Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:17] Speaker B: Hello, my name is Jim Bradfield. Welcome to Ever Changing Technology.
On this show we discuss the process of innovation and technology that forces the shift in behavior and business systems. As we evolve from point A to point B, we break down the fast moving world of innovation and give you the tools to navigate it confidently.
Joining me today is Dr. Adeel Dalal, a visionary, thought leader, award winning author and the CEO of Pinnacle Process Solutions.
With decades of experience in AI leadership and continuous improvement, Dr. Dalal has been recognized globally for empowering organizations to lead with integrity and impact.
Now our first topic today is going to be innovation. Sounds cool, but we're too busy surviving now. Have you ever felt like that you're too overwhelmed to even think about innovating? This conversation is for you. Dr. Dalal. It's an honor to speak with you, sir. Welcome to the show.
[00:01:22] Speaker A: Thank you, Jim. Pleasure to be on your show. Appreciate it. Thank you for being.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
How do you, how do you innovate when time and money are tight?
[00:01:35] Speaker A: That's the best innovation, Jim. Actually if you know the history of Japan, you know after the, the war they were totally devastated and they had less resources, less money, less space. Everything was resource constrained.
And this is how the birth of Lean or Kaizen or the continuous improvement happened.
So I'm a Lean expert. I've been very lucky to actually have received the Shingo award which is one of the highest honor and Lean from the, one of the people who created lean, Mr. Shingo. So I actually received it from his son.
And one of the principles in Kaizen which I teach is creativity before capital.
So what I talk about is we really, internally as a team have amazing capacity to be creative. We don't need capital to really be creative.
We can solve so many issues just using simple creativity. And through this teamwork, I've been able to save corporations millions and millions of dollars in one week. I can remember one event in Texas where with just 12 people, we were able to save this company $700 million.
[00:03:02] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:03:04] Speaker A: So this is amazing because sometimes when you walk through something, you really cannot understand why we are doing it on a daily basis.
And when someone from the outside comes in and shows them a different way, it changes the game.
So continuous improvement is about focusing on micro innovation, listening to the frontline.
Fix what's leaking, fix the problem and pilot fast and fail small.
Okay, so these are the key things. So innovation thrives on abundance, but not in urgency.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: Congratulations by the way on your award. That's awesome. And that $700 million is amazing.
Wow.
Yeah. So again, you know, the cost of not innovating in today's world, I would imagine is $700 million for that one company, right?
[00:04:02] Speaker A: Yes.
So today's world. Right. I mean, in the past, not innovating is fine.
What Steve Jobs said is very important, Jim. This is his, his quote is very critical from understanding what innovation. He says innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.
It's very insightful because if you're not innovating, you are really not leading in the front. And you know the view of a follower. Right. Follower doesn't have the best view. A leader has the best view. So in today's world, cost of not innovating isn't just about losing the market share. It's actually becoming irrelevant.
Today, the, the land is not straight, it is steep.
Innovation is this.
So if you're not able to move forward, you're actually moving backwards.
So with global competition, with AI and other tools coming, you know very well, Jim, that, you know, standing still is not an option for anyone. Correct. And there are so many examples of that. I can rattle off many of these examples, like Kodak ignore digital innovation. Blockbuster laughed off Netflix when they went to their office in Dallas and said, hey, we have the streaming platform. Would you like to partner? They laughed them off. And where is Blockbuster today?
Right, Man.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: Well, so then how can the small steps still lead to big breakthroughs? I mean, you're, you're talking about really giant companies that messed up. But what does a small guy do? And what can they do to get a big breakthrough?
[00:05:47] Speaker A: Very, very good question. So we know about Thomas Edison, right? Do you know how many times he failed? Actually what he calls what we call as a failure, he actually failed 1799 times.
1799.
What that means is when, when he was not able to find that right material to create the light bulb, he was asked by reporters, how do you feel that you failed a thousand times? He says, what failure? I know thousand things that do not work.
Correct.
So every small step, he was actually learning something.
So because every breakthrough is just a series of small steps that you didn't quit on. Correct. So failure is not when you're innovating and when you're wanting big breakthroughs, you don't look at failures as failures. You look that look at them as learning steps.
And this is how your brain also works. So I write for Forbes. I'm part of the Forbes Coaching Council. I've written several articles on how these great leaders look at failure.
