AI and the Future of Work
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Episode Number : 88
Bindu Reddy, CEO and co-founder of Abacus AI, was a product exec at Google and Amazon and an accomplished entrepreneur before setting out to make AI model management accessible to non data scientists. Bindu has since raised more than $40M from investors like Index Ventures, Coatue, Ram Shriram, Deep Nishar, and others. Her team is investing in core AI research and building a platform to make it easy to deploy models trained on deep neural nets with tabular data. Hear Bindu’s vision… then go follow her on Twitter for provocative tweets like the one we discuss in this episode :).
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- How Bindu became an AI enthusiast after an algorithm helped her previous company increase revenue 40%
- What Bindu learned at Google and AWS… and what she has had to un-learn to grow Abacus AI
- How AI is being used to reduce customer churn
- Why Bindu’s vision is to make creating and managing AI models “as easy as creating podcasts or websites”
- Why building bias into AI models isn’t necessarily bad
References in this episode:
- Krishna Gade on AI and the Future of Work
- Jeff Meyerson on AI and the Future of Work
- Abacus.ai
- Bindu on Twitter
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Episode Number : 87
Charity Majors, CTO and co-founder at honeycomb, grew up in rural Idaho and dropped out of college. This is her unlikely journey from pianist to successful high-tech entrepreneur. She’s a pioneer in the monitoring and observability space who turned her learning at Facebook into a company focused on helping developers find and fix bugs faster. Charity’s opinionated, thoughtful, and one of the most outspoken critics of, well, the status quo :).
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- What motivated Charity to start a career in tech having been a “perennial dropout”
- Why “ops has a well-deserved reputation for masochism”
- Why Charity says the “Kool-aid at Facebook is strong and potent”
- Why it’s impossible to troubleshoot software bugs with high cardinality data
- How Charity defines observability
- What it means to practice observability-driven development (ODD) and why it should replace test-driven development (TDD)
References in this episode:
Thanks to Rachel Chalmers for making this episode happen!
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Episode Number : 86
Kai Nunez, VP Research & Insights at Salesforce, didn’t always know she wanted to pursue a career in AI because it didn’t exist as a field. Her dad was a linguist and she became interested in human-computer interaction at a young age. Kai’s deep concern for values-based leadership and operating with integrity led her to become a leading voice in the DEI and AI ethics communities. Today, her teams are creating a culture of awareness about the impact tech has on underserved populations. She’s a passionate advocate for educating teams to do the right thing… even when nobody’s looking.
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- About Salesforce’s real “biggest competitor”
- Why DEI matters in technology
- How Kai lives the value of “being a respectful truthteller”
- Why the future of software includes data audits to mitigate the risk of bias
- What happened when Kai presented an unpopular idea to Marc Benioff
References in this episode…
- Krishna Gade from Fiddler on AI and the Future of Work
- AI ethics at Salesforce
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Episode Number : 85
René Morkos, CEO and Founder of ALICE Technologies, grew up wanting to build things. That passion led him to degrees in Construction Management and an adjunct professorship at Stanford. In 2015, he founded ALICE to improve the efficiency of complex construction projects. Rene has since raised nearly $40M from an incredible list of investors including Lightspeed, Merus, and Future Ventures.
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- What René learned from his first job after college working on construction sites in Afghanistan
- Why ConstructionTech has attracted nearly $6B since 2014
- How algorithms figure out what 6,000 people on a construction site should do every day
- What the world will be like in ten years when technology is fully adopted in the construction industry
- Why “startups are really just R&D departments for large companies”
- What’s hard about building startups…that they don’t teach you in CEO school
References in the episode…
- ALICE Technologies
- ALICE on Twitter
- AI and the Future of Work with Rachel Chalmers from Alchemist Accelerator
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Episode Number : 84
Gary Bolles, entrepreneur, venture advisor, and best-selling author, is a deep thinker who established roots in Silicon Valley in the 80s to pursue his joint passions for technology and exploring what he calls the three boxes of life – learning, work, and leisure. He’s the author of The Next Rules of Work which was published August 31. He’s also the chair for the Future of Work at Singularity University and the founder of eParachute among other companies. Oh, and his LinkedIn courses have helped train more than 800,000 students.
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- How the son of a laid off minister became one of the foremost authorities on the future of work
- What opportunities are being created by “The Great Reset”
- How technology is redefining work… and redefining our identity as humans
- What it means that we’re moving from a “workforce” to a “worknet”
- About the $10 million exercise… and why it’s the best way to find your passion
- Why living the acronym “PACE” is the best way to ensure future career success
References in today’s episode…
- Gary’s site
- Singularity University
- AI and the Future of Work with Charlene Li
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Episode Number : 83
Derek Steer cut his teeth as a data analyst at Facebook and Yammer more than a decade ago. He co-founded Mode in 2013 to make it easier to ask questions about data and get better answers faster. Mode has since raised four rounds of funding including a recent $33M round from an exceptional group of investors. 52% of Fortune 500 companies use Mode and Derek has grown the team to more than 300 employees. Derek’s vision: “drive the time to do analysis down to zero.” He’s well on his way!
Show moreShow lessListen and learn…
- What Mode’s doing to “unlock the power of human reasoning”
- What Derek learned about tools for data analysts from Facebook and Yammer
- Why there will always be a need for analytics frontends even amid competition from data warehouses like Snowflake
- The future of work for data analysts
- The biggest tragedy in BI today
References in this episode:
- Benn Stancil’s “season without bats“
- Fivetran
- ThoughtSpot
- Trifacta
- Tiernan Ray on AI and the Future of Work
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Episode Number : 82
Jeff Meyerson, entrepreneur, musician, technologist, and author of the acclaimed “Move Fast: How Facebook Builds Software”, discusses the stranglehold Big Tech has on developer tools and how the future of software development may be quite different from the present.
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- What Jeff learned about sales from playing poker
- How Facebook builds software… and how it can avoid being evil
- Why React is the “Linux of the frontend of the web”
- The development tools Jeff’s most excited about
- Why Zuck’s not a good leader
- What Jeff will tell Zuck when they finally meet
References in this episode…
- “Move Fast: How Facebook Builds Software” on Amazon
- Jeff on Twitter
- Software Engineering Daily
- Janelle Shane’s great book
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Episode Number : 81
Krishna Gade was an engineering leader at Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook before realizing AI is eating software… and responsible AI is essential. He turned a passion for “trustworthy AI” into a company that recently raised $32M to make AI explainable.
Show moreShow lessListen and learn…
- Why AI explainability matters… and how to instrument it in AI models
- What developers need to know to ensure AI models don’t make bad decisions
- What legislators need to know when creating frameworks to regulate “responsible” use of AI
- How Apple fumbled AI explainability when issuing credit cards through Goldman Sachs
- Krishna’s top lesson learned as a first-time CEO
References in this episode:
- AI and The Future of Work with Mark van Rijmenam
- AI and The Future of Work with Tiernan Ray
- The Algorithmic Accountability Act
- fiddler.ai
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Episode Number : 80
Neelima Parasker started coding at a young age. Inspired by her entrepreneur mother, she studied Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering before eventually starting SnapIT Solutions. Neelima’s passion for investing in unproven talent has guided her as a leader. She’s an active entrepreneur coach and is involved in many civic organizations in and around the Kansas City area.
Show moreShow lessListen and learn…
- The single most important lesson for parents looking to cultivate a love of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math in their kids.
- How Neelima has built a culture around her belief that we should “use technology to grow people, not the other way around.”
- How glass ceilings for women and under-represented minorities can be shattered.
- How governments should take responsibility for improving access to STEM education.
- Why Neelima isn’t afraid of bots taking jobs because “our faults make us human.”
References in today’s episode…
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Episode Number : 80
Rachel Chalmers aspired to be an English professor before being inspired by a technology journal to relocate from Ireland to San Francisco. She has since covered over 1,000 startups as an industry analyst and invested in many more as an investor. Rachel is passionate about representing the under-represented and encouraging all those who have been told they can’t live their dreams. This is a must-listen for entrepreneurs who have ever felt disadvantaged by circumstances out of their control. It’s also the episode in which I volunteer to chair the Chalmers 2024 campaign.
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- The burn rate rule of thumb for startups
- Why “venture capital wants to perpetuate itself”
- The origins of the Silicon Valley myth that “all talent is concentrated in white males”
- How to eliminate institutional biases that constrain women and under-represented minorities when raising money and building companies
- How Rachel is defining the future workplace where humans and machines collaborate
References in this episode:
- Ravi Belani and the Alchemist Accelerator
- The Innovators Inside podcast by AlchemistX
- Charity Majors and Honeycomb
- Edith Harbaugh and LaunchDarkly
- Ciro and Jacopo from Tooso on AI and the Future of Work
- Filip Dousek from Workday on AI and the Future of Work
- Project Include
- Arlan Hamilton
- Kate Crawford’s Atlas of AI
- Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott
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Episode Number : 79
Dr. Cataltepe is an accomplished scientist and entrepreneur… with a social conscience. She has published more than 100 academic papers and is a three-time recipient of the “Women Entrepreneur of the Year” award. Dr. Cataltepe and her team believe building and managing AI models should be something anyone can do… even her 70 year old mother who is a farmer in Turkey :). Tazi’s vision is to make AI explainable, accessible, and configurable for “mere mortals”.
Show moreShow lessListen and learn…
- What’s required to deploy AI that is easy to understand, monitor, and update by business people without data science or computer science backgrounds
- How to apply micro-segmentation to detect and eliminate bias in data and models
- Why “bring your own model” may solve critical issues related to data privacy and data bias
- How reducing the complexity of AI also will limit its environmental footprint
- How insurance companies are using AI trained with telematic data to determine driver risk and premiums
- Why the Turkish saying “even the snake eats the earth one bite at a time” represents Dr. Cataltepe’s vision for the future of AI
- Thanks to the Alchemist Accelerator team for the introduction to Dr. Cataltepe!
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Episode Number : 78
Ken Gonzalez has spent the better part of 35 years as an IT practitioner, CIO advisor, and industry analyst. He has fielded more than 2,500 inquiry calls and contributed to some of the most impactful IT trends. Ken’s advisory work focuses on IT metrics and organizational change. Hear Ken share the one workplace technology shift that all organizations must make to remain competitive in the next decade.
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- What it means for IT to adopt a “product management mindset”
- How Ken helped a client save $750,000
- Why most enterprise IT teams “overestimate their process maturity”
- The role AI will play in defining IT strategy (hint: it’s not what you think)
- Jargon alert: “KTLO” = “keep the lights on”
References in this episode…
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Episode Number : 77
Dan O’Connell, former founder and CEO of TalkIQ which was acquired by Dialpad, discusses the future of cloud communications. Dan’s vision for helping teams sell more with less churn led to Dialpad becoming a unicorn last year having raised $100M at a $1.2B pre-money valuation. Exceptional investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Google Ventures are betting on Dialpad’s ability to convert legacy telephony infrastructure into cloud-native, SaaS systems using AI to analyze voice transcripts.
Show moreShow lessListen and learn…
- Dan’s entrepreneurial journey from incubator to launch to fundraising to acquisition.
- Why TalkIQ was really three startups in one… and how Dan navigated his team through the process of finding one big customer problem to fix.
- Why voice will soon be the primary computing interface.
- The challenges of developing NLP technology for voice transcription and AI-based analytics.
- What Dan learned from nearly a decade at Google… and, more important, what he learned not to do.
References in the episode…
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Episode Number : 76
Dion Hinchcliffe has been reporting on and prognosticating about the future of work for more than 20 years. He speaks with 100s of global CIOs annually about how to use technology to deliver great employee experiences. In this discussion, Dion shares mind-boggling stats about IT spending patterns and provocative thoughts about how to fix what’s broken in the workplace.
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- The real definition of “digital transformation”
- Why CIOs have the shortest tenure in the C-suite
- Who spends more on IT… than IT!
- What % of IT budgets go to innovation… and why that number is pathetically low.
- How the technology in your pocket will be very different in a decade.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
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Episode Number : 75
John Whaley has been programming since age five. He has been a lecturer at Stanford in Computer Science, a founding CTO, and a founding CEO. John raised a large series A in 2017 and has sold two companies. Oh, and he’s out to save the world from passwords. UnifyID is a pioneer in the use of biometric data stored on mobile devices to authenticate users.
Show moreShow lessListen and learn…
- How John’s personal journey led to the founding and successful acquisition of UnifyID by Prove.
- About the ethical implications of giving Big Tech access to your biometric data.
- Why “being yourself should provide enough information to uniquely identify you.”
- What John means when he says “data isn’t the new oil… it’s the new kryptonite.”
- John’s bold prediction for when passwords will no longer be the predominant form of authentication (spoiler alert: it’s sooner than you think).
Thanks to Vinay Prabhu for the introduction to John.
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Episode Number : 74
Filip Dousek is a successful entrepreneur having sold his last company to Workday. He’s also the author of Flock Without Birds, a two-part novel that challenges how the whole relates to its parts. Stories, Filip’s company, is solving the problem of extracting insights about people from massive datasets to be able to answer questions about diversity, organizational behavior, and skills gaps. He also discusses the challenges of growing a startup in Prague.
Show moreShow lessListen and learn…
- Why enterprises don’t use the data they generate to make better decisions
- The hard technical challenge of extracting insights about people and teams from large datasets
- What it means to “look at data through the prism of graphs and relationships”
- Why founding Stories in Prague created an opportunity for talent arbitrage
- About our defensible advantages as humans vs. AI
Referenced in this episode:
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Episode Number : 73
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- Why there’s still room to disrupt in the crowded ServiceNow partner ecosystem
- How Thirdera works with clients to define their innovation agenda
- What Jason means by “being e-lingual is as important as being bilingual”
- Why “we’re in the early innings of cloud… and we haven’t even dressed for the field yet in AI.”
Oh, and listen to our discussion with Marc Talluto from 2019 for insight into the story behind Thirdera.
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Episode Number : 72
Tiernan Ray is an accomplished journalist who has written extensively for publications like ZDNet, the New York Times, Barron’s, CNN Money, Fortune, and Bloomberg. He famously launched coverage of machine learning for Barron’s back in 2015 with a cover story called “The Cloud Chip”.
Show moreShow lessIn this wide-ranging discussion, Tiernan shares how the principles of ethics should be applied to AI based on his thorough analysis of current research.
Listen and learn…
- Why the field of AI ethics requires “those with authority to also have responsibility” for outcomes.
- How to instrument explainability into automated decisions made by algorithms and why explainability is like the paradox of Schrodinger’s cat.
- How AI ethics is challenging because we’re reducing topics like justice and fairness to algorithms whose behavior is dictated by objective functions.
- What Tiernan means when he says AI regulators can’t be trusted to “grade their own homework”.
- Why your personal data may soon be managed on a blockchain as a new layer of the traditional OSI stack.
Resources referenced in this episode…
- Tiernan’s treatise on ethical AI… and its companion piece
- The Technology Letter
- Fiddler.ai
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Episode Number : 71
Bryan Talebi learned the value of education after fleeing Iran and living in a Turkish refugee camp. He worked for NASA at age 16 and, after helping lead many successful startups, started Ahura to disrupt the education system “which hasn’t changed in 150 years”. Bryan realized the millions of workers being displaced by automation need a way to more rapidly prepare for careers in the labor market of the future.
Show moreShow lessListen and learn…
- What skills are required to succeed in the new labor market
- What impact a single robot can have on an entire factory of skilled laborers
- How biometric data can be used to optimize the learning process
- What employers are doing to up-skill rather than replace current employees
- Why “AQ” is replacing IQ and EQ as the way to find 10x talent
Contact Bryan and Ahura AI for more information:
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Episode Number : 70
Milin Desai was an executive at VMware before taking the CEO role at Sentry last year. Since then, he led a $60M funding round that valued the company at $1B. An exceptional group of investors including Accel and NEA as well as new investor BOND participated. In this discussion with Dan Turchin, Milin openly shares the challenges of growing a startup and where there’s room for innovation in the crowded monitoring space.
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- What all other monitoring vendors are missing that created an opportunity for Sentry
- What Sentry does better than the legacy APM vendors
- The dirty secret of DevOps
- Why NoOps won’t replace DevOps any time soon
- The one non-technical skill that has helped Milin most in his career
Thanks to Banjot Chanana for the introduction to Milin!
