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Title: Inside the Secret Network That Billionaires Use to Pay Zero In Taxes with Alex Sonkin Summary: In this episode of Raise the Bar Radio, Seth Bradley welcomes Alex, founder of the Due Diligence Project, to discuss the massive blind spot in tax strategy among CPAs and how his peer-reviewed CPA community solves that. Alex shares how traditional CPA firms, despite servicing ultra-high net worth clients, are often unaware of the vast number of advanced tax mitigation strategies available. His platform introduces vetted tax strategies reviewed by hundreds of independent CPA firms, much like an Amazon or Netflix model for financial services. Rather than relying on static, siloed in-house teams with mediocre solutions, Alex's vision is to empower CPAs and family offices through a Virtual Family Office model. This allows affluent individuals (not just billionaires) to access world-class, peer-reviewed tax and financial planning strategies while maintaining their trusted CPA relationship. The conversation emphasizes humility, proactive due diligence, and massive action as critical principles for success in tax planning and entrepreneurship alike. Links to Watch and Subscribe: https://youtu.be/v8RSrMRslHU Bullet Point Highlights: Most CPAs, even in top firms, are not deeply versed in advanced tax mitigation due to limited time and exposure. The Due Diligence Project functions as an independent, peer-reviewed network, allowing CPAs to tap into the collective knowledge of hundreds of top professionals. Traditional large CPA firms and Wall Street structures are siloed and don't provide open-source best-in-class strategies. The future CPA firm is a Virtual Family Office — proactive, advisory-driven, and built with world-class independent specialists instead of static in-house teams. The Virtual Family Office model brings elite wealth management strategies to affluent individuals (e.g., $10M-$50M net worth), not just billionaires. Humility, curiosity, and willingness to collaborate are essential for CPAs and advisors to truly serve clients at the highest level. Success requires massive action and consistent pursuit of better solutions — complacency kills innovation and wealth creation. Transcript: (Seth Bradley) (00:02.094) What's up, Builders? This is Raise the Bar Radio, where we talk about building wealth, raising capital, and all in all, raising the bar in your business and your life. This is the No BS podcast for capital raisers, investors, and entrepreneurs who are serious about scaling their business and living life on their own terms. I'm Seth Bradley, securities attorney, real estate investor, and entrepreneur, bringing you world-class strategies from the best in the game. If you're ready to raise more capital, close bigger deals, build a better you, and create true financial freedom, you're in the right place. Let's go. Alex, what's going on, brother? Welcome to the show. Seth, thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure. man. Fellow San Diegan. So, appreciate that and appreciate that you you love the weather like I do. best weather in the world, All of San Diego County, even if it gets like 10 degrees hotter, it's as good or as better anything else on the planet. (Seth Bradley) (01:05.698) Yep, yep. Sometimes you gotta go outside of San Diego for a little bit to appreciate it because you forget that every single day is fantastic. We're not going to get into the June gloom and the May gray because people outside of San Diego, don't want to hear that. uh, know, we get to complain between each other. everyone outside of San Diego, were like, we don't want to know about any of your problems. Right, Exactly, exactly. All right, man. Well, let's just jump right in, Tell everybody a little bit about your background, about your story, and take it back as far as you like. Sure, graduated University of Michigan Business School undergrad and became an options trader in Chicago as a member of the Chicago Board of Trade, the Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Options Exchange was a market maker down there for many years and came up with a couple ideas and moved to California. What we do now is we have the largest independent peer review community of CPA firms in the country. We support hundreds of CPA firms who basically introduced their favorite resources, favorite tax attorneys, favorite strategies. And then as a community and independently, everyone independently vets out every strategy, every resource. And we rank and rate all of the strategies, all of the resources. Very similar to what you'd experience in Amazon or Netflix or the streaming services when you watch a movie or you buy a product on Amazon. (Alex Sonkin) (02:35.534) you're going to go look for the 4.9 out of five stars and do a quick price comparison. So what we did is we've created essentially an independent peer-of-view ranking and rating system for sophisticated tax strategies and then cost mitigation strategies because the tax code is just way too big. No one knows how many pages there are in the tax code. It's constantly changing. we basically, we didn't even know we were doing this at the time because all we were doing was putting together advanced tax planning institutes, filling them up with CPA firms, bringing speakers, specialists on to present their ideas. But the magic was happening in the hallway conversations between these tax attorneys and the CPAs in these Q &A sessions. And what we realized was that traditional CPA firms really have no clue how many pages are in the tax code, have no idea how many strategies there are that are available to them that have been fully vetted. And they don't have the time and the resources to fully vet those strategies out. So we just realized we were onto something and we kept building and building and building. And we just had an event. Our last couple summits, diligence project summits had close to 700 CPA firms on one, close to 847 was our largest summit. The more eyeballs, the more tax-focused CPAs are looking at the strategies and vetting out the strategies, the more refined the due diligence is and the more new resources they're able to introduce to our network. So we're able to go deeper, wider, and more refined in our due diligence when it comes to tax planning. Yeah, that's awesome. So you you analyze and put a score on the actual strategy itself as well as the firm. (Alex Sonkin) (04:25.76) Yeah, everything, right? Because you and I both know there's so many moving parts in our business. And when a CPA firm is dealing with their most, their highest net worth clients, billionaires, centi-millionaires, multi-millionaires, and they have, they're selling an appreciated asset, whether it's real estate or their company or shares in another company they've invested in, they want that sale to be tax efficient. Then they might want that money to be invested in other parts of their portfolio. want that transition to be efficient. They want all the estate planning to be efficient asset to all these different moving parts. But the area where most CPAs and attorneys are the weakest is in the income tax mitigation part. There's a lot of decent estate planning out there, asset protection, other planning. It's really the income tax mitigation part where very few people are excellent at this. Financial advisors, attorneys have very little experience with tax court, with audit. They should really not be involved in income tax planning. The CPA firms are the ones who are signing the tax returns. They have the experience with audit. They have the experience with tax court. But they're spread so thin just trying to produce tax returns and financial statements and meet all of the deadlines that they have to meet throughout the year. There's actually very little time for them to do proactive tax planning. and to complete due diligence and even start the due diligence on a tax strategy. Where do we start? Who do we call? How do we find out if the client's going to go to jail? If there's issues with this? They really need to get their confidence level up at a very high level before they call their clients that you really need to look at the strategy and do this. So that's where we really live is we really there to support the tax focused CPA or the family office that's supporting that. that ultra high net worth family that's led by a tax focused advisor, hopefully a CPA with at least 10,000, 50,000 hours of experience in auditing tax court, where they could look at the notes, look at, part of, join the due diligence project community, look at the notes, look at the strategies, meet the specialists, communicate with other CPAs in our network to really understand the risk reward of. (Alex Sonkin) (06:48.088) the strategy when it as how it compares to other possible strategies or combination of strategies to bring to their client. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I love the overall idea of kind of this Amazon marketplace for CPAs and tax firms and tax strategies. It's like, you know, I know when I'm looking for a new accountant or a new CPA with a different group, with a different real estate group or something, you know, I might have done some good business with one CPA and then some that I did not. And I don't have a consistent person to go to at this point. And it also depends on what we're talking about, right? This, the, the speciality of it. it's a if we're talking W-2 tax mitigation or we're talking about real estate investment or we're talking about some sort of high cash flow entrepreneurial venture, it really depends. One CPA can't necessarily do all that. Maybe a large CPA firm that has all that stuff in house for sure. But when we're talking about your one CPA that you know that's been filing your tax return for the last 20 years, they're not very specialized in these sorts of things. Here's what's interesting, Seth. You made some interesting points here. Here's what's interesting. Traditionally, people say, I need a CPA. My current CPA firm is not doing the job. That's kind of par for the course. They don't know what's wrong. They know something's wrong because they know that a lot of billionaires aren't paying any taxes. They're paying this 30, 40 % of their income in taxes. They feel something's wrong. So, I need a new CPA firm. So, what do they do? Hey, can you find me a great CPA firm that's local to me? Why is that important? Why do you need someone that literally that is that's local to you right away? The business owner is already messing up. That is not the most important thing. Okay, then they'll want someone Okay, forget distance. I'm okay with just meeting them virtually. They need to be a specialist in real estate. That's fine Okay, you've got a real estate portfolio there, especially in real estate, but really That's that's a that's another that's a good question, but it's not the best question. It's not gonna get you to the promised land (Alex Sonkin) (08:52.366) How fluent is that CPA firm in tax strategies? Are they plugged into a network like ours where they have hundreds and hundreds of independent CPA firms, former partners of KPMG, Deloitte, PWC, Ernst & Young, all proactively vetting strategies and introducing, unless you're part of a due diligence network like ours, you might be part of a very, very large CPA firm. that also is part of other groups, other associations and none of them know, you know, three, four, five different strategies that would be perfect for mitigating taxes in a specific situation. So going to a large firm that has lots of in-house resources, are those resources the best? Do they have access to the best tax attorneys in the country? If those attorneys are in-house working for a CPA firm, Or let's just say they're working for Jeff Bezos and Jeff Bezos' family office. Seth, do you think the best tax attorney in the country wants to be W-2 working for a CPA firm or working for