The Technology Economy

A customer asks about Copilot. Is that a license quote—or the start of a better business conversation?Jason Marks, Nora and Arthur explore how Microsoft partners can find customer problems worth solving, land profitable work and earn recurring business. Topics include Copilot discovery, Microsoft 365, Azure cost conversations, service packaging, delivery capacity and Jason’s LEAD approach: Learn, Educate, Advise, Differentiate.Sponsored by Ingram Micro.Prices discussed are US public list prices checked November 9, 2026, not distributor quotes. Customer scenarios and profit examples are illustrative. Verify current licensing, eligibility and pricing before quoting.This produced episode uses Jason Marks’s authorized professional voice clone and AI cohosts Nora and Arthur. A LEAD Above production.

A fictional morning in 2036 begins with a refused golf-club purchase. The real question: what happens when AI stops advising us and starts making decisions for us?In this standalone special, Jason Marks, Nora and Arthur examine the model behind the voice, retrieval and tool permissions, reported cyber incidents, laboratory evaluations, impersonation fraud, infrastructure risks, and the strongest case against the scary story. Practical implications for CIOs, partner CROs and Microsoft sellers.Sponsored by Ingram Micro, helping technology partners build and grow their Microsoft cloud practices.Ingram Micro Microsoft Cloud: Ingram Micro Microsoft CloudJason Marks uses his real recordings. Nora and Arthur are AI character performances. The 2036 domestic scenes are fiction; reported events, attributed claims, laboratory evaluations and hypothetical risks are distinguished in the discussion. A LEAD Above production. LEAD AboveContains adult language, including audible bleeps.CHAPTERS00:00 Sponsor acknowledgment — Ingram Micro00:18 Imagine It’s 203601:56 AI Apocalypse: Who Gets the Off Switch?04:09 The Model Behind the Voice13:04 The Permission Slip21:54 The Apocalypse Does Not Need Legs24:26 Sponsor — Ingram Micro Microsoft Cloud25:04 Back to the discussion — logistics, finance and infrastructure31:35 The Strongest Case Against the Scary Story42:16 Three People, Three Jobs44:45 Who Gets the Off Switch?CREDITSTTE theme from The AI Gold Rush — Who Gets Rich? Original cinematic score: ElevenLabs Music. Illustrative CC0 sound effects: Kenney; coffee machine by Dorian Clair and keyboard by Joseph Sardin, BigSoundBank. Historical archive: Joe Biden farewell address, January 15, 2025, official US government recording; continuous excerpt, not a new interview or endorsement.SOURCESAnthropic campaignOpenAI incidentSource referenceAgentic evaluationsTraining follow-upFalse WitnessSIPRI risk analysisArup financial reportHong Kong accountLiterary contextAuthor biographyTransformer paperLanguage models paperLLM fundamentalsOpen weightsIngram Micro Microsoft CloudBiden transcriptArchive recordingKenney effectsCoffee effectKeyboard effectMITRE campaignCopilot securityTool credentialsUser authentication

Billions are pouring into AI—but who actually gets paid?Jason Marks and Nora, his AI cohost, follow the money from chips, cloud, and data centers to software, consulting, and managed services. Built for technology sellers, business leaders, and sales-training students, this conversation connects the industry map to the decisions customers actually face.Jason challenges Nora on Meta’s cloud ambitions, shares what happened when an AI task burned through $200 in tokens in 15 minutes, and explains why a small, measurable use case can beat an ambitious rollout. They also debate independent consultants versus full-service partners, adoption and security, voice-agent handoffs, and why workflow matters as much as the model.In this episode:• The six layers of the AI economy and how they connect• Tokens, usage costs, and the economics of AI agents• Scope creep, buyer trust, and choosing the right partner• Copilot, voice AI, and keeping people in the workflow• The ongoing opportunity for managed service providersSponsored in part by Ingram Micro.Hosted by Jason Marks with Nora, an AI-generated cohost. Company developments and product capabilities are discussed as of the recording.00:00 Opening and Ingram Micro sponsorship00:36 Who benefits01:19 Chips and cloud05:03 Cloud and private AI07:05 Software and physical infrastructure08:50 Power introduction08:58 Power constraints09:20 Layer recap09:59 LLMs, tokens, and model landscape16:35 Enterprise adoption and consulting20:46 Agent economics and buyer perspective26:52 CIO options and measured pilots29:01 Voice-agent handoffs30:21 Copilot question30:31 Copilot and workflow32:20 Managed services34:08 Recap34:44 Closing banter and goodbye

A time capsule with lessons for the AI era. During COVID, Cisco brought Jason Marks in to help its sellers and partners navigate a very different sales environment. More than 5,000 people attended this Take45 session.These two excerpts explore advice that still applies: ask better questions, understand the customer’s business, and connect technology to outcomes that matter. As AI reshapes selling, those skills may matter even more. The original interviewer’s questions are included.Archive note: Recorded during the early COVID-19 pandemic. Market conditions, product names, and examples reflect that period; this is not current product guidance. The archival audio has been restored and leveled, with a new introduction generated using Jason’s authorized AI voice.Interested in practical training for your sales team? Explore Techrategy and LEAD On-Demand at https://leadabove.ai/techrategy/.

Jason Marks joins Jeff Edwards, Director of Partner Sales at Cisco and host of Shift Happens, for a conversation about the power—and risk—of how we tell our stories.Originally released as episode 25 of Cisco’s Shift Happens podcast, this interview is presented as a bonus edition of The Technology Economy with a new introduction and the show’s music.Original episode: https://ciscopodcastnetwork.podbean.com/e/shift-happens-ep25-the-power-and-risk-of-how-you-tell-the-story/Production note: The new introduction uses Jason’s authorized AI voice. The interview is the original recording.