Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hi everyone. In this episode we'll learn about how technology company AppLogic Networks has dramatically advanced its E and C program amid a larger enterprise wide transformation. I'm your host Bill Coffin and this is the Ethicast.
Applogic Networks is a provider of network observability technology based in Plano, Texas. The company's AI powered application and network intelligence software solutions help network operators analyze, optimize and monetize their networks with contextual insights and real time metrics that enable the delivery of high quality online experiences.
Over the last year, the company has undergone a substantial transformation which includes increasing its use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, shifting to software only solutions, limiting its operations to democratic countries and entering new market segments. It also includes a truly impressive advancement of its ethics and compliance efforts which play a crucial role in aiding the company's ongoing transformation, supporting its continued growth and sustained success, and upholding an enterprise wide commitment to being a champion of digital human rights.
With us today to talk about this transformation is AppLogic Network CEO Mark Drieger. Marcus held multiple executive roles at AppLogic Networks and sponsored cross functional initiatives in his role as Chief Operating Officer before his appointment to CEO last March. Mark, welcome to the Ethicast. Thank you so much for joining us.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: Hello Bill, and thanks for your interest in AppLogic networks.
[00:01:37] Speaker A: AppLogix has been on a really impressive organizational transition over the last year. Mark, could you tell me a little bit about what your company does and what it does not do? And could you describe its transition over the last year?
[00:01:49] Speaker B: If you think of all the applications that you use, whether it's on your mobile device or at home, applogic Networks help those applications run more effectively, enhancing the subscriber for the end experience, giving you a better user experience.
We do that both on telecom networks or your mobile network or your cable network at home, but also in enterprises in places like cruise ships, airports, airlines, etc.
What we've never done is to develop spyware or work with companies that do.
We also never see any encrypted content so we can't see the text of your messages or videos and things like that.
We fundamentally believe that technology like ours can make an improvement in the lives and experiences of people around the globe by providing a higher quality Internet experience, and we're focused on doing that for our customers.
When talking about AppLogic networks, it's also important to note that we're the only networking company in the world that's really focused our sales on democratic countries only, and that's done so that we can best MITIGATE the potential for products to be misused by third parties. I think it's a pretty clear demonstration of our commitment to business integrity and to delivering products that delight our customers and make the subscribers end user experience better.
[00:03:06] Speaker A: One of the most intriguing aspects of your transformation journey has been how your own leadership at AppLogic Networks, the appointment of your new compliance leader and a new independent human rights advisor to the board, were all pretty close to each other time wise. Now, ethics and compliance leaders often speak about how important it is to work closely with and receive direct support from their top leadership. But here we've got a case where you're almost building that relationship from scratch. So can you talk about what it's been like to build that relationship with while you were undergoing so much other foundational transitional work and how you support the ethics and compliance function?
[00:03:39] Speaker B: Sure. You know, having been part of our legacy company, I'm personally very aware of the criticality of having a strong ethics and compliance process that has to be one that's really supported from the owners down to the board to the management level and really embedded in how we run as a business, how we make decisions across the company and a culture of integrity that we really promote through the business.
It's also very important that compliance function is truly independent of commercial influences within the. Within the business.
I've really been honored to lead the company through this massive transformation into a period of growth.
And when we say we marry profits and purpose, you know, we really mean that sincerely.
You know, you noted that we're building both a board advisor and a chief ethics and compliance officer and the related processes, you know, at the same time.
We were actually building the entire company at the same time, you know, a lot of it from scratch. So we had new owners, new board, new CEO, three new members on my executive team, as well as a new brand and new internal mechanics and entities for supporting the new company.
The compliance function fit into this broader build a company capability, which is maybe another way to say that 2025 is a pretty busy year for us.
I have a lot of confidence in the effectiveness of what we put in place. And that really stems from the extensive experience and the skills and the judgment from our compliance leader and our board advisor, really helping me guide through the company thoughtfully through, you know, decisions of balance risk as well as growth of the company and supporting our core values.
[00:05:17] Speaker A: You and your team have made a great deal of progress in a fairly short period of time. So I've got a three part question for you around all that. The first part is what does success look like for you and your ethics compliance program?
The second is what would you say your biggest E and C program wins have been since you began applogic's transformation? And third is what future successes are you focusing on that have been made possible by your successes to date.
[00:05:41] Speaker B: So especially on the topic of ethics and compliance, success doesn't mean really that you're done, you won't face tough decisions or challenges.
In my view, it really means that you're actually prepared for those challenges.
So success is about having thoughtful policies and procedures in place, a collaborative approach to working together, and really that storytelling across the company so that everybody knows what we do and why they're here and how we want the organization to behave in an ethical way and ask questions. If they have questions. When you have that foundation, then I think you can work through the curve balls that come in or the difficult questions that really concern ethics and compliance.
In terms of some of our biggest wins, as I mentioned, we've done a lot of work in the last year. We've stood up a new ethics and compliance process and we apply that globally in the democracies that we operate. Because being in a Democracy is not 100% guaranteed. There can't be the potential for misuse or questions about misuse.
And that process has approved transactions and also has declined transactions that we've walked away from.
Part of that is a progressive escalation policy so that we have a graduated way to investigate and deal with things at an appropriate level with our customers.
We've also taken a very different approach to engaging with the media and with NGOs, a much more transparent approach with regard to questions about past allegations and the behavior of the former company. And you can read our responses in multiple NGO reports and studies.
Also last year we launched a brand new company set of values and that included a focus on ethics, with one value being do the right thing. And that's coupled with other values that make sure that we're an innovative, customer led company that's really focused on growth and has a team that's really working together and trusts each other.
We also supported the importance of that culture and of ethics globally. Last year, over half the people in the company sent me a note that really explained what ethics meant to them and why they were proud to be on the journey that applogic is on.
And I think finally, and kind of the icing on the cake is that we started to see the beginnings of some productive relationships with NGOs and so societies and we understand that that's a journey and that we have to, you know, build trust. But I think we're seeing some of them say, look, applogic is doing what it said it would do, and it's really acting differently than its former company, and we should engage with them and kind of understand a little bit better, you know, what they're doing. So that's really great to see.
And then as far as future success, I think, you know, compliance work will always evolve because the environment we're in is changing rapidly, especially right now with all the geopolitical and the uncertainty around the globe and the regulatory environment.
But I think really the success is knowing that we have that foundation that's going to really cover the ethics and compliance basics so the rest of the company can focus on innovation and growth and executing our AI strategy and so forth.
[00:08:53] Speaker A: When I spoke with your chief ethics compliance officer, Carol Tate, she mentioned that AppLogic Networks is working very hard right now to drive positive change in service of a really compelling turn of phrase. It was technologies for good. I just love that phrase. As E and C leaders themselves wrestle with how much rapidly changing technology changes both the risks they manage and the value that they build within organizations, what are your thoughts on how business ethics can make technology its own superpower for building better and more ethical businesses everywhere?
[00:09:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, this is a really critical question, one that I thought a lot about over the. Over the years. You know, technology, and in particular, reliable Internet connectivity, you know, is a fundamental human right. People use the Internet to, you know, run their small businesses, to conduct their daily lives, you know, to organize and communicate in communities.
And we've taken an approach of not selling our technology in about half the countries in the world and, you know, focusing on the other half, you know, that are democratic.
That's, frankly, not a good answer for the industry at large because it deprives, you know, the citizens in those countries, you know, of better Internet experience and, you know, kind of the benefits that that brings.
I think people have to realize that every networking technology really has the potential for some type of misuse. And you have to think creatively about that as to how products could be misused, and then have, you know, governance and contractual controls and technical controls where they're. Where they're possible to be aware of how the technology could be misused and how to react, you know, if it does.
To give you a simple example, a firewall's reason in life is to block content. So that can be in the context of blocking malware and viruses so that I have a safe Internet experience, or it can be outright censorship. The only thing that changes between those two examples is what the customer types into a user interface on the firewall.
So it's very complex solution. There's no perfect answers. I really think that having a strong compliance process that's got the right level of independence and which is constantly kind of changing with the evolution of technology and the regulatory environment is really critical. At applogic, we're striving to do just that, along with setting the bar high with respect to our democracy only focus.
[00:11:15] Speaker A: Well, Mark, this has been a fascinating and insightful conversation, so thank you so much for sharing all These details about AppLogic's ongoing ethics and integrity journey. And we just really appreciate you appearing on the program. So thank you once again for your time.
[00:11:27] Speaker B: Thank you very much, Bill. It's been a pleasure. And thanks for giving us the opportunity to tell our Transformation story.
[00:11:33] Speaker A: To learn more about AppLogic Networks, visit applogicnetworks.com as well as their LinkedIn page.
Thanks for joining us. We hope you've enjoyed the show. For new episodes each week, be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Also, if you haven't already, please follow at the sphere on LinkedIn to learn more about how we help organizations strengthen, advance and improve their ethics and compliance programs. Together, we can make the world a better place by advancing business integrity. That's all for now, but until next time, remember, strong ethics is good business.
