AITX Community Podcast

AITX Community

The AITX Community Podcast exists to interview the most interesting AI entrepreneurs, researchers, and operators based in Texas to hear their stories and pull down the curtains about what’s going on in AI in an accessible and engaging way.

Episodes

  1. 10/22/2025

    AITX Community Podcast #9: Scott Wilcox

    Welcome back to the AITX Community Podcast!This episode features Scott Wilcox, an Austin OG who spent nearly 20 years leading technology and innovation at SXSW. Scott helped shape SXSW into a global platform that drives a Super Bowl’s worth of economic activity into Austin each year. He led the organization’s digital transformation, built their platform from scratch, and guided their technology strategy through eras of massive change in both culture and tech. After SXSW, Scott went on to start several of his own technology businesses. He’s currently building Janix and utilizing new AI infrastructure and data tools like MCP to reimagine autonomous systems. Check out ⁠Janix - https://www.janix.aiStay in touch with Scott - https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottmwilcox/Timestamps[00:01:50] Scott’s early background and childhood interest in computers and technology [00:05:31] First jobs post-college, moving to Texas, and joining SXSW [00:10:14] Initial technology infrastructure at SXSW [00:13:17] Evolution of Scott’s role at SXSW [00:15:56] Building software before cloud and SaaS [00:25:14] Growth into CTO role [00:26:10] Early challenges and "oh s***" moments at SXSW [00:34:38] Scaling the SXSW organization and technology team [00:39:58] Early AI and neural networks at SXSW [00:46:37] Personal journey building with AI [00:55:00] Limitations of generative code, challenges with technical debt, context, and legacy systems [01:05:22] Journey to founding Janix AI [01:21:04] Marketplaces and interoperability [01:38:40] Building a tech company in Texas [01:48:12] Rapid fire [01:58:26] Keep in touch with Scott

    2h 1m

  2. 10/15/2025

    AITX Community Podcast #8: Tyler Wells

    Welcome back to the AITX Community Podcast!This episode features Tyler Wells, whose engineering journey spans some truly iconic companies and projects. Tyler’s career reads like a timeline of real-time communications evolution. He joined Skype not once but twice, playing critical roles in unifying codebases and, most notably, building out the original Facebook video calling feature powered by Skype. Tyler then joined Twilio, helping build their video platform from scratch and opening up new opportunities for developers around the world to build video into their apps. He’s since gone on to found data-focused startups like Ubix and Propel, and today is the co-founder of Brain Grid, a company using agents and generative AI to reshape the entire software development workflow.Check out BrainGrid - https://www.braingrid.ai/Stay in touch with Tyler - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerswells/ Timestamps [00:02:11] Tyler’s Early Interest in Engineering and Computers [00:11:33] Startups in Silicon Valley [00:14:29] Transition from IC to Engineering Leadership, Lessons in Managing Distributed Teams [00:22:58] Real-Time Communications [00:27:04] Building Skype on the Web, Partnership with Facebook, and Scaling to Millions [00:43:46] First Foray into Entrepreneurship: Starting Ubix, Working with Data and Lessons Learned [00:51:10] Journey at Twilio: Building the Video Platform, Remote Office Launch, and WebRTC [01:06:05] Leaving Twilio, Moving to Austin, and Founding Propel Data Cloud [01:14:54] Building Data Platforms: Early Customers, Search for Product-Market Fit [01:20:59] Impact of Generative AI: Using Agents, Prompt Engineering, and the Birth of Brain Grid [01:31:02] Brain Grid & Moving to Austin [01:45:37] Rapid Fire [01:51:39] Closing: Staying Connected, Brain Grid’s Roadmap, and Personal Reflections

    1h 54m

  3. 10/08/2025

    AITX Community Podcast #7: Jared Greene

    Welcome back to the AITX Community Podcast!This episode features Jared Greene, Head of Software at Base Power Company, one of the fastest-growing energy technology startups in Texas. Base Power builds modular, distributed energy systems that can augment utility grid electricity and installs them directly into their members homes. They're fresh off their Series C funding announcement and one of Texas' fastest growing companies.In this episode, we cover Jared’s journey from writing control software for lab robots, to developing SpaceX’s Starlink systems, to now building the distributed energy infrastructure of the future at Base Power. Work at Base Power - https://basepowercompany.com/careersStay in touch with Jared - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredgreene1/Timestamps[00:05:10] Jared's First Engineering Job[00:07:37] Difference Between Firmware and Software[00:10:44] The Guatemala Internet Infrastructure Project[00:25:34] Transitioning to Starlink / SpaceX[00:30:43] Work at Starlink: Constellation Simulations, Satellite Engineering, and Optical Links[00:54:00] BASE Power: Distributed Energy & Operating the Grid[01:08:13] AI at BASE, Scaling, and Building in Austin[01:25:13] Rapid Fire[01:31:35] Closing: Staying Connected, BASE’s Future, and Personal Announcements

