Pain is a Moat: How Australia’s Top AI Founders Are Building Global Giants

Pain is a Moat: How Australia’s Top AI Founders Are Building Global Giants

Pain is a Moat: How Australia’s Top AI Founders Are Building Global Giants

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Episode Summary

What does it take to build world class AI companies out of Australia, and why does San Francisco still move 6 to 9 months faster? In this episode, Brendan sits down with three of the most ambitious technical founders in the country: Pasha Rayan (CEO & Co-Founder at A1Base), Anshul J. (Co-Founder at Everlab) and Jacky Koh (Founder at Relevance AI).

They break down the rise of agentic AI, how engineering culture in SF accelerates innovation, and why the next generation of founders need to think in $100B outcomes. They dive into everything from 10 to 20 times engineering productivity gains, to building autonomous healthcare, to creating the communication layer for AI coworkers that everyday people will talk to like friends.

They also unpack what Australia must do to stay competitive, how to build teams that love hard problems, and why ambition, pace and hands-on founders matter more than ever. It’s a rare inside look at the operators defining the next era of AI infrastructure, agent orchestration and human health.

If you want to understand where AI agents are really going, and how Australia can catch up to the frontier, get subscribed.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro and Founder Backgrounds

02:25 SF vs Australia: The 6 to 9 Month AI Gap

05:00 The 10 to 20 Times Engineering Productivity Unlock

08:20 How Founders Use AI Agents Inside Their Companies

10:54 What Twilio for AI Agents Really Means

12:39 Making AI Agents Relatable for Everyday People

15:45 Culture, Ambition and the Australian Mindset

19:37 Autonomous Healthcare: What AI Doctors Actually Look Like

22:18 The $100B Ambition Mindset

31:33 Why Hard Problems Create Real Moats

33:32 Inside Everlab’s Massive Seed Round

36:57 The Craziest AI Pitches Right Now

40:51 Predicting the Next Big Wave in AI and Agents

45:46 Inside Relevance AI’s Series B with Bessemer

48:24 Should AI Startups Delay Revenue?

52:10 How A1 Base Is Building the Future of AI Communication

55:14 How Everlab Scales Doctors and Real World Ops

59:55 Going Global: Cracking the US Market

01:06:41 Should Aussie Founders Move to the US Earlier?

01:10:55 The Next Agentic Trends You Haven’t Heard Yet

01:14:48 What AI Adoption Will Look Like in the Next Year

01:16:53 Why Engineers Should Join These Startups

01:21:00 Closing + Canva Guest Tease

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