In this episode, Rob Price speaks with Claudine Adeyemi-Adams, founder and CEO of Earlybird AI, about how voice AI and machine learning are transforming the way organisations handle cases, support clients, and gather real insight from conversations.

Claudine’s journey from award-winning lawyer to AI startup founder highlights how new technology is reshaping traditional industries. Earlybird AI is building voice-driven tools that help employment support organisations, charities, and service providers understand the people they serve, automate case handling workflows, and improve outcomes using real-time insights.

Rob and Claudine explore the rise of voice AI, the challenges of building responsible AI systems that interact directly with people, and what founders learn when turning a mission-driven idea into a scalable AI business.

The conversation also touches on the realities of the life as an innovative SME, product-market fit in AI startups, and how voice-based intelligence could change the way organisations listen to and support their communities.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Voice AI and the future of case management
• Building an AI startup from a legal background
• AI for employment support and social impact organisations
• Responsible AI and human-centred design
• Selling and scaling an AI business
• Why voice data could become one of the most valuable sources of insight

Links

Earlybird website: https://www.getearlybird.ai
Futuria website: https://futuria.ai

In this episode of Futurise, Rob Price is joined by Steve Bustin, Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Hardy Plant Society, for a conversation that begins in the garden — and ends in the boardroom.

“Over the garden fence” is how knowledge used to be shared: informally, experientially, and across generations. Gardening expertise — like much business expertise — is rarely written as technical documentation. It is contextual, tacit, and learned through experience.

As organisations adopt AI and agentic systems, a similar challenge emerges: how do we translate deep domain knowledge into language that AI systems can understand — without losing meaning in the process?

This episode explores:

• How expert knowledge is traditionally passed down between generations

• Why tacit expertise is difficult to encode into AI systems

• The language gap between business specialists and AI technologists

• What agentic AI might mean for capturing and applying domain expertise

• Why successful AI adoption depends as much on terminology as technology

By deliberately using language that would resonate with gardeners rather than AI engineers, this conversation highlights a wider leadership lesson: AI systems only become valuable when they can engage meaningfully with real-world expertise.

If you’re a founder, investor, or executive navigating AI adoption, this episode offers a fresh perspective on knowledge transfer, AI leadership, and the future of artificial intelligence in practice.

Comments are open — where do you see gaps between business expertise and AI terminology in your organisation?

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This episode is dedicated to Jeune Price (1941-2023), passionate gardener and long time member of the Hardy Plant Society.

Agentic AI is evolving rapidly — moving from copilots and automation tools to autonomous systems that can plan, decide, and act over time. As agentic systems become more capable, questions around AI safety, alignment, and governance become critical for founders, investors, and enterprise leaders.

In this special episode of Season 2, Rob Price speaks with Nell Watson — AI ethics researcher, author, and Chair of the Safer Agentic AI Safety Experts Focus Group at IEEE — about what building safer agentic AI means in practice.

The discussion explores:

• How agentic AI systems are being developed and deployed today

• Where organisations underestimate AI safety and alignment risks

• What responsible AI governance looks like for agentic systems

• How principles such as alignment, epistemic hygiene, and bounded goals translate into real products

• Why leaders should engage with AI safety before regulation forces the issue

As the future of AI shifts toward increasingly autonomous and agentic architectures, what does “safe enough” really mean — and who decides?

If you’re building, funding, or adopting agentic AI, this conversation will help you think more clearly about responsible AI development and long-term trust.

Subscribe to Futurise for conversations on agentic AI, AI leadership, responsible AI, and the future of artificial intelligence.

Futurise explores Agentic AI, AI leadership, Responsible AI development, AI governance, and the future of artificial intelligence for founders, investors, and enterprise leaders.