We recently connected with Matthew Chavira and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Matthew thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Some of you reading this may know the theoretical physicist, Michio Kaku. Michio Kaku is a mathematician, though is most known for his work in developing the theories governing string theory. A scientific attempt to describe the nature of reality as it exists on its most fundamental level.

In the early 2010s Michio had a TV show called ‘Sci-Fi Science’. In the show he goes into the scientific principles that could potentially govern ’sci-fi’ like technologies.

One of the episodes on the program was dedicated to AI. And as a guest on the show, someone who was featured who can talk about the field, was Dr. Ben Goertzel.

Now even over a decade ago, Ben’s fame was large enough to have him featured as a guest on Michio Kaku’s show, but his celebrity has since sky rocketed and as you can see he can frequently be found on several world-renowned global stages talking about his work in the AI space.

Well shortly after his appearance on Michio’s show I happened to be on a flight back home from San Francisco, and was seated next to Ben. After connecting the dots as to where I recognized him, Ben and I spent the rest of the flight talking about AI, robotics, the future of humanity. It was incredible.

Now at the time, Ben was working on a very secret, and extremely cutting edge project. He was part of a team that was building what was to be the most advanced, cutting edge and lifelike humanoid robot the world had ever seen.

And all the while while these plans were being developed Ben would bring my name up in company board meetings as someone who he believes would make a great candidate to help spread the word and tell the story of this new humanoid robot and bring it into renowned stages globally.

A few months following the plane ride, I received a phone call from the CEO asking me if I would like to join their team.

Fast forward nearly a decade later and I now hold an executive position at Hanson Robotics, the creators of the worlds most famous humanoid robot, Sophia.

Through my work with Sophia I came to know the content curation team behind most of the worlds largest events. While arranging for Sophia to participate in these events I also came to know many of worlds most famous individuals advancing AI’s application across several fields who were also participating in the same events.

It was from this network that I formed my company, Prophets of AI. A talent representation agency for celebrities and influential researchers in the AI and robotics fields.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

At Prophets of AI, we firmly believe that AI is not only profoundly consequential but also holds immense potential for shaping the future of humanity. At the core of the company ethos is the deeply rooted belief that individuals who are pioneering the most ambitious applications of AI, deserve a dedicated platform to share insights, exchange ideas, and inspire others.

Prophets of AI is a trusted resource for direct access with the worlds most celebrated names in AI. Our line up of speakers include Chair for Human AI Interaction at IEEE, Founder of the renowned AI for Good event in Geneva, UN Digital Government Advisors, Electorates of the EU AI Act, World Economic Forum Future Council members, and individuals also included in Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential in AI.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Recognizing when its time to let go of a lead I had a tremendous amount of anticipation in. In any industry – you may likely get an opportunity where a client is considering engaging with your business. Several times in the past I would put together the best possible pitch, and relentlessly ‘follow up’ (I now never use this phrase when checking in on the status of a pitch) with clients hoping to realize the sale.

Ultimately you have to put your best offer forward. If you don’t hear back, lightly ask for a status update. If you don’t hear back, your pitch must have not been compelling enough. It is better practice to try and learn who they ultimately went with, and what they believed your company was missing that prevented them from moving forward.

Try to learn from the failed sale.

I have chased some clients away, perhaps forever because of some the pushy sales tactics and bad habits I had in the past.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

When Prophets of AI was just a dream, I began drawing on some of the closest relationships I had developed in the events industry. I told them what I was planning on building, and sent over some names that I thought would be great for their conference.

Even though many of the names I sent over are officially represented by many long standing speakers bureaus, because of the relationship I developed they agreed to book through me. Once event in particular in Egypt booked 5 speakers for 1 event! All through my company that didn’t even have a website yet!

This gave me a large amount of working capital that allowed me to build the website as well as establish all of the needed back end infrastructure to officially found my company. I will be forever grateful to those first clients who believed in me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://prophetsofai.com
• Instagram: prophetsofai
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewchavira/