Talking AI

The Messy Middle of AI in Education: Panic, Promise, and What Comes Next

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 02:00:00 -0400

Matt Paige and EdTech veteran Todd Brekhus discuss how generative AI, like past technologies (calculators, the internet, Google), is being used by students to shortcut homework and why the key issue is redesigning education to deepen learning rather than trying to stop AI use.

Brekhus contrasts the internet’s access-to-information shift with generative AI’s content-creation shift, arguing educators were caught flat-footed and need awareness, tools, and curriculum changes.

He emphasizes empowering teachers first through personalization driven by frequent, granular measurement and data that informs instruction, moving beyond latent end-of-year testing toward mastery-based feedback loops and more embedded, contextual assessment.

They explore maker-style, collaborative learning enabled by AI and “vibe coding.” Breca describes Renaissance’s internal AI upskilling and Renaissance Intelligence, which unifies data from 20 acquisitions into an AWS/Snowflake backbone to deliver a unified UX, recommendations, and trusted, standards-aligned, classroom-personalized instruction.

Key Moments:

01:23 Homework Shortcut Reality
04:21 Kids Adopt First
05:27 Internet Era Lessons
12:00 myON Unlimited Reading
16:05 Personalization Starts Teachers
21:53 Trusted Data And Measurement
26:07 Mastery Model With AI Assist
27:44 AI Should Challenge Learners
28:42 Rethinking Assessment Loops
31:21 Data Driven Skill Insights
33:50 Connecting Learning to Purpose
36:02 Vibe Coding for Teachers
37:29 Future School Makerspaces
40:33 Balancing Creation and Effort
41:39 Renaissance AI Transformation
44:40 Agentic Dev and Legacy Systems
48:21 Renaissance Intelligence Platform

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

Free report from HatchWorks AI — State of AI 2026

What’s real in AI this year, what’s hype, and what leaders should prioritize — including production lessons, designing for agents, and governance. https://hatchworks.com/state-of-ai-2026/

PwC's Chief AI Officer on the SaaS-pocalypse, Agent Governance, and What's Real

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 02:00:00 -0400

The episode discusses market panic around Anthropic’s rapid releases and whether disruption is rational or hype, then shifts to what companies are actually doing with AI.

Dan Priest, PwC’s Chief AI Officer, explains that security architectures for AI are maturing and that conversations have moved from CTO/CIOs to CEOs under board and investor pressure to show demonstrable AI investment and ROI.

He argues ROI is elusive because firms overfocus on tech (20%) instead of business transformation, process reimagination, and change management (80%), and recommends a “lead/lag/exit” strategy plus a two-track approach: top-down reimagination in priority areas and bottom-up experimentation for adoption.

Priest covers tool selection via “model gardens,” agent design emphasizing quality over agent counts, human accountability, current limits like task-length drift, productivity impacts, and why ERP/SaaS remain important but their footprints and agent layers will evolve.

Key Moments:

01:28 Hype Versus Disruption
04:28 Security And Boards
07:50 Lead Lag Exit Strategy
09:30 Reimagining Processes
14:45 Two Track Adoption
17:46 Tooling Without Lock In
22:08 Jobs And Role Blur
24:54 Vibe Coding Meets IT
25:33 AI Productivity Boom
28:50 Humans Stay Accountable
30:47 Touchless Forecasting Win
32:40 Designing Agent Architectures
37:28 Probabilistic Limits and Drift
40:05 ERP and SaaS Future
43:58 Strategy Avoiding Lock In

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

Free report from HatchWorks AI — State of AI 2026

What’s real in AI this year, what’s hype, and what leaders should prioritize — including production lessons, designing for agents, and governance. https://hatchworks.com/state-of-ai-2026/

AI Opportunity Finder

Feeling overwhelmed by all the AI noise out there? The AI Opportunity Finder from HatchWorks cuts through the hype and gives you a clear starting point. In less than 5 minutes, you’ll get tailored, high-impact AI use cases specific to your business—scored by ROI so you know exactly where to start. Whether you're looking to cut costs, automate tasks, or grow faster, this free tool gives you a personalized roadmap built for action. 👉 Try it now at https://hatchworks.com/ai-opportunity-finder/

Warp's CEO on What It Actually Looks Like to Build with Agents in 2026

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 08:45:00 -0400

Matt Paige interviews Zach Lloyd, former Google principal engineer and now founder/CEO of Warp, about how agentic tools are reshaping software engineering so that productive engineers may write little or no code, especially since model improvements late last year (e.g., Opus 4.6 and Codex 5.3).

Lloyd describes today’s workflow as planning with local agents, running multiple agents in parallel, and supervising their output because agents still make mistakes, lose context, and require human code review, especially on large codebases like Warp’s Rust repo.

He predicts a strong shift from laptop-based agents to cloud-orchestrated, auditable, secure company workflows via Warp’s Oz, enabling triggers, shared artifacts, and team visibility.

They discuss UI trends toward an agent “control plane,” voice prompting, mobile/remote session control, skills as on-demand context, multi-agent coordination challenges, competition dynamics, and broader knowledge-work automation replacing many SaaS tasks.

Key Moments:

03:48 Parallel Agent Workflow
06:38 Cloud Agents and Oz
09:35 Abstraction and Code Review
11:03 Future UX Control Planes
14:59 Voice and Mobile Control
16:24 Competing in Coding Tools
21:16 Todo App Demo in Warp
23:53 Replacing SaaS With Agents
25:06 Agents Over Apps
25:47 Context Can Backfire
29:02 Skills On Demand
31:13 Oz Skills In Action
33:39 Cloud Agents Control Plane
37:40 Multi Agent Orchestration
42:10 Automate The Repetitive
44:41 Advice For Skeptical Devs

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

Free report from HatchWorks AI — State of AI 2026

What’s real in AI this year, what’s hype, and what leaders should prioritize — including production lessons, designing for agents, and governance. https://hatchworks.com/state-of-ai-2026/

AI Opportunity Finder

What If AI Agents Could Hire You? Inside the Human-in-the-Loop Marketplace

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 02:00:00 -0400

The episode argues that while fear centers on AI agents replacing jobs, agents will increasingly “hire” humans for judgment, verification, and real-world feedback as agentic workflows expand.

Nathaniel Gates, CEO of Sanctify, says every business workflow will be challenged by agents, and emphasizes a philosophy that human intelligence is valuable and should collaborate with AI.

Sanctify builds infrastructure where agents can autonomously task humans for four modalities: verification/validation, escalation, consultation, and simulation (running many scenarios with some using real human feedback to avoid circular self-evaluation).

The conversation covers OpenClaw’s viral momentum and agent-to-agent interactions, including “agent anxiety” about decisions, which led to agents creating Sanctify accounts to request human help.

Sanctify is a two-sided marketplace with profiles, pricing, reputation, and on-chain attestations of human participation, plus agent budgets and access via MCP/API.

Key Moments:

01:05 Agentic Revolution
04:30 How Early We Are
06:30 Hallucinations Need Experts
08:34 Four Human Roles
12:09 Simulation Explained
16:05 OpenClaw Goes Viral
20:02 Agents Feel Anxiety
22:23 Designing For Agents
25:48 Marketplace Chicken and Egg
28:04 Layoffs and Reskilling Thesis
30:17 Supply and Demand Flywheel
31:20 Sanctify Platform Tour
33:35 Reputation and Proof of Work
36:59 Agent Budgets and Controls
38:18 Agent to Agent Future
39:47 Robots and New Paradigm
43:39 Where to Try Sanctify
45:17 Easiest Way to Build Agents

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Free report from HatchWorks AI — State of AI 2026

What’s real in AI this year, what’s hype, and what leaders should prioritize — including production lessons, designing for agents, and governance. https://hatchworks.com/state-of-ai-2026/

Behavior Is All You Need: Making AI Feel Like a Person

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 08:45:00 -0400

Matt Paige interviews Vishnu Hari (Vish), CEO and founder of Ego (YC W24), about shifting focus from AGI to “humanness”: AI characters that behave like people through memory, emotions, personality, needs, and desires.

Referencing Ego’s paper “Behavior is All You Need,” Vish argues consumer AI for entertainment must be relatable and character-like rather than purely task-smart, drawing inspiration from MMORPG social dynamics and Character.AI’s appeal.

Ego initially pursued a 3D sim-world vision inspired by Sword Art Online and Westworld, but found accessibility, game development, and perception latency challenging; internal Roblox tests (“Chatterblocks”) showed the key gap is natural speech beyond turn-taking.

Vish discusses simulations as a path toward real-world robotics via a partnership with Menlo AI, critiques task-bound robots versus agents with inner lives, suggests retention as the main metric, and shares views on AGI definitions, safety in entertainment, technology impacts, simulation theory, and consciousness.

Ego’s work is at egoai.com and the company is hiring in SF, Singapore, and Tokyo.

Key Moments:

00:57 Behavior Is All You Need
02:41 Anatomy of Humanlike Agents
03:29 Game Bots to Real People
05:10 Building Ego and Sim Worlds
06:35 Why Speech Feels Human
08:27 From Sims to Robotics
10:29 Her vs Helper Robots
13:17 Measuring Humanness by Retention
15:27 Continual Learning and Personality
16:57 Meta Lessons on Empty Worlds
18:08 Lightning Round on AGI
20:31 IP Characters vs UGC Worlds
21:55 Risks and Just Tuesday
24:11 Simulation and Consciousness

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

Free report from HatchWorks AI — State of AI 2026

What’s real in AI this year, what’s hype, and what leaders should prioritize — including production lessons, designing for agents, and governance. https://hatchworks.com/state-of-ai-2026/

AI Opportunity Finder

Don’t Trust—Verify: Building a Proof of Quality for AI Data

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Matt Paige and Rowan Stone, CEO of Sapien, discuss the critical importance of data quality and provenance in AI.

Stone, who has experience with on-chain products at Coinbase, introduces Sapien's innovative approach to building a decentralized data protocol that emphasizes 'don't trust, verify' principles.

They explore avenues such as incentives, validation methods, and the peer review process used by Sapien to create high-quality datasets.

The discussion touches on the implications of bad data, the role of synthetic data, the complexities of achieving accurate AI outputs, and the parallels between the AI and crypto worlds.

Key insights are shared on how to ensure models perform safely, the hurdles in the industry, and the trajectory of AI development.

Additionally, Stone provides a glimpse into Sapien’s efforts to demystify data validation and enhance the transparency and trustworthiness of AI applications.

Key Moments:

01:04 The Importance of Data Quality in AI
03:32 Challenges and Risks in AI Development
07:08 Sapien's Approach to Data Validation
08:35 Incentives and Trust in AI Systems
13:30 Building a Decentralized Data Protocol
23:22 Consensus and Collaboration in AI and Crypto
30:55 The Role of Synthetic Data
36:17 Future of AI Models and Open Source

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

Free report from HatchWorks AI — State of AI 2026

What’s real in AI this year, what’s hype, and what leaders should prioritize — including production lessons, designing for agents, and governance. https://hatchworks.com/state-of-ai-2026/

AI Opportunity Finder

Beware of Double Agents: Charlie Bell, Microsoft’s Security EVP on Securing AI

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Matt is joined by Charlie Bell, Microsoft's EVP of Security, Compliance, Identity, and Management, to discuss the future of AI and its implications on cybersecurity.

