Jim Straus is helping power the next wave of semiconductor innovation by improving one of the most critical and overlooked parts of chip manufacturing: the process. As Head of Sales and Service at ACM Research, Jim works with leading chipmakers around the world to increase yield, reduce waste, and unlock more production from every wafer through advanced wet cleaning and electroplating technologies.

In this episode, Russ and Jim explore how ACM Research fits into the global semiconductor ecosystem, not by building chips themselves, but by designing the highly complex equipment and processes that make modern chip production possible. Jim explains how their technology integrates mechanical, chemical, and software systems to deliver measurable improvements in yield, and why that has been the foundation of their rapid growth.

They also discuss the massive demand being driven by AI, the increasing complexity of chip design, and how innovations like panel level packaging could reshape the economics of semiconductor manufacturing. Jim breaks down how moving from traditional round wafers to larger square panels can dramatically reduce waste and costs while increasing output, and why this transition presents both a major opportunity and a significant industry challenge.

Along the way, Jim shares insights on sustainability in semiconductor manufacturing, the importance of aligning roadmaps with customers, and why close collaboration across the ecosystem is essential to keeping up with rapid development cycles. He also highlights ACM’s expansion in the United States and what it will take to bring more semiconductor manufacturing and innovation back home.

Topics Covered:

[00:01] Welcome and intro, Jim Straus and ACM Research’s award win

[00:36] What ACM Research does in the semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem

[02:00] Global growth, operations in Asia, and expansion into the US and Europe

[03:22] How wet clean technology impacts every step of chip production

[04:24] AI driven demand and the global importance of semiconductor supply

[05:43] Innovations in wafer level and panel level packaging

[07:21] Why moving to square panels can reduce cost and increase efficiency

[08:46] Sustainability efforts in reducing chemicals and waste

[10:00] Ideal customers from large chipmakers to specialized innovators

[11:00] Breakthroughs in electroplating and improving uniformity

[12:17] How customers measure yield improvements from ACM technology

[13:25] Accelerating product development cycles in the AI era

[14:28] Investing in US manufacturing and R&D capabilities

[16:16] The importance of co creation and aligning with customer roadmaps

[17:24] Challenges ahead with panel level packaging adoption

[18:51] Advanced cleaning techniques without damaging wafer structures

Links and Resources:

ACM Research: https://www.acmrcsh.com

Business Intelligence Group: https://www.bintelligence.com

BIG Awards for Business: https://www.bintelligence.com/awards/big-awards-for-business

About The Winners Circle:

The Winners Circle is hosted by Russ Fordyce, CEO and founder of Business Intelligence Group. Each episode features leaders and innovators recognized through BIG’s annual award programs across AI, innovation, sustainability, cybersecurity, and more. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Nominate your company or team for a BIG award: https://www.bintelligence.com

Amol Waishampayan, Chief Product Officer at Full Throttle AI, is helping mid market brands and agencies move beyond click based attribution and walled gardens to real, outcome driven advertising on the open internet. In this episode, Russ and Amol explore how Full Throttle AI combines cookieless, household level identity, omni channel activation, and AI powered measurement so marketers can see which campaigns actually sell more cars, services, and high consideration products instead of just driving cheaper clicks.

They discuss why over investing in Google and Meta has become a race to the bottom, how signal loss and privacy changes exposed the limits of legacy ad tech, and how Full Throttle’s patented approach turns anonymous web behavior into first party household intent that marketers can segment and act on. Amol explains where agentic AI really shows up under the hood, how the platform uses models to interpret URLs, score propensity, and price bids, and why human strategy still matters in deciding audiences, offers, and guardrails. He also shares practical examples from automotive and home services, lessons from building a cookieless platform back in 2018, and the mistakes teams make when they chase AI enabled widgets instead of truly AI powered architecture.

