Burn The Map

Dan Baird
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Crazy ones? You're damn right. Burn the Map is a podcast about the people who can't help but chase obsession. Before the exits. Before the followers. Before anyone asked them to. These are deep-dive interviews with innovators, artists, hackers, tinkerers—people whose dedication to their craft borders on lunacy. We dissect the nuance of what they do, what keeps them going, and why their work matters. Hosted by Dan Baird, this show is a guided tour into the minds of people who do the work that seems illogical—until it isn't.

  1. Burn The Map - 1:21

    4D AGO

    Burn The Map - 1:21

    In This Episode: We sit down with Christian Hammer (Founder & CEO of Ngentix) to talk about the unsexy problem that breaks AI in the real world: execution across messy systems. Christian calls what he's building "AI plumbing in the wall"—the infrastructure layer that connects tools, enforces policy, and kills the drudgery (think: PDF → QuickBooks copy/paste hell) without pretending an LLM is magically reliable. This one is for product-minded builders: we get into why "agents" can make operations worse if you don't have a system of record, why momentum beats velocity, and how the future UI probably isn't another dashboard—it's zero UI. Tech fades into the background, humans get their time back.   What We Cover: Why tech disruption isn't new—the speed is what's brutal now LLMs as the next abstraction layer (and why that's a once-in-a-generation shift) Evergreen skills that won't get obsoleted: engineering thinking, empathy, philosophy The missing piece in most companies: a system of record for execution "Sarah's time off": the human router bottleneck hiding inside every org Why most teams get faster at doing the wrong thing (and call it "progress") Agile vs "Fragile": why momentum (mass + velocity) is the metric that actually matters Zero UI / ambient automation: software shouldn't be the center—you are Authenticity backlash: why AI-generated everything makes human-made more valuable   Guest Bio: Christian Hammer is the founder and CEO of Ngentix (https://ngentix.ai), building "AI plumbing in the wall"—automation infrastructure that connects systems, eliminates business drudgery, and creates a system of record for execution when humans (and agents) need to know what happened, why it happened, and what to do next. He's also an inventor, author, podcaster, and working artist focused on making technology feel less like "the tyranny of the terminal" and more like something humans can actually live with. Enjoy! This show was Brought to you by Wrench.ai   Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird   Follow Christian: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chammer1/   Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social   Selected Links From This Episode: Ngentix: https://ngentix.ai Christian's hub: https://christianhammer.io Christian's art: https://c-hammer.com People and Organizations Mentioned: Christian Hammer Dan Baird Ngentix Wrench.ai Claude / Claude Code Crab & Oyster painting: https://c-hammer.com/oilpaintings/oyster-shooter-crab-dinner-oil-on-wood-panel-painting/ Show Notes & Timestamps: 02:53 - Tech disruption isn't new—it's the speed that's different now 04:11 - LLMs as the next abstraction layer (and why that matters) 07:45 - Evergreen skills: engineering mindset, critical thinking, empathy, and philosophy 11:18 - What Christian is building: a system of record for execution (because agents don't magically fix ops) 13.28 - "Chief": why the real unlock is clarifying intent and defining "done" 16.49 - Why Christian doesn't trust LLMs (and why you shouldn't either—without guardrails) 17:17 - The drudgery thesis: OCR + NER + automation to kill the "PDF → QuickBooks" nonsense 19:14 - "Sarah's time off": the hidden human routers inside every company 23:34 - Agile vs. "Fragile": velocity is incomplete—momentum (mass + velocity) is the real metric 32:51 - The future: tech disappears into the background—plumbing in the wall, more human-to-human value 35:07 - Art, authenticity, and the pullback from AI-generated everything 36:30 - Zero UI / ambient automation: the tool shouldn't be the center—you are

