The AI Movement Podcast (Formerly How I AI)

Miami's tech scene took years of deliberate work to build. Melissa Medina, CEO and Co-Founder of eMerge Americas, joins Brooke to share how a conference created to fill a gap became a year-round platform for founders, investors and emerging technology.
Season 2 opens with a conversation about what deserves attention now. Melissa explains how she looks past AI branding to find real customer traction. She also shares why quantum deserves more attention and why first-time adopters should begin before they feel ready.
If AI still feels like a room where everyone else knows more than you, this episode is for you.
In this conversation:
How Melissa and her father built eMerge Americas
What helped Miami grow into a global technology hub
How investors separate meaningful AI companies from trend-chasing
Why Melissa is bullish on quantum and deep tech
The growing connection between technology and national security
How the eMerge Global Startup Accelerator supports early-stage founders
Melissa's advice for people who feel intimidated by AI
About Melissa
Melissa Medina is the CEO and Co-Founder of eMerge Americas and a Partner at Medina Ventures. She has more than 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, investor, community leader and philanthropist.
Under her leadership, eMerge Americas has grown into a global technology conference that attracts more than 20,000 attendees from over 50 countries. The organization also supports South Florida's technology community throughout the year with summits, startup programs, workshops and investment resources.
Connect with Melissa
Learn more about Melissa Medina
Explore eMerge Americas
Mentioned in this episode
View eMerge Americas events and startup programs
I’ll be attending the Miami AI Summit. Learn more and register to join me there.
Listener offer: 
Save 5% on Leela Quantum Tech with code BROOKE. Affiliate disclosure: I may earn a commission if you purchase through this link, at no extra cost to you.
How I AI is now The AI Movement Podcast.
LinkedIn: Brooke Gramer
Website: TheAIMovementPodcast.com
"The AI Movement Podcast" is a concept and podcast series created and produced by Brooke Gramer of EmpowerFlow Strategies LLC. All rights reserved.

The AI Movement Podcast, hosted by Brooke Gramer, explores how entrepreneurs, founders, creatives, and leaders are navigating the rapidly changing world of AI.
Through real conversations with people building, experimenting, pivoting, and growing with AI, Brooke goes beyond the latest tools to uncover how this technology is changing the way we work, make decisions, build businesses, create, and define success.
Each episode brings you inside the ideas, lessons, tensions, and opportunities shaping business and culture right now. From founder stories of AI in action to bigger conversations about creativity, ethics, career reinvention, leadership, and building a more intentional life in an AI-powered world.
How I AI is now The AI Movement Podcast.
LinkedIn: Brooke Gramer
Website: TheAIMovementPodcast.com
"The AI Movement Podcast" is a concept and podcast series created and produced by Brooke Gramer of EmpowerFlow Strategies LLC. All rights reserved.

I’m taking you inside She Ships, a live build workshop I co-hosted with Marian Bacol during New York Tech Week. It is a behind-the-scenes replay from inside the room, created for anyone curious about vibe coding, AI-powered building, and what becomes possible when ideas move from notes app to live prototype.
Recorded live at Antler New York, this episode captures the energy of the room as we walk attendees through the early stages of building with AI. 
I open with a clarity exercise to help attendees identify what they are uniquely qualified to create, who their idea is for, and why it matters. Marian then guides the room through a live build session using Claude and Lovable, showing how to move from idea to prompt to published product.
Topics Covered
• How to identify what you are uniquely qualified to create
• Using Claude to brainstorm, clarify, and create stronger prompts
• Using Lovable to build landing pages, quizzes, prototypes, speaker pages, press kits, and simple apps
• Why “working, not perfect” is often the most important first milestone
• What it means to build with intention instead of chasing AI novelty
Huge thank you to Antler New York for hosting us during New York Tech Week. Antler backs founders at the earliest stages and supports obsessed builders from idea to launch. Learn more about Antler: https://www.antler.co/us
Connect with Marian Bacol: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianbacol
Want to Bring This Experience to Your Event?
Brooke Gramer hosts and moderates conversations at the intersection of AI, entrepreneurship, brand strategy, and emerging technology. She is available for live panel moderation, conference programming, event curation, founder conversations, workshops, and live podcast experiences.
For event curation, hosting, moderation, workshops, or live podcast collaborations, contact Brooke below.
Watch the Video Replay on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/ZIsO2Lgz3XU
Ready to cut through the AI overwhelm? Explore all my resources in one place → https://stan.store/BRXSTUDIO Free AI Guide • 45-Minute AI Jumpstart • How I AI Companion GPT
Support your body against EMFs with Leela Quantum Tech - 5% off with affiliate code: BROOKE
How I AI is now The AI Movement Podcast.
LinkedIn: Brooke Gramer
Website: TheAIMovementPodcast.com
"The AI Movement Podcast" is a concept and podcast series created and produced by Brooke Gramer of EmpowerFlow Strategies LLC. All rights reserved.

