Latest Interviews

Stanford CS153 Frontier Systems | The AI Native Company: How One Founder Becomes a 1000x Engineer

Garry Tan, Diana Hu

This session outlines a paradigm shift where AI-native tools compress startup development timelines from years to months, enabling six-person teams to generate $10M in revenue through standardized "compute agreements" and high-productivity frameworks like the G-Stack. Speakers detail the architectural evolution from human-dependent workflows to closed-loop agentic systems that automate back-office functions, citing successful unicorns like Salient and Happy Robot as proof of concept for these rapid scaling models. Ultimately, the discussion defines a new organizational hierarchy where founders act as "AI founders" who curate evaluation metrics and orchestrate autonomous agents to manage the complexity of building companies that previously required hundreds of employees.

Ceasefire, rates and the US consumer

Ralf Preusser, Bruno Braizinha, Sophia Salim, David Tinsley, Sfia Salim, Bruno Brasenia

Driven by persistent energy supply shocks and uncertain inflation baselines, market analysts project a limited number of European Central Bank rate hikes, with 10-year yields forecast to decline toward 2.9% before falling further to 2.7% by 2027 as growth risks persist. Concurrently, the volatility landscape reflects a regional divergence where European markets lag US levels due to rich pricing, while Asian markets like China demonstrate unique immunity to geopolitical tensions. In the US, consumer spending remains robust at a 3.2% annualized rate fueled by tax refunds and wage growth, creating a K-shaped recovery where higher-income groups drive discretionary gains despite rising gasoline costs.

No longer overbought, still advantaged; Emerging Markets

David Hauner, David Beker, TJ Thornton

Analysts maintain a structurally bullish outlook on emerging market equities and fixed income in early 2026, anchored by a secular US dollar downtrend and attractive valuations despite geopolitical risks in Iran. Brazil and Argentina are highlighted as primary investment targets due to their commodity export advantages and reform potential, while China and Mexico are viewed through the lens of currency resilience and US economic correlation respectively. Upcoming elections in Brazil and the duration of the Iran conflict remain critical variables that could alter the trajectory of capital flows and inflation dynamics through late 2026.

Summit, yen-tervention, & US rates

Mark Cabana, Adarsh Sinha, Meghan Swiber

On May 15, global rates experienced bear steepening while equities and AI stocks reached new highs despite unresolved geopolitical tensions and a lack of new trade barriers following the U.S.-China summit. Market strategists forecast increased upside risk for U.S. rate hikes and maintain a tactical bullish view on the dollar, driven by unsustainable rate differentials and ongoing intervention pressures in Japan. Concurrently, expectations for new Federal Reserve Chair Warsh center on his potential to shorten the balance sheet's weighted average maturity and his anticipated dovish reaction to stagflation risks at the upcoming June FOMC meeting.

Policy Derby: Rates for the Roses

Mark Cabana, Ralph Axel, Katie, Mark Capleton, Yamada, Ivan, Ronald Man

Recent central bank communications from the Federal Reserve, ECB, Bank of Canada, and Bank of England have shifted global rate expectations toward potential increases or prolonged tightening driven by persistent inflation and oil prices. BofA strategists analyze these diverging stances to forecast bear flattening or steepening curves, while warning that fiscal risks and liquidity dynamics in the US Treasury market may further impact asset valuations. Ultimately, the analysis suggests a complex interplay where hawkish signals from the Fed and BoC contrast with dovish adjustments in the UK, creating volatility for sovereign yields and foreign exchange interventions.

A changing Federal Reserve

Sphia Salim, Aditya Bhave, Mark Cabana, Alex Cohen, Kevin Warsh, Zviya Salim

Kevin Walsh's Senate confirmation hearing strategy prioritizes securing a mandate for steady rates by emphasizing AI-driven productivity gains and full employment while avoiding direct calls for rate cuts. Concurrently, market analysts anticipate a prolonged pause in monetary policy, with a baseline forecast of potential cuts in September and October contingent on softer labor data and fading tariff effects. Despite Walsh's intentions to unilaterally alter communication protocols and shorten the duration of the Fed's balance sheet, these structural shifts face significant hurdles in convincing FOMC colleagues or fundamentally altering the central bank's current trajectory toward a flat rate path.

Payroll call

Ralf Preusser, Aditya Bhave, Mark Cabana, Alex Cohen, Shruti Mishra, Aditya Parve

The April 8, 2024, U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls report revealed a resilient labor market with back-to-back job gains that narrowed the divergence between establishment and household surveys. In response to these findings and persistent inflation data, Bank of America strategists have revised their Federal Reserve policy forecast to eliminate 2024 rate cuts and shift expectations to mid-2025. Consequently, global fixed-income strategists have adjusted their front-end yield curve positioning to anticipate a higher-for-longer interest rate environment while monitoring upcoming CPI and retail sales data for further confirmation.

Inflation markets

Ralf Preusser, Mark Capleton, Meghan Swiber

Analysts examine the $4 trillion inflation-linked bond market to highlight how fiscal constraints in the UK and Eurozone have created supply scarcity while instrument mechanics drive persistent basis disparities between swaps and cash markets. Despite theoretical stagflation models predicting lower real yields, current data shows a market anomaly where US real yields have risen alongside compressed long-term inflation expectations. Consequently, investors are advised to fade the recent spike in short-term real yields, as this pricing disconnect challenges the Federal Reserve's dual mandate without indicating an immediate risk of unanchored inflation expectations.

