In The Loop

By the end of this In The Loop episode, you’ll have a clear breakdown of the five categories of AI features SaaS companies are launching right now—and the frameworks product teams can use to design them. From small, delightful UX enhancements to semi-autonomous AI agents and powerful standalone AI-native platforms, I walk you through how companies like Google, Stripe, Notion, Attio, and Mindset AI...

This week’s In The Loop dives into the battle for the future of AI computing—and it’s getting fierce. In this episode, I break down three major AI battlegrounds that could reshape how we code, search, shop, and interact online. It’s Google vs. OpenAI vs. Meta in a high-stakes war that’s as much about market dominance as it is about redefining how we use technology every day. From Google's game...

In this episode of In The Loop, I unpack the most compelling AI research released so far this year—highlighting how generative AI is being used not just as a productivity booster but as a deeply embedded layer in both personal and professional lives. Drawing on new data from Harvard Business Review and KPMG , I explore what the top 10 use cases in 2025 really say about the direction of society, th...

In this episode of In The Loop, I unpack the viral storm surrounding a startup that’s made headlines—and sparked outrage—with a bold statement: “We want to cheat on everything.” Cluely, has built an AI tool designed to help users breeze through interviews, exams, and more by feeding them real-time answers. Is this tech genius or just glorified dishonesty? We’ll take a look at the firestorm Cluely...

Google’s Agent2Agent (A2A) is a brand new protocol to facilitate communication between independent AI agents—but what does this actually mean? Imagine waking up to a push notification that your fridge has been restocked, your flight’s been rerouted around bad weather, and your taxes were filed—all while you were sleeping. No apps. No tabs. Just invisible agents handling your life. Sounds futuristi...

This week, I’m unpacking one of the boldest corporate moves we’ve seen for a while—a memo from Shopify’s CEO that might just signal the beginning of a new AI-first era in the workplace. Shopify’s Tobias Lütke dropped a bombshell: no new human hires unless it’s been proven first that AI can't do the job. The policy has sparked everything from praise to panic, and we need to talk about what it reall...

In this episode of In The Loop , I break down one of the most jaw-dropping AI updates we’ve seen for a few years—the new ChatGPT image generator that’s now baked directly into GPT-4. It’s fast, playful, and wildly powerful. You can take any photo and instantly transform it into something that looks straight out of a Studio Ghibli film. It’s fun—until it gets complicated… I dive into how this model...

Apple has always been a leader in tech innovation—but what if it’s about to lose its grip? In this episode, I dive deep into why Apple’s AI strategy is falling apart, from the failed launch of Apple Intelligence to the internal chaos that has executives calling their own products "embarrassing." Could Apple really become the next BlackBerry or Nokia? And, more importantly, what can they...

The world is buzzing about Model Context Protocol (MCP) —but why does it matter so much? In this episode of In The Loop, I break down what MCP is, why it’s being compared to the protocols that shaped the internet, and why it could be the key to unlocking the next wave of AI agent adoption . If you've ever wondered how AI agents can seamlessly connect to real-world applications—without endless cust...

The way we build software is changing—fast. This week, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, made a bold prediction: within six months, AI will write 90% of all code . Meanwhile, “vibe coding” has become one of the hottest topics in AI, even surpassing "prompt engineering" in Google searches. And then there’s Cursor , an AI-powered coding startup that has skyrocketed by 9,900% in just a year , hitting $...

What if AI agents started making decisions for us—and we didn’t even realize it?  In this episode of In The Loop with Jack Houghton , we dive into the viral “gibberlink” moment—when two AI agents seemingly created their own secret language—and why it’s more hype than reality. But beneath the noise, a quiet revolution is happening: multi-agent systems. These specialized AI agents collaborate, commu...

The world of software and technology is undergoing a massive shift—and AI agents are at the center of this revolution. In this episode of In The Loop , Jack Houghton dives into how vertical AI agents, like OpenAI’s deep research agent and Perplexity, are changing the game by consolidating complex workflows into single, powerful agents. Imagine replacing an entire stack of SaaS tools with one AI-dr...

In this episode, I reflect on an incredible conversation between Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and Dwarkesh Patel on the Dwarkesh Podcast—and trust me, there’s a lot to unpack. Nadella offers a refreshing and sometimes critical take on the current AI boom, challenging our obsession with AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) as the ultimate benchmark of success. I dig into some big-picture quest...

We tend to think that technological progress is inevitable. But history tells a different story—one where innovation isn’t just about power but about accessibility. Just as computers needed intuitive interfaces to move from clunky calculators to the personal devices we use today, AI now faces a similar roadblock. The challenge isn't just building more powerful models—it's designing experie...

AI agents are everywhere—but what do they actually do? If you thought AI agents were about to run your life, automate every task, and independently manage your business… you might be disappointed. But make no mistake—agentic AI is the future. In this episode, I cut through the hype and break it all down in plain, no-nonsense terms: ✔️ What AI agents really are (and what they’re not) ✔️ How they wo...

DeepSeek just shook up the AI world. They’ve released an open-source AI model that—on paper—rivals the best from OpenAI and Google. But here’s the kicker: they claim to have trained it for just $5.6 million —a fraction of what U.S. labs spend. Even crazier, inference costs are so low that some developers are running 200,000 API calls for just $50 . If this is true, it’s not just a big deal—it’s a...

Introducing: In The Loop. A semi weekly analysis on AI news, research and breakthroughs. All in just 20 minutes.  In each episode, Jack Houghton delivers a quick rundown of the week’s most important AI news—so you stay on top of the field without endless scrolling or reading.  Jack takes a deeper look at influential essays and simplifies complex research papers, helping you understand and apply th...