and leadership moves behind durable businesses. In this episode, we sit down with Wendy Gonzalez, CEO of Sama, a public benefit company that provides high-quality training data for AI while creating formal employment in underserved communities.

Wendy’s path runs from EY audit to tech consulting, to startup founder, and finally to CEO, a journey shaped by personal inflection points, a servant-leader mindset, and a clear belief: talent is global, opportunity is not.

She shares what it took to guide Sama from non-profit to VC-backed public benefit corporation, to steer the company through the founder’s passing and COVID lockdowns, and to close the AI maturity gap that keeps pilots from reaching production.

The Future Focused CXO is the podcast for C-level executives aiming to scale their organizations, lead through transformative challenges, and stay ahead in adopting cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence. Each episode explores actionable leadership strategies, insights on managing rapid organizational change, and real-world examples from top executives tackling the complexities of modern business operations.

In this episode, we interview Steve Cobb, Chief Information Security Officer at SecurityScorecard, known across the industry as “Cyber Santa.” With more than 30 years of experience spanning healthcare, finance, telco, and enterprise technology, Steve shares his journey from fixing infected floppy disks to becoming a CISO, along with his candid perspective on leadership, security, and AI’s role in the future of defense.

In this Future Focused CXOs episode, we speak with Alisha Crafton, Chief Growth Officer at Kasasa, whose career spans credit unions, megabanks, and fintech. Known early in her career as the “Turnaround Queen” for transforming underperforming bank branches, Alisha shares the leadership lessons she’s learned about balancing transformation, technology adoption, and culture-building.

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