BIT Voices Podcast

What happens when you stop waiting for perfection and put your work in front of the people who might actually use it?

On this episode of the BIT Voices Podcast, B Donald Harris and Major Phillips welcome Yohlanna Cort, a U.S. Navy veteran, full-stack software engineer, and founder of CortNova Technologies.

Yohlanna's journey into technology began with LEGO robotics, grew through software engineering, and eventually led her to building physical technology designed to solve real-world problems.

She shares how she developed an offline-resilient guest-request system for hotels and resorts, used Claude Code...

BIT VOICES PODCAST

BIT Voices Podcast brings you the people behind the work: builders, technologists, founders, and leaders creating what's next.

Become a Founding Builder:

https://bitvoices.network

HOST

B Donald Harris

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briandharris/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notablebit/

Website: https://www.bdonaldharris.com

NotableBIT: https://www.notablebit.com

CO-HOST

Major Phillips

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/major-phillips/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bi.leader/

As AI systems become increasingly capable of acting on our behalf, what must humans become more conscious of retaining?

LaMont Wheat returns to BIT Voices Podcast for a conversation with B Donald Harris and Major Phillips about executive AI orientation, human discernment, governance, pre-delegation literacy, relational intelligence, and the responsibility that comes with giving intelligent systems greater autonomy.

LaMont argues that learning how to prompt or use an AI tool isn't the same as being oriented to the kind of intelligence you're interacting with. That distinction leads the conversation into what happens when organizations deploy...

AI can be a powerful thinking partner—but what happens when we let it fill in too many of the gaps? Adrian G. Miller Jr. joins BIT Voices to explain why effective AI systems need more than prompts and guardrails: they need governance that keeps human judgment, identity, and control at the center.

Adrian is a software engineer, founder, and systems architect with nearly 30 years of experience across flight simulation, connected devices, trading systems, risk management, and navigation. As the founder of Life Powered by AI, he is building systems, tools, and infrastructure designed to reduce cognitive an...

Rashida Lovely joins B Donald Harris and Major Phillips for a powerful conversation about reimagining the relationship between technology, humanity, and community.

As the founder and CEO of the Afree Foundation and president of Newave Enterprise, Rashida is building at the intersection of digital innovation, resource sovereignty, housing, and community infrastructure. She is the principal architect of the Co-existence Co-efficient (Ce) protocol and the Web of Agreement (WOA) system — a vision for technology designed around reciprocity, stewardship, and human-centered systems.

In this episode, Rashida shares how the philosophy of “listening infrastructure,” inspired by George Washington Carver...

What happens when a software engineer gets tired of not being able to see the finish line of paying off debt?

He builds the solution himself.

In this episode of the BIT Voices Podcast, we sit down with Senior Software Engineer, independent builder, and Toffee creator Terry Threatt to discuss building products that solve real problems.

What began as a personal debt-payoff journey ultimately became a fintech application designed to help people understand how their financial decisions impact their debt-free future.

But this conversation goes far beyond personal finance.

...

Tony Jefferson joins BIT Voices Podcast to talk about Traveling Session, a traveler-first social platform built around Personalized Travel Discovery.

Most travel platforms point everyone toward the same popular destinations, attractions, and tourist traps. Tony is building something different: a platform that helps people discover places based on how they actually travel, what they value, and who they trust.

In this conversation, Tony shares how his 21 years of U.S. Air Force, IT, and cybersecurity experience shaped the way he thinks about travel, community, and building technology. After spending more than a decade stationed overseas...

Michael Brown joins the BIT Voices Podcast for a conversation about technology, entrepreneurship, AI, community, and building with purpose.

Michael is a technology executive and entrepreneur with three decades of experience across finance, healthcare, retail, enterprise software, and AI development. In this episode, he shares how an early love for programming grew into a career in software, why curiosity and humility still matter in tech, and how the rise of AI agents is changing the way engineering teams think about security, governance, and observability.

We also talk about Arachne, the AI development platform Michael is...

In this episode of the BIT Voices Podcast, B Donald Harris and Major Phillips sit down with Ian Bruce, founder of Justice Quest, a justice-centered legal operations company built at the intersection of software engineering, AI, legal workflows, and access to justice.

Ian spent nearly a decade as a software engineer building web applications across multiple industries. But after finding himself navigating federal court and realizing how difficult the legal system can be for everyday people, he did what builders do: he started engineering a solution.

This conversation explores Ian’s journey from coding web ap...

In this episode of the Notable & Black in Tech Podcast, B Donald Harris, Major Phillips, and Randall Phillips sit down with LaMont Wheat, Executive AI Integration Architect, Founder of UHMUM Learning, and creator of the PhaseLock™ framework.

LaMont brings a powerful perspective on what it really means to lead in the agentic AI era. This conversation moves beyond the hype of AI tools and automation into something deeper: clarity, authorship, governance, human agency, and leadership under pressure.

We talk about why organizations often struggle with AI adoption, how AI can accelerate friction when teams are no...

In this episode of the Notable & Black in Tech Podcast, B Donald Harris, Major Phillips, and Randall Phillips sit down with Yousef Bin Ageil, founder of The Soil Institute and creator of StoreHouse, a next-generation micro-grocery model designed to fight food deserts, support local farmers, and build community-owned food systems. Yousef shares the powerful story behind his mission, from being impacted as a child by the realities of hunger and human suffering, to building early businesses, traveling to Indonesia at 21, working around innovation and government leadership, and living among farmers across the region. Those experiences shaped his belief that...

