Hot Take: AI… Hype or Horror?

Brad Groux is the Co-Founder and CEO of Digital Meld, where he leads work in cloud-based artificial intelligence, business process automation, and practical AI enablement for modern organizations. With more than two decades of enterprise technology experience, Brad has grown from systems administrator to solutions architect, building deep expertise across Azure Machine Learning, the Microsoft Power Platform, and the training and deployment of open-source large language models.

Before founding Digital Meld, Brad served as a Senior Solutions Architect at Unqork, where he designed enterprise-scale solutions. His career also includes senior and leadership roles at JMT, Macquarie Group, and Microsoft Brad is also a public speaker, educator, and enabler focused on helping teams adopt AI in ways that are useful, realistic, and sustainable. He is a core team maintainer for OpenClaw, with a specialization in the Microsoft relationship and ecosystem, and he is the host of the Start Small, Think Big podcast.

George Ploss is a Senior Director in Oracle’s Government, Defense, and Intelligence group where he serves as a Defense Startup Ecosystem Builder focused on building out the Defense Industrial Base for America and her allies.  

He is particularly focused on strengthening America’s national security through innovative public-private partnerships through VC and startup innovation. He has been with Oracle for 11 years. 

As a US Marine Veteran and former Wall Street investment Banking Analyst, George brings a unique blend of military service, enterprise technology expertise, and venture ecosystem development to America’s Defense Ecosystem initiatives and defense industrial base.

George’s career has been defined by his ability to bridge the gap between emerging technology startups and critical defense applications. At Oracle, he pioneered the creation of the company’s first-ever startup accelerator while serving as Head of Oracle NetSuite Startup Accelerator from 2022-2025. Under his leadership, the program established institutional partnerships that expanded Oracle’s market reach while accelerating customer acquisition through strategic venture relationships. His comprehensive approach included developing due diligence frameworks for seed-to-growth stage companies, negotiating strategic alliances with venture capital firms and technology partners, and creating go-to-market strategies that positioned Oracle as a leader in innovation economy development.

His expertise in building defense-focused startup ecosystems stems from his deep understanding of both government requirements and commercial innovation cycles. George’s experience spans venture capital practice development, strategic partnership structuring, and cross-functional team leadership for complex product integrations and joint marketing initiatives. He has cultivated relationships across the defense innovation community, including technology partners, investment firms, and industry associations, to drive collaborative solutions that enhance national security capabilities.

George is from the south side of Chicago. He received his bachelors and MBA from the University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign. He has a wife, 2 kids, a cat and a golden doodle. 

Today, George continues to champion veteran integration into the technology sector while building bridges between Silicon Valley innovation and Pentagon priorities, ensuring America’s defense capabilities remain at the technological forefront

Mario Rodriguez is an AI Solutions Consultant in a multilateral institution and former AI Robotics Engineer and operator of Sophia the Robot, the first humanoid robot. He previously co-founded Arivey, a SaaS startup recognized by the AWS Build Accelerator 2023 and Founder Institute Toronto 2024. Mario holds a master’s degree with honors in Optimization and Applied Computation from UAEM, where he researched Mexican Sign Language recognition. He has led +20 AI/ML projects and earned certifications from PMI, MIT, IBM, and AWS. His interests focus on human-computer interaction, multi-agent systems, and the intersection of AI, entrepreneurship, and exponential ecosystems.