Orchestrating Smarter AI Systems with AI21 Labs' Yoav Shoham | AI Basics with Google Cloud

In this episode of AI Basics, Jason sits down with Yoav Shoham — Stanford professor emeritus and co-founder of AI21 Labs, creators of Jurassic-2, Wordtune, and the new orchestration system Maestro. They unpack: Why enterprise AI struggles with reliability What orchestration really means (and why LLMs alone aren't enough) The pitfalls of "agent-washing" Small vs large models, agent-to-agent protocols, and where real opportunities lie This one is for founders building with AI — if you're navigating hallucinations, chasing automation, or exploring multi-agent workflows, this episode is a must. * Timestamps: (0:00) Yoav Shoham joins Jason to discuss AI Basics. (1:05) What AI21 Labs is building — from Jurassic-2 to Maestro (5:49) The overuse and confusion of the seductive term "agent" (8:22) Small models vs large models: what's best for enterprise? (10:53) The verticalization of AI: legal, accounting, and beyond (12:17) The challenge of agent-to-agent communication and shared semantics (17:08) What's overhyped vs underhyped in AI — Yoav's advice for founders * Uncover more valuable insights from AI leaders in Google Cloud's 'Future of AI: Perspectives for Startups' report. https://goo.gle/futureofai * Explore Further Google Cloud's Report: The Future of AI Get insights from 23 leading experts on how startups can leverage AI for real business impact. 👉 Read the full report More AI Basics Episodes Founders, operators, and builders — catch up on our full Startup Basics series (Legal, Finance, Growth & AI): 👉 thisweekinstartups.com/basics Links from episde: Google Cloud — Build smarter with AI tools built for startups AI21 Labs — Makers of Wordtune, Jurassic-2, and Maestro Maestro — Orchestrate AI agents and tools across workflows Jamba — AI21's hybrid language model with breakthrough efficiency Learn About Google's A2A (Agent-to-Agent) Protocol The next evolution in agent interoperability and coordination: Official A2A Announcement Hands-on A2A Tutorial (Medium) * Follow Yoav: X: https://x.com/yshoham LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoavshoham/ * Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis * Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com