So what when you look at failure, if you look at failure as a failure. You actually have cortisol, which is released in your brain and then actually takes you to a point where your prefrontal cortex shuts out, your creativity shuts out. So actually you regress and you are creating more stress within yourself.
If you don't look at failure as a failure, and you look at it as a learning, you actually have dopamine being released. And when that gets released, you actually open up doorways to creativity.
So this is the secret to great leadership. It's, you know, big breakthrough, doesn't come easy. It needs. It doesn't need massive action.
Sometimes it just needs meaningful motion.
[00:07:52] Speaker B: Yeah. Failing forward.
[00:07:53] Speaker A: Right?
[00:07:54] Speaker B: I mean, that's exactly.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:07:56] Speaker B: That's what I do a lot.
[00:07:57] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:07:59] Speaker B: All right, so other than, you know, Edison and. And those kind of guys, what's one success story that really resonates with you, where somebody started small and actually did a super job and got the brass.
[00:08:14] Speaker A: Ring, can give you several of these stories. One which I really love is the Uber story. And the history of Uber is that two friends, Travis and Garrett, they were in Paris after a conference. They couldn't find a taxi, and it was snowing or unable to find it. And they asked themselves, what if I could order this taxi from my phone right now?
And through this innovation, through looking at this as a problem to solve, and using the GPS methodology, they could locate exactly where they were. And they thought of a solution which would revolutionize, totally revolutionize the. The taxi industry.
Correct. Today, Uber Technologies has a mark, a market capital of $175 billion. And it all started from two friends who couldn't find a cab.
Can you imagine that?
Yeah.
[00:09:20] Speaker B: So, you know, it's amazing where things come from, you know, and what happens. And it's just. I mean, it's. It's absolutely remarkable. But, you know, how do you balance urgency with imagination?
[00:09:35] Speaker A: Urgency and imagination.
People confused, these are something which have to be synchronized. So urgency keeps you moving forward.
Imagination. Imagination ensures you're moving in the right direction. Right. So if you.
And there has to be a balance between these two gym. So why is that? Is because if you're too much in an urgency mindset, you are always reacting. You're always reacting. If you're too much in imagination, you are feeling as if you are continuously daydreaming.
So when you balance both, you innovate with purpose.
So use urgency to drive your actions. Use imagination to guide the direction of your actions. Correct. And neuroscience will back it up. Urgency will activate the dopamine. For action.
But imagination activates something called a default mode network in your brain. And that is your creative engine within your brain. So when you put both together, you're creating the powerful engine which sets you in motion and also allows you to fly.
Also, great leaders, what great leaders do is yes, they have imagination, but what they do is they actually sometimes create what we call as a burning platform. Burning platform is sometimes when the team is not moving fast enough, they create something. They create a crisis. They create, it's a self created crisis and that gets people into action and that is one of the tools great leaders use to really create, you know, the, the positive motion and then provide them with the imagined imaginative direction where they can really truly explode the realm of innovation, basically.
[00:11:39] Speaker B: That's amazing. So understand you're gonna have a show on now media.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:11:47] Speaker B: And if you would please, for our viewers, explain a little bit about what the show is going to be and you know, give us kind of a cheating view, you know, like let us know what's happening.
[00:12:00] Speaker A: Love to. So the show will be called A super conscious leader. And what it does is it really creates a new level of leadership. I think today as you see our world, you know, could be so much better. Right. We're constantly at war, we're constantly doing things which we should not be doing and AI is upon us.
Correct. So I'm using all the new tools so I've created. I've just published a book called the V Factor which is the power of visualization.
Bringing that into. For bringing another model which I've written about called Sensei Leadership. Bringing the AI, the neuroscience. I'm going to be talking to great leaders from around the world who have a totally different view of leadership. And we will be discussing these new ways where our leaders not only are corporate leaders, but our government leaders and you know, the kind of our purpose driven leaders of this world can come together to build this new way of leading themselves and the people.
[00:13:11] Speaker B: Wow, that's really awesome. Where else?
Website LinkedIn, those kind of things. Where else can people find you?
[00:13:19] Speaker A: Sure. So I'm on LinkedIn at Adil Dalal A D I L D A L A L and you can find me also on my website, pinnacle process.com p I n N A C L E P r o c E-S-S.com.
