Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for Build AI - by gAI Ventures
Technology

Build AI - by gAI Ventures

gAI Ventures

Build AI is the only podcast that goes inside the room while AI companies are still being built, not after they've won. Every episode, an early-stage AI founder shares the real decisions they're making right now: what technical bets they're placing, how they're getting their first customers, what's breaking, and how they're fixing it. No hindsight. No billion-dollar vantage point. Just founders who are still figuring it out in public. If you're building an AI company, thinking about it, or in stealth right now, this show is made for you.

Play
Open in
  • 20 episodes
  • Avg 42 min
  • English

Episodes 20

NewestOldestLongest
All20Unplayed20In progress0Played0
  • S1 · E22
    July 7 · 52 min

    AI agents, MCPs, infrastructure, and what's next

    This is a special edition of Build AI, recorded shortly after the gAI Ventures LP lunchat Citizens Private Bank in Menlo Park.Amit Goel, Vijay Rajendran, and Kushal Prakash — the three partners at gAI Ventures —sit down to unpack the insights they shared with limited partners and prospectiveinvestors: how they're reading the current phase of the AI wave, what the "SaaS-pocalypse"actually means, why "tasks are not jobs" is the framework they use to evaluate newventures, and what they've learned from 18 months of building vertical AI companiesacross financial services, enterprise productivity, and commerce.This is candid, unfiltered thinking from three partners who spend every day co-buildingvertical AI companies with domain experts.

  • S1 · E21
    July 6 · 39 min

    The Future of Banking, AI & Risk Management | Paolo Sironi and Amit Goel | Build AI Ep. 21

    Paolo Sironi has spent 25+ years inside the financial services industry, first as aquantitative risk manager in investment banking, then as a fintech founder, and todayas the Global Research Leader for Banking & Financial Markets at the IBM Institute forBusiness Value, where he advises C-level executives at financial institutions worldwide.He's a 6x bestselling author whose book, including "Banks and Fintech on PlatformEconomies", have become required reading for fintech leaders. He hosts The Bankers'Bookshelf podcast and is one of the most respected voices in global fintech.In this episode, Amit Goel sits down with Paolo for a wide-ranging conversation on thestate of AI in banking, why most institutions are still stuck in tactical deployments,and what the next decade of financial services will actually look like.

  • S1 · E20
    June 18 · 30 min

    He's building “Siri that actually works” for phones | Div Garg. Founder & CEO @ AGI, Inc. | Ep. 20

    Div Garg has spent nearly a decade in AI. Google, Apple, Nvidia, Uber, Collaborative Robotics (first founding engineer), and a Stanford PhD, where he created the university's first course on Transformers (CS 25, 1M+ YouTube views).In early 2024, he co-founded MultiOn, which was one of the first viral AI agents on the web, with a launch video that hit 1M+ views.In 2025, he turned down a near-$1M offer from OpenAI to spin out a new research lab: AGI Inc., a company betting that the future of AI isn't in the cloud. It's on your device.In this episode, Amit Goel sits down with Div for a wide-ranging conversation on the current state of AI, why on-device intelligence is the next frontier, and how to build a category-defining company in a market that doesn't believe in your bet yet.

  • S1 · E19
    May 7 · 41 min

    The Truth About Enterprise AI Nobody Is Saying Out Loud | Amit G, Kushal P, Vijay R | Build AI Ep.19

    In this conversation, Amit Goel, Vijay Rajendran, and Kushal Prakash debate why the 2024–25 hype cycle of generic copilots and chatbots failed enterprises, why "the juice isn't worth the squeeze" for most generic deployments, and why the next decade belongs to hyper-vertical AI — purpose-built systems that solve specific, deep, regulated workflows that horizontal models simply cannot.For accredited US investors interested in our startup fund, write to vijay@gai.ventures.All investment is subject to accreditation verification. This podcast is not an offer to sell securities.

  • S1 · E17
    April 16 · 38 min

    From Google to Cornell: Rethinking AI Workflows | Lutz Finger | Build AI Podcast 17

    What if the real winners in AI aren’t the ones using it… but the ones redesigning work around it?In this episode of the Build AI Podcast, we sit down with Lutz Finger — former product leader at Google, LinkedIn, and Snap, faculty at Cornell, and a leading voice in AI, product strategy, and generative workflows.From starting as a quantum physicist to building products in Silicon Valley, Lutz shares a powerful perspective on what’s actually changing in the AI era — and what most founders and enterprises are getting wrong.

