Podcast appearances and mentions of chris benson

Chong Shen from Flower Labs joins us to discuss what it really takes to build production-ready federated learning systems that work across data silos. We talk about the Flower framework and it's architecture (supernodes, superlinks, etc.), and what makes it both "friendly" and ready for real enterprise environments. We also  explore how the generative Generative AI boom is reshaping Flower's roadmap.Featuring:Chong Shen Ng – LinkedInChris Benson – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, XDaniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, XEpisode links:The future of AI training is federatedDeepLearning.ai short course on Federated Learning with FlowerFlower MonthlyFederated Learning in AutomotiveFederated AI in FinanceFederated Learning in HealthcareFederated AI on IoT SystemsFlowerTune LLM LeaderboardFlower IntelligenceGitHubSlackFlower DiscussCheck out upcoming webinars!Sponsors:NordLayer is toggle-ready network security built for modern businesses—combining VPN, access control, and threat protection in one platform that deploys in under 10 minutes with no hardware required. It's built on Zero Trust architecture with granular access controls, so only the right people access the right resources, and it scales effortlessly as your team grows. Get up to 32% off yearly plans with code practically-10 at nordlayer.com/practicalai - 14-day money-back guarantee included.

In this first of a two part series of episodes on federated learning, we dive into the evolving world of federated learning and distributed AI frameworks with Patrick Foley from Intel. We explore how frameworks like OpenFL and Flower are enabling secure, collaborative model training across silos, especially in sensitive fields like healthcare. The conversation touches on real-world use cases, the challenges of distributed ML/AI experiments, and why privacy-preserving techniques may become essential for deploying AI to production.Featuring:Patrick Foley – LinkedInChris Benson – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, XDaniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, XLinks:IntelOpenFLSponsors:NordLayer is a toggle-ready network security platform built for modern businesses. It combines VPN, access control, and threat protection in one easy-to-use platform. No hardware. No complex setup. Just secure connection and full control—in less than 10 minutes. Up to 22% off NordLayer yearly plans plus 10% on top with the coupon code practically-10.

Loïc Houssier, Head of Engineering at Superhuman, joins us to discuss how AI and LLMs are reshaping the email experience. He highlights challenges related to the variability of user prompts and infrastructure optimization. Loïc emphasizes that a deep focus on user experience and real human workflows is key to building AI tools people actually love to use.Featuring:Loïc Houssier – LinkedInChris Benson – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, XDaniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, XLinks:SuperhumanReferral Code for a Free monthSponsors:Outshift by Cisco – AGNTCY is an open source collective building the Internet of Agents. It's a collaboration layer where AI agents can communicate, discover each other, and work across frameworks. For developers, this means standardized agent discovery tools, seamless protocols for inter-agent communication, and modular components to compose and scale multi-agent workflows. 

In this episode, Daniel and Chris unpack the Model Context Protocol (MCP), a rising standard for enabling agentic AI interactions with external systems, APIs, and data sources. They explore how MCP supports interoperability, community contributions, and a rapidly developing ecosystem of AI integrations. The conversation also highlights some real-world tooling such as FastAPI-MCP.Featuring:Chris Benson – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, XDaniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, XLinks:Protocol websiteAnthropic blog postBlog post - Model Context Protocol (MCP) an overviewFastAPI-MCPHow to Use FastAPI MCP Server: A Complete Guide Candle (Rust framework)

In this episode, we explore the intersection of AI, machine learning, and healthcare through the lens of neuroimaging and epilepsy diagnosis. Dr. Gavin Winston shares insights from his work using MRI data and machine learning to uncover subtle abnormalities in brain function. We discuss the cultural and ethical barriers to AI adoption in medicine, how predictive data analysis could transform the diagnostic workflow, and what the future holds for medical imaging in a world increasingly shaped by intelligent systems.Featuring:Gavin Winston – LinkedIn, WebsiteChris Benson – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, XDaniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, XLinks:Detection of Epileptogenic Focal Cortical Dysplasia Using Graph Neural Networks: A MELD StudyMachine Learning in Neuroimaging across DisciplinesAutomated and Interpretable Detection of Hippocampal Sclerosis in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: AID-HSLiterature review and protocol for a prospective multicentre cohort study on multimodal prediction of seizure recurrence after unprovoked first seizureDeep learning in neuroimaging of epilepsyNon-parametric combination of multimodal MRI for lesion detection in focal epilepsyDetection of covert lesions in focal epilepsy using computational analysis of multimodal magnetic resonance imaging data

Vibe coding, agentic workflows, and AI-assisted pull requests? In this episode, Daniel and Chris chat with Robert Brennan and Graham Neubig of All Hands AI about how AI is transforming software development—from senior engineer productivity to open source agents that address GitHub issues. They dive into trust, tooling, collaboration, and what it means to build software in the era of AI agents. Whether you're coding from your laptop or your phone on a morning walk, the future is hands-free (and All Hands).Featuring:Robert Brennan – LinkedIn, XGraham Neubig – LinkedIn, XChris Benson – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, XDaniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, XLinks:All HandsAll Hands on GitHubAll Hands on Hugging Face 

How do you enable AI acceleration (at both the hardware and software layers) that stays ahead of rapid industry shifts? In this episode, Dhananjay Singh from Groq dives into the evolving landscape of AI inference and acceleration. We explore how Groq optimizes the serving layer, adapts to industry shifts, and supports emerging model architectures. Featuring:Dhananjay Singh – LinkedIn, XChris Benson – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, XDaniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, XLinks:GroqSponsors:Augment Code - Developer AI that uses deep understanding of your large codebase and how you build software to deliver personalized code suggestions and insights. Augment provides relevant, contextualized code right in your IDE or Slack. It transforms scattered knowledge into code or answers, eliminating time spent searching docs or interrupting teammates. ★ Support this podcast ★

Kyle Daigle, COO of GitHub, joins the hosts to discuss the evolving role of AI in software development, GitHub Copilot's impact, and the challenges of AI-assisted coding. The conversation covers licensing concerns, ethical considerations, and how developers can navigate these complexities. Kyle also shares his vision for ambient AI, which seamlessly integrates into workflows to enhance productivity and innovation, shaping the future of developer tools. Featuring:Kyle Daigle – LinkedInChris Benson – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, XDaniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, XSponsors:Domo – The AI and data products platform. Strengthen your entire data journey with Domo's AI and data products. ★ Support this podcast ★

We often judge AI models by leaderboard scores, but what if efficiency matters more? Kate Soule from IBM joins us to discuss how Granite AI is rethinking AI at the edge—breaking tasks into smaller, efficient components and co-designing models with hardware. She also shares why AI should prioritize efficiency frontiers over incremental benchmark gains and how seamless model routing can optimize performance. Featuring:Kate Soule – LinkedInChris Benson – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, XDaniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, XLinks:IBM GraniteIBM Granite on Hugging FaceIBM Expands Granite Model Family with New Multi-Modal and Reasoning AI Built for the Enterprise  ★ Support this podcast ★

Access to rinks, ice time , and cost may be impediments to growing a program in a small hockey market. But not to Chris Benson who helps direct the fortunes of the Bristol youth program in England. Speaking from Riga, Latvia, where his son is attending a hockey camp, Chris passionately describes the challenges and the steps being taken to programming, one of which includes the "management" of parents.Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comTwitter:Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

How can every single person build a personal AI protégé and then accumulate (and share) a host of other assistants? In this episode, we dive into the world of no-code AI with Scott Meyer from Chipp.ai. We discuss AI tooling for people that can't code, the cultural shift that needs to happen for widespread AI adoption in businesses, and the predicted growth trajectory of AI assistant that you can own.Featuring:Chris Benson – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, XDaniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, XScott Meyer - LinkedIn, XSponsors:Domo – The AI and data products platform. Strengthen your entire data journey with Domo's AI and data products.Show Notes:Chipp.aiChipp.ai's Discord ★ Support this podcast ★

It seems like all we hear about are the great use cases for GenAI, but where should you NOT be using the technology? On this episode Chris and Daniel share their hot takes and bad use cases. Some may surprise you!

It seems like all we hear about are the great use cases for GenAI, but where should you NOT be using the technology? On this episode Chris and Daniel share their hot takes and bad use cases. Some may surprise you!

It seems like everyone is uses the term "agent" differently these days. In this episode, Chris and Daniel dig into the details of tool calling and its connection to agents. They help clarify how LLMs can "talk to" and "interact with" other systems like databases, APIs, web apps, etc. Along the way they share related learning resources.

It seems like everyone is uses the term "agent" differently these days. In this episode, Chris and Daniel dig into the details of tool calling and its connection to agents. They help clarify how LLMs can "talk to" and "interact with" other systems like databases, APIs, web apps, etc. Along the way they share related learning resources.

There is crazy hype and a lot of confusion related to DeepSeek's latest model DeepSeek R1. The products provided by DeepSeek (their version of a ChatGPT-like app) has exploded in popularity. However, ties to China have raised privacy and geopolitical concerns. In this episode, Chris and Daniel cut through the hype to talk about the model, privacy implications, running DeepSeek models securely, and what this signals for open models in 2025.

There is crazy hype and a lot of confusion related to DeepSeek's latest model DeepSeek R1. The products provided by DeepSeek (their version of a ChatGPT-like app) has exploded in popularity. However, ties to China have raised privacy and geopolitical concerns. In this episode, Chris and Daniel cut through the hype to talk about the model, privacy implications, running DeepSeek models securely, and what this signals for open models in 2025.

We seem to be experiencing a surge of video generation tools, models, and applications. However, video generation models generally struggle with some basic physics, like realistic walking motion. This leaves some generated videos lacking true motion with disappointing, simplistic panning camera views. Genmo is focused on the motion side of video generation and has released some of the best open models. Paras joins us to discuss video generation and their journey at Genmo.

We seem to be experiencing a surge of video generation tools, models, and applications. However, video generation models generally struggle with some basic physics, like realistic walking motion. This leaves some generated videos lacking true motion with disappointing, simplistic panning camera views. Genmo is focused on the motion side of video generation and has released some of the best open models. Paras joins us to discuss video generation and their journey at Genmo.

This milestone episode celebrates 30 years of professional growth and client success, highlighting the dynamic evolution of the financial planning profession and the firm's commitment to innovation and excellence. Five Key Takeaways: The Evolution of a Career in Financial Planning: Growth and succession is vital for a long-lasting impact. Lyle Benson introduces his son Chris. Chris Benson shares his journey from aspiring engineer to CPA financial planner, highlighting the pivotal moments that shaped his career, including his transition from a large CPA firm to the family firm. The Critical Role of Tax Planning: Tax returns form the foundation of the firm's financial planning process. Tax strategy is woven into every aspect of wealth management, creating a seamless, cyclical approach to client service. Fixed Fees vs. AUM Model: The firm operates on a fixed-fee model, aligning services with client value while minimizing conflicts of interest, offering an alternative to traditional AUM-based fees. Technology Transforming the Profession: Advances in technology, such as digital systems and portfolio management tools, have revolutionized client service and firm efficiency. AI is seen as an augmentation tool rather than a replacement for human advisors. The Value of Community and Professional Networks: Active involvement in organizations like the AICPA and peer study groups has provided invaluable support, resources, and growth opportunities for both Chris and the firm. Access resources related to this podcast: Note: If you're using a podcast app that does not hyperlink to the resources, visit Libsyn (PFP) to access show notes with direct links. Innovative Technology for Integrated Tax and Financial Planning Building a financial planning and tax business Investment advisory business models Build your tax and financial planning advisory services PFP/PFS Drop-in Session - February 26, 2025, at 3pm ET Listen to other episodes in the Deeper CPA Financial Planner Connections podcast series. This episode is brought to you by the AICPA's Personal Financial Planning Section, the premier provider of information, tools, advocacy, and guidance for professionals who specialize in providing tax, estate, retirement, risk management and investment planning advice. Also, by the CPA/PFS credential program, which allows CPAs to demonstrate competence and confidence in providing these services to their clients. Visit us online at www.aicpa.org/pfp to join our community, gain access to valuable member-only benefits or learn about our PFP certificate program. Subscribe to the PFP Podcast channel at Libsyn to find all the latest episodes or search “AICPA Personal Financial Planning” on your favorite podcast app.

Daniel and Chris groove with Jeff Smith, Founder and CEO at CHRP.ai. Jeff describes how CHRP anonymously analyzes emotional wellness data, derived from employees' music preferences, giving HR leaders actionable insights to improve productivity, retention, and overall morale. By monitoring key trends and identifying shifts in emotional health across teams, CHRP.ai enables proactive decisions to ensure employees feel supported and engaged.

Daniel and Chris groove with Jeff Smith, Founder and CEO at CHRP.ai. Jeff describes how CHRP anonymously analyzes emotional wellness data, derived from employees' music preferences, giving HR leaders actionable insights to improve productivity, retention, and overall morale. By monitoring key trends and identifying shifts in emotional health across teams, CHRP.ai enables proactive decisions to ensure employees feel supported and engaged.

Today, Chris explores Shopify Magic and other AI offerings with Mike Tamir, Distinguished ML Engineer and Head of Machine Learning, and Matt Colyer, Director of Product Management for Sidekick. They talk about how Shopify uses generative AI and LLMs to enhance their products, and they take a deeper dive into Sidekick, a first-of-its-kind, AI-enabled commerce assistant that understands a merchant's business (products, orders, customers) and has been trained to know all about Shopify.

Today, Chris explores Shopify Magic and other AI offerings with Mike Tamir, Distinguished ML Engineer and Head of Machine Learning, and Matt Colyer, Director of Product Management for Sidekick. They talk about how Shopify uses generative AI and LLMs to enhance their products, and they take a deeper dive into Sidekick, a first-of-its-kind, AI-enabled commerce assistant that understands a merchant's business (products, orders, customers) and has been trained to know all about Shopify.

Kyutai, an open science research lab, made headlines over the summer when they released their real-time speech-to-speech AI assistant (beating OpenAI to market with their teased GPT-driven speech-to-speech functionality). Alex from Kyutai joins us in this episode to discuss the research lab, their recent Moshi models, and what might be coming next from the lab. Along the way we discuss small models and the AI ecosystem in France.

Kyutai, an open science research lab, made headlines over the summer when they released their real-time speech-to-speech AI assistant (beating OpenAI to market with their teased GPT-driven speech-to-speech functionality). Alex from Kyutai joins us in this episode to discuss the research lab, their recent Moshi models, and what might be coming next from the lab. Along the way we discuss small models and the AI ecosystem in France.

Chris and Daniel dive into what Trump's impending second term could mean for AI companies, model developers, and regulators, unpacking the potential shifts in policy and innovation. Next, they discuss the latest models, like Qwen, that blur the performance gap between open and closed systems. Finally, they explore new AI tools for meeting clones and AI-driven commerce, sparking a conversation about the balance between digital convenience and fostering genuine human connections.

Chris and Daniel dive into what Trump's impending second term could mean for AI companies, model developers, and regulators, unpacking the potential shifts in policy and innovation. Next, they discuss the latest models, like Qwen, that blur the performance gap between open and closed systems. Finally, they explore new AI tools for meeting clones and AI-driven commerce, sparking a conversation about the balance between digital convenience and fostering genuine human connections.

Happy Thanksgiving pilgrim! Heartburn the podcast is back… again! This time with a brand new ~PERMANENT~ cohost, THE Chris Benson! (From like half of the previous episodes) From now on, it's not just Danny yapping to someone new each week, but it's Danny and Chris yapping together, and sometimes to someone new! The 2 talk about Chris' pilgrimage of a bachelor party, Danny's traumatic blood donation that may or may not have been a love scheme, and more! also we have to shoutout our editor, Ryan! This would be nothing without him! (Or at least it would be a lot of dead air and weird cuts) Twitter (X) @heartburncast Instagram @heartburnpodcast

We are at GenAI saturation, so let's talk about scikit-learn, a long time favorite for data scientists building classifiers, time series analyzers, dimensionality reducers, and more! Scikit-learn is deployed across industry and driving a significant portion of the "AI" that is actually in production. :probabl is a new kind of company that is stewarding this project along with a variety of other open source projects. Yann Lechelle and Guillaume Lemaitre share some of the vision behind the company and talk about the future of scikit-learn!

We are at GenAI saturation, so let's talk about scikit-learn, a long time favorite for data scientists building classifiers, time series analyzers, dimensionality reducers, and more! Scikit-learn is deployed across industry and driving a significant portion of the "AI" that is actually in production. :probabl is a new kind of company that is stewarding this project along with a variety of other open source projects. Yann Lechelle and Guillaume Lemaitre share some of the vision behind the company and talk about the future of scikit-learn!

It can be frustrating to get an AI application working amazingly well 80% of the time and failing miserably the other 20%. How can you close the gap and create something that you rely on? Chris and Daniel talk through this process, behavior testing, and the flow from prototype to production in this episode. They also talk a bit about the apparent slow down in the release of frontier models.

It can be frustrating to get an AI application working amazingly well 80% of the time and failing miserably the other 20%. How can you close the gap and create something that you rely on? Chris and Daniel talk through this process, behavior testing, and the flow from prototype to production in this episode. They also talk a bit about the apparent slow down in the release of frontier models.

This week, Chris is joined by Gregory Richardson, Vice President and Global Advisory CISO at BlackBerry, and Ismael Valenzuela, Vice President of Threat Research & Intelligence at BlackBerry. They address how AI is changing the threat landscape, why human defenders remain a key part of our cyber defenses, and the explain the AI standoff between cyber threat actors and cyber defenders.

This week, Chris is joined by Gregory Richardson, Vice President and Global Advisory CISO at BlackBerry, and Ismael Valenzuela, Vice President of Threat Research & Intelligence at BlackBerry. They address how AI is changing the threat landscape, why human defenders remain a key part of our cyber defenses, and the explain the AI standoff between cyber threat actors and cyber defenders.

Elham Tabassi, the Chief AI Advisor at the U.S. National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), joins Chris for an enlightening discussion about the path towards trustworthy AI. Together they explore NIST's 'AI Risk Management Framework' (AI RMF) within the context of the White House's 'Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence'.

Elham Tabassi, the Chief AI Advisor at the U.S. National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), joins Chris for an enlightening discussion about the path towards trustworthy AI. Together they explore NIST's 'AI Risk Management Framework' (AI RMF) within the context of the White House's 'Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence'.

We are on the other side of "big data" hype, but what is the future of analytics and how does AI fit in? Till and Adithya from MotherDuck join us to discuss why DuckDB is taking the analytics and AI world by storm. We dive into what makes DuckDB, a free, in-process SQL OLAP database management system, unique including its ability to execute lighting fast analytics queries against a variety of data sources, even on your laptop! Along the way we dig into the intersections with AI, such as text-to-sql, vector search, and AI-driven SQL query correction.

Today we're joined by Chris Benson of Benson Amps. We're catching up with him after a busy year of releases and Benson Fest, and talking with him about the Bogen Challenger PA that became the first Monarch. This one's a casual conversation, where we take roughly an hour before we get to the object, distracted along the way by discussion of how we interact with the internet, breaking assumptions about the sound of any given component, taking time to play the devices we've created, hot soldering, and getting some absolute gems of wisdom from Chris. It's a great time with our favorite amp builder, now dive on in!Check out Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/Buy yourself some OBNE: http://www.oldbloodnoise.comJoin the conversation in Discord: https://discord.com/invite/PhpA5MbN5uFollow us all on the socials: @bensonamps, @molterband, @oldbloodnoise, @andyothling, @danfromdsfLeave us a voicemail at 505-633-4647!

