#9: Season Two Starts Here: Reflections, What's Working, and What's Not

Season two opens with Anthony Thomas and Zac Henderson reflecting on what stood out most from their first season of conversations. Rather than focusing on hype, they revisit what guests actually showed in practice: AI is helping people do better work, free up time, and create more space for thinking, collaboration, and family life.The episode also serves as a reset on what is actually working right now. Anthony and Zac compare how they use tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, NotebookLM, Perplexity, and agent-based systems in their own work, while also acknowledging the frustrations that come with today’s tools, from hallucinations to clunky workflows and rising usage costs.Key TakeawaysSeason one showed that AI is helping people create more human time, not lessSimple, thoughtful use cases often create more value than complex AI setupsAnthony and Zac now use different models for different strengths, from thought partnership to execution and researchNotebookLM remains one of the most practical tools for organizing and querying large sets of informationAI can create real leverage, but issues like hallucinations, poor outputs, and tool costs still require careful oversightTheir recommendation for listeners is simple: try one practical tool this week and build from there, rather than waiting to become an expertAbout the PodcastThe A to Z of AI is hosted by Anthony Thomas and Zac Henderson and powered by The Suite. The show explores real-world AI use cases across industries, focusing on practical workflows, tools, and lessons learned from operators using AI in their daily work.