AI Ketchup 🍅 | Your Business's Secret Sauce

Elina Lesyk
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AI is your new hire. Learn how to train it. Join Elina, ex-AWS Cloud & AI Architect, as we crack open the playbooks of leaders who’ve slashed costs, automated workflows, and scaled revenue using AI. No jargon. No fluff. Just battle-tested tactics from: ✅ Founders who built 7-figure businesses with AI ✅ CEOs who automated 40% of operations (and kept their teams happy) ✅ Skeptics-turned-advocates surviving the AI learning curve A new episode biweekly if you hit a "Subscribe".

  1. Apr 30

    70 % deiner Kanzlei-Arbeit: Pflicht oder Gewohnheit?

    Was wäre, wenn nur 6 deiner Schnittstellen gesetzlich Pflicht sind – und alles andere nur Gewohnheit ist? Elina spricht mit Johannes Breuers (ehemals Wirtschaftsprüfer und Steuerberater bei Grant Thornton, ex-CFO SER Group/Doxis) über First Principles für Steuerkanzleien. Über das, was wirklich gesetzlich vorgeschrieben ist, was nur Gewohnheit ist — und warum 70 % deiner alltäglichen Arbeit gar nicht deine Arbeit sein müsste. ▸ "DATEV ist nicht Pflicht." ▸ "70 % Overhead in der Kanzlei ist eine valide Schätzung." ▸ "Ich bin Führungskraft, aber mache mich entbehrlich - und das ist genau das Ziel." ▸ "Liebe Steuerberater, seid selber schuld. Macht erstmal eure Hausaufgaben." ÜBER DEN GAST Johannes Breuers war 10 Jahre bei Grant Thornton als Wirtschaftsprüfer und Steuerberater tätig (Corporate Finance & Beratung) und 14 Jahre als CFO der SER Group / Doxis. Heute begleitet er Steuerkanzleien bei Innovations- und Disruptionsthemen. KAPITEL 00:29 Eröffnung: 70 % deiner Kanzlei-Arbeit - Pflicht oder Gewohnheit? 03:06 First Principles erklärt (Aristoteles, Musk, Grüne Wiese) 04:07 Die 6 gesetzlich verpflichtenden Schnittstellen 06:04 In der Tretmühle gefangen: Was Kanzleien zurückhält 06:55 DATEV ist nicht Pflicht: USA-Tech-Stack & Value Pricing 10:18 Wie fange ich an? Schmerzpunkte zuerst 12:24 70 % Overhead: eine valide Schätzung 16:18 „Ich mache mich entbehrlich" (Reinhard Sprenger) 20:06 In den USA tippt niemand Belege ab: Outsourcing & §203 StGB 24:46 Wissensmanagement: Die Kanzlei-Wikipedia 27:59 „Du drückst einfach auf Record - kein Hexenwerk" 31:10 First Principles in der Praxis: Stell dich neben dich selbst 33:13 wpstb.ai - Johannes' Paper LINKS & RESOURCEN ▸ https://wpstb.ai/ - Johannes' Webseite mit Paper zu First Principles für Kanzleien ▸ Reinhard Sprenger - Management-Bücher #Steuerberatung #Kanzlei #FirstPrinciples #AIKetchup

  2. Apr 15

    Checklisten sind keine Prozesse: Der ehrliche Weg zum Kanzlei-Verkauf | Julia Buhmann

