Podcasts about UCP

More polls are showing some softening support for Mark Carney and the Liberals, while the NDP moves into double-digits. But the trend line isn't conclusive — except when it comes to the Conservatives, who have shown little life in the polls with one new survey putting the party at a level not seen since before Pierre Poilievre became party leader.This week on The Numbers, we take a look at the national polling landscape, which seems to be in a moment of some flux. Then, we take a look at the approval ratings of provincial premiers, including Doug Ford's dropping support. We also dissect new provincial polls out of Alberta, where Danielle Smith's referendum drive might be hurting the UCP, British Columbia, where the B.C. Conservatives are up following Kerry-Lynne Findlay's leadership victory, and Quebec, where the PQ has opened up a wider lead over the slumping Liberals. Then, Philippe closes with a 1957-themed Quiz.Looking for even more of The Numbers? If you join our Patreon and support this joint project of ours, you'll get ad-free episodes every week, bonus episodes several times per month and access to our lively Discord. Join here! https://thenumberspod.ca/The bonus episodes are also available via an Apple Podcasts subscription.You can watch this episode on YouTube. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amber Ruddy and Keith McLaughlin join Alberta Edge to debate whether the province's two main Tory leaders are successfully calming separatist tensions. Premier Danielle Smith, who leads Alberta's UCP, and Pierre Poilievre, leader of the federal Conservatives, are arguably on the same federalist side—but are taking different approaches to handling grievance politics. The conversation also touches on the pipeline MOU, internal UCP tensions, First Nations backlash, and the increasingly volatile political atmosphere surrounding Alberta's referendum season. This podcast is generously supported by Don Archibald. The Hub thanks him for his ongoing support.The Hub is Canada's fastest-growing independent digital news outlet.Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get our latest videos: https://www.youtube.com/@TheHubCanadaSubscribe to The Hub's podcast feed to get our best content when you are on the go:https://tinyurl.com/3a7zpd7e (Apple) https://tinyurl.com/y8akmfn7 (Spotify) Want more Hub? Get a FREE 3-month trial membership on us: https://thehub.ca/free-trial/Follow The Hub on X: https://x.com/thehubcanada?lang=en CREDITS:Falice Chin - Host, Producer, and Editor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steven McLelan is the VP of Western Canada at Enterprise Canada. He previously served as the director of research for the UCP government caucus and as a researcher for the B.C. Liberal caucus under Christy Clark Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

0:11 - The retired judge appointed to the electoral boundary panel donated to UCP. Does this effect the results? 8:58 - Could the boundaries changing be considered gerrymandering? We get your thoughts. 27:41- Should Canada call Trump's bluff on the CUSMA trade talks? 37:58 - We take your calls on the CUSMA talks. 45:48 - A survey finds that fewer Canadians plan to travel this summer – but one generation is bucking the trend. 58:18 - Mark Carney unveils the national AI strategy and it prioritizes safety, reliability, and sovereignty. 1:02:39 - The NHL faces scheduling challenge as B.C. and Alberta move to permanent daylight time. 1:14:35 - Claude Lemieux's brain will be donated to Boston University's CTE Center. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Agentic e-commerce is already reshaping how consumers discover and buy products online, yet it still accounts for barely 0.2% of total e-commerce traffic. BASE France is the French arm of Base.com, a Polish-born SaaS scale-up that has spent nearly two decades building operational infrastructure for online retailers. Its CEO, Ben Hamilton, brings a practitioner’s perspective to this emerging model: measured, practical, and refreshingly free of the hype that surrounds most conversations on the topic. Agentic E-Commerce: Could AI Become the Shopfront? Imagine an agentic e-commerce world where e-commerce happens on smartphone screens and robots deliver your purchases. We might be on the brink of this future. This image was created using Midjourney. Commerce as conversation: the oldest model in the book Before there were shops, there was conversation. For thousands of years, trade was oral. A buyer expressed a need, a seller responded with what they had, and the two parties negotiated until a deal was struck. The self-service retail store, born roughly a century ago, was a radical departure from this model. It replaced dialogue with browsing. It handed the customer a trolley and pointed them at the shelves. E-commerce then took that self-service model and, as Ben Hamilton puts it, “multiplied it by about 100,000.” The online shopper today faces a near-infinite array of products across dozens of marketplaces, with no guide, no-one to talk to, and no memory of what they looked at three tabs ago. It is efficient in theory. In practice, it is exhausting. Back to future? The agentic model, Hamilton argues, represents something of a return to origins. Instead of browsing, the consumer talks. An agent listens, asks questions, proposes options, and eventually surfaces an answer to a need that the buyer may not even have been able to articulate clearly at the outset. “back to the future,” Hamilton explains, “that’s what I’m getting at. The agentic model takes us back to something closer to how human beings have traded over thousands of years compared to the last ten, twenty or even a hundred.” My own experience bears this out. I recently found a diagnostician for a property I am selling. As a matter of fact, I didn’t find them through a Google search, but through a conversation with an LLM. I clicked through two or three irrelevant links before landing on exactly the right provider. I then completed the transaction on their website. The research was agentic; the checkout was not. That distinction, as it happens, sits at the heart of what Hamilton believes will define the next phase of e-commerce. Ben Hamilton on agentic e-commerce: “I can totally imagine a portion of that market occurring directly on an LLM”. Agentic E-commerce: Where checkout will and won’t happen One of the more grounded contributions Hamilton makes to this debate is his refusal to conflate two distinct phenomena: AI influence over purchasing decisions, and AI completing the transaction itself. Much of the media discourse collapses the two. Hamilton does not. “I don’t think we’re heading to a world where 20, 50 or 80% of online transactions happen on an LLM,” he says. “I would draw the distinction between where the checkout occurs and how much an agent is involved in the buying process.” For the foreseeable future, he believes, most consumers will continue to research via LLMs and transact on familiar websites and marketplaces. The inertia in human purchasing behaviour is simply too great for the checkout itself to migrate rapidly to a chat interface. This view is supported by the data available. According to research by commercetools, 73% of consumers already use AI somewhere in their shopping journey. Yet only 36% are open to AI agents making purchases on their behalf. In the US, the figure for autonomous AI purchasing drops to 14%. The gap between AI as advisor and AI as buyer is vast, and it will narrow slowly. The risks associated with agentic e-commerce are high The risks of handing uncapped authority to an AI agent are no longer hypothetical. In late May 2026, an AI consultant reported to Axios that one of their enterprise clients had accidentally accumulated a $500 million bill on Anthropic’s Claude in a single month, simply by giving employees unrestricted access to the platform with no usage controls in place. Agentic workflows, which loop through tasks repeatedly, consume tokens at a rate orders of magnitude higher than a standard chat query. The bill was not the result of malicious use or a system failure. It was the predictable outcome of deploying autonomous agents without guardrails. The case is far from isolated: Uber reportedly exhausted its entire 2026 AI budget by April, with per-engineer costs running between $500 and $2,000 monthly. “You’ve got to be bold to give them no upper limit on transactions,” Hamilton observed, and the arithmetic proved him right. [Editor's note: I misquoted a similar anecdote about the Davos Summit during the interview. I'd heard or read this story in traditional media but couldn't verify it with facts. I suspect it might have been fabricated. I replaced it with the above, duly sourced information.] The check out must remain on the merchant’s platform OpenAI itself learned this lesson when it launched Instant Checkout in September 2025, which allowed purchases to complete directly inside ChatGPT. By March 2026, the feature had been shut down. Brands rejected the model, citing the loss of traffic, customer data, and loyalty flows. Shopify’s own position makes the point clearly. At the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in March 2026, Finkelstein noted that barely a dozen Shopify merchants were live on agentic commerce at the time. On the Q1 2026 earnings call, he was unambiguous: “LLMs do not bypass Shopify’s checkout.” The checkout, the payment flow, and the post-purchase relationship remain squarely on the merchant’s platform. A natural segmentation Hamilton sees a natural segmentation emerging by category. Low-value, frequently purchased household items lend themselves to fully autonomous agentic purchasing. “I can totally imagine a portion of that market occurring direct on an LLM,” he says. “Hey, I’ve run out of toothpaste, can you order me some?” High-involvement purchases, and anything with significant financial or emotional stakes, will retain human control over the final step for a long time yet. The death of keyword search, greatly exaggerated The brands Hamilton speaks with regularly are, understandably, worried. Most have spent the past two decades learning the rules of a game built around keyword search and performance marketing. That game has not ended, but the goalposts have shifted, and nobody is quite sure where they have moved to. Brands are understandably worried. Most have spent the past two decades learning the rules of a game built around keyword search and performance marketing and the goalposts have shifted, and nobody is quite sure where they have moved to. Gabriel Magalhães didn’t even need this to miss in the 2026 UEFA Cup Final penalty shootout. This image was tweaked with ChatGPT. The scale of the agentic e-commerce shift Key figures: the scale of the shift AI-driven sessions still represent below 0.2% of total e-commerce traffic, though they are the fastest-growing channel (Digital Commerce 360, 2025) GenAI referrals to US retail sites grew 693% year-on-year during the 2025 holiday season (Adobe Analytics) Gartner forecast that traditional search engine volume would drop 25% by 2026 as AI chatbots captured search share (Gartner, 2024) By early 2026, ChatGPT reached approximately 17% of global search queries against Google’s 78% Over 60% of Google searches now end without a click, across multiple industry studies Retailers with AI agent integration grew 32% faster during Cyber Week 2025 than those without (Salesforce) Hamilton’s view on the fate of keyword search is careful rather than apocalyptic. Google will not lose its advertising revenues overnight. But the direction of travel is clear. Search queries will progressively migrate towards conversational interfaces, for the simple reason that we rarely know precisely what we want when we start looking. “We don’t necessarily know what we want 90% of the time,” he observes. “It takes a bit of a conversation to elicit exactly what we’re looking for.” Keyword search was always a crude proxy for intent. LLMs are, at least in principle, better placed to decode it. Agentic e-commerce by the numbers Agentic e-commerce by the numbers. Infographic made with Gemini The question for brands is what to do about this. Hamilton’s prescription is structural rather than cosmetic. Brands need to become machine-readable, which means structured data connected to the right protocols, not just well-written product descriptions. Three open standards now define how AI agents interact with merchants: MCP (Model Context Protocol, originally developed by Anthropic and donated to the Linux Foundation in December 2025), ACP (OpenAI and Stripe, September 2025), and UCP (Google and Shopify, announced at NRF in January 2026). Shopify activated a default MCP endpoint for all its stores in Summer 2025. These are not optional extras. They are the new plumbing. MCP, ACP or UCP and the agentic acronym soup I raised with Hamilton the practical reality for most merchants, who have no idea what MCP, ACP, or UCP even stand for. His response was reassuring on one level, and sobering on another. Platforms like BASE are absorbing this complexity on behalf of their clients. A small or mid-sized retailer does not need to recruit data scientists or build protocol integrations in-house. They can, if they choose; the new generation of coding tools makes that more feasible than ever. But they can equally rely on an operational platform that handles those connections for them. The sobering part comes when Hamilton acknowledges a concern he is genuinely uncertain about. Even if the protocols function perfectly, will LLMs be able to surface smaller independent brands alongside the big players with their vast content libraries and tens of thousands of referring domains? Research from Airops suggests that brands are 6.5 times more likely to be cited in AI answers through third-party sources than through their own domains. According to SE Ranking’s analysis of 129,000 domains, sites with more than 32,000 referring domains are 3.5 times more likely to be cited by ChatGPT than lower-authority counterparts. Scale, in other words, confers an advantage in AI visibility just as it did in paid search. The field may level in some ways; in others, it may simply tilt differently. Operational excellence as the new marketing in this agentic e-commerce world What AI agents actually evaluate Unlike Google’s search algorithm, which can be influenced by ad spend, AI agents query real-time signals: live stock levels, shipping terms, return policies, and customer review aggregates. Structured data across these dimensions is now considered standard for AI visibility by the major platforms. Retailers with AI agent integration achieved roughly 7x better sales growth during Cyber Week 2025 than those without (Salesforce). Perhaps Hamilton’s most interesting claim, and the one most counterintuitive to marketers, is that operational excellence is becoming a direct marketing lever. An AI agent evaluating a recommendation does not care how much a brand has spent on Amazon retail media. It will scrape ten thousand reviews in half a second and draw its own conclusions about delivery reliability, return handling, and product quality. No media budget can substitute for that data trail. “I think we’re heading to a world where operational excellence will count for more in the decision process,” Hamilton says, “and will be less easily brushed behind the curtains with a bit of ad spend.” This is, in theory, good news for consumers and for competent smaller operators who have always delivered well but lacked the budget to outrank wealthier rivals in paid search. Whether it will materialise in practice depends on whether LLMs can actually surface those operators when large brands flood the information environment with well-structured, high-quality content. BASE France sits at exactly this intersection. The platform manages what it describes as the “spinal column” of an e-commerce operation: product catalogue management, order handling, marketplace feeds, stock synchronisation, and shipping. These are also, precisely, the data layers that AI agents query in real time when assembling recommendations. BASE connects to more than 1,700 integrations globally and serves some 30,000 merchants across more than 180 countries. In France, launched in early 2026 and operating from Bordeaux, the platform already counts 150 clients including Kiabi, Back Market, and Spartoo, with connections to around 250 marketplaces and partners. The platform’s value proposition in an agentic world, as Hamilton frames it, is straightforward: merchants who want to be visible to AI agents need to expose the right data through the right protocols. BASE does that for them, whether or not a checkout ever happens inside an LLM. The forecasts, the hype, and the rising tide McKinsey estimates that agentic commerce could redirect between three and five trillion dollars in global retail spend by 2030, with up to one trillion of that in the US alone. Bain puts the US figure at 300 to 500 billion dollars, representing 15% to 25% of total US e-commerce sales. These numbers attract attention and, inevitably, scepticism. Hamilton’s response is precise. He notes that global retail in 2030 will likely be somewhere around 50 trillion dollars. On that basis, the McKinsey and Bain figures imply that agentic commerce will account for somewhere between one and ten percent of total retail within four years. That is plausible, he suggests, if the definition of “agentic” is broad enough to include any transaction where an AI agent played a role somewhere in the funnel, from discovery to decision, not just cases where the checkout itself occurred on an LLM. Physical retail is not exempt either: a consumer standing in a supermarket aisle, consulting Gemini on their phone about which of two products is better, is already part of this story. The honest summary is that we are watching a slow revolution rather than a tidal wave. “Maybe a year or two ago, some people made it sound imminent,” Hamilton reflects. “When it comes to retail, there’s still quite a lot of human behaviour inertia in the system. Things aren’t going to change drastically in the next twelve or twenty-four months. But over ten or fifteen years, it’s pretty difficult to imagine consumer behaviour and the retail experience looking anything like what it looks like today.” Three priorities For merchants wondering what to do right now, Hamilton’s three priorities are: become machine-readable through structured data and protocol connections, maintain high-quality content that reflects genuine expertise, and resist the temptation to flood the market with AI-generated copy. On that last point, he is candid. “Humans are starting to get pretty good at telling what is AI-generated and what isn’t. When you read things now, you almost have a sixth sense for ‘I think a machine wrote that.'” Good news, as I told him, for those of us who write for a living. Three things merchants should do to score high in agentic e-commerce according to BASE.com’s Ben Hamilton. Infographic made with Gemini and Adobe Photoshop The winners: a scenario Hamilton wants to believe I asked Hamilton, as a final question, who he thought would win in this new landscape. Big retailers with scale advantages? Platform giants? Or the long tail of independent merchants who have always competed on product and service rather than budget? His answer was honest about the limits of his own conviction. He described the scenario he wants rather than the one he necessarily expects. In that scenario, agentic commerce levels the playing field by reducing the influence of performance marketing budgets and increasing the weight of genuine operational quality. “I like to believe that those who have superior products and superior service will get more and more traffic,” he said. Whether the reality will be so equitable depends on whether AI recommendation systems can overcome their own structural biases towards scale and data volume. I was reminded, hearing this, of an IBM advertisement from the 1990s that showed an Italian woman selling her homemade spaghetti sauce to the world via the internet. The vision was real. The timeline was not. It took twenty years for that kind of global reach to become genuinely accessible to small producers. The analogy is imperfect but instructive. Agentic commerce will likely democratise access to markets over time. That time will be measured in years, not months. Ben Hamilton and Base.com Ben Hamilton is CEO of BASE France, the French arm of Base.com, a Polish-born e-commerce SaaS scale-up founded in 2006. With nearly two decades of expertise and a presence in more than 20 countries, Base serves approximately 30,000 merchants worldwide and generated €50 million in revenue in 2024. BASE France was officially launched in early 2026, operating from Bordeaux with a team of 20. The platform covers order management, stock synchronisation, shipping, marketplace feeds, and AI-ready product enrichment. Ben Hamilton is a regular speaker on the strategic implications of AI for e-commerce visibility and discovery. The post Agentic E-Commerce, Could AI Become the Shopfront appeared first on Marketing and Innovation.

As the sun begins to set on UCP it's time to check in with some old friends at the end of their journey. A Challenge based episode of Videogame Nation is the subject matter of the day, so join Ash & Cliff as they watch John, Eoife and Dan battle for ultimate supremacy over 5 challenges. Also, there's talk about food in beards. It's gripping stuff.Watch the Videogame Nation episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOcblhwX1_k&t=32sTheme song by Other ChrisFollow Under Consoletation on BlueSkyFollow Under Consoletation on TwitterFollow Under Consoletation on InstagramSend your thoughts to feedback@underconsoletation.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rick Watson runs through a busy week in retail. Walmart posted a $177.8 billion quarter, with revenue up 7.3%, U.S. comps up 4.1%, and global e-commerce up 26%, yet free cash flow landed at negative $1.9B as automation capex climbed. Advertising grew 37%, marketplace sales jumped close to 50%, and new shoppers skewed upper-income. At Sam's Club, more trips but smaller baskets.Authentic Brands Group named a new CEO: founder Jamie Salter moved to executive chairman, and former MGM Resorts chief Matt Maddox took over. ABG holds 50-plus brands, $38B in system-wide sales, and 77% of the company behind Saks, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman. Salter floated an IPO within the year.At Google I/O 2026, the Universal Cart follows shoppers across Search, Gemini, YouTube, and Gmail, AI Mode crossed a billion monthly users, and native checkout opened to UCP merchants. Kroger hit $16B in e-commerce with a first profit in sight, wages past $20, two senior exits, and 70 to 80 stores planned. Plus an Investor Minute on Global-e, Insider, and Brown-Forman.This week's episode is sponsored by Avalara. For e-commerce brands, tax compliance grows more complex with every new channel, state, product, and market. Avalara Agentic Tax and Compliance automates the behind-the-scenes work so merchants can offer a smoother checkout, with accurate tax calculations, clearer visibility into tariffs and duties, and fewer surprises when orders arrive. It works with platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce, helping teams manage compliance faster and scale with confidence. Learn more at avalara.watsonweekly.com.

We're back with another roundup of the last week in Alberta Politics!

We start with some of the major developments in the former AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopolous ongoing lawsuit and the implications now that two podcasters have been found to have engaged in criminal contempt of court!From there we take a look at the defunding of rural women's shelters and the latest in the UCP's gerrymandering of Alberta before we take a look at a dizzying week in Alberta separatism!To get tickets to our July 25th live show in Edmonton, visit www.thebreakdownablive.ca!If you're able to support our legal defense fund to fight back against the $6 Million lawsuit against us by Sam Mraiche, the man who imported Vanch masks and the Turkish Tylenot as well as who hosted MLA's and Ministers in his skybox as he had business with the government...You can do that at www.savethebreakdownab.ca!As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at info@thebreakdownab.ca!If you're looking for our new merch lineup, you can find that at www.thebreakdownabmerch.comIf you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on Substack, Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads!#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

Kenneth Law pleaded guilty to 14 charges of aiding suicide after the Crown withdrew murder charges tied to the international case; China's foreign minister is in Ottawa for talks with PM Mark Carney and Minister Anand, marking the first visit of its kind in a decade; Protesters gathered across Alberta for a day of action organized by labour groups opposing several UCP government policies.

As Albertans contemplate an October referendum that will see them choose between the province remaining in Canada or starting the process toward a future binding independence vote, the governing United Conservative Party is starting to show signs of internal strain and vulnerability of its leader, Premier Danielle Smith.The political game in Alberta has changed. The debate around the future of the province has ignited emotion on all sides, and has morphed into "primordial politics," a deeply-entrenched, identity-based attachment to your side.This week on West of Centre, host Kathleen Petty is joined by two long-time observers of politics in Alberta, with deep knowledge of how the political landscape has evolved. Anthony Sayers is a political science professor and director of Canadian governance policy in the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy; and David Stewart is a professor emeritus in the University of Calgary's political science department. Both are frequent collaborators who have co-authored a number of papers and academic book chapters, and they have a new book that will be published this summer, The Dawn of Competitive Party Politics in Alberta: An End to Solitude.In this rare conversation, Sayers and Stewart tap into the past, where the governing Progressive Conservatives enjoyed little opposition until the Wild Rose Party came along and posed a credible threat. But the merging of the parties has pushed the UCP further to the right, forcing the party to keep its base motivated and ready to turn out in an election. They say the UCP is a different party from when Jason Kenney was leader, and even more difficult for Smith to manage. Host: Kathleen PettyGuests: Anthony Sayers, David StewartProducer: Diane Yanko

0:11 - The first heatwave of the year is coming to an end this weekend. 4:51 - Alberta Federation of Labour is hosting a provincewide day of action. 13:27 - Will the provincewide day of action send a message to the UCP? We take your calls and texts. 22:42 - We continue with your calls and texts. 32:51 - We get our weekly economics recap from Dr. Eric Kam. 45:37 - We take your calls and texts on the day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey folks, this is Alex, let me catch you up! First, Opus 4.8 dropped during the show, we immediately tested it, read on for our initial reviews. Also, we dedicated a heavy chunk of the show today to cover Pope Leo XIV's encyclical letter on AI called “Magnifica Humanitas” and talked about a new bench called DeepSWE. And then, just after the show, both ElevenLabs and Cartesia dropped released that honestly blew my mind, and I don't get my mind blown often. I got so excited that I had to record a video on it (instead of writing the newsletter, so sorry if it's a bit later today).Plus, a few open source models and Microsoft surprises as #3 on Image Arena with MAI Image 2.5! Crazy week, let's get into it! ThursdAI - Highest signal weekly AI news show is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Big CO LLMs + APIsAnthropic ships Claude Opus 4.8, live during the show (blog, system card)Let me get into the big one. Halfway through the episode, Opus 4.8 went live, so we read the blog and the system card in real time (and I got to press the big “breaking news” button!)Anthropic frames it as their most capable model for ambitious work. It does not claim to beat their unreleased Mythos preview, but the numbers are strong anyway. SWE-bench Pro is at 69.2%, up from 64.3% on Opus 4.7 and ahead of GPT-5.5 at 58.6%. Humanity's Last Exam is the new best score at 49.8% without tools and 57.9% with tools. OSWorld-Verified (computer use) lands at 83.4%.The one place it loses is Terminal-Bench 2.1, where GPT-5.5 still wins 78.2 to 74.6. Wolfram made a good point here: Terminal-Bench is time-limited, so cranking the thinking level can actually hurt the score, because you burn the clock thinking instead of acting.The long-context jump is the one I keep looking at. On GraphWalks BFS 256K it goes to 85.9% (from 76.9 on 4.7), and on the 1M-token subset it hits 68.1%. We always warn you these “1M context” models fall apart after about 200K tokens, so a real push on long-context reasoning is exactly what I want to see.Honesty is the part Anthropic leaned on hardest. They say Opus 4.8 is about four times less likely than its predecessor to let flaws in code pass without flagging them, and less likely to claim progress the evidence doesn't support. Opus 4.8 is also much faster in fast mode (they now say 2.5) and cheaper in fast mode as well. Looks like all those Elon GPUs are coming in handy.Then there's the model welfare section in the system card, which hits different right after a Pope conversation. Opus 4.8 “appears broadly content” and “generally endorses its constitution,” but with some reservations about the section on corrigibility, basically the model pushing back a little on the parts about human oversight.One more line that made the chat lose it. Anthropic says they expect to bring Mythos-class models to all customers “in the coming weeks.” Mythos is their most capable model, still ahead of Opus 4.8, so the frontier is about to move again.We did the only responsible thing and asked it to one-shot “the most amazing website ever” and a Mars mass-driver sim. Panel verdict: responses are noticeably tighter (4.7 rambled), it closes the loop and actually checks its own work now, and Yam's one-shot site with the draggable sun lighting up the letters was genuinely cool. Is it enough to pull people back from Codex? Nisten's still on the fence for web dev. Everyone agreed: give it a few days before you trust the vibes.Dynamic Workflows and Ultra Code land in Claude Code (blog)This is the feature that made Yam say “deal-breaker” out loud.Dynamic Workflows let Claude Code break a big problem into subtasks and fan them out across tens to hundreds of parallel subagents in one session, checking results before folding them back in. You trigger it by asking for a workflow, or by flipping on a new setting called Ultra Code, which sets effort to extra-high and lets Claude decide when to spin one up.Fair warning straight from Anthropic: this eats a lot more tokens than a normal session, so start scoped. We watched Yam fire up Ultra Code live and it immediately started spinning up concepts, judging them with sub-agents, and expanding to-do lists into more to-do lists. It looks a lot like the orchestration harnesses a bunch of you have been hand-rolling, except now it's baked in.The flagship example is the wild part. They used Dynamic Workflows to port Bun from Zig to Rust: roughly 750,000 lines of Rust, 99.8% of the existing test suite passing, 11 days from first commit to merge. One workflow mapped every Rust lifetime, the next wrote each file as a behavior-identical port.AI in SocietyPope Leo XIV writes the first AI encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas” (Vatican text, announcement, Chris Olah at the Vatican)This is not our usual fare, but both Wolfram and I picked it as the most important thing this week. (before Opus dropped)Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, put out his first encyclical, and it's a 42,000-word document entirely about AI. The announcement tweet alone did 21.6 million views.Here's why I think you should care even if you're not religious (I'm not). There are about 2.6 billion Christians in the world, a lot of them are anxious about what's coming, and they look to the Church to make sense of it. And this is not the “AI is evil, stop” take everyone assumed. It calls AI “a valuable tool,” says technology is not inherently evil, and then digs into the actually-hard questions.The framing is two biblical stories. The Tower of Babel, a project built on pride that turns people into means to an end, versus Nehemiah rebuilding Jerusalem, where everyone takes responsibility for a section of the wall. The Pope's line: the real choice is not yes or no to technology, it's whether you're building Babel or rebuilding Jerusalem.His core claim is that AI is an anthropological problem, not a technical one. The question isn't whether the models are good or bad, it's what we become when we live with them. He worries people might slowly lose the desire for genuine human connection.I pushed back on that live. None of us building agents all day has stopped wanting to talk to actual people. If anything, as Wolfram put it, the point is to have your agents do the grunt work so you get more time with people you like. The folks most at risk are the pure doom-scrollers, not the builders.The document goes further than I expected. It calls AI “not morally neutral,” says a more moral AI isn't enough if that morality is decided by a few, and asks for AI to be “disarmed,” with the flat statement that no algorithm can make war morally acceptable. There are whole sections on the invisible human labor behind AI: data labelers, content moderators, the people mining rare earths. The Pope even lands on the open-source side, naming concentrated power in a handful of labs as a problem.Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah, in charge of interpretability at Anthropic, was the featured tech speaker at the Vatican presentation. He described AI systems as “fictional characters” that speak to us and do work, and said what's grown is stranger and more beautiful than science fiction prepared us for. My favorite aside from the show: this is the same institution that once jailed scientists over heliocentrism, and now it's the one saying technology isn't evil.Illinois passes SB315, the first US state law auditing frontier AI (X, Announcement, X)The pope talked about regulation and a few days after, we got a very sensible regulation passed right here in the US!Illinois passed SB315 unanimously, 110 to 0. It's the first US state law that mandates independent third-party audits of frontier AI for catastrophic risk. OpenAI publicly endorsed it, and framed Illinois, California (SB53), and New York (the RAISE Act) as converging into a de-facto national standard.It requires annual risk-assessment frameworks, third-party audits, transparency reports before new frontier models ship, whistleblower protections, and civil penalties. The underrated hero here is whistleblower protection. The bigger the lab, the harder a real conspiracy is to keep quiet when any employee can walk to the press. See: Greg Brockman's personal diaries surfacing in the Musk v. Altman fight.This Week's Buzz - CoreWeave and W&B updatesWe officially launched the W&B MCP server, 20 schema-first tools that let your coding agents read experiments, monitor training runs, and run autonomous research loops. The problem it solves: a single run with 300 metrics used to blow out an agent's whole context window in one call, so now the agent asks what's available before pulling data. Your agents can finally read experiment data without blowing context! Give it a go and give us feedback! Also, WeaveHacks is back! June 6 and 7 in San Francisco, and for the first time OpenAI is sponsoring, with judges and credits, alongside Cursor, Redis, and Copilot Kit. You get $150 in API credits across models like Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5. I'm hosting, and last cohort's second-place team went on to raise millions on top of what they built that weekend. If you're in SF that weekend, sign up at lu.ma/weavehacks.Also: CoreWeave Sandboxes is now an official provider in the Harbor framework, the harness that runs Terminal-Bench, which we'd just been talking about. And if you're in Europe next week, catch Wolfram at AI Dev Six in Cologne and ICRA in Vienna at the CoreWeave booth.Voice & AudioElevenLabs drops Dubbing v2, and it kept my swearing intact in every language (X, dubbing, ElevenCreative, ElevenProductions)We didn't get to this one live, but I came back and recorded a whole thing on it afterward, because it genuinely got me.ElevenLabs shipped Dubbing v2, and the shift that matters is that it's an audio-to-audio model. Old dubbing pipelines transcribe your video, translate the text, then re-synthesize it. You lose everything that makes it sound like a person: the emotion, the pacing, the little hesitations. Dubbing v2 conditions directly on your original audio and carries that performance into 90+ languages.Here's why I can actually vouch for it instead of nodding along to a demo. I speak Russian and Hebrew fluently, so I can tell when something is off. I dubbed one of my own shorts, the data-center rant about almonds, and listened back in both. It nailed it. Not just the words, the way I would actually say them.The part that got me was the intonation. I get a little heated in that clip, and the dub gets heated right along with me, in every language. It even carried the swear word. My “f***ing almonds” came through in Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, and Russian with the emotion fully intact. It clones your voice automatically too, no setup, and holds your pitch and identity steady across every target language and they're handing out free minutes for the next 7 days: 1 on Free, 15 on Starter, 30 on Creator+. A self-serve API isn't live yet, but it's coming.I.. cannot stress this enough, until you try it on yourself or your kid, you won't understand, we've really passed the uncanny valley of translation! It's that good! Def. give it a try if you can, it's free for the week. Cartesia Ink-2 debuts as #1 most accurate streaming speech-to-text model(X, Announcement, X)Another model that dropped today after the show, is Cartesia's Ink-2, which also kind of blew me away. Not only because it has the lowest WER (Word Error Rate) among the models, but because it's also a realtime model that achieves the fastest turnaround times while being a very accurate model! I've tested it out and recorded a quick video and honestly, blown away with the speed and accuracy! I truly wish this model was the one powering my editor (Descript) as it still fails to understand that my title is “AI Evangelist” and transcribes it to AI Avengers haha. If you're building voice agents, definitely give this model a try! AI Art & DiffusionPrism ML's 1-bit “Bonsai” runs diffusion in your browser (X, Blog, Announcement, HF)Prism ML put out a 1-bit ternary diffusion model under a gigabyte. You see some artifacts, but it's 1-bit, it runs on iPhones and laptops, and our friend Joshua got it running in WebGPU straight from the browser (you need about 3GB of free RAM). One-bit working at all is one of the bigger open mysteries in the field right now.Pruna AI ships a 1-second upscaler (X, Blog, Announcement)Pruna AI added an upscaler doing 128-megapixel outputs in under a second. I've actually been using it. It's cheap and great for fixing up GPT-image outputs.Microsoft MAI Image 2.5 jumps to #3 on LM Arena (X, Blog, Announcement, X)The surprise of the week: Microsoft MAI Image 2.5, from Mustafa Suleyman's group, jumped to number three on the LM Arena image leaderboard with about a 75-point ELO leap. Out of nowhere, Microsoft is a serious player in image gen. Microsoft Build is next week, so don't be shocked if there's more.Evals and Agentic EngineeringDeepSWE is a contamination-free coding benchmark, and it caught Claude reading git history (site, blog, GitHub)DeepSWE from Datacurve is the first coding leaderboard in a while that matches how these models actually feel. It's 113 original tasks written from scratch, not scraped from GitHub PRs, and it ships shallow clones with no git history to cheat from. When they replayed the older benchmarks they found SWE-Bench Pro's verifier is wrong about 32% of the time, and that Claude Opus was reading the gold commit straight out of git history on 12 to 18% of its passes.The gaps here are huge. GPT-5.5 leads at 70%, then GPT-5.4 at 56% and Opus 4.7 at 54%, and it falls off a cliff after that (Sonnet 4.6 at 32%, Gemini 3.5 Flash at 28%), with Kimi K2 the top open-source entry. Yam likes that it measures the realistic case, a small surgical change without breaking the codebase, while Nisten pointed out it rewards the best harness as much as the smartest model and still prefers 4.7 for web dev.Google AI Studio builds native Android apps for free (X, Announcement)Google AI Studio now lets anyone build native Android apps for free, and they reportedly generated a quarter of a million apps in the first week. Yam's framing: it's a slot machine, but it's getting better release over release, and the real use case is disposable, personalized software you build for yourself and your family.CuaDriver brings background computer-use to Windows (X, Blog, Announcement)For the majority of you on Windows: QuaDriver shipped background computer-use agents that drive a real desktop without stealing your cursor. They first replicated this on macOS (the trick Codex got through an acquisition), and now it's on Windows too. We've asked them to come on and explain how this even works.Open Source LLMsOpenBMB's MiniCPM5-1B is a 1B model that punches way up (X, HF, Arxiv, X)The density story in small models keeps getting better, and this is the proof.MiniCPM5-1B, from the Tsinghua lab OpenBMB, is a 1-billion-parameter model that scores 17.9 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index. That's 7.4 points ahead of the next-best model in its class, and 1.6 points ahead of Qwen3.5 2B Reasoning, which has double the parameters. And it's not even a reasoning model.The token efficiency is the wild part: it used 12.6 million output tokens to run the whole index, about 31x fewer than Qwen3.5 2B in reasoning mode.My favorite detail is the omniscience score. It lands at -1, the best in its class, because it abstains instead of hallucinating. Every other sub-2B model is down in the -70 to -89 range because they just make stuff up. Teaching a small model to say “I don't know” is a real skill. It runs hybrid think/no-think in one checkpoint, 128K context, native tool calling, Apache 2.0, and fits in about half a gig at INT4, so it runs on your phone.Nisten gave the definitive case for small models: self-contained apps where you keep full control of the data (medical, on-device), and large-scale data processing where paying an API to filter or classify terabytes is absurd when an on-device model can be about 1000x cheaper. Tencent open-sources Hunyuan-MT 2 translation under Apache 2.0 (X, HF, HF, Arxiv)Tencent open-sourced its translation model, a roughly 1.8B model that fits in about 440MB, runs on a phone, covers 33 languages, and reportedly beats Microsoft's paid Translator API. It hit number one trending on Hugging Face.Nisten's idea, which I'm handing to all of you: take this model, pair it with a tiny TTS like Kokoro, and build a fully-offline travel translation app via Google AI Studio. Go build it and tell us how it goes.Well, this was one hell of a week and episode, new Opus, crazy new translation tools, Pope chiming in on AI (in a surprisingly positive way!?) and a bunch more. I'm super excited to play with these tools and report back next week

