In this MINDWORKS Mini, Drs. Svitlana Volkova and Robert McCormack share with Daniel Serfaty how early fascinations became lifelong work in artificial intelligence. They describe how formative experiences, from math and optimization to philosophy and logic, sparked their interest and shaped their careers. This conversation highlights the power of cross-disciplinary thinking and the human perspective that continue to guide their work in building intelligent systems and advancing human–AI collaboration.