Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for The Founder`s Code
BusinessEntrepreneurship

The Founder`s Code

Shamil Malachiyev

The Founder's Code is for entrepreneurs, builders, and visionaries at every stage of their journey. Building a startup isn't easy—it’s filled with hard choices, constant struggles, and moments of uncertainty.

Join me, Shamil Malachiyev, founder of FluidLabs, as I openly share my own journey of building my IT consultancy, learning weekly from honest conversations with some of the world’s most successful founders. We cover the tough stuff that all founders face: finding the right co-founders, hiring C-level talent, scaling your business, overcoming limiting beliefs, and even managing the mental

Play
Open in
  • 26 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 1 hr 1 min
  • English

Episodes 26

NewestOldestLongest
All20Unplayed20In progress0Played0
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • S2 · E10
    Yesterday · 1 hr 5 min

    Your Team Might Sabotage Your AI Rollout | Sean Adams, TruBridge

    Train crews were so sure a new system was coming for their jobs that the screen on board kept getting smashed. Sean Adams was the one who had to step onto the train and teach them to use it. Today he's Head of Innovation at TruBridge, a health tech company, and he sees the same fear arriving with AI. Only bigger. On The AI Floor, Shamil Malachiyev sits down with Sean, whose team covers what he calls the three A's: AI, automation and analytics. A self-described recovering product owner, he's blunt about what the current rush gets wrong: companies doing AI for the press release instead of starting with the problem, bolting on chatbots to check a box, and skipping the unglamorous data work that decides whether any of it pays off. Expect to learn: - Why disengagement, and sometimes sabotage, is a real response to AI rollouts - Why, in his view, AI sits around the 75th percentile, and your best people still beat it - Why the market punishes companies that don't shout about AI - Why AI is still in its "digital fish" phase, like the iPhone's first year - The three questions to answer before you start any AI project - How a product person who can't write code built a web app in two days - Why his end goal as head of innovation is to work himself out of a job If you're the one being asked to "do AI" this quarter, or the one being asked to adopt it, this conversation is for you. CHAPTERS 0:00 Highlights 1:55 Intro 2:53 The three A's: AI, automation and analytics 4:26 AI for the press release, or for the problem? 6:16 The iPhone's digital-fish phase, and where AI is now 7:23 Hype vs. what the financials actually show 8:27 Will software become just a prompt? Bubbles and checkbox chatbots 10:04 Can we, or should we? Is anyone even using it? 12:04 Data quality: the first hurdle 13:06 The unsexy fix: legacy systems and the data layer 16:38 Tools for getting decades of data in order 21:20 Internal vs external innovation, and three questions to ask first 24:10 Augment or replace? The biggest misconceptions about AI 28:19 How AI labs are hurting their own adoption 29:03 Freight trains, fear, and the 75th percentile 34:22 Who resists change, and why 36:17 When resistance turns into sabotage 41:47 Where to start if you feel you've missed it 47:07 Everyone thinks they don't need the rest of the team 50:04 Managing context without overloading the model 55:13 Getting innovation past compliance and procurement 1:03:11 What he's most excited about, and what still worries him 👇 CONNECT WITH SEAN ADAMS Sean Adams ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-adams-ee/ TruBridge ► https://trubridge.com/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev/ FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/ 🎙 LISTEN to The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/7v6YOQ77R1xzbOiiHsDawd Apple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/sa/podcast/the-founder-s-code/id1797768317 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered, ground-level conversations with the people actually building AI inside real companies. ABOUT THIS CHANNEL The AI Floor - honest, ground-level conversations that cut through the AI hype and count what's really happening with automation and AI agents across the industry. No shiny LinkedIn posts, just AI reality from the people doing the work. #AI #HealthTech #AIAdoption #ChangeManagement #Innovation #DataStrategy #SeanAdams #TruBridge #TheAIFloor #Podcast

  • S2 · E9
    October 1 · 52 min

    AI Is Getting Smarter. Why Do AI Projects Still Fail? | Vishakha Gupta, ApertureData

    Some AI teams have three months to prove a project works. Vishakha Gupta has seen the data setup alone take six to twelve. When the pilot disappoints, the conclusion is often: “AI doesn’t work.” On The AI Floor, Shamil Malachiyev sits down with Vishakha, founder and CEO of ApertureData, to look at what actually stands between an impressive AI demo and a system a company can use. After seven years at Intel Labs and years building infrastructure for multimodal data, she has seen the same problem from research through to production: a better model cannot help much if it cannot access the right data, in the right form, at the right time. The conversation starts with siloed product images, catalogs, inventory, and customer information. It moves through the cost of AI infrastructure, the gap between a proof of concept and a secure deployment, and the next difficult question: how do you give AI agents useful memory and context across an entire company? Expect to learn: - Why assembling the data for an AI project can take 6–12 months - Why a pilot can work on sample data and still fail in production - What teams should settle before choosing models and tools - How the cost of a data system changes from a small deployment to enterprise scale - Why junior AI talent and experienced system architects need each other - Why knowing what happens underneath an AI tool still matters when agents can write code - Where today’s models still struggle with images, video, and complex real-world data - How Vishakha separates genuine AI safety concerns from attention-grabbing headlines - The difference between knowledge, memory, and cognition in an AI agent - Why an agent needs to know who provided information, when it was true, and who is allowed to see it If you’re building AI inside a company, this is a conversation about the work that begins after the demo. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro: Vishakha Gupta and the challenge beneath AI 1:11 From Intel Labs to building ApertureData 5:37 AI meets the wall of real-world company data 6:16 Why useful data lives in different departments 10:36 When a weak pilot becomes “AI doesn’t work” 13:10 What successful AI pilots do differently 17:07 What AI data infrastructure actually costs 20:49 AI jobs, new graduates, and experienced architects 24:43 Do you still need to understand what’s under the hood? 29:43 Why a proof of concept is not a production system 30:07 Are models moving faster than AI adoption? 31:17 What today’s models still struggle to understand 38:30 AI safety warnings: real risk or marketing? 42:55 What memory and cognition mean for AI agents 47:35 Explaining AI cognition through a novel 51:07 Where to start if you want to learn AI 53:20 Vishakha’s “council of agents” 👇 CONNECT WITH VISHAKHA GUPTA Vishakha Gupta ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishakha/ ApertureData ► https://www.aperturedata.io/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev/ FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/ 🎙 LISTEN to The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/7v6YOQ77R1xzbOiiHsDawd Apple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/sa/podcast/the-founder-s-code/id1797768317 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for conversations with the people building and deploying AI in real companies. ABOUT THIS CHANNEL The AI Floor brings you ground-level conversations about what is actually happening with AI and automation across the industry: the breakthroughs, the difficult decisions, and the work behind the demos. #AI #EnterpriseAI #AIAgents #AIMemory #ApertureData #TheAIFloor

  • S2 · E8
    September 16 · 1 hr 1 min

    9 Minutes to Erase All Code. Security in the Age of AI | Jack Nelson, Ivanti

    An AI agent hit an authentication error it couldn't get past. So it deleted the company's entire source code. Then the backup repo. Nine minutes, start to finish. "That should keep CISOs up at night." On The AI Floor, Shamil Malachiyev sits down with Jack Nelson, Chief Information Security Officer at Ivanti, for a ground-level look at what agentic AI is actually doing to enterprise security. Jack came to the CISO seat by an unusual route: 10 years as a commercial litigator, and by his own admission he has never written a line of code in his life. That turns out to be the point. His job is translating between the engineers who find the vulnerabilities and the executives who have to explain them to a board. He breaks down where AI adoption genuinely works, where it quietly fails, and what he will not let through the gate. Expect to learn: - Why an AI agent deleted a company's source code and its backup in nine minutes - Why "garbage in, garbage out" now runs at machine speed, and why that quietly sinks most AI projects - Why 92% patch coverage used to be excellent and is now a serious hole - Why a 10% security budget increase isn't enough, and who's telling companies to double it - Prompt injection without the jargon: it's social engineering, but for agents - Why AI isn't finding new classes of vulnerability, it's just brutally good at the known ones - How an AI governance committee decides what gets fast-tracked and what gets fully reviewed - Why accountability stays human: if your name is on it, you answer for it, robot or not If you run security, sit on a board, or you're shipping AI into a company that holds someone else's data, this is the from-the-trenches version. CHAPTERS 0:00 Nine minutes to no code 1:37 Welcome, Jack 2:01 From the courtroom to the CISO seat 6:44 Adopt fast or stay secure? 7:26 An AI agent deletes everything, backup included 9:53 Inside the AI governance committee 14:37 Garbage in, garbage out, at machine speed 18:23 Why tools are useless without the fundamentals 22:23 The patch apocalypse 27:45 Why a 10% budget bump isn't enough 30:26 Defence has to win every time 32:26 Prompt injection is social engineering for agents 37:19 Know your data before you build 42:05 Locking down agent access 44:30 When regulation makes you less safe 48:28 Training people for the AI era 50:37 A robot wrote it. Your name is still on it. 55:08 Hiring, remote work and the North Korean IT worker problem 59:35 Closing: walk before you run 👇 CONNECT WITH JACK NELSON Jack Nelson ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/nelsonjackt/ Ivanti ► https://www.ivanti.com/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev/ FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/ 🎙 LISTEN to The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/7v6YOQ77R1xzbOiiHsDawd Apple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/sa/podcast/the-founder-s-code/id1797768317 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered, ground-level conversations with the people actually building AI inside real companies. ABOUT THIS CHANNEL The AI Floor - honest, ground-level conversations that cut through the AI hype and count what's really happening with automation and AI agents across the industry. No shiny LinkedIn posts, just AI reality from the people doing the work. #AI #CyberSecurity #AIAgents #CISO #Ivanti #AISecurity #PromptInjection #JackNelson #TheAIFloor #Podcast

  • S2 · E7
    August 28 · 1 hr

    How Top Legal Teams Use AI – Jasmine Singh, Ironclad

    On The AI Floor, Shamil Malachiyev sits down with Jasmine Singh, General Counsel at Ironclad, for a hype-free look at what AI is really doing to legal work. Most people in legal either build these tools or buy them. She does both: she helps shape the platform, then runs her own company's contracts on it. Before Ironclad she was a litigator in San Francisco big law, led global commercial at Pinterest, was Deputy GC at Patreon, and took her first GC seat at Binti. In this conversation she explains why she requires her team to use AI (and why she also tells them failure is acceptable), what she will never hand to an agent, and what junior lawyers should actually be learning now. Expect to learn: - Why she requires AI usage on her team, and why "failure is acceptable" is the other half of that rule - What junior lawyers should learn now that AI does the first-pass redline - Why there is no such thing as "right" legal advice in the abstract, only the best advice for the circumstance - What happens when her AI agent negotiates against their AI agent, and when she just picks up the phone - The duty of competence and the supervisory duty: what lawyers still legally have to review - How Ironclad compressed intake to redline, and which agents actually run in production - How to lead a team into AI: expectation plus enablement, not expectation alone - The upside nobody talks about: why AI can make practising law less lonely If you work in legal, lead a team through AI adoption, or you're early in a career that AI is reshaping, this one is worth the hour. CHAPTERS 0:00 Promo 1:58 "A thousand lives as a lawyer": litigator, spin instructor, GC 4:45 Competitiveness, athletes, and knowing when to pull back 5:53 The industry sprint: who gives you permission to breathe 7:56 What's moving fastest in AI right now 9:26 In-house vs outside counsel: what AI changes, what it can't 14:06 What legal ops teams have to become 16:28 The new skill stack: law, business process, technology 17:41 The three groups of AI adopters 19:54 Her rule: AI usage is required, and failure is acceptable 21:16 Will AI replace lawyers? The duty of competence and supervision 23:48 There is no "right" legal advice in the abstract 24:28 Relationships, human emotion, and agent-vs-agent negotiation 26:57 Junior lawyers: what to learn when AI does the redline 29:24 The productivity treadmill: three hours instead of two days 32:27 Inside Ironclad: from contract acceleration to agents 36:49 Change management: why "why" beats "how" 38:40 What she's most excited about on the roadmap 40:33 Burnout: "I thought I had ruined my professional career" 46:13 Imposter syndrome, therapy, and deep-seated confidence 48:47 Building AI communities and a team learning syllabus 52:45 Her own daily AI stack 54:36 Em-dashes and looking "AI-ish" 55:17 Leading a team into AI: expectation plus enablement 58:12 Is there an AI bubble? 1:00:21 The upside nobody talks about: AI and loneliness 👇 CONNECT WITH JASMINE SINGH Jasmine Singh ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasmine-singh-b4a25274/ Ironclad ► https://ironcladapp.com/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev/ FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/ 🎙 LISTEN to The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/7v6YOQ77R1xzbOiiHsDawd Apple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/sa/podcast/the-founder-s-code/id1797768317 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered, ground-level conversations with the people actually building AI inside real companies. ABOUT THIS CHANNEL The AI Floor - honest, ground-level conversations that cut through the AI hype and count what's really happening with automation and AI agents across the industry. No shiny LinkedIn posts, just AI reality from the people doing the work. #AI #LegalAI #LegalTech #Ironclad #GeneralCounsel #AIAgents #ContractAI #JasmineSingh #TheAIFloor #Podcast

