Can AI be your coach? Or even... your friend? One tech journalist explains how a 10-week experiment with AI turned into a relationship that changed everything.
This week on Lavin Voices, we talk to Lavin Exclusive Speaker Alexandra Samuel: tech journalist and AI workplace expert, contributor to The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review, and author of multiple books on workplace tech. She is also the creator of the new podcast "Me + Viv": a deeply personal exploration of her journey to build an AI coach, and what that taught her about humanity, technology, community, and even her own self. She's also a sought-after keynote speaker who helps audiences understand how to harness AI's potential while avoiding its pitfalls, showing leaders and teams how to use technology to strengthen (not replace) human connection.
In this episode, you'll learn:
In conversation with The Lavin Agency's Director of Intellectual Talent, Charles Yao, Alexandra answers these questions and more:
Learn more about Alexandra or book her as a keynote speaker: https://thelavinagency.com/speakers/alexandra-samuel/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=alexandra+samuel+lavin+voices
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for more big ideas: @TheLavinAgency
Listen to Me + Viv now: https://www.tvo.org/podcasts/me-plus-viv
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Credits:
Producers: Alethea Ng and Kshiteej Sawhney
Host: Charles Yao
Guest: Alexandra Samuel
“I've often been called the Black Mirror correspondent, because that's what this is,” says Jacob Ward. For seven years, Jake was the on-air technology correspondent for NBC News, covering the monumental rise of AI for millions of mainstream viewers of NBC Nightly News and The Today Show. His influential book, The Loop, is credited with being one of the first to predict the rise of commercial AI and ChatGPT before they became part of our everyday lives. In it, he makes a powerful argument for how AI is uniquely capable of preying on our psychological vulnerabilities—and how to make sure it doesn’t.
In this week’s episode of Lavin Voices, Jake helps host Charles Yao separate hype from reality at this fever pitch moment in AI, and he talks about why covering AI as a journalist is a “universal” beat, akin to democracy or capitalism. Jake also shows, from real-world examples, how it’s possible to regulate AI to ensure it has the widest possible benefits for all of society. “Where are the places in which we're using this technology to amplify the best parts of being human, the things that are really fragile and important about being human?” he asks. “And where are the places where we are using it to empower the least attractive qualities we have?”
In this episode, you’ll learn:
In conversation with The Lavin Agency’s Director of Intellectual Talent, Charles Yao, Jacob answers these questions and more:
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for more big ideas: @TheLavinAgency ------Credits:Producers: Alethea Ng and Kshiteej SawhneyHost: Charles YaoGuest: Jacob Ward
Work can be fun, says Bree Groff. In fact, work should be fun! And enjoying our workdays will make us not only more productive, but also more human.
This week on Lavin Voices, we talk to Lavin Exclusive Speaker Bree Groff. Bree is a workplace culture expert and author of Today Was Fun: A Book About Work (Seriously). A hotly in-demand consultant and keynote speaker, Bree has worked with organizations like Pfizer and Microsoft to transform how teams think about work, boosting productivity and happiness along the way. In her dynamic keynotes, Bree challenges audiences to rethink the "patently ridiculous" norms we've accepted about work culture and shows leaders how to create environments where people thrive. "I'm a human being with only so many days on the planet," Bree says. "It's worth making these days fun—for myself and my team."
In this episode, you'll learn:
In conversation with The Lavin Agency's Director of Intellectual Talent, Charles Yao, Bree answers these questions and more:
Can you have fun at work?
Can customer service be fun?
Should you really "do what you love"?
What's the first step to changing workplace culture?
How can you tell if your employees are happy?
Why should business leaders care about employee engagement?
How can AI help us be more human at work?
Learn more about Bree or book her as a keynote speaker: https://thelavinagency.com/speakers/bree-groff/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=bree+groff+lavin+voices
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for more big ideas: @TheLavinAgency
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Credits:
Producers: Alethea Ng and Kshiteej Sawhney
Host: Charles Yao
Guest: Bree Groff
"If you keep moving forward, things will get better." Nick Thompson is the CEO of the Atlantic and the former editor in chief of Wired; he's also an American record-holding distance runner.
In his new memoir, The Running Ground, Nick philosophizes on what running can teach us about life, work, resilience, confidence, commitment, focus, and good habits. "The effort is what you remember," he tells us. Also: "Discipline is cumulative." What does "talent" actually mean? How important is goal-setting? Nick talks to host Charles Yao about why showing up every day is the most important thing you can do. They also delve into how Nick's fascinating family history and hectic work schedule impact his running and vice versa. Success is not a mountain, he reminds us. It's a series of rolling peaks.
In this episode, you'll learn:
In conversation with The Lavin Agency's Director of Intellectual Talent, Charles Yao, Nick answers these questions and more:
Learn more about Nick or book him as a keynote speaker: https://thelavinagency.com/speakers/nick-thompson/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=nick+thompson+lavin+voices
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for more big ideas: @TheLavinAgency
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Credits:
Producers: Alethea Ng and Kshiteej Sawhney
Host: Charles Yao
Guest: Nick Thompson
When was the last time you played? Not just playing a video game or a sport, where the goal is to win, but just playing for play's sake?
This week on Lavin Voices, we talk to Lavin Exclusive Speaker Cas Holman. Cas is a world-renowned toy designer who's been featured on Netflix's award-winning series Abstract: The Art of Design. She's also the author of Playful (out today!), which reveals how play can boost creativity and collaboration, help us connect and recharge, and show us how to find fulfilment at work. Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat Pray Love) calls it "a radiant and essential book for our anxious age."
In this episode, you'll learn:
In conversation with The Lavin Agency's Director of Intellectual Talent, Charles Yao, Cas answers these questions and more:
Learn more about Cas or book her as a keynote speaker: https://thelavinagency.com/speakers/cas-holman/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=cas+holman+lavin+voices
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for more big ideas: @TheLavinAgency
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Credits:
Producers: Alethea Ng and Kshiteej Sawhney
Host: Charles Yao
Guest: Cas Holman
Every day, you play a game you don't even know you're playing. Daycare slots, good jobs, medical care, concert tickets: all these are allocated through a powerful phenomenon called "hidden markets." And by understanding their rules, you can make them work for you.
This week on Lavin Voices, we talk to Lavin Exclusive Speaker Judd Kessler. Judd is a Wharton professor who has spent two decades researching how hidden markets work and how to use them to your advantage. He's also the author of Lucky by Design, in which he offers a wealth of examples of everyday hidden markets, and offers a framework for identifying and succeeding in them. Annie Duke (Thinking in Bets) says that "Kessler reveals the hidden rules of the game, and arms you with the strategies you need to win them."
In this episode, you'll learn:
In conversation with The Lavin Agency's Director of Intellectual Talent, Charles Yao, Judd answers these questions and more:
Learn more about Judd or book him as a keynote speaker: https://thelavinagency.com/speakers/judd-kessler/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Video&utm_campaign=Lavin+Voices+Judd+Kessler
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for more big ideas: @TheLavinAgency
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Credits:
Producers: Alethea Ng and Kshiteej Sawhney
Host: Charles Yao
Guest: Judd Kessler
Bruce Lee rose to prominence at the same time as Asian America. And in doing so, he changed all of our lives.
This week on Lavin Voices, we talk to Lavin Exclusive Speaker Jeff Chang. Named "a preeminent chronicler of Asian American history" (Publishers Weekly), Jeff is a celebrated social historian whose powerful work on culture and history helps us better understand our country and ourselves.
In his new book, Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America, Jeff turns his eye to the story of this martial arts icon and how he shaped the America that we know today. He shows us why Bruce still matters today, and how his story continues to influence us now and into the future.
In this episode, you'll learn:
In conversation with The Lavin Agency's Director of Intellectual Talent, Charles Yao, Jeff answers these questions and more:
Learn more about Jeff or book him as a keynote speaker: https://thelavinagency.com/speakers/jeff-chang/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Video&utm_campaign=Lavin+Voices+Jeff+Chang
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for more big ideas: @TheLavinAgency
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Credits:
Producers: Alethea Ng and Kshiteej Sawhney
Host: Charles Yao
Guest: Jeff Chang
We only get 4000 weeks on this earth. Why are so many of us wasting them? This week on Lavin Voices, we talk to Lavin Exclusive Speaker Rutger Bregman. Named “one of Europe’s most prominent young thinkers” by TED, Rutger is a New York Times bestselling author whose books (Moral Ambition, Humankind, and Utopia for Realists) have sold over 2 million copies and been translated into 46 languages. He has shared the stage with Yuval Noah Harari, been interviewed by Jon Stewart, gone viral at the World Economic Forum conference at Davos, and given a TED Talk which TED curator Chris Anderson named one of the 10 best of the year. Rutger is a warm, passionate keynote speaker who argues that we need more than good intentions to change the world. We need "moral ambition": the idealism of an activist and the ambition of an entrepreneur. And he can show us how to muster both in order to make real change. In this episode, you'll learn:
In conversation with The Lavin Agency's founder and CEO, David Lavin, Rutger answers these questions and more:
Learn more about Rutger or book him as a keynote speaker: https://thelavinagency.com/speakers/rutger-bregman/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Video&utm…
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for more big ideas: @TheLavinAgency
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Credits:
Producers: Alethea Ng and Kshiteej Sawhney
Host: David Lavin
Guest: Rutger Bregman
The AI revolution will have consequences for our democracy. But there's still time to take the power into our own hands.
This week on Lavin Voices, we talk to Lavin Exclusive Speaker Karen Hao, author of Empire of AI and one of the 2025 TIME100 AI. As the first journalist to ever profile OpenAI, Karen is a long-time Silicon Valley insider who has spent years investigating the most consequential tech arms race in history. A passionate, hopeful speaker, Karen shows us how thoroughly AI will alter society, and what role we can all play in shaping AI so that it benefits everyone. “The way we develop technology is now fundamentally broken,” she says. “But I truly believe that we can fix it.”
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In this episode, you'll learn:
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Learn more about Karen or book her as a keynote speaker: https://thelavinagency.com/speakers/karen-hao/
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for more big ideas: @TheLavinAgency
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Credits:
Producers: Alethea Ng and Kshiteej Sawhney
Host: Charles Yao
Guest: Karen Hao
The robots are coming… and they can’t get here soon enough.
This week on Lavin Voices, we talk to Lavin Exclusive Speaker Hans Peter Brondmo. As the founder of Everyday Robots at Google, Hans Peter has spent decades helping to make AI-powered robots that will tackle our biggest societal problems and free us up to find more purpose, serve our communities, and, ultimately, be more human. A thoughtful, clear-eyed leader and speaker, Hans Peter shows us how we can all flourish in a future where AI helps us rethink purpose and fulfillment. “We want to take all the robotic stuff and give it to the robots—and allow for us humans to be more human,” he says.
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In this episode, you’ll learn:
Learn more about Hans Peter or book him as a keynote speaker: https://thelavinagency.com/speakers/hans-peter-brondmo/
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Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for more big ideas: @TheLavinAgency
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Credits:
Producers: Alethea Ng and Kshiteej Sawhney
Host: Charles Yao
Guest: Hans Peter Brondmo