Perception Paradox with Zivile (Zivi) Ein

What if the best connections in business weren't left to chance?

Zach Butler, EMEA General Manager at HumanX, joins Zivile to explore engineered serendipity, the power of in-person events, and how to create experiences where the right people, ideas and opportunities meet.

With nearly 15 years of experience launching and scaling technology events around the world, Zach shares the thinking behind bringing HumanX, a leading summit for builders and adopters transforming business with AI, to Europe.

We talk about why human connection and trust matter even more in an AI-driven world, how to design events for meaningful business outcomes, and why Europe's opportunity may lie in applying AI rather than trying to win the frontier-model race.

Plus, what the US and Europe can learn from each other — and why the smallest details of an event can make the biggest difference.

A conversation about connection, intentional design and building events that make things happen.

🎙️ Hosted by Zivile Einikyte

🎧 Subscribe to Perception Paradox for conversations about entrepreneurship, technology, human behaviour and the future we're creating.

Guest: Zach Butler, EMEA General Manager at HumanX.

Connect with Zach Butler: https://www.linkedin.com/
Learn more about HumanX: https://humanx.co/

00:00 Introducing Zach Butler and HumanX
01:16 From Meetups to a Career in Events
06:11 What Makes a Great Connector?
08:09 How COVID Changed the Events Industry
11:03 Designing Events for Quality Connections
14:11 How to Choose Which Events Are Worth Attending
17:54 How HumanX Built Momentum in Europe
21:55 Engineered Serendipity: Designing Better Connections
24:54 Why the Business of AI Matters More Than the Hype
27:30 Does Europe Need to Win the Frontier AI Race?
29:58 What HumanX Wants to Improve Next
32:50 Why Food, Coffee and Comfort Matter at Events
35:23 US vs. Europe: Different Approaches to AI
39:46 Zach’s Advice for Navigating the AI Shift
41:11 Closing Thoughts

What happens when intelligence becomes abundant — but judgment remains scarce?

After three days hosting the Prism Stage at HumanX in Amsterdam, I started noticing a story connecting conversations about AI agents, enterprise adoption, creative work, cybersecurity and European technological sovereignty.

The biggest takeaway? Intelligence is cheap. Judgment isn’t.

In this solo episode of Perception Paradox, I share four paradoxes that stayed with me after HumanX — and what they reveal about where AI is heading next.

In this episode, we explore:

• The smartest model vs. the model that knows you: Why context and institutional knowledge can be more valuable than raw intelligence.

• The intelligence bottleneck: Why AI adoption, organisational change and real-world implementation matter more than technical capability alone.

• When everyone can create: Why taste, creativity and judgment become more valuable when building becomes cheap.

• Europe’s AI paradox: Why technological sovereignty means more than developing powerful models — and why market fragmentation remains a challenge.

I also share some of the most thought-provoking examples from the event, from AI agents and enterprise workflows to creative industries, cybersecurity and the future of European innovation.

Because when everyone has access to similar tools, the real advantage isn’t just what you can build. It’s knowing what to build, why it matters, and when to trust the machine — or the human.

I’d love to hear your perspective: As AI becomes more capable, what do you think will become more valuable — context, judgment, taste or direction?

🎙️ Hosted by Zivile Einikyte
🎧 Subscribe to Perception Paradox for conversations and reflections on entrepreneurship, technology, human behaviour and the future we’re creating.

#ArtificialIntelligence #FutureOfAI #PerceptionParadox

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: The Power Paradox
00:24 What I Learned at HumanX Amsterdam
01:20 Paradox 1: The Smartest Model vs. The Model That Knows You
02:50 Paradox 2: The Bottleneck Isn’t Intelligence
03:40 From AI Experiments to Real Business Value
04:35 Paradox 3: When Everyone Can Create
05:15 Why Taste and Judgment Matter More Than Ever
06:00 Paradox 4: Europe’s AI Sovereignty Challenge
07:05 Where the AI Debate Gets Complicated
07:45 Intelligence Is Cheap. Judgment Isn’t.
08:35 Why I Want to Share More Solo Episodes

What happens when technology makes warfare, sabotage and disinformation cheaper, faster and easier to scale?

For this special Perception Paradox collaboration, recorded in partnership with Bits & Pretzels, Gabrielė Poteliūnaitė — host of Red Room Conversations — steps in as co-host to speak with investigative journalist and documentary maker Greta Buschhaus.

Greta has reported on climate, AI, deepfakes and bioweapons, and now investigates hybrid warfare and how AI is changing defence and conflict.

In this conversation, they explore:

→ How AI is changing the nature and political cost of war→ Russian “disposable agents” recruited through Telegram and the rise of hybrid warfare→ AI, battlefield data and the race for technological sovereignty→ Why Europe faces a difficult choice between sovereignty and capability→ How disinformation exploits division and makes truth harder to establish→ Why the biggest AI risks may be slower and less spectacular than the doomsday scenarios we hear about

A conversation about technology, warfare, truth — and what we may be failing to see.