[00:13:37] Speaker B: That'S awesome man. Well, listen, congratulations again on all your success. That is very much. It's, it's amazing. That 700 million dollar thing is.
I've never actually heard of anyone doing that well, with a single customer, that's, that's impressive.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: It is, it is very much, you know, the, the, if you do the things, if you follow the process, Jim, it's, it's not a, it's, it's a no brainer. Actually. It depends on the problem you're trying to solve. The problem we were solving is fairly large.
But you know, using a different way, a lateral thinking, you can get those kind of savings. And not every event is that kind. Right.
Sometimes it's just a hundred thousand dollars or a million dollars, but sometimes you hit the jackpot.
Wow.
[00:14:25] Speaker B: Yeah. That's impressive. So we're going to be talking to you after commercial break about another subject. The world is changing fast. How do I stay rooted? So everybody stay tuned and we're looking forward to it.
[00:14:40] Speaker A: Excellent. Thank you, Jim. Appreciate it.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: Yep.
And we're back. I'm Jim Bradfield and this is Ever Changing Technology here on NOW Media Television. You guys loving what you're watching now? Don't miss a minute of Ever Changing Technology or any of your favorite NOW Media TV shows. Live or on demand, anytime, anywhere.
Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and enjoy instant access to our full lineup of bilingual programming in both English and Spanish. You prefer to listen on the go catch the podcast version of the show right on Now Media TV website at www.nowmedia.tv.
from business and breaking news to lifestyle, culture and everything in between, now media TV is streaming 247 ready whenever you are.
So welcome back to Ever Changing Technology.
We're continuing our conversation with Dr. Adil Dalal, CEO of Pinnacle Process Solutions and a globally recognized expert in leadership, AI and operational excellence. Welcome back, Dr. Dalal.
[00:16:17] Speaker A: Thank you very much, Jim. Pleasure.
[00:16:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
Now we're diving into a little different kind of challenge in the world. The emotional and ethical toll of constant change.
Our second segment topic is the world is changing fast. How do I stay rooted?
Let's explore how to stay grounded while still moving forward.
So, Dr. Dall, how do you stay true to your purpose when everything is shifting and everything is moving and out of seems out of control?
[00:16:49] Speaker A: This has been something which I have actually gone very deep into. In fact, I have written two books on this. Both are called A Legacy Driven Life.
Live a legacy, to leave a legacy.
What that means is when the world is shifting around you, what you do is you cannot be the, the ship in the ocean. What you need to do is you need to become the lighthouse or you need to have your own lighthouse which shows you the direction when storms hit your shores. Correct. So what is a legacy?
Legacy is something which becomes your gps.
It becomes your kind of the. The North Star. Whenever there is a storm life, everyone's corporate life or personal life, okay, life slaps us around. Sorry to say that. But it does happen, right? We all get moved around during life. What we have planned, never. It goes. It never goes that way. It's never a straight line. It's always a. A sine curve or a, you know, kind of a sawtooth curve as we go through life.
So when you have a purpose, when you have a legacy, nothing matters. Once you come back to the normal, you know which direction you're going. And just like the North Star tells you, hey, you were going this way, you keep walking that way.
So basically, you align your values, you align your purpose to the direction.
Actually, this is also very important tool which, you know, is known as logotherapy. So logotherapy was created by someone called Victor Frankl, and he's written an amazing book.
He was, you know, in several concentration camps and in Germany, and he survived those. After that, he wrote about why he survived, why very few people who went through this experience had survived. And that is because they had a purpose in life.
And he created this logotherapy. And today I work a lot with people with stress, PTSD, and others, you know, kind of these kind of issues.
And having a purpose in life changes the game for them. And I really believe when we stand on purpose, we can really change our life completely.
[00:19:27] Speaker B: Yeah. It basically is having that one thing, right. That drives you.
[00:19:30] Speaker A: Exactly.
That is exactly. Is that proper direction is so critical for us to have.
[00:19:37] Speaker B: Yeah. Amazing. Yeah. Yeah. And it's forgotten by everybody, too. They all, you know, you lose that in your own mind. Right. And you got to be able to write that down and think about it.
[00:19:48] Speaker A: That is exactly what I do. I have a workshop, which I teach especially the young kids on. On one page, they go with their legacy plan. So I've actually created that for them because.
