What if your intern had a better executive assistant than your CEO? In this episode of TNW, Aydin sits down with Nick Sonnenberg—Wall Street veteran, bestselling author, and founder of Leverage—to explore how AI agents are radically transforming how work gets done. Nick demos a real AI-powered assistant that can handle email, prep meeting briefs, and even outperform human teammates. You'll hear how he structures agent orchestration, optimizes prompts as IP, and envisions a future where everyone at every level has a digital assistant.

What You'll Learn:

- Why every employee (not just execs) should have their own AI assistant

- How AI agents can be “managed” like employees—with hierarchy and QA

- The role of MCP (Model Context Protocol) in unlocking personalized, high-context automation

- Why context is king in building truly useful AI workflows

- Why prompt libraries should be treated like company IP

Timestamps:

00:00 – Imagine if interns had better EAs than execs

01:00 – Nick’s background: From high-frequency trading to AI consulting

02:20 – The origin of Leverage and the obsession with efficiency

03:10 – Inbox Zero, RAD framework, and AI-powered email agents

04:50 – What is MCP and why it matters

06:20 – The CPR framework: Communicate, Plan, Resource

08:30 – Orchestrator agents and agent

11:00 – QA as the new job for every role

12:00 – Why execs are adopting AI faster than junior employees

13:40 – The “Sniper Agent” and building executive briefs

16:00 – Personalized, context-rich email drafting

20:00 – Prompt optimization strategy as a business asset

22:30 – Real-time battle card generation and agent chaining

23:30 – Custom summaries using frameworks, not just transcripts

24:00 – Behind the scenes: building and deploying agents

Tools & Technologies Mentioned:

Claude – Anthropic’s AI model, used here with MCP and custom agents

MCP (Model Context Protocol) – Allows secure access to private data and agent orchestration within AI platforms

Asana – Project management tool integrated with agents

Zapier / NADN / Crew AI – Automation platforms for building AI workflows

Perplexity – Used to scan public web/news as part of the AI brief generation

Coda / Notion – Popular tools for knowledge capture, now evolving into AI-integrated workflows

HubSpot – CRM used to integrate and personalize AI-generated content

Fellow – AI meeting intelligence tool for smarter call summaries

Nick's website: https://www.getleverage.ai/

Subscribe at⁠ thisnewway.com⁠ to get the step-by-step playbooks, tools, and workflows.

Solon Angel is the founder of MindBridge and now Remitian, and he’s been at the forefront of applying AI to deeply unsexy but powerful domains like accounting and tax compliance. In this episode, he shares the origin story of MindBridge, how a DeepMind demo changed his life, and what it’s like to build a modern startup where AI plays the role of a product manager, podcast producer, and even financial advisor. Solon also demoed his newest AI agent that proactively manages tax remittances before late fees hit. If you're wondering what the future of AI-powered businesses looks like, this is a masterclass.

Timestamps:

00:00 — The DeepMind demo that inspired Solon

01:00 — Solon’s background and the early days of MindBridge

03:00 — The “dumb rule” state of AI in financial auditing

04:30 — Selling AI to skeptical accountants in 20150

6:00 — The staggering cost of late tax fees ($60B/year!)

08:00 — Remitian: an AI agent that pays your taxes for you

10:00 — Why Fellow is a core part of how Remitian runs

11:30 — How AI helps eliminate the need for a product manager

13:00 — Rewriting 3 years of code in 3 months with AI

16:00 — The shift in what matters: creativity over code

18:00 — Calorie-tracking app Cal AI and teen founders

19:00 — Solon’s AI-powered investment tool (+21% YTD)

20:00 — Live demo: AI agent managing tax payments

23:00 — Future vision: AI offering instant tax loans

25:00 — How Remitian uses Notebook LM for internal podcasts

27:00 — AI updates for board members in 10-minute clips

28:00 — Notion AI’s “research mode” vs. “ask” mode

30:00 — Predicting the rise of startups for content auto-archiving

33:00 — Solon’s final thoughts: beating billion-dollar firms with AI

Tools & Technologies Mentioned:

Fellow – Used for meeting AI transcripts, pre-reads, and knowledge sharing

Notebook LM (Google) – Turns transcripts into internal podcasts

Notion AI – Used for deep research, summarizing objections, and discovering product insights

