Podcast
Actually Intelligent
Hosted by BAM · EN
Actually Intelligent showcases how founders, investors, and everyday people are using artificial intelligence. Hosted by Max Thon, a media strategist with a deep passion for making complex technology understandable, the show goes beyond the hype to reveal the human creativity, challenges, and breakthroughs driving AI forward. Each episode unpacks real stories of AI in action, from research to practical tools that change daily life, through conversations that make the complex accessible.
12episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
AI Is Making Everyone Sound the Same
2w ago00:24:59Tap to summarizeWelcome to another episode of "Actually Intelligent," where Beck Bamberger sits down with Peter Purcell, founder and CEO of Poplar, for a conversation about the future of AI-powered marketing, personal branding, and founder-led content. Together, they explore how Poplar is helping executives and founders turn their expertise into authentic, high-signal content across platforms like LinkedIn—without falling into the trap of generic AI-generated "slop." Peter shares how the company builds individualized voice profiles, integrates with a user's broader knowledge base, and approaches content creation as a scalable extension of human insight rather than a replacement for it. The conversation also dives into the evolving role of AI in marketing, the tension between automation and authenticity, preventing content fatigue, and where AI may be overhyped—or deeply underestimated—in today's business landscape. If you're interested in AI, modern marketing strategy, and how founders can better communicate their ideas at scale, don't miss this episode.
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Why Healthcare AI Still Needs Human Validation
4w ago00:27:04Tap to summarizeOn today's episode of Actually Intelligent, Max Thon sits down with Dr. Aki Al-Zubaidi, founder and CEO of Eon Health, to discuss how his experiences as an interventional pulmonologist led him to build technology for preventing missed diagnoses and improving lung cancer care through AI and automation. The two also explore the growing challenges facing healthcare systems—from fragmented patient data and missed follow-ups to physician burnout—and why combining human expertise with intelligent systems is one of the most important paths forward in modern medicine.
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Who Decides What AI Does in the Real World?
Apr 3000:19:17Tap to summarizeThis week on Actually Intelligent, Max Thon unpacks three AI stories that all point to the same question: who decides what AI does in the real world? From an AI-run store making hiring decisions, to a new push for international AI governance, to a fresh perspective on what AI can't replace in the labor market, this episode explores where control, responsibility, and trust in AI are being defined.
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How AI is Changing Senior Care (With Inspiren's CTO)
Apr 1500:22:52Tap to summarizeOn this episode of Actually Intelligent, Max Thon sits down with Inspiren CTO, Dominique Simoneau-Ritchie, to explore how AI is being applied in senior care. They discuss how Inspiren uses computer vision and data to help prevent falls, how to design for caregivers in high-pressure environments, and what it takes to build AI systems that actually work in the real world. A grounded look at AI in healthcare, focused on outcomes, trust, and day-to-day impact.
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The AI Trust Crisis: Media, Regulation, and Who Controls the Narrative
Apr 900:15:11Tap to summarizeThis week on Actually Intelligent, Max Thon breaks down three AI stories that all point to the same thing: a growing trust crisis. From The New York Times' AI plagiarism controversy to California setting new rules for AI companies, to OpenAI stepping into media, the lines around authorship, regulation, and influence are starting to blur. Who creates the content, who sets the rules, and who controls the narrative? If you're building with AI or trying to keep up with where it's all headed, this episode connects the dots.
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How AI Is Transforming Insurance Claims
Mar 2500:23:11Tap to summarizeOn this episode of Actually Intelligent, Max Thon sits down with Alex Pezold, CEO and co-founder of Agentech, to explore where AI, cybersecurity, and workflow automation collide—especially inside the insurance industry. Alex brings a unique perspective—coming off a nine-figure exit in cybersecurity and now building in one of the most complex, slow-moving systems out there: claims management. In this conversation, we get into how Agentech got its name, why product cycles are moving faster than ever, and what it really takes to sell AI into traditional industries. Plus—what's overhyped, what's underhyped, and where the real opportunity is right now. If you're thinking about AI beyond the headlines—and how to actually make it work—this one's for you. Let's get into it.
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What Does AI in Accounting Actually Look Like? (With Numeric's CTO)
Mar 1800:28:19Tap to summarizeOn this episode, Max Thon sits down with Andrew Bihl, co-founder and CTO of Numeric—a team building the pipes behind how enterprise finance actually works. This isn't a surface-level AI conversation. It's a real look at what happens when you try to bring intelligence into one of the most complex, trust-driven functions inside a business: accounting. From untangling messy cash flows to the very real friction of getting finance teams to adopt new tools, Andrew shares what most people get wrong—and where the real opportunity is hiding. If you care about where finance is going, how enterprise infrastructure is evolving, or what AI looks like when it leaves the slide deck and hits the real world—this one's worth your time.
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The New AI Security Threats Enterprises Aren't Ready For with the CEO and Founder of Mindgard
Mar 1100:24:36Tap to summarizeOn this episode of Actually Intelligent, host Max Thon sits down with James Brear, CEO of Mindgard, and Peter Garraghan, the company's founder and a leading academic in AI and systems security. Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of the core infrastructure of modern enterprises. The problem? Security hasn't kept pace. Most cybersecurity tools were built for traditional software—not for AI systems. That gap is opening the door to a new class of vulnerabilities many organizations are only beginning to understand. James and Peter share how Mindgard emerged from years of academic research into neural network vulnerabilities—long before large language models and AI agents went mainstream. That early work became the foundation for a company focused entirely on securing AI. If you're thinking seriously about the future of AI security—from adversarial threats to safeguarding intelligent systems at scale—this episode is worth your time.
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AI in Academia: Why Trust Matters More Than Speed with Seth Watson of Moara
Mar 400:26:10Tap to summarizeIf AI is going to shape the future of research, it doesn't get a free pass. It has to earn its place. And in academia, trust isn't assumed. On the latest episode of Actually Intelligent, host Max Thone sits down with Seth Watson, co-founder of Moara, for a clear-eyed conversation about what it really takes to bring AI into research environments where rigor, sourcing, and credibility are non-negotiable. That grounding matters. Because selling into universities isn't like selling into startups. Speed alone won't win. Novelty won't either. Researchers care about methodology. They care about metadata. They care about sourcing and being able to trace an insight back to its roots. In short: they care about trust.
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OpenAI's $500B Stargate, Anthropic and the Market's Wake-Up Call
Feb 2500:22:25Tap to summarizeOn this episode of Actually Intelligent, host Max Thone goes solo to make sense of a chaotic week in AI—one where headlines moved faster than reality and speculation briefly became market signal. Max breaks down why OpenAI's headline-grabbing $500B "Stargate" data center project stalled, what a reported standoff between Anthropic and the Pentagon reveals about where AI safety lines are actually being drawn and how a viral speculative memo managed to rattle stocks despite being more warning than fact. If you're building, investing, regulating, or simply trying to understand where AI is headed, this episode offers a grounded take on a critical question: are we at a real inflection point—and do we have the discipline to steer what comes next?
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