Entrepreneur John Hurley on AI token pricing, Exact Target and the AI jobs rhetoric

Host Jayson Manship breaks down the latest artificial intelligence news on this episode of Authentic and Agentic. In the news segment, Manship explores an Axios report detailing how technology executives are backtracking on claims that artificial intelligence will cause a white-collar worker bloodbath. He also discusses Anthropic's new Claude Sonnet 5 model and highlights a bipartisan coalition led by former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo aimed at preparing the American workforce for an automated economy. Serial entrepreneur John Hurley joins the podcast to share his 20-year business journey. Hurley details his early days building websites in 1999, a path that led him to create the first database for Angie's List and take equity in Exact Target before it became Salesforce. He also opens up about the difficult lessons he learned from building and eventually selling a massive technology-focused pickleball facility in Fishers. The conversation dives into Hurley's newest venture, Walleta, a platform designed to help artificial intelligence startups manage tokenization and usage-based pricing. Hurley explains how the software connects with upstream providers like ElevenLabs and AWS to show developers their true cost of goods sold, helping business owners avoid massive unexpected API bills. The episode concludes with Hurley comparing the AI revolution to accountants adopting computers, emphasizing how the technology will ultimately level the playing field for small businesses