Latest Interviews

David Adjaye, Architect: Talks at GS Session Highlights

David Adjaye, Val Carlotti, Tim McGillen

Award-winning architect David Ajayi is designing the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, a 400,000-square-foot facility authorized by George W. Bush and set to open in Washington D.C. in 2016. The design rejects a fixed signature style in favor of an inverted pyramid silhouette inspired by West African shrines, positioning the museum as a narrative transition between the National Mall and the Washington Memorial grounds. This project embodies Ajayi's philosophy of "democracy of knowledge" by utilizing public structures to destigmatize community access while reframing the African-American experience as central to American identity.

The World If… malaria drugs stop working

Following the 2016 emergence of drug-resistant malaria strains in Southeast Asia that spread globally via human travel, African healthcare systems faced collapsing treatment rates and billions in annual economic losses. In response, scientists initiated 2020 and 2021 strategies involving genetically engineered sterile male mosquitoes and novel transmission-blocking vaccines in Mali to suppress parasite spread. While health officials emphasized that a multi-pronged approach combining diagnostics and vector control was essential to prevent further societal breakdown, the slow pace of these new interventions contrasted sharply with the escalating mortality of over 2,000 daily deaths.

Christine Loh, Under Secretary for the Environment in Hong Kong: Talks at GS Session Highlights

Christine Loh

Christine Loh, Hong Kong's Under-Secretary for the Environment, detailed the city's three-pillar strategy to combat local pollution through evidence-based solutions and regional collaboration with Guangdong, which has served as a successful model for national air quality improvement since 1999. The presentation highlighted structural strengths in Hong Kong's legal framework and transport efficiency while outlining future governance shifts, including the establishment of a Harbour Front Authority and expanded marine park protections to align with mainland China's evolving environmental plans. These coordinated efforts aim to sustain significant regional air quality gains and integrate Hong Kong's resource management with broader national clean soil and water initiatives.

Kenneth Langone & Neal Goldman on Building Successful Relationships: Talks at GS Session Highlights

Kenneth Langone, Neal Goldman, Ken, Neil

Relationship Science (RELPSY) leverages a proprietary social graph to map connections between 4 million individuals and 1.5 million organizations, replacing manual networking with automated pathways for wealth management, private equity, and non-profit sectors. Building on the legacy of Capital IQ's data utility, the platform introduces event-to-opportunity triggers and personalized intelligence to facilitate strategic introductions based on real-time financial filings and news. While the tool eliminates the friction of identifying mutual contacts, its effectiveness remains contingent on user execution and an ethical approach to relationship building that prioritizes client needs over immediate revenue.

Muhammad Yunus and Andrea Jung of Grameen Bank: Talks at GS Session Highlights

Muhammad Yunus, Andrea Jung, Dina

Professor Muhammad Yunus founded Grameen Bank to pioneer a global microfinance movement that empowers the rural poor, a model now expanded in the United States under Andrea Jung's leadership at Grameen America. This U.S. branch utilizes a group-based lending structure to provide no-collateral loans to unbanked women, achieving a 99.6% repayment rate while transforming borrowers into financially literate citizens with improved credit scores. Beyond immediate lending, the organization drives long-term economic development through social enterprises like Grameen Shakti and anticipates accelerating impact by integrating mobile technology with traditional microfinance strategies.

Deepak Chopra, M.D.: Talks at GS Session Highlights

Deepak Chopra, Dr. Chopra

Dr. Chopra synthesizes decades of medical observation and modern research on the microbiome to define well-being through five interconnected pillars, while advocating for the use of biosensors and biofeedback to objectively measure and regulate physiological stress. He argues that accessing a "ground state" of infinite potential through meditation allows individuals to transcend cultural conditioning and adopt enlightened leadership qualities such as deep reflection and authentic presence. These principles are presented as a business imperative, demonstrating that focused eight-hour workdays, adequate downtime, and the cultivation of meaning directly enhance organizational efficiency and counteract the detrimental effects of multitasking.

America's elderly prisoner boom

Samuel Baxter, Phillip Burdick, Glenn Crites, Dr. Steed, Glenn Kreitz

The rapid aging of the U.S. prison population has sparked the "Goldcoats" volunteer program at facilities like California Men's Colony, where elderly inmates provide low-cost peer care and protection to their vulnerable, prematurely aging counterparts. This initiative addresses critical health and safety gaps caused by dementia and predation while offering participants like life-sentence prisoner Samuel Baxter a mechanism for mutual survival and future security. Simultaneously, grief counselor Philip Burdick supports terminally ill inmates through hospice services, highlighting a systemic shift where legislative reforms have concentrated aging, high-risk populations in state prisons without adequate external resources for release.

