Sharon Goldman, Founder, Ground Level AI

Sharon Goldman may be one of the most important voices in AI journalism today, but her path there was hardly typical. She didn't even get into reporting until several years after college, and when she did, she wrote for publications covering everything from the jewelry business to marketing to even TV Guide.

But in a semi-serendipitous turn, she joined VentureBeat in 2022, a few weeks before its AI reporter left. She took over the beat a few months before ChatGPT changed her world and everyone else's. After a stop at Fortune from 2024 to 2026, also covering AI, Sharon is now on her own again as the founder and editor of the Ground Level AI newsletter on Substack, which in one month has already attracted thousands of subscribers.

Sharon joined us to talk about her plans for Ground Level AI, something ChatGPT has helped her figure out, coincidentally, her late-blooming singer/songwriter career, and why she's a birder, not a bird watcher, for this episode of Pressing Matters from Big Valley Marketing, the podcast that brings you conversations with the top media and influencers in B2B tech.

I'm DaveReddy, head of Big Valley Marketing's Media & Influencers practice, and I'm your host. Through research and good old-fashioned relationship building, we've identified B2B tech's top 200 media and influencers, including Sharon. Here's our chat with Sharon. Enjoy.

Transcript

Dave Reddy 0:00

Sharon Goldman may be one of the most important voices in AI journalism today, but her path there was hardly typical. She didn't even get into reporting until several years after college, and when she did, she wrote for publications covering everything from the jewelry business to marketing to even TV Guide. But in a semi-serendipitous turn, she joined Venture Beat in 2022, a few weeks before its AI reporter left. She took over the beat, and a few months before ChatGPT changed her world and everyone else's. After a stop at Fortune from 2024 to 2026, also covering AI, Sharon is now on her own again as the founder and editor of the ground level AI newsletter on Substack, which in one month has already attracted thousands of subscribers. Sharon joined us to talk about her plans for ground level AI, something ChatGPT has helped her figure out, coincidentally, her late-blooming singer-songwriter career, and why she's a birder, not a bird watcher, for this episode of Pressing Matters from Big Valley Marketing, the podcast that brings you conversations with the top media and influencers in B2B Tech. I'm Dave Reddy, head of Big Valley Marketing's Media and Influencers practice, and I'm your host. Through research and good old-fashioned relationship building, we've identified B2B Tech's top 200 media and influencers, including Sharon. Here's our chat with Sharon. Enjoy.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Thanks so much for having me, Dave.

Dave Reddy 1:42

So you've got a lot to talk about. First of all, congratulations on your new Substack channel, which we will talk about in a little bit. But let's start where we always start. So where did you grow up? Grew up on Long Island, New York. When you say Long Island as as as Long Islanders do, do you are you New York City, Long Island, or way out like you know Great Gatsby line?

SPEAKER_01 2:03

I w I was in the middle. I was in Nassau County, you know.

Dave Reddy 2:07

Okay. So the the Uniondale area, for those of us who are hockey fans or somewhere in that little neighborhood?

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Not too far. Not too far from Nassau Coliseum. Good old Nassau Coliseum. That's right.

Dave Reddy 2:19

What was that like? I mean, I you've got access to the city, you've got I grew up in Cape Cod, which I'm not as as as uh busy as Long Island, I would presume, but you know, a similar notion. You've got access to the city, you've got access to beaches. What was it like growing up there?

SPEAKER_01 2:33

I think of it as kind of deep suburbia strip malls. Where I grew up in Long Island, I used to say that it was nowhere. It was not near the beach, it was not near the city, it was not near the Hamptons, so it was just kind of in the middle. But, you know, you could get on a train and get into the city, you could drive to the beach in 20 minutes, so it was nice. It was deserving childhood should be.

Dave Reddy 3:02

There you go. So you had it all, except you were just a you were this as inland as possible on Long Island, is what I think I'm hearing you say.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

I think I'm saying it was boring.

Dave Reddy 3:11

Right. Gotcha. Fair enough. What did mom and dad do? What brought them to Long Island?

SPEAKER_01 3:16

My dad was a lawyer working in the city, doing his daily commute. My mom was mostly a stay-at-home mom. She later became a teacher. But uh yeah.

Dave Reddy 3:27

Uh not that No, that but it's it's a how many guests have we had or have uh uh on this show who have teachers in their background as mom or dads? It's it's it's almost like every other show. In fact, our our our last guest, Richie Cotton, both his parents were teachers. So you know an interesting thing that teachers be teachers beget journalists. Speaking of journalism, you studied at GW as a colonial. I am a graduate of American University. So I while I know the answer to this question for me, I am curious what your answer is, which is what attracted you to study in Washington, D.C. and and what was it like living and learning there? And I guess this would have been the the 90s or so.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Well, I didn't choose DC, I would say, but I did want to go to a city school. Uh you know, I looked at NYU, but GW was the one that accepted me. And I really ended up loving living in the nation's capital. It was very cool living downtown in Foggy Bottom. I lived down the street from the State Department. It was just a very unique place to spend four years. So I really enjoyed it.

