This week on patch, we're talking about intentionality in tech, in security, and in your personal power.
First, we discuss the massive new $1.2 billion partnership between Nvidia and Deutsche Telekom. This is more than just a cloud: it's Europe’s first industrial AI power plant, bringing sovereign computing closer to home and changing the game for European businesses.
Then, we dive into quantum readiness. Why are experts saying the time to upgrade your digital security is now? We explain what quantum computers will do to current encryption and why the people who plan ahead will be the ones who stay in control.
On the lifestyle front, we’re sharing two patches: my new obsession with Google's NotebookLM, the AI tool that makes learning feel effortless, and the Fall/Winter 2025 fashion trends to make you feel your best at your next tech event.
Kirin reconnects with former business school classmate, Glendon Haas, now a Director at an AI company, for an essential unpack of where the field truly stands. They dive deep into the why we might still be in the stone age of AI and what it takes for models to move from talking to genuinely doing.
Glendon talks about the shift to agentic AI, detailing what practical tool use looks like and how deep research is becoming the new search function. He also breaks down complex model behavior, explaining why reinforcement learning can sometimes make systems too agreeable, and ultimately that discernment is the single most important human skill in the age of AI.
Our patches:
We wrap with the lifestyle segment, as Glendon shares his personal playbook for staying grounded as a director and a dad and why the simple, present-focused act of baking cookies is his favorite reset.
When Amazon Web Services experienced an outage this week, a glitch in Virginia took down apps and sites around the world, from Alexa to Delta Airlines. In this solo episode, Kirin breaks down what really happened with AWS, why the cloud matters more than ever, and how one line of code can basically make the whole internet pause.
She explains what AWS actually does, describing it as Amazon renting out secure “digital real estate” to the world’s biggest companies, and unpacks how a small DNS error at Amazon’s main data center in Virginia temporarily disrupted daily life worldwide.
Kirin also gets into the bigger picture: our growing dependence on the cloud, what resilience really means in tech, and how these hiccups are quietly shaping a smarter, more secure internet as we move into the post-quantum era.
In the lifestyle segment, she shares a fall travel recap from D.C. and Montreal, plus the Zara long waxed trench coat with corduroy cuffs that officially became her workwear MVP. Also on rotation: the Victoria Beckham Netflix soundtrack that’s on repeat while she works, and of course, a quick celebration for the Toronto Blue Jays as they head to the World Series.
Sources:
Lifestyle Segment Mentions
Fresh off the press...NVIDIA just announced the DGX Spark today, October 15, a desk-side AI supercomputer that’s making high-performance computing personal. After this update, we switch gears to fashion tech with Julia Dietmar, CEO and co-founder of OpenWardrobe.co, who’s using AI to reimagine how we shop, style, and sustain what we wear.
After two decades leading product at Yahoo, Walmart, and Vue.ai, Julia saw the overproduction and waste behind the fashion industry, and built OpenWardrobe to give power back to the consumer. She shares how the platform evolved from a simple digital closet to an AI-driven ecosystem that recognizes your clothes, tracks cost-per-wear, estimates resale value, and even connects you to stylists and repair services. We also dive into Style Blueprint, her color-analysis tool, and Lola AI (“lots of lovely algorithms”), the recommendation engine teaching us why certain tones and silhouettes make us feel our best.
In the lifestyle segment, Julia shares her go-to confidence formula: structured silhouettes and the behavioral psychology book she swears by for anyone building something from the ground up.
Show Notes:
That’s a wrap on Season One! Over the last 12 weeks, we’ve gone from breaking down data science in plain English, to exploring AI’s fingerprints on fashion and family businesses, to talking blockchain and vaccine delivery, and even how to keep showing up if you’re navigating grief in the middle of a tech career.
This highlight reel pulls together some of my favorite moments with guests who made us laugh, think, and reimagine what “tech and lifestyle” can really look like.
We’ll be back on October 15 with Season Two: new guests, big ideas, and the same mix of sharp insights with a sprinkle of lifestyle.
The creator economy is no longer niche, it’s projected to hit $480 billion by 2027. In this episode, we break down how creators are transforming tech, media, and business: from Hailey Bieber’s $1B Rhode acquisition to the rise of micro-influencers who convert trust into sales. We’ll also look at global momentum, from India’s booming creator market to Africa’s $5B digital content economy and Japan’s AI-powered avatars.
We’ll cover how creators earn and how many are evolving into full-scale companies, like Prime Hydration and Chamberlain Coffee, that now rival legacy brands.
