AI is rapidly transforming how software is built, shifting economic incentives from open source code and collaboration toward on-demand, personalized development through agentic coding a.k.a. vibe coding. In this episode, Chris speaks with Miklós Koren of Central European University about how AI is reshaping open source and the software industry. They explore the economics of incentives, evolving collaboration patterns, and what this shift means for software development, the future of AI, and its broader impact on the technology sector.

Featuring:

• Miklós Koren – LinkedIn
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X

Links:

• Vibe Coding Kills Open Source
• The Directions of Technical Change
• The Tailwind story

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!

What does “AI at the edge” really mean in 2026, and why does it matter now more than ever before? In this episode, we’re joined by Brandon Shibley, Edge AI Solutions Engineering Lead at Qualcomm’s Edge Impulse, to discuss the current state and future of Edge AI in 2026. We discuss Gen AI, Small Models, and Cascades of Models, along with real-world constraints like latency, power, and privacy. We also dive into the role of MLOps, evolving hardware, and how developers can start building practical edge AI systems today.

Featuring:

• Brandon Shibley – LinkedIn
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
• Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X

Links:

• Read our Ultimate Guide to Edge AI
• Download your copy of O'Reilly's AI at the Edge
• Check out the Edge Impulse blog
• Sign-up for an expert led trial of Edge Impulse

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!

What happens when an AI hater starts building with AI agents? In this episode, we talk with software engineer Steve Klabnik, known for his work on the Rust programming language, about his journey from criticizing AI to experimenting with it firsthand. We explore Steve’s programming language Rue, largely built with the help of AI tools like Claude, and discuss what this means for software engineering and the future of coding in an AI-driven world.

Featuring:

• Steve Klabnik – LinkedIn
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
• Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X

Links:

• The Rust Programming Language
• Rust
• Rue
• Daniel's RSA Meeting link for March 23, 2026
• Daniel's RSA Meeting link for March 24-25, 2026

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!

AI is reshaping global power, from chip manufacturing and computing power to AI governance and US-China relations. In this episode, Ben Buchanan, Assistant Professor at The Johns Hopkins University and former White House Special Advisor for AI, explores how AI policy, geopolitics, and international cooperation intersect with AI innovation and AI safety. We discuss the strategic importance of computing power, the future of AI governance, and what it will take for democracies to lead responsibly in the age of AI.

Featuring:

• Ben Buchanan – LinkedIn
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X

Links:

• The AI Grand Bargain

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!

As AI accelerates innovation and adoption, leaders are facing rising cognitive load, shifting systems, and new emotional realities inside their organizations. In this episode, Deloitte’s Chief Innovation Officer Deborah Golden joins us to explore how AI is reshaping leadership, why vulnerability and empathy are critical in this moment, and how anti-fragility, not just resilience, will define the future of work.

Featuring:

• Deborah Golden – LinkedIn
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
• Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X

Links:

• Deloitte

Sponsor:

• Framer - The website builder that turns your dot com from a formality into a tool for growth. Check it out at framer.com/PRACTICALAI

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!

AI is moving fast from research to real-world deployment, and when things go wrong, the consequences are no longer hypothetical. In this episode, Sean McGregor, co-founder of the AI Verification & Evaluation Research Institute and also the founder of the AI Incident Database, joins Chris and Dan to discuss AI safety, verification, evaluation, and auditing. They explore why benchmarks often fall short, what red-teaming at DEFCON reveals about machine learning risks, and how organizations can better assess and manage AI systems in practice.

Featuring:

• Sean McGregor– LinkedIn
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
• Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X

Links:

• AI Verification & Evaluation Research Institute
• AI Incident Database
• 38th convening of IAAI
• BenchRisk
• State of Global AI Incident Reporting

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!

AI agents are moving from demos to real workplaces, but what actually happens when they run a company? In this episode, journalist Evan Ratliff, host of Shell Game, joins Chris to discuss his immersive journalism experiment building a real startup staffed almost entirely by AI agents. They explore how AI agents behave as coworkers, how humans react when interacting with them, and where ethical and workplace boundaries begin to break down.

Featuring:

• Evan Ratliff – LinkedIn, X
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X

Links:

• Shell Game

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!

As AI increasingly shapes geopolitics, elections, and civic life, its impact on democracy is becoming impossible to ignore. In this episode, Daniel and Chris are joined by security expert Bruce Schneier to explore how AI and technology are transforming democracy, governance, and citizenship. Drawing from his book Rewiring Democracy, they explore real examples of AI in elections, legislation, courts, and public AI models, the risks of concentrated power, and how these tools can both strengthen and strain democratic systems worldwide.

Featuring:

• Bruce Schneier – X
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
• Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X

Links:

• Schneier on Security

Sponsors:

• Framer - The website builder that turns your dot com from a formality into a tool for growth. Check it out at framer.com/PRACTICALAI
• Zapier - The AI orchestration platform that puts AI to work across your company. Check it out at zapier.com/practical

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!