Platform-Agnostic Prompting & The Rise of Agentic AI Platforms

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS:

• The New Wave of Agentic AI: A look at how new platforms from Google (Gemini Agents) and IBM (Watsonx Orchestrate) are enabling businesses to build sophisticated, no-code AI agents for customer service and workflow automation.

• Advanced Prompt Engineering: Andy Wergedal shares his expert technique for creating platform-agnostic prompts, optimizing them locally, and tailoring them to get the best results from different LLMs like Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT.

• Apple's Big AI Move: The hosts discuss the news that Apple is considering replacing its in-house Siri models with technology from Anthropic (Claude) or OpenAI, signaling a major strategic shift.

• The Future of Hiring: As traditional job boards struggle, the discussion highlights a move towards practical skill-based tests over resumes, a change accelerated by AI and remote work.

• Startup Insights: Creative Owl, a three-time AI startup founder, shares lessons on building an MVP, the power of networking, and why founders shouldn't fear sharing their ideas.

INTRODUCTION: Welcome to the AI Biz Hour, where hosts Andy Wergedal (@andywergedal) and John Allen (@AiJohnAllen) break down the latest in AI business innovation. In this episode, the conversation dives into the explosive growth of agentic AI platforms, comparing the new offerings from giants like Google, IBM, and Microsoft. Andy provides a masterclass in advanced prompting, revealing how he maintains his unique voice across different models. The team also dissects Apple's potential partnership with Anthropic or OpenAI and explores how AI is fundamentally reshaping the hiring process.

MAIN INSIGHTS:

The New Wave of Agentic AI Platforms

The discussion kicked off with a look at several new platforms designed to help businesses build and deploy their own AI agents, often with no-code interfaces.

• Google Gemini Agents & Conversational Agents Console: John highlighted Google's new offering, which allows businesses to create "highly realistic, emotionally aware AI agents for customer service, support, and workflow automation." The hosts speculated that Google's deep experience with user interfaces (like Gmail) could make their console more intuitive and easier to use than competitors like Microsoft Azure.

• IBM Watsonx Orchestrate: This platform enables enterprises to build no-code AI agents to automate processes in HR, procurement, and operations. Having been in the AI game since 2011 with Watson, IBM is leveraging its long history to provide powerful, enterprise-grade solutions.

• Microsoft Copilot and Azure AI Agents: While powerful, the hosts and community members noted frustrations with the complexity of Microsoft's Azure platform. Jack of All Trades shared his experience, stating that setting up agentic workflows in Azure was "quite a bit of work" compared to other tools like n8n. He also noted that for many tasks, prompts run through the public version of ChatGPT yielded better results than the same prompts run inside Microsoft's integrated environment.

The Art of Platform-Agnostic Prompting

Andy shared his sophisticated process for creating content, emphasizing the need to be independent of any single AI platform. He warned against falling in love with a specific toolset when the technology is changing so rapidly.

• Local Prompt Optimization: Andy runs his initial ideas through a "prompter" LLM on a dedicated local machine. This tool refines his concepts into the best possible prompts tailored for specific models.

• The Prompting Formula: His basic structure includes: Role, Objective, Method, Output, and Output Destination.

• Order of Operations Matters: He stressed that the order of these elements, along with style and grammar guides, can produce significantly different results. Switching the order of "Act like this person" and "Create this output" will change the nuance of the final text.

• Model-Specific Tailoring: The local prompter adjusts for the nuances of each LLM, such as context window size and how they respond to grammar, ensuring his two newsletters ("Andy Unfiltered" and "CEO of Your Life") maintain their distinct voices even when running on different models.

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Apple's Strategic AI Shift with Siri

The hosts analyzed the major news that Apple is strongly considering using Anthropic's Claude or OpenAI's models to power the next generation of Siri, expected with iOS 27 in Fall 2026. The move suggests Apple acknowledges its in-house models are not keeping pace. According to a news report John cited, internal tests found Claude to be the "most promising for Siri's requirements," even surpassing OpenAI's models in certain areas. This pivot away from a purely in-house solution marks a significant moment for Apple's AI strategy.

Hiring is Changing: From Resumes to Real-World Tests

With the failure of major job boards like Monster.com, the conversation turned to how AI has broken the traditional hiring process. Because AI makes it easy for candidates to perfectly tailor resumes, employers are overwhelmed. VR shared a powerful alternative from his own career experience.

• The Project-Based "Audition": Instead of relying on a resume, a potential employer gave him raw data and asked him to produce a complete financial statement. This practical test allowed him to prove his skills directly, leading to a job offer. The hosts agreed this model—whether for chefs, coders, or marketers—is a more effective way to identify top talent.

EXPERT CORNER: AI for Startups with Creative Owl 

Creative Owl, a software engineer and three-time AI startup founder, shared key insights for entrepreneurs.

• The Power of Networking: He emphasized that "it's not what you know, it's who you know." He credits X Spaces and word-of-mouth recommendations as the most powerful tools for building trust and attracting early users.

• Don't Fear Sharing Ideas: He urged founders to overcome the fear of someone stealing their idea. "If you don't have the vision, they're not gonna have the drive or the passion to take it all the way."

• Build an MVP Quickly: Using low-code tools, founders can now build and launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test for market fit without a large team or huge investment, allowing them to pivot quickly if needed.

• His New Product - ClearMind AI: Creative Owl is developing a tool to help founders turn an idea into a complete business plan, including marketing strategy, financial projections, and a 7-day execution roadmap, using the power of multiple AI models.

QUICK HITS:

• For developers looking to upskill, community member Marcus recommended Microsoft's AI-900 course to learn how to build AI agents.

• To avoid being locked into one ecosystem, store your core prompts in a text database so they can be deployed on any LLM.

• When hiring, consider giving top candidates a small, real-world project to complete to verify their skills beyond the resume.

• For better security, consider removing Google accounts from your phone and implementing two-factor authentication, a tip from upcoming guest Michael from MetaMask.

• Leverage X Spaces to build your personal brand, share your expertise, and network. It's one of the fastest ways to grow an audience and build trust.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Microsoft AI-900 Course: Microsoft Learn

• Google Gemini Agents Console: Google Cloud AI

• IBM Watsonx Orchestrate: IBM.com

• Vanta: Vanta.com

• Mastodon (Decentralized Social Network): joinmastodon.org

COMING UP:

• Wednesday: Michael from MetaMask joins the show to talk about AI, crypto, and digital security.

• Thursday: Creative Owl returns for a deep dive into building AI startups, using low-code tools, and finding product-market fit.

CONNECT WITH AI BIZ HOUR:

• Website: aibizhour.com

• Andy: @andywergedal

• John: @AiJohnAllen

• Show: @aibizhour

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