    42 min
  2. Burn The Map - 1:20

    MAR 26

    Burn The Map - 1:20

    In This Episode: We talk to David Espindola about the part of the AI boom most companies keep trying to skip: the boring, unsexy work that makes AI real—problem definition, strategy, governance, and trust. David's written two books (The Exponential Era and Soulful) and spends his time thinking about what happens when exponential tech stops being a keynote and starts breaking things in production. We get into why "go do AI" is an executive-level failure mode, how to decide whether you're a maker, shaper, or taker, and what it actually takes to build AI agents you can trust—especially when incentives (ads), privacy, and security start pulling the strings. What We Cover: Why "we must be an AI company" is a terrible mandate if you can't name the problem you're solving The Makers / Shapers / Takers framework (and why most teams should aim for "shaper," not "maker") Why AI ROI is so messy right now (and how bad benchmarking + vague goals make it impossible) Agents and non-determinism: the uncomfortable truth that "it worked 26 times" means nothing How David built Zena, his AI colleague—using RAG to ground the assistant in his knowledge, values, and working style The trust-killers: ads, misaligned incentives, weak security, and "agents in prod" without guardrails Guest Bio: David Espindola is the author of Soulful and The Exponential Era, and the creator of Zena, an AI colleague built around a simple premise: if you can't trust the system, it's not helping—you're just outsourcing risk. David works at the intersection of AI strategy, change management, and human–AI collaboration, with a practical bias toward governance, security, and using AI where it actually fits (not where it looks good in a board meeting). Enjoy! This show was Brought to you by Wrench.ai Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird Follow David: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidespindola/ Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social Selected Links From This Episode: David's website: https://davidespindola.com/ Brainyus: https://brainyus.com/ Chat with Zena: https://brainyus.com/zena Podcast: Conversations with Zena, my AI colleague People and Organizations Mentioned: David Espindola Dan Baird Wrench.ai McKinsey (makers / shapers / takers framework, referenced) OpenAI Anthropic Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:57 — Why The Exponential Era came first; the SPX methodology (Agile + design thinking + more) 04:41 — Soulful: what AI is / isn't; emotional intelligence, trust, and turbulence ahead 07:51 — Biggest implementation mistake: "AI" as mandate vs starting with the problem 08:xx — Makers / Shapers / Takers strategy framework 12:26 — Abundance vs "trickle down"; why ROI is messy in early days 16:43 — 50-year hindsight: today will look primitive 19:46 — The myth that tech automatically reduces hours worked 23:12 — Zena: training an AI colleague; trust as the core feature 24:54 — Ads and incentives: when agents stop being trustworthy 26:26 — How David trains Zena (RAG, memory improving) 29:28 — Non-determinism: why testing AI isn't like testing traditional software 31:35 — When "agents" turn back into old-school software (APIs, reliability, cost) 33:52 — Where to find David + Brainyus + Zena

    35 min

  3. MAR 12

    Burn The Map - 1:19

    In This Episode: We talk to Allen Martinez—founder at Noble Digital and author of The Brand Experience AI Operating System (BX AI OS)—about why so many "AI initiatives" are basically expensive science projects with a chatbot slapped on top. Allen's take is refreshingly unforgiving: if you don't close the governance gap, the identity gap, and the accountability gap, you're not deploying AI—you're launching brand chaos at machine speed. We get into what it takes to turn AI from a black box into something you can actually run, audit, and improve… without letting marketing, sales, and support ship three different personalities to the same customer. What We Cover: The three gaps that kill AI projects: governance, identity, and accountability—and why you need all three, not "we'll do that later" Why "we deployed a chatbot" is not a strategy (and how to think in terms of an AI operating system instead) How brand collisions happen when every department optimizes its own AI tool—and why customers feel it as pure friction Why "good enough at scale" becomes AI slop, and how taste + point of view becomes the real competitive edge What it means to make AI auditable ("glass box," not black box) before a regulator—or your CFO—comes calling The Chevy chatbot "legally binding $1 deal" story as a cautionary tale: not a meme, a governance failure Guest Bio: Allen Martinez is a founder at Noble Digital and the author of The Brand Experience AI Operating System (BX AI OS), a practical framework for taking AI from chaotic experimentation to scalable, brand-safe deployment. With a background spanning film/commercial directing and systems-driven brand execution, Allen focuses on the real-world mechanics of AI in production: behavioral governance, encoded brand identity, and accountability systems that produce receipts—not surprises. Enjoy! This show was Brought to you by Wrench.ai   Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird Follow Allen: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allenmartinez/ Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social Selected Links From This Episode: https://nobledigital.com/ https://allenmartinez.net/ https://bxaios.com/ Shadow Ledger assessment: https://bxaios.com/shadow-ledger The Brand Experience AI Operating System: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FWBSDMVR Free Access to the First Chapter: https://preview.mailerlite.io/forms/1780848/170432170750379532/share People and Organizations Mentioned: Allen Martinez Noble Digital Wrench.ai ArtCenter College of Design (Pasadena) Linda Weinman / lynda.com (mentioned) Razorfish (training mentioned) Show Notes & Timestamps: [~09:38] Why "brand" isn't your logo, it's the coherence layer that prevents org-wide collisions [~11:12] What are the "three gaps" that kill AI projects (governance, identity, accountability)? [~13:50] What does it mean to turn AI from a "black box" into a "glass box"? [~26:30] The Chevy chatbot "$1 legally binding deal" story—and why it's a governance failure, not a meme [~36:28] Why "good enough at scale" becomes brand death by a thousand cuts