a family Right, right. No, no. So right away, you've already discounted. You are not going to work with the best tax attorneys in the country. You're going to work with a static, the best attorney that's willing to be W-2, working for a CPA firm, working for a family office. If you look at the top 1000 tax attorneys in the country, you might now be working with number 945. Is that what you want to be like? No, no, no, we're fine. Our tax (Alex Sonkin) (10:29.484) Our tax planning is done by my CPA and they've got this tax attorney that's the 945th best tax attorney in the country in their space. It's like saying, I'm building this orchestra and my trumpet player, instead of getting the very best trumpet player in the world, I have the 945th best trumpet player playing trumpet. You want to put that on your website? You want to market that? think your client's going to be like, this is going to be awesome. I'm going to have the 945th best. You (Alex Sonkin) (10:59.138) Resource in that space giving me planning ideas. Whereas I'm a business owner I've had to get to this point to have a tax problem here to overcome all these challenges and now you're gonna bring me a tax planning solution. That's like D minus That's what's going that's puts par for the course. This is what's going on. What we know is 18 % of Fortune 500 companies are zeroing out their tax returns Okay, just listen to this 18 % of most profitable companies in the world have a team of attorneys and CPAs that zero out their tax return. That means 82 % have no idea what they're doing on a relative basis. those 82%, we're talking about 82 % of the most profitable 500 companies in the world. What we're saying is their tax planning from our vantage point, it's not that it's not good. It's like average to below average, whereas their revenue and income is off the charts. That's like a big problem. It's like saying, you know what? We have a basketball team where our point guard, our forwards, and our two guard are really good, but our center is like garbage. You know, we've got like a high school level center, and then we have all-stars at all the other positions. That's not gonna work. Yeah, yeah. mean, why is that? I mean, it's like, you know, they should have access to the best resources. They should be getting advised by the, you know, the top experts in the industry. But, you know, they're just not. Are they not putting the effort? Do they not have access? Do they not know, like, what's the... Because the difference is when you look at Amazon and you look at Netflix and all the other streaming services that are providing an independent peer-review because back before Amazon and Netflix we had Blockbuster video and we had Barnes and Noble right and we did do diligence very differently going to all the different Blockbuster videos going into Blockbusters and Noble trying to find a book to buy right it's very different experience now we live in this very different world now with (Alex Sonkin) (13:09.196) independent peer review and all these things. However, the financial services world was created by who? It was created by people like Bernie Madoff. It was created by Wall Street, right? So everything in the financial services world is really created by Wall Street, people like Bernie Madoff. And so Goldman Sachs doesn't want you to know what Morgan Stanley is doing. Morgan Stanley doesn't want you to know what JP Morgan's doing. And so really the financial services realm is is kind of built in silos. No, come into the Goldman Sachs silo. Come into Ernst & Young. You don't need to worry about what our competitors are doing, what these other CPA firms are doing. We're Ernst & Young, we're Goldman Sachs, we're JP Morgan. You can have the products and services that we have in our back room. So essentially, when you look at JP Morgan, Ernst & Young, Pricewaterhouse, all these huge shops, they're just stores with back rooms. And it's like shopping at a store. It's like going to Toys R Us. What do we have in Toys R Us? Well, what do we have in our back room? Whereas when you walk into Amazon, what do you have? When you walk into Netflix, you have the full scale universe, open source. So what we've done is we've basically taken the financial services industry and we've created this open source peer-reviewed model. And we started with sophisticated tax planning because that's where most people are really, really bad at it. And then we've added cost mitigation and other resources. You know, we're not trying to compete with asset management and money managers and all those other, know, certainly we vet those people out. But, you know, there's millions of people that manage money and our financial advisors. And certainly we do our vetting and due diligence on those people. Where we really differentiate ourselves is the income tax planning resources and solutions. Because what we found is the top biggest most profitable, most famous CPA firms and law firms, that's their blind spot. That's where they're really, really bad because they don't know how many are in the tax code. They don't have the time and the resources and they don't know who to call to actually start and complete a successful due diligence process for sophisticated tax structure. (Seth Bradley) (15:29.708) Yeah, yeah. So when you say independent peer review, what exactly does that look like? mean, walk me kind of through that and how that works. I'll show you like this is what you and any let's say if you're a real estate investor right and you're about to sell let's just say a 10 million dollar asset that has nine million dollars of gain in it you're gonna do the same thing that we've done if you're smart what are you gonna do you're gonna go out there and be like what are all the tax strategies that are possible to help me mitigate this huge tax liquidity event right then you're gonna get a bunch of ideas and then what are you gonna do You're going to show those ideas to your most trusted financial people who are probably your CPA, your lawyer, your advisors, all these other people that you think are financial gurus and really most of them are not even qualified to comment on the tax structure except your tax-focused CPA who has at least 10,000 hours of experience in audit and tax courts. So really you should only bring this to your CPA. But now you brought it to your attorneys and your advisors. So they're all going to comment on it because they're financial experts even though they have almost zero experience in auditing the tax court. So what do these people do with this idea? Some of them will like, oh, I don't know, just pay your tax. So you're going to get all sorts of answers. Now, you're the business owner. You have no idea how to quantify these answers. So you're really the tax expert trying to manage all this information and trying to be like, what do I do? And what are you going to do? you're gonna basically go with what your CPA kind of tells you that they're comfortable with. Now your CPA doesn't know all the strategies, so they might know 10 % of the possible strategies. So you're gonna go with the most comfortable strategy that your CPA is comfortable with, that they've completed their due diligence on, which may be strategy number 443 out of the possible thousand strategies that are out there. And now you have the 443rd best idea. (Alex Sonkin) (17:35.522) that you're implementing and your ROI on that is going to look just like that. Meanwhile, it's taking you all this effort to create $10 million of asset and it's going to take you just like this to completely give away the tax on that because your CPA is not plugged into an independent peer review environment where they can work with other CPAs who have experience with other resources, be able to ask your questions, get your questions answered, maybe ask another round of questions. But really at that point, you really need to be dealing with the thought leaders in that space, not some local attorney or other CP that also has no clue what's going on. It has no idea how many pages there are. Got it. So when somebody comes to, you know, they have that issue, right? And they're trying to find the right CPA that can help them with that specific situation and find that number one best tax strategy. You know, what do they do? Do they come to your website to try to find someone in the network? Because anybody in your network can tap into everybody else in your network and find that optimum strategy. There's really two ways of doing it. They either find a CPA in our network, which is one of the easiest things to do, or they have their trusted CPA plug into our network and complete their due diligence. That's probably the best way because they are this way. This gives them another warm and fuzzy. Hey, I've had this relationship with my CPA for 20, 30 years. I really like them. I understand the challenges that they're under just because they haven't plugged into the network doesn't mean they're a bad CPA or bad person. It's like having a, you know, I just bought a gold plated cell phone. It's the greatest cell phone iPhones ever produced. But if I don't plug it into Verizon, if I plug it into Bob's telephone network that only works in four locations in America, I'm gonna have this $5,000 cell phone that's basically just a brick that I could just use as a paper holder. But if I have a normal cell phone, I plug it into Verizon and I can make a phone call from anywhere. (Alex Sonkin) (19:43.298) That's a much better experience. it's not the quality of it. It's partially the quality of the CPA, but it's more so the quality of the network. and certainly these, the CPAs that really are attracted to us are the ones who have these huge hearts that want to do the very, very best for their clients. And they know that they need to pick up every rock and flip over because they know their clients don't want tax returns and financial statements. They need those. They don't want any of that. What they really want is proactive tax planning ideas. And what the CPAs don't have time for is that. So they have to create time. And we show CPAs how to create that time. We eliminate all, 95 % of the time. It takes them to complete the due diligence because we just show them the notes. We get them 90, 95 % there. Then they take the notes. They take the resources. They jump into the tax code and then they complete the last 5-10 % of the due diligence process on their own because they're going to have to actually do a little bit of work to get this done. But we've reduced their time and increased their confidence level in completing this project by a factor of 10x, which is a huge value to them because they don't have the time and they don't have the resource to get this work done, but they want to get it (Seth Bradley) (21:07.616) the interruption, but we don't do ads. Instead, know that if you're raising capital for real estate, my law firm, RaiseLaw, is here to give you the expert legal guidance you need to raise capital compliantly and structure and close your deal. And if you're looking for a done-for-you fund-to-fund solution, Tribest is the industry's only all-in-one setup and fund administration solution. Visit Raise.Law and Tribest.com to learn more. Right. Yeah. And I can imagine it takes a certain degree of humility, right, from those CPAs to say, I don't know everything. I'm not just going to make up something. I'm not going to make it up. But I'm not going to do kind of half-assed research for a few minutes and tell you I know everything about the subject. Right? Like, I can admit that I don't know everything. I'm not an expert in every single tax strategy. You nailed it. mean look we do a whole program about the ten pillars of extraordinary due diligence Curiosity is one of them independence is independence versus group think and you nailed one of those pillars. It's it's it's it's humility and You know being curious being humble when you're the tax expert as you know CPA that's been around for 30 years you like I've seen everything right? That's kind of how you feel But if you have that idea, I've already seen everything. I already know everything. How many people, by the way, how many pages are there in the tax code? I have no idea. Well, that is that's not congruent. What's congruent is I've been in the industry 30, 35 years. Do I know the tax code? I don't know the tax code. It's constantly changing. I'm humble, but I'm working hard. Yeah, there are sections of tax codes that I know, but it would be awesome to be part of independent peer community of hundreds and hundreds of other tax geeks like me. where we're chewing, know, we're eating this elephant one bite at a time and working together as a community. That's hard working humility. And if you think about it, those are the kind of people that are winning in every, in your profession, in my profession. Think about a basketball player. It's like the best basketball players, they are working to improve their game every day, every month, every year. As soon as you think, oh, I'm the best. Nobody does that. Kobe, Michael. (Alex Sonkin) (23:25.034) Everyone was constantly improving their game every offseason even though they were achieving they were the grace of the world So when you see a CPA going, I already know everything. I'm not humble run for the hills You're in big trouble Right, right. So I mean, I can see where this is. This could actually just change everything, right? I mean, it can change. Like if you get enough CPAs on this network and it's kind of the authority, the accepted way that things are done, it could really just change, you know, set the bar, right? So like, you know, where do you see the CPA firm or the future going? What does it look Yeah, you know, we started out as the virtual family office hub. We're still the virtual family office hub. What we do is the due diligence project. So we've had a vision, you know, more than 15 years ago where the CPA firm of future, the CPA firm of today is no longer just a CPA firm, right? They're not just an accounting firm looking backwards. What does a CPA firm mean now? They're a proactive looking firm. So they're really providing advisory services. They're bringing ideas to the table. That is not what accountants traditionally do. So right away, the CPA firm of the future in our world is a virtual family office led not by a money manager or an attorney or a financial advisor. It's led by a tax advisor who really has a tremendous amount of experience with audits, with tax court, with income tax planning. that's plugged into this community. really let's build Wall Street underneath an elite tax advisor and let's give them vetted best in class peer reviewed resources for estate planning, money management, all the different resources underneath them. And let's make sure all these resources are trained to be part of a team that's led by the captain, which is the head of their family office. But in this case, it's a virtual family office because in our opinion, (Alex Sonkin) (25:30.732) Like we said, the best people in the world don't necessarily want to be W-2 static living next to the family office or living next to the CPA firm that they support. These resources could be anywhere and everywhere. And it's like Lego pieces. Let's build out a custom build, a virtual family office with your favorite advisors, with your favorite CPA, plug them into due diligence project, and then maybe replace some of the resources with best in class peer reviewed. I'm going to keep my estate planning attorney. I'm going to keep my CPA, but then let's build out the rest of my virtual family office with resources, specialists, specialized attorneys that my two estate planning attorney and my CPA need to help me do what I need to do and get from point A to point B. Yeah, yeah, I love that. Let's let's unwind that a little bit. What what exactly is a family office? We have a lot of listeners that are, you know, high net worth individuals, wealthy, probably a high paying job of some sort. And, we still don't know what a family office is. Like, what is a family office? We hear about it all the time. People talk about it. You know, what is it? Is it just, you know, the Trumps and the Bidens that have them or what? Well, look, when we first started doing this, we had to educate everyone. What is a family office? And there's still people that don't know what a family office is, and that's okay. So traditionally, what a family office is, is when a family or a business owner sells their business, and now they have a big pile of money instead of running their business where they don't need CFOs and C-level executives and marketing people. Now they have a big pile of money. Maybe they're building a real estate portfolio, private equity, various investments. They, instead of having to make 17 phone calls, hey, I'm gonna call my CPA, I'm gonna call my attorney, I'm gonna call my advisors, they make one phone call to the head of their family office and their family office is gonna house their entire financial team. So their CPAs, their attorneys, their advisors are all part of a family office and there's usually a CEO of that family office. (Alex Sonkin) (27:36.814) So that structure traditionally can cost anywhere from $250,000 a year up to $2,000, $3,000, $4,000,000 a year if you're dealing with very high net worth billionaires. our idea was to rebuild that structure and make it a virtual family office instead of a single family office or a multi-family office with everyone working W2 in a static place, was let's create a virtual family office environment where we can have a world-class tax attorney support multiple virtual family offices led by CPAs around the country. And based on what their clients want and need, they may not need a full $250,000 or a million dollar yearly cost. Maybe they can have a family office with $50,000 worth of yearly expenses and they just need, you know, two, three advisors, six meetings a year, get their hands around what you're doing. And they don't need check writing. They don't need a lot of these other services that maybe a ultra high net worth family needs where they just want to make one phone call instead of 17 phone calls and say, take care of this for me. In the virtual family office model, it's the same one phone call, except now the team underneath that person that's getting the call are vetted best in class peer reviewed resources who might be all around the world who will all get together on a virtual meeting. to support the client when the client has, hey, I have a liquidity event or I have a tax event or I want to update my plan. Hey, let's bring the team together and let's look at all the moving parts and let's rebuild your plan. But now we're going to take advice and ideas from the smartest people in the world. We're all working together as part of a team. Got it. Yeah. the virtual family office, makes it seem like that it offers wealth management, the best wealth management, more, it makes it more accessible to more people, right? Like not just billionaires, but maybe lower than that, right? Like maybe we've got $10 million or something like that and we can still get the best of the best. (Alex Sonkin) (29:42.068) Exactly. And so our idea was, you know, you have these people who are worth $50 million and they can't afford a family office, but they want to, you know, the $50 million, they want to live life too. They want to be able to go play tennis. They want to give time to their synagogue, their churches. They want to do something else besides actually running their own, you know, basically overseeing their $50 million portfolio, which is a full-time job. the problem is they're not qualified to be doing that work. Yet can they identify investments that they like? Sure. Can they identify the best planning around those investments? They're not schooled in that. So they really should not be involved in their family office. should identify a tax-focused CPA, have them build out a virtual family office for them. And then now they have the benefit of making one phone call instead of 17, which saves them lot of time. And they can now trust the fact that they have best-in-class peer-reviewed resources to give them the very, very best ideas. So now what happens? Their confidence level goes up. So their time and planning goes down, confidence level goes up, the quality of the solutions goes up, and they're all of a sudden out, they can create a lot more wealth by doing world-class planning because we're seeing a lot of wealth just go away to state and federal governments and unnecessary taxes simply because the team does not know and has not completed their due diligence on all the possibilities. That's we want. Yeah, that's incredible, Alex. You know, I want to have you back on the show to maybe get into some of the more of nitty gritty stuff, right? Like what are some of these tax strategies that we might not know about or we might not hear about every single day because we tend to hear about the same ones over and over. And you've probably seen some pretty exotic ones, some very specific ones that people have never even heard of. But, you know, we're running out of time today. But, man, I would love to have a whole episode just kind of based on that. (Seth Bradley) (31:40.91) But before we jump into the freedom four, you have one last gold nugget for our listeners. Yeah, you know, just work hard, write your goals down, read your goals and update your goals. You know, there's a magic formula of being able to just writing down your goals, looking at your goals and just updating your goals. Be grateful. I know you get a probably get a lot of people just with gratitude and hard work and all that stuff. writing down your goals is something that very few people do. And of the people that write their goals down, a very high percentage of those people actually achieve those goals. So simple way of getting successful and I do it and I recommend that little idea to every one of my friends and family. Yeah, absolutely. you know, I think people sometimes they get caught up in, you know, the the mental stuff, they don't want to jump into that. But goal setting is more of a tangible thing. And all those things you hear about, like whether that's a vision board or affirmations or visualizations or setting goals, like it's all kind of the same, right? It's just even if it's like, I want to update my tax planning. I want to have a better tax planning team. know, write that down. And every day you look down at all your goals and make them balanced. You know, some of it is they'd give back to the community, have strong relationships with my family members or have no relationships with certain families. I don't know, you know, what the goals are. But balanced goals where you're constantly reviewing those goals and then you're updating those goals. And every day you do something to take a step. (Alex Sonkin) (33:15.278) towards achieving those goals. Those are little things. It's not a huge deal, but when you do that over time, there's a compound effect to it that is incredible that people just can't appreciate. It's been said, we think we can do a lot more than we do in a year, but we don't realize how much we can do in a five or 10 year period. It's incredible. much we can do in a five or ten year period if we're just consistent every day for that period of Absolutely, you get some momentum going over time. All right, let's jump into the Freedom 4. What's the best thing you do to keep your mind and body healthy? I do strength training six days a week and I actually prefer using a rubber band training. This X3 bar program that's out there. There's a bunch of different competitors now, but it's like a 20, 30 minute training. Nice, nice. With all your success, what is one limiting belief that you've crushed along the way and how did you get past it? (Alex Sonkin) (34:18.968) Great question. You know, I think everyone experiences fears, fear of failure in different areas. And I think you have to attack your fear of failure. Whatever you're scared of, whatever's on your radar that's popping up as a fear, you have to literally identify it and attack it and just prove to yourself that you're really not scared of it. Love that. What's one actual step our listeners can do right now to start creating more freedom? They can take action. Action is the key. The real problem is people just sit around, they get in front of themselves. They're too much thinking, too much analysis. What I've seen is people who have achieved incredible, let's just say business success, those people weren't smart enough to know. that how hard that business was actually going to be to build. They were actually not, if they were smarter, they would have never done the business because they were like, the odds of me actually achieving this business and creating it are so small. I'm just better off not doing it. They weren't that smart. So they just went ahead and jumped into it. And so what I found is just taking massive, massive action. Even if it's a failure, that massive action creates a pattern because it's going to Success is going to require massive action. And when you have a pattern and know this is going to take massive action and it's okay if it doesn't work out, I'm going to go for it anyway. I'm just going to assume it does work out. So being positive, massive action. If it fails, boom, you learn something and you go do something else and you just keep taking massive action. (Seth Bradley) (36:10.402) Perfect. Last but not least, how's passive income or entrepreneurship made your life better? You know, I've been very blessed. 