Episodes

  • Why Does AI Momentum Stall in Large Organizations? with Kyle Lagunas & Allyn Bailey

    Why Does AI Momentum Stall in Large Organizations? with Kyle Lagunas & Allyn Bailey
    Jun 18 2026
    Understanding these key points is what actually moves the needle on AI gains. Today, we're talking to Kyle Lagunas, analyst and founder at Kyle & Co, and Allyn Bailey, senior director of communications at SmartRecruiters, about why AI momentum in HR is stalling and what's actually moving the needle. We discuss why the organizations leading on AI aren't doing anything flashy, how the most boring red-tape work turns out to be the biggest unlock, why HR's instinct for risk avoidance is exactly the wrong posture for this moment, and what a surprising finding about EU companies under heavy regulation reveals about the relationship between guardrails and speed. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about SmartRecruiters, check out their website here. To read Kyle and Co's full AI Momentum Model, check it out here.
    Show More Show Less
    54 mins
  • Are Apps Going to Get Axed by Conversational AI? with Jacques Klick, Director of Market Strategy at Sinch

    Are Apps Going to Get Axed by Conversational AI? with Jacques Klick, Director of Market Strategy at Sinch
    Jun 15 2026
    We’re putting more and more trust into AI. Will it all blend into one app? Today, we're talking to Jacques Klick, Director of Market Strategy & Product Marketing at Sinch. We discuss why the app store era is quietly ending and what replaces it, how a 62% enterprise AI adoption rate is hiding a 74% rollback problem, and what RCS actually is and why it might be the most underutilized channel in marketing right now. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Sinch, check out their website here. To read Sinch's full report on The AI Production Paradox, check it out here.
    Show More Show Less
    53 mins
  • When Will Robots Live With Us? Inside 1X's NEO with Dar Sleeper, VP of Design & Product

    When Will Robots Live With Us? Inside 1X's NEO with Dar Sleeper, VP of Design & Product
    Jun 11 2026
    Would you live with a humanoid robot? Could you beat one in a fight? Today, we're talking to Dar Sleeper, VP of Design, Product, and Marketing at 1X, the company building Neo, a humanoid robot designed to live and work alongside humans in the home. We discuss why the home is actually the most strategic beachhead in humanoid robotics, how world models are collapsing the gap between robots that follow instructions and robots that genuinely learn, why consumer adoption may be the unlock that industrial deployments can never be, and what it feels like to have a 60-pound robot in your house long before the rest of the world can get one. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about 1X, check out their
    Show More Show Less
    50 mins
  • The 5 Levels of AI Coding & the Collapse of Human-Written Code with Trevor Hinesley, Co-Founder & CTO at Soundstripe

    The 5 Levels of AI Coding & the Collapse of Human-Written Code with Trevor Hinesley, Co-Founder & CTO at Soundstripe
    Jun 8 2026
    His company policy is: there will be absolutely no human-written code. Today, we're talking to Trevor Hinesley, Cofounder and CTO at Soundstripe. We discuss the five levels of AI-written code and what it actually looks like to operate at the highest ones, why Trevor's team has a strict policy of zero human-written code, how the "dark factory" concept is reshaping what engineers actually do, and why a company built on AI-powered development still bets everything on human-made music. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Soundstripe, check out their website here.
    Show More Show Less
    47 mins
  • Marty Cagan on Product Management Theater in the Age of AI

    Marty Cagan on Product Management Theater in the Age of AI
    Jun 4 2026
    Product managers are FORGETTING that they’re problem solvers. Today, we're talking to Marty Cagan, product management author and founder of the Silicon Valley Product Group. We discuss why most tech companies are unknowingly running a model that almost guarantees shipping things that don't matter, how AI is simultaneously exposing and accelerating that problem, why the real bottleneck was never your engineers, and how large language models might finally solve the product coaching gap that's held back a generation of product people. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Marty, connect with him on LinkedIn.
    Show More Show Less
    49 mins
  • From Mammoths to Humans: The Case for Gene Editing with Eriona Hysolli

    From Mammoths to Humans: The Case for Gene Editing with Eriona Hysolli
    Jun 1 2026
    Can today’s technology really prevent tomorrow’s diseases? Today, we're talking to Eriona Hysolli, biologist and co-founder of Manhattan Genomics. We discuss why preventing genetic disease before birth is a more powerful idea than treating it in adulthood, how the UK quietly pioneered a procedure that most of the world still considers off-limits, why the loudest opposition to gene editing often comes from bioethicists rather than the public, and what it would actually take to engineer traits — from woolly mouse hair to human limb regeneration — with enough certainty to act on. To learn more about Eriona, connect with her on LinkedIn.
    Show More Show Less
    52 mins
  • Why Your AI Has No Idea What's Happening in the World with Campbell Brown, CEO & Co-Founder of PredictHQ

    Why Your AI Has No Idea What's Happening in the World with Campbell Brown, CEO & Co-Founder of PredictHQ
    May 28 2026
    Understanding the real world is the biggest potential advantage of AI. Today, we're talking to Campbell Brown, CEO and cofounder of PredictHQ, about the layer of real-world intelligence that AI models are still missing. We discuss why 65% of unexplained demand spikes come down to something most businesses completely ignore, how a New Zealand car rental company became the data backbone for Uber and Expedia, why the era of reading API documentation is effectively over, and what it actually means to "eat stress" as a founder — and why reconciling it matters just as much. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about PredictHQ, check out their website here.
    Show More Show Less
    42 mins
  • Are Our Brains Wired Together? The Power of the Mind in Business & Beyond with Moran Cerf, Neuroscientist & Professor

    Are Our Brains Wired Together? The Power of the Mind in Business & Beyond with Moran Cerf, Neuroscientist & Professor
    May 25 2026
    If you understand this about your brain, you’ll be unstoppable. Today, we're talking to Moran Cerf, neuroscientist and professor, about why the hidden signals shaping human behavior have more in common with ants and fish than we'd like to admit, how smell — not vision — may be the most underestimated force behind the decisions we make, why brains in the same room quietly synchronize whether their owners agree or not, and what it actually means when an alien looking down from the moon asks what the humans are building. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Moran's work, check out his website here.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr