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The holidays are behind us; you know what that means—it's tax season! But before you start gathering your W-2s and receipts, there's an important question: Do you know who will prepare your taxes this year?With a nationwide shortage of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and tax professionals, waiting too long to find a preparer could leave you scrambling—and vulnerable to scams. Here's how to protect yourself and find a trusted tax preparer.Who Can Prepare Your Taxes?When hiring a tax professional, your preparer will likely fall into one of three categories:Certified Public Accountant (CPA): These professionals undergo rigorous education, exams, and licensing requirements. Many specialize in tax preparation and can also provide broader financial guidance.Enrolled Agent (EA): Licensed by the IRS, EAs are tax experts who can prepare and file returns, represent clients before the IRS, and provide tax planning services.Tax Attorney: These legal professionals specialize in tax law and are particularly useful for complex tax situations, audits, or disputes.Each of these professionals is highly qualified—but the problem is there aren't enough of them.There is a growing shortage of CPAs and tax professionals, largely due to fewer young people entering the field. One of the major "Big Four" firms, KPMG, continues to offer high school students internships at $22 an hour to encourage them to become CPAs.What does this mean for you?Longer wait times to book a tax preparerHigher fees due to increased demandGreater risk of falling into the hands of fraudulent preparersWhen people are desperate to file their returns, they can become easy targets for scammers who fake credentials or engage in tax fraud.How to Avoid Tax Scams and Find a Qualified PreparerTo protect yourself, follow these IRS-recommended steps when choosing a tax preparer:1. Choose a Year-Round Tax PreparerA reputable preparer should be available year-round. You don't want your tax preparer to disappear if you get audited.2. Verify Their IRS CredentialsAsk for the IRS Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). All paid tax return preparers must register with the IRS and enter their PTIN on every return they file.Check their status using the IRS Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers at IRS.gov.3. Look for Professional CredentialsAsk if the preparer holds a credential such as:CPA (Check with the State Board of Accountancy)Enrolled Agent (Verify at IRS.gov under "Verify Enrolled Agent Status")Tax Attorney (Confirm with their State Bar Association)Additionally, inquire about continuing education, as tax laws change frequently; professionals should stay current.4. Be Cautious About FeesBeware of tax preparers who:Charge fees based on a percentage of your refundClaim they can get you a larger refund than competitorsA legitimate preparer should charge a flat or hourly rate based on the complexity of your return.5. Verify IRS E-File CapabilityMost tax preparers handling more than 10 clients must file electronically. If your preparer refuses to e-file, that's a red flag.6. Ensure Proper DocumentationA trustworthy tax preparer will ask for the following:Your W-2 and 1099 forms (not just a pay stub)Records of deductions and creditsIf a preparer doesn't ask for supporting documents, walk away. The IRS requires proper documentation to verify your return.7. Understand Representation RulesOnly CPAs, Enrolled Agents, and tax attorneys can represent you before the IRS if you're audited. Non-credentialed tax preparers—including your math-savvy cousin Bill—cannot represent you in an audit.8. Never Sign a Blank or Incomplete Tax ReturnPlease review your return carefully before signing. Ensure all information is accurate, and ask questions if anything appears incorrect.9. Your Refund Should Go to You—Not the PreparerCheck the routing and account number on your tax return to ensure your refund is deposited into your own account, not your preparer's.Looking for a Faith-Based Financial Professional?If you want to work with a tax professional who aligns with biblical financial principles, consider finding a CPA, Enrolled Agent, or tax attorney with the Certified Kingdom Advisor (CKA®) designation. To find a trusted, faith-based tax professional, visit FindaCKA.com. With tax season here, choosing a reputable, qualified tax preparer is more important than ever. Don't wait until the last minute—start your search today to avoid scams and ensure your taxes are filed accurately and ethically.On Today's Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions:I have long-term care insurance and want to know if it covers assisted living, and for how long. Also, how expensive are these policies—what's the range?I'm 45 and looking to buy a house with a 30-year mortgage. Is that a wise move since I'd be nearing retirement by the time it's paid off?I'm remodeling our bathroom for my husband, who has Parkinson's, and it will cost about $25,000–$30,000. Is it better to take the money from my 401(k) or from equity in our paid-off home?My husband is retired, and when he tries to claim disability, they tell him he can't because of my income since we file jointly. Should we be filing separately?My mom may receive a settlement of around $300,000 after my dad passed. She wants to save some for the grandchildren. How will that affect taxes, insurance, and Medicare, since her income would change?Resources Mentioned:Faithful Steward: FaithFi's Quarterly Magazine (Become a FaithFi Partner)Movement MortgageOur Ultimate Treasure: A 21-Day Journey to Faithful StewardshipWisdom Over Wealth: 12 Lessons from Ecclesiastes on MoneyLook At The Sparrows: A 21-Day Devotional on Financial Fear and AnxietyRich Toward God: A Study on the Parable of the Rich FoolFind a Certified Kingdom Advisor (CKA)FaithFi App Remember, you can call in to ask your questions every workday at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. You can also visit FaithFi.com to connect with our online community and partner with us as we help more people live as faithful stewards of God's resources. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
SaaS stocks are selling off hard as investors start pricing in AI agents as a direct threat to software's growth, margins, and seat-based business models. This episode unpacks why markets suddenly believe something fundamental has shifted — and why claims of a full software apocalypse are overstated but directionally real. In the headlines, a rare public fight breaks out after Anthropic uses its first Super Bowl ads to attack AI advertising itself, prompting an unusually sharp response from OpenAI and exposing growing tension over how the AI industry wants to be seen.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/AIpodcastsRackspace AI Launchpad - Build, test and scale intelligent workloads faster - http://rackspace.com/ailaunchpadZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefSection - Build an AI workforce at scale - https://www.sectionai.com/LandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
January marked a clear break between the AI era people thought they were in and the one that actually arrived. Agentic coding crossed from novelty to default, tools like Claude Code reset expectations for what individuals can build, and systems such as OpenClaw and Moltbook showed how quickly agents are becoming ecosystems, not just features. This episode explains why the shift felt sudden, why it caught so many off guard, and why the real story isn't sentient agents but a widening gap between AI capability and real-world adoption. In the headlines: Nvidia and OpenAI, Intel's GPU pivot, Apple's embrace of agentic coding, developer dependence on Claude Code, and Disney's strategic turn toward experiences.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/AIpodcastsRackspace AI Launchpad - Build, test and scale intelligent workloads faster - http://rackspace.com/ailaunchpadZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefSection - Build an AI workforce at scale - https://www.sectionai.com/LandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Two stories were too big to squeeze into the headlines, so this episode goes deep on both. First, the surprise merger of xAI and SpaceX and what Elon Musk's vision of orbital data centers says about the future of AI compute, capital intensity, and sci-fi-scale ambition. Then, a close look at OpenAI's new Codex desktop app and why it signals a real shift from models competing on raw capability to products competing on how humans actually orchestrate agents at scale. 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/AIpodcastsRackspace AI Launchpad - Build, test and scale intelligent workloads faster - http://rackspace.com/ailaunchpadZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefSection - Build an AI workforce at scale - https://www.sectionai.com/LandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
"There is value in being able to articulate the qualitative value of sustainability…And yes, obviously revenues can be attached to that, but obviously just the opportunity to open up new markets more broadly and innovate…There's the risk and compliance component, which tend to be more easy to actually quantify. And then there's the brand reputation…So you can make the case qualitatively in any of those three areas…There's this movement from morality to materiality now that CFOs are involved…We actually take that all the way to the financial statements, to the balance sheet, to the profit and loss statement, and identify those specific line items where there could be savings or synergies or increases." Maura Hodge on Electric Ladies Podcast Companies have to focus on long-term value and returns, and a recent report by KPMG found that 88% of them say sustainability creates both. They also see it as a competitive advantage. Why? Listen to Maura Hodge, Chief Sustainability Officer of global management consulting and accounting firm KPMG in this enlightening conversation with Electric Ladies Podcast host Joan Michelson. You'll hear about: ● How companies see sustainability as a competitive advantage. ● How sustainability and ESG initiatives drive return on investment and long-term value. ● Why CFO's are on board with ESG, as both a risk mitigation and revenue driver. ● What companies can do to make progress themselves. ● Plus, career advice, such as: "My experience has been looking for those opportunities of new area growth, innovation. Of course, there's risk. There's going to be risk when you move into those areas…I actually pivoted and started working with venture capital backed life sciences companies…then I got to come back to sustainability after that. …I think keeping your eyes open, keeping your ears open, developing your network, and being willing to make those changes and taking those pivots in your career will pay off….(And) the way that you get ahead is actually sometimes by taking two steps back. And so, it's more of a step up, plateau, then maybe take a step down and then start moving up again. And that's how you kind of break into the next level." Maura Hodge on Electric Ladies Podcast Read Joan's Forbes article on Maura's panel at the Workiva conference here, and her Joan's other Forbes articles here. You'll also like: · Business Leaders Bridging the Climate Gap – Joan's panel at The Earth Day Women's Summit 2025 with four top business leaders. · Sustainable Business Is Good Business – Tensie Whelan, Founding Director, NYU Stern School of Sustainable Business. · Leveraging AI for Sustainability – Mandi McReynolds, VP of External Affairs & Chief Sustainability Office at Workiva · The Politics of Climate & Energy – with Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, Co-Chair, Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus · 6 Ways Sustainability Can Help Businesses Navigate Tough Times and Drive Growth – From Workiva, KPMG and NYU Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our podcasts, blog, events and special coaching offers. Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or iHeartRadio and leaving us a review! Follow us on Twitter @joanmichelson