20 years ago, I came up with an idea based on a diet that cured cancer for my aunt, my mother-in-law. And I suggested to my wife and my mother-in-law that they start selling my mother-in-law's cookies that were based on a diet that cured cancer for my mother-in-law. And so now today, we have a company called Go Macro, MacroMars, that my wife and my mother-in-law built based on an entrepreneurial idea that you know, that I had over 20 years ago. And as soon as we had a little bit of success in the beginning, I knew this was bigger and better than we had even thought of. And I just continually supported my wife and really just in every way I could to watch this opportunity grow. So to me, that's been my my passive, even though, you know, I'm married to this business owner, you know, supporting her and watching this idea grow and flourish into a really Successful health food company called comacro where we sell these macro bars. They're super delicious Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, it's passive for you, maybe not quite as passive for her. I have the same issue with the gyms. You know, they make really good money and it's passive for me, but my wife is running those things, so no. (Alex Sonkin) (37:31.174) Exactly, well you know she's had to be there to support you so yeah so for her it's passive and it's a great story for her and it's a great successful story for you as well. know how hard it is to build. Yeah, awesome Alex. The list has been incredible, man. We're gonna let you find out more about you. DoDiligenceProject.com or info at DoDiligenceProject.com. You can introduce your CPA to us or you can reach out to us if you hate your CPA and want us to recommend a great CPA for you that's already plugged into our... Easy enough, man, easy enough. All right, brother, thanks for coming on the show. Seth, it's been my pleasure. Thanks so much for having me. (Seth Bradley) (38:09.986) Absolutely. (Seth Bradley) (38:13.944) Thanks for tuning in to Raise the Bar Radio. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Keep pushing, keep building, and keep raising the bar. Until next time, enjoy the journey. Links from the Show and Guest Info and Links: Seth Bradley's Links: https://x.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.youtube.com/@sethbradleyesq www.facebook.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.threads.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.instagram.com/sethbradleyesq/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethbradleyesq/ https://passiveincomeattorney.com/seth-bradley/ https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/sethbradleyesq https://medium.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.tiktok.com/@sethbradleyesq?lang=en Alex Sonkin's Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexsonkin/ https://encoursa.com/presenters/alex-sonkin https://www.facebook.com/asonkin/
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
A new AI-first podcast studio is churning out 3,000 episodes a week at a cost of just $1 per show. Is this the future of content creation in the agentic era—or the end of podcasting as we know it? Nathaniel Whittemore breaks down the economics, the backlash, and why the real challenge might be discovery, not competition.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.com/Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwThe Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Not all AI office tools live up to the hype. Today we dig into new surveys, enterprise spending data, and an a16z analysis to uncover which AI tools actually perform in real-world workflows. From slides and spreadsheets to email, research, and meeting notes—we break down the tools worth your time right now.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.com/Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwThe Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@aidailybrief.ai
On Mission Matters, Adam Torres interviews Christine Aspell, Partner & Office Managing Partner, KPMG. Christine shares how sponsorship, relationships, and women's networks shaped her 35-year journey, why visibility matters as much as expertise, and what leaders must do next in a changing workplace. This interview is part of our State of the Women Coverage Series. Big thank you to Gail Letts! Follow Adam on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/askadamtorres/ for up to date information on book releases and tour schedule. Apply to be a guest on our podcast: https://missionmatters.lpages.co/podcastguest/ Visit our website: https://missionmatters.com/ More FREE content from Mission Matters here: https://linktr.ee/missionmattersmedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Happy Friday, everyone! I'm back with another round of updates. This week I've got four stories that capture the messy, fascinating reality of AI right now. From fast food drive-thrus to research to consulting giants, the headlines tell one story, while what's underneath is where leaders need to focus.Here's a quick rundown. Taco Bell's AI experiment went viral for all the wrong reasons, but there's more behind it than memes. Then, I look at new adoption data from the US Census Bureau that some are using to argue AI is already slowing down. I'll also break down KPMG's much-mocked 100-page prompt, sharing why I think it's actually a model of how to do this well. Finally, I close with a case study on AI coaching almost going sideways and how shifting the approach created a win instead of a talent drain.With that, let's get into it.⸻Taco Bell's AI Drive-Thru DilemmaHeadlines are eating up the viral “18,000 cups of water” order. However, nobody seems to catch that Taco Bell has already processed over 2 million successful AI-assisted orders. This makes the story more complicated. The conclusion shouldn't be scrapping AI. It's about designing smarter safeguards, balancing human oversight, and avoiding the trap of binary “AI or no AI” thinking.⸻Is AI Adoption Really Declining?New data from Apollo suggests AI adoption is trending downward in larger companies, sparking predictions of a coming slowdown. Unfortunately, the numbers don't tell the whole story. Smaller companies are still on the rise. Add to that, even the “decline” in big companies may not be what it seems. Many are using AI so much it's becoming invisible. I explain why this is more about maturity than decline and explain what opportunities smaller players now have.⸻KPMG's 100-Page Prompt: A Joke or a Blueprint?Some mocked KPMG for creating a “hundred-page prompt,” but what they actually did was map complex workflows into AI-readable processes. This isn't busywork; it's the future of enterprise AI. By going slow to go fast, KPMG is showing what serious implementation looks like, freeing humans to focus on the “chewy problems” that matter most.⸻Case Study: Rethinking AI CoachingA client nearly rolled out AI coaching without realizing it could accelerate attrition by empowering talent to leave. Thankfully, by analyzing engagement data with AI first, we identified cultural risks and reshaped the rollout to support, not undermine, the workforce. The result: stronger coaching outcomes and a healthier organization.⸻If this episode was helpful, would you share it with someone? Leave a rating, drop a comment with your thoughts, and follow for future updates that help you lead with clarity in the AI age. And, if you'd take me out for a coffee to say thanks, you can do that here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/christopherlind—Show Notes:In this Weekly Update, Christopher Lind breaks down Taco Bell's viral AI drive-thru story, explains the truth behind recent AI adoption data, highlights why KPMG's 100-page prompt may be a model for the future, and shares a real-world case study on AI coaching that shows why context is everything.Timestamps:00:00 – Introduction and Welcome01:18 - Episode Rundown02:45 – Taco Bell's AI Drive-Thru Dilemma19:51 – Is AI Adoption Really Declining?31:57 – KPMG's 100-Page Prompt Blueprint42:22 – Case Study: AI Coaching and Attrition Risk49:55 – Final Takeaways#AItransformation #FutureOfWork #DigitalLeadership #AIadoption #HumanCenteredAI
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Wall Street just delivered one of the strongest signals yet that the AI boom is real and accelerating. Oracle revealed a record-breaking $300B cloud deal with OpenAI, sending its stock soaring and reshaping the narrative around AI infrastructure. In today's episode, we break down why this moment marks the end of the AI skepticism cycle, explore how new coding agents are pushing the frontier of autonomy, and highlight breakthrough research on solving LLM randomness. Together, these stories show why AI's future is no longer in question—it's already here.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.com/Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwThe Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Even the biggest companies are learning that no single AI model can do it all. Microsoft, for example, is now bringing Anthropic's Claude into Office 365 because it outperforms OpenAI in key areas like Excel and PowerPoint. This shift highlights a bigger truth: the future of AI is about using different models for different jobs—not looking for one model to rule them all.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.com/Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwThe Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Today on the AI Daily Brief: AI isn't just helping engineers anymore—it's writing nearly half the code at companies like Robinhood and Coinbase, with some leaders saying human-written code is now in the minority. We explore what this milestone means for software development, the rise of agentic coding tools, and why investors are pouring billions into the space. In the headlines: OpenAI's AI-powered feature film project, Microsoft's $17.4B cloud deal, and fresh moves from Databricks, 11Labs, and Anthropic.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.com/Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwThe Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@aidailybrief.ai
