Talking AI

Matt Paige interviews Vishnu Hari (Vish), CEO and founder of Ego (YC W24), about shifting focus from AGI to “humanness”: AI characters that behave like people through memory, emotions, personality, needs, and desires.
Referencing Ego’s paper “Behavior is All You Need,” Vish argues consumer AI for entertainment must be relatable and character-like rather than purely task-smart, drawing inspiration from MMORPG social dynamics and Character.AI’s appeal.
Ego initially pursued a 3D sim-world vision inspired by Sword Art Online and Westworld, but found accessibility, game development, and perception latency challenging; internal Roblox tests (“Chatterblocks”) showed the key gap is natural speech beyond turn-taking.
Vish discusses simulations as a path toward real-world robotics via a partnership with Menlo AI, critiques task-bound robots versus agents with inner lives, suggests retention as the main metric, and shares views on AGI definitions, safety in entertainment, technology impacts, simulation theory, and consciousness.
Ego’s work is at egoai.com and the company is hiring in SF, Singapore, and Tokyo.
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Key Moments:
00:57 Behavior Is All You Need
02:41 Anatomy of Humanlike Agents
03:29 Game Bots to Real People
05:10 Building Ego and Sim Worlds
06:35 Why Speech Feels Human
08:27 From Sims to Robotics
10:29 Her vs Helper Robots
13:17 Measuring Humanness by Retention
15:27 Continual Learning and Personality
16:57 Meta Lessons on Empty Worlds
18:08 Lightning Round on AGI
20:31 IP Characters vs UGC Worlds
21:55 Risks and Just Tuesday
24:11 Simulation and Consciousness

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Key Links:
Ego
Connect with Rowan on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:
Free report from HatchWorks AI — State of AI 2026
What’s real in AI this year, what’s hype, and what leaders should prioritize — including production lessons, designing for agents, and governance.
https://hatchworks.com/state-of-ai-2026/
AI Opportunity Finder
Feeling overwhelmed by all the AI noise out there?

The AI Opportunity Finder from HatchWorks cuts through the hype and gives you a clear starting point.

In less than 5 minutes, you’ll get tailored, high-impact AI use cases specific to your business—scored by ROI so you know exactly where to start. Whether you're looking to cut costs, automate tasks, or grow faster, this free tool gives you a personalized roadmap built for action.

👉 Try it now at https://hatchworks.com/ai-opportunity-finder/

In this episode, Matt Paige and Rowan Stone, CEO of Sapien, discuss the critical importance of data quality and provenance in AI.
Stone, who has experience with on-chain products at Coinbase, introduces Sapien's innovative approach to building a decentralized data protocol that emphasizes 'don't trust, verify' principles.
They explore avenues such as incentives, validation methods, and the peer review process used by Sapien to create high-quality datasets.
The discussion touches on the implications of bad data, the role of synthetic data, the complexities of achieving accurate AI outputs, and the parallels between the AI and crypto worlds.
Key insights are shared on how to ensure models perform safely, the hurdles in the industry, and the trajectory of AI development.
Additionally, Stone provides a glimpse into Sapien’s efforts to demystify data validation and enhance the transparency and trustworthiness of AI applications.
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Key Moments:
01:04 The Importance of Data Quality in AI
03:32 Challenges and Risks in AI Development
07:08 Sapien's Approach to Data Validation
08:35 Incentives and Trust in AI Systems
13:30 Building a Decentralized Data Protocol
23:22 Consensus and Collaboration in AI and Crypto
30:55 The Role of Synthetic Data
36:17 Future of AI Models and Open Source

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Key Links:
Sapien
Connect with Rowan on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:
Free report from HatchWorks AI — State of AI 2026
What’s real in AI this year, what’s hype, and what leaders should prioritize — including production lessons, designing for agents, and governance.
https://hatchworks.com/state-of-ai-2026/
AI Opportunity Finder
Feeling overwhelmed by all the AI noise out there?

The AI Opportunity Finder from HatchWorks cuts through the hype and gives you a clear starting point.

In less than 5 minutes, you’ll get tailored, high-impact AI use cases specific to your business—scored by ROI so you know exactly where to start. Whether you're looking to cut costs, automate tasks, or grow faster, this free tool gives you a personalized roadmap built for action.

