How to make AI worth your time with Max Mullen | from WorkLife with Molly Graham

How to make AI worth your time with Max Mullen | from WorkLife with Molly Graham

From TED Tech by TED Tech

May 29, 2026 · 40 min

About this episode

Max Mullen discusses how to effectively engage with AI to solve real problems and build expertise.

If you’ve tried AI and felt underwhelmed — or if the constant pressure to “just play around with it” makes you want to throw your laptop across the room — you’re not alone. But according to Max Mullen, co-founder of Instacart and one of the most practical thinkers on this technology, you might be closer to becoming an AI expert than you realize. In this episode, Max makes the case that expertise with AI isn’t about taking a course or spending your weekend trying to learn how to use it. Max talks about how to use AI to solve real problems, why you want to try it more than once, and argues that building a relationship with the tool is the key to getting better and faster results. This is the episode for anyone who’s skeptical, behind, or just exhausted by the hype. WorkLife is a podcast from TED where host and company builder Molly Graham and her expert guests talk through the messy feelings we all experience at work. Ambition and failure, joy and burnout, confidence and self-doubt — this show digs into it all to help you build a career without losing yourself. Listen now: https://link.mgln.ai/WxcTph Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Molly Graham

Guest: Max Mullen

Topics covered

  • AI
  • technology
  • expertise
  • problem-solving
  • skepticism
  • workplace

Keywords

  • AI
  • Max Mullen
  • Instacart
  • technology
  • expertise
  • problem-solving
  • WorkLife
  • Molly Graham

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Instacart, TED, WorkLife

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