What happens when you take nearly a decade of Wall Street experience and apply it to the "chaotic" world of home repairs? In this debut episode, Sherry Li shares her journey from navigating $11 trillion sovereign wealth funds and Wall Street investment banks to dispatching vendors in the field.

Sherry explains how her background in systematic fund management led to the creation of Pai Box, an agentic AI platform designed to bridge the gap between institutional investment and boots-on-the-ground property operations. This conversation explores the philosophical and practical shift from being a corporate employee to a founder with the total freedom—and massive liability—of making every decision and how AI is impacting the future of work.

What You Will Learn

The "Boots-on-the-Ground" Pivot: Why Sherry believes a decade of industry experience is necessary to navigate complex systems like financial services and real estate development.

Managing Uncertainty with AI: How AI agents differ from traditional programming by navigating hundreds of unpredictable real-world scenarios, such as repair job conflicts or hidden property damage.

The "Assistant" Approach: Why property managers should treat AI as a proactive assistant that can make phone calls, send messages, and follow up with tenants without manual reminders.

Regulation and Human Authority: Why Sherry argues that regulation should focus on the creators and trainers of AI rather than the technology itself, ensuring humans remain the sole authority for decisions and liabilities.

A Future of Creators: How AI is releasing human "brain power"—much like the steam engine released hands—allowing us to return to our nature as creators who understand and shape the world.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to MY Interface Podcast.

00:42 Introduction to Sherry Li and her Wall Street background.

02:08 Founding C-Star and identifying operational pain points.

03:43 The vision for PaiBox: Improving real estate efficiencies.

05:01 Why startup passion requires deep industry accumulation.

07:20 Mindset shift: Climbing the corporate ladder vs. founder freedom.

09:01 AI's perfect memory and its role in property management.

11:32 AI vs. traditional programming: Navigating the unknown.

12:56 The philosophy of regulation: People as creators.

15:05 Advice for students: How to use AI without knowing how to code.

19:42 The evolution of human nature: From four legs to released brain power.

23:14 Post-interview analysis by the hosts.

Quotes from the Episode

“When you start a company, it's your own business. The liability is huge, but of course, a huge feeling of freedom.”

“The purpose of [technology] is to help human, is to support, is to empower human... treat them as a tool or you treat them as a god? As a god is superior to human... I think that’s totally against human nature.”

“Don’t worry about oh learn AI—focus on the question how to use it... AI is supposed to empower you to make the product available without coding.”

“Don't be afraid of the era of AI... it's helping human. You're back to what a human is supposed to be. You're the creator.”

About the Hosts

Yvonne and Miya are high school sophomores on a mission to educate students and professionals on the impact of AI across multiple subject matters by providing insights from top experts.

Where to find Sherry Li and PaiBox:

Sherry Li: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xueyingli/

PaiBox: Available for download on Apple App Store and Google Play. https://www.paibox.com/

Music credit: "Modern Situations" by Unicorn Heads

New episodes drop every Friday at 3:00 PM.