CRAFTED.

In this special live Web Summit edition from Lisbon, I sit down with Tom Hayworth, founder of D13 AI, to talk about why “good enough” AI might actually be one of the most dangerous places we can get stuck.

And you’ll hear Tom say it’s time for the leaders of vibe coding platforms (e.g. Lovable, Replit, Cursor) to acknowledge that they’re great when you need to “demo not memo”, but not great (today and maybe ever) at delivering production-grade, secure code. 

We also make a few detours as we detail a ridiculous week...

 Hey everyone. I've gotten so much interesting feedback on last week's Halloween episode featuring the anonymous CTO saying spooky things about AI and coding agents that I thought I'd share a quick solo voice memo style episode with you. The feedback ranges from people saying he's spot on about the insidious problems that AI coding agents create while others saying "he's holding it wrong." In other words, he's not using AI properly. Listen to this short episode and you'll also hear reaction to his claim that "adversarial AI" is not really a thing and why context and data are s...

AI coding assistants promise to write your code, speed up your sprint, and maybe even make engineers obsolete. But what if the people building with them every day see something very different?

In this special Halloween edition of CRAFTED. — which also marks the show’s third anniversary! — a masked CTO shares what he can’t say publicly: that these tools are powerful, but insidious. In his view, coding assistants are great for auto-complete, but they can’t do what a human engineer does. He says they’re terrible at starting from scratch and will often suggest code that “works...

Here’s a jaunty debrief from PopTech, a notoriously hard conference to describe, that always features obscenely talented entrepreneurs and changemakers.

In this episode, Kwaku Aning, Sarah Rose Siskind, and I share some of the great stories and great vibes from this year's conference, including:

A quick debrief from Climate Week / UN General Assembly week, including: 

Joining me from New York are: 

And you can join all thr...

What’s up with “the MIT study” that claims 95% of all AI pilots fail? Did anyone actually read it beyond the headline? (Dan did—and he has thoughts.)

Also: the good, the bad, and the quietly dystopian side of putting AI in kids’ classrooms.

And… are robots really the thing Melania should be worrying about?

That’s just some of what Kwaku Aning, return guest and founder of Retrofuturism, and I get into on this very lively, very bubbly, and very uncrafted edition of CRAFTED.

More new episodes—and a major update to the sh...

 Software is eating the world, right? We've all heard this phrase by now, but inventor and investor Pablos Holman has something important to add: “The world can't eat software.”

That’s why Pablos focuses on “deep tech”, i.e. how to invent new solutions to real world problems like energy, water, waste, construction, and sanitation. Pablos says we’re still mostly using version 1.0 technology for these fundamental systems, but recent advances, including AI and the ability to prototype and test in software, are enabling incredible innovation in hardware.

Pablos has worked wi...

As AI models grow larger and more powerful, they promise incredible capabilities — but at what cost?

Karen Hao is an AI journalist and her new book, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI, is a New York Times bestseller.

We discuss whether the largest AI models are worth their hefty footprint: They consume massive amounts of electricity and water and Karen argues that smaller models better balance cost vs. benefit.

Karen, who has reported for The Atlantic, MIT Technology Review, and the Wall Street Journal, will also provide a view of...

AI-generated voices aren’t just realistic — they’re changing how brands, creators, and agencies bring ideas to life. In this episode, Wondercraft co-founder Oskar Serrander demonstrates how their “Canva for audio” is unlocking rapid prototyping for high-quality audio ads, content, and storytelling.

You’ll learn:

Oskar also...

Kevin Smith is building a totally new kind of podcast app. 

Snipd is an AI-native podcast app and building it required a few mindset shifts. 

First, what even is a podcast? The way Kevin sees it, podcasts are knowledge. So where most podcast players are, as Kevin calls them, "repurposed music players", Snipd is designed to help you learn. As people listen to episodes, they, or an AI, can save “snips” or interesting moments that they want to remember or share. And the app will also help you review what you've heard, so it reinforces what y...

What is a good money habit in 2025? And how do you actually help someone build one—without boring them, shaming them, or losing them in the first five seconds?

Chief Product Officer Tim Hong shares how MoneyLion designs for emotion and creates content and products that inspire people to take action. 

