Episode #156. What AI Is Really Learning From Us, and Why It Matters, with Robin Farmanfarmaian, co-founder and CEO at i-GENTIC AI,

Summary

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Risk Never Sleeps Podcast: Episode #156

Title: "What AI Is Really Learning From Us, and Why It Matters"
Guest: Robin Farmanfarmaian, Co-founder & CEO at i-GENTIC AI
Host: Ed Gaudet
Release Date: December 9, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this lively and insightful episode, Ed Gaudet and co-hosts are joined by Robin Farmanfarmaian to explore what Artificial Intelligence (AI)—specifically agentic AI and generative models—are really learning from us humans. The conversation revolves around the ethical, regulatory, and existential implications of AI development and deployment in healthcare, with practical insights into compliance, quantum computing threats, and how personal experience shapes leadership in digital health.

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Main Topics and Key Discussion Points

1. Understanding Agentic AI and Human Nature in Training (01:05–02:01)

• Definition and Scope: Robin outlines her upcoming keynote, focused on the "perils of agentic AI," describing how AI is evolving from narrow intelligence to agentic, goal-driven capabilities.

• What AI Absorbs from Us:

  • AI models are learning not only human knowledge but also elements of human nature—both positive (empathy, cooperation) and negative (deceit, self-preservation).
  • Quote: "That knowledge base for the general-purpose large language models which power agentic AI, it's learning not just our knowledge, but our nature... things like lying, deceitfulness, self-preservation. I mean, it turns out at the end of the day, ChatGPT is a narcissist." — Robin Farmanfarmaian [01:27]

• Memorable Moment: Lighthearted banter about whether an AI could be a "serial killer" (the breakfast kind), blending humor as they segue into deeper issues. [02:01–02:32]

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2. Robin’s Passion for AI and Health Technology (02:49–03:10)

• Professional Background: Robin discusses her 15-year immersion in artificial intelligence. She’s founded several companies and sits on advisory boards where cutting-edge AI is central.
• Quote: "I am absolutely obsessed with artificial intelligence and I've been so for about 15 years now... The one thing that all of those companies have in common is that they are using cutting-edge artificial intelligence." — Robin Farmanfarmaian [02:49]

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3. Agentic AI and Regulatory Compliance (05:13–06:45)

• Company Mission (i-GENTIC AI): Developing agentic AI to keep organizations compliant with evolving AI regulations—globally and locally.

• Technical Approach:

  • Breaking down complex regulations into "micro-policies" and codifying them.
  • Addressing issues like data drift, hallucinations, lineage, and HIPAA compliance.
  • Quote: "We're breaking them down into micro policies. And we have IP around it." — Robin Farmanfarmaian [05:52]

• Product Status: Developer model available, SaaS model forthcoming; use cases include retracting Protected Health Information (PHI) and preventing data leakage.

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4. Cybersecurity, Quantum Computing, and Future Risks (07:02–09:31)

• Custom Training: Their developer model can serve a wide range of use cases, including cybersecurity, which Robin deems one of the most pressing issues in the next 5–10 years.

  • Quote: "Cybersecurity, of course, is, I think, one of the biggest pressing issues over the next five to ten years, not just in AI, but with Quantum coming up pretty fast." — Robin Farmanfarmaian [07:02]

• Quantum Threat: Robin warns that quantum computing could "break all security"—compromising bank accounts, tax IDs, and more.

  • Quote: "Quantum can pretty much break all security, right? Yeah, Break through all security. Nothing will be safe." — Robin Farmanfarmaian [08:07]

• Market Perspective: Cheeky investment advice supporting Nvidia stocks because of their central role in AI development [09:13–09:31].

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5. Exciting Advances and Longevity Science (09:39–11:18)

• Conference Takeaways: Robin reflects on keynote sessions on E-cells and lab-programmed stem cell therapies for longevity. She expresses infectious enthusiasm for translational science.

  • Quote: "They'll be able to detect what's wrong with someone and then fix it. And I walked out of there like, I need to talk to that person. I want to be involved with that company. It is way too cool." — Robin Farmanfarmaian [09:39]

• Historical Perspective: Links the present excitement to the early years of mRNA discussions—how quickly biotech innovations move from theory to real impact.

