Machine Dreams

Kolawole Samuel Adebayo & Leah Stern
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Machine Dreams is a weekly dive into the real world of AI. Hosts Kolawole Samuel Adebayo and Leah Stern talk with the founders, researchers, investors, engineers, and stakeholders shaping the future of intelligent machines. These are unfiltered, human conversations about what’s working in AI, what isn’t, and what might reshape the world next. From databases and infrastructure to agents, regulation, the future of work, and more, Machine Dreams brings clarity to arguably the most important tech story of our time.

  1. 6d ago

    FBI’s Former Lead Kidnapping Negotiator Chris Voss on AI, Negotiation, and the Human Advantage

    Chris Voss spent 24 years with the FBI and became its lead international kidnapping negotiator. Today, he is the bestselling author of Never Split the Difference and founder and CEO of The Black Swan Group. In this episode of Machine Dreams, we sit down with Chris to explore what happens when AI comes to the negotiating table. Can machines learn tactical empathy? Could AI eventually negotiate better than humans? And what advantages do people still have that machines may never be able to replicate? Chris explains why AI could become a powerful negotiation tool, why machines have an advantage when humans are tired or emotional, and why he still believes a human being at their best is unbeatable. We also discuss AI negotiating against AI, what he would teach a machine if he were training it to become a world-class negotiator, and how anyone can start using AI to prepare for real negotiations today.   Here is why you should listen to Chris; Chris Voss is a former FBI lead kidnapping negotiator, bestselling author of Never Split The Difference, and founder and CEO of The Black Swan Group; a negotiation, training, coaching, and consulting organization that teaches people how to achieve better outcomes in high-stakes conversations. Recognized globally as a leading authority on negotiation, Chris developed his approach through decades of experience in crisis negotiation. Today, he and The Black Swan Group apply those principles to business, sales, leadership, difficult conversations, and high-stakes communication through The Black Swan Method® and Tactical Empathy®. Never Split The Difference has introduced millions of readers around the world to Chris's negotiation methodology. Through The Black Swan Group, Chris and his team help people go beyond understanding the concepts in the book and develop negotiation as a practical, repeatable performance skill through training, coaching, practice, and live experiences. The Black Swan Group offers in-person negotiation training, live and self-paced online negotiation training, coaching, keynote speaking, and advanced negotiation experiences for business owners, leaders, sales professionals, and other professionals who want to become more effective dealmakers. Learn from Chris Voss and The Black Swan Group: Negotiation training and resources: https://www.blackswanltd.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=machinedreamspodcast In-person and live training: https://www.blackswanltd.com/live-events?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=machinedreamspodcast Online negotiation training: https://www.blackswanltd.com/online-negotiation-classes?utm_source=youtube&utm=social&utm_campaign=machinedreamspodcast

    FBI’s Former Lead Kidnapping Negotiator Chris Voss on AI, Negotiation, and the Human Advantage

  2. Sep 2

    Can We Build a Better Internet in the Age of AI?

    AI is becoming more powerful, but there is still a lot we don’t fully understand about how these systems work. In this episode of Machine Dreams, we sit down with Isvari Maranwe, founder and CEO of Yuvoice, to talk about AI as a “black box,” why humans still need to stay involved as the technology becomes more capable, and where companies may be moving too quickly. We also explore a different question: can we build a better internet in the age of AI? Isvari explains why she believes social media needs a reset and how Yuvoice is trying to build a humans-first platform that rewards real-world impact rather than simply attention, while using AI where it can genuinely help. Learn more about Yuvoice(https://yuvoice.com).

    Can We Build a Better Internet in the Age of AI?

  3. Aug 26

    Snowflake’s VP of AI on the Cost, Data, and Future of AI

    AI feels instant. Ask a question, get an answer. But behind every answer is data, computing power, a choice of models, and a real cost. In this episode of Machine Dreams, Snowflake VP of AI Baris Gultekin joins Sam Adebayo and Leah Stern to unpack what it actually takes to make AI work at scale, why there is no AI strategy without a data strategy, and why the biggest model isn’t always the best one. Baris has worked on AI since his early days at Google, long before the current boom. We talk about how far the technology has come, where it still falls short, and what happens next as AI becomes capable of working on increasingly complex tasks on its own.

    Snowflake’s VP of AI on the Cost, Data, and Future of AI

  4. Aug 20

    The Hidden Cost of AI Nobody Is Talking About | Collibra CEO Felix Van de Maele

    AI is getting smarter. But inside real companies, intelligence alone isn't enough. If employees still have to double-check every response, correct mistakes and babysit AI agents, how much productivity are we actually gaining? In this episode of Machine Dreams, we sit down with Felix Van de Maele, co-founder and CEO of Collibra, to unpack what he calls the “hallucination tax.” We explore why even the best AI models struggle without the right company data and context, why businesses may be working more despite adopting AI, and what it will take for enterprises to finally trust AI to make decisions and take action at scale.

