Artificial Reality

PR strategist Sam Polstein breaks down why AI makes everyone an average comms person, why LLMs cannot build media lists, and why AI copy has zero emotional resonance.

Sam leads communications and content at House, a creative shop focused on deep tech startups. He started on political campaigns across the Midwest before moving into corporate comms and eventually narrowing his focus to hardware and deep tech companies building complex products.

In this episode, we cover what's working, what's broken, and what still needs to be built in deep tech communications:

• Sam runs his entire workflow on Claude paired with Obsidian, storing client strategy, call transcripts, and writing standards as plain markdown files. If he ever needs to switch LLMs, the context is portable because it belongs to him, not the model.
• The PR job has fundamentally changed. Sam no longer writes press releases sentence by sentence. He pulls insights from client conversations like an investigative reporter, and AI handles the drafting. The real work is in finding the angle.
• LLMs are surprisingly bad at building journalist media lists. Predicting what a reporter will write next requires tangential thinking and fresh data. When there is even a three-week lag in the model's information, it is basically useless for this task.
• Sam keeps a context folder called "good writing" with examples and a trope checklist. He has Claude edit its own drafts against that folder. Even so, every LLM has a recognizable tone that makes everything sound the same.
• His top wish is a journalist intelligence tool he can debate like a colleague. He wants to ask "Will this reporter cover my client?" and have it argue back using that reporter's most recent articles and beat direction.

This episode is for you if:

 → You work in communications, PR, or content marketing for technical companies and want to see how a working AI workflow actually looks.

 → You are a founder or business owner trying to figure out whether AI can replace your comms team or just make them faster.

 → You are building AI tools and want to understand what PR professionals actually need that nobody has built yet.

Follow Sam Polstein:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sampolstein
Website: deeptech.agency

Artificial Reality:
Website: artificialrealitymedia.com
Instagram: instagram.com/artificialrealitymedia
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/artificial-reality-media
In-person events: luma.com/artificialreality
Galina Fendikevich: linkedin.com/in/gfendi

Sofiane Ghorbel has spent 25 years in luxury hospitality. His take: AI's biggest opportunity isn't at the front desk.

Luxury hospitality executive Sofiane Ghorbel breaks down how AI lets small teams operate like large organizations, why luxury clients are the least willing to share the data AI needs most, and why the real value of AI in hospitality lives behind the scenes.

Sofiane Ghorbel is the Founder and CEO of AL Hospitality Group, a firm focused on luxury hotel investment, repositioning, management, and strategic advisory. With over 25 years serving luxury travelers, family offices, and institutional clients, he's seen hospitality from the guest, operator, owner, and investor perspective. This fall, he's launching AI and luxury roundtables in New Canaan, Connecticut to connect AI innovators with hospitality leaders.

In this episode, we cover what's working, what's broken, and what still needs to be built in luxury hospitality:

• AI is already a force multiplier for small luxury teams. Destination research, hotel comparisons, itinerary creation, and proposal prep now happen in a fraction of the time.
• Marriott deployed an AI concierge chatbot and a reporter found it couldn't even recommend local restaurants. They pivoted to backend operations, where it actually delivered.
• "We don't sell rooms. We don't sell cruises. We don't sell flights. We sell trust." One wrong AI recommendation can destroy a client relationship that took years to build.
• Sofiane wants an AI tool that manages the follow-up process after booking. His team manually calls every hotel concierge and provider to check on welcome envelopes, restaurant options, and local safety conditions.
• The real AI value is behind the scenes. Investors and hotel owners who use AI to analyze markets and move faster will win the deal. The ones who wait will lose it.

This episode is for you if you work in luxury hospitality, travel advisory, or hotel investment and want to know where AI fits your workflow today. It's also for business owners exploring AI adoption who want a real look at what delivers and what falls flat. And if you're building AI products, this is a front-row seat into what practitioners actually need, from privacy-safe personalization to workflow-specific tools.

