Cleared for Takeoff - Real AI stories from the industries move the world.
Cleared for Takeoff is the podcast for the executives bringing AI into the industries the world depends on: aviation, aerospace and defense, manufacturing, and distribution. These industries keep the world connected, built, supplied, and secure. They fuel progress in every other industry, and AI is changing how they all operate. Every episode, a senior leader shares their real AI story: the decisions, the challenges, and the outcomes that matter. Hosted by Ben Tosado, Founder of Deep Blue Cloud.
Speed and Trust: Building AI the Pentagon Actually Uses | Mailani Veney, Kana Systems
The Department of Defense spent months trying to recruit Mailani Veney, but she kept saying no because she didn't think she had the right background. What changed her mind was realizing they didn't need a defense expert. They needed someone who could bring innovative technology and make an impact fast. Critical decisions were still relying on data that people processed manually, and getting the information together could take weeks. In this episode of Cleared for Takeoff, Ben Tosado sits down with the CEO and founder of Kana Systems to talk about how Kana helps defense teams turn huge amounts...
AI in Marketing: Data, Metrics, and Buyer Behavior with Omi Diaz-Cooper
Most episodes of Cleared for Takeoff sit down with an operator or a technology leader. This one is different. Omi Diaz-Cooper is CEO of Level 350 Advertising, a platinum certified HubSpot partner who has spent over 21 years studying how B2B aviation buyers actually behave: what pressures they're under, how they justify a purchase, and what risk feels like when a plane is grounded and a part is missing. In this episode, Ben Tosado talks with Omi about why sales, marketing, and IT need to align around the same data and the same definition of success before AI can help...
AI Barriers in Aviation and Defense, with Srinivas Matlapudi, AWS
Cost pressure and data fragmentation look the same whether you're talking to an aviation company or a manufacturer. But the defense industrial base plays by its own rules. Srinivas Matlapudi, a solutions architect at AWS covering aviation, manufacturing, and the defense industrial base, sees both sides of that line up close. In this episode of Cleared for Takeoff, Ben Tosado talks with Srinivas about what actually separates companies moving fast on AI from the ones stuck at step one, how AWS's co-funding programs work behind the scenes, and why compliance - not appetite - is the real bottleneck for...
From Marketplace to Agents: Building Airvoyant with Jon Baker
Aviation parts procurement is one of the largest and most manual cost centers in the industry. In this episode of Cleared for Takeoff, host Ben Tosado, CEO of Deep Blue Cloud Computing, talks with Jon Baker of AAR about Airvoyant, the AI-driven procurement platform launched at MRO Americas. Airvoyant connects airlines and MROs directly to an ecosystem of more than 5,000 suppliers through Aeroxchange, is built natively on AWS, and integrates with Trax and other ERP systems, using AI agents to analyze supplier quotes and generate purchase recommendations. Jon walks through the platform’s origin, the decision to pivot from a...
Where AI Is Actually Working, with James Barnes
AI is moving faster than anyone can report on it. The useful question is where it’s solving real problems right now.
In the first episode of Cleared for Takeoff, host Ben Tosado, Founder of Deep Blue Cloud, sits down with James Barnes, VP of Operations, to separate practical application from speculation across three industries: aviation, where AI augments compliance-heavy work like parts procurement and line maintenance; manufacturing, where AI fails when it’s treated as an IT line item instead of a business outcome; and distribution, where field technicians replace 20 minutes of portal searching with one phon...
Cleared for Takeoff Trailer
Aviation keeps the world connected. Manufacturing builds it. Distribution moves it. And AI is changing how all three operate: faster, smarter, and with higher stakes than any other industry. Cleared for Takeoff is the podcast for the leaders navigating that transformation. Every episode, we sit down with a senior executive from aviation, manufacturing, or distribution to hear their real AI story: the decisions, the challenges, and the outcomes that matter. Hosted by Ben Tosado, Founder of Deep Blue Cloud. Follow now so the first episode lands in your feed.
