Open Story is a podcast exploring the people, ideas, and turning points shaping the future of technology. Hosted by Adam Haney a 3x CTO, multi-time founder, angel investor, and current Partner & Head of Technology at Infinity Constellation the show brings you inside the minds of the builders, leaders, academics, and visionaries reimagining what’s possible.
Whether it’s decoding the next wave of AI, scaling engineering teams, or questioning what progress really means. Open Story is where technology’s future becomes personal.
Frank Wiles: CEO of RevSys and Early Django Contributor on Open Source history and Super Charging Engineering Teams
Frank Wiles, CEO of RevSys, explores AI's transformative role in software development, asserting it enhances developer efficiency rather than replacing them, in this interview.
20 May 2025
Founder of AI Circle, Albert Chun: AI community and human data
In this episode of the Open Story Podcast, Adam Haney sits down with Albert Chun, founder of AI Circle (ai-circle.org)
The conversation delves into the importance of building sustainable relationships within AI communities, emphasizing the need for long-term engagement and the challenges of maintaining a community in a rapidly evolving field.
11 May 2025
Episode 2: The Winding Path from Programming Prodigy to CEO - Scott Downes, CEO of Supernal AI
In this episode, Adam Haney sits down with Scott Downes, CEO of Supernal AI, to explore his unconventional and inspiring path from childhood coding to leading a company that’s redefining how small businesses adopt AI. Scott shares candid lessons from nearly three decades in technology—starting in desktop publishing, navigating the rise and fall of dot-com startups, building global teams, and eventually transitioning from CTO to CEO.
This conversation dives deep into:
The mindset shifts required to evolve from a technical leader to a business leader
Why empathy, not engineering, is the most powerful ingredient in scaling AI
How his experiences with VC-backed and PE-backed companies shaped his philosophy
What Supernal is doing to help SMBs “hire their first AI employee”
Resilience, burnout, and why knowing yourself might be the most important leadership tool
Whether you’re a rising technical leader or a founder navigating your next chapter, this episode is packed with insights on growth, self-awareness, and building lean, purpose-driven companies in the age of AI.
Chapters
(01:00) Learning to code at 7 years old and his early “report card” software
(05:00) Working at BellSouth and legitimizing internet tools in the enterprise
(14:00) Startup roller coasters and what he learned from Air2Web’s M&A drama
(18:00) Why being a great engineer doesn't make you a great engineering leader
(21:00) The difference between VC and PE leadership philosophies
(24:00) What finally pushed him to fully embrace the CEO role
(28:00) What Supernal does—and how it helps SMBs “hire an AI employee”
(37:00) Why his heart is with small business and solopreneurs
(41:00) Building inside Infinity and the power of founder community
(45:00) The “compound interest of good decisions” and overcoming burnout
(49:00) Advice for technical leaders eyeing the CEO seat
Get In Touch With Scott:
🌐 getsupernal.ai (https://getsupernal.ai)
6 May 2025
Open Story Episode 1: CTO/COO of Unlimited Finance, William Littlefield on Risk, Reasoning, and the Rise of Financial Agents
In this inaugural episode of The Open Story Podcast, host Adam Haney sits down with William Littlefield—Olympic-caliber skater turned AI entrepreneur—to explore how artificial intelligence is poised to transform the financial services landscape. From eliminating back-office drudgery to democratizing access to financial literacy, this conversation dives deep into the intersection of technology, education, and business health.
William shares how Unlimited is building AI agents to streamline critical workflows for banks, asset managers, and insurance firms—while raising big questions about what happens when agents start talking to agents. Together, Adam and William unpack why entrepreneurs struggle to play CFO, how better UI and smarter assistants could close that gap, and why the future of finance might not involve a screen at all.
If you're a founder, investor, or tech-curious operator thinking about how AI will reshape your financial decisions—this one’s for you.
What You’ll Learn:
Why AI may finally solve the long-standing problem of financial literacy
How legacy infrastructure is holding back FinTech innovation—and how to break through
The importance of education, UX, and agentic design in delivering real financial solutions
What startups, blue chips, and incumbents are getting right (and wrong) about AI adoption
Why the best financial advisor of the future might be your AI
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
3,462
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 23 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
6
Social presence
0
YouTube
68
Engagement
32
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