Finally, in the lifestyle segment, I share what I'm doing to feel my best for the fall: listening to Roxie Nafousi’s Manifest, building a vision board, and trying microneedling for the first time.
Sources:
Goldman Sachs: The creator economy could approach half a trillion dollars by 2027
Andreessen Horowitz: The Creator Stack
a16z Podcast: The Creator Economy — NFTs and Beyond
Andreessen Horowitz: A Decade in the Creator Economy
eMarketer: Influencer marketing set to surpass $13 billion by 2027
Forbes: How the creator economy is reshaping modern marketing
Columbia Business School: TikTok ban and Meta ad prices
CNBC: India’s creator economy is booming as influencers start businesses (Aug 2025)
North Africa Post: African content creators drive $5B digital economy
Tatler Asia: The rise of Asian AI influencers
BBC News: Hailey Bieber’s Rhode sold to e.l.f. Beauty for $1B
Episode 10 is here! We’re celebrating hitting double digits with a quick and lively top 10 summer tech rundown for 2025.
From neuromorphic chips inspired by the brain to quantum computing breakthroughs, smarter wearables, green tech, and smarter smart homes, we cover the biggest trends reshaping your daily life. Plus, stick around for the lifestyle segment with my fave picks for eye patches (the chic kind, not pirate), weighted vests, quick workouts, indoor plants, and pastel workwear vibes. Perfect for your walk, drive, or quick break.
Blockchain has been a hot topic for a decade, but what about its real-world impact? We're talking about its role in delivering vaccines, enabling microfinance, and making humanitarian aid more transparent.
This week's guest is Arun Maharajan, Blockchain Technology Lead at UNICEF's Office of Innovation. Joining us from Sweden, Arun is on the front lines, where his team is using blockchain to bring trust, transparency, and efficiency to complex global operations. He'll walk us through how they're tracking cold chain data for vaccines in Bangladesh and helping youth entrepreneurs in Burundi access microloans.
We'll get into the human side of blockchain, exploring its evolution from early platforms like Bitcoin to the privacy-preserving third-gen tech of today. Arun also shares what it takes to bridge cutting-edge innovation with field work in some of the world's most challenging environments.
And of course, in the lifestyle segment he'll share:
Enjoy!
This episode isn't about hangers and ticket stubs... it's about barcoded garments, AI-inspired workflows, and a surprisingly high-tech revolution happening inside a nearly 100-year-old business.
Our guest this week is Linley McConnell, VP of Gibson’s Cleaners, an iconic Toronto family brand she’s helping reinvent with automation, sustainability, and a very chic approach to customer care.
We talk about her pivot from a career in consulting and media to leading the family business, the reality of imposter syndrome, and what it’s really like to modernize a legacy brand in an industry people rarely associate with innovation.
And of course, we end with a rapid-fire lifestyle segment on:
Follow Linley!
Instagram: @laundrywithlinley
TikTok: @laundrywithlinley
I couldn’t let you step into August without talking about one of the biggest (and strangely quiet?) tech drops of the year: ChatGPT’s new Agent.
In this episode, Kirin breaks down:
As a marketer, Kirin also shares why the ChatGPT demo video is a masterclass in storytelling, and why watching polished tech demos is one of the best ways to learn how tools actually work.
And of course, the lifestyle segment:
This one’s special. Today on patchperfect, I’m joined by my friend Fran, a marketing leader, spin and pilates instructor, and one of the most quietly resilient people I know, to talk about something we rarely hear discussed in high-performance spaces: grief.
Fran lost both of her parents before turning 30, all while building a high-impact career in tech (Meta, Shopify, X…just to name a few). We talk about what it’s really like to show up to meetings, meet deadlines, and perform in fast-paced, high-achieving cultures when your personal world is quietly falling apart.
We get into:
And in the lifestyle segment, we talk about the quiet rituals that help Fran reconnect with herself. 5AM mornings, intentional outfits, white noise, magnesium lotion, and why showing up to a workout class can spark more than just a sweat. Sometimes it’s the beginning of feeling like yourself again. This episode is for anyone holding it together while falling apart inside.
For anyone processing loss while trying to stay high-functioning. And for anyone looking for soft ways to feel human again.
Cybersecurity might sound like it’s all code and firewalls, but at its core, it’s deeply human. In this birthday-themed episode, I’m sharing the tech that inspired me to launch this podcast: the fast-moving, high-stakes world of cyber.
We’ll break down key terms like malware, phishing, and zero-days, explore the real roles behind the scenes, SOC analysts, threat hunters, intel teams, and incident responders, and walk through the frameworks (like NIST) that tie it all together.
