Evan Kirstel B2B TechFluencer

TECH IMPACT™ - National Television Series

Evan Kirstel is a globally recognized tech media innovator, industry insider, and trusted voice in the B2B technology space, now host of Techimpact on FOXbusiness and Bloomberg TV.

 With an unmatched blend of expertise and influence, Evan connects the dots between cutting-edge technology and actionable business insights. By collaborating with internal teams, agencies, and stakeholders, he develops, produces, publishes, promotes, and amplifies content on a global scale, driving meaningful industry conversations and fostering growth.

Television Presenter, TechInfluencer & Podcast Host

Excited to be on-site at #MWC25! Looking forward to connecting with industry peers, exploring the latest innovations, and sharing insights in real-time. Let’s meet up and talk all things #5G, #AI, #Cloud, and beyond. See you there!

Media/Press/Influencer/Content Creator/TV Host 

T-Mobile

Vegas is calling, and Mobile World Congress is the reason!

Get ready for a whirlwind tour of game-changing 5G business applications, mind-bending AI and IoT breakthroughs, and so much more. I'll be your eyes and ears at the T-Mobile for Business booth, bringing you the hottest insights straight from the source.   

I'm lining up some killer one-on-ones with T-Mobile's brightest minds and will be flooding your feed with real-time updates that'll make you feel like you're right there with me. 

Oh, and don't miss T-Mobile's Unconventional Awards! We're shining a spotlight on the innovators and visionaries using 5G to transform everything from customer experiences to life-saving tech.  

Tag along on my channels and T-Mobile for Business feeds. 

Trust me, you won't want to miss this ride! See you in Vegas!

T-Mobile for Business Influencer at MWC24 in Las Vegas 

Forbes Business Council

Forbes Business Council Is An Invitation-Only Organization For Successful Small And Mid-Sized Business Owners. I look forward to contributing content to Forbes.com!

Tech Influencer 

Sonus

Helped Sonus figure out its Cloud, OEM, and UCaaS partner strategy.

Director Strategic Alliances

Oracle

Joined Oracle as part of their acquisition of Acme Packet. Sadly,  I never got to meet Larry.

Director Alliances

Acme Packet

Aquired by Oracle 

Doing what I do best - Managing Key Alliance and Driving Revenue with HP, IBM, Siemens,Accenture, Motorola, & Avaya, and other Strategic Channel/technology Partners

Keeping eyes and ears open for emerging market opportunities in UC & Video arena

Director, Business Development

AudioCodes

Learn to thrive in the world of Global OEM Sales within a multinational (Israeli) culture (tough!)
•Led team in driving direct revenue with Avaya from $250K to over $12M in 4 years
•Closed dozens of new OEM prospects including IPC and Siemens Enterprise 
•Met / Exceeded Sales Quotas in 2006, 2007, and 2008 ; Promoted  2 years into role

Director of Sales

Hughes

My introduction to the world of Indian Software & Services biz - fascinating 

*Sold HSS SIP /SS7 stacks, systems integration, and (India) software outsourcing services to OEMs 
•Exceeded annual sales quotas of $2M; Closed new $1.75M deal with Motorola 
•Secured initial deals with Verizon and Onstar for SIP-based infrastructure software solutions. Initiated and cultivated formal channel relationships with IBM and HP
•Recognized for ‘Sales Debut of the Year”, “Key Customer Win of the Year”

Regional Sales Manager

Philips Electric

Sales & partner development throughout North America covering SoC design, software development services and embedded solutions 
•Negotiated frame agreements and design partnerships with Texas Instruments,Motorola, IBM focused on wireless, telecom and consumer electronics markets
•Sold embedded software solutions & reference designs based on Intel Network Processors to OEMs

Business Development Manager

Create📝Publish🗞️Amplify📣 TechInfluencer, Analyst, Content Creator w/600K Social Media followers, Deep Expertise in Enterprise 💻 Cloud ☁️5G 📡AI 🤖Telecom ☎️ CX 🔑 Cyber 🏥 DigitalHealth. TwitterX @evankirstel

B2B Social Media Maven | Tech Industry Storyteller | Trusted Partner for Global Tech Brands | TV Host | Podcaster | Livestreamer | Blogger | Industry Analyst 

With over three decades in tech, I've mastered the art of transforming social media into a dynamic platform for audience engagement, community building, and thought leadership. My focus? Not personal brand promotion—but delivering educational, authoritative, and thought-provoking content to cultivate sustainable, long-term business growth. 

I am host on a TV show called TechImpact appearing on FOXBusiness and Bloomberg which has a reach millions of viewers. 

From Enterprise IT to AI, UCaaS, CPaaS, Cybersecurity, 5G, and Digital Health, my expertise spans the tech landscape. As a leading content creator, I bring unparalleled insights into the Future of Work, Unified Communications, Collaboration, and Customer Experience , producing impactful narratives that resonate with key decision-makers worldwide. Let’s turn your ideas into stories that captivate and engage audiences while delivering eye-popping ROI.

Social Reach: 600K+ followers across LinkedIn (60K), Twitter (380K), YouTube (110K), Meta platforms (120K), and beyond. Livestreaming, blogs, Newsletter (20K) and podcasts that reach millions globally.  My personal network includes CIOs, CMOs, analysts, media, and key tech industry leaders. 

By leveraging our proven B2B Influencer Marketing methodology, I place your brand at the forefront of decision-makers' minds, ensuring you're the partner of choice when investment and purchasing decisions arise.

Our approach prioritizes Awareness, Education, and Engagement by delivering high-value content that reaches and influences millions globally. Unique stories and narratives position your brand as a trusted leader.  Informative, jargon-free messaging educates decision-makers about your value proposition.  Blogs, videos, podcasts, and live-streams inspire clicks, likes, shares, and meaningful leads.  

I’ve built impactful, long-term partnerships with industry leaders like Palo Alto Networks, Intel, T-Mobile, Microsoft, Cisco, AMD, AT&T, and Broadcom. These collaborations deliver consistent results in reach, thought leadership, and measurable engagement, all while driving growth at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing.

We work collaboratively with your teams, agencies, and stakeholders to develop, produce, publish, promote, and amplify your content. Whether for evergreen campaigns or point-in-time initiatives, our strategies are built to scale globally

Member and Contributor

Evan Kirstel

Tired of chatbots that stall when customers need real help? We dive into how agentic #AI flips the script by taking actions inside your systems—issuing refunds within limits, updating orders, authenticating users, and escalating with intent—while humans handle complex, high-empathy moments. Joe Anderson, Senior Director and Head of #CX and Digital Transformation at TaskUs, breaks down a practical playbook: choose the right high-volume use cases, embed guardrails and escalation paths, and integrate platforms like Decagon and Regal to ship in weeks, not quarters.

We walk through safety by design, from prompt hardening and policy constraints to continuous human evaluation that tunes agents over time. Regulated industries like healthcare and financial services come up often, and we outline how to meet compliance standards while delivering faster resolutions and better customer outcomes. The conversation also tackles a persistent myth: AI won’t erase your support team. It will elevate them. As tier-zero and tier-one tickets automate, human experts shift to white-glove support, retention saves, and nuanced sales where judgment and empathy pay off.

The business model is evolving too. Instead of hourly rates, TaskUs leans into outcome-based pricing and gain share, aligning incentives around first contact resolution, containment, CSAT, and cost per resolution. For leaders just starting, we offer a clear path: pick a major contact driver, launch to a small percent of traffic, measure rigorously, and scale as accuracy climbs. You’ll learn how to convert insights from AI interactions into product fixes and journey improvements that reduce avoidable contacts and lift satisfaction across the board.

If you’re ready to transform customer experience with real action, not just conversation, this episode is your blueprint. Subscribe, share with your CX and product teams, and leave a review telling us which high-impact use case you’ll tackle first.

Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://lnkd.in/e4biZwpy

Evan  Kirstel

David Danto

TalkingPointz

Working with the esteemed Dave Michels covering the collaboration, meetings and AV industries

Principal Analyst

TechPerspectives.info 

I work with client firms to help amplify and refine their messages, and identify their strengths and weaknesses, and I'm partnering with Dave Michels at TalkingPointz.com .

Independent Industry Analyst

IMCCA

Interactive Multimedia and Collaborative Communications Alliance 
www.IMCCA.org

IMCCA is a non-profit industry association resolved to strengthen and grow the overall collaborative conferencing and unified communications industry by providing impartial information and education about people-to-people, environmentally friendly communication and collaboration technology and applications.

As the Director of Emerging Technology David vets new companies and technologies for inclusion into the group.  He also represents the IMCCA at industry conferences and seminars, ensuring that IMCCA members not present can stay on top of industry news and events.  In addition, he manages the IMCCA’s web presence including designing and managing the IMCCA website and moderating the various industry discussion forums on LinkedIn and other sites.

Director Emerging Technologies

Commercial Integrator's Collaboration Today and Tomorrow

IMCCA, a non-profit industry association for Unified 
Communication and Collaboration (UC&C), celebrating its 23rd anniversary this year, 
and Commercial Integrator, a market-leading publication from Emerald, will produce a 
quarterly supplement to Commercial Integrator that focuses on all things collaboration 
from multiple perspectives. Together, the organizations proudly launch Collaboration 
Today and Tomorrow.

