Living in the Messy Middle + Hype fatigue + What is an Agent again?

Healthcare + AI + Just the Right Amount of Cheese

Last week was a full week. Like, genuinely full: mayors, panels, happy hours, and a revelation about cheese portions. Megan and Nicole are back to unpack a stretch that somehow included a civic tech incubation lab with the City of Portland and Oregon State University, a sold-out healthcare panel that had people fired up enough to walk out (we mean that as a compliment), and a happy hour collaboration with Prosper Portland that brought knife makers and violin professors into the same room to talk AI. The healthcare conversation hit different: featuring Janet Johnson from the AI Governance Group, cancer patient and AI power-user Burt Rosen, and pediatrician Dr. Arpi Chalian, the panel dove into the real, messy, genuinely unresolved questions around AI in medicine. Along the way: 🏙️ How a civic incubation lab at Big Pink is setting the stage for Portland Startup Week's hackathon in May 🩺 The "three-legged stool" model: you, your doctor, and your AI 🧬 N=1 medicine vs. population-level care — and why Burt cares most about one of those ⚖️ The uncomfortable space between AI's promise in healthcare and the very real risks of getting it wrong 🧀 The just-right amount of cheese (no, really — it was a breakthrough) Plus: the mayor shakes hands and cleans up trash, a Nighthawk connection that somehow ties into the panel, and Nicole finally nailing the snack situation after years of cheese surplus. Related links: * Janet Johnson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetleejohnson/] * Burt Rosen [https://www.linkedin.com/in/burtrosen/] * Dr. Arpi Chalian [https://www.linkedin.com/in/arpichalianmd/] * Oregon State University AI Week [https://ai.oregonstate.edu/ai-week-2026] * Prosper Portland [https://prosperportland.us/] * Upstart Collective [https://www.upstartcollective.org/] * Civic Incubation Lab [https://events.oregonstate.edu/event/incubation-lab-kick-off] * AI Portland Calendar of Events [https://www.aipdx.info/calendar]

Film Premieres + Figma Friends + A Really Cool Redemption Arc

It's been a week! A really, genuinely cool one: premieres, packed rooms, a hot tub time machine reference, and one very satisfying redemption story. Megan and Nicole are back to recap a stretch of AI Portland events that somehow all landed in the same seven days: an advanced screening of *The AI Doc* (yes, the Sundance documentary — yes, Nicole left halfway through, no judgment), a sold-out design-focused collab with Friends of Figma where Alex from Paramount Plus dug into Figma Make, and a triumphant return to the Silicon Forest Tech Summit stage. Along the way: 🎬 What *The AI Doc* gets right and why it's not a vacation watch 🎨 How a Paramount Plus design leader is actually (and honestly) using Figma Make 💡 Why showing > telling when it comes to getting your team on board with AI 🎤 The redemption arc we didn't plan to put in the podcast but absolutely had to 📅 What's coming up: healthcare panels, a civic hackathon, a scholarship, and more Plus: why Portland designers are a little hungry for events right now, a psychedelics mixer that accidentally captured some AI Portland attendees, and a $11,500 scholarship through Willamette University that you should absolutely go apply for. Related links: * The AI Doc and the Case Against Cynicism [https://substack.com/home/post/p-191407139] (Megan’s Substack article) * The AI Doc: Or I How I Became an Apocaloptimist [https://theaidocgetinvolved.com/] * Friends of Figma Portland [https://friends.figma.com/portland/] * The Willamette University MS in Data Science – AI Portland Scholarship [https://grad-apply.willamette.edu/register/?id=74126c74-ae40-48e8-b5ac-0e109197dde8] * Co-creAIt, an unconference about Human/AI collaboration [ https://luma.com/y84mpaa7] - Save 15% with Code AIPDX15% * AI Portland episode about 2025 tech summit [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qViJDD_M1GM)] * AI: Start Here — Scott Hanselman [https://isthischickenlocal.com/] Chapters:00:00 – N8N or Natan? Starting strong01:00 – Why we don't record our events (and what you get instead)03:30 – The AI Doc: apocaloptimists, empty chairs, and polar bears09:00 – What we took away from the film11:20 – Design night with Alex from Paramount Plus14:00 – The Figma Make workflow that actually works17:00 – Showing vs. telling: getting your team curious about AI19:30 – What Figma Make is (and isn't) good for right now22:00 – Willamette University scholarship announcement25:30 – Co-CreAIte conference + discount code27:30 – Nicole's redemption arc (we had to)32:00 – Silicon Forest Tech Summit: the sequel34:30 – Upcoming events

Living in the Messy Middle + Hype fatigue + What is an Agent again?

