TAPPICon 2025 Live! - Episode 2

We're excited to bring listeners our second of two episodes recorded at TAPPICon 2025 in Minneapolis, MN, May 4 - 7. 

TAPPICon 2025 was a huge success, with strong attendance and a revised multi-track program that let attendees plan exactly the experience they needed. As always, there was a high level of learning and engagement, people meeting new friends and solving problems together.  

To try to capture some of that energy, I set up my podcast table right off the exhibit floor and talked to folks from throughout the industry. Our three guests for this episode include: 

Priya Venkat—Co-founder and COO of Haber: "There is so much pressure in terms of costs, maintaining a workforce, achieving net zero—the only way our industry can get there is by leveraging AI." 

Rich Ermlick—Principal at Boring Excellence: "If you find yourself doing the same improvement projects every three to five years, you're not improving. That indicates there is not an underlying system." 

Curtis Stone—Application engineer, Pulp & Paper, at Schaeffler Group:  "Bearings in a paper machine are one of the most highly engineered pieces of equipment... there is no one silver bullet." 

 Thanks to our three guests for sharing their perspectives with Better Together listeners. Be sure to check out our first TAPPICon 2025 Episode as well, where we meet three more of our TAPPICon attendees.  

I hope we were able to capture some of the excitement of a live event – but to really get it, you need to be there in person. So if you were not able to make it to Minneapolis this year, we hope to see you in Atlanta for TAPPICon 2026 – put it on your calendars, April 22 – 26, 2026.