What happens when your company gets hit by a cyberattack?

In this eye-opening episode, attorney Joshua Cook reveals why cybersecurity isn’t an IT problem but a leadership challenge. After two decades fighting fraud and managing crisis response, Cook has seen every digital disaster imaginable — and he’s here to explain how to build true cyber resilience.

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Josh breaks down how AI has democratized cybercrime, why phishing scams have become nearly impossible to spot, and how every CEO should create an incident response plan before chaos hits. He also explains why planning matters more than the plan itself — and how leaders can keep their teams calm when everything goes wrong.

💡 You’ll learn:

- How AI is fueling new waves of fraud and misinformation

- Why leadership and communication are the real firewalls of business

- How to train teams and run tabletop exercises before the crisis

- What Maersk and Colonial Pipeline taught the world about transparency

- Why companies with a plan lose 60 % less money in an attack

Prepare, breathe, and lead — because it’s not if you’ll be hacked, but when.

👀 Quotes from the Episode

“Cybersecurity isn’t an IT issue. It’s a business problem, and it needs a business solution.”

“AI has democratized cybercrime — you don’t need to be a hacker anymore, just willing to commit a crime.”

“A plan might be useless, but planning is indispensable — that’s what makes companies resilient.”

🧾 Chapters

00:00 Welcome & Introduction – Meet Joshua Cook

02:00 How a Fraud Attorney Ended Up Fighting Cybercrime

05:00 AI Has Made Cybercrime Easier (and Smarter)

08:00 The Elderly Are the New Prime Targets

11:00 From Fake Law Firms to Real Scams – True Cases from the Field

15:00 Turning the Tables: How AI Can Defend, Not Just Attack

18:00 Cyber Resilience by Design – Why Leadership Matters

22:00 When Crisis Hits: Lessons from Maersk and Colonial Pipeline

27:00 Preparing the Team – How Training Prevents Chaos

31:00 It’s Not If, It’s When – The Power of an Incident Response Plan

35:00 Planning vs. Panicking – Eisenhower and the Art of Cyber Preparation

38:00 Why Calm Leaders Win in Cyber Crises

41:00 How Joshua Cook Uses AI Safely in Legal Practice

44:00 No, the Terminator Isn’t Coming (But AI Might Take Your Job)

47:00 Final Thoughts – Cybersecurity as a Business Superpower

🔗 Where to Find the Guest

- Joshua Cook on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jnc2000

- Josh's Book "Cyber Resilience by Design" – available wherever books are sold, e.g. on Amazon

- Prince Lobel Tye LLP: princelobel.com

🎧 About Dietmar Fischer:

Economist, digital marketer, and podcaster exploring how AI reshapes decision-making, leadership, and creative work. Want to connect with me? You'll find me on LinkedIn!

🎵 Music credit: “Modern Situations” by Unicorn Heads

AI at Work — Partner, Not Boss! with Professor GePhardT

Artificial intelligence is joining the workforce—but should it be your boss? In this witty, insightful episode, Professor GePhardT breaks down the Workday AI research showing that while 75% of employees are happy to work with AI, only 30% would let it manage them.

📧💌📧Tune in to get my thoughts and all episodes—don’t forget to ⁠subscribe to our Newsletter⁠: ⁠beginnersguide.nl⁠📧💌📧

Through sharp insights, storytelling, and yes—even cake metaphors—you’ll learn how to create clear AI boundaries, foster trust, and harness human-AI collaboration without losing what makes us human.

📚 Key Highlights:

• How to make AI your colleague, not your commander.

• What “AI optimism” really means.

• Why transparency is essential for responsible AI adoption.

• Practical steps for mapping your AI boundaries at work.

  
  

💬 Quotes from the Episode:

“People don’t fear AI—they fear losing control.”
“AI can follow recipes, but only humans can taste the cake.”
“The best workplaces won’t be run by machines—they’ll be led by humans who know how to work with them.”

⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to “AI at Work: Partner, Not Boss!”
02:15 Why AI Should Collaborate, Not Command
06:48 The Layers of AI at Work—Assistant, Advisor, Actor
11:10 The Cake Example: Baking Boundaries with Bots
14:00 Workday’s Research on AI Agents in the Workplace
19:25 The Secret to AI Optimism—Boundaries and Transparency
24:00 Interactive Challenge: Mapping Your AI Boundaries
27:30 Recap and Final Thoughts
29:10 Sign-Off and Quote by Karen Spärck Jones

👤 About Dietmar Fischer:
Dietmar is a Berlin-based podcaster and AI marketer behind A Beginner’s Guide to AI and Argo.berlin. He helps companies understand and apply AI in marketing and leadership with clarity and creativity.

🌐 Where to find the research base of the episode:
- Workday.com: Setting Boundaries
- Workday.com: Don't Call Them Boss

🎵 Music Credit: “Modern Situations” by Unicorn Heads 🎵

Step into a mind-bending conversation as futurist and philosopher Anders Indset joins the podcast to explore what happens when humans race to create superintelligent machines.

Anders dives deep into the paradoxes at the heart of the technological singularity, asking: Are we on the verge of building our own gods?

What does it truly mean to be human in an era where AI can rival—or surpass—our own creativity, empathy, and consciousness?

From the risks of "zombification" to the idea of "artificial human intelligence," Anders brings unique insights, humor, and fresh thinking to one of the biggest questions of our age.

We tackle everything from collective memory, ethics, and the simulation hypothesis to the fundamental question: Should we do it, just because we can?

Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction & Anders Inset’s journey into AI
03:45 – What is the singularity paradox?
09:12 – Can we create our own gods?
15:30 – The creative paradox: are humans still unique?
21:50 – Artificial human intelligence explained
29:10 – The risks of AI “zombification”
36:15 – Building ethical AI strategies
43:30 – Will we lose our individuality?
50:00 – How business leaders can future-proof their organizations
57:25 – Where to find Anders Inset and resources

Learn more about Anders Indset’s work and connect:
🔗 Website: andersindset.com

📖 Book: singularityparadox.com

🧑‍🦰 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/andersinset

📸 Instagram: instagram.com/andersindset

Tune in to get my thoughts, don’t forget to subscribe to our Newsletter!

Music credit: "Modern Situations" by Unicorn Heads

Unlock the power of AI for business productivity in this episode of Beginner’s Guide to AI. AI expert and Notion Lead BI Engineer Sumit Gupta shares practical strategies, real examples, and a human perspective on integrating artificial intelligence into your workflow.

Discover how business leaders can use AI to automate repetitive tasks, boost decision-making, and stay ahead in a fast-evolving market. Sumit discusses the difference between data and AI, must-have AI tools, and why keeping your critical thinking skills sharp matters more than ever. Whether you’re new to AI or seeking the next step for your business, this episode delivers actionable insights tailored for professionals.

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Tune in to get my thoughts and all episodes — don’t forget to subscribe to our Newsletter 👉 ⁠⁠⁠beginnersguide.nl⁠⁠

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Key Take-Aways:

• Clear difference between data and AI for business leaders
• How to automate social media content strategy with AI
• The must-have AI tools every professional should know
• Real-world risks of over-relying on AI in your work
• How to stay ahead in the global AI race (US, UK, India)
• Human stories: Using AI for personal creativity and impact

Quotes:

• "AI without data is like a skeleton without meat."

• "Use AI to automate the repetitive—don’t let it take over your thinking."

Chapters:
00:00 – Intro & Sumit Gupta’s AI journey
03:45 – Why AI? Productivity & learning
08:10 – Data vs AI: Real business differences
12:20 – Automating workflows: Tools & examples
19:05 – Social media content strategy with AI
25:50 – Avoiding the “dumbing down” trap
31:15 – India, US, and the global AI race
37:00 – Human creativity in an AI world
41:30 – Sumit’s book and Tableau explained
47:05 – Final thoughts & how to connect

Want to connect with Sumit?

Follow him on Instagram at @databysumit for practical data and AI tips, or connect with him on LinkedIn. For collaboration or questions, just reach out to him!

