A short conversation between Mario Pasquato (MSCA fellow) and Michela Mapelli (PI of DEMOBLACK). Mario’s project, RISING (Realistic and Informative Simulations with machine learnING), will exploit machine learning to push the boundaries of astrophysical simulations. Click here for the youtube video. We thank Pietro Osti and the International Research Office of the University of Padova for this nice chat.