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This week on Sidecar Sync, we take a deep dive into the Paris AI Action Summit, exploring global AI trends, governance challenges, and key takeaways from this high-profile event. With 60 nations signing the final declaration—but the U.S. and U.K. notably opting out—what does this mean for AI’s future? We also discuss the Reuters legal victory against Ross Intelligence, a major copyright case with potential implications for AI training and content use. Plus, we reflect on how associations can stay competitive in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Don’t miss this packed episode filled with insights, debate, and strategies for AI-driven success!

🔎 Check out Sidecar's AI Learning Hub and get your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification:
https://learn.sidecar.ai

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecar.ai/ai

📅 Find out more digitalNow 2025 and register now:
https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai/

🚀 Find out more about the upcoming Blue Cypress Innovation Hubs!
Washington, D.C.: https://bluecypress.io/innovation-hub-dc
Chicago: https://bluecypress.io/innovation-hub-chicago

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
DeepSeek ➡ https://deepseek.com
Llama 3 ➡ https://ai.meta.com/llama/
OpenAI GPT Models ➡ https://openai.com

Chapters:
00:00 - Welcome to Sidecar Sync
02:10 - Key Highlights from the Paris AI Summit
08:38 - Global AI Governance: Who Signed & Who Opted Out?
13:10 - Is the U.S. Really Dominating AI?
17:48 - AI Safety, Containment, and the Role of Good AI
26:12 - Deceptive Misalignment: A Growing AI Risk?
29:27 - Reuters' Legal Win: What It Means for AI & Copyright
37:30 - How Associations Can Protect Their AI-Used Content
43:02 - The 95% vs. 100% Content Challenge
50:24 - Closing

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More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

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In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith and Mallory dive into OpenAI’s latest innovation: Deep Research. They explore how this powerful AI agent is transforming research by synthesizing vast amounts of information at unprecedented speeds. They also discuss Jevons Paradox—why technological advancements don’t always reduce resource consumption and how this applies to AI’s rapid evolution. Plus, they unpack the implications of AI’s increasing accessibility, from competition among AI models to what this means for associations navigating an AI-driven future.

🔎 Check out Sidecar's AI Learning Hub and get your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification:
https://learn.sidecar.ai

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecar.ai/ai

📅 Find out more digitalNow 2025 and register now:
https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai/

🚀 Find out more about the upcoming Blue Cypress Innovation Hubs!
Washington, D.C.: https://bluecypress.io/innovation-hub-dc
Chicago: https://bluecypress.io/innovation-hub-chicago

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Deep Research ➡https://openai.com
DeepSeek ➡ https://deepseek.com
Gemini 2 Pro ➡ https://ai.google.dev
Llama 3.3 ➡ https://ai.meta.com
Anthropic Claude 3.5 ➡ https://anthropic.com
Grok ➡ https://x.ai

🎧 Chapters:
00:00 - Welcome to Sidecar Sync
03:49 - Blue Cypress Innovation Hubs
06:41 - OpenAI’s Deep Research and What It Does
10:39 - The Confusion of AI Model Naming Conventions
14:27 - o3 Mini: OpenAI’s Best Reasoning Model?
20:08 - AI Integration in Business: Multiple Models
24:19 - What is Jevons’ Paradox?
33:41 - AI, Energy, and the Future of AI

🚀 Follow Sidecar on LinkedIn
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👍 Please Like & Subscribe!
https://twitter.com/sidecarglobal
https://www.youtube.com/@SidecarSync
https://sidecarglobal.com

More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

📣 Follow Mallory on Linkedin:
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In this special interview edition of Sidecar Sync, hosts Mallory and Amith sit down with AI consultant, John Huisman, to explore how associations can effectively adopt generative AI. John shares insights from his extensive experience advising Fortune 50 companies on digital transformation and AI strategy. The conversation covers how associations can shift from adopting AI just for the sake of it to strategically leveraging it for real business outcomes. They also discuss employee productivity, AI training, and practical applications like knowledge management and customer service automation. If you're wondering how to make AI work for your organization, this episode is a must-listen!

