Email to AITX: Post-Hackathon Follow-Up
December 15, 2025
To: Jake O'Shea, Michael Daigler
Subject: Post-Hackathon Debrief + Pre-Call Notes
Hey Jake and Michael,
Just wanted to say thank you so much for organizing the hackathon this weekend. It was a blast.
This was my first really meaningful AITX experience, and this weekend validated my desire to do something with you guys.
Pre-Call Notes
A few quick updates before we chat:
Capital Factory Monthly Meetup: I applied to get a monthly meetup slot there. A friend who's an insider gave me some encouraging news, though I haven't gotten official confirmation yet. Fingers crossed.
Your Office: Capital Factory aside, if you're open to it, I'd love to explore regularly hosting Applied AI meetups at Antler.
The Core Thesis
Mark Cuban said this well (from his August interview):
"Companies don't understand how to implement AI right now to get a competitive advantage… learn to customize a model, walk into a company, show the benefits. That is every single job that's going to be available for kids coming out of school."
There really is a significant last mile problem with AI technologies. It's been great that people are building AI SaaS products and LLMs etc. But we also need more people illuminating that there are good careers to be built in helping existing businesses integrate these technologies in obviously useful ways.
That's what "applied AI" is all about.
Looking Forward
I can see such a fruitful partnership happening between myself, Travis, and you guys.
Excited to chat in a couple hours.
Gary
Attachment: Mark Cuban on applied AI jobs (August 2025 interview quote)