Generative AI is already revolutionizing software development—so how long are developers’ jobs safe? On this week’s Reqless, Paul and Rich use a recent post on the subject by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy to discuss the future of coders: What these tools will mean for organizations large and small; how new development paradigms will imperil the big consulting firms; and what advice they have for a junior developer looking at the next few decades of their career.
Sep 03, 2024•25 min•Season 2Ep. 124
How is AI changing the marketing industry? This week Paul and Rich welcome Noah Brier, a marketer and startup founder who’s excited about the ways AI could be used to solve the industry’s problems. Topics discussed include his early interest and adoption of generative AI tools, the types of problems his marketing clients are trying to tackle with AI, and why the tech industry seems to be missing the true potential of AI in its messaging.
Aug 27, 2024•37 min•Season 2Ep. 123
By emphasizing the chatbot use case, are we missing the real communication powers of generative AI? On this week’s Reqless, Paul describes his recent journey to understand the 900-page, far-right master plan that is Project 2025—which he fed into ChatGPT and then asked for its contents to be summarized by “a really cheerful, optimistic squirrel.” With the power to instantly change voice and tone—for humor, to accommodate different reading levels, to speak with different dialects, etc.—is AI...
Aug 20, 2024•23 min•Season 2Ep. 122
Are Meta’s ideas about AI the future of the technology? In the wake of the recent tech stock slump and with questions about newer AI companies’ true value, Paul and Rich look at Meta’s Llama and how the company is positioning its model in the broader AI landscape. Plus: They assess the recent decision in United States v. Google LLC —aka the Google antitrust case—and see if there are any real takeaways to be gleaned before what promises to be a lengthy appeals process.
Aug 13, 2024•24 min•Season 2Ep. 121
It’s easy to make blanket claims about “AI taking jobs”—but what does AI mean for specific industries in the near-term? On this week’s Reqless, Paul and Rich run through five careers (musician, advertiser, teacher, therapist, and consultant) and assess the ways AI might—and might not—change work. Plus: Paul describes himself as the “slightly grumpy girlfriend” as he and Rich reminisce about going to see beloved indie band Low together.
Aug 06, 2024•29 min•Season 2Ep. 120
On this week’s Reqless, Paul and Rich look at how AI might affect the dominant way people organize data today: The spreadsheet. With its low barrier to entry and ability for users of all sorts to hack together solutions, does the humble spreadsheet leave any room for an AI transformation—and does it even need one? Plus: Fresh off a trip to San Francisco, Paul reports back on our driverless car future.
Jul 30, 2024•19 min•Season 2Ep. 119
On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich look at how AI is going to transform a very special industry filled with the nicest people: The law. After laying out the specific areas of the legal profession that are ripe for AI transformation, they assess a few current startups and their application frameworks (e.g., document review, research, contracts), and propose a new segment for each industry-specific podcast: “Will AI take your job?”
Jul 23, 2024•30 min•Season 2Ep. 118
Introducing Reqless—the new podcast from Aboard about how AI is changing software. In this episode, your hosts Paul Ford and Rich Ziade explain why this podcast exists, and talk about how AI is enabling everyone to start skipping steps—and why overall, you should embrace this, not fear it. (Although a little healthy fear never hurt anyone.)
Jul 16, 2024•17 min•Season 2Ep. 117
A one-minute episode—we’re taking a very short summer break! But expect some big changes when we return… Transcript Paul Ford : Hi, I'm Paul Ford, the co-founder of Aboard. Rich Ziade: And I'm Rich Ziade, the other co-founder of Aboard. Paul : And you're listening to the Aboard Po—oh, wait a minute. Oh, wow. Okay, wait. I think we're gonna rename this thing. Rich : Yeah? Paul : Yeah, it's time. We've received some high-level branding advice, and it is time for us to get out ...
