Technology

Silicon Valley Girl: AI, Tech and Career Growth

The world’s top CEOs and AI founders explain what’s coming next and how you can get ahead.
Silicon Valley Girl is a weekly AI and technology podcast from Silicon Valley hosted by female founder and angel investor Marina Mogilko, covering practical strategies for career growth, mastering AI tools, entrepreneurship and making money with AI.
For startup founders, professionals and creators who want to stay ahead in the AI era.

Latest Episodes:

6 AI Businesses You Can Start in 2026 — No Code, No Funding, Real Advice from Reid Hoffman, 11Labs CEO & Google's VP of Search May 07, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, Marina breaks down 6 AI business models you can actually start in 2026 — from the easiest (zero tech skills required) to the most scalable (think: automated SaaS with 50% margins). No fluff, no theory. Just specific ideas with action steps you can take this week.

You'll hear directly from:

Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn founder, legendary investor) on how to double your income right now
Mati Staniszewski (CEO of 11Labs, the biggest voice AI company in the world) on where the biggest gap is
Robbie Stein (VP of Product, Google Search) on what actually gets you found by AI
Alex Mashrabov (founder of Higgsfield, $200M/year) on the agency model that exploded in 2024
Daniel Priestley (UK Entrepreneur of the Year) on why "GPT wrapper" is actually a real business

Whether you're a recent grad, a career switcher, or just someone who keeps saying "I should start something" — this episode gives you the clearest roadmap out there.Links: 📩 Follow my Newsletter: https://siliconvalleygirl.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=futureproof-sub&utm_content=compilation_6aibusiness_ideas🔗 My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconvalleygirl/ 📌 My Companies & Products: https://Marinamogilko.co

Mo Gawdat, Allie Miller, Gary Vee: The 6 AI Tools They Use Daily to Earn More | AI Tools 2026 Apr 30, 2026

Show notes

What 6 AI tools are the smartest people in the room actually using every day?

I asked the same question to dozens of founders, investors, and AI leaders this year — which AI tool changed your income the most? Six tools kept coming up.In this compilation, Mo Gawdat (former Chief Business Officer at Google X), Allie K. Miller (former Global Head of ML at AWS), and Gary Vaynerchuk (CEO of VaynerMedia) share the exact stack they use to earn more, work faster, and stay ahead — and how to start using each one this week.

Silicon Valley Girl is a weekly AI and technology podcast hosted by Marina Mogilko.

📌 Launch your dream business with the best designs the world has to offer — Design.com: https://go.design.com/cd5msoz

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Topics: AI tools, AI business, AI for founders, future of work, AI productivity, Mo Gawdat, Allie Miller, Gary Vee, AI stack, AI tools 2026, double your income with AI

How to Build a $10K AI Business Solo — No Code, No Funding Apr 26, 2026

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What would you build today if you had to start from zero?

I asked 6 founders the same question: with just a laptop, AI, and no funding — what would get you to $10,000 a month in 90 days?

In this podcast they share how they'd build a business today from scratch: what to build, how to choose a niche, marketing advice, and how to get your first paying customer by day 30.

Gary Vee, Amjad Masad (Replit), Young Zhao (Opus Clip), Mati Staniszewski (ElevenLabs), Alex Mashrabov (Higgsfield), and Bill Gurley (investor) on what they'd actually build today.

Silicon Valley Girl is a weekly AI and technology podcast hosted by Marina Mogilko.

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Topics: AI business, solopreneur, AI entrepreneur, future of work, AI startups, Gary Vee, Replit, ElevenLabs, Opus Clip, Higgsfield, Bill Gurley, $10K/month business, no-code business, AI tools 2026

7 AI Skills That Will Make You Irreplaceable | Advice from Replit, Anthropic, and Microsoft Apr 23, 2026

Show notes

Job postings with AI skills now pay $18,000 more per year (Lightcast, 2025). By 2030, 39% of today's skills will be outdated. These are the ones that won't.

So I asked the people building these AI tools and working inside the biggest AI companies in the world — what skills will make you irreplaceable in the AI era? From every conversation, 7 skills kept coming up — the ones that actually keep you employable, valuable, and ahead of everyone else.

I asked Amjad Masad (CEO, Replit) how to actually get good at prompting.

Mike Krieger (Instagram co-founder, now CPO at Anthropic) showed me how solo founders run lean companies with AI workflows.

Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn co-founder) explained why creative thinking is the one thing AI still can't copy.

And Mustafa Suleyman (CEO, Microsoft AI) told me what he's teaching his kids that matters more than any app.

Topics: AI skills 2026, high income skills, AI careers, Replit, Anthropic, Microsoft AI, LinkedIn, Amjad Masad, Mike Krieger, Reid Hoffman, Mustafa Suleyman, future of work, prompt engineering

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Google Fired Him. Then He Won a Nobel Prize | John Martinis Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

John Martinis won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery that made quantum computing possible. At 67, he retired from UC Santa Barbara to build Qolab, his quantum hardware startup. President Trump named him to the PCAST science council with Zuckerberg, Brin, and Huang — the only physicist in the room.

This is the uncut Davos conversation.

What we cover:— How quantum computing could replace rare earth elements with common materials— Why JPMorgan and Robinhood are already running quantum algorithms— What a Nobel physicist actually thinks about the multiverse— Why his biggest breakthroughs came from being pushed out

Topics: quantum computing, Nobel Prize Physics 2025, John Martinis, Qolab, quantum computer, superconducting qubits, AI vs quantum, deep tech, Davos, career in tech.

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AI Safety Expert: No One Is Ready for What's Coming in 2 Years | Roman Yampolskiy Apr 20, 2026

Show notes

Roman Yampolskiy has spent 15 years at the University of Louisville studying one question: can we control AI? His answer is no. And in 2026, the early evidence is showing up inside his own department — a 28% drop in co-op placements for CS students. Prediction markets for AGI have collapsed from 2045 down to 2028–2030. So I asked him the question everyone actually wants answered: if 99% of jobs really do get automated, which ones survive? He named five — and they're not the ones you'd expect.

We also cover:

— What to invest in when AI can replace most human labor

— Why he told his own 17-year-old to think twice about college

— How to raise kids with agency in a world that automates thinking

— And the answer he gave when I asked if we're living in a simulation If you've been using "AI" and "superintelligence" as the same word, this conversation will fix that.

Topics: AI safety, Roman Yampolskiy, AGI 2030, jobs AI can't replace, future of work, AI superintelligence, investing in AI era, simulation theory, career advice 2026, AI risk

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How to Build a $1M Business Solo in 2026 — No Team, No Funding, No Code Apr 17, 2026

Show notes

If you lost everything tomorrow — your money, your network, your reputation — and had to rebuild from zero in 2026, what would you actually do? I asked the founders who've already done it.

In this episode, I talk to Samir Vasavada (CEO of Vise), Young Zhao (CEO of Opus Clip), Aravind Srinivas (CEO of Perplexity), Daniel Priestley, and Amjad Masad (CEO of Replit) about the exact strategies they'd use to start over today.

We cover:

How to find your real superpower — and why asking your friends is the fastest way
The 30-day framework for testing an idea before you commit
Why obsession beats strategy in the AI era
The "7-7-6 apprenticeship" — why your first move shouldn't be starting a company
How to build a moat when AI can copy anything in days

At the end, I share my own plan for starting from scratch in 2026 — the niche, the content system, the 30-day sprint, and what I'd focus on first.

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How AI Is Solving Problems We Thought Were Impossible | Yossi Matias, Google VP of Research Apr 15, 2026

Show notes

AI is already solving problems scientists said were impossible — and we're just getting started. In this episode, Yossi Matias, VP of Engineering & Research at Google, explains why we're living through the golden age of research and what that means for your career, your kids, and your future.

We cover:

Why AI agents and vibe coding are actually underhyped
How Google's AI co-scientist cracked a superbug hypothesis in 3 days (vs. years of lab work)
Flood prediction in 150 countries — from "impossible" to deployed in 7 years
What Google is building for education, healthcare, and climate resilience
The one mindset shift to stay relevant in 2026 and beyond

Yossi also shares what Google looks for when hiring today — and why the ability to adapt matters more than any specific skill.

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Which Jobs Survive AI by 2030? Saadia Zahidi (WEF) Reveals What the Data Actually Shows Apr 13, 2026

Show notes

Which Jobs Survive AI by 2030? Saadia Zahidi (WEF) Reveals What the Data Actually Shows

Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum, joins Silicon Valley Girl live from Davos to break down the WEF Future of Jobs Report — and what it actually means for your career.

The data: 78 million new jobs are coming by 2030. But 23% of all roles will go through major disruption. And roughly 1 in 10 workers won't find a place inside their own industry.

We cover:

Why AI isn't the real reason entry-level jobs are disappearing — and what actually is
The "catch-22" problem young job seekers are stuck in right now
Which jobs are growing (agriculture, education) and which are declining fast
Why human skills — creativity, empathy, leadership — are more valuable than ever in an AI world
The "learn to earn" framework WEF launched at Davos to fix broken hiring
What no-regret career moves look like in 2025–2030, no matter which scenario plays out

If you're figuring out your next move — whether you're a student, mid-career, or building a team — this episode gives you the clearest data-backed picture of what's coming.

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Duolingo CEO: AI Won't Take Your Job — But Someone Using It Will (And Here's What to Do Now) | Luis von Ahn Apr 10, 2026

Show notes

📌 Try Granola — the AI notepad that turns meetings into action: https://www.granola.ai/marina or use code MARINA at checkout for 3 months free.

Luis von Ahn built Duolingo into a company with 100M+ monthly active users and $1B in the bank — and he's never done a single layoff. While every other CEO is blaming AI for firing people, he's hiring more.

In this episode, Luis breaks down exactly how his team used AI to build a chess course from scratch in 6 months — two people, no engineering background, no chess knowledge. It now has 7 million daily users. That's the real story of what AI can do for your career, if you know how to use it.

We also get into: why "AI is taking your job" is mostly a lie companies tell to cover over-hiring, what happened when Duolingo's stock dropped 82% and why Luis has zero regrets, the one mindset shift that lets him not check the stock price every day, and his honest takes on which jobs are actually going away — translator, teacher, social media manager, strategist, project manager — gone in 5 years, gone in 10, or not going anywhere.

If you're trying to figure out what to do with your career or business right now, this conversation will reset your thinking.

Keywords: AI jobs future, career and AI, Duolingo CEO, Luis von Ahn, AI replacing jobs, future of work, AI startup, vibe coding, education AI, Silicon Valley Girl podcast

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