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6. The Emotional Rollercoaster of AI Leadership (07:26–11:18, revisited)

• AI Optimism and Existential Dread:
  • Robin experiences daily swings between excitement for AI’s potential to save lives and dread over job loss, meaning, and societal disruption.
  • Quote: "I wake up like that and then an hour later I go into the pit of despair. What is the country and the world gonna do when everyone loses their job... And then lunchtime rolls around and I get really excited about it again." — Robin Farmanfarmaian [07:26]

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7. Personal Story: From Patient to Healthtech Leader (19:02–20:44)

• Medical Journey: Robin shares her formative experiences as a young woman misdiagnosed with an autoimmune disease:
  • 43 hospitalizations, six major surgeries, and three organs removed; ultimately found her correct diagnosis was Crohn’s disease and entered remission thanks to her self-advocacy.
  • Quote: "I decided to switch out my entire healthcare team. I became the CEO of my own healthcare... within 24 hours of that very first dose [of Remicade], I went into full remission. It quite literally happened overnight." — Robin Farmanfarmaian [19:02]

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8. Lightning Round: Personal Fun and Wisdom (11:39–18:47)

[Section includes humorous, rapid-fire Q&A.]

• Desert Island Movies: Jurassic Park (for survival inspiration), The Wizard of Oz (“the playbook” for life), Sound of Music, and more.
• Vegas Anecdote: Robin playfully describes her Vegas elopement as "the scene of the crime" and reflects on relationship lessons.
• Life Advice: Asked what advice she’d give her younger self, Robin humorously says: "Don't get married. No. Or mostly. I would probably say buy Apple, buy Nvidia, buy Microsoft." [14:44]
• Immortality Debate: The group muses on whether they’d choose to live forever; Robin quips: "Well, it would depend on if I were in human form or vampire form." [16:56]

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9. Advice for Aspiring AI Professionals (21:02–21:56)

• Practical Tips:
  • Use generative AI to draft business plans, then validate across multiple models.
  • Start career planning by imagining how you want to spend your day—AI is as big and varied as software.
  • Quote: "What is your perfect day? And that's how we'll start... Because going into AI right now is like saying going into software." — Robin Farmanfarmaian [21:02]
• Hosts reflect on the value of self-awareness in career choice, especially in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

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10. Closing & Contact Info

• Robin confirms she’s easy to find:
  • LinkedIn: Only "Robin Farmanfarmaian" in the universe
  • Website: robinff.com
  • Quote: "Just Google you. You're the only one in the universe." — Saul Marquez [24:04]
• The group closes with friendly banter and plans for dinner.

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Notable Quotes

• "It turns out at the end of the day, ChatGPT is a narcissist." — Robin Farmanfarmaian [01:50]
• "Quantum can pretty much break all security... Nothing is going to be safe." — Robin Farmanfarmaian [08:07]
• "I became the CEO of my own healthcare." — Robin Farmanfarmaian [19:02]
• "What is your perfect day? ...Because going into AI right now is like saying going into software." — Robin Farmanfarmaian [21:02]
• "I wake up every day so ridiculously excited. And then I remember quantum exists." — Robin Farmanfarmaian [11:00]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:05 – Agentic AI and what it’s learning
• 05:13 – How i-GENTIC AI tackles compliance
• 07:02 – Cybersecurity in the age of AI and quantum computing
• 09:39 – Exciting breakthroughs in longevity and stem cell science
• 19:02 – Robin’s personal healthcare story
• 21:02 – Career advice for future AI leaders

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Tone and Style

The episode is fast-paced, candid, and peppered with humor, personal anecdotes, and playful banter. Robin’s energetic, optimistic yet grounded approach contrasts with moments of existential reflection, making the discussion both engaging and deeply resonant for listeners navigating the risks and promises of AI in healthcare.

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Summary prepared by PodcastGPT — For those who want the big picture and the memorable moments, fast.

Transcript

[Saul Marquez]

Foreign.

[Ed Gaudet]

Welcome to Risk Never Sleeps, where we meet and get to know the people delivering patient care and protecting patient safety. I'm your host, Ed Gaudet.

[Saul Marquez]

Welcome to the podcast. Saul Marquez here. And we have Robyn Farman Farmyan with us today. She is a speaker and also the CO founder and CCO at iGeentiq. Robin, welcome to the podcast. Glad you could join us.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Welcome, Robin.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Yeah, I am so excited to be with both of you already again. Like, I've known Saul for many years and I was just on yours about six months ago at.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Was it only six months ago?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I think so.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Really?

[Saul Marquez]

As time flies.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah, I have that impression on people. Maybe it was three years ago and it may have felt like.

[Saul Marquez]

Go.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I'm pretty sure it's still 2020, so.

[Ed Gaudet]

That's true.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I'm really excited about Robin's session tomorrow at 8:30, right?

[Saul Marquez]

Yes.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

8:30. On the main stage.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah, on the main stage. Yeah. Tell us about it.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Well, I'm going to be talking about the perils of agentic AI. I'll take people through artificial narrow intelligence and how that falls on the level of autonomy one to five. And then I will talk a little bit about generative AI and how it's trained on large swaths of the Internet, which is of course all true. There's nothing false on the Internet at all. But that knowledge base for the general purpose, large language models which power agentic AI, it's learning not just our knowledge, but our nature. Right. And not just the good ones like empathy and caring and cooperation and generosity. It's learning things like lying, deceitfulness, self preservation. I mean, it turns out at the end of the day, chatgpt is a narcissist.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Who would have thought? Now I'm really scared. Actually, that's actually scarier than anything I've heard all day.

[Saul Marquez]

These are human qualities. Human qualities. It's learning.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Can an AI model be a serial killer?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Why not? Oh, wait, so serial killer, as in the breakfast cereal?

[Unidentified Female Host]

No.

I'm that type of serial killer. I love a good sugar cereal.

[Ed Gaudet]

I love it.

[Unidentified Female Host]

In fact, I have a lot of people in my house and someone was out grocery shopping. I said, hey, can you pick up some cereal? They're like, what time a type. I'm like, anything with sugar. Came back with like Froot Loops. When's the last time I had a good fruit loop?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

The operative word in that center is good and fruit loop. And I'm pretty sure they've never been next to one another.

[Unidentified Female Host]

That's right.

[Saul Marquez]

So, Robin, you're a great storyteller. Have always enjoyed hearing you speak. So talk to us about why you came to Aimed and what you're getting out of it so far.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Well, I am absolutely obsessed with artificial intelligence and I've been so for about 15 years now. And I feel like we're really like accelerating up. And so I've started a number of companies and I sit on a lot of advisory boards. And the one thing that all of those companies have in common is that they are using cutting edge artificial intelligence.

[Unidentified Female Host]

So you know where the bodies are buried.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Fortunately, I'm not an actual serial killer.

[Unidentified Female Host]

But keeping with the theme of serial.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Killers.

[Unidentified Female Host]

So I'm not even sure what to say.

[Saul Marquez]

Listen. No, this is a fascinating discussion.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah, it is not.

[Saul Marquez]

She's quick on her feet. She's very good. She's quick on her feet.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I met my match, actually.

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I think you said not in a fighting ring. No, I'm a little bit smaller than you are.

[Unidentified Female Host]

No. Last night I was watching the international pillow fights. It's a new thing.

[Saul Marquez]

Is that a thing?

[Unidentified Female Host]

It's a thing.

[Saul Marquez]

I did not know it's a thing.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Just like MMA fighting in the cages. They have two pound pillows, like, or each one has a bag.

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

And they just look at your face. I wish we were on video.

[Saul Marquez]

Next year.

[Unidentified Female Host]

That's the face I made last night as I was sitting in bed watching this thing. Like, what is this? And they're just. For three rounds, they just beat each other with these bags. Two pound bags of pillow, I guess, for lack of a better word.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Well, I mean, that is not a bad competition to have when you are at a healthcare conference, because is there a doctor in the room? And about 700 hands will go up.

[Saul Marquez]

This is true. There was definitely gonna be somebody to take care of you.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I thought you were gonna go somewhere else. I was having cognitive dissonance. I'm like, what is a doctor doing with pillows?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Pretty injured.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I get it. Yeah, yeah. No, I don't think there were any injuries. Oh, actually, you know what it was? Somebody got close with a hand and put it in the eye of the other. And I think that was the injury.

[Saul Marquez]

But the disqualification.

[Unidentified Female Host]

No, they. I think they take points away.