Send us a textRobert Garner's journey from KPMG partner to successful consultancy entrepreneur offers a masterclass in professional services growth and value creation. Drawing on his experience founding Avail Consulting (which he successfully sold) and later serving as Group CEO of Tribal Group, Garner shares the strategic frameworks that transformed his businesses from startups to multimillion-pound enterprises.At the heart of Robert Garner's approach is a disciplined focus on what he calls the "four-by-four matrix" – aligning four specific service offerings with four target markets to create sixteen strategic focal points. This clarity of purpose allowed his team to methodically track progress and avoid the common trap of unfocused expansion. "Too many smaller organisations spend too much time working IN and not enough time working ON," Robert Garner explains, revealing how he and his co-founder limited themselves to 40% utilization to preserve crucial time for business development.For consultancy owners preparing for eventual sale, Robert Garner offers invaluable insights into what buyers truly value. He emphasizes the importance of developing annuity revenue streams where possible, building robust operational systems well before they're critically needed, and cultivating leadership teams that extend beyond the founder. His operational due diligence work with Garwood Solutions has given him unique visibility into the common pitfalls that diminish consultancy valuations.Perhaps most reassuringly, Robert Garner challenges the widespread fear that growth inevitably dilutes company culture. His experience demonstrates that with intentional leadership, strong values can be maintained through significant scaling. The real threat to culture isn't size but rather leadership that fails to create appropriate frameworks – or as Garner puts it, "It's okay to take risks; it's not okay to take uncontrolled risks."Whether you're growing a boutique consultancy or preparing for eventual acquisition, Garner's systematic approach to professional services growth provides a blueprint for building firms that deliver exceptional client value while commanding premium valuations in the market. His insights reveal why some consultancies plateau while others achieve remarkable exits.Prof. Joe O'Mahoney helps boutique consultancies scale and exit. Joe's research, writing, speaking and insights can be found at www.joeomahoney.com
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
AI is at the center of five big debates: is massive AI spending fueling real growth or just a bubble, will entry-level jobs vanish, does AI truly boost productivity, is vibe coding overhyped, and should we accelerate or slow down with open-source and policy? These questions capture the mix of hype, hope, and anxiety shaping AI today.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.com/Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwThe Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@aidailybrief.ai
Wie fühlt sich Beratung im echten Projektalltag an – jenseits von Case Studies und Unifolien? In dieser career to go-Episode nehmen wir dich mit in den Arbeitsalltag bei KPMG.
Episode #223 features Lisa Sthalekar — 4x World Cup Winner and Inductee into both the ICC and Australian Cricket Halls of Fame, recognised as one of the most influential figures in the history of women's cricket (the first woman to have scored over 1000 runs and taken 100 wickets). +++This episode is part of a special series in partnership with the Australian Government and their Centre for Australia–India Relations. These episodes highlight the growing ties between Australia and India across tech, business, media, culture, and sport. With around one million people of Indian heritage now in Australia—the fastest growing large diaspora—this series shares the untold stories of change makers shaping both nations' futures.+++To support this podcast, check out our some of our sponsors & get discounts:→ $1,000 off Vanta: Your compliance superpower — vanta.com/high→ Get up to 6 months of Notion's Business plan for free with Notion AI included (worth $12K): Go to - https://ntn.so/highflyers & click “Apply Now”If you're keen to discuss sponsorship and partnering with us or recommend future guests, email us at contact@curiositycentre.com today!Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, University of Melbourne and more. ***CLICK HERE to read show notes from this conversation. Please enjoy!***Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterGet in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly hereContact us via our website to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! ***The High Flyers Podcast is described as a "meticulously researched biography" that uncovers the untold stories of remarkable people and companies -- redefining the "high flyer". Launched in 2020, we have ranked in the global top ten podcasts for past two years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200 episodes released. Excerpts of the podcast have been featured in Forbes, AFR, Daily Telegraph, and showcased at SXSW.200+ guests have joined host, Vidit Agarwal on the show from 15+ countries, including The CEO's of multi-billion dollar companies like Bunnings, Australia Post, Woolworths, Airwallex, Eucalyptus etc; Board Members at Macquarie Bank, ANZ, Reserve Bank etc; Former Prime Minister of Australia; Globally renowned Tech CEO's from Google, Microsoft, Xero etc, Successful Venture Capital and Family Office Investors; CIO's at the world's biggest superannuation funds; Leading Entertainers; Olympic Gold Medal Winning Athletes and interesting minds you wouldn't have heard of that are changing the world. Our parent company, Curiosity Centre is your on-demand intelligence hub for knowledge, connections and growth to achieve your potential, everyday. Join 200,000+ Investors, Founders, Functional Leaders, CEOs and Emerging Leaders. Learn with the world's best and be 1% better everyday at https://curiositycentre.com***
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
As AI and Agents come online, the modern enterprise is changing. As it does, we need totally new ways of thinking about how to organize work. NLW explores the idea that the "work chart" is a better organizing tool than the "org chart" for this new agentic era. Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.com/Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwThe Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
OpenAI has published a new leadership guide for executives, laying out five principles — align, activate, amplify, accelerate, and govern — designed to help organizations lead in the age of AI. This episode breaks down the most important lessons, the subtext behind OpenAI's recommendations, and what's missing from their framework. In the headlines, Apple is reportedly partnering with Google to power Siri's long-awaited AI overhaul.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.com/Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwThe Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
OpenAI just launched a jobs platform and AI certifications, sparking debate over whether it's ambition, anxiety management, or a lack of focus. We dig into what's really going on and why it matters. Plus: ChatGPT adds branching conversations, Lovable shifts its success metrics, Google debuts an on-device model, and Atlassian buys The Browser Company for $610M.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.com/Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwThe Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Google's AI comeback is turning into something bigger. Today's AI Daily Brief covers whether Google has taken the lead in the AI race, with multimodal breakthroughs, Gemini's surge, and a huge antitrust win around Chrome. We also dig into Anthropic's $13B raise at a stunning $183B valuation, OpenAI's billion-dollar acquisition and restructuring, and the intensifying AI talent wars across Apple, Meta, and beyond.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.com/Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwThe Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Back to school season means back to AI predictions! After a summer of skepticism around the MIT study claiming 95% of AI pilots fail, NLW dives nto what's really coming this fall and beyond. From simmering skepticism to multimodal model progress to the potential for AI M&A, NLW breaks down all the key trends. Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.com/Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwThe Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network
The Big Four accounting firm KPMG has taken advantage of relaxed rules in Arizona to start a law firm there, but the company has broader ambitions outside of the state. KPMG says it doesn't want to compete with established players in the legal industry, but Big Law leaders are privately expressing concerns. That's according to Justin Henry, a Bloomberg Law reporter who's the guest on today's episode of our podcast, On The Merits. Henry talks about the legal work KPMG can do now and about the open question of whether it can operate outside of the Grand Canyon State. He also talks about the measures KPMG has taken to insulate its new law firm from the rest of its company, including having lawyers use separate entrances and exits at its Tempe, Ariz., office. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
Send us a textOn this episode of The Get Ready Money Podcast, I spoke with Charlene Cong, Peter Asare Nyarko and Robin Taub about financial literacy around the world. In this episode we discussed:Why financial literacy is a global issue.Financial literacy is a journey, not a destination. We need to incorporate our value with our money. Teaching your kids to be responsible, independent and money smart for life is the wisest investment (Robin).Always start with your goals, your values and why (Charlene). If we want to solve the global challenge that comes with financial literacy, we need to collaborate (Peter). Connect with Charlene Cong:WebsiteFinFit GmbH WebsiteLinkedInInstagramPodcastConnect with Peter Asare NyarkoWebsiteLinkedInInstagramFacebookConnect with Robin Taub:WebsiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramNewsletterBooks: Journey to Financial Freedom: Building a Strong Financial Foundation and Investment Basics by Peter Asare NyarkoThe Wisest Investment: Teaching Your Kids to Be Responsible, Independent and Money-Smart for Life by Robin TaubResources: CharleneBudgeting and Spending Template (free): (here)Investment Masterclass: (here)Charlene H. Cong, CFA, is the founder of FinFit GmbH, a finance and investment educator, podcaster, and YouTuber. With over 10 years of experience in the banking industry, including a tenure at JPMorgan Asset Management, she is a Chartered Financial Analyst based in both Hong Kong and Switzerland. Charlene is an Executive Board Member of the Swiss Capital Market Forum. Robin Taub, CPA, is a keynote speaker and the award-winning author of The Wisest Investment, Teaching Your Kids to Be Responsible, Independent and Money-Smart for Life (available in Canadian and US editions.). Robin began her career at KPMG, transitioned into real estate, and then landed in the complex world of derivatives marketing at Citibank. Robin lives in Toronto, where she and her husband have raised two mostly money-smart young adults. Peter Kwadwo Asare Nyarko is the Founding Executive Director for Center for Financial Literacy Education (CFLE Africa); a social organization that develops and promotes financial literacy skills in Africans especially young Africans. He is the Founder and Lead Support the showThe Get Ready Money Podcast and its guests do not provide investment advice. All content is for educational purposes. Guest opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Get Ready Money Podcast and Tony Steuer.
