AI is transforming our world - in science, healthcare, finance, and beyond. With rapid advancements in large language models, automation, and machine learning, companies are racing to build smarter, more efficient systems that shape the future.
But how do you go from an AI idea to a scalable, impactful solution?
Building and scaling AI isn’t just about the technology. It’s also about making the right strategic decisions. AI founders need to consider everything from data quality and model performance to regulation, ethical concerns, and the infrastructure that’s needed to support large-scale deployment. Funding, hiring, and go-to-market strategies are just as critical as the algorithms themselves.
In each episode, we’ll bring you insights from AI founders, engineers and leaders who are building the next generation of technology companies.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, developer, or just fascinated by the future of AI, this podcast will bring you expert knowledge, industry trends, and practical strategies to turn AI ideas into reality.
Check out the newsletter https://aixinsights.substack.com/
Building Glasgow's tech ecosystem with STAC's Paul Wilson
Paul Wilson, STAC's CEO, discusses building a competitive tech ecosystem in Glasgow by supporting deep tech startups and fostering a Silicon Valley mindset, in this interview.
10 Jun 2025
Data Literacy and Career Empowerment with Bhagya Reddy
Bhagya Reddy discusses the importance of data literacy across organizations and how data skills empower career transitions, including her experience building a data university at Virgin Media in this interview.
6 May 2025
Building Voice Tech for Education with Mauro Nicolao at Soapbox Labs
In this conversation, I sit down with Mauro Nicolao, Director of Data Science at Soapbox Labs - a trailblazing company building voice technology designed specifically for children. Recently acquired by Curriculum Associates, Soapbox Labs is now bringing their specialised speech recognition technology to over 13 million students across the US.
From his roots in academia to leading cutting-edge AI products, Mauro shares the story behind his journey and the mission driving Soapbox’s work. Listen to hear:
- Mauro's journey from academia to Soapbox Labs
- How AI tools can support teachers rather than replace them
- What it was like to go through an acquisition, and how Soapbox Labs benefited
- The unique challenges of building ethical and robust AI technology for children
- Real-world lessons from building AI for education
As schools adopt AI tools, understanding how to implement voice technology that works for ALL students has never been more crucial. Mauro's insights are valuable for anyone working at the intersection of AI, voice technology, and education.
Find Mauro on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mauro-nicolao-6a55629/), and learn more about Soapbox Labs (https://www.soapboxlabs.com/) and Curriculum Associates (https://www.curriculumassociates.com/).
31 Mar 2025
Scaling to Series C with Shawn Wen, CTO at PolyAI
In this conversation, Shawn Wen, co-founder and CTO of PolyAI, shares insights into the journey of building PolyAI into a successful series C AI startup focused on automating phone calls for contact centres. He discusses the early days of PolyAI, the challenges faced in scaling the team, the importance of company culture, and the evolving role of a CTO in a growing organisation. Shawn also reflects on the impact of industry changes in AI and the lessons learned throughout the startup journey. Listen to hear:
- How Shawn thought about his CTO role as PolyAI evolved
- How PolyAI's culture got set on the right path in its earliest days
- The challenges of hiring new roles into PolyAI
- Why keeping up with the AI firehose sometimes means throwing away what you've built
Follow PolyAI on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/polyai/) to keep up-to-date.
25 Mar 2025
Empowering Data and AI teams with Chris Pedder from Obrizum
Find Chris on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-jb-pedder/), and learn about Obrizum (https://obrizum.com/).
I talk with Chris Pedder from Obrizum. Chris started his career as a Physicist, before moving into AI and Data. He is now Chief Data and AI Officer at Obrizum, who use AI to deliver adaptive learning.
In this episode we talk about the behaviours that Chris intentionally fosters in his team, including:
Empowering your team to own and deliver the whole AI/ML stack
Fostering ownership and growth in teams, along with a culture of learning
Chris' experience using ideas from Team Topologies (https://teamtopologies.com/) to organise Obrizum's teams
The importance of friction in learning, and why you don't want AI to remove all the friction
Being mindful of the ethical considerations in the Education domain
Chris' lessons learned
17 Mar 2025
Conversational AI for Authentic Connections with Sarah Coward
Find Sarah on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-coward-a45a7a/), and learn about In The Room by visiting intheroom.global (https://intheroom.global/)
Today we're talking with Sarah Coward from In The Room - who use conversational AI technology to enable organisations to make their best expert available to their audiences 24/7, 365 days a year.
We cover:
The Origin Story of In the Room
The Importance of Authenticity in Technology
Building trust in Conversational AI
Trust in Technology: Video vs. Text Interactions
Lessons Learned in Conversational AI Development
10 Mar 2025
ML Platform teams with Prassanna Ravishankar from Papercup
Find Prass on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-nomadic-coder/), and find his Feed Forward podcast (https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/feed-forward-space) on Spotify & YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@FeedForwardPodcast).
In this first episode, I talk with Prassanna Ravishankar from Papercup. Prass started his career as a computer vision researcher, before moving into Engineering & MLOps. He now leads the ML platform initiative at Papercup, which is a London-based startup providing AI dubbing solutions.
We cover
Prass' view of platforms and MLOps
Skills an ML Platform team needs
Keeping up with the fast-paced world of AI and MLOps
Engaging stakeholders in platform development
The impact that a platform team can have on an AI business
When startups should think about investing in dedicated MLOps capability
Lessons learned in the journey building Papercup's ML Platform
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Podcast Authority Score: 24 / 100
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36
Social presence
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YouTube
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Engagement
32
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