Free Form AI

In this episode of Free Form AI, Michael and Ben draw surprising parallels between military strategy and consulting practice. They break down how principles like competence, trust-building and ethical engagement translate into stronger client relationships and long-term success.

From showing quiet confidence to making clients aware of their pitfalls, the discussion explores how consulting is as much about empathy and communication as it is about analysis. Along the way, they highlight why being “nice” is not a soft skill but a strategic one.

Tune in to Episode 22 for a wide-ranging conversation about:
 • Why competence and confidence create credibility in client work
 • How to earn trust by showing clients their blind spots
 • Why ethical guidelines are non-negotiable for lasting relationships
 • The role of empathy, communication, and culture in consulting success

If you’ve ever wondered how to approach consulting with both rigor and humanity, this episode is for you.

Passion for the product, not compensation, is what keeps the best engineers engaged.

In this episode of Free Form AI, Michael and Ben sit down with Aleksandr Patrushev, Head of DevRel at Nebius, to explore the evolving role of Developer Relations and the culture that sustains technical talent. From modernizing hardware in data centers to weighing the trade-offs between self-hosted and managed services, Alexander shares how knowledge sharing, process and passion drive both DevRel and product management.

Tune in to Episode 21 for a wide-ranging conversation about:
 • Why DevRel is built on knowledge sharing and community impact
 • The ongoing challenges of modernizing hardware in cloud + AI systems
 • How culture influences technical staff retention and motivation

If you’re interested in the future of cloud + AI services and how culture shapes technology, this episode is for you.

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.

Behind every major leap in AI is a wave of experimentation. And GPT-5 is no exception.

In this episode of Free Form AI, Michael and Ben unpack what makes the latest generation of large language models different, from reasoning improvements and reduced hallucinations to the open-source revolution reshaping the field. They explore how the industry is moving beyond accuracy metrics to deeper forms of evaluation, where curiosity and real-world testing drive meaningful progress.

Tune in to Episode 16 for a forward-looking conversation about:
 • How GPT-5 represents a step change in reasoning and contextual understanding
 • Why open-source AI models are accelerating global research collaboration
 • The ethical questions surrounding the path toward super-intelligence

Whether you’re building with open models or studying AI’s evolution, this episode will leave you rethinking how we measure progress.

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.