Burn The Map

Crazy ones? You’re damn right. Burn the Map is a podcast about the people who can’t help but chase obsession. Before the exits. Before the followers. Before anyone asked them to. These are deep-dive interviews with innovators, artists, hackers, tinkerers—people whose dedication to their craft borders on lunacy. We dissect the nuance of what they do, what keeps them going, and why their work matters. Hosted by Dan Baird, this show is a guided tour into the minds of people who do the work that seems illogical—until it isn’t.

Burn The Map: Killing the Drudgery, AI Plumbing in the Wall, and System of Record w/ Christian Hammer 04/02/2026

Burn The Map: Killing the Drudgery, AI Plumbing in the Wall, and System of Record w/ Christian Hammer In This Episode: We sit down with Christian Hammer (Founder & CEO of Ngentix) to talk about the unsexy problem that breaks AI in the real world: execution across messy systems. Christian calls what he’s building “AI plumbing in the wall”—the infrastructure layer that connects tools, enforces policy, and kills the drudgery (think: PDF → QuickBooks copy/paste hell) without pretending an LLM is magically reliable. This one is for product-minded builders: we get into why “agents” can make operations worse if you don’t have a system of record, why momentum beats velocity, and how the future UI probably isn’t another dashboard—it’s zero UI. Tech fades into the background, humans get their time back. What We Cover: Why tech disruption isn’t new—the speed is what’s brutal now LLMs as the next abstraction layer (and why that’s a once-in-a-generation shift) Evergreen skills that won’t get obsoleted: engineering thinking, empathy, philosophy The missing piece in most companies: a system of record for execution “Sarah’s time off”: the human router bottleneck hiding inside every org Why most teams get faster at doing the wrong thing (and call it “progress”) Agile vs “Fragile”: why momentum (mass + velocity) is the metric that actually matters Zero UI / ambient automation: software shouldn’t be the center—you are Authenticity backlash: why AI-generated everything makes human-made more valuable Guest Bio: Christian Hammer is the founder and CEO of Ngentix (), building “AI plumbing in the wall”—automation infrastructure that connects systems, eliminates business drudgery, and creates a system of record for execution when humans (and agents) need to know what happened, why it happened, and what to do next. He’s also an inventor, author, podcaster, and working artist focused on making technology feel less like “the tyranny of the terminal” and more like something humans can actually live with. Enjoy! This show was Brought to you by Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Christian: LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: Ngentix: Christian’s hub: Christian’s art: People and Organizations Mentioned: Christian Hammer Dan Baird Ngentix Wrench.ai Claude / Claude Code Crab & Oyster painting: Show Notes & Timestamps: 02:53 - Tech disruption isn’t new—it’s the speed that’s different now 04:11 - LLMs as the next abstraction layer (and why that matters) 07:45 - Evergreen skills: engineering mindset, critical thinking, empathy, and philosophy 11:18 - What Christian is building: a system of record for execution (because agents don’t magically fix ops) 13.28 - “Chief”: why the real unlock is clarifying intent and defining “done” 16.49 - Why Christian doesn’t trust LLMs (and why you shouldn’t either—without guardrails) 17:17 - The drudgery thesis: OCR + NER + automation to kill the “PDF → QuickBooks” nonsense 19:14 - “Sarah’s time off”: the hidden human routers inside every company 23:34 - Agile vs. “Fragile”: velocity is incomplete—momentum (mass + velocity) is the real metric 32:51 - The future: tech disappears into the background—plumbing in the wall, more human-to-human value 35:07 - Art, authenticity, and the pullback from AI-generated everything 36:30 - Zero UI / ambient automation: the tool shouldn’t be the center—you are /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/40718490

Burn the Map: AI Agents, Trust, and Why “Do AI” Fails w/ David Espindola 03/26/2026

Burn the Map: AI Agents, Trust, and Why “Do AI” Fails w/ David Espindola In This Episode: We talk to David Espindola about the part of the AI boom most companies keep trying to skip: the boring, unsexy work that makes AI real—problem definition, strategy, governance, and trust. David’s written two books (The Exponential Era and Soulful) and spends his time thinking about what happens when exponential tech stops being a keynote and starts breaking things in production. We get into why “go do AI” is an executive-level failure mode, how to decide whether you’re a maker, shaper, or taker, and what it actually takes to build AI agents you can trust—especially when incentives (ads), privacy, and security start pulling the strings. What We Cover: Why “we must be an AI company” is a terrible mandate if you can’t name the problem you’re solving The Makers / Shapers / Takers framework (and why most teams should aim for “shaper,” not “maker”) Why AI ROI is so messy right now (and how bad benchmarking + vague goals make it impossible) Agents and non-determinism: the uncomfortable truth that “it worked 26 times” means nothing How David built Zena, his AI colleague—using RAG to ground the assistant in his knowledge, values, and working style The trust-killers: ads, misaligned incentives, weak security, and “agents in prod” without guardrails Guest Bio: David Espindola is the author of Soulful and The Exponential Era, and the creator of Zena, an AI colleague built around a simple premise: if you can’t trust the system, it’s not helping—you’re just outsourcing risk. David works at the intersection of AI strategy, change management, and human–AI collaboration, with a practical bias toward governance, security, and using AI where it actually fits (not where it looks good in a board meeting). Enjoy! This show was Brought to you by Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow David: LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: David’s website: Brainyus: Chat with Zena: Podcast: Conversations with Zena, my AI colleague People and Organizations Mentioned: David Espindola Dan Baird Wrench.ai McKinsey (makers / shapers / takers framework, referenced) OpenAI Anthropic Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:57 — Why The Exponential Era came first; the SPX methodology (Agile + design thinking + more) 04:41 — Soulful: what AI is / isn’t; emotional intelligence, trust, and turbulence ahead 07:51 — Biggest implementation mistake: “AI” as mandate vs starting with the problem 08:xx — Makers / Shapers / Takers strategy framework 12:26 — Abundance vs “trickle down”; why ROI is messy in early days 16:43 — 50-year hindsight: today will look primitive 19:46 — The myth that tech automatically reduces hours worked 23:12 — Zena: training an AI colleague; trust as the core feature 24:54 — Ads and incentives: when agents stop being trustworthy 26:26 — How David trains Zena (RAG, memory improving) 29:28 — Non-determinism: why testing AI isn’t like testing traditional software 31:35 — When “agents” turn back into old-school software (APIs, reliability, cost) 33:52 — Where to find David + Brainyus + Zena /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/40636000

Burn The Map: Governance Gap, Identity Gap, & Accountability or Bust w/ Allen Martinez 03/12/2026

Burn The Map: Governance Gap, Identity Gap, & Accountability or Bust w/ Allen Martinez In This Episode: We talk to Allen Martinez—founder at Noble Digital and author of The Brand Experience AI Operating System (BX AI OS)—about why so many “AI initiatives” are basically expensive science projects with a chatbot slapped on top. Allen’s take is refreshingly unforgiving: if you don’t close the governance gap, the identity gap, and the accountability gap, you’re not deploying AI—you’re launching brand chaos at machine speed. We get into what it takes to turn AI from a black box into something you can actually run, audit, and improve… without letting marketing, sales, and support ship three different personalities to the same customer. What We Cover: The three gaps that kill AI projects: governance, identity, and accountability—and why you need all three, not “we’ll do that later” Why “we deployed a chatbot” is not a strategy (and how to think in terms of an AI operating system instead) How brand collisions happen when every department optimizes its own AI tool—and why customers feel it as pure friction Why “good enough at scale” becomes AI slop, and how taste + point of view becomes the real competitive edge What it means to make AI auditable (“glass box,” not black box) before a regulator—or your CFO—comes calling The Chevy chatbot “legally binding $1 deal” story as a cautionary tale: not a meme, a governance failure Guest Bio: Allen Martinez is a founder at Noble Digital and the author of The Brand Experience AI Operating System (BX AI OS), a practical framework for taking AI from chaotic experimentation to scalable, brand-safe deployment. With a background spanning film/commercial directing and systems-driven brand execution, Allen focuses on the real-world mechanics of AI in production: behavioral governance, encoded brand identity, and accountability systems that produce receipts—not surprises. Enjoy! This show was Brought to you by Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Allen: LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: Shadow Ledger assessment: The Brand Experience AI Operating System: Free Access to the First Chapter: People and Organizations Mentioned: Allen Martinez Noble Digital Wrench.ai ArtCenter College of Design (Pasadena) Linda Weinman / lynda.com (mentioned) Razorfish (training mentioned) Show Notes & Timestamps: [~09:38] Why “brand” isn’t your logo, it’s the coherence layer that prevents org-wide collisions [~11:12] What are the “three gaps” that kill AI projects (governance, identity, accountability)? [~13:50] What does it mean to turn AI from a “black box” into a “glass box”? [~26:30] The Chevy chatbot “$1 legally binding deal” story—and why it’s a governance failure, not a meme [~36:28] Why “good enough at scale” becomes brand death by a thousand cuts /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/40418805

