Code and Connor

CodeStrap
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Code & Connor is where Connor Deeks and Dorian Smiley ask the questions most AI podcasts won't. Two founders — one strategist, one engineer — in honest conversations with executives, builders, and practitioners about what's actually happening at the intersection of AI and the enterprise. Learn from collaborations with customers and partners, see Codestrap's technology in action, and get perspective on the hottest issues within the AI industry. No hype. Just real, unvarnished discussion with the industry's smartest people.

  1. 4d ago

    CxC Ep38: How AI Is Reshaping Higher Education - with Dr. Glen Lowry (Edufirm)

    In this episode of Code x Connor, we’re joined by Dr. Glen Lowry of Edufirm to discuss the impact of AI on higher education, why universities are struggling to adapt at the speed of technology, and what needs to change as traditional degrees, workforce development, and institutional procurement collide head first with the technology. As CEO of Edufirm, Glen works with institutions and technology providers to build partnerships that help higher education navigate technological and institutional change. Prior to Edufirm, he spent over two decades working across higher education as an educator and administrator, including leading university faculties, chairing a research ethics board, and directing a college research office. In this episode, we discuss: → The procurement problem posed by AI adoption in higher education → AI as a tool to help professors and students ask better questions → Why subject matter experts still need to validate and take responsibility for AI-generated work → AI as a tool for closing skill gaps vs. a crutch that causes skills to atrophy → How specialized AI systems could improve learning without replacing human expertise → Why universities struggle to keep up with rapidly changing workforce needs → How AI could create more flexible paths through higher education → Traditional four-year degrees vs. micro-credentials and alternative training programs → How AI could eliminate bureaucracy from research grants and other university processes → What higher education can learn from military and healthcare procurement → What startups selling into universities need to understand about institutional problems Be sure to follow this channel for insights and perspective from industry leaders, and schedule a meeting with us through www.codestrap.com to learn more about our offering. Edufirm Website: https://edufirm.ca/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/edufirm-strategy-innovation-inc Glen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenlowry/ Codestrap Dorian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorian-smiley-97a72a14/ Connor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connordeeks/ Codestrap (X): https://x.com/Codestrap_ai CodeStrap (LI): https://www.linkedin.com/company/codestrap Codestrap (Substack): https://codestrap1.substack.com/ Codestrap (Medium): https://medium.com/codestrap

  2. Jul 30

    CxC Ep37: Is Open Source the Future of AI? - with Ahmad Osman & Michael Bradley (Osmantic)

    This week on Code x Connor, we're joined by Ahmad Osman and Michael Bradley, co-founders of Osmantic, to discuss why open source AI is rapidly closing the gap on frontier models and how owning your own AI infrastructure could become a major competitive advantage. Osmantic builds open source infrastructure that enables organizations to deploy, manage, and operate self-hosted AI systems, helping enterprises retain control of their data, reduce costs, and build specialized AI tailored to their own business. In this episode, we discuss: → Anthropic’s accusations that Moonshot trained Kimi K3 on Claude → The rise of open source models and the threat it poses to closed source frontier labs → Why enterprises should own their AI infrastructure instead of renting intelligence → How self-hosted AI can reduce costs while protecting intellectual property → Why smaller, specialized models may outperform frontier models for enterprise workloads → The financial advantages of treating AI infrastructure as a capital investment → Why AI value comes from engineering, workflows, and context—not just larger models → How frictionless developer tooling could accelerate enterprise adoption of self-hosted AI → Microsoft's shift toward open models and what it signals about the future of enterprise AI → Why the next wave of AI innovation may come from open source rather than frontier labs → How infrastructure, hardware, and model efficiency could reshape the economics of AI Be sure to follow this channel for insights and perspective from industry leaders, and schedule a meeting with us through www.codestrap.com to learn more about our offering. Osmantic Website: https://www.atlassian.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/osmantic/ Ahmad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theahmadosman/ Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-bradley-07bab74a/ Codestrap Dorian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorian-smiley-97a72a14/ Connor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connordeeks/ Codestrap (X): https://x.com/Codestrap_ai CodeStrap (LI): https://www.linkedin.com/company/codestrap

  3. Jul 29

    The Agent Loop Is a Recursive Tax

    Most AI agents today run on the same pattern: give the model a goal, dump in a giant system prompt, let it loop through tool calls until it decides it's done. It's flexible. It's also burning enterprise budgets for no good reason. In this episode, we break down why the generalized agent loop, the default architecture behind most agentic AI, is quietly a tax on an enterprise's margin. Anthropic's own research shows agents can burn 4x the tokens of a normal chat, multi-agent systems up to 15x, and paying a frontier model to rediscover business rules on every single turn adds up fast. We dig into the false choice everyone gets stuck on: rigid workflows vs. fully autonomous agents. There's a third option, bounded planning compiled into governed execution, where the model plans and reasons but the system decides what's actually allowed to happen. We cover what that looks like in practice (including a case where model spend dropped by 97%), why security should live in the execution graph instead of a stack of prompt instructions, and why bolting hooks onto a generalized loop isn't the fix people think it is. If you're building or buying agentic AI systems and want to know where the real costs are hiding, this one's for you. Read the full piece: The Agent Loop Is a Recursive Tax

  4. Jul 8

    CxC Ep36: AI Industry Rundown - with Benjamin Rogojan & Anand Pant

    This week on Code x Connor, we’re joined by Codestrap Founding Partners Benjamin Rogojan and Anand Pant to break down the latest developments shaping the AI industry—from OpenAI's proposed government equity stake and the future of open-source models to Microsoft's massive push into forward deployed engineering and the growing reality check around enterprise AI adoption. In this episode, we discuss: → OpenAI's proposal to donate equity to a U.S. sovereign wealth fund → Why open-source is critical to innovation, national security, and enterprise sovereignty → The risks of AI censorship, model bias, and anti-competitive behavior from frontier labs → Meta's move into selling excess AI compute and what it means for the infrastructure market → Why token efficiency and smaller models could reshape AI economics → Microsoft's $2.5 billion investment in forward deployed engineering → The challenges of hiring thousands of AI engineers and the growing enterprise skills gap → The advantages of owning your own intelligence layer over relying on AI labs → Ford's decision to rehire employees after AI-driven workforce reductions → Augmenting human expertise with AI instead of replacing it → What these trends reveal about the next phase of enterprise AI adoption  Be sure to follow this channel for insights and perspective from industry leaders, and schedule a meeting with us through www.codestrap.com to learn more about our offering. Codestrap Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminrogojan/ Anand: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anand-pant/ Dorian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorian-smiley-97a72a14/ Connor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connordeeks/ Codestrap (X): https://x.com/Codestrap_ai CodeStrap (LI): https://www.linkedin.com/company/codestrap

  5. Jun 25

    CxC Ep35: How AI Is Transforming the Insurance Industry - with Sam Piecz (Corgi)

    This week on Code x Connor, we’re joined by Sam Piecz of Corgi to discuss how AI is reshaping the insurance industry, the emergence of new AI-driven risk categories, and the challenges of underwriting AI-powered businesses. Sam is Head of AI at Corgi, where he’s focused on building AI-native insurance products to modernize one of the world’s largest industries. As Corgi’s founding software engineer, he has worked across nearly every part of the business, from building products and leading AI initiatives to acquiring companies and running a subsidiary. In this episode, we discuss: → How Corgi is using AI to rebuild insurance from the ground up → The rise of AI-related insurance products and emerging risk categories → How insurers evaluate AI systems, agents, and autonomous workflows → Why most organizations still underestimate the risks of AI adoption → Whether AI should be trusted to make operational decisions without humans in the loop → How AI can improve underwriting, claims processing, and insurance operations → Why unstructured data is insurance’s biggest untapped resource → The future of open-source models, local AI infrastructure, and token economics → How AI can create faster, better customer experiences in traditionally slow industries → The future of insurance in a world increasingly powered by AI systems and agents Be sure to follow this channel for insights and perspective from industry leaders, and schedule a meeting with us through www.codestrap.com to learn more about our offering. Corgi Website: https://www.corgi.insure/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/usecorgi/ Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-piecz/ Codestrap Dorian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorian-smiley-97a72a14/ Connor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connordeeks/ Codestrap (X): https://x.com/Codestrap_ai CodeStrap (LI): https://www.linkedin.com/company/codestrap

  6. Jun 10

    CxC Ep34: AI Industry Rundown - with Anand Pant & Przemysław Nowak

    This week on Code x Connor, we’re joined by Codestrap’s own Anand Pant and Przemysław Nowak to discuss the latest news around AI, from the increasingly unsustainable cost of token burn to Anthropic and OpenAI’s looming IPOs, and the growing disconnect between AI hype and business outcomes. Anand is a Founding Partner and Builder at Codestrap, where he helps customers build operating systems they can trust as they scale into the AI era. A world-class data and AI architect known for building differentiated product experiences, from voice-driven operator workflows to text-to-CAD, Anand spent seven years at PwC before joining Codestrap. Przemysław is also a Founding Partner and Codestrap’s Principal Engineer, where he’s focused on building scalable platform architecture and developing AI coding assistants. Previously, Przemek led Brainly’s Frontend Infrastructure team and co-created Brainly Gene, the open-source NX + React framework In this episode, we discuss: → Sam Altman admitting that companies are spending their AI budgets too quickly → Exploding token costs and why companies are walking back their AI strategies → How AI hype led companies to optimize for token usage instead of business outcomes → The risks of treating AI tools as employees instead of software tools → How AI coding assistants are changing developer behavior, incentives, and skill development → Where AI actually delivers value today—from rapid prototyping to knowledge discovery → The importance of CapEx versus OpEx when evaluating AI investments → What Anthropic and OpenAI's IPOs mean for the industry → The challenges of SpaceX’s proposed “data centers in space” → Why trillion-dollar AI company valuations may not be supported by business fundamentals → The future of AI economics, enterprise adoption, and the coming "finding out" phase Be sure to follow this channel for insights and perspective from industry leaders, and schedule a meeting with us through www.codestrap.com to learn more about our offering. Codestrap Anand: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anand-pant/ Przemyslaw: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nowakprzemek/ Dorian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorian-smiley-97a72a14/ Connor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connordeeks/ Codestrap (X): https://x.com/Codestrap_ai CodeStrap (LI): https://www.linkedin.com/company/codestrap

