Thoughts on Tech & Things

Latest Thoughts

1. 📻 How Is AI Rewriting the Job Market?

   Host Jason Michael Perry sits down with Chris Frew, founder and CEO of BioBuzz and CEO of Workforce Genetics, to explore how AI is reshaping the job market — not just by changing what work looks like, but how people get hired in the first place. In this episode, they dig into what Jason calls […]

2. 📻 What Happened at CES 2026?

   Host Jason Michael Perry returns from Las Vegas with a special CES 2026 edition of Thoughts on Tech & Things. Jason breaks down the Consumer Technology Association’s 2026 megatrends, including Longevity, Intelligent Transformation, and Engineering Tomorrow, and connects them to what actually showed up at CES. From Nvidia’s vision for “Physical AI,” to robots, and […]

3. 📰 Podcast Edition: What Happened at CES

   Howdy 👋🏾. It’s my favorite time of year, the Consumer Electronics Show. If you’ve followed me for a while or read the newsletter, you know this is an annual trip I’ve taken with my teams year after year. What I love about CES is that it gives you a real pulse on where the industry […]

4. 📻 Do Hackers Hack Computers or People?

   Host Jason Michael Perry sits down with Tina Williams-Koroma, founder and CEO of CyDeploy and TCecure, to explore a simple but unsettling question: do hackers hack computers — or do they hack people? In this episode, they dig into how social engineering, AI-generated content, and human psychology have become the primary attack surface for modern […]

5. 📰 Issue #94: Will the Space Economy Help Fix Earth?

   Howdy 👋🏾. It’s been a year. PerryLabs technically started the summer of 2024, but 2025 is when the business really got its sea legs. We brought on our first hire, released The AI Evolution, ran our first workshops, spoke at more than 50 events around the world, launched a new podcast with our friends at Baltimore […]

6. 📻 Will the Space Economy Help Fix Earth?

   Host Jason Michael Perry sits down with Andrew Parlock, founder and CEO of Space Phoenix Systems, to explore how the space economy is moving from science fiction to everyday reality. From reusable launch systems to returnable payloads and zero-gravity manufacturing, they unpack how falling launch costs are turning low Earth orbit into an operating environment […]

7. 📰 Issue #93: The Gemini Glow-Up

   Howdy 👋🏾. This week on the podcast, I’m talking with Dawn Shirey, who’s leading the AI rollout for students and teachers at Baltimore City Public Schools. In our conversation, Dawn and I talked a lot about the tools the school system picked and how they’re using them day to day. Now, this may not come […]

8. 📻 How Are Public Schools Preparing for AI?

   Host Jason Michael Perry sits down with Dawn Shirey, Director of Virtual Learning and Instructional Technology for Baltimore City Public Schools, to explore how one of the nation’s largest urban school systems is preparing teachers and students for the age of AI. They discuss the district’s new AI Guidance, how teachers are learning prompt-writing and […]

9. 📰 Issue #92: ChatGPT Day and the Return of Google

   Howdy 👋🏾. Hope you’re well and recovered after Thanksgiving. Before we dive in, a quick apology for the erratic schedule these past few weeks. Running a business, launching a podcast, and keeping this newsletter going has been a lot. We’re working on getting everything back on a regular rhythm next year, so thanks for hanging […]

10. 📻 Why Are Data Centers Suddenly So Controversial?

    Host Jason Michael Perry sits down with Jenny Abamu, education and infrastructure reporter for WAMU, to unpack Maryland’s rapidly growing data center boom — and the community backlash that’s followed. They explore how Governor Wes Moore’s push to make Maryland a data center hub has collided with local concerns about energy, land use, and environmental […]

11. 📻 WTCI Agile Presents: What is Quantum?

    Host Jason Michael Perry moderates a live panel for the World Trade Center Institute’s AGILE Global Innovation Series, digging into what quantum actually is, why it matters, and how Maryland became a powerhouse in the global quantum race. The session opens with remarks from Jeremy Rosendale, VP of Membership & Business Development at World Trade […]

12. 📰 Issue #91: What Happens When Google Search Traffic Falls to Zero?

    Howdy 👋🏾. A few months back, I wrote about the shift from SEO to AEO, how Answer Engine Optimization was becoming the new game as people moved from Google searches to AI conversations. Since then, I’ve been getting the same question over and over: “Should I stop SEO optimizing my website and platforms?” The answer is […]

13. 📻 What Happens When Google Search Traffic Falls to Zero?

    Host Jason Michael Perry sits down with Andy Janaitis, founder of PPC Pitbulls, to unpack what happens when Google search traffic falls to zero — and how businesses can survive the shift. As search engines turn into answer engines and clicks give way to conversations, Jason and Andy explore how SEO, PPC, and digital advertising […]

14. 📻 Are Smart Glasses the Next Smartphone?

    Host Jason Michael Perry sits down with Will Gee, founder and CEO of Balti Virtual, to unpack the mixed-reality moment: the sudden wave of headsets and AI-powered glasses from Meta, Apple, Samsung, and Amazon. They talk about the roadblocks still ahead, the social stigma left over from Google Glass, and what it might take for […]

15. 📰 Issue #90: Are Smart Glasses the Next Smartphone?

    Howdy 👋🏾. I hope you enjoyed the pilot and first episode of the new Thoughts on Tech & Things podcast. We’re just getting warmed up and have a bunch of exciting topics and guests lined up. We’re also tweaking the newsletter schedule a bit. Going forward, you’ll get a new podcast-focused issue every other week (new episodes […]

16. 📰 Issue #89: Stop Calling It AI Automation

    Howdy 👋🏾. This week, I had the pleasure of joining an amazing panel at DC Startup and Tech Week to talk about agentic AI and automation. While preparing, I kept staring at the word automation and thinking it was wrong. It somehow misses the point of the moment we’re in, to the extent that I’m not sure […]

17. 📻 What’s Really New with OpenAI?

    Host Jason Michael Perry sits down with Ben Slavin, an AI entrepreneur and researcher, to unpack what OpenAI’s DevDay 2025 conference really means. From Sora 2, the next-generation AI video tool, to ChatGPT 5, and connectors, they explore how OpenAI is shifting from product to platform and what that means for developers, creators, and the […]

18. 📰 Issue #88: OpenAI DevDay: Apps, Agents, and a Whole Lot of Sora

    Howdy 👋🏾. Last week, OpenAI held its annual hybrid conference, DevDay. What started as a product keynote has evolved into a full developer showcase, and this year, it fully embraced that identity. One of the biggest announcements was the new App SDK, which enables brands to build experiences directly inside ChatGPT. If you’ve followed my past […]

19. 📰 Issue #87: Launching Thoughts on Tech & Things Podcast on WYPR

    Howdy,I’ve got something exciting to share. I’m partnering with WYPR to launch the Thoughts on Tech & Things podcast. Like this newsletter, the show will explore the weird, wonderful, and often overlooked corners of emerging technology, with a human lens and some amazing guests. The timing couldn’t have been better. This week, the PerryLabs team […]

20. 📻 What is a Photo?

    Host Jason Michael Perry sits down with Joel Benge, a communications strategist and author, to ask what a photo even means in an age where AI can rewrite reality. From fake principal voicemails to AI-generated films, Perry and Benge explore how synthetic media is reshaping trust and what that means for security, family, and everyday […]