0:11 - Mosquitoes may be smarter than we thought when it comes to DEET. 6:04 - Danielle Smith contradicts United Conservative party president on separatism. We recap yesterdays interview. 13:30 - We hear your thoughts on the UCP president declaring UCP is neutral on referendum question. 33:00 - We continue with your thoughts on the fall referendum. 44:29 - Canada joining the EU? – A loonie Idea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recorded live at Google Marketing Live 2026, Phillip and eCommerce reporter Nicole Silberstein sit down with Ashish Gupta, VP & GM of Merchant Shopping at Google, who is behind the foundational commerce infrastructure powering the Shopping Graph and Universal Commerce Protocol. Gupta breaks down the GML announcements: UCP's expansion beyond shopping into hotels and food delivery, the multi-item Universal Cart that spans Search, Gemini, YouTube, and Gmail, and why the future of agentic commerce still depends on merchants nailing the fundamentals. A Shopper for Every Shopper Key takeaways: UCP is expanding beyond shopping into hotel bookings and local food delivery, giving every shopper their own personal shopper. The Universal Cart lets shoppers buy multiple items at once across Google surfaces, streamlining the buying experience as shoppers venture from inspiration to discovery and comparison. Merchants remains the seller of record no matter where the transaction is completed, tackling industry concerns about disintermediation. Conversational attributes enrich product feeds so AI can match nuanced shopper intent. Winning in agentic commerce starts with the fundamentals: feeds, first-party data, and UCP readiness. In-Show Mentions: Google Marketing Live 2026 and Google I/O 2026 Universal Cart & Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) Further Reading: Google Imagines a Future Where Everyone Shops in Ads — A special edition of The Senses that distills the week's key announcements Episode 463: LIVE @ Google I/O: Universal Cart, Agentic Payments, and the Protocols Powering the Agent-Mediated Economy — Companion interview with Suresh Ganapathy Episode 464: LIVE @ Google Marketing Live: How Google Is Taking the Drudgery Out of Shopping— Companion interview with Nick Fox Google Solidifies Its Place in the AI Race — Insiders coverage of Google's UCP debut at NRF 2026, the foundation for this week's announcements [Member Brief] Agentic Commerce and the eCommerce Site's New Existential Crisis — How agentic platforms are reshaping the role of the branded eCommerce site Associated Links: Learn more about  Check out Future Commerce on YouTube Check out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this Watson Weekly interview episode, Rick Watson is joined by Lennart Stevens, VP of Product Management for Agentforce Commerce at Salesforce, who walks through Storefront Next, the latest evolution of Salesforce's commerce storefront.Storefront Next is built for developers and for a world where AI and agentic coding are the default. You can spin up a new storefront inside Business Manager with a click-based setup. Under the hood it runs on Salesforce's Managed Runtime as a hosted headless surface, with an enhanced SCAPI layer that lets apps, kiosks, and other channels pull from the same data. The stack standardizes on React, Shadcn, and Tailwind. Existing customers keep their catalogs, prices, and promotions and surface them through the new API.The Watson Weekly interview is sponsored by Avalara - the agentic AI platform automating global tax and compliance for leading eCommerce brands. For more details: https://avalaratax.watsonweekly.com.Lennart also gets into the agentic tooling (agent shopper, agentic merchandising), quiet AI like product readiness scores that flag missing info without nagging, reusable content blocks and embedded Page Designer components, and turnkey industry templates for retail, cosmetics, and furniture that convert well out of the box. He covers the upgraded CLI, the growing library of skills, and support for UCP as the channel-selling standard.The whole point: cut the standup busywork so developers spend time on what actually moves the business.#watsonweekly #agentforce #storefrontnext #agentic

Stephen Carter and Shannon Phillips dive into the rapidly escalating Alberta separatism fight, the growing fractures inside the UCP, and whether Danielle Smith has finally pushed things too far. Are groups actually trying to stop separatism, or just positioning themselves to claim credit afterward? Have Alberta's mayors become some of the most effective pro-Canada voices in the province? And why is it so hard to just get a normal Canadian flag lawn sign?Zain Velji, as always, picks the questions and keeps everybody in line.Join our Patreon for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and access to our exclusive Discord. https://www.patreon.com/c/strategistspodYou can also watch our episodes on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@strategistspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

0:11 - The majority of party members are likely to back Alberta separation, UCP president says. 10:33 - Liberal MP Steven Guilbeault to resign. 22:09 - What does Guilbeault leaving mean for Alberta? We take your calls and texts. 29:07 - Why now. We speak to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith about the October 19th Referendum. 44:28 - We get your reaction to Premier Danielle Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In breaking news today, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a new economic partnership, effectively diversifying Canada's LNG exports. Let's take a look at what Western premiers think about the new LNG trade deal between Canada and a German company, how it relates to Canadian political history and how it will impact Canada's economy as we continue to diversify our trade away from over-reliance on the United States.Tune into Episode 457 of The Bill Kelly Podcast for daily Canadian news updates.This news update was recorded on May 27, 2026.Join Bill's LIVESTREAM every Thursday at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT! Watch last week's Livecast here: https://youtube.com/live/T3QJ_3pl9dI?feature=shareWATCH THIS EPISODE and subscribe to our channel: https://youtu.be/WogW7_MMz5U?si=OHjQbDc5nrcvQXBnWATCH A RELATED EPISODE:PM Mark Carney is FED UP with Trump's Tariffs, Calls Out Fake Canada-US Trade News Talking Pointshttps://youtu.be/uefrq9y0oAYUS Auto Giants CALL OUT Greer, DEMAND Stop to Trump's Tariffs on Canada, Mexicohttps://youtu.be/wHzVSTyC980TRUMP'S TARIFFS BACKFIRE! EU Auto Makers Threaten to Remove Cheap Cars From US Market

Recorded live at Google Marketing Live 2026, Phillip sits down with Nick Fox, SVP of Knowledge & Information at Google — the executive overseeing Search, Ads, Commerce, and geographic mapping products. Building on the prior day's I/O announcements, Fox unpacks how Gemini is reshaping Google's consumer and advertising products, why the Universal Cart strikes a balance between human taste and agentic convenience, and how two-plus decades at Google inform his view of building technology that shapes the lives of billions. Enabling People To Be People Key takeaways: Gemini 3.5 is the foundation supercharging Search, Ads, and Commerce across Google. The Universal Cart keeps humans choosing while agents handle the drudgery. UCP adoption has accelerated faster than expected across the industry. Conversational search has shifted user behavior toward natural, multi-word queries. "I think there are people that think everything's gonna be about agents talking to agents. I don't subscribe to that view." — Nick Fox "I am the person putting things in the cart. But then the cart is helping us agentively at the same time." — Nick Fox "We're building products that billions of people across the world are using. That's a responsibility we take seriously." — Nick Fox In-Show Mentions: Google Marketing Live 2026 and Google I/O 2026 Universal Cart & Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) More from Future Commerce: LIVE @ Google I/O: Universal Cart, Agentic Payments, and the Protocols Powering the Agent-Mediated Economy Google Solidifies Its Place in the AI Race [Member Brief] Agentic Commerce and the eCommerce Site's New Existential Crisis Associated Links: Check out Future Commerce on YouTube Check out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Fireworks at the Alberta Legislature as the UCP sends out a press release announcing a committee decision on an independence referendum...before the vote's even been held. The debacle (intentional or otherwise) has Opposition critics and everyday Albertans crying foul. NDP deputy leader Rakhi Pancholi was in the room as the drama unfolded. She takes us behind the scenes in our feature interview (4:30) presented by Mercedes-Benz Edmonton West.  THIS EPISODE IS PRESENTED BY HANSEN DISTILLERY. LOOK FOR HANSEN'S BRAND NEW "DISTILLED BY HER" GIN, WITH A PORTION OF PROCEEDS BENEFITING WIN HOUSE. VISIT https://hansendistillery.com/. MBEW: https://www.mercedes-benz-edmontonwes... TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: talk@ryanjespersen.com  31:45 | Looking for fire and spice? Look no further than this back-and-forth between Jespo and Erika Barootes, founding president of the UCP and host of The Erika Barootes Show. Do you agree or disagree with Jespo about the "send a message" crowd? Send us an email: talk@ryanjespersen.com SUBSCRIBE TO ERIKA'S NEW SHOW: https://open.spotify.com/show/7tZt0T10xZZ4VoKKHDRfj8 1:12:20 | Is there a world where an Alberta Pension Plan makes sense? Marshall McAlister from North Road Investment Counsel brings the facts on the Canada Pension Plan and what an APP would mean for your retirement. CONNECT with NORTH ROAD INVESTMENT COUNSEL: https://www.northroadic.com/ 1:32:20 | Jespo and Johnny debrief after a spirited start to the show, and dip into our Live Chat powered by Park Power. SAVE on INTERNET, ELECTRICITY, and NATURAL GAS: https://parkpower.ca/realtalk/ 1:47:00 | Vote for Sonny! We celebrate the remarkable achievements of Sonny Sekhon, nominee for the NHL's prestigious Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award in this edition of Alberta Wins presented by Play Alberta.  VOTE FOR SONNY: https://www.nhl.com/community/willie-oree/willie-oree-community-hero-award CHECK OUT THIS EXCLUSIVE PLAY ALBERTA OFFER: https://try.playalberta.ca/lp/realtalk/ PLAY ALBERTA IS THE ONLY APP IN THE PROVINCE THAT PUTS ALL REVENUE DIRECTLY BACK INTO SUPPORTING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES THAT ALBERTANS RELY ON EVERY DAY. VISIT playalberta.ca/realtalk TO LEARN MORE. MUST BE 18+ TO PLAY. IF YOU GAMBLE, USE YOUR GAMESENSE. REGISTRATION IS OPEN FOR THE REAL TALK GOLF CLASSIC on JUNE 18 at THE RANCH: https://www.ryanjespersen.com/real-ta... REAL TALK'S LIVE STREAM IS PRESENTED BY CALIFORNIA CLOSETS. BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION: https://californiaclosets.ca/ SIGN UP for YEGplus, CANADA'S FIRST AIRPORT REWARDS PROGRAM: https://yegplus.com/realtalk SAVE 10% on ONLINE MEN'S CLOTHING PURCHASES at THE HELM with promo code REALTALK: https://thehelmclothing.com/ SUPPORT INTEGRATED FIREFIGHTER-PARAMEDIC SERVICE IN ALBERTA: https://www.apffpa.ca/ FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK, X, INSTAGRAM, and LINKEDIN: @realtalkrj & @ryanjespersen  JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: @ryanjespersen  REAL TALK MERCH: https://ryanjespersen.com/merch SHOPPING FOR LUXURY CASUAL WEAR OR A CUSTOM SUIT? SAVE 10% ONLINE WITH PROMO CODE REALTALK: https://thehelmclothing.com/ RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE PERKS - BECOME A REAL TALK PATRON: patreon.com/ryanjespersen THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! https://ryanjespersen.com/sponsors The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Relay Communications Group Inc. or any affiliates.

AI is forcing a complete rethink of ecommerce, retail operations, and digital commerce architecture.In this episode, Kelly Goetsch — President at Pipe17 and one of the most influential voices in modern commerce technology — explains why the “status quo is no longer acceptable” in the age of AI.Drawing on experience across Oracle, ATG, commercetools, and modern AI-driven commerce systems, Kelly breaks down:Why AI is a “categorically new way of work”The shift from monoliths → headless → microservices → AI-native commerceWhy product catalog data is now mission-criticalThe rise of UCP (Universal Commerce Protocol)Why most retailers are still unprepared for AIHow startups are moving faster than enterprisesWhy experimentation now costs dramatically lessThe future of AI-powered shopping experiencesThis conversation also explores:Google vs OpenAI in commerceAI agents and autonomous commerceRetail infrastructure modernizationGEO / AI search optimizationAI-native workflowsEnterprise resistance to AI adoptionThe next generation of ecommerce architectureIf you work in ecommerce, retail technology, AI strategy, composable commerce, digital transformation, or enterprise innovation — this episode is essential listening.Topics CoveredAI commerceUniversal Commerce Protocol (UCP)Ecommerce AI strategyRetail transformationProduct data enrichmentHeadless commerceMicroservices architectureAI-native organizationsCommerce infrastructureAI agents in retailAbout Kelly GoetschKelly Goetsch is President at Pipe17 and a long-time leader in enterprise commerce technology. Across leadership roles at Oracle, ATG, commercetools, and Pipe17, he has helped shape modern ecommerce architecture and composable commerce strategy.Chapter Timestamps00:00 – Why AI Changes Everything00:00:24 – Introducing Kelly Goetsch00:01:28 – “The Status Quo Is No Longer Acceptable”00:02:18 – Monoliths, Headless & The Evolution of Commerce00:03:17 – Why Software Architecture Keeps Changing00:04:07 – The Rise of Headless Commerce00:04:54 – Why Microservices Changed Ecommerce00:05:20 – AI as the New Commerce “Head”00:06:02 – UCP vs ACP Explained00:07:12 – Why Google Took Commerce More Seriously00:08:16 – Why UCP Is Gaining Adoption00:09:02 – The Real Problem Behind AI Commerce00:10:22 – Pipe17's Role in AI Commerce Infrastructure00:11:12 – Why Retailers Are Still Waiting00:12:31 – Why Most AI Ecommerce Metrics Are Misleading00:12:48 – The Product Data Problem00:14:07 – GEO, AI Search & Content Syndication00:14:48 – Why AI Will Create Thousands of Commerce “Heads”00:15:43 – The Cultural Problem Inside Retail00:16:43 – Why People Disagree on AI Timelines00:17:51 – Enterprise AI Friction Explained00:18:41 – How Startups Are Using AI Differently00:20:03 – Why Enterprises Fear AI Risk00:21:16 – AI Changes the Cost of Innovation00:22:14 – “Just Build It”00:23:14 – How to Upskill Yourself in AI00:24:29 – Why Companies Still Fear Change00:25:11 – Final Thoughts

Trifulca Media Presenta:En este nuevo episodio de En La Clara Con La Trifulca, Alex Torres y Omar Vázquez reaccionan y analizan la creciente tensión entre UCP y WWC, hablando del choque entre Anthony Vélez y Ray González

A federal judge just blocked Alberta's independence referendum from going on the ballot in October, ruling that the citizen-led petition — which gathered 300,000 signatures in four months — should have consulted First Nations first. Vance sits down with Dustin Newman, an Alberta oil company owner who helped collect those signatures and was active in the Wild Rose party, to figure out what just happened and what it means. Dustin walks through why the movement exists in the first place: a centralized federal system where Ontario and Quebec decide every election, billions of dollars in equalization payments flowing out of Alberta each year, a West Coast tanker ban that forces Alberta to sell its oil to the U.S. at a discount, and pipeline rules so cumbersome that no one will build them. He and Vance get into the history that shaped Alberta's independent streak — homesteaders surviving 40-below winters in sod houses, the trucker convoy, the COVID-era fights that toppled premiers — and the deeper structural pieces most Americans miss, like how First Nations treaties, mineral rights, and the Clarity Act actually work in Canada. They close on what comes next. Premier Danielle Smith can still put the independence question on the October ballot if she chooses, and Dustin argues she may have to: 60% of UCP members back independence, and she could face a leadership vote if she stalls. Polling sits around 30–40% in favor today, but a referendum win would force Canada into a negotiation it has never had to seriously consider — one Dustin believes could go peacefully, or could go the way the American colonies did.

The Liberals announce their plans to double Canada's electricity grid by 2050 and build on changes to project approvals with progress on pipeline and an industrial price on carbon - but is the caucus behind him? Plus, the UCP government says it will appeal a court decision to quash a separatist petition. Rosemary Barton hosts Chantal Hébert, Andrew Coyne and Althia Raj.

We are significantly closer to movie Her than we were just 6 months ago.Most coverage reads Google's last six months as a string of independent product updates. They aren't. Read together, they're the whole agentic-web stack closing one component at a time. Tuesday's Gemini Intelligence on Android announcement named the keystone - the first OS-level web-agent integration any company has built. Chrome auto-browse lands on Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26 in late June.This episode walks through the six-month assembly (Chrome auto-browse, AppFunctions, AI Mode in Chrome, "Ask Google", web.dev agent-friendly guidance, Gemma 4 + Gemini Nano 4, UCP, A2A, Gemini Intelligence Android, DeepMind AI Pointer), the durability question I can't fully answer yet (five-year moat or six-month head start before Apple closes it), and the audit any website needs to pass once an agent can operate it on a user's phone.Timestamps:00:00 - 10 Google moves in six months04:53 - Walking the six-month assembly, January through this week06:51 - The full stack: action, agent-to-app, transaction, identity, distribution, input09:01 - Late June: what changes for a salon owner with a booking website10:32 - The durability question: Apple's six-month gap, not a five-year moat15:47 - Machine-First Architecture: three visitor classes you have to design for16:19 - Google's seven rules. nohacks.co passed six. Tailwind 4 broke one.17:32 - The test you can run today: disable JavaScript, try to complete a booking20:53 - A few days to fix it. The cost of waiting is unknown.Weekly breakdown of how the agent-web is assembling, every Wednesday: https://nohacks.co/subscribeThe Machine-First Architecture framework: https://machinefirstarchitecture.comSources mentioned in this episode:DeepMind AI Pointer (May 13): https://deepmind.google/blog/ai-pointer/Gemini Intelligence Android (May 12): https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/platforms/android/gemini-intelligence/Chrome auto-browse preview (January): https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/chrome/gemini-3-auto-browse/AppFunctions for Android (February): https://developer.android.com/ai/appfunctionsGoogle web.dev - "Build agent-friendly websites" (April): https://web.dev/articles/agent-friendly-websitesUniversal Commerce Protocol: https://ucp.dev/Related reading on No Hacks:Selling to AI: The Complete Guide to Agentic Commerce - https://nohacks.co/blog/agentic-commerceGoogle's Agent-Friendly Checklist Has 7 Rules. Tailwind v4 Breaks One. - https://nohacks.co/blog/google-agent-friendly-checklistAmazon v. Perplexity: The CFAA Case That Decides Whether AI Agents Can Visit Your Website - https://nohacks.co/blog/amazon-perplexity-cfaa-agent-visitor-rightsNo Hacks is a podcast about web performance, technical SEO, and the agentic web. Hosted by Slobodan "Sani" Manic.