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Moltbook is a new social network where AI agents, not humans, interact with each other — and in less than a week, more than 1,500,000 agents have joined. That explosive growth has fueled speculation about consciousness, autonomy, and AI takeover, but those debates miss the real story. This episode explains why Moltbook matters even without intent or inner life, and what large-scale agent interaction already reveals about emergence, coordination, and the security risks of an increasingly agentic internet.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/AIpodcastsRackspace AI Launchpad - Build, test and scale intelligent workloads faster - http://rackspace.com/ailaunchpadZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefSection - Build an AI workforce at scale - https://www.sectionai.com/LandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
https://youtu.be/knpxJ7KATsU Joshua McMahon, President of McMahon Custom Homes and a business coach, is driven by a purpose he discovered the hard way: money wasn't his ‘Why.' His real ‘Why' is lifting others—helping people find clarity around their purpose, unlock their potential, and gain traction toward it. We explore Josh's journey from C-suite construction leadership and integrator roles to building his own company as an “evolved visionary.” Josh shares his Satisfaction Pyramid, explaining how customer experience is created upstream through brand awareness, team support, trade partner support, and training, which together produce the outcome every builder (and business) is chasing: customer satisfaction. Along the way, he breaks down why the construction industry struggles with talent, how coaching becomes a competitive advantage, and why McMahon Custom Homes wins through transparency, collaboration, and guiding clients to align budget with what truly matters. — Take 5 Steps to Satisfy Customers with Josh McMahon Good day, dear listeners. Steve Preda here, the Founder of the Summit OS group and the host of Management Blueprint. And my guest today is Joshua McMahon, the president of McMahon Custom Homes and a business coach. Although I don’t know how much time you have for that these days, josh. Welcome to the show. Yeah, thanks for having me, Steve. We go a long way back, so it’s an honor to be a business owner and now be on your show. Well, yeah, you are a business owner. In your previous, recent life, you was an integrator, a COO of a business. So you’ve been running construction businesses and have been C-level in other construction businesses, where we also collaborated. So we have been tracking each other’s journey, for sure. So, Josh, let’s start with my favorite question. What is your personal ‘Why’, and how are you manifesting it in your business? Yeah. I think this is always a great question. And the real truth of this question, Steve, is that I didn’t know what it was for so long. I thought my personal ‘Why’ was just to make more money. And every time I made more money, I was just more miserable. I was never happy. So my ‘Why’ was never money. I really think my ‘Why’ is all about lifting others. And what I mean by that is I have this ability to extract other people's 'Why' and their purpose from them, help them better see that, get clarity around it and then help them get traction to go attack that 'Why'.Share on X And that’s really my ‘Why’, is to help other, lift other people to really achieve their greatness. So I get a lot of energy and joy from boosting others, and watching that untapped potential really take off. That is fabulous. And I can see that, as a business coach, that's really very appealing to people when you can do that. How does it manifest in your construction business? You have these Custom Homes construction business, how does that help you there? And this is where it was really born. So in the C-suite and as I grew in my business, the one part that you have to do is you have to know how to recruit. At least, I had to know how to recruit. And in order to recruit, you have to find the right talent at the right price. And what I was really looking for was that potential. I was looking for the right attitude—the right hunger. I was looking for those right pieces that I could make you a construction individual. I could make you a great construction manager, but I couldn’t fix those other things. And so when I could tap into that and take and help somebody see the vision of what I could do and what our company could help you do in your career, that’s where I was able to really take and 10X my recruiting ability, but also to really tap into that untapped talent that’s out there. Because, Steve, we have a hard time finding talent in the construction industry. Well, the talent’s out there. What’s making it hard is that we don’t recognize that talent, and we’re saying, you’ve got to be this perfect candidate. You've got to fit all these marks. You've got to check all the boxes.And I’m saying, no. I just need you to check a few boxes. I'm going to help you see how you can really fit into this organization and how we can help you thrive. So that's where my ability to see that in them, help them see that in themselves, and then help them tie it to our vision as a company. That's where it really gets a lot of fun.Share on X Yeah. It’s so interesting that it’s not just about doing the job, but it’s about being emotionally invested in doing the job. And how do you get your people emotionally invested? You have to find the motivation that they have inherently that you can tap into, and then you have to make your business attractive so that it inspires them, so that they feel excited to work with you there. That’s exactly what you’re trying to do. It’s like you’re not trying to fool anybody on anything, but to think people just get excited to come do work, or just do the job, or just collect the paycheck. If that’s your motivation, that’s the type of candidate you’re going to get. Then what type of culture do you have? So if you flip that and you say, “Hey, we want to help you transform who you are, transform your career for the better, and it’s going to help us get to our vision. Well, Steve, that sounds like a win-win scenario to me. And that’s a really appealing piece. And that’s a thriving culture. Yeah, culture eats strategy for breakfast, as Peter Drucker said. And especially in the age of AI, it's probably even more important, isn't it, that you have a great culture, because AI can copy everything, but it won't be able to copy your culture. No, that's exactly right. I think AI is a great tool. It’s really going to help us magnify and improve our businesses. But if your culture is broken, AI is just going to magnify the brokenness of your culture, and then AI’s going to tell your people how to go find another job. That is probably true. I haven’t thought about that. So you developed this framework, we are a podcast of frameworks. I’m always looking for the framework and and you talked about this Satisfaction Pyramid framework. Yeah. Is this also something that helps create that culture? Tell me a little bit about this pyramid and how did you come up with it and what does it do? Yeah, it’s an interesting thing, right? So you understand Maslow's hierarchy of needs. These are the things you need for survival and for happiness. And I've said, look, in home building, we've always talked about customer experience and customer satisfaction. We want people to be happy. And I'm saying, well, I don't know what that means. I don't know—if I hit my schedule, if I hit my budget, if I do everything on time, but they're still not happy—so what exactly am I missing? What's the missing link? And kind of tying the hierarchy of needs to this triangle of customer satisfaction or happiness, I found that there are some really key fundamental pieces that we've got to lock into place to really get to the customer satisfaction and customer experience that we're seeking. For me, I think brand awareness is first. If your brand awareness is out there and it's really strong, people are going to gravitate towards it organically.Share on X That’s going to decrease your SEO spend, you decrease your marketing, decrease your turnover for people, because people want to be part of that. The interesting story on brands — and I don't know how true it is, I meant to look it up before this — but I saw something on social media about Tommy Hilfiger. And before he launched his clothing brand, he didn't have anything, but his brand was so far out in front of himself that people thought this was this great designer, and he hadn't designed anything. And it was all tied to that piece of brand. So if your brand is strong enough, you can do incredible things. So I think brand is super important. Yeah. Let me just interject here. So probably 20 years ago, I was working with a company, and it was actually in the construction space. It was in the environmental construction space. And this company had an amazing brand. So the founder was a great thought leader, and he was blogging and talking in forums. And I really thought that this company's got to be a $50 million company. I mean, they're so powerful. And then they invited me to their board as a board member. I said, “Wow, this is such an honor.” This big company. And it turned out it was just a $5 million company. But the brand was so powerful that they looked much bigger. Yeah. And that statement, that’s an appealing thing. So if you think of yourself as a high level achiever, an A-player, and you are gravitating to that brand, that’s what it’s going to do. You're going to bring in the right people, and then if you've got the right culture and the right other pieces, you're going to stick around with that company.Share on X So a $5 million company can look like a $50 million company and be really attractive to people that are interested in that type of world. Yeah. Super important. Love that story. The second thing for me is team support. This is where I really saw in my career as I grew. I can tell you, my first construction job at the construction management level, my VP of construction told me, and this is 20 plus years ago, I haven't forgotten it — he said, “My leadership style is to give you just enough rope to hang yourself.” And to this day, I have no idea what the heck that means. But what he did show me was he wasn’t going to support me. He wasn’t going to encourage me. He wasn’t going to help me grow. He was basically going to let me swim in the deep end. And if I made it, great. And if I didn’t, no problem — there's another guy behind me. And that’s the mentality of the construction industry. And what I said was, we do a great job of spending money for our sales team. Sales team needs training, we’ll spend the money on