We're at the halfway point of 2025, and AI is evolving faster than ever. In this solo episode, I share Untapped Ventures ’ first Request for Startups. It’s a detailed breakdown of the core areas where we’re actively looking to invest. If you're a founder building in AI or exploring ideas, this is the roadmap for what we want to fund next. I walk through the key themes that reflect our thesis across both Agentic AI and Convergence AI. These are the ideas we believe will drive the next generation ...
Jul 16, 2025•24 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Is your AI startup built to survive the next wave? In this episode of Agentic, Will Manidis, the co-founder of ScienceIO, shares how he built for resilience from day one developing LLMs for healthcare and the frameworks that helped him scale before the world caught up. He shares how local model training on office gaming PCs laid the unlikely foundation for ScienceIO’s reach across millions in digital health. We also discuss: • why OpenAI’s API continues to dominate Gemini • the hidden fragility ...
Jun 12, 2025•51 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Most no-code tools give you an MVP. Woz wants to give you a business. On this episode of Agentic, I was joined by Ben Collins and Brad Eckert , co-founders of Woz, an AI platform that lets anyone build real, scalable web and mobile products with zero coding. Think Shopify, but for launching operational SaaS startups. If you’re in the early innings of building something in AI, especially if you’re figuring things out from first principles— let’s chat . Connect with us here: 1. Woz: https://www....
May 09, 2025•59 min•Season 1Ep. 16
What happens when the former Chief Scientist at Salesforce builds a search engine for enterprises? In this episode, Richard Socher (CEO) and Bryan McCann (CTO) of You.com reveal how they’re reinventing enterprise search and agentic workflows with their latest product, Ari—a deep research assistant that goes far beyond fast facts. We explore: How You.com is going deeper than Google and faster than Perplexity Why consumer LLMs aren’t enough for serious enterprise work How a Stanford summer project...
May 02, 2025•58 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Everyone has opinions about founder equity, funding timelines, and valuations—but Peter Walker holds the data. In this special live Agentic session, I sat down with Peter, Head of Insights at Carta , to unpack what’s actually happening beneath the surface in early-stage AI startups. Peter’s team has a privileged vantage point—cap tables, valuations, and hiring data across 45,000 startups and 83% of U.S. unicorns. We explore: a common equity mistake that’s quietly killing fundraising chances why ...
Apr 08, 2025•55 min•Season 1Ep. 14
I brought Ben Collins of Woz and Dakotah Rice and Tushar Nair of Harper for a special episode of Agentic–our AGM! Ben’s Woz lets non-technical founders build scalable apps with no engineering team—think Shopify for software while Dakotah and Tushar’s Harper quotes 476 complex insurance deals with voice AI, turning family brokerage chaos into a data goldmine. On the docket: Harper’s logged-call advantage for scalable precision compute’s brewing storm (NVIDIA’s got rivals rising) how reasoning ...
Mar 25, 2025•33 min•Season 1Ep. 13
As AI races forward, one question looms large—who decides what’s right and wrong? Behind the breakthroughs and multi billion-dollar valuations, a power struggle is unfolding. Big Tech is quietly shaping AI policy in the shadows, and governments are stuck playing catch-up. In this episode, I speak with Wendell Wallach , a foremost expert on AI ethics and governance, to break down the challenges and power dynamics steering the course of AI. Co-author of Moral Machines and a key figure at Yale and ...
Feb 27, 2025•49 min•Season 1Ep. 12
He built AI-powered lunar rovers at NASA. He was in the room when GPT launched. Now, Logan Kilpatrick is helping developers push the boundaries of AI at Google DeepMind. In this episode, Logan shares his front-row view of AI’s most pivotal moments—and how they hint at the next paradigm shifts. We also get into: • inside Open AI on Launch day • how Google DeepMind’s Gemini 2.0 Flash is flipping the script on AI economics • the open-source vs. proprietary AI debate, and • why AI’s next frontier is...
Feb 21, 2025•49 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Bigger AI models dominate the headlines—but what if the real breakthrough lies in making AI smaller? In this episode, I sit down with Ramin Hasani, Alexander Amini, and Daniela Rus—who are at the helm of Liquid AI—to discuss how their approach challenges conventional architectures and unlocks new frontiers for AI deployment. Also on the docket: • Ramin explains how insights from a microscopic worm led to a novel AI model. • Alexander breaks down why Liquid AI operates efficiently on local device...
