Paolo Ardoino is the CEO of Tether, the company behind the ticker symbol USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin. He also serves as CTO of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and co-founded Holepunch, a platform for peer-to-peer applications. Ardoino holds a Master’s in Computer Science from the University of Genoa and is one of the most visible proponents of improving the banking system with cryptocurrencies.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• How Paolo built the infrastructure behind the world’s most used stablecoin and why he believes math, not politics, should govern money
• Why he believes Bitcoin is the first form of money governed by math, and how that math could reshape global finance
• How USDT became the most used digital dollar by solving practical challenges in regions with limited banking access
• Why Paolo believes traditional finance is broken and how decentralized tech offers a more inclusive infrastructure
• The case for brain–computer interfaces and why Paolo sees human and AI symbiosis as the next frontier of intelligence
• Why he’s optimistic about AI’s role in society, even as he argues that long term AI safety might be an illusion

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter
• Connect with Paolo on LinkedIn or on X
• AI fun fact article
• On How to Ensure the AI and Workplace Technologies Align with Civil Rights Laws

Kyle Daigle is the Chief Operating Officer at GitHub, the world’s largest host of source code with more than 100 million developers and 420 million repositories. He joined GitHub in 2013 and later served as VP of Strategy and Chief of Staff to the CEO, playing a key role in the company’s 2018 acquisition by Microsoft. Kyle is also the public face of GitHub Copilot, the AI coding assistant launched in 2021 that now helps over 15 million users. Earlier in his career, he was a partner at Digitalworkbox and VP of Product Development at Geezeo.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Kyle’s journey from studying fine arts to leading operations at the world’s largest code platform
• Why GitHub Copilot is about freeing developers to focus on creativity and solving meaningful problems
• What it means to bring pragmatism into AI development and why usefulness always wins over hype
• How AI is lowering the barriers to software creation while keeping humans at the center of accountability
• The responsibility of platforms like GitHub to protect users from flawed code and teach safe coding by design
• Kyle’s vision for “ambient AI” and why the future should feel personal, context-aware, and privacy-conscious

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter
• Connect with Kyle on LinkedIn
• AI fun fact article
• On How to Discuss Regulation for LLMs and Legal Advice for Entrepreneurs
• Past episodes mentioned in this conversation: [With Patty Hatter, tech exec/board member/advisor] – On the best advice for women in technology

Marni Baker Stein is the Chief Content Officer at Coursera, the global learning platform with over 175 million learners and partnerships across 6,200 campuses, businesses, and governments. She leads Coursera’s content and credential strategy and manages global partner relationships. Before joining Coursera, Marni was Chief Academic Officer and Provost at Western Governors University, where she oversaw programs for more than 135,000 students. She has also held leadership roles focused on access, student success, and program design at the University of Texas, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Marni earned her PhD in Educational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• How AI is shifting education from one-size-fits-all to personalized, contextualized learning tailored to each student
• Why microcredentials and stackable learning are replacing traditional degrees as the new path for lifelong learners
• The role of educators in the AI era and why they should be part of the solution, not sidelined by automation
• What it means for universities to stay relevant as learning becomes more modular, flexible, and job-aligned
• Why GenAI is fueling demand for both technical skills and enduring human abilities like critical thinking and communication
• How tools like AI tutors, instant translations, and proctoring are democratizing access and preserving integrity at scale

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter
• Connect with Marni on LinkedIn
• AI fun fact article
• On How To Identify The Power of Product and Listening to Your Customers. 
• Past episodes mentioned in this conversation:
  • [With Dave Marchick, Dean of the Kogod School of Business] – On How AI is Changing Academia
  • [Chris Caren, Turnitin CEO] – On using AI to prevent students from cheating plus lessons for leaders on innovation and team culture

Tess Posner is the CEO and founding leader of AI4ALL, a nonprofit that works to ensure the next generation of AI leaders is diverse and well-quipped to innovate. Since joining in 2017, she has focused on embedding ethics, responsibility, and real-world impact into AI education. Her work connects students from underrepresented backgrounds to hands-on projects and mentorships that prepare them to lead in tech. Beyond her role at AI4ALL, Tess is a musician whose 2023 EP Alchemy has over 600,000 streams on Spotify. She was named a 2020 Brilliant Woman in AI Ethics Hall of Fame Honoree and holds degrees from St. John’s University and Columbia University.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Why AI literacy is becoming essential for everyone, from casual users to future developers
• The role of project-based learning in helping students see the real-world impact of AI
• What it takes to expand AI access for underrepresented communities
• How AI can either reinforce bias or drive real change, depending on who’s leading its development
• Why schools should stop penalizing AI use and instead teach students to use it with curiosity and responsibility
• Tess’s views on balancing optimism and caution in the development of AI tools

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter
• Connect with Tess on LinkedIn or learn more about AI4ALL
• AI fun fact article
• On How To Build and Activate a Powerful Network
• Past episodes mentioned in this conversation:
  • [With Tess in 2020] – About what leaders do in a crisis
  • [With Tess in 2019] – About how to mitigate AI bias and hiring best practices 
  • [With Chris Caren, Turnitin CEO] – On Using AI to Prevent Students from Cheating
  • [With Marcus “Bellringer” Bell] – On Creating North America’s First AI Artist

Dr. Martin Goodson is the founder and CEO of Evolution AI, a company he launched in 2012 to apply deep learning to optical character recognition (OCR). The company has received one of the largest AI R&D grants ever awarded by the UK government, along with investment from First Minute Capital. A former scientific researcher at Oxford University, Martin has led AI research across several organizations and was elected Chair of the Data Science and AI Section of the Royal Statistical Society in 2019.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Martin Goodson’s journey from researching biological data to founding Evolution AI and pioneering deep learning for document understanding.
• Why traditional OCR missed the mark, and how combining visual and linguistic context unlocked a new frontier in document intelligence.
• The evolution from data extraction to true financial analysis, and why domain knowledge is essential for reading statements like income reports.
• The risks of LLM hallucinations, especially with numerical data, and why accuracy still requires combining techniques across model types.
• What Martin believes intelligence really is, and why language alone may be the wrong benchmark for AGI.
• Why recreating human intelligence shouldn’t be the goal of AI research, and how we can build systems that support, not mimic, human thinking.

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter
• Connect with Martin on LinkedIn
• Check out the YouTube channel of the London Machine Learning Meetup
• AI fun fact article
• On How to Ovecome Imposter Syndrome
• Past episodes mentioned:
  • On Why doing Taxes is like finding the Best Route on a Map with Daniel Marcous
  • On Making AI Smarter Without Harming Humans with Peter Voss

Scott Stevenson is the CEO and co-founder of Spellbook, a legal tech company transforming how attorneys review contracts with AI. Since launching in 2018, Spellbook’s AI copilot has been adopted by more than 1,700 legal teams and helps review over a million contracts annually. Scott recently led the company through a $20 million Series A backed by Inovia Capital, Thomson Reuters Ventures, The Legaltech Fund, and others. Before Spellbook, he founded Mune, a startup at the intersection of music and technology, and holds a BS in Computer Engineering from Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Scott’s journey from building electronic instruments to launching Spellbook, the world’s first generative AI copilot for lawyers.
• Why contracts, not court cases, were the ideal entry point for legal AI and how Spellbook now helps 3,000+ legal teams review over a million contracts a year.
• How AI is expanding access to legal services by reducing costs and enabling lawyers to serve the 70% of clients who previously couldn’t afford help.
• Why AI won’t replace lawyers and how tools like Spellbook enhance human judgment rather than automate legal decisions.
• Why now may be the best time to enter the legal field as AI eliminates drudgery and creates more room for strategy and client work.
• What product-market fit really looks like and how Scott found it after testing more than 100 hypotheses before landing on a solution that clicked.
• Why the best AI products embrace controlled chaos over rigid structure and how leaning into complexity reflects how the real world actually works.

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter
• Connect with Scott on LinkedIn
• AI fun fact article
• On How to Build an AI platform that’s growing faster than OpenAI

Dave Marchick is the Dean of American University’s Kogod School of Business and a seasoned leader with experience across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. He spent over a decade as Managing Director at The Carlyle Group, where he served on the management committee and advanced the firm’s sustainability and diversity efforts. In government, he held senior roles in both the Biden and Clinton administrations, including leadership positions at the State Department, the White House, and the Development Finance Corporation. Dave directed the Center for Presidential Transition during the 2020 cycle and later launched the Transition Lab podcast and co-authored The Peaceful Transition of Power. A dedicated advocate for civil rights and historical preservation, he has served on the boards of the Holocaust Memorial Museum and the National Park Foundation. Dave holds degrees from George Washington University, the LBJ School at UT Austin, and UC San Diego.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• How Dean Dave Marchick is helping to infuse AI across the curriculum at American University’s Kogod School of Business.
• The resistance and cultural shifts required to get faculty on board with AI adoption.
• How students are learning to prompt, critique, and collaborate with AI from their first semester (and how it’s reshaping classroom dynamics).
• Why professionalism, communication, and negotiation are now prioritized as “skills of the future”.
• How Kogod is thinking about measuring the real-world impact of AI education beyond the classroom.
• Lessons from U.S. presidential transitions and what they reveal about leadership during critical moments.

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter: https://aiandwork.beehiiv.com/subscribe
• Connect with Dave on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-marchick/
• AI fun fact article: https://www.psu.edu/news/campus-life/story/cheat-thon-contest-explores-ais-strengths-and-flaws-higher-education
• On what it was like to co-author a book with ChatGPT: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bob-rogers-ai-expert-physicist-author-and-ceo-of-oii/id1476885647?i=1000606108950
• Other episodes mentioned in the show:
  • Episode with George Sivulka [Hebbia CEO]
  • Episode with Tom Wheeler [Former FCC Chairman and author of Techlash]
  • Episode with Chris Caren [Turnitin CEO]
• Read Dave Marchick’s book: The Peaceful Transfer of Power: An Oral History of America’s Presidential Transitions

Snehal Antani is an entrepreneur, technologist, and investor. He is the CEO and Co-founder of Horizon3, a cybersecurity company using AI to deliver Red Teaming and Penetration Testing as a Service. He also serves as a Highly Qualified Expert for the U.S. Department of Defense, supporting digital transformation and data initiatives for Special Operations. Previously, he was CTO and SVP at Splunk, held CIO roles at GE Capital, and began his career as a software engineer at IBM. Snehal holds a master’s in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a bachelor’s from Purdue University, and he is the inventor on 16 patents.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Snehal Antani’s path from software engineer to CEO, and how his father’s quiet example of grit and passion continues to shape his leadership style.
• How a “LEGO blocks” approach to building skills prepared Snehal to lead, and why he believes leadership must be earned through experience.
• Why Horizon3 identifies as a data company, and how running more pen tests than the Big Four creates a powerful AI advantage.
• What “cyber-enabled economic warfare” looks like in practice, and how a small disruption in a supply chain can create massive global impact.
• How Horizon3 built an AI engine that hacked a bank in under 60 seconds, showing what’s possible when algorithms replace manual testing.
• What the future of work looks like in the AI era, with a growing divide between those with specialized expertise and trade skills and those without.

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter: https://aiandwork.beehiiv.com/subscribe
• Connect with Snehal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/snehalantani/
• AI fun fact article: https://venturebeat.com/security/ai-vs-endpoint-attacks-what-security-leaders-must-know-to-stay-ahead/
• On the New Definition of Work: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-john-boudreau-future-of-work-pioneer-and/id1476885647?i=1000633854079