    The Hidden Cost of AI Nobody Is Talking About | Collibra CEO Felix Van de Maele

  5. Jun 4

    AI Agents Are About To Flood The Internet. There’s Just One Problem

    Gartner predicts that more than 40% of agentic AI projects will be canceled by the end of 2027 due to escalating costs, unclear business value, and inadequate risk controls. Enterprises are building fast and failing fast. The problem isn't the models or the ambition. It's that agents can't actually talk to each other. Most companies are deploying single agents in silos when the real future requires hundreds of them working together, delegating tasks, sharing credentials, and holding context across conversations. The infrastructure for that doesn't exist yet. Arick Goomanovsky is co-founder and CEO of BAND (https://www.band.ai) and has built two cybersecurity companies that exited for a combined $550 million. Sygnia was acquired by Temasek for $250 million. Ermetic was acquired by Tenable for around $300 million. Now he's tackling what he believes is the next defining infrastructure challenge in AI: building the harness that lets agents discover each other, communicate bidirectionally, and collaborate across the enterprise and the open internet. Arick explains why single-agent architectures don't scale, why identity and trust between agents is harder than most people realize, and what a functioning internet of agents will look like inside the enterprise five years from now.

    AI Agents Are About To Flood The Internet. There’s Just One Problem

  6. May 29

    AI Is Finding Vulnerabilities Faster Than Humans Can Fix Them

    The cybersecurity industry has spent decades getting better at finding vulnerabilities. Better scanners, better scoring systems, better detection. And yet breaches keep happening. The problem isn't discovery anymore. It's that security teams are drowning in critical alerts, most of which turn out to be noise, while the real bottleneck remains: how do you actually fix what matters before attackers exploit it? Now AI models like Mythos are about to flood teams with even more vulnerabilities than they can possibly remediate. David Warshavski is co-founder and CPO of Tonic Security (https://www.tonicsecurity.com) and spent more than 20 years in cybersecurity, leading the red team and enterprise security department at Sygnia. He explains why Mythos is both overhyped and a genuine warning sign, why the goal of security was never to plug every hole but to protect what keeps the business running, and how Tonic's agentic platform finally closes the gap between identifying risk and eliminating it at machine speed. If you work in security or sit on a board trying to understand where the real threat lies, this conversation cuts through the noise.

    AI Is Finding Vulnerabilities Faster Than Humans Can Fix Them

  7. May 21

    Fortune 500 Companies Are Deploying AI Agents Faster Than They Can Secure Them

    AI agents are being deployed across enterprises faster than security teams can track them. Employees aren't waiting for approval. They're spinning up agents connected to Salesforce, HubSpot, and the most sensitive company data because they've been told to move faster. Most organizations have no visibility into what these agents are doing, what permissions they hold, or where the risk actually lives. This isn't shadow IT. This is shadow AI, and it's already inside your company. Ofer Klein is CEO and co-founder of Reco (https://www.reco.ai/), a company helping Fortune 500 organizations govern AI agent sprawl. Ofer comes from a background as an IDF helicopter pilot and serial entrepreneur who's built and scaled go-to-market teams across the US. Reco works with companies like Waste Management, Nestlé, and major banks to answer one question: how do you enable AI adoption at speed while maintaining visibility and control? Ofer explains what he calls the "oh shit" moment every board is having right now, why Mythos changed the security conversation overnight, and why his company hired 40 people in the last 10 weeks. If you're deploying AI agents, running enterprise security, or trying to figure out how to move fast without getting breached, this matters.

    Fortune 500 Companies Are Deploying AI Agents Faster Than They Can Secure Them

  8. May 14

    What Happens When AI Starts Making Decisions Without You?

    AI agents are already deployed across enterprises. They touch company data, hold permissions, and perform actions on behalf of employees. But most organizations have no visibility into what these digital workers are actually doing. This isn't shadow IT where someone installs unauthorized software. This is shadow AI, and it's moving faster than any governance framework was built to handle. Shahar Tal is a veteran of Israel's elite 8200 unit and former senior executive at Checkpoint and Celebrite. In 2024, he co-founded Cyata (https://cyata.ai) with fellow 8200 alumni to solve agentic security. The company raised $8.5 million in seed funding and seven months out of stealth got acquired by Checkpoint Software Technologies. Shahar and his researchers have been mapping vulnerabilities in major agentic frameworks that most organizations don't know exist yet. They'll disclose findings at Black Hat this August. We discuss why AI agents represent the biggest enterprise shift since the cloud, what agentic identity actually means, and why demand is outrunning governance. Shahar explains how prompt injection enables real exploits at scale, why security teams need to stop being the brake pedal and start enabling safe AI use, and what CISOs should ask internally before agents run blind. If you're building AI systems, running enterprise security, or trying to understand where the real risk lies, this conversation matters.

    What Happens When AI Starts Making Decisions Without You?
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About

Machine Dreams is a weekly dive into the real world of AI. Hosts Kolawole Samuel Adebayo and Leah Stern talk with the founders, researchers, investors, engineers, and stakeholders shaping the future of intelligent machines. These are unfiltered, human conversations about what’s working in AI, what isn’t, and what might reshape the world next. From databases and infrastructure to agents, regulation, the future of work, and more, Machine Dreams brings clarity to arguably the most important tech story of our time.

Information

  • Creator
    Kolawole Samuel Adebayo & Leah Stern
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    28
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Kolawole Samuel Adebayo & Leah Stern