Learn more about Greta Buschhaus: gretabuschhaus.com

Follow Gabrielė and Red Room Conversations: Gabrielė's Substack

Perception Paradox is hosted by Zivile Einikyte, exploring the people, ideas and contradictions shaping our future.

Chapters

00:00 Intro01:46 Greta Buschhaus: From climate to AI and warfare04:51 What connects AI, deepfakes, bioweapons and hybrid warfare?06:47 Does AI lower the political cost of war?08:46 AI in warfare: Who should we trust with the algorithms?09:48 Battlefield-proven AI and the value of data11:17 Europe's sovereignty dilemma13:32 Why Eastern Europe sees the threat differently17:56 What does hybrid warfare actually look like?22:10 How Russia recruits “disposable agents” through Telegram25:05 Could AI scale sabotage?28:05 The role of division and disinformation30:43 Can journalism help rebuild trust?32:49 The future of truth in the age of AI36:19 Where AI could create real positive impact38:21 Are AI extinction scenarios realistic?40:12 Who will slow down the AI race?41:13 The “boring” AI risks we should worry about41:50 Closing

This week Zivile sits down with Uku, co-founder of bilt.me, the Estonian startup that just raised a €615K pre-seed round led by Superhero Capital.

bilt.me helps anyone turn an idea into a live mobile app, publish it to the App Store and Google Play, and get it in front of users. 

Uku covers how a failed menopause app led to the product, why they bet on mobile over web, how a team with an average age of 23 is growing 100% month over month, and the Shopify-style plan to own distribution for mobile apps.

Have you tried bilt.me yet? 

Let us know in the comments.

This episode is created in partnership with Superhero Capital. 

How does a professional MC prepare for a live event? In episode 154 of Perception Paradox, host Zivile goes behind the scenes of event hosting ahead of Humanix AI in Amsterdam, where she hosts the main stage with a teleprompter.

You'll learn her step-by-step MC preparation process: how to research speakers, write transitions, rehearse a Plan B, visualize your performance, and read the room. She also shares her simple "read, observe, look up, deliver" method, useful for anyone in public speaking, event hosting, or moderating panels.

The paradox: the better an MC does the job, the easier it looks.

🎙 Perception Paradox, conversations on perception, storytelling and building a personal brand.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the episode and Zivile's role as an MC

01:53 Preparing for a teleprompted event and the differences from traditional hosting

03:00 The paradox of effortless stage presence and behind-the-scenes work

03:56 The three steps of event preparation: process, research, scripting

06:48 The read-observe-look up-deliver method for effective speaking

07:41 Rehearsing and handling technical or unexpected issues

09:02 Visualizing and embodying the character for different event types

10:06 Engaging with the event organizer's vision and audience dynamics

11:13 Final thoughts on event preparation and stage performance

After a major pivot, Teemu went from building a standalone customer success tool to creating AI agents that bring product-led growth directly into the developer environment. Teemu Kinos shares what they learned about pivoting fast, building with an experienced founding team, finding product-market fit, and staying ahead in an AI market that changes every six months.

In partnership with Superhero Capital.

What if the next leap in computing isn’t about building bigger chips, but rethinking how CPUs work?

Timo Valtonen, CEO & co-founder of Flow Computing, is tackling one of the biggest bottlenecks in modern computing — CPU performance. We talk about deep tech, semiconductors, building technology that takes years to mature, and what it takes to turn a radically different idea into a company.

In partnership with Superhero Capital.

Why does renting a car still feel like 2005?

In Portfolio Spotlight #151, I’m joined by Darius Verseckas, Chief Growth Officer at Sigvi, the latest addition to the Superhero Capital portfolio.

We talk about why car rental has been slower to digitise, how Sigvi is building an AI-powered infrastructure layer for independent rental companies, why Poland is the first expansion market, and how a childhood friendship became a company.

🎙️ In collaboration with Superhero Capital.

What begins as evenings and weekends can become something much bigger.

Guideless co-founder and CEO Evaldas Bieliūnas shares how he and his best friend of 18 years, Dovydas Remeika, turned a shared frustration with outdated software training into a platform already used by 3,000+ people across 15 markets.

We discuss finding their first customers, building trust between co-founders, choosing the venture-backed path, closing a €1M pre-seed round, and their ambition to build an operational knowledge platform for how companies work.

This episode was created in partnership with Superhero Capital.

In this episode of Perception Paradox, created in partnership with Superhero Capital, I speak with the team behind Zenniz, a sports tech company bringing data, intelligence, and real-time insights to racquet sports.

We talk with Zenniz co-founder Eero Kuusi about smart courts, product validation, partnerships, and what it takes to build technology that works in real sporting environments — including Zenniz’s testing partnership with Decathlon.

Zenniz is a Superhero Capital portfolio company.