    49 min
  4. Burn The Map - 1:18

    FEB 26

    Burn The Map - 1:18

    In This Episode: We talk to Jaime Jay about going from the 82nd Airborne to homelessness (more than once), to building a company that helps founders get their time back without blowing up quality, trust, or accountability. Jaime is a hard-nosed systems thinker and one of the founders of Bottleneck Distant Assistants—where they train "distant assistants" (real humans, not "digital assistants") using a framework he calls Delegation Intelligence. We get into the unsexy truth: delegation isn't "hire a VA and pray." It's building a repeatable system so the business stops pinging you for every micro-decision. We also go deep on category design ("name it / frame it / claim it"), and why the real AI bottleneck isn't the model—it's behavior change inside the org. What We Cover: What the military teaches you about structure, trust, and pain tolerance (and how that maps to founder life) How to build a delegation department (not just outsource tasks until everything breaks) Jaime's 4-step Delegation Intelligence loop: name it, confirm instructions, review/approve, create the signal Category design as a competitive weapon: market the problem, not your product AI in ops: why "ChatGPT can do it" is often cope, and where AI burnout shows up fast Hiring at scale + vetting trust: what it takes to screen thousands without inviting chaos into your systems Guest Bio: Jaime Jay is a military veteran (82nd Airborne), founder, and category-minded operator focused on one thing: helping leaders stop getting crushed by the day-to-day. He's one of the founders of Bottleneck Distant Assistants, where their team trains and places "distant assistants" using a structured delegation framework ("Delegation Intelligence") built to reduce admin drag, improve follow-through, and make delegation actually stick. Enjoy! This show was Brought to you by Wrench.ai Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird Follow Jaime: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimejay/ Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social Selected Links From This Episode: Bottleneck Distant Assistants: https://bottleneck.online Delegation IQ Blueprint: https://bottleneck.online/delegationiq-blueprint/ Quit Repeating Yourself (book): https://a.co/d/0cUUqYtH Military CreatorCon Event: https://www.militarycreatorcon.com/ People and Organizations Mentioned: Jaime Jay Bottleneck Distant Assistants 82nd Airborne Christopher Lockhead (mentioned as "godfather of category design") James Amar (Military CreatorCon) Brian Scudamore (1-800-GOT-JUNK; Dragon's Den) Whole Foods, Amazon, GoPro (category examples) David Goggins (grit example) Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:08 — Dan's intro: Jaime's background (founder, veteran, systems thinker) 01:34 — Homelessness, Army, divorce, and walking from Rancho Cucamonga to Huntington Beach 04:31 — Why Jaime loved the 82nd Airborne; structure, training, and failing RIP 06:10 — Failure, pain tolerance, and why entrepreneurs keep going 13:57 — What homelessness teaches you about people, pride, and getting a "leg up" 16:48 — Category design: name it / frame it / claim it; "market the problem" 19:33 — "Delegation Intelligence" + the core problem: founders trapped running vs. growing 22:41 — The 4-step delegation system: name it, confirm instructions, review/approve, create the signal 27:09 — Hiring + vetting at scale: 7,000 interviews, 658 presented (Jaime's numbers from interview) 30:03 — "Distant assistants" (not digital); 93-video certification; six roles they support 31:44 — AI shifts roles; calculators-in-class analogy; avoid AI overwhelm/burnout 35:22 — Dan on AI's real challenge: behavior change + implementation, not just "the model" 43:21 — Why "Burn The Map" isn't "ignore the map"—it's "outgrow it" 43:49 — Military CreatorCon + category design intensive with Christopher Lockhead 47:32 — Where to find Jaime; Delegation IQ Blueprint 48:11 — Jaime's book: Quit Repeating Yourself