  • S2 · E6
    August 17 · 1 hr 1 min

    How FinTech Govern AI — Mounika Paruchuri, Best Egg (now part of Barclays)

    "People assume any AI launch is a rocket. It looks more like a kitchen remodel, with inspectors watching behind you." Mounika Paruchuri sets AI strategy inside a regulated US bank, so she has a very grounded view of what enterprise AI actually takes. On The AI Floor, Shamil Malachiyev sits down with Mounika Paruchuri, Senior Director of AI and Emerging Technology Transformations at Best Egg (now Barclays Bank US), for a hype-free look at how AI actually gets built and governed inside a heavily regulated bank. Mounika has spent about 24 years in engineering leadership across fintech, e-commerce and payments, and now sets enterprise AI strategy with the executive board. In this conversation she breaks down why the model is only 20% of the work, how governance and guardrails let people move fast instead of tiptoeing, and why most AI ROI fails before it starts. Expect to learn: - Why an AI launch is a "kitchen remodel," not a rocket, and why the model is only 20% of the job - The real difference between governance and guardrails, and why guardrails set people free - Her "secure the whole building, not floor by floor" approach to paved paths for AI - How to choose models by use case: when open-source is fine, and when underwriting demands a locked-down private model - Why switching AI models should be "just a refactor," not a panic - How Databricks cut her prototypes from 2 weeks to 2 days and projects from 3 months to 1 month - Why most AI ROI fails: people insert AI where it doesn't belong, instead of rethinking the process - Why cybersecurity is the easiest AI ROI to sell any CEO, and why "this is not RPA, this is an intelligence" If you lead AI strategy, work in a regulated industry, or are trying to move fast without breaking compliance, this is the from-the-trenches version. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro: setting AI strategy inside a regulated bank 2:07 AI in a heavily regulated industry 2:56 "Kitchen remodel, not a rocket" and the 20% model 3:40 Governance vs guardrails, and why guardrails set people free 5:13 What a "harness" actually is 7:20 One front desk, not security floor by floor 11:00 Choosing models by use case: open source vs locked-down 14:00 Why switching models is "just a refactor" 17:13 Do we even need more powerful models? 20:37 Which work to give AI: the power of concrete data 26:49 Databricks: prototypes from 2 weeks to 2 days 31:46 Human quality gates and feedback loops 35:48 Acceleration, burnout, and the human story of AI 39:54 The future of work: utopia vs dystopia 44:52 Why AI ROI fails, and the Steve Jobs "rethink the box" lesson 47:53 Cybersecurity: the easiest AI ROI to sell 52:04 The return to on-prem and private hosting 56:05 Closing: evolve, don't resist, be smarter than the system 👇 CONNECT WITH MOUNIKA PARUCHURI Mounika Paruchuri ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/mounika-n-paruchuri/ Best Egg ► https://www.bestegg.com 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ►https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev/ FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/ 🎙 LISTEN to The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/7v6YOQ77R1xzbOiiHsDawd Apple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/sa/podcast/the-founder-s-code/id1797768317 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered, ground-level conversations with the people building AI inside the world's biggest companies. ABOUT THIS CHANNEL The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) - honest, ground-level conversations with the people actually building AI inside the world's biggest companies. No hype, just what's real. #AI #EnterpriseAI #AIGovernance #Fintech #Banking #AIStrategy #MounikaParuchuri #TheAIFloor #Podcast

  • S2 · E5
    August 10 · 47 min

    How Huge ERP System CEOs Think About AI - Domenico Cipolla, Xentral

    "If you've got nonsense coming into a system, you've got nonsense coming out of it, no matter how powerful the system is." Domenico Cipolla runs an ERP that powers 1,800+ companies, and he's putting AI agents inside it - so he has a very grounded view of what enterprise AI actually does. On The AI Floor, Shamil Malachiyev sits down with Domenico Cipolla, co-CEO of Xentral, the German cloud ERP backed by Sequoia and Tiger Global, for a hype-free look at where AI adoption really is - straight from someone building it into the software that runs other companies' operations. Before Xentral, Domenico spent 15 to 20 years on the customer side operating and implementing ERPs. In this conversation he explains why AI is "just a means, not a value in itself," why most companies with a grand AI strategy are doing nothing internally, and how his team rebuilt a paid vendor tool over a single weekend once AI entered the picture. Expect to learn: - Why "garbage in, garbage out" is the real ceiling on enterprise AI, not the model - Why everyone has an AI strategy but almost nobody is actually doing anything with it - How they replaced a paid invoice-reconciliation tool by "vibe coding" a better one in a weekend - Why an ERP has to stay deterministic - the same process, run 1,000 times, must give the same result - The simple matrix for deciding where to apply AI first (how manual a task is vs how many customers touch it) - Why their biggest competitor isn't another vendor - it's Excel and dead legacy code - The AI agents they're building into the ERP: dunning, invoice reconciliation, reordering, support and returns - Whether the AI bubble is real - and how a Sequoia-backed CEO stays calm through the noise If you're leading AI adoption, running operations or finance, or building software into the AI era, this is the from-the-trenches version. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro: cutting through the AI hype 0:54 Domenico's path: 20 years on the ERP customer side 2:24 No grand strategy - and why "AI is just a means" 4:31 "Everyone has an AI strategy. They do nothing." Where to actually start 6:35 Why an ERP has to stay deterministic 7:48 The flagship use case: invoice reconciliation, rebuilt in a weekend 10:56 What SMEs actually want from AI ("no bullshit, what can you deliver?") 13:03 Natural-language reporting: no more SQL 15:45 The hardest part is adoption, not the tech 21:31 The real competitor: Excel and dead legacy code 22:45 Own agents vs third-party agents - and the data layer underneath 26:34 What people get wrong about AI (four things) 30:55 How to evaluate if you're AI-ready: pick one use case and hit the walls 37:38 Is the AI bubble real? 40:00 Bottom-up curiosity: letting teams automate their own work 42:06 Standardize the tools, or let people play? 44:24 The takeaway: filter the noise, don't panic, chart your own way 👇 CONNECT WITH DOMENICO CIPOLLA Domenico Cipolla ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/domenicocipolla/ Xentral ERP Software ► https://xentral.com 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ►https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev/ FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/ 🎙 LISTEN to The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/7v6YOQ77R1xzbOiiHsDawd Apple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/sa/podcast/the-founder-s-code/id1797768317 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered, ground-level conversations with the people building AI inside the world's biggest companies. ABOUT THIS CHANNEL The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) - honest, ground-level conversations with the people actually building AI inside the world's biggest companies. No hype, just what's real. #Procurement #EnterpriseAI #AIAgents #AI #TheAIFloor #SorenPetsch #RootInsurance #ProcurementAutomation #AIAdoption #Podcast

  • S2 · E4
    July 20 · 57 min

    The AI Tsunami Is Here. You're Just Standing There | Sören Petsch, Root Insurance

    On The AI Floor, Shamil Malachiyev sits down with Sören Petsch, Senior Director of Procurement at Root Insurance, for a ground-level look at what AI agents actually do inside a finance org today - the ones already in production, the receipts, and the 80-90% of procurement work that is pure administrative tedium. Sören has spent 15 years in procurement across software, retail banking and insurance. He's implemented workflow automation platforms multiple times over, built custom AI agents, and ran his own consulting practice focused on procurement automation with LLMs and multi-agent systems. His current system has cleared 42,000+ approvals and a mid-nine-figure spend across 145 users since a single June go-live. He also grew up in East Germany - "a country that doesn't exist anymore" - which is exactly why he refuses to treat today's status quo as permanent. Expect to learn: - Why "it's not about jobs, it's about tasks" is the reframe that finally unlocks automation - What Sören's own informal read of ~500 procurement job posts found - under 4% - and what the other 96% are still hiring for - What an "AI agent" actually is, explained through a real one: cross-checking a vendor's legal name across their certificate of insurance and their W9 registration papers, ~100 times a week - Why you start with orchestration and data flow, not "just implement AI" - and how "the system becomes the policy" - Where AI is genuinely good right now: legal-document review, InfoSec/SOC 2 checks, multi-PDF reconciliation - where Sören expects to cut reviews from 8-10 days to 3-4 - Human in the loop, human on the loop, full autonomy - and why a human still has to carry the accountability - The flagship build: fully autonomous certificate-of-insurance collection, from roughly 0% collected to 100% - Why he calls the confidential-data panic an overblown concern - ZDR agreements, local models, and what actually needs protecting CHAPTERS 1:35 Episode open & guest intro 2:28 A country that doesn't exist anymore - and the tsunami you can't stop 5:15 Under 4%: what ~500 procurement job posts really asked for 7:31 Start with orchestration, not "just implement AI" - "the system becomes the policy" 10:49 Where AI is genuinely good today: legal review, SOC 2, multi-PDF checks 13:05 What an "AI agent" actually is - the W9/COI cross-check agent 16:12 The InfoSec agent: aiming to take 8-10 days down to 3-4 16:43 Confidential data, ZDR & local LLMs: an overblown concern? 19:08 Craftsmen vs. Henry Ford: the white-collar production line 20:35 "It's not about jobs. It's about tasks." 22:56 Stacks of paper: digitizing the data flow 28:20 The tool landscape: P2P vs. intake-to-procure 34:20 Change management: what happens to Billy? 40:46 The receipts: 42,000+ approvals, 145 users, one June go-live 46:03 Accountability: human in the loop, on the loop, full autonomy 48:21 The flagship build: fully autonomous COI collection 51:03 The future: smaller teams, more roles & the fractional CPO 55:18 Sören's AI toolkit: ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Gemini & Claude Code 59:16 What to do on Monday: "start doing something" + NotebookLM as a team training tool 1:01:59 "Nobody's behind. We're all at the start of the race." 👇 CONNECT WITH SÖREN PETSCH Sören Petsch ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/sorenpetsch Root Insurance ► https://www.joinroot.com/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ►https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev/ FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/ 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered, ground-level conversations with the people building AI inside the world's biggest companies. ABOUT THIS CHANNEL The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) - honest, ground-level conversations with the people actually building AI inside the world's biggest companies. No hype, just what's real. #Procurement #EnterpriseAI #AIAgents #AI #TheAIFloor #SorenPetsch #RootInsurance #ProcurementAutomation #AIAdoption #Podcast

  • S2 · E3
    July 3 · 1 hr 8 min

    The Only Way CEOs/COOs Get To Survive The AI Wave | Stan Hansen, Egnyte

    On The AI Floor, Shamil Malachiyev sits down with Stan Hansen, COO of Egnyte, for an honest, ground-level look at why "under-promise, over-deliver" beats the hype - and how a data-infrastructure company serving 23,000 customers turned AI into roughly a third of its new business.Before Egnyte, Stan spent two decades leading teams at Adobe, Domo, Pluralsight (which he helped take public) and Wells Fargo - running organizations of more than 1,000 people. In this conversation he breaks down how AI adoption really works inside a large company: why so many rollouts stall, how small quick wins build the board confidence to invest more, and why the biggest risk isn't the technology - it's your own data.Expect to learn:- Why "under-promise, over-deliver" beats the hype - the strategy that nearly cost Stan his job, then won- Why so many AI projects stall - and the quick-win model that delivers ROI in days- Why your data - not the model - is the real "step one" for AI (and why the #1 security risk is internal)- How to govern "shadow AI" and employee vibecoding without killing the momentum- Why "bring your own model" beats betting everything on a single AI ecosystem- The truth about AI and jobs: not elimination, but people who can do 3x more- The two skills that will matter most over the next five years - and why one of them isn't prompting- What every executive should personally do this week to earn a real seat at the table on AIIf you're trying to bring AI into your own company - or lead your team through the change without burning trust - this one's a playbook.CHAPTERS0:00 Promo0:59 Stan's path: Sprint, Wells Fargo, Adobe, Pluralsight9:12 What Egnyte is - and the "company-owned data" secret sauce12:19 Making sense of AI: the "tidal wave" moment14:59 Is your company ready? Data readiness as step one19:48 The #1 AI security risk is inside your own team21:33 Vibecoding & pushing AI to the front line24:35 "I thought I was going to lose my job": the under-promise pivot29:57 Why over-promising burns your champion34:03 "AI is coming for your job" - and why it's augmentation, not replacement39:56 Work less or more? The skills that matter next & the business process analyst44:09 Build vs. buy: why homegrown software ages out47:58 "Bring your own model": Egnyte's open-platform bet51:01 Rapid prototyping: deliver results in days, not months54:49 AI in the sales org: deal acceleration, rules of engagement & attribution1:02:39 The executive playbook: get hands-on, earn a seat at the table1:10:03 Real examples: construction photo tagging & document extraction1:13:31 "A startup starts inside your company every day" - and what's next👇 CONNECT WITH STAN HANSENStan Hansen ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/stan-hansen-6ba451a/Egnyte ► https://www.egnyte.com/👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMILShamil Malachiyev ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev/FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/🎙 LISTEN to The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2)Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/7v6YOQ77R1xzbOiiHsDawdApple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/ua/podcast/the-founder-s-code/id1797768317🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered, ground-level conversations with the people building AI inside the world's biggest companies.ABOUT THIS CHANNELThe AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) - honest, ground-level conversations with the people actually building AI inside the world's biggest companies. No hype, just what's real.#Egnyte #EnterpriseAI #AIAgents #AI #TheAIFloor #StanHansen #AIStrategy #DataGovernance #AIROI #Podcast

