Don't Sit This One Out: AI, Agency & the Future We’re Building

Do you actually know how to use AI — or are you still using it like Google?Rob Richardson believes most people have barely scratched the surface.In this episode of Bloom | Build | Birth, Rob — founder of Disruption Now and chief curator of MidwestCon — joins me for a wide-ranging conversation about artificial intelligence, the future of work, entrepreneurship, AI agents, responsible AI, and why you do NOT have to consider yourself “technical” to start building with these tools.Rob is also the first man on Bloom | Build | Birth — and an old friend. We first crossed paths roughly 20 years ago when I lived in Cincinnati, Ohio. Today, he’s building an ecosystem around AI while I’m building an AI-powered personal health intelligence platform for women.Talk about full circle.We get into:• Why Rob identifies as “Blooming” after reinventing himself beyond politics and law • The teacher who told him college wasn’t for him — and what his mother told him instead • Why so many people are afraid of AI • The difference between basic prompting and actually building AI-powered systems • How entrepreneurs can use AI to amplify their existing expertise • Whether AI could create new opportunities outside traditional tech hubs • Why the Midwest may be underestimated • AI privacy, bias, accountability, agents, and the need for guardrails • Why women need to help BUILD the AI future • What AI means for my own work in women’s health and personal health intelligence • Why human context, empathy, judgment, and taste may become even more valuable • What attendees will actually build at MidwestConAnd then I put Rob in the Bloom | Build | Birth Hot Seat. 🔥If AI has felt intimidating, overwhelming, or like something meant for “tech people,” press play.You may be far more capable of building with it than you think.🐝 MIDWESTCON September 8–11 | Cincinnati, Ohio MidwestCon.liveSubscribe for more conversations about wellness, leadership, reinvention, technology, and what it means to Bloom, Build & Birth the next version of your life.