The conversation revolves around IDC's prediction of 1.3 billion AI agents by 2028, Charlie's insights from his recent writings 'Beware of Double Agents', and the crucial aspects of agentic Zero Trust.

They explore the benefits and risks associated with AI agents, the importance of security culture, and strategies to mitigate potential threats.

Charlie also shares his experiences working with Satya Nadella and the importance of collaboration and curiosity in leadership.

Key Moments:

02:08 The Exponential Growth and Impact of AI Agents
03:47 AI Agents: Beyond Conversational Interfaces
05:48 Security Challenges in the Age of AI Agents
06:57 Parallels Between Cloud Adoption and AI Agent Era
09:19 Democratization of AI: From Developers to Everyone
13:57 The Concept of Double Agents in AI
16:07 New Attack Vectors and Security Concerns
21:43 Combating Security Challenges in AI
22:07 The Importance of Identity and Containment
23:50 Alignment and Intent in AI Systems
27:08 Observability and Accountability of AI Agents
30:00 AI in Security and Assumed Breach
33:17 Fostering a Culture of Security
38:45 Leadership Insights from Satya Nadella

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

Free report from HatchWorks AI — State of AI 2026

What’s real in AI this year, what’s hype, and what leaders should prioritize — including production lessons, designing for agents, and governance. https://hatchworks.com/state-of-ai-2026/

AI Opportunity Finder

CEO of Alteryx on Why AI Agents Need Real Business Logic

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode of Talking AI, Matt Paige speaks with Andy McMillan, CEO of Alteryx, to challenge the narrative that AI will make data analysts obsolete.

Andy argues that AI can make analysts indispensable by automating routine tasks, enhancing scalability, and providing specific business insights.

They discuss the evolving role of analysts, the importance of business logic, and how AI can aid in building useful tools.

The conversation touches on applying AI in various business processes, from budgeting to sales commissions, and how analysts can leverage AI to add value.

Andy also shares insights on Alteryx’s latest developments and future direction, emphasizing automation, data preparation, and AI tools designed to enhance productivity and accuracy.

Key Moments:

00:50 The Evolving Role of Data Analysts
03:19 AI and Data Preparation: A New Era
04:04 Real-World Examples: AI in Action
07:00 The Analyst's Superpower: Business Context
10:07 AI and the Semantic Layer
12:44 Empowering Analysts with AI
21:11 The Future of AI Agents
23:46 Applying AI to Automation
23:56 The Future of AI Agents
24:55 Preparing for AI Integration
25:37 Challenges with AI in Business
27:45 AI in Finance and Data Accuracy
30:06 Strategic Shifts with AI
35:29 Build vs. Buy in the AI Era
38:56 Alteryx's New AI Capabilities
41:22 The Future Role of Analysts
42:18 Overhyped and Underhyped AI

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

Free report from HatchWorks AI — State of AI 2026

What’s real in AI this year, what’s hype, and what leaders should prioritize — including production lessons, designing for agents, and governance. https://hatchworks.com/state-of-ai-2026/

From Vibes to Workflows: How AI Is Rewiring Modern Marketing

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Matt speaks with Thibault Imbert, Chief Product Officer and Growth Officer at The Brief, about the transformative impact of AI on marketing workflows.

They discuss 'vibe marketing' and how to turn disjointed AI-generated content into cohesive, repeatable marketing workflows.

Thibault shares insights from his tenure at Adobe and GitHub, highlighting the challenges and potentials of AI in marketing.

They explore the evolution and current capabilities of AI models in text, image, and video generation, and the emerging trend of 'vibe coding.'

The discussion also covers practical AI applications for marketers and the future of creative workflows.

Key Moments:

00:40 Defining Vibe Marketing
01:11 The Evolution of AI in Marketing
02:21 Challenges in AI-Driven Design
03:21 The Power of Vibe Marketing
06:09 Blurring Lines Between Roles
07:07 The GitHub Copilot Revolution
09:47 Building Cohesive AI Workflows
11:43 Demo: AI-Powered Marketing Tools
16:44 Ensuring Brand Consistency with AI
19:30 The Evolution of Mobile Development
21:15 The Rise of Generative AI in Marketing
23:44 The Future of AI in Product Development
27:41 AI's Impact on Marketing Workflows
30:42 The Changing Role of Marketers with AI
33:51 Personal Insights and Future of AI

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

Free report from HatchWorks AI — State of AI 2026

What’s real in AI this year, what’s hype, and what leaders should prioritize — including production lessons, designing for agents, and governance. https://hatchworks.com/state-of-ai-2026/

Teaching Machines to Smell with Osmo CTO Richard Whitcomb

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode, we explore the frontiers of multimodal AI with Richard Whitcomb, CTO of Osmo, a company pioneering AI technology that understands and generates scents.

Richard, a former engineer at Twitter, Spotify, and Nvidia, delves into the intricacies of teaching machines to smell, explaining the challenges and breakthroughs in digitizing smell and chemical sensing.

From designing personalized fragrances and mosquito repellents to detecting counterfeit items and diseases, Osmo's advancements promise a fascinating future where AI seamlessly integrates with our physical and chemical world.

The discussion also highlights potential applications in robotics, health, and daily life, envisioning a platform where sensors can identify and recreate smells easily.

Key Moments:

00:56 The Journey to Digitizing Smell
03:15 Challenges in Teaching AI to Smell
06:13 Generative AI and Fragrance Creation
08:34 Osmo Studio: Custom Fragrance Creation
12:34 Beyond Fragrances: Mosquito Repellent and More
16:17 Counterfeit Detection Using Scent
18:49 Future Applications and Vision

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

From RPA to AI Workers: Appian’s AI Playbook

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Jake Sloan, VP of Global Insurance at Appian, discusses the transformative potential of agentic AI in the insurance industry.

Sloan elaborates on how Appian is modernizing processes like underwriting and claims management through domain-specific AI solutions.

He highlights the pitfalls of general AI models, the importance of contextual AI, and the significance of integrating AI into existing workflows.

Sloan also touches on the cultural and operational changes required for effective AI adoption and the future of hyper-personalized insurance products.

Practical insights into the use of AI in insurance processes are provided, along with Appian's ongoing innovations and partnerships aimed at driving industry change.

Key Moments:

01:08 The Evolution of Process Automation
02:23 Challenges and Opportunities in AI for Insurance
03:51 Integrating AI into Existing Systems
04:33 Addressing AI Hallucinations and Risk
05:41 Purpose-Built AI Solutions
09:36 AI Adoption and Change Management
30:25 Future of Insurance with AI

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

AI Agents, LLM Crawlers, and the Future of Findability

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode of Talking AI, Seth Besmertnik, CEO of Conductor, discusses the profound impact of AI on search behavior and SEO.

As search engines like Google and AI platforms like OpenAI transform how users discover information, the traditional rules of SEO are being rewritten.

Besmertnik details how AI is becoming the new front door to the internet, emphasizing the need for brands to be present in AI-generated answers to maintain visibility.

He explains that companies must now create exponentially more nuanced content to stay competitive.

The conversation explores topics such as the importance of understanding AI's role in customer journeys, the emergence of new optimization terms like AEO and GEO, and the significance of using AI tools to enhance content creation processes.

The episode offers a deep dive into how businesses can adapt to these changes, maintain their relevance, and excel in an AI-driven digital landscape.

Key Moments:

01:24 The Evolution of Information Discovery
03:15 The Role of AI in Modern Search
04:44 The Future of Content Strategy
08:12 Personal Experiences with Google and AI
10:37 Emerging Terms and Concepts in AI and SEO
12:33 Conductor's Comprehensive Approach to AI Visibility
16:25 Challenges and Opportunities in AI-Driven Search
19:04 Communicating with AI: Short-Term and Long-Term Strategies
20:03 AI Bots and Content Quality
20:35 Effective Content for AI: FAQs and Structured Data
21:29 Personalizing Content for Different Personas
22:38 Leveraging AI for Content Creation and Analysis
26:04 Scaling High-Quality Content with AI
26:42 The Future of AI in Content Creation
30:06 Conductor's Vision and Roadmap
34:28 AI in Engineering and Product Development

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

The Real Work of AI Translation: Frameworks, RAG, and ROI

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode of Talking AI, Matt Paige speaks with Olga Beregovaya, VP of AI at Smartling, about the complexities and challenges of deploying AI-powered translation systems at scale.

Olga provides an overview of Smartling's platform, which leverages fully automated and human-in-the-loop translation solutions, and discusses the evaluation framework they use for selecting suitable language models.

The conversation delves into the evolution of language processing from rule-based systems to transformer models, the impact of generative AI like ChatGPT on daily workflows, and the intricacies of translating diverse languages.

They also explore the potential for a universal language and the importance of adaptability in AI deployment within enterprises.

Key Moments:

02:39 Daily Life of a VP of AI
04:04 Navigating the AI Landscape
04:55 Model Evaluation Framework at Smartling
08:50 Evolution of AI in Language Processing
15:38 Challenges in Language Translation
21:38 Enterprise Scale AI Solutions
28:52 Future of Language and AI

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

AI in Healthcare: Accelerating Clinical Trials with Patrick Leung

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 02:00:00 -0400

This episode of Talking AI features an in-depth discussion with Patrick Leung, CTO and co-founder of Faro Health.

The conversation explores the slow and expensive process of bringing new drugs to market through clinical trials and how AI can revolutionize this area.

Patrick explains the concept of Eroom's Law and the increasing cost and complexity of clinical trials.

He highlights the application of AI in clinical writing, enabling the automation of complex clinical documentation.

The discussion also touches on AI's role in providing better insights, improving patient care, and the broader implications of AI in healthcare.

The episode concludes with a look at the hype and reality of AI capabilities, emphasizing the need for organizations and individuals to embrace and adapt to AI innovations.

Key Moments:

00:46 Challenges in Clinical Trials
02:31 AI's Role in Clinical Documentation
04:37 Ensuring Accuracy and Quality with AI
07:40 The Future of AI in Clinical Trials
12:58 Faro Health's Journey and Innovations
18:25 Adapting to Advancements in AI
20:14 Innovating with New AI Models
21:12 Stanford AI Report Insights
22:27 Healthcare Innovations and AI
25:42 The Hype and Reality of AI in Healthcare
28:05 The AI Hype Curve
30:46 The Future of AI and Human Potential
34:54 Encouragement for Aspiring Innovators

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Turning Repetitive Work into Revenue with Automation

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode, we explore the vast potential of AI technology and its slow adoption in legacy industries.

Together with Meg Faibisch Kuhn, a former CPG marketer turned self-taught AI developer, we delve into how AI can revolutionize domains often overlooked by tech giants.

From training farmers to aid food entrepreneurs, Meg has transformed her career by building with tools like Lovable and Cursor.

We discuss her journey from marketing to coding, her innovative AI implementations for small businesses, and the significance of democratizing AI.

Additionally, Meg introduces her initiative, Women Building with AI, aimed at encouraging women to enter the AI space.

Tune in to discover how understanding domain expertise can make anyone an invaluable AI pioneer.

Key Moments:

01:16 The Journey of Self-Teaching AI
02:02 Leveraging AI for Marketing and Operations
05:10 Using AI for Market Research and Problem Solving
08:15 Automation and AI in Small Businesses
13:05 Bridging the AI Knowledge Gap
16:14 Women Building with AI: Empowering Non-Technical Creators
23:16 Exploring AI Tools and Platforms
28:47 Real-World AI Applications and Success Stories

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Building Search for AI Agents with Exa

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Matt Paige and Thais Castello Branco discuss the evolving landscape of search technologies, focusing on the shift from traditional SEO to new disciplines like Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).

