Chairs

Design wisdom for the age of artificial intelligence

Barry Katz is a Visionary Circle Advisor at Entefy. A Fellow at IDEO, he is also a Consulting Professor, Design Group, at Stanford University and Professor of Industrial and Interaction Design at California College of the Arts.

I spent much of last spring immersed in the legacy of Charles and Ray Eames, the legendary design partnership that defined the culture of midcentury America and lives on today in the 21st century’s reverence for Midcentury Modernism. After Charles’ death in 1978, Ray closed the office in Venice, California and spent much of the next decade archiving the record of their historic 45-year partnership (Ray died ten years to the day after Charles). 

One portion of their legacy was deposited to the Library of Congress where it is available to researchers; the remainder resides at the family ranch in northern California where, thanks to the family’s generosity, my students had the opportunity to rummage through models, fabric samples, color swatches, film stills, books, tools, correspondence, photographs, props, and memorabilia. It’s one thing to view the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman from behind a velvet rope in the “design” section of a modern art museum, or to watch their iconic Powers of Ten on YouTube. It’s quite another to see the scores of experiments, trials, prototypes, and dead ends that preceded them.

That experience—juxtaposed with my opportunity to observe Entefy’s growth and evolution in designing the first universal communicator—has led me to reflect on the relevance of some of Charles Eames’ key precepts, principles, and parables to design in the digital age. Here are a few:

“The details are not just details. They make the product.”

It’s easy to spot the unresolved details of a physical product: the latch doesn’t close securely, the stitching is uneven, the on/off switch is awkwardly placed. But the same can be said about a software interface, a mobile application, or even the invisible, underlying code that most people will never see. Charles once boasted that he willingly accepted constraints, but never accepted compromises. And so I say to the designers of the digital: No compromises!

“Start from a pure place.”

The giants of Silicon Valley—Hewlett and Packard, Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce, and in successive generations, Steve Jobs—became fabulously wealthy, but no one will ever convince me that HP, Intel, or Apple were built on dreams of wealth. 

I once had the opportunity to ask Jobs what motivated him and he replied, “Things come along now and then that change the way we live, and we happen to be in the right place at the right time to influence the evolution of these things. You know, when you change a vector in its first inch by just a little bit, when it gets three miles out there it’s moved quite a bit.” Nothing there about the size of his bank account.

“After the age of information comes the age of choices.”

For most of human history, we have suffered from a lack of information—about the best season to plant our crops, when to retreat to higher ground, whether to save, to spend, or to invest. Abruptly—sometime around 1945, according to some—civilization was upended and we began to suffer from too much information. Submerged under a torrent of data, bits, pixels, texts, and tweets, we might be poised now to evolve to the next plateau: not more information, or even (as Eames imagined) more choices, but simply the power to get what we want.  

“The role of the designer is that of a very good, thoughtful host, anticipating the needs of his guest.”

This is something that every software engineer, coder, data scientist, hacker, and information architect should take to heart: You are not creating for yourself. You are creating for another person, not an “end-user” (ugh!) but a guest, whom you must welcome into your world. The people who use what you build must be made to feel at home with what you have done.

“Eventually everything connects—people, ideas, objects… The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se.”

This is surely the promise of Entefy’s universal communicator: augmented intelligence that is smart enough to weave together the threads of our ever-more-complicated lives, seamlessly, invisibly. And so Midcentury Modernism enters the 21st century. 

Disruption

AI disruption already underway in these 8 industries [SLIDES]

Artificial intelligence is transforming business-as-usual in a range of industries, all around the globe. Many of these developments are pretty familiar by now: self-driving vehicles, smart homes, and Internet of Things-powered smart appliances. 

Focusing on advancements that don’t always make it into the headlines, these slides highlight the disruptive impact of AI and automation on 8 diverse industries. You can read more about the research featured in this presentation in Entefy’s article, AI disruption already underway in these 8 industries.