[00:19:59] Speaker B: Yeah. Is awesome, man.
[00:20:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:02] Speaker B: Wow.
So, so the practice that helps you stay centered as a leader, I mean, is that writing everything down and. And following it?
[00:20:12] Speaker A: Actually, it's the opposite. Ah.
So one of the things I found out about myself, I was going through leadership training and assessments, was that I am a great visualizer. I'm futuristic. I'm always thinking about the future, but I don't write things down. I can actually play it like a simulation in my mind.
So basically that is why I wrote this book called the V Factor or the Power of visualization, what I found is your brain does not know the difference between what is real versus what is simulated in your mind.
And this is the key to completely changing the game. Right. So visualization activates the same neural pathways as any real action.
It actually improves your performance, focus and confidence.
And it's used by elite athletes, performers, actors obviously need it, leaders need it, as well as us who are on tv, on, speaking on the stage.
If we can rehearse this whole thing, the stress level goes down, your performance improves, and everything changes. So my mission is really to teach people because there is a certain science to it. You cannot just, you know, it doesn't come naturally to everyone. So I have a science to it. And I teach people step by step on how to develop this. And I even had a radio show called C to B, which is visualize to realize where you're going.
[00:21:52] Speaker B: Wow.
Yeah, that's. That's pretty amazing.
I really like that myself. I take 10,000 steps every day and I walk around and look at the things and let you know, I give myself a problem and I let myself think about it without.
Without trying to push myself to think about it. You know what I mean? So, yeah.
[00:22:15] Speaker A: And Jim, do you know a small fact is that 20 minutes of walking three times a day actually doubles your neurons.
[00:22:22] Speaker B: Oh, is that right?
[00:22:24] Speaker A: Yes, it is. So you can check that fact.
[00:22:27] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:22:28] Speaker A: Wow. So you are actually building a brain power with that?
[00:22:32] Speaker B: Well, you would think I'd be smarter than I am, but hey, you know, so now can you still grow and still stay grounded and you know, and all of that kind of stuff.
[00:22:44] Speaker A: True.
You cannot grow without staying grounded.
Look at a tree. Right. The tree is the greatest example. You know, if you've been to, you know, the, the where you have these big sequoia trees, you know that the, the taller they are, the deeper are the roots.
Correct. I always say if you want to build the tallest skyscraper.
Correct. You don't have magic bricks which will you can build it with. You need the deepest foundation, you need the deep. You really need to go deep on the foundation. You know, like if you look at Burj Khalifa, if you understand how deep their foundation is, it's amazing.
Correct. So you have to have this. You have to stay grounded in purpose, values and self awareness. You have to develop that EQ So neuroscience is very clear. It tells us growth activates the brain reward system, but grounding activates your emotional regulation, your resilience and empathy. And in order to grow and to scale, you need to have both Correct. So you don't have to choose between either grounding or growing.
Growing and grounding have to go together.
[00:24:04] Speaker B: That's impressive.
Never knew that. All right, well, I felt, I feel good about that now that you said that.
So now how about ethics in a role in fast paced innovation? I mean, we getting out of our way here or what happens with that?
[00:24:23] Speaker A: Can you repeat that?
[00:24:24] Speaker B: Yeah. Ethics playing a role in fast paced innovation.
[00:24:28] Speaker A: Oh my God.
Think of AI, Jim.
You know, this is the biggest two issues with AI will be ethics and privacy.
Correct. The privacy will be off. You know, you really have to be putting guardrails on both of these things.
So in fast pace at innovation, ethics is not your brakes, actually. Ethics is your steering wheel.
You understand? It allows you to really go in the right direction.
So speeding without ethics leads to any scandals or shortcuts. And we've seen that it shatters the trust among people and team members.
[00:25:13] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: So we've seen in tech, in finance and in AI, As I said, ethics ensures innovation can just move fast and it moves forward. Right.
So in order to truly innovate in the right way, you definitely need the guardrails of ethics.
So ask, just not should, you know, can we, can we build this? We need to ask should we build this?
So if you're thinking of using AI in a defense sector or in a, in a weaponry, you should be asking, should we build this? Is this good for humanity?
And that those are things which we need to understand.
