In this milestone 100th episode of Great Things with Great Tech, Anthony Spiteri is joined by ZeroTier’s founder Adam Ierymenko and new CEO Andrew Gault. Together, they unravel the story of ZeroTier: a peer-to-peer networking platform rewriting the rules of global connectivity for a cloud-driven, edge-connected world.

Adam shares how a grumpy network at NOAA, frustrations with enterprise complexity, and his passion for open source led to ZeroTier’s birth. Andrew brings a seasoned operator’s lens, revealing why the company’s mission resonates with him and how ZeroTier is quietly becoming the connective fabric for everything from gaming rigs to drones, oil wells, and the future internet of things.Adam dives into his early years programming on a Commodore 64, the pain points of working at NOAA, and why he set out to build a “virtual smart switch the size of the Earth.” Andrew shares what drew him to ZeroTier as a user and why he believes packaging, simplicity, and reliability will take the company mainstream.In This Episode, We Cover:

• Adam’s journey from coding on a Commodore 64 to building ZeroTier out of open-source roots.
• Why enterprise networking is stuck in the past—and how ZeroTier is rewriting the rules
• The birth of cryptographic addressing and what it means for privacy, security, and autonomy.
• How ZeroTier’s peer-to-peer platform turns the whole planet into one giant virtual network switch.
• Andrew’s story: from the European Space Agency, Gaikai, Oculus, and Magic Pony to ZeroTier CEO.
• The secrets behind ZeroTier’s viral growth and global adoption—from gamers to oil rigs and drones
• Why simplicity and security are the magic combo that wins over both engineers and enterprises.
• Use cases you didn’t expect: industrial automation, edge computing, IoT, and even self-hosted, airgapped deployments.
• How ZeroTier is getting ready for a world with billions of connected devices—including robots, cars, and the next internet of things.
• The ZeroTier elevator pitch: “like making a Slack channel for machines”—and what’s next for the company.

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ZeroTier is a U.S.-based technology company founded in 2011 and headquartered in Irvine, California.ZeroTier specializes in software-defined networking, offering a platform that enables secure, peer-to-peer virtual networks for devices anywhere in the world. The company’s approach combines the best of VPN, SD-WAN, and SDN technologies, allowing users to create production-ready, scalable networks across cloud, edge, and on-premises environments. With open-source roots and a focus on simplicity and security, ZeroTier eliminates networking complexity—empowering organizations to connect devices instantly and securely, without hardware or manual configuration.

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EPISODE LINKS

Zero Tier Web: https://www.zerotier.comAdam Ierymenko on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamierymenkoAndrew Gault on LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewgaultZero Tier on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zerotier

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We all talk about #AI, but what good is it if your models are powered by stale, outdated data?In Episode 99 of Great Things with Great Tech, Deepti Srivastava, founder and CEO of Snow Leopard, and former founding PM of Google Spanner, calls out the broken state of enterprise AI. With decades of experience in distributed systems and data infrastructure, Deepti unveils how Snow Leopard is redefining how AI applications are built, by tapping into live, real-time data from SQL and APIs without the need for ETL or pipelines.Instead of relying on static snapshots or disconnected data lakes, Snow Leopard’s #agentic platform queries native sources like PostgreSQL, Snowflake, and Salesforce on-demand, empowering AI to live directly in the critical decision path.In This Episode, We Cover:

• Deepti’s journey from building Spanner at Google to founding Snow Leopard AI.
• Why most enterprise AI fails due to reliance on stale data and outdated pipelines.
• How Snow Leopard federates live data across SQL and APIs with zero ETL.
• The limitations of vector databases in structured, real-time business use cases.
• Why putting AI in the critical path of business decisions unlocks real value.

Snow Leopard is a U.S.-based technology company founded in 2023 by and is Headquartered in San Francisco, CaliforniaSnow Leopard specializes in building a platform that enables the development of production-ready AI applications by leveraging live business data. The company's approach focuses on real-time data retrieval directly from sources like SQL databases and APIs, eliminating the need for traditional ETL processes and data pipelines. This innovation allows for more accurate and timely AI-driven business decision.PODCAST LINKSGreat Things with Great Tech Podcast: https://gtwgt.comGTwGT Playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTwGTPodcastListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Y1Fgl4DgGpFd5Z4dHulVXListen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/great-things-with-great-tech-podcast/id1519439787EPISODE LINKSSnow Leopard Web: https://www.snowleopard.ai/Deepti Srivastava on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedeepti/Snow Leopard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/snow-leopard-ai/GTwGT LINKSSupport the Channel: https://ko-fi.com/gtwgtBe on #GTwGT: Contact via Twitter/X @GTwGTPodcast or visit https://www.gtwgt.comSubscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTwGTPodcast?sub_confirmation=1Great Things with Great Tech Podcast Website: https://gtwgt.comSOCIAL LINKSFollow GTwGT on Social Media:Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/GTwGTPodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/GTwGTPodcastTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@GTwGTPodcast🎵 Music by BenSound: https://www.bensound.com☑️ Support the Channel: https://ko-fi.com/gtwgt

We all know that virtual machines have dominated IT infrastructure for 25 years... but is that era really at an end?In Episode 98 of Great Things with Great Tech, Lucas Gentele, CEO of Loft Labs, shares how Loft is reshaping infrastructure by eliminating the need for virtual machines. Starting from early entrepreneurial roots and open-source projects like DevSpace, Lucas explains how Loft Labs tackled Kubernetes inefficiencies by building multi-tenant solutions like vCluster and vNode. Their innovations enable Kubernetes clusters to run more securely, efficiently, and cost-effectively without traditional VM overhead. As companies seek alternatives to legacy virtualization, Loft Labs mission is to bring lightweight, scalable, and open-source virtual clusters into more environments, making Kubernetes accessible for both development and production workloads

Key Takeaways:

• The journey from DevSpace to founding Loft Labs and the rise of Kubernetes multi-tenancy.
• Why the traditional VM-based model is becoming obsolete — and what’s replacing it.
• How Loft’s vCluster and vNode are revolutionizing Kubernetes cluster management.
• The impact of Broadcom’s VMware acquisition on cloud infrastructure strategies.
• The future of cloud-native infrastructure: virtual clusters, no VMs, better scalability.

Links & Resources:

Loft Labs: https://www.loft.shLukas Gentele on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/genteleLoft Labs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/loftlabs

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