Home Podcasts Heavy Strategy
Heavy Strategy

Heavy Strategy

Packet Pushers 140 Episodes Aug 18, 2026

Heavy Strategy is a weekly podcast that tackles big questions in enterprise IT, ranging from technology and workplace culture to geopolitics and economics. Hosts Greg Ferro and Johna Till Johnson combine their technical expertise and opposing viewpoints to challenge conventional thinking on topics relevant to IT leaders. The show is known for its irreverent tone and thought-provoking debates, aiming to bring the kind of candid conversations normally reserved for the executive table to a wider audience.

Episodes

HS140: AI and Technical Debt – Boon or Bane?
HS140: AI and Technical Debt – Boon or Bane? Aug 18, 2026 42:27 Does AI increase or reduce technical debt? Join Johna Johnson and John Burke as they discuss how to make strategy in environments in which AI fuels untrammeled growth in enterprise complexity–but also points the way to automated optimization (and concomitant technical debt reduction). Episode Links: Watch this episode on YouTube The AI Technical Debt Crisis:... Read more »
HS139: When “One Cloud to Rule Them All” is NOT the Answer: Regionalization
HS139: When “One Cloud to Rule Them All” is NOT the Answer: Regionalization Aug 4, 2026 33:58 IT folks spent a lot of time in the last 20 years creating globe-spanning infrastructures that maximize performance while minimizing the number of data centers or cloud instances they operate. More recently, the steady rise of regionalized data sovereignty requirements has created counter-pressure. AI regulations are now adding to that pressure to ditch a single... Read more »
HS138: When “One Cloud To Rule Them All” Is NOT the Answer: Repatriation for AI and more
HS138: When “One Cloud To Rule Them All” Is NOT the Answer: Repatriation for AI and more Jul 21, 2026 30:56 Some enterprises are finding reasons to pull back from a cloud-first IT strategy and run workloads in on-premises data centers. John and Johna dig into why companies are making the change, including cost and AI security. They also discuss and the strategic implications for IT, and what organizations stand to gain—and lose—from repatriation.  Episode Links:... Read more »
HS137: Did AI Turn “Everybody Codes” into “Nobody Codes”?
HS137: Did AI Turn “Everybody Codes” into “Nobody Codes”? Jun 30, 2026 38:23 “Everybody codes” was an enterprise buzzword. In this era of AI vibe-coding and single-use coding, should everyone code? Should anyone code? John and Johna talk about enterprise strategies with respect to coding in the AI era, including what expertise to look for in employees. AdSpot Sponsor: Meter Meter delivers full-stack networking—wired, wireless, and cellular—to leading... Read more »
HS136: How AI Is Changing Enterprise Software Development (Sponsored)
HS136: How AI Is Changing Enterprise Software Development (Sponsored) Jun 23, 2026 50:41 AI can generate working code quickly. Building reliable software to run infrastructure platforms is still a multi-year engineering challenge. In this sponsored episode, BlueCat chief strategy officer Andrew Wertkin joins John Burke and Scott Robohn to talk through the difference between code generation and enterprise software development, and the challenges and opportunities of engineering reliabi
HS135: AI Spyware in Chrome Spotlights Attractions of DaaS
HS135: AI Spyware in Chrome Spotlights Attractions of DaaS Jun 16, 2026 31:08 VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) and Desktop as a Service (DaaS) have been arriving “real soon now” for the past couple of decades. Will the advent of vendors’ AI spyware (as Google is introducing through Chrome) be the accelerant that finally makes it happen? John and Johna discuss why the challenges in this brave new AI-enabled... Read more »
HS134: Dodging the AI Iceberg: Midcourse Corrections
HS134: Dodging the AI Iceberg: Midcourse Corrections Jun 2, 2026 32:38 By now most organizations have AI strategies (among their other tech strategies). But how do you know when it’s time to make a midcourse correction? Better still: How can you predict when, and what kind of corrections you might need? John and Johna discuss, and tell the story of how a university prepared for technology... Read more »
HS133: Approaching Zero…Trust (Sponsored)
HS133: Approaching Zero…Trust (Sponsored) May 26, 2026 49:56 Most enterprises have some kind of zero trust strategy, but a lot of them could be better described as good intentions rather than active programs being implemented. Making good on a zero trust strategy and achieving an actual zero trust architecture requires tools that embody the core precept of zero trust thinking: deny access by... Read more »
HS132: Heart of Glasswing
HS132: Heart of Glasswing May 19, 2026 36:28 How can enterprise IT folks prepare for the age of Mythos? Anthropic says its Claude Mythos model is so much better at finding software vulnerabilities that it has delayed public release. Instead Anthropic launched Project Glasswing to give IT infrastructure and software makers early access, so they can have some lead time to address vulnerabilities... Read more »
HS131: Cybersecurity Strategy: Defending Against AI
HS131: Cybersecurity Strategy: Defending Against AI May 5, 2026 34:48 Enterprise strategists need to worry about securing their environments against AI-powered attacks. John and Johna discuss what cybersecurity and IT leaders need to consider in developing a cybersecurity strategy that addresses AI-augmented threats as well as how to use AI defensively … and why AI attacks can be like a duckbilled platypus. AdSpot Sponsor: Meter... Read more »
HS130: Wait, AI Doesn’t Secure Itself? Developing an AI Security Strategy
HS130: Wait, AI Doesn’t Secure Itself? Developing an AI Security Strategy Apr 21, 2026 37:41 Your enterprise better have a cybersecurity strategy for AI. But where to start? Everywhere! Securing AI means securing all the AI layers and throughout the lifecycle: data, model, and applications, in training and in inference. Johna and John discuss what your strategy must address and how to get support for it because, of course, it’s... Read more »
HS128: Planning for an AI Bubble Burst
HS128: Planning for an AI Bubble Burst Apr 10, 2026 34:25 How should you shape your IT strategy around the possibility–or is it probability–that the AI economy is a true bubble and will burst soon? John Burke and Johna Johnson revisit the signs indicating that an AI bubble is in full swing and pointing to the potential for collapse in the near term. Doomsaying having been... Read more »

Recommended