AI in NYC Show

In this episode, we sit down with Alexa Griffith, Senior Principal Software Engineer at Red Hat, to discuss what’s really happening behind the scenes of modern AI infrastructure. From her journey transitioning from computational chemistry to software engineering, to building AI systems at scale. We also dive into: • How AI systems handle scale, latency, and security • Why AI infrastructure matters...

In this episode, Boris Berenberg dives deep into the biggest challenges companies face when adopting AI—from security and compliance concerns to poor implementation strategies and organizational resistance. We discuss why nearly 90% of AI projects fail, how enterprise teams struggle with AI adoption, and what businesses need to do to successfully integrate AI into their workflows. Boris also share...

In this episode of AI and NYC, we dive into one of the biggest questions in tech today: Will AI agents replace traditional software? Joining us is Kenneth Auchenberg, Partner at Innovation Endeavors, where we unpack the future of software infrastructure, AI-powered workflows, and why the next decade may belong to agent-first systems. In this episode, we discuss: Why AI agents are changing how soft...

Ben Guo is a former early Stripe engineer, Brooklyn musician, and now the co-founder and CEO of Zo Computer. In this episode of AI in NYC, Rob May sits down with Ben to explore a refreshing vision for personal AI: how managed cloud computers and autonomous AI agents can give regular, everyday people the power to reclaim the internet from corporate tech giants. We dive deep into the cultural "scare...

Noah Obstfeld from Pitch Roast runs a venture capital and entrepreneur pitch session where professional comedians roast you while you pitch your startup. In this episode of AI in NYC, Rob May and guest co-host Stephen Messer dive into the brutal, vulnerable, and hilarious world of fundraising. We discuss why founders willingly subject their confidence to stand-up comics, what happens when a live p...

Guy Mounier is a four-time founder, investor, and the CEO of Boon AI. In this episode of AI in NYC, we explore one of the biggest questions facing technology today: how do we build trust in an AI-powered world? Our conversation spans entrepreneurship, AI, business, society, and the ideas behind Guy's newest initiative, The Trust Era Project. We discuss how AI is changing the way organizations make...

Dr. Taniya Mishra shares her remarkable journey from early machine learning research and accessibility-focused AI projects to building SureStart, a company dedicated to bringing AI fluency to students around the world. Together, they explore what it means to prepare the next generation for an AI-driven future—and why responsible AI, mentorship, creativity, and critical thinking matter more than ev...

In this episode of AI in NYC, Rob and Ryan are joined by Hilary Mason for a wide-ranging conversation on the evolution of AI in New York — from the early data science era to today’s generative AI landscape. The discussion dives into the early days of data science in New York, the rise of AGI hype in Silicon Valley, and why practical AI product design may matter more than chasing artificial general...

In this episode of AI in NYC, hosts Rob May (Co-Founder & CEO, Neurometric) and Ryan Eppley (Co-Founder & CEO, RootAccess) go deep on the biggest AI hardware and infrastructure stories of the week — no guest needed, just two hardware-obsessed founders breaking it all down. First up: the Cerebras IPO. Rob and Ryan give a technical but accessible breakdown of what makes the Cerebras wafer-sc...

In Episode 23 of AI in NYC, hosts Rob May, Anna Kirk, and Ryan Eppley sit down with Gabi Steele, co-founder and CEO of Preql AI, to tackle one of the most overlooked problems in the AI gold rush: your data foundation is probably broken, and that's why your AI agents aren't working. Gabi brings a unique perspective — she went from building data visualizations at the Washington Post during Trump's f...

Sponsor: BePresent - https://www.bepresentapp.com/ In this episode of AI in NYC, hosts Rob May, Ryan Eppley, and Anna Kirk sit down with David Justus, VP of Applied AI at Panasonic, to explore one of the most underappreciated frontiers in artificial intelligence: edge AI. David breaks down how Panasonic is deploying AI in internet-constrained environments — from in-flight entertainment systems on...

In Episode 21 of AI in NYC, Rob and Ryan sit down with Matthew Mirman, founder of Chat. Dev — a cloud hosting platform for coding agents that he describes as 'Heroku for Claude Code.' Matt walks us through how he went from building legal tech AI tools for personal injury lawyers to launching a platform where anyone can spin up a cloud VM, run a coding agent in YOLO mode, and even manage the whole...

In Episode 20 of AI in NYC, we welcome back our original guest — Charlie O'Donnell — to talk about his upcoming book 'Founder Unfriendly: What Investors Won't Tell You About Getting Funded.' Charlie has spent years in the NYC venture ecosystem helping founders navigate the opaque, often misleading world of fundraising, and this book is his attempt to arm the 99% of founders who aren't insiders wit...