Jul 09, 2024•1 min•Season 2Ep. 116
Your boss walks in and says, “What are we doing about AI?” How do you respond? On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich break down the problem with the question itself, and the way AI is being offered as an imprecise, ineffective solution to solve business’s structural problems. Who actually needs AI—and how do you figure out the best way to use it?
Jun 25, 2024•27 min•Season 2Ep. 115
Why do we try to explain tech concepts and processes with metaphors—and why do we choose the metaphors we use? On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich get philosophical, kicking off the conversation with an article about how the human is not like a computer, and travel through the history of personal computing to our present AI moment. Plus: How exactly should you handle the idealists in your organization?
Jun 18, 2024•25 min•Season 2Ep. 114
You’ve just shipped your latest release. Once you finish celebrating, how do you decide what to build next? Paul taps Rich, in his role as Aboard CEO, to set a course on a hypothetical product roadmap: Does he prioritize an enterprise-specific feature, another that might bump up broader user engagement, or the thing the boss tossed out because he had a vague hunch? Plus: Why is some industry-specific software beautiful, while other industries are left with clunky, uninspired “bureaucracy in soft...
Jun 11, 2024•20 min•Season 2Ep. 113
On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich offer up some quick hits—and sample, in Rich’s words, “a buffet of technology news.” First, rhetoric: Specifically, the rhetorical pretzels of Nick Clegg, President for Global Affairs at Meta Platforms, who Paul and Rich saw speak at the EmTech Digital Conference. Next, cringe: Canva’s corporate rap that went viral recently, drawing (uncomplimentary) comparisons to HBO’s Silicon Valley or Succession ’s “L to the OG.” And finally, stock disasters: On Salesfor...
Jun 04, 2024•21 min•Season 2Ep. 112
Does the real promise of generative AI lie in the chatbot? Paul and Rich don’t think so. Building off a post by tech entrepreneur Dustin Moskovitz on “scaffolded AI,” they discuss extreme visions of our AI future and position themselves in the center—where tools work with the user, rather than attempt to replace them.
May 28, 2024•25 min•Season 2Ep. 111
There are a huge number of low-code tools out there—but is “low code” a meaningful term? Paul and Rich discuss the promise versus the reality of low code, what most businesses really need from software, and the other descriptors they’d use if tasked with a low-code rebrand.
May 21, 2024•21 min•Season 2Ep. 110
What does “risk-taking” really mean in business—and how can embracing some level of chaos help foster success? Paul and Rich make the case for unpredictability, talking about everything from New York City’s Diamond District to the relatively short runway when running an agency to Rich’s management style. (Hint: It involves repeatedly hitting a metaphorical gong.)
May 14, 2024•25 min•Season 2Ep. 109
You’ve got one software system that doesn’t play nicely with your other software system—so surely the answer is a third software system to link them together, right? And how about adding a fourth, maybe even a fifth? Paul and Rich discuss the challenging gaps between the platforms people use to manage their businesses: How hard it can be to truly identify problems while you’re trying to grow, and how technology consultants tend to recommend shorter-term solutions that only make things more compl...
May 07, 2024•30 min•Season 2Ep. 108
How do you bring in ten times as many new users every day? That’s not the question you should actually be asking. Paul and Rich discuss the tech world’s faulty success metrics, the perpetual struggle of onboarding, and the importance of humility when listening to and communicating with your users.
Apr 30, 2024•26 min•Season 2Ep. 107
If a huge company wants to “partner” with your small business, can that ever be a fair partnership? Paul describes a recent mentorship dilemma to Rich, and they discuss the dynamics that make the position of the smaller player in that scenario so challenging. Plus: Musings on public-spectacle trials past and present, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and the existential dread prompted by even the most innocent Slack notifications.
Apr 23, 2024•25 min•Season 2Ep. 106
From copyright violations to environmental concerns to the looming threat of the singularity, AI is a hot-button topic these days. Paul and Rich talk through many facets of this conversation, and discuss how they think about the AI components of Aboard. Plus: A little roleplay in which we learn that Paul thinks Aboard is an earnest mid-century cartoon character.