Burn The Map: Delegation Chaos, Distant Assistants, & The Founder’s Escape Hatch w/ Jaime Jay 02/26/2026

Burn The Map: Delegation Chaos, Distant Assistants, & The Founder’s Escape Hatch w/ Jaime Jay In This Episode: We talk to Jaime Jay about going from the 82nd Airborne to homelessness (more than once), to building a company that helps founders get their time back without blowing up quality, trust, or accountability. Jaime is a hard-nosed systems thinker and one of the founders of Bottleneck Distant Assistants—where they train “distant assistants” (real humans, not “digital assistants”) using a framework he calls Delegation Intelligence. We get into the unsexy truth: delegation isn’t “hire a VA and pray.” It’s building a repeatable system so the business stops pinging you for every micro-decision. We also go deep on category design (“name it / frame it / claim it”), and why the real AI bottleneck isn’t the model—it’s behavior change inside the org. What We Cover: What the military teaches you about structure, trust, and pain tolerance (and how that maps to founder life) How to build a delegation department (not just outsource tasks until everything breaks) Jaime’s 4-step Delegation Intelligence loop: name it, confirm instructions, review/approve, create the signal Category design as a competitive weapon: market the problem, not your product AI in ops: why “ChatGPT can do it” is often cope, and where AI burnout shows up fast Hiring at scale + vetting trust: what it takes to screen thousands without inviting chaos into your systems Guest Bio: Jaime Jay is a military veteran (82nd Airborne), founder, and category-minded operator focused on one thing: helping leaders stop getting crushed by the day-to-day. He’s one of the founders of Bottleneck Distant Assistants, where their team trains and places “distant assistants” using a structured delegation framework (“Delegation Intelligence”) built to reduce admin drag, improve follow-through, and make delegation actually stick. Enjoy! This show was Brought to you by Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Jaime: LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: Bottleneck Distant Assistants: Delegation IQ Blueprint: Quit Repeating Yourself (book): Military CreatorCon Event: People and Organizations Mentioned: Jaime Jay Bottleneck Distant Assistants 82nd Airborne Christopher Lockhead (mentioned as “godfather of category design”) James Amar (Military CreatorCon) Brian Scudamore (1-800-GOT-JUNK; Dragon’s Den) Whole Foods, Amazon, GoPro (category examples) David Goggins (grit example) Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:08 — Dan’s intro: Jaime’s background (founder, veteran, systems thinker) 01:34 — Homelessness, Army, divorce, and walking from Rancho Cucamonga to Huntington Beach 04:31 — Why Jaime loved the 82nd Airborne; structure, training, and failing RIP 06:10 — Failure, pain tolerance, and why entrepreneurs keep going 13:57 — What homelessness teaches you about people, pride, and getting a “leg up” 16:48 — Category design: name it / frame it / claim it; “market the problem” 19:33 — “Delegation Intelligence” + the core problem: founders trapped running vs. growing 22:41 — The 4-step delegation system: name it, confirm instructions, review/approve, create the signal 27:09 — Hiring + vetting at scale: 7,000 interviews, 658 presented (Jaime’s numbers from interview) 30:03 — “Distant assistants” (not digital); 93-video certification; six roles they support 31:44 — AI shifts roles; calculators-in-class analogy; avoid AI overwhelm/burnout 35:22 — Dan on AI’s real challenge: behavior change + implementation, not just “the model” 43:21 — Why “Burn The Map” isn’t “ignore the map”—it’s “outgrow it” 43:49 — Military CreatorCon + category design intensive with Christopher Lockhead 47:32 — Where to find Jaime; Delegation IQ Blueprint 48:11 — Jaime’s book: Quit Repeating Yourself /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/40245030

Burn the Map: Clone Your Genius, Survive AI Change, and Middle Management Beware w/ Monica Marquez 02/12/2026

Burn the Map: Clone Your Genius, Survive AI Change, and Middle Management Beware w/ Monica Marquez In This Episode: We sit down with Monica Marquez, co-founder of Flipwork AI and the unofficial change management therapist every modern exec wishes they had on speed dial. Monica’s resume is a “who’s who” of places that love an acronym—NYU, Goldman Sachs, EY, Bank of America—so trust me, she’s seen every flavor of corporate resistance to tech you can imagine. Monica calls out the dirty little secret of AI in the enterprise: Buying the tech is easy; getting humans to actually use it (without mangling your workflows and ROI) is the real Olympic sport. She dishes on why middle managers are often the AI adoption bottleneck, how automation at scale can make your mistakes embarrassingly public, and why “working harder” stopped mattering the second AI walked in the door. What We Cover: The very real gap between AI purchase and AI adoption—why executives fret and middle management digs in its heels How Monica’s “Duolingo meets Deloitte” approach gets humans and agents collaborating, not colliding Why your old playbook is officially dead, and how agentic humans will reshape the org chart (bye, endless middle management layers) The sneaky cultural reasons why some employees see AI as “cheating” (and how to flip that mindset) How to AB-test workflows and build custom agents your team will actually use—because shelfware isn’t a KPI Behind-the-scenes stories on avatars in HR, bias in screening, and why writing an erotic Victorian cover letter won’t get you that ML ops job (but it might make you laugh) Monica’s tactical stack of must-have AI tools: what she actually uses, what’s just hype, and why you still need to get your hands dirty Guest Bio: Monica Marquez is the co-founder of Flipwork AI—a company that specializes in getting humans and AI to work together without burning the place down. A recovering head of talent and champion for diversity in tech, Monica spent 20+ years wrangling people problems everywhere from big banks to Big Four consultancies. She sits on the board of ALFA (Association of Latin Professionals for America, for Latinas in Tech) and publishes the “Ay Ay Ay AI” newsletter—because yes, she’s always the first to kick the tires on new tools, and she’s not afraid to tell you what actually works. If you want tips, tough love, and truths about closing the gap between AI hype and real change—Monica’s your person. Enjoy! This show is brought to you by . Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Monica: LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: Monica’s site/newsletter: People and Organizations Mentioned: Monica Marquez Flipwork AI EY, NYU, Goldman Sachs Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:00 — Why “implementing AI” will break you if you skip change management 06:00 — The hidden ROI-killers nobody benchmarks 13:00 — Psychological barriers: cultural myths, effort vs. impact, and why your team thinks using AI is cheating 20:00 — Reinventing workplaces: agentic humans, clones, and eliminating monotony 30:00 — Bias in hiring, avatars in interviews, and why everyone suddenly has a “perfect” resume 40:00 — Tools Monica actually uses—and which ones are overrated 46:00 — Why middle management is now an endangered species 49:00 — How to find Monica, and why you’d better DM with something interesting /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/40048615

Burn The Map: Holograms, Flat Squirrels, & Why You Really Need Cake on Tuesday w/ Elizabeth Bieniek 01/29/2026