Dave Reddy 4:40

Yeah, I I found it. And were you studying journalism at the time or or what were you?

SPEAKER_01 4:45

My major was international relations, kind of a broad liberal arts degree. You know, everyone in school was studying political science as one does in Washington. So I kind of jumped on that train. But it's interesting how a lot of what I learned, you know, was very broad, economics, history really comes back around now covering AI that was unexpected.

Dave Reddy 5:11

And especially being in that town, I had a similar experience, although I did manage I did major in journalism. There's just a learning that you do in that city. And I presume that one who in New York or Boston or any other city like that would bring a different kind of experience, but a learning. It's just cool and exciting. You know, the the president's helicopter flying overhead every once in a while. And to your point, uh a reason I didn't look at GW, or in my case, BU would be the the the analog up in Boston, is I wanted kind of the middle ground. I wanted that suburban school, which American, for those who aren't familiar with Washington, is that's kind of what it is. It's right on the Maryland, the Maryland border, and it's that classic little you wouldn't know you were in Washington, D.C. when you're on campus. It's whereas GW is literally interwoven, much like BU is up in Boston. GW is interwoven into the city. Uh if if if I that was my experience of it whenever I was.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Yeah, it's a it's a cool thing. It's part of the city, it's part of the campus. That's part of the vice versa. Right.

Dave Reddy 6:16

Yeah. So, all right, international studies. We obviously had a massive amount of those folks at American Duh. It's a Washington, D.C. Were you thinking like I'll be a lobbyist or an ambassador, or or was that just the thing to do at the time?

SPEAKER_01 6:30

That was just the thing to do. I must say I didn't have any clue about what I was going to do with my life. And it took several years after college to figure figure it out. So yeah, I didn't get into journalism until probably five or six years after college.

Dave Reddy 6:48

Really? Okay. So now we're I want to talk a little bit about your songwriting and that level of storytelling. Did you focus on that before those five or six years, or were you sort of doing that and something else?

SPEAKER_01 7:04

That came even later. I was a late bloomer. Really? I didn't start writing songs or or you know being a part of that community, you know, probably until I was 30.

Dave Reddy 7:17

So No kidding. That's really late to the game. So was music big in your house, or or really you just didn't discover it until you were 30?

SPEAKER_01 7:24

It was big in my house in some ways. I studied piano as a kid. I was a dancer. I studied ballet, so obviously, you know, very into music. My father had a unique hobby of playing Indonesian music in a gamelon. I don't know if you've ever heard of that.

Dave Reddy 7:42

I have not. I'm going to look it up though after this. Wow. That is a very unique hobby for a man from Long Island. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

But no, I never had any role model. I never had anyone I knew that was writing songs. It was just something being, you know, teenage kid listening to music on my Walkman and all of those things that really was something I always wanted to do, but and did it sort of in a closeted way for some time until one day I walked into an open mic in New York City and played the piano at a couple of my own songs, and off I went.

Dave Reddy 8:25

Reminds me of the Edie Briquel story. She went in and what what became the Bohemians were playing, and she just stood up and decided to start singing with them. And this happened at 30. That is fascinating. Now, you and I at the risk of sounding fawning, I've listened to a few of your songs. You have an absolutely wonderful voice. You must have known that as a kid, right? I mean, you must have sang somewhere, or did you not realize that until you were 30?

SPEAKER_01 8:49

No, I didn't realize it as a kid at all. And for a long time I was just singing in the car. I did start taking some voice lessons years before I started performing, you know, and writing songs. I was taking voice lessons. So I was like wanting to, but it was very hidden. It was very shy. It was very much in my room or privately with a voice coach. It was not for public consumption. It wasn't something that my family knew I was doing. And, you know, finally I just busted out. And I feel like the opportunity to perform at open mic settings where you're just signing up and you're playing a couple songs, you know, whatever you want. And you could do at that time, you could do it any night of the week in New York City. It gave a real opportunity and sort of a goal. And that led me to meet a lot of people in the indie music scene at that time. This is like the late 90s, early 2000s, and I went from there.

Dave Reddy 10:00

Fantastic. And again, I've uh I've listened to some songs. I I haven't had a chance to go through the whole catalog, but you've explored a ton of different themes. Uh if I'm correct, there was one that sort of explored your your Jewish roots. What inspires you musically? What I mean, because it seems like there were a bunch of different themes in the songs I read, which was, or pardon me, listen to.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Yeah, I think I circle around a lot of themes. I, you know, again, it's really an expression for me. So, you know, maybe in my earlier days I was writing about breakups and and love and things like that. I feel like as time went on, I really was exploring things like my own roots about life, about time passing, about death, about humanity. I mean, you know, deep things that I that I get into. It's it's really one of those things, it's very, very different than my journalism writing. It's a very creative process for me where I'm really expressing things that I'm going through or I'm observing or that I'm thinking about. And yeah, it's important to me. So even today, I'm not performing much these days, but just right before I left Fortune a few weeks ago, I was in France at a songwriting workshop at a chateau with uh a friends of mine who were leading this workshop. And it was really nice to know that I still had it, that I could still come up with some some good stuff.

Dave Reddy 11:32

Well, do us all a favor and come up with some new music. How many albums do you have?

SPEAKER_01 11:37

I think eight.

Dave Reddy 11:38

Yeah, there were there's a bunch. There's a lot. But but you've and we'll give uh this will I have one other question before we transition, but you've you've sort of not completely put it down, because you went to that, obviously you're doing some songwriting and stuff, but from a performance perspective and a recording perspective, you're you're very focused on on on it on the on reporting right now. So you've uh it's kind of over here, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Kind of over here. Also, for the past few years, I was mostly doing music with a local group, a couple of neighbors and friends, and I had put together a three-part harmony acoustic trio, and we played covers and originals. And recently one of our members moved away to Oakland.

Dave Reddy 12:23

So we no, so the band broke up creative differences, or or as you said, just up and moving away.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

So, you know, the band broke up, and that coincided with me leaving Fortune and starting ground level AI, and now that's where my focus needs to be. And, you know, but music is always there, and I'll certainly be getting more deeply into it. I am hoping to turn some of the songs that I've been writing recently into a new album, but that really has to come later.

Dave Reddy 12:58

You have any songs about AI?

SPEAKER_01 13:00

I've thought about that. That hasn't really turned into anything I really like, but it's certainly something I think about enough.

Dave Reddy 13:11

I was gonna say, it's so much on your mind, you must but it must occasionally creep into your lyrics. And I and I just want to be clear, we talked about this offline. You do not use AI in your songwriting.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

No, not in any way. Because as I explained offline, it's the process is what I enjoy about songwriting. And that's really the whole thing. In fact, the the end process is sometimes a letdown because then you're done. But you know, certainly the performing is there or the recording is there, but it never lives up to the joy of the process. I mean it. So for me, there is no AI in in my music.

Dave Reddy 13:55

So one more question about hobbies. Well, I will again calling your music career a hobby is inadequate. But one more question about non-work things before we talk tech and journalism. You you you you identify as a bird nerd. So are you a bird watcher? Do you are you a mom of pet birds? Both? What do you what's that all about?

SPEAKER_01 14:16

Bird watcher. I come from a family of birders. They're not called bird watchers, by the way. Pardon me. Yes. My parents were always big birders, and growing up, they would drag my brother and sister and I on long nature walks to watch birds. And as a kid, this was awful. I hated it. I hated being dragged on these journeys to use binoculars to look up at a bird and identify it. But as an adult, I've grown to love it. And I go birding with my parents, I go with my husband, or just in my backyard. It's it's fun.

Dave Reddy 14:59

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

And I do use AI for that. If you don't use Merlin, you should.

Dave Reddy 15:04

So what is a how does a birder use AI to identify birds?

SPEAKER_01 15:08

It's an app called Merlin.

Dave Reddy 15:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

And Merlin will identify the sounds of the birds around you. So if you take it outside to the backyard and press sound, it will identify whether it is a cardinal or a blue jay or a song sparrow. It's really fun. Try it.

Dave Reddy 15:29

That is a fantastic use of AI. That's awesome. Okay. So is where have where is the most far flung place you've gone to bird bird? I won't say bird watch. Bird. And is there a bird that's like your Moby Dick that you you you haven't seen yet, yet you're dying to see that's on the list?

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Well, probably the most far-flung place that I saw a bird might have been in Mexico near Cabo. I think it was there that I saw the blue-footed booby.

Dave Reddy 16:03

The blue-footed booby. You need to write a song about that.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

That's a unique bird. It has blue feet. Also, in Israel, I've seen the hoopoo bird. That's a hoopoo? Hoopoo.

Dave Reddy 16:19

H-U-P-U?

