Every investment is just an ROI calculator. Automation feels risky—until you run the numbers. It doesn’t kill craftsmanship—it scales it. Growing your pre-roll category usually means balancing sales growth with hand-filling teams to maintain quality. But what if you could do both? What if you could leverage best-in-class automation to hit your numbers faster, cleaner, cheaper—without sacrificing quality? The truth? You don’t need 30 people rolling joints when 3 people and a machine can do it better. This week, we sit down with Shahar Yamay, CEO of Hefestus Technologies, to break it down. The ROI of Automation—and how to know if it actually makes sense Balancing scale, quality, and consistency in cannabis manufacturing Why automation doesn’t replace jobs—it removes bottlenecks Summary In this episode, Bryan Fields and Kellan Finney welcome Shahar Yamay, CEO of Festus Technologies, to discuss the evolution of automation in the cannabis industry. Shahar shares insights on the iterative design process, the importance of customer feedback, and the challenges faced in R&D. The conversation also covers the current state of automation, ROI considerations, and the integration of AI for quality control. Shahar emphasizes the need for open-mindedness in engineering and the importance of being a trusted partner in the industry. The episode concludes with a look at future innovations and how listeners can connect with Festus Technologies. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Festus Technologies and Shahar Yamay 03:04 The Evolution of Cannabis Automation 05:58 Iterative Design and Customer Feedback 08:55 Challenges in Automation and R&D 12:14 Integration with Cannabis and Hemp 15:11 The State of Automation in the Cannabis Industry 18:04 ROI and the Case for Automation 21:06 Training and Implementation of Automated Systems 23:55 Quality Control and AI in Automation 27:02 Future Innovations and Industry Trends 30:08 Final Thoughts and Contact Information Guest Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaharyamay/?originalSubdomain=il https://www.hefestus-tech.com/ https://www.instagram.com/hefestus_1 https://www.linkedin.com/company/hefestus-ltd/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFYcTJousPQjjB6NsMFyBnA Our Links Bryan Fields on Twitter Kellan Finney on Twitter The Dime on Twitter Newton Insights: For extraction teams, everything changes when you can finally see what’s happening in real time. At Eighth Revolution (8th Rev), we provide services from capital to cannabinoid and everything in between in the cannabinoid industry. 8th Revolution Cannabinoid Playbook is an Industry-leading report covering the entire cannabis supply chain The Dime is a top 5% most shared global podcast The Dime is a top 10 Cannabis Podcast The Dime has a New Website. Shhhh its not finished. Sign up for our playbook here: 🎥 YouTube: The Dime 📸 Instagram: The Dime https://www.newton-insights.com/
Every investment is just an ROI calculator.
Automation feels risky—until you run the numbers.
It doesn’t kill craftsmanship—it scales it.
Growing your pre-roll category usually means balancing sales growth with hand-filling teams to maintain quality.
But what if you could do both?
What if you could leverage best-in-class automation to hit your numbers faster, cleaner, cheaper—without sacrificing quality?
The truth?
You don’t need 30 people rolling joints when 3 people and a machine can do it better.
This week, we sit down with Shahar Yamay, CEO of Hefestus Technologies, to break it down.
Summary
In this episode, Bryan Fields and Kellan Finney welcome Shahar Yamay, CEO of Festus Technologies, to discuss the evolution of automation in the cannabis industry. Shahar shares insights on the iterative design process, the importance of customer feedback, and the challenges faced in R&D. The conversation also covers the current state of automation, ROI considerations, and the integration of AI for quality control. Shahar emphasizes the need for open-mindedness in engineering and the importance of being a trusted partner in the industry. The episode concludes with a look at future innovations and how listeners can connect with Festus Technologies.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Festus Technologies and Shahar Yamay
03:04 The Evolution of Cannabis Automation
05:58 Iterative Design and Customer Feedback
08:55 Challenges in Automation and R&D
12:14 Integration with Cannabis and Hemp
15:11 The State of Automation in the Cannabis Industry
18:04 ROI and the Case for Automation
21:06 Training and Implementation of Automated Systems
23:55 Quality Control and AI in Automation
27:02 Future Innovations and Industry Trends
30:08 Final Thoughts and Contact Information
Guest Links:
Our Links
Newton Insights: For extraction teams, everything changes when you can finally see what’s happening in real time.
At Eighth Revolution (8th Rev), we provide services from capital to cannabinoid and everything in between in the cannabinoid industry.
8th Revolution Cannabinoid Playbook is an Industry-leading report covering the entire cannabis supply chain
The Dime is a top 5% most shared global podcast
The Dime is a top 10 Cannabis Podcast
The Dime has a New Website. Shhhh its not finished.
Sign up for our playbook here:
🎥 YouTube: The Dime
📸 Instagram: The Dime