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Music credit: "Modern Situations" by Unicorn Heads

Can technology make us more human?
In this episode, author, entrepreneur and AI thinker Faisal Hoque unpacks his new book Transcend: Unlocking Humanity in the Age of AI.

From his OPEN and CARE frameworks to the idea of a true human-centric AI, Faisal shows leaders how to balance innovation with risk—and why optimism is non-negotiable.

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Tune in to get my thoughts and all episodes — don’t forget to subscribe to our Newsletter 👉 ⁠⁠beginnersguide.nl⁠

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💡 Episode Highlights

• How a cancer-survivor story sparked Faisal’s AI research journey

• The OPEN framework (Outline, Partner, Experiment, Navigate) for rapid but responsible adoption

• The CARE framework and why “Catastrophize” isn’t pessimistic—it’s protection

• “AI as partner” vs. “AI as tool” and the ethics of digital twins

• Small bets, quick experiments and building an innovation portfolio

• Debunking Terminator & Matrix fears with real-world guardrails

  
  

👀 Quotes from the Episode

“We have to be radically optimistic—otherwise the human species ends.”
“AI isn’t just another tool; it’s a partner that forces us to decide what part of our humanity we want to keep.”

🧾 Chapters
00:00 Welcome & Faisal’s Personal Story
05:12 Why “Transcend” – The Human-Centric Promise of AI
14:40 Demystifying the OPEN Framework
24:05 CARE: Catastrophize, Assess, Regulate, Exit
34:18 Partnering with AI vs. Replacing Humans
42:30 Risks, Terminator Myths & Real-World Guardrails
49:55 Practical Next Steps for Businesses
55:10 Where to Find Faisal + Closing Thoughts

Where to Find the Faisal Hoque:

• You can start with his website: https://faisalhoque.com

• Or just follow him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faisalhoque/

• Get a good read, all the links to Transcend are on the book's website: https://nextchapter.org/transcend/

  
  

Music credit: "Modern Situations" by Unicorn Heads

Will AI Replace Marketers? Not If You Become a Centaur.

What happens when humans and AI stop competing and start collaborating? Professor GePhardT calls it Centaur Marketing — the future of creative strategy. In this lively episode of A Beginner’s Guide to AI, we explore how empathy meets algorithms and why brands like L’Oréal and Sephora are thriving thanks to human-AI teamwork.

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Learn how to brief AI tools like a pro, how to build your own hybrid workflow, and why the marketers who master this balance will shape the next era of advertising.

💬 Quotes from the Episode
➡️ “AI doesn’t replace creativity; it multiplies it.”
➡️ “The best marketers aren’t scared of AI; they’re the ones training it.”
➡️ “Centaur Marketing is about keeping the human steering the machine.”

⏱️ Chapters
00:00 Hook: Humans & Machines
00:00:32 Promo: AI for the 99%
00:01:23 Introduction: AI Joins Your Team
00:03:50 Main Concept: Centaur Marketing
00:05:58 Under the Hood: Prediction, Not “Thinking”
00:07:56 The Centaur Loop: Brief → Generate → Test → Learn
00:09:21 Call to Action: Newsletter
00:09:53 Case Study: L’Oréal & Sephora
00:12:38 Interactive: Build Your Centaur Workflow
00:14:18 Recap: Humans with Algorithms
00:15:33 Sign-off: The Centaur’s Creed
00:18:47 Promo: AI for the 99% (Again)

🎵 Music credit: "Modern Situations" by Unicorn Heads

Engineering the Future of AI with Chirag Agrawal: Context, Memory and Coordination

Artificial Intelligence isn’t just getting smarter—it’s learning to coordinate. In this episode, Chirag Agrawal joins Dietmar Fischer to unpack how modern AI agents handle context, memory, and decision-making inside complex multi-agent systems. Together they explore how engineering, orchestration, and memory-sharing shape the next generation of AI architecture.

📧💌📧Tune in to get my thoughts and all episodes—don’t forget to ⁠⁠subscribe to our Newsletter⁠⁠: ⁠beginnersguide.nl⁠📧💌📧

You’ll hear how Chirag’s fascination with search led him to build early prototypes of intelligent assistants, and how today’s LLM agents extend that idea far beyond simple queries. He explains why AI isn’t one giant super-brain but a constellation of specialized agents—each performing specific tasks with shared or isolated memory—and how this design mirrors human collaboration.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Why AI orchestration and context management are crucial for scalable systems

• The trade-offs between shared memory and independent agents

• What engineers mean by the ReAct Loop—reasoning and acting in tandem

• How multi-agent coordination is reshaping industries from healthcare to compliance

• Why the “AI supercomputer” myth ignores practical limits of context windows

  
  

• 💬 Quotes from the Episode

  1. “AI is just a higher form of search—it’s about finding the right action, not just information.”

  2. “Agents behave inhuman until you engineer context for them.”

  3. “Specialization in AI works the same way it does for people—each agent should do one thing really well.”

  4. “Coordination isn’t magic; it’s careful engineering.”

  5. “Context makes intelligence usable.”

  6. “A well-defined agent doesn’t need to do everything—it needs to do its one job perfectly.”

  
  

  
  

  ⏱️ Podcast Chapters

  00:00 Welcome and Introduction

  01:45 Chirag Agrawal’s Early Fascination with Search and AI

  04:40 From Search Engines to “Find” Engines – How AI Takes Action

  07:10 The Rise of AI Agents and Multi-Agent Systems

  10:15 Why AI Agents Sometimes Behave “Inhuman”

  13:30 Context, Memory, and Coordination: The Core Engineering Challenges

  18:00 Shared vs. Isolated Memory – The Hive Mind Dilemma

  22:30 Why We Need Many Agents, Not One Super-Computer

  27:00 How the ReAct Loop Helps Agents Think and Act

  30:40 Industries Adopting AI Agents: Compliance, Medicine, and Law

  34:30 When AI Goes Off-Road – The Limits of Coordination

  37:15 Building Responsible, Constrained Agents

  40:10 The Future of AI and Why the Terminator Scenario Won’t Happen

  42:20 Where to Find Chirag Agrawal & Closing Thoughts

  
  

  
  

  🌐 Where to Find the Chirag Agrawal

• • LinkedIn 🧑🏽‍🦱 linkedin.com/in/chirag-agrawal
  • Website ➡️ ⁠chiraga.io⁠
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  🎵 Music credit: “Modern Situations” by Unicorn Heads

The Future of Mental Health: AI Meets the Human Brain with Katarina Maloney

What if an AI could scan your brain and help eliminate depression in weeks? In this episode, Dietmar Fischer talks with Katarina Maloney, founder of IQMind.ai, about how AI in healthcare is changing the way we understand and treat the mind.

📧💌📧Tune in to get my thoughts and all episodes—don’t forget to subscribe to our Newsletter: ⁠beginnersguide.nl⁠📧💌📧

Katarina reveals how AI diagnostics and non-invasive brain treatments are transforming mental health—from PTSD and ADHD to athlete performance optimization.

✨ Highlights:

• The future of personalized brain health

• How AI diagnostics speed up treatment and accuracy

• Why brain energy and electricity matter more than chemistry

• Insights into neurofeedback, biofeedback, and real-world healing

  
  

🧠 Quotes from the Episode:

• “Our mission is to make brain health measurable, trackable, and fixable.”

• “AI is a tool—it saves lives because it diagnoses faster and more precisely.”

• “The old model of trial-and-error medicine is behind us.”

  
  

🎧 Chapters:
[00:00] Welcome & Introduction
[02:15] What AI Does to the Human Brain
[05:20] Diagnosing Depression and PTSD with AI
[10:10] The Science Behind Brainwave Training
[16:45] From Trial-and-Error Medicine to Personalized Brain Health
[21:50] How IQMind.ai Uses AI for Diagnostics
[28:00] Non-Invasive Treatments and Real-Life Results
[33:40] Peak Performance and Brain Optimization for Athletes
[38:20] Data Privacy and Ethical Concerns in Brain Tech
[43:50] The Future of AI in Healthcare and Human Potential

🌐 Where to find Katarina:
Website: IQMind.ai
LinkedIn: Katarina Maloney

🎵 Music credit: "Modern Situations" by Unicorn Heads