Topics Covered:

[00:01] Welcome and intro, Amol Waishampayan and Full Throttle AI’s award win

[00:35] Full Throttle AI’s mission to be the “easy button” for the open internet

[01:30] Serving mid market brands and agencies that are underserved by legacy ad tech

[02:00] Why click based attribution pushed spend into Google and Meta and broke media mix

[03:30] Seeing the full journey from CTV, display, and mail to search, social, and in store sales

[05:25] The real problems mid market marketers and agencies are trying to solve today

[08:50] Building a cookieless, household based identity approach before third party cookies faded

[11:30] Why household level measurement beats hashed emails for big ticket, multi decision purchases

[16:20] Making “spray and pray” direct mail obsolete by focusing only on in market households

[18:10] Using AI to interpret URLs, infer product interest, and score propensity in real time

[22:30] Why AI should be the hygienist and marketers the dentist in always on campaigns

[24:10] Automotive and service case studies driving more leases, ROs, and lifetime value

[29:50] What surprised Amol about self service vs managed service usage on the platform

[34:50] Common AI mistakes and why AI powered architecture plus human intelligence wins

Links and Resources:

Full Throttle AI: https://www.fullthrottle.ai

Business Intelligence Group: https://www.bintelligence.com

BIG Awards for Business: https://www.bintelligence.com/awards/big-awards-for-business

About The Winners Circle:

The Winners Circle is hosted by Russ Fordyce, CEO and founder of Business Intelligence Group. Each episode features leaders and innovators recognized through BIGs annual award programs across AI, innovation, sustainability, cybersecurity, and more. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Nominate your company or team for a BIG award: https://www.bintelligence.com

Nick Reed, Chief Strategy Officer at Bizzdesign, helps large enterprises turn complex, siloed organizations into coherent, change ready systems that can actually deliver on their strategies. In this episode, Russ and Nick unpack Bizzdesign’s three way merger that tripled the size of the company, how their transformation suite bridges the strategy to execution gap, and why AI and agentic systems are forcing leaders to rethink architecture, governance, and speed.​

They discuss how Bizzdesign’s platform connects scattered data into living enterprise models so teams can see impacts and dependencies, avoid transformation “oh no” moments, and tame AI sprawl before costs and risk explode. Nick explains the three pillars of transformation planning, design, and governance, how a new collaboration layer brings sticky note workshops and expert architecture tools together, and why most transformations fail at the very start through misalignment, slow mobilization, and hidden landmines. He also shares what it took culturally and technically to integrate three companies, why customer centricity guided every decision, and how enterprises can use AI experiments plus better model context to get from idea to value faster without losing control.​

Topics Covered:
[00:01] Welcome and intro, Nick Reed and Bizzdesign’s Big Awards for Business win​
[00:25] Tripling the company by merging with two former competitors​
[01:15] Discovering enterprise architecture as a way to manage complexity and silos​
[03:00] How Bizzdesign’s software builds connected models of the enterprise​
[05:20] Pandemic, regulation, and AI increasing pressure on transformation speed​
[07:20] AI sprawl, shadow tools, and why portfolio visibility matters for value and risk​
[10:45] Blending architecture, strategy, and governance in an AI and agentic world​
[14:15] Eating their own cooking during a three way merger and culture integration​
[16:30] Moving to a solutions based portfolio and improving global customer coverage​
[18:20] The three pillars of transformation planning, design, and governance​
[21:20] Connecting workshops and whiteboards to governed enterprise models​
[22:40] Why most transformations fail at the start and how to avoid common traps​
[27:50] Where AI and agents can 10x transformation speed and architect impact​
[31:40] Examples from energy, automotive, and professional services transformations​
[34:10] Customer centricity as the guiding principle for Bizzdesign’s own transformation​

Links and Resources:
Bizzdesign: https://www.bizzdesign.com
Business Intelligence Group: https://www.bintelligence.com
BIG Awards for Business: https://www.bintelligence.com/awards/big-awards-for-business

About The Winners Circle:
The Winners Circle is hosted by Russ Fordyce, CEO and founder of Business Intelligence Group. Each episode features leaders and innovators recognized through BIGs annual award programs across AI, innovation, sustainability, cybersecurity, and more. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Nominate your company or team for a BIG award: https://www.bintelligence.com