The Real World of AI: Use Cases from the Front Lines

5 - AI for Security, Security for AI: From Salesforce to HackerOne with Pawan Agarwal

How do we use AI for security while also ensuring security for AI? This dual challenge is defining the next era of cybersecurity. Pawan Agarwal, VP of AI at HackerOne and a veteran of Microsoft and Salesforce's AI platforms, joins Battery's Lior Mallul and Barak Schoster Goihman to discuss this new frontier. He explains how HackerOne is building "agentic pen testers" to supercharge human hackers - not replace them - and shares critical lessons from building and scaling AI infrastructure. (00:00) Intro (00:50) From Microsoft & Salesforce to HackerOne (06:21) AI and Humans (Not AI vs. Humans) (14:37) HackerOne’s 12-Year Data Advantage (18:26) Guardrails for Agentic Pen Testing (27:09) The 3-Layer AI Agent Tech Stack (34:56) Scaling Salesforce’s Apex Code LLM (41:13) AI’s Top Security Risks: Prompt Injection Follow Pawan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pawanagarwal2/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/pawanagarwal2/] Follow Barak on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barakschoster/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/barakschoster/] Follow Battery on LinkedIn: ⁠https://linkedin.com/company/battery-ventures/⁠ [https://linkedin.com/company/battery-ventures/%E2%81%A0] Find Battery on X: ⁠https://x.com/BatteryVentures⁠ [https://x.com/BatteryVentures%E2%81%A0] Follow Lior on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liormallul/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/liormallul/]

4 - Deloitte and Adaptive ML: Approaches to Enterprise AI with Anand Nimkar & ‏Julien Launay

Many enterprises are hitting a wall with AI. After deploying copilots and RAG-based chatbots, they're finding that the most valuable, complex processes-like flight rebooking or insurance claims-remain untouched, and true ROI is elusive. The solution? Moving from assistive AI to fully autonomous agents. But this requires specializing models to reliably handle complex, real-world actions, a task that frontier models often fail. Anand Nimkar (Partner at Deloitte's Applied AI Practice) and Julien Launay (Co-founder & CEO of Adaptive ML) are on the front lines of this challenge. They partner to deploy sophisticated AI systems for global enterprises, using reinforcement learning (RL) to teach models how to act safely and effectively within legacy IT environments. In this episode, they provide a blueprint for moving beyond endless pilots, using RL to create hyper-adapted models, and tackling the true challenges of enterprise automation - and much more. (00:00) Intro (05:03) The integrator + deep tech model (Deloitte & Adaptive) (10:27) Market status: Moving from POCs to production (14:56) Use Case: Automating an airline’s complex customer support (29:17) Use Case: A 100-million-call-a-year health insurer agent (38:40) Use Case: Why frontier models fail at EdTech (and how to fix it) (50:44) The case for smaller, specialised models vs. giant LLMs (57:13) Final advice: "Be more ambitious" Let’s stay connected! Find Battery on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/battery-ventures/⁠ [https://linkedin.com/company/battery-ventures/%E2%81%A0] Find Battery on X:⁠https://x.com/BatteryVentures⁠ [https://x.com/BatteryVentures%E2%81%A0] Follow Anand on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/animkar/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/animkar/] Follow Julien on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julienlaunay/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julienlaunay/] Follow Lior on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liormallul/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/liormallul/%E2%81%A0]

3 - The AI Agent OS Is Coming - Anthony Butler

Many companies are finding themselves stuck in the AI productivity paradox - employees use AI every day, but the business sees little tangible ROI. Anthony Butler believes the answer lies in the “AI Agent OS,” a system where autonomous agents manage entire business functions and turn AI’s potential into measurable results. A former IBM Distinguished Engineer and Chief Architect at the National Centre of AI (NCAI), Anthony is now VP at HUMAIN, where he helps develop secure, multilingual AI systems for government and enterprise use. In this episode, he lays out a practical roadmap for moving beyond endless pilots to real production value - and much more. In this episode, we unpack: (00:00) Intro (10:16) What is a full-stack AI company? (12:06) AI sovereignty for nations and enterprises (14:14) The AI productivity paradox explained (23:48) How AI agents create business ROI (26:35) Security risks of agentic AI systems (36:43) Why you should stop doing AI PoCs (38:30) Future of HR and AI agent management Follow Anthony on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/butleranthony/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/butleranthony/] Follow Lior on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/liormallul/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/liormallul/] Let’s stay connected! Find Battery on LinkedIn:https://linkedin.com/company/battery-ventures/ [https://linkedin.com/company/battery-ventures/]    Find Battery on X:https://x.com/BatteryVentures [https://x.com/BatteryVentures]

2 - Can One Employee Generate $10M ARR with a Swarm of AI Agents? Amos Bar-Joseph, CEO of Swan AI

In this episode, Lior sits down with Amos Bar-Joseph, co-founder and CEO of Swan AI, a two-time exited founder who is now building a radically different, AI-native company. Amos shares his vision for the “Autonomous Business”, an operating model designed to achieve an unprecedented $10M in ARR per employee, powered not by a traditional salesforce but by a sophisticated network of AI agents. He goes on to detail how Swan AI’s three-person team has already built a fully automated go-to-market engine that generated $1M in ARR in just nine weeks, powered by AI agents like “Shakespeare” (content creation), “The Observer” (lead intelligence), and “The Connector” (automated outreach).  Along the way, he also breaks down the critical distinction between simple automation and true autonomous agents — and why designing with human-in-the-loop and feedback mechanisms is key to unlocking the 100x version of your team. This conversation offers a look into the future of lean, hyper-efficient startups, where growth is driven not by headcount, but by intelligence.

1 - Beyond the Hype: How to Measure Real ROI from Artificial Intelligence - Vishnu Parimi, Freshworks

While most companies are stuck in AI proof-of-concepts (POCs), Freshworks has already deployed AI solutions to thousands of business customers. How did they do it? In the premiere episode, Lior hosts Vishnu Parimi, Former Head of AI Products at business-software company Freshworks and a former leader at Microsoft Azure and AWS. Vishnu pulls back the curtain on the strategies and architecture that allow Freshworks to turn the promise of AI into an operational reality that generates a real return on investment (ROI). Since recording this episode, Vishnu has joined Zendesk as its VP of Product. In this episode, you will discover: * Vishnu’s view that AI is completely transforming internal support for IT and HR teams. * The method that allows AI to learn and improve without needing massive datasets. * The exact metrics Freshworks uses to measure tangible ROI from automation. * What the "AI Assembly Line" is, and why infrastructure is just as crucial as the models. * When it's the right time to use AI, and when it's better to pass (with a real-world example). This is a must-listen episode for any manager, founder, or technologist who wants to move beyond the hype and understand how to make AI work in the real world.