The Evolution of Bitcoin: Talks at GS Session Highlights

Balaji Srinivasan, Jerry Brito, Tom Jessup

Andreessen Horowitz's Balaji Srinivasan defines Bitcoin as a packet-based protocol that consolidates global value transfer into a programmable machine economy, while addressing current scalability limits through a roadmap targeting millisecond latency and billions of transactions per second. Coin Center's Jerry Brito adds that regulatory frameworks are increasingly treating the protocol like non-regulatable email, with jurisdictions such as Switzerland and the UK actively cultivating fintech ecosystems through self-regulation. Together, these analyses project that Bitcoin will evolve beyond speculative trading into the "dollar of the internet," driven by a self-reinforcing four-sided network effect and emerging use cases in micropayments and in-game asset portability.

How Portugal and Colorado solved their drug problems

Portugal's 2001 decriminalization and Colorado's 2014 legalization serve as contrasting case studies shifting drug policy from criminal punishment to public health and economic regulation. These measures successfully reduced overdose deaths in Portugal, while Colorado generated over $700 million in annual revenue and decreased teenage usage without collapsing the illicit market. Despite these successes, global criminal networks remain dominant within the $300 billion illicit trade, even as nearly half of U.S. states adopt similar regulatory frameworks.

Dr. Vishal Sikka, Infosys CEO: Talks at GS Session Highlights

Dr. Vishal Sikka, Dr. Alan Kay

Alan Kay and Vishal Sikka examine the stark contrast between the groundbreaking innovation culture of the early ARPA community and the current stagnation caused by legacy software debt and flawed browser architecture. They argue that organizations like Infosys must shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive "problem-finding" by training thousands of employees in design thinking to revitalize software development. Ultimately, the speakers advocate for an organizational culture where AI and automation amplify human wisdom rather than replace it, ensuring technology serves long-term sustainability over short-term output.

10,000 Small Businesses: Miami Graduation Highlights

Sandra Williams, Leticia Pollock, Lloyd Blankfein

The Miami Dade College chapter of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business program has graduated over 70 entrepreneurs who collectively generate $55 million in annual revenue and employ more than 1,000 people. Success stories from alumni like QQ Research Consultants and Panther Coffee illustrate how participants achieve aggressive growth targets and expansion plans while maintaining full-time operations through rigorous night and weekend study. Chairman Lloyd Blankfein highlights the initiative's role in revitalizing struggling communities by empowering owners to realize their life dreams rather than focusing solely on monetary accumulation.

Misty Copeland, Soloist for American Ballet Theatre: Talks at GS Session Highlights

Misty Copeland

American Ballet Theatre soloist Misty Copeland reflects on her unconventional entry into professional ballet at age 13, navigating rapid physical training, severe injuries requiring tibia surgery, and the unique challenges of race in a historically homogenous art form. She rejects the burden of representation while advocating for structural industry inclusivity, emphasizing that classic repertoire remains valid without adaptation as she expands diversity initiatives like Project Plié. Copeland projects eight to ten additional years of performance, focusing on artistic excellence and mentoring underprivileged communities to see more "brown girls" in classical companies.

Samantha Power, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations: Talks at GS Session Highlights

Samantha Power

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power, speaking in partnership with the Harvard Kennedy School and Goldman Sachs, outlined a strategic shift toward gender inclusivity as a critical component of Middle Eastern security and successful peace negotiations. While addressing ongoing challenges in Syria and Iran, Power detailed a preference for targeted "train and equip" operations and diplomatic sanctions over direct military intervention to protect civilians and prevent nuclear proliferation. The discussion further highlighted significant progress in the Ebola crisis, crediting the deployment of U.S. military and health resources for reducing case numbers and mobilizing global cooperation despite lingering cultural and logistical barriers.

David Miliband, International Rescue Committee CEO: Talks at GS Session Highlights

David Miliband

Amidst a global surge in complex civil wars displacing 52 million people, the International Rescue Committee operates across 30 conflict zones to manage humanitarian crises ranging from Syria's state collapse to Ebola outbreaks in West Africa. The organization leverages data-driven interventions and cross-border aid strategies to address immediate survival needs while advocating for high-level diplomatic cooperation between rival powers like Iran and Saudi Arabia to secure political settlements. By integrating local health innovations with long-term resettlement programs, the IRC argues that sustained international engagement is essential to prevent localized disasters from triggering broader regional instability.

Olga Vidisheva Speaks at Female Founders Conference 2015

Olga Vidisheva

ShopTix, founded by a Wellesley and Harvard Business School graduate, operates a two-sided marketplace connecting independent global boutiques with shoppers after validating demand through 800+ store owner interviews. Following a Y Combinator acceptance and seed investments from firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Greylock, the company resolved early scaling failures by replacing co-founders with a professional CTO, which drove a 700% growth rate and turned the venture profitable. Now preparing to launch its mobile application on March 18, ShopTix continues to aggressively scale its infrastructure to capture the market inflection point characteristic of successful multi-year marketplace maturation.