Summary In this episode of Masters of Automation, host Alp Uguray interviews Gokhan Egri, a successful entrepreneur who transitioned from academia to the startup world. Gokhan shares his journey from Turkey to Harvard, his experiences in Y Combinator, and the evolution of his companies, O'Leo and Brainbase. The conversation delves into the challenges of being a solo founder, the importance of customer feedback, and the future of AI and automation in the workplace. Gokhan emphasizes the need for transparency in automation processes and discusses the unique insights that drive his approach to enterprise AI. The episode concludes with reflections on the immigrant founder experience and the personal inspirations that fuel Gokhan's entrepreneurial spirit. Key Takeaways Gokhan transitioned from academia to entrepreneurship after realizing the potential of AI. His first startup, O'Leo, was born out of a need for automation in education. Brainbase evolved from O'Leo, focusing on enterprise AI solutions. Customer feedback is crucial for shaping product development and messaging. The concept of the 'digital worker' is central to Brainbase's mission. ROI in automation can be measured through clear metrics and pilot programs. The 'black box test' helps identify automation opportunities within organizations. AI can significantly improve the efficiency of enterprise operations. Transparency in automation processes is essential for enterprise adoption. Immigrant founders often possess unique grit and adaptability that contribute to their success.

In this episode, Alp Uguray interviews Kaspar from Pactum about revolutionizing negotiations with AI. They discuss Kaspar's background and the founding of the e-residency program in Estonia. They also explore the concept of negotiations and how AI can assist in creating value for both parties. The conversation delves into the future of negotiations, the transparency of AI decisions, and the parallels between entrepreneurship and participating in an Ironman race. Kaspar shares insights on decision-making, prioritization, and the importance of mental resilience. In this conversation, Alp Uguray and Kaspar discuss the potential applications of negotiation AI and the challenges of implementing it in various industries. They also touch on the topic of AI regulations and the balance between innovation and bureaucracy. Kaspar introduces Pactum's four-level negotiation intelligence framework, which categorizes AI negotiation use cases based on complexity and impact. They also discuss the importance of building a foundation layer for AI in government services. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the benefits of Estonia's e-residency program for startups.

Jonathan Corbin, the founder and CEO of Maven AGI, is backed by some of the best investors in the industry, like Sequoia, M13, and Lux Capital. Jonathan shares his journey from managing 1,000 people at HubSpot to starting his own AI startup, where he got together with Sami Shalabi (Founder of Google News) and Eugene Mann (Product Lead at Stripe). He discusses the evolution of customer support and the role of generative AI in improving customer experiences. Corbin emphasizes the importance of ingesting and analyzing data from various sources to provide personalized interactions and take complex actions. He envisions a future where customer support is streamlined, siloed systems are eliminated, and AI agents have contextual knowledge of customers. Corbin also advises aspiring entrepreneurs to focus on solving the actual problem with a first-principles mindset and leverage their specialized knowledge and skills.

In this conversation, Alp Uguray interviews Guy Kawasaki about his Ikigai, the concept of being remarkable, and the impact of artificial intelligence on our lives. They discuss how remarkable people structure their Ikigai, the definition of a better place, and the integration of AI into education. They also explore AI use cases and the role of AI in the future of work. Guy shares his perspective on the imposter syndrome and offers advice on overcoming it.

In this conversation, Alp Uguray interviews Enis Hulli about the impact of AI on the investment landscape and the changing role of founders in the rapidly evolving space. They discuss how the focus of investments has shifted towards DevTools and AI/ML tooling, and how founders need to adapt to the changing landscape. They also explore the role of AI in different industries and the challenges and opportunities it presents for startups. The conversation touches on the importance of founders having an open mindset, understanding customer feedback, and staying disruptive. They also discuss the impact of macroeconomic conditions on startups and the role of regulation in Europe. In this episode of the Masters of Automation podcast, host Alp Uguray sits down with AI pioneer Hassan Sawaf to explore his remarkable journey through the world of AI and language processing. Hassan, who has held key positions at AWS, Meta, and now runs his own startup, Xplained, shares his insights on the evolution of AI and its transformative impact on language translation and machine learning. Hassan delves into his early work in speech-to-speech translation, the challenges of deploying AI models before the cloud era, and the innovative solutions his startup, Xplained, is developing to democratize AI for non-engineers. He discusses the importance of modular AI agents, the role of regulation in data sourcing, and the future of AI in enhancing human-computer interactions. Throughout the conversation, Hassan emphasizes the need for leadership skills in the AI-driven future and the significance of creating inclusive, easy-to-use AI tools that empower entrepreneurs, artists, and non-technical users to harness the power of AI. Join us for a deep dive into the world of AI with one of its leading visionaries.

Summary Tatyana Mamut, CEO of Wayfound, discusses her transition into entrepreneurship and the vision behind her AI agent platform. She explains that her goal is to create a platform that allows companies to work with AI agents as intelligence, not just pieces of software. The platform aims to empower humans to collaborate with AI agents in order to create better customer experiences and transform workplaces. Mamut emphasizes the importance of focusing on customer value rather than efficiency and encourages companies to build transformative customer experiences with generative AI. She also offers a one-month free trial of the Wayfound platform to listeners. Takeaways Tatyana Mamut started her own startup, Wavefound, to create a platform that allows companies to work with AI agents as intelligence, not just pieces of software to drive efficiency gains but accelerate customer experiences and net new product experiences. The focus should be on creating transformative customer experiences with generative AI rather than just optimizing internal workflows for efficiency. Companies that prioritize customer value and create better customer experiences will outperform those that solely focus on efficiency. The future of UI is conversational, with chat interfaces providing a more intuitive and customer-centric experience. Mamut offers a one-month free trial of the Wayfound platform to listeners! Click on the link here to get started with Wayfound -

Summary In this conversation, Antti Karjalainen discusses the evolution of RoboCorp to Semaphore AI and the shift towards agentic automation. He highlights the early adoption of generative AI and the development of AI agents. Antti explains that the direct personas for purchasing AI agents are often line of business champions, while AI innovation and governance are typically centralized within organizations. He also shares his personal evolution as an entrepreneur and the challenges and opportunities of working with AI. The conversation explores the potential of AI agents to automate complex processes, the importance of quantifying ROI, and the future of user experience paradigms in AI applications. Takeaways RoboCorp evolved into Semaphore AI, focusing on agentic automation and AI agents. AI agents are being adopted by line of business champions and centralized AI governance bodies. AI agents have the potential to automate complex processes and provide significant efficiency gains. Quantifying the ROI of AI agents can be challenging but is crucial for adoption. The future of AI applications lies in innovative user experience paradigms.

Revolutionizing Language Translation and AI Innovation with Hassan Sawaf In this episode of the Masters of Automation podcast, host Alp Uguray sits down with AI pioneer Hassan Sawaf to explore his remarkable journey through the world of AI and language processing. Hassan, who has held key positions at AWS, Meta, and now runs his own startup, Xplained, shares his insights on the evolution of AI and its transformative impact on language translation and machine learning. Hassan delves into his early work in speech-to-speech translation, the challenges of deploying AI models before the cloud era, and the innovative solutions his startup, Xplained, is developing to democratize AI for non-engineers. He discusses the importance of modular AI agents, the role of regulation in data sourcing, and the future of AI in enhancing human-computer interactions. Throughout the conversation, Hassan emphasizes the need for leadership skills in the AI-driven future and the significance of creating inclusive, easy-to-use AI tools that empower entrepreneurs, artists, and non-technical users to harness the power of AI. Join us for a deep dive into the world of AI with one of its leading visionaries.

Jason is the CEO and Co-founder of Radical Candor. Over the last four years, he’s helped all kinds of organizations, from tiny startups to the giants in the Fortune 100, realize the power of creating a more Radically Candid culture. Through this work, he’s helped hundreds of companies develop real human relationships between team members and through those relationships, achieve amazing results collaboratively. In his past lives, Jason received undergraduate and graduate degrees in business from New York University. He also worked as a product design team lead at Fog Creek Software, the small-but-mighty New York-based software company that created well-loved products like Trello and Stackoverflow. In 2010, he moved to California and helped launch Khan Academy, the world-renowned educational tech non-profit. Over the next seven years, he helped it grow from three people to a few hundred and reach over 100 million students around the world as both chief people and chief product officer.

