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The Aboard Podcast

Aboard

Talking about AI doesn’t have to feel like the end of the world.

Join Rich Ziade, Paul Ford, and their guests as they discuss how AI is changing software development, business strategy—and everything else. New episodes every Tuesday.

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22 episodes
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Avg 39 min
English

Episodes 22

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S2 · E220
Tuesday · 34 min
It’s Fun to Ship Software
It’s unrestrained summer fun, Paul Ford-style: Using AI tools to actually ship some software. On this week’s podcast, Paul shows Rich his recent vibe-coded project, Stellate.app, which visualizes whimsical, made-up musical genres and plays the corresponding electronically generated music. (Don’t worry: You’ll get to hear some!) This might have been a fun summer project, but what did Paul learn building it—and, importantly, getting it out into the world?
S2 · E219
August 18 · 34 min
Kate Lee: Can AI Replace Editors Like Me?
What would you do if your boss said he wanted your help to automate away your job? On this week’s episode, Paul and Rich are joined by Kate Lee, the editor in chief of the AI-related publication Every. Kate’s boss, Dan Shipper, has proposed just that: For the past few years, they’ve been building software to try to reliably automate major parts of the editorial process. At Every, writers and editors alike regularly use AI tools. So what does it actually look like when AI is a fundamental part of an editorial workflow?
S2 · E218
August 11 · 30 min
Why Is It So Hard To Ship With AI?
AI has radically changed the way software is built—so why aren’t we seeing a glut of cool new products as a result? On this week’s episode, Paul and Rich browse recent app-related headlines and product announcements, searching for anything that isn’t AI-infrastructure related: What are people actually building on top of LLMs these days? (Spoiler: Not much.) They then attempt to diagnose what’s going on here, invoking a variety of metaphors for building product with AI, from mirages in the desert to wearing a set of beer goggles.
S2 · E217
August 4 · 47 min
Tricia Wang: Verification and Trust in the AI Era
“Verification cannot belong to the verified.” On this week’s episode, Paul is solo in the host chair as he sits down with longtime tech researcher Tricia Wang, the co-founder and CEO of the Advanced AI Society. Verifying AI, she explains, is far more complicated than simply dealing with hallucinations; in a world where AI is operating at a massive scale, how can we trust the outputs—or the people controlling the models? “Where does accountability lie?” she asks. “How do we agree to this thing?” Plus: A long exploration of the art of chicken sexing. (Yes, this relates to AI!)
S2 · E216
July 28 · 26 min
Karp Carping: Decoding Palantir's Whole Deal
It might sound like he’s ranting, but the Palantir chief is zeroing in on the truth of our AI moment. On this week’s episode, Paul and Rich break down Alex Karp’s recent appearance on CNBC, in which he discussed Palantir’s position within the ever-expanding world of the AI giants. Orgs might be using OpenAI and Anthropic’s tokens, but Palantir’s position exposes, in Rich’s words, “the gap between transactions and relationships.” Finally, Paul asks Rich to run the new, imaginary consulting practice at Anthropic and obliterate Palantir. Can he do it? Does he have what it takes?
S2 · E215
July 21 · 46 min
Father Brendan McGuire: Bringing AI to Church
How is Silicon Valley engaging with ethics and religion today—and how is the Catholic Church responding to AI? On this week’s episode, Paul and Rich welcome on Father Brendan McGuire, a former engineer and current Catholic priest who serves at St. Simon Parish in Los Altos, California, aka the heart of Silicon Valley. He discusses his long work speaking between the tech industry and the Church, as an advisor to Anthropic as well as an early commenter on Pope Leo’s recent encyclical on AI, “Magnifica Humanitas.” (Don’t worry, Paul asks the question on everyone’s lips: In what file format does a pope distribute early copies of an encyclical?)
S2 · E214
July 14 · 32 min
AI Unicorns Don’t Exist
Silicon Valley “disruption” is at odds with the way software creation actually works—and that’s a problem. On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich discuss Rich’s recent Aboard newsletter installment, “Maybe the Valley Could Listen a Little.” about how the dream of an “AI unicorn” who can use these tools to build a product all by themselves is a total fantasy. AI companies are promising revolutionary transformation across industries, but are they mostly just plastering over fundamental issues in processes and systems?
S2 · E213
July 7 · 52 min
John Herrman: The Declawing of OpenClaw
OpenClaw sprung up overnight—and seemed to fade just as quickly. What does that suggest about AI more broadly? On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich are joined in the studio by New York Magazine tech reporter John Herrman, whose long career covering all corners of the industry has, like the rest of his peers, recently shifted to all AI, all the time. They discuss his piece for the magazine on OpenClaw—titled “My Adventures With ‘The AI That Actually Does Things’”—before pulling back the lens to look at AI on a whole. Plus: They take a brief diversion into the story John wrote immediately after his OpenClaw reporting, “The Mystery of 'Human Meat' for Sale on Temu.”
S2 · E212
June 23 · 46 min
Traci Donnelly: Using AI to Make an Impact
How should nonprofits actually be using AI? On this week’s episode, Paul and Rich are joined in the studio by Traci Donnelly, the CEO of The Child Center of NY and the founder and president of Make An Impact—and a client of Aboard. After discussing these orgs’ missions, they dive into AI: Traci’s early embrace of the technology, how these tools can transform work in the sector, and the importance of not allowing human-to-human interactions to be supplanted by bots.
S2 · E211
June 16 · 36 min
LevAIthan? A Hobbesian Look at AI
Is the AI era destined to make our software lives nasty, brutish, and short? On this week’s podcast, Rich brings Paul the framing of “Hobbesian AI,” specifically from 17th century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes’s greatest work, Leviathan. Humans need some kind of order, Hobbes argued in the wake of the English Civil War, otherwise they will destroy each other. How can these lessons be applied to our decidedly order-less AI moment?
