How Do Large Language Models Work?
Broadcast Date: May 7th, 2026
Large Language Models are rapidly reshaping the way people search for information, write software, analyze documents, and interact with machines. But beneath the polished interfaces and conversational fluency lies a complex architecture built on probabilities, patterns, transformers, and attention mechanisms. Understanding how these systems actually work is becoming increasingly important for business leaders, technologists, and everyday users alike.
On this episode of DM Radio, we’ll explore the inner workings of LLMs, from their foundations as text prediction engines to the emergence of multimodal systems, AI agents, and expanding context windows. We’ll examine what these models are designed to do, what they are decidedly not designed to do, and why hallucinations remain one of the defining challenges of enterprise AI. The conversation will also touch on governance, reliability, and the growing importance of the systems surrounding the models themselves.
We’ll also discuss where LLMs deliver tremendous value today, including programming assistance, knowledge extraction, and large-scale text analysis, along with scenarios where caution is warranted, such as legal and medical guidance, customer-facing automation, operational decision-making, and database-style precision tasks. Along the way, we’ll share practical insights, real-world observations, and a few entertaining stories from the rapidly evolving frontier of artificial intelligence.
Host:
Eric Kavanagh
CEO at The Bloor Group
Eric has nearly 30 years of experience as a career journalist with a keen focus on enterprise technologies. He designs and moderates a variety of New Media programs, including The Briefing Room, DM Radio and Espresso Series, as well as GARP’s Leadership and Research Webcasts. His mission is to help people leverage the power of software, methodologies and politics in order to get things done.
Guests:
Yuvrender Gill
AI Infrastructure Contributor of Perplexity
Michael Bachman
Head of Research and EmTech – AI CoE and Platform Innovation of Boomi
