Shows
Practically IntelligentE20 – From Classrooms to Curiosity: AI & The Future of Learning with Katelyn DonnellyWe sit down with Katelyn Donnelly, founder & Managing Director of Avalanche VC. A longtime operator in education and social-impact consulting, Katelyn now backs early-stage AI and ed-tech startups reshaping how—and why—we learn.We cover:- Ed-tech vs. learning tech. Why the biggest breakthroughs often skip the classroom and go straight to the consumer.- Motivation over personalization. The real bottleneck isn’t better content—it’s sparking curiosity and keeping learners engaged.- AI’s dual role as both a teacher’s aide and a “homework cheater" and why that might not b...2025-06-0442 minPractically IntelligentE19 – From Pixels to Prompts: How AI Is Reshaping UX DesignIn this episode of Practically Intelligent, we chat with Mike Dick — designer, builder, and co-founder of Gather — whose career spans from Age of Empires fan sites to leading design at Meta, Twitch, and Brex.Mike shares how AI is transforming the craft of UX, why generalists are making a comeback, and how tools like ChatGPT and Figma are changing the way teams collaborate. Whether you're a designer, PM, or engineer, this episode explores the evolving interface between humans and AI — and what it means for how we build software.2025-04-1048 minPractically IntelligentE18: From Negative One to Zero: The Early Startup Journey with Arian AgrawalWe sit down with Arian Agrawal, a partner at South Park Commons, where bold ideas turn into reality. As a former YC founder, Arian shares down-to-earth advice on validating startup ideas and avoiding common pitfalls with a refreshing look at the intersection of AI and entrepreneurship.Discover how cutting-edge AI insights can help you refine your product-market fit, navigate the idea maze, and accelerate your venture from negative one to zero. Whether you’re leveraging AI to optimize your business or spark your next big idea, this episode offers real-world advice and practical strategies to build a su...2025-03-0341 minPractically IntelligentE17: Graph Databases Are the Future of RAG and AI with Sudhir HasbeSinan and Akshay sit down with Sudhir Hasbe, Chief Product Officer at Neo4j and a leading expert in graph databases and analytics. Sudhir shares insights from his career, including his time leading Google's analytics product lines and managing multi-million dollar data and ML initiatives.We explore why 2024 is a breakout year for graph databases and their role in Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), diving into topics like:- The history and evolution of graph technology and knowledge graphs- Why knowledge graphs are vital for solving today’s complex AI challenges- Th...2024-11-2650 minPractically IntelligentE16: AI in Action: Regulating the Future with Professor Philip TreleavenIn this insightful episode of Practically Intelligent, we sit down with Professor Philip Treleaven, Director of the UK Financial Computing Centre at UCL, to discuss the complex relationship between AI, finance, and regulation. From the early days of algorithmic trading to today’s pressing cybersecurity concerns, Professor Treleaven offers a unique perspective on how AI innovations are reshaping industries and the critical role of real-time compliance in the battle against cybercrime.We also explore the growing startup ecosystem and how Professor Treleaven has inspired the next generation of entrepreneurs through his hands-on mentorship at UCL. Wh...2024-10-1039 minPractically IntelligentOH1: Office Hours are Open!In this special episode of Practically Intelligent, we're trying something new! Sinan is opening his doors to answer your burning questions about AI, machine learning, data science, and more during our very first Office Hours episode.Do you wonder if prompt engineering is dying? Or maybe you're curious about what exactly an AI agent is and how it can be useful? Sinan tackles your questions, providing insights drawn from his O'Reilly lectures and real-world experience as an AI entrepreneur and consultant.Head over to practicallyintelligent.com to submit your questions, and we might just answer...2024-08-2913 minPractically IntelligentE15: Unlocking the Internet's Treasure with Rich SkrentaIn this episode of Practically Intelligent, Sinan and Akshay sit down with Rich Skrenta, the Executive Director of the Common Crawl Foundation. Rich shares his extensive experience in data aggregation and AI and how that ties into the history, mission, and future of Common Crawl—a nonprofit organization responsible for one of the largest open-source