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Episodes from TechSurge: Deep Tech Podcast
Sovereign AI Stacks: The New Strategic National Resource
As artificial intelligence becomes a strategic capability for nations as well as companies, questions of governance, safety, and geopolitical competition are moving to the forefront. In this episode of TechSurge, host Sriram Viswanathan speaks with Helen Toner, Interim Executive Director of the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown and a former OpenAI board member, about the rise of sovereign AI stacks and the global implications of increasingly powerful AI systems.Helen brings a rare vantage point from both inside the frontier AI ecosystem and the policy world. She reflects on lessons from her...
Governing AI Before It Outpaces Us: Safety for Critical Infrastructure
As generative AI systems move from novelty to infrastructure, questions of safety, trust, and governance are becoming urgent. In this episode of TechSurge, host Sriram Viswanathan is joined by Dr. Rumman Chowdhury, CEO of Humane Intelligence PBC and responsible AI Pioneer, about what AI safety really means and why the industry may be focusing on the wrong problems.Rumman argues that the most overlooked lever in AI development is evaluation. While companies emphasize model training and capabilities, far less attention is paid to how systems are assessed in real-world contexts, who defines “good,” what risks are measured, and...
India: The Next Tech Global Superpower?
As global supply chains fracture, AI reshapes productivity, and technology becomes a core instrument of national power, India is making an ambitious push to redefine its role in the world economy from IT services provider to deep tech superpower.In the season 2 premiere of TechSurge, host Sriram Viswanathan brings together three defining perspectives to examine how India is positioned to become a global leader in frontier technologies, and what must go right for that vision to succeed.The episode begins with S. Krishnan, Secretary at India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, who outlines how...
TechSurge: Season 2 Trailer
TechSurge returns for an all-new season exploring the forces reshaping the future of deep tech, where breakthrough innovation meets real-world market dynamics. In season 2, we dive deeper into the intersection of emerging technology, market forces, and entrepreneurial discovery, featuring candid conversations with Silicon Valley leaders, visionary founders, investors, and bold builders shaping the future of deep tech. From AI and advanced computing to energy, biotech, and beyond, we explore what it really takes to turn breakthrough ideas into scalable companies. New episodes release every two weeks. Subscribe now!
Season 1 Finale: Risks, Rewards, and Realities of Open vs. Closed AI
In TechSurge’s Season 1 Finale episode, we explore an important debate: should AI development be open source or closed? AI technology leader and UN Senior Fellow Senthil Kumar joins Michael Marks for a deep dive into one of the most consequential debates in artificial intelligence, exploring the fundamental tensions between democratizing AI access and maintaining safety controls.Sparked by DeepSeek's recent model release that delivered GPT-4 class performance at a fraction of the cost and compute, the discussion spans the economics of AI development, trust and transparency concerns, regulatory approaches across different countries, and the uni...
Betting Early on Zoom, Canva, and Crypto: Inside the Playbook of Visionary Solo VC Bill Tai
Legendary technologist and investor Bill Tai joins our latest episode for a wide-ranging conversation spanning decades of Silicon Valley innovation. Bill shares his remarkable journey from being employee #1 at TSMC to becoming one of the first seed investors in Zoom and Canva, and his early embrace of Bitcoin when it was priced at just 7 cents.The conversation explores Bill's unique investment philosophy shaped by mentorship from Don Valentine of Sequoia Capital, his innovative approach to building entrepreneurial communities through kiteboarding, and his insights into the intersection of AI, energy infrastructure, and cryptocurrency. Bill discusses the massive energy...
Blueprint for an AI Future: OpenAI Chief Economist on How AI Will Shape the Global Economy
Will AI displace more jobs than it creates? How can the U.S. win the AI race? How can AI benefits be evenly distributed across businesses and society?We explore these questions and more as Sriram Viswanathan sits down with Ronnie Chatterji, Chief Economist at OpenAI, for an in-depth exploration of AI's economic impact and policy implications. Ronnie brings a unique perspective, having served as an economic advisor in both the Obama and Biden administrations as a senior economist, supply chain advisor, and architect of the CHIPS Act.The conversation dives into the economic opportunities...
Inside Nokia’s Strategy: CSTO Nishant Batra on Telecom’s Future, Brand Reinvention, and Betting on Bell Labs
In this episode of TechSurge, host Sriram Viswanathan sits down with Nishant Batra, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer at Nokia, for a deep dive into the evolving landscape of telecom and wireless technology. Nishant shares insights into the seismic shifts transforming network infrastructure—from core networks to edge computing—and discusses how Nokia leverages artificial intelligence to optimize performance and drive innovation. The conversation also highlights Nokia's unique innovation framework, spanning its corporate venture investments, internal incubator, and expansion of the legendary Bell Labs. Today Nokia leverages Bell Labs’ groundbreaking research into emerging technology for internal innovation and new...
Leading Through Chaos: John Chambers on Tariffs, Cyber Threats, & the AI Supercycle
Competition, growth, tariffs, hacks, AI – what does it take to be an effective leader today? John Chambers, former CEO and Executive Chairman of Cisco and founder of JC2 Ventures, joins TechSurge host Sriram Viswanathan to share valuable wisdom on leading and growing businesses through times of significant change. As a leader who has transitioned from the c-suite to venture capital and now mentoring founders in emerging technology sectors, John has seen it all. He shares lessons from his time leading one of the world’s most influential networking companies at Cisco (the most valuable company in the world...
China, Funding Cuts, & Campus Controversy: Is U.S. Tech Leadership Falling Behind?
MIT President Emeritus Dr. Rafael Reif joins host Michael Marks for a discussion about the state of U.S. competitiveness in technology, university research funding, current immigration policy, and more. Reif explains why universities remain the innovation engines of economies, educating top talent and generating the foundational research that powers emerging tech and creates new industries. He candidly assesses U.S.-China competition, warns that Chinese research output is rapidly outpacing our own, and urges renewed federal investment. The discussion explores how restrictive immigration policies threaten the flow of global talent into the U.S and his...
Inside Microsoft's Trillion Dollar Playbook with Chief Strategy Officer Bobby Yerramilli-Rao
Bobby Yerramilli-Rao, Chief Strategy Officer at Microsoft, joins TechSurge host Sriram Viswanathan to offer a rare glimpse into the strategic playbook of one of the world’s most powerful tech companies. Bobby shares how the company navigates today’s biggest technology paradigm shifts, placing bets with trillion-dollar implications. Touching on Microsoft’s AI strategy, OpenAI partnership, quantum computing, its approach to acquisitions, and much more, this candid and wide-ranging conversation is not to be missed. If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our...
Scaling the AI Era: Next-Gen Data Storage Solutions with Pure Storage CEO Charlie Giancarlo
In this episode of TechSurge, host Sriram Viswanathan sits down with Charlie Giancarlo, Chairman and CEO of Pure Storage, to discuss the evolution and future of data storage in the digital age. Charlie shares insights from his career spanning his pivotal role in Cisco's success as a networking pioneer, to his leadership in transforming Pure Storage into a leader in innovative storage solutions.They explore the evolution of data center infrastructure, and the critical role of storage architecture in enabling AI and cloud technologies. Charlie also explains how Pure Storage's software-driven approach is creating...