Is Defense the Next Trillion-Dollar Category? | a16z American Dynamism Summit

Erin Price-Wright, Michael Duffey, Dino Mavrookas

Saronix is reshaping maritime defense by pivoting to software-driven autonomy that slashes labor requirements from millions to mere fractions while deploying an "IKEA" manufacturing model at its new Louisiana Port Alpha facility. This industrial strategy integrates commercial vessel production to ensure economic sustainability and rapid scaling, directly addressing Pentagon constraints on manufacturing capacity through private capital investment and streamlined acquisition policies. By fostering a robust public-private partnership, the initiative aims to establish a century-long national industrial base capable of supporting both defense needs and global energy dominance.

Zepto: How Two 17-Year-Olds Built India's Largest Seller Of Fruits and Vegetables

Aadit Palicha, Jared Friedman, Keval

Founded in 2020 by college dropouts Adit Ayyal and Keval Karia, Zepto revolutionized India's grocery sector by pivoting from a WhatsApp-based service to a proprietary 10-minute dark store delivery model. Operating as a massive logistics and supply chain network, the company now manages over 200,000 jobs and delivers tens of millions of monthly orders while leveraging AI to optimize forecasting and advertising revenue. With current expansion plans targeting India's top 50 cities, Zepto aims to replicate the scale of major global retailers like Walmart and cultivate a domestic consumer goods ecosystem.

How Founders Can Build for Law Enforcement and First Responders | The a16z Show

David Ulevitch, Col. Jeffrey Glover, Rahul Sidhu, Colonel Glover

Law enforcement agencies are rapidly transitioning from traditional physical confrontation to AI-driven investigative frameworks that utilize autonomous drones, sensor fusion, and behavioral analytics to prevent crime and optimize resource allocation. This shift is evident in successful interventions where technology de-escalated potential threats and in the adoption of data-driven well-being programs that have reversed historical union resistance to body-worn cameras. Looking ahead, international intelligence sharing and advanced fraud detection are becoming central to a new policing model that prioritizes technical analysis over brute force, requiring developers to deeply understand operational contexts to effectively deploy these inevitable advancements.

Thanks for a great time, India 🇮🇳

The India AI event drew an overwhelming 25,000 applications, surprising organizers with the unprecedented turnout. This massive participation underscores a pivotal shift where the future of the ecosystem is being defined by the current generation of attendees rather than previous leaders. The scale of engagement signals a transformative moment for the nation's artificial intelligence development.

Private Equity: Value Creation Under New Rate Regimes | Global Conference 2026

Hugh MacArthur, Joe Baratta, Martín Escobari, Raoul Hughes, Meredith Jenkins, Pete Stavros

Leading private equity firms like KKR and Blackstone are pivoting from speculative AI experimentation to targeted operational efficiency, achieving modest EBITDA improvements while redefining software investment criteria to prioritize durable infrastructure over vulnerable point solutions. As the industry confronts extended holding periods and a capital stack constrained by high entry multiples, firms are shifting focus from financial engineering to deep operational value creation, leveraging specialized sourcing and geographic diversification in markets like Japan and Germany. Looking ahead, the sector anticipates a surge in liquidity driven by a wave of maturing assets and a strategic expansion of retail capital access, provided that new vehicles maintain structural parity with institutional standards to avoid conflict-of-interest pitfalls.

Anthropic Buys Compute From Elon & Commits $200BN to Google | Cerebras IPO | Ramp Raises at $40BN

Elon, Jason Lemkin, Rory O'Driscoll, Harry Stebbings

Anthropic enforced a board-approval mandate on all secondary share transfers to secure cap table integrity ahead of an IPO, a move that triggered market volatility and reshaped liquidity expectations for its investors. Concurrently, the company solidified its strategic position through a $200 billion Google partnership and a compute capacity deal with SpaceX, while the broader market witnessed high-profile IPOs like Cerebras' record oversubscription alongside significant SaaS valuation resets driven by divergent growth trajectories. These developments underscore a sector-wide shift toward infrastructure consolidation and rigorous performance metrics, where success now hinges on tangible AI integration and the ability to navigate complex legal and competitive landscapes.

Global Economic Outlook: Navigating Growth, Risk, and Opportunity | Global Conference 2026

Conrad Kiechel, Zanny Minton Beddoes, Kristalina Georgieva, Mohamed Kande, Ariel Szarfsztejn, Mike Wirth

A two-month closure of the Strait of Hormuz has removed 14 million barrels daily from the global market, driving Brent crude near $115 while depleting strategic reserves and forcing the IMF to adopt adverse economic scenarios. Simultaneously, the AI sector has pivoted from generative tools to agentic automation, eliminating entry-level roles and triggering an international cyberarms race. These converging crises create a volatile environment where Europe faces energy and innovation lag, whereas nations securing reliable power and flexible capital markets are positioned to dominate the coming decades.