  7. Jun 4

    CxC Ep33: AI Coding’s Productivity Paradox - with Andrew Boyagi (Atlassian)

    This week on Code x Connor, we’re joined by Andrew Boyagi of Atlassian to discuss why AI is accelerating software development without necessarily accelerating business outcomes, the organizational bottlenecks holding enterprises back, and what it actually takes to build an AI-ready company. Andrew is Atlassian’s Customer CTO and Head of DevOps Evangelism, where he helps some of the world’s largest organizations optimize their developer experience and productivity. Atlassian is a recognized leader in software development, work management, and enterprise service management software, enabling enterprises to connect their business and technology teams with an AI-powered system of work that unlocks productivity at scale. In this episode, we discuss: → Why developers saving hours with AI are still losing time to organizational friction → The true bottleneck in software delivery → The four flows of enterprise productivity: purpose, workflow, knowledge, and intelligence → Why successful AI adoption requires organizational change, not just better tooling → The evolution of team structures across engineering and business functions → The growing importance of enterprise knowledge graphs and contextual AI systems → How companies can break down information silos and remove context boundaries → Why documentation quality has become a critical competitive advantage in the AI era → Jira as an orchestration layer in an AI-native world → How AI is changing the relationship between developers and the business Be sure to follow this channel for insights and perspective from industry leaders, and schedule a meeting with us through www.codestrap.com to learn more about our offering. Atlassian Website: https://www.atlassian.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/atlassian/ Guest: https://au.linkedin.com/in/andrewboyagi/ Codestrap Dorian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorian-smiley-97a72a14/ Connor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connordeeks/ Codestrap (X): https://x.com/Codestrap_ai CodeStrap (LI): https://www.linkedin.com/company/codestrap

  8. May 28

    CxC Ep32: Private Equity’s AI Reality Check - with Lee McCabe (Claymore Partners)

    This week on Code x Connor, we’re joined by Lee McCabe of Claymore Partners to discuss the convergence of AI and private equity, why firms are struggling to create operational value, and the growing disconnect between AI hype and real-world business fundamentals. Lee is a partner at Claymore Partners, a digital-first growth advisory firm helping private equity and their portfolio companies drive operational improvement through technology, data, and digital transformation. Prior to Claymore, Lee held leadership roles at Expedia, Meta, and Alibaba, and has spent over 25 years working across growth, operations, and digital strategy. In this episode, we discuss: → Why private equity can no longer rely on financial engineering alone → The operational changes PE firms need to survive the current market → Why most companies still lack the data foundations required for AI → How AI amplifies both strong and broken business processes → The growing risks around enterprise AI costs, token usage, and infrastructure constraints → OpenAI and Anthropic’s partnerships with private equity firms → The disconnect between AI deployment headlines and actual business readiness → Where AI is already creating measurable enterprise value → How PE firms could use AI for pattern recognition, deal sourcing, and operational analysis → What private equity can learn from venture capital branding and media strategies → The rise of digital-first PE firms focused on operational transformation Be sure to follow us to get the latest information, and schedule a meeting with us through www.codestrap.com! Claymore Partners Website: https://www.claymorepartners.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/claymorepartners/ Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leemccabe/ Codestrap Dorian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorian-smiley-97a72a14/ Connor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connordeeks/ CodeStrap (X): https://x.com/Codestrap_ai CodeStrap (LI): https://www.linkedin.com/company/codestrap

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About

Code & Connor is where Connor Deeks and Dorian Smiley ask the questions most AI podcasts won't. Two founders — one strategist, one engineer — in honest conversations with executives, builders, and practitioners about what's actually happening at the intersection of AI and the enterprise. Learn from collaborations with customers and partners, see Codestrap's technology in action, and get perspective on the hottest issues within the AI industry. No hype. Just real, unvarnished discussion with the industry's smartest people.

Information

  • Creator
    CodeStrap
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    41
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026
  • Show Website
    Code and Connor