Beyond the Model: Taking AI From Prototype to Production with Unstructured’s Brian Raymond

In this episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Managing Director Karan Mehandru hosts Brian Raymond, founder and CEO of 2024 IA40 winner Unstructured. Unstructured turns raw, messy, unstructured data into something AI tools can actually process — a typically expensive and time-consuming process for companies hoping to save money with the tools themselves. Brian and Karan explore some of the biggest trends in AI, including moving from prototype to production, the rise and fall of vertical applications, the shift toward powerful horizontal solutions, whether the ROI will be there on all this capital investment into AI, and the trough of disillusionment and why expectations in AI often don't match reality. They also discuss how an unlikely source, the public sector, is driving AI innovation today. It's a conversation you won't want to miss. Full Transcript: https://www.madrona.com/prototype-to-production-ai-insights-unstructured-brian-raymond Chapters: (00:00) Introduction  (01:14) Trends in AI: From Vertical to Horizontal Solutions  (01:47) The First Mile of AI: Preprocessing and Data Ingestion  (03:43) Displacement of knowledge graphs for RAG  (06:19) The AI Stack: Layers and Competition  (08:55) Is the current level of investment in AI justified?  (11:19) The Speed of Change in AI (12:47) Public Sector vs. Private Sector Roles in AI Innovation (16:52) "Two completely incongruous narratives" (19:15) Advice for AI Entrepreneurs (21:49) Unstructured's Future