This week I’m back from SF Tech Week, and I wanted to share five themes I saw and really enjoyed. We’ve talked about a lot of these ideas on patch before, but for me, actually using tools like Codex and seeing what agentic AI can do has been pretty incredible.

This is the patch:

• The power behind AI and the infrastructure explored at Neocloud Summit
• AI that does the task and what Camp AI, hosted by Auth0, covered about building and securing agents
• Shopping 3.0 with Arcade, where describing something you want could become a way to get it made
• We also get into Lilly and a16z’s event on AI in drug discovery
• Creator Clubhouse and how creators help us understand where these tools fit into our lives

Then we close with my work travel essentials: K18 Molecular Repair Hair Oil, Everyday Chemist Lip Grease, Caudalie Beauty Elixir, my Rebecca Minkoff Perfect Tote in Black, and the Aritzia Sweatfleece sets I’ve been reaching for after months of being on the go.

If you want a little more background, check out

• 2026 tech predictions + new year work style for AI’s growing energy needs and agentic AI
• the ai bubble: lessons from the dot-com era + patchperfect’s work holiday gift guide for the infrastructure behind it all
• There’s also discernment > data: from textbox to toolbox, my conversation with Glendon Hass about AI that can use tools and why we still need to make the final call.

All views expressed are my own.

We’re back for season four, and I knew I wanted our first episode to be a special one. Flavia Zhamo is the founder of Everyday Chemist, a Toronto skincare brand she built with her chemical engineer mom. They’re also part of Sephora Accelerate, a beauty brand incubator that gives founders access to mentorship, industry experts, and an opportunity to launch at Sephora.

One of the things that drew me to Everyday Chemist was how much research goes into the products. Lip Grease started as something Flavia’s mom made for her dry skin, and they gave it to friends for years before bringing it to market. We get into the formulation process, why sourcing matters, and how ingredients from around the world make their way into the products on your shelf. And of course, we close with the lifestyle segment.

This is the patch:

• Flavia’s Albanian roots, moving to Toronto at ten, and building a skincare brand with her mom
• The R&D behind Lip Grease, from trying different formulas to sourcing 50 different lanolins across three continents
• Why innovation starts at the ingredient level and how they use research and supplier studies to make sourcing decisions
• The science behind Silky Water, its seawater ingredient from France, and the thinking behind its two-phase formula
• The persistence behind getting into Sephora Accelerate and what the program is helping Flavia figure out as a founder
• Lab fits, everyday essentials, and Flavia’s ideal Saturday in Toronto

Follow Flavia (@flaviaisonline) and Everyday Chemist (@everydaychemist.studios) on Instagram and explore Everyday Chemist.

All views expressed are my own.

For the season three finale, I'm bringing you something a little different. I have been following Courtney de Vries for a while now and she has this way of breaking down how to put outfits together that felt very true to how we break things down here on patch. She is a stylist and wardrobe consultant based in Toronto and if you are not already following her, you need to be.

You know how every episode we close with the lifestyle segment? Today we are dedicating the whole episode to it. Work style, the foundational pieces, and how to actually get dressed with intention whether you are heading into the office, on a work trip, or logging on from home.

This is the patch:

• Why style is not just about trends and really about getting the foundation right
• Courtney's building blocks: why your coat, your bag, and your shoes are the best pieces to invest in and why consignment and thrift stores are the smartest place to find them
• Work style across the eras, starting out with a tight budget, leveling up when you have a little more to play with, and navigating the new mom chapter when your life and your priorities have shifted
• Quick ways to pull together a great WFH outfit
• Packing for a work trip like a stylist and the rolling trick

Follow Courtney (@cor_style_) on Instagram and TikTok and check out her website.

All views expressed are my own.

Greg Richardson has spent decades where AI and cybersecurity meet, long before they became major headlines. He's a former engineer, former executive, advisory CISO at BlackBerry and Palo Alto Networks. He also founded 6 Levers AI Consulting and Coaching and has spent years translating all of this into language that actual humans can understand and act on.

This week on patch we are getting into both sides of it. The threat and the tool. Why small businesses are the hottest targets in cybersecurity right now and why they are also the ones rushing into AI the fastest without a real plan. The coffee shop, the nonprofit, the boutique. In the crossfire on both fronts and most of them have no idea.