🔎 Check out Sidecar's AI Learning Hub and get your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification:
https://learn.sidecar.ai

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecar.ai/ai

📅 Find out more digitalNow 2025 and register now:
https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai/

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Whisper ➡ https://openai.com/research/whisper
ChatGPT ➡ https://openai.com/chatgpt
Claude ➡ https://claude.ai

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction to John Huisman
04:49 - Early AI Adoption and Technology Shifts
08:18 - Three Key AI Use Cases for Businesses
13:00 - Where AI Implementation Yields the Quickest Wins
17:58 - Addressing Employee Fears About AI Adoption
22:31 - The Importance of AI Training for Associations
31:39 - Customer Service Automation with Generative AI
42:10 - Knowledge Management and AI for Associations
51:40 - The Future of AI Agents and Business Processes

🚀 Follow Sidecar on LinkedIn
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👍 Please Like & Subscribe!
https://twitter.com/sidecarglobal
https://www.youtube.com/@SidecarSync
https://sidecarglobal.com

More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

📣 Follow Mallory on Linkedin:
https://linkedin.com/mallorymejias

Send us a text

In this jam-packed episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith and Mallory break down two of the biggest AI stories of the moment: DeepSeek’s R1 model and OpenAI’s new Operator agent. R1 has been making waves with its impressive reasoning abilities, low training costs, and major impact on AI stocks—leaving industry giants scrambling. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s Operator brings a new level of automation, allowing AI to browse the web and complete tasks like a human. What does this mean for associations and AI adoption? Tune in as we explore the implications, risks, and opportunities these developments bring to the table.

🔎 Check out Sidecar's AI Learning Hub and get your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification:
https://learn.sidecar.ai

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecar.ai/ai

📅 Find out more digitalNow 2025 and register now:
https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai/

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

DeepSeek R1 ➡ https://www.deepseek.com/
OpenAI Operator ➡ https://openai.com
Claude’s Computer Use (Anthropic) ➡ https://claude.ai
Llama 3.3 (Meta AI) ➡ https://ai.meta.com/llama

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
03:44 - The DeepSeek R1 model: why it's a big deal
13:35 - Can we trust R1’s $6 million training claim?
17:22 - The future of AI: nearly free and everywhere
24:32 - Will R1 be used in Sidecar’s AI tools?
31:11 - OpenAI Operator: AI that can use the web for you
37:38 - Should you be cautious about AI agents?
42:17 - What Operator means for the future of work
44:46 - Closing thoughts

🚀 Follow Sidecar on LinkedIn
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👍 Please Like & Subscribe!
https://twitter.com/sidecarglobal
https://www.youtube.com/@SidecarSync
https://sidecarglobal.com

More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

📣 Follow Mallory on Linkedin:
https://linkedin.com/mallorymejias

Send us a text

In this episode of Sidecar Sync, hosts Amith and Mallory dive into the intersection of leadership and artificial intelligence, exploring why growing your team is the true measure of a leader. Amith shares his decades-long journey of building organizations, candidly discussing the lessons learned along the way. Together, they discuss the critical importance of AI training for teams, why failing to provide it is "leadership malpractice," and the distinct challenges of leading in a time of rapid technological change. From actionable tips to thought-provoking insights, this episode equips leaders to bridge the gap between AI awareness and effective implementation.

🔎 Check out Sidecar's AI Learning Hub and get your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification:
https://learn.sidecar.ai

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecar.ai/ai

📅 Find out more digitalNow 2025 and register now:
https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai/

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
ChatGPT ➡ https://chat.openai.com
Claude AI ➡ https://www.anthropic.com/claude
Google Cloud AI ➡ https://cloud.google.com/ai

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
06:08 - The Sidecar Vision: Growing AI-Literate Teams
13:25 - The Critical Role of Leadership in AI Training
19:19 - Amith’s Perspective on Leadership Mistakes
25:23 - Wartime Leadership: Leading During Rapid Change
39:45 - Why AI Training Is a Leadership Imperative
40:00 - AI Learning Resources for Associations
47:05 - Closing Thoughts: Preparing for the AI-Driven Future

🚀 Follow Sidecar on LinkedIn
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👍 Please Like & Subscribe!
https://twitter.com/sidecarglobal
https://www.youtube.com/@SidecarSync
https://sidecarglobal.com

More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

📣 Follow Mallory on Linkedin:
https://linkedin.com/mallorymejias

Send us a text

Dive into the riveting highlights of digitalNow 2024, where leading experts shared transformative insights on AI and its impact on associations. In this episode, keynote speakers Robert Plotkin, Dr. Gio Altamirano Rayo, Dr. Param Dedhia, Neil Hoyne, and John Spence unravel strategies for leveraging AI, enhancing leadership, and fostering innovation. From safeguarding intellectual property with AI to ethical AI applications at the U.S. Department of State, and even the science behind high-yield health, this episode delivers actionable takeaways for forward-thinking leaders.

🔎 Check out Sidecar's AI Learning Hub and get your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification:
https://learn.sidecar.ai

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecar.ai/ai

📅 Find out more digitalNow 2025 and register now:
https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai

🚀 Follow Sidecar on LinkedIn
https://linkedin.com/sidecar-global

👍 Please Like & Subscribe!
https://twitter.com/sidecarglobal
https://www.youtube.com/@SidecarSync
https://sidecarglobal.com

More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

📣 Follow Mallory on Linkedin:
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Send us a text

In the first episode of 2025, Amith and Mallory dive into groundbreaking innovations reshaping the association world. They explore Google’s Gemini Deep Research, a cutting-edge AI tool revolutionizing how associations can generate actionable insights. Then, they discuss the futuristic potential of carbon-14 diamond batteries—offering nearly unlimited power for thousands of years. From enhancing member engagement through AI to powering the tech of tomorrow, this episode blends scientific curiosity with practical association strategies. Tune in for insights, inspiration, and a glimpse of what’s ahead in AI and energy innovation.

🔎 Check out the NEW Sidecar Learning Hub:
https://learn.sidecarglobal.com/home

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecarglobal.com/ai

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Gemini Deep Research ➡ https://gemini.google.com/app
ChatGPT ➡ https://openai.com/chatgpt

Chapters:
00:00 - Welcome to the First Episode of 2025
04:07 - Discussing Mindfulness and Productivity in a Fast World
10:07 - What is Google Gemini Deep Research?
16:01 - Use Cases of Gemini for Associations
23:02 - AI-Driven Event Personalization Insights
32:41 - Introducing Carbon-14 Diamond Batteries
37:21 - Applications of Diamond Batteries in AI and Beyond
45:14 - Closing

🚀 Follow Sidecar on LinkedIn
https://linkedin.com/sidecar-global

👍 Please Like & Subscribe!
https://twitter.com/sidecarglobal
https://www.youtube.com/@SidecarSync
https://sidecarglobal.com

More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

📣 Follow Mallory on Linkedin:
https://linkedin.com/mallorymejias

Send us a text

Welcome to a special edition of Sidecar Sync! In this episode, Mallory shares keynote highlights from Day One of digitalNow 2024, a premier event for association leaders. Dive into insights from Amith Nagarajan on AI agents and agentic systems, Thomas Altman on AI's role in knowledge creation, Sharon Gai on AI-driven e-commerce strategies, and Dr. Denise Turley on implementing generative AI solutions. From practical takeaways to future-forward ideas, this episode is packed with inspiration for associations navigating the AI revolution.

📣 Take Advantage of the Early Bird Special and Sign Up for digitalNow 2025:
https://digitalnow.sidecarglobal.com/

🔎 Check out the NEW Sidecar Learning Hub:
https://learn.sidecarglobal.com/home

📕 Download ‘Ascend 2nd Edition: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations’ for FREE
https://sidecarglobal.com/ai

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
ChatGPT ➡ https://openai.com/chatgpt
Sora Text-to-Video ➡ https://openai.com/research
Klarna AI Assistant ➡ https://www.klarna.com/us

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
02:08 - Overview of Digital Now 2024
04:40 - Amith Nagarajan
20:46 - Thomas Altman
33:11 - Sharon Gai
45:57 - Dr. Denise Turley
1:00:28 - Closing Remarks

🚀 Follow Sidecar on LinkedIn
https://linkedin.com/sidecar-global

👍 Please Like & Subscribe!
https://twitter.com/sidecarglobal
https://www.youtube.com/@SidecarSync
https://sidecarglobal.com

More about Your Hosts:

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress 🔗 https://BlueCypress.io, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

📣 Follow Amith on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is the Manager at Sidecar, and she's passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space.

📣 Follow Mallory on Linkedin:
https://linkedin.com/mallorymejias