Join us as Dr. Eric Daimler, a 6x entrepreneur, President's Fellow, and the visionary who initiated the AI Council in the White House, shares his deep insights into the world of AI and robotics. Learn about the transformative power of data integration, the ethical challenges of voice-simulating AI, and the intricacies of AI regulation. With his unparalleled experience and unique vantage point, Dr. Daimler discusses how technologies like Connexus AI are shaping our interconnected future.

Join us for an insightful conversation with Tatyana Mamut, a transformative leader in Silicon Valley renowned for driving innovation through deep customer understanding and empathetic leadership. As a product executive at Amazon, Salesforce, Nextdoor, and IDEO, and currently serving as the SVP of New Products at Pendo, Tatyana brings a wealth of experience and insights. In this session, we'll dive into Tatyana's journey from being an economist to help United Nations and then become a leader in global advertising to becoming a product executive in the Silicon Valley. We'll explore her unique approach to understanding customer behaviors, her work on human-centered design, the impact of Generative AI on the economy, products and life. With her background Anthropology, we will dive into scenario planning to accommodate multiple cases where AI can go right or go wrong. This episode challenges the positive and negative narratives set out by many of the tech leaders and lets the audience to ponder more about how to build guardrails, so that the AI benefits the society as a whole. Key discussion points will include: Tatyana's transition from global advertising to tech and her approach to understanding customer behaviors. Her experience in human-centered design and the importance of experiencing the world through the customers' eyes. The role of sales in understanding customer objections and building the product roadmap. Emerging trends in design and innovation, particularly in the context of generative AI. Balancing rapid innovation with ethical considerations in product and service development. Strategies for building a culture that encourages innovation and motivates talent.

In this engaging episode, we dive into the world of automation and digital transformation with the Founders of Ashling, Marshall Sied and Donald Sweeney. Our guests share valuable insights on the importance of process mining, empowering employees through citizen development programs, and the critical role of executive leadership in driving successful automation initiatives. They also discuss the need to strike a balance between cost efficiency and maintaining a positive customer experience when implementing automation solutions. Throughout the conversation, the focus remains on not just cutting costs but on enhancing customer and employee experiences and unlocking the full potential of automation for a better future of work. Listen in to discover key strategies for successful automation implementation and the role it plays in transforming businesses across industries.

Thomas H. Davenport is the President’s Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College, a visiting scholar at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, and a senior adviser to Deloitte’s AI practice. He is a coauthor of All-in on AI: How Smart Companies Win Big with Artificial Intelligence (Harvard Business Review Press, 2023). He has written or edited twenty books and over 250 print or digital articles for Harvard Business Review (HBR), Sloan Management Review, the Financial Times, and many other publications. He earned his Ph.D from Harvard University and has taught at the Harvard Business School, the University of Chicago, the Tuck School of Business, Boston University, and the University of Texas at Austin.One of HBR’s most frequently published authors, Tom has been at the forefront of the Process Innovation, Knowledge Management, and Analytics and Big Data movements. He pioneered the concept of “competing on analytics” with his 2006 Harvard Business Review article and his 2007 book by the same name. Since then, he has continued to provide cutting-edge insights on how companies can use analytics and big data to their advantage, and then on artificial intelligence. Tom’s book, co-authored with Julia Kirby, Only Humans Need Apply: Winners and Losers in the Age of Smart Machines offers tangible tools for individuals who need to work with cognitive technologies and in his latest book, The AI Advantage: How to Put the Artificial Intelligence Revolution to Work, he provides a guide to using artificial technologies in business.

In today’s episode of the Masters of Automation podcast, the host Alp Uguray speaks with Antti Karjalainen, the founder of Robocorp, a Python-based open-source RPA (Robotic-Process-Automation) platform. Antti shares his story about what led him to automation, why he chose to open-source his product, the benefits of open-source, such as collaboration and innovation, and how it aligns with Robocorp's mission to make automation more accessible. We talked about the Robocorp community, managing remote teams, integration of generative AI and RPA, as well as the ethics of AI. Our conversation then shifts toward the future of the industry, and Antti shares his insights on how he thinks the industry will evolve. He talks about integrating ChatGPT-like solutions within the product stack for automatic code generation and the challenges that come with it. The ability to integrate different solutions and providers within the core-RPA automation stack allows them to be more flexible and focus on the core automation promise. Being open-sources and Python-based helps with that integration as well. We also discuss the industries that are the most and the least resistant to change and automation based on their exposure. The podcast ends with a discussion on managing a remote team. Antti shares his experience of running a fully remote team and the challenges and benefits that come with it. He talks about how a remote model creates equal opportunities for people from all over the world to participate fully in the company and get ahead in their careers. This episode provides insights into the world of automation and its impact on businesses and employees. Antti's experiences offer valuable lessons for entrepreneurs, startups, and anyone interested in automation and AI. Here are some of the questions we discussed: What inspired you to delve into the world of automation and RPA? Was there a particular problem or challenge that motivated you to build solutions for it? As the creator of an open-source RPA platform, how do you balance the needs of both developers and business users within your community? Are there any challenges in catering to both groups? The field of automation and AI is constantly evolving. What exciting developments do you see on the horizon for the industry, and how do you plan to keep up with these changes? In your experience, which industries have been the most resistant to change and automation? How can we overcome this resistance and help businesses see the value in adopting these technologies? With the rise of remote work, how have you managed to build and maintain a successful remote team? What strategies have worked well for you, and what challenges have you faced?