    „Die eigene Kanzlei verkaufen? Du spinnst doch!“ Genau das musste sich Julia Buhmann, Managing Director von Crestivia GmbH, aus ihrem Umfeld ständig anhören, als sie sich entschied, ihre gut laufende Steuerkanzlei nach 16 Jahren zu verkaufen. Der zunehmende Bürokratie- und Dokumentationswahnsinn hielt sie immer mehr von dem ab, was sie eigentlich tun wollte: Unternehmen ganzheitlich und strategisch zu beraten. Heute führt sie erfolgreich die Crestivia GmbH und blickt mit einem objektiven Blick von außen auf die Steuerberater-Branche. In dieser Folge des AI Ketchup Podcast sprechen wir ungeschönt über ein Thema, das bei vielen Kanzlei-Inhabern hinter verschlossenen Türen extrem präsent ist, aber selten offen diskutiert wird: den Exit. In dieser Episode erfahren Sie: - Der wahre Kanzlei-Wert: Warum Checklisten keine echten Prozesse sind und wie fehlende Automatisierung den Kaufpreis einer Kanzlei massiv drückt. - Die harte Realität der Nachfolge: Warum Julias erster Verkaufsversuch scheiterte und wie sie letztendlich die perfekte Nachfolgerin fand. - Kein Private Equity: Warum sie sich bei der Übergabe ihres Lebenswerks ganz bewusst gegen PE-Investoren entschieden hat. - Die 2-Jahres-Regel: Welche konkreten Schritte Sie heute einleiten müssen, wenn Sie Ihre Kanzlei in 5 Jahren lukrativ und stressfrei übergeben wollen. Egal, ob Sie aktuell über einen Verkauf nachdenken, sich aus dem Tagesgeschäft befreien wollen oder Ihre Kanzlei einfach nur zukunftsfähig aufstellen möchten – diese Folge liefert tiefe Einblicke von jemandem, der den Prozess erfolgreich durchlaufen hat. Mehr über unseren Gast Julia Buhmann: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-buhmann-652653163/ Website: www.crestivia.com Mehr über Elina Lesyk: KI-Prozessoptimierung für Steuerkanzleien: https://tax.elinalesyk.com Elina auf LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elina-lesyk/ Kapitel: 01:49 Der Weg zur Selbstständigkeit und Kanzleiverkauf 06:41 Die Herausforderungen der Unternehmensnachfolge 10:45 Der Verkaufsprozess der Steuerkanzlei 16:04 Erfahrungen und Ergebnisse der Übergabe 17:01 Digitalisierung und ihre Bedeutung für den Verkauf 17:24 Herausforderungen der Digitalisierung in Steuerkanzleien 23:35 Prozessoptimierung und Automatisierung in der Steuerberatung 25:51 Veränderungen in der Steuerberatung der nächsten Jahre 28:16 Überlegungen zur Nachfolge und Kanzleiverkauf

  3. Mar 17

    KI-Check aus 150 Kanzleien, Digitalisierung vs. Automatisierung, Serverlos glücklich | Niklas Tober

    Digitalisierung ist das Fundament, aber die Automatisierung ist das Ziel. In dieser Folge spricht Elina Lesyk mit Niklas Tober, der als Kanzleimanager bereits über 150 Kanzleien begleitet hat. Wir klären die Frage: Wo liegen die Grenzen von DATEV und wie sieht ein echter KI-Workflow in einer modernen Steuerkanzlei aus? Highlights der Folge: - Die 150-Kanzleien-Erfahrung: Warum viele Kanzleien bei der Digitalisierung stecken bleiben und den Sprung zur Automatisierung verpassen. - DATEV vs. KI-Startups: Wann es sich lohnt auf den DATEV-Standard zu warten – und wann Drittanbieter (Tabula, FastDocs & Co.) unverzichtbar sind. - Schluss mit dem KI-Flickenteppich: Wie man eine sichere Azure-Cloud aufbaut, um ChatGPT, Claude und Perplexity effizient für das gesamte Team nutzbar zu machen. - Prognose 2029: Warum es in drei Jahren keine Kanzlei-Server mehr geben wird und wie sich die Rolle der Steuerfachangestellten verändert. Kapitelmarken: 00:00 – Intro & Die Rolle des Kanzleimanagers 04:15 – Helikopter-Beratung vs. 360°-Optimierung 08:30 – DMS-Workflows: Unabhängig vom Mandanten-Kanal 12:50 – Der DATEV-Spagat: Innovation vs. Standardisierung 18:20 – KI in der Buchhaltung: Belegprüfung am Point of Sale 24:10 – Die Kanzlei-KI auf Azure: Kosteneffizient & DSGVO-konform 30:00 – Die Vision 2029: Serverlos glücklich? Niklas auf LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niklas-tober-8256b91b9/

