AI and the Future of Work
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Episode Number : 93
Dan Grunfeld, former professional basketball player and operator at Lightspeed Venture Partners, discusses the parallels between sports and entrepreneurship. His grandma’s escape from the Holocaust inspired him to share her story, one he has been writing for five years. Dan’s family history is inspirational. His advice for entrepreneurs is timeless.
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- Why professional basketball is a lot like entrepreneurship
- Dan’s lessons from experiencing hardship on the court… and how to recover from setbacks
- How the best entrepreneurs find product-market fit
- How his 96 year-old grandma was saved twice by Raoul WallenbergÂ
- Why Dan says “…basketball was sent from heaven for my family”
- Dan’s advice about discipline for aspiring authors: “if you snooze once, you can snooze every day.”
References in this episode:
- Rene Morkos on AI and the Future of Work
- Panos Siozos on AI and the Future of Work
- Bernie and Ernie on ESPN 30 for 30
- Dan on Twitter: @dan_grunfeld
- Dan’s personal site: DanGrunfeld.com
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Episode Number : 92
Matt Compton‘s a restless tinkerer from Indianapolis who started Filo.co to solve a problem he had. He needed something better than Zoom to be able to spend more time with his family without being on the road three weeks a month. He and his co-founders joined a venture studio and built the prototype for Filo.co in four weeks. Now it powers virtual employee events for an impressive list of companies.
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- What’s really required to make virtual events productive
- How Filo’s better than Zoom
- How Anaplan crushed sales kickoff using Filo
- The future of virtual spaces
- Why we don’t need a metaverse
References in this episode:
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Episode Number : 91
Phil Heltewig, co-founder and CEO of Cognigy, the low-code conversational AI platform for managing customer service bots, discusses how new AI technologies are improving the support experience. Phil started Cognigy in 2016 with two co-founders and has since raised $55M from Insight Partners among others. The team is now about 100 employees and boasts an amazing customer list including Lufthansa and Bosch.
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- What Teddy Ruxpin has to do with the future of conversational AI.
- About the highs and lows of the entrepreneurial journey: “…there are days when you’re wondering if you can make payroll…”
- How customer service bots “are designed to help humans in call centers, not replace them.”
- What are the biggest technical challenges when applying NLP in narrow enterprise domains with limited training data.
- How Cognigy thinks about mitigating the impact of bias in AI models.
- Why your experience re-booking your flight will be much better in the future.
References in this episode:
- Cognigy on Twitter
- Cognigy
- AI and the Future of Work with Panos Siozos
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Episode Number : 90
Dr. Panos Siozos, LearnWorlds CEO, went from academic to high-tech CEO and raised $32M from Insight Partners to help creators monetize e-learning courses. Dr. Siozos is our first guest from Cyprus and his story about building a remote-first, global team should inspire international entrepreneurs everywhere. As Dr. Siozos says, “everyone has something to teach… that someone else wants to learn.” This is a great opportunity to understand the future of learning… in 30 minutes.
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- How Dr. Siozos transitioned from being an academic and researcher to a high-tech CEO
- Why creators need a better platform to share and monetize custom e-learning courses
- How technology is redefining the learning experience and why “the industrial education experience” is antiquated
- How future innovation in the areas of AI, AR, and VR will increase engagement rates for e-learning
- Why Dr. Siozos says “…learning is the only superpower we possess as humans.”
References in this episode:
- Bryan Talebi, Ahura AI CEO, on AI and the Future of Work
- Jordan Husney, Parabol CEO, on AI and the Future of Work
- LearnWorlds
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Episode Number : 89
Scott Zoldi, FICO Chief Analytics Officer and PhD in Theoretical Physics, shares how to use AI responsibly. FICO uses consumer data and machine learning models to make decisions ranging from fraud to credit risk. Hundreds of thousands of signals can be used to make a single decision by comparing new data with historical data. Scott’s team is focused not just on making accurate decisions but also ensuring the signals used and the decision-making process are bias-free.
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- How Scott’s team uses AI to make automated decisions using consumer data
- Why Scott’s priorities are “explainability first and performance second”
- Why the principles of “humble AI” are as important as the principles of ethical AI
- What’s required to increase public trust in AI-based decisions
- What’s the role of data scientists in the future when AutoML is prevalent
- What Scott means when he says “models aren’t biased when they’re built, they’re only biased in production”
References in this episode:
- Scott’s blog posts at FICO
- @ScottZoldi on TwitterÂ
- Facebook’s AI experiment gone awry
- Amazon’s facial recognition failure
Thanks to Benjamin Baer for the intro to Scott!
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Episode Number : 88
Bindu Reddy, CEO and co-founder of Abacus AI, was a product exec at Google and Amazon and an accomplished entrepreneur before setting out to make AI model management accessible to non data scientists. Bindu has since raised more than $40M from investors like Index Ventures, Coatue, Ram Shriram, Deep Nishar, and others. Her team is investing in core AI research and building a platform to make it easy to deploy models trained on deep neural nets with tabular data. Hear Bindu’s vision… then go follow her on Twitter for provocative tweets like the one we discuss in this episode :).
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- How Bindu became an AI enthusiast after an algorithm helped her previous company increase revenue 40%
- What Bindu learned at Google and AWS… and what she has had to un-learn to grow Abacus AI
- How AI is being used to reduce customer churn
- Why Bindu’s vision is to make creating and managing AI models “as easy as creating podcasts or websites”
- Why building bias into AI models isn’t necessarily bad
References in this episode:
- Krishna Gade on AI and the Future of Work
- Jeff Meyerson on AI and the Future of Work
- Abacus.ai
- Bindu on Twitter
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Episode Number : 87
Charity Majors, CTO and co-founder at honeycomb, grew up in rural Idaho and dropped out of college. This is her unlikely journey from pianist to successful high-tech entrepreneur. She’s a pioneer in the monitoring and observability space who turned her learning at Facebook into a company focused on helping developers find and fix bugs faster. Charity’s opinionated, thoughtful, and one of the most outspoken critics of, well, the status quo :).
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- What motivated Charity to start a career in tech having been a “perennial dropout”
- Why “ops has a well-deserved reputation for masochism”
- Why Charity says the “Kool-aid at Facebook is strong and potent”
- Why it’s impossible to troubleshoot software bugs with high cardinality data
- How Charity defines observability
- What it means to practice observability-driven development (ODD) and why it should replace test-driven development (TDD)
References in this episode:
Thanks to Rachel Chalmers for making this episode happen!
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Episode Number : 86
Kai Nunez, VP Research & Insights at Salesforce, didn’t always know she wanted to pursue a career in AI because it didn’t exist as a field. Her dad was a linguist and she became interested in human-computer interaction at a young age. Kai’s deep concern for values-based leadership and operating with integrity led her to become a leading voice in the DEI and AI ethics communities. Today, her teams are creating a culture of awareness about the impact tech has on underserved populations. She’s a passionate advocate for educating teams to do the right thing… even when nobody’s looking.
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- About Salesforce’s real “biggest competitor”
- Why DEI matters in technology
- How Kai lives the value of “being a respectful truthteller”
- Why the future of software includes data audits to mitigate the risk of bias
- What happened when Kai presented an unpopular idea to Marc Benioff
References in this episode…
- Krishna Gade from Fiddler on AI and the Future of Work
- AI ethics at Salesforce
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Episode Number : 85
René Morkos, CEO and Founder of ALICE Technologies, grew up wanting to build things. That passion led him to degrees in Construction Management and an adjunct professorship at Stanford. In 2015, he founded ALICE to improve the efficiency of complex construction projects. Rene has since raised nearly $40M from an incredible list of investors including Lightspeed, Merus, and Future Ventures.
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- What René learned from his first job after college working on construction sites in Afghanistan
- Why ConstructionTech has attracted nearly $6B since 2014
- How algorithms figure out what 6,000 people on a construction site should do every day
- What the world will be like in ten years when technology is fully adopted in the construction industry
- Why “startups are really just R&D departments for large companies”
- What’s hard about building startups…that they don’t teach you in CEO school
References in the episode…
- ALICE Technologies
- ALICE on Twitter
- AI and the Future of Work with Rachel Chalmers from Alchemist Accelerator
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Episode Number : 84
Gary Bolles, entrepreneur, venture advisor, and best-selling author, is a deep thinker who established roots in Silicon Valley in the 80s to pursue his joint passions for technology and exploring what he calls the three boxes of life – learning, work, and leisure. He’s the author of The Next Rules of Work which was published August 31. He’s also the chair for the Future of Work at Singularity University and the founder of eParachute among other companies. Oh, and his LinkedIn courses have helped train more than 800,000 students.
