Closing the Gap: How Startups Get In, and What's Going On Once They're In

​Two speakers, two vantage points, one enterprise story.

​Akshita Iyer has built a startup herself, and now sits on the other side of the table at Tech Square Ventures, sourcing companies to solve real problems for Fortune 500s. She opens with the founder's view: what it actually takes for a startup and an enterprise to work together, and why more corporations are turning to ecosystems like Atlanta's to find that fit.

​Hari Gopal picks up from there with what he's tracking inside those same enterprises. For years, companies kept customer experience and employee experience in separate lanes. That line is disappearing. In service-heavy businesses, the employee is often the one delivering the customer experience, and they're starting to expect the same tools and support that companies give their customers. Hari covers what's driving that shift and where AI, data, and workflow tools fit in.

​Together, the two halves give founders, investors, and enterprise leaders the full picture, from how you get in the door to what's actually changing once you're inside.