Follow Sofiane Ghorbel:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sofianeghorbel
Website: alhospitalitygroup.com

Artificial Reality:
Website: artificialrealitymedia.com
Instagram: instagram.com/artificialrealitymedia
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/artificial-reality-media
Events: luma.com/artificialreality
Galina Fendikevich: linkedin.com/in/gfendi

Luxury yacht broker Jennifer Kerum breaks down why 80% of her clients have no idea what they actually want, the time a client used ChatGPT to overrule his own captain, and why Silicon Valley has no idea what the yacht charter industry needs.

Jennifer Kerum is the founder of Anchor Croatia and the upcoming Luxury Yacht Rentals. She built a yacht charter business from scratch with zero industry background, grew it through social media in an industry dominated by companies that have been around since the 1950s, and is now expanding globally with AI at the center of her new platform.

In this episode, we cover what's working, what's broken, and what still needs to be built in the luxury yacht rental industry:

● How AI translation is helping her serve international clients across languages that Google Translate used to butcher
● Why a client screenshotted ChatGPT's answer about anchoring in 25 knots of wind and called her furious when it was wrong
● The "what's your vibe" onboarding idea that could replace a month and a half of back-and-forth with first-time yacht renters
● Why she wants AI to remember what wine her clients drank, what islands they visited, and their kids' birthdays
● Why charter companies keep getting ignored by AI builders who would rather do hackathons than get on a boat

This episode is for you if you run or work in luxury travel, hospitality, or charter services. If you're a business owner exploring AI but don't know where to start. Or if you build AI tools and want to understand what real operators actually need.

Follow Jennifer Kerum:
Instagram: instagram.com/theanchorcroatia
Website: anchorcroatia.com

Artificial Reality:
Website: artificialrealitymedia.com
Instagram: instagram.com/artificialrealitymedia
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/artificial-reality-media
In-person events: luma.com/artificialreality
 Host: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gfendi/

Legacy industry adviser Annija Eizenarma breaks down why $20M businesses still run on sticky notes, why operators reject AI for AI, and how one design partner can unlock 100 doors.

Annija Eizenarma is a founder, investor, and adviser who helps technology companies sell into legacy industries like construction, manufacturing, and logistics. She started her first business at 17 in Latvia, built and exited a smart home and building automation company, and has since guided hundreds of startups through selling to physical-world businesses.

In this episode, I cover what's working, what's broken, and what still needs to be built in legacy industries:

• The AI companies that succeed in legacy industries start by solving one narrow pain point, proving they can deliver, and expanding from there. Full platforms with dozens of features overwhelm buyers who've run profitable businesses for decades without them.
• Many AI founders build ideas by asking ChatGPT for the biggest market opportunity instead of visiting job sites and sitting with operators. After months coding in their apartments, they hit the real world and discover friction they never planned for.
• Annija has seen $20M-a-year businesses run entirely on sticky notes. Some legacy operators will tell you point blank: "I'm exactly where I want to be. Never call me again."
• The number one thing legacy industries need before any AI adoption is organized data. Fragmented systems, scattered financials, and messy records can add months of onboarding friction before a single feature goes live.
• Legacy industries run on trusted referrals and closed communities. One well-chosen design partner can open 15 doors, which can open 100. You earn your way in one relationship at a time.

This episode is for you if you run or operate a business in construction, manufacturing, logistics, or any physical-world industry and you're trying to figure out where AI actually fits. It's also for business owners exploring AI tools who don't want to be sold a platform they'll never full use, and for builders and developers who need to understand why their sales cycle keeps stalling in traditional industries.

Follow Annija Eizenarma:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annijaeizenarma
Website: aebridges.co

Artificial Reality:
Website: artificialrealitymedia.com
Instagram: instagram.com/artificialrealitymedia
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/artificial-reality-media
In-person events: luma.com/artificialreality
Galina Fendikevich: linkedin.com/in/gfendi