In this episode, we're joined by Jonathan Reilly, the Co-Founder, and COO of Akkio, a Low Code AI start-up that democratizes access to ML models and allows integration into business processes backed by Bain Capital. With a background in operations, product, and marketing at Sonos and Markforged, Jonathan brings incredibly valuable insights to the table with his vast experience in scaling products and operations, as well as experiencing companies’ scale from 0 to 1 and 100. Jonathon and I had recently caught up during the D3 (Digital, Data, Design Institute) Catalyst event at Harvard Business School. He had a compelling discussion to educate the audience on how best to leverage Low Code AI, democratizing access to ML, and the potential impact of generative technology like OpenAI’s GPT models and Stable Diffusion on the business processes. Jon’s personal story of going into entrepreneurship and embarking on a journey within the AI and product space is an inspiring one. We discussed challenges in maintaining the company culture while scaling the business and shared compelling insights into MLOps integration with RPA (robotic process automation) software, highlighting the potential for these two technologies to work together to streamline and automate business processes. Throughout our conversation, Jonathan touched on the ethical considerations surrounding the use of technology within AI and the responsibility of technology companies to ensure their products are being used for good. He also provided valuable advice on how to approach building high-performance teams in a beneficial culture for a technology startup.If you're interested in entrepreneurship, AI, and the technology space, this is an episode you won't want to miss. Tune in to hear from an experienced leader in the industry!

Joy Mountford is an internationally recognized leader in design, particularly human-computer interface, user experience, and interaction design. She has built and led the world-class design and innovation teams at Apple, Ford Motors, Akamai, Yahoo, and Interval Research. She has designed interfaces for various systems including airplane cockpits, computers, the web, consumer electronics, musical instruments, and toys. She is an inventor on over 28 key patents granted in multimedia and human-computer interaction. She created the International University Design Expo, which has touched the lives of thousands of design students for more than 20 years. She has given invited presentations at the top conferences in the field including ACM SIGCHI, IDCA, EG, and TED. She received the Women in Leadership Award in 2019 and received the SIGCHI Life-Time Practice Award and was elected to the CHI Academy in 2012. In 2021 she contributed one of the first 3 invited transcripts covering her life works archived for the Babbage Institute 2021.“Joy is a founder of the intellectual and practical elite of design, a design legend" John Maeda – executive, designer, and technologist"Joy is one of 1000 most creative individuals in U.S." Harry Marks, co-creator TED conferences

George is an entrepreneur, advisor, and technologist who built a start-up in 1999 that focuses on Intelligent Document Processing and data extraction. George was born in Romania, also the home of UiPath. He studied at the first specialized high school for computer programming until he moved to the US in 1991. George dedicated his many years to researching and developing Semantic Technologies, NLP, and AI applications in unstructured content processing. After working as a Software Architect for many years, In 1999, together with his Co-Founders, he started Recognos Inc. where he helped build the platform's AI engine. In April 2018, the platform was acquired by UiPath to create UiPath's Document Understanding capability. At UiPath, after leading the technology alliances program for many years, he is now taken a lead role as an Evangelist for UiPath. He has seen the technology partners of UiPath, who similarly also build intelligent document processing solutions and beyond. He is one of the founding members of the Romanian American Business Network, whose mission is to bring together people with interest in the Romanian business environment. Also, he is the Honorary Consul of Romania in San Francisco and is on the board of a few NGOs and startups. What’s your personal story in getting into the Document Processing field? i. What was important back then and what changed now? How is the current document processing industry structured in the world? Where is the Document Processing headed for the next 5 years? Will be totally embedded.