In this episode of The Notable & Black in Tech Podcast, we sit down with DeNisha Malone — widely known as the Power BI Queen — to talk about her journey in data, her work in AI, and how she’s helping create real pathways into tech for the next generation. From Power BI and Microsoft Copilot to mentorship, entrepreneurship, and purpose-driven work, this conversation is full of insight for anyone trying to grow in today’s tech landscape. We also talk about Thinkers & Doers, DeNisha’s initiative focused on helping students bridge the gap between learning and real-world application through mentorship, project-ba...

In this episode, we sit down with JC Smiley, Founder of Tech Scene Media, to talk about building community, navigating tech, and creating access where it doesn’t exist.

JC shares his journey—from stepping away from tech for nearly 20 years to teaching himself again and building a platform that connects Memphis’ growing tech ecosystem.

We also dive into:

In this episode of the Notable & Black in Tech Podcast, B Donald, Major, and Randall sit down with Carol Ray-Holmes—technology educator, Microsoft Certified Trainer, community mentor, and founder of Lady Ray Computer Services LLC.Carol shares her remarkable journey through nearly 40 years in tech, from teaching Microsoft tools and earning dozens of certifications to building an AI-powered platform designed to help people become more competitive in today’s job market.

This conversation dives into:

• Carol’s journey into technology

• What AI means for Black professionals and communities

• Why ethics, equity, and ownershi...

Notable, Black & in Tech is where real tech conversations happen—from seasoned software engineers to hardware wizards, we're pulling back the curtain on what it's like being Black in tech. In this episode, we welcome back Randall Phillips for a deep dive into the current AI buzz. Is it really coming for our jobs, or is it just hype?

Tune in as we chop it up about:

In this episode of the Notable and Black in Tech Podcast, hosts B. Donna Harris and Major Phillips welcome back Benny Smith—a tech innovator and self-taught musician from Memphis, Tennessee. Benny shares his incredible journey from growing up in Memphis to mastering coding on his own and building a revolutionary royalty calculation system that uncovers hidden revenue for artists.

Learn how Benny applied his tech expertise to the music industry, striking lucrative deals with artists like Boosie Badazzand raising $10 million by leveraging data and innovation. From navigating the complexities of streaming royalties to transforming lives through da...

AI

In this episode of Notable & Black in Tech, hosts B-Donald Harris & Major Phillips sit down with Benny Smith, founder of Turnout Gurus, to discuss the intersection of technology, data analytics, and politics. Benny shares how he uses forecasting models to predict voter turnout, revolutionizing political campaigns and making elections more strategic and cost-effective.

👉 Timestamps:

0:00 - Welcome & Introductions

3:40 - What is Turnout Gurus?

10:15 - Predicting Voter Turnout w/ Data Science

18:50 - Lowering the Cost of Elections

27:30 - Why Traditional Polls Are Flawed

35:20 - AI, Data Mining & Pol...

Welcome to another episode of Notable & Black in Tech, where we highlight Black tech entrepreneurs, innovators, and professionals shaping the industry. Today, we’re taking a different approach—focusing on a newcomer to tech who's already making waves! Welcome our new Co Host: Major Phillips. 💻 Our special guest, Frank Blation, shares his journey from sneaker reselling frustrations to discovering his passion for coding and launching his own social connection app, Ripple. 🌊🔥 🎯 In this episode, we discuss: ✅ Breaking into the tech industry with no prior experience ✅ Learning to code & the challenges of building an app ✅ The story behind Ripple—an interest-based social pl...

Welcome to another episode of Notable and Black in Tech Podcast, where we highlight trailblazers making waves in the tech industry!

In this episode, we sit down with Robert Washington, the founder and CEO of Shelter Share, an innovative app that connects people with emergency shelters during severe weather events. 🚨🌪️

Robert shares his incredible journey—from experiencing a tornado firsthand while holding his newborn daughter to building a tech solution that now helps communities in need. But his story doesn’t stop there! Through accelerator programs, no-code development, and sheer determination, Robert pivoted his app to also serv...

Tulsa is rising as a national tech hub, but what makes this movement truly special is the commitment to innovation. On this episode of Notable, Black and In Tech, we sit down with Mikeal Vaughn, founder and executive director of Urban Coders Guild, to explore how his groundbreaking work is transforming tech education for underserved, underrepresented, and under-resourced students in Tulsa. Urban Coders Guild is more than just a program—it’s a movement. With a mission to provide high-quality computer science education, Mikeal and his team are breaking down barriers and creating pathways for middle and high schoolers to t...

Celebrating Black technology professionals throughout the world.

At NotableBIT, we’re proud to celebrate the accomplishments and careers of African-American technology professionals through our many different showcases, podcasts, and more. They’re paving the way for others to follow, and it’s an honor to be a part of their journey.

This episode features the guest and founder of Organizely "Tech" Tai Nahisi.

Tai Nahisi, founder and CEO of Organizedly, discusses her journey from underemployment during the 2008 global financial crisis to creating a workforce utility platform. Organizedly, launched in 2021, provides productivity and ef...