Boston AI Week with Judah Phillips
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What inspired Judah Phillips to create Boston AI Week and how did it start?
Our guest today is Judah Phillips, who's the Chief AI and Product Officer at Market Holdings, where his work sits at the intersection of AI deployment, product strategy, investments, commercialization, governance, and ecosystem building. And today, we're discussing the upcoming Boston AI Week, where Judah brings Boston's finest to the world. Hey, welcome to the show, my friend.
Thanks for having me, Anna and Cara.
Hey, that's the shortest resume I can fit around you and what you do, and we're going to break it down for everybody. But I'm really pleased that you're one of the usual suspects, as they say, in your ecosystem. And it's a pleasure to talk about the upcoming event. Can we talk about first how the two of you met? It's so organic to our story, Cara. I interviewed Cara
and then
I met you through Cara. And why don't you just talk a little bit about how the two of you met? I think it was at an event for generative AI.
Yeah. So Judah's like... He's pretty famous in town, and sorry to make you blush there, Judah. But in terms of people who connect other people around this AI stuff. So I don't remember exactly how long ago it was, maybe about two years. And I had been in the AI space for a while, but didn't really know too many people. really any people in the space. And somehow his event, it's this really cool event called the Gen AI Meetup, and he holds it at the NERD Center, which has a really good acronym he'll explain. And it came across my desk or whatever, and I was like, oh, I should go to that. And I was really intimidated, actually. Because it was like, I thought it was like all MIT people and all this stuff.
And I'm like, so I kind of gathered up the strength and courage to go. And then it was awesome. And Judah was, you know, running it and it was so inclusive and open and very much like, Hey, you're interested in AI come and talk. And there was, you know, a panel of experts and it was just a really, really nice, um, sort of introduction to the ecosystem. And I think it was one of the things that really got me psyched about being part of the group here. So Judah, thank you for the spark.
Oh, my pleasure. And that's very generous of you. Yeah, it's the Boston Generative AI Meetup. So I started that in May 2023. The work I've done in machine learning and AI really sort of came into more light with the release of ChatGPT 3.5, which I think was in October 2022. And the pandemic was winding down, you know, Most of us hadn't really gone out and done a lot of socializing for some time in Boston. So I wanted to create a space where, you know, people could go and network and talk about AI. I've been working in it for so long. I sort of long for that connection after the pandemic. So I partnered with Microsoft and New England Research and Development Center, the nerd, and launched the event. I thought like 30 or 40 people would show up.
So I negotiated five pizzas for four deal from Aram's number two, which is a local pizzeria that's been around forever in Cambridge and like 320 you know, 20 people showed up. So, you know, it was during one of those early events that I met Kara and Kara is very compelling, as you know, and a CEO of an AI company that's really, you know, doing even better than it's ever done before. And the format is well, back then it was a little different, but I moderate a panel of experts that I select. And by the time I think Kara arrived, I had inverted it where I call it invoking my inner Phil Donahue. So I go to the audience.
Totally.
And have the audience ask the questions as I carry around a mic. And, you know, make some nerd jokes, answer for some experience, you know, control the soliloquies and direct the questions to the panelists. And, you know, that's grown into one of the largest in-person AI meetups that I can find anywhere. It's got, last time I checked, about 6,625 people. And the majority of them have shown up in person over the last three and a half years. There's been 23 events. 24th is during Boston AI Week.
Yeah, that's the way I want to jump to because that's a great context because jump to now, how many people are you expecting to descend on Boston during Boston AI Week?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What inspired Judah Phillips to create Boston AI Week and how did it start?
0:07–6:09
2
Why did Judah choose a decentralized, largely‑free festival model over a traditional conference?
6:09–13:10
3
What are the four core goals of Boston AI Week and how do they support the Massachusetts economy?
13:10–18:53
4
How does the event attract international delegations and what countries are participating?
18:53–24:13
5
Why is the career fair a key component of Boston AI Week and how does it address job‑creation myths?
24:13–30:10
6
How does Boston AI Week integrate cultural, academic, and business institutions into its ecosystem?
30:10–38:01
7
What does ‘humans in control’ mean for AI development and why does Judah prefer this phrasing?
38:01–43:33
8
How can listeners get involved, RSVP, and navigate the AI Week schedule online?
43:33–49:50