You know, we need to kind of eliminate our biases. We need to prioritize transparency and also get consent from people. It is not about profitability, it is about really thinking about humanity. You really need to understand that you can accelerate using innovation, but you need to be able to do it in the right way. And that is where ethics, privacy and other important things. Which makes us human, Jim. Correct. Otherwise AI can take over. What does it have that we don't have?
Right.
[00:26:34] Speaker B: So then, so what's your advice for somebody trying to lead with courage, calm and, and ethics?
[00:26:44] Speaker A: Courage. Calm and ethics is, is the critical piece of leadership and inspect. In fact, when there is storms around you, then it is the most helpful. Right. So just as I said, you can lead like a lighthouse. You can be calm, have a calm presence, but bold and tall in purpose. That is the essence of leadership. Right, Right. So when everyone is moving around in, in a, in a storm, the calm person always people stop and look at them for direction. Have you noticed that?
[00:27:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:21] Speaker A: Right. So when you have inner clarity, you are actually in Motion. You're not just a standing still. You are thinking. You are creating that direction. You are creating that calming presence.
In fact, one of the things I was interviewed on a podcast and they said, what advice would you give to leaders in 2025? This was end of last year. And I said, practice the pause.
Our brain moves around very quickly. We are going from the past to the present to the future and back to the past.
And it goes, you know, we have millions of thoughts going in our brain.
When you practice the pause, everything comes into the present moment. And in the present moment, you can make a lot more better decisions than you can trying to go between everything.
So even through neuroscience, when you're calm, it regulates your body, it regulates your stress. Your decision making gets better because you kick in your new prefrontal cortex and it activates the reward circuits in your brain.
So basically also your brain have something called the mirror neurons.
When you are under stress and you show it, it actually your team members or your family picks up on those signals and they reflect the same.
So so basically, it's not about being the loudest or the, you know, kind of the busiest in the room. It's being the clearest person in the storm.
[00:29:00] Speaker B: Awesome.
So your insights have given us lot to think about. Thank you for that. And we really are wanting to learn from your work more and more. So, you know, I know you've got a show coming on with us, so if you could please run through the show and then also let people know where else to reach you.
[00:29:22] Speaker A: Absolutely. Thank you, Jim. Again, it was a pleasure being on this show.
I'm going to be launching a show called A Superconscious Leader and it will be focused on AI neuroscience, very advanced leadership model where we really need to change the world. And when we want to change the world, especially with AI coming into play, we really need a different way of leading this planet.
And that is what the show is about. And we'll be inviting some very, you know, excellent leaders from all around the world to participate in this dialogue in really creating, co creating this future model of leadership.
[00:30:06] Speaker B: Wow. Well, I'm really looking forward to seeing it, man. I'll tell you, I think it's going to be great. I am looking forward to, to our viewers, please remember technology is always evolving.
The way we manage through it defines everything. As you've just heard.
I learned a lot in this segment.
So until next time, keep asking questions, stay curious, and never stop evolving.
Foreign and we're back. I'm Jim Bradfield and this is ever Changing Technology here on NOW Media Television.
You guys loving what you're watching? Don't miss a moment of Ever Changing Technology or any of your favorite NOW Media TV shows. Live or on demand, anytime, anywhere.
Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and enjoy instant access to our full lineup of bilingual programming in both English and Spanish. Prefer to listen on the go? Well, catch the podcast version of the show right now on Now Media TV website at www.Now Media TV.
From business and breaking news to lifestyle, culture and everything in between, now media TV is streaming 24. 7 ready whenever you are.
So welcome to Ever Changing Technology. I'm your host, Jim Bradfield. One of the most urgent changes that we're finding in the wireless industry is something most people haven't even heard of, but it affects businesses everywhere. The Federal Communications Commission, fcc, everybody's probably heard of that, has approved a plan for telecom carriers. Now that would be AT and T the local telecom guys, Frontier, et cetera, to get rid of their copper based telephone lines. That's also known as pots, plain old telephone service or Public Switch telephone network. Those are just acronyms, but everybody's probably heard something like that. Now the FCC ruling went into effect in August 2020. The goal was to decommission all the copper lines by 2029. There's 176 million lines in use.
Well, there were anyway and now there's only 20 million in use now.
So really what's going to happen is 4 million of these things are going to be disconnected by your telco carriers every year and they're going to accelerate this thing. Now it's not just about swapping out wires and things like that. You know, you've got to go to secure WI fi and cellular based technology while avoiding major cybersecurity risks. It's a big risk because people are going to hurry and make this happen too fast and not pay attention.