Rob Enslin joined UiPath most recently from Google Cloud, serving as President of Global Customer Operations. In that role, he led global field operations, tripling the size of the sales organization and driving Google Cloud's growth at scale. Enslin also spent 27 years at SAP in various leadership roles across sales and operations. In his final role with SAP, Enslin served as President of Cloud Business Group and Executive Board Member, where he led the development and delivery of SAP's entire portfolio of cloud applications and services, including SAP Concur, SAP Ariba, SAP Customer Experience, SAPSuccessFactors, and the Qualtrics business. In addition, he developed and managed SAP's entire cloud product portfolio, led the field revenue and enablement efforts across multiple geographies, and oversaw core functions, including professional services, ecosystems, channels, and solutions. Rob has excellent international experience, working in South Africa, Europe, Asia, and the United States. Also an avid supporter of youth advancement and development, Enslin has served as the honorary global Chairman of the Els for Autism Golf Challenge. Some questions we discussed: How did the journey start that led you to the technology space and then SAP and Google? You worked at two of the world's largest Tech giants and led their revenue teams to very successful outcomes. My audience would love to learn more about some of your learnings in handling complex challenges and helping the tech giants grow and scale. Can you share your experiences at Google Cloud and SAP, such as building high-performance teams, challenges you faced, and how people adapted and reacted to the change? (Overcoming challenges) What led you to the RPA World, and what attracted you the most? Here are two questions that sound like a single one :) Having worked with international teams across the world, like Asia and Europe, what were some observable behaviors that stood out to you about how work is done? And As the future of work is constantly changing with automation and digitalization, now looking back, how would the different cultural backgrounds impact the adoption of digital technologies? Our community's many entrepreneurs, technologists, and builders create robots, solutions, and products. What would be your one piece of advice for them to keep them motivated and keep going on what they do to be relentless? As we are inventing the future of work, we are introducing new concepts like telehealth, where patients can speak to doctors over virtual spaces, building remote offices that leverage the global workforce, real-time orchestration that allows delivering vaccines across the US on time, call center agents are faster and deliver better customer experiences, and removing mundane work like reading an invoice. Automation is all around us and expanding into many spaces. In your perspective, where still is untapped?

As technology gets democratized and accessible, all workers around the world will have the tools to change the applications they interact with to personalize them. The personalization of the web and desktop applications for non-technical users is a revolutionary tech that will enable everyone to modify their everyday apps to increase productivity and efficiency while removing friction. Learn how Pixiebrix is changing the future of work by enabling the users to modify UI of everything for a better UX.

In today's episode, it was my absolute pleasure and honor to host — the one and only — the Godfather of Process Mining. Prof.dr.ir. Wil van der Aalst is the Chief Scientist of Celonis and a full professor at RWTH Aachen University, leading the Process and Data Science (PADS) group. He coined the field of Process Mining, and his research interests include Process Mining, business process and workflow management, process modeling, and analysis. I, myself, took his course Process Mining: Data Science in Action in Coursera from the Eindhoven University of Technology a few years ago, which ignited my passion in the field. As the professor noted in this episode, not many people and companies, including SAP and IBM, believed at the time what this technology could accomplish. They were surprised but did not implement it. There were skeptics and resistance to change. Many enterprises go back to old ways of doing things because it is easier. They denied the transformation that Process Mining could bring to them. His students in his Process Mining courses branched out and built the Process Mining companies you see around the world, including; ProcessGold, Celonis, and PAFNow. As the academic field of study transitioned into product companies that aim to sell and bring this unique technology to enterprises around the world, Process Mining became a key ingredient of the digital transformation initiatives. Now, set your clocks to 2022 and watch the news — SAP acquires Signavio, Microsoft acquires Minit, UiPath acquires ProcessGold, and Appian acquired LanaLabs. The acquisitions are a great testament to the customer’s ask to not focus only on the diagnostics, but target execution and actions. By combining the rest of the platforms’ automation, execution, and process management capabilities, the enterprises aim to improve their business performance. Our guest does not need an introduction or marking — The professor is the undisputed Godfather of Process Mining.