The Deep Dive Lab

Ep 35: Why Most AI Projects Fail: The Human Adoption Problem || Monica Marquez

Monica has spent 20+ years leading talent and innovation at companies like Google, Goldman Sachs, EY, and Bank of America. Today she’s the founder of FlipWork, where she helps Fortune 500 companies reinvent how humans and AI work together. We talk about: • Why AI adoption is the biggest barrier to ROI• The shift from operators to orchestrators of AI agents• How to find your “zone of genius” and delegate the rest to AI• Why companies must redesign workflows, not just add AI tools• The rise of the “Agentic Human” Connect with Monica Marquez: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicamarquez/ More about Monica and her businesses: https://www.themonicamarquez.com/

Ep 34: The Silicon Valley Innovation Playbook || Victoria Mensch

Victoria is the founder and CEO of the Silicon Valley Executive Academy and has spent decades working inside the heart of the tech ecosystem. She explains the four core principles that drive innovation in Silicon Valley: • Ecosystem density• Risk tolerance• Bias toward action• Collaborative networks We also discuss how AI will reshape industries and why many companies are approaching AI the wrong way. Connect with Victoria Mensch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriamensch/ Learn more about Silicon Valley Executive Academy: https://svexecutive.academy/

Ep 33: News Is Broken, Can AI Fix the Truth? || Kira Shishkin

News today often feels less like information and more like noise. In this episode of The Deep Dive Lab, I sit down with Kira Shishkin, founder of informed.now, a startup rethinking how people consume news in an age of misinformation, clickbait, and attention overload. Instead of opinion-driven media, informed.now delivers a daily SMS summarizing the most important global events using primary sources and minimal commentary. We explore: • Why modern news media incentives create bias, sensationalism, and information overload • The difference between news reporting and news commentary • How AI can both worsen misinformation and help filter truth • Why the future of information may require AI-powered filters just to navigate the internet • The role of humans vs AI in journalism and knowledge creation Kira shares his vision for a new generation of readers who want to stay informed without being manipulated. If the internet is becoming unreadable, what does trustworthy information look like in the AI era? Listen to the full conversation to find out. Kira’s links • informed.now: https://www.informed.now [https://www.informed.now]• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirashishkin/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirashishkin/]

Ep 32: The Boring AI That Makes Millions || Myles Harrison

Myles Harrison, Principal at Praktikai and founder of Machine Learning Toronto (MLTO) joins the show to cut through the hype and share a pragmatic playbook for real-world AI. We unpack why the “boring” stuff (clean data, operational BI, and simple automation) often delivers far more value than flashy agent demos, how to manage change in large organizations, and when voice AI actually makes sense. In this episode you'll hear: • Why a consulting mindset makes for a different kind of founder. • Concrete, high-impact AI use cases for mid-market businesses. • Change management: it’s people, not tech. • Practical voice AI: transcription, admin automation, and guardrails. • What to stop chasing and what to build next. Links: Myles: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mylesharrison/

Ep 31: Don’t just take a survey (hidden truths uncovered through stories) || Andy Sitison

On this episode of The Deep Dive Lab I talk with Andy Sitison, CTO at Share More Stories, about one core question: how do we turn human stories and emotions into useful, trustworthy data? We cover: * How to prompt people so they actually tell meaningful stories (the “story journey”) * The logic of breaking a story into expressions and scoring emotions (joy, anxiety, belonging, and more) * A real project with Virginia Tourism: hearing Black travelers’ stories changed messaging, visitor experiences, and earned recognition * Practical risks: model accuracy, human-in-the-loop validation, cultural sensitivity, and detecting fake/generative submissions Why listen: if you create products, run marketing, or lead research, this episode will change how you think about “voice of the customer”, from checkboxes to human truth. Guest links: * Andy Sitison: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-sitison/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-sitison/] * https://www.virginia.org/plan-your-trip/black-travel/ [https://www.virginia.org/plan-your-trip/black-travel/] * https://sharemorestories.com/ [https://sharemorestories.com/]