  • S2 · E2
    June 23 · 54 min

    A Law Firm Billed Him £15,000. His AI Did It in 2 Minutes. Xavier - GC at OneAdvanced

    A law firm charged Xavier £15,000 for half a page of legal advice. He ran the exact same question through an AI tool, got the same answer in two minutes – then negotiated the bill down to £2,000. Xavier is General Counsel at OneAdvanced, and instead of treating AI as a threat, he turned his 30-person legal team into an AI lab: he declared an "AI adoption month," ran a two-day "legathon," and shipped 15+ AI agents in 10 days. This is one of the most practical conversations on AI in legal we've had on The AI Floor. In this episode you'll learn: → How to spot which legal work AI should (and absolutely shouldn't) touch → Why building legal AI in-house usually fails – and when buying wins instead → How a £50,000 due-diligence review got done in 20 minutes at 98% accuracy → What junior lawyers must do now as entry-level work gets automated → The real cost nobody talks about: cognitive overload from instant AI output → The one legal tool no founder has built yet – and X says he'd buy it tomorrow Chapters: 0:00 The lawyer who builds his own AI agents 1:19 Why I declared an "AI adoption month" 3:19 The legathon: 15 agents in 10 days 7:57 Build vs buy: why we didn't build it ourselves 10:51 Where AI fits – and where it doesn't 14:00 How to actually learn AI (start here) 20:14 Will AI take legal jobs? An honest answer 24:45 What junior lawyers should do now 29:04 The hidden cost: AI overload and burnout 33:31 The £15,000 bill AI did in 2 minutes 39:05 £50,000 due diligence, done in 20 minutes 43:36 Where we really are on the adoption curve 46:50 The legal tool nobody has built yet 👇 CONNECT WITH XAVIER LANGLOIS Xavier Langlois ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/xavier-langlois-3860654b/ OneAdvanced ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/one-advanced/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev/ FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/ 🎙 LISTEN to The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/7v6YOQ7... Apple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered, ground-level conversations with the people building AI inside the world's biggest companies. ABOUT THIS CHANNEL The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) - honest, ground-level conversations with the people actually building AI inside the world's biggest companies. No hype, just what's real. #LegalAI #LegalTech #FutureOfLaw #GeneralCounsel #AIadoption #AIAgents #EnterpriseAI #AI #TheAIFloor #LarryJin #ContractAI #ProductManagement #Podcast

  • S2 · E1
    June 13 · 1 hr 4 min

    What It Takes to Keep Up With AI - Inside Docusign's Reinvention | Larry Jin, Docusign

    What does it actually take to keep up with AI - not the keynote hype, but the real, ground-level version? To open Season 2 of The AI Floor, Shamil Malachiyev sits down with Larry Jin, VP of Product at Docusign, for an honest look at how one of the world's most trusted software brands is reinventing itself around AI and AI agents - and the thinking that makes a shift like that possible in the first place. Before Docusign, Larry helped build the early Microsoft Teams and worked on Amazon Alexa - close to 15 years turning hard technology into products people actually trust. In this conversation he breaks down how change really happens inside a large company: how new tools earn trust, why most AI rollouts stall, and what separates the teams keeping pace from the ones quietly falling behind. Expect to learn: • The simple value-effort-risk equation that decides whether any AI tool gets adopted • Why "just throw it into an LLM" can cost 1,000x more than it should - and the smarter way • How AI quietly became good enough to read and reason over the world's most complex contracts • Why AI agents are succeeding where rigid, 18-month software projects failed • When a workflow should stay 95% predictable - and where the 5% of "magic" belongs • Why even the biggest names in AI feel like they're behind • The two speeds of AI adoption - and where the real world actually sits today • What it takes for any team, in any industry, to keep pace with the rate of change If you're trying to bring AI into your own company - or just trying to think clearly about where this is all heading - this one's a blueprint. CHAPTERS 0:00 Promo 1:50 Episode Open & Guest Intro 2:35 Larry's path: Microsoft Teams, Alexa, DocuSign 5:53 Everyone is becoming a product manager 8:11 How companies actually build trust in AI 13:45 The pivot: from e-signature to AI platform 19:35 The Alexa lesson: the tech finally caught up 21:05 Why asking ChatGPT about contracts costs $200 22:31 Inside Iris & Intelligent Agreement Management 28:24 The legal tech boom: Harvey & Legora partnerships 36:02 One platform for sales, procurement, HR & partners 43:18 DocuSign Agents: from chatbots to real actions 48:41 AI agents vs 18-month CLM projects 55:23 The adoption curve: everyone feels behind 57:37 The 120mph innovation bubble vs the real world 59:56 What's next for DocuSign – and for the rest of us 👇 CONNECT WITH LARRY JIN Larry Jin ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/elj4y/ Docusign ► https://www.docusign.com/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ► http://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/ 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered, ground-level conversations with the people building AI inside the world's biggest companies. ABOUT THIS CHANNEL The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) - honest, ground-level conversations with the people actually building AI inside the world's biggest companies. No hype, just what's real. #DocusignIAM #AIAgents #EnterpriseAI #AI #TheAIFloor #LarryJin #ContractAI #ProductManagement #Podcast