En este episodio de Vida Digital, conversamos con Ian Torres, Supervisor Senior de Arquitectura Tecnológica y Empresarial en KPMG Panamá, sobre cómo la innovación se consolida como motor de transformación en México y Centroamérica.
From the mailroom boy who kept replacing himself with machines, who was the ex-president of adidas Canada, and terms leading roles at scotiabank, and learning the art of diplomacy with 4 years at KPMG. Alim Dhanji is a globally recognized HR leader with over 25 years of experience driving transformation across Fortune 100 companies. Now Alim finds himself as the CHRO at TD SYNNEX, an IT ecosystem powerhouse with 24,000 team members. He shapes high-performance, and inclusive cultures that fuel innovation and growth. A Harvard Business School alum and board advisor, Alim brings a strategic, people-first lens to global business leadership.Ross and Alim talk about optimism, investments compared to cost, purpose, scaling up, preference shifts, accelerating talent, future of work, crisis, rejuvenation, CHRO's, human resources, human inability to adapt, HR becoming CEO's, leadership, transformation, risk tolerance and upskilling. The pair also discuss sacrifice, psychological safety, being vulnerable, confidence, being open, Imposter syndrome, diplomacy, influencing people to support you, servient leadership, custodian's, redesign of work, AI disrupting jobs, learning to learn, AI inspiring people, curiosity, embracing fear and growth. Timecodes:00:15 Into to Alim01:26 Surprises from recent leadership event02:50 Investing in people and the pay off04:57 Balancing whitespace with over planning07:01 Key themes Alim is focusing on for leadership08:36 Leadership challenges10:30 Practical ways to help leadership initiatives14:38 Blending IT and people through tech education16:19 Evolution drivers18:49 Pressure bringing opportunites21:59 Diverse networks, adaptability skills and role diversity23:18 AQai's Model - Ability, Character and Environment24:48 Unpresidented role changes28:32 What would make 2025 the best year ever32:03 Preparation for exhaustion34:44:12 Investing in learning and growth mindset36:36 Earn, Learn and Serve37:41 When Alim interviews for jobs41:27 The last time Alim did something from the first time45:02 Final thoughtsConnect with Alim:LinkedInConnect with Ross:WebsiteLinkedInMoonshot Innovation
Carlos Hoyos, business advisor, coach executivo global sênior, membro da Forbes Coaches Council, CEO/Founder do Elite Leader Institute, bestseller internacional, e host do Podcast Líder de Elite, conversou ao-vivo com Marcus Parpinelli sobre como identificar e capitalizar grandes lacunas de mercado, a importância de um planejamento estratégico real e como transformar crises em oportunidades.Marcus Parpinelli, engenheiro e estrategista com mais de 40 anos de experiência e fundador da Hub Union, compartilha como a Operação Lava Jato gerou uma oportunidade para integrar soluções e revolucionar o mercado de infraestrutura no Brasil. Descubra os erros fatais do planejamento e como uma abordagem dinâmica pode evitar desastres e impulsionar o crescimento.Pontos Chave: Lacuna pós-Lava Jato, Criação da Hub Union, Erros do Planejamento Estratégico, Crises como Oportunidades, Case FSO (sucesso), Case Planta Eólica (falha), Metodologia de Soluções Integradas.Marcus Parpinelli é um estrategista experiente, ex-KPMG, que fundou a Hub Union para preencher uma necessidade de mercado, provando que crises podem ser o início de grandes inovações.https://hubunion.comhttps://www.instagram.com/hubunion1Siga o Podcast Líder de Elite para mais conversas transformadoras.
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
The era of mass intelligence has arrived - over a billion people now access powerful AI tools thanks to dramatic cost reductions and improved interfaces. This episode explores why AI democratization, not just better benchmarks, is 2025's defining story. From 300x cost improvements to new use cases unlocked by accessible tools, we're witnessing a fundamental shift from scarce to abundant intelligence that every institution must navigate.Source: https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/mass-intelligenceBrought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwPlumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Stanford research shows AI is already reshaping entry-level jobs, with early-career workers in high AI-exposure fields seeing a 13% drop in employment. At the same time, a survey by Kyla Scanlon finds most employees don't trust their employers' AI strategies—with over a third expressing zero trust. Despite this distrust, few companies are offering AI training, creating a dangerous gap that could fuel resistance and sabotage of corporate AI initiatives.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwPlumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network
Philip Hoffman is here to share his journey from CPA to investing in fine art. He founded The Fine Art Group, where he advises wealthy families on art investing, valuations, lending, and education. He outlines the global art market as a $60 billion industry with only $6–10 billion considered truly investable, highlights the risks and pitfalls of treating art as an asset class without expert guidance, and shares cautionary tales of investors losing millions by buying discounted works without due diligence, contrasted with success stories where expertise and timing led to strong returns. We discuss... Philip Hoffman began his career as a CPA at KPMG, later became CFO and youngest board director at Christie's, and eventually founded The Fine Art Group. His firm advises wealthy families across 28 countries on art transactions, valuations, education, and art-backed lending. Investable art includes high-value works, jewelry, vintage cars, and luxury items like Hermès handbags, while most antiques and collectibles fall outside this category. Investors can access art through funds, private credit against art, direct ownership, or syndication with others. Hoffman emphasizes that art buyers should use reputable advisors, much like when purchasing real estate, to avoid costly mistakes. A client once spent $4 million on 40 polo paintings by an unknown artist with no resale market, ultimately finding them worthless. Using an advisor costs a fraction of an artwork's price but can prevent costly mistakes. Even seasoned collectors often misjudge valuations; in one example, most experts mistook a $1M Monet for a $10M Monet. Condition issues, provenance gaps, and theft risks make professional due diligence essential in high-value purchases. Current market conditions—with top-tier art down 20–30% from recent highs—make this one of the best times in decades to buy blue-chip works. Wealthy collectors often allocate about 5% of their portfolio to art, balancing enjoyment with investment. The black market exists, but high-profile stolen works are nearly impossible to sell through reputable channels. Damage usually devastates value, though rare cases like Banksy's shredded artwork increased in worth due to notoriety. Mishandling in storage, shipping, or moving can ruin artworks, highlighting the importance of professional logistics. Over decades, disciplined art investors with good advisors typically achieve strong compounded returns comparable to or exceeding equities. Today's Panelists: Kirk Chisholm | Innovative Wealth Phil Weiss | Apprise Wealth Management Douglas Heagren | Mergent College Advisors Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moneytreepodcast Follow LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/money-tree-investing-podcast Follow on Twitter/X: https://x.com/MTIPodcast For more information, visit the show notes at https://moneytreepodcast.com/investing-in-fine-art-philip-hoffman-742
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
On this episode, Andreessen Horowitz's Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps report highlights big shifts in just six months. Google scored four web entries with Gemini at #2, Grok rocketed to #4 with 20 million mobile users, coding tools like Lovable and Replit cemented their dominance, and Chinese AI firms kept expanding abroad despite home-market bans. The consumer AI space is finally settling into core categories.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwPlumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network
Would you trust a 100-page prompt to do your taxes? In episode 70 of Mixture of Experts, host Tim Hwang is joined by Aaron Baughman, Chris Hay and Lauren McHugh to talk about KPMG's 100-page prompt they used to build their agentic TaxBot. Next, we debrief on OpenAI's teasing of selling infrastructure in the future. The image model generation goes bananas, with the latest AI Image Model from Gemini: nano-banana. Finally, Aaron Baughman demonstrated three new features for the US Open website, powered by IBM watsonx-built generative AI models: Match Chat, Key Points, and Live Likelihood to Win. All that and more on today's 70th episode of Mixture of Experts.00:00 – Intro 3:05 – KPMG's monster prompt 16:37 – OpenAI's infra for sale? 25:10 – Gemini's nano-banana 35:11 – US Open experimentations The opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of IBM or any other organization or entity. Subscribe for AI updates → https://www.ibm.com/account/reg/us-en/signup?formid=news-urx-52120 Learn more about artificial intelligence → https://www.ibm.com/think/artificial-intelligence Visit Mixture of Experts podcast page to get more AI content → https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/mixture-of-experts US Open powered by IBM Watsonx https://www.ibm.com/sports/usopen
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Today's AI Daily Brief covers the groundbreaking release of Google's Nano Banana image generation model, which has taken the AI community by storm over the past few weeks. Google officially revealed that Nano Banana is actually Gemini 2.5 Flash, now available as a free preview in Google AI Studio, offering unprecedented image editing capabilities with perfect object consistency and incredible prompt adherence. The model dominates benchmarks, scoring 17% higher than competitors like Flux, and opens up seven transformative use cases from professional photo editing to 3D mesh generation. This represents a major leap forward in multimodal AI that could reshape entire industries from photography to game development.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwPlumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network
Sponsored by: EDF power solutionsAs the Trump administration continues to announce policy changes at a rapid pace, Jessica Libby, principal with KPMG Trade and Customs, returns to the show to discuss the shifts that are having the biggest impact on the renewable energy industry. Jessica highlights rules related to content from Foreign Entities of Concern (FEOC), new tax guidance from the Treasury Department related to wind and solar and, of course, tariffs. Jessica explains a new contractual term known as 'tariff majeure' or 'Trump majeure' and also reveals the one policy tweak that she thinks is currently under the radar, but might yet become a major challenge for the industry.More resources from EDF power solutions:Distribution-Scale Power Key highlights: "It's a new and different world." - (4:18)Foreign entities of concern - (6:37)Tariffs, tariiffs and more tariffs - (8:16)Challenges to onshoring manufacturing - (10:55)Treasury Department guidance for wind and solar - (13:44)How business owners are responding to all these changes - (19:15)'Tariff majeure' or 'Trump majeure' - (21:36)Could all these changes make supply chains more sustainable? - (22:26)Logistically speaking, is the US capable of collecting all these tariffs? - (24:54)A big policy change that is currently under the radar - (29:47)Jessica's bold predictions - (32:54)Sign up for the Renewable Energy SmartBrief
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Today's AI Daily Brief examines AI's rise as a geopolitical flashpoint. The U.S. government's unprecedented 10% Intel stake via CHIPS Act funding, NVIDIA's halt of China-specific H20 production amid U.S.–China tensions, and the launch of a $100M+ PAC, “Leading the Future,” to shape AI policy, show how AI now drives national security, diplomacy, and domestic politics—setting the terms of America's technological leadership for years ahead.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwPlumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network
Summary:a.k.a. Brands have seen incredible success bringing their digitally native brands into the physical marketplace. A big part of that success comes from their 'test and repeat' retail strategy, which allows them to gauge and adapt to consumer trends extremely quickly. Ciaran Long has been serving as the CEO of a.k.a brands for more than two years. He was previously CFO at Samsclub.com, and held other leadership positions at Walmart's e-commerce division, as well as at CBS, CNET Networks and KPMG.Ciaran joins us to break down the test and repeat strategy, and explains why it can be so effective at minimizing guesswork and mitigating risk. He also delves into a.k.a. Brands' unique approach to influencer marketing, their strategy when it comes to M & A, and the philosophy that will guide their expansion efforts in the years to come. Highlights:The a.k.a. Brands portfolio (2:05)What sets a.k.a apart? (3:12)a.k.a.'s evolution (4:43)Expansion strategy (5:50)Dealing with fickle consumers (8:56)Test and Repeat (10:55)Culture Kings (13:39)Navigating volatility (16:02)Sustainability in fashion (17:37)M&A (18:53)Looking ahead (21:06)Links:Ciaran's LinkedIna.k.a. Brands' LinkedIna.k.a. Brands' WebsiteICR LinkedInICR TwitterICR WebsiteFeedback:If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co.
Episode 68: Gautam Ganeshan, KPMG Today I'm joined by Gautam Ganeshan from KPMG to talk all about digital asset fund audits! Key Points From This Episode: Are crypto assets categorized in the same Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 framework as traditional assets? What are examples of each Level in the crypto world?How does the scope of a crypto fund audit compare to a tradfi fund audit?What are the unique challenges involved in auditing a fund with a digital asset strategy?Valuation and existence of assets – what's different about digital assets?How should a new digital asset fund manager choose the right auditor?What can I proactively do to make the process efficient? Disclaimer: This show is for informational purposes only. Nothing presented here constitutes legal, investment or tax advice. The guests that join us are sharing their considerable fund-related wisdom, but everything they share here is their personal opinion and for educational purposes only. On this show, they are speaking for themselves, and not for their employer or any affiliated entity. Tokens of Wisdom is produced by Dave Rothschild, partner at Cole-Frieman & Mallon LLP headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information, visit https://colefrieman.com/ Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Dave Rothschild - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidcrothschild/Gautam Ganeshan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gautam-ganeshan-cpa-ca-cfa-4696931a/Cole-Frieman & Mallon LLP - https://colefrieman.com/KPMG - https://kpmg.com/ky/en/home.htmlMusic by Joe Ginsberg - https://www.instagram.com/thejoeginsbergFor any questions or comments, email: tow@colefrieman.com
Big Four accounting firms are racing to integrate next-generation AI technology across their service lines and develop a talent strategy to match the industry's new era. KPMG is focused on making sure it's balancing efficiency gains because of artificial intelligence with long-term workforce development, according to Sandy Torchia, vice chair of talent and culture at KPMG US. The firm has created new learning opportunities for workers to teach them how to use AI to enhance career growth, she said. Like its competitors, KPMG has rolled out new autonomous AI that can accomplish tasks with minimal human intervention. The industry's next generation is taking note. The vast majority of KPMG's US interns expect at least 20% of their work to be automated by AI by the time they start full-time positions, according to the firm's recent survey. Torchia, who is also head of people for KPMG's Americas region, recently stepped into a new role as global co-head of people for KPMG International. She spoke with Bloomberg Tax reporter Jorja Siemons about how KPMG is helping employees adapt to an AI-led future, as well as the state of hybrid work and the CPA pipeline. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Today we're covering the AI backlash at YouTube and Netflix's new rules for generative AI in content production. YouTube creators are angry after the platform secretly used AI to enhance their videos without asking, making content look artificially sharpened and potentially training viewers to accept AI-generated material. Netflix just released clear guidelines for AI use in production, setting boundaries around copyright, talent consent, and approval processes. These stories show how the debate is moving from whether companies will use AI to how they should use it responsibly.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwPlumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network
26 Aug 2025. A new KPMG report shows finance leaders in the UAE are adopting artificial intelligence at a quicker pace than their global peers. We break it down with Bhaskar Sahay, Partner and Head of Accounting and Finance for the UAE and Oman at KPMG Middle East. Plus, economist Daniel Richards on the UAE President’s visit to Angola and the string of trade deals signed there. And we meet FMCG veteran Mark Wyllie, newly appointed CEO of Camelicious.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Crypto News: A whale sells 24,000 plus Bitcoin causing altcoins and the crypto market to crash. Japan eyes 20% flat tax for crypto trades, path to ETF offering with tax code revision. Show Sponsor -
John Norkus is the founder of chiefpricingofficer.com and has led pricing transformation teams at several large consulting companies including Deloitte and KPMG. He started his career as an aircraft engineer before transitioning into business, bringing his analytical mindset to understanding the behavioral economics of pricing decisions. In this episode, John makes a compelling case for why pricing professionals deserve a seat at the executive table, exploring the disconnect between pricing's impact on enterprise value and its typical organizational placement. He discusses his new platform designed to unite senior pricing professionals and elevate the discipline to C-suite recognition. Why you have to check out today's podcast: Discover why pricing professionals are typically buried 2-3 levels below the CEO despite controlling one of four key profit drivers. Learn the difference between traditional pricing roles and true chief pricing officer responsibilities. Understand how to position pricing as enterprise value creation rather than just cost management. "Pricing may be part marketing, part analytics, part behavioral, part external, part internal, but it is the piece that aligns us on how we're actually squaring off against the market." – John Norkus Topics Covered: 01:43 – John's journey to pricing transformation: From aircraft engineer to behavioral economics and CRM to pricing strategy 05:18 – Positioning pricing as organizational connective tissue: Why pricing deserves equal footing with volume, cost, and mix initiatives 08:01 – The pricing control dilemma among departments: How sales, marketing, finance, and operations all claim ownership of pricing decisions 12:24 – Defining the Chief Pricing Officer's role: Executive alignment versus operational pricing work and transformation implementation 15:45 – Pricing strategies in business: Inside-out versus outside-in approaches and competitive intelligence versus customer willingness to pay 16:32 – Critical senior alignment in pricing projects: Why CEO buy-in as a top-3 initiative determines transformation success or failure 19:39 – Pricing and enterprise value analysis: Demonstrating 2-7% bottom-line impact within 12-18 months to justify executive investment 23:35 – The activist CFO and enterprise value: Finding CFOs who understand value creation beyond cost reduction and margin improvement 29:29 – Pricing as organizational alignment: How pricing serves as the ultimate test of market positioning and competitive strategy Key Takeaways: "If the pricing transformation of the pricing program isn't number one on the CEO's list of one, two, or three most important thing they can do this year... then quite frankly, it's not as important and it doesn't have the kind of alignment that you thought it did." – John Norkus "Organizations who get it are the ones that we should be engaging with... change comes from within. And if somebody believes that this is the right thing to do and they just need somebody to help them do it and somebody who has done it before, that's where people like you and I actually succeed." – John Norkus "I consider 20% of everything we do in pricing to be analytics or data and objective based, and the other 80% to be about behaviors, either internal behaviors or external behaviors that need to be captured and understood." – John Norkus People / Resources Mentioned: Professional Pricing Society (PPS): Established organization for pricing professionals and education Simon Sinek Four Drivers of Enterprise Profit: Volume, Cost, Mix, and Price - and their typical organizational reporting structures Connect with John Norkus: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmnorkus/ Email: john@chiefpricingofficer.com Website: https://www.chiefpricingofficer.com/ Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of AI at Microsoft and co-founder of DeepMind, has published a provocative essay warning about the dangers of “seemingly conscious AI.” On today's Big Think edition of The AI Daily Brief, we explore his argument that as AI systems develop memory, personality, and the illusion of subjective experience, people may begin treating them as conscious beings—with profound consequences for society, law, and human identity. We dig into Suleyman's case for why this illusion matters more than the question of whether AI is actually conscious, the risks of model welfare debates, and why industry norms may need to change now.