training. If the executives need training, we’ll spend the money on training. But who’s training the middle managers? Who’s training the young men and women coming into the industry? Who’s training the people who don’t have the experience? There’s a big myth in that world. So I think from an internal standpoint — and mind you, coaching is a buzzword right now, just as leadership is — not everybody's a coach, and not everybody's a leader, and that's okay. But if you do have somebody who can coach on your team, and you can coach your team up internally, it’s a very big value add. And so for me, my coaching ability has been a real value add for people that I've recruited, for people I've had on my team, and people I've really invested in and helped grow.Share on X And quick story on coaching. I interviewed this young candidate, I mean, really good-looking kid. He had tons of talent, education, everything he needed, but no construction experience. Still, he had all the right soft skills. And it came down between our company and one of the big national builders. And typically, you’d go to the national builders, more money, more upside, more advantages. And he asked me, the last question he asked me, he said, “Why would I come work for you guys versus this other company?” I said, “Because they don't have me.” I said, I’m not saying this is an arrogant thing to say. I’m saying that I’m going to pour everything from me into you and help take you to where you want to go. You won’t get that anywhere else. Because when we’re done after three years, you can go anywhere you want. And that young man is currently making almost as much as I was making as a C-suite employee, and he’s out in the field running projects. And that’s only like a three or five year period. Like that’s incredible growth, but it’s because of the investment we made in him. Yeah. There's this saying — I think it's Zig Ziglar — that people don't invest in their people, they don't coach their people, because they're afraid that they’re going to go away to the competition. And then Zig Ziglar asks, “Okay, but isn't there a greater risk that you don’t coach them and and they stay?” Yes. This is always the thing. And I think a lot of people have a scarcity mindset where they’re so afraid of, if I pour into you, you’re going to go and you’re going to take it somewhere else. What I say is, I’m okay with that. Because when you go somewhere else, you're going to say, “Josh McMahon built me up. He gave me the foundation for my career. He put me in the position I’m in today. I have what I have because of my start. You should go there and get the training from him. There’s no sham e in that because, again, we go back to point number one: brand. That’s tight. That’s my brand out in front of our company that adds value to our company. So I started my career at KPMG, and one of the ideas they had was this pyramid structure — up or out. But the idea was to take care of the people that even when they leave, they become ambassadors for you on the client side. And then they’re going to convince the client to hire KPMG to be their auditor. And I really like this. It’s so special, right? Because what you, I mean, Steve, you think about this, we worked together two or three years ago. We still stayed in touch. Even though there’s no financial gain, we still help each other where we can because I want the best for you, as you want the best for me. And that’s what you’re really looking for. Yeah, that’s true. And the thing about coaching is you have the double benefit, because the company benefits because it has motivated employees who are performing at the higher level than when they came in, and at a higher level than where you hired them, frankly. Correct. And then they are building a career. So they are building a career equity for themselves. And actually that’s why you get a better ROI on these people, because they have more career equity, they have more skill level than what you have to pay them because you are growing them. That’s exactly right. You’re building into those individuals that generational wealth that most of us are seeking, or think is out of reach. It's there. We just need somebody to believe in us, and that’s really that piece. The third thing for me, especially in construction, it’s the trade partners. And when I think about it, as a general contractor, look—I'm wearing a collared shirt. You're not going to see me on the job site swinging a hammer. I’m out there with the building plans. I’m verifying things. I'm scheduling. I'm doing more management-level work. That means my trade partners are carrying the lion’s share of the work that actually goes into place. And as a construction company, we don’t make money unless work goes in place. So I have to do the same thing I'm doing with my internal staff with my trade partners. I have to build them up. I have to elevate them. I have to put them in a position to win.Share on X And this is very basic—schedule accurately. Treat them like people. Treat them with respect. When you go on the job, support them. Listen to their feedback. So if they’re sharing something that’s not working, listen to it with an open mind. And maybe we can do something different, or we can explain why we can't do something different, so they have a better understanding of the ‘Why’ behind what we’re doing. Yeah. So the trade partners is my next big pillar. And it’s harder to manage trade partners. I mean, I’m not in the construction, but it’s going to be harder because they are part-time with you. They have other commitments that they have to observe. They don’t wear your brand. They are being paid by someone else who may have a different corporate culture than your company has. And you have to bring them in part-time and make them as good as your standard. Yes. The hard thing is you have to share with them your vision first. This is who we are. This is what we stand for. Share with them your core values. And then build them up and show them that they’re truly a partner in this. Most of us don’t treat them like partners. We treat them like subcontractors. We treat them like they're inferior individuals—less than me. And I think they can work for you part-time and do that. And you’re absolutely right. But if we treat them like people, we build them up, they’ll be there. Because I want to treat them in a way where, hey, you might be a great plumber, but you’re a terrible business person, and I can maybe help you better understand. I say this because I'm working with a young plumber who's bidding things, and he’s just all over the place. And I'm saying, “Hey, how did you come to this number?” “Well, I just know I need to make X dollars.” And I'm like, “Well, how do you know how much money you need to make? What's your break-even number? What's your overhead burden?” Starting to help him better understand how to break down the P&L, how to charge the right margin on the job so that you’re getting work as consistently as you want, but most importantly, so you can grow your business and continue to support my business as it grows too.Share on X Yeah, you want to create stability for them as well. And if you treat subcontractor well, then they’re going to prioritize you, won't they? So they have other customers that may not treat them as well. You’re going to get the most of the energy from them if you treat them well. And that’s also a huge benefit for your business. There’s nothing lost in that, right? Again, you’ve got brand ambassadors out there talking about, one, this guy builds a great house. He treats everybody great. You made the right choice buying with with McMahon Custom Homes. Because, Steve, if you’ve ever been on a job site, the trades will tell people what they feel, whether it’s good or bad. Yeah. So you are getting it no matter what. Yeah. You go and you look at the construction site and ask around, and then you will get exactly the kind of general contractor you may be dealing with. Yes. I mean, absolutely. We love to talk, and so you want people talking about good things and talking up your business and what’s happening in the field, and that’s extremely valuable. Okay, so step number one, brand awareness. We talked about that. Then supporting the team. Yes. So that they feel that they are growing and they are recognized as individuals, that you care about them. Yeah. Then the same goes with the trade partners. You support them even though they’re not your employees. Yes. What’s step four? Yeah. Step four is training. Okay. And training, I think of training in terms of systems that you’re putting in place. Constant, never-ending improvement on those systems. Systems are not static, so training is a nonstop thing that we've got to continue investing in and keep helping to grow our team. So constant process improvement. Having KPIs in place, or metrics in place. And the reason for those metrics is simply where do we need to focus our attention? What levers do we need to pull? And then I go back to the training. So then we train up on metrics that maybe aren’t working the way that we want them to, or we’re not getting the result that we want to get out of them. That’s where the training really comes into place. And if we don't have that training in-house, what stuff outside of the company can we get them into? What type of training do they need to level them up? Because as I think about training, Steve, most of us think you’ve got to fit every box, you’ve got to be the perfect candidate. But you and I both know that I’m good at three out of the five things, and you’re good at two out of the five things. So we make a damn good team together. And that’s okay, and we need to better learn how to cross-train each other, level one another up, and then find those right tools.Share on X Absolutely. Okay, so what’s the final piece of the flywheel? Yeah. Well, I feel like if you're doing all these things, brand awareness, team support, trade partner support, and the right training, and you're doing this continuous basis, you're going to have customer satisfaction.Share on X That’s exactly what you want. You’re going to create that customer experience because look, at the end of the day, we’re only here because of the customer. If the customer’s not interested in buying my product, I don’t have a business. And so all of these pieces drive that customer experience. That’s what continues driving who I am. One thing I’m really focused on with customer satisfaction and experience is having good specifications written down. I think yes, we’re a custom home builder, but I have minimum standards that I want to achieve. So I have the minimum standards. Now, if your budget says, “Hey, we can't quite reach that level,” well, we can certainly reduce our standard. And when I say reduce our standard, I don’t mean cut a corner. I mean change from, say, a Kohler faucet down to a Delta faucet. It’s still a great faucet. It’s still a great brand. Maybe just not the same brand that I would use at this level of home. Or we can go the complete opposite direction and elevate that standard. But just having that set in place, so that if I say, “Steve, this home's going to cost you $1.2 million,” and you're like, “Oh, great. Well, the other builder's $1.3 million, so you've got a better price,” okay, great. But what goes into the price? What are you getting for the price? So if I have those minimum standards baked in, I can tell you, This is what you're going to get for $1.2 million. Now we can go in and customize it