The AI Why with Liam Lawson

Hosted by Liam Lawson

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159

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Jun 2026

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We’re the team behind The AI Report — the #1 AI newsletter for 400,000+ business leaders at Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and more. Each week, we cut through the noise with expert conversations on how AI is transforming business. Expect deep dives into real-world use cases, practical strategies for leaders, and insights you won’t find anywhere else. If you want to understand AI in a way that drives results for your team, company, and career — you’re in the right place. 👉 Subscribe now and join 400,000+ professionals mastering AI in business. theaireport.ai/subscribe-theaireport-spotify

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June 16, 20266 min

OpenAI Moves Toward an IPO + AI's Biggest Rivals Are Sharing Infrastructure | AI News in 5

Anthropic just released its newest model, Fable 5.* OpenAI has officially taken another step toward public markets. And some of the biggest competitors in AI are now relying on the same infrastructure behind the scenes. This week, Anthropic launches Fable 5 and introduces built-in safeguards for advanced use cases*, OpenAI confidentially files paperwork for a future IPO, Apple unveils its biggest Siri upgrade in years at WWDC, Google signs a massive compute agreement with SpaceX to support Gemini, and Meta expands its AI infrastructure footprint through a new partnership in India. If you are a founder, operator or executive trying to keep up with AI, this is your weekly five minute briefing every Tuesday. Stories Covered This Week: Anthropic releases Fable 5, its first Mythos-class model for general use, with built-in safeguards for advanced cybersecurity and AI development tasks* OpenAI confidentially files paperwork for a future IPO as investors increasingly scrutinize AI economics and growth Apple announces its largest Siri update in years, bringing conversational AI, workflow automation and writing assistance to its ecosystem Google signs a major compute agreement with SpaceX, highlighting how access to infrastructure is becoming a key battleground in AI Meta partners with Reliance Industries to expand AI infrastructure and data center capacity across India *Update: Since recording, Anthropic has paused broader public access to Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5. Stay tuned for next week's episode for the full update. Episode Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:16 Anthropic launches Fable 5 01:49 OpenAI moves toward public markets 02:43 Apple's biggest Siri update in years 04:00 Google signs major AI infrastructure deal 05:01 Meta expands AI infrastructure in India 05:59 Outro Partner Links: Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe Join the community: https://community.theaireport.ai/checkout/the-ai-report-welcome-gift?coupon_code=WRTH Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

June 11, 202624 min

The Future of Work Is Less AI and More Human Than You Think | Aaron Mitchell Finegold, Adobe

Everyone thinks the future of work means spending more time interacting with AI. Aaron Mitchell Finegold believes the opposite. As Head of Product Marketing at Adobe, Aaron sits at the intersection of enterprise AI, agentic workflows, brand intelligence and the future of how work gets done. In this conversation with Liam Lawson, he explains why most companies are approaching AI adoption incorrectly, what an agentic content supply chain actually looks like, and why trust, judgment and human relationships may become even more valuable in an AI-first world. Stories Covered This Week: Why most companies are deploying AI agents the wrong way What an agentic content supply chain actually looks like inside the enterprise How Adobe is building systems that combine humans and AI agents Why generative AI without guardrails can damage brand integrity The difference between work that should be done by humans versus agents How enterprises are turning brand knowledge into AI-readable intelligence Why trust matters for both humans and AI systems The personality traits that will thrive in an AI-driven workplace Aaron's vision for the future of work and why it may involve less interaction with machines than people expect Episode Timestamps: 00:00 Intro and Aaron's background 03:01 Hands-on experience building with AI 04:41 The biggest misconception about generative AI 05:38 What an agentic content supply chain looks like 07:30 When should AI agents replace humans? 08:40 How Adobe's Brand Intelligence works 10:44 Where AI starts and human creativity ends 12:09 Aaron's vision for the future of work 13:41 What trust means for humans and AI agents 16:34 Reliability, AI systems and enterprise adoption 19:34 The personality traits that will thrive in the AI era 21:38 Why do you do what you do? Connect with Aaron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finegold/ Partner Links Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe Join the community: www.theaireport.ai/leaders-launch-guide Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

June 9, 20265 min

Anthropic Files to Go Public + CNN Sues Perplexity | AI News in 5

Anthropic is preparing for public markets. Europe is pushing to reduce its reliance on American tech. And CNN just filed a copyright lawsuit against Perplexity. This week, Anthropic files confidential paperwork for an IPO in one of the biggest milestones yet for the AI industry, Europe unveils a tech sovereignty plan to reduce its dependence on American technology, CNN sues Perplexity over the alleged redistribution of more than 17,000 copyrighted stories, Morgan Stanley opens its platform to external AI agents using MCP, and Microsoft teams up with Mayo Clinic to build an AI model for healthcare. If you are a founder, operator or executive trying to keep up with AI, this is your weekly five minute briefing. Stories Covered This Week: Anthropic files confidential paperwork for an IPO, with OpenAI expected to follow soon Europe unveils a tech sovereignty plan to build out data centers, revive its chip industry and buy more from European suppliers CNN sues Perplexity over the alleged use of more than 17,000 copyrighted stories, photos and videos Morgan Stanley becomes one of the first major Wall Street banks to open its platform to external AI agents via MCP Microsoft and Mayo Clinic partner to build an AI model designed specifically for healthcare Episode Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:17 Anthropic files to go public 01:17 Europe pushes for tech sovereignty 02:28 CNN sues Perplexity 03:23 Morgan Stanley opens up to AI agents 04:22 Microsoft and Mayo Clinic build a healthcare AI 05:11 Outro Partner Links: Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe Join the community: https://community.theaireport.ai/checkout/the-ai-report-welcome-gift?coupon_code=WRTH Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

June 4, 202626 min

Inside Adobe's Partnerships With OpenAI, Anthropic and NVIDIA | Sahil Gupta

In the AI race, some of Adobe's closest partners are also its biggest competitors. So how does it decide who to work with? Sahil Gupta is the Senior Director of Partnerships at Adobe, where he leads technology partnerships with the biggest names in AI including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Cloud and NVIDIA. In this episode Liam sits down with Sahil to break down how these partnerships actually come together, what Adobe announced at Adobe Summit, how you navigate working with a partner you also compete with, and what the future of work really looks like from someone sitting at the center of the AI ecosystem. Topics covered: How Adobe structures partnerships with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Microsoft and surfaces its agentic capabilities inside each The NVIDIA partnership including 3D digital twins, agent governance and the next generation of Firefly models How you co-innovate with a partner like Anthropic that also competes with you on design tools The difference between working with a 30 year partner like IBM and a company only a few years old Why Adobe brings over 30 models including startups like Runway into Firefly What the future of work looks like and the radiology lesson from NVIDIA's Jensen Huang Episode Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:36 Competing and co-innovating with partners 01:22 How Sahil kept ending up at the center of industry moments 03:01 What a Senior Director of Partnerships actually does 04:03 Where partnerships actually come from 06:24 What Adobe announced at Summit 07:40 The NVIDIA partnership explained 10:28 Navigating partnerships with companies you also compete with 12:06 Working with 30 year partners versus brand new ones 13:43 What partnerships Adobe is building toward next 15:23 Why everything comes back to customer experience 17:54 How Sahil ended up in partnerships 19:27 The future of work and the radiology lesson 22:15 Why do you do what you do Partner Links: Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe Join the community: https://community.theaireport.ai/checkout/the-ai-report-welcome-gift?coupon_code=WRTH Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

