067: Why IoT Failed (And What's Finally Working) | Alistair Fulton on Microsoft Azure IoT, Semtech LoRa & Building IoT Ecosystems

Why IoT Failed (And What's Finally Working) - Alistair Fulton After 25 years in IoT, Alistair Fulton has watched the industry make nearly every mistake possible—and he's not holding back about what went wrong. From incubating Microsoft's Azure IoT platform to growing Semtech's IoT division to $300M in revenue, Alistair witnessed the gap between IoT's trillion-dollar promises and harsh reality. This isn't another tech hype conversation—it's a brutally honest autopsy of IoT's failures and a rare look at what's actually working now. What You'll Discover: How inflated market forecasts ($7T → $1.7T overnight) poisoned the entire industry The LPWAN wars and why "one technology to rule them all" was always a fantasy Why telcos completely failed at IoT despite owning all the connectivity How successful IoT companies today avoid using the word "IoT" entirely Regional reality check: what's working in US, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East Why AI is about to repeat IoT's worst mistakes The counterintuitive winning strategy: work within existing industries, not against them Alistair's journey spans the entire ecosystem—from building $20M custom solutions to creating platforms at Microsoft, Hitachi, Semtech, and Blues. His frank assessment reveals why brilliant technology repeatedly crashed into business reality, and more importantly, what's finally breaking through. Key Insights: Market hype vs. adoption reality Technology wars that nobody won Platform strategy failures and successes Global market dynamics by region Climate tech applications that actually work AI making IoT's exact same mistakes This conversation cuts through decades of buzzwords to reveal what actually drives technology adoption. Whether you're building IoT solutions, investing in emerging tech, or trying to understand how industries really change, Alistair's hard-won wisdom is essential. Episode Timeline: 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:13 Alistair's Background in IoT 00:42 Career Journey and Key Roles 03:06 Insights on IoT Industry Challenges 06:38 Early IoT Market Missteps 10:44 Collaboration and Ecosystem Building  11:18 Technological Wars and Lessons Learned 1 8:44 Current State of IoT 20:03 Naive Optimism and Realizations in IoT  21:10 The Shift from Tech Talk to Business Solutions 22:28 Challenges and Risks in IoT and AI 24:43 The Evolution of IoT and Industry-Specific Solutions 31:52 Global Perspectives: IoT in the US, Europe, and Asia 43:15 The Middle East: A Promising Market for IoT 52:45 Reflections and Future Outlook Blunt, pragmatic, and refreshingly honest about the gap between tech hype and business reality. Video podcast available on YouTube