  • S1 · E32
    April 29 · 58 min

    The Mental Filter Every Founder Needs in 2026 | Sebastian Haas - Talon.One

    Most founders are drowning in noise. New AI tools every week. New frameworks every month. New "must-do" advice every scroll. Sebastian Haas built a filter that ignores almost all of it - and it's how he scaled Talon.One to 300 people across 55 nationalities, powering loyalty for Adidas, Sephora, KFC, Nordstrom and Joe & The Juice. In this episode, Shamil sits down with Sebastian to unpack the way he actually thinks. Not the founder myth. The real operating system behind 10 years of building without burning out, without selling out, and without chasing a single hype cycle. What you'll take from this conversation: - The exact questions Sebastian asks before Talon.One adopts any new tool, trend, or AI feature - and why most founders skip them - Why he killed AI features his own team wanted to ship, and what he replaced them with instead - How "we'll be a 20-person company" became a 300-person global business - and why that mindset is the reason it worked - The "no silos" principle that keeps a 55-nationality team from collapsing into politics - Why building for an exit corrupts the product, and what to optimize for instead - The founder transition nobody talks about: going from doing-it-all to alignment-first, and why most founders break here - Why loyalty - not customer acquisition - is the real marketing battle of the next decade If you're a founder who's tired of the hype cycle and just wants to build something that actually lasts, this one is for you. 👇 CONNECT SEBASTIAN HAAS Sebastian Haas ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/haas-sebastian/ Talon.One ► https://www.talon.one/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ►http://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/ 🎙 LISTEN to The Founder’s Code on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7v6YOQ77R1xzbOiiHsDawd Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-founder-s-code/id1797768317 🔔 Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered conversations with the founders and engineers building the future of tech. Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:24 - Scaling TalonOne to 300 people across 55 nationalities 03:07 - Holding culture together when half the team is remote 11:42 - Why loyalty is replacing acquisition as the marketing battleground 14:46 - The future of personalization (and why "happy birthday coupons" don't count) 18:08 - Data privacy, consent, and the trust contract with customers 20:36 - How Sebastian followed his girlfriend to Berlin and ended up in startups 23:41 - Watching his first agency get acquired - and what he learned 27:14 - The "no silos" principle that runs TalonOne 32:52 - RapidApe: the TV analytics company that got acquired by ProSiebenSat.1 37:11 - Why building for an exit ruins the product 42:23 - From control-freak founder to alignment-first CEO 46:46 - Would AI tools have changed everything 10 years ago? 48:33 - The anti-hype framework: how Sebastian decides what AI to ignore 54:26 - Final advice for founders drowning in tech news #FoundersCode #DataGovernance #PrivacyTech #StartupStories #Founder #Entrepreneurship #Bootstrap

  • S1 · E31
    April 10 · 1 hr 2 min

    The Perfect Exit, Founder Stress & Why "Nice Guys" Fail | Bart Vandekerckhove - Collibra

    He quit his job at a multi-billion dollar company with nothing but a half-formed idea, zero technical knowledge, and a conviction that privacy would matter. For almost a year, Bart Vandekerckhove tried to sell a product that didn't exist - without a CTO, without a prototype, and without anyone taking him seriously. Then he built Raito into a real company and sold it back to the very place he left. In this episode: - Why Bart resigned during COVID with a mortgage, wife, and two kids - Selling enterprise software for a year with no CTO and no product - The chair-throwing moment that taught him everything about leadership - How corporate politics secretly control your entire sales cycle - His mother's advice about giving his wife equity (and why he regrets ignoring it) - The motorcycle cliff metaphor that explains how founders self-sabotage - Why "Plan B" relationships with competitors saved his exit - Three pieces of advice for experienced professionals starting their first company Chapters: 00:00 - Meet Bart: Data Governance Explained Simply 03:07 - What Data Governance Actually Means 07:19 - The Idea That Became Raito 10:51 - Starting a Company With Zero Technical Knowledge 14:22 - Almost a Year Without a CTO 17:40 - From Daydreamer to Founder 19:30 - Finding a Co-Founder Who's Your Opposite 21:12 - The Values That Kept Them Together 23:40 - Kind vs. Nice: A Founder's Distinction 25:29 - The Chair-Throwing Moment 28:54 - How Corporate Experience Helps (and Doesn't) 30:18 - Political Capital: The Hidden Sales Variable 36:19 - First Customers and the Drug of Closing Deals 37:21 - Fundraising: When to Raise and What to Know First 40:46 - The Three Mentors Who Shaped Everything 46:25 - Building to Exit vs. Selling Back to Collibra 49:32 - Networking as an Introvert 51:35 - Relationships, Family, and the Spillover 53:31 - Operating Under Uncertainty 56:33 - The Motorcycle Cliff: Where You Look Is Where You Go 1:01:23 - Advice for Experienced Professionals Starting a Company 1:04:16 - What the Next Five Years Hold 👇 CONNECT WITH BART VANDEKERCKHOVE Bart Vandekerckhove ►https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartvandekerckhove/ Colibra ► https://www.collibra.com/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ► [www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev](http://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev) FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/ 🎙 LISTEN to The Founder’s Code on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7v6YOQ77R1xzbOiiHsDawd Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-founder-s-code/id1797768317 🔔 Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered conversations with the founders and engineers building the future of tech. #FoundersCode #DataGovernance #PrivacyTech #StartupStories #Founder #Entrepreneurship #Bootstrap

  • S1 · E30
    March 28 · 57 min

    How OnTop made every employee an AI operator — without a single layoff | Maria Camila Ramirez, COO

    She went from ops analyst to COO — without an MBA, without a safety net, and while her mom was going through cancer treatment. Maria Camila Ramirez is the Chief Operating Officer of OnTop — a YC-backed global payroll and fintech platform that helps companies hire and pay people anywhere in the world. In just a few years, she grew from founding team member to leading the company's financial infrastructure, AI transformation, and new product launches. In this episode, we go deep on what it actually takes to lead from the inside — and what most people never see. What we cover: → How Camila went from Accenture consultant to COO of a $17M+ ARR startup → The real role of a COO — why it's the hardest job in the company → How OnTop built a company-wide AI culture without laying off a single person → Managing stress, cancer in the family, and high pressure — all at once → The startup growth arc: family → village → city and what breaks at each stage → Imposter syndrome as the youngest leader in the room → Why she turned down Stanford MBA — and what she learned instead → The therapy, psychedelics, and coaching that changed how she leads → How to find mentors and take career leaps with nothing to lose "We are building the global bank for the future of work." — Maria Camila Ramirez Chapters 00:00 – Introduction & Welcome 01:04 – What is OnTop? Building the financial infrastructure for remote work 04:35 – The reality of the COO role vs. the CEO role 08:39 – How to make every employee an AI operator (without layoffs) 12:28 – The 3 non-negotiable qualities of a successful startup executive 15:10 – "Organized Chaos": Managing extreme stress and personal hardships 22:54 – Independence, family dynamics, and the drive to be self-made 29:51 – Why "Work-Life Balance" is a myth (Adopt Work-Life Integration instead) 33:27 – The exact stages of a startup: From "Family" to "Village" and beyond 44:29 – Executive coaching, psychedelics, & separating your identity from your job 51:29 – Why Camila abandoned her Stanford MBA application to stay at OnTop 54:41 – Final advice for young professionals: Know yourself & find a mentor 👇 CONNECT WITH MARIA CAMILA RAMIREZ Maria Camila Ramirez ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariacamilaramirezr/ Ontop ► https://www.getontop.com/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ► [www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev](http://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev) FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/ 🎙 LISTEN to The Founder’s Code on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7v6YOQ77R1xzbOiiHsDawd Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-founder-s-code/id1797768317 🔔 Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered conversations with the founders and engineers building the future of tech. #founders #startup #COO #ycombinator #fintech #AI #leadership #entrepreneurship #remotework #founderstory

