Are we trying to build AI, or are we ready to operationalize it? While the world chases bigger models, the real advantage lies in building systems that work reliably, safely, and at scale.

On this episode, we hear from Dan Bikel, Writer's Head of AI. With a thirty-year career spanning nearly every major AI lab — including IBM, Google, LinkedIn, and Meta — Dan has shaped the field of natural language processing. He helped build the semantic parser behind Google Assistant, worked on safety for Llama 2, and has published foundational research papers. But then, he moved to a startup. Why?

Listen to learn why leaders should shift their focus from "what can this model do?" to "what does this business need?" Dan shares his core philosophy of building strong systems, not just powerful models, and distills his AI strategy into three words — Scale, Speed, and Specificity. He offers practical insights for leaders on hiring talent, making smart investments, and pursuing "Absolutely Manageable Intelligence" over the hype of AGI.

Dan’s vision for the future is an "agentic age," where AI systems don't just respond — they act, coordinate tasks, and explain their thinking. He argues that the next great leap in AI won't be in consumer chatbots, but in enterprise systems that are auditable, accountable, and indispensable to the business.

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