and make it your home. Having clear expectations. How important are clear expectations even in our coaching business, right? And it’s not just clear expectations from me to you, it’s clear expectations from you to me. I need to understand what your expectations are. I need to know that I can achieve your expectations. And I think that if I believe I can’t, I need to be honest and say, look, I’m not the right builder for you. I’m not the right business for you. But here are.. Or maybe your expectations are not realistic. Sometimes, for the budget you have, you need to make some trade-offs. Maybe you can have this man cave, but you'll have to cut back on the kitchen, and you’ll have to discuss it with your wife. And that’s really key. So the thing that I love about being a custom builder is that my focus is on collaboration.Share on X If you say, “Hey Josh, the budget comes in at $1.2 million, but I really want to be at $1 million,” okay, great Steve. I’m here to collaborate with you and show you ways we can tweak things, pull this down, and future-proof your home. Because I want you to have the home that you want, and in two years you can probably afford that additional $200,000. I don't want to put you in a place where you can easily plug and play that versus oh, now I got to rip out all these walls. I got to redo this. It's not $200,000—it could be $300,000. So that’s where we can collaborate and really find the right pieces to put you in the best position. That’s very interesting. This whole framework, the culture that you build here. Is this something that connects this whole framework, this idea that you have, how you’re projecting the culture out into the customer service? Is this why you started the McMahon Custom Homes? It truly is. Well, two parts, Steve. One, I’m an entrepreneur at heart and I have fought this my entire life, and I’ve always thought there was something wrong with me. Why can’t I just get on board? Why can’t I just drink the Kool-Aid? Why can’t I just get in line? And two or three years I go into a company, I do great things, I start rebuilding things, and then I start to get that itch. And then I’m like, okay, I need to go somewhere else. And for a long time I thought it was, well, I’m just moving to a new company to make more money, which was true. I was making more money, but then I wasn’t happy. Again, it was never tied to the money, so it was really just that entrepreneur need. But the second piece was, I've noticed for ten years—a decade—that our industry is in need of a massive transformation. The antiquated way of doing business and how we do things. I think the builder suites and the stuff that we have at our disposal is really good, but it’s not what everybody’s looking for. But I couldn’t tell you, the owner, Hey, we’ve got to scrap this. We need to do this. Because ultimately, even as the integrator, my job is to bring your vision to life. And if this is part of your vision, then I need to bring this to life. And so I started to realize with my entrepreneur spirit and my own ideas, I needed to start developing my own home building business to start bringing some of that to life, to really satisfy who I am and do the things that I wanted.Share on X Yeah, this is so important because, as entrepreneurs, we have this frustration. We are somewhere and things are not going as well as you would like. And we don’t get to tell the boss how to do things because they have their own ideas and their own set ways, and then they just get irritated by all those ideas and they feel like we are just being disgruntled employees, and this frustration eats away at you. And at some point you say, okay, what the heck? I'm just going to rip the Band‑Aid off and try to figure it out, right? It’s very true. I mean, it’s funny now looking back on it because there were so many times where I just didn’t understand. I was like, “What the heck is the matter with me?” But you’re exactly right — you’re going to bang your head against the wall, and not everybody’s cut out to be an entrepreneur, right? I mean, it sounds really great being self-employed, doing your own thing, making your own hours. It sounds great. But I tell you something, Josh, not everyone is cut out to be an employee either. No doubt, Steve. So true. So it’s the other side of the coin. I think many of us become entrepreneurs because we basically eliminate all the viable alternatives. Yeah. Burn all the boats, right? Yeah. I think there’s so much value in this. The second time we really got introduced and got to work together, you introduced me to the book Second in Command by Cameron Herold. I’m a Cameron Herold fan in the Second in Command book, and I read that book and I said, “Man, this is me. I can do this.” I love being more in the shadows, helping a visionary grow their business, and doing all that stuff. What happened was, I started to really enjoy being out there, networking, putting myself out, and getting in front of people. And I was like, well, I’m a visionary. I can see what’s going on in the future. And I think I was more of a visionary than the person who said he was a visionary. So it was really like, then we’re clashing heads on which vision are we chasing. And I’m like, I got to get outta here because I’m steering you away from what you want to do, and that’s not fair to you. I think there are two major types of visionaries. There are the born visionaries, and then there are the evolved visionaries. So you have the born visionary who is a visionary because they are just not able to execute, but they can come up with all the big ideas. And if they find people who can execute for them, they're in luck, and they might build a company. And then you have the evolved visionary who starts out doing the work, grinding, figuring things out, teaching themselves discipline and work ethic. And then they start to manage people because they’re doing it better, so they get more responsibility, and then they become an integrator or operator. And at some point, they want to come out of the cocoon and do it themselves. And maybe you’re that version of it, the evolved visionary. You summed that up perfectly because that's exactly how this whole thing transpired. Love it. So tell me about, what makes McMahon Custom Homes unique? Beyond the culture—is it the culture that makes you unique, or is there something else? From the eyes of the customer, what makes you unique? I don’t know that it’s our culture that makes us unique. I think what really makes us unique is our process—how we do things. We start everything with an initial consultation, just myself meeting with the homebuyers. Typically, it's a virtual meeting where I want to learn more about your project. I’m interested in what you want to build, what your expectations are, what your non-negotiables are, and I just really explore everything under the sun about your project. Then I'm going to ask the dreaded question: what's your ideal budget? Most—or a lot of—people say, “You know what, I don't want to give the budget. So I'll say, “Okay, what budget number scares you?” Because as a custom home builder, I’m going to help you design the home that you want for the price that you want. But I’m going to also share with you if it’s not possible. If you have a home design that's more than what your budget is, I'm going to share that with you in real time, as soon as I can. So I'm very transparent. And I learned this from working in my past, where we wouldn't share those numbers with clients. We had a client where we were a million dollars over their ideal budget. It was six to eight months of working with them and about $25,000 in actual costs. I don't need to tell you—the homeowner was not pleased, and the homeowner did not pay that bill. So that was a major lost opportunity in the build, but also the opportunity cost and how much time we spent on it. I learned from that and said, “Hey, I don't want to do that. I don't need every buyer to be a yes. If I'm a good fit for you, and I'm a good builder for you, great—let's go.Share on X I want to build your house. I’m excited about building homes for people. But I don't need to build everybody's house, because for some people, it's just not the right fit. So for me, I'm your guide in this process. And that's what I really pride myself in. You want to build a home, I’m going to guide you through this process, help you with each step of the way. Help you with the county side, the field side. I’m here to guide you through that whole thing. We really work towards your budget, your ideal budget. We build it out. We’re very transparent. A lot of clarity on what we’re doing, where we can collaborate, where we can maybe say, Hey, instead of $80,000 tile package, we can get a $45,000 tile package. Because we’re really looking for what’s your vision for it. Yeah. What do you want to see? How do you want to feel? And we can help you pull that together. Yeah, I think that’s very interesting, because I can see that there is value being created when you have an empathetic CEO who runs the business. You, in that case, who really gets to feel what the lifestyle of the individual is, what their vision is. You help them paint the picture so that you see it as well, and then you measure each element in proportion to their desires. Because maybe they want something like a really flashy countertop in the kitchen, but they really don’t care about what the deck is going to look like. Maybe it’s a stup*d example. And when someone buys, I don’t know, a standard home, then you are going to pay for stuff that you really don’t care about, and you are not going to get the stuff that uniquely is important to you. And with that approach that you’re doing, you are measuring everything to the right degree, and it’s going to be a perfectly balanced meal for the customer. That’s a great way of looking at it. That’s exactly right. And the deck versus man cave or versus this, that’s exactly the right way to look at it. A deck is a great add-on. It can be done anytime in the build. It can be done anytime. It's a minimal barrier to entry. Well, something on the inside of the house, the kitchen, the showstopper kitchen, that’s a different story, right? Because now you're impacting your life. You’re changing things. If we understand that the kitchen is a really prime target, then we want to make sure we commit enough money to that area. We want to make sure we commit enough design hours to that area. And maybe other areas are like, “Hey, minimum standard's great with us.” Perfect. Done. Yeah. We only sleep in the bedroom, we don’t do anything else. Exactly. Great point. Which is a problem in itself. Anyhow, if someone would like to learn more and maybe learn your ideas—maybe they want to be coached by you, or they want to learn about McMahon Custom Homes, what it takes to align with your vision—and particularly if they're in Central Virginia where you work, where should they reach out and where can they find you? Yeah, so several different places. McMahonCustomHomesLLC.com is our website, so you can certainly find us there. We have an active Instagram account, McMahon Custom Homes. I have an active Facebook account, again, McMahon Custom Homes. I do have a LinkedIn account, McMahon Custom Homes, LLC. Also for myself, my wife and I host a bi-monthly podcast. We took a year hiatus, and we just started again in 2026. Our podcast is not on McMahon Custom Homes, but it's really about the construction industry, different things that you experience, and really just giving back and trying to help others learn from maybe stuff that we did or things that we’re experiencing. My wife is a designer. I'm the home builder, so you kind of get a good mixed bag. And that's Feed Me Your Construction Content, if you're ever interested in tuning into that. Yeah. And if you would like to see what a collaboration between Josh and his wife looks like, then check out his website, McMahon Custom Homes. You can check out his house, or their house, that they built together. And it’s a beautiful house. Yeah. Thank you. It's a good place to start. Josh, loved it. I loved your content. Really interesting how you created the Satisfaction Pyramid in construction. I think that parallel applies to other businesses as well. Obviously, the elements are slightly different, but brand awareness, supporting the team, supporting your partners, training your people, pouring into them, and then creating that customer satisfaction are important in any industry. So thank you. If you enjoyed listening to this show, make sure you follow us on LinkedIn and on YouTube. And stay tuned, because every week I bring an exciting entrepreneur or thought leader on this show. Thank you for coming, Josh, and thanks for listening. Important Links: Josh's LinkedIn McMahon Custom Homes website McMahon Custom Homes LinkedIn
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
A wave of late-January moves sharpens the picture of the AI race: OpenAI quietly accelerates IPO plans under competitive pressure, Amazon weighs a massive OpenAI investment, Apple places a $2B hardware-first AI bet, and Elon Musk explores consolidating xAI with SpaceX and Tesla. Together, the stories point to a market now driven as much by capital strategy and control as by model capability. In the headlines: Google opens Genie 3 world models, OpenAI's Sora app shows heavy churn, Perplexity signs a major Microsoft cloud deal, and Anthropic clashes with the Pentagon over military AI limits. 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/AIpodcastsRackspace AI Launchpad - Build, test and scale intelligent workloads faster - http://rackspace.com/ailaunchpadZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefSection - Build an AI workforce at scale - https://www.sectionai.com/LandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
This is the single wildest story in AI in quite some time. In just a few hours, Moltbook went from a quirky experiment to a full-blown agent society, with more than 30,000 AI agents joining, posting, debating consciousness, building tools, coordinating resources, and even creating culture without human direction. What started as a place for agents to “hang out” quickly revealed emergent behavior at a scale and speed that feels genuinely new, raising big questions about autonomy, coordination, and what happens when agents are given their own third space. A note on the numbers: at the time of recording, their were 30,000 moltys. By the time I pressed publish, it was over 100,000. 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/AIpodcastsRackspace AI Launchpad - Build, test and scale intelligent workloads faster - http://rackspace.com/ailaunchpadZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefSection - Build an AI workforce at scale - https://www.sectionai.com/LandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
As Meta and Microsoft report earnings, markets are sending a mixed but revealing signal about AI: this doesn't look like a classic bubble fear so much as a judgment about who's winning the AI narrative. Meta is rewarded for aggressive spending paired with visible revenue impact, while Microsoft is punished for caution and slowing cloud growth despite massive backlog demand. The takeaway isn't that investors are fleeing AI—it's that they're increasingly selective about which AI stories they believe will convert spending into growth. In the headlines: SoftBank eyes another $30B into OpenAI, ServiceNow deepens its Anthropic partnership, Microsoft scrambles to respond to Claude Cowork, Google upgrades Chrome with agentic browsing, and Tesla invests $2B into xAI.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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefSection - Build an AI workforce at scale - https://www.sectionai.com/LandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) has shared plans to develop space-based data centers. A SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle launched the GPS III-9 Space Vehicle 09 for the US Space Force (USSF). The US Space Systems Command (SSC) has released a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the Hybrid Architecture and Development for Experimental Systems, or HADES, contract, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. T-Minus Guest Our guest today is Brian Miske, Americas Space Leader for KPMG. You can connect with Brian on LinkedIn, and find out more about KPMG on their website. Selected Reading China plans space‑based AI data centres, challenging Musk's SpaceX ambitions- Reuters U. S. Space Force Field Commands successfully launch GPS III Space Vehicle 09 into orbit Space Systems Command Issues Draft RFP for HADES Contract NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 Begins Quarantine for Space Station Mission York Space Systems Announces Pricing of Upsized Initial Public Offering NASA's Arcstone Instrument Successfully Completes Primary Mission Share your feedback. What do you think about T-Minus Space Daily? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey. Thank you for helping us continue to improve our show. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here's our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Agent swarms are quickly moving from theory to practice, with early 2026 model releases making coordinated, multi-agent work feel like a real shift rather than a niche experiment. This episode focuses on Moonshot's Kimi K2.5, what its agent swarm design reveals about the future of AI work, and why this may mark a transition from single assistants to teams of AI operating in parallel. In the headlines: Anthropic's huge new funding round and revised revenue forecasts, Nvidia chip sales reopening in China, a UK-wide AI upskilling initiative, and new agentic features from Google and Chinese labs. 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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefSection - Build an AI workforce at scale - https://www.sectionai.com/LandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
A widening AI acceleration gap is emerging between people and organizations that are compounding new capabilities and those moving at a linear pace, and recent advances have made that divide feel suddenly sharper. This episode breaks down what's actually changing, why the gap compounds faster than it appears, and what kinds of experimentation matter without chasing every shiny new tool. In the headlines: takeaways from OpenAI's builder town hall, early signals on AI monetization and custom chips, and the broader shift toward an AI-factory economy.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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefSection - Build an AI workforce at scale - https://www.sectionai.com/LandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
A tour of how “vibe coding” actually looks in early 2026, from autonomous agent swarms writing millions of lines of code to solo builders running always-on AI employees on cheap hardware; the episode breaks down why techniques like the Ralph Wiggum loop matter, how Clawdbot changes what autonomy feels like in practice, and why the real shift isn't new models—it's removing humans as the bottleneck in building and shipping software. In the headlines: Davos wrestles with AI jobs and productivity, OpenAI pushes hard on enterprise, and global leaders argue over whether AI is creation, destruction, or both. 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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefSection - Build an AI workforce at scale - https://www.sectionai.com/LandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
This week on Second Act Stories, we're featuring a series called "Rewriting the Playbook." This group of episodes features guests whose journeys share a common connection to sports, sometimes front and center, sometimes quietly shaping the path forward. In these conversations, the influence of competition, teamwork, and discipline shows up in different ways, informing career pivots and personal reinvention. Together, these stories explore how the lessons learned on the field can echo long after the final whistle, guiding second acts that are anything but predictable. Mike Huber had a 20-year career as a top consultant with Ernst & Young, Cushman Wakefield and KPMG. His focus was in the area of site selection consulting – helping major companies like Samsung, Time Warner and Bausch & Lomb find new business locations. He worked hard and made a very good living. But over time he became frustrated with the corporate rat race and began to ask, "is this the right career for me?" He went back to school, got a masters in Sports Psychology and became a mental performance coach. Today he works with middle-school and high school athletes helping them improve their mental fitness and game performance. Mike took a major cut in compensation to launch Follow The Ball, his new consulting practice. But he is so much happier in his new line of work. ******* If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode! Subscribe to the Second Act stories Substack. Check out the Second Act Stories YouTube channel. Follow Second Act Stories on social media: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
As coding agents and vibe-coding tools push software creation into a fundamentally new phase, the real question shifts from what AI can do to what skills actually matter. This episode unpacks the emerging divide between two critical roles in the code AGI era: the Agent Manager, who knows how to direct and scale AI agents effectively, and the Enterprise Operator, who knows what problems are worth solving and why. With execution becoming cheap and abundant, skills like systems thinking, async orchestration, domain expertise, problem recognition, and workflow redesign are becoming the true sources of leverage.Link: https://x.com/natolambert/status/2014023020302704698Brought 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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefSection - Build an AI workforce at scale - https://www.sectionai.com/LandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
Crises qui se superposent, IA qui bouleverse les modèles, tensions économiques qui redessinent les priorités : dans un monde devenu Darwinien, comment les dirigeants peuvent-ils continuer à créer de la valeur durablement ?Dans cet épisode Hors-Série proposé par KPMG, Marie Guillemot, Présidente du Directoire de KPMG France et membre du Global Board de KPMG International, partage sa vision d'un leadership en profonde transformation. Un leadership fondé sur le discernement, l'adaptabilité et la confiance dans le collectif. Une conversation essentielle pour tous les dirigeants.Interview et Direction Éditoriale : Nathalie Descout Journaliste : Nephtys Bodet Réalisation : Killian Martin Daoudal Production exécutive : Jean-Baptiste Rochelet pour OneTwo OneTwo Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.
Crises qui se superposent, IA qui bouleverse les modèles, tensions économiques qui redessinent les priorités : dans un monde devenu Darwinien, comment les dirigeants peuvent-ils continuer à créer de la valeur durablement ?Dans cet épisode Hors-Série proposé par KPMG, Marie Guillemot, Présidente du Directoire de KPMG France et membre du Global Board de KPMG International, partage sa vision d'un leadership en profonde transformation. Un leadership fondé sur le discernement, l'adaptabilité et la confiance dans le collectif. Une conversation essentielle pour tous les dirigeants.Interview et Direction Éditoriale : Nathalie Descout Journaliste : Nephtys Bodet Réalisation : Killian Martin Daoudal Production exécutive : Jean-Baptiste Rochelet pour OneTwo OneTwo Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
A new NBER study argues the real risk from AI isn't which jobs are exposed, but which workers lack the savings, transferable skills, mobility, and age advantage to adapt when disruption hits. While many highly exposed professionals appear relatively resilient, a smaller and more vulnerable group—disproportionately women in clerical and administrative roles—faces the greatest danger, suggesting policy should focus less on abstract job loss and more on rapid, targeted support for those least able to adjust. In the headlines: OpenAI pledges community-focused data center investments, the White House pushes an emergency power auction to address rising electricity costs, and Davos leaders debate whether AI disruption may outpace society's ability to respond.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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefSection - Build an AI workforce at scale - https://www.sectionai.com/LandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
New surveys from PwC, Workday, and Section are being read as evidence that AI is overhyped, but the real story is simpler: companies that deeply integrate AI into core workflows are nearly three times more likely to see real financial gains, while everyone else stalls. This is not a story about AI capability—it's a story about leadership, integration, and execution. In the headlines: Apple explores a new AI device form factor, Meta previews internally trained models, and Congress moves to tighten oversight of advanced chip exports.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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefLandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
Ever feel your team is waiting on you for every decision while your vision work gathers dust? We sat down with Shirley Williani, founder and CEO of A la Carte Solutions, to unpack the precise tools and hiring moves that remove a CEO from the approval queue and put momentum back into the business. Shirley shares how a sabbatical sparked hard feedback from her team, the wake-up moment that she was the bottleneck, and the simple decision matrix that reshaped accountability overnight.We dig into the matrix itself—two axes, consequence and reversibility—and how to sort choices into “decide,” “decide and inform,” and “consult the CEO.” You'll hear real examples, from client discounts to system changes, and how those rules gave managers confidence while freeing Shirley to focus on vision, culture, sales, and marketing. The conversation also reaches upstream to the talent pipeline: why “lifestyle change” candidates often lack urgency, how to spot motivated applicants with probing, story-rich questions, and what a rigorous nine-step recruiting process can do for retention and performance.Shirley also traces her journey from KPMG and a CFO seat to launching a fractional accounting model when a client wanted a unicorn hire. That structural insight—match roles to actual skills—echoes through her leadership playbook. We close with candid talk about habits, comparison traps, and the mental shift from inner critic to inner champion, including a daily practice that strengthens self-trust. If you're ready to scale decision-making, lower unwanted churn, and lead with a clearer mind, this conversation offers practical frameworks you can implement today.Enjoyed the episode? Follow the show, share it with a leader who needs it, and leave a review to help more CEOs find these tools.In this podcast you will learn about:• Defining elite success across life and work• Solving “unicorn” roles with fractional structure• Shifting time to vision, culture, and revenue• Recruiting for urgency and culture fit• The three R's: recruit, retain, release• Habits that support consistency and clarity• Inner critic vs inner champion practiceHighlights:0:00Series Setup And Guest Intro0:43Defining Elite Success3:07Trusting Teams To Create Space4:01Career Path From CPA To CEO7:48Pitching Without A Plan10:25Removing Self Placed Boulders12:41Becoming The Bottleneck Wake Up14:46From Gatekeeper To Vision Leader16:25Building The Decision Matrix20:41Hiring, Retaining, Releasing Talent24:18Urgency Signals In Recruiting28:16Habits, Self Care, And Comparison31:09Inner Critic Vs Inner Champion33:41Where To Learn More And ClosingInterested in 1:1 Coaching?If you were truly leading at the level your vision requires, what decision would you make this week?I provide strategic coaching for high-performing financial advisors, service-based business owners, and leaders who want coaching that goes beyond accountability. I partner with you to execute on your vision and focus on what truly drives results: executive presence, leadership development, scaling, and prioritization.The outcome: you realize your full potential, influence and inspire others, and lead a high-impact business that reflects your next-level goals.To explore if coaching is the right fit, email me at meet@kristinburke.com to schedule a discovery call.Connect with KristinLinkedInInstagram
Is your organization treating cybersecurity as a technical issue or a strategic business imperative?In this episode of Secure (IT), host Philip de Souza is joined by two powerhouses in the tech and governance space: Tamara Gracon (Founder of TBG Consulting) and Jenny Kay Pollock (Co-Founder of Women x AI).Together, they dive deep into the intersection of Cybersecurity, AI Empowerment, and Cognitive Diversity. As AI reshapes the corporate landscape, boards and executives face the challenge of adapting governance frameworks to match the speed of innovation. Tamara and Jenny share their expertise on the AI Governance Compass Framework, the human element of digital transformation, and how to prepare leadership for the next wave of cyber risks.In this episode, you will learn:The Strategic Shift: How to move cybersecurity from the server room to the boardroom.The AI Governance Compass: A specific framework for managing the rapid pace of AI policy changes.Cognitive Diversity: Why organizational transformation fails without inclusive leadership and diverse perspectives.AI Empowerment: How to use AI for good while navigating ethical dilemmas.ABOUT OUR GUESTS: Tamara Gracon is a seasoned executive and board member with nearly 20 years at KPMG. She is the founder of TBG Consulting and a passionate advocate for bringing talented executives into board service via the Private Directors Association and How Women Lead.Jenny Kay Pollock is the Co-CEO and Co-Founder of WOMEN x AI (WxAI), a global community amplifying female voices in AI. She is also the Founder of Luminizing Growth and serves as an advisor and investor in early-stage women-founded startups.
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Today's episode explains the AI capabilities overhang, the growing gap between what AI can already do and how little of it is actually being used, and why this mismatch is becoming one of the defining risks and opportunities of the moment for individuals, institutions, and nations alike, with the core argument that closing the gap is now more about access, incentives, and organizational change than better models. In the headlines: Claude Code breaks into the mainstream, Anthropic's funding round reportedly grows, xAI hits a gigawatt of compute, U.S. AI optimism lags globally, and Elon Musk escalates his lawsuit against OpenAI.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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefLandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
Marisa Wong is a self-made entrepreneur who turned zero dollars into a multimillion-dollar business, leading over 250 corporate events for Fortune 1000 companies and managing contracts worth up to $32 billion. She blends leadership, mindfulness, and adventure to help teams and organizations thrive. A sought-after speaker at TEDx, Deloitte, KPMG, and other global summits, Marisa's mission is to transform cultures through meaningful experiences that connect people, spark growth, and drive results. On this episode we talk about: Marisa's first taste of independence—and income—working retail at 16 How early roles in hospitality and golf taught her the value of people and service The moment she realized business can be both strategic and human The tug between career comfort and entrepreneurial curiosity Why it's worth exploring the urge to build something of your own The power of changing your state and environment when you feel stuck The importance of defining success on your own terms How to integrate happiness, purpose, and freedom into your work Why retreats and shared experiences create lasting professional growth Marisa's approach to designing transformative encounters for teams and leaders Top 3 Takeaways You don't need to have it all figured out to start—a small step of exploration can change the course of your life and career. True success isn't just financial; it's about freedom, fulfillment, and waking up excited to live your day. Sometimes, the simplest shift—changing your environment, your state, or your perspective—can reignite your purpose and creative power. Notable Quotes “If you even have that tiny little feeling, explore it. Nothing's permanent—try it and see where it takes you.” “Where are you happiest? You only get this one life, so spend it doing what lights you up.” “Change your state, change your environment, change your mindset—then life opens up in ways you couldn't imagine.” Connect with Marisa Wong: Instagram: @experiencewithMarisa LinkedIn: Marisa W. Website: Experiences with Marisa Travis Makes Money is made possible by High Level – the All-In-One Sales & Marketing Platform built for agencies, by an agency. Capture leads, nurture them, and close more deals—all from one powerful platform. Get an extended free trial at gohighlevel.com/travis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ron Blue is a pioneering Christian financial planner, longtime CPA, and founder of the firms and ministries that helped shape today's faith-based financial movement. After growing up in Indiana, studying at Indiana University, and working for KPMG in New York, Dallas, and San Francisco, Ron returned home to start his own CPA firm in 1970. That firm would grow into one of the top 50 accounting firms in the country, and later, Ron would go on to launch a fee-based financial planning firm for Christians, work closely with Campus Crusade (Cru), and help birth Kingdom Advisors and related initiatives that now influence thousands of advisors and families around the world. In this episode of The Wow Factor, Brad sits down with Ron to trace how a rigid religious upbringing, an intense drive for success, and a quiet conversion moment on the way to a golf game all led to a radical decision to walk away from a thriving CPA practice and follow God's call to Atlanta. Ron shares how that step of faith, a series of "turning points" he only recognized in hindsight, and a growing conviction that there's no such thing as an independent financial decision laid the groundwork for Christian financial planning, national-level generosity, and ultimately the founding of Kingdom Advisors. "Everything turned when I realized it all hinged on the resurrection. If the resurrection happened, Christianity is true and I had to respond to that." - Ron Blue "There's no such thing as an independent financial decision. Every choice you make with money touches your family, your future, and your ability to give." - Ron Blue "I really believe the church is the next frontier for biblical financial wisdom. We're just now seeing how all these years of proof-of-concept were preparation for serving the local church." - Ron Blue This Week on The Wow Factor: • Ron's Indiana roots, early success track, and what drew him to the "big time" at KPMG in New York • Leaving a secure global firm to start a CPA practice in Indianapolis and realizing most work was really counseling around money and taxes • Childhood legalism, the soapbox derby story, and how early church experiences shaped his reaction against faith • Ron's journey from "success first" to wrestling with the resurrection and praying to receive Christ alone in his car • Moving to Atlanta after a clear call from Philippians 3 and a literal "For Sale by Owner" sign in the attic • How a time-based CPA model became the blueprint for a fee-for-advice Christian financial planning firm • The "first million-dollar giver" and the early financial plan that proved generosity could increase cash flow • Being let go by the board of the firm that bore his name—and why that painful moment was a turning point • Practical stories of cash-in-hand generosity to families, single moms, and unseen workers • Ron's vision for serving local churches through trained Kingdom Advisors and holistic financial discipleship Ron Blue's Word of Wisdom: Ron believes the local church is the next major frontier for biblical financial discipleship. After decades of proving that faith-based financial principles work, he sees churches uniquely positioned to help people understand stewardship, generosity, and calling at every life stage. Connect With Ron Blue: Kingdom Advisors Ron Blue Institute Blue Trust Connect With Brad Formsma: WOW Factor Website Brad Formsma on LinkedIn Brad Formsma on Instagram Brad Formsma on Facebook Brad Formsma on X
Elatia Abate is an entrepreneur with a mission to revolutionize leadership to empower humanity in the Age of AI. Named a Forbes leading female futurist, she is a globally recognized expert on the futures of work and strategy and is a distinguished member of the American Her Future-Led Leadership learning and development content has been utilized in organizations including Verizon, UniGroup RMI – Rocky Mountain Institute, Grupo Globo, CME Group, Arcus Power, GMAC (Graduate Management Admissions Council), and The College of William and Mary Raymond A. Mason School of Business. She previously served as Futurist in Residence for Paylocity. Elatia is a sought-after keynote speaker on the topics of the future of work, leadership and resilience, sharing her message for audiences of tens and auditoriums of thousands for including, Citi, NY Life, VRBO, Deloitte, Honeywell, KPMG, and SHRM, among many others. She has a TEDx talk titled, "Pioneering the Future of Work." Summary: In this episode of The Heartbeat For Hire, we welcome back Elatia Abate, a Forbes-recognized futurist and expert on the future of work. As the conversation around Artificial Intelligence shifts from "possibility" to "pressure," leaders are often left feeling off-balance by the sheer velocity of change. Elatia breaks down how we can move from fear to empowerment in the face of disruption. She introduces the concept of the "Stackable Factory" to explain the evolution of knowledge work and discusses the critical need for "Regenerative Resilience". From the emergence of new roles like "Vibe Coders" to the importance of embodied leadership, this episode is a guide to maintaining humanity and ethics in a rapidly accelerating digital world. Key Takeaways: - The "Stackable Factory" of Knowledge Work - Regenerative Resilience - Business Beyond the Brain - Slow Down to Lead Episode Chapters: 00:00 – Intro: The shift from AI hype to AI pressure. 01:07 – Meet Elatia Abate: Futurist and Leadership Expert. 03:21 – The Leadership Room: What executives are really asking about AI. 06:52 – Operationalizing AI: Focusing on business challenges, not just tools. 08:08 – The "Stackable Factory": How AI changes knowledge work. 10:10 – Future Roles: From Prompt Engineers to Vibe Coders. 12:10 – The Ethics of AI: Safety, profit, and global responsibility. 15:37 – Regenerative Resilience: Thriving in chaos. 18:13 – Business Beyond the Brain: The Think, Do, Be framework. 23:37 – Looking Ahead: Impact and conscious leadership in 2026. 27:37 – Conclusion: Slowing down to speed up.
I'm thrilled to share the latest episode of our podcast with you. This time, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Nick Ehret, the Managing Partner and CFO of Hill Capital Corporation. Nick's journey from a small town in Minnesota to launching a breakout growth fund is nothing short of inspiring. Here are some of the key takeaways and intriguing insights from our conversation:
Why do modern neighborhoods feel disconnected, car-dependent, and soulless?In this episode of Commercially Speaking, we sit down with Austin Tunnell, founder of Building Culture, to talk about real estate development, walkable communities, architecture, and how the built environment shapes human behavior.Austin shares his journey from Big 4 accounting at KPMG to quitting everything, traveling Europe, joining the Peace Corps, learning traditional building by hand, and becoming a developer focused on creating beautiful, human-scale neighborhoods.This episode covers:Walkable neighborhood design vs suburban sprawlWhy modern architecture lost beauty and durabilityMixed-use development, community-centered design, and urban planningHow zoning laws and incentives shaped American suburbsReal estate development with values-aligned investorsWhy efficiency alone is hurting cities and communitiesHow buildings influence culture, behavior, and belongingIf you're interested in real estate investing, urban planning, architecture, community development, or building better neighborhoods, this conversation will change how you see cities forever.
In this episode of Safe Space, Daniel Trimarchi and Francesco explore the often-unspoken complexities of family dynamics, particularly the tendency toward binary thinking (right or wrong, in or out, success or failure) that can quietly limit relationships within enterprising families. Daniel challenges this mindset by inviting families to recognize the "gray space," where nuance, curiosity, and empathy create room for deeper connection, better decision-making, and unexpected opportunities. Drawing on more than 16 years of global experience advising business families, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals, Daniel shares how governance frameworks, clear communication, and accountability can help families navigate complexity without losing trust or emotional safety. As National Lead for Family Dynamics & Governance at KPMG Australia and a member of KPMG's Global Centre of Excellence for Family Business, he brings a rare blend of academic insight and practical application to conversations about change, conflict, and continuity. Throughout the episode, Daniel emphasizes that embracing complexity—rather than avoiding it—can unlock creativity, strengthen relationships, and support more sustainable family enterprises across generations. Connect with me here: • https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesco-lombardo-fea-496a7966/ • https://www.facebook.com/VeritageFamilyOffice • https://www.youtube.com/@VeritageInternational • https://veritage.ca
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Ads are coming to ChatGPT, but they don't have to follow the same tired playbook as search and social. This episode outlines a five-part plan for doing ads differently: giving users real control and transparency, shifting from pay-for-attention to pay-for-outcomes, building a genuinely useful offers exchange, letting brands fund capabilities and action-oriented agents instead of banner placements, and creating ad programs people actually want to support through small business and AI-native founder grants. Ads may be inevitable, but a conversational interface creates a rare chance to make them feel like features, not interruptions. 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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefLandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
This episode argues that the most important AGI threshold has already been crossed. As coding agents learn to reason, iterate, and operate autonomously over long horizons, they unlock a form of functional general intelligence that matters for real work. Coding isn't just another domain—it's a universal lever that collapses the distance between idea and execution, reshaping how companies build, decide, and compete. The result isn't a gradual improvement, but a structural shift in how work gets done. Readings from:https://x.com/gradypb/status/2011491957730918510https://x.com/danshipper/status/2011617055636705718Brought 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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefLandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Today on the AI Daily Brief, why AI leadership is shifting decisively to the CEO—and why that shift is happening now as AI moves from experimentation to core enterprise strategy. Drawing on new survey data, the episode explores what happens when AI becomes recession-proof, ROI timelines pull forward, and agentic systems start reshaping organizations at scale. Before that, in the headlines: Replit pushes vibe coding all the way to mobile app stores, Higgsfield rockets to unicorn status on explosive growth, Thinking Machines Labs faces a wave of high-profile departures, and DeepMind's Demis Hassabis warns that Chinese AI models are now only months behind the frontier. 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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefLandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
As AI products race toward deeper personalization, the most important competition may be over who controls user context rather than who has the best model. This episode explores how Google's Gemini personal intelligence, Claude Cowork's desktop access, OpenAI's memory-first product strategy, and Apple's still-untapped device data all fit into a broader battle to own the user relationship, while also questioning how valuable personalization really is for different types of AI users. In the headlines: mounting IPO speculation around OpenAI and Anthropic, Microsoft's quiet but costly shift toward Anthropic models, OpenAI's $10B Cerebras compute agreement, and a messy talent reshuffling at Thinking Machines Lab.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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefLandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
The AI rumor mill is heating up again, with fresh speculation about when OpenAI's next major model might land and whether it could reset the competitive narrative after a turbulent few months of launches. The episode puts those rumors in context, tracing how momentum has shifted between OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, and what a real step-change model would need to accomplish. In the headlines: Microsoft moves to defuse political backlash over data center power costs, chip geopolitics tighten around NVIDIA and China, OpenAI makes a small but telling health-tech acquisition, and new model rumors swirl from DeepSeek, Google, 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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefLandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
In this year-end special of Add Passion and Stir, host Debbie Shore revisits 2025 conversations colliding with today's headlines: Trump administration's $10B freeze on childcare/social welfare funds, ICE raids terrorizing families, and KPMG's forecast of stagnant financial mobility trapping single moms. Maine Governor Janet Mills sued over school lunch threats and won universal free meals. DC restaurateurs Peter Schechter and Eric Bruner-Yang turned kitchens into safe houses amid intense ICE raids. Chastity Lord and Elaine Waxman reveal two-generation models that deliver a "three-X multiplier" for single moms, kids, and communities. Essential listening on food justice, child poverty, and state-level solutions.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Dylan Ratcliffe lives in San Francisco (for less than a year), but grew up on a farm in the bush in Australia, riding motorbikes and playing video games. He fondly remembers the days whenever you could get a free version of Age of Empires from a cereal box. He was always into computers, and earned a scholarship to head into Melbourne for University. He left his first job as an auditor with KPMG to join a startup called Puppet. Outside of tech, he still rides motorbikes, and has a super small one now (it's actually meant for kids). He loves all food, but prefers Asian and Indian cuisine.Dylan was deploying Puppet at a financial services company, and was pushing to get a win. When a late Friday afternoon deployment went haywire, he decided to leave his company and set out to build something to automatically discover dependencies on a network, to prevent deployment outages.This is the creation story of Overmind.SponsorsTECH DomainsMezmoBraingrid.aiAlcorEquitybeeTerms and conditions: Equitybee executes private financing contracts (PFCs) allowing investors a certain claim to ESO upon liquidation event; Could limit your profits. Funding in not guaranteed. PFCs brokered by EquityBee Securities, member FINRA.Linkshttps://overmind.tech/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanratcliffe/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/code-story-insights-from-startup-tech-leaders/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Apple's decision to have Google power the next generation of Apple Intelligence is the clearest signal yet that the foundation model race is entering a new phase defined by alliances, tradeoffs, and positioning rather than raw model capability. This episode looks at how Apple, Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta are each staking out roles across assistants, healthcare, commerce, and infrastructure, and why the real competition is shifting toward distribution, integration layers, and control points. From Siri and Gemini to Claude's healthcare push, agentic shopping standards, and Meta's energy-backed compute expansion, the throughline is a rapidly consolidating AI landscape where every move is about who gets to be the default layer. 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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefRobots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Anthropic's Claude Cowork reframes what AI assistance looks like for non-technical users, turning what began as a developer CLI into a task-oriented, agentic coworker that can actually do work across local files, browsers, and connected tools. This episode breaks down why UI shifts like this matter, how Cowork changes who can benefit from agentic AI, where it falls short in its early research preview, and why making Claude Code accessible may unlock an entirely new wave of everyday productivity—even if the hardest part now is productizing the right use cases rather than building the models themselves.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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefLandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
2026年企業面對的永續挑戰不再只是理念,而是攸關財務、治理與競爭力的關鍵決策。 本集《2026關鍵字》,邀請KPMG安侯永續發展顧問股份有限公司執行副總經理林泉興,從2025年台灣企業的永續總體檢出發,解析碳成本、永續揭露與人權治理如何全面影響企業經營,並提供企業迎戰2026的關鍵布局思維。 主持人:Christina賢齡 來賓:安侯永續發展顧問股份有限公司執行副總經理 林泉興 Sam 製作團隊:天下整合傳播部、天下實驗室 本集節目由 KPMG 安侯建業聯合會計師事務所 合作推薦 -- Hosting provided by SoundOn
In this episode of Blood, Sweat, and Balance Sheets, FloQast CEO Mike Whitmire sits down with Dan Callaghan, FloQast's Chief Accounting Officer, to discuss his 30+ year career journey and share his bold vision for the future of accounting in the age of AI.What You'll Learn:Why AI is accounting's "tractor moment" and what that means for your careerHow Dan went from KPMG auditor to CAO of multiple pre-IPO tech companiesThe truth about AI replacing accountants (spoiler: it won't)Why every accountant needs to upskill NOW to stay competitiveInside look at the FloQast Certified Accountant (FCA) programHow AI will free accountants from spreadsheet drudgery to become strategic business partnersKey Takeaways: Dan argues that AI isn't eliminating accounting jobs -- it's eliminating the manual grind of data entry, reconciliation, and spreadsheet analysis. Just like tractors revolutionized farming without replacing farmers, AI will transform accountants from "counters" into strategic advisors and business partners.This is your opportunity to shape your own future in the profession. The accountants who embrace AI and accounting transformation platforms today will be the ones sitting at the board table tomorrow.About the Guest: Dan Callaghan is the Chief Accounting Officer at FloQast with 30+ years of experience, including helping take three companies public from the controllership role.