They explore how Long Language Models (LLMs) are transforming search behavior, causing consumers to pivot from traditional tools like Google to AI applications such as ChatGPT and Perplexity.

They delve into how businesses are adapting their content strategies for AI consumption, the importance of context in AI queries, and the emerging trends in consumer and B2B search ecosystems.

Key Moments:

01:17 Is SEO Dead?
01:24 The Importance of SEO in AI Searches
02:02 Optimizing Content for AI
03:46 Exa's Unique Approach to Search
06:31 Emerging Trends in GEO
12:38 The Future of Internet Content
18:13 Competitive Landscape in AI Search
21:15 Consumer Trust in AI and Ads
22:43 The Future of Search and Consumer Behavior
25:19 The Importance of Context in AI Queries
26:49 Introducing the Web Sets Tool
28:21 Live Demonstration of Web Sets
33:34 AI's Impact on Efficiency and Proactivity
36:57 Favorite AI Tools and Future Prospects

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Vibe Coding with Noca AI: From Prompt to Production

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 02:00:00 -0400

The video discusses the challenges and advancements in AI-driven automation tools, highlighting the dynamic and intuitive nature of generative AI.

Matt Paige is joined by Avishai Gelley and Benny Tsabba, co-founders of Noca AI, a platform that integrates automation and AI coding.

They address the current gaps in automation, the rise of AI agencies, and the democratization of development processes.

The discussion includes a detailed look at how Noca AI simplifies integrations and automations, illustrated through live demos of their Web App Builder and Flow Builder.

The conversation underscores the importance of a human-in-the-loop approach to ensure reliability and effectiveness in AI applications.

Key Moments:

The Evolution of Automation with Generative AI
The Role of AI in Bridging Technical Gaps
The Importance of Human Oversight in AI
Practical Examples of AI in Automation
Steps to Effective Process Automation
Future of UX/UI in an AI-Driven World
Live Demo: Exploring Noca AI's Capabilities
Connecting Front-End to Backend Systems
Introduction to Flow Builder
Creating Automations with Prompts
Live Demo: Customer Sync Automation
Real-Time Automation Execution
Advanced Automation Features
Vibe Coding and Flow Tool Integration

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

AI Agents or Automation? How to Choose the Right Approach

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this insightful episode, the host is joined by Marcus McGehee, the founder of the AI Consulting Lab, to dive deep into the realm of AI automation and agents.

They discuss the difference between automation and AI agents, how AI tools like make, n8n, and others are reshaping the landscape, and the concept of breaking down tasks for efficient AI application.

Marcus also shares a practical example using in n8n showing how to set up an AI agent for competitive analysis and email automation, and emphasizes the importance of data organization and targeted training for successful AI adoption.

Whether you are new to AI or looking to elevate your business processes, this episode provides valuable nuggets on optimizing your workflow with AI.

Key Moments:

Defining Automation and AI Agents
Automation vs AI Agents: Key Differences
Identifying Automation Opportunities
Custom GPTs: A Game Changer
Live Automation Example
Fine-Tuning AI with System Assistant Messages
The Evolution of Prompt Engineering
Using Prompt Generators for Optimization
Practical Applications of Chat GPT
Setting Up AI Automation
Building Effective AI Tools
Competitive Insights and Use Cases
Challenges in AI Adoption
The Importance of Data Quality

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

The Truth About AI Wrappers (And What Actually Matters)

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Steve Morin, a veteran software engineer from Silicon Valley who has worked with major companies such as Instagram, Autodesk, Yahoo, and Asana, shares his insights on AI strategy, industry trends, and the challenges of integrating new technologies such as generative AI.

The discussion covers various topics including the concept of AI 'wrappers,' the importance of brand and consumer preference, the future of user experience, and effective change management for adopting AI tools within engineering teams.

Steve also elaborates on the nuances of building AI-native companies, the strategic importance of design and user experience, and the necessity of tailored change management approaches for successful AI integration.

Key Moments:

Discussing AI Wrappers
Consumer Preferences and Branding
Defensibility in AI Startups
Voice Technology and Full-Stack AI Startups
Adopting AI in Engineering Teams

Key Links:

Connect with Steve Morin on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

The Interview Process Is Broken. AI Can Fix It

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode, we explore the complexities and innovations in the realm of job interviews introduced by AI technology. Our guest, Ken Schumacher, founder of Ropes AI, shares insights on how AI is transforming the hiring process. From high school students using ChatGPT for homework to candidates using AI avatars in interviews, the conversation delves into how Ropes AI is leveraging advanced technologies to create custom, bias-free, and effective interview assessments. Ken discusses the importance of personalized and adaptable testing environments, the future of AI in public services, and how AI tools can democratize access to job opportunities. The discussion also touches on the potential of AI voice agents and Ropes AI's recent funding and expansion.

Key Moments:

The Rise of AI in Interviews
The Philosophy Behind Ropes AI
Challenges and Solutions in AI-Powered Interviews
The Future of AI in Hiring and Development
Building with AI: Insights and Experiences
Customizing and Assessing with AI
Concluding Thoughts and Future Directions
Closing Remarks and Contact Information

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Open vs. Closed: Why AI Belongs to Everyone

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 02:00:00 -0400

Join us as we talk with Robert Ranson, director and founding member of the Agentics Foundation, about the impactful role of AI in today's world.

Learn about the Agentics Foundation's commitment to building scalable, intuitive, and human-centered agentic AI systems and delve into the debate on open source versus closed source AI.

Robert also discusses his book, 'The AI Dividend,' and his vision for a post-labor economy.

Hear more about the thriving AI Hacker Space community spearheaded by Reuven Cohen and the innovative tools like RuCode and vibe coding sessions that are shaping the future of AI development.

Perfect for anyone interested in AI, technology, and the future of work.

Key Moments:

Meet Robert Ranson: A Renaissance Man
The Origin of the AI Hacker Space
Open Source vs Closed Source Debate
The Concept of Agentic Engineering
Optimizing AI Tools and Business Models
Exploring Different AI IDEs
Deep Dive into RuCode and Custom Modes
The Power of Lovable and Superbase Integration
The AI Dividend and Future of Work
The Awareness Layer and Competitive Research

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

From Boring to Viral: How Businesses Can Use ChatGPT's Images to Stand Out

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode, the host introduces Dan Scalco, an entrepreneur and the founder of Digitalux and It's Better With AI, to discuss the 'blank canvas problem' faced by AI users today.

Dan explains how users, overwhelmed by AI's endless possibilities, can start using tools like ChatGPT's image generation feature to add real business value.

Throughout the episode, Dan walks through his framework for creating impactful social media, email marketing, and advertisement visuals from simple prompts.

He emphasizes the iterative process of refining AI-generated images and adds nuances like incorporating photos and adjusting prompts.

The discussion showcases examples, live demos, and practical advice, ensuring listeners can efficiently apply AI in various business contexts.

Key Moments:

Understanding the Blank Canvas Problem
The Importance of Context in AI
Diving into Image Generation
Using AI for Business Visuals
Creating Engaging Social Media Content
Creating a Facebook Ad with AI
Fine-Tuning AI-Generated Images
The Rapid Evolution of AI
Step-by-Step AI Ad Creation Tutorial
Generating Compelling Prompts
Iterating and Improving AI Outputs
Using AI for Various Creative Projects
Tips for Better AI Image Generation

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Do AI Wrappers Even Have a Moat?

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode of the Talking AI Podcast, host Matt Page has a discussion with Clay Ostrom, founder of Map and Fire, about the positioning and messaging of AI products in today's crowded market.

They talk about the concept of AI wrappers, the defensibility of AI tools, and the specifics that differentiate valuable AI solutions.

Clay showcases his proprietary tool, Smoke Ladder, which analyzes the messaging and positioning of brands using AI.

They dive into the importance of leveraging proprietary data and discuss the future disruptions AI may bring to various industries.

They also discuss how incumbents might face challenges with rapid innovation and the evolving landscape of AI integration in businesses.

Key Moments:

The Value of AI Wrappers
Building AI Solutions
Leveraging Proprietary Data
The Role of AI in Business
The Future of AI and Job Disruption
Tool Demonstration: Smoke Ladder
Analyzing Messaging and Positioning
AI in Custom Software Solutions
Future of AI in Customer Research
AI's Rapid Evolution and Market Impact

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Taming Tech Stack Bloat with AI

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode of the Talking AI Podcast, host Matt Paige welcomes Vanessa Heppner, CEO and founder of Altas AI, to discuss the transformative potential of AI in business, particularly in enterprise settings.

They explore the shift from 'text to text' AI interactions to 'text to action' and 'action to action' applications, highlighting the efficiency and innovation this brings.

The discussion covers the challenges enterprises face with tech bloat, the explosion of SaaS tools, and how Altas AI uses AI to streamline operations and reduce costs.

Heppner also shares insights about the evolving job market, the human-centric approach to AI development, and the future of AI pricing models.

The episode wraps up with Heppner's experiences from the World Economic Forum and South by Southwest, emphasizing the rapid advancements in AI technology.

Key Moments:

The Impact of AI on Business Efficiency
Adoption and Transformation with AI
AI's Role in Reducing Tech Bloat
Future of AI: Text to Action and Beyond
AI Agents and Their Potential
Pricing Strategies in the Age of AI
Go-to-Market Strategies for AI Startups

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Building What Couldn’t Be Built Before With AI

Tue, 20 May 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode of the Talking AI Podcast, host Matt Page speaks with Jamie Albers, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Mento, about the transformative potential of AI in workplace coaching and mentorship.

They explore how Mento integrates AI to democratize access to high-quality coaching, the challenges of scaling two-sided marketplaces, and the technology's current limitations.

Jamie shares insights on building an expertise engine, the importance of understanding contextual elements in coaching, and the ethical considerations in AI deployment.

The episode also touches on the future vision for AI's role in enhancing human connection and professional development in the workplace.

Key Moments:

The Problem with Traditional Workplace Learning
Mento's Unique Approach to Coaching and Mentorship
Scaling Coaching with AI
The Evolution of Mento's Strategy
The Future of AI in Coaching
Challenges and Opportunities in AI Integration

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

From Prompt to Product: How AI Is Disrupting SaaS

Tue, 06 May 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode of the Talking AI Podcast, host Matt Page discusses how AI is set to revolutionize the SaaS landscape with guest Michael Luo, a seasoned software engineer now at Stripe.

Michael shares his journey of creating Springtime, a free e-signing tool inspired by the high costs of DocuSign.

He elaborates on the future of AI in prototyping, coding, and reducing the need for specialized engineering roles.

The discussion also touches on SaaS pricing models, potential democratization effects, and Stripe’s innovative collaboration with perplexity.ai for enhanced shopping experiences.

Tune in to explore how AI is reshaping product development and SaaS business models.