    49 min
  5. Burn The Map - 1:17

    FEB 12

    Burn The Map - 1:17

    In This Episode: We sit down with Monica Marquez, co-founder of Flipwork AI and the unofficial change management therapist every modern exec wishes they had on speed dial. Monica's resume is a "who's who" of places that love an acronym—NYU, Goldman Sachs, EY, Bank of America—so trust me, she's seen every flavor of corporate resistance to tech you can imagine. Monica calls out the dirty little secret of AI in the enterprise: Buying the tech is easy; getting humans to actually use it (without mangling your workflows and ROI) is the real Olympic sport. She dishes on why middle managers are often the AI adoption bottleneck, how automation at scale can make your mistakes embarrassingly public, and why "working harder" stopped mattering the second AI walked in the door. What We Cover: The very real gap between AI purchase and AI adoption—why executives fret and middle management digs in its heels How Monica's "Duolingo meets Deloitte" approach gets humans and agents collaborating, not colliding Why your old playbook is officially dead, and how agentic humans will reshape the org chart (bye, endless middle management layers) The sneaky cultural reasons why some employees see AI as "cheating" (and how to flip that mindset) How to AB-test workflows and build custom agents your team will actually use—because shelfware isn't a KPI Behind-the-scenes stories on avatars in HR, bias in screening, and why writing an erotic Victorian cover letter won't get you that ML ops job (but it might make you laugh) Monica's tactical stack of must-have AI tools: what she actually uses, what's just hype, and why you still need to get your hands dirty Guest Bio: Monica Marquez is the co-founder of Flipwork AI—a company that specializes in getting humans and AI to work together without burning the place down. A recovering head of talent and champion for diversity in tech, Monica spent 20+ years wrangling people problems everywhere from big banks to Big Four consultancies. She sits on the board of ALFA (Association of Latin Professionals for America, for Latinas in Tech) and publishes the "Ay Ay Ay AI" newsletter—because yes, she's always the first to kick the tires on new tools, and she's not afraid to tell you what actually works. If you want tips, tough love, and truths about closing the gap between AI hype and real change—Monica's your person. Enjoy! This show is brought to you by Wrench.ai. Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird Follow Monica: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themonicamarquez/ Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social Selected Links From This Episode: Monica's site/newsletter: themonicamarquez.com Flipwork AI "Ay Ay Ay AI" Newsletter People and Organizations Mentioned: Monica Marquez Flipwork AI EY, NYU, Goldman Sachs Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:00 — Why "implementing AI" will break you if you skip change management 06:00 — The hidden ROI-killers nobody benchmarks 13:00 — Psychological barriers: cultural myths, effort vs. impact, and why your team thinks using AI is cheating 20:00 — Reinventing workplaces: agentic humans, clones, and eliminating monotony 30:00 — Bias in hiring, avatars in interviews, and why everyone suddenly has a "perfect" resume 40:00 — Tools Monica actually uses—and which ones are overrated 46:00 — Why middle management is now an endangered species 49:00 — How to find Monica, and why you'd better DM with something interesting

