Tech Forward

Tech Forward is an interview series about who gets to build and fund technology. In a standing introduction, host Cheryl Chotrani lists four roles (tech founder, developer, investor, industry enthusiast) and one belief: that diversity can transform businesses and improve the world. The stated agenda follows from that: challenges, strategies and possible solutions for improving representation of women, minorities and other underrepresented groups. Then the guests take over and talk about their work. They are entrepreneurs, investors and advocates, and the host's questions push toward specifics. That is where the value is. One guest describes a team that applied blockchain to energy and sustainability, trade, supply chain and financial inclusion. The team also consulted in agritech and water rights, then built an internal project focused on data ownership. The same guest argues that digital assets are the largest asset class in the world, pointing to companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon. An investor challenges how the media covers venture capital, as a few giant funds in Silicon Valley and New York. That guest calls it a long-tail business with a far more varied range of firms, and connects the point to an increasingly multicultural society. A second investor, who evaluates women-led businesses, talks about moving from discovery to validation. That investor also describes sharing deal flow and due diligence with investors who have been at it longer. Other conversations move away from capital. A teletherapy founder is asked how personal experience with mental health and therapy shaped the product, and pauses to call it a loaded question before answering. A guest working on race and racism describes showing a film in high schools. Requests followed from teachers who wanted preparation, from parents who wanted to see the film, and from companies unhappy with their own diversity trainings. The title 'Rebroadcast: Using Artificial Intelligence and Comedy To Open Hearts and Minds' sounds light, but the idea in it is pointed: guests imagine an AI co-host that could play back a politician's exact words when that politician denies saying them. The host follows up by asking how a format built on comedy and a chatbot co-host can handle issues that serious. The register is warm and earnest. The host sets up each topic, asks questions and lets the guest talk. Several titles carry a 'Rebroadcast' prefix, which brings earlier interviews back into the feed. Episodes end by asking for reviews and social shares and pointing to a website. Across topics as different as blockchain, teletherapy and venture funds, the question is the one the introduction asks: what will actually improve representation.