Now systems that were once simple, like a dial up alarm, elevator phones, that kind of thing. Fax lines now need full encryption. Secure networks, cloud based resilience. Now the biggest danger, companies that haven't built a cyber security plan to manage this change are really going to be in trouble. Imagine an H Vac system in a hospital shutting off in a heat wave. Elevators being hacked remotely in. And these are not hypothetical things, these are real.
Companies must take these steps immediately. They have to know what they have, what is in inventory, what's still active, how, what's being billed, access. Those services can migrate to wireless or cloud systems so they're going to be able to have to figure out what's going to do with, what do they need to do with those things and where do they need to move them so they still work.
Develop a cybersecurity plan to protect those networks. Now this is a real big deal, especially with AI we've been talking about on the show the last few times here.
AI is a really big deal. You got to train people in safe use of these new technologies so they know what to do and how to keep everything safe.
So it's an emergency call for businesses of every side. Delaying is just not an option. So I mean, the fact is that if you have something going on that's wireless in your network, that's using phone dial up systems that you used to use at home and things like that, they're all going to be gone. Now by the way, if you're at home, don't worry about it because if you have, excuse me, if you have a provider like Cox or somebody like that that's going to provide you TV show, TV series, they're already going to be providing your phone based on this kind of thing and they're going to give you some sort of a system that's going to allow you to do telephone service. But anybody else, any business is not going to have that. And so you really need to contact people and get this done. Now our company, by the way, does that kind of thing and we work with people all over the world to do this. It's a very large thing. It's, it's a very big deal.
My primary role in this is to help people identify what they need to do and help them fix it. So let's figure out what it is you need, what you have and what we can do about it.
So to our viewers, remember, technology is always evolving, but the way we manage through it defines everything.
So until next time, keep asking questions, stay curious and never stop evolving.
And on the next episode, we're going to discuss something that nobody knows about.
But it's a really big deal and it's working in a, a Mexican group, so it's working in the country of Mexico. All right, so until next time, we'll talk to you.
And we're back, Jim. I'm Jim Bradfield and this is Ever changing technology here on NOW Media Television.
Loving what you're watching. Don't miss a moment of ever changing technology or any of your favorite NOW Media TV shows, live or on demand, anytime, anywhere.
Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and enjoy instant access to our full lineup of bilingual programming in both English and Spanish. You prefer to listen on the go, like me? Catch the podcast version of the show right on the Now Media TV website at www.nowmedia.tv.
from business and breaking news to lifestyle, culture and everything in between, now media TV is streaming 24. 7 ready whenever you are.
So welcome back to Everchanging Technology. Now in this segment, we're going to shift a little focus to doing business in a different country, facing most U.S. companies who have interests in Mexico.
And we're talking about the unique challenges of doing business in Mexico.
So US companies are projected to invest over 40 billion in Mexico this year. In 2023, for example, our total trade with Mexico was 800 billion more than with China and Canada.
Now here's what the situations get a little bit complicated.
They don't come without the hurdles working in Mexico. So what we're talking about is a, is a US Company who's got a subsidiary in Mexico. Now if they own a fully licensed and fully operational subsidiary that's, you know, approved by the Mexican government, no problem, they can do work there. But if they have US Guys who are consultants, they are people that do their IT for example, do just about anything for them, for example, the US they can't send those people down to Mexico to do work for them in Mexico.
So basically, let's break this down a little bit. So make sure you guys understand this. Now this is because it's really pretty critical.
So foreign firms have to navigate complicated and varied license rules across Mexico's 32 states. Now they only have 32, we have 50. But still in a real big deal, there's caps on the number of foreign personnel allowed to work on local projects.
So in other words, if you have a big project that you've set up, you can only use a handful of personnel and everyone else has to be local labor. Now keep that in mind when we're worrying about making sure that everybody knows what they're doing on the project, right?
There's tax complexities. From withholding penalties to audits, taxation becomes a real problem. It's a maze for outsiders. And then there's security and certifications. The IT and security focused industries must meet specific local standards and certifications.
Now, for Mexican companies, even Mexican companies operating across different states, labor mobility and local regulations make scaling a major challenge. Each state has its own logistical fees, work permits and project standards, causing delays, confusion and increased costs. So basically what I'm saying there is if you have a company that's you're working with, that's in Mexico City.