Burn The Map: Holograms, Flat Squirrels, & Why You Really Need Cake on Tuesday w/ Elizabeth Bieniek In This Episode: We sit down with Elizabeth Bieniek: accidental innovator, corporate plane-repairer at 30,000 feet, and author of Cake on Tuesday, a book for people who like their business advice with more real talk and less corporate fluff. Elizabeth walks us through her unpredictable path—from getting an MBA at Babson and tumbling into the tech world, to launching a stealth startup inside Cisco, and then finally distilling years of chaos into 25 lessons for unlocking corporate innovation. Why Cake on Tuesday? Because frankly, what’s the point of slogging through strategy sessions if you’re not enjoying the ride (and the cake)? What We Cover: How to build a “startup inside the mothership” when corporate just wants you to stop asking why Why communication—not just coding—makes or breaks innovation The hard (but hilarious) truth about decision-making, feedback, and why you shouldn’t listen to every single “mentor” Stories from the trenches: flying the plane while building it, collecting callouses (not just LinkedIn endorsements), and why you need to laugh, especially when everything’s on fire How Elizabeth’s book, Cake on Tuesday, became a survival guide for intrapreneurs, founders, and anyone allergic to syrupy corporate motivational posters Guest Bio: Elizabeth Bieniek, author of Cake on Tuesday and host of the Cake on Tuesday podcast, is the kind of leader who asks “why”—loudly, persistently, and (let’s be honest) a bit annoyingly—for the good of slapping sense into business as usual. A veteran of making new things happen inside giant corporations, she’s passionate about helping real doers cut through the noise and actually get things done. Find her at CakeOnTuesday.com Enjoy! This show was brought to you by Wrench.ai. Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Elizabeth: LinkedIn: Cake On Tuesday LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: People and Organizations Mentioned in This Episode: Elizabeth Bieniek Dan Baird Cisco, WebEx Hologram Cake on Tuesday Wrench.ai Show Notes & Timestamps: (00:17) How an ex-holography expert became the go-to for founders who don’t want to crash their planes (or their projects) (03:29) Sneaking into Cisco as an English major: No, you don’t have to write code to shake up big tech (07:18) Building startups inside the belly of the beast—less “special projects,” more “just fix it already” (10:41) Writing post-mortems (the good kind, not the HR kind): How Cake on Tuesday became a book for people who'd rather laugh than cry (14:53) Why innovation is 90% persuasion and 10% trying not to strangle a “waffler” (18:49) The chapter everyone quotes: Don’t Be a Flat Squirrel (you know who you are) (22:16) Reframing disagreement: Be disagreeable, just not a jerk (24:29) How to spot—and work with—actual doers (Hint: They’re busy, but they’ll still answer your call) (35:21) Staying sane: mantra walls, daily stoicism, and refusing to take yourself too seriously /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/39888340

Burn The Map: Outfoxing Wall Street with Dr. Craig Kaplan Pt.2 01/15/2026

Burn The Map: Outfoxing Wall Street with Dr. Craig Kaplan Pt.2 In This Episode: We sit down with Dr. Craig A. Kaplan, the PhD-wielding brains behind Predict Wall Street (and, apparently, the patron saint of retail investors everywhere). Craig walks us through 14 years in the financial trenches, building tech to turn the “dumb money” crowd into a collective force that could actually beat Wall Street at its own game—at least until the hedge funds caught the scent and crashed the party. Brace yourself for a story that’s equal parts “wisdom of crowds,” collective intelligence research, and “what happens when the little guy dares to play with the big boys.” If you still think your hot stock tip has a shot, prepare to have that illusion gently (okay, not-so-gently) shattered. What We Cover: How Craig built Predict Wall Street out of pure force of will (and maybe a touch of ignorance-is-bliss) Why smart money and dumb money aren’t as predictable as you think How to use crowd signals, sentiment, and psychology for an actual edge (no, really) Why everyone else told him this was “impossible” (spoiler: Nobel laureates are not always right) The only three real ways to make money in the stock market—and why almost everyone gets it wrong What collective intelligence really means when the crowd is full of both geniuses and, well... not-geniuses Guest Bio: Dr. Craig A. Kaplan isn’t your average Wall Street whisperer—he’s a pioneer in collective intelligence and the founder of Predict Wall Street, the platform that gave retail investors their brief moment in the sun before the hedge funds rained on the parade. Craig’s research and tech have changed how people think about market signals, crowd psychology, and “dumb money” (newsflash: it isn’t always so dumb). When he’s not upending financial orthodoxy, you’ll find him connecting the dots between AI, data science, and what’s actually possible when you trust a million random brains more than a dozen “experts.” Enjoy! This show was brought to you by Wrench.ai Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Craig: LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: Predict Wall Street The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki People and Organizations Mentioned: Dr. Craig Kaplan Dan Baird TD Ameritrade Schwab NASDAQ “Dumb money” (sorry, retail investors—it’s a Wall Street thing…) Show Notes & Timestamps: The myth and math of “wisdom of crowds” Getting 14 years’ worth of scars in fintech Why Wall Street’s “smart money” can be its biggest liability How to mine “dumb” opinions for real alpha The limits of quant funds and why the real edge never lasts Financial luck, stubborn optimism, and the fine art of not giving up (even when everyone with a Nobel tells you not to bother) Why you should never underestimate the power of a good old-fashioned jelly bean guess /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/39752495

Burn The Map: Herding AIs, Dodging Doom, and the New Ethics of Intelligence w/ Dr. Craig Kaplan 12/19/2025

Burn The Map: Herding AIs, Dodging Doom, and the New Ethics of Intelligence w/ Dr. Craig Kaplan In This Episode: We sit down with Dr. Craig Kaplan—the guy who was building AI before your favorite “disruptor” learned to tie their shoes. Dr. Kaplan takes us on a wild ride from the OG days of artificial intelligence (when data lived on floppy disks and having a “machine learning” project meant you had actual machines to move) to his current crusade: making sure superintelligence doesn’t wreck the joint for the rest of us. Kaplan lays out what everyone’s too scared—or too clueless—to admit: if you wouldn’t leave your wallet with a random LLM, why are you ready to entrust the future of humanity to black-box mega-brains? Spoiler: the answer isn’t “more GPUs.” Dr. Kaplan’s been in the room with the legends, built systems Wall Street still wishes it could copy, and now he’s here to torch lazy thinking about AI safety, collective intelligence, and why your Marcus Aurelius quotes aren’t enough to save you from an existential AI oopsie. What We Cover: The difference between “tool” AI and “worker” AI (yes, there’s a difference—catch up). Why “superintelligence” doesn’t need another buzzword conference, it needs democratic crowdsourcing (and a human in the loop so we don’t all end up starring in a low-budget Skynet reboot). The messiness of teaching ethics to machines—and why handing off responsibility to Silicon Valley’s overcaffeinated 20-somethings is, frankly, a terrible plan. The not-so-humble history of AI: mentoring with Nobel laureates, building for Wall Street, and knowing when the hype cycle is actually a warning sign. Guest Bio: Dr. Craig Kaplan—founder of superintelligence.com, patent-holding AI risk-mitigator, and straight-up legend in the AI world. He’s been in the game since the 1980s (seriously, he worked with Herbert freakin’ Simon), has built AI that beats Wall Street’s “best,” and still has the patience to explain to the rest of us why we should care before it’s too late. Want to know what’s coming next for AI? He’s been calling it for decades. Enjoy the episode. This show is brought to you by Wrench.ai. Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Craig: LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: (Craig’s digital lair) Wall Street collective intelligence Jensen Wang’s “AI is workers” GTC speech People and Organizations Mentioned: Craig A. Kaplan Herbert Simon Jeff Hinton Marvin Minsky Anthropic and “the chosen 20 at Google” Nvidia Wall Street's unfortunately clueless quant crowd Show Notes & Timestamps:00:04 — Dr. Kaplan invents “AI before it was cool” 06:15 — The limitations of everyone’s favorite LLMs 17:50 — A sharp left turn into AI ethics and why Danbot needs therapy 31:00 — Why your future coworkers might be called “bots” (and outsmart you) 39:16 — The AI flywheel, the AGI endgame, and how to not get flattened 41:09 — How collective intelligence saved billions (and Dan’s blood pressure) /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/39477420