Blockchain

Is blockchain the hero cybersecurity needs?

The year was 2009. A mysterious figure (or figures – the jury is still out) named Satoshi Nakamoto had just unleashed Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that drew equal amounts of excitement and skepticism. Though Nakamoto wasn’t the first person to explore the development of a cryptocurrency, he was the first to bring one to fruition. Bitcoin popularized the concept of digital currencies and sparked impassioned debates about whether a decentralized, digital system could destabilize (and ultimately dethrone) fiat currencies such as the dollar. Bitcoin also introduced the world to the concept of the blockchain.

Blockchain is the technology that underpins Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum and Litecoin. In the eight years since Bitcoin’s debut, blockchain has emerged not merely as a means of creating new types of currencies but as a solution to many urgent concerns—cybersecurity chief among them. 

What is blockchain?

The term blockchain refers to a distributed, decentralized ledger, a database of transactions. Every “block” of information contains the records of previous transactions, creating a comprehensive record. Clusters of data blocks automatically link together through cryptographic algorithms and mathematical hashing mechanisms that validate the information, thus creating chains of data blocks. These chains of blocks give us the term blockchain. Each blockchain then connects to other blockchains via a global network of computer nodes. 

The distributed nature of the technology ensures that no one person or institution controls the data recorded on the blockchain. Instead, designated computers form a node network, and before a new data block is added to the chain, every single node verifies its authenticity. The nodes use automated, cryptographic algorithms to approve additions before adding them to the ledger. 

Knowing how blockchain works explains how cryptocurrencies function, and also why they represent an entirely new form of monetary exchange. When someone makes a purchase with a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, the Bitcoin blockchain records the transaction. Bitcoin transactions are transparent, in that certain attributes of the participants in a transaction are publicly available; however, users can take steps to shield their identities and protect their privacy

Back to blockchain. A blockchain ledger can record a wide variety of transaction types, some of which we’ll discuss in a moment. Because information recorded on the blockchain cannot be altered by any single party, many people see this technology as a means of enhancing both transparency and security. For instance, the British government is mulling the possibility of using blockchain technology to distribute taxpayer-funded grants, allowing for greater clarity on how the money is used. 

Blockchain’s disruptive potential 

Many blockchain supporters highlight the decentralized nature of the system. And, on the flipside, it’s why so many institutions like banks love/hate the technology. “Big financial institutions are embracing the technology, in part, because they fear it. Since it is relatively easy to use and entails low costs, new players — even small businesses without much capital muscle — could conceivably use it to offer financial services, too.” Financial transactions tend to flow through intermediaries like banks and credit card processors that collect fees covering the use of their payment infrastructure. Blockchain does an end run around that infrastructure.

Here’s an example. In developing countries, blockchain companies have begun using the technology to provide low-cost remittance services for domestic workers who move abroad in search of well-paying work. These workers are often the primary breadwinners for their families, but they lose a significant amount of money due to high remittance fees charged by traditional banks. Blockchain-powered remittance services promise reduced fees and faster transactions, enabling them to send more of their hard-earned money home.  

But there are many potential uses of the underlying technology. At first glance, the Swedish government, anti-human trafficking advocates, and food security experts might not seem to have much in common. However, all stand to benefit from blockchain usage, as the landmark technology can be used to track land registries, identity verification, and food supply chains. The implications of blockchain extend far beyond cryptocurrencies. 

Adding artificial intelligence to the blockchain 

Coupled with artificial intelligence, blockchain’s impact could increase exponentially. Already, developers and entrepreneurs are exploring how the open-source, decentralized nature of the blockchain could propel AI research in the coming years. But the two disciplines could become a real dynamic duo when jointly applied to cybersecurity. 

