Heartbeat: by Mike Sommer

Heartbeat delivers unfiltered insights from top CIOs and IT visionaries—covering AI, Salesforce, and enterprise transformation. Equip yourself with the strategies and foresight to lead the future of IT.

Heartbeat: by Mike Sommer is a business podcast hosted by Mike Sommer, with 25 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Mike Sommer hosts Heartbeat: by Mike Sommer, a business show with 25 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #25

  Salesforce AI Readiness: Fix the Fundamentals First

  Jan 26, 202648 minS0

  <p>If you don’t fix the fundamentals, you merely accelerate chaos.<br> Salesforce AI readiness starts with data quality, process clarity, and governance—not demos.</p> <p>Everyone wants to “buy AI,” but few CIOs are willing to do the unglamorous work of fixing the Salesforce data and operating discipline that AI depends on. In this episode of Heartbeat: Tactical Insights for CIOs, Mike Sommer sits down with Phil, a veteran tech executive and CIO, to dismantle the myths around digital transformation, Salesforce customization, and when outside advisors help (and when they don’t).</p> <p>Phil makes the case that...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #24

  UPGRADE ≠ PROGRESS

  Jan 9, 202658 minS0

  <p>Most “digital transformation” programs don’t fail because the technology is wrong. They fail because leadership can’t explain—clearly—what outcome the business is trying to produce, what process creates it, and who owns the truth when the tools change. In this episode, Mike Sommer sits down with Piotr Mlodecki, a global transformation leader in the Salesforce ecosystem, to name the quiet problem CIOs live with every day: Modernization creates motion… but not always progress. Especially in the mid-market, platforms keep getting more powerful, AI is moving faster than governance, and leadership is expected to deliver enterprise-level results with lean team...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #23

  Stop Trying To Be A Leader (Do This Instead)

  Dec 4, 202549 minS0

  <p>Stop obsessing over being “more strategic”—start building a team people would actually choose to follow if titles disappeared tomorrow.</p> <p>Most leadership advice teaches you how to act like a leader.<br> In this episode of Heartbeat, I sit down with speaker, coach, and author Antonio Neves (Stop Trying to Be a Leader) to unpack how to become someone people actually want to follow—especially when your title and authority aren’t enough.</p> <p>If you’re a CIO, CTO, or tech leader trying to “be more of a leader,” this is your pattern interrupt. The real move isn’t...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #22

  The "Enthusiastic Intern" Problem: Why AI Needs Guardrails

  Nov 21, 202539 minS0

  <p>The "Junior Engineer" role is evaporating. If you are still hiring for entry-level code, you are solving the wrong problem. <br> <br> In the era of Agentic AI, the traditional tech career ladder is crumbling. Oren Michels (CEO, Barndoor AI) argues that companies relying on junior devs to write boilerplate code are building "legacy problems," not future-proof teams. The new reality isn't about writing syntax; it's about managing "enthusiastic interns" (AI Agents) who have speed but lack judgment. <br> <br> In this episode, we break down the massive shift in tech talent, why the "Forward Deployed Entrepreneur" is the...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #21

  The Transformation Gap - Why AI Fails — and What Real Leaders Do Differently

  Oct 9, 202556 minS0

  <p>70% of AI projects fail — not because of bad models or missing data, but because of misaligned leadership and culture.</p> <p>The Transformation Gap reveals what separates organizations that scale transformation from those that stall.</p> <p>Hosted by Mike Sommer, this show decodes the human operating system behind enterprise success — how leaders create velocity without volatility, decentralize control without chaos, and turn fear into foresight.</p> <p>Through candid conversations with visionary CIOs, founders, and transformation experts, you’ll learn how to build adaptive systems, resilient teams, and data-driven cultures that actually deliver ROI.</p> <p>If you’re leadi...

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Heartbeat: by Mike Sommer. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.