Latest Interviews

Responsible AI Activation: Governance AI | RAISE Summit 2024 | Paris

Teos, Nicole Butna, Shyam Nagarajan, Rinald Manohar

Moderated by INSEAD professor Theos, a panel of AI strategy experts Nicole Butna, IBM consultant Shyam Nagarajan, and blockchain specialist Rinald Manohar identified critical risks such as human dependency on automation, data poisoning, and the potential for un-audited systems to mirror financial crises. The discussion established a consensus that effective AI governance must evolve from reactive compliance to proactive "ethics by design," requiring board-level oversight and multi-party accountability to manage self-evolving models and synthetic data feedback loops. To bridge the current maturity gap and regulatory skepticism, the panel advocated for treating AI governance as essential infrastructure comparable to financial auditing, emphasizing shared global values and cost-effective tamper-proof auditability to foster industry trust.

Architects of Transformation: Foundational Models in Generative AI | RAISE Summit 2024 | Paris

Daphné Leprince-Ringuet, Pablo, Milos, Nan, Marco, Artur Polis

Moderated by Daphné Leprince-Ringuet, the "Architects of Transformation" panel featured experts from Rave, DeepSets, Gena, and Defector to analyze the critical disconnect between enterprise expectations for deterministic AI and the stochastic reality of foundational models. The discussion highlighted that while companies like Defector have successfully deployed AI agents to double financing origination, widespread adoption remains hindered by legal concerns over training data, the high cost of production-grade infrastructure, and a severe talent mismatch between research engineers and product-focused builders. Participants concluded that the industry is shifting toward licensed, IP-safe "walled gardens" and emphasized that future success depends on integrating AI as a controlled operational component rather than a standalone feature.

AI Unleashed : Navigating the Future with Next Gen Applications | RAISE Summit 2024 | Paris

Tamara Brisk, Nicolas Guillon, Sixt, Jean-Paul, Francois Chollette, Arthur Kleinmann

At the RAISE Summit's "AI Unleashed" panel, industry leaders from Animage, X-Plane, and L'Oréal detailed the critical transition from generic generative AI tools to specialized, agentic applications capable of handling high-stakes industrial workflows. The discussion highlighted that while early models struggle with niche data and latency, second-generation systems must leverage proprietary datasets and human-in-the-loop verification to automate complex tasks such as public tender responses and personalized beauty diagnostics. Participants concluded that successful commercial adoption requires overcoming significant barriers including production costs, hallucination management, and workforce cultural resistance to redefine media creation and corporate efficiency.

Venture Capital: Investing in AI | RAISE Summit 2024 | Paris

Arnaud Barthélémy, Kay, Adrian, Anand

Moderated by Arnaud Barthélémy of Alpha Intelligence Capital, a panel of investors including Adrian from Merantix and Anand from Canonical analyzed divergent strategies within the AI ecosystem, with Merantix prioritizing value capture at the application layer and Canonical focusing on foundational infrastructure. The discussion highlighted that while US markets drive high-risk capital velocity, European investors are leveraging deep technical talent to disrupt heavily regulated sectors like healthcare and legal through data-driven models powered by community-sourced scientific analysis. As the market remains in a price discovery phase with zero-revenue valuations, panelists anticipate a rapid transition where AI applications evolve from novel tools into essential utilities and autonomous agents begin interacting to accelerate capital allocation.

Production Ready RAG | RAISE Summit 2024 | Paris

David Leconte

David Leconte, a Solution Engineer at DataStax, outlines a strategy to bridge the gap between experimental RAG prototypes and production deployment by introducing a curated solution stack. This approach combines the new RackStack library management tool, the high-performance AstraDB vector database, and the Longflow workflow engine to address critical stability, compliance, and integration challenges faced by major enterprises. By offering verified packages, 10-millisecond latency, and automated support, the platform enables organizations to safely scale generative AI applications in regulated sectors without the risks associated with fragmented open-source frameworks.

The Collapse of the Human Empire: Reflexions from the AGI | RAISE Summit 2024 | Paris

Laurent Alexandre, Charles-Edouard Boué

Laurent Alexandre and Charles-Edouard Boué predict that the current AI investment bubble, driven by unsustainable unit economics, will collapse within eighteen months to trigger a new era of techno-politics and aggressive regulation. The discussion highlights critical barriers to Artificial General Intelligence, including the physical limitations of moving from 2D to 3D environments, entropy management challenges, and the paradox where human-AI collaboration yields lower diagnostic accuracy than AI alone. Ultimately, the speakers argue that the future dominance of machines may lead to a "machine aristocracy," yet the primary risk to human civilization stems from internal societal failures like elite corruption rather than inherent machine hostility.

'Future of Search in the Age of AI' Perplexity CEO, Aravind Srinivas | RAISE Summit 2024 | Paris

Aravind Srinivas, Irvine

Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas and his team have launched an answer engine that replaces traditional search link lists with sourced, direct responses to bypass the advertising incentives misaligning Google with user utility. Leveraging a model-agnostic orchestration architecture and a founding team spanning research and competitive programming, the platform prioritizes factual accuracy and source verification over open-ended creativity to minimize AI hallucinations. While currently operating on lower margins than incumbent search giants, the company aims to establish a new consumer-aligned monetization framework that transforms the web from a collection of links into a verified knowledge infrastructure.

Chamath Palihapitiya & Groq CEO Jonathan Ross | RAISE Summit 2024 | Paris

Chamath Palihapitiya, Jonathan Ross, Olivier Ollier

Grok CEO Jonathan Ross, a former Google TPU architect, presents a strategic shift in the AI industry where hardware-focused inference is poised to surpass training as the dominant market force. Leveraging proprietary Low Precision Units and an alternative supply chain strategy, the company has attracted 75,000 developers in just 30 days and secured a massive compute partnership with Aramco Digital to challenge NVIDIA's infrastructure monopoly. With projections to deploy 1.5 million LPUs by next year, Grok aims to redefine AI deployment costs and latency standards while positioning non-tech enterprises as primary consumers of global compute capacity.

Jared Cohen on US leaders finding purpose post-presidency

Jared Cohen, John F.W. Rogers

Jared's new #9 New York Times bestseller analyzes the historical trajectories of post-presidencies through four distinct case studies, including William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, George W. Bush, and Grover Cleveland. By examining how these leaders successfully deferred ambitions, recovered from defeat, detached from former power, or faced the limitations of a political comeback, the work illustrates that the institution's resilience relies on evolving norms rather than constitutional text alone. The author argues that longevity and fulfillment in retirement require abandoning the vanity of office to pursue new service or hobbies, offering a framework for navigating life after the presidency regardless of political affiliation.

Are inflation fears overblown? The outlook for inflation, US growth, and long-term rates

David Mericle, Alison Nathan

Goldman Sachs projects U.S. GDP growth of 2.5% in 2024, driven by labor supply expansions from immigration that prevent overheating despite disinflation from shelter rents. The firm argues the neutral interest rate has structurally shifted to 3.0%–3.5%, forecasting Federal Reserve rate cuts beginning in July 2024 as financial conditions remain accommodative. This outlook suggests a balanced labor market and mechanical rent adjustments will allow inflation to trend toward 2.5% without triggering wage-price spirals.

Advancing Inclusion Through Leadership with Boston Athletic Association’s Dr. Cheri Blauwet

Dr. Cheri Blauwet, Dean Athanasia

Dr. Sherry Blauwet, a Paralympic medalist and former Boston Athletic Association chair, leads the Boston Marathon bombing anniversary's expanded mission to prioritize year-round community health through the newly established Kelly Adaptive Sports Research Institute. Her strategy reframes adaptive sports as a public health solution for over 25% of U.S. adults by leveraging corporate partnerships and a small grants program to support diverse physical activity needs. Blauwet drives this initiative by challenging societal lowered expectations and promoting leadership intentionality, aiming to transform public perception of disability while maintaining a focus on fun and accessibility for all age groups.

AI integration for enterprise ft. CJ Desai of ServiceNow

CJ Desai, Chirantan "CJ" Desai, Sonya, Sam, Arthur, Daniela, Pat, Andy, Jensen, Doug Leone, Frank Slutman, Jess, Fred Luddy, Bill, Allen, Tim, Michelle, Charlie, Peter, Fabio

ServiceNow, the third-largest global SaaS provider with a $155 billion market cap, achieved $10 billion in annual recurring revenue through strict organic growth under the leadership of CEO Bill McDermott and COO CJ Nayak. The company is currently executing "Act Two" by integrating small, cost-efficient AI models and expanding into new sectors like public safety, while maintaining an 82% gross margin through disciplined financial constraints. With 8,000 enterprise customers led by CIOs demanding specific return on investment, ServiceNow prioritizes workflow automation and outcome-based selling over generic technology adoption to sustain its 26% annual growth rate.

Capital Group’s Rob Lovelace on long-term investing, succession planning, and leadership lessons

Rob Lovelace, Betsy Gorton

Capital Group leverages its unique multi-manager "Capital System" to manage $2.5 trillion in assets by utilizing five to six distinct portfolio managers per fund, a structure designed to smooth volatility and ensure continuity without relying on star manager branding. This private-ownership model, supported by custom proprietary software and an eight-year bonus cycle, enables the firm to withstand market cycles while advising on macro trends such as avoiding direct Chinese equity exposure in favor of multinationals and capitalizing on Japan's recovery from deflation. By prioritizing long-term style consistency over short-term client demands for single-point accountability, the firm maintains active equity leadership in public markets while cautiously exploring partnerships in alternative assets.

How To Build Generative AI Models Like OpenAI's Sora

The event analyzes OpenAI's Sora model, highlighting its breakthrough in text rendering and temporal consistency while noting persistent flaws in physical logic and immense computational demands. It details how YC startups like Infinity AI and Sonato are achieving comparable results through data efficiency, synthetic training, and optimized model architectures rather than massive scale. The discussion concludes by projecting how these physics-simulating AI techniques will accelerate scientific discovery in fields ranging from weather prediction to drug discovery.

How Vuori’s Joe Kudla went from accountant to fashion industry success

Joe Kudla, David Solomon

Viore founder and CEO Joe Kudla transformed a failed apparel background into building a $4 billion men's performance brand that secured a landmark SoftBank investment by pivoting from wholesale to a direct-to-consumer model. The company successfully expanded its revenue composition to include a women's line and entered international markets in China and Korea while maintaining profitability and avoiding unnecessary dilution through secondary offerings. Guided by a culture of strategic alignment, Kudla's leadership team navigated early industry skepticism to establish Viore as a premium lifestyle brand focused on versatile activewear rather than niche yoga apparel.