As Entefy explored earlier this year, artificial intelligence is both a threat and a powerful defense in cyber security. The sheer volume of data being generated globally each millisecond far exceeds the capacity of any single cybersecurity expert to monitor for cyberattacks. We increasingly rely on smart algorithms to flag potential hacks or instances of fraud, and white hat hackers could eventually use AI to anticipate cyberattacks and build better defenses. 

On the other side of the equation, malicious hackers are harnessing AI to deploy ever-more-sophisticated cyberattacks, which is why cybersecurity is rapidly becoming an urgent concern for companies and individuals alike. Blockchain may be able to augment our efforts to thwart dangerous cyberattacks, offering a much-needed ray of hope in the face of hacks such as the Equifax data breach and WannaCry ransomware attack. 

The hero cybersecurity experts need 

Interest in blockchain is undisputedly on the rise. Forbes noted that “blockchain-related technology” was referenced 1,500 times in corporate SEC filings from January-September of this year, indicating real enthusiasm among businesses and investors. It’s blockchain’s time to shine, especially when it comes to cybersecurity: “Blockchain technologies are, after all, the culmination of decades of research and breakthroughs in cryptography and security.” 

The encryption built into the blockchain makes it a natural tool in the quest for enhanced cybersecurity protocols. It also offers another benefit to experts fending off cyber attackers. Rather than use passwords for identity verification, blockchain security platforms can use public and private keys that are associated with encrypted data files that live on the blockchain. 

Unlike centralized password databases, which can be relatively easy targets for hackers, the individual keys are virtually impossible to crack. Some companies that have begun using blockchain technology in their security protocols also use two-factor authentication to add another layer of defense. 

Messaging services also benefit from blockchain-powered security, as these programs can distribute metadata in such a way that prevents hackers from using people’s digital footprints to steal their information. This dissemination of data is important, because it abstracts the information from hackers even more than simple end-to-end encryption. 

Blockchain could help secure cloud network usage as well, by allowing companies to share only partial data with different parties instead of providing full access to their files. Some platforms already use blockchain algorithms to fight cyberattacks by time-stamping activities in a way that pinpoints when attackers try to manipulate their data.  

Blockchain is even being highlighted as a more secure alternative to Social Security numbers, something on everyone’s mind after the Equifax breach. A cryptographic identification system could better safeguard citizens’ data than the traditional Social Security system. Estonia’s government has already moved toward using blockchain and biometrics to record and secure individuals’ information. Along with Dubai, Estonia is also exploring the use of blockchain to protect individual medical records. 

Of course, no system is perfect, especially not one that’s less than a decade old. In a Deloitte report on blockchain and cybersecurity, the organization noted that despite the increased protection of private keys, these can be stolen or intercepted. For instance, the more devices a person uses with their key, the more likely they are to lose control of their data access. Nonetheless, Deloitte also noted that the cryptographic algorithms used to generate private/public key pairs “are hard to break with current computing power.” 

Blockchain systems offer a much-needed upgrade to the way we defend ourselves against malicious hackers, especially when combined with machine learning systems designed to identify suspicious behavior and anticipate attacks. Blockchain provides us with new ways of looking at cybersecurity and defending ourselves against the rapidly advancing hacks of the future. 

Brienne

Brienne on the panel of judges at the Girls in Tech AMPLIFY pitch competition

Entefy’s own Co-Founder Brienne Ghafourifar was in San Francisco to serve as a judge at the Girls in Tech AMPLIFY pitch competition. At AMPLIFY, female founders pitch their startups on stage before a panel of judges consisting of Silicon Valley CEOs, CTOs, investors, and entrepreneurs.

Selected from 294 applications, the 10 finalists represented businesses focused on everything from advertising to healthcare, and security to CRM. The founders were competing for mentorship opportunities, office space, and that lifeblood of entrepreneurship—capital.

Brienne and the other judges evaluated the contestants’ 10-minute pitches and responses during rapid-fire Q&A sessions. The winner, Scollar, was announced at the end of the event when its founders were presented with a giant novelty check for $10,000.

