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Inside the expert network training every frontier AI model | Garrett Lord (Handshake CEO)

Overview

Shownote

Highlights

Transcript

Chapters

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Inside the expert network training every frontier AI model | Garrett Lord (Handshake CEO)

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

2025/08/24
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

2025/08/24
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

Garrett Lord is co-founder and CEO of Handshake, which started as a career network for college students and new grads but recently discovered something extraordinary: they were sitting on the world’s largest network of academic experts—exactly what frontie...

Highlights

Garrett Lord, CEO of Handshake, shares the story of how a college career network unexpectedly became a powerhouse in AI training data by tapping into its vast community of academic experts. What began as a mission to connect students with jobs has evolved into a groundbreaking venture that’s redefining how AI models are refined and scaled.
11:02
Physics PhDs are used to test where AI models break in reasoning or ground truth.
13:10
PhDs are used as domain experts to label complex data for AI training, ensuring high-quality supervision signals.
20:58
Academic degree holders will remain essential in AI data production until AGI is achieved.
26:51
Young people are AI native and can leverage AI tools like Iron Man suits to gain huge advantages in training AI models
27:58
Models don't generalize well without human experts in the loop
35:53
Revenue hit $50 million in four months, on track for $100 million in the first year.
37:14
AI enables new opportunities for long-standing businesses to innovate internally
40:42
Handshake builds an expert community with high-quality training and sells pre-built data packages.
45:44
Started exploring the idea in December and scaled to over 75 people
51:15
The new business is expected to exceed $100M in its first year.
55:38
Leave nothing to chance and execute with full effort.
57:26
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the team to seize.
1:02:37
Solving meaningful societal problems is the best way to start an AI company

Chapters

Introduction to Garrett Lord
00:00
Understanding data labeling and its importance
05:00
The role of experts in AI model training
13:08
The future of AI and human collaboration
15:35
Why AI won’t eliminate entry-level jobs
24:17
The continuous improvement of AI models
27:58
The emergence of Handshake’s new business model
33:05
Incubating new ideas in established companies
37:07
Handshake's competitive advantage
40:42
Scaling up and meeting market demand
45:43
Overcoming challenges and adapting
48:38
The importance of separate teams and ownership
53:08
The future of job matching with AI
57:26
The biggest bottlenecks to advancing models further
1:00:30
Lightning round and final thoughts
1:02:37

Transcript

Garrett Lord: There will never be a time like this. I've never seen anything like it. I doubt I'll ever feel anything like this. In business again, where there's unlimited demand. How do you make sure that three months from now, six months from now, you ha...