AI Engineer and Researcher: Why Who You Know Is More Important Than Your Code

Google ML Engineer MAX BUCKLEY and AI Researcher BORIS MEINARDUS reveal how to ENGINEER LUCK in the AI industry, why striving for top LLM labs is a career trap for new grads, and the high-agency framework they used to land jobs at Google and frontier startups. About us: Max Buckley is a Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Google with over 12 years of experience in the industry, having navigated 10 different roles within the tech giant. Boris Meinardus is an AI Researcher who has worked at world-class labs like Sakana AI and is currently at the frontier of AI for Science at Radical Numerics. Together, we host Signal & Stories, a podcast dedicated to extracting the real "signal" from the noise of the AI hype cycle and learning more about the stories behind the people, products, and research that shape the world of AI (and beyond). We explain: ◼️ Why taking "100 shots" is the only repeatable algorithm for winning in AI. ◼️ How "Vibe Coding" with agents like Claude Code is 10x-ing engineering output. ◼️ The XY Plane of AI Fame: Why most "AI Influencers" are a trap for your reputation. ◼️ Why unconventional backgrounds (like Physics, Biology, and even Business) are secretly a competitive advantage in ML. ◼️ Hard lessons from failing interviews at DeepMind, Amazon, and Nuro. ◼️ How to build a "Digital Trace" so that recruiters and founders come to you. Follow us: Max - LinkedIn:   / maxbuckley   Max - Twitter/X: https://x.com/MaxWBuckley Boris - LinkedIn:   / boris-meinardus-ba2302177   Boris - Twitter/X: https://x.com/BorisMeinardus