Entefy celebrates Girls in Tech’s mission to support women entrepreneurs around the globe. Congratulations to the 10 AMPLIFY finalists, and a special round of applause to the winners from Scollar.

Connected house

Smart homes make smart spies

Picture this: It’s Saturday morning, and you’ve been waiting for this moment all week. A crush of deadlines had you working late hours every night, and it feels like you’ve barely left the office. But your projects are finished and you’re thrilled to have 48 hours of downtime in your home. 

Your house isn’t just any old house. It’s a smart home. Before you woke, smart blinds rose over your windows, letting in just the right amount of warm morning sunlight. As you step out of bed, you’re not too hot or too cold because your thermostat monitors your house to maintain an optimal temperature at all times. Stopping at the bathroom to brush your teeth, your toothbrush gathers data about how well you target those hard-to-reach molars, sending feedback through a mobile app letting you know if you’re brushing too hard or haven’t spent enough time in a particular quadrant. 

A long time coming, smart home technologies built using Internet of Things (IoT) devices and systems are already widely available, with countless new systems on the horizon. But the old saying “There’s no such thing as a free lunch” is at play here. There’s no such thing as a smart home that doesn’t come with privacy and security trade-offs. 

After all, the convenience of always-on devices is driven by always-on data collection. Each device and component in a smart home is recording data about how you live your life round-the-clock. And as we’ll discuss in this article, many smart home apps and products are alarmingly insecure. 

Confronting the risks of the Internet of Things

IoT promises that in the near future, we’ll be able to move seamlessly from the office to social events to our homes. A network of smart devices and mobile apps will track everything from our locations to our heart rates and will optimize our environments to maximize our comfort. Having a voice-activated assistant goes without saying, but then there’s the security system you can control no matter where you are, the fitness tracker that tells your thermostat what temperature to make the house when you come home from your daily run, and the refrigerator that automatically adds items to your grocery list based on its contents. 

But there are risks. IoT devices collect massive amounts of personal data. In 2016, 83% of consumers surveyed by TransUnion said they worry about identity theft and cyber threats, and the use of IoT devices exacerbates the risk of becoming a victim.  

To grasp the scope of IoT cybersecurity challenges, think for a moment about the Equifax data breach that impacted at least 145 million Americans. Credit agencies collect an incredible amount of personal financial information, so a breach of this magnitude poses grave risks for identity theft. But just imagine the types of data a network of IoT devices in your home can collect. Those apps and platforms will contain not only payment information, but they’ll record information on when you and your family are in your house, when you go to sleep at night, the types of food you keep in the house, and other very personal – and very telling – details. 

That doesn’t mean we should avoid smart home products or shy away from connective technologies. It means it’s imperative to know the risks and how to protect ourselves, especially as smart homes continue to evolve. 

The beauty of the smart home is that, as in so many other areas of our lives, artificial intelligence is taking the drudge work off our hands. It’s making life a little easier, a little healthier, a little more comfortable. And by augmenting our daily routines, it’s giving us more time to enjoy our homes and spend time with our families. After all, the time we spend cooking, locking up at night, and making grocery lists adds up. Stay-at-home mothers, for instance, spend 23 hours per week – nearly 3 full-time work days – just on housework. That doesn’t even include time spent with their children. Saving time by automating chores like laundry, doing dishes, vacuuming and window-washing with the aid of a smart home device allows them to give more time to their kids (not to mention take a few minutes for themselves). 

Although the advantages of smart homes are many, however, we should be clear on what we’re giving up in exchange for those conveniences. Setting aside security concerns, which we’ll talk about in a minute, there’s the question of privacy. The more smart devices we use, the more information about our private lives we give away. 

Take smart water meters. You probably don’t think much about the information your water meter records about your daily activities, if you give it any thought at all. But utility companies, law enforcement, and even appliance companies can gather surprisingly specific information about what you’ve been doing in the privacy of your own home just based on water meter readings. They can tell which day of the week is laundry day in your household or whether you’ve been running the dishwasher more often than usual. Police in Bentonville, Ark. even used data from a smart water meter to solve a murder case. 