Second Brains, Biometric Socks, and the AI Classroom: Lisa Dieker on the Future of Learning 12/04/2025

Second Brains, Biometric Socks, and the AI Classroom: Lisa Dieker on the Future of Learning “I was the daughter of a mechanic and a librarian—I know a thing or two about fixing things, building things, and making sense of way too much information.” —Dr. Lisa Dieker In This Episode: We talk to Dr. Lisa Dieker about why the future of learning isn’t robots replacing teachers—it’s humans and AI teaming up (with a little extra caffeine and a lot of biometric gadgets thrown in). As the Williamson Family Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas and Director of the FLITE STEM Center, Lisa’s on a mission to hack how we teach, learn, and support every kind of mind out there. She takes us for a walk through her real-life MacGyver childhood, her family’s journey navigating disability, and her relentless pursuit to democratize access to education technology. If you’ve ever wondered whether “second brains” (read: AI copilots, fancy wearables, and those heart rate monitors you pretend you understand) actually help kids learn, or just give parents more to stress about—yeah, she’ll set you straight. Why are so many teachers burning out? Why can’t schools just teach to everyone’s strengths? And are spelling tests just baby boomer torture devices at this point? What We Cover: How to blend AI, gritty human teaching, and biometric feedback to finally move the education world out of the floppy disk era. Why kids with learning differences (dyslexia, ADHD, neurodivergence—you name it) shouldn’t have to hack their own school success. What today’s “second brain” tools like AI copilots and wearables are actually good for (hint: not just tracking your steps). The future of classrooms: predictive dashboards, teacher biohacks, and why we should all be a little more forgiving with ourselves (and our kids). How Lisa’s own story—first-gen college kid, sibling with disabilities, mom to one helluva creative gymnast—shapes everything she does. Guest Bio: Dr. Lisa Dieker is the Williamson Family Distinguished Professor of Special Education at the University of Kansas and heads up the FLITE STEM Center, where she’s busy making education accessible, equitable, and just a little less stuck in the 1980s. Lifelong advocate for students with disabilities, simulation geek, and accidental expert in the hacking of biometric gadgets, Lisa’s here to make you rethink everything you thought you knew about learning. Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Lisa: LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: (Flexible Learning Through Innovations in Teaching and Education) Project RAISE - (Affordable, AI-driven support tool for learners) (AI-powered educational content platform mentioned as a resource for differentiated, individualized instruction) People and Organizations Mentioned in This Episode: The DeBruce Foundation (Agilities curriculum) Google Vision Team (referenced for their work in computer vision, mentioned in collaboration context) Meta (for metaverse glasses/hardware experiments) Polar (wearable biometric devices) Biopac (biometric ring for physiological data collection) University of Kansas (Lisa’s academic affiliation) U.S. Department of Education (funding source for portions of Lisa’s research) Show Notes & Timestamps: 6:00 - Why your “second brain” might be a game changer if you’re bored (or neurodiverse) 12:00 - The myth (and reality) of AI replacing teachers 22:00 - Biometric trackers: cool for athletes, secretly more useful for stressed-out teachers 35:00 - Why the real education revolution starts by hacking the system, not just the software 49:00 - Lisa’s secret sauce for making learning accessible, plus why some spelling rules are made to be broken /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/39282400

Burn The Map: Quivers of Legs and Law Changes w/ Brenda Novak 11/20/2025

Burn The Map: Quivers of Legs and Law Changes w/ Brenda Novak In This Episode: We talk to Brenda Novak, co-founder of the Connecticut Amputee Network and champion for anyone told they're “too expensive to fix.” Brenda breaks down her wild ride from business school grad to accidental activist, gives us the unvarnished scoop on the cutthroat world of prosthetic coverage (hint: it’s more ‘Shark Tank’ than ‘Grey’s Anatomy’), and shows us that sometimes, you’ve got to pass whole new laws just to get back on your feet—literally. What We Cover: How Brenda and her fellow “pirates” rallied lawmakers to pass legislation making medically necessary prosthetics actually attainable for humans, not just trust funds. The mind-boggling cost (and insurance shenanigans) behind getting a leg that actually lets you walk, run, or—if you’re feeling spicy—surf. Why living with limb loss means a constant hustle, from learning how to live all over again to fighting to make basic mobility accessible. The reality behind “bionic” prosthetic tech, the quiver of legs nobody tells you about, and why peer-support trumps any medical pamphlet. Brenda’s battle-tested approach to resilience, and what it’s really like to lose a limb, find your new balance, and start pulling others up with you. Guest Bio: Brenda Novak is the co-founder of Connecticut Amputee Network, a grassroots force behind legislative wins for amputee rights. She’s an above-the-knee amputee (thanks to a freak accident), peer-mentor, and eternal realist who figured, “If no one’s going to fix the system, I guess I’ll have to do it myself.” When she’s not wrangling politicians or training new peer visitors, she’s out living her best life—whether that means kayaking, testing out her newest “water leg,” or reading up on trailblazing women like Victoria Woodhull. Brenda’s mission? Make sure nobody ever feels like they have to go it alone. Enjoy! This show was brought to you by Wrench.ai Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Brenda: LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: Brenda Novak’s LinkedIn: CT Amputee Network: ctamputeenetwork.org Amputee Coalition: amputee-coalition.org So Everybody Can Move legislation: soeveybodycanmove.org People and Organizations Mentioned: Brenda Novak Herb Kaladny (pirate partner-in-crime) Lindy Mitsu, University of Hartford Ted Kennedy Jr., American Association of People with Disabilities Connecticut Amputee Network Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:08 — Brenda vs. Dan: Who’s aged worse? (Spoiler alert: Dan owns the gray) 03:19 — Why found the Connecticut Amputee Network? The insurance coverage clown show. 06:05 — Civics 101, or: How Brenda learned legislative sausage is made 07:28 — Getting a law passed when you don’t know what you’re doing (hint: bring friends) 09:10 — Life with $100K legs, “K levels,” and sassy insurance denials 13:12 — The “quiver” of specialty legs (and why Brenda doesn’t name hers—tsk tsk, Brenda) 18:05 — There’s no map: Navigating drastic life changes with side-eye and stubbornness 23:07 — Peer visiting, real talk about loss, and getting “high” on actual connection 29:37 — Finding Brenda (and why she won’t do another cruise, ever) /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/39113770

Burn The Map: Book People, Broken Systems, and Why Kids Are Getting Dumber w/ Rae Foote 11/06/2025