They may have no other laborers or they may not have laborers in a state where you want to work.
Well, that means that they have to have local people in that state on the project. They can't just send somebody across the border.
So you know, what's the solution there?
One of the biggest deals is having local partners working with in country experts who understand the laws, navigate the red tape, getting things done in. In as for example, our company, we've worked in war zones quite a bit. We've worked with even people like Nissan in August Calientes, you know, that's just north of Mexico City, for example. We've worked with liquid natural gas companies, Sempra for one, doing their infrastructure rollout. And all of these things are a really big deal.
So in every case we had to adapt and localize while helping U.S. clients comply with labor tax codes, local tax codes, technical regulations, personnel requirements, legalities for just about everything you can imagine.
It's pretty remarkable.
Now, for US businesses working south of the border, success requires more than money.
It requires strategy, humility, the right allies and things like that. Now the good news is that we have partnered with a company that's in Mexico. It's, it's a father son company, it's a family company, but they're very large and they do everything from soup to nuts on a project in Mexico.
For example, let's take the liquid natural gas kind of project.
They do everything. They can do everything from actually planning and drawing.
They have people that are certified to put in CAD drawings, RCCD guys, which I'm sure a lot of you people know what that is. It's people who actually are certified to do design drawings.
They have people that can actually do surveys. They have people that actually can build the equipment, they can actually build the cabinetry, they can build the shelving, they can build the building. They can do just about anything that you want them to do.
And you know, that's really kind of a key. You've got to have somebody like that. Otherwise, you know, if you don't have somebody like that, you're going to find that you're going to get a fine.
The find that that we found out about, unfortunately is 40% of the gross.
So the tax there, make sure you understand this.
If it's $100, your tax being withheld from the Mexican government is going to be 40.
So it's 40% right off the gross. Well, you know, hardly anybody makes more than 40 or 50% on anything. So you're going to lose your entire fortune trying to do this work out there and you're just not going to make any money.
So that's why you've got to have. And the way we, we. You get about this is get around this rather is you can do a tax treaty with Mexico, with the Mexican government. So you go online and you figure out what the forms that you have to fill out. To be a US Company trying to work in Mexico, you have to fill those forms out, get an approval. It takes several months by the way. And then you get. And it's, it's cheap to do. I mean it's like 150 bucks. But again, it takes several months, which is the problem.
You get that approved and then once you have that thing approved, then you can actually work with a company in Mexico again. You know, it's a really difficult task because the Mexican company has to be able to approve all of these in abide by all these different guidelines and get everything you've got to make sure you've got everything approved. Because you know what's going to happen is you're going to get a 40% takeoff right out of your invoice. It's. They're not going to pay you the full amount. So it's really kind of a big deal. So this is not even an option, you know, it's, it's just a real big deal. And for technology, believe it or not, there's a lot of really good technology companies in Mexico. You know, we don't hear about them because, you know, from the US we don't hear about them because we typically use U. S guys and US Companies and things like that. And, and the people in Mexico are super well educated. They know what they're doing. They have done all this work for all that infrastructure that's growing hugely.
So just keep that kind of thing in mind and this is the kind of thing that we need to make sure we partner with. Now I'm saying this also because our company NAS Wireless, we do this kind of work and we partner with a local company. So techdy down there and sotecti is absolutely unparalleled.
So let's make sure that if you guys want to do something like that, you get a hold of me, I'll put you into the right place and make sure that you guys are taken care of properly.
Now again, please get a hold of me and we'll talk it through. Don't try and figure it out yourself.
It's. It's a real, real task. So this has been ever changing technology. And today we explored the urgent transformations. First, the sunsetting of copper based phone lines, which is really a big deal, because if you don't know what's going to happen to you, your stuff's going to be shut off. You won't have any communications anywhere. That's healthcare, that's, you know, energy companies, that's businesses, that's retail, anything. The second is the opportunity and obstacles in doing business across the U.S. mexico border. And again, you know, take this very seriously. This is a big deal. So technology moves really fast, compliance moves slowly.
But with the right insight and partnerships, you can keep it up and get ahead. So until next time, I'm Jim Bradfield. Stay informed, stay, stay secure and keep evolving.