Slack – Centralized communication, connected with other AI tools

Cursor – AI coding tool used to rewrite years of code in months

Soft Type 2 – Mentioned in relation to efficient AI-based prototyping

Cal AI – Food photo calorie tracker built by a 17-year-old founder

ChatGPT Vision – Used by Solon to interpret emotions via facial expressions

Custom AI Trader – Built by Solon for sentiment-based trading, outperformed the market

Remitian's AI Agent – Calls users, checks funds, splits tax payments, and offers loans

Subscribe at⁠ thisnewway.com⁠ to get the step-by-step playbooks, tools, and workflows.

In this episode, Aydin sits down with Greg Shove, CEO of Section, to unpack how AI isn't just a productivity tool—it's a new cognitive layer for modern organizations. Greg shares how Section pivoted from executive education to AI enablement after a single eye-opening session with ChatGPT. He dives deep into what it really takes to embed AI into workflows, culture, and decision-making—and why “talking to AI” is now mandatory at his company. From building a company-wide second brain with Claude to simulating board meetings with GPT, Greg offers a masterclass in practical AI integration.

Timestamps:

1:35 – Greg’s background: from flameouts to $250M in exits

2:00 – Section’s pivot from exec ed to AI enablement

3:01 – The 6-month internal resistance to AI

4:50 – Why training isn’t enough: the real AI challenge is change management

6:07 – Why treating AI like regular software is a strategic mistake

8:26 – What successful AI deployments have in common

10:02 – Lessons from Shopify, Duolingo, and Fiverr on AI expectations

11:45 – The price of AI is too low—why that might change

14:03 – AI vs. analyst time: “an hour becomes a minute”

15:31 – Section’s 25% productivity gain with AI

18:58 – Measuring productivity impact without perfect data

21:24 – Clever metrics: output per headcount, OKRs, AI shoutouts

24:51 – Using Claude as a company “second brain”

26:11 – Greg’s AI desktop setup: Perplexity, GPT, Claude

27:43 – The Section Expert: maintaining company context for AI

29:27 – “Working with Greg” manual: how to humanize your AI input

31:00 – The difference between values and operating principles

34:42 – Roleplaying board members with AI before real board meetings

36:05 – Claude vs. ChatGPT vs. humans: who gave better board insights?

41:00 – AI for owner-operators: create your own board

42:26 – What Greg’s most excited about: how AI unlocks new opportunities

44:08 – Where to find Greg & Section + listener discount

Tools & Technologies Mentioned:

Claude (Anthropic): Used to build a company-wide second brain and simulate board member personas

GPT (OpenAI): Used as a daily thought partner and board advisor

Perplexity: A go-to AI for fast, accurate information lookups

Section Expert (Claude project): A centralized AI project workspace housing all of Section's key documents for brainstorming

ProfAI (Section’s product): An AI-powered coach designed to teach people how to use AI effectively

ChatGPT for Teams: Mentioned as a better, paid alternative to free-tier tools

Gemini Pro: Noted for its screen-sharing and future context-awareness potential

Copilot (Microsoft): One of several LLM tools tested during board simulations

Subscribe at⁠ thisnewway.com⁠ to get the step-by-step playbooks, tools, and workflows.

What if your AI agent could send emails, check your calendar, and even text people on your behalf—all securely and with your permission? In this episode, Aydin and guest co-host Alexandra from Fellow talk with Sam Partee, co-founder of Arcade, about how AI agents are actually becoming useful in the real world.

Sam breaks down how Arcade enables LLM-powered agents to act on your behalf across tools like Gmail, Slack, Salesforce, and more, without sacrificing security. He also shows us how he automates his own workflows, from email triage to iMessage replies, and shares how tools like Cursor and Claude are reshaping how engineers work day-to-day.

Whether you're technical or not, this episode is packed with actionable insights on what it means to work in an AI-native company—and how to start doing it yourself.