Feb 15, 2025•56 min•Season 1Ep. 10
For years, $7.2B in U.S. government-backed neuroperformance research sat untouched—proven cognitive enhancements with no commercial application. David Bach saw the gap. Optios is bridging classified IP with market demand, transforming military-grade neuroscience into real-world performance gains. The upside? Monumental. The imbalance? Even bigger. We dive into: • how declassified DOD research is unlocking a new frontier in neurotech • the hidden psychology behind winning investor buy-in • what $...
Feb 07, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 9
AI agents will drive the next wave of automation—but only if they stop breaking. In this episode, I’m joined by Alex Reibman , Adam Silverman , and Braelyn Boynton , the powerhouse team behind Agency. Together, they’re tackling the toughest challenges in AI agent development, from failure recovery to debugging and slashing operational costs. In this episode: • Alex reveals why today’s AI agents break in unpredictable ways—and how Agency is solving it. • Adam unpacks OpenAI’s latest agent release...
Jan 31, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 8
AI is a platform shift unlike any other, with far-reaching implications for every startup. In my recent webinar with the Founder’s Bay community in Silicon Valley, hosted by Mariane Bekker, I explored why AI should be the core focus for founders aiming to build scalable, high-impact companies. Key takeaways: • there’s hardly an application that AI can’t improve • AI startups are exiting faster—7 years on average vs. 13 for others • building in AI is your best shot at hitting $100M ARR • it’s not...
Jan 24, 2025•55 min•Season 1Ep. 7
The insurance industry has a 400,000 agent shortage. I sat down with Harper 's founders, who use agentic AI to deliver enterprise-grade service at 1/10th the cost. Dakotah Rice and Tushar Nair revealed how they're leveraging the $85B E&S market: • voice AI running quotes to claims • why selling AI tools failed, but becoming a broker worked • how they're hitting software margins in a services business As insurance carriers exit Florida and California, Harper couldn’t have come at a better tim...
Jan 16, 2025•53 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Only 8 companies have shipped AI Agents from production. In this episode of Agentic, I brought together 3 of them, to reveal how they crossed this chasm: 1. Aria Attar (TensorStax) shows how they're tackling the 1:250 data scientist shortage with agents that drop into existing cloud environments. 2. Joe Stolte (Daily.ai), fresh off multiple exits including a $62.5 M acquisition, reveals how they turned 1B newsletter interactions into $1.2M in ARR in just 14 months. 3. Jacky Wong (Nullify) explai...
Jan 09, 2025•50 min•Season 1Ep. 5
With $90B poured into AI over the past year, where is the focus going to be in 2025? I spoke to four top investors to find out. 1. Yipeng Zhao (Embark Ventures) believes AI offers a one-year head start. Fast GTM wins. Slow movers risk irrelevance. 2. Hari Arul (Khosla Ventures) has stopped backing co-pilots altogether. His take? Human-in-loop models won’t survive past 2026. 3. James Shecter (Fika Ventures) says enterprises need the illusion of control over their AI workflows. 4. Nicole Toussaint...
Jan 03, 2025•55 min•Season 1Ep. 4
While 92% of Fortune 500s realize the surplus alpha that can be created from leveraging AI, only 25% of SMBs realize the same. I sat with 6 founders who are building Agentic AI solutions: Jacky Wong (Nullify), Aria Attar (TensorStax), Max Ahrens (Maihem), Saurabh Sharma (You.com), Jonas Diezun (Beam AI), and Ashar Rizqi (Bounti.ai). The key highlights from our conversation were: - OpenAI’s function calling breaks down when scaling requires consistent outputs and error handling—just ask Jacky or ...
Dec 27, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 3
As we transition into agentic models, it’s evident there’s a blend of optimism and caution. In this panel discussion, I was joined by Jon Chu (Khosla Ventures), Pranav Reddy (Conviction), Andrew Brackin (Gradient), Arash Afrakhteh (Pear VC), Alejandra Vergara (Bee Partners), and Nahim Nasser (Georgian) as we explored: • why agentic AI will drive systemic shifts across various industries • the need to define scalable, high-impact use cases for agent-driven solutions • shifting dynamics of human-m...
Dec 19, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 2
To me, agentic is intent meeting capability—systems that act autonomously, adapt intelligently, and drive purposeful outcomes. Our guests on this episode— Jonathan Corbin , Sami Shalabi , and Eugene Mann —embody that. They're pushing AI agents forward for real-world enterprise use cases with Maven AGI . We discuss: • solving complex challenges with AI agents • empowering enterprises with cutting-edge tools, and • why agentic AI will create new roles for humankind Let’s get into it. Connect with ...
Dec 12, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 1