    51 min

  6. JAN 29

    Burn The Map - 1:16

    In This Episode: We sit down with Elizabeth Bieniek: accidental innovator, corporate plane-repairer at 30,000 feet, and author of Cake on Tuesday, a book for people who like their business advice with more real talk and less corporate fluff. Elizabeth walks us through her unpredictable path—from getting an MBA at Babson and tumbling into the tech world, to launching a stealth startup inside Cisco, and then finally distilling years of chaos into 25 lessons for unlocking corporate innovation. Why Cake on Tuesday? Because frankly, what's the point of slogging through strategy sessions if you're not enjoying the ride (and the cake)? What We Cover: How to build a "startup inside the mothership" when corporate just wants you to stop asking why Why communication—not just coding—makes or breaks innovation The hard (but hilarious) truth about decision-making, feedback, and why you shouldn't listen to every single "mentor" Stories from the trenches: flying the plane while building it, collecting callouses (not just LinkedIn endorsements), and why you need to laugh, especially when everything's on fire How Elizabeth's book, Cake on Tuesday, became a survival guide for intrapreneurs, founders, and anyone allergic to syrupy corporate motivational posters Guest Bio: Elizabeth Bieniek, author of Cake on Tuesday and host of the Cake on Tuesday podcast, is the kind of leader who asks "why"—loudly, persistently, and (let's be honest) a bit annoyingly—for the good of slapping sense into business as usual. A veteran of making new things happen inside giant corporations, she's passionate about helping real doers cut through the noise and actually get things done. Find her at CakeOnTuesday.com Enjoy! This show was brought to you by Wrench.ai. Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird Follow Elizabeth: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethbieniek/ Cake On Tuesday LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cake-on-tuesday/ Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social Selected Links From This Episode: Cake on Tuesday ElizabethBieniek.com "Cake on Tuesday: 25 Lessons to Unlock Corporate Innovation" Wrench.ai People and Organizations Mentioned in This Episode: Elizabeth Bieniek Dan Baird Cisco, WebEx Hologram Cake on Tuesday Wrench.ai Show Notes & Timestamps: (00:17) How an ex-holography expert became the go-to for founders who don't want to crash their planes (or their projects) (03:29) Sneaking into Cisco as an English major: No, you don't have to write code to shake up big tech (07:18) Building startups inside the belly of the beast—less "special projects," more "just fix it already" (10:41) Writing post-mortems (the good kind, not the HR kind): How Cake on Tuesday became a book for people who'd rather laugh than cry (14:53) Why innovation is 90% persuasion and 10% trying not to strangle a "waffler" (18:49) The chapter everyone quotes: Don't Be a Flat Squirrel (you know who you are) (22:16) Reframing disagreement: Be disagreeable, just not a jerk (24:29) How to spot—and work with—actual doers (Hint: They're busy, but they'll still answer your call) (35:21) Staying sane: mantra walls, daily stoicism, and refusing to take yourself too seriously

    40 min

  7. JAN 15

    Burn The Map - 1:15

    In This Episode: We sit down with Dr. Craig A. Kaplan, the PhD-wielding brains behind Predict Wall Street (and, apparently, the patron saint of retail investors everywhere). Craig walks us through 14 years in the financial trenches, building tech to turn the "dumb money" crowd into a collective force that could actually beat Wall Street at its own game—at least until the hedge funds caught the scent and crashed the party. Brace yourself for a story that's equal parts "wisdom of crowds," collective intelligence research, and "what happens when the little guy dares to play with the big boys." If you still think your hot stock tip has a shot, prepare to have that illusion gently (okay, not-so-gently) shattered. What We Cover: How Craig built Predict Wall Street out of pure force of will (and maybe a touch of ignorance-is-bliss) Why smart money and dumb money aren't as predictable as you think How to use crowd signals, sentiment, and psychology for an actual edge (no, really) Why everyone else told him this was "impossible" (spoiler: Nobel laureates are not always right) The only three real ways to make money in the stock market—and why almost everyone gets it wrong What collective intelligence really means when the crowd is full of both geniuses and, well... not-geniuses Guest Bio: Dr. Craig A. Kaplan isn't your average Wall Street whisperer—he's a pioneer in collective intelligence and the founder of Predict Wall Street, the platform that gave retail investors their brief moment in the sun before the hedge funds rained on the parade. Craig's research and tech have changed how people think about market signals, crowd psychology, and "dumb money" (newsflash: it isn't always so dumb). When he's not upending financial orthodoxy, you'll find him connecting the dots between AI, data science, and what's actually possible when you trust a million random brains more than a dozen "experts." Enjoy! This show was brought to you by Wrench.ai Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird Follow Craig: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigakaplan/ Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social Selected Links From This Episode: Dr. Craig Kaplan LinkedIn Predict Wall Street The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki   People and Organizations Mentioned: Dr. Craig Kaplan Dan Baird TD Ameritrade Schwab NASDAQ "Dumb money" (sorry, retail investors—it's a Wall Street thing…) Show Notes & Timestamps: The myth and math of "wisdom of crowds" Getting 14 years' worth of scars in fintech Why Wall Street's "smart money" can be its biggest liability How to mine "dumb" opinions for real alpha The limits of quant funds and why the real edge never lasts Financial luck, stubborn optimism, and the fine art of not giving up (even when everyone with a Nobel tells you not to bother) Why you should never underestimate the power of a good old-fashioned jelly bean guess

