The Truth About AI Agents: Real Wins, Real Failures

Episode SummaryAt a Relevance AI community event, Georgie Healy speaks with Beth Lovell (FoBoH), Sam Garven (Hello Canopy) and Sally (King River Capital) about building AI agents that deliver real results. They share practical hacks, first-use cases, and lessons learned on data hygiene, onboarding and keeping humans in the loop. The panel also explores why women are adopting AI at lower rates and how non-engineers can use their unique strengths to create better tools.Time Stamps01:05 – Beth’s journey from Woolies X to FoBoH: COVID supply chains, failed portals & why AI is different04:07 – Sam’s origin story: unsafe workplaces, no safe way to speak up, and building Hello Canopy06:15 – Sally’s investor lens: hundreds of agents tested, why she backs Relevance AI07:32 – Favourite hacks you can steal: Replit, sticky notes → tables, system preferences for style12:26 – First useful agents: outreach automation, policy-scraping, VC inbound triage17:28 – What we wish we knew before building: expect errors, keep it simple, chain tasks, onboard like a teammate20:07 – Designing for reality: data hygiene, human-in-the-loop, guardrails22:27 – Dream agents: life OS, product-copy deployer, Excel-beating modeller25:10 – Why women adopt AI less — and why that must change30:32 – Strengths non-engineers should lean into: empathy, domain expertise, communication33:27 – Career & workflow tips to start tomorrow: post weekly, try tools, ask for opportunities, get to “no” fastResources👾 Relevance AI - https://relevanceai.com/✨ FoBoH - https://www.foboh.com/🙋‍♀️ Hello Canopy - https://www.hellocanopy.com/🤴🏻 King River Capital - http://www.kingriver.co/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 Intro