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Erik Gfesser

📍 Greater Chicago Area

Past Book Review (June 13, 2010): "IBM and the Holocaust"

New book review for IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation, by Edwin Black, Dialog Press, 2008: As a consultant, I often hear complaints from others in the workforce about IBM's WebSphere product line, but the objects of

Media Query Source: Part 58 - Database Trends & Applications (US digital magazine); Data experts and leaders for opinions on transforming data & analytics in the cloud

* Database Trends & Applications (US digital magazine) * Data experts and leaders for opinions on transforming data & analytics in the cloud * Public clouds support all data and analytics functions * Considerations include use cases, construction & administration The query responses I provided to Database Trends & Applications on August 27, 2025:

Community Post: Part 6 - GPTZero can't be relied upon to determine human or AI authorship

* I've been quoted 25 times by various publications since 2016 * A platform I started using in 2025 provides a "Check for AI" option * GPTZero increasingly considers my replies to be AI generated * Apparently, my English is too perfect to be human A community post I made

Media Query Source: Part 57 - CIO (US digital magazine); Book recommendations from CIOs and other tech leaders

* CIO (US digital magazine) * Book recommendations from CIOs and other tech leaders * "The Ideal Executive", by Ichak Adizes * Every executive has a unique, but not "ideal", management style My responses ended up being included in an article at CIO (September 18, 2025). Above image from cited

Blog Note: Part 6 - Blog migration underway (cont.)

This post combines the summary I provided to blog member activity in part 3 of this series with the notes I took last year while working through the initial steps of my Typepad to Ghost migration. As mentioned in part 5 of this series, my suspicions last year that Typepad

Blog Note: Part 5 - Blog migration underway (cont.)

Last year, I mentioned in a post that I was working to migrate my blog from its longtime host, Typepad, to its new host, Ghost, and as such, my blog was under construction. Unfortunately, I came to find that the migration process is more challenging than expected, reprioritizing my time

Community Comment: Part 42 - Positive, negative & "realistic" company culture

* For a long time, I valued being a realist rather than a pessimist or optimist * However, I've long discovered something * The world is largely negative, so being a realist means largely being negative * Making the choice to be positive is the only true alternative path The comments I

Community Comment: Part 41 - Always do the right thing, even when nobody's watching

* Management is doing the things right * Leadership is doing the right thing * This Peter Drucker quote is about the nature of one's actions * Always do the right thing, even when nobody's watching The comments I provided in reaction to a community discussion thread. Former Senior Advisor

Media Query Source: Part 56 - Reworked (US digital magazine); Can real-time data processing be a viable alternative to AI in workplaces where speed and adaptability matter most?

* Reworked (US digital magazine) * Can real-time data processing be a viable AI alternative? * Availability of real-time data in itself isn't an AI alternative * What insights are needed, and when? What operations will fulfill these needs? The query responses I provided to Reworked on July 8, 2025: Reworked: In

Media Query Source: Part 55 - Forbes (US digital magazine); Barriers that prevent companies from using new technologies

* Forbes (US digital magazine) * Barriers that prevent companies from using new technologies * Corporate culture & (perceived) regulatory constraints * Other factors come into play, but often aren't drivers The query responses I provided to Reworked on July 2, 2025: Forbes: I am seeking comments from tech and leadership experts