The Case for Merging Brains and AI to Save Humanity, w/ D. Scott Phoenix

The Case for Merging Brains and AI to Save Humanity, w/ D. Scott Phoenix

What if the only way to stay human in the age of AI is to become something more than human? In this episode of AI-Curious, we talk with D. Scott Phoenix, partner at 50 Years and co-founder of Vicarious, about one of the most provocative arguments in AI: we cannot stop AI, we cannot control AI, so humans may need to enhance themselves to stay at the center of civilization. Scott lays out the thesis behind his TED talk, including why he believes conventional AI guardrails may not be enough, why brain-computer interfaces could become essential, and how a future human-AI merger might reduce the gap between thought and machine intelligence. We also explore the risks and ethics of that future, from neural data privacy and regulation to inequality, cognitive liberty, and who should control the infrastructure that connects brains to AI. Along the way, we get into the stranger possibilities too: shared consciousness, communicating more deeply with loved ones or even animals, backing up the mind, and whether this kind of technology could eventually help humanity reach the stars. It is a big, uncomfortable, and fascinating conversation about AI, human enhancement, and what it might mean to remain human in a world of increasingly powerful machines. Guest: D. Scott Phoenix — Partner at 50 Years and co-founder of Vicarious Watch Scott’s TED talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C18aaP4lvUk [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C18aaP4lvUk] Follow AI-Curious on your favorite podcast platform: Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-curious-with-jeff-wilser/id1703130308]Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/70a9Xbhu5XQ47YOgVTE44Q?si=7cd5e03f4a0440ff]YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@jeffwilser]All Other Platforms [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2230097/follow] For anyone interested in Jeff’s AI Workshops for their company: Reach out directly at jeff@jeffwilser.com [jeff@jeffwilser.com]

The Missing Half of AI: Geospatial Intelligence, w/ John Lenahan

What if the most important part of AI is the part nobody talks about, not the chatbot, but the map underneath the world? In this episode of AI-Curious, we talk with John Lenahan, Head of Esri’s Global Commercial Services team, about geospatial AI, GIS, and why “where” may be the missing context in so much of today’s AI conversation. We explore how maps become far more powerful when they layer in infrastructure, weather, sensor data, supply chains, demographics, and risk, and how AI can help turn that complexity into faster, more actionable decisions. We also get into what this looks like in practice. We discuss the Baltimore bridge collapse and how responders were able to build an operational model of the wreckage in a day instead of spending weeks or months trying to recreate the scene. We look at how Raleigh is using spatial AI and computer vision to improve cyclist and pedestrian safety, how cities can rethink bus routes and permitting, and how companies can uncover risks they did not even realize they had, like suppliers concentrated in the same vulnerable region. This conversation also explores the bigger business case for spatial intelligence. We talk about why a pipeline is not just a line on a spreadsheet, how terrain and soil can change maintenance costs dramatically, and why AI gets much more useful when it understands the physical world instead of treating everything like abstract text. We also discuss the risks, from trust and transparency to keeping humans in the loop when real lives and real infrastructure are involved. Guest John Lenahan — Head of Esri’s Global Commercial Services team Don’t forget to check out Esri [https://www.esri.com/]! Follow AI-Curious on your favorite podcast platform: Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-curious-with-jeff-wilser/id1703130308]Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/70a9Xbhu5XQ47YOgVTE44Q?si=7cd5e03f4a0440ff]YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@jeffwilser]All Other Platforms [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2230097/follow] For anyone interested in Jeff’s AI Workshops for their company: Reach out directly at jeff@jeffwilser.com [jeff@jeffwilser.com]

Inside the Real Bleeding Edge of AI Workflows, w/ Elijah Spencer

What does the bleeding edge of AI actually look like inside a small team, before the big labs turn it into a polished product? In this episode of AI-Curious, we talk with Elijah Spencer, Chief of Staff at Miden, about the practical workflows power users are building right now with AI coding tools, research agents, and custom automation. We explore how Elijah uses tools like Claude Code, Codex, and third-party harnesses to move from idea to MVP fast, build internal apps for real business problems, and create agentic workflows for research, social listening, and outreach. We also get into a bigger question: who is really at the frontier of AI right now? Not just the CEOs talking about transformation from 30,000 feet, but the practitioners inside teams who are quietly figuring out what these systems can actually do. From a startup finance dashboard built in a week, to a research agent that briefs him every morning, to a workflow that can surface breaking developments and help a team respond in hours instead of days, this conversation is a grounded look at how AI is changing day-to-day work. Along the way, we talk about context management, memory files, Slack bots, agentic development, and why Elijah thinks the next generation of companies may be built more like Rick Rubin makes albums: not by touching every knob directly, but by directing the system and the people around it with taste and intent. Guest Elijah Spencer — Chief of Staff, Miden Follow AI-Curious on your favorite podcast platform: Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-curious-with-jeff-wilser/id1703130308]Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/70a9Xbhu5XQ47YOgVTE44Q?si=7cd5e03f4a0440ff]YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@jeffwilser]All Other Platforms [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2230097/follow] For anyone interested in Jeff’s AI Workshops for their company: Reach out directly at jeff@jeffwilser.com [jeff@jeffwilser.com]

How AI Agents Could Change Shopping Forever, w/ Chi Zhang

What happens when your next customer is not a person, but an AI agent shopping on their behalf? The way we buy things online may be about to change a lot faster than most people realize. In this episode of AI-Curious, we talk with Chi Zhang, cofounder and CEO of Kite, about agentic commerce and the infrastructure that could make AI agents true economic actors instead of just helpful assistants. We explore what it means to let an agent not only research flights, groceries, APIs, or consumer goods, but actually complete the transaction safely. Along the way, we unpack why Chi describes Kite as the “Stripe for agents,” and why this shift could force businesses to rethink who they are really selling to. We also dig into the hard part: trust. If an agent is going to spend money on your behalf, how does a merchant know that your agent is legitimate, authorized, and not a scam wearing your face? We get into the identity, verification, authorization, privacy, and infrastructure layers that make agentic payments possible, and why those pieces matter just as much as the agents themselves. This conversation also looks at why stablecoins and programmable money may be especially well suited to this future, particularly for micropayments, API access, and machine-to-machine commerce where traditional card rails are too expensive or clunky. More broadly, we talk about what happens when AI agents start doing more of the comparison shopping, checkout, and transaction work that humans used to do themselves. Guest Chi Zhang — Cofounder and CEO, Kite Check out Kite AI [https://gokite.ai] Follow AI-Curious on your favorite podcast platform: Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-curious-with-jeff-wilser/id1703130308]Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/70a9Xbhu5XQ47YOgVTE44Q?si=7cd5e03f4a0440ff]YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@jeffwilser]All Other Platforms [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2230097/follow] For anyone interested in Jeff’s AI Workshops for their company: Reach out directly at jeff@jeffwilser.com [jeff@jeffwilser.com]

A Master Class in Vibe Coding: How Mojo Agentic AI Hit $30 Million With a Team of One

In a year when the frontier AI labs are spending tens of billions on training runs and scaling their teams into the thousands, one of 2026's fastest-growing agentic AI companies has exactly one employee. His name is Arthur Vandelay. His company is Mojo Agentic AI. And his revenue, with zero outside funding and a Fortune 100 client roster, is on track to clear $30 million this year. In this episode of AI-Curious, Arthur walks us through how he did it — a master class in vibe coding, the agentic harness architecture he built from scratch, and the human-in-the-loop and governance disciplines that let a one-person shop sell credibly into the Fortune 100. We get into where the agentic AI hype is real and where it isn't, why the model is no longer the bottleneck, and what most enterprises are still getting wrong about putting autonomous agents into production. If you're a builder, an operator, or an executive trying to figure out where agents actually fit in your business, this is one of the most concrete glimpses we've gotten this year into what a working agentic AI company looks like at scale. Guest Arthur Vandelay — Founder and CEO, Mojo Agentic AI.