Foundation Models Go Vertical with leaders from Open AI, Mistral, Clarify and Oumi

In this episode of Shift AI, Manos, CEO of Umi, Patrick Thompson, CEO of Clarify, Brian Hall, CMO of Mistral AI, and Ben Gaffney, Deputy General Counsel at OpenAI, join host Boaz Ashkenazy for a live panel recorded at Seattle Tech Week on who actually owns intelligence in the enterprise AI era.One panelist argues that any enterprise still treating a frontier model as its core intelligence layer is renting something it should own, and predicts that in two years we'll look back at CTOs defending that approach the way we look back at driving a Ferrari to the grocery store. Another panelist, sitting inside one of the most closely watched policy fights in AI right now, explains why the debate over open source models and national security is getting a lot less theoretical, and a lot more real, by the month.This one is for CTOs and CIOs deciding whether to build or rent their AI stack, product leaders at vertical AI startups thinking about fine-tuning their own models, and anyone tracking the open source AI security and policy debate.Chapters[00:00] Welcome and thanks to sponsors JP Morgan and Ascend[01:30] Introducing the panel: Manos, Patrick, Brian, and Ben[03:54] From foundation model hype to vertical AI, what actually changed[07:37] How Clarify balances owning the system of record with using frontier models[09:44] Rising model bills, local models, and the push toward open weights[11:30] Mistral AI, sovereign AI, and why owning your intelligence matters[14:32] Data retention, training, and what the privacy debate is really about[19:10] Chinese open models, national security, and the safety debate[26:18] Why fine-tuning beats prompting for real vertical AI companies[30:43] What enterprises actually want from foundation models right now[35:35] What CIOs and CTOs will laugh about in two years[44:47] The hundred million dollar question: where the panel would invest[51:44] Advice for a 22-year-old about to spend ten years building something[53:31] What each panelist is most excited about in AI's futureConnect with the PanelistsManos (Umi) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/koukoumidis/Patrick Thompson (Clarify) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickt010/Brian Hall (Mistral AI) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brhall/Ben Gaffney (OpenAI) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bengaffney/Connect with Boaz AshkenazyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boazashkenazy/Email: [email protected]