Practical AI

How do we build trust in AI agents before the AI hailstorm arrives? Emil Lassen from the Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company (AIUC) joins the show to discuss how the enterprise flywheel of standards, certification, audit, and insurance is being applied to AI agents. They explore the AIUC-1 framework, the challenges of securing agentic AI systems, and why red teaming (based on standards) may be key to accelerating enterprise AI adoption.
Featuring:
Emil Lassen – LinkedIn 
Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X
Links: 
Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company
Sponsors:
Framer: The enterprise-grade website builder that lets your team ship faster. Get 30% off at framer.com/practicalai
Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai
Upcoming Events: 
Register for upcoming webinars here!
Midwest AI Summit 2026

As AI agents become more capable and autonomous, they also introduce new security challenges. In this 'Fully Connected' episode, Dan and Chris unpack Anthropic’s Zero Trust for AI Agents security framework and what it means for organizations deploying agentic systems. They examine the key security risks facing agentic systems and discuss how organizations can apply Zero Trust principles to deploy AI agents safely. Along the way, they break down practical security controls and discuss how traditional cybersecurity principles must evolve for the age of AI agents.
Featuring:
Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X
Links: 
Zero Trust for AI Agents
OWASP GenAI Project 
Sponsors:
Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai
Upcoming Events: 
Register for upcoming webinars here!
Midwest AI Summit 2026

AI models can win math olympiads… but still struggle to read an analog clock. In this fully connected episode, Dan and Chris break down the latest Stanford AI Index Report and explore what it reveals about the current state of AI. They discuss AI adoption and safety, disappearing junior tech jobs, robotics, AI’s “jagged frontier” of intelligence, and the growing race between the U.S. and China. Along the way, they debate whether AI should optimize everything, or if some things are better left human. 
Featuring:
Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X
Links:
The 2026 AI Index Report
Sponsors:
Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai
Upcoming Events: 
Register for upcoming webinars here!
Midwest AI Summit 2026

What happens when AI agents start acting less like chatbots and more like coworkers? In this episode, Dan and Chris sit down with Craig McLuckie, CEO of Stacklok to explore MCP, Kubernetes, ToolHive, enterprise AI, and the emerging infrastructure powering AI-native applications. From identity management to agent orchestration and system architecture, this conversation dives into how organizations may soon manage entire fleets of AI agents working behind the scenes.
Featuring:
Craig McLuckie – LinkedIn
Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X
Links:
Stacklok
Toolhive
Sponsors:
Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai
Upcoming Events: 
Register for upcoming webinars here!
Midwest AI Summit 2026

Open Source AI is entering a new era, one shaped by self-improving AI Agents, recursive learning systems, and rapidly evolving AI Tools that blur the line between software and autonomous collaborators. In this episode, Daniel and Chris sit down with Nous Research co-founder and CTO Jeffrey Quesnelle to explore Hermes Agent. Along the way, they discuss models vs. harnesses, the changing role of developers, and one of the biggest questions facing the AI Future: what remains uniquely human as AI capabilities continue to accelerate?
Featuring:
Jeffrey Quesnelle – Website, LinkedIn
Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X
Links:
Nous Research
Hermes Agent
Sponsors:
Framer: The enterprise-grade website builder that lets your team ship faster. Get 30% off at framer.com/practicalai
Prediction Guard: A self-hosted AI control plane for running agents in high impact environments. predictionguard.com/practicalai
Upcoming Events: 
Register for upcoming webinars here!
Midwest AI Summit 2026