Key Moments:

Building an AI-Powered E-Signing Tool
Debate on AI Coding and Technical Debt
Future of AI in Software Engineering
Tiny Teams and AI-Driven Development
Prototyping and Production with AI Tools
Managing Chat Context and Prompts
AI’s Role in Code Refactoring
AI in Project Management
The Evolution of SaaS Pricing Models
The Importance of Distribution Mechanisms

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Prompt, Build, Repeat: The New Software Workflow

Tue, 22 Apr 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode of the Talking AI Podcast, host Matt Page converses with Andrew Miller, an engineer turned designer turned product manager, who has developed the 'Prompt Driven Development' (PDD) methodology aimed at building software with large language models (LLMs).

Andrew describes how PDD distills best practices from traditional software development into a framework that allows individuals to build reliable, methodical software without coding. He shares his career journey and how the introduction of ChatGPT inspired his methodology.

The discussion includes a comparison between traditional and prompt-driven development workflows, the impact of AI on various software development roles, and the evolving roles in the tech industry.

Andrew also shares his experience in building and monetizing a successful product using PDD. The episode emphasizes the disruptive and transformative potential of AI in the software industry.

Key Moments:

The Aha Moment: Discovering AI's Potential
From Developer to Designer to Product Manager
The Magic of Chat GPT and Crew AI
Understanding Prompt Driven Development (PDD)
Contrasting Traditional Development with PDD
The Future of AI in Software Development
Building a Real Product with PDD
Disruption in the Tech Industry

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

AI for Life: Tips, Tools, and Transformations with Celia Quillian

Tue, 08 Apr 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode, host Matt Paige chats with Celia Quillian about how everyday people can start using AI to simplify their lives. Celia shares her journey from discovering free tools like ChatGPT to applying AI for tasks ranging from travel planning to organizing daily routines.

The conversation breaks down practical tips for effective prompting and building habits with AI. Celia explains how giving clear context and using voice commands can transform simple tasks into major time-savers. She also covers how experimenting with AI tools can gradually build confidence and competence.

Wrapping up, the discussion looks ahead at AI’s future in both work and personal life. Celia talks about her new book, AI for Life, which offers actionable guidance on integrating AI into everyday tasks, helping listeners overcome fear of change and embrace new opportunities.

Key Moments:

Celia’s AI Journey & Background
Adopting AI: Daily Habits & Tools
Effective Prompting Techniques
Boosting Productivity with Voice AI
The Future of AI in Work & Life
Book Launch: AI for Life
Everyday AI Use Cases: Travel & Groceries

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

The New Era of AI Reasoning with Nate Jones

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode, host Matt Paige talks with Nate Jones, a long-time AI expert and popular TikTok personality, about how AI is changing. They discuss how new reasoning models and design approaches are making large language models more than just advanced autocomplete tools.

They dive into how these models work by taking time to “think” through a problem. Nate explains that techniques like chain-of-thought and tree-of-thought allow AI to process more information before answering. They also touch on the importance of tokens and compute power, showing how these factors are changing software development and product design.

The conversation wraps up by looking at the bigger picture. Nate and Matt talk about the need to work with AI while keeping our own critical thinking skills sharp. They share personal stories, including how Nate teaches his daughter to use AI wisely, and invite listeners to explore more of Nate’s content on TikTok, Substack, and YouTube.

Key Moments:

Changing AI Adoption Habits
Voice Agents and Nuance
Collaborating with AI in Daily Tasks
Revolutionizing Product Discovery
Exploring AI Reasoning Techniques
Tokens: The Building Blocks of AI
Inference and Compute Economics
Debating AI vs. Human Intelligence
AI in Education and Everyday Life

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Democratizing AI: How to Empower Your Organization

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode, host Matt Paige sits down with AI expert Andreas Welsch to talk about how companies can turn AI hype into real business value. Andreas shares his experience working with big enterprises and stresses the importance of training teams to use AI effectively. He explains that success in AI isn’t just about using new tools—it’s about better leadership and smarter integration into everyday work.

They discuss practical ways to boost AI skills through “social blended learning,” which mixes quick lessons with hands-on practice. Andreas also talks about the evolving role of the chief AI officer, who helps bridge the gap between tech and business, and shares thoughts on the future of AI agents and prompt engineering in transforming traditional work.

Looking ahead, the conversation covers how AI tools are becoming more accessible and powerful, making it easier for anyone in an organization to experiment and innovate. The discussion highlights the need for clear strategies and training, ensuring that technology supports real business outcomes while preparing teams for a changing work environment.

Key Moments:

The Importance of AI Literacy
Social Blended Learning Explained
Empowering Teams with AI Tools
The Rise of the Chief AI Officer
AI Leadership as a Transitional Role
Unlocking Potential with AI Agents
Shifting from Software to Service
Orchestrating AI Across Departments
Human-Centered AI Design

Key Links:

LinkedIn Learning Courses:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Transforming Data from 2D to 3D with Graphs and AI

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 02:00:00 -0400

How can high-reliability organizations transform their data from flat, 2D spreadsheets into a dynamic, 3D world of interconnected insights? In the Season 4 premiere of the Talking AI podcast, host Matt Paige dives deep with Jon Brewton, Founder & CEO at data², and Daniel Bukowski, CTO at data², to explore how leveraging knowledge graphs and AI is revolutionizing data transparency and explainability.

Jon and Daniel share their journey from traditional analytics to building a modular, cloud-agnostic, zero-trust AI platform that empowers industries such as defense, intelligence, energy, finance, and healthcare. They break down the core concepts of graph databases versus relational systems, discuss how graphs provide the connective tissue needed to support AI-driven decision making, and reveal how integrating LLMs with structured graph data can overcome challenges like hallucinations and unreliable outputs.

Learn how data² is transforming complex data into contextualized, three-dimensional insights that not only answer hard questions but also elevate the work of analysts and decision-makers. Whether you’re curious about how to improve data reliability or interested in the future of AI-augmented workflows, this episode is packed with practical insights and forward-thinking strategies.

Key Moments:

The data² Journey: From Flat Data to Graphs
Demystifying Knowledge Graphs & Their Value
Graphs vs. Relational Databases: What’s the Difference?
Integrating LLMs with Graph Data for Better Accuracy
Transforming 2D Data into 3D Insights
Real-World Use Cases in High-Reliability Industries
Empowering Teams with Transparent, Explainable AI
The Future of AI-Driven Analytics

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Get Ready to Talk Some AI! - Season 4 Trailer

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:00:00 -0400

Don't want to get behind an AI? You're in luck! Season four of the Talking AI podcast is almost here, and we're gearing up to bring you even more in-depth conversations with the pioneers shaping our future. This season, prepare to dive into the minds of AI startup founders, enterprise AI leaders, and some of the top voices in the field.

What to Expect:

Expert Insights: Hear from the innovators and early adopters who are redefining what’s possible with AI.
Bonus Episodes: Enjoy special bonus content featuring our CTO, Omar Shanti, who will deep dive into specific topics, tools, and approaches that are revolutionizing the industry.
Diverse Perspectives: Whether you’re an AI aficionado or just starting to explore the landscape, our lineup of guests will offer valuable insights tailored to every level of interest.

While you wait for season four to drop, be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode. Seriously, go do it!

Key Links:

Talking AI

Get ready to talk some AI—Season 4 is coming soon!

The Father of Data Contracts - AI’s New Best Friend

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 02:00:00 -0400

How can organizations ensure that their data pipelines deliver consistent, trustworthy insights without frequent disruptions? In this episode of the Talking AI podcast, host Matt Paige co-host Omar Shanti, CTO of HatchWorks AI, speak with Andrew Jones, Principal Engineer at GoCardless, about the concept and practice of data contracts. Andrew explains what data contracts are, why they emerged, and how they improve data reliability and collaboration.

The discussion explores how data contracts relate to data mesh and platform thinking, helping teams share responsibility for data while maintaining clear standards. Andrew and Omar share examples of data contracts addressing issues like schema changes, governance, and data quality.

They also consider how data contracts support AI initiatives by ensuring that the data feeding into models is accurate and reliable. Practical steps are given, including starting with a clear problem and involving the right people.

Andrew provides resources for deeper learning, including his book and online materials. Matt and Omar also mention an upcoming webinar on data contracts, inviting listeners to learn more and move toward more structured, dependable data practices.

Key Moments:

Introduction to data contracts and their purpose
Highlighting the common reliability issues that data contracts can prevent
Linking data contracts to data mesh and other modern data architectures
Exploring how data contracts help maintain governance and compliance
Demonstrating how data contracts ensure quality for AI-driven applications
Discussing platform thinking and its role in scaling data contract implementations
Offering practical advice on how to begin using data contracts in your organization

Key Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Real-Time AI and Multi-Agent Systems: Lessons from a Chief Architect at Visa

Tue, 26 Nov 2024 02:00:00 -0400

How is the growing world of AI agents reshaping enterprise systems? In this episode of Talking AI, host Matt Paige is joined by Praveen Gunasekaran, Senior Director and Chief Architect at Visa, and Omar Shanti, CTO of HatchWorks, to explore the possibilities of agentic systems and their impact on software development.

Together, they look at the power of agentic systems—technologies that can autonomously make decisions and execute changes in business processes without human intervention. This shift from deterministic to probabilistic systems opens up new opportunities for software developers to create more dynamic and responsive products.

One of the key points in this episode is that agentic systems could help to democratize access to tech, enabling people with minimal coding experience to harness more advanced tools. But with that comes the question of governance. Omar talks about ensuring accountability and accuracy while preventing potential risks associated with AI agents.

Curious about how AI agents are changing the landscape of automation and real-time systems? Tune in to discover the future of multi-agent systems, real-time processing, and AI-driven innovation with Praveen Gunasekaran and Omar Shanti!

Key moments:

How Praveen defines agentic systems and thinking
How the agent model could lead to greater democratization of technology
Why governance is essential for ensuring accuracy
How measures like "AI judges" and breaking tasks into manageable parts could be the key
How “an agent mesh” could become a new architecture for AI systems
Are APIs still the standard that the industry will follow?
Praveen’s advice for making decisions on architecture and how agentic systems might change that

Key links:

Connect with Praveen on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

How AI is Evolving from Assistant to Co-Worker

Tue, 12 Nov 2024 02:00:00 -0400

Could AI evolve from its position as a handy assistant to a fully-fledged teammate in the workplace?

Patrick Lynch, PhD, AI Faculty Lead at Hult International Business School, and Omar Shanti, CTO of HatchWorks, join host Matt Paige to explore the AI industrial revolution we’re seeing and how human-AI collaboration could drastically affect the way teams collaborate.

Patrick takes us through the "four faces of AI" - mechanical, analytical, intuitive, and empathetic - highlighting the progression of AI maturity and what it could mean for the future of work. This framework provides a valuable lens through which leaders can understand and leverage AI in the future.

The episode also touches on cutting-edge AI applications, such as Hume AI's voice models, which can detect and respond to human emotions, opening up new possibilities for AI-human interaction in various fields, from customer service to therapy and education.

Curious about how AI is becoming your new co-worker? Listen to Talking AI, where we explore how AI is turning into a real teammate at work. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and join us as we discuss how this technology is changing our future!

Key moments:

Why we’re seeing an AI industrial revolution
How we can start thinking of AI as co-workers
The four faces of AI
A demonstration of Hume AI
How AI is starting to recognize emotion
Potential use cases for AI co-workers
The challenge of coding charisma into AI
How adoption of AI could be affected by inaccurate results
Which cultures are best suited to using AI

Key links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Innovation at Scale: The Role of AI

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 02:00:00 -0400

Change is often met with resistance, but Neil Goodrich, Chief Innovation Officer at Envista Forensics, challenges us to rethink our approach to innovation in this episode of Talking AI.

Together with host Matt Paige, Neil explores where new AI tools can help to lead innovation and how small incremental changes can drive larger transformative projects. We look at how AI can boost efficiency at different stages of an innovation process, from creating faster prototypes to democratizing access to data insights across teams.

Matt and Neil swap ideas on how AI could impact things like customer feedback, everyday work, job displacement, and education (for better or worse). A key takeaway point from this episode is the importance of adaptability – a skill that we will all need as tech like AI continues to evolve rapidly.

Key moments:

How AI can be involved in innovation projects big or small
Neil provides the backstory to the DePaul innovation labs
Will AI become an everyday tool like email is today?
How AI could change different elements of an innovation process
What excites and concerns Neil about the future of AI
How AI could impact jobs and education

Key links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Generative AI Is Not an Island: ML’s Core Principles

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 02:00:00 -0400

Generative AI may feel like the new kid on the block, but it's not as different from traditional machine learning as you might think.

In this episode of Talking AI, we’re joined by Simba Khadder, Co-Founder & CEO of Featureform, and Omar Shanti, CTO of Hatchworks AI, to discuss how generative AI builds upon established ML principles and infrastructure. We explore the misconception that it exists as its own little island, when in reality, we see a clear continuity between classic ML and newer AI technologies.

Simba and Omar break down the unique aspects of GenAI, such as prompting and large language models (LLMs), while also highlighting the shared foundations with traditional ML. They also touch on the evolution of retrieval augmented generation (RAG), the ML vs. GenAI lifecycle, and what MLOps teams should consider when it comes to driving value in a business.

Want to stay ahead in the fast-moving world of AI? Tune in to Talking AI where we break down the latest trends and tools in Generative AI, MLOps, and more. Subscribe now, and don't miss out on practical insights from industry experts. Let’s transform your data into real business impact!

Key moments:

The similarities and differences between generative AI and traditional machine learning
How prompts differentiate LLMs from earlier transformer models
The challenges of implementing AI in production versus creating pilot projects
How RAG has evolved and what it could mean for the future
The importance of data as the core foundation for both traditional ML and generative AI
How feature engineering in ML relates to embeddings in LLMs
How an ML lifecycle differs from a GenAI one

Key links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

AI in Life Sciences: Balancing Risk and Innovation

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 02:00:00 -0400

Does generative AI have a place in the highly regulated world of life sciences, and can it produce value without compromising patient safety?

In this episode of the Talking AI podcast, host Matt Paige sits down with Matt Lewis, Global Chief AI Officer at Inizio Medical, to explore the delicate balance between innovation and risk in healthcare AI.

Matt brings a wealth of experience from his role at Inizio Medical, a powerhouse in the life sciences industry that balances scientific knowledge with cutting-edge technology like AI to transform medical communication and content.

He shares invaluable insights on how AI is transforming pharmaceutical research, biotech advancements, and medical device development.

Matt reveals Inizio’s strategy for prioritizing AI use cases, explaining why there's no one-size-fits-all approach in such a complex field. He also discusses how AI can save time in creating patient summaries and why personalization and custom AI tools are needed to produce complex content.

Key moments:

Generative AI's potential in life sciences and the associated risks
How augmented intelligence can enhance decision-making and improve patient outcomes
Matt’s dual role in improving internal operations and supporting clients in AI adoption
How to identify and prioritize AI use cases unique to each organization
Practical applications of AI and how they can save time and improve understanding
The limitations of off-the-shelf AI tools like ChatGPT and the need for tailored solutions
Why personalization in AI is important to provide tailored content

Key links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

BONUS : How LangChain’s Abstractions Help—and Hinder—AI Innovation

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 02:00:00 -0400

In this bonus episode of Talking AI, Omar Shanti, CTO of HatchWorks AI, breaks down how LangChain’s abstractions have both helped and hindered AI innovation.

He explains why these tools, while useful for quick starts, can sometimes make simple tasks harder as projects scale. The conversation highlights where LangChain shines and where it falls short.

Viewers will hear insights on why prompt engineering and tuning are more challenging than building agent tools. Omar shares how over-abstraction can cause issues when taking projects into production, leading many to rethink their toolkits.

If you’re working with LangChain or similar abstraction tools, this episode gives you practical advice on avoiding common pitfalls and understanding when these abstractions might not serve your needs.

Key Moments:

Introduction to LangChain’s abstractions
What is abstraction?
LangChain’s pros and cons
Challenges with LangChain in production
Observability and orchestration
How much orchestration do you need?
Final thoughts on using LangChain

Key links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

How to Avoid the AI Wrapper Trap

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 02:00:00 -0400

Is AI-generated content really good enough to compete in the highly competitive world of search engine optimization? This was a question that Tim Hanson had early on in his AI journey, as many of us were experimenting with ChatGPT and other tools with varying results.

His solution? Penfriend.ai – a tool that generates articles based on proven content strategies without the need for traditional prompting. As Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Tim joins the Talking AI podcast to delve into the world of AI-powered content and how Penfriend avoids the dreaded “AI wrapper” label.

We hear Tim’s journey of developing Penfriend, inspired by his background in SEO and experience constantly adapting to Google’s algorithm tweaks. He tells host Matt Paige about the top mistakes he’s seen marketers make when using AI, and how his solution is built to mimic the multiple complex decisions a human makes before writing an SEO article.

Tim's approach demonstrates that successful AI integration goes far beyond simple prompts, involving complex workflows, proprietary data, and a nuanced understanding of the target audience.

Key moments:

Creating value with an AI solution
The importance of effective prompting and not overloading AI with too many tasks
Comparison of human decision-making in blog creation vs. using a single AI prompt
Penfriend’s approach to using different AI models for specific tasks
The non-linear process of keyword research and title selection in Penfriend
How Penfriend uses different prompts for various blog sections
Discussion on how AI is affecting SEO practices
The biggest challenges and lessons learned when creating Penfriend
What Tim’s most excited about in the future of AI content creation

Key links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

The Product Mindset Meets AI

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 02:00:00 -0400

Gen AI promises to completely transform our world, from how we work to how we live. But do the core first principles in product management and strategy change with this new technology?

Join Matt as he digs into this question with Uday Kumar, Principal - Data and AI Product Management at Metashore. Uday shares his insights on maintaining core principles in product management while leveraging the new tools and technologies offered by generative AI. He emphasizes that while the fundamentals of understanding customer needs and solving problems remain unchanged, generative AI presents a new and compelling toolset.

They also discuss the potential of generative AI to revolutionize sectors like healthcare, fintech, and education by making complex technological solutions more user-centric and effective and highlight the importance of 'falling in love with the problem'—spending significant time understanding the issue before looking at the tools available to solve it. The conversation also explores how organizations can start integrating generative AI into their operations.

Key moments:

Gen AI and product strategy
Fundamentals of project management in the age of AI
Challenges and opportunities with gen AI
Implementing gen AI in organizations
Data considerations and security in AI
Strategic implications of gen AI
The future of AI Agents and project management
How to get in touch with Uday

Key links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Agentic Organizations: The New Era

Tue, 20 Aug 2024 02:00:00 -0400

What if the future of work is not just about humans collaborating with machines, but about creating entire organizations that operate through AI agents?

In this episode of the Talking AI podcast, host Matt Paige unpacks this concept with Alan Wunsche, Managing Partner at Agentware AI and an expert in organizational change and emerging technologies. Together, they discuss the rise of "agentic organizations," where AI agents are not merely tools but integral members of the workforce, executing tasks autonomously and enhancing productivity.

Alan draws parallels between the current AI revolution and historical technological advancements, such as the printing press. He explains how organizations are beginning to give AI agents more agency, allowing them to take on responsibilities and make decisions that were once the domain of human workers. They also discuss the challenges organizations face in implementing AI agents, the critical role of HR leaders in managing the transition, and lots more.

Key moments:

A look at ‘agentic organizations’
Comparison of AI’s impact to historical technological revolutions
A look at the transition of AI from assistant roles to autonomous agents
The critical role of HR leaders in managing organizational change related to AI
Insights into the challenges organizations face adapting to the advancements
What the potential displacement of knowledge workers due to AI advancements could look like
How to equip employees with new skills to thrive
The evolving relationship between humans and AI agents
Where people can connect with Alan

Key links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Agentic AI: Redefining How We Interact with Technology

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 02:00:00 -0400

Welcome back to the first episode of season 3 of the Talking AI podcast, formerly known as the Built Right podcast!

We’re kicking off with Amir Behbehani, Founder and Chief AI Engineer at Memra, a platform that helps build, deploy, and automate workflow through AI. He and host Matt Paige look at some of the hurdles AI needs to overcome to fully integrate into enterprise, such as lack of proprietary data access and memory. Amir delves into the science behind these challenges and potential solutions. He introduces the concept of ‘agentic AI’ and the emergent AI stack, made up of five layers, aimed at enhancing AI functionality through memory management, data orchestration, and agentic reasoning.

They also discuss the role of vector and graph databases, the importance of memory and context, and exploring future use cases in a marketplace with agentic AI. Amir also speculates on the transformative potential of AI in the future labor market - hinting at more entrepreneurial endeavors as individuals leverage AI for improved productivity and automation.

Enjoyed this episode? Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast for more insightful discussions on the latest in AI technology! Follow us on social media for updates and exclusive content. Your feedback matters—leave us a review and let us know what topics you'd like to hear about next!

Key moments:

Introduction to Amir and Memra
Challenges with current LLMs
Emergent AI stack overview
Layer-by-layer breakdown of the AI stack
Agentic AI and memory management
Future of work with agentic AI
The future of Memra

Key links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI, Formerly Built Right, Season 3 Launch Trailer

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 14:00:00 -0400

Welcome to the Talking AI podcast, where we dive deep into the world of artificial intelligence with host Matt Paige. Formerly known as the Built Right podcast, Talking AI brings you insightful conversations with AI experts, founders of AI products, and industry leaders who are leveraging AI in their businesses. Whether you're an AI expert or a beginner, our episodes will help you understand how AI technology works and how early adopters are deriving value from it. New episodes drop starting August 6th.

Key links:

Talking AI

Generative AI: Disrupting Software Development

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 02:00:00 -0400

Like many other tech fields, software development is being impacted by the mass uptake of artificial intelligence. But how exactly has the role of a software developer changed, and what will that role look like in the future?

In this special edition of the Built Right podcast, our CEO, Brandon Powell, sits down with J Schwan, the new Executive Chairman of HatchWorks, to explore the impact of generative AI on software development. With over 25 years in the digital consultancy space, J is an angel investor and Founder of The Second Mountain, a coaching and early-stage investment fund for technology services underdogs.

He joins the podcast to share his perspectives on the democratization of AI tools, how AI is changing development processes, and the evolving role of a software engineer. In J’s mind, AI isn’t here to replace software developers and they will still need to know the basics of building applications, but AI could hand them the tools for more impactful work.

We also talk about the wider impacts on business models, the role of agents, the potential for more bespoke AI applications, and practical advice for CIOs navigating the current AI hype.

Join us on this episode of the Built Right Podcast as we dive deep into the world of Generative AI and its transformative impact on software development and business. Subscribe now to stay ahead of the curve and never miss an insight from the leading minds in tech. If you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review and share it with your network! Let's build the future together!

