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This week on Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias explore Wells Fargo’s virtual assistant “Fargo” and how it stacks up against Klarna’s AI tool from a year ago. With 250 million fully automated interactions and measurable impact on customer engagement and bias reduction, Fargo offers a powerful case study in applied AI. Amith reflects on what’s now possible for associations, why a narrow pilot project is a smart first move, and how “human in the loop” isn’t just a safety net—it’s strategic. The duo also breaks down Microsoft’s new Phi-4 reasoning models, which pack PhD-level performance into incredibly compact packages that can run on your phone. If you're wondering where the AI trend line is heading, this one’s for you.

🔎 Check out Sidecar's AI Learning Hub and get your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification:
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🎉 More from Today’s Sponsors:
CDS Global: https://www.cds-global.com/
VideoRequest: https://videorequest.io/

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Fargo ➡ https://sites.wf.com/fargo/
Klarna AI Assistant ➡ https://www.klarna.com
Microsoft Phi-4 Reasoning Models ➡ https://huggingface.co/microsoft

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction
03:47 - Meet Fargo: Wells Fargo’s AI Assistant
05:59 - Comparing Fargo with Klarna’s Assistant
08:57 - The State of AI Agents in Associations
13:05 - Event Support: A Smart Use Case for AI
15:00 - Human-in-the-Loop: Not Optional, But Essential
23:44 - Private AI: Local vs. Cloud Deployment
26:46 - Microsoft’s Phi-4 Models: Small and Mighty
32:50 - Why Small Models are a Big Deal
43:54 - AI Trendlines and the Future for Associations

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Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
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Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

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In this episode of Sidecar Sync, hosts Mallory Mejias and Amith Nagarajan take a deep dive into Model Context Protocol (MCP), a revolutionary standard making it dramatically easier for AI to interact with data, tools, and systems—no code required. Mallory shares her personal setup experience with Claude for desktop, walking through a live example of using MCP to automate file organization. Amith expands on why MCP is a game-changer for association leaders, how it enables business users to go from idea to execution quickly, and why data liberation is the missing piece for many organizations. The duo also breaks down new insights from Anthropic’s Economic Index, which reveals that AI is currently used far more for augmenting human effort than full automation. It’s an episode rich with practical insights, technical clarity, and a peek into the fast-arriving future of AI in the workplace.

🔎 Check out Sidecar's AI Learning Hub and get your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification:
https://learn.sidecar.ai

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecar.ai/ai

📅 Find out more digitalNow 2025 and register now:
https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai/

🎉 More from Today’s Sponsors:
CDS Global https://www.cds-global.com/
VideoRequest https://videorequest.io/

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
MCP Quickstart Guide ➡ https://modelcontextprotocol.io/quickstart/user
Claude for Desktop ➡ https://www.anthropic.com
Zapier ➡ https://zapier.com
Cursor ➡ https://www.cursor.so

Chapters:
00:00 - Welcome to Sidecar Sync and What’s Ahead
01:02 - Catching Up: Spring Break and Autonomous Driving
05:02 - What Is Model Context Protocol (MCP)?
07:06 - How MCP Works: Mallory’s Simple Explanation
08:11 - Step-by-Step: Setting Up Claude Desktop With MCP
12:42 - Live Demo: Moving Files Using Claude and MCP
18:01 - Why Associations Should Care About MCP
26:44 - MCP and the Role of AI Data Platforms
33:07 - What Is the Anthropic Economic Index?
35:59 - Key Findings: Augmentation Over Automation
39:34 - Amith on Real-World Automation Examples
44:46 - Vibe Coding: Cool Concept or Caution Zone?

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More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

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In this special episode of Sidecar Sync, we dive into the future of AI infrastructure with Ian Andrews, Chief Revenue Officer at Groq (that’s Groq with a Q!). Ian shares the story behind Groq’s rise, how their LPU chip challenges Nvidia’s dominance, and why fast, low-cost, high-quality inference is about to unlock entirely new categories of AI-powered applications. We talk about the human side of prompting, the evolving skillset needed to work with large language models, and what agents and reasoning models mean for the future of knowledge work. Plus, Ian shares how Groq uses AI internally, including an incredible story about an AI-generated RFP audit that caught things humans missed. Tune in for practical insights, forward-looking trends, and plenty of laughs along the way.

