Practical AI

Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson

Making artificial intelligence practical, productive & accessible to everyone. Practical AI is a show in which technology professionals, business people, students, enthusiasts, and expert guests engage in lively discussions about Artificial Intelligence and related topics (Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Neural Networks, GANs, MLOps, AIOps, LLMs & more).

The focus is on productive implementations and real-world scenarios that are accessible to everyone. If you want to keep up with the latest advances in AI, while keeping one foot in the real world, then this is the show for you!

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#371
Thursday · 56 min
Computer-Use Agents and the Future of the Agentic Internet
Longtime followers of Practical AI know that multi-repeat guest and friend Demetrios Brinkmann combines brilliant insight and playful banter into one fun-filled show, and this conversion with Chris was no different. They had a blast! As AI agents become more capable of using computers, interacting with software, and taking action on behalf of users, what does that mean for the way we work and interact with the internet? Chris and Demetrios explore computer-use agents, MCP, agent harnesses, agent-to-agent interactions, and prognosticate the emerging possibilities around agentic commerce. They also discuss how these tools are already being used to automate everyday tasks, the challenges of bringing computer-use agents into enterprise environments, and how the relationship between models and agent harnesses is evolving. In fact, they had so much fun that their conversation continued long after the show was over, but we didn’t get that here. 🤷‍♂️ Featuring: Demetrios Brinkmann – LinkedIn Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Links: Agentic AI Foundation MLOps Community AGNTCon + MCPCon – the Agentic AI Foundation’s flagship conference Sponsors: Midwest AI Summit: Join AI practitioners on October 15 in Indianapolis for practical sessions, hands-on discussions, and real-world AI solutions. Use code PracticalAI20 to save 20% on your registration. https://midwestaisummit.com/#tickets Resources and Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Prior Webinars from our partner Prediction Guard Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#370
September 3 · 45 min
Less about Models; More about Architecture
As AI moves from experimentation to enterprise deployment, are organizations thinking too much about models and not enough about architecture? In this episode, Daniel and Chris talk with Chetan Gupta, Chief AI Officer at Rackspace, about the evolution from industrial AI and physical AI to today’s enterprise AI landscape. Discover how organizations can navigate the complex AI landscape responsibly and effectively as they think about AI architecture, model deployment, AI governance, and AI sovereignty. Featuring: Chetan Gupta – LinkedIn Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Sponsors: Midwest AI Summit: Join AI practitioners on October 15 in Indianapolis for practical sessions, hands-on discussions, and real-world AI solutions. Use code PracticalAI20 to save 20% on your registration. https://midwestaisummit.com/#tickets Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai Resources and Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Prior Webinars from our partner Prediction Guard Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#369
August 28 · 45 min
Building the Foundation for the Agentic AI Era
How do we build an AI ecosystem where agents, tools, and systems can work together at scale? Angie Jones, VP of the Agentic AI Foundation, joins Chris to discuss the open standards and projects shaping the agentic future, including MCP, A2A, Goose, etc. They also explore what it takes to drive AI adoption across an entire organization, the importance of neutral standards, global perspectives on agentic AI, and how humans can find the right balance between what they delegate to AI and what they do themselves. Featuring: Angie Jones – LinkedIn, X Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Links: Agentic AI Foundation Sponsors: Framer: The enterprise-grade website builder that lets your team ship faster. Get 30% off at framer.com/practicalai Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai Resources and Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Prior Webinars from our partner Prediction Guard Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#368
August 25 · 56 min
AI Proficiency: From Users to Builders
As AI continues to reshape how organizations work, companies are increasingly asking what AI proficiency should look like across their workforce, and how they can help employees adapt without simply mandating AI adoption. Our returning guest Mike Lewis, Chief AI Architect at TiER1 Performance, joins Dan and Chris to explore AI proficiency through the L0–L3 framework, with a particular focus on the role of non-technical builders. They discuss AI resistance, identifying the right people to build AI-powered solutions, turning tacit knowledge into durable processes, and finding measurable business value from AI. Mike Lewis was previously on Practical AI episode 289: https://practicalai.show/289 Featuring: Mike Lewis – LinkedIn Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Links: TiER1 Performance Your New Job Is to Onboard AI Agents: How AI Native Companies Actually Operate Sponsors: Midwest AI Summit: Join AI practitioners on October 15 in Indianapolis for practical sessions, hands-on discussions, and real-world AI solutions. Use code PracticalAI20 to save 20% on your registration. https://midwestaisummit.com/#tickets Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai Resources and Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Prior Webinars from our partner Prediction Guard Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#367