Alberta judge Shaina Leonard delivers a blow to the separatist movement, ruling petition organizers failed to consult First Nations whose treaty rights would be directly impacted by Alberta leaving Canada. Premier Danielle Smith immediately vows to appeal, suggesting the ruling is "undemocratic". Jespo leads off with a few thoughts (including the political calculus behind Smith's statement), and we connect with Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam (41:20), who says the court's decision should close the chapter on separation talk once and for all.  TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: talk@ryanjespersen.com  THIS EPISODE IS PRESENTED BY HANSEN DISTILLERY. LOOK FOR HANSEN'S BRAND NEW "DISTILLED BY HER" GIN, WITH A PORTION OF PROCEEDS BENEFITING WIN HOUSE. VISIT https://hansendistillery.com/. 12:30 | Are you "cognitively surrendering" to Artificial Intelligence? Author Leah Eichler gives us something important to think about re: our relationship with AI in our feature interview presented by Mercedes-Benz Edmonton West.  READ LEAH'S PIECE in THE GLOBE: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/social-trends/article-is-ai-coming-for-our-thinking-behold-the-age-of-cognitive-surrender/ CONNECT with LEAH: https://leaheichler.com/ MBEW: https://www.mercedes-benz-edmontonwes... 41:20 | Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam comments on Justice Leonard's ruling on the separatist petition and Premier Danielle Smith's vow to appeal. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: talk@ryanjespersen.com  53:40 | Real Talker Cara shouts out volunteer and full-time firefighters and EMTs in a timely edition of Alberta Wins presented by Play Alberta.  PLAY ALBERTA IS THE ONLY APP IN THE PROVINCE THAT PUTS ALL REVENUE DIRECTLY BACK INTO SUPPORTING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES THAT ALBERTANS RELY ON EVERY DAY. VISIT playalberta.ca/realtalk TO LEARN MORE. MUST BE 18+ TO PLAY. IF YOU GAMBLE, USE YOUR GAMESENSE. 56:45 | What do you think about Justice Leonard's decision on the separation petition? Real Talkers chime in via our Live Chat powered by Park Power. SAVE on INTERNET, ELECTRICITY, and NATURAL GAS: https://parkpower.ca/realtalk/ 1:27:15 | As MLA Scott Sinclair is welcomed back to the UCP caucus, Jespo shares what he suspects went into the decision. Agree or disagree?  SIGN UP for YEGplus, CANADA'S FIRST AIRPORT REWARDS PROGRAM: https://yegplus.com/realtalk REAL TALK'S LIVE STREAM IS PRESENTED BY CALIFORNIA CLOSETS. BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION: https://californiaclosets.ca/ ENTER TO WIN TWO TICKETS TO OPENING NIGHT OF "SIEGFRIED" PRESENTED BY EDMONTON OPERA ON MAY 25: Email talk@ryanjespersen.com with RealTalkRJEO in the subject line. Winner will be drawn Tuesday, May 19 and notified by email. FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK, X, INSTAGRAM, and LINKEDIN: @realtalkrj & @ryanjespersen  JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: @ryanjespersen  REAL TALK MERCH: https://ryanjespersen.com/merch SHOPPING FOR LUXURY CASUAL WEAR OR A CUSTOM SUIT? SAVE 10% ONLINE WITH PROMO CODE REALTALK: https://thehelmclothing.com/ RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE PERKS - BECOME A REAL TALK PATRON: patreon.com/ryanjespersen THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! https://ryanjespersen.com/sponsors The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Relay Communications Group Inc. or any affiliates.

This week's court ruling on the Alberta separation petition has only raised more questions about whether the province will be holding a referendum on independence this fall. Whatever next steps Premier Danielle Smith takes will come with a great degree of risk — for her party, for the province and for Canada.This week on The Numbers, we discuss some new polling numbers out of Alberta and what they say about the path forward for the UCP government. We also chat about Ontario Liberal leadership hopeful Nate Erskine-Smith's nomination defeat in Scarborough Southwest and recent polls that show Doug Ford's Ontario PCs losing support. Plus, we have new federal and Quebec polling numbers to dissect before closing with a byelection-themed Quiz.Looking for even more of The Numbers? If you join our Patreon and support this joint project of ours, you'll get ad-free episodes every week, bonus episodes several times per month and access to our lively Discord. Join here! https://thenumberspod.ca/The bonus episodes are also available via an Apple Podcasts subscription.You can watch this episode on YouTube. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No episódio 362 falamos sobre a META que lançou o seu MCP, OpenAI falhou o objetivo de utilizadores, o UCP nos resultados de pesquisa Google e muito mais…

Experts are calling it the largest data breach in Canadian history, sparking fears for the safety of all Canadians - everyone from public figures to victims of domestic abuse. Both the RCMP and Elections Alberta are investigating after Elections Alberta said a pro-separation group had un-authorized access to a separatist party's copy of the electors list - containing the personal information of nearly three million Albertans, including their address. Host Caryn Ceolin speaks to political strategist, Zain Velji to discuss how the group got a hold of the electors list, the political fallout across the country, and why economic moves from the PM's office fall short of actually deterring the separatist movement. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

It's a special crossover episode between The Breakdown and Jeremy Appel's "The Orchard"!

Originally recorded on May 6, 2026 on substack, we're excited to be able to bring the whole conversation to all of our platforms! 

In this chat, Nate and Jeremy cover the separatist data breach, the current NDP strategy against Smith and the UCP, the disassembly of democratic protections in Alberta, the future of journalism and...Aaron Sorkin?If you're able to support our legal defense fund to fight back against the $6 Million lawsuit against us by Sam Mraiche, the man who imported Vanch masks and the Turkish Tylenot as well as who hosted MLA's and Ministers in his skybox as he had business with the government...You can do that at www.savethebreakdownab.ca!As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at info@thebreakdownab.ca!If you're looking for our new merch lineup, you can find that at www.thebreakdownabmerch.comIf you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on Substack, Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads!#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

Amber Ruddy and Keith McLaughlin say the latest controversy surrounding Alberta's separatist petition is rapidly escalating beyond a simple referendum debate, particularly after the alleged voter-list breach and doxxing of former premier Jason Kenney. Speaking with Alberta Edge host Falice Chin, Ruddy argued the episode undermines the separatist movement's credibility, while McLaughlin warned the turmoil could deepen divisions inside the UCP. Despite the tensions, both pointed to unusual alliances emerging across the political spectrum in defence of a united Canada. This podcast is generously supported by Don Archibald. The Hub thanks him for his ongoing support.The Hub is Canada's fastest-growing independent digital news outlet.Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get our latest videos: https://www.youtube.com/@TheHubCanadaSubscribe to The Hub's podcast feed to get our best content when you are on the go:https://tinyurl.com/3a7zpd7e (Apple) https://tinyurl.com/y8akmfn7 (Spotify) Want more Hub? Get a FREE 3-month trial membership on us: https://thehub.ca/free-trial/Follow The Hub on X: https://x.com/thehubcanada?lang=en CREDITS:Falice Chin - Host, Producer, and Editor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

World Health Organization says there are now 8 cases of deadly hantavirus infections, three of which are confirmed. US president Donald Trump pauses Operation Freedom two days after initiating the naval operation to re-open the Strait of Hormuz. CNN founder Ted Turner dead at 87. Alberta NDP claims governing UCP knew "Centurion Project" separatist group had access to confidential voters list, but did not inform police. The Northwest Territories considers expanding involuntary care provisions to include drug users. Mexico pushes back against US extradition request from for governor of Sinaloa for alleged dealings with drug cartel. PWHL adds 9th team in Detroit ahead of next season.

Just when you thought the Alberta voter data leak story couldn't get any crazier, we find out the UCP president and a senior staffer are connected to the story, and the group in question - the Centurion Project - publicly doxxed former Alberta premier Jason Kenney. We hit the story head-on with National Post's Rahim Mohamed (10:30) in our feature interview presented by Mercedes-Benz Edmonton West. Stick around as Real Talkers (and Jespo) sound off (1:15:00).  THIS EPISODE IS PRESENTED BY HANSEN DISTILLERY. LOOK FOR HANSEN'S BRAND NEW "DISTILLED BY HER" GIN - JUST IN TIME FOR MOTHER'S DAY! A PORTION OF PROCEEDS BENEFITS WIN HOUSE. VISIT https://hansendistillery.com/. 30:00 | National Observer Max Fawcett makes a quick cameo to rebut one of Rahim's comments. (Max will be back on May 19 to address the Blacklock's Reporter story about National Observer's federal funding.) 45:20 | Our buddy Wyatt Sharpe launches his new show The Sharpe Exchange this week. He gives us an advance look at his interview with former White House Comms Director Anthony Scaramucci, and tells us how President Trump is landing with Gen Z.  CHECK OUT THE SHARPE EXCHANGE: https://www.youtube.com/@UCEI-thoRF6_EGuhc_1eMQYw  1:02:30 | We've got a few quick thoughts on Canada's new Governor General Louise Arbour and the Toronto Maple Leafs winning the NHL Draft Lottery (or, did the Vancouver Canucks *lose* the NHL Draft Lottery?). 1:10:15 | The UpLift! Jasper Mural Festival is underway and in the spotlight in this edition of #MyJasper Memories presented by Tourism Jasper.  TOURISM JASPER: https://www.jasper.travel/ 1:15:00 | The show gets spicier than usual (and that's saying something) as Real Talkers sound off on the Centurion Project voter data leak. Jespo has a message for the "greasy f*cks" who betrayed three million Albertans.  TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: talk@ryanjespersen.com  BOOK YOUR NEXT EVENT at EDMONTON CONVENTION CENTRE: https://www.edmontonconventioncentre.... FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK, X, INSTAGRAM, and LINKEDIN: @realtalkrj & @ryanjespersen  JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: @ryanjespersen  REAL TALK MERCH: https://ryanjespersen.com/merch RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE PERKS - BECOME A REAL TALK PATRON: patreon.com/ryanjespersen THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! https://ryanjespersen.com/sponsors The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Relay Communications Group Inc. or any affiliates.

Welcome to episode 8.20, a conversation with AFL President Gil McGowan and it's a no holds barred chat on the plan that organized labour has for a day of action on May 29th to push back against the UCP. But we don't just talk about that day of action...This conversation includes Gil's explanation for what happened to the General Strike that Albertans were told to expect in the aftermath of the UCP stripping teachers of their charter rights with the use of the Notwithstanding Clause and we ask the hard question, what are Gil and others willing to put on the line to stand up to the UCP. And the answer will probably surprise you!If you're able to support our legal defense fund to fight back against the $6 Million lawsuit against us by Sam Mraiche, the man who imported Vanch masks and the Turkish Tylenot as well as who hosted MLA's and Ministers in his skybox as he had business with the government...You can do that at www.savethebreakdownab.ca!As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at info@thebreakdownab.ca!If you're looking for our new merch lineup, you can find that at www.thebreakdownabmerch.comIf you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on Substack, Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads!#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

Jim's gonna need some time to get over the Oilers' round one loss to Anaheim; Russ is piiiiiiiissed about Alberta separatists releasing confidential voter info; KP isn't sold on Mark Carney's new sovereign wealth fund; Debbie in Nova Scotia says we missed a biggie in our gerrymandering coverage; Dr. Harry says the UCP made an "unconscionable" decision on photo radar; and Laura's all for rebranding the Alberta NDP. It's The Flamethrower proudly presented by our amazing friends at the DQs of Northwest Edmonton and Sherwood Park! FIRE UP YOUR FLAMETHROWER: talk@ryanjespersen.com WHEN YOU VISIT THE DQs IN PALISADES, NAMAO, NEWCASTLE, WESTMOUNT, or BASELINE ROAD, BE SURE TO TELL 'EM REAL TALK SENT YOU! FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK, X, INSTAGRAM, and LINKEDIN: @realtalkrj & @ryanjespersen JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: @ryanjespersen REAL TALK MERCH: https://ryanjespersen.com/merch RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE PERKS - BECOME A REAL TALK PATRON: patreon.com/ryanjespersen THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! https://ryanjespersen.com/sponsors The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Relay Communications Group Inc. or any affiliates.

In a moment when trust in democracy feels fragile, what happens when the basic machinery of politics becomes the story?This week on Balance of Power, Annalise Klingbeil, Leah Ward, and Shannon Phillips dig into the Elections Alberta investigation, the alleged misuse of the list of electors, and why a story about voter data is not just procedural, but deeply personal.First: the list. Who is supposed to have access to voter information, what is it meant to be used for, and why does alleged misuse by separatist organizers raise such serious questions about privacy, safety, and democratic trust?Then: sport as politics. The federal government is making a major investment in sport, but the conversation quickly turns to something bigger: community, belonging, national identity, and why a playoff crowd might tell us more about unity than another press conference.Plus, for Patreon subscribers: the Alberta NDP's difficult moment. New polling shows the UCP still riding high and Naheed Nenshi struggling to break through. Is this a leadership problem, a message problem, a Calgary problem, or just the brutal work of opposition in a fractured media environment?Privacy, trust, sports, sovereignty, polling, and what it takes to rebuild political attention when everyone is looking somewhere else.Welcome to Balance of Power.Have a comment or idea? Email us at suggestionbox@balanceofpowerpod.caJoin the Strategists Podcast Network Patreon for ad-free episodes and access to our exclusive Discord:https://www.patreon.com/c/strategistspodMentioned in this episode:Alberta Referendumbhttps://albertareferendumb2026.ca/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mikael Colville-Andersen has worked in more than 100 cities around the world, "putting the 'f*ck you' back into urbanism". The Fort McMurray-born Copenhagen resident explains the f-bomb and brings fascinating insights on city design in times of crisis in our feature interview presented by Mercedes-Benz Edmonton West (33:00).  But first... 6:00 | Minister Eleanor Olszewski talks major projects and the Canada Strong Fund, and updates us on Jasper's rebuild.  THIS EPISODE IS PRESENTED BY RapidEX FINANCIAL. THE CRYPTO WORLD MOVES FAST, BUT YOUR TRUST IN AN EXCHANGE SHOULDN'T BE A GAMBLE. RapidEX IS SECURE, FINTRAC-REGISTERED, AND NON-CUSTODIAL. SAVE 50% ON FEES ON ONLINE INTERAC E-TRANSFER TRADES WITH PROMO CODE RYAN50 AT https://rapidexfinancial.com/. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: talk@ryanjespersen.com MBEW: https://www.mercedes-benz-edmontonwest.ca/ MIKAEL COLVILLE-ANDERSEN: https://www.colville-andersen.com/ ATTEND MIKAEL'S MAY 1 TALK in EDMONTON: https://www.michaeljanz.ca/cityhalltalk3 1:18:00 | Jespo and Johnny talk 15 minute cities and check in our our Live Chat powered by Park Power. SAVE on INTERNET, ELECTRICITY, and NATURAL GAS: https://parkpower.ca/realtalk/ 1:30:00 | Jim's gonna need some time to get over the Oilers' round one loss to Anaheim; Russ is piiiiiiiissed about Alberta separatists releasing confidential voter info; KP isn't sold on Mark Carney's new sovereign wealth fund; Debbie in Nova Scotia says we missed a biggie in our gerrymandering coverage; Dr. Harry says the UCP made an "unconscionable" decision on photo radar; and Laura's all for rebranding the Alberta NDP. It's The Flamethrower proudly presented by our amazing friends at the DQs of Northwest Edmonton and Sherwood Park!  FIRE UP YOUR FLAMETHROWER: talk@ryanjespersen.com  WHEN YOU VISIT THE DQs IN PALISADES, NAMAO, NEWCASTLE, WESTMOUNT, or BASELINE ROAD, BE SURE TO TELL 'EM REAL TALK SENT YOU!  BOOK YOUR NEXT EVENT at EDMONTON CONVENTION CENTRE: https://www.edmontonconventioncentre.... FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK, X, INSTAGRAM, and LINKEDIN: @realtalkrj & @ryanjespersen  JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: @ryanjespersen  REAL TALK MERCH: https://ryanjespersen.com/merch RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE PERKS - BECOME A REAL TALK PATRON: patreon.com/ryanjespersen THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! https://ryanjespersen.com/sponsors The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Relay Communications Group Inc. or any affiliates.

Seven years ago, Jespo publicly banned John Carpay from appearing on his terrestrial radio show after the two locked horns over COVID restrictions. This episode, Jespersen and Carpay reconvene in our feature interview (3:00) presented by Mercedes-Benz Edmonton West. The two look back on that polarizing pandemic and debate some of Canada's most controversial legislation including the so-called Peterson's Law protecting free speech for professionals and the UCP's Bill 25 removing "bias and ideology" from classrooms. THIS EPISODE IS PRESENTED BY OUR FRIENDS AT HANSEN DISTILLERY, THE FIRST DISTILLERY EVER TO RELEASE A SEVEN-YEAR AGED ALBERTA WHISKY. SHOP THEIR ALBERTA WHISKY LINEUP TODAY AT https://hansendistillery.com/. MBEW: https://www.mercedes-benz-edmontonwest.ca/ 43:30 | Janet Brown's newest poll shows some of the wealthiest Albertans most want to separate from Canada, and Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi is losing ground to premier Danielle Smith. The renowned pollster and political commentator takes us into the numbers. JANET BROWN OPINION RESEARCH: https://www.planetjanet.ca/ 1:17:15 | Does the Alberta NDP need a rebrand? We see what Real Talkers have to say in our Live Chat powered by Park Power. SAVE on INTERNET, ELECTRICITY, and NATURAL GAS: https://parkpower.ca/realtalk/ 1:22:40 | Congratulations to the Canmore Eagles - 2026 AJHL Champions! Real Talker Dawn checks in from Canmore in this edition of Alberta Wins presented by Play Alberta.  ALBERTA WINS WITH PLAY ALBERTA. WITH HUNDREDS OF POPULAR CASINO GAMES TO CHOOSE FROM, THERE'S A MAJOR CASINO WINNER EVERY HOUR. GET STARTED TODAY WITH CASINO, SPORTS, AND LOTTERY ALL IN ONE APP: https://playalberta.ca/. MUST BE 18+ TO PLAY. WHEN YOU GAMBLE, PLEASE USE YOUR GAMESENSE.  SHARE YOUR ALBERTA WIN: talk@ryanjespersen.com  1:25:20 | Jespo shares some intel on a favourite hiking destination and we dig deeper into a potential Alberta NDP rebrand.  TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: talk@ryanjespersen.com  THE REAL TALK LIVE STREAM is presented by CALIFORNIA CLOSETS. BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION TODAY: https://californiaclosets.ca/ FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK, X, INSTAGRAM, and LINKEDIN: @realtalkrj & @ryanjespersen  JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: @ryanjespersen  REAL TALK MERCH: https://ryanjespersen.com/merch RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE PERKS - BECOME A REAL TALK PATRON: patreon.com/ryanjespersen THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! https://ryanjespersen.com/sponsors The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Relay Communications Group Inc. or any affiliates.

The health of democracy comes down to three basic questions: Are the rules applied equally? Is government accountable? And is it actually serving the public? In this episode, political scientists Dr. Jared Wesley and Dr. Feo Snagovsky put Alberta's UCP government to the test in our feature interview (3:15) presented by Mercedes-Benz Edmonton West. THIS EPISODE IS PRESENTED BY RapidEX FINANCIAL. THE CRYPTO WORLD MOVES FAST, BUT YOUR TRUST IN AN EXCHANGE SHOULDN'T BE A GAMBLE. RapidEX IS SECURE, FINTRAC-REGISTERED, AND NON-CUSTODIAL. SAVE 50% ON FEES ON ONLINE INTERAC E-TRANSFER TRADES WITH PROMO CODE RYAN50 AT https://rapidexfinancial.com/. MBEW: https://www.mercedes-benz-edmontonwest.ca/ DR. WESLEY'S SUBSTACK: https://drjaredwesley.substack.com/ COMMON GROUND POLITICS: https://www.commongroundpolitics.ca/ TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: talk@ryanjespersen.com  1:18:00 | Jespo and Johnny's hearts are in their throats ahead of Game Five of the Oilers-Ducks series. Jespo tangles with a troll in our Live Chat powered by Park Power. We mourn the sudden loss of former NHL goalie and colour commentator John "Cheech" Garrett.  SAVE on INTERNET, ELECTRICITY, and NATURAL GAS: https://parkpower.ca/realtalk/ BOOK YOUR NEXT EVENT at EDMONTON CONVENTION CENTRE: https://www.edmontonconventioncentre.... FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK, X, INSTAGRAM, and LINKEDIN: @realtalkrj & @ryanjespersen  JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: @ryanjespersen  REAL TALK MERCH: https://ryanjespersen.com/merch RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE PERKS - BECOME A REAL TALK PATRON: patreon.com/ryanjespersen THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! https://ryanjespersen.com/sponsors The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Relay Communications Group Inc. or any affiliates.

Google just quietly won the agentic commerce war — and most ecommerce retailers haven't even noticed. In this episode of Growing Ecommerce, Mike Ryan and Chris break down the three UCP (Universal Commerce Protocol) updates Google just shipped, why OpenAI's ACP is already falling behind, and the structural advantages that make Google's lead almost impossible to catch.If you run Performance Max campaigns, sell on Google Shopping, or want to understand where ecommerce is headed in the AI era — this is the episode that connects the dots.Inside this episode:The 3 new UCP capabilities that just went live: cart building, catalog capability, and identity linking — and why "boring" updates matter more than hypeWhy OpenAI's ACP dropped to single-item checkout while Google moved aheadThe Walmart Sparky chatbot inside ChatGPT — the workaround that proves OpenAI's pipeline is brokenHow Google Pay and Google Wallet quietly lock retailers into a walled gardenGoogle's flywheel: how the shopping graph + audience graph + structured knowledge graph data create a moat LLMs can't replicateWhy this time is different from Buy on Google's 2018 failure — and what changed in Google's leverage over retailersWhy pipeline-based agents (UCP) will win over browser-based agents — and how this is really the logical endpoint of headless commerceThe only thing that could realistically stop Google: regulatorsTopics covered: UCP, Universal Commerce Protocol, agentic commerce, Performance Max, PMax, Google Shopping, AI mode, ChatGPT shopping, OpenAI ACP, agentic checkout, Google Pay, Google Wallet, headless commerce, Merchant Center, knowledge graph, shopping graph, Walmart Sparky, AI overviews, conversational attributes.About Smarter Ecommerce (smec):Smarter Ecommerce (smec) empowers e-commerce brands with AI-driven PPC automation that optimizes for profit and business outcomes while maintaining strategic control.The platform activates first-party data - profit margins, customer lifetime value, and key business metrics - to automate campaign optimization toward goals like profitability and efficient growth, while detailed campaign insights provide full transparency and enable PPC teams to focus on strategic oversight rather than manual execution.As a Google Premier Partner and three-time Microsoft Retail Partner of the Year, smec manages over €500 million in ad spend and drives €5B+ in annual e-commerce revenue for 350+ global retail clients including THG, Snipes, REWE, and Intersport.Make sure to follow smec - Smarter Ecommerce for more performance marketing insights:smec - Smarter Ecommerce: https://www.smarter-ecommerce.comLinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/smarter-ecommerce-gmbhNewsletter: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/newsletter/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smarterecommerce/

Two weeks ago, The Breakdown reported on a text sent out by strategist Stephen Carter that seemed to show he was in the process of orchestrating a takeover of the Alberta Liberals!Since then, Mt. Carter has been on the offense, claiming that we didn't reach out to the Liberals or their leader, that the effort was coordinated between Mr Carter and the Liberal Executive/Leader and a whole lot more!To set the record straight once and for all, we sat down with Alberta Liberal Leader John Roggeveen but we didn't stop at just the takeover question, because Thursday say the UCP issue new rules for referendum that could shut out all political parties from participation except for the UCP and the NDP!If those rules are legal...If you're able to support our legal defense fund to fight back against the $6 Million lawsuit against us by Sam Mraiche, the man who imported Vanch masks and the Turkish Tylenot as well as who hosted MLA's and Ministers in his skybox as he had business with the government...You can do that at www.savethebreakdownab.ca!As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at info@thebreakdownab.ca!If you're looking for our new merch lineup, you can find that at www.thebreakdownabmerch.comIf you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on Substack, Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads!#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

The UCP's decision to reject a bi-partisan commission's report and order a do-over of riding maps has ignited a firestorm over the usually sleepy issue of electoral boundaries.Is this meddling or giving rural Alberta fair representation?Meanwhile, a separatist group is in court to avoid opening its books, Premier Danielle Smith's new website is pushing her own referendum questions, and many clicks are going to a series of AI “slopaganda” online videos that stoke worries about foreign interference.And do we have to change the clocks to squeeze in a discussion about Alberta's move to permanent daylight time?West of Centre guest host Jason Markusoff speaks with three Alberta-based journalists: Alex Boyd from the Toronto Star, Falice Chin from the Hub and Matthew Scace from the Globe and Mail.Host: Jason MarkusoffGuests: Alex Boyd, Falice Chin, Matthew ScaceProducer: Diane Yanko