MoneyLion is a personal finance platform used by millions of mostly younger Americans who are just getting started with their money, so, as Tim says: “It's actually less about bad habits that we fight. It's about having no habits.”

Tim also shares how AI...

Fun news! The Webby Awards have honored CRAFTED. for the third year in a row as a top tech podcast. Thank you — yes, you! — for listening!

This episode features the highlight reel we gave the Webbys. It features great moments from 2024 episodes, including (listed in the order mentioned): 

On a rooftop at SXSW, fellow startup advisor and podcaster Rob Kenedi joins me as we discuss why: 

Enjoy this uncrafted CRAFTED.!

And if you enjoy this more casual format, please share your feedback. DM me on LinkedIn or email me: dan@modernproductminds.com

Where to find...

Linda Liukas is a programmer, children’s book author, and the creator of Hello Ruby, a whimsical series that teaches computing concepts through stories and play. She’s also the force behind a one-of-a-kind playground in Helsinki—designed to teach kids how computers work without them ever touching a screen.

In this episode, Linda shares why, especially with the rise of AI and code-writing copilots, we need to rethink the way we teach tech. 

Linda, a.k.a. the “Mary Poppins of Computing”, is on a mission to bring more whimsy, creativity, and fearlessness to kids and...

Educator, innovator, super-connector, and conference champion Kwaku Aning and I have coffee and discuss a few things that struck us at SXSW, including:

Where to find Kwaku:

How do you build a system for turning wild ideas into world-changing innovations? Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots at X, The Moonshot Factory, has spent over 15 years leading Google’s audacious innovation lab—the birthplace of Waymo, Google Brain, and other breakthrough projects.

In this special episode, recorded live in Austin at SXSW, Astro shares the playbook to create a moonshot factory. 

You’ll Learn:
🐵 The “Train the Monkey First” approach to innovation
🚀 Why audacity, humility, and intellectual honesty are key to moonshots
 💡 How your org can get more 10x (not +10%) outcomes — and how to avoid the “i...

What if we could deliver supplies anywhere, no roads or runways needed?

Elroy Air has built a really big drone. One that can carry 300 pounds of stuff 300 miles or more. And it takes off like a helicopter, but flies like a plane, meaning it can get in and out of all sorts of hard to reach places. 

In this episode, we sit down with David Merrill, co-founder, executive chairman, and former CEO of Elroy Air, to explore how these hybrid-electric, vertical takeoff and landing aircraft are set to transform e...

CRAFTED. host Dan Blumberg will be at SXSW this year. Will you? If so, please reach out! DM me on LinkedIn or go to crafted.fm where you can email me. Let's get a taco!

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Software, hardware, and biotechnology are playing an increasingly transformative role in our mental health and wellness. On this episode of CRAFTED., recorded live on the “Next” stage at SXSW 2024, we discuss what investors look for in these new companies and how they separate what’s real — and what’s near-term — from what’s hype. 

On stage with host Dan Blu...

Software is eating the world, right? We've all heard this phrase by now, but inventor and investor Pablos Holman has something important to add: “The world can't eat software.”

That’s why Pablos focuses on “deep tech”, i.e. how to invent new solutions to real world problems like energy, water, waste, construction, and sanitation. Pablos says we’re still mostly using version 1.0 technology for these fundamental systems, but recent advances, including AI and the ability to prototype and test in software, are enabling incredible innovation in hardware.

Pablos has worked with Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and m...

Deepfakes are getting easier and easier to make. So, how will we be able to believe that what we see and what we hear is real? And what can software makers do to help?

Sam Gregory is an expert on deepfakes, AI, and trust. He advises governments and tech companies on how they can protect human rights and how we can preserve our shared reality. 

Sam is the executive director of WITNESS, an organization that helps citizens use video to foster social change. WITNESS has trained and supported citizen-journalists since the days of the camcorder t...

Accounting may not be the sexiest part of running a business, but according to Sasha Orloff, it’s the key to understanding your company’s financial health—and ultimately, its success. At his previous two startups, Sasha was frustrated that he didn’t have a real-time view into his company’s financial health. And he realized the problem wasn’t accounting – but accounting software. So, Sasha founded Puzzle, because “it's hard to set yourself up for success if you don't know when you're about to run out of money.”

Sasha is on a mission to make accounting intuitive, real-ti...

AI democratizes things. It's enabling designers to be developers, and developers to be designers… And in this episode, Aaron Walter and Eli Woolery explain how AI “changes the game” for designers. 

As co-founders of Design Better, Aaron and Eli advise companies on how to incorporate AI into their design process. We’ll explore how AI can help designers explore a problem more thoroughly, as well as some pitfalls to watch out for. (Hint: speed is not always a good thing.)

Aaron and Eli are also hosts of the popular Design Be...

Vote! A quick plea for you to vote today. Both for President (if you're in the US) and for the change you'd like to see on CRAFTED. Please take a few minutes to take the short survey at crafted.fm

CRAFTED. is two years old! And I want to make this year the best yet.

Back next week with a brand new episode!

Please go to crafted.fm to take that short survey -- some lucky respondents will win prizes!

Amir Nathoo is reimagining the future of education by building products that put students at the center of their learning experience. As the Founder and CEO of Outschool, Amir has created a marketplace for remote, personalized, interest-based learning that’s challenging traditional K-12. 

In this episode of CRAFTED., we explore how Amir founded and grew Outschool, including the 15x spike in usage during the pandemic. 

Post-pandemic, alternative education and homeschooling continues to rise. As Amir says: “The idea that a single institution could fulfill all of your kids' needs or all of all kids' needs is com...

Hilary Mason is a world-builder. She’s a serial entrepreneur, machine learning expert, and now, as the founder and CEO of Hidden Door, she’s creating immersive experiences where fans can interact with their favorite characters from books and movies. 

The choose-your-own-adventures style games are an amazing blend of AI and human creativity — and Hilary is passionate about both: 

As AI models grow larger and more powerful, they promise incredible capabilities — but at what cost? 

Karen Hao is a journalist and former engineer who writes about the impact of artificial intelligence on society for The Atlantic and other top publications. 

On this episode of CRAFTED., we discuss whether the largest AI models are worth their hefty footprint: They consume massive amounts of electricity and water and Karen argues that smaller models better balance cost vs. benefit. 

Karen will also provide a view of AI from outside — far outside — Silicon Valley. S...

Russ Somers has tripled his productivity by building a “GPTeam” of AI “employees.” In this episode, from Beyond the Prompt, the head of marketing for Quantified reveals how he’s done it, and how you can build your own virtual team to be more productive and creative. 

Russ’s virtual team helps with tasks ranging from webinar content creation to specialized knowledge acquisition. Through personal anecdotes and exploratory conversations, the episode delves into the process of building AI team members, the importance of play in learning and innovation, and strategies for incorporating AI into personal and...

Kira Radinsky is the CEO of Diagnostic Robotics, which uses AI to make predictions that help patients get better healthcare. She’s also the co-founder of Mana.bio which is using AI to automate drug discovery. 

On this episode of CRAFTED., Kira will share more on why she believes that, of all the industries that AI will change, it’s those involving chemistry and biology that will change the most. Plus, why she says: “I just want AI to replace me as a scientist.” 

Kira shares:

Matt Flannery and Branch have done something the banks have not: learned how to profitably lend to people who have little to no credit history. Matt is the founder and CEO of Branch, which issues small loans to millions of people in India, Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania. 

He's also the founder of Kiva, a microfinance pioneer that skyrocketed from a small project into a worldwide nonprofit that Oprah and President Clinton loved talking about. 

On this episode of CRAFTED., we learn how Branch uses data from people's phones to co...

Nithya Ruff is an expert on open source. As the head of AWS’s Open Source Program Office and the Chair of the Linux Foundation, she has a wide view on all things open source. 

On this episode of CRAFTED., we discuss:

Mario Rodriguez is GitHub's Chief Product Officer. And he believes that Copilot and other AI advances will unleash a wave of creativity and enable a billion people to be software developers.

Mario says the definition of “software developer” will have to change as non-professionals discover that they can make apps, too. And the way they do so will look very different: “It's gonna feel a lot more like how kids play. ​​It's like you create something you play with and you're like, Nope. Then you instruct it again… It’s going to be real time developme...

