In this episode, Jack Cochran sits down with Darlene Volas, a senior solutions engineering executive, to explore what it truly means to be an AI-enabled SE in 2025 and beyond. The conversation moves well past basic ChatGPT usage to examine sophisticated operational workflows, custom automation tools, and practical implementation strategies that enhance both efficiency and quality of work. 

This episode was recorded during Presales Collective’s 2026 AI-Powered Presales Summit on March 19th, 2026. Pro and Pro+ members can view all of the recorded sessions on-demand in the PSC Knowledge Hub: https://www.presalescollective.com/knowledgehub 

Follow Us

• Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/ 

• Connect with Matthe James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyoungjames/ 

• Connect with Darlene Volas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darlenevolas/ 

Links and Resources Mentioned

• Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack 

• Sol/Con 2026 (Chicago, August 2026): https://www.presalescollective.com/solcon-2026 

• Presales Collective Podcast: https://www.presalescollective.com/podcast 

• Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/ 

• Claude by Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/claude 

• Cursor AI coding tool: https://cursor.sh/ 

• GitHub Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot 

• Gong conversation intelligence: https://www.gong.io/ 

• ChatGPT Enterprise: https://openai.com/enterprise 

• Obsidian note-taking: https://obsidian.md/ 

• Firebolt database: https://www.firebolt.io/ 

Key Topics Covered

1. Personal AI Usage Evolution: Moving Beyond Google Replacement to Creative Applications

2. Three Buckets of AI for SE Leaders: Operations, Team Workflows, and Technical Implementation

3. Daily Meeting Preparation Automation and Custom-Built AI Applications

4. Operationalizing SE Teams with Repeatable AI Workflows

5. Quality vs. Efficiency Trade-off: Better Preparation Rather Than Less Time

6. Building Technical Credibility Through Hands-On AI Coding

7. The “One More Thing” Problem and Where Human Expertise Remains Essential

8. Data Security, Governance, and Vendor Considerations for AI Tools

9. Why AI Won’t Replace SEs: The Irreplaceable Human Element

10. Hiring AI-Native SEs: What to Look For Beyond Basic Tool Awareness

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome

02:41 How AI conversations have evolved

06:30 Three buckets of AI usage

12:40 Efficiency versus quality improvements

18:40 Building credibility through AI coding

21:07 The one more thing problem

30:59 Why AI won’t replace SEs

36:45 Q&A session

39:20 Closing remarks

Jack and Jerome are back to dish on all things fast food in Las Vegas!

From guilty pleasure drive-thru favorites to childhood fast food

memories, the guys cover it all in this entertaining episode.

00:00 – Intro and catching up

01:23 – Favorite fast food picks

09:35 – Fast food nostalgia

14:00 – Airport food philosophy

21:38 – Starbucks food failures

25:05 – Fast food on the Las Vegas Strip

Jerome’s top picks: Wendy’s fries and Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, In-N-Out (but only when drinking)

Jack’s favorites: Jimmy John’s and Taco Bell’s Crunch Wrap Supreme

Next episode: Jack and Jerome will explore their favorite drinking spots in Las Vegas!

Jack Cochran is joined by Paul Krauss. We continue our conversation from the last episode. Today we explore how to better identify the things that lead to burnout and how to deal with it when you are experiencing high stress.

Book discussed during the interview: Panic Proof: The New Holistic Solution to End Your Anxiety Forever by Dr. Nicole Cain

Paul Krauss MA LPC is the Clinical Director of Health for Life Counseling Grand Rapids, home of The Trauma-Informed Counseling Center of Grand Rapids. Paul is also a Private Practice Psychotherapist, an Approved EMDRIA Consultant , host of the Intentional Clinician podcast, Behavioral Health Consultant, Clinical Trainer, Counseling Supervisor, and Meditation Teacher. Paul is now offering consulting for a few individuals and organizations. Paul is the creator of the National Violence Prevention Hotline as well as the Intentional Clinician Training Program for Counselors. Paul has been quoted in the Washington Post, NBC News, Wired Magazine, and Counseling Today.

Lidia Vasileva joins us to talk about Stolen Focus and about getting into flow! Find Lidia on Linkedin or at https://www.packetmage.com/

This month’s book is Stolen Focus by Johann Hari. Pick up a copy (or don’t).

Be sure to check out https://demojockeys.com/ for our full list of past and upcoming books, previous episodes, and more.

Next month’s book is 4 Pillars of Critical Thinking by Patrik Ian Meyer.

Music: Iron Pan and The Wu Town Shuffle by Mr. Lincoln

00:00 Bump the Mic!

00:30 Middle seat

03:05 Welcome to DemoJockeys

03:52 The Interview

05:25 Did Lidia like the book?

08:21 It started good?

11:05 How lean is your phone?

15:11 Who is this book for?

18:35 Flowstate

26:40 Out o here