I’m joined by Thiago E. Ferreira, Founder and CEO of Elevate AI Consulting and Adjunct Professor at the University of Miami, for a practical conversation on one of the biggest questions facing businesses right now: how do you get your business found and recommended in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and AI search?
Thiago breaks down how his own firm consistently appears as a top recommendation for AI consulting in Miami, competing for visibility alongside much larger firms. He explains why traditional SEO is evolving, how AI tools evaluate credibility, and what small businesses can do right now to improve their chances of showing up in AI-generated answers.
I also take you behind the scenes of my own client work with a South Florida dental practice that wanted to show up when potential patients searched for a dentist through ChatGPT, including the AEO, FAQ, schema, visibility, and AI enablement work we built together.
Whether you are a local business owner, consultant, entrepreneur, marketer, or founder, this episode will help you understand what it actually takes to build visibility in the age of AI search.
🔥 Topics we cover:
-- How to get your business found in ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini
 -- What Answer Engine Optimization, or AEO, actually means
 -- Why credibility, case studies, testimonials, and reviews matter for AI visibility
 -- Why your website, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, and other online information need to match
 -- How podcasts, media mentions, and third-party authority can strengthen visibility
 -- Why businesses should optimize around real customer prompts, not just keywords
 -- How Thiago’s firm competes for AI search visibility alongside much larger consulting companies
 -- How hands-on AI training can create immediate ROI inside organizations
 -- Why Thiago believes AI should enhance employees, not replace them

🔗 Connect & Learn More:
Thiago E. Ferreira and Elevate AI Consulting
 Website: https://elevateaiconsulting.com
 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatedaiconsulting
 LinkedIn: Search Thiago E. Ferreira
eMerge Americas
 Website: https://www.emergeamericas.com
 eMerge Americas 2027 takes place March 2-4 in Miami Beach, with the Tech Expo running March 3-4.
Ready to cut through the AI overwhelm? Explore all my resources in one place → https://stan.store/BRXSTUDIO Free AI Guide • 45-Minute AI Jumpstart • How I AI Companion GPT
Support your body against EMFs with Leela Quantum Tech - 5% off with affiliate code: BROOKE
How I AI is now The AI Movement Podcast.
LinkedIn: Brooke Gramer
Website: TheAIMovementPodcast.com
"The AI Movement Podcast" is a concept and podcast series created and produced by Brooke Gramer of EmpowerFlow Strategies LLC. All rights reserved.

I take you behind the scenes of Wellist Week in Miami, the first ever large-scale gathering bringing together founders, investors, scientists, clinicians, creators, and brands shaping the wellness economy. 
First, I share my recap of the five AI panels I sat in on, covering everything from healthtech personalization and longevity science to digital twins, brand credibility, and what AI adoption actually looks like inside organizations right now.
Then I sit down with Dr. Antonio Vasaiely, Chief AI Officer at Beyond Pilots, for a grounded conversation about where companies really are with AI, what agentic AI means for wellness and longevity brands, and why personalization is about to raise the bar for everything.
Finally, I speak with Kunal Sood, founder of AudacityAI, about consciousness, leadership, infobesity, and why the most important thing any founder can do right now is get their story right before they train anything else.
Two very different perspectives. One complete picture of where AI and wellness are headed. In this bonus episode between seasons, I am bringing you inside those conversations.
🔥 Topics we cover:
Why AI personalization is moving from demographics to the individual level in health and wellness
How brands are using AI to build real credibility, and how others are using it to fake it
What digital twins actually are and why your data is already building a version of you
The three organizational challenges blocking real AI adoption, according to brain science
Why outsourcing tasks to AI lowers satisfaction, and what collaboration with AI looks like instead
What agentic AI means for wellness and longevity companies right now
Why founders need to master their story before they hand anything over to a machine
What "infobesity" is and why it may be the next major wellness challenge
🔗 Connect & Learn More:
Wellist Week returns to Miami April 12 through 18, 2027: https://www.wellistweek.com
Dr. Antonio Vasaiely on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavasaiely
Kunal Sood on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kunalsood.ai
Ready to cut through the AI overwhelm? Explore all my resources in one place → https://stan.store/BRXSTUDIO Free AI Guide • 45-Minute AI Jumpstart • How I AI Companion GPT
Support your body against EMFs with Leela Quantum Tech - 5% off with affiliate code: BROOKE
Disclaimer: This podcast is for general education only, not professional or medical advice. How I AI and its affiliates are not responsible for any outcomes from using this information.
How I AI is now The AI Movement Podcast.
LinkedIn: Brooke Gramer
Website: TheAIMovementPodcast.com
"The AI Movement Podcast" is a concept and podcast series created and produced by Brooke Gramer of EmpowerFlow Strategies LLC. All rights reserved.