AI Archives - Page 4 of 5 - Don't Stop Us Now

We’re Going All In on AI

December 1, 2024December 1, 2024
by Claire

We’re super excited to let you know that we are going ‘all in’ on AI and how it impacts us all.

We’re convinced that the impact and influence of AI in our lives and our workplaces deserves attention, experimentation and our collective imagination.

So today’s mini episode is a sneak preview sharing more about what we’ll be bringing you with our AI Edition episodes in the coming weeks and months.

We’ve been scouting out some phenomenal AI talent from around the world to bring you executives from some of the top AI companies, world leading academics, entrepreneurs and experts.

And don’t worry, we’ll still be featuring what we’re known for: showcasing plenty of amazing pioneering and innovative female leaders. We’ll also include some expert male voices too because we all need to learn from experts whoever they may be.

Plus, we’ll share some illuminating conversations with some digital humans that may just blow your mind!

Whether it’s how your job may change or what future new roles may be created; what skills you need to develop; or practical tips on how to use AI today to make a real difference to your work and life; it will all be on Don’t Stop Us Now AI Edition.

Can’t wait to hear what you think!

Check out our sneak preview now!

Interview

AI Visionary – Lee Yearsley

April 11, 2024April 12, 2024
by Claire

Every now and then we meet with a guest who blows us away by the scale and worthiness of their vision. And there’s no doubting this week’s guest is one of those.

Lee Yearsley is an AI veteran and entrepreneur with a unique track record that speaks to her skill of anticipating the future. Raised in Zimbabwe and South Africa, Lee sold her last AI company 10 years ago to IBM. It was the first company in the world to deploy AI in businesses such as banks, insurance companies and health care.

And now Lee’s at it again channelling her philosophy of building a global AI company that the world will need, not today, but in 5 years time. Her vision is big; she wants to reach more than 100 million customers worldwide.

Lee’s business is called Akin and her determination to use technology for good has seen her incorporate as a public benefit corporation (that’s an American legal entity that embeds a business model that benefits both shareholders and society).

Akin is bringing a new and more advanced type of AI to market, called Adaptive Reasoning.

It already has customers ranging from NASA to healthcare companies with disabled clients.

Now despite the fact Lee has a track record of founding and exiting several businesses, she shares with us just how difficult it is to raise funding as a female founder.

In this episode you’ll hear:

How Lee was positively dissuaded, if not barred, from studying computer science at Uni because she was a woman
How she says she ignores the accepted wisdom of how to build a successful startup and that others should ignore it too
How pervasive AI systems already are and how much they’re influencing the decisions we make in a negative way; and
The creative and unique way Lee goes about envisioning, building and growing her business.

We were lucky to spend time with Lee after she spoke at the Impact Investment Summit in Sydney recently.

Enjoy this episode with the visionary and genuinely pioneering Lee Yearsley.

Useful Links

Akin AI

Lee on LinkedIn

Credit top left photo – Dion Georgopoulos

Interview

Deep Tech Community Builder – Sally-Ann Williams

June 26, 2023June 26, 2023
by Claire

We’re really excited about the wonderful guest we have for you on episode 169 this week: Sally-Ann Williams.

Sally-Ann (aka Sally) is CEO of Cicada Innovations, Australia’s leading deep tech incubator for startups and scaleups with everything from quantum computing to life sciences, ag-tech, space and hydrogen startups. Cicada provides office space, custom labs, specialised equipment and training.

Over the years, Cicada has helped its resident companies raise 1.7 billion dollars in funding and they’ve also had 1.4 billion dollars in successful exits.

And right at the heart of the Cicada ecosystem is Sally.

Before joining Cicada, Sally spent nearly 13 years at Google in diverse roles mostly in the engineering team. There she was responsible, amongst many other things, for bringing street view to Australia and influencing school curriculum to ensure better teaching of technology and STEM subjects. She’s also always been a huge proponent for the start up ecosystem and women in particular.

In this episode you’ll hear how

Sally coped working with Google’s tech engineers without any technology background
How she goes about building or harnessing diverse systems to deliver positive long term change
The biggest challenge Sally faces running a deep tech incubator
Why she thinks seaweed is actually more exciting than generative AI; and
Her strategies for coping with chronic imposter syndrome.

Sally definitely sits in the box seat of what’s happening at the forefront of tech so we’re confident that you’ll find this conversation with her super interesting.

Enjoy this episode with deep tech and community champion, Sally-Ann Williams.

Useful Links

Sally-Ann on Linkedin

Cicada Innovations website

Bonus Episode

Decoding Generative AI and all its Hype

May 24, 2023May 24, 2023
by Claire

(Image created using DALL-E)

If you’re like us and have been playing a lot with Generative AI models such as Chat GPT or Bard lately then you’ll be fascinated by today’s episode on all things Artificial Intelligence and particularly Generative AI.

Today, we’re joined by a world class AI expert in what will be the first of a series of occasional episodes we’re doing on different aspects of AI and machine learning.

In this episode, we explore the hype surrounding Generative AI and explore its positives as well as issues and shortcomings.

Listen in as we speak with AI expert and entrepreneur, Asaf Somekh. Asaf is Co-Founder and CEO of Israeli-based AI company called Iguazio, which management consultancy McKinsey has recently acquired because of its prowess in helping companies successfully adopt and scale AI.

Asaf has been working with Artificial Intelligence since the 1990’s and his take on all the recent hype is fascinating.

In this episode you’ll hear:

How most businesses have struggled to operationalise AI to date
Exactly what Generative AI is and where it falls short§
How Chat GPT compares to the professionals when it comes to humour; and
How important ‘explainability’ is going forward.

Plus, we share some of our favourite resources to help you keep abreast of all that’s happening in this fast-moving world of AI.

Enjoy this episode! And if you do, why not share it with a friend?

Useful Links and Resources

– Neat Prompts – AI newsletter

– Hard Fork Podcast – Tech podcast

– Chat GPT– AI chatbot by OpenAI

– Google Bard – AI chatbot by Google

– Hey Pi – AI chatbot by Reid Hoffman

To receive a list of additional AI resources and links, email hello@dontstopusnow.co.

P.S.

Join us next time for a special fifth birthday episode and an interview with one of this year’s award winners from the global Cartier Women’s Initiative.

Interview

Sophia Matveeva – A Non Tech Founder in a…

August 3, 2021
by Claire

This week’s episode shares the story of founder Sophia Matveeva who found herself having to make a big pivot when the global pandemic hit.

Before Covid, Sophia, a Russian by birth and based in the UK, had been making inroads with her fashion app called Enty. Think of it as a kind of ‘Uber for fashion stylists’, used by growing numbers of consumers, and being featured as App of the Day on Mashable.

However the global lockdowns last year quickly put an end to the need for we consumers to seek stylist advice on our outfits.

Fortunately, Sophia had also been developing a side-hustle giving talks and creating a course called ‘Tech for Non-Techies’ where she shared what she’d learnt as a non tech founder and CEO running a tech startup.

So whilst Sophia’s fashion-tech business stopped dead last year, her side hustle started to build real traction.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How hearing her app developers painful feedback was the best lesson she could have had
How it took Sophia till well in to her 30’s to feel confident enough to back herself
Why she chose to do an MBA
And, her advice for those without tech experience who want to work in the tech industry.

If you’re wondering how you can get a role in a tech business or startup then don’t miss this episode with the articulate and enterprising Sophia Madveeva ….

Useful Links

Tech for Non-Techies website

Sophia’s Tech for Non-Techies podcast

Sophia on Twitter

Sophia on Instagram

Sophia on LinkedIn

Future Proof Me Mini Episode

Future Proof Me – What Great Ideas Need

June 30, 2021June 30, 2021
by Claire

This week’s Future Proof mini episode is all about what it takes to get a big idea signed off.

We’re excited to share very wise advice from senior Microsoft exec, Mitra Azizirad, who heads up their AI and Innovation division. Mitra speaks about what you should do when that fantastic idea or innovation you have gets knocked back. (Hands up who knows that feeling!)

Mitra is someone who’s had plenty of practise selling-in new ideas and approaches, and one of her top pieces of advice from our conversation was all about how you should react to being told “no” when you pitch an idea in a big corporate.

It’s important advice and we’re excited to revisit this with you here. Enjoy!

Useful Links

Mitra’s Full Interview with us – Mitra Azizirad – How Resilience and Persistence Can Make All The Difference

Mitra on LinkedIn – see her speeches here too! Well worth a watch!

Microsoft Innovation – Mitra’s team

Microsoft AI – also Mitra’s team

Mcirosoft’s AI Business School – Free Course

Future Proof Me Mini Episode

Future Proof Me – The Narratives We Tell Ourselves

February 23, 2021
by Claire

Hello and welcome to this week’s Future Proof Me mini-episode.

Valentine’s Day was only a week or two prior to us recording this episode and it really brought home how we’re often primed to make our self worth dependent on being loved or valued by others.

Whereas what really counts, is what we think and say to ourselves!

