Pre-Zero Sports Talk
Pre-Zero Sports Talk is built on real conversations beyond the game.
Hosted by Sid Bensalah, with over 30 years of global sports industry experience, the podcast explores sport as a platform for deeper conversations about leadership, faith, performance, purpose, identity, community, and impact.
This is not only a podcast about sport. It is about what sport reveals about people, how we lead, how we handle pressure, how we pursue meaning, and how we build lives, teams, and communities with purpose.
Through honest, long-form conversations with athletes, coaches, leaders, founders, innovators, and changemakers, Pre-Zero Sports Talk explores the deeper why behind performance, success, resilience, clean progress, human potential, and the future of sport.
Topics include sports leadership, coaching culture, athlete well-being, faith and purpose, human performance, community impact, clean progress, sustainability, innovation and technology, governance, and sports business.
No filter. No bias. Straight talk.
Subscribe and join real conversations on sport, leadership, faith, performance, purpose, and life beyond the game.
Pre-Zero Sports Talk
AI Won’t Replace Humans — But Bad Leadership Might | Stephanie Sylvestre
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In Episode 103, Sid Bensalah sits down with Stephanie Sylvestre, CEO and Co-Founder of Avatar Buddy AI, for a raw and deeply human conversation about AI, leadership, human potential, layoffs, community, and the future of work.
Stephanie explains why AI should amplify people rather than replace them, how properly configured AI can build self-esteem and self-agency, and why the erosion of the middle class could become one of society’s biggest risks.
From powerful stories in Nairobi and Ghana to honest reflections on entrepreneurship, self-doubt, sexism in tech, and the emotional realities of building a startup, this episode goes far beyond technology.
This is a conversation about people, purpose, resilience, and what kind of future we are building.
Topics include:
• Human-centered AI
• AI and leadership
• AI replacing jobs
• Layoffs and the middle class
• Entrepreneurship and resilience
• Digital mentors and AI agents
• AI in education and farming
• Community and trust in the AI era
• Deepfakes and human connection
• Women in AI and leadership
Timestamps:
00:00 AI Won’t Replace Humans — But Bad Leadership Might
00:05 AI And Human Possibility
02:57 Accidental Startup Origin
12:45 Doubt, Ego, and Menopause
15:29 Data Vaults And AI Agents
25:02 Profit, Layoffs, and Society
36:41 AI For Literacy And Farming
43:32 Kindness and Self-Worth
47:42 Monetizing Human First AI
55:19 Layoffs And Exploitation
56:52 Sexism And Racism In AI
01:01:08 Deepfakes And Community Trust
01:03:27 Future Vision And Lightning Round
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