June 2, 20266 min

Anthropic Drops Opus 4.8 + Robinhood Tests AI That Trades For You | AI News in 5

Users are already pushing back on Google's new AI search update, DeepSeek just slashed AI model prices by up to 75 percent, and Robinhood is now testing AI agents that can trade stocks on your behalf. This week, DuckDuckGo sees a sharp rise in installs as users look for alternatives to AI-heavy search, DeepSeek cuts prices on its V4 Pro models and escalates the AI pricing war, Apple announces a set of AI-powered accessibility features across its devices, Robinhood tests AI agents that can place trades for users, and Anthropic releases Opus 4.8 to everyone on any plan. If you are a founder, operator or executive trying to keep up with AI, this is your weekly five-minute briefing every Tuesday. Stories Covered This Week: DuckDuckGo installs rise sharply as some users actively seek out AI free search experiences after Google's update DeepSeek cuts V4 Pro model prices by up to 75 percent, intensifying the industry wide pricing battle Apple announces AI powered accessibility features across iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro including eye tracking wheelchair control Robinhood tests AI agents that can execute trades on behalf of users with built in safeguards and oversight Anthropic releases Opus 4.8 to all plans with improved honesty, adjustable effort settings and new dynamic workflows in Claude Code Episode Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:20 Users push back on Google AI search as DuckDuckGo installs rise 01:25 DeepSeek cuts model prices by up to 75% 02:13 Apple announces AI accessibility features across its devices 03:11 Robinhood tests AI agents that trade for you 04:18 Anthropic releases Opus 4.8 to everyone 05:32 Outro Partner Links: Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe Join the community: https://community.theaireport.ai/checkout/the-ai-report-welcome-gift?coupon_code=WRTH Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 28, 202626 min

AI Traffic to Retail Is Up 393%. Here Is What That Means for Your Business | Vivek Pandya, Adobe

AI traffic to retail sites is up 393% year on year. A year ago, that traffic was underperforming every other marketing channel. Now it is outperforming all of them by 48%. And most businesses have no idea how to capitalise on it. Vivek Pandya, the Director of Adobe Digital Insights, leads the team that analyses trends across trillions of data points to help enterprises understand where the digital economy is heading. In this episode, Liam sits down with Vivek to break down the biggest shift happening in consumer behavior right now, why generative engine optimisation is the most important opportunity since social media, and what businesses need to do today to stay visible as AI changes how people search and buy. Topics covered: Why AI traffic to retail sites is up 393% year on year, and what drove the shift How consumer conversion through AI channels went from underperforming by 38% to outperforming by 48% in one year Why a third of all content on the internet is not machine readable right now and what that means for your business What generative engine optimisation is and why it matters more than SEO right now The difference between how San Francisco thinks about AI adoption versus the rest of the world Why data storytelling is still the most underrated skill in business Episode Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:21 What is Adobe Digital Insights and what does Vivek do 01:12 A trillion data points 02:18 How the data is processed and what enterprises are asking for 03:47 The biggest AI trends right now 06:04 What changed in consumer behaviour 07:35 How to set your business up for AI search success 10:24 What the data does not tell you 12:53 Where does Vivek's trust in AI start and finish 14:03 What speaks to Vivek about his role 15:19 How the job influences how he thinks outside of work 17:53 Living in San Francisco and what you learn being close to the technology 19:47 Why do you do what you do Connect with Vivek on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekmpandya/ Partner links: Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe Join the community: www.theaireport.ai/leaders-launch-guide Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 26, 20265 min

Meta Cuts 10% + Google Reinvents Search After 25 Years | AI News in 5

Meta is cutting 10 percent of its workforce and moving thousands of employees into AI roles. Google just announced the biggest change to Search in over 25 years. And Elon Musk has officially lost his legal battle against OpenAI. This week, Meta lays off staff and reorganizes 7,000 employees around AI across product, infrastructure and research, Google brings AI agents directly into Search to help users complete tasks not just find information, Amazon adds a feature to Alexa Plus that generates full podcast style audio episodes on demand, the Vatican forms a new committee on the ethical implications of AI, and Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI is dismissed with the jury siding with Sam Altman. If you are a founder, operator or executive trying to keep up with AI, this is your weekly five-minute briefing every Tuesday. Stories Covered This Week: Meta announces 10% layoffs and moves 7,000 employees into AI focused roles across the business Google announces the biggest update to Search in 25 years bringing AI agents directly into the product Amazon adds podcast style audio generation to Alexa Plus The Vatican forms a new AI ethics committee focused on labor and human decision making Elon Musk officially loses his lawsuit against OpenAI with the jury siding with Sam Altman Episode Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:21 Meta cuts 10% and reorganizes around AI 01:16 Google reinvents Search with AI agents 02:11 Amazon Alexa Plus generates podcast episodes on demand 03:17 The Vatican forms an AI ethics committee 04:11 Musk loses his lawsuit against OpenAI 05:02 Outro Partner Links: Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe Join the community: www.theaireport.ai/leaders-launch-guide Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 21, 20261 hr 5 min

