Future Around & Find Out

So what even is “real” software anyway? Someone builds an app over the weekend. It works. It looks good. And then the search begins — for the asterisk. Security? Design quality? Can it go to production? Paul Ford says we’re in a new era: "I can't believe it's not software!" Paul is the co-founder of Aboard, where he helps organizations build custom software quickly, using AI tools. He's also one of my favorite tech writers. You may know him from "What Is Code," the opus he wrote for Bloomberg Businessweek a decade ago or from his writing in the New York Times, including his recent opinion piece, The A.I. Disruption We’ve Been Waiting for Has Arrived. Or perhaps you’re hip to Ftrain, where he’s been writing for longer than we’ve had the word “blog.” In this conversation, recorded at Aboard’s podcast studio (Paul and his cofounder also host a great show), we dig into the strange new world where roles are colliding, software* gets built quickly, and no one is quite sure what to teach their kids.We get into:What Paul calls "the great search for the asterisk" — the moment someone demos an app and everyone scrambles to find the catchHow the power dynamic between engineers and everyone else is fundamentally shifting — and why that's both liberating and destabilizingWhy vibe coded prototypes are changing how agencies pitch and price their work — and why pricing is "very unresolved"The skills that actually matter now: client communication, systems thinking, and depth over velocityWhy "the environmental costs [of AI] have become essentially a truthful folk narrative to talk about how difficult and scary and painful it is to see your life get continually smashed into bits."What he's teaching his kids (hint: it's not to code)Chapters:(01:40) - “We’re in a funny moment now” – catching up on the ten years since “What Is Code?” (05:30) - “ You gotta stop fighting” - AI code is genuinely useful, caveats and all (08:44) - AI enables people who could never afford custom software to have it (09:50) - Why he knew he’d get yelled at for his recent piece in the NYTimes (13:00) - “AI washing” and job cuts (14:50) - Paul’s theory for why the market oscillates so wildly on AI news + are we going to vibe code our own DoorDash? (17:00) - What’s the hardest thing about building with AI right now? (19:36) - Hiring, the most in-demand skills, and “forward-deployed engineers” (27:50) - “Product is still hard” – in response to: “What is something that AI will never be great at?” (31:36) - “What is something that sounds like science fiction, but that will soon be real — and commonplace?” (32:46) - Why Paul is excited about world models (and thinks LLM’s are topping out) (36:06) - Why environmental concerns have become a “truthful folk narrative about how difficult and scary” AI is (39:26) - There is no magic solution for climate (but one positive thing AI can do is help digest climate data) (41:26) - Why kids should learn systems thinking Support Future Around & Find OutGet the free newsletterBecome a paid subscriber and help future proof this thing!Sponsor the show? Are you looking to reach an audience of senior technologists and decision-makers? Email me: [email protected]

Hey everyone... so, in case you haven't heard... this show, Future Around & Find Out, has been nominated for a Webby for best tech podcast! *** VOTE HERE: https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/shows/technology ***I was kind of being chill about this. I am, admittedly, not my own best hype man, but then I got riled up when I heard the hosts of The Vergecast, one of the other nominees and last year's winner, complain that they weren't winning by enough votes and that they wanted to win by such a large margin that it -- quote -- hurts everyone's feelings. Well, those are my feelings Nilay Patel was talking about! Look, I like the Verge -- and I definitely didn't have them on my list of people I might feud with this years -- but f* those guys! Let's win this thing!So could you please vote? Today, April 16th is the last day to do so and we're currently just behind, in second place. The link to vote is in the show notes. You can also find it on the show's website at Future Around dot comAnd what is it you're voting for? Well, if you've been listening then you already know what this show is all about, but I also thought for newbies and even for long time listeners, it might be fun for you to hear exactly what the Webby judges listened to when they voted for FAFO to be a best tech podcast nominee. They ask for ten minutes of audio, so I made a highlight reel — and here it is.*** VOTE HERE: https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/shows/technology ***

We live in a world where every crisis lands in your pocket the moment it happens. The result? We're more informed than ever — and somehow less capable of doing anything about it.Inventor and investor Pablos Holman has a diagnosis: we're spreading ourselves across every problem, which means we're solving none of them. His prescription is uncomfortable — pick one thing, go all in, and cut the noise.***QUICK PLUG: Future Around & Find Out is nominated for a Webby for best tech podcast! Voting is open now for the People's Choice Award. Please vote before April 16th! https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/shows/technology***Pablos is the co-founder of Deep Futures, where he hunts for inventors tackling world-scale problems: energy, water, food, waste, transportation. Not apps. Atoms. And thanks to advances in AI and software, these "impossible" problems are more solvable than ever — if the right people show up to back them.In this conversation, recorded at the fabulous PopTech conference, he makes the case that inventors are the most important creative class on earth — and the most invisible. They're undersupported, uncelebrated, and working alone in garages. Some of them are probably going to blow themselves up. Those are exactly the people he's looking for.We get into:Why doomscrolling is literally eroding your ability to make a differenceThe difference between craft (optimization) and creation (zero-to-one) — and why AI is great at one and struggling with the otherWhy you can name 100 musicians but fewer than two living inventorsHow solving energy unlocks clean water, sanitation, and climate — essentially for freeWhy software people are uniquely positioned to work on the hardest problems in the world right nowChapters:(01:15) - Why the world isn't as broken as your newsfeed makes it seem (03:00) - The sticky note exercise: how to pick the one problem worth your time (04:30) - Inventors are the most important creative class nobody talks about (07:00) - Living inventors you should actually know (09:00) - What AI is good at — and what it still can't do (12:30) - Why software people are the right ones to tackle deep tech problems (22:56) - Energy is the root problem — solve it and you solve a lot else (25:56) - Climate change needs a thousand solutions, not one big fix (28:26) - The fashion industry's dirty secret and what robots can do about it Links & ResourcesPablos Holman on LinkedInDeep Future: VC firm, book, and podcastSupport Future Around & Find OutFAFO is nominated for a Webby for best tech podcast! Vote now! Get the free newsletterAnd consider becoming a paid subscriber and help future proof this thing!Sponsor the show? Are you looking to reach an audience of senior technologists and decision-makers? Email me: [email protected]'s first appearance on the show covers his work at Blue Origin and Intellectual Ventures. Scroll in your podcast app to July 2025 to find that fun conversation. (Can listen before or after this one; not a prerequisite.) 

Hey, great news! We’ve been nominated by the Webby Awards for best tech podcast! Voting is open now and we’re in second place for the popular choice prize. Just behind The Verge. They really don’t need this win, but it would really help this show grow. Would you please (ask a friend to) vote for Future Around & Find Out? *** VOTE FOR FAFO ***OK, here’s this week’s FAFO Friday… (we record on Fridays and the show has Friday/weekend vibes, so just go with it no matter what day of the week it is :) This week, Kwaku and I…Gape at the moon in wonderAsk why we sent humans on this mission when space robots could’ve done the job (related: why climb Mount Everest?) Marvel at Anthropic’s new Mythos model, which they say is remarkably good at finding flaws in the world’s critical software — or is this just another example of their marketing savvy? — or both!?Dig into AI world models and Jeff Bezos’s (modestly named) Project PrometheusAsk whether we want robots in our houses (yes, but only if they’re dumb)Keep FAFO weird (because in the age of AI that’s how you prove you’re human)*** VOTE FOR FAFO ***

Future Around & Find Out is a best technology podcast nominee! And with your help it could be a winner. The Webby Awards voting is open now. Please vote for FAFO! Thanks to AI, “content is about to become infinite.” And just like the Internet disrupted distribution, AI is disrupting creation. And so when anyone, anywhere can create content, what’s left? What’s defensible? That would be trust and humanity. Live from Podcast Movement Evolutions at SXSW, I sit down with Jim Louderback — former VidCon CEO, Inside the Creator Economy newsletter writer, and media veteran — to unpack what's actually changing and what builders and creators should do about it.We get into why the "age of perfection" is over, why founders need a meme instead of an elevator pitch, and why putting a creator on your cap table might be the smartest move a startup can make. Jim makes the case for a trust economy where views and likes are meaningless — and where the real question is how far your trust graph extends. We also talk digital twins (and what happens when yours goes rogue), why events are still the best way to prove you're human, the state of journalism and public media, and why 2004’s “Subservient Chicken” was so ahead of its time. Chapters:(01:30) - How AI disrupts creation (03:50) - The number of creators is about to double to 500 million (06:45) - We’ll have “certified human” labels, just like “organic” and why the Subservient Chicken was so far ahead of its time (08:40) - The age of perfection is over (10:00) - The only thing that matters is trust (12:00) - Events, FTW! (13:45) - The elements of a great event are timeless (18:11) - Favorite moments from SXSW (21:56) - What’s your meme? > What’s your elevator pitch? (23:28) - Put a creator on the cap table (27:21) - Creator-community fit (29:38) - The challenges of being a journalist today (32:26) - Create your own digital twin (36:26) - Why John Green’s jaw dropped when he learned of Dan’s grandma ---Future Around & Find OutVote for FAFO to be a Webby Awards winner!Get the newsletter Sponsor the show? Want to share your message with senior technologists? Email Dan: [email protected]