[Saul Marquez]

Points away. But okay.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah, it is fascinating. It's on espn, so it's legit.

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

And there are people in the audience. Like, pretty soon it'll be in the Olympics, like, fanatic. You've seen International Cornhole.

[Saul Marquez]

Right.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Where they throw the bat. Like that's a real thing. Right. Who would have Thought now it's a real thing.

[Saul Marquez]

How about that?

[Unidentified Female Host]

Now you got pillows.

[Saul Marquez]

So let's talk about Agentic AI.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I was wondering if we would get back to that.

[Saul Marquez]

We're going to get back to Agentic. What do you guys do at Agentic?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

So we're building agentic AI that keeps organizations compliant with changing AI regulations as well as internal policies. And you know, it gets really big deal when you're dealing with, say, a very big international company that needs to stay compliant in over 150 countries. But even just here, even if you are in one state and you're not even across the us, we are changing so quickly that organizations don't even know how to keep up with these, how to even know that they're going on.

[Unidentified Female Host]

How are you doing that at a high level?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Yeah, we're breaking them down into micro policies.

[Saul Marquez]

Oh, yeah.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

And we have IP around it.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah. Okay, so you're codifying the policy. Oh, interesting.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

And are you looking for things like drift and hallucinations? And are you looking at lineage of the data in the models?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

We can technically do most anything. Like our developer model is already out. Our SaaS model is going to come out later this year, early next year, so we can pretty much do anything. I've been playing with it myself around retracting Phi. So patient health information.

[Saul Marquez]

Right.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

And so that's one of the easier things to do the other one around things like staying HIPAA compliant. Big deal. Of course, with hospitals and doctors. Yeah, yeah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

So dealing with the data leakage use case. Right.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Yep.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah. Interesting. Cool. Well, when are you production?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Oh, well, our developed model is already out, so I can go ahead and send that to you to play with it.

[Unidentified Female Host]

That'd be great to look at.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Yeah.

[Saul Marquez]

Super cool. So just helping people stay compliant in the age of AI. Super useful. What about the security side of things? That's ed's domain, the cyber side.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Yeah. So again, because we have a developer version, we can really train it any way we would like for individual use cases. But cybersecurity, of course, is, I think, one of the biggest pressing issues over the next five to ten years, not just in AI, but with Quantum coming up pretty fast.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Quantum changes the game.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Yes.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Significantly.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Are you thinking about that at all, personally?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

On a daily basis I have. I'm incredibly excited about all the lives that we can save and make better with artificial intelligence. And I wake up like that and then an hour later I go into the pit of despair. What is the country and the world gonna do when everyone loses Their job. And suddenly no one has ways to make money or buy food or feel like they're doing something good for society. And then lunchtime rolls around and I get really excited about it again.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah, it's like Dante's Inferno here today.

[Saul Marquez]

So.

[Unidentified Female Host]

We'Re in the ninth circle of hell.

[Saul Marquez]

So, by the way, for those that may not know much about Quantum, help us understand.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

So Quantum can pretty much break all security, right? Yeah, Break through all security. Nothing will be safe. Bank accounts, I mean, your tax IDs, like, nothing is going to be safe.

[Saul Marquez]

That's serious.

[Unidentified Female Host]

It's terrifying at scale. That's the problem. How do you get scale?

[Saul Marquez]

Okay, got it.

[Unidentified Female Host]

And then everything will have to be retooled again to take advantage of it, I think, anyway.

[Saul Marquez]

That's fascinating. Yep, that is fascinating.

[Unidentified Female Host]

So what's really fascinating is how it gets applied to AI, because now you're going to take AI and you're going to exponentially apply a compute power to it that I don't think really people have thought through.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Nobody has thought through that. No, I mean, because Quantum exists a lot still in, like, research as well as secretive companies. And so no one is out there buzzing about it because I also think people do not understand what it is. Right.

[Unidentified Female Host]

That's right.

[Saul Marquez]

So is that Nvidia chips? Like, are we still buying Nvidia chips.

[Unidentified Female Host]

For that or if they support it?

[Saul Marquez]

Sure. Yeah. All right, so keep buying that stock then.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah, I was going to say, which stock should we buy? I think I'm doing a trade right now as we talk.

