AI, tech talent, and regional innovation: A swan song from retiring WTIA CEO Michael Schutzler
GeekWire
GeekWire
4.4 • 116 Ratings
🗓️ 21 December 2024
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Michael Schutzler, the newly retired CEO of the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA), joins us on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast to reflect on his 11 years running the not-for-profit trade association, assess the state of the tech industry in Seattle and Washington state, and discuss what's next for him.
Schutzler, who has been succeeded as WTIA's CEO by Kelly Fukai, previously its COO, wrote about the extraordinary history of the state's tech industry in a recent post marking the WTIA's 40th anniversary and his retirement.
See more highlights from the episode in this GeekWire post.
Related coverage:
- WTIA CEO Michael Schutzler retiring after 11 years leading Washington state tech group
- WTIA honors 40 years of boosting Washington’s tech sector as new CEO aims for more impact
With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. Edited by Curt Milton.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This Geekwire podcast is brought to you by BECU. Stay tuned to the break as Brian Westbrook |
| 0:06.4 | interviews BECU's Stacey Black about minimizing the impact of uncertain times on your financial health. |
| 0:13.4 | For more money hacks, check out geekwire.com slash BECU. |
| 0:21.4 | Amazon is a logistics company. |
| 0:24.6 | It had to become masterful at certain technologies, but their core DNA couldn't be more |
| 0:31.2 | different. |
| 0:32.2 | So you're not going to hire creatives. |
| 0:34.6 | You're going to hire people that are efficient and optimizers and really, |
| 0:38.5 | really good. Operators. Yeah. Perfecting the system. |
| 0:42.0 | Low margin. Amazon versus high margin Microsoft. Until AWS. When they figured out AWS, they're like, |
| 0:47.4 | cash cow. Holy shit, margins. Let's take off the world. And then let's fuel every other crazy |
| 0:53.1 | project we can do. And they become super creative since then. And then let's fuel every other crazy project we can do. |
| 0:56.1 | And they become super creative since then. |
| 1:03.6 | And now AI, this next generation of X Amazon folks, I think we'll see more and more of that. |
| 1:16.3 | Hi and welcome to Geekwire. I'm Geekwire co-founder Todd Bishop. And I'm Geekwire co-founder John Cook. We are pleased to be joined in the Geekwire offices, in the studio, as it were, |
| 1:21.4 | by Michael Schutzler, who is the outgoing, recently retired CEO of the WTIA, the Washington Technology Industry Association. |
| 1:30.8 | Michael, it's great to have you here. |
| 1:32.1 | It's great to be here. |
| 1:32.9 | Great to see you both in person again. |
| 1:34.4 | It's been a long time. |
| 1:35.1 | Likewise. |
| 1:35.7 | The last time we had you on the show, it was on Zoom or some such. |
... |
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