WINNERS' CIRCLE

Franck Leveiller on Alcon's Unity VCS & the Future of Eye Care Innovation

Join host Russ Fordyce as he sits down with Franck Leveiller, Chief Scientific Officer and Global Head of R&D at Alcon, the 2026 BIG Innovation Awards Overall Winner.

Keeping Text Pure: Amanda McGuckin Hager on SMS, RCS, and Revenue Growth

In this Winners Circle episode, host Russ Fordyce sits down with Amanda McGuckin Hager, CRO and CMO of TrueDialog, to unpack the future of business texting and why SMS remains one of the most intimate and powerful communication channels brands have. Amanda explains how cultural shifts away from phone calls and email are driving a surge in business text messaging, especially among students and younger audiences who live in their messaging apps. She breaks down how TrueDialog’s enterprise platform

2026 Budget Season: Turning Recognition into Marketing ROI

Summary

Climbing the Spiral: Laurie Oswald on Women in Leadership, AI, and 100-Year Companies

Chief Commercial Officer Laurie Oswald joins host Ruth Redding on Winners Circle to talk about leading commercial transformation at two century old companies, C and D Technologies and Trojan Battery Company, while championing women in leadership and global diversity.

Multilingual AI, Data Readiness, and Mentorship with Krish Banavalikar

Modernizing with AI is not just about more GPUs or chatbots. In this Winner’s Circle episode, host Russ Fordyce talks with all star judge and Cloud Engagement Manager Krish (Radhakrishna) Banavalikar about what real transformation looks like when you blend data, AI, and human insight. Krish shares his journey from an Indian village to leading global cloud and AI programs, and why he calls himself a “serial learner and unlearner.”​

Human Conversations in an AI World: Inside PhoneBurner With Sammy Winner Chris Sorensen

What happens to sales when AI can flood every inbox, feed, and phone line, but real human attention is scarcer than ever? In this Winners Circle episode, Russ Fordyce sits down with Sammy Award winner Chris Sorensen, CEO of PhoneBurner, to unpack what “responsible dialing” really means in 2025 and why authentic conversations still win.

Human + AI at Scale: Inside SupportYourApp With Herizon Winner Daria Leshchenko

Herizon Award winner Daria Leshchenko, CEO of SupportYourApp, joins Russ Fordyce on The Winners’ Circle to share how she built a global “support-as-a-service” company that blends human empathy with AI-driven efficiency. Starting as a customer support rep herself and becoming CEO at 24, Daria grew SupportYourApp from a small team serving Mac developers in Ukraine into an international operation supporting software, e-commerce, telecom, and more in 60+ languages, 24/7. Along the way, she led throu

AI as a Universal Teacher: Ravi Bhushan on Raising Curious, Future-Ready Kids

In this episode of The Winners’ Circle, host Russ Fordyce sits down with Ravi Bhushan, founder and CEO of Brightchamps, to explore how AI is reshaping what kids learn, how they learn, and who gets left behind when education does not keep up.​

Empowering Women and AI in Communication with Sophie Reymond on Mentorship and Innovation

Sophie Reymond, founder of SRPR and Coworker, joins Russ Fordyce on The Winners' Circle to explore how mentorship and AI are shaping modern communication careers. Sophie shares her journey from corporate burnout to leading a boutique PR consultancy focused on AI-driven tech startups, and how she helps professionals integrate AI in ways that enhance creativity and efficiency.

Harshit Kohli on Data, AI, and the Human Edge in Innovation

Join Harshit Kohli, Senior Technical Account Manager at AWS and recognized expert in data analytics and enterprise IT, for an insightful conversation about what’s truly shaping the future of business and technology. In this episode, Harshit shares his unique journey through the cloud ecosystem, moving from hands-on problem solver to trusted advisor for leading organizations embracing next-generation AI and big data.