    1h 35m

  4. 09/30/2025

    AITX Community Podcast #6: Kevin Frazier

    Welcome back to the AITX Community Podcast! This episode features Kevin Frazier, a lawyer & policy expert, Senior Editor at Lawfare, and the inaugural AI Innovation & Law Fellow at The University of Texas School of Law. We cover Kevin’s education and career working in the world of law and policy at both state governments and Big Tech, how AI is impacting the legal profession, and a deep dive into the current state of America’s AI Policy. Kevin shares honest stories about bridging the worlds of government and technology, how outdated laws impact real people, and the urgent need for legal clarity in the age of AI. I think you’ll appreciate what he has to say. Stay in touch with Kevin: LinkedIn Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-frazier-ut-ai Bluesky/X - @kevintfrazier The Scaling Laws Podcast - https://www.lawfaremedia.org/podcasts-multimedia/podcast/scaling-laws Appleseed AI, Kevin’s Substack - https://appleseedai.substack.com/ The AI Innovation & Law Program at UT - https://law.utexas.edu/ai/ Timestamps:[00:02:02] Kevin’s Introduction and Background [00:10:26] Tech Companies and Policy Engagement [00:19:01] The AI Innovation and Law Program at UT [00:27:39] Debunking AI Misconceptions [00:31:02] AI Hallucinations and Legal Risks [00:37:57] Will AI Replace Junior Lawyers? [00:48:28] U.S. AI Policy: Federal and State Landscape [00:54:34] Executive Actions vs. Congressional Law [01:12:09] Trump’s AI Action Plan: Three Pillars [01:35:16] The Challenge of AI Liability [01:42:09] Rapid Fire [01:47:35] Closing

    1h 51m

  5. 09/23/2025

    AITX Community Podcast #5: Rick Boone

    Welcome back to the AITX Community Podcast! This episode features Rick Boone, an accomplished engineering executive, angel investor, and current venture partner at Antler. We trace Rick’s journey through technology, from growing up immersed in giant mainframes in New York City to engineering leadership roles at some of the biggest names in tech, like Facebook, Uber, and Carta. Rick shares candid stories of his early exposure to computers, the formative experiences that drew him to study computer science at USC, the dot-com boom, the transition to fast-growing Facebook and then hyper-growth Uber, and more. Stay in touch with Rick:LinkedIn Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kineticrick/Apply to Antler - https://to.antler.co/AITXTimestamps [00:02:10] Intro and Rick’s Early Exposure to Technology [00:10:52] High School and College Decision Process [00:12:43] USC, Dot Com Era, and Entering the Job Market [00:18:17] Early Facebook: Joining, Culture, and Engineering Challenges [00:37:18] Uber: Hypergrowth, Engineering, and Near-Disasters [01:20:28] Transition to Leadership and Executive Roles [01:28:26] Angel Investing: Motivation and Mindset [01:37:29] How Rick Evaluates Startups and Founders [01:53:06] Rapid Fire [02:03:10] Closing Thoughts

    2h 7m

  6. 09/16/2025

    AITX Community Podcast #4: Doa Jafri

    Welcome back to the AITX Community Podcast! Our fourth episode is with Doa Jafri, an entrepreneur, serial engineering executive, and current leader of a research team exploring Emerging Technology & AI at Twilio.This conversation with Doa covers her journey from discovering coding as a creative outlet in middle school to becoming a serial startup technical leader and advocate for AI adoption. After a stint as a runway model, Doa blended her creative, technical, and leadership abilities by joining early-stage startups as a founding engineer, often landing in pivotal roles through circumstance and a willingness to “step up and try.” We dive into the effects of AI on engineering, discuss frameworks for identifying talent, and practical advice for non-technical founders on hiring and evaluating engineers. Stay in touch with Doa: LinkedIn Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/doa-jafri/ Doa's Substack - https://substack.com/@zeroshotai Timestamps [00:01:35] Doa’s early journey: Texas childhood, middle school coding, Neopets, and “hacking the Internet”[00:06:17] Unexpected pivot: From engineering to New York Runway modeling[00:10:14] Early transition to leadership: Thrust into interim CTO and learning to lead[00:18:44] The myth of “fake it till you make it” vs. authentic leadership in tech[00:26:46] Hiring engineers – patterns, impact vs. title, the “pioneer/settler/city planner” framework[00:31:53] Non-technical founders: How to vet and interview technical hires[00:35:40] Impact of LLMs[00:42:42] Intrapreneurship and work at Twilio[00:56:49] Raising kids in a digital world: Boredom, screen time, formative experiences[01:08:52] Austin’s tech scene[01:17:09] New entrepreneurial playbooks: Profitable from day one[01:21:18] Rapid fire[01:34:19] What’s next: Getting everyone involved in AI

    1h 38m

  7. 09/03/2025

    AITX Community Podcast #3: Ashia Lewis-Livaudais

    Welcome back to the AITX Community Podcast! Our third episode is with Ashia Lewis-Livaudais, a computational physicist, research engineer, and the founder/CEO of Symby AI.Our conversation spans Ashia's personal story growing up in New Orleans and getting her PhD, her professional experience as a self-described “Research Engineer”, and how she got started building AI models to help advance science, which led to her founding a startup, Symby AI. Symby uses advanced AI models to help researchers do better science. Their platform automates peer review, experiment replication, and peer review analysis with AI. Unreplicable science is a huge problem leading to decades of wasted effort by scientists and millions of dollars in wasted research funding. Symby is tackling this problem head on and has a vision of becoming a core feature in how science and research are done in the future.Stay in touch with Ashia:LinkedIn Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashia-liv/Symby Website - https://symbyai.com/ Timestamps [00:01:45] Intro & Ashia’s Background: Growing Up in New Orleans, Early Love for Bugs [00:10:00] Russian Adventures: Exchange Program, Living on a Reindeer Farm [00:17:30] Research Roles: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center & Modernizing Data [00:21:50] Intersection of Research & Engineering [00:33:00] Building Knowledge Graphs for Physics Papers with LLMs [00:44:00] Scientific Replication & Research Validation: Why It Matters [00:58:00] The Replicability Crisis Birth of Symby [01:02:30] Engineering Challenges of Automated Paper Validation [01:25:15] Rapid Fire: Books, Productivity, Favorite Models, and Life Lessons [01:30:00] Closing Thoughts

    1h 33m

  8. 08/26/2025

    AITX Community Podcast #2: Jade Wang

    Welcome back to the AITX Community Podcast! Our second episode is with Jade Wang, an engineer, startup founder, hacker house pioneer, and prolific angel investor.This conversation spans Jade's personal journey immigrating to the US and learning to program at a young age, her experiences running legendary Bay Area hacker houses, how she got started building developer community at Meteor, her eventual founding of Sandstorm and subsequent acquistion by Cloudflare, as well as her approach to angel investing, her views on the evolution of startups in the AI era, and the role of intuition, agency, and empathy in building technology and the future. Stay in touch with Jade: LinkedIn Profile - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jadeqwang/ Bluesky Profile⁠ - https://bsky.app/profile/jadewang.me Orange Angels - https://venture.angellist.com/orangecloudangels/syndicate Timestamps [00:00:00] Intro & Jade’s Personal Background, College Years, & Academic Shifts [00:07:08] Early Startup & Hacker House Era [00:13:08] Building Founder Networks & Communities [00:22:09] Linking Community to Career: Meteor & DevRel [00:30:50] Co-founding Sandstorm [00:41:33] Life at Cloudflare [00:48:17] Austin as a Tech Crossroads [00:51:46] Angel Investing & Startup Trends [00:59:40] The Future of Startups in the AI Age [01:07:02] Product, Distribution, and Retention [01:22:39] Rethinking VC, The Role of Tech, & Capital in Human Coordination [01:34:52] Rapid Fire & Book Recs [01:45:23] Closing Thoughts

    1h 50m

  9. 08/19/2025

    AITX Community Podcast #1: Jason Gauci

    Welcome to the AITX Community Podcast! Our first episode is with Jason Gauci, an OG AI engineer, researcher, open source technology expert, and host of the Programming Throwdown Podcast. In this wide-ranging conversation with Jason, we discuss Jason's background and entrance into the Machine Learning industry, the importance of Open Source technology to AI and software engineering in general, his work across tech giants Google, Apple, Meta, and now Circuit.ai, and opportunities he sees in the future. Stay in touch with Jason: LinkedIn Profile Twitter Profile Programming Throwdown Podcast Circuit.ai Details 00:00:00 – 00:02:00: Introduction 00:02:00 – 00:12:30: Jason's Early Background, Academic Path, and Early Programming Interests 00:12:30 – 00:23:00: Introduction to Neural Networks and Neuroevolution 00:23:00 – 00:32:00: Graduate Research and HyperNEAT 00:32:00 – 00:46:00: Open Source in AI: Research, Industry, and Meta 00:46:00 – 00:58:50: The Power and Importance of Open Source for Developers 00:58:50 – 01:24:10: Jason's Career: Meta, Argo AI, and Circuit 01:24:10 – 01:32:00: Research Mindset vs. Product Mindset 01:32:00 – 01:37:45: Broader AI Themes & Opportunities 01:37:45 – 01:56:35: Rapid Fire & Closing Thoughts

    1h 56m
  • 9 Episodes

About

The AITX Community Podcast exists to interview the most interesting AI entrepreneurs, researchers, and operators based in Texas to hear their stories and pull down the curtains about what’s going on in AI in an accessible and engaging way.

Information

  • Creator
    AITX Community
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © AITX Community
  • Show Website
    AITX Community Podcast