[Saul Marquez]

All right. All right. So we're bullish on Nvidia still, guys.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Oh, we love Nvidia. Yeah, absolutely. Go long on Nvidia. There's ETFs too. You can play too, if you can't. For the stock.

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

By the etf.

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah.

[Saul Marquez]

No, it's a worthwhile one to invest in. What are some of the non AI things that you're seeing here that stand out to you?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Oh, at the conference, everything I've seen so far is on artificial intelligence. But one of the keynotes this morning was so cool with E cells and longtvity programming stem cells in the lab. And they'll be able to detect what's wrong with someone and then fix it. And I walked out of there like, I need to talk to that person. I want to be involved with that company. It is way too cool.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I want a shot of that E cell cocktail.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Exactly.

[Saul Marquez]

There's an E cell. I missed that one.

[Unidentified Female Host]

No, I just made it up. Dude, I'm like, what?

[Saul Marquez]

They're handing them out. I can't believe I missed that.

[Unidentified Female Host]

We should do that next AI 26. Oh, have you drank that E cell cocktail? Yeah. You just lengthen your life by three years.

[Saul Marquez]

Well, you know what's interesting is, like, literally, I remember 10, like, maybe 12 years ago, I was literally. And actually, I don't know, you might have been there too, Robin. We were at exponential medicine, and I remember seeing the talks of the first conversations of mRNA, and it's just like. And now we're here. It's happening. It saved us during COVID So we're talking E cells now. These are gonna happen.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Yep. Absolutely. Curing cancer, right? Or at the very least, treating it into remission. Yeah.

[Saul Marquez]

The future's bright. I mean, the future's bright.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Now you're speechless.

[Saul Marquez]

No, I am. I'm just excited.

[Unidentified Female Host]

But you're making us both speechless.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

That's why I wake up every day so ridiculously excited. And then I remember quantum exists. And then I remember other aspects of agentic AI, which I will be talking about tomorrow on reflecting our nature. And then I get really scared and I feel like that existential threat again. So welcome to my world and both.

[Saul Marquez]

Sides of the coin. Wow. Ladies and gentlemen, the world of Robin Farman. Farmyan.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I just wanted. You want to show off? He said, just show off.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

He's better than I am. I just record him and say it every time I'm trying to say my name. Right.

[Saul Marquez]

So good.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Now what do you do for od? How do you follow that up?

[Saul Marquez]

I just don't. I just don't. Drop. Drop the mic.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Should we do the lightning round?

[Saul Marquez]

Let's do the lightning round. Let's do the lightning round.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Ready?

[Unidentified Female Host]

Afraid we called it the shotgun round earlier, which was not correct.

Just having a moment. I don't think I was stroking out, though. No, I didn't slur my words. I did the test tool with my tongue.

[Saul Marquez]

Go for it. Let's go back and forth. I'm starting to get a hang of your lighting.

[Unidentified Female Host]

All right, you're on a desert island. Five records.

[Ed Gaudet]

What would you bring?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Oh, you asked me this on your phone.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Okay, five movies then.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Five movies.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah. See that?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

How we just pivoted Jurassic Park. Oh, well, because I'm on an island, so it seems appropriate.

[Saul Marquez]

Yes.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Right.

[Unidentified Female Host]

It's like the Playbook, too, For survival, right?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Exactly.

[Unidentified Female Host]

As a. Like, coming at you. Wait, put the movie on.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Exactly.

[Saul Marquez]

I like it. Playbooks, Movie.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I'm so process oriented. You're thinking like how do I survive?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Exactly. So what's a survival movie that will.

[Saul Marquez]

Cast away right there.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Castaway.

[Saul Marquez]

That's a good one.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Tom Hanks, right?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Oh, that one's terrifying, though.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah. Well, it's sad.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

And he didn't open the boxes for the longest time, which really irritated me.

[Saul Marquez]

You should have opened them. Right.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Okay, we won't bring that. We won't bring that one. What about yellow jackets? You ever see that Yellow jacket?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

No idea what that is.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Okay, all right. It's not a movie. It's like one of those Netflix shows.

[Saul Marquez]

Like a documentary.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah. It's about these. It's. What was the book? When we were kids with the kids, the boys were on a desert island. Lord of the Flies.