Apr 16, 2024•25 min•Season 2Ep. 105
Most weeks, the Aboard Podcast is only sponsored by Aboard—but this week, Paul and Rich celebrate Aboard’s relaunch by devoting the whole episode to their shiny new AI-powered product! After they take a (technical and non-technical) look at exactly what’s going on under the hood, they discuss the ways Aboard uses AI to help humans, not supplant them.
Apr 11, 2024•21 min•Season 2Ep. 104
Just a quick update today, because....WE'RE LAUNCHING A SHINY NEW VERSION OF ABOARD!!! Paul and Rich will be back on Thursday with a full episode (which, as you can imagine, will be about the shiny new version of Aboard). In the meantime, check out all our changes—open up the app or visit Aboard.com!
Apr 09, 2024•1 min•Season 2Ep. 103
This past week, the big news in the design software world was Canva’s acquisition of Affinity, and Paul and Rich kick off the episode by asking, “Is this a failure on Adobe’s part?” But of course Adobe remains a massively profitable company—so what drives the impulse to frame a giant tech company’s misses as overarching “failures”? As they mull over various motivations, they discuss how to reframe success on your own terms, outside the simple metrics of competition or industry trends.
Apr 02, 2024•28 min•Season 2Ep. 102
Can we all agree that the vibes are off? On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich dig into our broader societal malaise (the effects of the pandemic; our phones as an endless portal to misery) and discuss how business leaders can combat these feelings. Plus: Some early analysis of the DOJ’s antitrust case against Apple, and a story about a Formula 1 team using a single Excel spreadsheet for…everything.
Mar 26, 2024•27 min•Season 2Ep. 101
Algorithmically innovative? An important tool for connection? A grave national security threat? Paul and Rich discuss the recent bipartisan vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to ban TikTok—and whatever you think of the platform itself, they argue that the move says something significant about the American government’s relationship with big tech.
Mar 19, 2024•26 min•Season 2Ep. 100
How do you build a company that has an exciting product—but has nice, boring, stable qualities, too? Paul and Rich tackle this question from a variety of angles, from tax strategy to the value of marketing to treating the user like a spouse who might cheat on you if you stop putting any effort into the marriage. (And yes, don’t worry: There is also a fair bit of synth talk. And synth noises!)
Mar 12, 2024•23 min•Season 2Ep. 99
Will generative AI give us the answer or lead us to the answer—or is that the wrong question entirely? Paul and Rich assess the promise of AI through a lens of lightly skeptical optimism, trying to sort out hype from reality and figure out how exactly these tools might be embedded in everyones’ lives someday.
Mar 05, 2024•33 min•Season 2Ep. 98
As the last decade’s big social media platforms crumble, Paul and Rich reflect on the (false) promise of the “global town square,” and the suggestion that putting millions of people in a giant room together could be productive in any way. If the era of building software to facilitate networked connections is truly on the way out, does AI promise a return to an earlier, utility-based era of technology?
Feb 27, 2024•27 min•Season 2Ep. 97
When Paul suggests recording a podcast about public figures they admire, Rich has a counter-offer—why not talk about people they hate instead? But this particular exercise has a catch: They can only discuss things they admire or feel they can learn from said figures, a very tricky exercise with certain politicians! A countdown of five business and political leaders that some large number of people hate—plus listen to the very end to hear exactly how Paul compares himself to Taylor Swift.
Feb 20, 2024•27 min•Season 2Ep. 96
When Paul injures himself and is advised by his wife, Rich, and ChatGPT (seriously) to seek emergency medical attention, he goes to the urgent care and marvels at their utterly Byzantine technological set-up, from parallel, disconnected patient portals to being handed a literal CD-ROM with his X-rays. What can we learn from systems built for the captive user—and how does that apply to enterprise software more broadly?
Feb 13, 2024•25 min•Season 2Ep. 95
