When AI Leaves the Demo Stage: Kence Anderson on What Lasts

Automated with Brian Heater • February 04, 2026

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The most interesting work around AI doesn’t occur at the height of the hype cycle. Kence Anderson has watched promising ideas overperform in demos, underperform in reality, and eventually re-emerge as something more modest and more useful. This episode focuses on that middle ground, where engineering judgment replaces speculation and progress looks slower than the headlines suggest. An engineer who led autonomous systems work at Microsoft and now runs AMESA, Kence brings that experience into A3’s Designing Industrial AI Agents course. Learn more about Amesa: https://www.amesa.com/ Connect with Kence: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kence/ We’d love to hear from you! Have thoughts or guest suggestions? Reach us at podcast@automate.org . You can find the transcript and more episodes of Automated at automated.fm . Unlock full access to Automated and explore everything automation. Subscribe today and leave a review on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Subscribe to the Automated Newsletter: https://www.automate.org/automation/newsletter-automation-roundup You can also find us on: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/automated-podcast-by-a3/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/automatedpod/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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