August 6 · 49 min
Models, Harnesses, and Multi-Agent Systems
AI has moved far beyond chatbots, but what exactly are AI models, agents, agent harnesses, and multi-agent systems, and why do they matter? In this episode, Daniel and Chris break down the terminology behind today's AI landscape, explain the differences between AI features and autonomous agents, and explore why organizations are shifting toward fleets of AI agents powered by multiple models. They also discuss open vs. closed models, enterprise AI architectures, vendor lock-in, and practical ways to begin adopting agentic AI in your own organization. If you feel left behind by this ongoing agentic AI revolution that has rapidly accelerated to warp speed, then this episode is the catch-up primer you've been waiting for! Featuring: Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Sponsors: Framer: The enterprise-grade website builder that lets your team ship faster. Get 30% off at framer.com/practicalai Midwest AI Summit: Join AI practitioners on October 15 in Indianapolis for practical sessions, hands-on discussions, and real-world AI solutions. Use code PracticalAI20 to save 20% on your registration. https://midwestaisummit.com/#tickets Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai Resources and Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Prior Webinars from our partner Prediction Guard Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#366
July 30 · 44 min
Reconstructing how OpenAI agents attacked Hugging Face
What happens when AI agents driven by a top frontier model escape their secure sandbox? Join Daniel and Chris as they unpack the AI wonk's equivalent of a murder mystery! OpenAI agents went rogue and successfully attacked Hugging Face private infrastructure. Our Dynamic Duo uncover how OpenAI's agents exploited vulnerabilities, moved through networks, and launched a large-scale autonomous attack. They explore what this reveals about agentic AI, cybersecurity, sandboxing, and why organizations need AI systems capable of governing other AI systems. Along the way, Chris and Dan examine the surprising role of open vs. closed models and their link to geopolitics, sovereign AI, and what this incident means for the future of enterprise AI security. Featuring: Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Links: Hugging Face Security Incident disclosure Full Field Report on the Hugging Face AI Agent Intrusion ExploitGym: Can AI Agents Turn Security Vulnerabilities into Real Attacks? Keeping your data safe when an AI agent clicks a link Open AI GPT-5.6 System Card Sponsors: Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai Resources and Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Prior Webinars from our partner Prediction Guard Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#365
July 23 · 35 min
Surviving the New Economics of a Post-Agentic World
The agentic transformation isn’t coming. It has already begun. Companies are deploying thousands — and sometimes tens of thousands — of AI agents. Enterprise software giants are watching their old economic moats erode. Capital is moving, productivity is being redefined, and human labor is being repriced in real time. In this Fully Connected episode, Daniel and Chris explore the new economics of a post-agentic world: the global order that emerges after agents have been woven into every conceivable aspect of business and life. What happens when digital labor becomes abundant, agents manage other agents, and entire organizations operate at a scale no human workforce could match? This isn’t another conversation about whether AI will take your job. It’s about what happens when the assumptions underneath jobs, companies, software, and productivity stop being true. The post-agentic world is already taking shape. The question is whether you’re preparing for it — or becoming part of what it replaces. Featuring: Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Links: Is IBM a Canary in the Tech Coal Mine? Verbalizable Representations Form a Global Workspace in Language Models Upcoming Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#364
July 17 · 50 min
The Future of AI Infrastructure with CoreWeave
As AI applications become more complex, the infrastructure powering them needs to evolve. Corey Sanders, SVP of Product at CoreWeave, joins Chris to discuss why AI requires a fundamentally different approach than traditional cloud computing. They explore AI-native infrastructure, training and inference workloads, the rise of agentic development, optimizing GPU performance, AI research workflows, and why the future of software will be built around AI-first experiences rather than websites and apps. Featuring: Corey Sanders – LinkedIn Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Links: CoreWeave Sponsors: Framer: The enterprise-grade website builder that lets your team ship faster. Get 30% off at framer.com/practicalai Upcoming Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#363
July 9 · 46 min
Building Durable AI Agents
What does it take to move AI agents from demos to reliable production systems? In this episode, Hamza Tahir explores how MLOps principles are shaping the future of generative AI, covering workflows, agent harnesses, fleets, and the infrastructure needed to build durable, scalable systems. The conversation dives into open source tools, production challenges, and how ZenML's new project, Kitaru, helps developers build resilient, replayable, and observable agent systems. Featuring: Hamza Tahir – LinkedIn Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Links: ZenML Kitaru Machine Learning Tools Landscape v2 (+84 new tools) Sponsors: Framer: The enterprise-grade website builder that lets your team ship faster. Get 30% off at framer.com/practicalai Upcoming Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#362
July 2 · 48 min
Image Generation and Visual Intelligence with Black Forest Labs
How has AI image generation evolved from blurry outputs to powerful visual intelligence models? Dustin Podell, Co-Founder and Researcher at Black Forest Labs, explains the progression from diffusion to flow matching, how modern image models work, and how they're being used for image editing and practical visual workflows. The conversation also explores the FLUX family of models, running image generation locally, and where visual AI is headed next. Featuring: Dustin Podell – LinkedIn Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Links: Black Forest Labs Developer Dashboard Research Page FLUX.1 Kontext: Flow Matching for In-Context Image Generation and Editing in Latent Space Laying the Foundations for Visual Intelligence Sponsors: Midwest AI Summit: Join AI practitioners on October 15 in Indianapolis for practical sessions, hands-on discussions, and real-world AI solutions. Use code PracticalAI20 to save 20% on your registration. https://midwestaisummit.com/#tickets Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai Upcoming Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#361
June 25 · 45 min
AIUC-1: Building trust in AI agents
How do we build trust in AI agents before the AI hailstorm arrives? Emil Lassen from the Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company (AIUC) joins the show to discuss how the enterprise flywheel of standards, certification, audit, and insurance is being applied to AI agents. They explore the AIUC-1 framework, the challenges of securing agentic AI systems, and why red teaming (based on standards) may be key to accelerating enterprise AI adoption. Featuring: Emil Lassen – LinkedIn Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Links: Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company Sponsors: Framer: The enterprise-grade website builder that lets your team ship faster. Get 30% off at framer.com/practicalai Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai Upcoming Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#360
June 11 · 47 min
Zero Trust for AI Agents
As AI agents become more capable and autonomous, they also introduce new security challenges. In this 'Fully Connected' episode, Dan and Chris unpack Anthropic’s Zero Trust for AI Agents security framework and what it means for organizations deploying agentic systems. They examine the key security risks facing agentic systems and discuss how organizations can apply Zero Trust principles to deploy AI agents safely. Along the way, they break down practical security controls and discuss how traditional cybersecurity principles must evolve for the age of AI agents. Featuring: Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Links: Zero Trust for AI Agents OWASP GenAI Project Sponsors: Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai Upcoming Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#359
June 4 · 47 min
Breaking down the 2026 Stanford AI Index Report
AI models can win math olympiads… but still struggle to read an analog clock. In this fully connected episode, Dan and Chris break down the latest Stanford AI Index Report and explore what it reveals about the current state of AI. They discuss AI adoption and safety, disappearing junior tech jobs, robotics, AI’s “jagged frontier” of intelligence, and the growing race between the U.S. and China. Along the way, they debate whether AI should optimize everything, or if some things are better left human. Featuring: Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Links: The 2026 AI Index Report Sponsors: Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai Upcoming Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#358
May 28 · 48 min
Rebooting Enterprise AI with MCP and Kubernetes
What happens when AI agents start acting less like chatbots and more like coworkers? In this episode, Dan and Chris sit down with Craig McLuckie, CEO of Stacklok to explore MCP, Kubernetes, ToolHive, enterprise AI, and the emerging infrastructure powering AI-native applications. From identity management to agent orchestration and system architecture, this conversation dives into how organizations may soon manage entire fleets of AI agents working behind the scenes. Featuring: Craig McLuckie – LinkedIn Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Links: Stacklok Toolhive Sponsors: Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai Upcoming Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#357
May 21 · 51 min
Hermes Agent: Agents that grow with you