Burn The Map: Book People, Broken Systems, and Why Kids Are Getting Dumber w/ Rae Foote “If you’re worried your kid hates reading, maybe start by showing them you can sit down with a damn book. Kids do what we do, not what we say.” —Rae Foote In This Episode: We talk to Rae Foote, the unicorn who went from running logistics in military manufacturing (yes, actual missiles) to wrangling the chaos of marketing tech at Hachette Book Group in NYC—all while moonlighting as a champion for children’s literacy. Rae's journey is less “lifelong calling” and more “epic faceplant after faceplant, but make it fashion”—falling into publishing, falling for NYC, and now rallying adults to stop outsourcing kids’ education to TikTok. What We Cover: How military manufacturing makes you chill in a tech “crisis” (spoiler: it’s not that deep, Karen) Rae’s “accidental” road into publishing and why napalming the five-year plan is sometimes the only way forward The literacy crisis no one wants to talk about—adults reading less, kids getting dumber (the stats are brutal, sorry) Why your Kindle obsession doesn’t count if your kid never sees you with a book—and how Hachette’s Raising Readers project is about to call everyone out Life lessons from screwing up, not coddling kids, and why “fuck around and find out” is elite parenting Guest Bio: Rae Foote is Senior Manager, Marketing Technology Ops at Hachette Book Group, where she MacGyvers book-selling systems, translates between marketers and engineers, and leads bold new initiatives like Raising Readers. She’s also on the Associate Board for Reading Partners NYC, advocating for kids’ literacy because, frankly, someone has to give a damn. A California native turned New Yorker, Rae is allergic to empty platitudes, swears by paperbacks, and has never met a broken process she couldn’t fix (or roast). Enjoy! This episode is brought to you by . Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Rae: LinkedIn: New York Junior League: Instagram: Reading Partners NYC: Instagram: Hachette Book Group: Instagram: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: Hachette Book Group People & Organizations Mentioned: Rae Foote Dan Baird Hachette Book Group Reading Partners NYC Brett Easton Ellis (author, collector’s item in Rae’s dating life) Andy Weir Lois Lowry Mark Danielewski NY Junior League Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:08 — Welcome, Rae: Dan was a kindergarten teacher in China (no, really) 01:13 — Rae’s convoluted career: “tripping, falling, and stumbling” into publishing 03:37 — How tech “emergencies” are not real emergencies (Military vs. Startup Panic) 07:54 — The myth of the business degree—just start doing the work 10:11 — Publishing’s digital mess, why Rae loves solving problems that shouldn’t exist 13:20 — Are we actually getting dumber? Declining literacy, social media, and how nobody reads anything longer than a LinkedIn post 19:15 — Hachette’s Raising Readers initiative: Kids mimic what you do, not what you tell them 22:13 — Why men read less, and WTF that means for raising boys 23:32 — Book club trauma, lending books to dates, and always getting them back 36:55 — It takes a village: Advocating for kids with New York Junior League & Reading Partners 41:53 — Parenting, participation trophies, and the fine art of failing well 45:46 — Teaching kids they can do hard things and not just whine about it 48:34 — Show up, get wet, don't wait for perfect—life advice, or just podcasting as usual 50:45 — Links , , and yes, go read a book, not just this web page /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/38914615

Burn The Map: Joel McKay Smith — Networking Maestro, Rural Champion, and Master of Community Capital 10/23/2025

Burn The Map: Joel McKay Smith — Networking Maestro, Rural Champion, and Master of Community Capital In This Episode: We talk to Joel McKay Smith—a guy whose “Rolodex” literally stress-tested the Wrench platform—about why real power isn’t in the LinkedIn follower count, but in the relationships you actually maintain. From rural Utah dairy farms to industrial parks, Joel’s journey is a hilarious, head-spinning tour straight through the heart of economic disruption and small-town resurrection. You think you’re a “super-connector”? Please. Joel remembers your name, your birthday, and probably your lactose intolerance from a conversation in 1997, all while masterminding a carbon-neutral Olympics bid and hustling for tech that lets seniors outsmart scammers. What We Cover: How networking actually works (and why most people still get it so, so wrong) The unlikely perks—and headaches—of a memory wired for deep connection Building tech that transforms rural economies and gives Main Street a shot at Silicon Valley relevance The art (and science) of running unforgettable events—yes, booze helps, but forcing people to talk is the real secret sauce What it’ll take to make Utah ground zero for the first real carbon-neutral Olympics, and why he’s stubborn enough to try Guest Bio: Joel McKay Smith is that rare breed—equal parts super-connector, entrepreneur, and small-town disruptor. If you’re in Utah and don’t know Joel, you’re probably new here or you just don’t get out much. Joel’s professional Rolodex is the stuff of urban legend: 125,000 contacts deep and more engaged than half the “thought leaders” on LinkedIn. He’s stress-tested new tech, built some of the largest community groups in the region, and still remembers your name, your dog’s birthday, and probably what you were wearing at that luncheon in 2009—thanks to a brain wired for deep connection and a dash of neurodivergent genius. In this interview, we discuss building social capital (and the importance of actually giving a damn), the state of economic development, and why rural communities are one innovation away from rewriting their fate. Joel spills on power grids, nuclear moonshots, masterminding events, and how he’s turned his own experiences—as a neurodiverse leader and the child of a swindled senior—into launching tech solutions for the next wave of aging Gen Xers. If you’re here for pretty talk, keep scrolling. If you want real talk about legacy, innovation, and how the “give first, get later” philosophy actually pays off, settle in. Enjoy! This show was brought to you by Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Joel: LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: Silverguard: , People and Organizations Mentioned: Joel McKay Smith Dan Baird Dean Lundberg: Spencer Cox: Matthew Webster: Michael Baghoomian: Vance Jackets (Oticon US) Utah Port Authority Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:08 — Intro to Joel McKay Smith: Super-connector, Rolodex legend, and stress-tester of all things tech. 01:17 – 06:41 — Neurodiversity, accidental savant memory, and networking superpowers. 07:36 – 10:05 — Embracing neurodiversity, Oticon, and why Vance Jackets is a Utah tech legend. 10:30 – 17:34 — Rural roots, economic disruption, and building communities that don’t suck. 17:34 – 20:24 — Carbon-neutral moonshot: Utah’s Olympic dreams, industrial parks, and advanced nuclear. 20:24 – 26:07 — Data centers, clean energy, and the economics of “smart” water. 26:07 – 32:14 — Salt domes, micro-politan communities, visionary rural growth, and government shenanigans. 32:14 – 33:12 — Main Street lessons, throwing parties worth attending, and why networking is everything. 33:12 – 35:04 — Personal story: Elder scams, Silverguard, and fighting for senior safety. /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/38735245

Burn The Map: Ask Me Anything with Dan & Gabi 10/09/2025

Burn The Map: Ask Me Anything with Dan & Gabi In This Episode: We sit down with Gabi Barragan—strategic advisor, organizational change whisperer, and the go-to for real talk about taming the AI beast in business. Gabi ditches the ‘thought leader’ theatrics and gets honest about what it really takes for companies to stop talking about AI adoption and actually get their hands dirty—without blowing the lunch budget on useless software. She walks us through the mess and magic of wrangling data chaos, the power of fierce internal experimenters (yes, she thinks your employees are already using ChatGPT behind your back), and how a little skepticism can save you from a lot of “hot takes” gone sideways. There are plenty of eye-roll-worthy AI promises out there, but Gabi’s here to call the bluff and offer a no-nonsense blueprint for culture change, customer engagement, and ROI that doesn’t require a PhD (or a fortune teller). What We Cover: How to cut through AI FOMO and focus on what actually works (spoiler: most teams aren’t ready for full-blown AI, and that’s okay). The critical role of curiosity and early adopters—plus how to unleash them without sending the C-suite into cardiac arrest. Why your data is probably messier than your kitchen junk drawer, and what to do about it before you “go AI.” The underrated value of blunt customer feedback, behavior-based personas, and, yes, calling out industry nonsense where you see it. Real talk about community, connection, and using AI to get back more of your actual life—not just your inbox. Guest Bio: Gabi Barragan is the quietly legendary operator behind the scenes of some of tech’s sharpest AI rollouts and digital transformations. She specializes in helping companies turn noise into clarity, rally teams around smart experiments, and actually—gasp—listen to their employees and customers. When Gabi isn’t advising boards or stirring the LinkedIn pot, you might catch her on Reddit sifting signal from noise or championing tools that make working smarter not just a slogan, but real-life sanity. Enjoy! This show was brought to you by Follow Dan:LinkedIn: X: Follow Gabi: LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: Gabi Barragan on Wrench.ai People and Organizations Mentioned: Gabi Barragan Dan Baird Wrench.ai Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:02: Lightning round on AI news and the old-school “read, watch, listen” grind 00:12: On why AI LinkedIn posts are usually fluff and nobody wants to say it 00:20: The good, bad, and ugly of company AI adoption—employee edition 00:34: Data silos, dirty secrets from the world of CRMs, and why you should just stop (seriously) 00:41: How to actually make your new product launch not suck: the Gabi method 00:46: Why behavior-based personas are the only ones that matter (and why your legacy personas aren't cutting it) /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/38533230

