Upfront: Triangle’s Tech Chronicler – Business North Carolina

Last April, Business North Carolina hosted a leadership conference in Ralegh that included a panel on artificial intelligence. Igor Jablokov was among the speakers, and his comments on the promise and dangers of AI fascinated the crowd.

It was obvious that he would make for a great BNC story because of his unusual journey and commitment to creating a groundbreaking business, based in North Carolina.

This edition includes that story, and it’s fitting that the author is someone who has probably written more stories about North Carolina’s tech industry than anyone else.

Rick Smith got the journalism bug at age 15 in Mooresville, Indiana, writing high school sports stories for the local paper. After attending a commuter university in Indianapolis, he worked at newspapers in Indiana and Texas before landing at the News & Observer in Raleigh in 1986.

Ahead of the curve, Rick saw the potential of the Internet. He was part of the early 1990s efforts of both the Daniels family at the N&O and Raleigh broadcaster Jim Goodmon’s WRAL to provide digital services. That included Interpath, an early Internet service provider that was later acquired by Carolina Power & Light.

More of a journalist than a business guy, Rick spent most of the past 30 years writing about technology executives and their businesses in Wake and Durham counties. After co-authoring a book on Internet strategy in 1997, he and the late Allen Maurer started Local TechWire in 2002.

The publication, later renamed WRAL TechWire after an investment by the Goodmons, has long kept a close eye on the Triangle tech sector, which is a critical growth engine that has helped set North Carolina’s economy apart from other Southern states. Rick, who left the company in 2023, credits recently retired WRAL executive John Conway for building the broadcaster’s strong online presence.

I asked Rick to share a few thoughts on his career, sparking these responses:

Toughest interview: SAS Institute co-founder Jim Goodnight,
who suffers no fools.

Most intimidating interview: H. Ross Perot, at the height of his powers.

Most fun interview: Triangle entrepreneur and investor Scot Wingo, who knows where all of the skeletons are buried.

Proudest moment: “Nobody works harder than Rick Smith,” Jim Goodmon said at TechWire’s 20th anniversary party.   

Most compelling and impactful players: An incomplete list, to be sure, but Bob Young, Matthew Szulik, Betsy Justus, Larry Robbins, Mitch Mumma, Fred Hutchison, Tim Sweeney and Vivek Wadwha are among the folks that bubble to the top.

Now, Rick adds Jablokov to that list. Perhaps because of the complexity of both the innovator and the subject matter, he calls it the most difficult story he’s written. (An evil editor adds to the challenge, to be sure.)

“Igor wasn’t difficult, but trying to grasp his remarkable career and achievements,
coupled with trying to unravel the AI Pryon secret sauce, was,” he says, referring to Jablokov’s business.

At the first of their four interviews, Rick was impressed with how Jablokov carefully sliced some gourmet mini-doughnuts to share as they enjoyed some coffee. “He’s certainly one of the most fascinating, and probably the smartest, entrepreneurs I have met.”

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Business North Carolina is hosting another leadership conference in Raleigh on May 16. We’d love for our readers to attend, so look to our website, www.businessnc.com, for more information.