SPEAKER_01 16:20

No, it's H-O-O-P-O-E. I encourage you to look up the hoo poo bird. It's unique looking.

Dave Reddy 16:32

That's everybody's homework when you're listening. You Google hoopoo bird right now. That's fantastic. All right, and then is there a bird you're like dying to see?

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Well, I've never seen a puffin in real life. That would be really cool.

Dave Reddy 16:46

Neither am I. Not even in a zoo?

SPEAKER_01 16:48

In a zoo, but that doesn't count.

Dave Reddy 16:50

No, I see what you're saying. In the wild. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

In the wild. Gotcha. Yeah. Only birds in the wild count, by the way.

Dave Reddy 16:57

So Opus of Bloom County, puffin or penguin? What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 17:01

I don't know. He doesn't look like any bird.

Dave Reddy 17:05

It's kind of an inside joke for Bloom County fans. It's uh he looks more like a puffin than a penguin, but he identifies as a penguin. But hey, you know, these days.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

He doesn't look like a penguin.

Dave Reddy 17:17

All right. So we'll get into your reporting. And you were real scrappy and very versatile those first couple decades, really, of your career. And you are still now you're back and scrapping again as uh in in your own with your own Substack. But so when you were writing for National Jeweler and a Child in Child Magazine and Family PC, was this after that sort of five or six years where you were trying to figure out, or was that you figuring it out?

SPEAKER_01 17:47

No, this was after that. And those were my early days in journalism. You know, I started out in B2B as a, believe it or not, a beat reporter at National Jeweler Magazine, which still exists, by the way. It's a trade magazine for jewelers and those in the jewelry industry. And at the time we all had separate beats. Mine was gemstones and pearls. And I covered that whole industry. I traveled, you know, widely covering the space. I even went to Tahiti once to report on black Tahitian pearls. And I even won an award for my investigative reporting on treatments of illegal treatments of rubies. No kidding. Made to look more red than they really were.

Dave Reddy 18:44

That's pretty cool. I didn't know anyone was doing that, but it makes total sense that people would try to fake those things.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

But it's interesting, that was really how I started in journalism. It was really as, you know, it was a weekly magazine and I was a beat reporter. I learned all about the industry. I met all sorts of people. After that, I kind of did make a switch and I was really part of what was still a heyday of consumer publications that don't exist anymore in print. You know, so I really enjoyed it, but I was an editor, I was a writer for several top consumer publications. I always did enjoy working independently. I did a lot of freelance work for lots of major publications and I did everything. I was a fact checker, I was a proofreader, I was an editor, I was a staff writer. And, you know, it really wasn't until about 2008 that I was back working in B2B as an editor for a publication that was focused the audience was the marketing industry, sales and marketing. So VPs of marketing, CMOs. But interestingly, it came at a time where tech was really changing. Digital marketing was coming into play, everything from CRM to SEO to social media. And that's really when I first started covering tech, was around 2008, 2009, at this position where I was covering everything marketing tech and sales tech. After that, I again decided that I wanted to be on my own. And I spent the next decade freelancing. And I knew that I wanted to be able to cover tech, that that's where I wanted to go. And I was able to take what I had learned about marketing technologies and kind of turn that into working not just in journalism, but in content creation, content marketing, sponsored content, all sorts of things to pay the bills. And that really led me to doing all sorts of writing about tech, mostly enterprise tech, software, mobile, cloud, all the things.

Dave Reddy 21:01

That took you, I mean, sort of like you were saying, just getting into the journalism career, it also took you quite a while to sort of settle on tech. Was there a moment when you realized, I mean, you'd worked at the Jewelry Magazine, Child magazine, you even did some writing for TV guide. What was it the digital marketing publications, or what was it that you thought you thought, all right, tech is where it's at, I want to do this?

SPEAKER_01 21:24

What I realized is that at heart, what I enjoy doing is learning about what I'm writing about. And being a generalist doesn't really lend itself to doing that. And sort of the deeper and more obscure the better. Like if I look back on those days of writing about jewelry, that's really what it was. I enjoyed learning something that I absolutely knew nothing about. I wasn't even someone who wore a lot of jewelry, but I really enjoyed learning about the industry and business and the techniques around it. And so ultimately I decided that I was so curious about tech and there was so much opportunity there. So in a way, it was certainly about, you know, where's the opportunity for a staffer or a freelancer? And the answer was was tech. And but also I think it was really about being so curious and curious about tech, but also curious about industry, about business, about companies. You know, sort of all of that came into play. And tech ended up being the place where I felt like I had all of that.

Dave Reddy 22:34

I want to get into that, but I I am just curious. It and I believe it's it's gotta be gone at this point or just online. But what did you cover for TV Guide?

