Interview Summary: Applied AI Solutions Engineer Position at Pacifico

Overview

Teresa Isensee interviewed Gary Sheng for the Applied AI Solutions Engineer role at Pacifico, a small company with energy and aviation divisions. The conversation covered Gary's background, his approach to learning new businesses, current consulting work, and the role's requirements including potential relocation and travel.

Key Topics Discussed

Opening Context & Clarification

• Initial Confusion: Teresa asked about Gary's business partner who was originally invited
• Gary's Response: "I took your advice just to make it one-on-one"
• Teresa's Clarification: "We are looking for one person. Again, one person because one, we're small, we're a very small company, and this would be just a ground floor person"
• Company is looking for someone to build things out and eventually grow a team

Gary's Career Journey & Motivation

Leaving Google

• Teresa's Question: "I saw that you were at Google for a while. I guess what made you want to leave?"
• Gary's Answer: Left to explore entrepreneurial passions through Civics Unplugged
• Key Quote: "I guess that hunger to go from zero to one hasn't left me. But at this point, it's kind of like full circle over this past 12 months"
• Emphasized that doing Gauntlet and technical consulting made him want to explore full-time entrepreneurial technical roles

Civics Unplugged Deep Dive

• Gary's Philosophy: "I see a lot of life in general just about identifying systems and figuring out what's wrong with them, how they can be improved and how to make them better"
• Problem Identified: Democracy reform space dominated by 60+ year olds, no youth engagement
• Solution: Created exciting organization for young people, got The Rock involved
• Results: Quickly became one of the leading civic innovation organizations globally
• Evolution: Led to Ethereum Foundation work, Web3 community building, consulting for crypto startups

Approach to Learning New Businesses

Gary's Methodology

• Documentation: "I'd probably pour over internal documentation... update and improve documentation just for me, for myself and other people"
• Ground-Level Engagement: Example from Alpha School - made the high school his office, got to know dozens of staff and students
• Key Insight: "The people closest to the action also just have insights that they're probably not writing blog posts about"
• Trust Building: "You have to make it very clear that you're on their side"

Specific Questions for Pacifico Leaders

• Fundamental Questions:
  1. "Making them feel comfortable to share the honest status quo"
  2. "What is their dream North Star state of affairs?"
• Gary's Vision: "A good applied AI system shifts the equilibrium where it's just more normal without human intervention that more good things happen more regularly"
• Positioning: "My job is to help make your vision that addresses your pain points a reality"

Current Consulting Work

Major Fast Food Corporation Project

• Duration: Month and a half
• Client: Major conglomerate with multiple brands and thousands of franchisees
• Problem: Manual brand compliance review taking too long for promotional materials
• Gary's Quote: "Often the franchisees just go forward with it because it takes too long to get back and then the promotion period is already over"
• Solution: AI-powered brand validation system using vision models
• Technical Details: "Binary check like, okay, did it follow this? You know, is it using this logo? If it has photography, does it fit this kind of style guidelines"
• Impact: Allows feedback even when humans are asleep, piloting with one brand then rolling to 19 others

Other Projects

• YouTube Optimization: Friend who worked with Ryan Holiday and Andrew Huberman needs agentic system for competitor analysis and content optimization
• Building Management: RAG system for querying multi-hundred page PDFs of building system configurations
• Gary's Theme: "Applying AI for real business problems so that the humans can do more and do better"

Role Expectations & Company Structure

Pacifico's Setup

• Leadership: CEO/Owner Nate and COO Kevin in California
• Offices: Dallas (large Texas projects), Houston (aviation), Florida (aviation)
• Teresa on Travel: "I would say a good amount just to have those conversations with people... Maybe it's once a month or a quarter"
• Remote Work: Open to remote but preference for hybrid near California office

Role Characteristics

• Teresa's Expectation: "It'll be some grinding, not the gauntlet grinding, you know, those hours, but definitely, you know, delivering"
• Independence: "You're not being micromanaged. It really just relies, you know, on your motivation"
• Deployment Approach: Gary emphasized importance of compliance, security, GDPR considerations
• Gary's Understanding: "It's totally like intrapreneurship"

Gary's Reflections on the Role

Understanding the Challenge

• Key Insight: "It's going to require a very specific kind of person to be not overwhelmed in this role"
• Success Formula: "Deliver what you say you're going to deliver on reasonable timelines"
• Political Navigation: "Every organization is socio-political, meaning that just because something's on a job description doesn't mean that it'll be easy to get all these projects done"
• Priority Management: "Being smart about what to prioritize and then what to do next"

Career Alignment

• Gary's Goal: "Working on hard problems and stretching myself incrementally over time"
• Strategic Approach: "What do I feel like I can already basically do? And then the next project is like slightly harder"
• Long-term Vision: "It's exactly where I can see me spending the rest of my career"

Location Discussion

• Gary's Flexibility: "I do short-term leases. I'm month-to-month at a place right now"
• Proposed Solution: "Part-time in Texas and part-time in California could make sense"
• Practical Consideration: Central location beneficial for visiting Florida and other offices

Next Steps & Timeline

Interview Process

1. Immediate Next: COO Kevin visiting Austin Wednesday for in-person meeting
2. Following Steps:
   • Conversations with owner (Nate)
   • Meeting with aviation company representative
   • Possible project-based assessment
3. Timeline: "We want to hire end of Q4. I'd say that, or early Q1"
4. Gary's Availability: "Generally around before Christmas"

Key Quotes

Gary Sheng

• "The people side is not easy and it's not obvious... There can be a lot of ways that it can go wrong if you don't handle those people relationships really well"
• "I've learned some hard lessons, important lessons about making it very clear if you're a new person in an organization, how do you get the useful insights to be able to be helpful?"
• "A good applied AI system shifts the equilibrium where it's just more normal without human intervention that more good things happen more regularly"
• "It's working on hard problems and stretching myself incrementally over time"

Teresa Isensee

• "We're small, we're a very small company, and this would be just a ground floor person"
• "It really just relies on your motivation and being, not having someone over you"
• "We are looking to hire someone soon"

Analysis & Observations

Cultural Fit Indicators

• Gary demonstrated understanding of organizational dynamics and politics
• Emphasized relationship building and trust as prerequisites for success
• Showed flexibility on location and travel requirements
• Aligned with startup/entrepreneurial nature of the role

Technical Competency Display

• Detailed explanation of current AI implementation for enterprise client
• Understanding of compliance, security, and deployment considerations
• Portfolio of varied AI applications across different industries
• Clear articulation of how AI systems create business value

Potential Concerns Addressed

• Micromanagement: Both parties acknowledged the independent nature of the role
• Geographic Distribution: Gary proposed practical solutions for multi-office coordination
• Learning Curve: Gary provided specific methodology for understanding new businesses
• Execution Focus: Teresa emphasized delivery; Gary confirmed understanding with consulting examples