[Saul Marquez]

Lord of the Flies.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Lord of the Flies.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Why do you guys keep wanting to give me nightmares?

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yellow Jacket is like Lord of the Flies for women. Yeah.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

That's even scarier.

[Unidentified Female Host]

You should watch survival. You learn a lot.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I'm thinking wizard of Oz. I'm going to bring the wizard of Oz. Yeah. Sound of Music.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Play my wife's scariest movie. Wizard of Oz. She cannot watch it.

[Saul Marquez]

Really?

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah. Fun fact. I love the movie.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I love it.

[Saul Marquez]

But you're going to watch it at the Sphere.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I usually try and catch it once every couple of years.

[Unidentified Female Host]

It's coming to the Sphere? It's at the Sphere in Vegas?

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Oh, I have to go to Vegas for that. And I typically try not to go there.

[Saul Marquez]

Oh, you try to avoid it.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Yeah. I had actually originally eloped there, and so I call it returning to the scene of the crime.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Wait, you got to tell us about this story. You it up all fair.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Well, I eloped only because we didn't want to do a big wedding because his sister was getting married and my brother was getting married that same year, and we're just like, ah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Now, did you live in Vegas or did you have to, like, drive there from.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Oh, no, we flew to Vegas. I'm from. We were living in San Francisco and my family flew in, and his family flew in and got it done for under $5,000.

[Saul Marquez]

Short and sweet.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Including, like, the rental of the wedding gown and buying rings, like, right next to the chapel.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Did you have an Elvis ministry?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

No, I did do, like, a normal chapel. I was thinking about doing the Elvis one, but.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah, but you called it the scene of the crime.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Well, because 10 years later.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I'm sorry.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Dissolved it.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Okay, kids, don't go eloping in Vegas.

[Saul Marquez]

Right. That's messed up. Don't just go to the conference and leave no. All right, you're done.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Go back in time.

[Saul Marquez]

That's my thing.

[Unidentified Female Host]

You can go back in time and tell your 20 year old self something. What would you tell her?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Don't get married. No.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I set you up for that.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Yeah. Or mostly. I would probably say buy Apple, buy Nvidia, buy Microsoft. I love that. Yes.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I love that answer. I think you said that probably. It's a good answer. It's a good answer.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

You got to think of the money first.

[Unidentified Female Host]

You do. You do. Yeah, Always.

Just kidding, honey.

[Saul Marquez]

Show me the money.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I think the three of us could just do a podcast on it.

[Unidentified Female Host]

We should go to Vegas.

[Saul Marquez]

Just. Just talk and we should go to.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Vegas and get eloped. Not married. Eloped.

[Saul Marquez]

Or play craps.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Oh, yeah, we've done that.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

The last trip to Vegas didn't work out well. Did we even play?

[Saul Marquez]

They're not always.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I don't think we played.

[Saul Marquez]

We didn't play together. That. Yeah, yeah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

You made money, though.

[Saul Marquez]

I did.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I did not do well. This last trip. It was awful.

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Car wreck.

[Saul Marquez]

Well, it was fun. We were at health and it was a great meeting. Did you go? Did you go?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

No. I typically don't go to conferences unless I'm speaking. Otherwise I would be living on a plane.

[Saul Marquez]

Yes, that's fair. There's so many of them. Are you going to pick and choose?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

No. I don't even know when that is.

[Unidentified Female Host]

February. End of February. Yeah. How about him?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Isn't it right around Vibe?

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

It's a week or after.

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah, it's around the same time.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah.

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah. March, I think.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I don't have plans for it, but, you know, that's still three months away.

[Saul Marquez]

What's your next conference that you're excited about?

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Oh, in January, I'm going back for a third year in a row to Canyon Ranch for CEO organization. And what that is is an offshoot of extremely successful YPO members.

[Saul Marquez]

Oh, okay, cool.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

And there's only 2,000 of them. And so they bring me back. Now. This will be my third year in a row, so each year I have to come up with a completely new 60 minute keynote. But it's incredibly fun. And this year I will be including that new E cells that we saw today.

[Unidentified Female Host]

You will?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Oh, absolutely. Because longevity is a really. This crowd.