Burn The Map: Doors, Data, and Digital Twins with Timber Barker 09/25/2025

Burn The Map: Doors, Data, and Digital Twins with Timber Barker In This Episode: We talk to Timber Barker, founder/CEO of BOOM Interactive, about turning flat floor plans into living, AI-powered digital twins—and the not-so-glamorous reality of building the company that does it. From selling his truck to keep the lights on to landing partnerships with NVIDIA and projects with the NBA, Timber breaks down how CoreSpec3D makes the built world actually usable: chat with your floor plan, drop “sticky notes” that act like tasks, render photorealistic options in seconds, and hand first responders a real-time 3D view when things go sideways. Translation: less guesswork, fewer change orders, more control. What We Cover: How CoreSpec3D converts 2D plans into editable 3D “living floor plans” you can chat with, annotate, and share—on any device “Slack in 3D”: digital sticky notes, tasks, and context tied to exact spots in a building Security design that actually works: auto camera layouts, cable runs, BOMs, OEM catalogs (hello, Hanwha), and first-responder views with live feeds Why the next AI frontier is construction data—and how owning the floor plan layer unlocks bids, maintenance, and real ROI The founder grind: selling the truck, friends-and-family checks that open doors, and never missing payroll while bootstrapping Patents and tech under the hood: 2D-to-3D extrusion, auto-room gen, 3D comms, and “layered diffusion” for consistent photorealistic renders The UX hill worth dying on: if you can play Candy Crush, you can use it (no $6,000 workstation required) Guest Bio: Timber Barker is the founder and CEO of BOOM Interactive (boominc.ai), creators of CoreSpec3D (cs3d.ai)—an AI platform that transforms flat floor plans into interactive digital twins and a single pane of glass for design, facilities, and security. With 10 patents filed (4 issued) and global trademarks, Timber’s team is partnering across industries (including NVIDIA) to democratize 3D, speed up bids and maintenance, and make building data actually useful. He previously launched the DIY-friendly Bubbles (designwithbubbles.com), and he’s been bootstrapping BOOM for six years without missing payroll—because teams come first. Enjoy the episode. This show is brought to you by Wrench.ai. Follow Dan:LinkedIn: X: Follow Timber: LinkedIn: BOOM Interactive: CoreSpec3D: Bubbles: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: BOOM Interactive: CoreSpec3D: Bubbles (DIY): Hanwha Vision (security OEM): NVIDIA: Autodesk Revit: Matterport: Figma: Canva: Trunk Tools: People and Organizations Mentioned in this Episode: Timber Barker Dan Baird BOOM Interactive CoreSpec3D Bubbles Co-op Live NBA Hanwha Vision NVIDIA Figma Canva Autodesk Revit Matterport Trunk Tools First responders Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:08 — Why Timber built CoreSpec3D: communication, not just CAD flexing 01:29 — The stuff founders never say out loud: lawsuits, bad deals, near-missed payroll 03:43 — Selling the truck to pay the team—six years, zero missed payrolls 07:48 — The quick demo and how far it’s evolved since “Bubbles” 08:31 — From point tool to platform: the floor plan as a living system 11:43 — Residential pain vs. commercial chaos; speeding both with AI 18:38 — Accessibility: runs on any device; “Candy Crush” finger-friendly editing 19:30 — 2D photo to editable 3D in seconds (then you finesse it) 22:42 — Test-fit an office in 30 minutes vs. a $5K design retainer 24:03 — Digital sticky notes, tasks, and chat: Slack, but inside your floor plan 26:25 — Security layouts, camera FOVs, and cable paths—materials and costs auto-spit 31:06 — First-responder mode: live camera feeds inside the 3D twin 34:14 — Data is the moat: every decision, material, and change captured 50:24 — The patents: 2D→3D extrusion, 3D comms, auto-room gen, “layered diffusion” 53:31 — Consistent, photoreal renders from your own camera angle (no style drift) 54:14 — Where to find Timber (LinkedIn) and BOOM Interactive 55:02 — CoreSpec3D vs. DIY Bubbles; GTM focus on commercial /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/38359865

Burn the Map: Are You Even Using Your Data? Drew Phillips on the Realities of Content & Chaos 09/11/2025

Burn the Map: Are You Even Using Your Data? Drew Phillips on the Realities of Content & Chaos “Don’t tell me about your fancy martech stack if you can’t tell me where your own customer data lives. Spoiler: if your dashboards are a mess, your personalization is, too.” —Drew Phillips In This Episode: We talk to Drew Phillips—part globe-trotting data wrangler, part content whisperer—about what actually moves the needle in enterprise content, data integration, and personalization (hint: it’s not a magic vendor pitch or an AI buzzword bingo). Drew reveals the truth behind making content less painful for brands that have more SKUs than most people have socks—and how chaos in digital marketing is just an average Tuesday for him. What We Cover: Why “unified customer profiles” are the table stakes (and why so many big brands still trip over that step). The war stories behind data-driven content at mega-brands and scrappy startups (meth cases in Needles, CA included—no, seriously). How Contentstack, the so-hip-it-hurts headless CMS, is eating the old guard’s lunch by plugging real data into personalized content at scale. The myth of the “magic quadrant” and what actually gets you recognized by Gartner and Forrester (spoiler: blood, sweat, scars, and probably a few choice curse words). Real talk about content supply chains in highly regulated industries, the AI hype cycle, and why “composable” isn’t just another buzzword—it’s survival. Guest Bio: Drew Phillips has done the digital dirty work from law firms to McDonald's, from UFC hardware jewelry startups to top enterprise software firms. Now at Contentstack, he’s slinging headless CMS and making waves in data-driven personalization for brands like Air France, KLM, and Mattel. Equal parts design nerd and data geek (with just enough family lawyers to make anyone nervous), Drew’s mission is to turn content chaos into streamlined, scalable customer experiences. If you want to find Drew, try LinkedIn (when he’s not dodging BDR spam): . Enjoy the episode. This show is brought to you by . Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Drew: LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode: People and Organizations Mentioned in this Episode: Drew Phillips Dan Baird Content Stack Adobe Ford (Unnamed, slightly infamous entertainment firm) UFC McDonald’s Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:04 — Drew’s accidental escape from lawyerdom & first website confessions 05:30 — The Vegas startup that sold surgical steel jewelry (and why data > gut feeling) 11:45 — McDonald’s app: global vision, actual execution, and why your data’s not as “clean” as you think 22:30 — Grocer case study: personalizing content at scale without making your creatives quit 35:21 — Change management: why moving a mountain is easier than getting legal, tech, and business leaders to agree 43:10 — The right (and wrong) types of problems for AI, and why simple is still sexy /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/38186760

Burn The Map: Home Hacks & Human Hacks for building a Healthier, Smarter World w/ Matt Fischer 08/28/2025

