Driving Tomorrow: Conversations for AI Leaders

How much decision-making power are businesses really ready to hand over to AI?

I sat down with Raz Choudhury, co-founder and CEO of Sam.ai, to explore the rise of agentic AI and what changes as artificial intelligence moves from a tool we use to a more autonomous actor.

Raz has spent more than nine years working toward increasingly intelligent and autonomous software. In this conversation, we explore not only the business opportunities created by agentic AI, but some of the much harder questions that emerge when AI is given greater authority to act.

Some highlights from the interview:

* What separates an AI tool from an autonomous AI agent

* Why workflow, proprietary data, and customer relationships could become critical competitive advantages in an agentic world

* Where entrepreneurs may find defensible opportunities as AI capabilities expand

* How much authority businesses should give autonomous agents

* Who is accountable when an AI agent independently takes an action that causes harm

* Why security changes when AI has permission to take real-world actions

* How governments should approach agentic AI without stifling innovation

* Whether increasing AI autonomy can coexist with permanent human control

👉 This conversation is for entrepreneurs, business leaders, and anyone trying to understand what agentic AI could mean beyond the hype—and how businesses can prepare as AI becomes increasingly capable of acting on our behalf.

Learn more:

Sam.ai: https://www.sam.ai/

Connect with Raz Choudhury on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/razchoudhury/ 

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Why does AI use so much energy?

I sat down with Nii Osae, CEO and Founder of MindBeam AI and a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, to discuss why compute efficiency is becoming one of the most important competitive advantages in artificial intelligence.

As AI adoption accelerates, companies are investing billions in GPUs, data centers, and model development. But training and serving larger AI models also require enormous amounts of electricity. Nii explains why improving the efficiency of AI training—not simply building larger models—may determine how the industry scales over the next decade.

Some highlights from the interview:

👉 This is a must-watch for anyone building AI products, investing in AI infrastructure, managing enterprise AI initiatives, or curious about how the next generation of AI will scale.

Learn more:

MindBeam AI: https://mindbeam.ai

Nii Osae LinkedIn:   / niiosae  

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Is SaaS really dying—or are we misunderstanding what is actually changing?

In this episode of Driving Tomorrow: Conversations with Industry Leaders, Alicia Shapiro speaks with Sam Allen, CEO of Iterable, about the future of SaaS and enterprise AI—and why building strong technology is only the beginning.

Sam explains why the “SaaSpocalypse” may be overblown, how AI is putting pressure on traditional seat-based software models, and why distribution, trust, security, support, and execution will help determine which companies succeed. He also discusses why emerging AI startups may struggle to sell and scale within the enterprise, even when they have built compelling products.

Some highlights from the interview:

• Why the “SaaSpocalypse” narrative misses the larger issue

• What “software is cheap, distribution is expensive” actually means

• Why traditional seat-based SaaS models are under pressure

• The hidden challenges of deploying and maintaining AI in production

• Why trust, governance, security, and compliance shape enterprise adoption

• What separates companies successfully scaling AI from those still experimenting

• Why AI can increase productivity while moving bottlenecks elsewhere in the workflow

Watch the full conversation for a practical look at the future of SaaS, AI startups, and enterprise software—and what leaders should be doing now to prepare.


🔗 Learn more about Iterable: https://iterable.com

🔗 Connect with Sam Allen on LinkedIn:   / sam-allen-327253

 

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What do investors actually look for when deciding whether an AI startup is worth funding?

Lolita Taub, General Partner at Ganas Ventures and author of the upcoming book What Actually Matters, shares how she evaluates AI startups, what founders misunderstand about raising venture capital, and why strong business fundamentals still matter in a market filled with speed, hype, and increasingly similar technology.

Some highlights from the interview:

This is a must-watch for founders, startup leaders, and business owners who want to understand how investors assess AI companies—and what makes a startup worth funding beyond the hype.

Resources Mentioned:

Preorder What Actually Matters: https://www.lolitataub.co/book

Try Lolita's Startup-Investor Matching Tool: https://www.ganas.vc/match

Subscribe to Lolita's Newsletter: https://lolitataub.substack.com/

Ganas Ventures: https://www.ganas.vc/

Lolita Taub on LinkedIn:   / lolitataub  

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How will customers find your business as AI answers more customer questions directly instead of sending people to website links?

Peter Sloterdyk, Chief Marketing Officer at Gist, joins Alicia Shapiro to discuss why AI discovery is becoming an essential part of digital marketing, how AI-generated answers are changing customer behavior, and what brands can do today to improve their visibility across AI platforms.

The conversation explains why traditional SEO still matters, how Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) complements existing marketing strategies, why questions are replacing keywords, and how businesses can begin measuring and improving their presence inside AI-generated answers.

