“Most titles will remain. What will change is what people do within those titles.”

In this episode of Human Work After AI, Chris Fanchi talks with Chandan Maruti (CEO of Twig.so) about using agentic AI to scale customer support and success without sacrificing empathy. Twig acts like a coworker for support agents, handling instant answers and triage so humans can focus on pattern-finding, prevention, and relationships.

We cover:

- Why CS/S roles won’t disappear, but will become far more strategic as AI takes the repetitive load.

- The “thousand CSMs” idea: sensing problems earlier across every user interaction.

- Agentic support: AI handles, escalates, and routes while humans oversee and tackle the hard cases.

- Measuring value with a 7-dimension evaluation to avoid AI oversell/undersell traps.

- What a “perfect AI–human hybrid” support team looks like in the next 2–4 years.

Chapters

00:00 — Opening highlight (roles change, not titles)

00:48 — Intro: Twig as an AI coworker for support agents

03:04 — Chandan’s path: engineering → Lambda School → CS leadership

05:44 — The CS pain: high cost, limited bandwidth, slow signal flow

10:17 — “A thousand CSMs”: using AI to listen, sense, escalate early

12:21 — Retention by rigor: the 7-metric outcome framework

16:12 — Humans stay: AI does the repetitive, people do prevention & relationships

19:23 — Next step: from data deluge to actionable signals for CSMs

23:54 — Agentic tools and distributable expertise (runnable knowledge)

36:34 — The ideal AI–human hybrid support org (instant response, smart triage)

38:01 — Where to find Twig + outcomes-first mindset

Resources

Twig.so — outcomes-first AI for support & success: https://www.twig.so

Steward your people through the AI transition with Chris Fanchi's Big North Network — https://bignorthnetwork.com

Managing AI: Humans, Agents, and the Future of Work (out now!)

If this episode helped you reframe human + agent workflows, dive deeper in Chris Fanchi's new book, Managing AI - a pragmatic playbook for leaders on trust, metrics, and org design in the agentic era.

Order your copy today: https://bignorthnetwork.com/managing-ai

If every real estate agent gets AI superpowers, what still sets the best apart? For Biju Ashokan (Founder & CEO, Radius), the answer is clear: proactive AI to remove the grunt work, and human judgment to win the moment that matters. In this episode of Human Work After AI, Biju breaks down MEL, Radius’s AI assistant that builds live client personas, schedules showings, drafts offers, and acts proactively, not just reactively like most chat tools. He argues the enduring edge is interpersonal skill, negotiation, and local context, even as AI levels the playing field.What we cover (highlights):- Why Radius calls itself a software company with a brokerage license and how the model works (subscriptions + per-transaction)- How MEL gets proactive and creates a living client profile from calls, texts, email, and search behavior- Why human skills become more important when AI gives everyone similar tools (negotiation, network, local knowledge)- The future: fewer agents, more professional teams, higher throughput per agent, and likely commission compression over time- Data privacy, team-scoped AI instances, and keeping human-in-the-loop for liability and quality controlBiju’s ultimate takeaway about AI: the same thing that excites him about AI also scares him - the unknowns of the next 10 years of work.Chapters00:00 – Highlight: “Interpersonal skills will stand out when AI levels the field.”02:49 – Software company with a brokerage license03:15 – Vision, then AI’s 360° rethink of real estate software04:29 – Research first: six months inside agent offices; hiring lessons08:17 – Agents want independence; Radius builds the infra to enable it10:27 – Where AI fits: repetitive workflows → MEL assistant12:03 – From reactive to proactive: MEL books showings, sends CMAs13:55 – What stays human: negotiation, network, local context15:44 – GTM update: 100+ brokerages, 1,000+ agents, new states opening16:30 – Teams growing despite a down market; time-back → growth19:20 – One platform vs. tool soup; MEL keeps data in sync21:45 – Fewer agents, more productivity; likely commission compression26:51 – Human-in-the-loop, feedback loops, liability guardrails29:49 – Final remarks: optimism and uncertainty about jobs aheadResourcesLearn more about Radius — https://radiusagent.comGrow your revenue with host Chris Fanchi's Big North Marketing — https://bignorthmarketing.comConversations like this feed the new book "Managing AI: Humans, Agents, and the Future of Work" by Chris Fanchi — releasing November 18. Visit bignorthmarketing.com/managing-ai to learn more and pre-order today!

What happens when AI stops being a classroom distraction and starts becoming the assistant every educator needs?

In this episode of Human Work After AI, host Chris Fanchi sits down with Dr. Mohamed Farag, Founder of Analytics 4 Everyone and Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, to explore how AI can transform higher education by freeing faculty from repetitive tasks and restoring time for what matters most: teaching, mentoring, and inspiring critical thinking.

From his journey from Egypt to the U.S. to founding a company at the intersection of academia and AI, Mohamed shares lessons on innovation, resilience, and designing systems that preserve trust, privacy, and creativity in learning.

If you’re leading a team, teaching, or building AI-driven solutions, this episode is a must-listen on what it takes to bring humanity back into technology.

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 The Future of Teaching with AI

00:43 Introduction: Human Work After AI

01:30 Mohamed’s Journey from Egypt to Carnegie Mellon

05:00 Discovering AI’s True Potential

07:05 The Birth of Analytics 4r Everyone

08:40 Early Podcast Search Innovation

10:45 From B2C to B2B: Pivoting Toward Higher Education

12:50 Faculty Burnout and the AI Solution

14:45 Which Universities Are Adopting AI Fastest

16:45 Protecting Privacy and Intellectual Property

19:30 Building Secure, SOC 2 Certified AI Systems

21:00 Lessons from Startup to Academia

23:50 Go-to-Market Strategy and University Pilots

26:00 The Human Role in the AI-Powered University

30:10 Advice for Educators and Technologists

33:00 Closing Reflections

📚 Resources

Analytics 4 Everyone: https://a4e.tech

Connect with Mohamed: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-farag

Big North Marketing: https://bignorthmarketing.com

💡Looking to better manage your team through the AI transformation?

Coming November 18th, 2025, the new book "Managing AI: Humans, Agents, and the Future of Work" by Chris Fanchi is a deep dive into the challenges facing executives and leaders at the forefront of AI. Pre-order your copy and get a free bonus chapter today.

👉 Learn more at https://bignorthmarketing.com/managing-ai