Burn The Map: Home Hacks & Human Hacks for building a Healthier, Smarter World w/ Matt Fischer “Building the future is messy—so is your garage, probably. But at least the future will breathe better.” —Matt Fischer In This Episode: We corral Matt Fischer—startup troublemaker, AI obsessive, and the guy who actually uses data for good (no, seriously)—for a whirlwind tour through everything from hacking the smart home to fighting mold, to upending how businesses actually make decisions. Forget the hype-cycle fluff; Matt is deep in the trenches, building tech that might actually keep your kid out of the ER and your boss in business (but hey, don’t get too cozy, bosses: AI’s coming for your inbox). What We Cover: Why the “speed of AI” makes your quarterly road map look like it was written in crayon. How Matt’s Home Health Box idea could save you from a slow, dusty, autoimmune meltdown (Utah’s air, I’m side-eyeing you). The real behind-the-scenes on launching in stealth mode, running science in your living room, and—just maybe—sticking it to the legacy healthcare system. How AI-driven research puts million-dollar “expert” reports to shame, and why sometimes the most game-changing insight comes from sending a free magazine to the neighbors. Data privacy, on-prem LLMs, and why your precious trade secrets are one subpoena away from “oops, it’s public now.” Guest Bio: Matt Fischer is the founder of AI Revolution Labs, a recovering brand strategist, and the mad scientist behind Home Health Box—his attempt to drag healthcare, home science, and data privacy into the 21st century, preferably before his next ski run at Alta. He’s also the kind of guy who rewrites AI textbooks before the ink even dries, obsesses over particle meters (yes, really), and won’t shut up about the “speed of AI.” Find him at or his latest project at aiRevolutionLabs.com. Enjoy the episode. This show is brought to you by . Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Matt: LinkedIn: Instagram: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode People and Organizations Mentioned Matt Fischer Dan Baird Wrench.ai Home Health Box AI Revolution Labs GEO Growth Pro Show Notes & Timestamps 01:50 — Getting obsessed with AI (Utah, skiing, and the AI Revolution Labs origin story) 03:40 — The big idea: AI implementation for real people and businesses 07:00 — Rapid-fire innovation & why visions change every six weeks 10:30 — Brand strategy, research, and the power of unexpected insights 14:30 — Keeping up with AI and business roadblocks 19:00 — Data privacy, security, and “don’t trust ‘AI Enterprise’ marketing” 23:30 — Health projects: Home Health Box, asthma, and cleaning up more than just your hard drive 29:30 — Utah’s air quality nightmare (and how tech can maybe fix it) 34:00 — Kids, environments, and why your pipes might be dosing you with heavy metals 38:45 — Pharma, business models, and a dash of conspiracy (just for fun) 43:00 — Personalized health, medical data, and why your doctor doesn’t have the whole story 47:00 — GEO: the next era of marketing (because SEO is already collecting dust) 53:00 — The Wild West of AI startups and marketing chaos 57:00 — Where to find Matt (and his many side hustles) /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/37966260

Burn The Map: White Collar Hunger Games with Gabi Barragan 08/14/2025

Burn The Map: White Collar Hunger Games with Gabi Barragan In This Episode: We sit down with Gabi Barragan, Wrench.AI’s Co-Founder and CMO (and, let’s be real, the original “Gabi Filter” for anyone who couldn’t write their way out of a Slack thread). Gabi gets brutally honest about the future of work, why most people are totally unprepared for the AI tidal wave, and the one skillset robots still can’t fake—being a decent human. She and Dan swap war stories about flattening orgs, surviving existential tech dread, and why soft skills are the new power tools. Plus: why your lawyer’s job is toast, how to future-proof your career (hint: meditation and MMA?), and what happens when your kid can assemble IKEA furniture better than you. What We Cover: How AI is eating jobs from the bottom and the top—no one’s safe, darling. The not-so-secret power of empathy, adaptability, and problem solving (yes, you still need people skills, even if your boss is a bot). Why “the grind” is overrated, and how the next wave of work might finally let you catch a damn baseball game. The Gabi Filter origin story, and how personalized AI is changing the game for everyone (even the grammar-challenged among us). Real talk on burnout, resilience, and why “sitting is the new smoking”—so get up, walk your dog, and try not to panic. Guest Bio:Gabi Barragan is Co-Founder and CMO at Wrench.AI, where she’s made a career out of translating chaos into strategy—and occasionally rescuing colleagues from their own bad grammar. With a background in marketing, startups, and the fine art of not losing your mind in a tech tsunami, Gabi is the go-to voice on surviving (and thriving) as AI rewrites the rules of business. When she’s not building the next big thing in personalization, she’s lurking on TikTok, plotting the future of work, and reminding everyone that soft skills aren’t going out of style. Enjoy! This show was brought to you by Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Gabi: LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode Wrench.AI: People and Organizations Mentioned Dan Baird Gabi Barragan Wrench.AI Random mutual associate with existential dread (don’t worry, Dan won’t out you on air) The “Gabi Filter” (RIP, but not forgotten) Show Notes Why your job might be toast (and why that’s not the end of the world) The real value of soft skills in an AI-soaked workplace How to avoid burnout when the grind is a myth The future of work: lean, mean, and a little bit weird Lurking, lurking, and more lurking: why sometimes it’s okay to just watch /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/37823640

Burn The Map: Steve Eror — AI Agents, Skydiving, and Why Nap Pods Are Dead 07/31/2025

Burn The Map: Steve Eror — AI Agents, Skydiving, and Why Nap Pods Are Dead In This Episode: We sit down with Steve Eror—skydiver, AI troublemaker, and the guy who’ll absolutely call out your nap pod culture for what it is: overhyped and overdue for extinction. Steve walks us through his wild career pivot from Wall Street’s soul-sucking grind (hello, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley) to the frontlines of AI at Signals, where he’s busy helping companies hire “cloud employees” instead of more warm bodies. Along the way, we get the unvarnished truth about what it’s really like to swap financial jargon for code, why automation isn’t your enemy (unless you’re mediocre), and how building a digital army of agents might just be the ticket to working less and living more. Oh, and did I mention he jumps out of planes for fun? What We Cover: The not-so-glamorous story of leaving a “good” job that was anything but good How to build and manage AI “cloud employees” that do the grunt work while you focus on… well, anything else The myth (and reality) of Jobmageddon: why the robots aren’t coming for your job unless you’re already replaceable Why skydiving is the ultimate flow state—and way, way safer than arguing with your compliance department Behind the scenes of Chad, the AI bro-sales rep you never wanted (but can’t look away from) Guest Bio: Steve Eror is a tech executive and all-around AI troublemaker. He’s got a resume that runs from Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley (where he survived the soul-sucking world of finance) to leadership at InsideSales, Avanti, Zant, and Forethought. These days, he’s helping run the show at Signals, building the AI-powered “cloud employees” that will probably automate the boring parts of your job before you even finish reading this sentence. Steve’s career is a tour through finance, sales, and AI, with a knack for building tools that get actual results—plus, the man jumps out of airplanes for fun (74 times and counting), so you know he’s not just here for the safe bets. Enjoy! This episode was brought to you by Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Steve: LinkedIn: YouTube: X: Instagram: Follow the Pod: YouTube: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: BlueSky: Selected Links From This Episode Signals: Wrench.ai: People and Organizations Mentioned in this Episode Steve Eror Dan Baird Signals Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley InsideSales, Avanti, Zant, Forethought Wrench.ai Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:08 — Why beanbags aren’t just beanbags: Lessons from Lovesac 04:15 — Argumentation, decision-making, and why everyone thinks they don’t argue (spoiler: they do) 12:24 — Quitting finance, waking up to tech, and learning what an API is (the hard way) 18:23 — AI, job-mageddon, and why real talent doesn’t sweat the robots 26:04 — Trolling with AI: Building Chad, the world’s worst sales bro 29:32 — Skydiving, ADD, and finding zen at 10,000 feet 38:21 — Moose encounters, Yellowstone survival, and Darwinism at its finest 41:49 — Where to find Steve (and why he’s not hard to track down) /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/37610160

Burn The Map: Chasing Chaos, Curating Creativity, and the Relentless Art of AI Video w/ Luka Tisler 07/17/2025

