Season 4 - Episode 4 - Laura Jeffords Greenberg's Caffeinated Career Path from Red Bull to Wordsmith AI: A Lawyer’s Journey Through Tech, VR, and the Rise of AI

• Silicon Valley Childhood: Laura Jeffords Greenberg was born and raised in Silicon Valley during the .com boom, leading to early and constant exposure to technology.
• Law School: Laura attended law school, initially with the goal of "changing the world."
• Sports Career Aspiration: After law school, she considered a career in sports due to her love for it as an athlete.
• Media Career: Laura then transitioned into the media industry.
• Red Bull: She worked at Red Bull, where she received pivotal career advice: to join a tech startup instead of a traditional media company due to the similar risk-taking and dynamic environment.
• VR Startup (First Lawyer): Following the advice, Laura joined a startup in the early days of VR (initially 360 video, later XR/AR) as their first lawyer.
• Cryptocurrency Involvement: The VR startup she worked for also ventured into cryptocurrency, requiring Laura to develop knowledge in securities law.
• Unity Technologies (First R&D Lawyer): Laura then moved to Unity Technologies, becoming the first lawyer to support their R&D department of over 900 engineers. This was a pivotal and fulfilling role where she felt a strong sense of belonging.
• Exposure to AI/Machine Learning at Unity: While at Unity, Laura supported projects involving machine learning and AI, working on cutting-edge deals.
• Layoff from Unity: Laura was laid off from Unity, marking what she believes was the beginning of a wave of layoffs at the company.
• General Counsel Role (Copenhagen): As an American living in Denmark, Laura took on a general counsel role.
• Emergence of ChatGPT: During her time as interim general counsel, ChatGPT was released.
• Experimentation and LinkedIn Content: Laura began experimenting with ChatGPT to improve her work efficiency and started sharing her experiences and insights on LinkedIn.
• Increased Interest and Invitations: Her LinkedIn content gained traction, leading to invitations to speak at conferences.
• Early Requests for AI Training: Law firms began reaching out to Laura, offering to pay her to teach their lawyers how to use AI tools like ChatGPT, which she initially found surprising.
• Discovery of Lawyers' Initial Struggles with AI: Through her training sessions, Laura realized that many lawyers, despite their expertise in information gathering, struggled with effectively prompting and using AI. 
• Development of a Side Business: Laura started a side business focused on educating lawyers about AI while still working as in-house counsel.
• Joining Wordsmith AI: This journey ultimately led to Laura becoming the Head of the AI Legal Academy at Wordsmith AI, where her full-time role is now to teach lawyers how to leverage AI in their practice.
• Wordsmith AI Product Focus: Laura highlights the practical applications of Wordsmith AI for in-house counsel, its integration with common tech stacks (Slack, Notion, G Suite), the ability to connect knowledge bases, its use of multiple LLMs, and features like "first pass" agreement review.
• Challenges of Keeping Up with AI Developments: Laura discusses the rapid pace of AI advancements, making it challenging to stay informed and keep educational content current.
• Future Interest in AI Agents: Laura expresses a keen interest in the development and application of autonomous AI agents for legal tasks.

Bob Miller Intro with Music Fade