In this episode of AI in NYC, Rob and Ryan sit down with Zachary Smith, co-founder of Datum, to explore why the foundational infrastructure of the internet needs a radical overhaul for the AI era. Zach — a lifelong New Yorker who traded a classical music career at Juilliard for the wild world of Linux web hosting in 2001 — brings a rare depth of experience spanning multiple companies, acquisitions...

What happens when AI meets your brain data? In Episode 18 of AI in NYC, Rob May and Anna Kirk sit down with Kristen Mathews, cyber/data/privacy partner at Cooley LLP with nearly 30 years of experience, who has carved out a fascinating niche at the intersection of privacy law and neurotechnology. Kristen breaks down what neurotech actually is — from invasive brain implants to consumer wearable head...

n Episode 17 of AI in NYC, hosts Rob May, Ryan Eppley, and Anna Kirk sit down with Alayna Kennedy — Director of AI Governance at MasterCard — to talk about what it actually looks like to turn high-minded AI principles into real, operational governance inside one of the world's largest financial companies. Alayna brings a rare combination of hands-on AI model development experience (she built fraud...

Albert Chun, founder of AI Circle, joins Rob, Ryan, and Anna to talk about building one of AI's most intentionally small communities — and why turning away a thousand applicants is a feature, not a bug. Albert shares how his background as an educator (he started schools in the Bay Area and South Bronx) shaped the way he thinks about training AI models at Invisible, and why the future of AI might b...

In this episode of AI in NYC, hosts Rob May (Neurometric) and Ryan Eppley (Root Access) dive deep into the intersection of human intimacy and artificial intelligence. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, they explore the startling statistic that 33% of Gen Z has engaged in romantic conversations with AI. Is technology a tool for building human connection, or a replacement for it? They also brea...

Dennis Mortensen, 20-year NYC entrepreneur and founder of x.ai (the AI scheduling assistant), joins Rob May and Ryan Eppley to share war stories from building one of the first real AI agents—years before LLMs existed. We dive into: → The insane complexity of AI scheduling (what does "soon" actually mean?) → Why perceived errors were harder to solve than real ones → ChatGPT's move into advertising—...

Caroline (Carrie) Hodge, CEO & Co-founder of Dimer Health, joins us to talk about building an AI-powered healthcare company that bridges the gap between hospital discharge and follow-up care. We dig into patient trust in AI, the launch of ChatGPT Health, why AI can't make clinical decisions (yet), and what happens when malpractice meets machine learning. Plus: Grok's image generator goes off t...

We're closing out 2025 by showcasing 6 incredible AI startups building right here in New York City — the applied AI capital of the world. Rob May and Ryan Eppley sit down with founders solving real problems across legal tech, elder safety, AI security, compliance automation, manufacturing intelligence, and AI-powered SEO. 🎯 STARTUPS FEATURED: *CounselPro - Ian O'Brien* AI-powered forensic account...

Jason Hiner, Editor-in-Chief of The Deep View, joins AI In NYC hosts Rob May and Ryan Eppley to break down the biggest AI stories of 2025; from DeepSeek's January shockwave to Google's stunning November comeback with Gemini 3. MAJOR MOMENTS WE COVER: DeepSeek's China Breakthrough - How they trained frontier models on a fraction of resources and changed the efficiency conversation forever OpenAI's...

In Episode 10, we sit down with Doug O’Laughlin, President of SemiAnalysis and author of Fabricated Knowledge, to break down the truth behind GPUs, the semiconductor supply chain, and the massive power demands coming with AI’s next phase. From the behind-the-scenes AMD exposé that forced a turnaround, to why Nvidia’s GPU dominance is not just about specs, to how fragile the global chip ecosystem r...

In this episode: Rob May and Anna Kirk sit down with Ben Coleman, founder & CEO of RealityDefender, to talk about the future of deepfakes, misinformation, detection tech, and why New York might actually be the best place to build applied AI. We cover the moment Ben realized deepfakes were going to become a world-scale problem, what it takes to stay ahead of AI-generated media, the shifting inv...

Why Nonprofits Need AI Now — With Jenni Warren & Jake Porway of Decoded Futures In Episode 8 of AI in NYC, hosts Rob May (CEO & Co-founder, Neurometric) and Ryan Eppley (CEO & Co-founder, Root Access) sit down with Jenni Warren and Jake Porway from Decoded Futures — a Tech:NYC Foundation initiative powered by Robin Hood and Google. Jenni, a Program Director with 15+ years of experience...