Industry veteran David J. Danto, Director of Emerging Technology for the IMCCA (one 
among many industry roles he serves in), will curate and edit the publication. “My 
proudest moments in our industry are when expert professionals and competitors come 
together for the good of all. This publication will be a vehicle for just this sort of agnostic 
education and actionable advice. It will help lift the proverbial ‘all boats with the rising 
tide.’”

Editor

Consumer Technology Association

Honored to be a CES Innovations Judge for emerging technology in displays and audio systems in 2011, 2013 and 2016-2018 and now 2024.  http://danto.info/CES2017_Innovations_Judges.htm

CES Innovations Award Judge

UCX USA

From the leading Unified Communications and Collaboration event in Europe (UC Expo) comes UCX USA, the industry’s only connections-first summit.

UCX USA will cover the latest technologies, trends, and unified communication models, as well as the rapid transformation of how we collaborate - all in a setting designed to foster critical relationships.   David is serving as an advisor to the event organizers to help the event be relevant to the community and be a valuable use of attendees time.

David is one of a number of industry stars serving as an advisor for the event: https://www.ucxusaexpo.com/advisory-board

Advisory Board Member

Poly is now an HP company.  
Internally: help the Poly team formulate and collaboratively drive the company’s collaboration strategy. Externally: represent the team, provide a conduit for customers to communicate market and user needs, and help customers, analysts and the media truly understand the value of collaboration solutions.

While there I produced, hosted and edited a weekly podcast for multiple social media outlets, provided thought leadership presentations to clients and partners, managed and hosted the PECAB (Poly Enterprise Customer Advisory Board) with meetings and other get-togethers at industry events, authored and ghost-wrote executive content, and helped coordinate AR and other customer activities.

Director of UC Strategy and Research on the Thought Leadership Team

Poly 

Internally: help the Poly team formulate and collaboratively drive the company’s collaboration strategy.  Externally: represent the team, provide a conduit for customers to communicate market and user needs, and help customers, analysts and the media truly understand the value of collaboration solutions.

Director of UC Strategy and Research

Sound & Communications IT/AV Report

In addition to his existing responsibilities, David will take on the tasks of identifying, organizing and compiling articles and opinions for the twice annual Sound & Communications IT/AV Report.  The AV and Collaboration industries are in a period of great disruption.  Testa Communications and the IMCCA have asked David to provide expert guidance and thought leadership to keep our community educated and informed about the latest trends.  David has also been appointed to the Sound & Communications Technical Council to help support the missions of the industry and the publications.

Dimension Data

David provided technical and operational guidance and strategy to multiple organizations, identifying opportunities where collaboration technologies can improve business process, and architecting systems and solutions which maximize utilization, end-user satisfaction and ROI.  David also provided go-to-market advice and support to manufacturers and solution providers in the collaboration space.

Principal Consultant, Digital Workplace (AV / Collaboration / Multimedia / Telepresence / UC/ Video)

David has had over four decades of delivering successful business outcomes in media and collaboration technology for various firms in the corporate, broadcasting and academic worlds.  Including:

•	The building/management of the world’s largest commercial Cisco TelePresence ecosystem  (at the time & other than within Cisco) for JP Morgan Chase.

•	The design/implementation/operation of global video & audio conferencing facilities, TV and AV facilities and digital signage solutions for Lehman Brothers.

•	The design of TV and radio facilities for Bloomberg, including the development of their revolutionary multi-screen TV format and the design and construction of studios for PBS.

•	The development of the TV & Media Services department for NYU, including the design and implementation of America's first urban, self contained, multi-building university cable TV system using microwave links to cross public rights of way.

•	The design and/or management of multimedia / TV facilities for many organizations, including AT&T, Financial News Network, MTV, NBC, Rutgers University, and many others.  

•	Acting as Engineer in Charge for countless commercial and industrial TV productions.

David's efforts have been recognized by many premiere industry organizations, serving as The Director of Emerging Technologies for the IMCCA; as an InfoComm Emerging Technology Fellow; as a NAB “Pick-Hits” judge for Broadcast Engineering; and as a repeat judge for the CES Innovation Awards. David is an award-winning blogger and contributor to technology publications, a frequent presenter at conferences, and is a member of many industry advisory boards. His full bio is at www.Danto.info 

Specialties: Designing, managing and setting strategy for audio/visual, video conferencing, telepresence and UC systems and facilities - as well as those for streaming and broadcasting - and creating award winning content across all media.  Frequent industry presenter.  David can be reached at Linkedin@danto.com

Spoiler Alert: When Dave Michels wrote in the article below 11 months ago, "We’re all hoping Shull will reenergize Poly" he didn't. Dave Shull has announced his departure from HP (see https://lnkd.in/eUUrFFs6 ). 

At a high level, what HP has done to the remarkable legacies of Plantronics and Polycom is nothing short of a travesty. The loss of market share, product reliability issues, and the careless dismissal of some of the industry’s best talent have shown that HP neither recognizes value nor understands the culture that made the two firms that made up Poly great.

My opinion in hindsight:  If HP had lost interest in the collaboration business – essentially the "buyers remorse" it clearly had – it should have sold Poly (or at least its assets) instead of forever tarnishing brands and people that once defined excellence in our industry.

https://lnkd.in/eUupgkrZ

Top 50 Collaboration Industry Thought Leader, Evangelist and now Analyst - Engaged with UC, AV, Multimedia, Video, and AI... A general technology influencer, storyteller and force-multiplier.

Open article: Another New Beginning for Poly by telecomreseller.com

Thanks to everyone who attended tonight’s CAMP-NY dinner and discussion.  It was a great evening chatting about the future of work and how AI may impact everyone and everything.  

We also took the time to send get well wishes to Aaron Udler, CEM, CTS, have a moment of silence honoring and toasting our departed friend Mark Brown, and acknowledging other bits of industry news of the day.   

I’ve been moderating these for just about 30 years, and while there have been many copycat events, I’m honored to still be coordinating these labors of love in our industry.  Of course, the price has doubled in those three decades, but the company and discussion are worth it.

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Here is your textbook case of how not to run a company and how to quickly dismantle the loyalty of a modern workforce.

In August 2025, AT&T CEO John Stankey told employees that anyone who considered a self-directed, hybrid, or virtual schedule “essential” might have “a difficult time aligning” with the culture he wanted to build - which was essentially no culture - a transactional workforce. Around the same time, AT&T rolled out a strict five-day in-office return-to-office policy across the company – a move that felt less like leadership and more like servitude under a whip.

By September 2025, reports surfaced that the company had implemented a “presence reporting” system that tracked badge swipes, laptop connections, and mobile log-ins to flag those not consistently in the office. The tool quickly drew criticism when it began labeling people with legitimate reasons for absence – such as medical appointments, approved travel, or field work – as noncompliant. AT&T later backtracked, claiming the report had only been designed to identify “freeloaders” badging in briefly for a cup of coffee before leaving, and that the system was no longer needed because those individuals were “gone.”  

Imagine calling yourself a modern leader and thinking of your team as "freeloaders" and "non-freeloaders." Ask any CEO or manager if they would hire anyone they didn't trust.  When they answer "no," then ask them when they stopped trusting the people they did hire.

This entire episode exposes just how out of touch AT&T and similar RTO mandate companies have become with today’s workforce. Treating employees like data points instead of professionals doesn’t build culture – it corrodes it. Real leadership is about trust, communication, and shared purpose, not about surveillance or shaming. Modern employees don’t need to be guarded like prisoners to be productive – they need to be respected and given the autonomy to do their jobs.

More details in The Street's article here: https://lnkd.in/e63gQM-Z

#RTO #Mandates #ReachOutAndSquashYourEmployeesMorale #TimeForSomeLeadersToRetire #AdaptOrFadeAway

Something’s changed in #UnifiedCommunications – and not in a good way. The excitement is gone. The big announcements are quiet. Even most of the vendors seem to have stopped talking about #UComs altogether.

I unpack what that silence really means in my latest TalkingPointz Insider Lite blog on Substack, and why it might be the loudest signal yet about where this industry is headed.

If you work in #AV, #Collaboration, #IT, or #EnterpriseCommunications, you’ll want to read this one...or at least have your #AgenticAI read it. After all, that's not the problem at all... 🙁

Open article: The Silence Around UC Speaks Volumes by davemichels.substack.com

When the Elephant Learns to Dance… and Then Gets Mad About It

Amazon just sent a cease-and-desist to Perplexity #AI, accusing it of sneaking into its storefront and scraping data it wasn’t supposed to touch. 

In other words, Amazon – the company that built an empire on automation, algorithms, and disruption – is now angry that someone else is automating, algorithm-ing, and disrupting it.

It’s hard not to appreciate the irony. For years, Amazon taught the world how to mine data, out-innovate competitors, and replace people with code. Now, a startup uses AI to summarize information instead of sell it, and suddenly the elephants are fighting in the schoolyard – and stomping on jobs, stores, and future of humanity along the way.

This one’s not just about bots or legalities. It’s about fear – the fear that the next big disruptor doesn’t need warehouses or delivery vans, just access to the right data and the brains to synthesize it. Even the mightiest tech giants may eventually face the same machine they created.

It begins, as many Silicon Valley stories do, with a letter – not a love letter, not even a breakup letter – but a cease-and-desist. On Halloween, Ama

Open article: When the Disruptor Gets Disrupted by David Danto • 4 min read

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