Inside the little-known expert network quietly training every frontier AI model | Garrett Lord (Handshake CEO)

In this episode of Lenny's Podcast, host Lenny interviews Garrett Lord, the co-founder and CEO of Handshake, about their incredibly successful AI data labeling business. Garrett explains the shift from pre-training to post-training AI models, emphasizing the importance of expert-generated data for fine-tuning. He details how Handshake leverages its vast network of students and alumni, particularly PhDs, to provide high-quality, specialized data to frontier AI labs. The discussion covers the types of data labeling, the challenges of building a new business within an existing one, and the future of AI and its impact on the job market, highlighting Handshake's unique advantages in accessing and engaging experts for AI training.