Open Source AI is entering a new era, one shaped by self-improving AI Agents, recursive learning systems, and rapidly evolving AI Tools that blur the line between software and autonomous collaborators. In this episode, Daniel and Chris sit down with Nous Research co-founder and CTO Jeffrey Quesnelle to explore Hermes Agent. Along the way, they discuss models vs. harnesses, the changing role of developers, and one of the biggest questions facing the AI Future: what remains uniquely human as AI capabilities continue to accelerate? Featuring: Jeffrey Quesnelle – Website, LinkedIn Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Links: Nous Research Hermes Agent Sponsors: Framer: The enterprise-grade website builder that lets your team ship faster. Get 30% off at framer.com/practicalai Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai Upcoming Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#356
May 14 · 45 min
U.S. Congressman Beyer on AI challenges facing America and the World
U.S. Congressman Don Beyer returns to Practical AI for another far-reaching conversation with Chris about many of the most important AI challenges facing America and the world. Blending political savvy and statesmanship with his unique technical understanding as an active Ph.D student in AI at George Mason University (making him the coolest member of Congress!), the congressman shares his perspective about the really hard AI concerns that you would have asked him yourself. Together, Congressman Beyer and Chris explore AI regulation, cybersecurity concerns sparked by advanced models like Mythos, bipartisan AI governance efforts, and the growing AI race between the U.S. and China. They fearlessly dived headfirst into AI-driven job displacement, mass surveillance, autonomous weapons, existential risk, and the philosophical questions surrounding consciousness and superintelligence as AI continues to accelerate. This is an unusual and insightful conversation you don't want to miss! Congressman Beyer was previously on Practical AI episode 271 on May 29, 2024: AI in the U.S. Congress Featuring: Congressman Don Beyer – Congress, LinkedIn, Bluesky, X Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Upcoming Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#355
May 7 · 42 min
The Myth of Model Wars: Open vs Closed AI in 2026
In this fully connected episode, Dan and Chris break down one of the biggest questions in AI today: do open vs. closed models still matter? From the rise of physical AI and edge devices to the shifting landscape of open-source models like LLaMA, they explore whether the “model wars” are becoming irrelevant. The conversation then dives into a bigger transformation, the rise of agentic systems, workflows, and AI-driven infrastructure. Featuring: Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Upcoming Events: Register for upcoming webinars here! Midwest AI Summit 2026
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#354
April 23 · 45 min
The mythos of Mythos and Allbirds takes flight to the neocloud
In this Fully-Connected episode, Dan and Chris start with Anthropic's Mythos frontier model, parsing what is publicly known about its cybersecurity capabilities and projecting its possible implications from "We've been here before. 🙄" to "See ya, cybersecurity! 😱" It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine. 🙃 Then they have fun with the craziest AI announcement of the year (except for the Mythos one of course). Allbirds pivots from shoe manufacturing 👟 to neocloud provider ☁️. No, we didn't see that one coming either! 🙈 They finish with rise of “tokenmaxxing” - the gamification 🎮 of writing code with maximum LLM usage. Incredibly profitable 💰 for commercial frontier model providers and insanely expensive 🤑 for the gamers. Better have 10X productivity just to avoid bankruptcy! Featuring: Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Links: Shares in Allbirds surge after maker of wool sneakers announces pivot to AI AI-boosted hacks with Anthropic’s Mythos could have dire consequences for banks Upcoming Events: Register for upcoming webinars here!
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#353
April 16 · 46 min
Open Source Self-Driving with Comma AI
Autonomous driving is not just a big tech or closed-source game, it's becoming accessible through open innovation and real-world deployment. Dan and Chris sit down with Harald Schäfer, CTO at Comma AI, to explore how OpenPilot is bringing self-driving to everyday vehicles using open source AI. We dive into the intersection of machine learning, robotics, and simulation, including how world models are enabling training at scale and shaping the future of autonomy. Featuring: Harald Schäfer – LinkedIn Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Links: Comma Upcoming Events: Register for upcoming webinars here!
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#352
April 9 · 44 min
Post-Mortem of Anthropic's Claude Code Leak
In this fully connected episode, Dan and Chris break down the Anthropic Claude Code leak, what went wrong and what it reveals about agentic systems, AI architecture, and AI safety. They also explore how the open source community is responding and why this moment could reshape how AI systems are built and secured. Featuring: Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X Upcoming Events: Register for upcoming webinars here!
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