Austin Tech Connect closes out 2025 with a milestone episode celebrating the podcast's three year anniversary and ending the year with a high energy conversation about entrepreneurship, custom software, and what it takes to keep building in Austin. Thom welcomes Scott Kenyon, founding partner at Applaudo, a firm that helps companies go from early stage ideas to real products, covering strategy, MVPs, design and development, cloud platforms, AI, DevOps, and cybersecurity.

Scott shares his entrepreneurial path, including leaving college to start a business, then returning later to finish after a first venture gave him real world experience and momentum. From there, he explains how Applaudo grew from a focused service offering into a broader set of capabilities by staying close to client needs and expanding carefully in a trust driven industry. A key theme throughout the episode is that software services still run on reputation, relationships, and accountability, especially when companies are betting real dollars on complex builds.

The conversation includes a memorable story about helping a pro sports organization modernize an outdated workflow, plus a look at the different industries Applaudo serves and why focus matters even when you work across multiple verticals. Thom and Scott also dig into AI, not as hype, but as a practical tool that is changing how work gets done, along with a candid discussion about the infrastructure demands behind AI and what that could mean over the next several years.

The episode wraps with thoughts on what makes Austin's tech community strong, where the ecosystem needs to stay scrappy, and a look ahead to 2026, including Austin Tech Hall of Fame nominations opening in January.

Thanks to the sponsor of the podcast, Calavista Software.

This week on Austin Tech Connect, we are sharing the keynote from the 2025 State of Tech breakfast, hosted by the Austin Technology Council and the Austin Chamber of Commerce. Tyson Tuttle, CEO of Circuit and former CEO of Silicon Labs, unpacks how AI is accelerating into the physical world, why energy and compute infrastructure matter more than ever, and what the convergence of AI, semiconductors, and industry means for the next decade of innovation in Austin and beyond.

"Texas gives us scale, Austin gives us soul" - Tyson Tuttle

Austin Tech Connect welcomes back data and AI expert (and ATC board member) Ronnie Sheth for a very real conversation about what is actually happening inside companies trying to adopt AI. Ronnie helps organizations design human first experiences with data and AI, and she brings both a strategic lens and a deep sense of responsibility to how this technology shows up in our businesses and our community. She also cares deeply about Austin as a global tech hub and about the Austin Technology Council's role as a connector across the ecosystem.

In this episode Ronnie explains why AI adoption numbers are slipping and why that is not a sign that AI has lost its shine. Drawing on recent reports from the U.S. Census Bureau and MIT, she points out that many generative AI pilots are failing not because the tools are weak, but because companies never built the foundation. They jumped to "doing AI" without a clear data strategy, without thinking through adoption and scale, and without asking the basic question, "Is our data ready for this?"

Ronnie makes a compelling case that data excellence is the real starting point. Companies need high quality, trusted data and a clear vision for how it supports decisions, innovation, risk management, and AI models. She shares how her clients move from vague "data governance" conversations to concrete strategy, and why data must be treated as an asset that can quickly turn into a liability if handled poorly.

We also dig into regulation, ethics, and the human side of AI. Ronnie describes AI as a "collection of humanity" and reminds leaders that AI is not yet a prescriptive oracle. It is a thought partner that can amplify human intelligence, not a fix for broken processes or culture.

The Austin Tech Connect Podcast is presented by Calavista Software, software development without the drama.