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- How the son of a laid off minister became one of the foremost authorities on the future of work
- What opportunities are being created by “The Great Reset”
- How technology is redefining work… and redefining our identity as humans
- What it means that we’re moving from a “workforce” to a “worknet”
- About the $10 million exercise… and why it’s the best way to find your passion
- Why living the acronym “PACE” is the best way to ensure future career success
References in today’s episode…
- Gary’s site
- Singularity University
- AI and the Future of Work with Charlene Li
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Episode Number : 83
Derek Steer cut his teeth as a data analyst at Facebook and Yammer more than a decade ago. He co-founded Mode in 2013 to make it easier to ask questions about data and get better answers faster. Mode has since raised four rounds of funding including a recent $33M round from an exceptional group of investors. 52% of Fortune 500 companies use Mode and Derek has grown the team to more than 300 employees. Derek’s vision: “drive the time to do analysis down to zero.” He’s well on his way!
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- What Mode’s doing to “unlock the power of human reasoning”
- What Derek learned about tools for data analysts from Facebook and Yammer
- Why there will always be a need for analytics frontends even amid competition from data warehouses like Snowflake
- The future of work for data analysts
- The biggest tragedy in BI today
References in this episode:
- Benn Stancil’s “season without bats“
- Fivetran
- ThoughtSpot
- Trifacta
- Tiernan Ray on AI and the Future of Work
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Episode Number : 82
Jeff Meyerson, entrepreneur, musician, technologist, and author of the acclaimed “Move Fast: How Facebook Builds Software”, discusses the stranglehold Big Tech has on developer tools and how the future of software development may be quite different from the present.
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- What Jeff learned about sales from playing poker
- How Facebook builds software… and how it can avoid being evil
- Why React is the “Linux of the frontend of the web”
- The development tools Jeff’s most excited about
- Why Zuck’s not a good leader
- What Jeff will tell Zuck when they finally meet
References in this episode…
- “Move Fast: How Facebook Builds Software” on Amazon
- Jeff on Twitter
- Software Engineering Daily
- Janelle Shane’s great book
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Episode Number : 81
Krishna Gade was an engineering leader at Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook before realizing AI is eating software… and responsible AI is essential. He turned a passion for “trustworthy AI” into a company that recently raised $32M to make AI explainable.
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- Why AI explainability matters… and how to instrument it in AI models
- What developers need to know to ensure AI models don’t make bad decisions
- What legislators need to know when creating frameworks to regulate “responsible” use of AI
- How Apple fumbled AI explainability when issuing credit cards through Goldman Sachs
- Krishna’s top lesson learned as a first-time CEO
References in this episode:
- AI and The Future of Work with Mark van Rijmenam
- AI and The Future of Work with Tiernan Ray
- The Algorithmic Accountability Act
- fiddler.ai
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Episode Number : 80
Neelima Parasker started coding at a young age. Inspired by her entrepreneur mother, she studied Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering before eventually starting SnapIT Solutions. Neelima’s passion for investing in unproven talent has guided her as a leader. She’s an active entrepreneur coach and is involved in many civic organizations in and around the Kansas City area.
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- The single most important lesson for parents looking to cultivate a love of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math in their kids.
- How Neelima has built a culture around her belief that we should “use technology to grow people, not the other way around.”
- How glass ceilings for women and under-represented minorities can be shattered.
- How governments should take responsibility for improving access to STEM education.
- Why Neelima isn’t afraid of bots taking jobs because “our faults make us human.”
References in today’s episode…
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Episode Number : 80
Rachel Chalmers aspired to be an English professor before being inspired by a technology journal to relocate from Ireland to San Francisco. She has since covered over 1,000 startups as an industry analyst and invested in many more as an investor. Rachel is passionate about representing the under-represented and encouraging all those who have been told they can’t live their dreams. This is a must-listen for entrepreneurs who have ever felt disadvantaged by circumstances out of their control. It’s also the episode in which I volunteer to chair the Chalmers 2024 campaign.
