Human and The Machine

AI adoption isn’t just about training people on ChatGPT or Claude. It’s about culture, mindset, and keeping humans at the center, especially when the world wants to automate everything. In this episode of Human and the Machine , Cien sits down with Minisha Goel, founder of Mindshift AI, TEDx speaker, and AI trainer who’s helped over 1,000 professionals rethink productivity. Together, they unpack w...

Why does venture funding still feel like an exclusive club and who’s paying the price? In this episode of Human and the Machine , I sit down with Hattie Willis: founder, community builder, and the driving force behind Guestworks and IfWeRaise. Hattie isn’t here to play by the old rules. She’s quietly redesigning how entrepreneurship is taught, funded, and made genuinely accessible, especially for...

Ben Keene has spent over 20 years building tribes, not just teams, from eco-tourism projects in Fiji to Rebel Book Club and AI climate startups. In this episode of Human in the Machine , we explore what it means to lead, learn, and connect in an age of intelligent systems and fractured attention. You’ll hear how Ben blends technology with intentionality, and why belonging might just be the infrast...

In the 1980s, Marc Porat imagined the “Pocket Crystal,” a beautiful, crystal-like device that lived in your pocket, whispered knowledge back to you, and made you feel more human. That idea helped seed the iPhone, Android, eBay, and the Apple Watch. But Marc didn’t stick around for the headlines. He moved into energy, climate, and now, AI agents and quantum tech. In this mind-expanding episode of H...

What happens when we stop trying to automate everything and start using AI to enhance what makes us human? Today on Human and the Machine, Cien sits down with Nat Choprasert, who is an AI influencer, consultant, and founder of Future AI Lab. They explore why smart automation isn't about replacing people, but empowering them. They cover: The biggest misconceptions businesses have about AI Why s...

AI is transforming business, but can it ever truly understand people? On today's episode of "Human and the Machine," host Cien Solon explores this pivotal question with Emmie Faust, founder of Female Founders Rise, a thriving community supporting 9,000+ female and non-binary entrepreneurs. Emmie shares candid insights about the role of AI in community building, genuine human connection, and the ch...

In this episode of Human and the Machine, I sit down with Reyhan Mericar, AI Architecture Specialist at Accenture and frontier thinker in LLMOps, AI strategy, and real-world implementation. He’s the guy Fortune 500s call when they’re serious about building agentic AI systems that work. We talk about the messy middle of AI adoption and why companies are restructuring, where the Chief AI Officer fit...

The age of intelligent machines is here, but in a world of avatars, automation, and algorithms, what does it mean to really connect? In this episode of Human and the Machine, I sit down with Ash Phillips, founder of Rebellious co, startup mentor to over 1,000 founders, and a true champion of the unreasonably ambitious. From building one of the UK’s most human-centered startup communities to mentor...

Intelligent machines aren’t just coming, they’re already here. And if you ask today’s guest, they aren’t just taking jobs; they might be taking over. In this episode of Human and the Machine , Cien sits down with Dr. Daniel Duma , an AI researcher, entrepreneur, an NLP researcher and entrepreneur, who’s shaping the future of automation, AI, and even longevity research . Daniel makes a bold claim:...

The age of intelligent machines is here, but it's raising one urgent question: Who gets left behind? In this episode of Human and the Machine , Cien sits down with Andy Ayim MBE , a visionary investor, culture builder, and advocate for diverse entrepreneurship. Andy has spent his career challenging systems that weren’t built for everyone, whether by backing underrepresented founders or reshaping h...

In this episode of Human and the Machine, Cien delves into the transformative world of AI in content creation with Sabrina Ramonov, a trailblazer in AI educational innovation. Sabrina shares her journey from founding Qurious, an AI startup that was acquired by Pega Systems, to launching Blotato.com, a platform designed to empower creators to scale their content using AI. Remarkably, she has grown...

In the first episode of Human & The Machine , host Cien Solon explores a reality we’ve long imagined but never truly prepared for…AI no longer just assists, it decides. We stand at a crossroads where machines can outthink us in certain domains, reshape industries overnight, and subtly influence the way we work, create, and even perceive the world. But as AI takes the wheel, a deeper question e...

The world is shifting at a pace we’ve never seen before. AI isn’t just assisting us anymore. It’s thinking, creating, and making decisions. Some call it the greatest opportunity in history. Others warn it’s the start of our own irrelevance. So where does that leave us? HUMAN AND THE MACHINE is the podcast where we confront the biggest questions shaping our future. We bring together AI experts, hum...