120 Octane

120 Octane
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Technology
  • Semimonthly

Real AI implementations from the operators and builders who shipped them. No hype. No theory. Show us what you built. Each episode, hosts Avi Slavin and Alexandra Jacobo sit down with founders and operators who have deployed AI systems that actually work — automations, agents, and workflows that moved the needle on their business. We dig into what they built, how it works, and the measurable impact it had. Demos welcome. New episodes weekly. Apply to be a guest at 120octane.com

Episodes

  1. Oct 19

    We Let AI Agents Redesign Our Website Live | Sedrak Hovhannisyan, Vana Labs #6

    Most companies use AI agents for tasks. Sedrak Hovhannisyan built an operating model where agents hold the roles and humans hold the approvals, and then he let his agents loose on our website, live on the show. Sedrak is the co founder and General Manager of Vana Labs. He designed an agent operating model that runs company work across research, sales, delivery, finance, legal, hiring, content, partnerships, SEO, technical operations, and developer relations. Work enters through a single intake, a Chief of Staff agent routes it, and every role has defined ownership, durable records, review queues, escalation paths, and human approval points. Then comes the part you have to hear to believe: a live demonstration where a brief enters intake and travels through five agents, research and copy, art direction, implementation, and review, all the way to a finished concept redesign of the 120 Octane website, with final approval sitting where it always should: with a human. In this episode, Sedrak walks us through: ▸ What Vana Labs is and the coordination mess that forced him to design a management system for agents ▸ Why the answer was an org chart, not another tool: ownership, review queues, escalation paths, approval points ▸ The live build: a real brief traveling from intake through five agents to a finished website concept ▸ The Chief of Staff agent, the router that decides who owns every piece of work ▸ What happens when agents get stuck or get it wrong: escalation, recovery, and access boundaries ▸ How the operating model has evolved since he first built it, and what runs Vana Labs today ▸ The stack: models, orchestration, durable records, and what it costs to run ▸ Where to start if you have five tools duct taped together and no system The core message: you don't need more agents. You need a management system for the ones you have. If you run a business and you're wondering how lean a modern company can get, this is the blueprint episode. ▸ ▸ ▸ ABOUT 120 OCTANE 120 Octane is the podcast where founders, operators, and builders show us the AI systems they actually built. No hype. No theory. Real builds. Real impact. Real numbers. Hosted by Avi Slavin and Alexandra Jacobo, every episode pulls back the curtain on a real AI system in production, and extracts the lessons, playbooks, and tactical advice listeners can use in their own work. ▸ ▸ ▸ WHERE TO FIND US Website: 120octane.com Apply to be a guest: 120octane.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/120-octane ▸ ▸ ▸ GUEST LINKS Sedrak Hovhannisyan on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sedrak-hovhannisyan Vana Labs ▸ ▸ ▸ If this episode helped you, please rate, review, and share it with one operator who needs to hear it. Every subscribe matters when a show is just getting started. Until next time. Stay building.

  2. Sep 16

    The Agency That 10x'd by Replacing Headcount with AI Agents | Anthony Tsigourakos, SmartSpend #5

    Every agency and service business runs on the same assumption: more clients means more headcount. Anthony Tsigourakos broke it.Anthony is the Co-Founder of SmartSpend Advertising, a full-service media agency covering planning, buying, activation, management, and performance analytics across every channel — traditional, digital, programmatic, and emerging platforms.But SmartSpend doesn't look like a traditional agency. It runs on a decentralized consultant model, powered by an agentic AI back office. Instead of hiring a large team, Anthony built agentic workflows that supercharge every department while minimizing the headcount needed to service clients.The results: 10x growth from 2025 to 2026. Low overhead. Fast response times. And millions saved for clients through better media deals.Full disclosure: Anthony and host Avi Slavin go way back — they worked together at AdMarketplace. Which means this conversation goes deeper than the usual interview.In this episode, Anthony walks us through:▸ His AdTech journey and what he saw broken in the traditional agency model▸ Why he built SmartSpend on decentralized consultants instead of employees▸ The agentic back office: which departments run on agents and how the workflows actually operate▸ A verbal walkthrough of a media buy from brief to launch — what humans do vs what agents do▸ How the agents find media deals a human team would miss▸ Breaking down the 10x growth: what it measures and how much the agentic model gets credit▸ The headcount comparison: what SmartSpend runs on vs what a traditional shop would need▸ Future Proof Me, his content creation product▸ The first workflow any service business should hand to an agentThe core message: the agency of the future is not a bigger team. It is a smaller team with agents.If you run an agency, consultancy, or any service business, this is the playbook episode.▸ ▸ ▸ABOUT 120 OCTANE120 Octane is the podcast where founders, operators, and builders show us the AI systems they actually built. No hype. No theory. Real builds. Real impact. Real numbers.Hosted by Avi Slavin and Alexandra Jacobo, every episode pulls back the curtain on a real AI system in production — and extracts the lessons, playbooks, and tactical advice listeners can use in their own work.▸ ▸ ▸WHERE TO FIND USWebsite: 120octane.comApply to be a guest: 120octane.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/120-octane▸ ▸ ▸GUEST LINKSAnthony Tsigourakos on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anthonytsigourakosSmartSpend Advertising: https://www.linkedin.com/company/smartspend-advertising/▸ ▸ ▸If this episode helped you, please rate, review, and share it with one operator who needs to hear it. Every subscribe matters when a show is just getting started.Until next time. Stay building.