👉 Try it now at https://hatchworks.com/ai-opportunity-finder/

In this episode, Matt is joined by Charlie Bell, Microsoft's EVP of Security, Compliance, Identity, and Management, to discuss the future of AI and its implications on cybersecurity.
The conversation revolves around IDC's prediction of 1.3 billion AI agents by 2028, Charlie's insights from his recent writings 'Beware of Double Agents', and the crucial aspects of agentic Zero Trust.
They explore the benefits and risks associated with AI agents, the importance of security culture, and strategies to mitigate potential threats.
Charlie also shares his experiences working with Satya Nadella and the importance of collaboration and curiosity in leadership.
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Key Moments:
02:08 The Exponential Growth and Impact of AI Agents
03:47 AI Agents: Beyond Conversational Interfaces
05:48 Security Challenges in the Age of AI Agents
06:57 Parallels Between Cloud Adoption and AI Agent Era
09:19 Democratization of AI: From Developers to Everyone
13:57 The Concept of Double Agents in AI
16:07 New Attack Vectors and Security Concerns
21:43 Combating Security Challenges in AI
22:07 The Importance of Identity and Containment
23:50 Alignment and Intent in AI Systems
27:08 Observability and Accountability of AI Agents
30:00 AI in Security and Assumed Breach
33:17 Fostering a Culture of Security
38:45 Leadership Insights from Satya Nadella

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Key Links:
Microsoft
Connect with Charlie on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:
Free report from HatchWorks AI — State of AI 2026
What’s real in AI this year, what’s hype, and what leaders should prioritize — including production lessons, designing for agents, and governance.
https://hatchworks.com/state-of-ai-2026/
AI Opportunity Finder
Feeling overwhelmed by all the AI noise out there?

The AI Opportunity Finder from HatchWorks cuts through the hype and gives you a clear starting point.

In less than 5 minutes, you’ll get tailored, high-impact AI use cases specific to your business—scored by ROI so you know exactly where to start. Whether you're looking to cut costs, automate tasks, or grow faster, this free tool gives you a personalized roadmap built for action.

👉 Try it now at https://hatchworks.com/ai-opportunity-finder/

In this episode of Talking AI, Matt Paige speaks with Andy McMillan, CEO of Alteryx, to challenge the narrative that AI will make data analysts obsolete.
Andy argues that AI can make analysts indispensable by automating routine tasks, enhancing scalability, and providing specific business insights.
They discuss the evolving role of analysts, the importance of business logic, and how AI can aid in building useful tools.
The conversation touches on applying AI in various business processes, from budgeting to sales commissions, and how analysts can leverage AI to add value.
Andy also shares insights on Alteryx’s latest developments and future direction, emphasizing automation, data preparation, and AI tools designed to enhance productivity and accuracy.
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Key Moments:
00:50 The Evolving Role of Data Analysts
03:19 AI and Data Preparation: A New Era
04:04 Real-World Examples: AI in Action
07:00 The Analyst's Superpower: Business Context
10:07 AI and the Semantic Layer
12:44 Empowering Analysts with AI
21:11 The Future of AI Agents
23:46 Applying AI to Automation
23:56 The Future of AI Agents
24:55 Preparing for AI Integration
25:37 Challenges with AI in Business
27:45 AI in Finance and Data Accuracy
30:06 Strategic Shifts with AI
35:29 Build vs. Buy in the AI Era
38:56 Alteryx's New AI Capabilities
41:22 The Future Role of Analysts
42:18 Overhyped and Underhyped AI

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Key Links:
Alteryx
Connect with Andy on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:
Free report from HatchWorks AI — State of AI 2026
What’s real in AI this year, what’s hype, and what leaders should prioritize — including production lessons, designing for agents, and governance.
https://hatchworks.com/state-of-ai-2026/

In this episode, Matt speaks with Thibault Imbert, Chief Product Officer and Growth Officer at The Brief, about the transformative impact of AI on marketing workflows.
They discuss 'vibe marketing' and how to turn disjointed AI-generated content into cohesive, repeatable marketing workflows.
Thibault shares insights from his tenure at Adobe and GitHub, highlighting the challenges and potentials of AI in marketing.
They explore the evolution and current capabilities of AI models in text, image, and video generation, and the emerging trend of 'vibe coding.'
The discussion also covers practical AI applications for marketers and the future of creative workflows.
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Key Moments:
00:40 Defining Vibe Marketing
01:11 The Evolution of AI in Marketing
02:21 Challenges in AI-Driven Design
03:21 The Power of Vibe Marketing
06:09 Blurring Lines Between Roles
07:07 The GitHub Copilot Revolution
09:47 Building Cohesive AI Workflows
11:43 Demo: AI-Powered Marketing Tools
16:44 Ensuring Brand Consistency with AI
19:30 The Evolution of Mobile Development
21:15 The Rise of Generative AI in Marketing
23:44 The Future of AI in Product Development
27:41 AI's Impact on Marketing Workflows
30:42 The Changing Role of Marketers with AI
33:51 Personal Insights and Future of AI

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Key Links:
The Brief
Connect with Thibault on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:
Free report from HatchWorks AI — State of AI 2026
What’s real in AI this year, what’s hype, and what leaders should prioritize — including production lessons, designing for agents, and governance.
https://hatchworks.com/state-of-ai-2026/