🔎 Find Out More About Ian Andrews and Groq:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianhandrews/
https://www.groq.com

🔎 Check out Sidecar's AI Learning Hub and get your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification:
https://learn.sidecar.ai

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecar.ai/ai

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https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai/

✨ Power Your Newsletter with AI Personalization at rasa.io:
https://rasa.io/products/campaigns/

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Superhuman ➡ https://superhuman.com
Groq Cloud ➡ https://www.groq.com
ChatGPT ➡ https://chat.openai.com
Claude (Anthropic) ➡ https://www.anthropic.com
Perplexity ➡ https://www.perplexity.ai

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction
02:10 - Meet Ian Andrews, CRO of Groq
05:48 - Ian’s Generative AI “Aha” Moment
10:30 - What Groq Is and What It Does
14:57 - The Launch and Growth of Groq Cloud
18:25 - What “High Quality Inference” Really Means
23:10 - Agents and Interns: Speed in Autonomous Work
29:26 - Use Cases: Finance, Legal, Customer Service
35:25 - Member Services Reimagined Through AI
39:06 - How Groq Uses AI Internally: Real Examples
53:23 - What’s Next for Groq in 2025 and Beyond

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More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

📣 Follow Mallory on Linkedin:
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In this vibrant and forward-thinking episode of Sidecar Sync, Mallory and Amith dive into the fun side of AI—exploring OpenAI’s new GPT-4o image generation capabilities, Hedra’s cartoon animation tech, and the jaw-dropping robotics work between Nvidia, Google DeepMind, and Disney. You’ll hear about Mallory’s creation of cartoon avatars of herself and Amith, animated with lifelike voices using Hedra and ElevenLabs, plus a lively discussion on how associations can use these tools for scalable content and member engagement. Plus, a look at how Disney’s droids and advanced physics engines are shaping the future of robotics far beyond entertainment.

🔎 Check out Sidecar's AI Learning Hub and get your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification:
https://learn.sidecar.ai

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecar.ai/ai

📅 Find out more digitalNow 2025 and register now:
https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai/

✨ Power Your Newsletter with AI Personalization at rasa.io:
https://rasa.io/products/campaigns/

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

ChatGPT-4o ➡ https://chat.openai.com
Hedra ➡ hhttps://www.hedra.com/
Nvidia Reveals Project GROOT and Disney Robots ➡ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51TYhPJ4zys
Amith’s AI Comic Strips ➡ https://shorturl.at/ItvQZ

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction
05:30 - GPT-4o Image Generation: Features and First Impressions
07:28 - Creating Comics and Infographics with GPT-4o
11:40 - What Makes GPT-4o Truly “Omni-Modal”?
12:53 - Animating Avatars with Hedra: Cartoon Hosts Go Live
17:09 - Clip Reveal: Cartoon Mallory and Amith Talk AI
27:43 - Disney, DeepMind & Nvidia’s Plan for Entertainment Robots
36:30 - Should Associations Start Prepping for AI Robotics?
40:35 - Advice for the Next Generation in the Age of AI

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👍 Please Like & Subscribe!
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More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

📣 Follow Mallory on Linkedin:
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In this thought-provoking episode of Sidecar Sync, Mallory and Amith dig into the fascinating world of semiconductors and how a historic joint venture between Intel and TSMC is reshaping the global tech landscape. They explore the underlying tensions between vertically integrated business models and specialization — a conversation that holds key lessons for association leaders navigating change in the age of AI. From reflections on the Innovation Hub Chicago event to an insightful breakdown of Llama 4’s powerful capabilities, this episode is a timely reminder that adaptability is everything — in both tech and associations.

🔎 Check out Sidecar's AI Learning Hub and get your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification:
https://learn.sidecar.ai

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecar.ai/ai

📅 Find out more digitalNow 2025 and register now:
https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai/

💡 Join Sidcar’s AI Mastermind Group:
https://sidecar.ai/association-ai-mastermind

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Llama 4 ➡ https://ai.meta.com/llama
GPT-4 ➡ https://openai.com
Claude 3.7 ➡ https://www.anthropic.com
Gemini 2.5 Pro ➡ https://deepmind.google/technologies/gemini
DeepSeek R1 ➡ https://deepseek.com
Aqcuired Podcast ➡ https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/tsmc
The Information (Article) ➡ https://shorturl.at/xymgG

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction to Sidecar Sync and This Week’s Topic
08:36 - Semiconductor Basics Explained: Fab vs. Fabless
10:20 - Intel and TSMC’s Joint Venture
16:08 - Lessons for Associations from Intel’s Journey
20:53 - Specialization vs. Integration in Association Work
26:41 - How AI Changes the Capacity to Do More
31:39 - LLaMA 4 Overview: Scout, Maverick, and Behemoth
34:29 - Multimodal Models and Mixture of Experts
40:47 - Why LLaMA 4’s Context Window Matters
45:03 - Open Source, Privacy, and Inference Provider Choices
49:48 - Final Thoughts

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👍 Please Like & Subscribe!
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More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

📣 Follow Mallory on Linkedin:
...

Send us a text

In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith and Mallory dive deep into two major AI model releases—Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro and DeepSeek’s V3—and explore how they’re reshaping the landscape of artificial intelligence. They discuss the technical breakthroughs, from million-token context windows to open-source innovations, and what it all means for association leaders. This is a jam-packed episode with strategic insights for the forward-thinking association exec.