We are on the other side of "big data" hype, but what is the future of analytics and how does AI fit in? Till and Adithya from MotherDuck join us to discuss why DuckDB is taking the analytics and AI world by storm. We dive into what makes DuckDB, a free, in-process SQL OLAP database management system, unique including its ability to execute lighting fast analytics queries against a variety of data sources, even on your laptop! Along the way we dig into the intersections with AI, such as text-to-sql, vector search, and AI-driven SQL query correction.

Workflow orchestration has always been a pain for data scientists, but this is exacerbated in these AI hype days by agentic workflows executing arbitrary (not pre-defined) workflows with a variety of failure modes. Adam from Prefect joins us to talk through their open source Python library for orchestration and visibility into python-based pipelines. Along the way, he introduces us to things like Marvin, their AI engineering framework, and ControlFlow, their agent workflow system.

Workflow orchestration has always been a pain for data scientists, but this is exacerbated in these AI hype days by agentic workflows executing arbitrary (not pre-defined) workflows with a variety of failure modes. Adam from Prefect joins us to talk through their open source Python library for orchestration and visibility into python-based pipelines. Along the way, he introduces us to things like Marvin, their AI engineering framework, and ControlFlow, their agent workflow system.

As Argilla puts it: "Data quality is what makes or breaks AI." However, what exactly does this mean and how can AI team probably collaborate with domain experts towards improved data quality? David Berenstein & Ben Burtenshaw, who are building Argilla & Distilabel at Hugging Face, join us to dig into these topics along with synthetic data generation & AI-generated labeling / feedback.

As Argilla puts it: "Data quality is what makes or breaks AI." However, what exactly does this mean and how can AI team probably collaborate with domain experts towards improved data quality? David Berenstein & Ben Burtenshaw, who are building Argilla & Distilabel at Hugging Face, join us to dig into these topics along with synthetic data generation & AI-generated labeling / feedback.

The Knobs interview Chris Benson on the eve of Bensonfest 2024! Chris gives us the details on the first Bensonfest and what you can expect when you get there. It's been several years since Chris was on the show and Benson has seen many changes and much growth since then, so we also spend some time catching up, and getting the scoop on new Benson products coming soon. Hosted by Todd Novak with Tony Dudzik #guitarpodcast #electricguitar #pedaleffects #pedalfx #theguitarknobs #guitarknobs #guitarinterview #guitaramplifier #guitarpickups #guitarsetup #fuzz #overdrive #reverb #distortion #guitartips  Visit us at theguitarknobs.com Support our show on Patreon.com/theguitarknobs

Seems like we are hearing a lot about GraphRAG these days, but there are lots of questions: what is it, is it hype, what is practical? One of our all time favorite podcast friends, Prashanth Rao, joins us to dig into this topic beyond the hype. Prashanth gives us a bit of background and practical use cases for GraphRAG and graph data.

Recently the company stewarding the open source library scikit-learn announced their seed funding. Also, OpenAI released "o1" with new behavior in which it pauses to "think" about complex tasks. Chris and Daniel take some time to do their own thinking about o1 and the contrast to the scikit-learn ecosystem, which has the goal to promote "data science that you own."

Dinis Cruz drops by to chat about cybersecurity for generative AI and large language models. In addition to discussing The Cyber Boardroom, Dinis also delves into cybersecurity efforts at OWASP and that organization's Top 10 for LLMs and Generative AI Apps.

You might have heard that "AI is only as good as the data." What does that mean and what data are we talking about? Chris and Daniel dig into that topic in the episode exploring the categories of data that you might encounter working in AI (for training, testing, fine-tuning, benchmarks, etc.). They also discuss the latest developments in AI regulation with the EU's AI Act coming into force.

There is an increasing desire for and effort towards GPU alternatives for AI workloads and an ability to run GenAI models on CPUs. Ben and Greg from Intel join us in this episode to help us understand Intel's strategy as it related to AI along with related projects, hardware, and developer communities. We dig into Intel's Gaudi processors, open source collaborations with Hugging Face, and AI on CPU/Xeon processors.