Most people aren’t up to such nefarious acts, and their water usage probably doesn’t reveal many interesting insights. Nor do we want information on our daily dishwashing habits to be publicly available. 

Thinking about privacy in smart homes

As we become increasingly reliant on IoT devices and voice-activated assistants, we must consider who has access to data about our private behaviors. When you’re requesting songs, searching for products, and making appointments using these technologies, you become more aware of the digital picture you’re creating about your home life. And while prominent voice assistant platforms claim only to work when activated by a specific phrase, IoT security has proven shaky in the past, leading some experts to recommend that we err on the side of caution when around these devices. 

Consumers became more aware of the consequences of sacrificing privacy for convenience earlier this year when iRobot’s CEO suggested that the company could sell floor plans gathered by its Roomba devices to third-party buyers. Presumably, those third parties could use these maps of users’ homes in advertising and product development campaigns. Though iRobot assured consumers that it respects their privacy, the issue highlighted just how easily IoT devices can expose intimate details of our lives. 

Even highly personal products such as baby monitors pose security risks. Researchers found serious vulnerabilities in nine prominent baby monitor models, all of which could be exploited to access videos and images from within the home. Perhaps more frightening, Internet-connected children’s toys were also identified as being vulnerable to hackers. Few things are more chilling to a parent than the idea that an ill-intentioned stranger could reach their children through something as innocent as their toys.  

Internet of Things security is a real concern across many industries. In fields such as medical care, there are many challenges to data security in part because old systems simply aren’t up to modern challenges. Developers and engineers will need to build new systems to appropriately address increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. 

The fact that we know that data-gathering devices increase our security risks is actually to our advantage. The baby monitor research was predictive rather than reactive, as was the smart toy hacking tests. White hat hackers are also testing the technology used in computer-assisted vehicles to identify vulnerabilities so engineers can close those gaps before cyber attackers can exploit them. Such preventive and diagnostic measures can help mitigate existing risks, and current research will help companies design more secure products in the future. 

Embracing IoT with an ounce of caution 

Smart homes offer many exciting benefits – and with our increasing reliance on smartphones and other devices, they’re an inevitability. We know there will be growing pains as we transition to this ever-more-connected existence. But if we understand what we’re giving up in exchange for convenience and how we can protect ourselves against cyber threats, we can enjoy the growing range of IoT products with minimal headaches. 

Blue collar, white collar

Blue collar. White collar. Tomorrow’s AI jobs are no-collar.

Here’s a fun experiment: Make a mental list of everyone you know. OK, maybe not everyone. But at least the core group of people with whom you interact every day. Friends, college roommates, romantic partner – anyone who qualifies as a favorite in your smartphone contact list. 

Now think about what they do for a living. Chances are there’s a programmer, or a social media manager, or a UX designer. Throw in a cloud security engineer, and you could form your own startup. 

While these job titles are the norm today, many of them didn’t exist 15 years ago. The Internet created a wave of new industries that transformed the way we think about work. As more and more companies transitioned online, the demand for capable software engineers and web designers swelled with no end in sight. Programming remains one of the most desired job skills in today’s economy, and digitally-savvy creatives are in demand as well. One report found that 7 million U.S. job openings in 2015 required some coding ability and that the programming field is growing 12% faster than the market average. 

But the Internet didn’t just open the door to new career opportunities. It set in motion a trend toward a skills-based, value-driven job market. For decades, conventional wisdom said that earning a college degree all but guaranteed you a well-paying job. While a diploma is still a valued commodity, some employers have begun emphasizing computer science skills over degrees in their hiring decisions. Coding skills can also boost your chances of landing non-tech jobs such as customer support, content marketing, and technical writing. 

That trend may soon extend to other fields. Just as the Internet created new professional roles, so, too, will artificial intelligence. The demand for experts in machine learning, natural language processing, and complex mechanical skills will rise as AI and robotics technologies become more prolific. But opportunities in other areas will as well. For instance, companies will increasingly employ humans to tag data used to train machine learning systems

Accenture researchers have identified three categories of new jobs AI will create: trainers, explainers, and sustainers. These will include responsibilities such as training an algorithm to respond empathetically to customer queries and explaining the technology’s impact on a company’s overall business outcomes. 

While formal computer science training will be necessary for some of these roles, such as those in AI ethics compliance, the researchers suggested that others may not require a degree. Empathy trainers, for instance, will be valued for their intuition and keen understanding of human interactions than for their prestigious academic backgrounds. “The effect of many of these new positions may be the rise of a ‘no-collar’ workforce that slowly replaces traditional blue-collar jobs in manufacturing and other professions,” the researchers wrote in the MIT Sloan Management Review. 

The no-collar workforce goes back to the future

Conversations are growing around how best to educate students for the evolving workforce, and many experts agree that countries such as the U.S. and the U.K. must do more to prepare for the coming changes. With AI handling routine tasks, people will need to develop additional qualities like creativity, adaptability, and interpersonal skills. 

This has implications in everything from what’s taught at the elementary and high school levels, to how recent college graduates and seasoned professionals embrace lifelong learning. Many of the most in-demand skills will be those that are uniquely human. And to stay competitive, we’ll need to amplify the emotional and intuitive traits that distinguish us from increasingly competent machines. 

“The new smart will be determined not by what or how you know but by the quality of your thinking, listening, relating, collaborating, and learning,” one professor wrote in Harvard Business Review. “Quantity is replaced by quality. And that shift will enable us to focus on the hard work of taking our cognitive and emotional skills to a much higher level.”

On that note, let’s look at the core skills you’ll need to compete in the no-collar workforce of the (near) future: 

1. Communication 

If you’ve ever been involved in a misunderstanding with a boss or co-worker, you know how valuable workplace communication is. Not only do outstanding problems create tense, uncomfortable office environments, it also costs American businesses nearly $360 billion in paid hours, or 385 million workdays. Employees who possess strong communication abilities and can de-escalate conflicts will be increasingly valuable as we transition to the new workforce. 

Being “new smart” will mean being able to walk back your own ego and help others do the same. Change can be difficult, and those who offer calm, rational, and clear communication will be those whose contributions are most valued as we navigate this brave new world. 

As entire departments adapt to automated or AI-assisted programs, a strong communicator might be tapped to oversee the transition. This person would need to be familiar with the programs, but more importantly, they would need to be able to explain why the company had opted to implement these platforms. Not only would they guide people toward using the software, they’d offer empathetic reassurance when colleagues felt frustrated or threatened by the new technology. Workers can become very set in their ways, and good communicators can serve as champions for both the people and the technology. 

2. Adaptability 

AI platforms such as machine learning and NLP improve over time based on inputs from humans. However, they’re not able to respond effectively to unpredictability and volatility. That’s why adaptability will remain a key professional asset. In an analysis of AI’s likely impact across 30 different industries, Quartz found that the more unpredictable a field is, the more valuable and competitive a skill human adaptability will remain

Positions such as conflict mediators or workplace counselors demand a readiness to respond to unpredictability at all times. One can imagine that an AI algorithm could analyze employee personality assessments and responsibilities to optimize team dynamics and working environments. But if conflicts break out within a team and tempers flare, a mediator may need to defuse the situation. They’ll need to bring the conflicted team members together, quickly understand what caused the problem, and respond in real-time to the shifting dynamics to ensure that the company doesn’t lose money or progress over interpersonal challenges. 

3. Emotional intelligence

AI’s strengths lie in data collection and processing, and smart computers are increasingly able to offer recommendations for business strategies. However, AI platforms cannot offer comfort after a dire medical diagnosis, or inspire people to rally around new ideas, or deftly defuse a tense business meeting. People who can reassure and persuade will find that their skills are highly desired across a range of industries. 

Although most people accept that AI and automation will impact their jobs, they’re not entirely clear on how and are understandably nervous about what those changes mean. Emotionally intelligent super-managers will be able to steer their companies through uncharted waters without seeing their entire employee base jump ship. They can reassure employees about their places within the organization, guide them toward skills development programs that suit their abilities, and help them adapt to the new economy. 

4. Complex problem solving 

The World Economic Forum ranks complex problem solving as the top skill that employers will seek by 2020. The term refers to the ability to solve novel, open-ended problems in complex, settings, a key cognitive asset in a rapidly changing workforce. As new technologies and AI platforms are introduced, employers will seek workers who can embrace new ways to solve problems rather than clinging to old processes. 

Complex problem solving may be especially useful in areas such as product development. An employee who can shift easily from technical discussions about software or product functionality to debates about human psychology will be able to make valuable contributions to those conversations. By combining both of these aspects, they’ll leverage technology to better serve their customers’ needs. 

5. Critical thinking 

As AI helps companies gather more data than they’ve ever had access to before, humans will need to extract insights from that information and determine what those mean for the company. Being charismatic and communicative will be important as millions of workers enter the age of AI. But the ability to critically assess data sets and make difficult decisions will be equally essential. 

That ability will be a top priority across all industries, because every company and organization is dealing with massive quantities of information. The key to critical thinking is looking beyond the numbers and seeing the human story behind the data. 

The core “no-collar” skills workers will need in the coming years center around some of our most human traits. Although we’ll all likely learn to code at some point and will be called upon to use technology in ways we never imagined, our top priority must be honing the emotional and cognitive skills that come from self-reflection and humble introspection. 

Visitors

European health and lifestyle innovators visit Entefy

Northern California is famous for many things, but two in particular stand out: health-conscious lifestyles and Silicon Valley, the global epicenter of technology and innovation. To learn more about both of these topics, a group of European innovators visited the Bay Area on a “design for life” tour. Entefy was one of the destinations on their tour.

The inspiration for the tour was the need to bridge today’s rising awareness of healthy living with novel new products and services that support and enrich people’s lives. On the itinerary were stops at local universities and farmers markets, including a stop at Stanford University’s d.school to attend a lecture by Barry Katz, an Entefy advisor and Fellow at IDEO.

The lively and friendly meeting at Entefy kicked off with a warm welcome from our team. Our CEO Alston Ghafourifar then led a discussion of Entefy’s philosophy of life-compatible technology. He shared some behind-the-scenes insights about starting and growing a technology company in Silicon Valley’s hyper-competitive environment. 

The Q&A session covered issues tied to the guests’ backgrounds in industries including food & beverage, public health, education, and sports. One theme was the importance of quality and value in engineering people-centric products—a core belief at Entefy. 

Data trackers

Data trackers are watching your every move [SLIDES]

These days, threats to your digital privacy and security can come from practically anywhere. We put together a set of slides highlighting 7 examples of data trackers—apps, web services, and devices that collect your private data, sometimes without your permission or awareness. 

You can read an in-depth look at these data trackers in Entefy’s article, Data trackers are watching your every (digital) move.

Collaborators

Entefyers, unscripted

\We’ve been hard at work hiring the company’s next generation of superstars. One question we get asked a lot during interviews is, “What’s it like to work at Entefy?” 

So we’re happy to share that we’ve added a group of new videos to our website that answer that question—and more. You’ll find them in the Careers section. 

Once you finish with the videos, get to know us better by checking out these resources:

Think you’ve got what it takes to re-write the rules of digital interaction? Make your first stop Entefy’s career opportunities page. We look forward to meeting you.