Sidecar Blog

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5 min read

MCP Security Risks: Your Staff Is Plugging AI Into Your Data — Here's What Could Go Wrong

Model Context Protocol — MCP — has quickly become the standard for connecting AI tools to external data sources. If you've heard the term floating around in conversations about AI agents, this is why. MCP is the connective tissue that lets an AI...

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5 min read

Data Warehouses, Data Lakes, AI Data Platforms — What's the Difference and Why Should You Care?

When association leaders hear the term "AI data platform," there's usually a familiar response: "Oh, so it's like a data warehouse?" Not quite.

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Whimsical illustration of a grumpy gnome at a toll booth on a small bridge, demanding payment as glowing sage and gold data streams flow beneath him.

5 min read

Your Software Vendors May Start Charging You to Access Your Own Data — Here's What to Do About It

On a recent investor call, HubSpot CEO Yamini Rangan was asked how the company plans to respond to clients using AI agents to pull data out of...

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Sidecar Sync episode 123 cover featuring Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias

40 min read

Agent Tollgates & MCP Mayhem: Who Really Owns Your Data? | [Sidecar Sync Episode 123]

Summary: In this episode of the Sidecar Sync, Mallory and Amith dive deep into two seismic shifts rocking the AI landscape for associations: the rise...

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4 min read

The Generalist Shift and What It Means for Niche Associations

For generations, the trajectory of professional development has pointed in one direction: deeper. You specialize. Then you sub-specialize. You become...

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4 min read

World Models Are Here — What Association Leaders Need to Know

If you've been following AI developments, you've probably seen impressive image generators and video tools. You type a prompt, you get a visual....

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3 min read

The Shrinking Cost of AI (and Why Your Association Strategy Should Account for It)

Most association leaders making AI decisions right now are doing something that feels responsible but is actually a strategic mistake: they're...

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Sidecar Sync episode 122 cover featuring Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias

31 min read

The Maia 200 Breakthrough, Project Genie’s Living Worlds, & The New Rules of Work | [Sidecar Sync Episode 122]

Summary: In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias zoom out to explore the AI infrastructure quietly reshaping everything...

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Chalk-style classroom illustration with a smiling map of Africa as the teacher pointing to a chalkboard that reads “Machine Learning,” while four small figures sit in mismatched chairs facing the board, with crumpled paper on the floor against a dark background.

4 min read

What the World's Largest Machine Learning Community Can Teach Associations About Connection

Most associations were built on a promise that still holds: bring the right people together and good things happen. That idea launched thousands of...

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