AI is no longer just about models, prompts, or experimentation. It is becoming infrastructure.

In this episode, I sit down with Shashank Tiwari, CEO and Founder, to unpack one of the biggest shifts happening right now: AI is rapidly commoditizing, and the real value is moving up the stack.

We explore how enterprises are moving from hype to real ROI, why AI agents introduce new risks, and how governance, control, and reliability are becoming critical in the age of autonomous systems.

This conversation goes beyond the noise to focus on what actually matters for builders, operators, and investors.

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👤 About the Guest

Shashank Tiwari is the CEO and Founder of Uno.ai, a Silicon Valley-based company focused on AI-driven automation in governance, risk, and compliance (GRC).

With deep expertise in enterprise systems, AI agents, and risk management, Shashank works closely with large organizations in highly regulated industries such as banking, healthcare, and critical infrastructure.

His work focuses on automating human-centric tasks while maintaining accuracy, reliability, and control.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tshanky/

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🔑 Key Takeaways

• AI models are rapidly becoming commoditized infrastructure

• The real differentiation is shifting to applications, workflows, and execution

• AI agents introduce new categories of risk and governance challenges

• Enterprise AI adoption is moving from experimentation to ROI-driven use cases

• Automation must balance productivity with reliability and control

• The future of AI is solution-centric, not model-centric

• Coding is getting faster, but building products remains complex

• AI may increase productivity, but it also amplifies risks at scale

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📚 What You’ll Learn

• Why LLMs are becoming the “operating system” of AI

• Where real value is created in the AI stack

• How enterprises are measuring AI ROI today

• Why AI agents create new threat vectors

• The challenges of AI governance and compliance

• Why “vibe coding” does not replace product thinking

• How organizations should think about control in autonomous systems

• What the future of AI applications looks like beyond hype

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⏱️ Episode Highlights

00:00 Introduction and guest welcome

02:30 From generative AI to AI agents: what changed

05:00 Why AI is becoming commoditized

07:00 The myth and reality of AGI

10:30 AI and new risk landscapes

14:00 AI as a new threat vector in enterprises

18:00 Governance, compliance, and control challenges

22:00 Shadow AI and visibility gaps

26:00 Why you cannot “opt out” of AI

29:00 From hype to ROI: how enterprises are thinking

34:00 AI productivity vs real business impact

37:00 The reality of AI coding and “vibe coding”

43:00 Why building products is still hard

48:00 AI, creativity, and the future of development

51:00 What’s next: automation of human-centric work

54:00 Elevating GRC beyond processes

56:00 Closing thoughts

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Uno.ai

• NIST AI Risk Management Framework

• ISO 42001 (AI Management Systems)

In this episode, Mehmet Gonullu sits down with Will Spengler, Founder and Principal of Frederick Fox, to explore how hiring, entrepreneurship, and scaling professional services businesses are evolving in the age of AI.

Will shares his journey from working in staffing firms to building a 70-person company organically, without venture capital. The conversation dives deep into the realities of scaling a services business, the importance of relationships as a competitive moat, and why AI, despite its capabilities, still cannot replace the human element in hiring.

They also discuss how founders should think about hiring finance talent, common mistakes in early-stage hiring, and the leadership lessons learned from building a business from the ground up.

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👤 About the Guest

Will Spengler is the Founder and Principal of Frederick Fox, a staffing and recruiting firm specializing in accounting, finance, technology, and sales roles. Since launching in 2019, Will has grown the company to nearly 70 employees, scaling organically without venture capital or private equity funding.

Frederick Fox focuses on building long-term partnerships with both clients and candidates, with a strong emphasis on human relationships and performance-driven culture.

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🚀 Key Takeaways

• AI is transforming sourcing and data analysis, but human relationships remain critical in hiring

• Bootstrapping a business forces discipline, clarity, and strong execution

• The real moat in professional services is trust and long-term relationships

• Hiring finance talent requires matching both industry and company stage

• Over-hiring or hiring from large companies can hurt early-stage startups

• Scaling requires a clear vision, strong leadership, and people management skills

• Entrepreneurship comes with significant personal and family trade-offs

• Learning in business comes primarily from failure and iteration, not theory

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🎯 What You’ll Learn

• Why AI cannot fully replace recruiters or human interaction in hiring

• How to scale a professional services business without external funding

• The right way to hire your first accountant, controller, or CFO

• Common hiring mistakes founders make in early-stage companies

• How to build a culture of ownership and performance

• Why relationships are becoming more important in an AI-driven world

• What it really takes to build and lead a growing company

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⏱️ Episode Chapters

00:00 Introduction and guest background

01:00 Building Frederick Fox and early journey

03:00 Identifying the opportunity in staffing

05:00 Scaling a business without venture capital

07:00 The importance of vision and planning

09:00 Hiring finance talent in startups

13:00 Where to find top accounting and finance talent

15:00 AI’s impact on recruiting and hiring

19:00 Human relationships as a competitive advantage

22:00 Building internal tools and automation

25:00 Creating ownership through equity

28:00 Leadership lessons and personal growth

32:00 Learning through failure in business

35:00 The reality of entrepreneurship

39:00 Closing thoughts and where to connect

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Frederick Fox: https://www.frederickfox.com

• Will Spengler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wspengler/

In this conversation, Mehmet sits down with Amos Bar-Joseph, Founder and CEO of Swan AI, to unpack what it really means to build an autonomous company.

Amos shares how he moved away from the traditional “growth at all costs” startup model toward a lean, intelligence-driven approach powered by human-AI collaboration.

Together, they discuss:

• Why headcount is no longer the main growth lever

• How founders can become “100x operators” with AI

• The future of GTM in an agentic world

• Why autonomy beats bureaucracy

• How to scale without losing culture

This is a deep dive into the next-generation startup playbook.

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👤 About the Guest

Amos Bar-Joseph is the Founder and CEO of Swan AI.

A serial entrepreneur with two prior exits, Amos is building one of the first truly autonomous businesses. His work focuses on human-AI collaboration, agentic workflows, and redefining how modern companies scale.

He is also the author of The Big Shift newsletter and a leading voice on AI-native organizations.

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🎯 Key Takeaways

• Startups can scale with intelligence, not headcount

• AI should amplify human “zones of genius,” not replace them

• GTM success depends on how buyers want to buy, not how founders want to sell

• Context engineering is becoming a core GTM skill

• Flat, autonomous teams require stronger leadership, not less

• Decision velocity is the biggest startup advantage

• Capital matters, but leverage matters more

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📚 What You’ll Learn

By listening to this episode, you’ll learn:

✅ How to design an autonomous business model

✅ Where humans should stay in the loop with AI

✅ How to use agents to accelerate product-market fit

✅ Why relevance beats personalization in outreach

✅ How to build scalable GTM systems

✅ How leadership changes in flat organizations

✅ How to preserve culture while scaling

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⏱️ Episode Highlights & Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction & Amos’ background

02:00 – Why the traditional startup model is broken

04:30 – Building with three people and AI

07:00 – Zone of Genius + AI amplification

09:30 – Human-in-the-loop GTM strategy

12:00 – Choosing the right growth model

15:00 – Selling with empathy

18:00 – Personalization vs relevance

21:00 – Context engineering in GTM

24:00 – AI and product-market fit

27:00 – Decision velocity as a startup advantage

31:00 – Autonomous leadership challenges

35:00 – Culture without hierarchy

38:00 – Fundraising in an AI-native world

41:00 – The “Swan” philosophy vs unicorns

44:00 – Future vision for Swan AI

46:00 – Where to follow Amos

47:00 – Closing remarks

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Swan AI Platform: https://getswan.com/

• Amos Bar-Joseph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amos-bar-joseph/

• Autonomous GPT (ChatGPT Store): https://chatgpt.com/g/g-6800e20892b8819181df24a31ccdbf96-autonamos