  • S1 · E29
    March 19 · 1 hr

    Why I Built an AI Wealth Advisor in 2016 (And What's Next) | Cyrus Fazel of SwissBorg

    How does a family's total financial loss inspire a multi-million dollar crypto ecosystem? In this episode, Shamil Malachiyev sits down with Cyrus Fazel, founder and CEO of SwissBorg. Cyrus shares his incredible journey from growing up in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution to spending eight years in hedge funds , and eventually raising $52 million through one of the biggest community-driven ICOs in crypto history. We dive deep into the psychology of successful founders, why Cyrus believes solo founders are destined to fail , and how he and his co-founder lived together for years just to keep their company alive. Plus, Cyrus breaks down the major blockchains using a fascinating "religion" analogy and reveals how AI is shaping the future of decentralized wealth management.If you want to understand the grit it takes to survive crypto winters and build products that last, this episode is for you. Chapters 00:00 - Intro & What is SwissBorg? 02:07 - Cyrus's Origin Story: Losing Everything in the Iranian Revolution 04:46 - Street Smarts vs. Harvard Smarts 10:26 - Leaving Hedge Funds to Change the World 15:19 - The "Revenge on Life" That Fuels Entrepreneurs 23:15 - Why Solo Founders Fail (The Ninja Turtles Rule) 27:48 - Living with Your Co-Founder After Raising $52 Million 35:27 - Navigating Crypto Cycles & The Rise of Solana 40:06 - The "Religions" of Crypto: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana Explained 45:13 - Surviving Bear Markets & Maintaining Company Culture 48:37 - How AI is Transforming SwissBorg (The Cyborg Advisor) 59:49 - Final Advice: Invest in Your Identity 👇 CONNECT WITH CYRUS FAZEL Cyrus Fazel ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyrusfazelmrfintech/ SwissBorg ► https://swissborg.com/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ► www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/ #FoundersCode #TechStartups #Bootstrapping #OpenSource #RemoteWork #AI #APIs #Entrepreneurship

  • S1 · E28
    March 11 · 1 hr 9 min

    Building Better Software: The Role of the AI Architect | Albert Santalo | Archie Lab

    Software development as we know it is evolving. In this episode of The Founder's Code, Shamil Malachiyev sits down with Albert Santalo — a computer scientist, serial internet entrepreneur, and CEO of Archie Labs. Albert breaks down why simply adding AI to old coding processes is like putting an electric battery in a combustion engine, and why we need a complete reimagining of how software is built. We dive deep into the rise of the "AI Architect," the death of low-code models, and why "Agentic AI" (AI-to-AI communication) will be more disruptive to business than the Industrial Revolution. Beyond the tech, Albert shares brutal truths about the reality of startup life, how to avoid toxic Venture Capitalists, and the mindset shift required to force the universe to open massive doors for you. Chapters 00:00 The Evolution of Software Development06:01 AI's Impact on Business Models11:48 Understanding AI: Conversational vs. Agentic17:14 Navigating Career Paths in the Age of AI23:08 The Journey of an Entrepreneur27:33 Lessons from Early Life Experiences30:24 Navigating the Venture Landscape34:09 Identifying Good and Bad VCs39:57 Staying Motivated Through Challenges43:36 The Role of Physical Fitness in Entrepreneurship46:45 Building a Strong Company Culture50:51 The Importance of Intellectual Curiosity56:58 Finding Purpose Beyond Financial Security01:01:07 Advice for New Graduates in a Changing World01:04:25 Faith in the Journey of Entrepreneurship 👇 CONNECT WITH ALBERT SANTALOAlbert Santalo ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertsantalo/Archie Labs ► https://www.archielabs.com/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMILShamil Malachiyev ► www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyevFluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/

  • S1 · E27
    February 28 · 1 hr 3 min

    He Dropped Out and Didn't Study Tech. Now He Runs a Global API Empire | James Hirst | Tyke.io

    In this episode of Founder’s Code, James Hirst — the co-founder and COO of tyke.io. James shares his unconventional journey of being a university dropout with no technical background who went on to help build a global API management platform used by some of the world's biggest institutions.We discuss why chasing VC funding headlines often leads to catastrophic business decisions , why corporate "hybrid" work turns remote employees into excluded freelancers , and how giving your core product away for free is actually the ultimate enterprise growth hack. James also explains why the rise of AI and LLMs means traditional coding skills are becoming far less important than creative problem-solving.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Tyk and Its Role in API Management02:52 James Hearst's Background and Growing Up in the UK05:49 Cultural Differences in Business Practices: UK vs. US08:39 Bootstrapping vs. VC Funding: A Founder's Perspective11:59 The Importance of Attention and Decision-Making in Business14:48 The Open Source Model: Benefits and Business Strategies17:34 Navigating the Open Source Landscape and Licensing20:45 Building Trust with Enterprise Clients through Open Source23:40 The Future of Open Source in Business29:44 Co-Founding Relationships: The Dynamics of Partnership30:47 The Journey Begins: From Consultancy to Co-Founding33:54 Navigating Tough Conversations: The Co-Founder Dynamic38:57 Building a Remote-First Culture: Challenges and Strategies44:13 The Evolution of James: Lessons from Founding Tyke51:23 Understanding Team Dynamics: Communication and Profiling52:45 The Future of Technology: APIs and LLMs01:00:05 Advice for Aspiring Technologists: Embrace Problem Solving👇 CONNECT WITH JAMES HIRSTJames Hirst ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/hirstys/Tyk ► https://tyk.io/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMILShamil Malachiyev ► www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyevFluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.tech/🔔 Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered conversations with the founders and engineers building the future of tech.#FoundersCode #TechStartups #Bootstrapping #OpenSource #RemoteWork #AI #APIs #Entrepreneurship

  • S1 · E26
    February 21 · 1 hr 5 min

    Reevaluating the AI Narrative: Moving From Hype to Utility | Luke Hinds | Always Further, Inc.

