In this episode of The Digital Executive, host Brian Thomas sits down with Erik Braund, founder and CEO of Katmai—a groundbreaking virtual office platform designed to restore spontaneity, human connection, and real collaboration in the age of meeting overload. Erik shares his journey from music and video production to building one of the most innovative remote-work platforms on the market. He discusses how his creative background, love for hardware, and pandemic-era problem-solving led to Katmai’s radically different approach: a browser-based virtual workspace where face-to-face interactions feel natural, meetings shrink from 54 minutes to 14, and 90% of collaboration happens spontaneously—just like a real office. He breaks down the technical challenges behind Katmai’s unique video-driven avatars, why they built their own 3D engine, and how five years of working entirely inside their own product shaped its evolution. Erik also talks about the shift away from meeting recordings toward AI-powered summaries, the limitations of VR headsets for daily work, and why presence—not more tech—is the future of hybrid collaboration. If you're ready to rethink meetings, remote culture, and the future of work, this conversation offers a refreshing, human-centered roadmap to what comes next. If you liked what you heard today, please leave us a review - Apple or Spotify. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.