Behind every robust AI system is a solution accelerator that makes complex development smarter.

In this episode of Free Form AI, Michael and Ben dive into the role of solution accelerators in bridging the gap between production-ready software and simpler resources like blogs or cookbooks. They discuss frameworks vs. tools, the challenges of maintainability and how forward deployed engineers can build reusable components.

Tune in to Episode 20 for a wide-ranging conversation about:
• Why solution accelerators streamline development
• How to balance abstraction and usability in frameworks and APIs
• Testing strategies that support quality and extensibility
• Where AI tools like GitHub Copilot fit into modern workflows

If you’re focused on building software that lasts while delivering business value, this episode is for you.

In this episode of Free Form AI, Michael and Ben explore the evolution of prompt engineering and the rise of auto-optimization in AI. We discuss how agents can execute tasks autonomously, why human oversight remains essential and how defining success criteria shapes model performance.

Tune in to Episode 19 for a wide-ranging conversation about:

 • Why prompt engineering still matters in an era of automation

 • How auto-optimization could replace traditional data annotation

 • How AI is augmenting business analytics and software workflows

If you’re interested in where AI agents and automated optimization are heading, click through!

In this episode of Free Form AI, we sit down with Tomu Hirata (Databricks), whose journey from medicine to software engineering offers a unique lens on building AI systems. From automating construction machinery to optimizing job postings at Indeed, Tomu has worked at the edge of AI data collection and model design.

Tune in to Episode 18 for a wide-ranging conversation about:
• The challenges of gathering real-world data for AI in construction and beyond
• Why human feedback is critical for prompt optimization
• How context and memory augmentation will shape the future of AI agents

If you’re curious about where AI agents are heading, and what it takes to make them truly effective, this episode is for you.

In this episode of Free Form AI, we go behind the scenes with co-host Ben Wilson to explore how his early experiences in the Navy shaped his approach to engineering, risk, and creativity.

From high-stakes problem solving to the importance of failure-friendly environments, Ben and Michael unpack what it takes to build resilient systems and resilient people. Along the way, they discuss why fundamentals matter, how psychology plays into technical decisions, and why hobbies might be the most underrated engineering tool.

Tune in to Episode 17 for a wide-ranging conversation about:
• How high-pressure environments foster innovation
• Why testing and validation are non-negotiables in good engineering
• How hobbies support creative problem-solving
• Why failure (with forgiveness) can unlock new approaches

More than a career story, this episode is a deep dive into how experience shapes intuition. The best engineers don’t just know what works. They know why it works.

In this episode of Free Form AI, Michael and Ben unpack the GPT-5 release, with a focus on what really matters: fewer hallucinations, smarter reasoning and why traditional benchmarks may no longer cut it.

Tune in as we explore open-source OSS, agentic systems and the growing challenge of evaluating models that might already be outsmarting us.

In this episode of Free Form AI, we sit down with Lara Rachidi and Maria Zervou, two AI professionals whose paths defy the traditional tech blueprint.

Lara began her career in law and economics before pivoting into data science. Maria started at the British Library, digitizing manuscripts and unlocking forgotten datasets. Today, they’re building GenAI systems, leading strategy across regions, and shaping the next chapter of machine learning at OpenAI and beyond.

Tune in to Episode 15 for a wide-ranging conversation about:
•What actually makes a technical career resilient
•Why network-driven learning accelerates growth in AI
•How tools like DSPy are revolutionizing prompt optimization for agentic systems
•What the future of LLMs may look like 

More than a career story, this episode is a reminder: some of the most effective voices in tech began outside of it.

If you’re looking to pivot into the AI field and want some role models, this episode’s for you.

In this episode of Free Form AI, we sit down with Puneet Jain, Senior Applied AI Engineer at Databricks, to explore what’s really holding back GenAI from reaching production at scale, and why infrastructure, not intelligence, might be the missing piece.

From toy clustering algorithms to national-scale LLMs in healthcare, we unpack how secure data access, agentic tooling, and long-term system design are reshaping the GenAI landscape. We also discuss what “AI agency” really means. 

More importantly, is the road to AGI shorter than we think?

Tune in!

In this episode of Free Form AI, we sit down with Mary Moore-Simmons, VP of Engineering at Kibo (formerly GitHub), to explore how career pivots, leadership, and AI are reshaping engineering.

From drying Kona coffee beans with radiant heat to leading complex orgs at GitHub, Mary shares how curiosity, efficiency, and a bias for action can accelerate your career. We discuss the hidden cost of inefficiency in scaling teams, why “just doing the thing” often opens new doors, and how AI is transforming cost and performance optimization at scale.

In this episode of Free Form AI, we explore how AI coding assistants are reshaping the development workflow. From spotting bugs that slip past human review to writing context-aware tests and reviewing entire PRs, these tools are changing how engineers build software. We break down the “secret sauce” behind how they scan a repo with targeted search commands, keeping context focused and results accurate without overwhelming the model. The conversation also tackles the trade-offs, from productivity gains to the risk of skill decay and what this means for the future of engineering.

In this episode of Free Form AI, Michael sits down with Gino Ferrand, CEO of Tecla, to explore how traditional tech hiring misses the mark, especially when it comes to LATAM engineering talent. We break down flawed “rockstar” hiring, AI-proofing your interview process and what successful onboarding actually looks like in a distributed, GenAI-driven world.

Music: “Intro” by DJ RADIK, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Edited for duration and volume by Free Form AI.