Code and Connor

CodeStrap
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Tech News
  • Updated Weekly

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. 5d ago

    CxC Ep39: Who Controls AI? - with Neil Sahota (loanDNA)

    This week on Code x Connor, we’re joined by Neil Sahota of loanDNA to discuss the global race to govern AI, how the technology is reshaping information and cybersecurity, and the real world implications of who controls AI. Neil is a globally recognized AI strategist and longtime advisor to the United Nations who has worked with governments, businesses, and international organizations to understand the opportunities, risks, and societal implications of artificial intelligence. As Chief AI Officer at loanDNA, he leads enterprise AI strategy and AI-driven development across the loan life cycle for mortgage and financial services clients. In this episode, we discuss: → Why governments are finally pushing toward global standards for AI → How AI has become a new geopolitical and infrastructure arms race → The tension between AI regulation, innovation, and national competitiveness → How deepfakes and algorithmic influence are changing trust in information → AI’s potential to accelerate the divide between technology “haves” and “have-nots” → How AI is lowering the barrier to sophisticated cyberattacks and social engineering → Why human judgment and talent development become more important as AI improves → The hidden biases baked into LLMs and the growing power to shape information → The push to optimize AI for speed at the cost of accuracy and price → How edge computing could dramatically reduce AI infrastructure costs → The growing backlash against data centers and AI’s resource demands → Human augmentation vs. AGI and workforce replacement 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. loanDNA Website: https://loandna.com/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/loandna Neil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilsahota/ 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. 6d ago

    CxC Ep39: Who Controls AI? - with Neil Sahota (loanDNA)

    This week on Code x Connor, we’re joined by Neil Sahota of loanDNA to discuss the global race to govern AI, how the technology is reshaping information and cybersecurity, and the real world implications of who controls AI. Neil is a globally recognized AI strategist and longtime advisor to the United Nations who has worked with governments, businesses, and international organizations to understand the opportunities, risks, and societal implications of artificial intelligence. As Chief AI Officer at loanDNA, he leads enterprise AI strategy and AI-driven development across the loan life cycle for mortgage and financial services clients. In this episode, we discuss: → Why governments are finally pushing toward global standards for AI→ How AI has become a new geopolitical and infrastructure arms race→ The tension between AI regulation, innovation, and national competitiveness→ How deepfakes and algorithmic influence are changing trust in information→ AI’s potential to accelerate the divide between technology “haves” and “have-nots”→ How AI is lowering the barrier to sophisticated cyberattacks and social engineering→ Why human judgment and talent development become more important as AI improves→ The hidden biases baked into LLMs and the growing power to shape information→ The push to optimize AI for speed at the cost of accuracy and price→ How edge computing could dramatically reduce AI infrastructure costs→ The growing backlash against data centers and AI’s resource demands→ Human augmentation vs. AGI and workforce replacement 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. loanDNA Website: https://loandna.com/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/loandna Neil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilsahota/ 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

  3. Sep 2

    CxC Ep39: What Business Leaders Need to Know About AI

    This week on Code x Connor, Connor and Dorian unpack the growing disconnect between individual AI productivity and actual business performance, why agentic systems could dramatically increase enterprise AI costs, and what it will take for companies to rethink how they’re adopting AI at a fundamental level. In this episode, we discuss: → The difference between AI automation, augmentation, and true autonomy → Why using AI feels more productive, even when it’s actually delivering less value → How individual productivity gains can create organizational chaos → Enterprise AI adoption’s shift from bottom-up experimentation to top-down transformation → McKinsey’s 1-3-5 rule for investing in agentic AI, process redesign, and workforce adoption → Why agents consume dramatically more tokens than humans, and what it means for budgets → Rising costs due to token consumption, hardware constraints, and data center shortages → Why token efficiency is increasingly important considerations in enterprise AI architecture → The growing pressure on business leaders to prove ROI on their AI investments → Rebuilding AI-native business processes vs. layering technology onto broken ones → Why traceability and auditability become critical as agents take on more business processes → The repercussions of replacing enterprise software with vibe-coded applications → Why AI startups need to sell business outcomes instead of usage-based software → The forward deployed engineering and platform-based approach to enterprise software 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 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 Join FuturOps 2026: The Palantir User Conference! Register Now: https://www.futurops.com/e/u/checkout/futurops/tickets/order Date: October 26–27, 2026 (Kicks off Oct 26 @ 12:00 PM) Location: Dallas, TX

  4. Aug 12

    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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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

See All (44)

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
    44
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026
  • Show Website
    Code and Connor