Stare Down the Bull with Susan Hunt

Susan Hunt sits down with speech recognition pioneer Mike Phillips to explore what it really takes to turn breakthrough research into global industries. From the early days at MIT and DARPA to founding SpeechWorks and Vlingo, Mike shares how voice technology moved from lab experiment to call centers to smartphones. The conversation also dives into his next chapter building Sense, applying AI to the energy grid, and the hard lessons of leadership, competition, and staring down the bull when survival is on the line.

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In this episode of Stare Down the Bull, Susan Hunt sits down with chief communication and marketing leader Rick Mack to explore how companies communicate under pressure. From 100 acquisitions at Nuance to navigating a global malware crisis and shaping conversations on Capitol Hill, Rick shares what separates confident leaders from reactive ones.

The conversation dives into authenticity, the power of the “why,” AI’s impact on marketing leadership, and Rick’s personal mantra for staying steady when everything is on the line.

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AI isn’t magic — it’s math, scale, and intention.

On this episode of Stare Down the Bull, Susan Hunt sits down with AI engineer Justin Chiu to explore what artificial intelligence really is, where it’s headed, and what should genuinely concern us. From enterprise AI and reinforcement learning to AI-powered scams, misinformation, and defense applications, Justin breaks down complex concepts into plain English — and challenges the hype around “conscious machines.”

This is a grounded, honest conversation about AI’s real-world impact — both promising and dangerous.

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In this episode of Stare Down the Bull, Susan Hunt sits down with enterprise sales veteran Tony Janusky to explore how sales has evolved—from the early days of speech recognition and IVR to today’s AI-powered selling environments. Tony shares lessons from nearly two decades at Nuance, why long-term relationships remain a competitive advantage, and how sales leaders can embrace AI without losing the human connection that closes complex deals.

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In this episode of Stare Down the Bull, host Susan Hunt sits down with Tim Delisle, founder of 514 and former Head of Development at Nike. Tim shares his journey from being rejected from an engineering program to leading massive teams at one of the world’s most iconic brands. The conversation explores resilience, leadership under pressure, the realities of acquisition, building effective teams inside complex organizations, and what it truly means to stare down the bull as a founder and executive.

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