In this special episode, we bring you highlights from three talks at the Midwest AI Summit. Heidi Porter explores how to build reliable AI-augmented workflows using the right tools, evaluations, and guardrails. Kevin Solorio shares why building AI with frontline workers, not just for them, is key to earning trust and driving adoption, emphasizing collaboration and continuous feedback. And Chris Shinkle and Andrew Dunlap of SEP discuss how software teams can find the right level of AI autonomy based on their goals, constraints, and verification needs, sharing lessons from teams using AI to build software more effectively.

Featuring:

• Heidi Porter – LinkedIn
• Kevin Solorio – LinkedIn
• Chris Shinkle – LinkedIn
• Andrew Dunlap – LinkedIn
• Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X

Links:

• Moyer Group AI
• SEP
• Focused

Sponsors:

• Hostinger: Create your website today. Go to hostinger.com/practical and use practical for 10 percent off now.

Resources and Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!
• Prior Webinars from our partner Prediction Guard
• Midwest AI Summit 2026

Chris’s new book The Art of Swarming will be published soon, written to be the seminal foundational book for the fledgling swarming industry, defining the principles and architecture that enable autonomous agentic UxS swarms with emergent unified embodied intelligence.