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- The burn rate rule of thumb for startups
- Why “venture capital wants to perpetuate itself”
- The origins of the Silicon Valley myth that “all talent is concentrated in white males”
- How to eliminate institutional biases that constrain women and under-represented minorities when raising money and building companies
- How Rachel is defining the future workplace where humans and machines collaborate
References in this episode:
- Ravi Belani and the Alchemist Accelerator
- The Innovators Inside podcast by AlchemistX
- Charity Majors and Honeycomb
- Edith Harbaugh and LaunchDarkly
- Ciro and Jacopo from Tooso on AI and the Future of Work
- Filip Dousek from Workday on AI and the Future of Work
- Project Include
- Arlan Hamilton
- Kate Crawford’s Atlas of AI
- Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott
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Episode Number : 79
Dr. Cataltepe is an accomplished scientist and entrepreneur… with a social conscience. She has published more than 100 academic papers and is a three-time recipient of the “Women Entrepreneur of the Year” award. Dr. Cataltepe and her team believe building and managing AI models should be something anyone can do… even her 70 year old mother who is a farmer in Turkey :). Tazi’s vision is to make AI explainable, accessible, and configurable for “mere mortals”.
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- What’s required to deploy AI that is easy to understand, monitor, and update by business people without data science or computer science backgrounds
- How to apply micro-segmentation to detect and eliminate bias in data and models
- Why “bring your own model” may solve critical issues related to data privacy and data bias
- How reducing the complexity of AI also will limit its environmental footprint
- How insurance companies are using AI trained with telematic data to determine driver risk and premiums
- Why the Turkish saying “even the snake eats the earth one bite at a time” represents Dr. Cataltepe’s vision for the future of AI
- Thanks to the Alchemist Accelerator team for the introduction to Dr. Cataltepe!
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Episode Number : 78
Ken Gonzalez has spent the better part of 35 years as an IT practitioner, CIO advisor, and industry analyst. He has fielded more than 2,500 inquiry calls and contributed to some of the most impactful IT trends. Ken’s advisory work focuses on IT metrics and organizational change. Hear Ken share the one workplace technology shift that all organizations must make to remain competitive in the next decade.
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- What it means for IT to adopt a “product management mindset”
- How Ken helped a client save $750,000
- Why most enterprise IT teams “overestimate their process maturity”
- The role AI will play in defining IT strategy (hint: it’s not what you think)
- Jargon alert: “KTLO” = “keep the lights on”
References in this episode…
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Episode Number : 77
Dan O’Connell, former founder and CEO of TalkIQ which was acquired by Dialpad, discusses the future of cloud communications. Dan’s vision for helping teams sell more with less churn led to Dialpad becoming a unicorn last year having raised $100M at a $1.2B pre-money valuation. Exceptional investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Google Ventures are betting on Dialpad’s ability to convert legacy telephony infrastructure into cloud-native, SaaS systems using AI to analyze voice transcripts.
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- Dan’s entrepreneurial journey from incubator to launch to fundraising to acquisition.
- Why TalkIQ was really three startups in one… and how Dan navigated his team through the process of finding one big customer problem to fix.
- Why voice will soon be the primary computing interface.
- The challenges of developing NLP technology for voice transcription and AI-based analytics.
- What Dan learned from nearly a decade at Google… and, more important, what he learned not to do.
References in the episode…
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Episode Number : 76
Dion Hinchcliffe has been reporting on and prognosticating about the future of work for more than 20 years. He speaks with 100s of global CIOs annually about how to use technology to deliver great employee experiences. In this discussion, Dion shares mind-boggling stats about IT spending patterns and provocative thoughts about how to fix what’s broken in the workplace.
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- The real definition of “digital transformation”
- Why CIOs have the shortest tenure in the C-suite
- Who spends more on IT… than IT!
- What % of IT budgets go to innovation… and why that number is pathetically low.
- How the technology in your pocket will be very different in a decade.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
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Episode Number : 75
John Whaley has been programming since age five. He has been a lecturer at Stanford in Computer Science, a founding CTO, and a founding CEO. John raised a large series A in 2017 and has sold two companies. Oh, and he’s out to save the world from passwords. UnifyID is a pioneer in the use of biometric data stored on mobile devices to authenticate users.
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- How John’s personal journey led to the founding and successful acquisition of UnifyID by Prove.
- About the ethical implications of giving Big Tech access to your biometric data.
- Why “being yourself should provide enough information to uniquely identify you.”
- What John means when he says “data isn’t the new oil… it’s the new kryptonite.”
- John’s bold prediction for when passwords will no longer be the predominant form of authentication (spoiler alert: it’s sooner than you think).
Thanks to Vinay Prabhu for the introduction to John.