This is the patch:

• Think red, act blue: the attacker mindset framework that changes how you defend everything
• Why your small business has a bigger target on its back than a bank and what to actually do about it
• The difference between an AI tool and an AI agent and why getting that wrong is costing people real money
• One person with AI agents now has the reach of an entire organization. what that means for whoever is on the other side

We close with the lifestyle segment: the truth behind Greg's consistently sharp fits, the style crew keeping him looking good, and a story that had me genuinely laughing.

All views expressed are my own.

This week I'm getting into the woman behind the tool you probably used to make your last pitch deck. Melanie Perkins is the co-founder and CEO of Canva, and her story is one of the most interesting in tech right now. We get into how a frustrating Photoshop class at a Perth university became a design platform used by 170 million people, how democratizing design means that a freelancer in Lagos or a student in São Paulo now has access to the same professional tools as anyone in New York or London, and why she got rejected by over a hundred investors before anyone said yes.

This is the patch:

• from Perth to everywhere: how Melanie built a billion dollar company with no Bay Area network, no fancy connections, and over a hundred no's
• the yearbook company nobody talks about and why it built the foundation for everything Canva became
• 92% of business leaders now expect design skills from every employee, not just creatives. what that means for your career right now
• the grandmaster move: why chess grandmasters are making deliberately imperfect moves to beat AI, and what that means for anyone building a creative career

We close with the lifestyle segment: Melanie used to work seven days a week and has been open about how unsustainable that was. We get into her 100km walking habit, her AI walks with AirPods, and why the most ambitious women in tech are starting to talk about rest as seriously as they talk about results.

All views expressed are my own.

This week I'm breaking down one of the most important conferences in the tech world. RSAC 2026 is happening right now in San Francisco, and even if cybersecurity isn't your world yet, I think this one is worth your attention. We get into how a single room of cryptographers (the people who figured out how to keep your data private using math) in 1991 became a 40,000-person global institution, why AI has completely taken over the conversation this year, and the three trends that are going to be defining headlines for the next decade.

This is the patch:

• why RSAC is the one conference the whole industry actually pays attention to
• agentic AI: who owns it when no one does
• post-quantum cryptography and why the time to prepare is now, not later
• CTEM: the shift away from checking for threats every few weeks to having a live, always-on view of where you are exposed

We close with the lifestyle segment, and this one is for my listeners who are constantly on the move for work. I get into why I stopped bringing a carry-on and never looked back, why this Korean skincare product is my ultimate travel companion, and why a trench over a TNA butter set is the only airport outfit you will ever need.

All views expressed are my own.

Lauren Wilson was one of my very first friends in tech. She took me under her wing, showed me the ropes, and now she's doing something I think is genuinely rare: she spent eight years at one of the biggest companies in the world, left it all behind, and went to teach and coach the next generation at the University of Alabama. On top of having an MBA in business analytics, Lauren is also a certified career coach, and one of the most grounded people I know.

This is the kind of career conversation I wish I'd had at 22.

This is the patch:

• how to actually break into tech when your degree has nothing to do with STEM
• imposter syndrome: why it never fully goes away and how to stop letting it run the show
• your personal board of directors and why the people on it need to know they're on it
• being comfortable with being uncomfortable, and why embarrassment is just the price of entry

We close with the lifestyle segment where Lauren talks about the non-negotiables that make her feel like herself: the coffee ritual, the morning walks, the music that carries her through every mood. We take a little country music detour (Nashville will do that to you), and she gives a very heartfelt shoutout to her brother's artist, Logan Mize.

All views expressed are my own.

Chelsea Squires is an AI and data leader at Slalom, a consultancy that believes the best technology outcomes start with people, not the other way around, and one of Forbes' top ranked management consulting firms in 2025. She spends her days helping companies move past the noise and actually implement AI in ways that stick. She also happens to spend her weekends building Claude-powered apps to manage her skincare routine. Both require the same thing: knowing exactly what you're working with.

This episode is about what it actually takes to use AI well.

This is the patch:

• The problem: why adoption is the hardest part of any AI rollout and what most companies are getting wrong
• The method: reframing AI not as a time-saving tool but as something that gives you your mental bandwidth back
• The routine: how Chelsea built a personal Claude-powered skincare app and what it reveals about where this technology is actually headed

In the lifestyle segment we talk about fashion as a form of confidence, dressing with intention, and the shoe that put her foot quite literally in the door.

All views expressed are my own.