S2 · E210
June 9 · 56 min
Eric Ries: Lean Startup to Tech Ethicist
Is it possible to build an incorruptible company in our current system? On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich are joined in the studio by Eric Ries, the author of the 2011 bestseller The Lean Startup, to discuss his latest book, Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad... and How Great Companies Stay Great. After they discuss his tech origins and the legacy of The Lean Startup within the industry, they dive into Incorruptible, which offers a blueprint for companies to continually fuel growth while still acting in the public good.
S2 · E209
June 2 · 31 min
Challenge: Don’t Mention AI
Can two people who host a podcast subtitled “software in the age of AI” go half an hour without bringing up the term? On this week’s episode, Paul and Rich attempt to talk about something—anything—tech-related that isn’t AI. Topics discussed include the new Ferrari, the rise of sports gambling apps, youthful rebellions past and present, and the wonder that is the Virtual OS Museum. Do they make it through without mentioning LLMs? You’ll have to listen.
S2 · E208
May 26 · 48 min
Craig Mod: Vibe Coding Towards the Apocalypse
Sure, AI might bring on the end times—but you can use it to build your own tax software! On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich are joined in the studio by Craig Mod, a writer, photographer, and self-described “software supertaster” who recently took to Claude to build a version of Quicken that suited his complicated tax-filing needs. First, they discuss the project and assess how likely it is that a non-technologist would be able to create something similar with the current tools. Then, the conversation takes a turn—towards the apocalypse. (It’s fun, we promise!)
S2 · E207
May 19 · 40 min
Kamal Menghrajani: The Limits of AI Healthcare
Doctors might be using AI to cut down on paperwork, but can these tools really be employed in clinical settings? On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich sit down in the studio with Dr. Kamal Menghrajani, a practicing oncologist and lecturer at Harvard Medical School who was previously a member of the Biden White House’s “Cancer Moonshot” team. After she explains how AI is helping in her work, she lays out its real limitations—and discusses how these technologies can distract from more systemic approaches like better patient prevention and screening. Plus: Are her medical students allowed to use LLMs?
S2 · E206
May 12 · 27 min
Why AI Makes Things Worse for Enterprise Teams
Why are so few engineering teams reaping the benefits of AI? On this week’s episode, Paul presents Rich with the findings from a recent report from CircleCI and Thoughtworks on the productivity of enterprise teams using LLMs. While there’s been a dramatic increase in throughput—the amount of code produced—across the board, just 5% of orgs are seeing real gains from these tools, while the majority struggle with errors, bugs, and lower productivity than before AI was introduced. As Paul puts it: “The advantages of this technology are not equally distributed.”
S2 · E205
May 5 · 47 min
Andrew Marantz: What’s Wrong With Sam Altman?
What’s wrong with Sam Altman? Ask the guy who spent 18 months reporting on him. On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich are joined by New Yorker staff writer Andrew Marantz, who recently put out a lengthy article on the OpenAI chief that he co-reported with Ronan Farrow. After they dive into some of the specific details of the piece, they discuss the broader questions Altman’s position in the industry raises. If AI really is as powerful as he claims it will someday be, why are we allowing one person to have that much power over it?
S2 · E204
April 28 · 38 min
Breaking: Software Work Still Difficult
What does it take to make a really good product with AI tools? On this week’s podcast, Paul walks Rich through his recent adventures building a robust aggregated newsletter tool—first to track the AI industry, then generalized and customizable for any industry. Vibe-coding platforms continue to evolve, but you still need a lot of technical knowledge to make something that really works. Is that high bar likely to lower in the coming months and years?
S2 · E203
April 21 · 47 min
Andrew Leland: Hacking Disability with AI
“The blind vibe-coding revolution is upon us.” On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich are joined by Andrew Leland, the author of the Pulitzer-finalist The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight, to discuss how blind and low-vision people are using AI tools to create and adapt software to suit their accessibility needs. With limits to what any out-of-the-box software or device might do, is AI the way to give disabled people technological solutions that really work? Plus: Rich bravely makes it through the whole recording despite being surrounded by two massive Emacs stans.
S2 · E202
April 14 · 34 min
The AI Consulting Paradox
Employees at the big consulting firms are being told to use AI. Are they going to automate themselves out of a job? On this week’s podcast, Paul and Rich discuss a recent set of directives from the CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers about AI adoption and consider what they frame as the “AI consulting paradox”: To show value, consultants need to introduce AI into their client relationships, potentially cutting their own value as a result. How will consulting manage this transition in the short or long term? Plus: Paul reports on his recent conversations with a New School journalism class that visited the office and shared their feelings about using AI.
S2 · E201
April 7 · 43 min
Hilary Mason: Product First, Then AI
Sure, you can build “stuff” with AI, but is anyone paying attention to product these days? On this week’s episode, Paul and Rich sit down with someone who is: Hilary Mason, CEO of the immersive online roleplaying game company Hidden Door. After discussing Hilary’s background in data science and machine learning, Paul takes a spin through a game scenario (Brooklyn vampires in a fantasy tavern!) while Hilary outlines the product decisions around Hidden Door’s game mechanics, AI-related or otherwise. Plus: Rich outlines his own attempts to make a game with AI for a family gathering, which, in his words, “led to children crying.”

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