The AI landscape shifted dramatically in 2025. Agents aren't just executing commands anymore—they're making decisions, coordinating tasks, and working alongside humans as true collaborators.

In this episode, Mac Goswami and Sam Dey break down what actually changed: expanded context windows, reasoning models that finally work, standardized tool use, and multi-agent frameworks ready for production. They also dig into what went wrong, the failures that taught the industry hard lessons about engineering and oversight.

Topics covered include the technical breakthroughs that made 2025 the inflection point for agent AI, real-world applications proving agents are production-ready, how to calibrate autonomy to match the stakes, single vs. multi-agent systems, framework maturity, cautionary tales from AI failures, and trends shaping 2026.

Key insight: Start simple. Decompose when needed. The future isn't AI replacing humans—it's human-agent collaboration done right.

Hosts: Mac Goswami and Sam Dey

Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asembleai

Is AI a job killer or a career catalyst? In this eye-opening episode, we dive deep into the seismic shifts happening in the tech employment landscape as artificial intelligence reshapes how we work, compete, and grow.

Our Guest: Tegan Bartos, executive recruiter and founder of https://www.joltyourcareer.today, brings her expert insights on the evolving job market, emerging roles, and what it really takes to thrive in an AI-augmented world.

What You'll Learn:

🔹 New Opportunities Amid Disruption – How AI is creating roles we never imagined while transforming existing ones

🔹 The Reskilling Imperative – Why continuous learning isn't optional anymore and how to stay ahead of the curve

🔹 Generational Dynamics – How different generations are adopting (or resisting) AI and what that means for workplace culture

🔹 Beyond the Layoff Headlines – The real story behind AI-attributed job cuts and what organizations are getting wrong

🔹 Career Ownership in the AI Era – How to articulate your value beyond technical skills and position yourself as irreplaceable

🔹 Innovation Through Collaboration – Why hackathons, cross-functional teams, and diverse leadership matter more than ever

This episode tackles the ultimate leadership challenge: achieving next-level performance across profit, people, AND purpose without trading one off against the others. How do you turn AI vision into daily execution? What's the minimum viable AI roadmap that delivers value in 90 days? And how do you coach teams through transformation while maintaining speed and accountability?

Guest:

Greg Mester, co-author of "The Change, Vol. 20" and upcoming author of "Get to the Next Level" (2025/26). As an experienced Agile Coach and Program Manager, Greg helps companies break through blockers and accelerate performance using proven PMP, Scrum, and Agile frameworks across IT, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and finance.

Key Takeaways:

• The minimum viable AI roadmap that produces value in 90 days

• Leadership behaviors that compound profit, people, and purpose

• Proven frameworks for stakeholder alignment and team coaching

• Weekly leading indicators that actually predict AI success

• Governance guardrails that enable speed without compromising safety

• Growth metrics that drive action and resist gaming

• SMB-specific strategies for rapid AI adoption and margin improvement

Perfect for:

Executive leaders driving AI transformation, mid-market and SMB owners, product leaders, marketers, operations professionals, and anyone ready to move from AI hype to measurable results.

Season 2 delivers battle-tested strategies from leaders getting real results. Subscribe for practical, implementation-focused frameworks you can apply immediately.