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Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson · Technology

Practical AI

Making artificial intelligence practical, productive & accessible to everyone. Practical AI is a show in which technology professionals, business people, students, enthusiasts, and expert guests engage in lively discussions about Artificial Intelligence and related topics (Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Neural Networks, GANs, MLOps, AIOps, LLMs & more). The focus is on productive implementations and real-world scenarios that are accessible to everyone. If you want to keep up with the latest advances in AI, while keeping one foot in the real world, then this is the show for you!

Episodes

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While loops with tool calls

30 Oct 2025
44m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson interview Jared Zoneraich, co-founder and CEO at Prompt Layer, about the evolution of prompting and AI systems. They discuss the shift from prompt engineering to context engineering, the increasing availability of tools, and the move towards...

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Tiny Recursive Networks

24 Oct 2025
48m
AI processed

The Practical AI podcast episode features a discussion between Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson about trending AI news. They delve into tiny recursive networks, contrasting them with transformer-based LLMs, and explore their potential for real-world applications due to their small size and ability to operate efficient...

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Dealing with increasingly complicated agents

16 Oct 2025
54m
AI processed

In this episode of Practical AI, Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson interview Donato Capitella, a principal security consultant, about the evolving landscape of AI security, particularly concerning agentic workflows and the vulnerabilities they introduce. Donato discusses the increasing adoption of agentic AI in enterpr...

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The impact of AI on the workforce: A state-level case study

09 Oct 2025
44m
AI processed

In this episode of Practical AI, Daniel Whitenack interviews Chelsea Linder, Vice President of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at TechPoint, about the AI Innovation Network in Indiana. Chelsea discusses her background in user experience research and venture capital, leading to her current role in driving Indiana's digi...

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We've all done RAG, now what?

29 Sep 2025
43m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, Daniel Whitenack interviews Rajiv Shah from Contextual AI about the advancements in AI, particularly in retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and reasoning models. They discuss the common misconception of "training" AI models versus using retrieval methods to augment knowledg...

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Creating a private AI assistant in Thunderbird

23 Sep 2025
53m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson interview Chris Aquino, a software engineer at Thunderbird, about the integration of AI features into the Thunderbird email client. The discussion covers Thunderbird's history, its ethos of privacy and user control, and the challenges of inc...

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Cracking the code of failed AI pilots

11 Sep 2025
46m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, co-hosts Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson discuss AI news and trends, focusing on the impact of AI on jobs and the high failure rate of AI pilot projects. They analyze an MIT report highlighting that 95% of AI pilots fail, not due to model capabilities, but because of a lea...

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GenAI risks and global adoption

27 Aug 2025
43m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson interview Rick Kobayashi and Kenny Song, co-founders of Citadel AI, about AI safety and security, particularly in Japan. The discussion covers Japan's unique position in AI adoption, balancing regulation with innovation, and the cultural acc...

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Inside America’s AI Action Plan

19 Aug 2025
43m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, co-hosts Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson analyze America's AI Action Plan recently released by the White House. They discuss the plan's key pillars: accelerating AI innovation, building American AI infrastructure, and leading in international AI diplomacy and security. The...

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Confident, strategic AI leadership

12 Aug 2025
47m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson interview Allegra Guinan, co-founder and CTO of Lumiera, about responsible AI practices and strategies for business leaders. Allegra shares her unconventional background and how she arrived at advising businesses on AI principles. The discus...

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Educating a data-literate generation

08 Aug 2025
44m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, host Daniel Whitenack interviews Mark Daniel Ward, Executive Director, and Katie Sanders, Chief Operating Officer, from Purdue University's The Data Mine program. The discussion centers on how The Data Mine, an interdisciplinary living-learning community, prepares students f...

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Workforce dynamics in an AI-assisted world

01 Aug 2025
44m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, co-hosts Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson discuss the impact of AI on the workforce, touching on how AI is changing job roles, potentially reducing headcount in some areas while creating new opportunities in others. They explore how AI tools are empowering individuals to pe...

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Reimagining actuarial science with AI

25 Jul 2025
40m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, Chris Benson interviews Igor Nikitin, CEO and co-founder of Nice Technologies, about the application of AI in the actuarial industry. Igor explains the traditional actuarial processes, which heavily rely on Excel spreadsheets and financial modeling, and how regulations are p...

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Agentic AI for Drone & Robotic Swarming

15 Jul 2025
46m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, co-hosts Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson delve into the concept of swarming in AI, particularly in the context of autonomous systems like drones and robots. They clarify the definition of swarming, distinguishing it from synchronized actions and centralized control, emphas...

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AI in the shadows: From hallucinations to blackmail

07 Jul 2025
44m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, co-hosts Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson delve into the topic of AI in the shadows, focusing on the limitations of reasoning in current AI models and the potential risks associated with agentic AI systems. Chris shares his frustrating experience with ChatGPT's inability to...

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Finding Nemotron

02 Jul 2025
46m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, host Chris Benson interviews Joey Conway, Senior Director of Product Management for AI Models at NVIDIA, about NVIDIA's recently announced open foundation models. Conway discusses his background and how he came to work in AI, then explains the landscape of open foundation mo...

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AI hot takes and debates: Autonomy

27 Jun 2025
45m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, co-hosts Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson engage in a "hot takes and debates" segment, diving into the controversial topic of autonomy in weapons systems and military applications. They explore arguments for and against autonomy, with Daniel taking the affirmative stance, h...

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Behind-the-Scenes: VC Funding for AI Startups

18 Jun 2025
41m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, co-hosts Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson discuss the AI startup landscape, focusing on funding, valuations, and market dynamics. They define key terms like venture capital, bootstrapping, angel investors, and funding stages (pre-seed, seed, Series A). Daniel shares his exp...

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AI-Automated Film Making

12 Jun 2025
43m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, Daniel Whitenack interviews Sami Arpa, CEO and co-founder of Largo.ai, about the evolution and application of AI in the film industry. Sami discusses how AI is used in various stages of filmmaking, from development and pre-production to post-production and distribution, high...

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Federated learning in production (part 2)

04 Jun 2025
45m
AI processed

In this episode of the Practical AI podcast, Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson interview Chong Shen Ng, a research engineer at Flower Labs, about federated learning and the Flower framework. Chong discusses his background in computational physics and how he transitioned to federated learning, highlighting its importanc...

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