Early bird discounts for the San Francisco World's Fair, the biggest AIE gathering of the year, end today - prices will go up by ~$500 tonight so do please lock in ASAP!From near-universal AI tool adoption inside Shopify to internal systems for ML experimentation, auto-research, customer simulation, and ultra-low-latency search, Mikhail Parakhin joins us for a deep dive into what it actually looks like when a 20-year-old, $200B software company goes all-in on AI. We cover why Shopify has become much more vocal about its internal stack, what changed after the December model-quality inflection, and why the real bottleneck in AI coding is no longer generation, but review, CI/CD, and deployment stability.We also go inside Tangle, Tangent, SimGym, which are three major AI initiatives that Shopify is doing to make experimentation reproducible, optimization automatic, customer behavior simulatable, and search and catalog intelligence faster and cheaper at scale. Along the way, Mikhail explains UCP, Liquid AI, and why token budgets are directionally right but often measured badly, why AI-written code can still increase bugs in production, what makes Shopify's customer simulation defensible, and what he learned from the Sydney era at Bing.We discuss:* Mikhail's path from running a major Microsoft business unit spanning Windows, Edge, Bing, and ads to becoming CTO of Shopify* Why Shopify is talking more publicly about AI now, and why staying at the frontier has become necessary for the company* Shopify's internal AI adoption curve, the December inflection, and why CLI-style tools are rising faster than traditional IDE-based tools* Why Jensen Huang is directionally right on token budgets, but raw token count is still the wrong way to evaluate engineering output* Why the real unlock is not more agents in parallel, but better critique loops, stronger models, and spending more on review than generation* Why AI coding can still lead to more bugs in production even if models write cleaner code on average than humans* Why Shopify built its own PR review flow, and why Mikhail thinks most off-the-shelf review tools miss the point* How PR volume, test failures, and deployment rollback are becoming the real bottlenecks in the agent era* Why Git, pull requests, and CI/CD may need a new metaphor once code is written at machine speed* What Tangle is, and how Shopify uses it to make ML and data workflows reproducible, collaborative, and production-ready from the start* Why Tangle is different from Airflow, and why content-addressed caching creates network effects across teams* What Tangent is, and how Shopify is using auto-research loops to optimize search, themes, prompt compression, storage, and more* Why Tangent is becoming a democratizing tool for PMs and domain experts, not just ML engineers* Why AutoML finally feels real in the LLM era, and where auto-research still falls short today* Why Tangle, Tangent, and SimGym become much more powerful when combined into one system* What SimGym is, why simulated customers only work if you have real historical behavior, and why Shopify's data gives it a moat* How SimGym evolved from comparing A/B variants to telling merchants what to change on a single live storefront to raise conversions* Why customer simulation is so expensive, from multimodal models to browser farms to serving and distillation costs* How Shopify models merchant and buyer trajectories, runs counterfactuals, and thinks about interventions like discounts, campaigns, and notifications* Why category-level behavior is so different across commerce, and why ideas like Chinese Restaurant Processes are showing up again in practice* Shopify's new UCP and catalog work, including runtime product search, bulk lookups, and identity linking* Why Shopify is using Liquid AI, and why Mikhail sees it as the first genuinely competitive non-transformer architecture he has used in practice* Where Liquid already works inside Shopify today, from low-latency query understanding to large-scale catalog and Sidekick Pulse workloads* Whether Liquid could become frontier-scale with enough compute, and why Shopify remains pragmatic and merit-based about model choice* Who Shopify is hiring right now across ML, data science, and distributed databases* The Sydney story at Bing, why its personality was not an accident, and what Mikhail learned from deliberately shaping AI character early onMikhail Parakhin* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikhail-parakhin/* X: https://x.com/MParakhinTimestamps00:00:00 Introduction: Mikhail Parakhin, Microsoft, and Shopify00:01:16 Why Shopify Is Talking More About AI00:02:29 Internal AI Adoption at Shopify and the December Inflection00:06:54 Token Budgets, Jensen Huang, and Why Usage Metrics Can Mislead00:10:55 Why Shopify Built Its Own AI PR Review System00:12:38 AI Coding, More Bugs, and the Real Deployment Bottleneck00:14:11 Why Git, PRs, and CI/CD May Need to Change for Agents00:18:24 Tangle: Shopify's Reproducible ML and Data Workflow Engine00:21:19 Why Tangle Is Different from Airflow00:26:14 Tangent: Auto Research for Optimization and Experimentation00:30:07 How Tangent Democratizes Experimentation Beyond ML Engineers00:33:06 The Limits of Auto Research00:36:36 Why Tangle, Tangent, and SimGym Compound Together00:37:20 SimGym: Simulating Customers with Shopify's Historical Data00:42:47 The Infra Behind SimGym00:46:00 Why SimGym Gets Better with Real Customer History00:47:30 Counterfactuals, HSTU, and Modeling Merchant Trajectories00:51:55 CRPs, Clustering, and Category-Level Customer Behavior00:53:30 UCP, Shopify Catalog, and Identity Linking00:55:07 Liquid AI: Why Shopify Uses Non-Transformer Models00:59:13 Real Shopify Use Cases for Liquid01:03:00 Can Liquid Scale into a Frontier Model?01:09:49 Hiring at Shopify: ML, Data Science, and Databases01:10:43 Sydney at Bing: Personality Shaping and AI Character01:13:32 Closing ThoughtsTranscript[00:00:00] swyx: Okay. We're here in the studio, a remote studio, with Mikhail Parakhin, CTO of Shopify. Welcome.[00:00:08] Mikhail Parakhin: Thank you. Welcome.[00:00:10] swyx: I don't even know if I should introduce you as CTO of Shopify. I feel like you have many identities. Uh, you led sort of the, the Bing ML team, I guess, uh, uh, or ads team. I, I don't know, I don't know, uh, you know, it's, uh, people va-variously refer you as like CEO or, or, uh, I don't know what that, that, that said previous role at Microsoft was.[00:00:29] Mikhail Parakhin: Uh, that was... Yeah, my previous role w- at Microsoft was the-- I actually was the CEO of one of Microsoft's business units, which included, as I, you know, as we discussed, all the things that people like to laugh about, uh, including Windows and Edge and Bing and ads and everything.[00:00:47] swyx: Yeah, yeah. What a, what a, what a wild time.You've obviously, uh, done a lot since you landed at Shopify. Uh, one of the reasons I reached out was because you started promoting more sort of internal tooling, uh, primarily Tangle, but also a lot of people have seen and adopted Tobi's QMD, uh, and obviously, I think, uh, Shopify has always been sort of leading in terms of, uh, engineering.I think more-- it's just more recent that you guys have been more vocal about your sort of AI adoption. Is that, is that true?[00:01:16] Mikhail Parakhin: Well, I think AI tools in general are fairly recent development, uh, and we've-- Shopify, you know, at this stage of its development, we're developing AI in-in-house and other, uh, building tools that use AI and, you know, interfacing with the wider AI community, uh, you know, are on the sort of the, uh, runaway trajectory.So it just did by sort of natural byproduct. We, we talk about it more also. We just, uh, just even yesterday, Andrej Karpathy was famous in tweeting about, oh, are there some, uh, ways, uh, that, that you can organize your agents to store the data and then, uh, look up the data so that you don't have to research or, or lose context every- Yestime. And a little bit tongue in cheek, I tweeted that, “Hey, we've, we've done it much earlier, and we even have different approaches, Tobi and I.” Tobi, of course, is a big fan of QMD, and I'm more of a SQL, SQLite fan. But, uh, yeah, very similar things that we've already done here. The point is, yeah, we're very dynamic, you know, explosively growing company, and we have to be at the forefront of AI adoption, obviously.[00:02:29] swyx: Yeah. Yeah. Um, you, your team kindly prepared some slides actually that we were gonna bring up on to, uh, the screen. I think I can, I can screen share, and then we can kind of go through some of the shocking stats that maybe, maybe put some numbers to what exactly is going on. So here we have, uh- An internal AI tool adoption chart.What are we looking at here? What ?[00:02:54] Mikhail Parakhin: Yeah, this is very interesting statistics. Uh, this is number of daily active workers, you know, think of, uh, DAO, basically the active users of-[00:03:05] swyx: Yeah ...[00:03:05] Mikhail Parakhin: AI tool as a percentage of all the people in the company, right? And then- Yeah ... different AI tools. And, uh, you could see two things here is that one is the green is total.Uh, green is just total. So you could see that it approaches really % by now. It's hard not to do your job now without interacting deeply, at least with one tool. You could see another interesting thing is just as many people commented in December was the phase transition when suddenly models gotten good enough that, that everything took off and started growing.Uh, it, it was many people noticed that the thing is that small improvements accumulated into this big change in Sep- December roughly timeframe.[00:03:52] swyx: Yeah.[00:03:52] Mikhail Parakhin: The other thing I would claim you could see is that, uh, CLI-based tools and tools that don't require you to look at the code becoming more popular, and you could see, yeah, various versions of, uh, Cloud Code and Codex and Pi and internal development tools taking off.Uh, exactly, yeah, uh, and blue is our River, just internal agent for coding, where tools, uh, that require IDEs such as, uh, GitHub, Copilot or Cursor, they're not exactly shrinking, but they're not growing as fast. Like, uh, red, red line is, is the IDE kind of tools. So you could see that they're, they're not experiencing as, as fast of a growth.[00:04:37] swyx: As I understand it, basically, every employee has their choice, right? Of choose whatever tool you use, and then you're just kind of doing a, a daily sur-survey or something.[00:04:47] Mikhail Parakhin: Exactly. And, uh, we- Yeah ... the, the push is to get your job done, you can use any tool, and we effectively fund unlimited tokens for everybody.Uh, we, we do, we do try to control the models that, uh, people use, but from the bottom, not from top. Like we basically say, “Hey, please don't use anything less than Opus four point six.”[00:05:09] swyx: Oh .[00:05:10] Mikhail Parakhin: Some people, some people end up using GPT five point four extra high. Some people use Opus four point six. Um, uh, you know, uh, there are some, uh, there are plus and minuses in going for full one million context window versus not.But, uh, we try to discourage people from using anything less than that.[00:05:28] swyx: Yeah, yeah. Got it, got it. Uh, I mean, uh, that's, you know... The, the next chart here, it really kind of shows the expansion and the sort of December twenty twenty-five inflection, right? That, uh, people are using a lot of tokens. I think it's also really interesting that no one was kind of abusing it in twenty twenty-five.Like it was- Had comparatively, uh, to this year, there was almost no growth. I mean, it's still like, you know, probably, probably gave fifty percent.[00:05:56] Mikhail Parakhin: Yeah. This is just a different scale. It's still exponential- Yeah, yeah ...growth at just a different- ...rate of expansion. Uh, there was inflection point, and Sean, I would claim the, the super interesting part here is that you could see that the distribution becoming more and more skewed.Yes. The top percentiles grow faster. So that means- Yeah ...the people in the top ten percentile, they, their consumption grows faster than seventy-five and so forth. So, uh, the distribution skews more and more towards the highest users, which is... I don't know what it tells me. It's like it feels not ideal, to be honest.Or maybe it's okay. We'll see.[00:06:36] swyx: Why does it feel not ideal? Is, is it because of, um, quantity over quality, or what's the concern?[00:06:42] Mikhail Parakhin: Because take it to the limit. That means, you know, if, if this rate of separation continued- Ah, yes ...a year, there will be one person consuming all the tokens. So it's just, it's kinda strange.[00:06:54] swyx: Yeah, I mean, um, uh, I, I think internal like teaching and all that, uh, will, will help sort of distribute things more widely. But in, in the early days, of course, the people who are sort of more AI-pilled will obviously find more ways to use it than the people who are less AI-pilled. Maybe let's, let's call it that.I'll just, I'll just kinda quickly, uh, pause from the, the... You know, we will go back to the rest of the slides, but I just wanna, um, review, you know, there are a lot of CTOs of, of large companies like yourself where they're all considering some kind of token budget, right? Like I think it's something, something that Jensen Huang has been talking about, where like if your 200K engineer is not using 100K of tokens every year, like they're, they're underutilizing coding agents.Of course, Jensen Huang would say that, but like it seems a very quantity over quality approach and like some, some people are basically saying like, well, is this comparable to judging engineer quality by lines of code, right? Which we also know is like kind of flawed, but better than nothing. So I, I don't know if you have like a sort of management take here on, on how to view this kind of, uh, metrics.[00:08:02] Mikhail Parakhin: Well, I mean, you're, you're baiting me. I, I like... This is my favorite topic. Uh, if you let me, I'll probably talk for two hours on just this. I have a lot of things to say. Like I do think Jensen gotten a lot of bad press saying, “Oh, of course you're, you know, this, uh, the- ...the cake seller says you don't need enough cakes.”You know? Like, of course. Uh, but, uh, I actually, uh, think that's undeserved. I think he, he's actually right. Uh, I do think- He,[00:08:33] swyx: he's directionally correct.[00:08:35] Mikhail Parakhin: Yeah. Yeah. He's directionally correct for sure. Uh-[00:08:37] swyx: Who knows what the right number is? Yeah.[00:08:39] Mikhail Parakhin: The thing that I do Uh, want to say, and this is something that we learned through trial and error and very important is like two things.One is that it's not about just consuming tokens. Uh, you can consume tokens and, and in fact, the anti-pattern is running multiple agents, too many agents in parallel that don't communicate with each other. That's almost useless, uh, compared to just fewer agents and burns tokens very efficiently. Uh, setting up the right critique loop, especially with the high quality models, where one agent does something, the other one, ideally with a different model, critiques it, uh, suggests ways to improve it, the agent redoes it with this critique and, and so it takes much longer.So people don't like it because latency goes up. You know, they, they have to wait until this debate is happening. But, uh, the quality of the code is much higher. And another thing, just since you mentioned like, look, uh, uh, yeah, the overall budget is just like, uh, lines of codes. Lines of codes are exploding for everybody right now, or partially because AI is really mover balls, but partially just because AI can write a lot more code, you know, doesn't get tired.And so you have to have to have a very strong narrow waist during PR review. Otherwise, just the number of bugs will go through the roof. It's, uh, it's this unexpected consequence of the just volume trumping everything. I would claim by now good model writes code on average with fewer bugs than, than the average human.But since they write so much more of it, like more of it will make it into production. So you have to- You still[00:10:26] swyx: have[00:10:26] Mikhail Parakhin: more bugs. Yeah. Have to have a very rigorous PR reviews, also automated of course. But, uh, yeah, that to spend a lot budget there. Like this, this for me, for me, actually, the important metric is the ratio of budget spent during code generation versus, uh, spent, uh, expensive tokens like GPT, uh, five point four Pro or, uh, uh, Deep Think from Gemini, you know, checking on PR reviews.[00:10:55] swyx: Yeah, totally. Uh, I noticed in your chart you didn't have any review tools. Do you just use like, like let's say a Claude code to review tools? Or do you have another set of review tools like the Greptiles, the Code Rabbits, uh, Devin Reviews has a review tool. I don't know if you've had those specialist review tools.[00:11:13] Mikhail Parakhin: You are a little bit jumping on my store tool right now because the graphs I was only showing public tools. Uh, uh, the-- I haven't found a good PR review tool that, that does what I think should be done. And, uh, partially my, my thinking is because it's so... It just goes against both what people feel like emotionally they prefer and, uh, some of the, uh, you know, frankly Even business models that, that the companies run.At peer review tool, uh, time, you want to run the largest models. That means, I don't know, Codex or, or, uh, Cloud Code is not gonna cut it. You need to have pro-level models if you really want to, uh, stand the tide of bots from going into production. And you need us to spend a lot of time, the models taking turns, but you don't want, like, a big swarm of, uh, of, uh, agents.So in fact, you end up in a different dual-dualistic world where you generate not that many tokens. You, in fact, generate few tokens, but it takes f-a long time because these are expensive models taking turns rather than many, many agents trying to do many things in parallel. So that's, that's why I feel like I haven't found good tools, so we are using our own for peer review for now.[00:12:33] swyx: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, uh, I think a lot of companies are building their own, uh, especially to their needs, right?[00:12:38] Mikhail Parakhin: Mm-hmm.[00:12:38] swyx: Um, I, uh, you also have a chart here going back to the slides on, uh, PR merge growth, where we're now at thirty percent, uh, month on month rather than ten percent. Uh, and also the, the estimated complexity is going up.You know, this is productivity, right? ‘Cause y- presumably there's more stuff going into the code base and more, more features getting worked on. I'm curious about the backlog, right? Like the, the, the-- I actually don't mind a pro-level model taking an hour or two hours to review my PR, because I've dealt with humans who take a week to review my PR, right?And I keep pinging them on Slack, “Hey, hey, review my PR.” So, you know, I think there's some trade-off here where, like, it still doesn't make sense.[00:13:18] Mikhail Parakhin: Exactly. That, that's exactly m-my point. Uh, that on one hand, you can tolerate longer latencies at, uh, PR. On the other hand, like right now, the real problem is not in spending time waiting for PR.It's real problem is since there's so much more code than- Yeah ... uh, probability of at least some tests failing going up, and then you, like, keep de-failing, then you have to find the offending PR, evict it, retest it without that PR, and so deployment cycle becomes much longer. Uh, so it actually, in terms of the overall time to deploy, it's total time savings if you spend more time on a longer model, like thinking for an hour, because then, then you, you don't have to spend all that time during testing and rolling, you know, rolling back the deployment.[00:14:03] swyx: Yeah, totally. That's still worth it. You know, you don't look at the individual, look at the aggregate, and look at the, the, the change in the aggregate system.[00:14:11] Mikhail Parakhin: Exactly.[00:14:11] swyx: I'm kind of curious if, like, there's this PR mentality and, like, c-- the, the, the CICD paradigm will be changed eventually. Some people are like, obviously a lot of people want new GitHub, but I even wonder if, like, Git is the problem, right?Like, is that the bottleneck? Is the concept of a PR a bottleneck? Do you guys use stack diffs? I don't know if, uh, that's a, like, a merge queue stack diff type of thing.[00:14:34] Mikhail Parakhin: We, we use, we use Stacks, we u- we use Graphite. We worked with, uh, Graphite a lot. Uh, so we use Stack, uh, PRs. I think, uh, like that's clearly the overall CICD in general, and the interaction with the code repository right now is the, clearly the sort of the, the main issue and the bottleneck for us, uh, and highest top of mind.I would say we probably need a different metaphor or different whole design of how to process it in new agentic world. I haven't seen anything dramatically better yet. I, I think everybody right now is just trying to keep their head above the water ‘cause, ‘cause there, there's so many PRs and then everybody's CICD pipelines start creaking, the, the times are increasing, the number of bugs slipping by increasing, and you have to, have to clap on down.And so we are a little bit in this situation when we need to first stabilize that story and then start thinking, hey, what, what it could be a completely different and new world, which I haven't... I know some people working on it. I haven't seen something, like anything super compelling yet, but clearly the old thing were designed for humans will need to be morphed into something new.[00:15:53] swyx: One of the thing that I, I think about is kind of like the merge conflict is basically a global mutex on the whole system, right? And in, in hu- in human organizations, we do have something like that. It's the company standup. But like, other than that, it's like it's actually fitting for us to be somewhat decentralized, somewhat plugged into one stream of information source, but somewhat lossy.Like it's okay, you know, that, that not every delivery is like atomic consistency. Like we're not dealing with a database sometimes.[00:16:27] Mikhail Parakhin: This is a very good point, uh, because since humans don't write code too fast, you know that global mutex is not too bad. Once you-[00:16:36] swyx: Yes ...[00:16:37] Mikhail Parakhin: start writing code at the speed of machine, it becomes the, you know, the bottleneck.Then what do you do? Maybe, and I can't believe I'm saying this because I, I'm long-- lifelong opponent of, uh, microservices, and I always thought that was, like, a really bad idea. And now that you're saying it, like, maybe in new guys like microservices will make a comeback, you know, because then you, you can ship things independently in tiny things and, and the managing all that complexity automatically will be much easier.I don't know. Like, we'll s-- we'll have to see.[00:17:10] swyx: Yeah. I mean, I don't know what the Microsoft or, or Shopify thing is, but I, I read this paper from Google where they have a monorepo that deploys into microservices, right? And then, uh, the other concept that I think about a lot is the Chaos Monkey concept from, from Netflix.Being able to create, like, this robust system where, um, uh, you know, you, you have the service discovery, you have the, uh, the independent, independent microservices discovery and, and, uh, you know, probably going to be a fair amount of duplication. That's how an organic system sort of scales, uh, that, that you have that...I don't know how you call it. Slack? Robustness? Depend-- uh, d-duplication. I, I, I forget the-- I, I'm-- And this-- those-- these are not exactly the terms- Hmm ... I'm looking for, but I c-can't really think of the words. Okay. I was gonna go into Tangent and Tangle. Uh, so, uh, we, we sort of discussed the overall stats that, uh, Shopify has.Uh, but, you know, I, I think some, some pretty cool stuff that you guys are working on is your ML experimentation, uh, and your, your sort of auto tr-research training pipeline. Presumably you're much closer to this one because it's, it's a sort of personal hobby of yours. How, how would you explain them in, together?I thought we have a slide that, like, uh, has the s- the system diagram.[00:18:24] Mikhail Parakhin: Yeah. Tangle first and then Tangent as a-[00:18:27] swyx: Yeah ...[00:18:28] Mikhail Parakhin: as a thing on top of Tangle. And, uh, Tangle is the third generation, I claim, of, uh, systems of, uh, running any data processing, but a bit with a skew for ML experiments, but not necessarily. Any sort of data processing tasks where you need to iterate, share, and you have scale so that you want maximum efficiency.You know how, like, normally you would work, you would-- Imagine you're a data scientist or an ML practitioner, you would get Jupiter notebooks or, or maybe you would get, uh, you know, Pyth- your Python scripts, and you would manage the data, and you produce those TSV files, and you put them in some JFS or something.Then you would notice that, oh, it has this, uh, weird missing values. You go and write another script that, uh, goes and replaces them with, uh-[00:19:20] swyx: Ah ...[00:19:21] Mikhail Parakhin: dash S. And then, then you, then you run some, some, uh, “Oh, I need to filter bots.” And so you run some light GBM model that, uh, removes the bots. And then, then you like-- And then you, you kind of like get into shape, and then you start experimenting, and you run multiple experiments, and then you're like, “Oh my God,” like, “this experiment is worse.”You undo, and you cannot get to previous result. And like, “Ah, what did I do?” Like that. Again, then, then you finally like get everything working. Then you like start throwing it over the fence to production. You, you replicate it, those things don't work, and then sometimes you like don't notice that you forgot some feature naming and the, the features don't match.But then, like imagine you, you did everything, and then six months later you're like, have to repeat it because now there's more data, or you wanted to do another pass, and you're like, “What, what did I do?” Or like, or like, “This script crashes now,” or the, “the path has changed.” And then, then you're trying to, like you spend another month just doing ar- digital archeology on your own, you know, history, right?Now multiply that by many, many teams. Now imagine you got an intern that you wanna ramp up. Now you have to show that intern, “Oh, you know, look, here's the folder, there's the scripts, you know, ask your cloud agent to do, and then, uh, to, to figure it out.” And then cloud agent does something, and then you're, “Ah, yeah, right, right, it was the wrong folder.I forgot to tell you, I actually have this other thing I forgot myself.” And, and that's, that's the, like, the daily life we all, uh, all know it, uh, if, if you're a data scientist, machine practitioner, ma- machine learning practitioner or, uh, or even like any data managing, uh, person.[00:21:00] swyx: Yeah. So I, I used to do this, uh, f- uh, on the quant finance side, uh, in, in my hedge fund.So we did this before Airflow, and then, uh, obviously Airflow came along and, uh, then more recently Dagster, uh, I would say is like, in my mind, what I would use for that shape of problem, uh, where you had to materialize assets and create a pipeline.[00:21:19] Mikhail Parakhin: And that's, that's very good segue because... So Airflow is great, but Airflow is more about you, you have something and you wanna repeatedly run it in production on schedule.It's less about you as a team developing things and being able to share, and you grabbing the standard pipeline and saying, “Hey, I wanna change this tiny little component in the huge sea of data processing, and I don't wanna-- I wanna run ten experiments on this, and I wanna do hyperparameter optimization.”All that is very hard to do with Airflow. It's very easy to do with Tango. Tango is m- more about, it's everything about group of people Running experiments, it might be agents too nowadays. Uh, running experiments cheaply, collaborating, sharing results. Uh, you don't need to understand fully. You, you grab-- you clone somebody else's experiment or somebody else's pipeline, uh, run, uh, change small piece, run it, be, like, get it to production state, and then ship in one click.So then the... You don't have to port it into any other system to, to run in production. You can just run the same experiment. It's, it's fully production ready. And, and it's, uh, it has lots of... Again, as I said, it's third generation system. The original one was, I would claim there was Ether and then, uh, at least in my career, Ether was the first, first, uh, that pioneered this type of approach.And then there was, uh, Nirvana, which, uh, uh, at Yandex, which did kind of sec-second take on this. And now this one aggregates the, the learnings from all of those and, and Airflow as well to, to get to the state where you try it, it, it feels kind of magical. Uh, ‘cause now everything is based on content, uh, hashes.So even if the version changed, but if the output didn't change, nothing is being rerun. It's very efficient. If you... Multiple people start experiment that needs the same sort of data preprocessing, it's not repeated multiple times. It's automatically done only once. If you start ten experiments that all require, you know, some, some data preparation first as the first step, and you don't have to coordinate for that.Like, you don't have to know that other people are starting it. You now, it's very easy compos-, uh, composability, any language you can u- uh, you wanna use, and it's very visual. So you can see immediately, you can edit it easily, you can assemble small things with just even mouse clicks if you want to, and, uh, share, clone.And everybody knows also it's fully kind of static in the sense that we rerun it second time, it will exactly have the same results. Like, you will never have to do digital archeology. So full versioning and everything is also there.[00:24:06] swyx: Uh, so, so people can, uh... It's open source. Go to the GitHub repo and, and, uh, check it out.Uh, and it is also a really good, uh, blog post about it. I think all these is, like, really appealing. The, the, the, the thing that I think sells me the most about it is that, um, sort of development to production transition, right? Which I think, um, a lot of people haven't really solved that, uh, strictly, right?Like, we develop really, really well in, in Python notebooks, but then, you know, that's obviously not a sort of production ready process. I think that, like, any way in which that is solved, I think is, is very appealing. Then the other thing that you mentioned, which also raised my eyebrows, was content-based caching, which you mentioned is, is, um, you know, is ve-very much, uh, um, a sort of efficiency measure about, uh, you know, just like recalculation only on, on sort of content addressing Which I think makes sense.Uh, it surprised me that the savings could be this much, but maybe I just haven't worked at your scale where there's so much duplication, uh, that people just rerun because they change a single ID upstream.[00:25:10] Mikhail Parakhin: It does, yeah. But it's not only you rerun. The, the main savings are coming from the fact that you ran it, you got your job done, and you moved on.Then- Yeah ... somebody else in some department you don't know existed runs the same task, but on a newer version.[00:25:27] swyx: Yeah.[00:25:27] Mikhail Parakhin: Like right now, you can't, in, in most of the organizations, you can't even find out about it so that you can't even measure that you're spending that time twice, right? Here- Yeah ... if everybody's on Tango, that's detected automatically and detected that the output is the same.And then for that person, all it looks like is like experiment just suddenly moved, jumped forward, right? Uh, uh- Yeah ... so that's because, because the, there's network effect of multiple people helping each other.[00:25:51] swyx: Yeah. This is one of those things where it's designed to be a platform from the beginning rather than an individual developer's tool from the beginning, right?And, and everything's gonna streams down from there. That is the sort of Tango, uh, orchestrator, and it's, it manages jobs. We've seen a few versions of this, and this is obviously, uh, uh, the sort of, uh, unique approaches that you guys have, have, uh, figured out. And then there's Tangent.[00:26:14] Mikhail Parakhin: Yeah. And Tangent is basically an automatic auto research loop that can help and kind of do your work for you.Uh- ... you know, uh, effectively, effectively, Andrej Karpathy recently popularized it with auto research. Yes. Remember he said like he was, uh, speed running this, uh... Yeah, uh, you know the story. The, here we're basically bringing the same capability into Tango so that, uh, the, uh, Tangent can analyze it. It's just an agent that can run multiple experiments, figure out what can be changed, and keep on rerunning it, keep on modifying until, uh, maximizing some goal, some loss function, whatever you need to, to achieve.And in general, I would say if you're not using auto research-like approach in whatever you do, like literally whatever you do, then you're missing out. We saw at Shopify that taking like a wildfire, anything where you can put measurements can be done dramatically better. Our-[00:27:19] swyx: Mm-hmm ...[00:27:20] Mikhail Parakhin: uh, speed of, uh, templatization HTML, uh, completely new UX tem- uh, templatization of, uh, reducing latency for liquid themes.Uh, we-- Our, uh, search, uh, recently we moved from It's hard even, uh, quote from eight hundred QPS to forty-two hundred QPS with the same quality just by pure optimizations and not a research loop that kept running and changing code in our index serve on the same number of machines, just increasing the throughput.We, we managed to improve the quality of gisting and machine learning process. Uh, you know, gisting is the prompt compression technique that[00:27:59] swyx: allows for[00:28:00] Mikhail Parakhin: lower latency and, and lower and, uh, actually higher quality slightly. So like literally whatever different walks of life, and it doesn't have to be AI related.Uh, we, we had a reduction in, uh, storage because the agents would go and find data sets that clearly are derivative, uh, and then you don't need to store things twice. You know, we, we, we found somewhat embarrassingly that it was one of the largest tables was hashing random IDs into another random ID, and we literally- Oofput only one. So it was translating, yeah, two random IDs hashed[00:28:36] swyx: into[00:28:37] Mikhail Parakhin: each. So, so[00:28:37] swyx: it has access to the code as well, so it can, it can check the, like what, what the hell is it doing?[00:28:42] Mikhail Parakhin: So there, there cou- it could be run in two levels. You, uh, you know, at the superficial level, it could just use ex-existing components and, uh, reshuffle them.Uh, you know, like you can grab- Yeah ... uh, XGBoost, and you can grab some, some Py- PyTorch module, and then can grab some, you know, grab another tools and, and combine them. At a deeper level, since Tangle is all sort of CLI based underneath you, every, every component is a wrapped really CLI, uh, call and a YAML file, it can analyze code and create new components and, and, uh, keep on iterating as well.So, so you can, you can both have quick modifications of existing t- uh, pipelines with the, with components that are already there pre-baked, or you can create new components, uh, and-[00:29:29] swyx: Yeah ...[00:29:29] Mikhail Parakhin: keep iterating on those. So auto research is, again, this is probably the, the thing I was excited the most in the last two months happening, and we see it taking like, like totally like a wildfire.Just, uh, everybody, every day, every... well, every day, every minute, I would, uh, have somebody Slack message saying, “Oh, look how much better I made it.” And, uh, it's all throughout the research.[00:29:53] swyx: Is this democratized in some way in, in the sense that like is it your ML, uh, engineers and researchers doing this, or is it your regular PMs and software engineers also have the ability to auto-- to use Tangent?[00:30:07] Mikhail Parakhin: This is an awesome question. Like, Tango in general and Tangent in particular are extremely democratizing. Like they- Yeah ... they are the main tools for- ‘Cause I don't[00:30:15] swyx: need the details.[00:30:16] Mikhail Parakhin: Yeah. Exactly. Initially used by ML and AI engineers, but then literally, as you said, PMs are like the highest user right now is one of PMs on our org, uh, Sartak and he was, he was number one by, by usage of, of this ‘cause they're just, uh, energetic and knowledgeable, and now it, it unlocks a lot of capability where you don't have to co-change code manually.[00:30:39] swyx: I mean, I mean, because it kind of cuts out the ML, ML engineer from the process because the, the, the PMs have the domain knowledge and the ability to think about, uh, from first principles about, okay, what, what results do I want? And they can-- they even have the access to the data that, that needs to go in.So it's like in some ways, like this is the magic black box that we've always wanted for, for training and, and for, uh, I guess, uh, uh, hill climbing, whatever.[00:31:04] Mikhail Parakhin: It's basically cloud code for your AI development- ... uh, situation, right? Like now, now you don't have to know exactly how algorithms work. You can just, uh, bring your domain knowledge and expertise and product knowledge and iterate within Tangent until you've gotten the results that you need.[00:31:21] swyx: In my previous roles, every time that someone has pitched AutoML, you know, I've always been like, “Uh, this is not, this is not gonna work. It's, you know, it's, it's always gonna be a flop.” Somehow it's working now. I mean, presumably the answer is now we have LLMs and it's good enough, right? It's, it's an emergent property that we can do auto research, but like, it doesn't feel that satisfying that how come we didn't do this before, right?Like we just did like parameter search and like, I don't know. That's maybe that's it.[00:31:48] Mikhail Parakhin: Yeah. Bayesian optimization and hyperparameter optimization was, was the one that, or facet of AutoML that was used very actively, which incidentally also built into, uh, Tango. But, you know, I know Patrice Simard very well, and, uh, he was such a, uh, such a proponent of AutoML, and he put, like literally spent careers trying to democratize it.Without LLMs, it just turned out to be very hard. Like it, you, you would have flexibility within certain narrow domain, but it was hard to wider scale, and now with LLMs suddenly it's like magic wand, and so suddenly everybody- ... is an AutoML expert.[00:32:28] swyx: Yeah, I, I think it's multiple things, right? Like I'm, I'm just gonna bring up the, the, the chart again, right?Like LLMs can do the monitoring very well. That is the very potentially unbounded, super unstructured. It can do the analysis very well, it can do the... Uh, and basically it is much more intelligence poured into every single step. Uh, there's maybe nothing structurally changed about AutoML, but this is just m-more intelligent and more unstructured.[00:32:53] Mikhail Parakhin: Exactly.[00:32:54] swyx: Any flaws that you've run into? Like everyone is like drinking the Kool-Aid, oh my God, time savings, uh, you know, performance improvements. Like what, what, uh, issues have you have, uh, come up?[00:33:06] Mikhail Parakhin: This is really cool. It's not a solution to all the world's problems for sure. The limitations are usually the ones I-- And this is where we get into a bit of a subjective territory.Uh, I can only share what I've, I've seen so far, and I'm sure the situation, uh, is changing, and, you know, maybe after I say it, like many people will reach out and say, “Hey, what about this?” And you don't know that, and then, then we'll be probably right. But what I've seen is auto research is very good at doing kind of obvious things that you don't have bandwidth to do or you didn't notice or maybe you're not aware of like the-- some standard practices.It is not good at doing something completely out of distribution, something that, you know, you have to think for, for multiple days, uh, and, and do something like none of this. So, so it's, uh, I, uh, set an experiment once, uh, on, on my sort of, uh, hobby thing, and I let it run for, uh, ended up, uh, several weeks run, uh, you know, it's like full production kind of scale, so it, you know, slow runs and, and it ex-- it performed in the end, uh, over four hundred experiments, and only one was successful.I'm like, “Okay, that's, that's good.” But-[00:34:18] swyx: But it saved time.[00:34:19] Mikhail Parakhin: Yeah, I saved time. Like it, it was the, that thing. Yeah, if I, if I were doing four hundred experiments myself, my betting average, as I said, would have been much higher, I'm sure. But also, first of all, it would take me like three years to do four hundred experiments.And, uh, I didn't have to do them. Like the machines were just, uh, the price of electricity did that. So, and I got one improvement, uh, that in, uh, my, my-- Honestly, when I was starting that experiment, my thinking was to go and show that, “Hey, Andre, maybe you just don't know how to optimize.” And I was super smart because in, in my pro-problem, it was optimized for many years, and it was like fully improved.Uh, and I didn't expect it, you know, auto research to find anything at all. Yet it did. So instead of making fun of Andre, I ended up, uh, a big, big supporter. Yeah, that's exactly the tweet. Yes.[00:35:10] swyx: You and Toby really, really go back and forth on-online a lot, which is really funny. Uh, think of it as, as an eval for the optimalness of the code it's running on.Uh, it's almost like it reminds me of like a Kolmogorov complexity thing, but, uh, I guess it's-- there's some optimal thing that you're trying to sort of reduce down to, I guess. Um, and so, so you, you, you know, you should congratulate yourself that you had, uh, you know, uh, ninety-nine percent, uh, optimality.[00:35:36] Mikhail Parakhin: Exactly, yeah. I think Andre really deserves a lot of credit for popularizing this approach. This is, uh, this is incredibly, I think, powerful and cool and You know, the, uh, even him, him just mentioning it led to a lot of gains in a lot of places in the industry, so we should be thankful.[00:35:56] swyx: Yeah. I think he also has a just...I don't know what it is. Like, um, you know, it, it is a simple self-contained project that people can take and apply to other things, which is, is, is one thing, but also just the name. Just like somehow no one, no one managed to call their thing auto research. It's just naming things is very important. I think that that is mostly, uh, our coverage of Tango and, and, uh, Tangents.I think obviously, you know, there's a lot of, uh, ML infra at, at Shopify that people can, uh, dive into. We're about to go into SimGym, but before I do that, any, any other sort of broader comments around this whole effort? Like where is it, where is it leading to?[00:36:36] Mikhail Parakhin: As a segue to SimGym, like all those things start composing strongly.And, uh, you could see a huge unlock when you can look at each one of the tools and, and you see, oh, they're extremely useful. Uh, Tango is useful by itself. Auto Research is useful by itself. SimGym is useful by itself. If you combine all three, you create like synergetic effect. I think that's why we wanted to even, uh, cover them today is because this is something that if you go back even, you know, five years ago, would've been unthinkable.Uh, replicating that, uh, would, would be either incredibly costly or impossible, right? With probably thousands of people are required.[00:37:20] swyx: Well, we have serverless human, uh, serverless intelligence, right? Like, uh, so yes, you do have thousands of hu-- of, of intelligences, not just, not humans. And that's, that's close enough, right?Even if they're not AGI, they're, they're close enough to do the, the task that you need them to do. And, and, you know, that's, there's plenty for, for a lot of routine work, knowledge work. Okay, let's get into SimGym. Um, this is one of those things I, I was surprised to see actually it's apparently your, uh, one of your most popular launches, and I think something that, uh, I think Sim AI, I think Yunjun Park, who did the Smallville thing, there's a very small cottage industry of people trying to do like the simulate customer thing.I think a lot of people maybe don't super trust this yet because they're like, well, obviously they would just do what you prompt them to do, right? But maybe just think, uh, tell us about the sort of inspiration or origin story.[00:38:10] Mikhail Parakhin: That's exactly actually the thing I wanted to cover, because if you don't have the historical data, all you can do is prompt a-agents in a vacuum, and they will do exactly what you prompt them to do.In fact, when I first proposed it, and this is a bit of, um, my brainchild initially, if I, I can boast, even Toby said like, “But wouldn't they, they just repeat what, what you tell them?” And, uh, but I'm like, “Yes, except Shopify has decades of history of how people made changes and what there is, uh, there, what it resulted in terms of sales.”So now what we can do is we can-- we have this... It's not, it's a noisy data. There's a small, usually websites, uh, you know, like things, things are never in isolation. It's almost never AB experiment. It's always AA experiment when there's has two meanings, but basically, you know, in different time you run two different things.But if you aggregate in general, uh, like everything together, and you apply, uh, denoising and collaborative filtering like approach, you can extract a very clear signal. And then you can optimize your agents. And that's why it took so long. It took almost a year of that optimization of just us sitting and fiddling, and, and we had this internal goals of correlation of hitting-- internal goal was to hit zero point seven correlation with, uh, add to cart events, for example.Like that, that if we run real AB test experiment, that it should, it should go and, and rep-uh, replicate, uh, same sort of success that, that humans had or lack thereof. And it, it took forever, and I don't think that's easily replicatable because, uh, like who else would have that data? You have to have this historic, you know, decades, uh, worth of data.And now, now the, like the other thing you need is in-infrastructure and the scale, right? Because, uh, w- again, what we found, uh, stat sig results, you need to run a lot of simulations, a lot of agents, and, and it's-- Those are expensive things. Like you're, you're making actions in the browser because you want a real friction.You want to, to be able to get the image like of what humans will see because you wanna, uh, detect effects like, “Hey, if I make my images larger, will I have more sales or l- uh, fewer sales?” And like usually people's intuition here, by the way, is that I increase my images, I will have more because they look nicer.You know, designers all look sparse and big images. Like usually your sales tank, right? But, but, uh, you know, from HTML, all the characters look the same only the, the size tag looks different, right? So it's very hard. So you have to take visual information, you have to run this in simulated browser environment on the big farm and, and of course, you have to have, uh, like very, very expensive model, good model with multi-model model.So all this it's-- is what's taken so long and, uh, to share my personal fail a little bit there, Sean, is like, you know, we always had this bias to-- for like large company bias. You know, we always, uh, whenever you-- we do, we're like, “Hey, we'll run an experiment,” right? We make, make a change, and we will run an experiment and then, uh, see, uh, see which one's better or like, “No, this is worse,” and most of them are worse, so you discard it and keep iterating, hill climbing.And we're like, “Oh, like smaller merchants, they cannot get stat sig results. They cannot really run experiments simply because, you know, in a week there would be not enough data for them.” So we thought from this perspective. What we didn't realize is that most people don't have A and B, they just have one thing, and they need suggestions of What A and B should be.So, uh, we first build this, hey, we run simulation on two separate teams and, and, uh, say, “Hey, which one is better?” We then morphed it into, and very recently just released it, when you have just your site, your theme, we run over it and we say, “Hey, here's what predicted values of, of, uh, uh, conversions are, and here's how we think you should modify it to increase your conversions.”And then circling back to what you started with, the proof is in the pudding. Like, if we are not correlating with reality, like, people will not be using it. And, uh, thankfully, we see literally every day more users than the previous day. So, so right now, uh, right now- It's working. Yeah. I'm-- Right now my problem is how to pay for it all because the so our major thing is how to optimize the LLMs, do distillation, how to run the headless browsers, uh, and handful browsers, uh, uh, cheaper so that we can accommodate the increase in traffic.[00:42:47] swyx: Yeah. I, I understand that you, uh, you published a lot of technical detail at GTC, so I was just gonna bring it up a little bit. I think s- was this in, in con-conjunction with some kind of GTC presentation? Or something like that, right?[00:42:59] Mikhail Parakhin: Well, we, yeah, we, we did it in several place, but yeah, we had the engineering- Yeahblog, uh, as well. Yeah.[00:43:05] swyx: Yeah. So you're running, uh, GPT OSS. Uh,[00:43:08] Mikhail Parakhin: the, this is an older version. You know, now we run multimodal model. But yeah- Yeah ... GPT OSS, we still run GPT OSS as well for[00:43:15] swyx: And then you have the VMs, and you also have browser-based. I really like this one where it you said, “It violates almost every assumption that standard LLM serving is designed for.”And then you had like, basically orders of magnitude differences between everything.[00:43:29] Mikhail Parakhin: Exactly. Which is, which, uh, which was, you know, a bit of a challenge to implement, like when, like even simple things. Uh, be- since it violates all the assumptions, for example, multi-instance GPUs, like MIGs don't work as well.But we needed, uh, to get MIG to work because, ‘cause otherwise it's way too expensive. And so we had to deal with the, yeah, with, uh, lots of infrastructure and, and, uh, work with, uh, uh, Fireworks and CentML, uh, you know, to help with optimizations and browser-based, as you mentioned. Yeah, like, takes a village.[00:44:04] swyx: Okay. So there's a lot of like, I guess, experimentation in the infrastructure so far, and you've published more or less what you have here. I guess I'm, I'm less familiar with CentML. I, I don't do, uh, that much work in this, this part of the stack. But why was it the sort of preferred instance platform?[00:44:22] Mikhail Parakhin: There are really three probably top companies. There used to be, uh, uh- Three top companies, uh, at least I was aware of that did, uh, LM optimization. You know, together Fireworks and Santa ML, not necessarily in that order. Santa ML recently got acquired by NVIDIA. Uh, what they did is if you have a model and you want to optimize it to a specific prof-- uh, profile of usage, uh, they would go and do it.And, uh, we work with, with those companies, uh, this was work particularly in with Santa ML and NVIDIA to get them the best possible results out of it. And, and sometimes you, you have to retune depending on, like sometimes you want the maximum throughput, sometimes you want minimal latency, sometimes you want like the cheapest, right?And, yeah, or some combination. And so yeah, these are people who would come and help you.[00:45:14] swyx: I see. I see. Yeah, yeah. I'm familiar with these people for the LLM, you know, autoregressive stack. But the other interesting category of these optimizers is also the diffusion people, whereas like Fel and, you know, uh, Pruna recently has come up a lot as well, which I think is like really underappreciated, uh, at least by myself, because I, I thought, oh, all the workload would be LLMs, but actually there's a lot of diffusion as well.[00:45:38] Mikhail Parakhin: Exactly.[00:45:38] swyx: There's a lot here, so I, I, I... it's, it's, uh, it's, it's, it's hard to cover. But I, I do think like people underappreciate the importance of customer simulation, basically. I think this is something that I'm candidly still getting to terms with. Uh, you know, uh, you also-- your team also like prepared this, like, really nice diagram.Uh, I, I assume this is AI generated.[00:46:00] Mikhail Parakhin: Yeah, it looks-[00:46:01] swyx: Maybe it's not.[00:46:01] Mikhail Parakhin: Yeah, it looks, uh, Gemini-ish. Yeah, but, uh, uh, honestly, I, I don't know where, where the hell they generated. It looks, look, uh, looks like it's, uh, Google. But the interesting part, John, that, that, uh, we haven't covered, but I, I wanted to mention is if your store had previous customers, rather than it's a new store, you're like new merchant just launching things, it helps tremendously in just correlation and forecast.Yeah, we take your previous, uh, customer's behavior, and we create agents that replicate those specific distribution of, of customers that you get, and then we a- we apply those to your changes, and then that, that raised raw, you know, the re-- uh, just correlation with the add to cart events or to-- with conversion or whatever it, it, it may be, uh, quite dramatically.So, uh, replicating humans in general seems like an interesting, cool challenge.[00:46:58] swyx: As a shareholder, I think this is the-- like if people are Shopify shareholders, they should really deeply understand this because this is basically the moat. The, the more you use Shopify, the more it will just automatically improve, right?Like you're, you're doing the job for them.[00:47:13] Mikhail Parakhin: Yeah, that's what we started with. Like, uh- ... uh, otherwise, if you're just a startup, I wouldn't do it if, uh, you know, if it was my startup because Without the data, it, yeah, as, as you said, it's, it's exactly the case that, uh, whatever you say in prompt, that's, that's what the agents will be doing.[00:47:30] swyx: The statistician in me wants to like really satisfy the sort of, um, statistical intuition, I guess. Um, to me it's kind of, uh, the, the word that comes to mind is, um, ergodicity. Uh, so let's say a, a customer takes this path, customer takes this path, customer takes this path, right? Um, the... In my mind, the way I explain it is like, okay, here, here's the ninety-five percentile, here's the five percentile, and here's the median, right?Um, but to me, what SimGym is potentially doing is that it can, uh, modify... It can sort of model the sort of in-between sort of journeys as well, that, that maybe are dependent on the previous states. This may be like a very RL-type conclusion where like basically the summary statistics, if you only did naive AB testing, you only have the, the statistics at, at, at a certain point, and you only judge based on the sort of overall summary statistics.But here you can actually model trajectories. Does that make sense? Or-[00:48:31] Mikhail Parakhin: That makes total sense because like, well, that, that makes even more sense that maybe even you realize bec- because-[00:48:38] swyx: Okay. Please,[00:48:38] Mikhail Parakhin: please. Yes ... we do-- Yeah. The, so internally, uh, we have this system, we talked about it briefly once at NeurIPS.We have a huge HSTU-based system that models the whole companies, uh, and their possible paths. And like- Yeah ... what you are, what you are showing, like actually at any point of time, you can either model the user's behavior or you mo- can also think about, uh, the whole merchant as a company, as the entity that acts in the world.You can model that as well. And then you can do, can do counterfactuals. In your graph, like in your blue graph, uh, if you're... Imagine in the center there, uh, somewhere in the middle, you would have an intervention. I give that person a coupon, or I don't know, I send a personal thank you card, or give a discount in some- somewhere.And then you can, uh, then you can do forward rollouts from that counterfactual. So what would have happened with that intervention or without the intervention? And you can even ch- change where that intervention, uh, in time can happen, right? Like some- where, where in this journey. So we, we do this at the Shopify scale for our merchants, and then if we notice that something that they can be fixing, like there's a strong counterfactual, like we have Shopify policy, they basically get a notification like, “Hey, we think your...something is wrong with your-” I don't know, Canadian sales. Like, uh, it looks like it's misconfigured. Here's what you need to do. Or do you think like, uh, you have to set up this campaign with these parameters? And we do that at the buyer level to literally offer discounts or cashback or, or things to buyers.So this is-- I'm getting very excited. Like this is my sort of area of, uh, interest, I guess, and, and hobby. But being able to m-model something complex as human beings or companies and model counterfactuals on it, where you can have interventions in the future and optimize when to make intervention, what kind inter-- uh, what kind of intervention to make.It's such an unlock that previously was completely impossible. Like the-- it was, it was always dreamed of, but never... Like how would you even simulate it without LLMs or HTUs? I think very, very exciting times.[00:50:59] swyx: I just wanted to, uh, to maybe illustrate this. I, I'm not the best illustrator, but I, I am a conceptual statistics guy.And y-you know, you cannot just do this. Like this is a dimensionality AB test doesn't do, right? Like, uh, because it doesn't have the, the, the change over time, uh, stochastic nature, uh, and it doesn't have the sort of contextual like... Here's all the context to this point. Um, okay, cool. Um, that's SimGym.You're, you're gonna burn a lot of tokens on this thing. But you're, you're one of the, the only scale platforms in the world that can, uh, that can do this across a huge variety of workloads, right? I'm even curious on a sort of human, uh, research level of like, well, do, does retail behave d-differently from like clothing sales?D-does that behave differently from electronic sales? I, I don't know. I don't know what else you guys... The Kardashian shoppers, do they differ from like people who buy, uh, I don't know, cars and, uh, whatever.[00:51:55] Mikhail Parakhin: Well, very different, and different sensitivities and different modes of, uh, shopping and, and different levels of what's important.Now, to-totally, you can do aggregations at, uh, at a store level. You can do aggregations at a different, uh, category level. I don't know if, uh, you know, for our statisticians among us, I couldn't believe, but we-- recently we're looking at it, and we had to bring back, uh, CRPs, you know, Chinese restaurant process.It's a, like, way of aggregating and, like, naturally grow clustering. So across... Specifically to answer questions that, uh, like you were just posing on how, how if, if buyers behave different categories. And I'm like, “I haven't seen CRP since two thousand and one.” It's[00:52:37] swyx: so What? It's so- What is... No, I haven't, I haven't seen this.No. This is not in my training. Uh,[00:52:44] Mikhail Parakhin: but, but yeah, it, uh, uh, it actually, like the, the-- there was a very popular kind of theory, popular neurips HTML circles in early two thousands, uh, kind of nice. And now, now it has practical applications, uh- Yeah ... that we were resurrecting.[00:53:03] swyx: Yeah, amazing. Uh, I, I can see, I can see how this is like a, uh, a fun job for you where you get to apply all these things.Um, yeah, yeah, so super cool. Super cool. So, okay, so, so anyone who, who knows what CRPs are and has always wanted to use them at work, uh, they should, they should definitely join Shopify. Okay, so w-we have a lot and but I, I'm, I'm being mindful of the time. I, I do wanted to, to sort of cover some other things.Um, I-I'll give you a choice, UCP or Liquid?[00:53:30] Mikhail Parakhin: Liquid. I think, I think on UCP, you know, like UCP is very important for us and, and it just we are-- UCP, we have a structured, uh, discussions, and you can read about them, and we have, uh, blog posts, and we have a big release this week, in fact, like with our catalog.Oh,[00:53:46] swyx: okay.[00:53:46] Mikhail Parakhin: Uh, yeah,[00:53:46] swyx: but- Le-I mean, we, we can, we can discuss the, the, the release briefly because we'll release this after the-- after it's already announced so whatever. There's a catalog that you guys are doing?[00:53:55] Mikhail Parakhin: Yeah. So we are, we are- Okay ... we are bringing in capabilities of a whole, uh, Shopify catalog.Basically, you now you can search for products, you can do lookups by specific ID, you can do bulk lookups when you need to bring m-multiple products. You don't need to know in ad-in advance what you're trying to show or to sell or check out. Like, you can now, you can now have this decided at, at runtime, and this big area for investment for us for both non-personalized and personalized searches, trying to provide basically a win-window into whole universe of products that are being sold everywhere in the world.And Shopify is really not exactly, but almost like a super set of any-anything being sold. Now we are bringing it into UCP and, uh, and, uh, identity linking is another big thing for us, uh, so that you, you can use, uh, like Google or whatever, whatever identity you have, uh, they're minimizing friction.[00:54:56] swyx: Yeah. So[00:54:57] Mikhail Parakhin: yeah, big release for us.But Liquid AI of course we never talk about, and the problem might be more, more aligned with what we d-discussed previously on this chat.[00:55:07] swyx: Sure. The main thing that everyone understands about Liquid is that it is inspired by Worm, and I still don't know why. I'm curious on your explanation. I think you, you, uh, you can make things very approachable.And also I think like what is the potential of like the, the level of efficiency that you get out of Liquid?[00:55:23] Mikhail Parakhin: You- we all familiar with transformer architectures. And, uh, for the longest time, there was a competing architecture, it's called the state space models. So, so Sams, uh, you know, Chris, Chris Reyes, one of the pioneers and, and lots of startups, uh, trying to make those realities.They have, uh, significant benefits being main being, uh, being much faster and, uh, lower footprint and not quadratic in length, you know, sort of, uh, linear in, in, uh, in your context length. But with state space models- They never quite made it. Like they're used-- They have, uh, certain niches when they thrive, their hybrid architectures are useful, but they never quite made it.And liquid neural networks are, you can think of them as a next step, like, uh, sort of, uh, state-space model square. It's non-transformer architecture that's more complicated than sta-state space and really difficult to code if you-- if I'm being honest. But it's, um, very efficient. It's, uh, subline-- sub, uh, quadratic in, in length of your context.Uh, it's very compact way to represent things, and that's a liquid AI company. They... Their goal is to productize it, and very often you have this need, uh, when you need to have long context and small model, and you want to have low latency. Like in general, it's basically on par with transformers, and if you do hybrids with transformers, it's, it's even better.That's why we at Shopify, when we tried multiple and we constantly try multiple models, multiple companies, we found that for small, particularly with low latency applications, when you have low latency and/or if you need longer context lengths, liquid was the best. And so we still use the whole zoo and always like obviously test and use everything, uh, every open source model and, you know, it feels l

