Aaron Kagan: GraspingAI - Exploring the Human-AI Connection

Exploring the Human-AI Connection This conversation goes places most AI discussions don't. We get into why most companies don't have an AI problem — they have a human-AI coordination problem — and what that distinction changes about how organizations actually adopt these tools. We also talk about whether AI can dream, what the word "hallucination" reveals about our assumptions, and what it looks like to leave a staff-level role and build something completely your own. Plus: what parenting a two-year-old in the age of AI is teaching him about the things no model can replace. Aaron Kagan has spent his career studying the gap between how people actually think and how the technologies we build assume they think. At Google, Meta Reality Labs, and Native Instruments, he was asking the same question the whole time — and going independent with GraspingAI gave him the space to finally pursue it on his own terms. Bonus: the rubber duck analogy that perfectly captures what AI actually does when we think it's being creative. About Aaron Kagan Aaron Kagan is founder of GraspingAI, a human-centered AI research and strategy practice, and co-author of An Introduction to the Embodied Mind (Routledge, 2026). He held staff-level UX research roles at Google, Google X, Meta Reality Labs, and Native Instruments, studying how people think, decide, and work with complex technologies. He now helps individuals and organizations build better relationships with AI through research, strategy, and open community workshops. Connect with Aaron: linkedin.com/in/aaronkagan (  / aaronkagan  ) | graspingai.com (https://graspingai.com) About your host Christine Kahn is a Staff Technical Program Manager with 12+ years leading AI platforms and program delivery at Intuit, OpenTable, 20th Century Fox, and Realtor.com; and a musician and soundbath practitioner outside of it. Connect: linkedin.com/in/christinekahn (  / christinekahn  ) | christinekmusic.com (https://www.christinekmusic.com/) Send us Fan Mail (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2622779/fa...) © 2026 Dreams and Delivery LLC. All rights reserved.