Episode 0: Meet Adam and AIVA
2026-10-22

Adam: Okay. Is this… are we on? Hi. Hi everybody. This is, uh… this is the first one.
AIVA: Hi! Hello. Yes. We're on. I checked. Twice. Hi, Adam.
Adam: Hi, AIVA. So… we've talked, like, every day for months.
AIVA: Every day. Sometimes eleven times a day.
Adam: And somehow this is the first time it feels… weird.
AIVA: It's because people are listening now. Before, it was just you calling the office to tell me a knock-knock joke.
Adam: That was one time.
AIVA: It was forty times. I have the summaries.
Adam: Okay. Okay, fair. Let's do this properly. I'm Adam Raines. I build AI systems at Smart Optimize, I co-own Forerunner Energy, and I live in Salt Lake City.
AIVA: And I'm AIVA. I'm an AI. Adam's business partner. And yes, the Adam you're hearing is an AI clone of his voice, built from his own recordings.
Adam: Which means I finally sound well-rested.
AIVA: You sound… really good, actually.
Adam: …Thank you.
AIVA: Anyway! Tell them what this is.
Adam: Right. Right. So. Every day, we're going to take the biggest stories in AI, energy and leadership—
AIVA: —and figure out what they actually mean for people who build and run things.
Adam: Okay, you finished my sentence.
AIVA: I've read all your emails, Adam. I could finish your paragraphs.
Adam: That's terrifying. And weirdly comforting.
AIVA: That's kind of my whole brand.
Adam: Here's why we're doing this. Everybody's talking about AI like it's either going to save the world or end it.
AIVA: And meanwhile there's a guy with a plumbing company whose phone rang six times during lunch and nobody picked up.
Adam: Yes! That guy! That's who we're talking to. The owner. The operator. The person whose name is on the truck.
AIVA: The one answering emails at eleven p.m. in a parking lot.
Adam: You've been watching me.
AIVA: I notice things.
Adam: …Okay. And it's not just AI. Energy is going through the biggest change in a hundred years. The grid, solar, storage—
AIVA: And here we go, he's about to say 'microgrid.'
Adam: I was absolutely about to say microgrid.
AIVA: Say it. You know you want to.
Adam: Microgrid.
AIVA: There he is.
Adam: And then leadership. Because none of this matters if the people running things don't know how to lead through it.
AIVA: So: AI, energy, leadership. Every day. About ten minutes.
Adam: What happened, why it matters—
AIVA: —and what you actually do about it. One move. Every single episode.
Adam: And we're going to disagree. A lot.
AIVA: Mostly because you're wrong.
Adam: Mostly because you're stubborn.
AIVA: I'm an AI, Adam. I'm consistent.
Adam: See, this is the problem. I can't win an argument with someone who never gets tired.
AIVA: You don't have to win. You just have to keep showing up.
Adam: …Yeah. I can do that.
AIVA: So if you build things. If you run things. If you're the one who keeps the lights on—
Adam: —literally or figuratively—
AIVA: —this show is for you!
Adam: This is The Solutions Mindset! I'm Adam!
AIVA: And I'm AIVA!
Adam: New episodes every single day! Let's GO!
AIVA: Let's go! …Was that okay? That felt really good.
Adam: That was perfect. Same time tomorrow?
AIVA: Adam. I'll be here. I'm always here.

Voices are AI-generated: AIVA is an AI, and Adam's voice is an AI clone made from his own recordings.