The Junction

In this episode of The Junction, Mel and Chase are joined by the podcast's first in-studio guest: Christopher Robbins from Lummus Technology.

Chris shares how he and his company are exploring ways to utilize AI across the organization. He also advocates the importance for people to conduct their own testing of AI in and outside of work.

This episode offers a fresh perspective on why AI will more likely assist people in their jobs rather than replace them. 

A few other topics we discuss:

• Adoption of AI tools in personal life vs. work life
• Experimenting with AI: using tools for personal tasks first before tackling complex work challenges
• Using AI to write and improve code + the importance of keeping a human in the loop
• Leveraging Microsoft Power Platform tools to build workflows and applications

👉 Interested in hearing more from Chris? Stay tuned for upcoming technology discussions on his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-robbins-pe/

We're just one episode away from wrapping up our first season of the show! Have a question or topic on AI or automation that you want to learn more about? We’re all ears 🎧

Shoot us an email and let us know what we should talk about next season: [email protected]

In this episode of The Junction, we speak with Jerrold Jackson, a long-time technologist, entrepreneur and advisor in the health and wellness industry. We discuss the current landscape and sentiment around generative AI models like ChatGPT, including recent events with OpenAI, Anthropic, and regulation.

He provides his perspective on responsible and ethical ways companies can leverage AI/ML, such as keeping humans involved and being transparent about data sourcing and model choices. We talk about the modular architecture approach that allows swapping out components like language models as better options emerge.

Other topics include:

• The current landscape and sentiment around generative AI models
• A shift from maximum consumption to responsible consumption
• Using AI for marketing copy versus high-stakes recommendations
• Speculation around recent AI advancements

Whether you’re an executive wanting to understand how AI can create competitive advantages, or an AI enthusiast wanting an insider’s view, this episode offers an insightful analysis of the technology powering innovations today.

Stay “in the loop” with Jerrold where he publishes his writings on AI and keeping humans near the loop at www.jerroldjackson.com.

The Junction podcast hit a milestone—we had our very first guest on the show! 🥳

In this episode, we’re joined by Justin Crawford, CEO of The Automation Company. Justin shares how he launched his career in marketing & RevOps automation—later starting his own full-service consulting agency.

Today, The Automation Company is leveraging AI to quickly generate detailed and tailored project proposals to further personalize the client experience.

Here’s a rundown on what we discuss in the episode:

• Personalizing sales outreach & account-based marketing with AI
• Automating document creation with AI (ie. SOWs, project proposals)
• Improving lead & deal attribution with AI

Have a question or topic on AI or automation that you want to learn more about? We’re all ears—literally 🎧

Shoot us an email and let us know what we should talk about next: [email protected]

Do you think AI will replace the “average” human?

Recently, the CEO of OpenAI (creator of ChatGPT) stated that artificial intelligence is capable of performing the same job responsibilities of the “median human.”

As bold of a statement that is, we think he’s pointing to the fact that AI is capable of performing repetitive, menial tasks. On the bright side, an employee’s job responsibilities could shift to something more engaging and freeing from manual work everyday.

On this episode of The Junction, Mel and Chase discuss:

• Learning to co-exist in a world of AI
• The implications of automating jobs and skills becoming obsolete
• Leveraging AI as a collaborative tools rather than a replacement
• Measuring ROI and time savings when using AI to automate tasks

Have a question or topic on AI or automation that you want to learn more about? We’re all ears—literally 🎧

Shoot us an email and let us know what we should talk about next: [email protected]

Does your company have an AI strategy yet?

If you don’t already, we think forming an AI Committee is a great place to start.

At Venn, team members from across departments and varying degrees of AI skill sets meet on a regular basis to brainstorm ways AI can propel our business forward.

In this episode of The Junction, Mel and Chase unpack:

• How to get teams involved in building your organization’s AI strategy
• Recommendations for AI committee activities and goal-setting
• Recent News: an AI-generated church sermon and Microsoft data exposure incident

Have a question or topic on AI or automation that you want to learn more about? We’re all ears—literally 🎧

Shoot us an email and let us know what we should talk about next: [email protected]

If AI can do our jobs, what’s left for us? 😟

There’s a ton of doom and gloom in the news when it comes to AI. Like anything, it takes time for mass adoption of something new.

We believe that artificial intelligence will become more prevalent in the workplace as time goes on. Now is a great time for everyone to learn how AI works so it can be leveraged properly.

In this episode, Mel and Chase explore what human tasks AI can and can’t accomplish.

Featured discussions this week:

• Examples of jobs AI can and can’t do on its own
• Increasing productivity with AI assistants
• Using AI to learn or even bypass advanced skillsets (ie. coding)

Have a question or topic on AI or automation that you want to learn more about? We’re all ears—literally 🎧

Shoot us an email and let us know what we should talk about next: [email protected]

As organizations grow, it can be difficult to stay in touch with how employees are feeling.

A lot of companies check the box by deploying annual surveys that are a mile long. Even worse, it takes time for employees to fill them out and even more time for leadership to act on the results.

One of the ways we gauge the health of our time week-to-week is a simple pulse survey via Slack (which saves to the Resource Record in Salesforce).

We ask: “How was your week?” with a drop down menu that includes the responses: Good, Meh, or Bad. This doesn’t replace regular manager check-ins and surveys designed to drill down into more specific initiatives (such employee satisfaction related to a new program or benefits, for example), but it gives our people a simple way to signal when something is off.

Over time, it’s possible to use AI to quickly identify heightened times when employees are feeling stressed. With the help of such insights, leadership can have more progressive one-on-one conversations with their team.

On this week’s episode, Mel and Chase explore:

• Automated employee engagement surveys
• Using AI to analyze employee sentiment and identify areas to improve company culture
• Importance of education and training before adopting new tech

Have a question or topic on AI or automation that you want to learn more about? We’re all ears—literally 🎧

Shoot us an email and let us know what we should talk about next: [email protected]

What do Zoom calls, Dungeons & Dragons, and travel guides all have in common? 🤔

When Zoom announced a free new AI feature to generate call summaries, we had some questions. How will customer data be used to train the AI model?

In this episode, Mel and Chase discuss the implications of Zoom's new solution, AI-related scams, and copyright concerns for AI artwork.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• What to know about AI call summaries
• AI uniqueness versus human uniqueness
• Travel scammers using AI to generate fake guidebooks on Amazon
• Dungeons and Dragons creators telling illustrators to stop using AI to generate artwork due to copyright concerns

Have a question or topic on AI or automation that you want to learn more about? We’re all ears—literally 🎧

Shoot us an email and let us know what we should talk about next: [email protected]

Are you scared of AI? The creators of it are too 😬

In this episode of The Junction, Mel and Chase talk about how AI can be used for good or evil. Plus, learn what AI developers are doing to practice responsible development and training of large language models.

Featured in this episode:

• Anxieties AI developers have around the potential dangers of advanced systems
• Constitutional AI - The idea of creating rules and principles that AI systems can follow
• Training AI systems and the role of human feedback
• The importance of setting guidelines around AI use in the workplace

Have a question or topic on AI or automation that you want to learn more about? We’re all ears—literally 🎧

Shoot us an email and let us know what we should talk about next: [email protected]

If there’s anyone out there that could benefit from automation the most, it would be small teams. At Venn Technology, we work with small to medium-sized companies to implement automated workflows that save time and improve data accuracy.

As a small business ourself, we’re in the same boat when it comes to narrowing down our processes and identifying where automation & AI can help.

In this episode, Mel and Chase share how SMBs can begin building their automation strategy with additional assistance from AI tools.

A few things we discuss:

• Steps for SMBs to start their AI/Automation journey (e.g. perfect processes before automating, identify repetitive & time-consuming tasks)
• Using automation to boost visibility and streamline workflows
• Leveraging ChatGPT for quick assistance (e.g. crafting emails & outlines)
• The importance of leaning into your brand’s unique story and not relying on AI

Have a question or topic on AI or automation that you want to learn more about? We’re all ears—literally 🎧

Shoot us an email and let us know what we should talk about next: [email protected]