Episodes

  • How AI Helped Me Plan Our Family Holiday
    Dec 18 2025

    In this episode of Try AI for Growth, Sara Vicente Barreto shares how she used AI to plan and pack for a last-minute family holiday to Sal, Cape Verde — without the usual stress. From creating a personalised packing list to understanding hotel activities, local excursions, and weather conditions, AI became her on-the-go travel assistant.

    This episode explores how conversational AI can reduce mental load, bring structure to everyday chaos, and help families feel more prepared before they even board the plane. If holiday planning usually overwhelms you, this experiment might change how you approach it next time.

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    10 mins
  • How AI Helped Me Turn a Massive Field Report Into Strategy and Actions
    Nov 21 2025

    In this episode of Try AI for Growth, Sara Vicente Barreto shares how AI helped her transform a complex, overwhelming field report from a nine-day trip to Mozambique into a structured set of actions, insights, and strategic directions. Instead of getting stuck in the mental load of hundreds of notes, scattered observations, and project details, Sara used AI to extract actions, identify themes, build analyses, and even generate tools she can reuse in the future. Through hits, misses, iterations, and a few unexpected bugs, this episode reveals how AI can lighten cognitive load, accelerate clarity, and turn "I don't know where to start" into meaningful progress. Listeners will walk away with practical ideas for using AI to break down big tasks, reduce procrastination, and move from overwhelm to organisation.

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    11 mins
  • Creating my First AI Agent: My Publishing Partner
    Sep 19 2025

    In this episode of Try AI for Growth, Sara Vicente Barreto shares her journey of building her first custom AI agent: a publishing partner designed to edit, optimize, and package her blog posts—without losing her authentic voice. From identifying the pain points of publishing, to designing and training the agent on her unique workflow, Sara reveals the behind-the-scenes process, the lessons learned, and the surprising impact on her creative flow.

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    13 mins
  • Sounds Authentic: How Notebook LLM Turned a Report into a Podcast
    Jun 20 2025

    In this episode of Try AI for Growth, Sara Vicente Barreto explores Notebook LLM—a tool designed to turn documents into audio content. After uploading a detailed NGO report, Sara was blown away to receive a conversational podcast so realistic that her team thought she'd produced it herself. With minimal input, the tool delivered something human, engaging, and ready to share. Sara reflects on how Notebook LLM can revolutionize the way we use reports, turning dense content into powerful, accessible formats. She also experiments with FAQs and mind maps, showing how even the most traditional documents can gain new life with AI

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    12 mins
  • Drawing it Out: How I am slowly making my way around AI Images
    May 30 2025

    In this episode of Try AI for Growth, host Sara Vicente Barreto shares her hands-on experience improving AI image generation using DALL·E. After many failed attempts in the past, she finally cracked the code—by defining her style upfront, using the select tool, and iterating on visual prompts to achieve a cohesive set of cartoon-style illustrations for a critical thinking workshop. She walks listeners through each step, including some comic experiments and key takeaways that anyone experimenting with AI visuals can apply.

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    10 mins
  • Governance Without the Drama: How I Built Policies with AI That Actually Fit My Business
    May 23 2025

    In this episode of Try AI for Growth, host Sara Vicente Barreto shares how she tackled a daunting but essential task for any founder—building internal policies. With the help of AI, she created clear, contextual, and practical policies for her advisory business, Inside the Business Mind. From data protection to risk management, Sara reveals how AI helped her overcome procrastination, get started, and refine her documents in a way that saved time, enhanced understanding, and built confidence. Whether you lead a small or medium sized business or you are just getting started, this episode shows how governance doesn't have to be bureaucratic—it just needs to be clear - and to exist.

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    10 mins
  • From Chinese Characters to Robot Bedtime Stories: AI Helped Us Explore a Book We Couldn't Read
    Apr 11 2025

    In this light-hearted episode of Try AI for Growth, Sara Vicente Barreto shares how a Chinese-language book about robots turned into an unexpected evening of discovery, curiosity, and bonding with her son. Using ChatGPT's Lens and Voice Mode, Sara was able to translate, explore, and learn alongside her child—culminating in fun facts, a quiz, and a bedtime story. A beautiful example of how AI can bridge gaps, fuel exploration, and make tech a tool for connection.

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    7 mins
  • Curiosity Compounded: How AI Helped Me Go Deeper into My Reading
    Apr 4 2025

    In this episode of Try AI for Growth, Sara Vicente Barreto explores how AI—this time Gemini, not ChatGPT—became her partner in curiosity. After finishing the book May Contain Lies, Sara turned to AI to help her not only summarize the content but to push further: turning highlights into checklists, generating follow-up reading lists, and even mapping resources for her upcoming critical thinking workshop. What started as a recap turned into a full research trail—layered, tailored, and thought-provoking. A perfect episode for curious minds, readers, and anyone building learning tools with AI.

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    8 mins