Diarra Bousso returns to Beyond the Prompt to share how she's reprogramming the fashion industry using AI, math, and a relentless spirit of experimentation. From selling AI-generated products before they exist to cutting out waste and wait times, she walks us through a radical new approach to design and operations.

She explains how her team uses scientific rigor to test marketing ideas, create on-demand collections, and rethink the traditional fashion calendar. Diarra also opens up about the origin of her experimental mindset, which began during a year of recovery after a life-changing accident, and how that philosophy now shapes her leadership.

The episode wraps with reflections on sustainability, mental health, and what it means to build a joyful, human-first company in the age of AI. Diarra shares how she’s using AI not just to scale her business, but to reclaim her time, and why her next venture might bring these tools to creators everywhere.

Key Takeaways

• Experimentation is the foundation
  Diarra treats her entire business as a lab. Every idea is a test, and her team is trained to think in hypotheses, measure results, and adapt quickly.
• AI enhances human creativity
  She sees AI as a creative partner, not a replacement. It helps her move faster, make smarter decisions, and focus on the parts of design that require real taste and vision.
• Sell before you build
  By testing AI-generated designs with customers before making anything, Diarra unlocks cash flow, cuts waste, and sidesteps the long timelines of traditional fashion.
• Sustainability starts with the founder
  Diarra applies the same mindset to her own life. She’s using AI to reclaim time, reduce burnout, and build a business that supports health as well as growth.

Website: diarrabousso.com
DIARRABLU: diarrablu.com

00:00 Intro: AI-Driven Fashion
00:13 Meet Diarra Bousso: Founder of DIARRABLU
01:43 The Power of Experimentation
02:00 A Life-Changing Accident and Recovery
04:40 Embracing a Culture of Experimentation
06:13 Scientific Approach to Business
09:48 Empowering the Team
15:03 AI in Fashion Design
18:36 Revolutionizing the Fashion Industry
28:09 Traditional vs. Digital Fashion Models
32:18 Embracing AI in Fashion Design
32:49 Collaborating with Retailers Using AI
35:06 AI's Role in Prototyping and Design
36:58 The Future of AI in Creative Industries
39:14 Navigating Resistance to AI
48:10 Operationalizing AI for Efficiency
52:18 Balancing Innovation and Personal Well-being
57:19 Debrief

📜 Read the transcript for this episode:

For more prompts, tips, and AI tools. Check out our website: https://www.beyondtheprompt.ai/ or follow Jeremy or Henrik on Linkedin:

Henrik: https://www.linkedin.com/in/werdelin
Jeremy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyutley

Show edited by Emma Cecilie Jensen.

In this teaser, Jeremy and Henrik debrief their conversation with Diarra Bousso, founder of the AI-first fashion startup DIARRABLU. They reflect on Diarra’s use of the word “yet” as a signal of growth, what it means to run a fashion brand more like a lab, and how her team “manages her back” when the ideas overflow. They also explore how AI is reshaping speed, sustainability, and experimentation in the fashion industry, and why your own lived experience might be your biggest asset in an AI-powered world.
Full episode dropping next week.

For more prompts, tips, and AI tools. Check out our website: https://www.beyondtheprompt.ai/ or follow Jeremy or Henrik on Linkedin:

Henrik: https://www.linkedin.com/in/werdelin
Jeremy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyutley

Show edited by Emma Cecilie Jensen.

In this episode, Illia Polosukhin joins Henrik and Jeremy to trace the origins of transformers and how practical constraints inside Google led to a breakthrough that reshaped modern AI. He explains why recurrent models were hitting limits, how parallel attention opened the door to scale, and why he believed a major jump in capability was imminent long before the rest of the world saw it.

The conversation then turns to the risks and responsibilities of today’s AI systems. Illia describes how models can be subtly guided to influence user opinions, why open weights are not the same as truly open models, and how hidden behaviors can be embedded during training. He explains why provenance and verifiable data pipelines matter, especially as AI begins mediating more of the information we rely on.

Later in the episode, Illia outlines how blockchain can support trust, identity, and coordination in a future where AI agents act on our behalf. He shares why information is becoming more valuable than money, how ownership of personal AI models will shape user agency, and why domain expertise becomes significantly more powerful when paired with modern generative tools.

Key Takeaways:

• Transformers emerged from practical constraints, not theory
  Illia explains that the shift from recurrent networks to attention was driven by speed and parallelization needs at Google, not a desire to invent a new paradigm.
• AI’s step change was foreseeable to early builders
  Illia expected a ChatGPT level breakthrough several years before it arrived, based on clear research signals and accelerating model performance.
• Provenance and trust will define the next phase of AI
  As AI systems can be subtly manipulated, Illia argues that verifiable data pipelines and transparent training processes are essential to prevent large scale misinformation.
• Ownership and identity matter in an agent driven world
  Illia believes individuals will soon rely on AI agents that act autonomously, making it critical that users own their models and that interactions between agents are secured and verified.

https://near.ai – NEAR AI Cloud and Private Chat products are now live, try them here
Illia's X: x.com/ilblackdragon
Illia's Substack: ilblackdragon.substack.com
NEAR X: x.com/nearprotocol

00:00 Intro: AI and Information Control
00:29 Meet Illia Polosukhin: Co-Author of 'Attention is All You Need'
01:03 The Evolution and Impact of AI
13:24 The Birth of Near AI and Blockchain Integration
15:16 Challenges and Innovations in Blockchain and AI
22:17 Privacy and Security in AI Applications
26:58 Exploring Sleeper Agents in AI
29:19 Practical AI Implementation in Teams
30:06 AI's Role in Product Development
31:41 Challenges and Future of AI in Development
36:35 AI and Economic Alignment
41:46 The Future of AI Agents
44:14 Debrief

📜 Read the transcript for this episode: Transcript of The Future Of AI With Illia Polosukhin: The Man Who Put The T In GPT |

For more prompts, tips, and AI tools. Check out our website: https://www.beyondtheprompt.ai/ or follow Jeremy or Henrik on Linkedin:

Henrik: https://www.linkedin.com/in/werdelin
Jeremy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyutley

Show edited by Emma Cecilie Jensen.