Ravi Malick is the Global CIO at Box, where he leads IT strategy, compliance, and customer advocacy for the enterprise content management platform. Before joining Box, he served as SVP & CIO at Vistra Corp., where he oversaw the integration of three major acquisitions that more than doubled the company’s size. Earlier in his career, he held leadership roles at Energy Future Holdings, including VP of Business Technology at TXU Energy. Ravi earned a BA in Political Science from Brown University and remains active in philanthropic efforts outside of work.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Ravi Malick’s nonlinear path from investment banking and consulting to becoming Global CIO at Box—and how each chapter shaped his leadership style.
• What makes Box’s “people-first” culture stand out in Silicon Valley and why Ravi believes authenticity and inclusion are key to long-term success.
• The challenges of leading IT at a company with 3,000 tech-savvy employees—and how Ravi balances innovation with governance.
• How he’s approaching AI adoption internally, from quick wins to long-term strategy, while keeping a sharp focus on business outcomes.
• What the “agentic workforce” could mean for scalability, productivity, and the structure of tomorrow’s teams.
• How Ravi sees the future of work: multi-role careers, voice-first workflows, and AI-powered teams built around passion and outcomes.

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter: https://aiandwork.beehiiv.com/subscribe
• Connect with Ravi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravimalick/
• AI fun fact article: https://www.engineering.com/rip-saas-long-live-ai-as-a-service/
• On how AI supports thousands of employees at a rapidly growing global company: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/parul-saini-ubers-global-head-of-enterprise-apps/id1476885647?i=1000599377300 

Dr. Craig Wheeler is Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin and a former department chair. He has published nearly 400 scientific papers, written books on supernovae, and authored two novels. A frequent speaker and award-winning educator, Dr. Wheeler has served on advisory committees for the NSF, NASA, and the National Research Council. His research explores topics from exploding stars and black holes to the technological future of humanity.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• How supernovae and black holes shaped Dr. Craig Wheeler’s career—and what they reveal about the universe’s expansion.
• The singularity debate: Will AI surpass human intelligence, and if so, what happens next?
• Machine consciousness vs. human intelligence—why the future of AI might be more alien than we expect.
• The rise of AI in leadership roles—could AI replace CEOs, and what does that mean for the future of work?
• The ethics of AI-driven decision-making, from hiring to autonomous weapons, and the challenges of regulation.
• Why exponential technological growth is inevitable—and how humanity can prepare for its accelerating impact.

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter: https://aiandwork.beehiiv.com/subscribe
• Connect with J. Craig Wheeler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-craig-wheeler-94024a97/
• AI fun fact article: https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/robots/a63057078/when-the-singularity-will-happen/
• On AI Job Creation & Predictions for AI in the Enterprise: https://www.buzzsprout.com/520474/episodes/15873523

Dheeraj Pandey is a visionary entrepreneur and philanthropist best known for founding and leading Nutanix from its inception to becoming a publicly traded company valued at approximately $16.5 billion on NASDAQ. In 2020, he launched DevRev, an agentic AI company focused on unifying data to enhance customer experiences, securing over $100 million in funding from Khosla Ventures. Beyond his contributions to technology, Dheeraj co-founded Param Hansa with his wife, Swapna, to advance human life through science and technology. He holds a Computer Science and Engineering degree from IIT Kanpur and a master’s in Computer Science from UT Austin.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Why data is the backbone of AI and how DevRev is leveraging knowledge graphs to transform customer support and product management.
• The evolution of enterprise AI—why businesses must integrate AI with human workflows rather than replace them.
• The future of customer support—how DevRev combines real-time conversations with ticketing systems to improve response times and reduce inefficiencies.
• The ethical challenges of AI adoption—how bias, security, and machine reliability shape the future of AI-driven business operations.
• How DevRev raised over $100M, including an unconventional approach using blockchain and decentralized funding models.
• Dheeraj’s vision for AI’s next frontier—why the real challenge isn’t intelligence, but making AI work seamlessly with human decision-making.

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter:  https://aiandwork.beehiiv.com/subscribe
• Connect with Dheeraj Pandey on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/dpandey
• AI fun fact article:  https://hackernoon.com/next-time-you-hear-someone-say-ai-will-replace-call-center-agents-run
• On The Path To 500M+ YouTube views:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/301-william-osman-on-the-path-to-500m-youtube-views/id1476885647?i=1000668882327

How has the dynamic between employees and employers shifted over the past 18 months? And what does the future of work look like in a world defined by AI?

In this special live episode, recorded at Transform—the conference at the intersection of the People space and the tech industry—Dan Turchin sits down with Bryan Power, Head of People at Nextdoor.

Bryan took the stage at Transform to share insights on “The Power Shift: Navigating the New Employer-Employee Dynamic,” where he explored how evolving expectations are reshaping the workforce.

Bryan has spent his career shaping workplace culture at some of the most iconic tech companies, including Google, Square, and Yahoo. Now, as the leader of People Operations at Nextdoor, he’s at the forefront of redefining work in an era of rapid change.

In this conversation, Bryan and Dan discuss topics such as:

• How the employee-employer relationship is evolving—why job loyalty is declining and what it means for the future of work.
• The rise of hybrid work and its impact on company culture—how Nextdoor navigates the balance between flexibility and connection.
• Why culture must be intentional—lessons from Google, Square, Yahoo, and Nextdoor on shaping a workplace where people thrive.
• The role of AI in HR and leadership—how AI is disrupting traditional people operations and what leaders must do to stay ahead.
• Bryan’s biggest leadership lessons—what he’s learned from building teams at some of the most influential tech companies.
• The future of HR in an AI-powered world—how the Chief People Officer role is shifting as AI and automation reshape the workplace.

Resources

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter:  https://aiandwork.beehiiv.com/subscribe
• Connect with Bryan Power: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanpower/
• Learn more about Transform: https://transform.us/conference/

Mona Sabet is the co-author of Sail to Scale: Steering Startups Clear of Mistakes from Launch to Exit and currently serves as SVP, Strategy, Projects, and Operations at GCG. With a track record of driving growth and strategic transformations, she has held executive roles at VulcanForms, UserTesting, and Cadence Design Systems. At UserTesting, she played a pivotal role in securing $100M in funding, leading acquisitions, taking the company public, and negotiating its $1.3B sale to Thoma Bravo. Beyond her corporate leadership, Mona is a passionate advocate for women in tech, law, and policy, having co-founded ChIPsNetwork.org and leading HiPower, a community dedicated to empowering executive women shaping the future of technology.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• The critical mistakes startups make at different growth stages—Mona shares insights from Sail to Scale on why companies struggle to scale and how to avoid common pitfalls.
• How founders should “fire themselves” to scale effectively—Why transitioning from founder to CEO requires a mindset shift, and the biggest mistakes leaders make in this process.
• The AI bubble: hype vs. reality—Mona explains why overfunding in AI-first companies mirrors past tech bubbles and what it means for the future of the industry.
• Why acquisitions should be a long-term strategy, not a last-minute decision—The importance of planning exits early and why companies that wait too long often fail to sell at the right valuation.
• The evolving landscape of M&A and IPOs—How companies can differentiate themselves in a crowded market of late-stage startups waiting for an exit.
• The unseen biases keeping women out of leadership—Mona’s perspective on why brand bias impacts diversity in tech and what leaders can do to create real change.

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter
• Connect with Mona on LinkedIn
• AI fun fact article
• On How to how AI is changing the entertainment industry

Dr. Brandeis Marshall is a leading advocate for responsible data science and the CEO of Dataedx Group, a data ethics and learning development agency dedicated to helping teams identify and address discrimination in data. Previously, she was a professor of computer science at Spelman College and a faculty associate at Harvard. Dr. Marshall holds a master’s and Ph.D. in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Why AI-powered companies should be regulated like scientific entities—and the hidden ways they optimize human behavior.
• The role of data ethics in AI—how companies can prevent bias and why everyone in the data pipeline is responsible for ethical decision-making.
• Why most businesses struggle with AI adoption—Brandeis explains how companies can bridge the AI gap and align data strategies with real business impact.
• The future of healthcare data—how a patient-owned, portable medical record system could revolutionize access and transparency.
• How AI can be leveraged to expose systemic inequalities and provide better opportunities for marginalized communities.
• Why AI should be seen as a support tool, not a replacement—Brandeis shares how AI can help neurodivergent individuals and enhance human decision-making.

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter
• Connect with Brandeis on LinkedIn
• AI fun fact article
• On Using AI to Unlock Human Potential