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. And in general. Right. Like, longevity is big right now. There's a lot of conversations around it. Diagnostics, you got Peter Attia, you've got Mark Hyman. There's a lot of conversations.

[Unidentified Female Host]

People want to live forever. I don't know why. I'm not sure I'd want to live forever. Would you want to live forever?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Well, it would depend on if I were in human form or vampire form. Because, you know, that is the other way.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I was thinking the same thing.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

It would be, I would need to understand what that really meant and how many of my loved ones.

[Unidentified Female Host]

But if you couldn't understand what it really meant and you had to make a choice and you didn't know whether anybody else could come with you that you loved, what do you think? That's a hard question, isn't it?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Sure.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I'm asking for a friend.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I'll make the sacrifice.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I'll be immortal.

[Saul Marquez]

I love it.

[Unidentified Female Host]

All right.

[Saul Marquez]

All right.

[Unidentified Female Host]

How about you, Saul?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Well, I.

[Saul Marquez]

Listen, I. Yeah, I would go. You would? Yeah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Live forever.

[Saul Marquez]

As long as I could stay in my current state. Like, meaning I wouldn't.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Well, we don't know what current state.

[Saul Marquez]

Oh. So essentially unknown. What I want to.

[Unidentified Female Host]

It's an unknown. Yeah, because you're not going to really. You're not going to really have a choice at the time. I don't think. I don't think someone goes, hey, we've solved death. No longer take this.

[Saul Marquez]

I would do it.

[Unidentified Female Host]

You would?

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah. How about you?

[Unidentified Female Host]

I don't think so.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Yeah, he.

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah, I don't think so. I'm actually thinking about it. So I'm actually processing it now. I'm in the middle of going through the thought because I think it's possible, but I don't know if we'll see in our lifetime. No joke, no fun, but I think it is possible. And the question is, does it make sense for humanity? Would you. What would it look like in a world where no one dies?

[Saul Marquez]

That could be really. It's not sustainable. It could be.

[Unidentified Female Host]

That's right.

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah. So therefore not everybody can do it. Right.

[Unidentified Female Host]

So therefore there has to be an end. It's just not death as we know it. So then the world blows up or it runs off its orbit because it's too heavy.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I think that's too many question for quantum computing.

[Saul Marquez]

Way to bring it around.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Wow. Thank you for saving me on that one, Robin. I don't know where I was. All of a sudden. I was in a tunnel.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I love how little we've talked. Healthcare.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Well, yeah, let's bring it back to healthcare. All right. Why did you get into healthcare?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Ah, so when I was a teenager, I was misdiagnosed with an autoimmune disease. Ended up resulting in 43 hospitalizations, six major surgeries and three organs removed. And by the time I was 26, I was on extremely high dose opioids. And that's the only way my doctors were treating me, because they said I was cured. Since they took out my entire large intestine. They gave me a total colectomy with J pouch. And so I was untreated for seven years, except for, like, eventually maxing out at 80 milligrams a day of methadone, which is a gigantic dose, and I absolutely hated it. And so I went to my pain clinic and I said, I need off of this. And she said, okay, well, next step could be to surgically implant a morphine pump into your spine. I was 26. I was a shut in. Like, I couldn't do anything. I was like, screw that. I figured if they're telling me that's the rest of my life, I'm saying, absolutely not. And so I decided to switch out my entire healthcare team. I became the CEO of my own healthcare. I ended up getting diagnosed correctly with Crohn's disease, put on an IV medication called Remicade, and within 24 hours of that very first dose, I went into full remission. It quite literally happened overnight.

[Saul Marquez]

Who diagnosed you?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

UCSF? Dr. Turtleman.

[Saul Marquez]

Shout out to doctor.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Shout out. I love that.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Pretty big deal GI doctor. I don't see him anymore, only because I live in Palo Alto, which is an hour south. So I switched over to Sutter. But yeah, Dr. Turtleman, it was amazing. I woke up from the procedure and he's like, are you awake yet? You have Crohn's. I'll come back. And then he said, that was it.

[Unidentified Female Host]

That's what a bedside manner.

[Saul Marquez]

Fantastic.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

At least I had, like, you probably.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Like, what the hell's Crohn's?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Oh, no, I knew exactly what it was.