  • S1 · E16
    March 20 · 34 min

    Vertical AI, Hw+Sw and Moats | Jason Shuman, Primary Venture Partners | Build AI Ep. 16

    Jason Shuman, Partner at Primary Venture Partners, $625M fund - the largest seed investor in New York on gAI Ventures podcast. In this episode, he shares exactly how he thinks about the Vertical AI opportunity, why hardware is massively underrated, and what founders are getting wrong about building in 2025. Primary VC has backed companies like Latch, Dandy, Bobyard, Marker Learning, and Light Table - with ~90% of portfolio companies raising a Series A and ~20% becoming unicorns. Jason now leads Vertical AI and hardware autonomy investments, and he's one of the most vocal voices on X about the structural shifts reshaping software, services, and how companies are actually built today.

  • S1 · E15
    February 13 · 47 min

    He’s Disrupting Legal with AI | Nick Holzherr, Founder, GitLaw, Whisk (Samsung Food) | Build AI Ep15

    Nick Holzherr is a 3x founder, company builder, angel investor, and former CEO of Whisk (acquired by Samsung), where he scaled to 120 people and built one of the earliest fully distributed global teams before remote work was mainstream. Whisk scaled globally, integrated with Walmart, Amazon, Tesco, Nestlé and more, reached 4.8 app ratings, and was featured by Apple 200+ times before acquisition.Now, as Founder of GitLaw, Nick is rethinking how startups handle legal infrastructure in the AI era, offering open-source, lawyer-vetted documents powered by AI collaboration.🔗 Explore GitLaw (Free AI-powered legal templates):🎁 Get 1 month free with code: gaiventureshttps://git.law/?utm_source=Interview&utm_medium=Podcasts&utm_campaign=gaipodcast

  • S1 · E11
    Dec 29, 2025 · 45 min

    Build The Next Great AI Company | Amit Goel, Kushal Prakash, Vijay Rajendran | Build AI Podcast 11

    The gAI Ventures team (Amit Goel, Vijay Rajendran, and Kushal Prakash) breaks down the most defining shifts in AI, from the headline-making Waymo baby moment, to the rapid rise of vertical AI, to the realities of multi-agent systems, workflow-level automation, and the new distribution layer emerging through AEO. This is a builder’s perspective on what actually worked, what quietly failed, and what’s coming next for founders, operators, and enterprise leaders deploying AI in the real world.

  • S1 · E10
    Dec 22, 2025 · 54 min

    AI will become the #1 inbound channel | Todd Sawicki and Amit Goel | Build AI Podcast 10

    Navigate the most important shift in digital visibility - Discoverability in the LLM Era. The next wave of growth will come from mastering AI visibility, not just traditional SEO. In this episode, we sit down with Todd Sawicki, founder and CEO of Gumshoe, a platform that helps brands understand what AI thinks about them and what actions move the needle.

  • S1 · E8
    Sep 10, 2025 · 54 min

    Inside the Venture Studio Model | Vijay Rajendran & Amit Goel | Build AI Podcast 08

    In this episode of Build AI, we go deep into the future of AI startups, venture studios, and why traditional startup models are being disrupted. This is not your typical discussion on fundraising or startup hustle. This is a masterclass in startup creation at the intersection of AI, domain expertise, and venture building.

  • S1 · E6
    Jun 11, 2025 · 48 min

    She's Building Voice AI To Reinvent Hiring | Roli Gupta, babblebots.ai | Build AI Podcast 06

    In this episode of Build AI, we sat down with Roli Gupta, the founder and CEO of Babblebots.ai, a pioneering AI startup that's revolutionizing how companies hire at scale using voice-based AI agents. From building cleantech ventures to decoding GenAI before it was cool, Roli brings 20+ years of experience leading high-growth startups across Silicon Valley and India.

