Latest Interviews

Solving the Blank Canvas Problem: Gusto's AI Co-Founder

Eddie Kim, Harj Taggar

Launched in just ten weeks by a five-person team including co-founder Eddie Kim, Gusto Co-founder is a new AI product that transforms Gusto's payroll and HR data into proactive, agent-based automations for small businesses. The platform has already onboarded 500 paying customers by replacing traditional dashboards with text-based interfaces that execute complex workflows, such as full payroll processing, weather-based customer notifications, and tax credit application. This initiative validates a strategic pivot toward becoming a proactive business partner capable of lowering entry barriers for new entrepreneurs while automating compliance and growth opportunities through a "vibe coding" development methodology.

Has the AI boom entered a manic new phase? | The Economist

Henry Curr, Mike Bird, Josh Roberts

US equity markets have reached near-record capitalization levels driven primarily by massive AI-focused "giga IPOs" like SpaceX and anticipated offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI. This concentration, now comprising nearly 40% of the S&P 500, coincides with unusual retail participation and inverted options pricing that signal a shift toward speculative mania. Simultaneously, major technology firms have redirected capital expenditure toward infrastructure, causing a collapse in free cash flow and transforming the sector into a dominant force in global corporate debt markets.

The New Rules of Enterprise Software with Steven Sinofsky

Steven Sinofsky, Seema Amble, Elena Burger

As enterprise software evolves to support AI agents accessing core logic via APIs rather than traditional interfaces, incumbents like Salesforce are pivoting toward "headless" architectures to facilitate direct data retrieval. However, the immense stickiness of legacy systems such as SAP persists due to deeply codified business logic and regulatory compliance that cannot be easily replaced by simple automation or "vibe coding." Consequently, high-value startup opportunities emerge not by competing directly with these giants but by building invisible layers that capture unstructured human context, bridge functional gaps between departments, and manage the complex "long tail" of exceptions that legacy platforms ignore.

Inside Zipline's Autonomous System: 140M Miles, Zero Incidents

Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, Eric Watson, Alfred Lin, Pat Grady

Since its 2016 launch in Rwanda, Zipline has evolved from a struggling medical logistics provider into a global autonomous infrastructure operator serving 5,000 hospitals across eight countries. The company now achieves a safety record of zero incidents over 140 million commercial miles while leveraging a vertical integration strategy to reduce delivery costs below those of human-driven vehicles. This operational success recently facilitated a $550 million partnership with the US State Department aimed at deploying similar life-saving services under a new commercial diplomacy framework.

A Look Inside Jane Street’s Internship Program 2026

A candidate from an aerospace and computer science background secured an internship at Jane Street by solving a puzzle and demonstrating a collaborative problem-solving approach during interviews. During the role, the intern built a tool for bond desks and optimized GPU memory management using autoencoders, with the resulting code now deployed in active training systems. The experience highlighted a firm culture that values learning from mistakes and adaptability, featuring mentorship in a commodities trading project and social connections through shared hobbies like the Irish fiddle.

AI: What Investors Should Know

Jim Covello, Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani

Goldman Sachs analysts project that global AI capital expenditures will surpass $3 trillion by 2026, though they warn of distinct "earnings bubbles" in public markets and "valuation bubbles" in private sectors driven by unsustainable demand. While consumer adoption remains strong, enterprise integration faces hurdles due to data fragmentation, leading experts to predict a strategic shift toward specialized Small Language Models that prioritize efficiency over mass labor replacement. The investment landscape is further complicated by geopolitical divisions favoring the U.S. in chip infrastructure and China in model production, alongside concerns over circular financing practices that delay profitability for large-cap companies.

Geopolitics, AI, and Private Credit: Navigating Three Key Investor Concerns

Matt, Matthias

Following Middle East strikes that disrupted global oil production and slightly altered Federal Reserve rate cut expectations, U.S. equities have recovered to record highs as historical data indicates a 95% probability of recovery within eight weeks. The firm attributes this resilience to America's energy insulation and revised 2026 earnings growth forecasts, while advising a strategic overweight in U.S. assets alongside a selective tilt toward the software sector. Although private credit risks remain contained and systemic stress is deemed unlikely, investors are urged to maintain long-term market participation through customized asset allocations rather than attempting to time the current volatility.

Accel: The Quiet Firm Behind Facebook, Cursor, Nebius, Lovable, Vercel

Arun Mathew, Miles Clements, Matt Weigand, Molly O'Shea

Accel leverages its multi-stage platform and three-decade partner cohesion to deploy hundreds of millions in capital across the full technology stack, recently leading significant investments in AI infrastructure giants like Nebius and cybersecurity leader Cyera. The firm strategically balances early-stage discovery with massive late-stage checks targeting potential trillion-dollar outliers, driven by a thesis that artificial intelligence will transition from hype to tangible real-world efficiency in sectors ranging from healthcare to developer tools. By prioritizing operational depth and a silent partnership model over marketing, Accel aims to capture exponential returns as the market converges on trusted platforms capable of scaling proven AI workloads.

Why European oil companies are doing better than America's | The Economist

Matthieu Favas, Jason Palmer

European energy giants BP, Shell, and Total currently generate trading profits estimated at $15–20 billion by leveraging global logistical networks to execute volumes five to ten times higher than their actual production. While American majors like ExxonMobil and state-owned entities such as Saudi Aramco aggressively recruit talent to close this gap, they face a multi-year deficit in refining the agile, high-efficiency operations that have allowed European firms to capture roughly one-fifth of their total earnings. This competitive landscape is driven by Europe's historical necessity to develop independent trading capabilities, contrasting with the US focus on domestic resource exploitation that initially stifled their market agility.

AI Sovereignty Wars, Palantir-Nvidia Deal, SCOTUS Birthright Ruling, Newsom’s CA Budget Lie

Newsom, Alex Karp, Trump

Palantir and Nvidia launched a partnership to establish a Sovereign AI Operating System, enabling U.S. government agencies to retain full ownership of their hardware, data, and model weights through customized open-source Nemotron models. This initiative addresses executive concerns that reliance on external AI providers like Anthropic risks transferring proprietary intellectual property to competitors, while economic data suggests that in-house, open-source solutions offer significantly lower costs and greater financial security. Concurrently, the discussion extended to broader political and economic issues, including the Supreme Court's confirmation of birthright citizenship and a critique of California's fiscal mismanagement, which hosts argued threatens to accelerate the exodus of capital and population from the state.

Why America is stepping away from the institutions it built | The Economist

John, Ed, Charlotte

U.S. foreign policy is undergoing a structural shift from values-based engagement to a transactional approach, driven by a bipartisan consensus that the post-World War II order has failed to deliver sufficient economic returns or strategic advantages. Former President Trump's 2015 platform catalyzed this pivot by framing the abandonment of multilateral institutions as a correction to decades of free-riding, leading to increased reliance on tariffs and coercive trade rather than traditional alliances. Experts project three potential futures for this realignment: a renegotiated U.S. hegemony, a fragmented status quo, or a chaotic descent into systemic collapse triggered by unchecked military coercion.

Signals & Noise: U.S. Equity Mid-Year Outlook 2026 — Buy Stocks, Not the Index

Savita Subramanian

Driven by robust 20% S&P 500 earnings growth concentrated in GDP-sensitive sectors like energy and semiconductors, the market experienced a 10% return in early 2026 even as the Magnificent 7 stocks declined due to crowded expectations. Analysts now project a year-end target of 7,100 points amid drying global liquidity and rising interest rates, prompting a strategic shift away from AI hyperscalers toward large-cap value manufacturing. The recommended allocation for the second half of 2026 favors disciplined sectors such as materials, financials, and real estate while reducing exposure to consumer discretionary stocks facing inflation-driven trade-down behaviors.

How Will AI Impact the Labor Market?

Daron Acemoglu, Neil Thompson, Joseph Briggs, Allison Nathan

Experts from Goldman Sachs and MIT project that while AI will displace tens of millions of U.S. workers over the next decade through significant labor reallocation, the unemployment rate is expected to rise by less than one percentage point annually as new job creation offsets automation. The consensus indicates a gradual transition driven by integration barriers rather than sudden mass layoffs, though disagreement persists regarding short-term net employment impacts depending on whether firms prioritize replacing or complementing human labor. Recorded in June 2026, these forecasts highlight that the trajectory of inequality and total job levels will ultimately depend on whether AI development focuses on automating routine cognitive tasks or augmenting high-value human expertise.

Dylan Field on the “Permanent Underclass of Zero Taste”

Dylan Field, Molly O'Shea

At Config 2024, Figma CEO Dylan Field addressed a global audience of 10,000 designers and engineers to refute narratives that AI renders design obsolete, asserting instead that human intent and cultural context remain essential for scalable systems. The event highlighted Figma's strategic pivot toward unifying design and code interfaces while introducing tools like Figma Weave to ensure AI outputs align with specific brand voices rather than generic averages. By emphasizing "agent swarms" and data liquidity, the conference outlined a roadmap where platforms empower users to build bespoke tools, shifting market focus from job displacement fears to enhanced offensive productivity capabilities.

Strengthening the Navy SEAL Community Amid Geopolitical Shifts

Vanya Kasanof, Keith Davids, Robin King

Rear Admiral Keith Davids and Robin King discussed the strategic evolution of Naval Special Warfare toward maritime dominance and the Navy SEAL Foundation's expanded mission to support operators facing traumatic brain injuries and mental health challenges. The dialogue highlighted how technological democratization now threatens naval forces through low-cost drone warfare, necessitating a shift where special operations lead joint efforts in cyberspace while the Foundation leverages its agile structure to address invisible wounds through active listening. With Goldman Sachs joining their efforts, these leaders aim to deepen community engagement to ensure families remain resilient so that service members can maintain laser focus on their missions.