Timestamps

0:00 – The future of agents impersonating people

01:20 – Meet Sam Partee and his background in high-performance computing

02:50 – What Arcade is and how it powers AI agents

05:10 – Use case: ambient social media agents

06:50 – “YOLO mode” vs. human-in-the-loop agent workflows

07:30 – Building a lean AI-native company

08:00 – Engineers are now 1.5x more productive—with caveats

12:00 – Why the whole team (PMs, QA, etc.) should use tools like Cursor1

4:00 – How Markdown became the LLM-native format

17:00 – Sam’s iMessage agent and calendar automation

18:45 – His AI-powered inbox (email triage + drafting)

21:00 – Live demo: using Slack assistant “Archer” built with Arcade

24:00 – How non-technical people can use these tools too27:00 – Cursor vs. Copilot: What’s better?

30:00 – Cursor agent mode and example developer workflows

34:00 – Vector databases and prompt design

35:00 – Using LLMs to redesign error handling and generate docs

38:00 – Advice for teams adopting AI: start by building

Tools and Technologies:

Arcade – Let AI agents act on your behalf (email, Slack, calendar, etc.) with secure OAuth.

Cursor – LLM-native IDE with full-codebase context. Ideal for AI-assisted development.

Claude – Chat interface + agent orchestration, paired with Arcade.

LangGraph – Multi-agent orchestration framework with human-in-the-loop support.T

ailScale – Secure remote networking; enables Sam to access agents from anywhere.

Twilio – Used for SMS reminders and notifications.

Obsidian + Markdown – Sam uses Markdown + AI for personal notes and research.

GitHub Copilot – Used in tandem with Cursor for inline suggestions and PR reviews.

Subscribe to the channel for more behind-the-scenes looks at how top teams are rethinking work with AI.

Subscribe at thisnewway.com to get the step-by-step playbooks, tools, and workflows.

In this episode, Edmundo Ortega, partner at Machine & Partners, joins to explore how AI is transforming the way we build and ship software. He shares real-world use cases—from cutting document processing time by thousands of hours to prototyping apps with tools like Bolt in under 15 minutes.

We also dive into:

• How non-technical team members can now contribute to development

• How Ed uses Claude to write in his own voice

• Why leaders should think beyond cost savings to unlock AI’s full potential

Whether you're a developer, founder, or team leader, this episode will reshape how you think about building with AI.

Timestamps

00:00 – The promise of AI beyond cost savings

01:10 – Edmundo's background and the founding of Machine & Partners

04:40 – How Machine & Partners identifies and builds AI use cases

05:45 – Personal shift to an AI-powered workstyle

07:00 – Building internal tools using Bolt

09:20 – Demo: Creating a chart parser app using Bolt

12:00 – Claude vs. ChatGPT for writing with custom instructions1

5:15 – Use case: Automating document extraction for analysts

21:00 – Workflow transformation with AI and report generation

25:15 – PMs using AI to prototype and inspire devs

33:00 – AI's impact on team structure and dev productivity

38:24 – How to get in touch with Ed and his advice for the next 18 months

Tools & Technologies Mentioned

• Bolt (bolt.new)

• Claude 3.7 (Anthropic)

• ChatGPT / GPT-4.5

• Cursor (AI coding assistant)

• Chart.js• Google Sheets

• OpenAI API

• Replit

• N8N

• Make.com

• Gumloop

• Relay

• SectionSchool.com

Subscribe at⁠ thisnewway.com⁠ to get the step-by-step playbooks, tools, and workflows.

In this episode of This New Way, Aydin sits down with Sukhpal Saini, founder of Engyne, to dive into how AI is reshaping the way we build products, market them, and even manage our personal networks. Sukhpal shares how he prototypes with AI, automates content creation, and turns conversations into distribution-ready assets. From building 30+ products to launching a Canva app for LinkedIn carousels, this episode is packed with actionable insights.

Timestamps:

0:00 — Intro: Welcome to This New Way

1:30 — The AI curiosity wave and why people are hungry for tactical content

4:00 — Suk’s journey from IBM, Apple, and Saks to 30+ side projects and Engyne

5:45 — The shift from building in Figma to building 5 real prototypes with A

8:00 — Using Replit and ChatGPT to get fast, real customer feedback

13:00 — How marketers can build lead gen tools without engineering

16:30 — Will we have fewer engineers in the future?

