What are AI agents and their capabilities

AI is moving quickly from experimentation into real products, but in regulated and high-trust environments the stakes are much higher. In this compilation episode of the Product Thinking Podcast, host Melissa Perri brings together perspectives from multiple product leaders to explore what it really takes to ship AI responsibly when accuracy, trust, and risk management matter.

You will hear from Maryam Ashoori, who works at IBM and was involved in building Watsonx. She explains what AI agents actually are, why large language models hallucinate, and how guardrails and human oversight help teams manage calculated risk as systems become more autonomous.

The episode also features Magda Armbruster, Head of Product at Natural Cycles, and Jessica Hall, Chief Product Officer at Just Eat Takeaway. Together they share how embedding regulation, prioritizing data privacy, and being honest about cost, governance, and capability building can turn compliance and trust into enablers rather than blockers for AI-driven products.

You’ll hear us talk about:

• What AI agents can and cannot do

Maryam breaks down how agents reason, plan, and take action, and why their probabilistic nature leads to hallucinations. She explains why this behavior is acceptable in low-risk contexts but dangerous in high-stakes domains without proper safeguards.

• Managing risk with guardrails and humans in the loop

The conversation explores how teams can design agentic guardrails and decision flows that keep AI systems close to verified truth, while escalating sensitive or high-risk situations to humans for review.

• Embedding regulation and privacy into product development

Magda shares how Natural Cycles integrates quality assurance, regulatory, and compliance partners directly into day-to-day product work, and why strong privacy practices and user control are core product strategy rather than afterthoughts.

• The real cost of AI and long-term responsibility

Jessica discusses the often underestimated costs of building and running AI systems, from unit economics to team capability, and why product leaders must balance simplicity, governance, bias mitigation, and customer trust instead of chasing hype.

Episode resources:

Check our courses: https://productinstitute.com/

Maryam Ashoori LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mashoori/

Magda Armbruster LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/magda-armbruster-326692a/

Jessica Hall LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-hall-4223b0/

Product Thinking Podcast Episode 241: https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/episode-241-ai-strategy

Product Thinking Podcast Episode 251: https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/episode-251-femtech-innovation

Product Thinking Podcast Episode 199: https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/2024/11/27/episode-199-the-true-cost-of-ai-beyond-the-hype-and-into-reality-with-jessica-hall