Henrik Werdelin is on an AI-fueled mission to launch thousands of startups a year. 

He is the founder of BARK, which went public, and prehype, a studio that has incubated several unicorns. With Audos, Henrik is building AI agents that can coach founders how he would — if he had infinite time to do so. 

And Audos is not just for the cliche founder looking to launch a unicorn… It’s for entrepreneurs of all stripes. With AI making things easier, Henrik expects to see lots more “DonkeyCorns,” i.e. highly profitable businesses operated by just one or two p...

Sports, and the way we experience them, is changing. And AI, 5G, 3D, and all the other buzzy acronyms are why. Behshad Behzadi is the CTO and Chief AI Officer of Sportradar and on this episode of CRAFTED., we explore ways sports and technology are intersecting in novel, weird, and amazing ways. 

Sportradar creates immersive experiences and data products for sports fans, players, leagues, and bettors. 

Behshad joined after 17 years at Google where he co-founded Google Assistant, Google Lens and more. He's been building with AI and voice for wa...

Jeff Birkeland is the SVP of Product and Platform at Included Health, a company that aims to be the app on your phone that you first think of when you have a healthcare need.

On this episode of CRAFTED., we explore why “the integration itself is the innovation.” 

Included Health has more than 2,000 employees across both technology and clinical care, and its services are used by many top companies and their employees. The goal: create an integrated experience that brings it all together… from insurance to diet to doctors to drug...

April Dunford is an expert at product positioning. She’s advised hundreds of B2B companies on how they can make their products Obviously Awesome  — that’s also the title of her bestselling book on positioning.

On this episode of CRAFTED., April shares tips on how you can make your product standout and how you can drive more sales — that’s the focus of her latest book, Sales Pitch.

April says great positioning starts when you truly understand the answer to this question: “If you didn't exist, what would a customer do?” 

And the answer may s...

Making media is hard. Distributing it to the right audience even more so. GenAI can help. 

Matt Monahan is the president of Arc XP at the Washington Post. On this episode, we're digging into the core technology of any media company: the content management system (CMS), why they’re so hard to build right and how new GenAI tools can reduce the toil required for journalists to get their stories to the right audience. 

Arc XP is not only the CMS used by the Washington Post, but it’s also used by man...

Dr. Kristen DiCerbo is Khan Academy’s Chief Learning Officer, where she sets the company's product, teaching, and learning strategy — with AI at the forefront. 

Khanmigo is amazing. It’s the GenAI-powered product from Khan Academy that helps students learn and teachers teach — and could revolutionize education. 

Khan Academy is used by 12 million students a month! And they’ve been an early adopter of GenAI. 

Khanmigo coaches students in math and English, helps teachers prepare lesson plans, enables parents to get help as they help their ch...

Kelsey Hightower is a legend. He regularly gives live software demos in front of tens of thousands of people, improvising them like it’s jazz. He’s a master storyteller and a master craftsman. He helped evangelize and establish Kubernetes and recently retired (at 42!) from Google where he was a distinguished engineer. 

Kelsey loves to level people up and in this conversation we discuss the power of innovation that happens after going from Zero to One. Or, as Kelsey puts it, “From Hello, World to Hello, Revenue” — and why those boring innovations show true grit and cr...

Colin Nederkoorn is the founder and CEO of Customer.io, a top customer engagement platform that enables companies to send the right message to the right user at the right time on the right channel. The platform is used by Notion and lots of other top SaaS companies to personalize user onboarding and more. 

When Customer.io was founded in 2011, there were analytics platforms and there were things you could do with that data, but as the mobile era was taking off – and user onboarding became even more critical – Colin recognized a need for companies to immediately send...

DevPost powers most of the world’s hackathons. And, according to founder and CEO Brandon Kessler, lately there is one overarching directive: “Executives from the top down are saying: `We need to do hackathons to uncover the value of ai.`” Nearly every one of the 1,200 hackathons DevPost powered last year was AI-centric. 

On this episode of CRAFTED., we explore why hackathons are still such a powerful tool, both as public competitions and as internal initiatives. And we hear the founding story of DevPost and why they pivoted from hosting public competitions of all kinds (cooking challenges with Michell...