  3. Aug 19

    From Dealership Floor to AI Automation | Danny Jacobs & Kirsty Bishopp, Auto Lot Impact #4

    Danny Jacobs spent 35 years as a Dealer Principal in automotive. He lived the problem every dealership knows: social media posting that's inconsistent, manual, and always the first thing to slip when the floor gets busy. Instead of complaining about it, he built a system to fix it. Danny is the Co-Founder and CEO of Auto Lot Impact, an AI-enabled platform that turns dealership inventory into a social media lead machine. Joining him is Kirsty Bishopp, his partner and the technical lead who builds and runs the system. Here's how it works: the system watches dealership inventory. When something changes — a new car hits the lot, a price drops — it triggers automatically, generates branded content, and posts it to social. No marketing hire. No agency retainer. No gaps in posting when things get busy. The result, in Danny's words: a lead machine that drives dealership digital assets organically for a fraction of the price. In this episode, Danny and Kirsty walk us through: ▸ The 35-year operator's view: what dealership social media actually looks like from the inside ▸ The breaking point that turned an operator into a builder ▸ A live demo of the system: inventory trigger to published post ▸ Where AI does the work vs where automation and rules take over ▸ What happened when they took it to their first dealer ▸ The lead volume and cost comparison against agencies and in-house hires ▸ The operator + technical partner dynamic: how a non-technical founder and a builder work together ▸ Advice for anyone who sees a broken process in their industry and wonders if they could fix it The core message: the best AI businesses come from operators who lived the problem for decades — and finally had the tools to fix it. ▸ ▸ ▸ ABOUT 120 OCTANE 120 Octane is the podcast where founders, operators, and builders show us the AI systems they actually built. No hype. No theory. Real builds. Real impact. Real numbers. Hosted by Avi Slavin and Alexandra Jacobo, every episode pulls back the curtain on a real AI system in production — and extracts the lessons, playbooks, and tactical advice listeners can use in their own work. ▸ ▸ ▸ WHERE TO FIND US Website: 120octane.com Apply to be a guest: 120octane.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/120-octane ▸ ▸ ▸ GUEST LINKSDanny Jacobs on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/daniel-jacobs-29440524 Kirsty Bishopp on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstybishopp/ Auto Lot Impact: https://www.linkedin.com/company/auto-lot-impact ▸ ▸ ▸ If this episode helped you, please rate, review, and share it with one operator who needs to hear it. Every subscribe matters when a show is just getting started. Until next time. Stay building.

  4. Jul 30

    The LED Lighting Pioneer Who Replaced Software Stack with 1 AI System | Kevin Krohner, EOS Light #3

    Most people solve business problems by adding more software. Kevin Krohner solved his by ripping it out. Kevin is a self-made pioneer in the LED light panel industry. His company, EOS Light, has landed marquee projects most businesses only dream about: the historical New York Stock Exchange renovation, One World Observatory at One World Trade, and clients like Microsoft, Coach, and Delta Airlines. His entire operating philosophy is about ruthlessly reducing labor and increasing efficiency. And recently, he turned that obsession on his own back office — building an AI-powered operational system on top of Zoho CRM that replaced a stack of SaaS subscriptions he no longer needed. The system runs his dashboards, training hub, task automation, critical review, and quoting. One system. Clean data. Faster processes. Lower costs. In this episode, Kevin walks us through: ▸ The EOS story — from LED panels to the New York Stock Exchange ▸ Where his efficiency obsession comes from and how it shapes every decision ▸ What his software stack looked like before, and what was breaking ▸ What "OpenClaw with Zoho" actually is, explained in plain language ▸ A walkthrough of the four functions: dashboards, training hub, automation, and quoting ▸ Which SaaS tools he cancelled and what that saves ▸ Why clean data is the most underrated benefit of consolidation ▸ Where operators drowning in software subscriptions should start The core message: more tools isn't the answer. The right system is. If you're paying for ten different platforms and feeling the chaos, this episode is your way out. ▸ ▸ ▸ ABOUT 120 OCTANE 120 Octane is the podcast where founders, operators, and builders show us the AI systems they actually built. No hype. No theory. Real builds. Real impact. Real numbers. Hosted by Avi Slavin and Alexandra Jacobo, every episode pulls back the curtain on a real AI system in production — and extracts the lessons, playbooks, and tactical advice listeners can use in their own work. ▸ ▸ ▸ WHERE TO FIND US Website: 120octane.com Apply to be a guest: 120octane.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/120-octane ▸ ▸ ▸ GUEST LINKS Kevin Krohner on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kevinkrohner EOS Light: eoslight.com ▸ ▸ ▸ If this episode helped you, please rate, review, and share it with one operator who needs to hear it. Every subscribe matters when a show is just getting started. Until next time. Stay building.