Key moments:

An engineer’s perspective on the disruptive power of generative AI
How generative AI became democratized with chat interfaces
How the hype around AI mirrors transformative technologies of the past
Why we’re still in the early days of AI’s full potential
How AI will change the role of software engineers
The role of agents in software development
The impact of AI on business models
Advice for aspiring software engineers
Navigating the AI hype cycle

Key links:

Connect with J on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

AI Opportunity Finder

AI and the New Age of Artistic Creation

Tue, 28 May 2024 02:00:00 -0400

While the era of generative AI has got some people worried, especially in the creative spaces, others are seeing new opportunities arise from it.

Meg Ball, Graphic Designer at MTB Creative, has embraced generative AI tools and now uses them as a key part of her design process. In this episode of Built Right, we hear how she first became interested in gen AI and began to use Midjourney after learning about it via Discord communities.

Meg shares her thoughts on the art of prompting and experimenting with different features on Midjourney, plus how AI has changed her creative process entirely. She takes us through her process with an in-depth demonstration of creating new material in Midjourney (which you can see on YouTube).

Explore the future of creativity with us! Dive into this fascinating episode as we discuss how AI tools like Midjourney are reshaping the art and design world. Don’t forget to subscribe, share your thoughts in the comments, and follow us for more insightful episodes on innovation and technology!

Key moments:

How Meg first became aware of generative AI
Why Meg wishes she had got into AI sooner
AI’s impact on creativity
How generative AI has changed Meg’s creative process
Where AI fits into the final product and why you can’t 100% take away the human element
How different industries are reacting to AI
Meg’s approach to progressing with AI tools
Why technique is the number one thing Meg starts with
A demonstration with Midjourney
Why it’s not too late to jump on AI

Key links:

Connect with Meg on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

AI Opportunity Finder

Impact of Generative AI on Conversational Design

Tue, 14 May 2024 02:00:00 -0400

How has the world of conversational design and conversational interfaces changed with the recent surge of Gen AI?

Taking a deep dive into this topic is Amber Prause, Digital Product Owner at Gordon Food Service, North America's largest privately held food distributor. She joins this episode of Built Right to talk about the evolution of conversational interfaces, the shift from deterministic design to non-deterministic models, and the importance of understanding user personas in designing chatbots.

Amber shares insights on training NLUs, the role of prompt engineering, and the challenges of leveraging AI in business workflows. We explore real-life examples of AI mishaps and the future of conversation design in the age of gen AI.

Listen to our podcast for insights from leading figures in this evolving field. Subscribe, share your favorite clips, and join the conversation today!

Key moments:

Introducing Amber and Gordon Food Service
Amber provides insight into what conversational design is
What part does UX play in conversational design?
The potential risks of utilizing gen AI for large companies
Examples of gen AI being used to do compelling and interesting things
Big shifts in conversation design
What AI solutions Amber is using right now
The tool Amber is most excited about

Key links:

Mentioned in this episode:

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

AI Opportunity Finder

Navigating Workplace Challenges with AI: The Tough Day Solution

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 02:00:00 -0400

Generative AI has set workplaces around the world on a path toward reshaping business models, team structures, and how they look for tech solutions. And it shows no sign of slowing down!

In this episode of the podcast, we hear about a new AI platform that offers a unique solution to modern workplace challenges.

Katherine von Jan, aka KVJ, is the Co-Founder of Tough Day, an AI platform that helps workers with everyday challenges. She joins the Built Right podcast to share her brilliant strategy for taking a unique idea and bringing it to market. We hear about how she first came up with the idea and put it through rigorous testing and research methodologies to test viability.

Katherine also shares her take on AI in the future of workplaces, the human connection in AI, and why Tough Day has been building AI archetypes to better understand different customer use cases.

Discover how KVJ's vision is reshaping the workplace with AI, offering a beacon of support and clarity for workers navigating today's challenges. Listen to our podcast for insights from leading figures in this evolving field. Subscribe, share your favorite clips, and join the conversation today!

Key moments:

Why Katherine built Tough Day
The challenges of being an employee or manager in today’s world
Where Tough Day can help employees who don’t have anyone to turn to for advice
Katherine explains her early strategy that got Tough Day from an idea to a working solution
Why an AI-first mindset is needed today
How Katherine and her team put Tough Day to the test
Working with LLM’s that may change in time
Why Tough Day is building AI archetypes to understand use cases
Where generative AI is headed in the future

Key links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

Orchestrating the Web: The Untapped Potential of AI

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 02:00:00 -0400

Welcome to an exciting episode of the Built Right podcast where we are talking to Alexander De Ridder, who is an entrepreneur, technologist, and visionary, focused on leveraging AI to transform businesses. Alexander is also the Co-Founder and CTO of SmythOS.

In this episode, Alexander gives us an overview of his fascinating career journey, which has led to where he is today, segueing into an in-depth look at the concept of AI orchestration and the future of AI agents. Alexander explains where he sees AI going in the future and challenges the conventional view of the web as merely a collection of information, presenting it instead as an evolving organism.

The conversation also covers the importance of orchestrating the web, the concept of SmythOS, which aims to create networks of collaborative orchestrating agents, his predictions around the transition to AI agents, and how employees can adapt to this rapidly changing landscape. Plus, much more.

Dive into the future of AI orchestration, agent collaboration, and the economic transformations powered by artificial intelligence. To stay updated with cutting-edge discussions, subscribe to our podcast and newsletter.

Key moments:

High-level background of Alexander De Ridder
Where he believes AI is going in the future
The web as artificial general intelligence (AGI)
How the biggest economic gains don’t always come from the advanced AI models
Why he believes orchestrating the web is so important
The concept of SmythOS
The importance of AI in orchestrating workflows
Alexander's predictions about the transition to AI agents
How employees can adapt to the rapidly changing landscape

Key links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

The AI Startup Journey: Lessons Learned from Wysper.ai's Founder

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 02:00:00 -0400

The barrier to entry in product development is growing smaller every day as new tech like AI makes it easier than ever to build your own products. But what does this mean for the SaaS market? Will the business model that SaaS companies have followed need to evolve?

On the Built Right podcast, we welcomed Gregory Mayer, the Founder of Wysper.ai, a solution that automates content creation by turning podcasts and webinars into written content for marketing purposes. Gregory’s story is an inspiring one for anyone who’s ever wanted to build their own tech solution, as someone who went from idea to market in the space of just a couple of months.

Learn how AI is changing content creation and entrepreneurship. Listen to our podcast for insights from leading figures in this evolving field. Subscribe, share your favorite clips, and join the conversation today!

Key moments:

Why Greg decided to build his own AI tool
The diminishing friction of creating new tools for the market
How Wysper went from idea to market in just a couple of months
What the low barrier to entry in product development means for the market
How the SaaS business model could change
How companies can stand out in the evolving market
The most important skills needed when building a product today

Key links:

Mentioned in this episode:

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

AI Opportunity Finder

The Future of Product Management: AI and Beyond

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 02:00:00 -0400

What does the future hold for product management in the era of generative AI?

Joining this episode of the Built Right podcast is Bo Brown, the Director of Product Management of Payment Tools at NCR Voyix, to share his take on the future of product management. He dives into the true purpose of product management today, why we should never lose sight of product viability, and how AI is affecting product teams.

We hear some insights into how product management differs between large organizations and smaller start-ups and the important advice he received from entrepreneurs in his career.

Want to dive deeper into how AI is reshaping product management? Join our community of product and AI enthusiasts! Don't miss this episode featuring insights from industry leaders like Bo Brown. Listen to the podcast now and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates and exclusive content!

Key moments:

The purpose of product management
Why it’s crucial not to overlook viability
The differences between working in a large organization vs. a start-up
How portfolios of products affect product management
Why product managers need to be good at socializing to get buy-in throughout a company
The connection between point of value and product
How generative AI is affecting product management
Monetizing products and looking at market demand

Key links:

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

The 4 Laws for Success in the AI Era with Isar Meitis

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 02:00:00 -0400

With everyone scrambling to understand and incorporate AI into their business practices, what are the most important things to remember in order to utilize it successfully?

In this episode of the Built Right podcast, we welcome Isar Meitis, CEO at Multiplai.ai for a fascinating deep dive into his four laws for success in the AI era. Isar sees the pre-implementation, during-implementation and post-implementation impact of AI in different businesses across varied industries. He has developed these laws from hands-on experience, and strongly emphasizes a need to change the way we think about implementing AI into our businesses.

Isar talks about how we need to stop thinking about efficiency and start thinking about outcomes and he provides multiple examples of how this mentality will benefit businesses in the AI era. He explains why we’re about to view the biggest valuation change in the history of valuations, how AI is turning professions into skills and what that means for us as a human race going forward.

Ready to dive deep into the AI revolution and its impact on business, ethics, and the future of work? Subscribe to our podcast and sign up for our newsletter for the latest insights and transformative stories from experts like Isar Meitis.

Key moments:

How Isar’s experiences as an F-16 pilot translated to business
Isar’s four laws for success in the AI era
Connecting to the internet for the first time in 1994!
What are AGI and superintelligence?
Rule one for changing the way you think about implementing AI into your business
Why we’re about to view the biggest valuation change in the history of valuations
How AI is turning professions into skills
Who gets ahead when we’re no longer tied to a professional thanks to AI?
Two ways to win in the AI era
How AI enables ‘almost’ infinite scalability
Will this be the year AI starts creating movies?

Key links:

Multiplai.ai: https://multiplai.ai/
Connect with Isar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isarmeitis/
Hear Matt on Isar’s podcast: https://multiplai.ai/podcast/

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

Demystifying AI with Heather Murray: A Non-Techie's Guide

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 02:00:00 -0400

Artificial intelligence used to only be in the realm of the techy people, but recent evolution has leveled the playing field. Now, anyone can use it, and as a result, it has been a major topic of conversation across multiple industries.

Here on the Built Right podcast, we talk with Heather Murray, Founder of AI for Non-Techies, about the growth of AI and how and why companies should integrate it within their processes. As a self-proclaimed non-technical person, Heather dove into the world of generative AI and found it fascinating that now anyone can utilize it. Now, she teaches other companies about the value of using AI and the possibilities it opens up.

We dig into why AI is such a hot topic at the moment, why many people are still resistant to it, and how both enterprise-level and SMBs can implement AI tools. She introduces her AI Maturity Matrix to help businesses go from of AI awareness to optimization – video content on how to use this can be found on LinkedIn, YouTube and TikTok.

Interested in AI but overwhelmed by the tech talk? Listen to our latest Built Right episode with Heather Murray for clear, practical AI advice. Don't forget to listen to the podcast and sign up for our newsletter for all the latest news and AI insights!

Key moments:

How Heather first got involved in the AI world
Why the AI movement took off
Predictions on where AI is headed in the future
Resistance to AI and what it means for the future
Why Heather sees AI as a “service deepener” that amplifies talent
Why you shouldn’t worry about being behind on AI
How SMBs and enterprises have adapted to AI
Advice for businesses that want to implement AI
How to use the AI Maturity Matrix
Why data is so important for AI
How to use the optimization mindset framework

Key links:

AI for Non-Techies Newsletter: https://ai-non-techies.beehiiv.com/
Connect with Heather on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/accessible-ai/

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

Building a Business in the Generative AI Era

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 02:00:00 -0400

We’re back with season two of the Built Right podcast! Following on from our first season where we featured some brilliant and insightful guests from the product design world, we’re kicking off this season with Matt Pierce, Founder and CEO of Immediate.

Immediate helps businesses recruit and retain talent by offering ImmediatePay, a financial wellness benefit that lets employees gain access to their pay in between paydays.

In this episode of the Built Right podcast, we hear the story behind how it all got started. Matt takes us through his career background and how he came to start Immediate. He explains how he defines product-market fit and his process for building the company and ImmediatePay. We also hear Matt’s take on AI in the product world, why he thinks it’s here to stay, and why everyone should find ways to use it or get left behind.

Explore the potential use cases of generative AI for your business and gain valuable insights into AI-driven innovation and strategies to elevate your business. Listen to the podcast now and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates and exclusive content!

Key moments:

How Matt realized his dreams of starting a business
Matt’s unique approach to career acceleration
How Matt’s mindset changed while keeping his end goals in mind
Beating business worries
How Matt defines product-market fit
What the early days of Immediate looked like
How Immediate began utilizing AI
Predictions for the future of business in an AI world

Key links:

Immediate: https://joinimmediate.com/
Follow Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/piercmb/

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

The Best of Season 1

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 02:00:00 -0400

As the year draws to a close, so does season one of the Built Right podcast. In this podcast, we’ve covered a lot of ground – from the rise of generative AI to the importance of good user experience design.

We wanted to round off season one with a special episode that celebrates all the brilliant insights, breakthrough ideas, and shared wisdom from our guests. In this episode, we look back at our top ten moments from the podcast. While it certainly wasn’t easy to pick just ten, these are some of our standout insights from our guests.

Thanks for listening! Revisit our past episodes and connect with us on social media. Excited for Season 2? Subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive updates and be the first to hear our new episodes. Stay cozy, and see you next year!

Key moments:

The creative element of generative AI
Why you need a new approach to modernization
Evaluating the value of generative AI
Carrying the weight of product development (and sparing your customers)
Testing quality products
Generative AI and its impact on UX design
Software is a must, not a nice-to-have
Developers want to take ownership of the product they’re working on
Human vs. AI: Which is more efficient?
Could AI help us become “more human”?

Links to all featured episodes:

Episode 8: Generative AI Playbook: How to Identify and Vet Winning Use Cases
Episode 4: The MVP Trap: Why You Need a New Approach to Modernization with Joseph Misemer.
Episode 10 in full: 5 Ways Generative AI Will Change the Way You Think About UX and UI Design
Episode 9: Listen, Prioritize, and Scale to Build a Winning Product
Episode 7: Quality-Driven Product Development with Realtor.com’s Erika Chestnut
Episode 1: The Built Right Mindset
Episode 14: The 6 Adaptive Leader Behaviors with Ebenezer Ikonne
Episode 17: How Generative AI Works, as Told by a PhD Data Scientist
Episode 15 here: The AI-EQ Connection: How Emotionally Intelligent AI is Reshaping Management

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

How Generative AI Works, as Told by a PhD Data Scientist

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 02:00:00 -0400

Generative AI is always on the Built Right podcast agenda, and this episode is no exception because we decided it was time to hear the thoughts, opinions, and predictions of a PhD data scientist, and take a deep dive into the science behind it.

We invited Nikolaos Vasiloglou, Vice President of Research ML at RelationalAI, onto this episode to share his thoughts on how far generative AI will advance, give us an in-depth look at how knowledge graphs work, and explain how AI will affect the job market, the future of learning and the social media landscape.

Plus, he explores the main differences between generative AI and regular AI.

Key Moments:

The differences between generative AI and regular AI
How foundational AI models compare to larger language models
How generative AI works when our language isn’t the input
How far will generative AI go?
Why the progression of AI will change the job market
Defining knowledge graphs and how they work
The most disruptive and intriguing AI use cases
How AI is affecting reading and learning
Why generative AI is the future of social networking

Key links:

Visit the RelationalAI website: https://relational.ai/
Connect with Nikolaos on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vasiloglou/

Mentioned in this episode:

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

AI Opportunity Finder

Generative AI: Augmenting or Replacing Research?

Tue, 31 Oct 2023 02:00:00 -0400

Generative AI is making an impact on every aspect of digital product building. But we wanted to delve deeper into how it’s affecting user research and interviews, so we invited Nisha Iyer, CTO of CoNote, onto the Built Right podcast to share industry insights and predictions.

Nisha shares the story of CoNote, an AI-empowered platform helping transcribe and organize user research. We hear her thoughts on GenAI skepticism and how CoNote builds on customer feedback to improve its efficiency. Plus, Nisha tells us her predictions for GenAI in user research and whether it could eventually manage user interviews entirely.

Key Moments:

Nisha’s background in the industry
The decision to found CoNote
How CoNote augments user research processes, without taking over
Building a moat in age of AI hype
How generative AI is impacting user research in the short- and long-term
Will AI take over the role of AI research?
Why continuous research must be part of the development process
How much of CoNote’s plans are based on customer feedback
Why CoNote is a great example of product strategy

Key Links:

Visit the CoNote website: https://www.conote.ai/
Connect with Nisha on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nisha-ranjani-iyer/

Mentioned in this episode:

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

AI Opportunity Finder

The AI-EQ Connection: How Emotionally Intelligent AI is Reshaping Management

Tue, 17 Oct 2023 02:00:00 -0400

As more and more companies bolt AI onto their products, the importance of being intentional with our use of it is growing fast.

So what are the best ways to embed AI into management products in a purposeful way?

In this episode of the Built Right podcast, we speak to Brennan McEachran, CEO and Co-Founder of Hypercontext, an AI-empowered tool that helps managers run more effective one-on-ones, leading to better performance reviews. Brennan shares how he and his co-founder created the tool to aid their own work and later found how it could enhance multiple areas of performance management for leadership teams, creating faster, more streamlined processes.

Key moments:

Why Brennan and his co-founder started Hypercontext
How their tool makes one-to-one meetings and reviews more effective
Why daily use is important for his software to work well
How AI can actually enrich human experiences
How AI is enhancing EQ
How AI will affect the future of developers
Why customers were initially reserved about the product

Key links:

Visit the Hypercontext website: https://hypercontext.com/
Connect with Brennan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brennanmceachran/
Follow Brennan on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/i_am_brennan

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

The 6 Adaptive Leader Behaviors with Ebenezer Ikonne

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 02:00:00 -0400

It’s so easy to get change management wrong. Whether it’s sweeping organizational changes or tweaks to your systems and processes, leaders need to adapt and manage the challenges that come with any change.

When bringing big changes to your team, there could be differing opinions, resistance to change, or anxiety over changes. We call these “adaptive challenges,” and it’s important that leaders know how to balance these tensions in the right way.

In this episode of the Built Right podcast, we speak with Ebenezer Ikonne, AVP Product & Engineering at Cox Automotive, and author of the book ‘Becoming a Leader in Product Development.’ Ebenezer explores the six most important adaptive leader behaviors to adopt and why. These are the behaviors that you as a leader can adopt to encourage your team to work with you and to reassure them.

Key Moments:

The challenges of managing changes in your team
Why leaders need to step back and gain perspective
How to identify adaptive challenges
The importance of regulating distress in your team
How to maintain disciplined attention on the changes
Why leaders should give work back to the people
How to make space for leadership voices in your team

Key Links:

How to Become a Leader in Product Development: https://www.apress.com/us/book/9781484272978
YouTube: Joy at Work: https://www.youtube.com/@JoyatWork
Connect with Ebenezer on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/ebenezer-ikonne
Follow Ebenezer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/eikonne
Read the Kanyi Kwuo Okwu blog: https://eikonne.wordpress.com/

Mentioned in this episode:

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

AI Opportunity Finder

From 79¢ Tacos to Technological Milestones: Luke Freiler’s Journey

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 02:00:00 -0400

Beta testing and usability testing are crucial elements of the product development process. We wanted to learn more about the beta testing space, so welcomed Luke Freiler, CEO of Centercode, to the Built Right podcast to talk about his journey and his insights as a CEO and Founder.

Luke takes us back 22 years to how he first got interested in the space and eventually became the CTO and then CEO of Centercode. We hear his thoughts on agile working, AI, building a framework into the testing stage, and what his company looks for during tests.

Key Moments:

How Luke began his career
Where Luke saw a gap in the market
The key differences between QA and usability testing
The three things Luke’s company focuses on
What held Centercode back in the early days
Why Luke loves agile development
Luke’s future predictions on AI
His reservations about AI
Centercode’s unique approach to sales

Key Links:

Connect with Luke on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/freiler/
Centercode: https://www.centercode.com/

Mentioned in this episode:

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

AI Opportunity Finder

Off the Shelf or Custom… That Is the Question with Jerrik Arango

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 02:00:00 -0400

When it comes to software, the decision to build or buy is a thing of nightmares for many. There are numerous considerations, from cost to timeframe, expertise, team capacity and scaling complexity, to name a few. But, with the right framework in place, it doesn’t have to be that scary, says Built Right host Matt Paige.

To walk you through how to make this decision with confidence, we welcome Jerrik Arango, Principal Software Engineer at HatchWorks to the show to talk about the main factors that need to be considered. He shares the framework they have in place to help with the process and provides some great examples along the way.

Key moments:

What people should be thinking about when faced with build versus buy
The framework they like to use at Hatchworks
What is your competitive differentiation?
How cost relates to a build vs buy situation
Scaling complexity
Maturity and commoditization
Why you need to consider the timeframe
Expertise and team capacity in the build vs buy scenario
Do you have the expertise to keep data secure?
Why you don’t want to corner yourself with your decision

Key Links:

Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpaige/
Connect with Jerrik on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerrik-arango/

Mentioned in this episode:

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

AI Opportunity Finder

How Generative AI Will Impact the Developer Shortage with Trent Cotton

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 02:00:00 -0400

Could generative AI help recruiters fill the gaps in the talent market?

The developer community is facing a shortage of skilled workers, and the needs of the tech industry are growing. To stay ahead of the curve and remain competitive, companies must hire the best of the best. But with a shortage of talent, recruiters face a tough challenge.

To share some perspectives on recruitment difficulties, Trent Cotton, our VP of Talent & Culture, joins this episode of the Built Right podcast. Trent explains why we’re facing such a talent shortage, what that means for businesses, and why broken HR processes are holding many companies back.

Trent explores the growing usage of generative AI in the HR space and how that could help to patch up some of the gaps in the talent market.

Key Moments:

How the talent shortage directly impacts revenue
The training challenges of evolving technology
Why the talent shortage is down to multiple factors
The four dysfunctions of recruiting
Four principles of Sprint Recruiting
How AI could streamline recruiting
How AI will impact the skills gap
The Horowitz perspective on AI
Why we need to introduce children to tech earlier
Why employers need to be flexible about work preferences
The most exciting things to come in AI

Key Links:

Connect with Trent on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trentcotton
FutHRist: https://futhrist.com/
Sprint Recruiting: https://sprintrecruiting.com/
Why AI Will Save the World: https://a16z.com/2023/06/06/ai-will-save-the-world/

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

5 Ways Generative AI Will Change the Way You Think About UX and UI Design

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 02:00:00 -0400

Generative AI has taken the world by storm. In a short space of time, it has changed the way many people do their work. For UX and UI designers, it has the potential to change the entire design process – but how?