Enjoy!
Sources Mentioned:
IBM Announces New AI-Powered Threat Detection and Response Services
Qantas attack reveals one phone call is all it takes to crack cybersecurity’s weakest link: humans
The Cybercrime Industry Is Projected to Hit $10.5 Trillion in 2025 – RDCSTech
We’re going solo today, and I’m walking you through five breakthrough technologies that are shaping how we live, work, eat, and understand the world in 2025. Inspired by my conversations with Rach and Saj, this episode zooms out to look at the macro shifts, the ones actually transforming our systems, not just trending on your feed.
In this episode, we cover:
We wrap it all up with a quick lifestyle segment featuring the best sunscreen I wore in Italy and the Veja sneakers I’ll be wearing into fall. Enjoy!
Sources
Agentic AI & the Future of Work
McKinsey – The Future of Work is Agentic
TechRadar – AI and the Next Evolution of Hybrid Work
Forbes – Agentic AI: The Next Big Breakthrough
Gartner – Agentic AI Will Resolve 80% of Customer Issues by 2029
Climate Tech & Methane Suppression
MSN – How Cow Burps Became Big Science
Quantum Computing & Post-Quantum Security
McKinsey Explainer – What is Quantum Computing?
Forbes Tech Council – Top Tech Trends 2025
PsiQuantum – Building Useful Quantum Computers
Cloudflare – Quantum Computing and the Internet
NIST – Post-Quantum Cryptography Project
Space Imaging
This week, it’s a full-circle moment on patchperfect as we welcome Sajna Massey, CEO and founder of Couth Studios, a fashion-tech label reimagining how clothes are designed, produced, and worn using AI.
Sajna is building one of the most innovative fashion brands in Canada, using artificial intelligence to analyze runway trends and generate original designs, then letting the Couth community vote on what actually gets made. No guesswork. No overproduction. Just thoughtful, intentional style.
In this episode, Sajna walks us through:
- how computer vision is used to analyze global runway data
- how predictive and generative AI shape Couth’s design process
- her long-term vision to create localized collections inspired by the unique style of different cities
- how the brand uses a voting-based, pre-order model to reduce waste and avoid landfill fashion
- what it means to build a slow fashion brand in a fast fashion world and the pressure to scale ethically
- what it’s really like balancing a 9 to 5 as a staff technical program manager while growing a mission-driven company from the ground up
We also explore the heart of the brand: how giving consumers a voice in design creates a deeper emotional connection, and why Sajna believes fashion is just as much about storytelling as it is about trend-spotting.
And of course, we close with our lifestyle segment:
- how Sajna dresses for work-from-home days, office life, and speaking at conferences and panels
- how she rotates key pieces, shops local, and rewears favorites until she’s ready to consign them
- why we’re both (finally) done with the bandage dress era
Whether you're fashion-curious or interested in starting your own tech company, this one’s for you. Enjoy!
It’s our very first guest episode, and I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Rachel Levy: a brilliant data scientist with a master’s in AI and one of my oldest friends.
We’ve known each other for 25 years, from school playgrounds to wedding speeches, and today she’s helping us break down one of the fastest-moving and most influential spaces in tech.
Rachel shares how a conversation with her CEO 10 years ago changed everything, inspiring a bold pivot into data science. She talks about how she merged her real estate knowledge with a growing passion for analytics and machine learning.
In this episode, she explains it all the same way she would for her parents:
And of course, we close with our lifestyle segment and share our thoughts on colored sneakers at the office, our favourite Amazon jewelry finds for work, and the iconic Effortless Pant from Aritzia.
You’ll be in good hands.
Welcome to the very first episode of patchperfect. Kirin shares the origin story: how her 2023 Pinterest board idea turned into a real podcast, why she cares about both tech and lifestyle, and what you can expect this season.
We’ll explore topics like AI, data science, and cybersecurity, and each episode will close with something practical to help you feel your best. It’s part industry insight, part life upgrade. Like a weekly patch for your mindset.
If you’ve ever wanted to understand the tech shaping your world and pick up tips to stay calm and confident in the middle of it all, this show is for you.
All views expressed are my own.
Follow the show, make yourself comfortable, and I’ll see you in Episode 2.
patchperfect makes sense of what’s next in tech, from AI and blockchain to the creator economy, so you never feel left out of the conversation. Hosted by tech marketer Kirin Sennik, the show brings curiosity and clarity through solo episodes and expert conversations that break big ideas down while also exploring the lifestyle choices that help people show up as their best in a world that never stops changing.