  4. Jan 19

    Das Ende der Fibu: Warum klassische Buchhaltung ausstirbt | Philipp Sterzinger

    „Diese Mandanten werden aussterben“ – Philipp Sterzinger findet klare Worte für den aktuellen Zustand der Steuerbranche. In dieser Episode des AI Ketchup Podcasts sprechen wir darüber, warum das klassische „Monatsende-Abarbeiten“ keine Zukunft mehr hat und warum es jetzt an der Zeit ist, als Kanzlei massiv in KI-Tools und neue Skills zu investieren.Philipp teilt seine „Secret Sauce“, wie er KI nicht nur theoretisch bespricht, sondern in seinen ausgebuchten Workshops direkt in die Praxis umsetzt – von lokaler KI auf dem Laptop bis hin zu asynchronen Lernmethoden. In dieser Folge erfährst du: - Der Status Quo der Branche: Warum Kanzleien ohne technologische Investition (ca. 10.000 € - 20.000 €) bald nicht mehr wettbewerbsfähig sind. - KI-Adoption in der Praxis: Warum Philipp nicht über KI redet, sondern sie live einbaut und wie ein „Reallabor Kanzlei“ aussieht. - DATEV & das Ökosystem: Ein Blick unter die Motorhaube der DATEV-Cloud und die Rolle von Drittanbietern. - Neues Lernen: Warum klassische Seminare ausgedient haben und wie „Microlearning“ sowie digitale Co-working Spaces (z.B. via MS Teams) den Kanzleialltag erleichtern. - Führung & Kultur: Wie man Mitarbeiter auf dem Weg zur Kanzlei 2030 wirklich mitnimmt, anstatt sie im Elfenbeinturm zu übergehen. Über Philipp Sterzinger: Philipp ist KI-Evangelist mit über 18 Jahren Erfahrung an der Schnittstelle von IT und Steuerwesen. Er hat eine Community von über 800 Steuerprofis aufgebaut und unterstützt Kanzleien dabei, durch Automatisierung und Digitalisierung wieder mehr Freude an der Arbeit zu gewinnen. Weiterführende Links & Community: Möchtest du tiefer in das Thema eintauchen und dich mit Gleichgesinnten vernetzen? Werde Teil der Community und lerne, wie du KI konkret in deinen Kanzleialltag integrierst: 👉 Tax KI-Community auf Skool: https://www.skool.com/tax-ki-community Hat dir diese Folge gefallen? Dann abonniere den AI Ketchup Podcast und teile diese Episode mit Kollegen, die den Sprung in die digitale Zukunft nicht verpassen wollen!

    Das Ende der Fibu: Warum klassische Buchhaltung ausstirbt | Philipp Sterzinger

  5. 08/28/2025

    How to Rank Higher in AI Overviews | Pahul Hallan

    Is traditional SEO dead? As AI Overviews begin to dominate search results, the rules for getting discovered online are being rewritten. In this episode, ML engineer Pahul Hallan explains why the new landscape is a "winner takes all" game and breaks down the essentials of AI Engine Optimization (AEO). Discover the technical and content strategies your e-commerce business needs to implement today to not just survive, but thrive in the age of AI-powered search and rank higher than your competition. Guest: Pahul Hallan, Machine Learning Engineer with 5+ years of experience in e-commerce search, ranking, and recommendation systems. Find our guest here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pahulhallan/ Main Topics & Takeaways: The Shift from SEO to AEO: Understand the fundamental differences between traditional keyword search and modern AI Engine Optimization. Winner-Takes-All Search: Why AI search drastically reduces the number of competitors and what it takes to be one of the top results. Technical SEO for AI: How to use standardized schemas (Schema.org) and configure your robots.txt file to ensure AI models can find and understand your content. "Hand-Feeding the LLM": Actionable content strategies, including using Q&A formats and creating detailed, story-driven product pages that AI loves. The Future of Recommendations: How multimodal contextual embeddings are making product recommendations hyper-personalized. Privacy in the AI Era: A look at the "right to be forgotten" and how to manage your digital footprint as data collection becomes more sophisticated. AI search is a "winner-takes-all" environment. Unlike traditional search with 10+ results, you might only be competing against two or three products in an AI-generated answer. Structure your website content in a Q&A format. It's more effective than simple listicles because it directly provides the structured answers that LLMs are designed to find. SEO isn't dead; it's the foundation. AEO adds a new layer on top of existing best practices like quality backlinks and secure connections. Reverse engineer the process. Take your own webpage, feed it into an LLM, and ask it questions a customer would. If the answers aren't what you expect, your content is likely too confusing. Authenticity is crucial. Trying to "game the system" with keyword stuffing or bot farms will ultimately get you penalized and hurt your credibility. Embrace multimodal content. Provide video transcripts, use tables for comparisons, and add descriptive alt-text to images. This makes your site more accessible and easier for AI to parse. Over time, high-quality, original content will win. As more AI-generated content floods the internet, unique and valuable insights will stand out and keep users engaged longer.Schema.org: A collaborative community resource for creating and maintaining standardized schemas for structured data on the internet. Chapters: 00:39 Welcome to the New Era of Search: AI Engine Optimization 02:06 The Evolution from Keyword Search to Contextual Search 03:48 How AI Changes the Game for E-commerce 05:40 The "Winner Takes All" Nature of AI Search 08:55 5 Technical Tips to Rank Higher in AI Overviews 10:30 Why Standardized Schemas (schema.org) Matter 12:10 Making Your Site Discoverable with robots.txt 15:27 What is AI Engine Optimization (AEO)? 17:15 Content Strategy: How to "Hand-Feed" the LLM 18:30 The Power of Multimodal Content (Video, Text, Tables) 21:52 How LLMs are Supercharging E-Commerce Recommendation Systems 27:17 Managing Your Digital Footprint & The Right to Be Forgotten 31:24 The Future of Search & The Risk of Homogenized Content 35:51 Key to Success: Understand the Fundamentals of How AI Works Follow AI Ketchup for bi-weekly stories of AI builders turning ideas into successful tech products. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and leave a review! Website: https://pod.elinalesyk.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ai-ketchup/

  6. 07/31/2025

    How Voice AI Boosts NPS by 180% & Creates Unicorns | Stefan Ostwald

    Is the future customer experience spoken? Discover the massive shift from clunky, frustrating automated systems to truly helpful AI Agents that can increase customer satisfaction by 180%. In this episode, we sit down with Stefan Ostwald, co-founder and Chief AI Officer of the AI unicorn Parloa, to uncover how they found product-market fit by solving the biggest pain points in customer service. Learn how modern voice AI is moving beyond a cost center to become a powerful tool for building brand loyalty, driving revenue, and redefining the entire customer experience. Guest: Stefan Ostwald, Co-founder and Chief AI Officer at Parloa. Website: https://parloa.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-ostwald/ What You'll Learn The inside story of how Parloa pivoted from a voice agency to a billion-dollar AI product company Why modern AI agents are succeeding where old chatbots failed, and how they are delighting customers Key learnings on scaling an organization from 10 to 350 people and the challenges faced at each stage How to structure your company and teams around your product to maximize autonomy and speed Using voice AI to move beyond surface-level analytics and truly understand the root cause of customer issues How continuous AI conversations will transform brand relationships and turn service into a revenue driver. Key Insights & Actionable Takeaways True product-market fit is found when your technology solves a deep, painful problem, not just a "nice-to-have" one. For Parloa, this was shifting from smart speaker apps to enterprise customer service. Don't just focus on automating the successful 70% of cases. Your strategy must include a robust plan for the other 30%—the failures and edge cases—to ensure a consistently high-quality customer experience. The "why" behind a customer call is the most valuable data. Natural language conversations allow you to capture this intent directly, unlike interpreting click paths on a website. Structure your organization to mirror your desired product architecture, not the other way around (Conway's Law). Define product domains first to create team autonomy and enable independent scaling. As a founder or leader in a scaling company, your job changes completely every six months. The skills that got you here won't get you there; you must constantly adapt to what the company needs next. Chapters 00:00 From Unhappy Chatbots to Helpful AI Agents  01:31 The Journey to a Unicorn Valuation  02:37 Why Bet on Voice AI in 2017?  04:20 Finding Product-Market Fit in Customer Service  08:05 How to Stand Out in a Crowded AI Market  12:17 The Evolving Role of a Founder in a Scaling Company  15:23 The Biggest Scaling Challenge: Growing from 50 to 350+  17:01 Using Product Architecture to Design Your Org Structure  19:19 How AI Will Fundamentally Change the Way We Work  23:43 The 30% Problem: Why Handling AI Failures is Critical  26:20 Using LLMs to Understand the "Why" Behind Customer Calls  30:11 Turning Customer Service from a Cost Center to a Revenue Driver  32:45 Why NPS Can Skyrocket with AI Agents  36:41 Parloa's Roadmap and Expansion to the US Market Follow AI Ketchup for bi-weekly stories of AI builders turning ideas into successful tech products. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and leave a review! Our website: https://pod.elinalesyk.com/. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. Follow us on LinkedIn & Twitter.

  7. 07/24/2025

    How to Build a True AI-First Education Company | Moritz Heininger

    Are you overwhelmed by the constant flood of new AI tools, feeling you have "FOMO" about what's truly relevant? This episode cuts through the noise. We're joined by Moritz Heininger, founder of the leading German AI education platform, SnipKI, to reveal how he built a true AI-first company that automates nearly everything—from daily content publishing to B2B lead qualification. Forget abstract theory; Moritz shares a practical blueprint for integrating AI and automation into your core business processes, helping you avoid common mistakes and transform your team's productivity. Listen now to learn how to move from being curious about AI to becoming competently AI-driven. Guest: Moritz Heininger, Co-Founder of SnipKI. Find our guest here: Website: SnipKI LinkedIn: Moritz Heininger Building an AI-First Engine: How SnipKI automates its entire content pipeline, from video transcription and image generation to social media posting. The "KI Führerschein": The concept of an "AI Driver's License" and why structured, company-wide upskilling is essential for adoption. A Go-To-Market Secret: How building trust through high-quality content on LinkedIn has driven all inbound growth for SnipKI without any outbound sales. The 3 Stages of AI Transformation: Understand the evolution from using AI for (1) Efficiency, to gaining (2) Superpowers, to finally (3) Reinventing your core product. Actionable First Steps: Moritz’s 3 practical exercises for anyone to become AI-literate, involving strategic thinking with LLMs, "vibe coding" with no-code tools, and building your first automation. The Biggest Mistakes to Avoid: Why you can't fix a broken process with AI and why the worst thing you can do is fail to start experimenting. You cannot fix a flawed process by simply adding AI. Start by optimizing the process itself, then strategically apply automation. Don't start with a grand, top-down AI strategy. Instead, identify one significant, daily problem your team faces and solve it with a simple AI tool or automation. The most successful companies will view AI not just as a tool for efficiency, but as a source of "superpowers" that enables them to create more and better products than was previously possible. The biggest mistake is not starting. You must experiment and accept that some initiatives will fail. The cost of waiting for the "perfect" AI is falling behind your competition. Treat the latest AI models (like Claude 3 or GPT-4o) as a strategic partner. Give them deep context on a business problem and use them to brainstorm and structure new concepts. Tools: AI Education: SnipKI Data Analysis: Julius AI AI-Assisted Coding: Cursor, Replit, Lovable Automation Platforms: Make.com, n8n, ZapierB2B Prospecting: Clay Chapters: 02:26 The OMR Story: From Cassette Tapes to Personalized AI Websites 05:02 Why Moritz Built SnipKI: A Cure for Frustrating AI Courses 07:18 Filtering the Noise: How SnipKI Designs Its Practical AI Curriculum 10:29 The "KI Führerschein": Why Every Company Needs an AI Driver's License 11:36 The Inbound Machine: Growing a Business on Trust and LinkedIn 14:04 Under the Hood: Automating the Entire Content Creation Pipeline 18:36 A Blueprint for Business Owners to Become AI-First 21:12 The Biggest Mistakes Companies Make When Adopting AI 23:26 The 3 Stages of AI Transformation: Efficiency vs. Superpowers 27:09 How AI Changed the Angel Investing Game Forever 29:27 SnipKI's Bold Vision: AI Skills Will Be as Common as Excel 31:09 Your First 3 Steps to Become Genuinely AI Literate Follow AI Ketchup for bi-weekly stories of AI builders turning ideas into successful tech products. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and leave a review! Newsletter & Website: AI Ketchup Follow on LinkedIn: AI Ketchup Podcast