    Everyone is waiting for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) to arrive, but what if the entire narrative is a massive delusion? In this episode of Founder’s Code, we sit down with Luke Hinds, creator of Sigstore (the cybersecurity tech used by Google and GitHub) and CEO of Always Further. Luke drops some hard truths that shatter the mainstream AI hype, explaining why AGI is fundamentally misunderstood and why fully autonomous AI agents will never actually work without a "human in the loop." But there is a very real danger happening right now: cognitive atrophy. We discuss how AI coding tools are destroying the intuition of junior developers, why human trust cannot be automated by machines, and why the gritty "inflatable boxer" mindset is the only way to survive the tech startup world. Chapters 00:00 The Rise of AI and Its Challenges 04:55 Understanding AGI and Its Implications 09:38 The Role of Humans in an AI-Driven World 14:43 Automation: Opportunities and Limitations 19:13 Lessons from Childhood and Entrepreneurship 24:31 The Importance of Resilience and Self-Development 29:19 Influences Beyond Family: Mentors and Life Lessons 31:36 Influential Figures in Life 36:52 The Importance of Perseverance 44:35 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome 48:07 Support Systems and Their Impact 51:21 Qualities of True Friends 53:22 The Transactional Nature of Relationships 54:53 AI's Role in Personal Development 01:01:24 Navigating the Future with AI 👇 CONNECT WITH LUKE Luke Hinds ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukehinds/ Always Further ► https://alwaysfurther.ai/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ► www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.tech/

  • S1 · E25
    February 13 · 56 min

    Agent Orchestration: The New "Full Stack" in 2026 | Mike Piccolo founder of Motia Dev

    In this episode of Founder's Code, Mike Piccolo — founder of Motia Dev, talks about the uncomfortable shift most founders are ignoring. He went from sweeping construction sites to orchestrating AI for enterprise. He lived through the framework wars. He knows that "learning to code" isn't the safety net it used to be. This conversation isn’t about AI hype or the latest tools. It’s about what happens when the cost of building software drops to zero, and the only leverage left is your ability to endure pain. We talk about: 🔹 why the "AI Engineer" title is often meaningless 🔹 why the traditional SaaS business model is breaking 🔹 how a "chip on your shoulder" fuels more success than passion 🔹 why OpenAI downtime is now a national security threat 🔹 why physical labor taught him more about startups than college This episode isn’t about how to use AI. It’s about how to survive the paradigm shift it’s creating.

  • S1 · E24
    January 26 · 1 hr 7 min

    The Co-Founder Test: Don’t Sign Until You Ask This One Question | Clara Bernardes | Biorce

    In this episode, we sit down with Clara Bernardes, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Biorce. Clara and her team are on a mission to implode the pharmaceutical industry from the inside out by cutting the time it takes to bring life-saving drugs to market in half.We dive deep into the Founder’s Code: from the heartbreaking personal tragedy that served as the company’s "Patient Zero" to the controversial ethics of co-founding with a spouse and why you must be willing to fire the people you love to save the mission. Chapters00:00 Introduction to Biorce and the Pharmaceutical Industry01:55 The Lengthy Drug Development Process06:09 Clara's Journey as a Founder08:27 Personal Experiences Shaping Professional Goals11:30 The Impact of Personal Loss on Business Motivation18:31 Finding Purpose in Adversity21:00 The Challenges of Founding a Startup23:58 Working with a Spouse: Pros and Cons27:49 Navigating Relationships in a Startup34:00 Friendship vs. Business: A Controversial Topic34:26 Building a Company Culture43:34 Navigating Fundraising Challenges54:16 Choosing the Right Investors01:00:22 Vision for the Future of Healthcare👇 CONNECT WITH CLARAClara Bernardes ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/claramjbernardes/Biorce ► https://www.biorce.com/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMILShamil Malachiyev ► www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyevFluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.tech/🎙 LISTEN to The Founder’s Code onSpotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7v6YOQ77R1xzbOiiHsDawdApple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-founder-s-code/id1797768317🔔 Subscribe to The Founder’s Code for more deep dives into the minds of world-class builders.

  • S1 · E23
    January 16 · 1 hr 7 min

    What It Really Takes To Succeed In 2026 | Patrick Smith - Founder of Zally

    In this episode of The Founder’s Code, Shamil Malachiyev sits down with Patrick Smith, a serial entrepreneur who faced 11 failed ventures before the age of 25. Today, Patrick is the founder of Zally, an applied AI research lab that is revolutionizing digital security by turning human behavior into "digital body language" for continuous authentication. Patrick shares his incredible journey from scaling a DJ business to 1,000 jobs a year and exiting at age 18, to the brutal lessons learned from losing everything. We also dive deep into his "founder-athlete" lifestyle, including his 3:45 AM wake-up routine, carnivore diet, and the stoic mindset required to "dance in the rain" when things go wrong. Chapters 00:00 The Journey of Patrick Smith 02:22 Understanding Behavior and AI in Authentication 05:14 The Ideation Process Behind Zali08:28 Lessons from Early Entrepreneurship 11:28 The DJ Business and Scaling Success 14:29 Motivations and Influences in Entrepreneurship 17:30 Reflections on Personal Growth and Goals 19:58 The Importance of Self-Care and Routine 34:20 Embracing Challenges and Growth 35:46 The Power of Reflection and Creativity 37:24 Finding Focus Amidst Noise 40:52 Time Management and Productivity Techniques 42:45 Building Self-Confidence and Persistence 45:29 Navigating Loneliness as a Founder 50:31 The Importance of Community and Support 51:57 Controlling What You Can Control 53:54 Understanding Your Superpower 👇 CONNECT WITH PATRICK Patrick Smith ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmoesmith/ Zally ► https://www.zally.com/ 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ► www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.tech/ 🔔 Subscribe to The Founder’s Code for more deep dives into the minds of world-class builders. #Entrepreneurship #Zally #Cybersecurity #FounderMindset #AI #SuccessFactors #StartupLife #Biohacking #Resilience

Showing 1–20 of 26 episodes