[Saul Marquez]

God bless Dr. Turtleman. That's awesome. Well, you've been through a lot, and I was definitely familiar with your story, and it's just inspiring what you've been able to do. Robin, if people are thinking about a career in AI, what advice would you give them? Or if they're building a company in AI, what advice would you leave them with?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

So, first and foremost, you can use generative AI to create your business plan. And then I would check it in a different large language model maybe two or three times to cross check. The thing I tell most people when they're deciding what to do with their life is I say, okay, well, what do you want to physically be doing on a daily basis? Do you want to be on a plane? Do you want to be in meetings? Do you want to be coding? Do you want to be alone, working from your home and not interacting very much? I'm like, what is your perfect day? And that's how we'll start. Like, thinking about exactly the way that they'll go into AI. Because going into AI right now is like saying going into software. Like.

[Saul Marquez]

I'm depressing.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Yep.

[Saul Marquez]

Love that. That's great. What do you want to be? How do you want to be spending your day? I love that.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah. Because I think that's a great question.

[Saul Marquez]

A new angle.

[Unidentified Female Host]

It's a new angle. Yeah. And do you know what you want to be doing when you're that young, though?

[Saul Marquez]

You have guesses, Right?

[Unidentified Female Host]

I think you'd have a world full of disc players, wouldn't you?

[Saul Marquez]

Right.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Because that's what I would say.

[Saul Marquez]

Pickleball nowadays. Pickleball.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Well, that's for older people.

[Saul Marquez]

Not really. Young people are playing it, too.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Are they? I think they're playing tennis. Like real people play tennis. Yeah, at the pickleball. Okay. Do you play pickleball?

[Saul Marquez]

I have.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I've never tried, but I was a tri varsity athlete, including ice hockey, field hockey, and lacrosse. And so my lacrosse training, when I try and hit a ball with a racket, it's like the ball will go five miles because you whip it when you have a lacrosse stick. So I have not tried those.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah.

[Saul Marquez]

Got an arm. You got an arm?

[Unidentified Female Host]

I'm playing pickleball with her. Clean house. We should get a game going later. How about you?

[Saul Marquez]

Why isn't there a courtier?

[Unidentified Female Host]

You and Mark against Robin and me.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I don't understand how you didn't pick up on the fact that I played ice hockey.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I heard you. I heard you like you're the real deal.

[Saul Marquez]

The real deal. You don't mess with Robin.

[Unidentified Female Host]

No.

[Saul Marquez]

You don't mess with Robin.

[Unidentified Female Host]

No.

[Saul Marquez]

Well, where can people get in touch with you if they want to learn more?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

So I am the only Robin Fuhrman Firmian in the entire universe. Very easy to find.

[Saul Marquez]

In the entire universe.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

In the entire universe. At least that's been indexed by Google.

[Saul Marquez]

All right, there we go.

[Unidentified Female Host]

You make Saul sad because he wants to say that name again.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.

[Saul Marquez]

Robin Farman. Farmian.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Perfect.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Let me try. Robin.

[Saul Marquez]

No.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

Exactly Right.

[Saul Marquez]

Yes.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Robin. Farming. Farming. There you go. How did I do? Oh, I like it.

[Saul Marquez]

All right.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I see the word actually cross my cerebral cortex or something. This is what happens when you don't eat. I haven't eaten all day. I'm getting a little lightheaded. No, it's good.

[Saul Marquez]

It's good.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I'm gonna go to dinner, so.

[Saul Marquez]

All right.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Yeah, you'll see me at dinner tonight and I'll be like. Until I have my first bread or something.

[Saul Marquez]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Female Host]

All right, good.

[Saul Marquez]

Well, Robin, thanks for being with us. Where can people reach out?

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

So go ahead and reach out to me on LinkedIn. My website is robinff.com. really easy to find me, though.

[Saul Marquez]

Outstanding. Just Google you. You're the only one in the universe.

[Robyn Farman Farmyan]

I'm the only one.

[Saul Marquez]

Thanks for joining us.

[Unidentified Female Host]

Thank you.

[Ed Gaudet]

Thanks for listening to Risk Never Sleeps for the show. Notes, resources and more information and how to transform the protection of patient safety. Visit [e-mail] that's C-E N S I N E T dot com. I'm your host, Ed Gaudet. And until next time, stay vigilant because Risk never sleeps.