    55 min
  8. Burn The Map - 1:14

    12/19/2025

    Burn The Map - 1:14

    In This Episode:  We sit down with Dr. Craig Kaplan—the guy who was building AI before your favorite "disruptor" learned to tie their shoes. Dr. Kaplan takes us on a wild ride from the OG days of artificial intelligence (when data lived on floppy disks and having a "machine learning" project meant you had actual machines to move) to his current crusade: making sure superintelligence doesn't wreck the joint for the rest of us. Kaplan lays out what everyone's too scared—or too clueless—to admit: if you wouldn't leave your wallet with a random LLM, why are you ready to entrust the future of humanity to black-box mega-brains? Spoiler: the answer isn't "more GPUs." Dr. Kaplan's been in the room with the legends, built systems Wall Street still wishes it could copy, and now he's here to torch lazy thinking about AI safety, collective intelligence, and why your Marcus Aurelius quotes aren't enough to save you from an existential AI oopsie. What We Cover: The difference between "tool" AI and "worker" AI (yes, there's a difference—catch up). Why "superintelligence" doesn't need another buzzword conference, it needs democratic crowdsourcing (and a human in the loop so we don't all end up starring in a low-budget Skynet reboot). The messiness of teaching ethics to machines—and why handing off responsibility to Silicon Valley's overcaffeinated 20-somethings is, frankly, a terrible plan. The not-so-humble history of AI: mentoring with Nobel laureates, building for Wall Street, and knowing when the hype cycle is actually a warning sign. Guest Bio:  Dr. Craig Kaplan—founder of superintelligence.com, patent-holding AI risk-mitigator, and straight-up legend in the AI world. He's been in the game since the 1980s (seriously, he worked with Herbert freakin' Simon), has built AI that beats Wall Street's "best," and still has the patience to explain to the rest of us why we should care before it's too late. Want to know what's coming next for AI? He's been calling it for decades. Enjoy the episode. This show is brought to you by Wrench.ai. Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird Follow Craig: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigakaplan/ Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social Selected Links From This Episode: superintelligence.com (Craig's digital lair) Wall Street collective intelligence  Jensen Wang's "AI is workers" GTC speech  People and Organizations Mentioned: Craig A. Kaplan Herbert Simon Jeff Hinton Marvin Minsky Anthropic and "the chosen 20 at Google" Nvidia Wall Street's unfortunately clueless quant crowd Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:04 — Dr. Kaplan invents "AI before it was cool" 06:15 — The limitations of everyone's favorite LLMs 17:50 — A sharp left turn into AI ethics and why Danbot needs therapy 31:00 — Why your future coworkers might be called "bots" (and outsmart you) 39:16 — The AI flywheel, the AGI endgame, and how to not get flattened 41:09 — How collective intelligence saved billions (and Dan's blood pressure)

    42 min
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About

Crazy ones? You're damn right. Burn the Map is a podcast about the people who can't help but chase obsession. Before the exits. Before the followers. Before anyone asked them to. These are deep-dive interviews with innovators, artists, hackers, tinkerers—people whose dedication to their craft borders on lunacy. We dissect the nuance of what they do, what keeps them going, and why their work matters. Hosted by Dan Baird, this show is a guided tour into the minds of people who do the work that seems illogical—until it isn't.

Information

  • Creator
    Dan Baird
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    Burn The Map