Burn The Map: Chasing Chaos, Curating Creativity, and the Relentless Art of AI Video w/ Luka Tisler “Limitations? Please. The only thing that matters now is the idea—because with today’s AI, you can create anything. The rest is just noise.” —Luka Tisler In This Episode: We sit down with Luka Tisler, the Slovenian mastermind who treats AI video tools like his personal playground. Luka’s journey is a whirlwind of reinvention—from post-production purist to VFX wizard to motion graphics innovator to, well, teaching the rest of us how to keep up. He went from wrangling cameras to breaking generative models, turning every “hobby” into a full-blown career, and building Lighthouse Academy so others could stop floundering and start creating. What do you get when you mix relentless curiosity, a little Balkan stubbornness, and a refusal to follow creative trends? Apparently, a one-man AI creative studio who’s as busy as he is unbothered by the old rules. What We Cover: How AI has nuked creative limitations (and why your dumbest idea is your only real asset now) The messy, noisy process behind AI image and video creation—yes, even when the results have six fingers Why curation is the new creation, and batch-processing your way to greatness (or at least a good espresso) The agony and ecstasy of client “education” when nobody wants to leave their comfort zone The birth of Lighthouse Academy and why Luka would rather build something from scratch than explain things twice Where to find the world’s top AI nerds (Spoiler: Discord, Reddit, and definitely not Facebook) Guest Bio: Luka Tisler is a Slovenian video virtuoso and co-founder of Lighthouse Academy, known for his deep dives into motion graphics, VFX, and AI-powered animation. Since 2008, Luka’s career has spanned from old-school production sets to the wild frontiers of generative AI. He’s an unapologetic experimenter, a breaker of tools, and the kind of guy who turns every hobby into a profession—whether the rest of us can keep up or not. Enjoy! This show was brought to you by Wrench.ai Follow Dan: LinkedIn: X: Follow Luka: LinkedIn: Follow the Pod: Selected Links From This Episode: Luka’s Tools: Midjourney, Weavy, ComfyUI People and Organizations Mentioned: Dave Clark (AI film legend) Billy Bowman (AI creative rockstar) Kevin the Kid, Metapuppet, Perz, Phil, Kijai, Seb (AI superheroes) Lighthouse Academy Show Notes & Timestamps: 00:04 — Luka’s journey: From Slovenian VFX to AI wild child 02:09 — How video creation is being flipped on its head (and why your ideas matter more than your tools) 05:43 — The latest in AI video: Broken tools, creative breakthroughs, and why “good enough” is never enough 08:15 — Client education: Herding cats, fighting for sanity, and not letting the comfort zone kill your creativity 14:15 — Curation is the new creation (yes, you still have to do the work) 17:37 — Building Lighthouse Academy: Zero to one, the joy of teaching, and why community is everything 21:17 — Where the real AI nerds hang out (spoiler: it’s not Instagram) 24:15 — The hardest part? Clients who want 2010 results in 2024 28:09 — Who to watch in AI creativity, and why the best don’t always come from film school /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/37444590

Burn The Map: DIY Podcasting Power with Anika Jackson 07/07/2025

Burn The Map: DIY Podcasting Power with Anika Jackson “Don’t spend $25,000 building a studio before you’ve recorded your first episode. Please. Use your laptop, a good mic, and just get started.” —Anika Jackson In This Episode: We talk to Anika Jackson about what it actually takes to go from “hey, let’s start a podcast!” to running a slick, sustainable media machine. She walked through her own scrappy journey—launching Brand Amplified out of her PR agency, turning a side hustle into a business, and learning (sometimes the hard way) that you don’t need a $25,000 studio to get started. What you do need: consistency, a clear sense of why you’re doing it, and a willingness to put in the reps, even if your first few episodes are a little rough around the edges.. We discuss: How to launch, grow, and monetize a podcast without burning a pile of cash. The real story behind turning a hobby into a business—spoiler: it’s not glamorous, but it is possible. Why most podcasters quit too soon, and how to avoid rookie mistakes. The hidden cost of “doing it all yourself”—and why AI is your new best friend. How Anika’s DIY approach landed her speaking gigs, teaching gigs, and more guest requests than she can handle (seriously, 100+ waitlist). Enjoy the episode. This show is brought to you by . Guest Bio: Anika Jackson is a communications maestro with 25+ years in the PR and media trenches. She’s the Executive Director at the ICL Foundation, co-produces USC’s MediaScape series, and is the host of Your Brand Amplified®—a top 1.5% podcast where she cracks open the world of branding, entrepreneurship, and the business of being heard. When she’s not turning chaos into content, you’ll find her teaching grad students at USC, judging the Webby Awards, or wrangling AI tools into service for indie podcasters everywhere. Follow Dan: Follow Anika: Follow the Pod: Selected Links From This Episode (Brand development and podcast strategy tool) (Accessibility and content tagging for podcasts) (AI-driven content creation and scheduling) (Podcast analytics and ranking) (Podcast charts, keywords, and competitors) People and Organizations Mentioned Anika Jackson (Guest) Dan Baird (Host) ICL Foundation ICL Academy (online middle and high school) University of Southern California (USC) Full Capacity Marketing (Anika’s PR agency) Maestrix.ai (Guillaume Demortier, Founder) Ziotag Simplified Podgagement ListenNotes Webby Awards Show Notes & Timestamps 00:00 — Why most podcasters quit before they get traction (and how Anika didn’t) 03:00 — Turning a hobby podcast into a business you can actually monetize 06:00 — Building a content backlog: 10 interviews a week, 100+ guests in the queue 08:00 — Why AI tools are a podcaster’s best friend (and which ones actually work) 10:00 — Making your podcast accessible (for real, not just for compliance) 13:00 — Metrics, downloads, and the lies you tell yourself (and your sponsors) 16:00 — The future of podcasting: AI clones, digital personas, and what’s still very, very human 22:00 — Small teams, big impact: How AI is killing middle management and opening up new business models 28:00 — Why every business, big or small, needs an AI-literate workforce 34:00 — Anika’s top 3 tips for launching a podcast (hint: don’t overthink it) 36:00 — Where to find Anika and why LinkedIn is still king /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/37326760

Burn the Map: Psilocybin, Law, and Life with Bridger Jensen 07/07/2025

Burn the Map: Psilocybin, Law, and Life with Bridger Jensen “Every human is entitled to utter syllables and words and think thoughts and commune with their own highest power. That is… certainly an inalienable right.” —Bridger Lee Jensen In This Episode: We sit down with Bridger Lee Jensen, founder of the world’s first federally protected psilocybin religion, Singularism. Bridger takes us on a trip (pun intended) through the wild ride of founding a new movement—in Provo, Utah, of all places—facing down the SWAT team, and coming out the other side with his mushrooms (and his freedom) intact. Bridger’s story is a cocktail of therapy, philosophy, legal warfare, and a healthy disrespect for the way “it’s always been done.” He’s a therapist, a reluctant founder, and, apparently, the only guy who’s ever had the government give his stash back—by court order. What We Cover: Why suffering might be good for you (and why you should teach your kid to get their ass kicked) The mechanics of starting a federally recognized religion (hint: you’ll need more than a vision board) Psychedelics, therapy, and the myth of “fixing” yourself How to survive a SWAT raid with your dignity and your sense of humor The accidental legal precedent that could change religion in America Enjoy the episode. This show is brought to you by . Guest Bio: Bridger Lee Jensen is the founder of Singularism, the first psilocybin-based religion in the U.S. to win federal protection—by way of a legal brawl in the heart of Mormon country. He’s a therapist, philosophical troublemaker, and possibly the only person to have his mushrooms returned by court order. Bridger’s mission? Use psychedelics, not as escape, but as a tool to strip away the BS and find real meaning. Follow Dan: Follow the Pod: Follow Bridger: Selected Links from the Episode: People and Organizations Mentioned: Bridger Lee Jensen Dan Baird The City of Provo Singularism Wrench.ai Show Notes & Timestamps 00:04 — Welcome, Bridger: Why start a religion in Provo, Utah? 06:15 — Is suffering actually good for you? 11:45 — Psychedelics, consciousness, and what therapy gets wrong 25:55 — The SWAT raid, the mushrooms, and how not to panic 34:41 — The legal fight: redefining religion in America 1:13:10 — Government gives the mushrooms back (seriously) 1:22:08 — Why Bridger won’t quit, no matter how weird it gets 1:32:09 — How to get involved, support, or just watch the circus /episode/index/show/9ef1b7fc-2977-4a08-9c0e-ebaa9e980327/id/37326515

Burn The Map

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