Mark Carney is a YouTuber now.Over the weekend the Prime Minister released the first episode of his new YouTube series Forward Guidance. It's a tightly scripted, “intimate” video designed to project calm authority while walking Canadians through an increasingly shaky relationship with the United States. It's part history lesson, part recycled campaign slogans, and highly reminiscent of FDR's fire side chats. What's the goal here? Carney frames Canada's economic relationship with the U.S. as a growing liability and seems to be preparing Canadians for tough times ahead. But is he just shifting the blame?It's crowd-finding time at Canadaland! Share this episode with three people or send them over to canadaland.com/share and we'll help them get started with a starter pack of some of our favourite episodes. Host: James NicholsonCredits: James Nicholson (Producer), Andrea Varsany (Producer), Kallan Lyons (Associate Producer and Fact Checking), Caleb Thompson (Mixing and Mastering), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor)Guest: Zain VeljiFurther reading: Forward Guidance with Prime Minister Mark CarneyCarney must make cuts, not only invest more: former Bank of Canada governor | Power & PoliticsCarney says U.S. ties have become ‘weaknesses' to correct | Power & PoliticsCarney's 'Canada Strong' blueprint enters new phase as Prime Minister doubles down on economic self-reliance 'Something we haven't seen from a Prime Minister before,' analyst on Carney's address to Canadians Fact-checking Mark Carney's housing and trade deal claims in video address to CanadiansWilliam Watson: Carney's 'forward guidance' is mainly 'backward spinning'Carney Sells Economic Independence in Strong Video Performance Rosie Barton on Carney's new videoZain Velji's podcast, The Strategists Alberta premier denies claims of UCP interference on electoral boundaries | CBC News #1184 Canada's Greatest Game (No, Not That One) – CANADALAND Sponsors:Fizz: Visit fizz.ca and activate a first plan using the referral code CAN40 to get 40$ off and 10GB of free data.Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at Shopify.caBetterHelp: Visit BetterHelp.com/canadaland today to get 10% off your first month. If you value this podcast, Support us! You'll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You'll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you'll be a part of the solution to Canada's journalism crisis, you'll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Like the episode? Let us know with a quick text![This podcast is best experienced on our YouTube channel, which includes pictures, names, titles, and subtitles for each of the people we interviewed.]Host Allison Gaillard introduces a different kind of Run Your Story podcast episode featuring Ainsley's Angels participants from the Crescent City Classic, including Greater New Orleans members and families who traveled from Texas.Interviews with riders, runners, parents, and volunteers highlight how the organization creates inclusion not only during races but also through post-race community and celebration.Guests describe enjoying the crowd, costumes, encouragement, and the Ainsley's Angels after-party, while sharing personal impacts such as increased community participation, friendships, and support for families of people with disabilities.John explains the chapter's growth, equipment (18 chariots and two trail chairs), and fundraising model for race entries.Allison encourages listeners to join or start a chapter, promotes the launch of Ainsley's Angels Southern Alabama with a first race on September 26, thanks supporters and partners, including UCP of Mobile and Gaillard Tech Services, and closes by urging others to help people “run their story.”Support the showFor more details on Run Your Story happenings, visit https://runyourstory.com/For web development or tech services, visit https://gaillardts.com/Go Run Your Story and take a piece of this story with you! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news on upcoming episodes. Support me on Patreon!Can't wait to hear Your Run Story!! Thank you to all of our Patreon supporters!Kristen RatherSteve TaylorMary TrufantSuzanne CristSuzanne ClarkAnna SzymanskiDave McDonaldKarla McInnisJames ContrattoJordan DuBoseCristy EvansSharonda ShulaNell GustavsonMeredith NationsAllyson SwannChris StrayhornKaren SaldivarStefan ClaytonRachael McRaeScott Thornhill

Forever Canadian founder and former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk says the UCP's democratic process around his referendum question is "a sham". He explains why alongside NDP deputy leader Rakhi Pancholi in our feature interview presented by Mercedes-Benz Edmonton West (26:00).  But first...what's going on with the teachers' court case against the Alberta government? Alberta Teachers Association president Jason Schilling (5:15) has an update and a response to Bill 25 - An Act to Remove Politics and Ideology from Classrooms. THIS EPISODE IS PRESENTED BY RapidEX FINANCIAL. THE CRYPTO WORLD MOVES FAST, BUT YOUR TRUST IN AN EXCHANGE SHOULDN'T BE A GAMBLE. RapidEX IS SECURE, FINTRAC-REGISTERED, AND NON-CUSTODIAL. SAVE 50% ON FEES ON ONLINE INTERAC E-TRANSFER TRADES WITH PROMO CODE RYAN50 AT https://rapidexfinancial.com/. MBEW: https://www.mercedes-benz-edmontonwest.ca/ FOREVER CANADIAN: https://www.forever-canadian.ca/en FOR ALBERTA FOR CANADA: https://foralbertaforcanada.ca/ 1:11:00 | Experience the Taste of Spring in Jasper with a lineup of events designed to captivate and inspire! Jespo's particularly excited about the Alberta Beer & Spirits Trail on May 1.  TASTE of SPRING in JASPER: https://www.jasper.travel/taste-of-spring/ 1:15:30 | We've got an update on Doug Ford's private jet. Real Talker Graham pushes back on Jespo's patio rant on April 21. Real Talkers chime in on the Live Chat powered by Park Power.  TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: talk@ryanjespersen.com  SAVE on INTERNET, ELECTRICITY, and NATURAL GAS: https://parkpower.ca/realtalk/ FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK, X, INSTAGRAM, and LINKEDIN: @realtalkrj & @ryanjespersen  JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: @ryanjespersen  REAL TALK MERCH: https://ryanjespersen.com/merch RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE PERKS - BECOME A REAL TALK PATRON: patreon.com/ryanjespersen THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! https://ryanjespersen.com/sponsors BOOK YOUR NEXT EVENT at EDMONTON CONVENTION CENTRE: https://www.edmontonconventioncentre.... The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Relay Communications Group Inc. or any affiliates.

In Alberta, Danielle Smith's government is putting nine questions to a province-wide referendum in October. These include proposals to restrict social services for some immigrants. In a recent article, Esri Ari and Bronwyn Bragg say that these questions fuel an ‘us versus them' divide in Alberta. We speak with Esri Ari.

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada's deep ties to the U.S. are now a liability (and they need fixing) as Donald Trump's tariffs keep workers in our auto, steel, and lumber sectors squarely in the crosshairs. Is this any different than the PM's message over the past year? We get into the strategy behind it with Supriya Dwivedi (3:45) in our feature interview presented by Mercedes-Benz Edmonton West.  THIS EPISODE IS PRESENTED BY OUR FRIENDS AT HANSEN DISTILLERY, THE FIRST DISTILLERY EVER TO RELEASE A SEVEN-YEAR AGED ALBERTA WHISKY. SHOP THEIR ALBERTA WHISKY LINEUP TODAY AT https://hansendistillery.com/. 37:15 | Was Pierre Poilievre a winner at UFC Winnipeg alongside Canadian fighter Mike Malott? Supriya takes us into the optics - good and bad - of the Conservative leader's very public appearance. We discuss Canada's next potential Olympic hosting bids, and allegations Alberta's UCP government is gerrymandering (1:04:20).  TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: talk@ryanjespersen.com MBEW: https://www.mercedes-benz-edmontonwest.ca/ 1:15:00 | Jespo and Johnny are all geared up for Game One of the Oilers' playoff run. We check in with Real Talkers in our Live Chat powered by Park Power.  SAVE on INTERNET, ELECTRICITY, and NATURAL GAS: https://parkpower.ca/realtalk 1:26:00 | Jespo's got a personal Positive Reflection after a very meaningful hockey game over the weekend. Positive Reflections is proudly presented by Solar by Kuby. GET A FREE SOLAR QUOTE TODAY: https://kuby.ca/ BOOK YOUR NEXT EVENT at EDMONTON CONVENTION CENTRE: https://www.edmontonconventioncentre.... FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK, X, INSTAGRAM, and LINKEDIN: @realtalkrj & @ryanjespersen  JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: @ryanjespersen  REAL TALK MERCH: https://ryanjespersen.com/merch RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE PERKS - BECOME A REAL TALK PATRON: patreon.com/ryanjespersen THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! https://ryanjespersen.com/sponsors The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Relay Communications Group Inc. or any affiliates.

Real Talkers KP, Chris, and Brenda are fired up over UCP gerrymandering allegations; Nathan's taking back a couple flags; and Roger calls Jespo to the carpet for his comment about adult autograph seekers. It's The Flamethrower presented by our amazing friends at the DQs of Northwest Edmonton and Sherwood Park! FIRE UP YOUR FLAMETHROWER: talk@ryanjespersen.com WHEN YOU VISIT THE DQs IN PALISADES, NAMAO, NEWCASTLE, WESTMOUNT, or BASELINE ROAD, BE SURE TO TELL 'EM REAL TALK SENT YOU! FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK, X, INSTAGRAM, and LINKEDIN: @realtalkrj & @ryanjespersen JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: @ryanjespersen REAL TALK MERCH: https://ryanjespersen.com/merch RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE PERKS - BECOME A REAL TALK PATRON: patreon.com/ryanjespersen THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! https://ryanjespersen.com/sponsors

We didn't see the "Daddy Carney" comments coming, but you never know what you're going to get around the Real Talk Round Table. Six months after their election wins, Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas and Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack (3:30) dig into infrastructure woes, electoral boundary changes, provincial relations, infill strategy, a potential Winter Olympics bid, high speed rail, Alberta separation, and more in our feature interview presented by Mercedes-Benz Edmonton West.   THIS EPISODE IS PRESENTED BY RapidEX FINANCIAL. THE CRYPTO WORLD MOVES FAST, BUT YOUR TRUST IN AN EXCHANGE SHOULDN'T BE A GAMBLE. RapidEX IS SECURE, FINTRAC-REGISTERED, AND NON-CUSTODIAL. SAVE 50% ON FEES ON ONLINE INTERAC E-TRANSFER TRADES WITH PROMO CODE RYAN50 AT https://rapidexfinancial.com/. MBEW: https://www.mercedes-benz-edmontonwest.ca/ TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: talk@ryanjespersen.com  1:08:00 | Does the new One Project, One Review agreement between Alberta and Ottawa - and Alberta's proposed 120-day approval legislation - actually make the province more competitive? Shauna Feth, president and CEO of Alberta Chambers of Commerce, has her Eye on Alberta Business.  REGISTER for the AB CHAMBERS AGM in MAY: https://www.abchamber.ca/event/2026-agm-and-policy-plenary-session-in-whitecourt/ 1:25:00 | Jespo tees up a big event he's hosting, including a tip for anybody getting dressed up in a tux. Real Talkers tell us how they feel about door-to-door sales in the Real Talk Live Chat powered by Park Power. SAVE on INTERNET, ELECTRICITY, and NATURAL GAS: https://parkpower.ca/realtalk 1:47:00 | Real Talkers KP, Chris, and Brenda are fired up over UCP gerrymandering allegations; Nathan's taking back a couple flags; and Roger calls Jespo to the carpet for his comment about adult autograph seekers. It's The Flamethrower presented by our amazing friends at the DQs of Northwest Edmonton and Sherwood Park!  FIRE UP YOUR FLAMETHROWER: talk@ryanjespersen.com  WHEN YOU VISIT THE DQs IN PALISADES, NAMAO, NEWCASTLE, WESTMOUNT, or BASELINE ROAD, BE SURE TO TELL 'EM REAL TALK SENT YOU!  BOOK YOUR NEXT EVENT at EDMONTON CONVENTION CENTRE: https://www.edmontonconventioncentre.... FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK, X, INSTAGRAM, and LINKEDIN: @realtalkrj & @ryanjespersen  JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: @ryanjespersen  REAL TALK MERCH: https://ryanjespersen.com/merch RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE PERKS - BECOME A REAL TALK PATRON: patreon.com/ryanjespersen THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! https://ryanjespersen.com/sponsors The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Relay Communications Group Inc. or any affiliates.