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.
14episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
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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How Transactional AI Is Turning WhatsApp Into a Global Commerce Platform | Luis Loaiza, Jelou.ai
Feb 1800:27:08Tap to summarizeOn this episode of Actually Intelligent, Max talks with Luis Loaiza, CEO and founder of Jelou.ai, about the rise of transactional AI inside the world's most-used messaging platforms. From building chatbots as a teenager to launching infrastructure that enables secure, agent-driven transactions directly within WhatsApp, Luis is focused on one thing: making AI useful. In Latin America and beyond, that infrastructure is quickly becoming mission-critical for banks and businesses alike. Max and Luis dig into what it takes to build secure agentic systems at scale, why infrastructure, not interface, will shape the next wave of AI, and how messaging platforms are evolving into operating systems for global commerce. If you're building in AI, fintech, infrastructure, or apps, this episode delivers a grounded look at what actually intelligent systems look like in practice.
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The Future of Search: How AEO & GEO Are Rewriting SEO (With Graphite CEO Ethan Smith)
Feb 1100:13:01Tap to summarizeOn this special episode of Actually Intelligent, BAM's own Beck Bamberger, host of Coffee with a Founder, steps in to moderate a timely conversation with Ethan Smith, CEO of Graphite. Together, they unpack how AI is reshaping the future of software, search, and the emerging ecosystem of tools that are changing how teams build. Fresh off a live event in San Francisco, Ethan breaks down why today's AI moment feels like the early days of SEO—only this time, everything's moving faster. He shares why now is a defining window for startups, investors, and marketers to stake their ground in the evolving organic landscape. They get into the weeds, talking how AI systems are digesting brand signals across LinkedIn, Crunchbase, press releases, and more. Why consistent messaging matters. Why attribution's getting murky. And why owned content (think: podcasts, YouTube) isn't just a nice-to-have—it's your narrative control panel.
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