Apt's CEO on the AI Career Tsunami, Freemium, and Application Layer Defensibility

Subversive

Chapters
2:47
Why Apt is building an AI career mentoring platform
6:26
Why Tomas left private equity to build startups
13:54
How Tomas and James came together to cofound Apt
18:28
How personality tests created Apt's initial momentum
22:21
How Apt evolved aptitude tests into an AI career mentor
29:33
Who is getting the most value out of Apt today
33:04
Why a longer onboarding quiz boosted Apt's conversion
35:44
How an AI-powered onboarding quiz lifted conversion 60%+
40:14
Why Apt believes in a freemium model long-term
44:16
How Apt will ultimately build a two-sided talent marketplace
48:12
Apt's playbook for competing vs. ChatGPT and Claude
55:14
Lightning round
Subversive
Apt's CEO on the AI Career Tsunami, Freemium, and Application Layer Defensibility
Aug 20, 2026 Season 1 Episode 43
Phil Carter

Every single person alive has asked themselves the same question: 
"What should I do with my life?"

Tomas Hoyos, cofounder and CEO of Apt, is building an AI-powered career mentoring platform to help millions of people answer this question at a moment when AI is about to make it harder for everyone.

Tomas breaks down:

  • Why long onboarding quizzes counterintuitively convert better vs. short ones 
  • How switching to a conversational AI quiz lifted onboarding conversion 60%+ 
  • Why Apt charges from day one but is still betting on freemium long-term
  • The playbook app-layer AI startups need to win vs. OpenAI and Anthropic

Tomas Hoyos:

Phil Carter: