Future Around & Find Out

 Hey everyone. I've gotten so much interesting feedback on last week's Halloween episode featuring the anonymous CTO saying spooky things about AI and coding agents that I thought I'd share a quick solo voice memo style episode with you. The feedback ranges from people saying he's spot on about the insidious problems that AI coding agents create while others saying "he's holding it wrong." In othe...

AI coding assistants promise to write your code, speed up your sprint, and maybe even make engineers obsolete. But what if the people building with them every day see something very different? In this special Halloween edition of CRAFTED. — which also marks the show’s third anniversary! — a masked CTO shares what he can’t say publicly: that these tools are powerful, but insidious. In his view, cod...

Here’s a jaunty debrief from PopTech , a notoriously hard conference to describe, that always features obscenely talented entrepreneurs and changemakers. In this episode, Kwaku Aning, Sarah Rose Siskind, and I share some of the great stories and great vibes from this year's conference, including: FetusGPT , Sarah’s madcap experiment to train an AI on everything her soon-to-be-born baby is hearing...

A quick debrief from Climate Week / UN General Assembly week, including:  How seemingly normal everything felt, in spite of [...you know...] everything AI will destroy the climate? AI will solve climate change?  AI will kill us all? ( If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies ) A call for AI Red Lines The UN takes action on AI A plea to “stay in the game” (even though it's hard) Joining me from New York...

What’s up with “the MIT study” that claims 95% of all AI pilots fail? Did anyone actually read it beyond the headline? (Dan did—and he has thoughts.) Also: the good, the bad, and the quietly dystopian side of putting AI in kids’ classrooms. And… are robots really the thing Melania should be worrying about? That’s just some of what Kwaku Aning, return guest and founder of Retrofuturism, and I get i...

 Software is eating the world, right? We've all heard this phrase by now, but inventor and investor Pablos Holman has something important to add: “The world can't eat software.” That’s why Pablos focuses on “deep tech”, i.e. how to invent new solutions to real world problems like energy, water, waste, construction, and sanitation. Pablos says we’re still mostly using version 1.0 technology for the...

As AI models grow larger and more powerful, they promise incredible capabilities — but at what cost? Karen Hao is an AI journalist and her new book, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI , is a New York Times bestseller. We discuss whether the largest AI models are worth their hefty footprint: They consume massive amounts of electricity and water and Karen argues that smaller...

AI-generated voices aren’t just realistic — they’re changing how brands, creators, and agencies bring ideas to life. In this episode, Wondercraft co-founder Oskar Serrander demonstrates how their “Canva for audio” is unlocking rapid prototyping for high-quality audio ads, content, and storytelling. You’ll learn: How Wondercraft enables you to go from concept to creative in seconds Why when AI make...

Kevin Smith is building a totally new kind of podcast app.  Snipd is an AI-native podcast app and building it required a few mindset shifts.  First, what even is a podcast? The way Kevin sees it, podcasts are knowledge. So where most podcast players are, as Kevin calls them, "repurposed music players", Snipd is designed to help you learn. As people listen to episodes, they, or an AI, can save “sni...

What is a good money habit in 2025? And how do you actually help someone build one—without boring them, shaming them, or losing them in the first five seconds? Chief Product Officer Tim Hong shares how MoneyLion designs for emotion and creates content and products that inspire people to take action.  MoneyLion is a personal finance platform used by millions of mostly younger Americans who are just...

Fun news! The Webby Awards have honored CRAFTED. for the third year in a row as a top tech podcast. Thank you — yes, you! — for listening! This episode features the highlight reel we gave the Webbys. It features great moments from 2024 episodes, including (listed in the order mentioned):  Powering the World’s Hackathons | Brandon Kessler (Founder & CEO, DevPost) Asana’s Head of AI on the Profo...

On a rooftop at SXSW, fellow startup advisor and podcaster Rob Kenedi joins me as we discuss why:  AI models are becoming commodities… AI companies need to differentiate at the application layer, with brand, and by earning trust… B2B creators are all the rage Podcasts are so intimate and how video changes things We’re in the “fart app” era of AI… Enjoy this uncrafted CRAFTED.! And if you enjoy thi...

Linda Liukas is a programmer, children’s book author, and the creator of Hello Ruby , a whimsical series that teaches computing concepts through stories and play. She’s also the force behind a one-of-a-kind playground in Helsinki—designed to teach kids how computers work without them ever touching a screen. In this episode, Linda shares why, especially with the rise of AI and code-writing copilots...

Educator, innovator, super-connector, and conference champion Kwaku Aning and I have coffee and discuss a few things that struck us at SXSW, including: Why we’re in a “pre-mainframe” moment in quantum computing — and why you should prepare for what comes next Bioengineering: are we headed for a Westworld-style mix of human musculature and AI? Robot choreography, e.g. how to train a self-driving ca...

How do you build a system for turning wild ideas into world-changing innovations? Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots at X, The Moonshot Factory, has spent over 15 years leading Google’s audacious innovation lab—the birthplace of Waymo, Google Brain, and other breakthrough projects. In this special episode, recorded live in Austin at SXSW, Astro shares the playbook to create a moonshot factory.  Yo...

What if we could deliver supplies anywhere, no roads or runways needed? Elroy Air has built a really big drone. One that can carry 300 pounds of stuff 300 miles or more. And it takes off like a helicopter, but flies like a plane, meaning it can get in and out of all sorts of hard to reach places.  In this episode, we sit down with David Merrill, co-founder, executive chairman, and former CEO of El...

CRAFTED. host Dan Blumberg will be at SXSW this year. Will you? If so, please reach out! DM me on LinkedIn or go to crafted.fm where you can email me. Let's get a taco! — Software, hardware, and biotechnology are playing an increasingly transformative role in our mental health and wellness. On this episode of CRAFTED., recorded live on the “Next” stage at SXSW 2024, we discuss what investors look...

Software is eating the world, right? We've all heard this phrase by now, but inventor and investor Pablos Holman has something important to add: “The world can't eat software.” That’s why Pablos focuses on “deep tech”, i.e. how to invent new solutions to real world problems like energy, water, waste, construction, and sanitation. Pablos says we’re still mostly using version 1.0 technology for thes...

Deepfakes are getting easier and easier to make. So, how will we be able to believe that what we see and what we hear is real? And what can software makers do to help? Sam Gregory is an expert on deepfakes, AI, and trust. He advises governments and tech companies on how they can protect human rights and how we can preserve our shared reality.  Sam is the executive director of WITNESS, an organizat...

Accounting may not be the sexiest part of running a business, but according to Sasha Orloff, it’s the key to understanding your company’s financial health—and ultimately, its success. At his previous two startups, Sasha was frustrated that he didn’t have a real-time view into his company’s financial health. And he realized the problem wasn’t accounting – but accounting software. So, Sasha founded...

AI democratizes things. It's enabling designers to be developers, and developers to be designers… And in this episode, Aaron Walter and Eli Woolery explain how AI “changes the game” for designers.  As co-founders of Design Better, Aaron and Eli advise companies on how to incorporate AI into their design process. We’ll explore how AI can help designers explore a problem more thoroughly, as well as...

Amir Nathoo is reimagining the future of education by building products that put students at the center of their learning experience. As the Founder and CEO of Outschool, Amir has created a marketplace for remote, personalized, interest-based learning that’s challenging traditional K-12.  In this episode of CRAFTED., we explore how Amir founded and grew Outschool, including the 15x spike in usage...

Hilary Mason is a world-builder. She’s a serial entrepreneur, machine learning expert, and now, as the founder and CEO of Hidden Door, she’s creating immersive experiences where fans can interact with their favorite characters from books and movies.  The choose-your-own-adventures style games are an amazing blend of AI and human creativity — and Hilary is passionate about both:  “If I write a mani...

As AI models grow larger and more powerful, they promise incredible capabilities — but at what cost?  Karen Hao is a journalist and former engineer who writes about the impact of artificial intelligence on society for The Atlantic and other top publications.  On this episode of CRAFTED., we discuss whether the largest AI models are worth their hefty footprint: They consume massive amounts of elect...

Russ Somers has tripled his productivity by building a “GPTeam” of AI “employees.” In this episode, from Beyond the Prompt , the head of marketing for Quantified reveals how he’s done it, and how you can build your own virtual team to be more productive and creative.  Russ’s virtual team helps with tasks ranging from webinar content creation to specialized knowledge acquisition. Through personal a...