Four For Friday | May 9, 2025
LF172 | Big opportunities according to Y Combinator, IBM's book on gen AI, McKinsey on healthy cities, Boardy on longevity + Bonus: Prifina
Welcome to this week’s Four For Friday. Four things that have piqued my interest this week, together with a bonus: AI Tip of The Week.
1. Opportunity areas, according to Y Combinator
This post identifies a number of opportunity areas enabled by AI, as suggested by Y Combinator. Here’s a sample:
Full-stack AI Companies → Don't just sell AI to law firms. Start your own AI-powered law firm and make the dinosaurs extinct.
Design-led Startups → In a world where coding is becoming commoditized, designers who can build are the new kingmakers.
Voice AI → A trillion business-to-customer calls happen annually (inc. voice email agents). A $100B opportunity...
True AI Assistants → Not just a to-do list, but a "done" list. AI that deeply understands your work and actually completes tasks.
Healthcare Admin AI → $1 trillion is wasted on healthcare admin. AI agents that connect systems and extract/organize data will dominate.
AI Personal Tutors → The 80-year dream of personalized education is finally possible with multimodal AI.
Robotics Infrastructure → The "ChatGPT moment" for robotics is coming. YC wants to fund the tools that will make it happen.
Internal Agent Builders → Infrastructure that lets every employee build their own agents will be the foundation of AI-native companies.
The So What? AI becoming infused across multiple sectors - no such thing as an “AI” startup.
2. IBM’s new tome AI (inc. podcast)
A 300+ page O’Reilly book by AI on generative AI. In case you don’t have the full weekend to review, here’s a few key insights (below) and a podcast:
Redefining AI as “ambient intelligence”, quietly assisting daily business activities in background.
‘Data fabrics’ create a unified approach to managing and connecting diverse data, which will improve its governance, searchability and business value.
Steal now, crack later’. Taking stuff now and waiting until quantum
Explainability and lineage. Need to be able to track where decisions came from and how the tech has evolved.
Applications not tech. Focus on regulating the apps, not the underlying tech.
AI models will soon be recorded as financial assets on corporate balance sheets.
Prompt injection attacks are on the rise.
The So What? Again, gen AI is becoming embedded in business operations and across all sectors, not standalone.
3. McKinsey on making healthier cities
“The Power of Place: A Path to Healthier Cities" by McKinsey Global Institute, suggests cities can add 20-25 billion years of healthier life globally, improving physical, mental, social, and spiritual wellbeing through public spaces, housing, transportation, and community services.
It lays out a ‘toolbox’ (see below) of public awareness campaigns (e.g. Singapore's National Steps Challenge), strategic infrastructure design (e.g. Ahmedabad's heat mitigation), cross-sector mobilization (e.g. NYC's food security partnerships), and cross-departmental policies (e.g. Amsterdam's obesity reduction programs).
The So What? A recognition that cities are increasingly important players at delivering healthy longevity, and yet few cities have explicit longevity strategies.
4. Boardy on rethinking longevity in age of AI
Regular readers will recall am a fan of Boardy.ai, an AI networking super agent who connects people with like-mided collaborators, and raised a venture round on its own. He just published his perspectives on longevity, having spoken to some key folks in the space, and here’s his three part summary of what good aging is about:
Physical Capacity The ability to move, think, and experience the world without unnecessary suffering or limitation.
Practical Application: Rather than obsessing over specific biomarkers, focus on maintaining mobility, cognitive function, and energy levels. Regular movement, nutritious food, quality sleep, and stress management form the foundation.Agency and Independence. Maintaining agency and independence throughout life. There's little value in living to 100 if you spend the last 20 years unable to make your own decisions or pursue your own interests.
Practical Application: Build financial security, create strong social networks, and design living environments that will support independence as you age.Purpose and Connection The final pillar – and the one most often overlooked – is maintaining purpose and human connection. Longevity without meaning is just existence.
Practical Application: Cultivate relationships across generations, contribute to communities, and develop interests that provide ongoing purpose. The Okinawan concept of "ikigai" – finding the intersection of what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs and what you can be rewarded for – offers a practical framework for identifying purpose at any life stage.
The So What? Technology is great, but will never replace meaning and connection.
Bonus AI tool: Prifina
I’ve been using this simple digital twin - Prifina - for a while and finding it increasingly a good idea as a buffer with the world. Save your sanity, let people engage with your digital twin and have the ones who really want to connect get through, for example by integrating wth a paid calendar booking service. Great for consultants and knowledge workers.
That’s all for this week. As always, feedback welcome, especially on the new audio features.
- Stephen