Call Summary: Applied AI Society x AITX 2026 Partnership

Overview

Gary and Michael discussed potential collaboration between the Applied AI Society and AITX for 2026, exploring how the two communities could complement each other. They aligned on the vision of serving practical, business-focused AI education and tentatively planned a first joint event for January 15, 2025 at the Antler office in Austin.

Key Topics Discussed

AITX 2026 Goals and Roadmap

• Houston Chapter Solidification: Primary goal is making Houston self-sustaining ("to the point where I don't need to drive there")
• Dallas Expansion: New market entry planned for 2026
• Four Quarterly Hackathons: Including potential Houston hackathon in May with Houston AI Club collaboration
• Structured Event Calendar: Every 2nd and last Tuesday/Thursday for Austin and Houston meetups
• Hiring Part-Time Help: Michael wants to focus on bigger picture and leverage time better
• Ancillary Events: Moving beyond monthly meetups to workshop dinners, breakfasts, and other programming
• Conference Vision: Potential major conference at South By 2027 or Austin Tech Week

South By 2025 Planning

• Original plan was two-day summit, but title sponsorship proving difficult
• Likely condensing to one-day event before official South By starts
• Working with Reid and Bryce (hackathon organizers) - "foreheads are probably better than one"
• Venue options: Antler office (preferred - closer to downtown) or DAI space
• Michael noted small mileage differences significantly impact foot traffic
• Back pocket idea: Approach Nvidia as potential sponsor given two successful hackathon partnerships
• Gary noted something should happen at South By, requiring quick organizing and January pitching

Applied AI Society Vision

• Gary shared Mark Cuban's perspective on AI integration for businesses
• Core concept: Creating community around engineers who help businesses integrate AI
• Programming directly useful to both practitioners AND businesses as secondary audience
• Potential evolution: Start monthly, grow to bi-weekly or weekly based on demand
• Focus on "closing the last mile gap" between cool tools and meaningful integration
• Moving beyond "AI for AI's sake" to practically useful applications

Target Audience Segmentation

Michael articulated three distinct segments needing different programming:

1. Technical Leaders: Worried about different tools and problems at enterprise level
2. Operations People: Interested in automations and productivity improvements
3. Students/New Grads: Need practical resume items; "went to school for four years and the world just changed pretty dramatically"

The "But" Problem

• Michael emphasized the importance of answering "Okay, that's cool. But how does this help me? How does this make me money? How does this actually matter?"
• Both agreed demos should show real-world problem solving, not just sales pitches
• When someone shows they used a tool to "make money or solve a real problem," people pay attention

Organized AI and Jordan

• Michael mentioned Jordan from Organized AI (organizedai.vip) focusing on vibe coding tools (Claude Code, Lovable, Windsurf)
• Jordan's "Problem Solved" event had misaligned expectations: business owners wanted full front-end/back-end builds, attendees were just learning Lovable
• Could be interesting connection for Gary, though they may compete in similar space

Partnership Structure Discussed

First Event: January 15, 2025

• Tentative date pending Jake's confirmation
• Venue: Antler office (pending approval)
• Format: Workshop-style Applied AI Society event
• Content idea: Rostam presents anonymized case study of successful agent implementation, then architects solution live for a business owner's problem
• Co-hosted with AITX (Luma allows multiple hosts)
• AITX would promote to their community

Ongoing Collaboration Model

• Co-branded event series under Applied AI Society
• AITX provides community reach and venue relationships
• Applied AI Society fills "practical business application" niche AITX isn't currently serving
• Michael: "It's serving a niche that we are not currently serving... we can't do it all"

Million Dollar Weekend Hackathon Concept

• Based on Noah Kagan's book (Noah lives in Austin)
• Participants given the book, then compete in specific verticals
• Judged on actual revenue generated in 48 hours via Stripe
• Michael discussed with Tom Babs - very on-brand for Gauntlet
• Applied AI community would be ideal participants: "more of the mindset of how to actually apply it as quickly as possible for a real world use case"

Gauntlet-Style Problem Solving

• Gary mentioned Gauntlet's model: hiring companies present real problems, students solve them
• Could structure hackathons around actual business problems
• Need to work out IP ownership if challenges solve actual company problems
• Easy sponsor pitch: "get a bunch of smart people to solve your business problems"

Gary's Experience and Resources

• Helped with two-month conference in Montenegro with Vitalik Buterin
• Two-week conference in Istanbul
• One-week conference in Denver
• Applied for Capital Factory meetup space (likely to be approved)
• Connection to Travis Oliphant as potential sponsor once his fundraise closes
• Rostam available as initial presenter with corporate agent implementation experience (potential Westlaw/Harvey deal)

Key Quotes

Michael on the value proposition test: "It's like the 'okay, that's cool, but...' How do you answer the but? Because it's usually like, this is all cool, but how does this help me? How does this make me money? How does this actually matter?"

Michael on demo philosophy: "I always prefer a demo where it's going towards a real world problem and it's not just a sales pitch about the tool itself. Because when you tell me that you use this to either A, make money or B, solve a real problem, I'm like, okay, I'll pay attention."

Michael on the dangerous combo: "This is like if money Twitter and AI tech Twitter had a baby. That's the dangerous combo. If you had the mind of a money Twitter person and you had the mind of a tech person, it's like you are able to build it and you actually know how to get to the bag."

Michael on partnership philosophy: "I'm hyped, bro. I feel like it's serving a niche that we are not currently serving either. So that's always a plus when I like to partner with people is like, when we aren't serving something. We can't do it all."

Gary on his focus: "I'm obsessed with what matters... a lot of my mentors and friends will never care about the technical details. They just want to know, like, what's the point of this?"

Michael on iteration: "When Jake and I started it, we didn't have a plan. We just said, let's get a meetup. Let's get people in a room. And that's where you get the feedback... you'll just see, like, oh, I didn't like this. I did like this. And then you just take that back and iterate on it."

Action Items / Takeaways

1. Michael to confirm with Jake: January 15 date and Antler office availability
2. Gary to confirm with Travis: Availability and interest in attending/sponsoring
3. First event format: Case study presentation + live architecture session
4. Luma setup: Create co-hosted event with both AITX and Applied AI Society
5. Michael to send: Jordan's LinkedIn (Organized AI founder)
6. Future exploration: Million Dollar Weekend hackathon concept
7. South By planning: Reconvene on potential one-day summit collaboration

Strategic Alignment

• Both see value in practical, business-focused AI education
• AITX has community reach; Applied AI Society has niche focus
• Natural partnership: AITX can't serve everything, Applied AI fills gap
• Shared philosophy on demos (real problems > sales pitches) and iteration
• Houston expansion could include Applied AI programming
• Long-term conference vision aligns with Gary's experience in larger events