19:00 — Demo #1: Nexus — Using AI to query your own network

22:00 — Why personal productivity tools no longer require SaaS subscriptions

24:50 — Demo #2: A Voice of Customer app to analyze transcripts and shape messaging

29:00 — Demo #3: Carousel Studio — Turn your ideas into LinkedIn carousels with a Canva app

35:00 — The power of creating from your unique opinion, not AI-generated fluff

37:00 — Engyne’s vision: Become a mini media machine

39:00 — Closing thoughts and future predictions for AI-powered solo businesses

Tools and Technologies Mentioned:

Replit – A browser-based coding environment that lets you write, run, and deploy software quickly. Suk uses it to rapidly prototype multiple product ideas in minutes.

ChatGPT – OpenAI’s conversational AI model, used to generate code, iterate on features, and assist in product development.

Claude – An AI assistant developed by Anthropic, used similarly to ChatGPT for coding and ideation.

Prisma – A modern ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) tool for Node.js and TypeScript, used in Suk’s Voice of Customer app to manage the database.

OpenAI API – The underlying API that powers GPT models like ChatGPT, allowing users to integrate AI functionality into their custom apps.

Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe at thisnewway.com

In this episode of This New Way, Aydin talks to Rob, co-founder of Heartee Foods, co-founder of Assent and longtime AI practitioner, about how he’s integrating AI into every corner of his mushroom farming business — from training systems and voice-driven data entry to hiring pipelines and grant applications. Rob shares how his team replaced costly software with internal tools powered by LLMs, dramatically accelerating operations and unlocking new insights. If you're curious how AI can power real-world logistics and training — this one's for you.Timestamps:00:00 – Intro: Rob’s background in machine learning and startup journey01:15 – Building Heartee Foods and pivoting from software to farming03:00 – Voice-based data collection for daily farm operations04:50 – Replacing forms with AI-powered voice inputs06:00 – Creating an internal LMS using LLMs and video training07:40 – Why traditional audits now take 2 hours instead of 2 weeks10:00 – The power of voice in AI interfaces and workplace design12:00 – Using AI to build and query internal documentation systems13:45 – Why LLM-powered search beats traditional search16:30 – Building internal software faster than ever before20:00 – How Rob uses AI to evaluate job candidates using transcripts24:00 – Demo: Ranking resumes with NotebookLM28:00 – Using LLMs to draft government grant applications34:00 – Automating grant budgeting and narrative writing with AI36:00 – The future of coding: From dev-led to voice-initiated workflows38:00 – Rob’s advice to leaders: “Just start using it”Tools & Resources Mentioned:Fellow – For recording and transcribing interviewsAnthropic Claude / GPT-3.5 – Used to build internal toolsNotebookLM (Google) – Used to rank resumes and answer hiring questionsCursor – AI coding tool for faster software developmentSiri (macOS voice dictation) – Used for hands-free data entry and draftingCustom LMS with LLM integration – Built in-house to replace third-party toolsSubscribe at Thisnewway.com to get the step-by-step AI workflows.

In this episode of This New Way, Aydin talks to Rob Imbeault, co-founder of Heartee Foods, co-founder of Assent, and longtime AI practitioner, about how he’s integrating AI into every corner of his mushroom farming business — from training systems and voice-driven data entry to hiring pipelines and grant applications. Rob shares how his team replaced costly software with internal tools powered by LLMs, dramatically accelerating operations and unlocking new insights. If you're curious how AI can power real-world logistics and training — this one's for you.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Intro: Rob’s background in machine learning and startup journey

01:15 – Building Heartee Foods and pivoting from software to farming

03:00 – Voice-based data collection for daily farm operations

04:50 – Replacing forms with AI-powered voice inputs

06:00 – Creating an internal LMS using LLMs and video training

07:40 – Why traditional audits now take 2 hours instead of 2 weeks

10:00 – The power of voice in AI interfaces and workplace design

12:00 – Using AI to build and query internal documentation systems

13:45 – Why LLM-powered search beats traditional search

16:30 – Building internal software faster than ever before

20:00 – How Rob uses AI to evaluate job candidates using transcripts

24:00 – Demo: Ranking resumes with NotebookLM

28:00 – Using LLMs to draft government grant applications

34:00 – Automating grant budgeting and narrative writing with AI

36:00 – The future of coding: From dev-led to voice-initiated workflows

38:00 – Rob’s advice to leaders: “Just start using it”

Tools & Resources Mentioned:

Fellow – For recording and transcribing interviews

Anthropic Claude / GPT-3.5 – Used to build internal tools

NotebookLM (Google) – Used to rank resumes and answer hiring questions

Cursor – AI coding tool for faster software development

Siri (macOS voice dictation) – Used for hands-free data entry and drafting

Custom LMS with LLM integration – Built in-house to replace third-party tools

Subscribe at Thisnewway.com to get the step-by-step AI workflows.