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwPlumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Google's Pixel 10 delivers the AI phone features Apple promised but never shipped. While Apple continues to struggle with delayed and underwhelming AI rollouts, Google has just launched its most AI-integrated smartphone yet, featuring Magic Q (an agentic assistant that searches through your apps), visual overlays for live camera AI queries, tone-detecting Gemini Live, and advanced photo editing capabilities. The device runs on Google's new Tensor G5 chip with a 60% more powerful AI core, allowing all features to run on-device, making this a complete overhaul of their flagship to be truly AI-first. This launch represents Google's aggressive move to capture the mobile AI market while Apple falls further behind in the smartphone AI race.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwPlumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Today, we're breaking down the MIT study claiming 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing - and why this headline is misleading the entire market. The report, based on just 52 interviews and 150 survey responses, has been cited as a reason for AI stock crashes, but the methodology is deeply flawed and the findings are being wildly misinterpreted. What the study actually reveals is that while individual employees are getting massive value from AI tools (90% use LLMs regularly vs only 40% of companies buying subscriptions), organizations are struggling with implementation - not because the technology doesn't work, but because of leadership buy-in, poor change management, and organizational dysfunction.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwPlumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network
Pete Martin is the Founder and CEO of Vestara Advisors and the author of Scale Up Faster. Vestara Advisors specializes in helping tech and B2B service companies scale strategically and maximize valuation. A serial entrepreneur and expert advisor, Pete has closed over $1 billion in software deals and founded six companies, selling four of them, including one to KPMG. His book distills proven strategies from the fastest-growing bootstrapped companies into practical frameworks for scaling quickly without outside funding. In this episode… Many business owners dream of scaling quickly, but they face unpredictable revenue, cultural misalignment, and unclear exit strategy. Without clarity on their company's true value drivers, they risk underpricing their business or losing strategic control. What if there were a way to grow faster, build a stronger culture, and sell for a premium without relying on external funding? Pete Martin, a serial entrepreneur and author of Scale Up Faster, shares his research from hundreds of high-growth, bootstrapped companies to reveal what works — and what doesn't — when scaling. Drawing from interviews with nearly 100 founders who doubled revenues year after year, Pete reveals their counterintuitive strategies — like mastering a single marketing channel, building recurring revenue, and hiring solely for cultural and value alignment. He also offers a framework for preparing a business for sale, crafting a compelling growth narrative, and cultivating relationships with potential buyers well in advance of the exit. Tune in to this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast as John Corcoran interviews Pete Martin, Founder and CEO of Vestara Advisors, about scaling businesses without outside funding. Pete discusses the importance of culture, his process for building recurring revenue, and how he achieved a 12x EBITDA sale. He also shares insights from his book, founder traits that drive growth, and the power of focused marketing channels.
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Are we really witnessing the "most expensive flop in tech history" with AI, or is something else going on? While headlines scream about failed AI pilots and wasted billions, there's a massive disconnect between public narratives and what's actually happening in AI development. This episode dives into the recent wave of AI pessimism following GPT-5's launch, explores why 95% of corporate AI pilots are reportedly failing, and examines the growing divide between Silicon Valley's AGI obsession and practical AI applications that could transform daily life. But here's the real story: while markets panic and media declares AI dead, builders are making breakthrough progress on memory systems, world models like Genie 3, and mysterious new models like "Nano Banana" that are quietly revolutionizing what's possible. Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwPlumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network
Send us a textJennifer Garvey Berger designs and teaches leadership programs, coaches senior leaders and their teams, and supports new ways of thinking about strategy and people. In her four highly acclaimed books, Unleash Your Complexity Genius (co-authored with Carolyn Coughlin), Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps, Simple Habits for Complex Times (co-authored with Keith Johnston), and Changing on the Job, Jennifer builds on deep theoretical knowledge to offer practical ways to make leaders' organizations more successful, their work more meaningful, and their lives more gratifying. Jennifer has worked with senior leaders in the private, non-profit, and government sectors worldwide (like Novartis, Google, KPMG, Intel, Microsoft, Wikimedia, and the New Zealand Department of Conservation).Jennifer is a co-founder and CEO of Cultivating Leadership. She has a masters and a doctorate from Harvard University. Formerly an associate professor at George Mason University, Jennifer learned about deep change more than a decade ago when she turned down the tenure offer and moved to a small seaside village in New Zealand with her husband, two kids, and the family dog. While she still considers herself a Kiwi by choice, you can find her in the French countryside, where she has bought a house with eleven friends who live in community and try to keep the dog from terrifying the cats.A Quote From This Episode“My job is to admire that meaning system and hold space for that meaning system to grow a little bit. My job is not to fix it…”Resources Mentioned in This Episode
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Sam Altman just had dinner with journalists and spilled details about OpenAI's biggest challenges and future plans. He admitted GPT-5's launch was botched, revealed the company is profitable on inference (minus training costs), and confirmed they're sitting on better models they can't release because of GPU shortages. Altman also discussed OpenAI's plans to spend trillions on data centers, potential IPO timing, upcoming consumer apps including a possible social platform, and that secretive device project with Jony Ive that he promises will create a new computing paradigm. This episode covers all 20+ topics from the conversation that most tech reporters glossed over.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwPlumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network
Tired of slow, outdated background checks? Andrew McLeod, Co-Founder & CEO of Certn, is on a mission to reimagine trust in hiring, identity verification, and global mobility. Under his leadership, Certn has grown into one of Canada's fastest-scaling tech companies — backed by Deloitte's Fast 50, LinkedIn Top Startups, and KPMG's Canadian Tech Innovator awards.Andrew shares how Certn is transforming a broken system, why speed and candidate experience matter more than cost, and his vision of building the “Shopify of Trust” to make background checks fast, seamless, and reusable worldwide.
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Is AI going to destroy education—or completely reinvent it? With millions of students and parents preparing for back-to-school, the debate over AI in classrooms raises a deeper question: is the purpose of education to teach people how to think, or simply how to do economically productive things? This episode explores perspectives on how AI is reshaping both.Sources:David Brooks, Are We Really Willing to Become Dumber?Megan O'Rourke, I Teach Creative Writing. This is What AI is Doing to My Students.John Cracraft, We're Losing Our Love of Learning and AI Is to BlameBrought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwPlumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
This episode examines how pricing challenges in AI coding platforms like Cursor and Claude Code reveal a fundamental shift in the software industry. While these tools currently struggle with unsustainable economics - where users pay far less than actual compute costs - this mismatch signals AI's inevitable transition from premium software tool to essential utility infrastructure. Through analysis of emerging pricing models and the concept of "intelligence too cheap to meter," the episode explores how AI coding represents the first glimpse of a future where software operates like electricity or water - a commodity utility accessible to everyone rather than a luxury good. Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsBlitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwPlumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Join our Discord: https://bit.ly/aibreakdownInterested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
NLW recently collaborated with KPMG on a 7-part enterprise AI-focused series called You can with AI. On this Saturday bonus preview, we share episode 7 of the series, all about the trends shaping the AI-ready organization of the future. Featuring Steve Chase, KMPG Global Head of AI and Digital Innovation.Learn more about the series: https://www.kpmg.us/aipodcasts
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
A Northeastern University survey finds AI use has gone mainstream in the U.S., with half of adults using at least one tool and most states above 40% adoption. While many expect AI to reshape their jobs within five years, a third remain unsure about regulation. At the same time, Anthropic's new Claude Sonnet 4 boosts capacity to 1 million tokens—enough to analyze entire 75,000-line codebases—while matching OpenAI's $1 government pricing and acquiring Human Loop to enhance enterprise tools, sharpening its edge against OpenAI and Google.Brought to you by:KPMG – Go to https://kpmg.com/ai to learn more about how KPMG can help you drive value with our AI solutions.Blitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlwPlumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/Join our Discord: https://bit.ly/aibreakdownInterested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network