Your weekly briefing on all things AI
Presented by Clark Valberg

As we enter 2025, the buzz around AI's transformative potential isn't limited to innovation and convenience. It's now becoming starkly apparent in the workplace. A recent report reveals that 41% of employers worldwide plan to reduce staffing due to AI by 2030, with some changes already taking effect. The types of jobs currently replaceable by AI Agents are astounding. The Wall Street Journal reported 5 great use cases here, but we are seeing so many more… Did you ever think an AI (as it exists today) could raise an $8M seed round? 

Let’s dive in…

> Voice AI So Good It Can Raise Capital
> AI Replacing Mid-Level Developers
> Surveys Suggest 200K Jobs Will Be Replaced in Banks Globally
> 3 Deals Over $100M for AI in Healthcare
> Automate Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management with AI Agents
> Tip for Leveraging LLMs for Document Reviews

Boardy.ai Secures $8M Seed Round – Powered by AI Networking

Boardy.ai, an AI that chats with you and makes professional introductions based on mutual interests, made headlines this week by securing an $8M seed round in a groundbreaking fashion. 

According to co-founder Andrew D’Souza, “Most of the investors in the round never spoke with a human.”

The deal moved at unprecedented speed: Creandum (the venture firm behind Spotify and Klarna) met Boardy last Friday and reached an investment decision by Monday, without any prior knowledge of the founder or their previous venture, Clearco. In a fascinating role reversal, the founder actually sought Boardy's opinion on potential investors to inform their own decision-making also.

The round attracted over 100 notable superconnectors, including Andy Dunn, Leah Solivan, and Andrew Yeung, signaling strong confidence in this pioneering approach to fundraising. This groundbreaking raise suggests we're entering a new era where AI could fundamentally reshape how founders and investors connect, potentially democratizing access to capital by transcending traditional networking limitations. (Andrew D’Souza)

More Stories

• This Year Meta Plans to Automate & Replace Mid-Level Developers. (Reddit)

• Salesforce Announces No New Software Engineering Hires in 2025. (SalesforceBen)

• AI May Soon Predict Financial Crises Before They Occur. (WEF)

• Scheduling Tasks in ChatGPT is in Beta for Paid Subscriptions. (OpenAI)

• Google Introduces "Daily Listen" to Turn Your Discover Feed Into a Podcast. (9to5Google)

• OpenAI’s New Robotics Job Listings Hint at Ambitious Plans. (TechCrunch)

• Qualcomm Unveils Chips That Will Enable Next-Level Smart Homes and IoT. (VentureBeat)

• Omi AI Wearable is Made to Interpret Brainwaves Alongside Voice Commands. (The Verge)

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise secures $1 billion AI infrastructure contract for X, formerly Twitter. (Yahoo Finance)

Real Estate | AI Scams Renters in North Carolina 

Several landlords in North Carolina are under investigation for allegedly using AI-powered tools to manipulate rental prices, resulting in millions of dollars in excess charges for tenants. These tools reportedly allowed landlords to coordinate and inflate rent costs beyond fair market value, raising concerns about the ethical use of AI in real estate. Authorities are examining how this technology was deployed and exploring measures to prevent similar fraud in the future. (WSOCTV)

Healthcare & Biotech | AI Speeds Up Clinical Trial Enrollment 

Grove's innovative AI solution has reduced the time required for clinical trial enrollment by streamlining participant selection and data processing. This advancement is poised to significantly accelerate drug approval timeframes. (TechCrunch)

Finance & Banking | Banks Brace for Massive AI-Led Job Cuts 

AI could replace as many as 200,000 jobs in global banks by 2030, according to a Bloomberg report. Junior roles are most at risk as tasks like financial modeling become automated. (Forbes)

Technology | Google Workspace Gets AI Everywhere - For Free 

Google has announced that its Gemini AI suite is now available for free to all Workspace users. This game-changing move integrates AI tools into apps like Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Meet, making advanced capabilities accessible to businesses and individuals alike. The expanded access reflects Google’s commitment to embedding AI into everyday workflows, empowering users to boost productivity and streamline tasks with cutting-edge technology. (CIO)

Retail & E-commerce | AI Transforms Post-Purchase Services

Narvar has launched IRIS, an AI-powered tool that helps businesses handle customer claims more smoothly and reduce fraud. With IRIS, companies have seen big improvements: 80% fewer questions about fraud and a 25% drop in shipping refunds. This technology is making customer service faster, easier, and less expensive for retailers. (VentureBeat)

Media & Entertainment | Creators Cash In on Unused Videos

YouTubers and other digital creators are selling unused footage to AI companies to train their algorithms. Buyers like OpenAI and Google pay $1–$4 per minute, with higher rates for 4K, drone, or 3D content. These unpublished clips are prized for their uniqueness and potential to refine AI systems. (Japan Times)

Featured Tool: Thoughtful AI

Streamlining Revenue Cycle Management
Thoughtful AI automates and optimizes healthcare revenue cycle management (RCM) through specialized AI agents. These agents streamline critical processes such as eligibility verification, prior authorizations, claims management, denials management, and payment reconciliation, reducing errors and inefficiencies. Providers using Thoughtful AI have achieved up to 95% reductions in operating costs, a 75% drop in claim denials, and faster reimbursements. Trusted for its reliability and precision, Thoughtful AI enables healthcare organizations to focus on patient care while maximizing financial outcomes.

Key Benefits:

• Automates complex billing workflows

• Reduces errors in claims processing

• Enhances transparency and compliance in financial operations

More Tools

• Avataar.ai: Create immersive 3D shopping experiences.

• Captions.ai: Simplify video editing with AI-powered captions.

• Naratix.ai: Enrich eCommerce catalogs with tailored SEO-ready product descriptions.

• Project Aeon: Scale AI-assisted video generation.

• CreativAI: Generate high-quality graphics and designs.

• Headliner.app: Convert audio into engaging video content.

• Blackstone invests $300M in DDN, the data firm powering Musk’s xAI (Yahoo Finance)

• Innovaccer raises $275M to merge patient data across health systems (TechCrunch)

• Hippocratic AI raises $141M for voice agents that can do patient check-ins, appointment prep, and more. (TechCrunch)

• Qventus secures $105M to build “AI-teammates” in healthcare (TechCrunch)

• Overhaul raises $55M in funding for cargo monitoring (TechCrunch)

• Raspberry AI receives $24M for fashion designers to generate realistic mockups and design iterations (TechCrunch)

• Oxford Cancer Analytics raises $11M for early lung cancer detection (BusinessWire)

• Fazeshift secures $4M for accounts receivable AI (Pulse2)

_. Prompting Tip _.

Ground Responses in Quotes for Clarity

For tasks involving long documents, guide your AI assistant to ground its responses in quotes from the document before proceeding with analysis or synthesis. This approach helps cut through irrelevant content, allowing the AI to focus on the most pertinent information.

Example Prompt:

"Review this policy document and extract the key compliance requirements. Quote the relevant sections verbatim, then provide a concise summary of their main points."

Why It Works:

• Focus on Relevance: Quoting ensures that the AI identifies and uses the most critical parts of the text.

• Transparency: You can easily verify the AI’s interpretation against the quoted content.

• Efficiency: It streamlines tasks by anchoring the response in evidence, reducing the need for additional verification steps.