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PODCAST

Sidecar Sync

Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias

Welcome to Sidecar Sync: Your Weekly Dose of Innovation for Associations. Hosted by Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias, this podcast is your definitive source for the latest news, insights, and trends in the association world with a special emphasis on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its pivotal role in shaping the future. Each week, we delve into the most pressing topics, spotlighting the transformative role of emerging technologies and their profound impact on associations. With a commitment to

business non-profit

All Episodes

49:26

Exploring Interactive AI Simulations and World Models...

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/08/28

Send us a text Thomas Altman, co-founder of Tasio and Betty, joins Mallory Mejias for an electrifying deep dive into the future of AI through the lens of world models—AI systems that don’t just respond but simulate environments and predict outcomes. From Genie 3’s physics-aware interactive worlds to the transformative potential for associations in training, events, and strategy, this episode unpacks the profound shift from reactive AI to systems that “understand” the world. Thomas also shares...

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39:09

Rapid Fire AI Updates & The Coming Energy Reckoning | 96

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/08/21

Send us a text In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias tackle the latest developments in AI with a fast-paced series of updates—from Claude overtaking ChatGPT in the voice mode battle, to Google's shockingly tiny Gemma 3 model, to the rocky rollout of GPT-5 and what it teaches us about innovation at scale. Then, the duo zooms out for a big-picture look at AI’s massive and growing energy demands. Can AI keep advancing without breaking the grid? Enter neuromorphic co...

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49:13

GPT-5 Has Landed & OpenAI Opens Up | 95

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/08/14

Send us a text In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias dive into two groundbreaking releases from OpenAI: the long-awaited GPT-5 and the surprising return to open source with GPT-OSS. They unpack the shift toward simplified AI interaction, the implications of automatic model selection, and what GPT-5’s real-world performance means for power users. Then they explore how the new OSS models may radically reshape how associations build and deploy custom AI solutions. P...

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43:17

Semantic Health & the Future of Medical Coding with...

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/08/07

Send us a text In this episode of Sidecar Sync, co-hosts Mallory Mejias sits down with Dr. Nicola Sahar to explore how a University of Toronto med student dove head-first into clinical AI research and went on to found Semantic Health, an AI-powered medical coding platform later acquired by the American Academy of Professional Coders in 2023. They unpack the art and science of medical coding, discuss why AI will augment rather than replace coders, dive into the critical role of data privacy an...

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50:22

Mission-Driven Models, AGI on the Horizon, & the AI...

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/07/31

Send us a text In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Mallory Mejias and Amith Nagarajan cover a trio of urgent topics shaping the AI landscape. They kick off with Anthropic’s surprising rise to enterprise dominance—fueled not despite, but because of its safety-first approach. From there, the conversation heats up around accelerating predictions for artificial general intelligence (AGI), with some forecasting human-level AI by 2027. Finally, the hosts zoom out to tackle the hidden but massive infra...

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50:12

Physical AI: The Robot Takeover We Actually Want | 92

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/07/24

Send us a text Are we ready for a world where AI agents write our blogs and robots clean our homes? In this episode, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias dive deep into the rise of agentic AI and the future of robotics. They explore how digital workforces powered by open-source platforms like MemberJunction are already transforming productivity, especially in marketing. Then, they pivot to the physical world, breaking down NVIDIA’s fascinating vision of the “Physical Turing Test” and simulation...

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59:47

Next-Gen Knowledge: AI Education with Conor and Finn...

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/07/17

Send us a text In this heartwarming and enlightening episode, co-hosts Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias welcome the dynamic father-son duo, Conor and Finn Grennan, to discuss their journey teaching generative AI in Nepal. Connor, Chief AI Architect at NYU Stern, and his 16-year-old son Finn share stories of cultural resonance, the universal challenges of AI adoption in education, and how peer-to-peer learning can drive real change. From Kathmandu classrooms to critical thinking conundrums, ...

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41:17

Cloudflare vs. the Crawlers & The Nonprofit Tech...

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/07/10

Send us a text In this dog-dedicated episode of Sidecar Sync (Happy 12th to Ninja!), Mallory Mejias and Amith Nagarajan tackle two extremes of the nonprofit tech landscape. First, they dig into Cloudflare’s bold new default to block AI content scrapers—what it means for associations, the rise of pay-per-crawl, and whether blocking AI is smart strategy or short-sighted fear. Then, they shift gears to dissect a revealing Chronicle of Philanthropy survey on nonprofit tech adoption, where some or...

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52:46

Navigating AI Seas: Leadership, Lab, and Crowd | 89

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/07/03

Send us a text In this episode, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias dive into the world of AI agents, hackathons, and the secret cyborgs in your office. Fresh off a high-intensity AI agent-building retreat, Amith shares how association leaders—regardless of technical skill—can use open-source tools to build powerful, secure AI assistants. Then, the duo explores a framework by AI researcher Ethan Mollick to explain why organizations are lagging in AI gains despite skyrocketing individual produc...

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45:55

Adapt or Fade: Embracing the Adaptability Quotient...

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/06/26

Send us a text In this energizing interview, Mallory Mejias is joined by leadership legend John Spence to unpack the three essential quotients of leadership—IQ, EQ, and AQ (Adaptability Quotient)—and why AQ might be the most critical of all in today’s AI-driven world. With decades of global experience, John shares how leaders can foster resilience, embrace change, and build cultures that thrive in uncertainty. From AI pilot projects to emotional pulse checks, this episode is packed with pract...

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50:39

Emotions, Accents, and Avatars Galore & Why Apple...

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/06/19

Send us a text In this episode of Sidecar Sync, co-hosts Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias dive deep into the cutting edge of AI-generated audio and video. Mallory demos the stunning new ElevenLabs V3 voice engine and the lifelike hand gestures of HeyGen's Avatar 4, while Amith shares behind-the-scenes insights from a recent hackathon focused on building agentic software. The pair also unpack Apple’s eyebrow-raising research paper, “The Illusion of Thinking,” and debate whether AI models are...

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53:10

Online Learning Course Creation at 26x Speed

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/06/12

Send us a text In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Mallory Mejias sits down with Jason Marchese, Learning Content Specialist at Sidecar, to explore the exciting frontier of AI-generated interactive web apps. From solving everyday meal planning problems to analyzing U.S. migration trends, they demonstrate how anyone—even non-technical folks—can build useful tools using Claude and ChatGPT. The conversation then shifts to a groundbreaking internal project: the Learning Content Agent (LCA), a dynami...

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58:49

Generative Video Meets Deep Think at Google I/O &...

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/06/05

Send us a text In this electric episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias unpack the latest AI announcements from Google I/O and the highly anticipated Claude 4 release from Anthropic. They explore what Google's Deep Think means for AI reasoning, debate the creative and ethical implications of video generation tools like Veo 3 and Flow, and rave about Claude's new voice mode. Plus, they reflect on the seismic shift AI is bringing to content, coding, and SEO—alongside some AC...

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49:48

Breaking Math with Google’s AlphaEvolve | 84

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/05/29

Send us a text This week, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias dive deep into Google's groundbreaking AI breakthrough—AlphaEvolve. In their first-ever single-topic episode, the duo unpacks why this agent’s ability to autonomously invent and refine algorithms marks a pivotal moment in AI history. From shattering a 56-year-old math record to its potential to reshape how associations tackle "unsolvable" problems, Amith and Mallory explore what AlphaEvolve means for science, business, and the assoc...

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54:47

Snooze to Win: Why Digital Naptime Is AI’s Most...

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/05/22

Send us a text This week on Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias dive deep into two cutting-edge developments in the AI world. First up is the mind-bending concept of "sleep time compute"—how LLMs might learn and improve during their downtime, transforming into smarter, faster assistants overnight. Then, the duo breaks down OpenAI's $3 billion acquisition of Windsurf, the booming arena of AI coding tools, and what it means for developers and associations alike. From persistent mem...

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54:24

Getting Your Board on Board with AI | 82

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/05/15

Send us a text In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias take on one of the most pivotal—and often overlooked—challenges in association innovation: getting your board on board with AI. Drawing from Amith's personal boardroom experience and Mallory’s deep dive into board psychology, they break down how to navigate internal politics, craft compelling AI use cases, and turn skeptical board members into innovation allies. From emotional storytelling to small pilot wins, ...

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47:49

Fargo vs. Klarna & The Rise of Reasoning Models | 81

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/05/08

Send us a text This week on Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias explore Wells Fargo’s virtual assistant “Fargo” and how it stacks up against Klarna’s AI tool from a year ago. With 250 million fully automated interactions and measurable impact on customer engagement and bias reduction, Fargo offers a powerful case study in applied AI. Amith reflects on what’s now possible for associations, why a narrow pilot project is a smart first move, and how “human in the loop” isn’t just a s...

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53:44

Getting Hands-On with MCP & Anthropic’s AI Economic...

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/05/01

Send us a text In this episode of Sidecar Sync, hosts Mallory Mahias and Amith Nagarajan take a deep dive into Model Context Protocol (MCP), a revolutionary standard making it dramatically easier for AI to interact with data, tools, and systems—no code required. Mallory shares her personal setup experience with Claude for desktop, walking through a live example of using MCP to automate file organization. Amith expands on why MCP is a game-changer for association leaders, how it enables busine...

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57:07

Ian Andrews Talks Groq’s Fast, Smart AI Inference...

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/04/24

Send us a text In this special episode of Sidecar Sync, we dive into the future of AI infrastructure with Ian Andrews, Chief Revenue Officer at Groq (that’s Groq with a Q!). Ian shares the story behind Groq’s rise, how their LPU chip challenges Nvidia’s dominance, and why fast, low-cost, high-quality inference is about to unlock entirely new categories of AI-powered applications. We talk about the human side of prompting, the evolving skillset needed to work with large language models, and wh...

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45:09

Cartoon Avatars, Talking Robots, and AI That Draws | 78

Sidecar Sync ·

2025/04/17

Send us a text In this vibrant and forward-thinking episode of Sidecar Sync, Mallory and Amith dive into the fun side of AI—exploring OpenAI’s new GPT-4o image generation capabilities, Hedra’s cartoon animation tech, and the jaw-dropping robotics work between Nvidia, Google DeepMind, and Disney. You’ll hear about Mallory’s creation of cartoon avatars of herself and Amith, animated with lifelike voices using Hedra and ElevenLabs, plus a lively discussion on how associations can use these tools...

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117 results

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