web data repositories in the world. The three discuss the challenges and opportunities of expanding Common Crawl's global reach, the critical role of curated data in training large language models, and the importance of maintaining open access to the internet in the age of cu...2024-08-1939 minPractically IntelligentE14: Securing Generative AI with Sanjay KalraThe advent of Generative AI presents a significant challenge for security in the enterprise. Join us as we deep dive into the common threat vectors with Sanjay Kalra, product leader at Zscaler and former CPO of Lacework. Sanjay offers insights into new threats generative AI creates for data security, access control, compliance, and more.2024-07-1135 minPractically IntelligentE13: Navigating the Evolving World of Open Source AI with Rajiv ShahDive into the intricate world of AI and open source with Rajiv Shah in the latest episode of "Practically Intelligent." Rajiv, with his extensive experience at DataRobot, Hugging Face, and now Snowflake, offers invaluable insights into how enterprises can leverage AI and data effectively. The conversation explores the current trends in open source LLMs, the dynamics of AI licensing and governance, and the implications for businesses looking to innovate in this space. Join us as we uncover the nuances of open source contributions to AI, predict future trends, and discuss the potential shifts in how AI is utilized across...2024-05-2939 minPractically IntelligentE12: Curated Data You Can Trust with Curtis NorthcuttJoin us as we talk with Curtis Northcutt, founder and CEO of CleanLab.ai. Curtis shares his expert insights on the crucial role of data preparation and curation in enhancing AI model reliability. Discover how CleanLab.ai is pioneering no-code solutions to streamline data curation, making AI more accessible and effective across various industries. Learn about the challenges and innovative approaches to ensuring data you can trust, directly from a leader reshaping how businesses handle their most critical asset.2024-05-0631 minPractically IntelligentE11: From Decision Support to AI Integration: Navigating BI's Evolution with Donald FarmerIn episode 11 of Practically Intelligent, we take a look at the dynamic and intricate world of business intelligence (BI) with the esteemed Donald Farmer, a pioneer in BI and the driving force behind Power BI. This episode takes us on a journey through the evolution of BI, from its roots in decision support systems to the burgeoning era of machine learning and the transformative potential of language models.Donald shares insights on:The early days of BI and the launch of Power BI, setting the stage for today's AI advancements.The transition from traditional data warehousing...2024-03-1940 minPractically IntelligentE10: Decoding AI Hype: A Practical Guide to Discerning Fact from FictionDr. Nathan Lambert is back! Episode 10 of Practically Intelligent has us diving headfirst into a the tsunami of AI advancements and the hype cycles surrounding them. With the field evolving at breakneck speed, it's easy to oscillate between awe and skepticism. Join us in a thought-provoking conversation with Nathan Lambert as we explore how to navigate this complex landscape.This episode is tailored for both builders and investors in AI, as well as anyone curious about the technology's rapid development.We discuss:- How to separate mind-blowing AI advancements from overhyped claims.2024-02-2735 minPractically IntelligentE9: Exploring AI's Frontier in 2024: Promise vs. Reality in Tech's New EraWhat were the biggest trends in AI in 2023 that will accelerate into 2024? What will change/what is overhyped? In this episode, we go through charts and reports from Coatue's recent AI report to dissect the key assertions made about the future of AI, from its transformative impact on technology to the burgeoning role of open-source. We'll highlight the most compelling insights, challenge hyperbole, and correct any misleading narratives we find.Whether you're an AI enthusiast or skeptic, this episode promises a nuanced exploration of AI's potential and pitfalls, offering a clear-eyed perspective on what's genuinely revolutionary and...2023-12-2954 minPractically IntelligentE8: Navigating the New Frontier of Multimodal AI with Jacob SolawetzJoin us in episode eight of Practically Intelligent as we welcome Jacob Solawetz, CTO at arcee.ai and former founding engineer at Roboflow. Jacob, a trailblazer in computer vision and AI, discusses the evolution and impact of multimodal AI technologies. Delving into the challenges of developing large-scale