  5. Jul 24

    Building AI That Helps Nonprofits Win More Funding | Jake Butt, GxP Solutions

    Most AI builders point their tools at the biggest companies with the biggest budgets. Jake Butt points his at the opposite end — nonprofits with small teams, big missions, and tiny budgets.Jake is the President of GxP Solutions, an AI education, strategy, and implementation consultancy for small and midsized organizations based in Frederick, Maryland. He's built AI-powered tools that are quietly changing how nonprofits operate: grant writing assistants and auto-report generation apps that help nonprofit executive directors save serious time and apply for — and win — more funding.And he practices what he preaches. Jake runs his own consulting business on a stack of automations: Claude and Notion workflows, email consolidation systems, and integrations built on platforms like n8n, Zapier, and Make.In this episode, Jake walks us through:▸ Why he chose to focus on nonprofits when enterprise clients pay more▸ What grant writing actually looks like for a small nonprofit — and why it's such a brutal bottleneck▸ A walkthrough of the grant writing assistant and auto-report generator▸ How AI expands capacity for organizations that can't just hire more people▸ The Claude + Notion automations running his own business day to day▸ His unusual take on AI governance, shaped by a career in GxP and biotech compliance▸ Real results: time savings for executive directors and more funding won▸ Where a small business or nonprofit should start with AI this weekThe core message: AI isn't just for enterprises with big budgets. A small consulting firm can build tools that help a nonprofit win another grant — and that grant might be the one that keeps the lights on.If you run a small business or nonprofit and think AI is something happening to other people, this episode will change your mind.▸ ▸ ▸ABOUT 120 OCTANE120 Octane is the podcast where founders, operators, and builders show us the AI systems they actually built. No hype. No theory. Real builds. Real impact. Real numbers.Hosted by Avi Slavin and Alexandra Jacobo, every episode pulls back the curtain on a real AI system in production — and extracts the lessons, playbooks, and tactical advice listeners can use in their own work.▸ ▸ ▸WHERE TO FIND USWebsite: 120octane.comApply to be a guest: 120octane.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/120-octane▸ ▸ ▸GUEST LINKSJake Butt on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacobwbuttGxP Solutions: gxpsolutions.net▸ ▸ ▸If this episode helped you, please rate, review, and share it with one operator who needs to hear it. Every subscribe matters when a show is just getting started.Until next time. Stay building.

  6. Jun 14

    From Building 350-Unit Apartments to Cutting Estimating Time in Half with AI | Fernando Degwitz, TruBlue South Miami

    Most AI conversations are about Fortune 500 budgets and enterprise platforms. This one isn't. Fernando Degwitz spent 15 years building large-scale real estate developments across Venezuela and Panama. 356-unit apartment complexes. 30,000 square meter factories for global telecoms. Multi-million dollar projects with big teams and big capital. He's MIT-educated, with a background that could have taken him anywhere. Then he moved to Miami and bought a TruBlue handyman franchise. But here's what makes Fernando different from most franchise owners: he didn't just run the business. He looked at it the way a builder of large systems would. He found the biggest bottleneck in his operation — estimating — and partnered with an AI consultancy (NextGen Partners) to automate it. The result: estimating time cut by roughly half. In this episode, Fernando walks us through:▸ The unlikely path from building apartment towers in Latin America to running a handyman business in South Florida▸ Why estimating is the silent killer of margins in remodeling — and why templates and processes weren't enough▸ How he knew AI was the right tool when he isn't a technical builder himself▸ How he found NextGen Partners and what made the partnership work▸ What questions to ask a potential AI build partner if you've never bought AI before▸ A partial walkthrough of the system integrated into his workflow and CRM▸ What 50% time savings actually means for a small business — more estimates, more jobs won, more capacity▸ The lesson for every small business owner who thinks AI is only for big tech The core message: you don't have to be technical to be an AI operator. You have to know what to fix and have the conviction to find the right partner. If you run a small business and feel like AI is something happening to other people, this is the episode for you. ▸ ▸ ▸ABOUT 120 OCTANE120 Octane is the podcast where founders, operators, and builders show us the AI systems they actually built. No hype. No theory. Real builds. Real impact. Real numbers.Hosted by Avi Slavin and Alexandra Jacobo, every episode pulls back the curtain on a real AI system in production — and extracts the lessons, playbooks, and tactical advice listeners can use in their own work. ▸ ▸ ▸WHERE TO FIND USWebsite: 120octane.comApply to be a guest: 120octane.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/120-octane ▸ ▸ ▸GUEST LINKSFernando Degwitz on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/fernando-degwitz-202227202TruBlue of South Miami: trublueally.com

  • 6 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Real AI implementations from the operators and builders who shipped them. No hype. No theory. Show us what you built. Each episode, hosts Avi Slavin and Alexandra Jacobo sit down with founders and operators who have deployed AI systems that actually work — automations, agents, and workflows that moved the needle on their business. We dig into what they built, how it works, and the measurable impact it had. Demos welcome. New episodes weekly. Apply to be a guest at 120octane.com

Information

  • Creator
    120 Octane
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 120 Octane
  • Show Website
    120 Octane