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Sidecar Sync
Welcome to Sidecar Sync: Your Weekly Dose of Innovation for Associations. Hosted by Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias, this podcast is your definitive source for the latest news, insights, and trends in the association world with a special emphasis on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its pivotal role in shaping the future. Each week, we delve into the most pressing topics, spotlighting the transformative role of emerging technologies and their profound impact on associations. With a commitment to cutting through the noise, Sidecar Sync offers listeners clear, informed discussions, expert perspectives, and a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities facing associations today. Whether you're an association professional, tech enthusiast, or just keen on staying updated, Sidecar Sync ensures you're always ahead of the curve. Join us for enlightening conversations and a fresh take on the ever-evolving world of associations.
Episodes
98 episodes
Inside the AI Audio Revolution: Translating, Conversing, & Composing | 98
In this audio-focused episode of Sidecar Sync, Mallory Mejias and Amith Nagarajan explore three groundbreaking advancements in AI audio technology—starting with Google’s real-time voice translation for seamless cross-language communica...
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Episode 98
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50:55
Exploring Interactive AI Simulations and World Models with Thomas Altman | 97
Thomas Altman, co-founder of Tasio and Betty, joins Mallory Mejias for an electrifying deep dive into the future of AI through the lens of world models—AI systems that don’t just respond but simulate environments and predict outcomes. From Geni...
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Episode 97
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48:36
Rapid Fire AI Updates & The Coming Energy Reckoning | 96
In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias tackle the latest developments in AI with a fast-paced series of updates—from Claude overtaking ChatGPT in the voice mode battle, to Google's shockingly tiny Gemma 3 model, to ...
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Episode 96
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38:18
GPT-5 Has Landed & OpenAI Opens Up | 95
In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias dive into two groundbreaking releases from OpenAI: the long-awaited GPT-5 and the surprising return to open source with GPT-OSS. They unpack the shift toward simplified AI inte...
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Episode 95
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48:23
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Semantic Health & the Future of Medical Coding with Dr. Nicola Sahar | 94
In this episode of Sidecar Sync, co-hosts Mallory Mejias sits down with Dr. Nicola Sahar to explore how a University of Toronto med student dove head-first into clinical AI research and went on to found Semantic Health, an AI-powered medical co...
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Episode 94
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42:27
Mission-Driven Models, AGI on the Horizon, & the AI Infrastructure Crunch | 93
In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Mallory Mejias and Amith Nagarajan cover a trio of urgent topics shaping the AI landscape. They kick off with Anthropic’s surprising rise to enterprise dominance—fueled not despite, but because of its safety-fir...
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Episode 93
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49:26
Physical AI: The Robot Takeover We Actually Want | 92
Are we ready for a world where AI agents write our blogs and robots clean our homes? In this episode, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias dive deep into the rise of agentic AI and the future of robotics. They explore how digital workforces power...
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Episode 92
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49:16
Next-Gen Knowledge: AI Education with Conor and Finn Grennan | 91
In this heartwarming and enlightening episode, co-hosts Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias welcome the dynamic father-son duo, Conor and Finn Grennan, to discuss their journey teaching generative AI in Nepal. Connor, Chief AI Architect at NYU S...
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Episode 91
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58:51
Cloudflare vs. the Crawlers & The Nonprofit Tech Divide | 90
In this dog-dedicated episode of Sidecar Sync (Happy 12th to Ninja!), Mallory Mejias and Amith Nagarajan tackle two extremes of the nonprofit tech landscape. First, they dig into Cloudflare’s bold new default to block AI content scrapers—what i...
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Episode 90
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40:22
Navigating AI Seas: Leadership, Lab, and Crowd | 89
In this episode, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias dive into the world of AI agents, hackathons, and the secret cyborgs in your office. Fresh off a high-intensity AI agent-building retreat, Amith shares how association leaders—regardless of te...
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Episode 89
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51:50
Adapt or Fade: Embracing the Adaptability Quotient with John Spence | 88
In this energizing interview, Mallory Mejias is joined by leadership legend John Spence to unpack the three essential quotients of leadership—IQ, EQ, and AQ (Adaptability Quotient)—and why AQ might be the most critical of all in today’s AI-driv...
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Episode 88
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44:40
Emotions, Accents, and Avatars Galore & Why Apple Says It’s All Just an Illusion | 87
In this episode of Sidecar Sync, co-hosts Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias dive deep into the cutting edge of AI-generated audio and video. Mallory demos the stunning new ElevenLabs V3 voice engine and the lifelike hand gestures of HeyGen's A...
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Episode 87
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50:14
Online Learning Course Creation at 26x Speed | 86
In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Mallory Mejias sits down with Jason Marchese, Learning Content Specialist at Sidecar, to explore the exciting frontier of AI-generated interactive web apps. From solving everyday meal planning problems to analyz...
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Episode 86
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52:42
Generative Video Meets Deep Think at Google I/O & Claude 4 Finds Its Voice | 85
In this electric episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias unpack the latest AI announcements from Google I/O and the highly anticipated Claude 4 release from Anthropic. They explore what Google's Deep Think means for AI reaso...
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Episode 85
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58:26
Breaking Math with Google’s AlphaEvolve | 84
This week, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias dive deep into Google's groundbreaking AI breakthrough—AlphaEvolve. In their first-ever single-topic episode, the duo unpacks why this agent’s ability to autonomously invent and refine algorithms ma...
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Episode 84
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48:51
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Snooze to Win: Why Digital Naptime Is AI’s Most Productive Hour | 83
This week on Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias dive deep into two cutting-edge developments in the AI world. First up is the mind-bending concept of "sleep time compute"—how LLMs might learn and improve during their downtime, tra...
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Episode 83
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53:39
Getting Your Board on Board with AI | 82
In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias take on one of the most pivotal—and often overlooked—challenges in association innovation: getting your board on board with AI. Drawing from Amith's personal boardroom experien...
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Episode 82
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53:11
Fargo vs. Klarna & The Rise of Reasoning Models | 81
This week on Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias explore Wells Fargo’s virtual assistant “Fargo” and how it stacks up against Klarna’s AI tool from a year ago. With 250 million fully automated interactions and measurable impact on ...
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Episode 81
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47:23
Getting Hands-On with MCP & Anthropic’s AI Economic Index | 80
In this episode of Sidecar Sync, hosts Mallory Mejias and Amith Nagarajan take a deep dive into Model Context Protocol (MCP), a revolutionary standard making it dramatically easier for AI to interact with data, tools, and systems—no code requir...
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Episode 80
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55:47
Ian Andrews Talks Groq’s Fast, Smart AI Inference Tech | 79
In this special episode of Sidecar Sync, we dive into the future of AI infrastructure with Ian Andrews, Chief Revenue Officer at Groq (that’s Groq with a Q!). Ian shares the story behind Groq’s rise, how their LPU chip challenges Nvidia’s domin...
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Episode 79
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43:54
Cartoon Avatars, Talking Robots, and AI That Draws | 78
In this vibrant and forward-thinking episode of Sidecar Sync, Mallory and Amith dive into the fun side of AI—exploring OpenAI’s new GPT-4o image generation capabilities, Hedra’s cartoon animation tech, and the jaw-dropping robotics work between...
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Episode 78
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43:54
Intel Bets Big on Chips Again as Meta Drops Llama 4 | 77
In this thought-provoking episode of Sidecar Sync, Mallory and Amith dig into the fascinating world of semiconductors and how a historic joint venture between Intel and TSMC is reshaping the global tech landscape. They explore the underlying te...
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Episode 77
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50:49
AI Innovations from Gemini and DeepSeek to Break Your Brain | 76
In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith and Mallory dive deep into two major AI model releases—Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro and DeepSeek’s V3—and explore how they’re reshaping the landscape of artificial intelligence. They discuss the technical break...
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Episode 76
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46:39
AI-Enhanced Member Services: Turning Strategy Into Action | 75
In this milestone 75th episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith and Mallory return for part two of their deep dive into AI-enhanced member services. This second installment of AI-Enhanced Member Services shifts from ideas to action. Amith and Mallory foc...
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Episode 75
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39:10
Manus AI Tackles Complex Tasks While Sesame AI Sounds a Little More Human | 74
In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith and Mallory discuss the Manus AI Agent, a groundbreaking system that autonomously handles complex tasks like resume screening and real estate searches. They also explore the evolution of conversational AI ...
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Episode 74
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51:53
