Latest Interviews

Alok Sama & Nikesh Arora: AI, Cybersecurity, and Bold Leadership

Alok Sama, Nikesh Arora

The event outlines a systemic shift toward the democratization of intelligence, where agentic AI transforms search, disrupts traditional ride-sharing economics through autonomous fleets, and expands cybersecurity threats into state-sponsored warfare. Parallel to these technological shifts, the discussion contrasts high-risk investment strategies at SoftBank with Palo Alto Networks' disciplined acquisition model of retaining founders to build unified security platforms. The presentation concludes by warning of an imminent quantum computing vulnerability that threatens current encryption standards before defenders can establish quantum-safe protocols.

Jennifer Tejada, CEO&Chairperson, PagerDuty: Never Miss a Beat Building Reliable Experiences with AI

Jennifer Tejada, Tyson Singer

Spotify and PagerDuty are leveraging artificial intelligence and standardized infrastructure to address a 43% surge in major operational incidents that cost enterprises nearly $1 million each. By shifting from a pet-centric to a cattle-centric philosophy, Spotify enforced rigid "golden paths" through its Backstage platform, a move that enabled fleet-wide code transformations and the commercialization of its internal tools as the B2B "Portal" product. This evolution toward automated digital resilience and code remediation prioritizes predictability over developer autonomy, allowing Spotify to manage its massive codebase while transforming into a higher-margin infrastructure provider.

Fabricio Bloisi, CEO of Prosus Group at RAISE 2025

Fabricio Bloisi

On the one-year anniversary of his appointment as CEO, Fabricio outlined Prosus's strategy to transform its $130 billion valuation into a €1 trillion European tech giant through a $15 billion AI investment and aggressive expansion. The company is accelerating this vision by restructuring 40,000 employees, deploying 200 AI models at portfolio firm iFood, and seeking regulatory approval for a $4 billion acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway. With profitability increasing tenfold and $18 billion in reserves, Prosus plans to double its size and target fintech and e-commerce sectors to secure global leadership in AI-driven commerce execution.

AI Exchanges: The Role of Data

Neema Raphael, George Lee, Allison Nathan

Nima Raphael, a 20-year Goldman Sachs veteran, details the industry's strategic shift from deterministic coding to probabilistic machine learning, emphasizing the critical role of proprietary enterprise data in driving innovation beyond consumer hype. He argues that future AI differentiation relies on overcoming public data saturation by leveraging trapped internal datasets through rigorous engineering and emerging agent-based automation. Raphael further warns that sustained value depends on distinguishing high-quality insights from synthetic data risks while preparing for new frontiers in video and robotics generation.

Stephanie Cohen - CSO @ Cloudflare: Future of Content & Fair Compensation in the Age of AI

Stephanie Cohen

On July 1, Cloudflare implemented a permission-based default policy to block AI scrapers while launching a beta for micropayments via HTTP 402, aiming to transition the web into a value-based economy where content creators control data access. This strategic shift, supported by data showing a 65% surge in training crawler traffic, has drawn criticism from industry figures like BrightData's David Bossert but is defended by CEO Matthew Prince as necessary to repair the broken economic relationship between publishers and tech giants. Complementing this infrastructure, newly appointed Chief Strategy Officer Stephanie Cohen leverages her Wall Street background to guide Cloudflare's expansion into cybersecurity and AI financial services, predicting that high-value human judgment will remain essential even as automation transforms data-rich sectors.

Wes Cummins, Founder & CEO of Applied Digital: Ellendale’s Purpose Built AI Factory in North Dakota

Wes Cummins

Applied Digital is expanding its high-power density data center operations by securing a 400-megawatt contract with CoreWeave to construct a North Dakota campus utilizing stranded wind energy and designed for AI workloads. The company transitioned from Bitcoin mining to Tier 3 semiconductor-grade infrastructure after spending $5 billion on this project to ensure "five nines" reliability and extreme cooling standards for hyperscalers. With approximately 3% ownership by NVIDIA, the firm is capitalizing on the shortage of available power sites in the U.S. heartland while planning future phases that will integrate gas assets and explore nuclear options like small modular reactors.

RAISE 2025: Building AI for Security-Minded Enterprises

A French math PhD turned AI leader leveraged their academic background to build the Llama family at Meta before joining Cohere to prioritize business traction and secure, localized enterprise solutions. The speaker details a strategy where data quality and strategic partnerships, such as those with Fujitsu and RBC, drive the development of models optimized for specific languages and industries rather than pursuing Artificial General Intelligence. By focusing on grounded generation and flexible hosting options, the organization ensures data sovereignty and verifiable outputs for regulated sectors while avoiding the inherent risks of trying to mimic human cognition.

RAISE 2025 : Fireside Chat with Amit Bendov, CEO & Co Founder of Gong

Amit Bendov, Brian Bauman, Amit Bhandav

Founded by Amit Bhandav to solve CRM data gaps, Gong.io leverages autonomous AI to capture sales communication and transform enterprise productivity from manual entry to instant, context-aware insights. Operating on a maturity scale between assisted and near-autonomous levels, the platform currently handles high-volume administrative tasks while preserving human judgment for high-liability decisions. As enterprise leaders demand integrated AI for revenue generation, Gong drives adoption by eliminating briefing bottlenecks for Fortune 500 clients while fostering a unique culture that prioritizes employee personal branding and deep client relationships.

How much protein do you really need?

Alok Jha, Tim Cross

A recent discussion detailed the physiological role of proteins as primary structural materials while analyzing dietary guidelines that range from the World Health Organization's 0.8 grams per kilogram recommendation to sports science suggestions of up to 1.6 grams per kilogram. The presentation highlighted that excessive protein intake above this threshold offers no additional muscle growth benefits and may pose kidney risks, particularly when derived from saturated fats and processed meats. Instead of prioritizing extreme dietary calculations, experts advised combining consistent strength training with enjoyable exercise routines to ensure long-term health and muscle maintenance.

Will Fed Cuts Drive Stocks Higher?

Tony Pasquariello, Chris Hussey

The Federal Reserve signaled a trajectory of five rate cuts over the next few years while revising upward its growth and inflation expectations, a move Goldman Sachs views as consistent with its internal forecasts despite minor timing differences. Investment strategists advocate for a continued focus on US big-cap technology and Japan due to strong earnings momentum and shareholder reforms, while remaining cautious about European markets and potential valuation compression in the US. Market participants will closely monitor upcoming employment data and the evolving US labor landscape as volatility is expected to rise following the October earnings reporting season.

Or Lenchner - CEO of BrightData : The Data Awakening Defining the Future of AI

Or Lenchner, Larissa Holzki

Bright Data, the world's largest web data collection infrastructure provider, successfully defended its scraping practices in high-profile lawsuits against Meta and X, establishing a legal precedent that defines public data as information freely accessible without login barriers. Serving as the primary data source for major AI labs, the company supplies over 40 billion daily website interactions for training Large Language Models while maintaining strict standards against filtering private or paywalled content. Looking ahead, Bright Data predicts a "dual internet" architecture emerging within six to twelve months that accommodates both human users and autonomous AI agents, eventually evolving into a robotics-focused era where these foundational data models enable complex physical automation.

Conversation with Venezuelan Democratic Movement Leader María Corina Machado | Global Conference

María Corina Machado, Sara Eisen

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado frames the Maduro regime as a global criminal hub that threatens hemispheric security while outlining a strategy to restore a trillion-dollar economy through immediate U.S. partnership and debt restructuring. She asserts that her coalition won a historic election by 70 percent and is prepared to assume power to dismantle drug trafficking networks, re-establish financial ties with the IMF, and serve as a protective shield for the Americas. Machado emphasizes that this transition relies on aligning with a law enforcement approach to isolate the regime and leverage Venezuelan natural resources to rebuild the nation within days of taking office.

Benoît Dageville @ RAISE 2025: Zero to IPO and Beyond. From Startup to Snowfall Building Snowflake

Benoît Dageville, Roxanne Varza

After founding Snowflake in 2012 to decouple data storage and compute, co-founders Benoit Dageville and Thierry Kremer steered the company to the most expensive software IPO in history while rejecting acquisition offers to maintain their independent vision. Today, the enterprise serves thousands of clients including OpenAI and Disney by abstracting infrastructure complexity, a strategy that enables users to reduce processing times from weeks to minutes. The platform now leverages AI to ingest unstructured data and democratize analytics, allowing non-technical employees to access enterprise-grade insights without deep SQL expertise.

What the Weak Jobs Report Means For Markets

Rich Privorotsky, Chris Hussey, Rich Brovatsky

Following a disappointing U.S. jobs report that highlights labor market slowdowns and supply contractions, the Federal Reserve is expected to implement a 25 basis point rate cut in September rather than a larger adjustment. This data reinforces a strategic shift toward a barbell allocation combining emerging markets, specifically China, and high-quality assets while anticipating a weaker dollar. Despite underlying market fragility from technical oversupply and seasonal headwinds, the outlook remains cautiously optimistic as investors await further inflation data and geopolitical developments.

Why Are So Many Companies Going Bankrupt In 2025? - David Friedberg

David Friedberg, Chamath, Jason, Sax, Nick

S&P Global reports a record 446 large corporate bankruptcies through July 2025, a surge Chamath Palihapitiya attributes to the exhaustion of pandemic-era liquidity and rising interest rates that finally forced the liquidation of "zombie" businesses. While this correction disproportionately impacts retail and commercial real estate sectors facing refinancing walls, the event suggests a broader economic strength with Q2 GDP restated at 3.03% despite distressed market conditions. The discussion concludes with a warning that Federal Reserve policies may be delaying necessary adjustments, potentially prolonging the reallocation of capital away from struggling traditional assets toward more efficient sectors like data centers.