  8. 07/17/2025

    Why Your Next AI Project Should Be Open-Source | Mike Bird

    Is locking down powerful AI in the hands of a few companies a risk we can't afford to take? In this episode, we're joined by open-source visionary Mike Bird to explore why the future of humanity might depend on open-source AI. We dive deep into the strategic advantages of building in the open, how to decide what parts of your business to open-source, and the practical tools and frameworks that can help developers and companies thrive. Guest: Mike Bird, open-source advocate, contributor to Open Interpreter, AI & Engineering Lead at BoxOne Ventures and host of the Tool Use YouTube channel. Our guest: X: https://x.com/MikeBirdTech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebirdtech/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MikeBirdTech What You'll Hear About: The Philosophical Debate: Why centralizing AI in a few corporations is a high-risk scenario for humanity. Strategic Open-Sourcing: How companies can build trust and attract talent by strategically open-sourcing parts of their tech stack without losing their competitive edge. Practical AI Workflows: Three game-changing use cases for AI in your daily life, including voice transcription, building tool generators, and leveraging code assistants like Cursor. The Future of AI Agents: Will open-source or closed-source frameworks dominate the next wave of AI agent technology? Security in the Open: How to navigate the risks of open-source, from malicious actors to ensuring the safety of tools like MCP servers with projects like ToolHive. Key insights: Open-sourcing parts of your software is a powerful way to build trust in an age of increasing digital skepticism. You don't have to open-source your core product. Contributing to the libraries and tools your business relies on is a valuable way to participate. The argument against open-source AI often ignores the second-order effect: concentrating power in a few opaque organizations is a greater long-term risk. Use AI tools like Cursor not just for development, but as a learning tool to understand complex codebases and make meaningful contributions. The most important skills in the age of AI are curiosity, agency, and taste. Learn to experiment, act on your ideas, and develop a sense for quality user experience. Tools Mentioned: Open Interpreter: An open-source project for running code on your computer https://github.com/openinterpreter/open-interpreter . Cursor: An AI-powered code editor. Cal.com: An open-source scheduling alternative to Calendly. AgentStack: A tool for tracing and building reliable AI systems https://github.com/AgentOps-AI/AgentStack. Bitwarden: An open-source password manager. Superwhisper / Whisperfile: Voice transcription tools https://github.com/cjpais/whisperfile. Obsidian: A note-taking app that works on local Markdown files. ToolHive: A project for secure secret management with MCP servers. Augment Toolkit & Transformer Lab: Tools for creating fine-tuned models https://github.com/e-p-armstrong/augmentoolkit https://transformerlab.ai/. Chapters 00:00 The High-Stakes Future of Open-Source AI 01:15 Mike Bird's Journey into the AI Ecosystem 03:55 Why Open-Source is a Public Good for Humanity 05:30 Building Trust: How Companies Can Benefit from Open-Source 07:15 What to Open Source (And What to Keep Proprietary) 11:19 The Philosophical Argument: Is Open-Source AI a Necessity? 15:01 Open-Source vs. Closed-Source as a Societal Choice 17:35 Why Did OpenAI Abandon Its Open-Source Roots? 22:47 The Future of AI Agents: Who Will Win? 28:25 Mike's Top 3 AI Use Cases for Daily Productivity 30:10 Building a Tool That Builds More Tools 33:26 Navigating Security with MCP Servers and ToolHive 36:06 Final Principles: Stay Curious, Keep Humans in the Loop, and Develop Good Taste Follow AI Ketchup for bi-weekly stories of AI builders turning ideas into successful tech products. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and leave a review! Website: pod.elinalesyk.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/ai-ketchup/

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AI is your new hire. Learn how to train it. Join Elina, ex-AWS Cloud & AI Architect, as we crack open the playbooks of leaders who’ve slashed costs, automated workflows, and scaled revenue using AI. No jargon. No fluff. Just battle-tested tactics from: ✅ Founders who built 7-figure businesses with AI ✅ CEOs who automated 40% of operations (and kept their teams happy) ✅ Skeptics-turned-advocates surviving the AI learning curve A new episode biweekly if you hit a "Subscribe".

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