  • S1 · E5
    Apr 28, 2025 · 32 min

    Open Source Meets AI | Dmitry Grankin, CEO of Vexa.ai & Amit Goel | Build AI Podcast 05

    One of the biggest use case of AI is meeting note. In our recent podcast, we interviewed Dmitry Grankin, the founder of an European AI company. From battling giants like Fireflies and Otter to empowering startups with scalable infrastructure, this discussion is a masterclass in understanding the role of open-source technology and its impact. Dmitry’s Vision: “Agents want APIs, not UIs. We’re building the internet of tools for the AI era.” In this episode, we've explore: The Exploding Market of AI Meeting Assistants: From established players like Fireflies and Otter to the rise of niche, vertical-specific solutions, we break down the competitive landscape. The Power of Open Source in AI: Dmitry shares his bold move to open source Vexa.ai's technology and the surprising benefits it brings, from increased trust and faster adoption to invaluable community feedback. APIs are the new UI: Discover why Dmitry believes agents are the future of interaction, and how APIs will become essential for these agents to access information and tools. The MCP Protocol: We discuss the Model-Context-Protocol (MCP) and its potential to revolutionize how assistants access and utilize information across different sources. Building the Infrastructure for AI Agents: Learn about Vexa.ai's mission to provide the underlying technology that empowers developers and agents to create powerful meeting transcription and assistance tools. Whether you're an AI enthusiast, a developer, or simply curious about the future of communication, this video is packed with insights into the cutting edge of AI and open-source collaboration. #opensource #ai #artificialintelligence #startups #futureofai #futureofwork #machinelearning #techinnovation #technology #innovation #saas

  • S1 · E4
    Apr 17, 2025 · 36 min

    AI For RIA's & Financial Advisors| Vineet Mohan & Amit Goel | Build AI Podcast 04

    What does AI in wealth management really look like on the ground? In this episode of the Build AI Podcast, Amit Goel chats with Vineet Mohan about how AI is quietly transforming the workflows of financial advisors - and why the opportunity is far bigger than just meeting notes. From Morgan Stanley’s rollout of AI tools to 16,000+ advisors, to the rise of nimble, tech-forward RIAs - the wealth industry is undergoing a tectonic shift. And AI is at the center of it. We dive into: - Why the U.S. is 10 years ahead in AI adoption - $48T AUM industry facing a 100K advisor shortage - The Kitces map and why tech fragmentation is a real blocker - Fast Tracker AI: Automating the grunt work in advisory firms - Real AI use cases: onboarding, CRM workflows, document prep - How AI can be the “overlay OS” stitching legacy systems together - Vertical AI better than Generic AI: Building domain-first, not model-first - Why SMB advisors are adopting AI faster than incumbents - B2B AI go-to-market: from painkillers to process reinvention If you're building for, investing in, or working inside wealth management, this is your front-row view into the real-world AI transformation already underway. Subscribe to Build AI Podcast for more deep dives into vertical SaaS, agent infra, and AI-first workflows across industries. Connect: Vineet Mohan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinmoh/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitpayments/ FastTrackr AI: https://fasttrackr.ai/ gAI Ventures: https://gai.ventures/ #WealthManagement #FinancialAdvisor #VerticalAI #KitcesMap #AdvisorTech #Fintech #Finance #ArtificialIntelligence

  • S1 · E3
    Apr 1, 2025 · 40 min

    AI Approaches, Evals & Startups vs Incumbents | Kushal Prakash & Amit Goel | Build AI Podcast 03

    Everyone’s throwing around “AI” like it’s some kind of magic spell that’ll fix everything. The biggest thing to hit since the internet. But what’s actually happening beneath the surface? What’s real, what’s investor hype, and where is this all heading? In this conversation, we break down the different approaches to AI, how it’s being evaluated, and the key differences between startups pushing AI innovation vs. incumbents trying to keep up. If you’re tired of the same recycled takes on AI, this one’s for you. When to fine-tune vs. use RAG (spoiler: static data? Fine-tune. Dynamic? RAG.) Why legal tech & drug discovery demand hybrid AI systems The eval problem: Why AI products need continuous evaluation (unlike traditional software) Startups vs. incumbents: Who’s winning the AI race? (Hint: It’s not zero-sum, but domain expertise wins.) Plus: Real-world examples (Stella AI, Audit AI, FastTrackr AI and more) and why business model innovation matters as much as tech. Watch now to learn how to build, evaluate, and scale AI products - whether you’re a founder, CTO, or builder. Connect: Kushal Prakash: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kushal-prakash Amit Kumar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitpayments gAI Ventures: https://gai.ventures/ Like this? Smash that share button. #AI #LLMs #Founders #CTO #PromptEngineering #FineTuning #RAG #Startups #BigTech #AIBusinessModels

Showing 1–20 of 20 episodes