Some highlights from the interview:

Why AI discovery is shifting from keywords to natural-language questions

How marketers can begin measuring AI visibility instead of relying only on search rankings

Why understanding customer questions creates better content and stronger marketing

How publishers can protect attribution and engagement in an AI-driven search environment

👉 This is a must-watch for marketers, business leaders, publishers, agencies, and anyone preparing for the next evolution of online discovery.

Company: https://gist.ai

Follow Peter on LinkedIn:   / peter-sloterdyk  

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What does it really take for a business to become AI-first?

According to Sarah Kim of Cox Business, AI is not an IT project. It is an operating change that affects data, workflows, leadership, marketing, sales, pricing, and customer experience.

In this conversation, Sarah explains how companies can move toward an AI-first business model by rethinking how their growth engine works, from customer targeting and personalization to go-to-market strategy and business growth.

Some highlights from the interview:

🔹 Why AI adoption is not just a technology decision — it is a business operating decision

🔹 How connected data improves decisions around customers, pricing, sales, and growth

🔹 What operational readiness means before companies can get real value from AI

🔹 Why agent sprawl and AI governance matter as tools and workflows spread across teams

🔹 How leaders should approach build vs. buy decisions for marketing and sales AI

🔹 What the next phase of AI-first go-to-market could look like as companies move beyond isolated experiments

👉 This conversation is especially useful for business leaders, marketers, sales teams, and AI decision-makers who want to adopt AI in a way that supports real business growth instead of creating fragmented tools, unclear ownership, or disconnected workflows.

🔗 Learn more about Cox Business: https://www.cox.com/business/home.html

🔗 Connect with Sarah Kim on LinkedIn:   / sarah-wind-kim-b84a8612  

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What if AI could understand what is happening in the world around us — not just on screens, but in buildings, machines, infrastructure, and everyday environments?

Alicia Shapiro speaks with Jaime Lien, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Archetype AI, about Physical AI, an emerging area of artificial intelligence focused on helping machines better understand the physical world. Jaime explains how Archetype AI’s Newton model uses real-world data from sensors and connected systems to help people ask questions about what is happening around them.

Some highlights from the interview:

🔹 What Physical AI means and why it is becoming important now

🔹 Why the physical world is harder for AI to understand than text, images, or software

🔹 How real-world data can reveal patterns people may not notice as they happen

🔹 How Newton helps connect sensor data with natural language

🔹 Why Physical AI is bigger than robots and could help organizations better understand machines, buildings, infrastructure, and operations

👉 This is a must-watch for anyone interested in how AI is moving beyond chatbots and software into the real-world environments where people live, work, build, and make decisions.

👉 Read the full article: Archetype AI Targets the Operational Intelligence Gap With Physical AI

🔗 Learn more about Archetype AI: https://www.archetypeai.io/
🔗 Connect with Jaime Lien on LinkedIn:   / jaime-lien  

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What if your team could build the exact software it needs—without developers or expensive SaaS tools—and actually run your business on it?

I sat down with Shiran Brodie, Head of Growth & Marketing at Softr, to talk about how AI is changing the way businesses build and use software. From internal tools to client portals, Softr is helping teams move from rigid systems to customizable apps built around the way their business actually works.

Some highlights from the interview:

Why do so many companies invest heavily in AI—only to get stuck in endless pilots?

I sat down with Darren Kimura, CEO of AISquared, to talk about why AI adoption often fails at the “last mile,” where agentic AI is delivering real value, and what leaders need to do now to turn AI into measurable business outcomes.

With experience spanning startup leadership, venture capital, and over $1.23 billion in enterprise value creation, Darren brings a practical perspective on what separates AI hype from real operational impact.

Some highlights from the interview:

What leaders need to decide now before AI infrastructure choices become expensive mistakes

👉 This is a must-watch for anyone leading AI adoption, evaluating enterprise AI strategy, or trying to move beyond stalled pilots and into real business outcomes.

🔗 Learn more about AISquared: https://aisquared.ai/

🔗 Learn more about AI Squared Bolt: AISquared Launches Bolt to Eliminate Token Burden on Enterprise AI - AI Squared

🔗 Connect with Darren Kimura on LinkedIn:   / darrenkimura  

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How does TechCon SoCal connect startups, investors, and industry leaders to drive real business outcomes?

Faisal Mushtaq, Founder and CEO of TechCon Global, joins Alicia Shapiro of AiNews.com to explain how TechCon SoCal brings together AI startups, investors, and operators to create funding opportunities, strategic partnerships, and real-world execution—not just networking.

In this conversation, we cover how TechCon is designed as a multi-region innovation platform, how events like TechCon SoCal help turn ideas into outcomes, and why connecting capital with execution is critical in today’s AI-driven economy.

Some highlights from the interview:

👉 This is a must-watch for anyone building, investing, or navigating AI, startups, and innovation.

🔗 Learn more about TechCon Global: https://www.techconglobal.com

🔗 Connect with Faisal Mushtaq on LinkedIn:   / mushtaqfaisal  

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