An Hour of Innovation: AI, Product, Tech and Career Growth

Most AI projects fail long before the model gets a fair chance to prove ROI.
In this episode of An Hour of Innovation podcast, Vit Lyoshin speaks with Sid Bharath, founder of Refound, about why companies struggle to turn AI projects into real business value. Sid explains why big “AI makeover” projects often disappoint, why better models alone do not fix broken workflows, and how teams can identify the smallest useful piece of work to automate before scaling agents across the business. The conversation covers workflow audits, AI-native organizations, human-in-the-loop work, AI agents in sales and operations, and the skills people need as repetitive work moves to AI.
They discussed:
* Why large AI transformation projects often fail to show ROI
* How older models, unclear workflows, and missing context create bad AI outcomes
* What leaders misunderstand about becoming “AI-native”
* How to audit a workflow before deciding what to automate
* Why sales, CRM updates, proposals, contracts, and admin work are strong AI-agent use cases
* What parts of work should stay human, including strategy, creativity, relationships, and review
* How AI changes decision-making and day-to-day work inside a company
* Why agents work best when employees learn by seeing them operate on real tasks
* What startup founders can automate first when time and resources are limited
* Which business processes may shrink or disappear as agents become normal
* Why Sid believes AI agents will become part of the company org chart
Sid Bharath is the founder of Refound, where he helps non-technical companies rethink their operations for the AI age. His work focuses on finding business bottlenecks, mapping real workflows, and building AI agents that employees can manage alongside their existing roles. His perspective is especially useful for founders, operators, product leaders, engineers, and business teams trying to move from AI experiments to practical workflow automation.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:20 Why AI Projects Miss ROI
03:10 What It Means to Be AI-Native
04:13 Why AI Implementations Fail
09:47 How Refound Finds Automation Opportunities
13:11 What to Automate and What to Keep Human
19:55 How AI Changes Everyday Decision-Making
24:16 Training Teams to Work With AI Agents
27:06 Where AI Agents Don’t Belong
28:59 A Startup Playbook for AI Operations
33:00 The Future of AI-Driven Business
38:49 How to Start Experimenting With AI
41:19 Innovation Q&A
Connect with Sid
* Website: https://refoundai.com/
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sidbharath/
* X: https://x.com/Siddharth87
* Other: https://sidbharath.com/
Connect with Vit
* Substack: https://anhourofinnovation.substack.com/
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vit-lyoshin/
* X: https://x.com/vitlyoshin
* Website: https://vitlyoshin.com/
Support the Podcast
If you enjoy the podcast, you can support it by exploring the tools below.
These are affiliate links, meaning the show earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
MeetGeek: Record, transcribe, summarize, and share insights from every meeting.
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Amplemarket: Step into the future of sales: Human + AI. Empower reps, uncover opportunities, and grow revenue.
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For inquiries about sponsoring An Hour of Innovation, email iris@anhourofinnovation.com

Stop focusing only on technical specs. Learn why product design fails when users do not resonate with your solution.
In this episode of An Hour of Innovation podcast, Vit Lyoshin speaks with Ravi Sawhney, founder and CEO of RKS Design and creator of the Psycho-Aesthetics methodology, about why great products fail, why customer adoption is often more emotional than technical, and how AI may help teams predict product success before they build the wrong thing. Ravi shares stories from decades of product design work, including a diabetic infusion pump that improved people’s health but struggled because it looked too medical, and explains how product teams can think more deeply about trust, stigma, identity, pricing, and resonance.
They discussed:
* Why technically successful products can still fail with customers
* How stigma and self-image affect whether people adopt innovation
* What product teams misunderstand about customer research and voice-of-customer data
* How Psycho-Aesthetics maps human meaning, interactivity, and self-actualization
* Why people buy how a product makes them feel about themselves
* What PA-AI is and how it uses AI to analyze product success potential
* How a Success Potential Score can help teams rethink product-market fit
* Why pricing can change perceived value, not just revenue
* How AI may change product management, design strategy, and team alignment
* Why founders should validate emotional resonance before building an AI product or feature
Ravi Sawhney is the founder and CEO of RKS Design and the creator of Psycho-Aesthetics methodology, a design and innovation methodology explored through business education, books, and product work across industries. His perspective combines industrial design, human psychology, product strategy, and AI-enabled analysis to help teams understand not only whether a product can be built, but whether people will actually want to adopt it.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:19 Understanding Product Success and Misconceptions
04:39 Transforming Products for User Acceptance
08:46 Root Causes of Product Failure
11:54 The Psycho-Aesthetics Methodology
19:29 AI and Psycho-Aesthetics
23:22 The Future of Product Development with PA-AI
28:49 Success Stories in Product Development
37:52 The Future of Product Management
42:21 Electric Guitar Company Story
44:58 Advice for Aspiring Product Managers
48:41 Innovation Q&A
Connect with Ravi
* Website: https://www.psycho-aesthetics.ai/
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravisawhney/
* RKS Design: https://rksdesign.com/
Connect with Vit
* Substack: https://anhourofinnovation.substack.com/
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vit-lyoshin/
* X: https://x.com/vitlyoshin
* Website: https://vitlyoshin.com/
Support the Podcast
If you enjoy the podcast, you can support it by exploring the tools below.
These are affiliate links, meaning the show earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
AdCreative.ai: Generate ad banners, texts, photoshoots, and videos that outperform those of your competitors.
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For inquiries about sponsoring An Hour of Innovation, email iris@anhourofinnovation.com

AI’s next bottleneck may not be GPUs. It may be the power they need for computing.
In this episode of An Hour of Innovation podcast, Vit Lyoshin speaks with Sergii Gerasymovych, founder and CEO of EZ Blockchain and an AI data center infrastructure operator, about the physical systems behind the AI boom. Sergii explains why his company is pivoting from Bitcoin mining infrastructure toward AI data centers, why power and land may be more constrained than chips, and why AI builders often underestimate how slowly the physical world moves compared with software.
This conversation looks beyond models and GPUs to the infrastructure layer that determines how fast AI products can actually scale.
They discussed:
* Why crypto mining infrastructure prepared Sergii for the AI data center boom
* Why power and land may be harder to scale than GPUs
* How utilities, transformers, substations, and power studies slow down deployment
* What an AI data center actually looks like in simple terms
* How modular data centers work and why startups may use them
* Why Sergii thinks future AI data centers may become smaller and more distributed
* What Sergii believes people misunderstand about data centers, power, water, and local communities
* Why demand response can make some large power users useful for the grid
* Why space data centers and blockchain-style distributed compute may be overhyped
* What AI founders should understand before assuming compute will be available quickly
Sergii Gerasymovych is an infrastructure operator whose company, EZ Blockchain, began by building and operating data center infrastructure for Bitcoin mining and is now applying those lessons to AI compute. His perspective is grounded in the physical side of technology: power contracts, land, modular deployment, grid constraints, cooling, and the real timelines required to bring compute online. For builders, founders, product leaders, and engineers, this episode is a practical reminder that AI may feel like software, but it depends on hardware, energy, and infrastructure that cannot always move at startup speed.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:41 The Shift from Crypto to AI Infrastructure
03:15 Lessons from Crypto Mining for AI Data Centers
06:40 Power and Land: The New Bottlenecks
10:01 The Role of Clean Energy in AI Data Centers
12:52 Chips: Supply and Demand Dynamics
15:25 Understanding AI Data Center Infrastructure
17:55 Public Perception and Controversies
23:30 Modular Data Centers: the Future of AI Infrastructure
27:23 The Evolution of Data Centers Over the Next Decade
31:14 The Feasibility of Space Data Centers
35:46 The Future of AI Compute Power
41:45 Misconceptions About AI Infrastructure
51:33 Advice from Sergii to Builders
54:09 Innovation Q&A
Connect with Sergii
* Website: https://ezblockchain.net/
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergii-gerasymovych/
* X: https://x.com/SergiiGera
* Other: https://gerasymovych.com/
Support the Podcast
If you enjoy the podcast, you can support it by exploring the tools below.
These are affiliate links, meaning the show earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
MeetGeek: Record, transcribe, summarize, and share insights from every meeting.
https://get.meetgeek.ai/yjteozr4m6ln
Amplemarket: Step into the future of sales: Human + AI. Empower reps, uncover opportunities, and grow revenue.
https://grow.amplemarket.com/04e068165684-affiliate
Databox: Turn business performance data into clear answers your team can understand, explain, and act on – instantly.
https://join.databox.com/vhw0wbr9qg9o
For inquiries about sponsoring An Hour of Innovation, email iris@anhourofinnovation.com
Connect with Vit
* Substack: https://anhourofinnovation.substack.com/
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vit-lyoshin/
* X: https://x.com/vitlyoshin
* Website: https://vitlyoshin.com/

Quantum computing may sound like a future technology, but the cybersecurity risk may already be here.
In this episode of An Hour of Innovation podcast, Vit Lyoshin speaks with Dr. Shohini Ghose, quantum physicist, author and professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, about what quantum computing actually is, why governments and companies are racing to build it, and why it is not simply “a faster computer.”
They explore qubits, superposition, entanglement, quantum algorithms, AI, cybersecurity, and why “Q Day” may not be a single future event, since encrypted data can be collected now and decrypted later.
They discussed:
* Why quantum computing is not just a faster computer
* What qubits, superposition, and entanglement actually mean
* Why governments and companies are investing in quantum
* Where quantum computing may matter first
* Why most people may never own a personal quantum computer
* How quantum could affect molecules, materials, batteries, and drugs
* Why quantum sensing and communications matter
* How Shor’s algorithm threatens current encryption
* Why “Q Day” may already be happening
* How quantum computing and AI may develop together
* What founders, engineers, and product leaders should watch next
Dr. Shohini Ghose is a quantum physicist, author, and professor at Wilfrid Laurier University. She is known for making quantum science understandable. Her work focuses on quantum computing, quantum information, and the real-world implications of emerging quantum technologies. In this conversation, Dr. Shohini Ghose brings a clear and practical perspective on what quantum computing can do, what is still early, and why builders should pay attention to quantum security, AI, sensing, and computing bottlenecks before the technology becomes mainstream.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:22 The Quantum Race Begins
06:26 Understanding Quantum Computing
12:21 The Origins of Quantum Science
16:17 Key Concepts: Superposition and Entanglement
20:38 Misconceptions and Hype Around Quantum Computing
22:29 Applications of Quantum Computing
28:17 Current State and Future of Quantum Technology
32:33 Cybersecurity in the Quantum Age
38:20 The Intersection of AI and Quantum Computing
42:38 Future Milestones in Quantum Technology
48:06 The Excitement of Quantum Computing
51:04 Advice for Navigating the Quantum Landscape
54:57 Innovation Q&A
Connect with Dr. Shohini Ghose
* Website: https://www.wlu.ca/academics/faculties/faculty-of-science/faculty-profiles/shohini-ghose/index.html
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shohini-ghose/
* Other: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shohini_Ghose
Support the Podcast
If you enjoy the podcast, you can support it by exploring the tools below.
These are affiliate links, meaning the show earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
AdCreative.ai: Generate ad banners, texts, photoshoots, and videos that outperform those of your competitors.
https://free-trial.adcreative.ai/velg2js91det-96w1li
Kit: Email marketing that automates your growth.
https://partners.kit.com/xqcc7ca2ahlm
Google Workspace: A collaborative way of working in the cloud, from anywhere, on any device.
https://referworkspace.app.goo.gl/A7wH
For inquiries about sponsoring An Hour of Innovation, email iris@anhourofinnovation.com
Connect with Vit
* Substack: https://anhourofinnovation.substack.com/
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vit-lyoshin/
* X: https://x.com/vitlyoshin

The future of the space economy may depend less on rockets and more on solving the space robotics labor problem.
In this episode of An Hour of Innovation podcast, Vit Lyoshin speaks with Ethan Barajas, co-founder and CEO of Icarus Robotics, about why commercial space stations, orbital infrastructure, and space manufacturing cannot scale if astronauts are doing routine operational work. They explore how space robots, AI robotics, and autonomous systems could help move cargo, maintain equipment, support experiments, and create the labor layer needed for a real space economy.
They discussed:
* Why the space economy has a labor problem
* How astronauts spend time on routine station work
* Why rockets do not solve orbital operations
* How space robotics can support commercial stations
* Why AI robotics is harder in microgravity
* How Icarus Robotics plans its ISS demonstration
* What founders learn building for emerging markets
* Why robot workers may unlock orbital manufacturing
* How teleoperation can train autonomous space robots
* What commercial space needs after cheaper launches
Ethan Barajas is the co-founder and CEO of Icarus Robotics, a startup building robotic workers for space stations and orbital infrastructure. He is known for focusing on one of the least glamorous but most important problems in space: human labor does not scale in orbit. His company is developing robots that can assist astronauts with cargo movement, maintenance, experiment setup, and routine station operations. Ethan brings a practical founder’s perspective on space robotics, AI autonomy, and building for a market that is still forming but could become essential to the future space economy.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:57 The Future of Labor in Space
05:15 Understanding the Costs of Human Spaceflight
07:29 The Role of Robots in Space Operations
11:43 Innovations in Space Robotics
13:46 Testing and Development of Space Robots
18:34 The Integration of AI in Space Robotics
24:33 Service Model for Space Robotics
25:56 Understanding Market Needs
31:38 Roadmap and Product Development
35:18 Trade-offs in Functionality
37:57 The Role of Humans in Space
41:00 Envisioning Future Space Operations
43:53 Innovation Q&A
Connect with Ethan
* Website: https://www.icarusrobotics.com/
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethan-barajas/
Support the Podcast
If you enjoy the podcast, you can support it by exploring the tools below.
These are affiliate links, meaning the show earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
MeetGeek: Record, transcribe, summarize, and share insights from every meeting. 
https://get.meetgeek.ai/yjteozr4m6ln
Amplemarket: Step into the future of sales: Human + AI. Empower reps, uncover opportunities, and grow revenue.
https://grow.amplemarket.com/04e068165684-affiliate
Databox: Turn business performance data into clear answers your team can understand, explain, and act on – instantly.
https://join.databox.com/vhw0wbr9qg9o
For inquiries about sponsoring An Hour of Innovation, email iris@anhourofinnovation.com
Connect with Vit
* Substack: https://anhourofinnovation.substack.com/
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vit-lyoshin/
* X: https://x.com/vitlyoshin