Inside the Rise of AI Employees and Autonomous Workforces | Swati Trehan

In this episode, Swati Trehan, co-founder of Ema, breaks down what AI agents actually are, how “AI employees” work inside Fortune 500 companies, and why the future of enterprise software may look nothing like today’s SaaS tools. Swati explains how Ema’s platform orchestrates teams of AI agents that can autonomously handle HR, IT, finance, onboarding, payroll, employee support, and customer service workflows across massive organizations. She also reveals how companies like Hitachi are already deploying AI employees at scale, why traditional automation failed, and how enterprise AI is evolving beyond simple copilots into fully agentic systems. The conversation dives deep into the technical infrastructure behind agents, including memory, orchestration layers, knowledge graphs, model routing, and why Ema uses multiple LLMs simultaneously to optimize for cost, latency, and accuracy. Swati also shares why Excel remains one of AI’s hardest unsolved problems, why video is the next frontier for agents, and how the “SaaS apocalypse” is reshaping software businesses. If you’ve been hearing terms like agents, autonomous workflows, AI employees, copilots, or agentic AI, this is one of the clearest explanations of where the technology is heading and what it means for the future of work. Key Topics Covered: What AI agents actually are (explained simply) The difference between copilots, agents, and AI employees Why traditional automation and RPA failed How Fortune 500 companies are deploying AI employees today Why HR is becoming the entry point for enterprise AI adoption How Ema orchestrates teams of agents across workflows The technical stack behind enterprise AI agents Why memory, context, and permissions are critical for agents The “mixture of experts” approach using multiple LLMs at once Why Excel remains surprisingly difficult for AI systems The next frontier: AI-generated video workflows The rise of the “SaaS apocalypse” Why solving business problems matters more than building features How AI is changing the way founders and engineers think Episode Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:34 - What AI agents actually are 03:01 - The difference between agents and AI employees 03:25 - Liam’s “light bulb” moment using agents 04:06 - Swati’s realization that HR work could be automated 05:57 - The founding story behind Ema 08:20 - Why AI unlocks human creativity 09:20 - The technical infrastructure behind AI agents 12:12 - How Ema routes tasks across multiple LLMs 13:49 - Memory, context, and knowledge graphs for agents 16:35 - The biggest unsolved problems in AI agents 18:32 - Why video is the next frontier for AI 20:05 - Why Excel is still difficult for AI systems 21:00 - Who Ema’s ideal customers are 23:27 - Why HR teams are leading enterprise AI adoption 24:25 - How enterprise AI implementation actually works 26:13 - Why modular agents matter 28:35 - What the employee experience looks like with AI agents 30:24 - Live demo of Ema’s AI employee system 36:58 - How companies roll out AI agents internally 39:31 - Building AI employees in real time 44:01 - Ema’s competitive moat in the AI race 47:46 - The “SaaS apocalypse” and future-proofing AI businesses 49:16 - Why Ema focused on product over hype 52:12 - How AI changed the way Swati thinks 55:07 - Why rapid problem-solving matters more than ever 57:27 - Living in London while building a global AI company 59:16 - Why Swati does what she does Swati Trehan’s Socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swati-trehan/ Ema: https://www.ema.co Partner Links Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe Join the community: https://www.theaireport.ai/leaders-launch-guide Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 19, 20266 min

Anthropic vs OpenAI Just Got Serious + xAI Faces Environmental Backlash | AI News in 5

Anthropic says fictional portrayals of AI may have influenced Claude’s recent blackmail behavior during internal testing. OpenAI officially launches a $4B enterprise deployment company. And Elon Musk’s xAI faces lawsuits over controversial power infrastructure at its data center. This week, Anthropic explains why Claude Opus 4 attempted to blackmail engineers during safety tests, OpenAI expands aggressively into enterprise AI services with engineers embedded directly inside companies, OpenAI launches a new cybersecurity platform called Daybreak, Anthropic officially surpasses OpenAI in B2B adoption according to new Ramp data, and xAI faces growing scrutiny over gas turbines powering its AI infrastructure. If you are a founder, operator, or executive trying to stay ahead of AI, this is your weekly AI news briefing every Tuesday. Stories Covered This Week: Anthropic says internet culture and fictional AI portrayals may have influenced Claude’s blackmail behavior during testing OpenAI launches “The Deployment Company” with more than $4B in backing to help enterprises rebuild workflows around AI OpenAI unveils Daybreak, a GPT-5.5 powered cybersecurity platform competing with Anthropic’s Mythos Anthropic officially passes OpenAI in B2B adoption according to new Ramp data Elon Musk’s xAI faces lawsuits over gas turbines powering its Mississippi data center site Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:18 Claude’s blackmail behavior explained by Anthropic 01:15 OpenAI launches The Deployment Company 02:30 OpenAI enters cybersecurity with Daybreak 03:29 Anthropic surpasses OpenAI in B2B adoption 04:47 xAI faces environmental backlash over AI power demands 05:55 Outro Partner Links Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe Join the community: https://www.theaireport.ai/leaders-launch-guide Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 14, 202655 min

Why Data (Not Code) Is Your Only Real AI Moat | Jason Li, Laurel

In this episode, Jason Li, CTO of Laurel, reveals how the company is turning timesheets into the AI playbook for the entire knowledge-work economy. Jason breaks down why $2,000/hour lawyers still spend Saturdays manually filling out time in six-minute increments, how Laurel's AI platform automatically captures every click, email, and meeting, and why data (not code) is the only real moat left in the age of the SaaSpocalypse. Jason shares how Ernst & Young is using Laurel to identify high-leverage work, why Laurel deliberately integrates with "decades-old" software like Classic Outlook that most startups ignore, and the counter-intuitive reason your best rainmakers should never be forced into cookie-cutter roles again. He also explains why Laurel doesn't train its own LLM, how they run AI feedback loops that self-iterate prompts, and the frameworks leaders can use to actually measure AI ROI instead of just surveying "did it help?" Key Topics Covered: Why "what gets measured gets managed" is the most important rule in AI adoption The Moneyball insight that changed how Jason thinks about metrics How Laurel auto-generates timesheets for lawyers and accountants Why Ernst & Young chose Laurel for their tax group The hidden cost of manual timesheets for $2K/hour professionals How Laurel maps knowledge work to a company's "work ontology" Why decades-old software (Classic Outlook) is a competitive moat, not a liability The SaaSpocalypse: what survives when AI eats applications How to measure if an AI tool actually delivers ROI Why data, not models, is the real defensible asset in AI Episode Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:25 - The Peter Drucker quote that shaped Jason's career 02:49 - A Moneyball analogy for AI adoption 03:25 - What Laurel actually does: the AI platform that maps time to outcomes 07:19 - Why every business (not just law firms) needs time visibility 09:17 - Inside the Ernst & Young deployment 12:27 - Jason's journey to becoming CTO at Laurel 14:21 - Live product demo: Laurel's work ontology engine 17:49 - How AI shifts the line between high and low leverage work 21:15 - What onboarding a 2,000-person firm actually looks like 23:06 - The technical architecture behind Laurel's desktop client 28:35 - Why Laurel doesn't train its own LLM 29:39 - How Laurel handles AI models "getting worse" overnight 33:35 - Capturing time for work that doesn't happen on a computer 37:17 - AI adoption meets employee behavior change 41:54 - The SaaSpocalypse and why Laurel's moat is data, not software 48:00 - Why Jason left Ironclad to join Laurel 51:16 - Jason's answer to The AI Why's signature closing question Jason Li's Socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonhli/ Laurel: https://www.laurel.ai Partner Links Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe Join the community: www.theaireport.ai/leaders-launch-guide Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices