Boaz Ashkenazy
Boaz Ashkenazy is Co-Founder at Clause, Advisor at Loti, Executive AI Advisor and Agentic AI Practice Lead at Redapt, Inc., Board of Trustees member at Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and Founder and Host at Shift AI. He founded Linkroom, Shift AI, and Simply Augmented, with Linkroom no longer active and Shift AI and Simply Augmented still running. His expertise includes convening executive conversations on AI, agentic systems, and the future of work, and leading engineering practices for operationalizing AI in large enterprises.
Boaz Ashkenazy announces Carbon Robotics’ laser weeder, led by Paul Mikesell, can kill unseen weeds on first try without retraining
Carbon Robotics, led by Paul Mikesell, built a laser weeder with a vision model that generalizes to identify and destroy previously unseen weeds without retraining, enabling farmers to point at a weed onscreen and have it eliminated on the first try. The technology could sharply reduce pesticide use by targeting individual plants at scale, and the full discussion is on ShiftAI.fm (link in comments).
Seattle Startup Loti Uses AI to Detect and Remove Deepfakes, Protecting Public Figures’ Digital Identities
Seattle-based startup Loti, led by CEO Luke Arrigoni, uses AI to detect and remove fake images and videos targeting public figures, helping protect their digital identities and ensure accurate public discourse. The company emphasizes neutrality in politics and advocates for proactive reputation management to combat deepfakes and deceptive content.
Trilogy Equity Partners' McCullough and Neeman Share AI-Driven Startup Investment Strategies on Shift AI Podcast
In this episode of the Shift AI Podcast, Trilogy Equity Partners' managing directors Amy McCullough and Yuval Neeman discuss their investment approach, the importance of authentic founder relationships, and how generative AI is transforming startups and the future of work.
Yifan Zhang of AI2 Incubator Highlights Gradual AI Workforce Impact and Startup Growth in Seattle
Yifan Zhang, managing director of AI2 Incubator, discusses the gradual but impactful integration of AI in the workforce and her role in fostering AI startups in Seattle. She shares her entrepreneurial journey from founding GymPact after Harvard to investing in AI-first companies to drive strategic work transformation.
Varun Puri, Ex-Google X Speech Coach, Launches Yoodli AI Communication Coach to Boost Career Confidence
Varun Puri, former Google X speech coach and CEO of Seattle-based startup Yoodli, developed an AI communication coach to help individuals improve speaking skills and build confidence for career advancement. The Shift AI podcast highlights his insights on overcoming workplace communication biases with AI-powered, judgment-free feedback.
Ascend.vc’s Kirby Winfield Highlights AI Investing Strategy and Pacific Northwest Startup Growth on Shift AI Podcast
Kirby Winfield, founding general partner at Ascend.vc, discusses his shift from entrepreneur to Seattle-based AI-focused venture capitalist and shares insights on AI investing, emphasizing use cases solving real problems efficiently. Ascend.vc positions itself as a prolific pre-seed investor in the Pacific Northwest, focusing on applied AI as a next-generation vertical software.
Rand Fishkin of SparkToro on Shift AI Podcast: AI Should Reduce Work Hours and Enable Better Decision-Making
Rand Fishkin, CEO of SparkToro and former Moz co-founder, discusses on the Shift AI podcast how AI can reduce workload by automating busy work and enabling better decision-making. He emphasizes prioritizing quality decisions over long hours and shares insights on entrepreneurship, AI’s potential, and startup challenges.
Read AI CEO David Shim Highlights AI’s Role in Transforming Work at GeekWire Summit on October 19, 2023
David Shim, CEO of Read AI, discusses how AI will reduce monotonous work, enabling people to focus on critical thinking and innovation in the future workplace. He shares insights from his entrepreneurial journey and will speak at the GeekWire Summit on October 19, 2023.
Pioneer Square Labs' T.A. McCann Highlights AI's Crucial Role in Startup Success on Shift AI Podcast
T.A. McCann, managing director of Pioneer Square Labs, discusses on the Shift AI Podcast the critical importance of AI in startup pitches and shares insights from his background in sailing and entrepreneurship on building AI-first products. He emphasizes storytelling skills and embracing new technologies as key to success in venture-backed startups.
Madrona’s Matt McIlwain Highlights Seattle as a Leading AI Hub on Shift AI Podcast
Matt McIlwain of Madrona Venture Group discusses Seattle's emergence as a top AI hub, attributing its success to a strong ecosystem of ideas, talent, and experimentation. He shares insights on AI's future and Seattle's role in tech innovation on the Shift AI Podcast hosted by Boaz Ashkenazy.
Shift AI Podcast: Seattle's place at the center of the AI universe, with Madrona's Matt McIlwain
On this week’s GeekWire Podcast, we're featuring an episode of Shift AI, a podcast hosted by Boaz Ashkenazy, CEO of AI solutions provider Simply Augmented, with guest Matt McIlwain of Seattle-based venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group. A thriving tech hub requires access to ideas, people, and experiments that produce collective lessons sooner and with greater fidelity than anywhere else. This is what made the Seattle area the cloud capital of the world. It also positions the region as one of the world’s top centers of excellence for artificial intelligence. That’s one of the insights from Matt McIlwain, managing director…
Organizations
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Redapt, Inc. Executive AI Advisor, Agentic AI Practice Lead 2026–present, Senior Director, AI Infrastructure 2026 · current
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Clause Co-Founder 2025–present · current
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Loti Advisor 2024–present · current
Education
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University of Washington MARCH, Architecture · 1999–2001
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University of California, Santa Cruz Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), American Government and Politics (United States) · 1991–1994