If you’ve been feeling a little gaslit by your AI tools lately—one minute brilliant, the next minute chaos—you’re not alone. In this episode, Megan and Nicole sit down with longtime friend-of-AI-Portland Nicolle Merrill to talk about the real state of AI in late 2025: the mandates, the messiness, the disillusionment, and why everyone secretly wishes AI would just manage their calendar already. Nicolle’s been in the conversational AI world since before generative AI was cool, and she brings the kind of clarity that only comes from talking to hundreds of teams who are all trying to navigate the same fog. Along the way: 🌀 Why “AI-first” mandates are breaking middle managers 🧹 What “AI workplace slop” is—and how to avoid producing it 🔍 The skills people _actually_ need before anyone starts talking about agents 🧩 Why “no-code” tools are still… code 📉 And why disillusionment might be the breath of fresh air we all needed Plus: The agent hype cycle and Nicolle’s case for starting small, asking better questions, and treating AI like the messy coworker it currently is, not the magical productivity elf the marketing pages promise. Related Links: - Boring AI [https://www.soboringai.com/] - Nicolle Merrill on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicollemerrill/] Chapters 00:00 – Baby carrots and near-anniversaries 01:16 – Who is Nicolle Merrill? 03:35 – The messy middle of organizational AI 07:41 – Mandates, pressure, and the illusion of expertise 11:49 – Disillusionment as a feature, not a bug 20:49 – Agents: what they are vs. what the marketing says 27:25 – AI literacy, data fluency, and responsible use 36:57 – Social norms, transparency, and the “workplace slop” era 43:43 – The chaos machine and the shiny-object spiral 47:19 – What we’re curious about heading into 2026 51:24 – How small teams can actually get started