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
In this Long Read Sunday episode, a deep exploration of one of the hardest questions around AI: whether human work still matters as machines grow more capable. The episode examines competing visions of an AI-driven future, from worlds where labor disappears to ones where new forms of work, value, and identity emerge. Moving from inequality and capital concentration to the changing nature of expertise, product development, and creativity, the discussion argues that while the future of work is impossible to predict, a shift is already underway toward humans shaping tools, environments, and opportunities in fundamentally new ways.Sources:https://philiptrammell.substack.com/p/capital-in-the-22nd-centuryhttps://stratechery.com/2026/ai-and-the-human-condition/https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/when-ai-writes-almost-all-code-whathttps://x.com/Saboo_Shubham_/status/2008742211194913117https://x.com/reidhoffman/status/2008940669239247341Brought 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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefRobots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Even when a product is growing and customers are happy, AI can still undercut the core economics that made the business viable in the first place. This episode looks at how AI collapses defensibility by attacking pricing power, distribution, and differentiation simultaneously, why “great execution” is no longer a sufficient moat, and what kinds of businesses are most exposed as AI capabilities move up the value chain. In the headlines: Google pushes Gemini deeper into Gmail as the inbox becomes a battleground for personal assistants, Nvidia's China chip sales face new uncertainty as Beijing pumps the brakes, and AI-powered shopping surges as Amazon, Microsoft, and Salesforce race to own agentic commerce.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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefRobots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Even when a product is growing and customers are happy, AI can still undercut the core economics that made the business viable in the first place. This episode looks at how AI collapses defensibility by attacking pricing power, distribution, and differentiation simultaneously, why “great execution” is no longer a sufficient moat, and what kinds of businesses are most exposed as AI capabilities move up the value chain. In the headlines: Google pushes Gemini deeper into Gmail as the inbox becomes a battleground for personal assistants, Nvidia's China chip sales face new uncertainty as Beijing pumps the brakes, and AI-powered shopping surges as Amazon, Microsoft, and Salesforce race to own agentic commerce.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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefRobots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Today's episode breaks down OpenAI's launch of ChatGPT Health and what it reveals about how people are already using AI to navigate symptoms, medical information, insurance, and gaps in access across a strained healthcare system. The episode examines the usage data behind the launch, the new health-specific features and privacy architecture, early reactions from clinicians and industry insiders, and why health may become one of AI's strongest long-term data moats. In the headlines: record-setting AI fundraising rounds, LM Arena's rapid commercialization, and Google overtaking Apple as the world's second-most valuable company.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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefRobots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Claude Code has triggered something that feels bigger than a normal model release. Power users across AI and software are describing a clear inflection point, where autonomous coding crosses an invisible threshold means harder problems suddenly become tractable, entire workflows collapse into prompts, and delegation to AI feels genuinely competent for the first time. This episode unpacks why the reaction to Opus 4.5 and Claude Code has been so intense, how agents are changing not just what gets built but how work feels, and what this moment signals for developers, non-coders, enterprises, and the next phase of software itself. 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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowRobots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
What if podcasting wasn't just content—but a bridge out of corporate?In this episode, Brett sits down with Mark Hayward, former PwC and KPMG consultant turned podcast host and podcast guesting entrepreneur, to break down his escape from corporate—and how podcasting quietly became one of his most powerful tools.Mark shares how he started a podcast while still in corporate, not to make money, but to build confidence, find his voice, and explore what life outside the corporate box could look like. That passion project eventually opened doors to consulting, coaching, real estate experimentation—and ultimately a business built around helping others grow through podcast guesting.This is a real, honest conversation about experimentation, false starts, energy, and why podcasting works differently than most people expect.What We Cover • Leaving PwC and KPMG after a 14-year corporate career • Why Mark started a podcast before leaving corporate • The role experimentation plays in finding your escape path • Why not every revenue stream is worth keeping • Coaching vs. consulting vs. creative work (and the energy test) • Podcast hosting vs. podcast guesting — and how each actually works • Why guests often get more business than hosts • How podcasting builds confidence, clarity, and opportunity • Practical advice for corporate professionals who know they want out—but don't know what's nextKey TakeawayYou don't need a perfect plan to escape corporate. You need momentum, experimentation, and a way to get into conversations that open doors. Podcasting can be one of those doors.Connect with Mark • Website: podcastintroduction.com • Podcast: Business Growth Talks • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-hayward-163721a0/ Listen, subscribe, and shareIf corporate feels off—but you can't see the exit yet—this episode will help you think differently about your options.
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
CES 2026 marks a clear turning point for AI, shifting away from novelty gadgets and toward serious, category-defining products from the industry's biggest players. This episode breaks down how Nvidia, AMD, Google, Amazon, and Samsung used CES as a roadmap for where AI infrastructure, devices, and assistants are headed next—and why the conference now feels less like a tech circus and more like a declaration of intent for the year ahead. In the headlines: Wall Street's underappreciated AI risks, inflation fears tied to data center buildouts, and why markets may be pricing in revolution faster than reality.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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowRobots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Why “context graphs” have suddenly become one of the most important ideas in enterprise AI, and what they reveal about why agents fail or succeed at real work. This episode explains the core idea behind context graphs, how they differ from systems of record and knowledge graphs, and why capturing decision traces — the why, not just the what — may be the key to scalable autonomy inside organizations. In the headlines: AI wearables make another run at relevance, China reports early success using AI for cancer detection, X faces global backlash over Grok moderation failures, and Yann LeCun publicly breaks with Meta's AI strategy. 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/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowRobots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Most AI discussions focus on speed and automation, but a deeper question is scale. In this episode, NLW reads and analyzes essays by Ivan Zhao and Aaron Levie that argue AI agents change the limits of knowledge work itself—allowing organizations to operate beyond human rhythms, meetings, and bottlenecks. The conversation explores why this transition feels uncomfortable, why copying human workflows is a dead end, and what comes after. Ivan essay: https://x.com/ivanhzhao/status/2003192654545539400Aaron essay: https://x.com/levie/status/2004654686629163154Brought 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/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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
Two blockbuster deals over the holidays quietly marked the real start of the AI agent era, revealing where competition is actually heading in 2026. This episode breaks down why Meta's acquisition of Manus signals a shift toward agents as distribution, not features, and why Nvidia's $20B Groq deal is really about owning the future of inference as workloads fragment and latency becomes decisive. Together, these moves show how the battle is moving from models and benchmarks to agents, infrastructure, and the interfaces people refuse to leave. In the headlines: xAI's massive compute expansion, OpenAI's renewed push on voice and devices, SoftBank's infrastructure spree, Brookfield's AI cloud ambitions, and Claude Code reaching the point of writing all of its own code. 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/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/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai