Everyone in AI is incentivized to lie to you.

Above the Noise

The unbiased AI brief for enterprise leaders.
No sponsors. No affiliates. No agenda. Just signal.

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01

The Enterprise Leader's AI Playbook

A free companion guide — the lies you'll be told, the questions to ask, the architecture to understand, and the build-versus-buy decision. From someone who builds this for a living.

  1. I

    Ten Lies You Will Be Told About Enterprise AI

    The industry's most persistent false claims — why each one survives, the truth underneath it, and what to do about it.

  2. II

    The Questions to Ask When a Solution Is Presented

    Seven categories of questions designed to be asked verbatim — with what a credible answer sounds like.

  3. III

    The Anatomy of an AI Application

    The six standard layers of every AI system, in plain language — so architecture conversations stop being a foreign country.

  4. IV

    Build vs. Buy: A Decision Framework

    A two-axis model, a weighted scorecard, and the third option most organizations actually need.

  5. V

    The Reference Section

    Eight vendor red flags · the real cost of AI · a 90-day evaluation playbook · an executive glossary.

02

Episodes

Pulled live from the feed — always current, never curated after the fact.

Episode artwork: Build vs. Buy — The Most Expensive Identity Crisis in Enterprise AI
S1 · E2 Jun 9, 2026 35:05

Build vs. Buy — The Most Expensive Identity Crisis in Enterprise AI

In a single 48-hour stretch, Microsoft announced seven in-house frontier AI models and their own GitHub division flipped Copilot to token billing — sending some users from $29 a month to $750. The universe basically…

Show notes

In a single 48-hour stretch, Microsoft announced seven in-house frontier AI models and their own GitHub division flipped Copilot to token billing — sending some users from $29 a month to $750. The universe basically scripted this episode of the build-versus-buy debate. The tested take from someone who builds enterprise AI for a living: this isn't one decision, it's three — and almost every failed AI program made one call instead of three.


This episode of Above the Noise — the unbiased AI brief for enterprise leaders:

  • News Brief: Microsoft Build 2026 — the MAI in-house model family, and why the largest AI buyer on Earth deciding to build at only the foundation layer tells you exactly where the build line is for the rest of us · GitHub Copilot moves to token billing (users seeing 10–50× cost jumps) — the "buy" side's hidden tax: you don't own the pricing model · Ignore pile — SAP Sapphire's "Autonomous Enterprise" and its €100M partner-payment fund.
  • Deep Dive — Build vs. Buy: The three-layer cut (model / platform / workflow) that fixes the conversation. MIT NANDA: vendor-led wins 67% vs. 22–33% for pure internal builds. Build cost: $300K–$1.5M+ upfront + 20–30% annual maintenance, forever. Plus the four taxes every spreadsheet undercounts — and why the right answer in 2026 is almost always hybrid.
  • Expose a Lie: "If we build it in-house, we own it." Steelmanned, then dismantled. When you build, you don't own the AI — you own the obligation to keep it alive. Maintenance bill, model-aging risk, governance liability, talent risk, all on you. Plus the data-moat sub-myth that drives half of build proposals.


🔗 Show Notes & Sources

Every stat in this episode is sourced. Check the work yourself:


News Brief — Microsoft Build 2026 (MAI models)


News Brief — GitHub Copilot token billing flip


News Brief — SAP Sapphire 2026 (ignore pile)


Deep Dive — Build vs Buy


Expose a Lie — "If we build it in-house, we own it"

Episode artwork: Agents, Hype, and What Actually Ships
S1 · E1 May 22, 2026 28:52

Agents, Hype, and What Actually Ships

Most AI advice comes from people who've never had to ship the thing. This first episode is the practitioner's read — from someone who builds enterprise AI for a living. The tested take on what's real, what's hype, and…

Show notes

Most AI advice comes from people who've never had to ship the thing. This first episode is the practitioner's read — from someone who builds enterprise AI for a living. The tested take on what's real, what's hype, and what to actually do. Case in point: the "autonomous agentic workforce" you're being sold is a roadmap slide, not a 2026 reality — and here are the receipts.


This episode of Above the Noise — the unbiased AI brief for enterprise leaders:

  • News Brief: Google's flagship launch was the cheaper model — the frontier race quietly became a price war · Every major vendor (IBM, ServiceNow/Accenture, Cognizant) pivoted to selling "agents in production + governance" — aka the cleanup crew for agents that didn't deliver.
  • Deep Dive — Agentic AI, hype vs. ships: Agents work in narrow lanes (one health system cut documentation time 42%). But Gartner says 40%+ of agentic projects get canceled by 2027, Deloitte says only 21% have mature governance, and MIT says 95% of GenAI pilots show no measurable return. What to actually do about it.
  • Expose a Lie: "AI agents will replace your team this year." Steelmanned, then dismantled with evidence and production experience — and why it persists.
  • The question to sit with: Of every AI initiative in your org — how many would survive "show me the line on the P&L where this shows up"?


No vendors. No hype. Just the signal.


👉 Follow Above the Noise wherever you listen — a new episode every two weeks. If it was useful, share it with one leader who's tired of guessing, and leave a rating so more people find it. Between episodes, find Shaun on LinkedIn.


🔗 Show Notes & Sources

Every stat in this episode is sourced. Check the work yourself:


News Brief


Deep Dive — Agentic AI: hype vs. ships


Expose a Lie — "AI agents will replace your team this year"


Background / Context



Topics covered: enterprise AI, agentic AI, AI agents, AI hype, AI ROI, AI governance, build vs buy, agent washing, Gartner, MIT, Deloitte, Google Gemini, IBM watsonx, CIO, enterprise leadership


Host: Shaun Gehring — engineering leader who builds enterprise AI and sells nothing. Opinions his own.

03

Inside an Episode

Every episode runs the same four segments. Thirty minutes, no filler.

S1

News Brief

What actually moved in AI — and what it means for you. Not the press release version, the practitioner's version.

S2

Deep Dive

One topic, taken apart and explained in plain English. The thing your team keeps name-dropping, finally made legible.

S3 Signature

Expose a Lie

A popular AI claim everyone repeats, put up against cited evidence. Claims get challenged — never people.

S4

A Thought-Provoking Question

Something to chew on before the next one. The question your leadership team should be arguing about.

Above the Noise cover art
04

The Host

“Vendors want the deal. Consultants want the engagement. Analysts want the subscription. They're all paid to sound certain — so certainty is exactly what you can't trust.”

I'm Shaun Gehring. I build enterprise AI for a living, and on this show I sell you nothing. Above the Noise is for any leader — Director to CIO — who feels the pressure to “do something with AI” but can't tell what's real.

Biweekly. Solo. About 30 minutes. The unbiased signal, above the noise.

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05

Get the Signal

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