This brings us to the wisdom of the amazing 92 year old June Dally Watkins, whom we were lucky enough to feature on the show some time ago but still in her 90’s. Very sadly, she passed away early last year leaving an incredible legacy as a pioneering businesswoman and total inspiration.

In the first part of this week’s mini episode, you hear June talk, in her own inimitable way, about just how important it is to like and love yourself.

Then we explore the labels we can unconsciously (or consciously) give ourselves and how these can really make a BIG difference. And they’re really influenced by how much we have self-worth, love and respect.

We hear an inspiring story of how Barcelona-based innovator and futurist Cecilia (‘Ce Ce’) Tham, suddenly realised how negative the labels she was giving herself were. She changed them and her prospects changed completely with them.

What labels do you give yourself? Do you truly like and love yourself?

Enjoy this week’s mini episode to hear from two super wise, fabulous and diverse women.

Useful Links

June Dally Watkins Full Interview – Redefining What’s Possible for Women Even at 92!

JDW Website

Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend Article on June Dally Watkins:

Cecelia Tham

Cecelia Tham Full Interview – Predicting the Future

Cecilia’s website

Cecelia’s business Futurity

Makers of Barcelona (MOB)

allwomen AI Training School

Interview

Ellen Broad – Her Surprising Path to Big Data…

November 3, 2020November 13, 2020
by Claire

Brought to you by Microsoft’s The New Next

This week’s episode features a woman who never dreamt she’d end up working in a high tech environment. In fact, Ellen Broad imagined she would be a lawyer or librarian when she was younger.

However this tech exec and academic is now a Senior Fellow at the 3A Institute at the Australian National University. The Institute is a multi-disciplinary department created to help humans prepare for, and navigate, a world that will be forever altered by AI-powered ‘cyber-physical systems’.

A little bit more about Ellen, she trained as a lawyer (more about that in our conversation) and she’s worked in data-related roles in the Hague and in the UK, including being an expert adviser to the UK Secretary of State on Data, and head of Policy for the UK’s Open Data Institute.

Not only that, but Ellen has also written an award winning book on AI and its impact on humans called ‘Made By Humans’.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How Ellen navigated moving countries, and finding work, without having any network in her new home-base
How she’s found her voice to speak up against gender bias
What it’s like working in a truly diverse team – hint it’s not always easy
Why she’s using social media a lot less these days, and
Where she thinks technology will go in the next five years.

Enjoy this episode with the unassuming and very smart Ellen Broad.

Links

3A Institute website

Ellen Broad’s website

Ellen’s Book – Made by Humans

Griffith Review Article – Computer Says No

Resources Recommended by Ellen

Coded Bias Documentary

Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Noble

Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neil

PAIR Program with Google

The Coding Train – Daniel Shiffman

Future Proof Me Mini Episode

Future Proof Me – Solving Problems That Computers Can’t

August 4, 2020
by Claire

Gotta problem? Then listen up! Our first mini episode for August shares some tips to help you solve gnarly problems better.

Many Future of Work experts agree that complex problem solving skills will be in strong demand. These are the kinds of problems that computers and AI can’t solve because they are only as good as the (historical) data we program into them. Even the best algorithms can’t solve complex problems in the creative way a human brain can.

Listen now to hear about the lessons we and some of our guests have learnt about tackling problems and making the decisions that need to be made to move forward. Enjoy!

Interview

Mitra Azizirad – How Resilience and Persistence Can Make…

June 16, 2020June 17, 2020
by Claire

This week’s episode features a trailblazing woman in tech who’s had an extraordinary 28 year career at Microsoft.

Mitra Azizirad is Corporate Vice President of AI and Innovation Marketing at Microsoft based in Seattle.

As you’ll discover, Mitra’s heard it all, including a senior Defence executive telling her he had shoes older than she was! This indomitable woman has also got used to hearing plenty of ‘No’s’ at work but has repeatedly found ways to prove the naysayers wrong.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How it’s almost an accident Mitra got into tech in the first place, given she studied and wanted to work in International Relations
What it was like being Chief of Staff to the CEO of Microsoft and why she turned the job down several times in the first place
Why she’s never taken anyone’s advice
And the secrets of innovation she’s learnt from working on the cutting edge of technology.

We spoke with Mitra in Seattle during the coronavirus shutdown but before the Black Lives Matter protests.

Without further ado enjoy this episode with the forward thinking and very persistent Mitra Azizirad.

Links of interest

Mitra on LinkedIn – see her speeches here too! Well worth a look!

Microsoft Innovation – Mitra’s team

Microsoft AI – also Mitra’s team

Microsoft’s AI Business School – Free Course