Black Belts and Boardrooms

About Black Belts and Boardrooms

Black Belts and Boardrooms is dedicated to empowering executives and leaders by blending the discipline, strategy, and resilience of martial arts with the dynamic world of corporate leadership. Through insightful conversations and expert guest appearances, we explore how the principles of martial arts can enhance leadership, foster innovation, and build high-performing teams in the business world. Our mission is to inspire a mindset of continuous improvement, adaptability, and growth, both in the dojo and the boardroom.

Publisher

Renard Henry and Amir Khawaja

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

12 May 2025

Latest episode

26 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

72 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   26 Oct 2026

   S2.EP69 - Running a Lemonade Stand at Scale w/ Patrick Bentley, Global Lead at Google

   AI can speed up work—but it can also remove the “reps” that build great leaders, engineers, and judgment. In this episode of Black Belts and Boardrooms, hosts Amir Khawaja and Renard Henry talk with Patrick Bentley about how to use AI without losing the human expertise behind the work. Patrick shares why learning to sew became an unexpected lesson in design, STEM, patience, and problem-solving. He connects that hands-on experience to AI and argues that the process of working through difficult tasks helps people develop the skills they’ll need to create and evaluate what AI produces. The conversation explores the “doorman fallacy”—the danger of cutting visible costs while overlooking the less obvious value people provide. Patrick also discusses vibe coding, the changing role of engineers, and why companies need to preserve the experience and institutional knowledge that help teams solve problems when things go wrong. Drawing on his work at AWS and Google, Patrick reflects on the challenges of teaching rapidly changing AI technologies, the importance of validating AI-generated work with human expertise, and why leaders should focus on customer value—not efficiency metrics alone. The discussion also asks bigger questions about organizational design, incentives, and the future of work. In this episode: How sewing can build creative and technical problem-solving skills When AI is a helpful learning tool—and when it becomes a crutch Why leaders should protect opportunities for people to build expertise How AI is changing engineering work from writing code to designing systems Why human judgment and validation still matter What organizations might need to rethink as AI transforms work Patrick Bentley is the Global Lead of Specialized Training at Google and writes Worth Automating, a newsletter about AI use cases, signal versus noise, and the behavioral side of technology.

2. 

   12 Oct 2026

   S2.EP68 - Understanding Urgent vs Important w/ Jeff Stovall, CIO at the City of Dallas

   What does it take to lead technology for a major city when every decision is public, essential services must stay online, and AI is changing the rules? Jeff Stovall, CIO of the City of Dallas, shares what happens behind the scenes to keep a city running—and why leading in public service means balancing innovation, transparency, and risk. Hosts Amir Khawaja and Renard Henry talk with Jeff about moving from Charlotte to Dallas, adapting his leadership to a new organization, and why the same playbook doesn’t work everywhere. Jeff explains how a municipal CIO supports dozens of departments, from public safety to city services, and how technology helps deliver outcomes for residents. In this episode, you’ll hear about: How leadership changes across organizations and sectors Why public-sector success is measured by civic outcomes, not profit The technology and cybersecurity work that supports 911, first responders, and city services How Dallas approaches AI’s potential—and the risks of autonomous attacks Why transparency, public trust, and technology choices are increasingly connected Jeff’s advice for leaders: understand the organization’s biggest problems and focus on where you can have the greatest impact The difference between what’s urgent and what’s important Jeff also shares how he thinks about technology budgets, aging systems, accessibility, and responsible AI—including why he wouldn’t let AI decide how to respond to a life-threatening emergency. If you’re interested in leadership, cybersecurity, AI, or how technology supports local government, this conversation offers a revealing look at the people and decisions working behind the scenes to serve a city. About Jeff Stovall: Jeff is the CIO of the City of Dallas and the first CIO of the City of Charlotte. His career spans engineering, private-sector IT, and public service.

3. 

   5 Oct 2026

   S2.EP67 - Let's Help People Be Better With Data w/Pedro Arellano, CEO at Wallabi

   In this episode of Black Belts and Boardrooms, hosts Amir Khawaja and Renard Henry talk with Pedro Arellano, CEO of Wallaby, about what it really takes to make AI useful, trustworthy, and valuable. Drawing on nearly 30 years in data, analytics, and enterprise technology—including leadership roles at MicroStrategy, Tableau, Salesforce, and Google—Pedro explains why AI initiatives should start with a strong data foundation, not just a new model. He shares practical examples, including how AI-supported work could help reduce a complex quoting process from four or five days to under a minute, and why a traditional SQL solution can sometimes be a better fit than machine learning. In this conversation, you’ll hear about: Why data readiness is the foundation of successful AI adoption How to think about AI’s return on investment The difference between using AI to improve efficiency and using it to create new growth How to build sensible governance without stopping experimentation Why AI should augment people rather than replace human judgment The importance of critical thinking and a human review step Pedro also discusses how organizations can help employees experiment safely, where AI should—and shouldn’t—interact with customers, and why people and culture are often the hardest parts of adopting new technology. If you’re a leader figuring out how to bring AI into your organization responsibly and effectively, this episode offers a grounded perspective on where to begin.

Who has been a guest on Black Belts and Boardrooms

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Michael Canzoneri
• Joe Fang
• PJ Valentini
• Bradley Friemel

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

10,762

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 52 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

62

Social presence

0

YouTube

72

Engagement

32

Contact Black Belts and Boardrooms

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Black Belts and Boardrooms