Real-World AI: Trail Blazers Innovation + A Deep Dive Into MCP

If you ever hear someone yell “WHAT SUCKS ABOUT YOUR JOB?” at a meetup, there’s a good chance it’s us. In this episode, Megan and Nicole finally sit down after a long podcast break to debrief two big AI Portland events: an October session with David Long, VP of Digital and Innovation for the Portland Trail Blazers, and a very nerdy, very packed November deep dive into MCP (Model Context Protocol). Along the way, there’s a birthday, some early-morning chaos, and a few strong opinions about agents, hype, and where AI very much does not belong. They dig into how the Blazers are actually using AI (and when they deliberately don’t), why “what sucks about your job?” is a surprisingly powerful innovation question, and what MCP really is for the non-engineers in the back. Then they recap live demos from DevSwarm, shout out Radek from Keboola for the emergency hero fill-in, and talk about why good engineering fundamentals matter more than ever when you give the robots access to your codebase. Along the way: 🏀 How the Portland Trail Blazers are using AI to solve real problems, not invented ones 🧠 The Einstellung effect and why “this is just how we do it” is killing innovation 🛠️ MCP 101: what it is, why it matters, and why even non-devs were taking notes 🧩 DevSwarm’s demos: from Confluence specs to JIRA tickets to Figma-to-code flows 📏 Why human-in-the-loop, architecture, style guides, and documentation matter _more_ with AI, not less Plus: Stacklok’s token-saving magic for MCP integrations, the never-ending trough of disillusionment, and why 2025 still feels like “the year of trying to actually get productive with AI.” Related links: * Einstellung Effect [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstellung_effect] * Megan's ProFocus AI 2025 prediction [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/megannotarte_tech-oregonbusiness-ai-activity-7300669758125789185-Y4QO?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAAPrbUBKwM-6U3WY74egsVwfkmkm1ue05Y] * Nicole's ProFocus AI 2025 prediction [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/profocus_siliconforest-activity-7300643308047843331-Q9kl?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAAPrbUBKwM-6U3WY74egsVwfkmkm1ue05Y] Special thanks to our speakers: * David Long [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbTJfTm1pZ24zZkVtTDBwc01uclVDdDJrWnR0QXxBQ3Jtc0tubmhxM0FtdXZySkVqcHRXeG9fcGFMTXc5bUtvM0xWbG0xZU5wN0VqRi1oMUczN29CR3hDQk9JQXFuY3FXSHpyNWo5SXJJSURDanRKMHUtYU9DZXZ5YTdnS1JiM2dmODZEMW1Fd2JCMGh6OUpRdVBybw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fdavid-long-48350625%2F&v=Jg-GsadckLo] * Radek Tomasek [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa3ZnRjNKZ0V6MmFqaUFOa05wcDRxcm5JWC1iZ3xBQ3Jtc0tuYnN5MmwtZ3pZUkR2Z0tXOERzc0tWa294TWxkS1RLZE5HY0V2WTVBU2FYZ0tJaFl5YVF1MUJJSG03akVPZ2M1eDh5X0k3Z3V1MVg4RTJ2UnpVNVRhWXE2azVwSkZ0bFNreVBWTHN0VUlQci1UYzd2VQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fradektomasek%2F&v=Jg-GsadckLo] * Mike Biglan [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbllfbEtmeDB3X2s5Yi1OalltQjdxa240cHRUUXxBQ3Jtc0trMEl1cUZNSUQ2aXlldktVQ1k2ZVktZ1FpZ2pSOFdzWEd3bm9SUV9aTU5ZUEhOYkhKUG9UTnJlMzByNGtzUkVkT3NoZFBKNUEtR0F6dTNLa0hUSEZsT21uclRXLVhSWWstdmQyc1RkODdnMmVYVmtpUQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fbiglan%2F&v=Jg-GsadckLo] * Trevor Dilley [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbmRQdUlBZGpaNnduMWUtNzFRQm16dlFIa2xYZ3xBQ3Jtc0trMXZ6R2wwRW9HbzZzZkVfRlVobnpMc2kwZ3pFYjZNV01aTE9KSEtpZWpmbkFWVWxuMGFHc09HcFZlcTFNcjlkakpPWV90bGgtLXFwOVVod2V3a2d1RVVIMHQ1anRuMUJ0QUhIbnRGbkxvVFZvM3gtZw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Ftrevor-dilley-1122a61b%2F&v=Jg-GsadckLo] And to our event sponsors: * Apify [https://apify.com/] * Stacklok [https://stacklok.com/] | Token optimization tool [https://docs.stacklok.com/toolhive/tutorials/mcp-optimizer] * Keboola [https://www.keboola.com/] * AC Hotel [https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/pdxar-ac-hotel-portland-downtown-or/overview/] * Spork Bytes [https://www.sporkbytes.com/] Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Personal Reflections 02:50 AI Portland October Event Recap 04:02 Innovation in Organizations 10:54 AI Portland November Event Recap (MCP) 21:23 Closing Thoughts and Future Directions 25:48 Stacklok Token Optimization

Sandwich Math Is Hard + AI for Good + Small Groups, Big Impact

We had too many sandwiches. We had too few proper nights of sleep. But we had just the right amount of AI Portland energy. In this episode, Megan and Nicole debrief a jam-packed week featuring AI Launchpad Northwest and AI Portland's AI for Public Good meet up. They cover the chaos and success of organizing their first definitely-not-a-conference, from small group Q&As with local experts to the very real challenge of predicting catering. They also dig into highlights from speakers Jordan Plawner, Cassie Scyphers, and Dr. Richard Bruno - each bringing a different but equally powerful take on what responsible AI looks like in 2025. Along the way: 🥪 How AI Launchpad nearly became the Sandwich Crisis of 2025 🧠 Why Jordan says you only need to be three days ahead of your team 🚑 The life-saving power of AI in public health Plus: Big shoutouts to our sponsors (thank you forever), a wrap hangover, live music teasers, and the exact moment Megan realized she’d made it through the week: holding an ice cream cone at the end of a long week.