SPEAKER_01 22:44

TV Guide, well, I was a fact checker there for a couple years. No kidding. Yes. Yeah, it's uh I was there around 9-11 actually. The day after 9-11, I trooped down there and I was it was the worst day in New York City at the TV Guide building, which was in the Fox News building. There was an anthrax scare.

Dave Reddy 23:07

Remember that?

SPEAKER_01 23:08

And and I was calling people to get comment for TV Guide about 9-11 from celebrities. It was not great. But I was called I wrote a lot of fun things for TV Guide. I just pitched all kinds of it was a great, I was a fact checker, but then I started writing for them, and and it was just a great education in pitching stories. Like I was constantly pitching little little upfront pieces and features, packaging them and seeing what was cool, you know, sort of bee celebrities or some of some like stupid little trend that was that was trending that I would pitch a little story on. It was a great education in packaging and pitching that really has served me well, you know, when I'm thinking of my own story ideas and how to present them.

Dave Reddy 24:01

Was there a particular story pitch that you're you're most proud of that you remember?

SPEAKER_01 24:05

I really don't remember. I I just remember some of the sad like D-list interviews I ended up having to do, like interviewing Britney Spears' little sister. Like that was just sad. That was a sad day. Jamie Lynn.

Dave Reddy 24:20

It's gotta be tough to be Britney Spears' little sister. Yeah. It is, of course, tough to be Britney Spears. So jumping back to tech, you joined Venture Beat at a rather auspicious time, whether you knew it or not. I did not.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

I did not know.

Dave Reddy 24:36

Okay. I I didn't I I still don't know if like folks in the business already knew that this was gonna happen or not, but you joined in April 22 to cover AI. And of course, a few months later, Chat GPT, and you know, the world is still reverberating from that. What led you to AI will led you to venture beat?

SPEAKER_01 24:55

So in the years prior to joining Venture Beat, I had been a freelancer full-time. I was writing for different publications like Business Insider and Forbes and Ad Week and doing a lot of other, you know, content marketing type stuff. I also was editing and writing for Deloitte. And I was covering enterprise tech for the most part, but that included AI. There was a lot of coverage at that time about how companies could start using data analytics under the hood, predictive analytics. So AI was certainly a topic. It was just one among many, many emerging technologies of the time. Like you would be writing about AI in the same way you were writing about, you know, mobile apps and cloud, cloud computing. Yeah. So, you know, so that was part of part of all of it. And someone that I had worked with at CIO.com was then at VentureBeat as the executive editor, he reached out and asked if I was willing to come on board as a writer full-time. I said I was. I joined, and the idea was that I was going to continue covering enterprise tech broadly, software, cloud, everything. The week after I started, the guy who was covering the AI beat left for TechCrunch. And I said, Well, I'd like to be the AI reporter then. You know, you they definitely said they wanted one. So I just kind of stepped into that role without realizing how I had stepped into what was this fast-moving narrative that I had not really been following. I had been following AI purely as an enterprise tech B2B play. I wasn't seeing what was happening in the research labs. I had never heard of open AI. I had never heard of anthropic. And I quickly realized that I was in over my head, really. And, you know, the first bunch of PR folks that I got on the phone with, I apologized. I said, I really don't know what I'm doing here. But, you know, in six months, I promise that I will be right on top of things. So don't mind me if I ask all sorts of green questions to your clients because they're gonna help me. And they did. Many, many, many, many startup founders were very helpful to me, helping me understand various aspects of what was going on. You know, the open AI. There was one PR person at OpenAI at the time, and he was very helpful. And sure enough, yep, six months later, I I really was where I needed to be. And that was when Chat GPT came out. And in those months prior to that, like it was it was something was happening, but it I really didn't expect Chat GPT to be the thing that was surprising to me. Even when I got the email from their comms, you know, here's ChatGPT. It was part of a larger release, it wasn't really on its own. I didn't think much of it, but two weeks later it was everywhere, and that's what's it's been like ever since it's been this roller coaster ever since then.

Dave Reddy 28:15

And continuing the roller coaster theme and and the fact that you like to repot yourself every couple of years, you moved to Fortune two years later. You're still covering AI. At this point, that beat had become and remains officially insane. Why the move to Fortune? Just curious what led to that. Venture Beat's a great title. Fortune may be a better title, but I'm just curious what led to that.

SPEAKER_01 28:37

Yeah, Venture Beat was very small. I was working fully remotely. And at the time, I think I was eager to see what it was like to work with a bigger publication, with a bigger profile. And I also frankly felt like this might be, you know, this is the time for me to try and do that because AI is so hot. There might not always be a time that folks are hiring so many AI reporters. So, you know, I decided to put myself out there. And Jeremy Kahn, who's Fortune's AI editor, was someone I had connected with before. And I reached out to him and said that I was looking. And at the time he said that there wasn't anything available, but that there might be come the new year. And sure enough, in January of 2024, he reached out and said that they were putting a position up, and I got that job.

Dave Reddy 29:30

Fortune is one of my personal favorite publications, both as a reader and as a PR person. I don't talk much about PR person. I love you all, reporters, but I've always had a nice relationship with Andrew and Alexei and the crew over at Fortune. So that and you did a great job there. How did you stay on top of that beat? Maybe you didn't. I don't know. I mean, uh, do you?

SPEAKER_01 29:52

I don't think we do. I mean, I don't think we do. But it it came at an interesting time because before I joined Fortune, Jeremy was the only AI reporter. And in fact, the rest of the staff was not really covering AI yet. That changed when I joined. Not only were Jeremy and I reporting on AI, but quickly, really everyone else was as well. You know, no matter if, you know, maybe you're Sean Tully writing about finance, maybe you're Diane Brady writing about CEOs, but suddenly everyone was writing about AI. So that was a really interesting time to be at Fortune when that was happening. But as far as like the AI beat, Jeremy and I were so overloaded that we brought on Beatrice Nolan from News to work with us. And yeah, I loved working with them. I have I'll be continuing to contribute to Fortune now. I just signed a contract to continue contributing occasionally to Fortune, so that's great. And yeah, it was it was very overwhelming, I'd I'd say. I in fact, I feel like my husband would sometimes have to encourage me to take a break because even on the weekends, you couldn't get away from it. I mean, there were so many things dropping on a Friday afternoon over the weekend, almost to taunt us, it felt like us AI reporters. I had a group chat with some other AI reporters at other publications, and we would just, you know, cry in this group chat like, why, why? So it was it was it was pretty crazy.

Dave Reddy 31:33

I want to get into ground level AI in a second, but can you explain a little bit more about what life is like covering what may be I I I have never seen, and I ain't young. I have never seen a faster moving space in business history, much less tech. I I mean to your point, do you sleep? I mean, w how do you stay? I mean what do you do? I mean, how do you how do you shut off is probably the best question.

SPEAKER_01 32:00

Yeah, it's it's hard. I mean, at Fortune 2, we really were trying to like you know track open AI and anthropic, the biggest companies, the biggest news, you know, try to get a couple scoops here and there, very competitive. I mean, I was getting probably over 500 emails a day. Absolutely impossible. Yeah, I feel like at some point I did kind of realize that, you know, just for my inbox, for example, I just had to accept it and be zen about the fact that it was just this constant tsunami that I would never get to. But you also become very attuned to what, if you're really following it so closely, you really tune into what's happening, what's new, what's news. You know, you're trying to speak to people who can help you discern whether something is worthy of your time, whether it's just hype, and you just become better at that over time. Also, I feel like what happens with any reporter, and it certainly happened with Jeremy and Beatrice and I, that we would sort of naturally fall into areas that we were really interested in, and maybe we would focus on that. So for me, I ended up really focusing last year a lot on the data center boom, for example, AI infrastructure, and the backlash that has followed from that. And that gave me a really good opportunity to dive into that. I also was really interested in things like AI and cybersecurity. We no longer had a cybersecurity reporter at Fortune, so that gave me an opening to do some stories about that. So, you know, each of us had that. You know, Beatrice was was more focused on anthropic as a company. She really got some good scoops there. So, you know, let Beatrice tackle that while we're over here. So you're you're kind of like, you know, trying to keep abreast of the entire field. But at this point, you know, and you know, this is sort of what made me think about starting ground level AI, is like at some point you're maturing in an industry to the point that you have to narrow things down. You have to have subbeats. You you can't be just an AI reporter. And I've always felt that in the future maybe there won't be any AI reporters anymore because AI will be everything.

Dave Reddy 34:32

You know anyone covering the internet?

SPEAKER_01 34:34

Right, exactly. There were there were internet reporters and there are and so I you know that's certainly what's going to happen. So for now, as you know, on the AI beat, you know, trying to keep up, but also knowing that that's impossible and that you have to choose your choose your areas that you want to focus on.

Dave Reddy 34:55

So to that point, let's talk about ground level AI. So you've opened up, started a new Substack. It's been about a month and change now, maybe a little more. Was it scary walking away from Fortune, or is this kind of your roots as you know, the scrappy freelancer that you had been for most of your career? Or both?

SPEAKER_01 35:14

It's really both. It was scary, it is scary. There's no question that I was nervous, a little sad. I love fortune, I loved my colleagues. So it wasn't about that. On the other hand, there always has been for me a sense of wanting to do my own thing. It's just the way I'm wired, I guess. It's, you know, I've always been this way. I love a project, I love starting something new. And in fact, even Adventure Beat and Fortune, I did have a Substack. It was called AI Side Notes, and I ran it for three years, and it was never meant to be monetized. It was just a place on Substack to promote my stories, uh, you know, write weird things, have other interesting takes on stuff in the business. You know, it was fun. And that's what I did turn into ground level AI, but it it was the the idea was, you know, I feel like this is the time for me to to do something on my own again. And this is uh this is the topic and the space that uh is perfect for this. The timing is right. It really did feel that way. So even though I was a little scared and nervous, uh, I knew it was the right thing.

Dave Reddy 36:35

Uh we talked a few weeks ago and and you some of those very sub-beats, if you will, that you mentioned were some of the things that you're hoping to focus on. A AI infrastructure, AI and security, uh, etc. I presume you're only five weeks in, you might still be figuring that out, or or or or or or do you think there'll be other things that you might want to focus on too, or or get more even more focused in a different direction?

SPEAKER_01 36:59

I mean, I already am. In a way, I'm seeing that it's really hard to like, you know, put it in a in a exact bucket. You know, for example, last week I was writing about open source. But on the other hand, a lot of things are connected. Like open source at the moment is very much related to geopolitics and policy. And I was just writing today about data gathering, which is in itself very connected to AI policy and AI infrastructure. So a lot of things are very connected. I I do feel like I try to think about it all as AI where it meets the real world. And what I mean by that is that I'm not just focused on the model companies and product releases, focused on some of the foundational things that underpin all that. You know, where you know, it's not just in the lab, it's not just a new product that people are using, but how are they using it? What does it mean? So, in areas like policy or security or infrastructure, all those things are headline news as well. You know, in a way, I thought that I would be, you know, people would think that these are very obscure, unsexy topics, but just given what happened over the past month with Anthropic's Fable and Mythos, it shows that these topics are making their way into the general consciousness, and they're very important things that we're grappling with as we continue along this journey, whatever kind of AI journey you want to describe it as.

Dave Reddy 38:43

And you are going to be doing more than writing in in terms of covering all those things. What are some of the other multi-channel things, as we say, in public relations that you'll be you'll be doing in addition to the substack?

SPEAKER_01 38:55

Yeah, I do think of it as I always have thought of doing something that's more multi-channel. You know, maybe it's cliche at this point, but I will be having a podcast because I do enjoy having these deeper conversations with engineers and leaders and researchers and enterprise folks and policy folks. I also look forward to doing more moderating and speaking. That's something that I did quite a bit of at Venture Beat and Fortune, and I'm hoping to do more of that. And I'm also hoping to do some of my own sponsored events on a very small, intimate scale, kind of whether it's a dinner or a salon. That's also something that I did a lot at Venture Beat and Fortune. I feel like it plays to something that I enjoy doing as well, which is being the hostess with the mostest. So I enjoy convening conversations about really interesting topics with really interesting people. And I think that that kind of plays into what ground level AI is all about as well.

Dave Reddy 40:02

You are the second guest in a row to use a version of the word convening. Interesting. And I think definitely part of what good 2026 journalism should do. I ask this of everyone, but I think for you, as someone who's been covering this beat intensely, these next two questions are I'm really interested in what Taylor you have to say. What is the scariest part of AI?

SPEAKER_01 40:26

I think the scariest part about AI is the people who control AI. So I don't think AI in itself is bad. It's it's the people and what they do with it. So, you know, everything that's been going on now with you know power being accumulated, powers that be deciding how things should be, and not giving society enough time to weigh in. I feel like it's hard because I always see both sides of everything. But that is what I'm most scared about because I feel like at the moment we're really at a time of collision. That's another way I think about ground level AI is tracking this collision between these different stakeholders, none of whom understand each other. So, you know, the the frontier lab companies that are moving steadily and unceasingly and with great energy towards figuring out how to get to whatever they define as artificial general intelligence is totally unrelated to the mass population of the world. So who don't have any idea what that's all about. So I feel like it's really a collision of interests that that is only going to get more difficult. And that's a people problem. It's not really so much a technology problem.

Dave Reddy 41:58

Aaron Powell Aren't all problems people problems. That's that's a that's a whole different conversation, right? So, well, since you do see both sides, then the next question, which I also ask if everyone gives you an opportunity to do that, what's the most promising part of it?

SPEAKER_01 42:12

Well, I think there's no doubt that it's just there are so many cool things you can do with it. It's hard to explain what those are because it's such a general technology, for one thing. So it can be used for lots of things in a lot of different ways. And it's not just language, but it's also everyone has to kind of be on their own individual journey to figure out what works for them. So what I use it for and what I think is cool in my journalism work, or just personally, is going to be very different than you know, an engineer who's coding, for example, or you know, using open claw. So, you know, certainly the promise of AI in a much more larger and futuristic way around, you know, curing cancer or you know increasing scientific discoveries in some way. I mean, those are really, really interesting things that people are really working on. It's not just smoke and mirrors. And it might take a really, really long time, but it is happening. But even the use cases of today, I mean, some of them are really, really cool and interesting and fun. And so I don't, it's not that I feel like I couldn't have started ground level AI without AI, because I do feel like I could. I have started independent businesses before, but I must say it's helped me every step of the way. It helped me come up with the name, it helped me come up with the focus, it helped me. come up with my design, it helped me come up with headlines, it helped me transcribe my interviews. It helped me, it helped me become this sounds silly, but it helped me become confident enough. You know, yes, you can talk to ChatGPT and and you know it might tell you what you want to hear, but maybe what you want to hear is that I want to feel confident enough to start this. And it did help me do that. So those kinds of things are really cool for a solopreneur like me.

Dave Reddy 44:30

So I was going to ask you to talk about AR and your work. You just you just did and and and and so it you literally were having for lack of a better word conversations with ChatGPT about everything from your business plan to you know does this make sense ChatGPT?

SPEAKER_01 44:44

Is that absolutely who else would listen to me for all that for all that time? I would have to pay a therapist thousands of dollars to all the conversations I had with ChatGPT about it. And I and I still paid for for a coach so you know and I still talk to my husband endlessly about it. But yes, you know something about a chatbot that has access to the entire web can can can give you some feedback about what you're thinking about. And so in terms of preparation in terms of launch in terms of confidence in terms of actual you know workflows in my journalism work whether whether it's proofreading or editing or headline writing and things like that, you know, I feel like the only thing it doesn't do is write for me. You know it doesn't it just doesn't write for me but all the other things it does do.

Dave Reddy 45:43

And it could, but you you like most good reporters, choose not to let it right.

SPEAKER_01 45:49

No, I don't well I guess it could I don't think it would be very good. It would be very visible as AI. And I still don't think it could it doesn't do the reporting for me. It doesn't speak to my sources it doesn't go to conferences for me. But even in the writing like you know it's one thing to ask for feedback about sentence construction or how to organize a piece than having something right for you. It just it doesn't come it's uh not at all. Like I just don't think of it even in that way.

Dave Reddy 46:21

Yeah I I I talk about it not having a soul and God help us the dad develops one.

SPEAKER_01 46:26

It's not going to develop a soul I'm not one of those people who believe that. And anyone who wants to come on my podcast and talk about that we can but I don't believe it.

Dave Reddy 46:37

You know I I hope you're right. I really do. Although at this point I I you know I think both of us don't know exactly where this is going but you certainly know better than I do. So my last question is always something the same a little bit fun. New York City or in your case Long Island New Jersey or Washington DC as far as where I'd want to be yeah and obviously you're in Jersey but I'm just curious if there's you know if there's a longing to go back to DC or maybe someday live in the city. Or Long Island.

SPEAKER_01 47:08

Definitely not Long Island sorry about that you know New York City will always be there for me. I lived there for 20 years in Manhattan and Brooklyn my parents live there. I don't think I could live there again but I could see living closer there's something about being really striking distance that that is that is very attractive. And whenever I'm on New Jersey transit going back to my house it's I think of that it would be nicer to live closer well thanks Sharon this has been fantastic.

Dave Reddy 47:46

Where can people find ground level AI? What's your URL?

SPEAKER_01 47:49

The URL is groundlevelai or you can search me on Substack Sharon Goldman and where can we find your music? You can find my music on Spotify on YouTube on any of the places you like to listen to your music just Sharon Goldman you will find me.

Dave Reddy 48:11

Fantastic well thank you so much for your time I really enjoyed it thanks for being on the show. Thanks so much Dave I'd like to thank you all for listening today and once again a big thank you to Sharon Goldman of Ground Level AI. Don't forget to join us next month when we chat with yet another member of the B2B Tech Top 200 In the meantime if you've got feedback on today's podcast or if you'd like to learn more about Big Valley marketing and how we identify the B2B tech top two hundred, be sure to drop me an email at dready at bigvalley.co that's D-R-E D Y at big valley all one word dot C O. No M. You can also email the whole team at pressing matters at bigvalley.co once again thanks for listening and as always think big