🔎 Check out Sidecar's AI Learning Hub and get your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification:
https://learn.sidecar.ai

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecar.ai/ai

📅 Find out more digitalNow 2025 and register now:
https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai/

🚀 Find out more about the upcoming Blue Cypress Innovation Hub! https://bluecypress.io/innovation-hub-chicago

💡 Join Sidcar’s AI Mastermind Group:
https://sidecar.ai/association-ai-mastermind

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
GPT-4o ➡ https://openai.com
Gemini 2.5 Pro ➡ https://deepmind.google/technologies/gemini
DeepSeek-V3 ➡ https://huggingface.co/deepseek-ai
Midjourney ➡ https://www.midjourney.com
HeyGen ➡ https://www.heygen.com
Amith’s Comic Strip ➡ https://shorturl.at/2Khn5

Chapters:
00:00​ - Introduction
02:02​ - Catching Up: Innovation Hub in Washington DC
07:58​ - Gemini 2.5 Pro
15:58​ - Google’s Position and Counter-Positioning Strategy
20:57​ - Visual Breakthroughs in GPT-4o’s Image Generator
24:00​ - Small vs. Large Models
28:36​ - DeepSeek-V3 Release: What’s New and Different
33:29​ - Why Open Source Models Matter for Associations
38:04​ - The Impact of Lower AI Costs on Strategy
41:23​ - Dream Bigger: Breaking Constraints and Thinking Abundantly
44:48​ - Final Thoughts

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👍 Please Like & Subscribe!
https://x.com/sidecarglobal
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More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

📣 Follow Mallory on Linkedin:
...

Send us a text

In this milestone 75th episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith and Mallory return for part two of their deep dive into AI-enhanced member services. This second installment of AI-Enhanced Member Services shifts from ideas to action. Amith and Mallory focus on the infrastructure, mindset, and change management strategies needed to implement AI solutions within your association. You’ll hear clear advice on system integration, data platforms, and the human side of transformation—including how to reframe staff roles and build a culture of innovation. It’s a must-listen for association leaders ready to take the next step.

🔎 Check out Sidecar's AI Learning Hub and get your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification:
https://learn.sidecar.ai

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecar.ai/ai

📅 Find out more digitalNow 2025 and register now:
https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai/

🚀 Find out more about the upcoming Blue Cypress Innovation Hubs!
Washington, D.C.: https://bluecypress.io/innovation-hub-dc
Chicago: https://bluecypress.io/innovation-hub-chicago

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
ChatGPT ➡ https://openai.com/chatgpt
Google Gemini ➡ https://gemini.google

Chapters:
00:00 - Welcome to Episode 75 of Sidecar Sync
05:32 - The Three Building Blocks for AI Member Services
12:04 - In the Middle of an AMS Switch? Hit Pause
17:42 - Common Obstacles: The "Accounting" Mindset
20:44 - What to Automate First: Member Inquiries
22:05 - Change Management and the Leadership Imperative
28:32 - Culture Shifts: Asking “Why” and “Why Not?”
33:28 - Unlocking New Strategic Capacity with AI
37:45 - Culture Fit and Leading Through Transformation

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👍 Please Like & Subscribe!
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More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

📣 Follow Mallory on Linkedin:
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In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith and Mallory discuss the Manus AI Agent, a groundbreaking system that autonomously handles complex tasks like resume screening and real estate searches. They also explore the evolution of conversational AI with Sesame AI, which enhances digital interactions through natural speech. Amith shares insights from his keynote at AGRIP, an association leading the way in AI adoption, while Mallory demos an interactive AI voice assistant. Plus, they dive into how Sidecar is leveraging AI for automated learning content and more.

🔎 Check out Sidecar's AI Learning Hub and get your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification:
https://learn.sidecar.ai

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecar.ai/ai

📅 Find out more digitalNow 2025 and register now:
https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai/

🚀 Find out more about the upcoming Blue Cypress Innovation Hubs!
Washington, D.C.: https://bluecypress.io/innovation-hub-dc
Chicago: https://bluecypress.io/innovation-hub-chicago

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Member Junction ➡ https://memberjunction.org/
Betty AI ➡ https://meetbetty.ai/
Manus AI Agent ➡ https://manus.im/
Sesame AI ➡ https://sesame.com/research/crossing_the_uncanny_valley_of_voice
Claude 3.7 ➡ https://www.anthropic.com/
Eleven Labs ➡ https://elevenlabs.io
HeyGen ➡ https://www.heygen.com

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction to Sidecar Sync
02:01 - Amith’s Keynote at AGRIP & Las Vegas
10:51 - What is the Manus AI Agent?
16:31 - Models vs. Functionality
23:46 - AI Code Generation and the Future of Programming
33:03 - The Power of Conversational AI with Se

🚀 Follow Sidecar on LinkedIn
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👍 Please Like & Subscribe!
https://x.com/sidecarglobal
https://www.youtube.com/@SidecarSync
https://sidecar.ai/

More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

📣 Follow Mallory on Linkedin:
...