The Aboard Podcast

Big tech doesn’t care about medium-sized businesses—but is AI really the solution? On this week’s podcast, Paul is fresh off the plane from Phoenix, Arizona, where he was speaking to business owners at the Inc. 5000 Conference. As he gives Rich a full report, they discuss the specific needs of the “SMB”—small-to-medium-sized business—and how little interest the software industry has in the very large middle of the business spectrum. Can AI help these orgs get the software they actually need?

AI is making job hunting near-impossible on both sides of the hiring equation. Is there a way out of this automated mess? On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich look at AI’s effect on an already unpredictable job market. Hirers are getting spammed with AI-generated applications, while sincere job seekers are getting swiftly rejected via AI hiring tools. As AI ushers in a hyper-transactional era of diminished trust between strangers, how can applicants and hiring managers actually connect with each other? 

Traffic to vibe-coding tools is plummeting. Financial analysts are invoking 1929. Is the big AI crash inevitable? On the latest Aboard Podcast, Paul and Rich assess our current moment in AI and its (over)valuation in the global economy. Will the bubble pop—and if it does, how big will that pop be? And as they evaluate the problems with our lopsided AI landscape, they speculate about what AI as a technology—rather than an investment vehicle—could look like in the future.  

AI videos from tools like OpenAI’s Sora and Meta’s Vibes are flooding our feeds. Is this the future? On the Aboard Podcast, Paul and Rich tackle a trio of AI topics. First: They look at a report from the Yale Budget Lab on which industries are adopting AI the fastest. (Spoiler: Only one is fully embracing it. Take a guess!) Then, they talk about spammy AI-generated bug reports submitted to the developer of cURL—and what happened when someone found real bugs with AI. And finally: Welcome to Slopworld! You can generate whatever video you want with a single sentence. Isn’t that kind of…boring?

All over the New York City subway, ads for the AI wearable “Friend” are being defaced. It seems clear that New Yorkers don’t want what Silicon Valley is selling—but will the general consumer bite? On this week’s Aboard Podcast, Paul and Rich assess the tensions between big tech and the public, in New York and beyond. After decades of having our data be packaged and sold, will anyone want to wear a necklace that listens to them 24/7? Plus: Paul describes what his skincare routine would be like if he were a billionaire.

The big tech CEOs are openly embracing Trump—so what do we all do now? On this week’s Aboard Podcast, Paul and Rich dig into Steven Levy’s recent cover story for WIRED’s politics issue that breaks down the industry’s hard pivot towards Trumpism. What did these leaders think they were signing up, and what are they actually getting? Plus: By way of metaphor, Rich offers up the world’s worst bundt cake recipe (it’s full of gold!). 

The Aboard Podcast is about software in the age of AI—but what non-AI things are happening in the world of software? Not much, Paul and Rich are sorry to report. In the first half of this week’s episode, they discuss how AI is sucking up all the tech oxygen in the room. Then, they pivot to talking about AI and kids: What should parents be teaching their kids about these tools? (Or should they even let them use LLMs at all?) 

Will AI put an end to management consulting? Maybe hold off on writing that McKinsey obituary for now. On the podcast, Paul and Rich break down the different kinds of consulting on a practical level, and assess what AI might mean for that work going forward. Can these companies really get away with charging the same rates if AI lets them reduce headcount or dramatically speed up the work?

Millions of people are using AI tools to search—so what does that mean for search engines? On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich dive into (the questionably named) “GEO,” or Generative Engine Optimization. After an overview of Google’s classic model, they explore the ways AI is currently upending the search world, and speculate about what might emerge in the years to come. If LLMs cannibalize all the content on the web, what will be left to search in the future?

How should the business leaders of the future think about AI? On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich are joined by Matt Seitz, the Director of the AI Hub for Business at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Business. Matt discusses his journey from years at Google to his current role at UW, and he gives on-the-ground insight into the AI struggles of both leadership and employees in this moment of transition. Plus: They ponder whether AI can improve Wisconsin cheese. (Spoiler: No. It is perfect.)