Subscribe at www.thisnewway.com to get the step-by-step playbooks, tools, and workflows.

In this episode, Aydin chats with Irosha de Silva, the founder of Marketrics, about how AI is transforming customer support from passive documentation to real-time, visual, and agentic assistance. They discuss how they met through an AI networking tool called Bordy, how Irosha transitioned from running a software agency to launching an AI-powered startup, and how tools like Grok and GitHub Copilot are changing the game for fast-moving teams. Irosha also demos how Marketrics works—revealing a future where SaaS tools can support users visually and contextually, without human intervention.

TIMESTAMPS

0:40 – How Aydin and Irosha met through Bordy, an AI networking agent

2:50 – Irosha’s tech background and software agency journey

4:55 – Going “all in” on building a product in AI6:15 – The frustrating customer support moment that sparked Marketrics

8:20 – How Marketrics uses agentic AI to improve customer support

10:00 – The impact of AI on company-building today

11:45 – How startups can now reimagine any function with AI

12:45 – Tools Marketrics uses: GitHub Copilot, Grok, ChatGPT

14:00 – How AI is helping founders actually get things done (like LinkedIn posts!)

16:00 – Irosha’s process for turning notes into a high-performing post using Grok

21:10 – Live demo: How Marketrics works with Canva as an example

27:00 – Reimagining support: From reading docs to real-time visual guidance

30:00 – Why user patience is dropping in the AI era

31:00 – What excites Irosha most about the next 12 months of AI

32:50 – How to connect with Irosha

Tools & Resources Mentioned

Bordy – AI networking agent that introduces professionals via email

Marketrics – Irosha’s AI-powered customer support platform (marketrics.ai)

Grok – AI tool (by xAI) Irosha uses to generate real-time LinkedIn posts

GitHub Copilot – AI code assistant used by Markettrics’ dev team

ChatGPT – Used alongside Grok for content creation and support

Cursor – Another AI coding tool briefly mentioned by Aydin

Nvidia GTC Conference – Where Irosha gathered content for his LinkedIn post

Subscribe at www.thisnewway.com to get the step-by-step playbooks, tools, and workflows.

In episode 6 of This New Way, Fredrik Thomassen and Phillip Maggs walk us through how Superside—a global creative services company—has fundamentally transformed its workflows using generative AI. From automating asset production to embedding AI directly into tools like Figma, Superside is pushing the boundaries of what's possible in creative automation. We also get a live demo of their “brief-to-draft” workflow and discuss how AI is reshaping the talent landscape.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:52 – What Superside does and its global scale

2:10 – Phil’s role and what “Director of Generative AI Excellence” means

4:08 – The turning point: DALL·E and Superside’s AI transformation

8:00 – How they approached AI experimentation via “shadow projects”

10:54 – Testing AI-created assets alongside human work

13:20 – How talent profiles are changing with AI

19:00 – Where AI is most disruptive: video production

22:00 – Live demo: from brief to hundreds of personalized assets

32:00 – In-tool editing and automation directly in Figma

36:00 – Image-to-video transformation with Runway

41:00 – What’s next for Superside and the creative industry

46:30 – Final thoughts: what Fredrik and Phil are most excited about

TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES MENTIONED:

DALL·E – AI image generation

MidJourney – Creative image ideation

Stable Diffusion – Open-source image gen

ChatGPT / GPT-3.5+ – Prompt writing and copy support

Figma – Design collaboration with custom AI plugins

Runway ML – AI video generation

Zapier – Workflow automation

Superspace – Superside’s internal platform

Foul – Model inference layer

Node-based AI orchestration – For prompt chaining and bulk generation