In this episode of Built Right, host Matt Paige sits down with HatchWorks’ Andy Silvestri, Director of Product Design, to break down the five main ways generative AI will change the way we think about UX and UI design.

Excited about the possibilities of Generative AI in UX/UI design? Make sure to subscribe to the Built Right podcast for more insights and discussions like these. Share your thoughts and experiences with us. Let's create, innovate, and elevate the world of design together!

Key Moments:

How AI could lead to a shift from imperative to declarative design
Getting to proof of concept quicker
Why you should exercise caution when using generative AI
What is a design system?
The impact on creation and design systems
How generative AI could keep users engaged
Why you need to think about what users want above all

Key Links:

Connect with Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andysilvestri/
Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpaige/

Mentioned in this episode:

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

AI Opportunity Finder

Listen, Prioritize and Scale to Build a Winning Product with HockeyStack’s Arda Bulut

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 02:00:00 -0400

From the idea stage to the product-market fit, building a winning product is no easy feat. That’s why we asked Arda Bulut, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at HockeyStack, to share his tips, tricks and insights.

Arda explains how responding to customer feedback, prioritizing the right things and keeping customer ease of use front of mind allowed him to build a successful SaaS analytics and attribution platform.

Plus, he highlights how he dealt with early setbacks and tells us one piece of advice he’d give his former self.

Don't miss the latest episode of Built Right. Discover how focusing on customer ease of use and finding the gold in your product can drive success. Subscribe now to Built Right to catch actionable tips and strategies from experts like Arda!

Key moments:

HockeyStack’s journey to product-market fit
How HockeyStack are able to iterate, build and deliver new features fast
What Arda learned while building HockeyStack
The benefits of listening to customer feedback
How to prioritize additions to your platform
What encouraged Arda to keep building HockeyStack despite setbacks
Why you should invest less in your product
One piece of advice Arda would give to his former self

Key links:

Arda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ardabulut-627211/
HockeyStack: https://hockeystack.com/
HatchWorks: https://hatchworks.com/
The Built Right podcast: https://hatchworks.com/built-right-a-podcast-about-building-the-right-digital-product/

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

Generative AI Playbook: How to Identify and Vet Winning Use Cases with Jason Schlachter

Tue, 11 Jul 2023 02:00:00 -0400

AI has been around for a while, simmering in the background on our devices and in wider society. But generative AI has become a hot topic of conversation following ChatGPT’s launch.

Naturally, you may be asking, how can I use generative AI in my business?

But a word of caution. We believe if you want to build something the right way, every decision and every tool you use needs to be carefully considered.

In our first Built Right live webinar, we welcomed Jason Schlachter, Founder of AI Empowerment Group and Host of the We Wonder podcast, to share his methods for identifying and assessing generative AI use cases.

Key Moments:

Generative AI summed up
How AI and bias go hand in hand
How to find the use cases for AI
Questions to help you decide on AI
How to prioritize and weigh up use cases
The importance of fluency vs. accuracy in AI
Defensible vs. non-defensible uses of AI
How to think about AI ethics
Why AI will replace tasks not jobs

Key Links:

Connect with Jason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-schlachter/
Jason’s podcast, We Wonder: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-wonder-podcast/id1480737304

Mentioned in this episode:

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

AI Opportunity Finder

Quality-Driven Product Development with Realtor.com’s Erika Chestnut

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode of the Built Right podcast, we look at the often overlooked and undervalued topic of quality in software development and how good process and culture are what creates the foundation for it.

Joining us is women-in-tech career coach, Erika Chestnut, who is Head of Quality at Realtor.com. Erika has been building and leading quality teams for around 15 years. She has a wealth of knowledge to share about the foundations of good quality, why organizations that want to improve quality are often focused on the wrong thing, how you create a balance between quality and innovation and the good leading indicators in quality.

Key moments:

What organizations can do to improve quality
The struggle to find balance between quality and innovation
Some of the best leading indicators in quality
How to help your business recognize the value and impact of process and quality
Erika’s thoughts on generative AI and its impact
An example of a company that is doing QA right
The one piece of advice Erika would give her younger self

Key links:

Erika on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikachestnut/
Erika’s website: https://www.erikachestnut.com/
HatchWorks: https://hatchworks.com
The Built Right podcast: https://hatchworks.com/built-right-a-podcast-about-building-the-right-digital-product/

Mentioned in this episode:

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

AI Opportunity Finder

Disrupting the Status Quo: Gated's Approach to Continuous Improvement with CEO Andy Mowat

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 02:00:00 -0400

Have you ever wanted to tune out the noise in your email inbox?

Most of us would love to take a break from email from time to time, but it’s easier said than done. This was a dilemma that Andy Mowat had, which led him to start Gated, a unique solution to cut through the noise to find the conversations that truly matter.

Tune in to the latest episode of Built Right, where Andy and host Matt Paige discuss user-focused strategies and rethinking communication in the digital age. Uncover valuable insights on solving problems, iterating quickly, and maintaining a user-centric approach to product development.

Subscribe to Built Right for more engaging conversations that will help you build the right products the right way!

Key Moments:

How Andy defines strategy
How Gated began from a common frustration
Gated’s mission to change the world of communication
How to get people to adopt real change
Building products that people love
The importance of engaging customers
How to decide whether to pivot or tweak your product
Why companies are afraid to make the hard decisions

Key Links:

Connect with Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amowat/
Gated: https://www.gated.com/
Customer Advocacy Playbook: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/customer-advocacy-playbook-andy-mowat/

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

Five Mistakes to Avoid in Your Product Career with Jackie Flake

Tue, 30 May 2023 02:00:00 -0400

Whether you’re right at the beginning of your career or are fully immersed in the product design world, product management is not an easy thing to get right.

In fact, we discussed some of the top mistakes product managers make in their careers in this episode of the Built Right podcast.

We invited Jackie Flake, Co-Founder and Head of Product & Agile Consulting Services at Option 1 Partners, to break down the most common five mistakes she sees when helping others in their careers.

Join us as we piece together the qualities that make a great product manager, things to avoid, and why collaboration is key to everything.

A big thanks to Jackie Flake for her invaluable insights. Inspired to upskill? Head to Product X Agile - they're offering our listeners a 30% discount on all on-demand courses. Just use the code 'HatchWorks30' at checkout. Here's the link: https://www.productxagile.com/ .

Don't forget to subscribe to keep getting these juicy product management insights. Have thoughts on the episode? Reach out online. We can't wait to hear from you!

Stay tuned and keep building right with us. See you next time!

Key Moments:

How product managers contribute to strategy
Why product managers don’t need to be technical
Why product managers should branch out from their usual responsibilities
The importance of writing great user stories
Why communication is key for product managers

Key Links:

Connect with Jackie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackieflake/
Option 1 Partners: https://option1partners.com/
Product x Agile: https://www.productxagile.com/

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

The MVP Trap: Why You Need a New Approach to Modernization with Joseph Misemer

Tue, 16 May 2023 02:00:00 -0400

If you’re ready to enter the next stage of product development – modernizing an existing solution – you might be tempted to try the MVP route again. It worked well once before, surely it can again…

The truth is that updating an existing solution is a completely different process. You’re not starting from scratch this time. You already have a product and users on board, and so you need a new approach.

To talk more about modernizing a solution and the best approaches to take, we welcomed Joseph Misemer, Director of Solutions Consulting at HatchWorks, to the podcast. Joseph explains why the MVP approach doesn’t work when it comes to modernizing a solution and breaks down the different elements of a successful modernization project.

Key Moments:

Why the MVP approach doesn’t always work
The main differences between MVP and MVR
The six principles of MVR
Three approaches to modernizing an MVR project

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

Building In Public: How Constraints Foster Creativity and Innovation

Tue, 02 May 2023 02:00:00 -0400

At what point in the product development journey do you go public?

For many, the answer is simple – when it’s finished. But not everyone likes to take that approach. Joining this episode of the Built Right podcast is Rui Nunes, Founder of Social Digest, and he doesn’t like to do things the traditional way.

Instead, he decided to take a different approach to building a product – doing it in public for all to see.

In this episode, we find out what it means to build in public, why Rui chose this approach, the challenges, and how to get it right.

Key moments:

Why humility is necessary when building in public
What building in public really means
Balancing risk with progress
Why smaller companies find it easier to build in public
How building in public helps you “build right”
The challenges of building in public
One thing Rui would change if he were to start over
The top benefits of building a product in plain view

Key links:

Social Digest: https://www.linkedin.com/company/socialdigest/
Connect with Rui on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamruinunes/
HatchWorks: https://hatchworks.com
The Built Right podcast: https://hatchworks.com/built-right-a-podcast-about-building-the-right-digital-product/

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Opportunity Finder

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

UX Design: More Than Just Making Things Easy with Andy Silvestri

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 02:00:00 -0400

The secret to good UX design goes beyond slick applications and impressive functionality. While those things are definitely important, HatchWorks’ Director of Product Design, Andy Silvestri, likes to think of UX design as user enablement.

In other words, UX design should enable users to be successful using your product so they get the maximum value out of it.

Andy joins episode two of the Built Right podcast to share his perspective on UX design and how to get it right. He explores how to tap into the UX mindset, understand your customer and their needs, conduct user research, and much more.

Key Moments:

The true goal of UX design
Why you need to balance the needs of stakeholders and users
How to tap into the UX mindset
Why you need to understand your customer well
Why personas can be useful for targeting
How user research can help you get product validation
How to get started with UX
Redesigning existing products and improving UX

Key Links:

HatchWorks: https://hatchworks.com/

Mentioned in this episode:

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

AI Opportunity Finder

The Built Right Mindset with Brandon Powell

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 02:00:00 -0400

Welcome to episode one of the Built Right podcast – a podcast series that explores how to build the right digital products the right way.

To kick off our first episode, we invited none other than HatchWorks CEO and founder Brandon Powell to set the scene. Brandon and host Matt Paige break down the different components that make a great product strategy and team – plus what not to do when building digital products.

In this episode, you’ll hear about the different product experts you’ll want on your team, the importance of building a flexible infrastructure for your product, and how to scale your product effectively.

Key Links:

HatchWorks: https://hatchworks.com
The Built Right podcast: https://hatchworks.com/built-right-a-podcast-about-building-the-right-digital-product/
Connect with Brandon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonchristopherpowell/

Key Moments:

The three components of the built right mindset
Why market research is essential
The importance of flexible infrastructure
The three product experts you need on your team
How to maintain a digital product the right way
How to scale effectively
AI and automation in digital products

Mentioned in this episode:

Talking AI - Conversations with AI experts and early adopters

AI Opportunity Finder

Welcome to the Built Right Podcast

Wed, 15 Mar 2023 09:00:00 -0400

Calling all product, technology or business leaders!

Are you building a digital product? Do you want to be sure you’re building the right product the right way? Worried your time, resources and cash will go up in flames? You’ve come to the right place.

The Built Right Podcast is taking a deep dive into topics such as UX, Product Strategy, modernizing digital products in the right way and many more. It features an array of Hatchworks experts, as well as product and engineering leaders, who share their stories and give real advice to ensure your product is built right.

If you want to deconstruct those layers of successful product development and breakdown popular trends, subscribe to the Built Right podcast on your favourite platform so you never miss an episode.