# AI for America's Small Businesses | Lassie

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-a16z-show-436525/ai-for-america-s-small-businesses-lassie
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-a16z-show-436525/ai-for-america-s-small-businesses-lassie.md
Podcast: [The a16z Show](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-a16z-show-436525)
Published: 2026-07-30T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://a16z.simplecast.com/episodes/ai-for-americas-small-businesses-lassie-bwImYMRh
Audio file: https://mgln.ai/e/1344/afp-848985-injected.calisto.simplecastaudio.com/3f86df7b-51c6-4101-88a2-550dba782de8/episodes/f566a458-61e5-4456-abc1-ca3c6013eff6/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=3f86df7b-51c6-4101-88a2-550dba782de8&awEpisodeId=f566a458-61e5-4456-abc1-ca3c6013eff6&feed=JGE3yC0V
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-a16z-show-436525/episodes/ai-for-america-s-small-businesses-lassie
Duration seconds: 3538

## Resource

Alex Rampell and Olivia Moore speak with Lassie cofounders Steijn Pelle and Frédéric Renken about bringing AI to one of the most overlooked parts of the economy: small businesses. Inspired by time spent working inside dental practices, Pelle and Renken set out to automate the administrative work that keeps healthcare providers away from patients. They discuss how AI agents are changing billing, insurance claims, patient payments, and other operational workflows, allowing practices to spend less time on paperwork and more time delivering care. The conversation explores AI agents, software that performs work rather than simply storing information, onboarding AI into real-world businesses, and why healthcare administration offers one of the biggest opportunities for automation. Along the way, they discuss product design, go-to-market strategy, and what it takes to build AI systems that operate reliably in complex business environments.

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## Transcript

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