vision applications, he offers insights from his rich experience in both vision models and domain-adapting LLMs - and what that means for the future of multimodal AI. Jacob also sheds light on his work at arcee.ai, focusing on specialized language models and the art of model distillation.2023-12-2138 minPractically IntelligentE7: The Power of Benchmarking in AI Progress with Praveen ParitoshIn this enlightening seventh episode of Practically Intelligent, we take a look at the pivotal role of benchmarking in advancing AI with Praveen Paritosh, a leading figure in AI research. Discover why shared benchmarks are not just important, but critical in pushing the boundaries of AI technology. Praveen enlightens us on the legacy benchmarks like SQuAD, instrumental in testing early question-answer systems, and how they paved the way for early leaderboards in AI. We discuss the concept of shared benchmarks as a mechanism for the research community to collectively tackle and progress in specific challenges, drawing parallels between NLP...2023-12-0148 minPractically IntelligentE6: AI Ethics, Data Governance, & Training Challenges with Giada PistilliIn the sixth episode of Practically Intelligent, join us as we delve deep into the intricacies of AI ethics and data governance with Giada Pistilli, Principal Ethicist at Huggingface. We explore the unpredictable implications of training data inconsistencies and discuss the tough societal questions surrounding potential biases in AI. Giada underscores the importance of ethical training guidelines, alignment principles, and the need for a 'moral charter' in AI models. Don't miss our engaging conversation about the hazards of "Ethics Shopping" as AI continues to evolve. An enlightening blend of philosophy and tech awaits you!2023-10-1951 minPractically IntelligentE5: Reliable Software Engineering & LLMs with Adam AzzamWe chatted with Adam Azzam, PhD - AI Product Lead at Prefect - about the challenges of merging traditional software engineering with AI engineering. We go over why integrating LLMs present such a challenge to many developers and how Marvin AI - a new open source tool - can help.2023-09-2537 minPractically IntelligentE4: Evaluating Large Language Models with Nathan LambertOn the fourth episode of Practically Intelligent, Sinan and Akshay sit down with the esteemed Nathan Lambert, a prominent Machine Learning researcher and analyst. With his keen goal of understanding and developing safe and societally beneficial autonomous systems, Nathan shares valuable insights from his experience as a Research Scientist at HuggingFace 🤗. We dive deep into the nuances of evaluating large language models (LLMs) and the role of the HuggingFace's Open LLM Leaderboard.2023-08-1737 minPractically IntelligentVector Databases, Embeddings, and a history of Deep Learning with Leo DiracOn the newest episode of Practically Intelligent, Sinan and Akshay discuss all the hype behind vector databases and the future of how developers will work with embeddings. We also dissect how to compare different vector database options available on the market today. Congrats to Weavite, Pinecone, Qdrant and Chroma on their funding rounds!!We also have Leo Dirac, founder and CEO of Groundlight.AI - who was formerly the Engineering Lead behind Deep Learning at AWS. We take a walk through history with some key takeaways for builders and observers of the AI/ML space and talk about Leo's new...2023-06-081h 04Practically IntelligentOpen source LLM wave + How YC companies build with LLMsCurious how the best founders are building with LLMs? In Episode two of Practically Intelligent (and on the heels of YC Demo Day) - we feature three YC W23 founders and chat through how they're building with LLMs, the architectural tradeoffs they've made, how they're navigating discussions with customers and much more.Sinan and I also cover the blistering pace of news in the AI ecosystem int he past two weeks. Everyone expected GPT-4 to be impressive, but the series of open source models released afterwards (Alpaca, Vicuna, Dolly) took the AI world by storm. Teams of academic researchers are...2023-06-081h 12Practically IntelligentChatGPT API, AI Business Models, and RLHFIn our first episode, we chat about the ChatGPT API release, Defensibility in AI Business Models, and explores Reinforcement Learning for Human Feedback (RLHF) - an essential aspect of working with and improving AI models. This is just the beginning - we have a line-up of impressive guests and fascinating topics, so stay tuned for more insightful and practically intelligent discussions.2023-06-0851 min