How Agentic AI Actually Works (and What’s Still Hype)

Episode SummaryBefore AI was cool, Dominick Ng was already building it. From a tiny country town in regional NSW to a PhD, a Fulbright Scholarship, and nine years at Google, Dom’s journey is the definition of technical brilliance meets humility. Today, he’s the Director of Engineering at Relevance AI, one of Australia’s fastest-growing agentic AI startups, backed by global investors and reshaping how teams build with large language models.In this episode of In The Blink of AI, Georgie Healy sits down with Dom to talk about the real limits of agentic AI, why Australia needs to embrace experimentation, and how to build world-class engineering teams that can move fast without losing soul.Dom explains how AI-assisted coding is changing what engineers can do in a weekend, what makes a great AI hire, and why “if you can’t onboard a person, you can’t onboard an agent.” He also breaks down why Meta’s hiring strategy looks so extreme, what China’s AI talent boom really means, and the cringe misconceptions about AI “making us lazy.”If you’ve ever wanted to truly understand what’s behind the hype, this conversation will make you smarter (and probably a bit more patient with your next API error).Resources👨‍💻 Dominick Ng (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominickng/🏗️ Relevance AI: https://www.relevanceai.com/🧠 Vibe Sliding (Relevance AI feature): https://chat.relevanceai.com/In the Blink of AI is made possible by our wonderful partnersDeelGlobal hiring and payroll can be a headache. Deel brings HR, IT and payroll together in one platform, helping companies including Shopify, Revolut and ElevenLabs scale internationally.Ready to expand your business?Build your global team with Deel at deel.com/dayone. ✨ Connect with Georgie HealyWeekly Substack: https://georgiehealy.substack.com/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georginahealy/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/georginahealytech/The Day One NetworkIn The Blink of AI is part of Day One, the podcast network dedicated to founders, operators & investors.Sign up to get your weekly insights into the up-and-coming AI startups: https://dayone.fm/newsletter Mentioned in this episode:Deel x PX_Post IntroVanta Ad_BAI Jul25Vanta Ad_BAI Jul25Vanta Ad_BAI Jul25