Latest Interviews

AI: Rise of the Machines?

Ralph Simon, Michael Agnew, Ben Goertzel, Virginie Maisonneuve, Robert Morris, Sophia

The Milken Institute Asia Summit panel, featuring leaders from Hanson Robotics, IBM, and East Spring Investments, addressed the exponential acceleration of AI, blockchain, and robotics alongside a historic Guinness World Record for 1,069 synchronized robots in Guangzhou. Experts outlined a future dominated by China's strategic investments and the emergence of "Homo sapiens 2.0" through brain-computer interfaces, while highlighting critical risks such as algorithmic bias, digital hacking, and the displacement of nearly half the global workforce. The discussion concluded with a consensus that "who controls AI controls the world," urging immediate global diplomacy and ethical frameworks to manage the transition toward artificial general intelligence and a potential technological singularity within the next three decades.

Jobs of 2037: Preparing for the Future

Michael Milken, Josephine Teo, Joseph C. Tsai, Igor Tulchinsky, Jaime Augusto Zóbel de Ayala, Michael Clouden

The Milken Institute Global Conference Asia Summit addressed the strategic imperative of balancing automation with human connection to prepare for a global population projected to reach one billion more by 2037. Speakers from Singapore, the Philippines, and China highlighted successful models where targeted education, industry transformation maps, and ecosystem-driven logistics have offset workforce shrinkage and created millions of new roles. The consensus emphasizes that governments and corporations must foster facilitative environments and robust social safety nets to ensure technological advancement translates into shared economic prosperity rather than widespread displacement.

Investment Titans: Dispelling the Myth of Emerging Markets

Mark Wiseman, David Bonderman, Binod Chaudhary, Arif Naqvi

A panel of investment leaders and institutional experts redefines emerging markets as "Global Growth Markets," highlighting that these regions now drive 60% of global GDP growth while remaining significantly under-allocated by major pension funds and sovereign wealth funds. Key figures including Arif Naqvi, David Bonderman, and Bino Chaudhry advocate for a shift from public indices to private equity strategies that prioritize local partners, rigorous compliance, and consumer-focused sectors in dynamic economies like India and Southeast Asia. The discussion concludes that successful capital deployment requires agile, long-term approaches capable of navigating political volatility and leveraging technological leapfrogging rather than relying on static acronym-based groupings.

Leadership Lessons from the Road Less Traveled

Lynn McDonald, Oriel Morrison, Naomi Campbell, Jeremy Coller, Mika Häkkinen, Joseph C. Tsai, John Wood

High Commissioner Lynn McDonald outlined Canada's feminist and progressive trade strategies during the nation's 150th anniversary, while a diverse panel of global leaders including Joe Tsai, Naomi Campbell, and John Wood exchanged insights on trust, humility, and "unreasonable" goal-setting. The event detailed how figures like Ms. Campbell leveraged industry influence for diversity and Mr. Wood scaled Room to Read to serve 12 million students by hiring private-sector talent for public missions. Participants concluded that adapting to AI-driven markets and addressing systemic inequalities like speciesism requires bold, mission-driven pivots to create lasting societal impact.

Macroeconomic Outlook: The Search for Value

Joseph L. Hooley, Afsaneh Beschloss, Bjarne Graven Larsen, Joshua Harris, Hamilton "Tony" James

Leading institutional investors and asset managers convened to analyze a global recovery driven by divergent regional performances, from the US Federal Reserve's tightening cycle to stabilizing Emerging Markets despite persistent geopolitical tensions. The discussion highlighted a structural shift away from traditional public equities and bank lending toward illiquid private credit, infrastructure, and hard assets as investors seek to capture valuations undistorted by central bank liquidity. Strategic recommendations emphasized adopting active, risk-based approaches for pension funds while addressing regulatory barriers to unlock significant capital in under-capitalized physical assets and high-yield emerging market sectors.

Building a Startup is About Solving a Problem - Avni Patel Thompson of Poppy

Avni Patel Thompson

Founded by Avni, Poppy is a Seattle-based childcare network designed to recreate a modern village by connecting vetted caregivers with families seeking reliability. After a failed subscription box startup and multiple rejections from Y Combinator, Avni pivoted by leveraging manual "concierge" operations to validate demand, eventually securing over $2 million in seed funding and acceptance into the Winter 2016 cohort. The company now operates on a weekly growth rhythm that prioritizes solving core customer frustrations over product perfection, demonstrating how curiosity and user feedback drove the transition from a personal struggle to a scalable business model.

Highlights | A Conversation with George W. Bush

George W. Bush, Michael Milken

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice outlined her multifaceted career initiatives, ranging from a $15 billion HIV/AIDS strategy that prioritized local agency over paternalism to the creation of the Presidential Leadership Scholars program designed to cultivate community-based problem solvers. Her presentation also detailed a personal artistic endeavor to portray veteran trauma and a defense of the No Child Left Behind Act against critics of federal educational accountability. Furthermore, Rice warned that modern populist anti-immigrant sentiments echo the protectionist Smoot-Hawley tariffs of the late 1920s, which historically exacerbated the Great Depression, while asserting that universal freedom remains the most reliable path to lasting peace.

Founders of Science Exchange, Goldbely, and The Flex Company Discuss Fundraising

Kat Manalac, Elizabeth Iorns, Vanessa Torrivilla, Erica Jensen, Elizabeth Lyons

Hosted by Kat, a panel featuring YC alumni founders Elizabeth Lyons, Vanessa Torribilla, and Erica examined fundraising hurdles across diverse sectors, revealing that initial seed rounds consistently register as the most difficult stage. The founders detailed a strategic shift from vision-based narratives to rigorous data preparation for Series A, while offering specific tactics for overcoming gender bias and managing team resources to prevent metric stagnation. Ultimately, the discussion emphasized the necessity of aligning investor outreach with relevant demographics and maintaining founder well-being to sustain long-term growth.

Jeff Dean’s Lecture for YC AI

Jeff Dean, Zach Stone

The Google Brain Team outlines its mission to advance machine intelligence through foundational tools like TensorFlow, which now powers critical products including Search, Gmail, and medical diagnostic systems. Led by the speaker, the organization has transitioned from shallow methods to deep neural networks fueled by massive compute scaling, resulting in breakthroughs such as human-level translation quality and automated neural architecture search. Future developments focus on custom TPUs for cloud infrastructure and multitask models aimed at solving complex healthcare diagnostics and accelerating scientific discovery.

Morgan DeBaun on Reaching 20M Millennials - With Kat Manalac at the Female Founders Conference

Morgan DeBaun, Kat Manalac

Founded by Morgan de Bon in 2014, Blavity has evolved from a bootstrapped text-based blog into the largest media company for Black millennials, now serving over seven million readers through a community-first model that leverages user-generated content. After securing a $1 million Series A by demonstrating robust organic growth, the company successfully expanded its portfolio by acquiring Shadow and Act and launching verticals like 2190 and Afrotech conferences. De Bon's journey highlights a strategic pivot from traditional editorial control to empowering creators, overcoming early fundraising rejections by validating the unique ecosystem of Black audiences against standard industry benchmarks.

Small Business Financing Tips for 2017: Banks, Family and Additional Resources

Carol Roth, David Burch, Steve Strauss, Gerri Detweiler

Addressing the financing needs of over 50% of U.S. small business owners planning growth, experts including David Burch of Bank of America and Steve Strauss outline strategies to navigate traditional lending and family funding. The presentation details the critical preparation required for the "Three Cs" of credit, emphasizing accurate financial reporting and formal contracts to mitigate relationship risks with family investors. Panelists further advocate for leveraging free advisory networks like SCORE and SBDCs to build robust capital reserves before crises occur, ensuring businesses can transition from informal financing to institutional support.

Emily Weiss on the Insights That Grew Glossier - With Amy Buechler at the Female Founders Conference

Emily Weiss, Amy Buechler

Glossier, led by CEO Emily Weiss, leverages its sister publication *Into the Gloss* and a 600% annual growth trajectory to scale its Direct-to-Consumer beauty model while maintaining accidental profitability with $40 million in raised capital. The company prioritizes product quality and community transparency over traditional retail tactics, driving expansion through peer-to-peer recommendations and a strategic shift to physical locations that function as cultural hubs rather than sales counters. As Weiss directs focus toward a new European headquarters, the firm exemplifies a market shift where data-driven community engagement replaces conventional advertising to cultivate brand loyalty among a predominantly female workforce.

Jessica Livingston - What's Different about "Unicorns"

Jessica Livingston

This presentation identifies nine critical factors, including fanaticism, independent-mindedness, and the ability to pivot into management, that distinguish billion-dollar unicorn startups from merely successful ventures. By analyzing how founders evolve from pursuing personal problems to scaling massive markets, the speaker outlines a specific trajectory that requires intrinsic motivation over financial gain. The discussion concludes with a strategic goal of leveraging these insights to increase the number of women founding unicorns, thereby creating role models to empower the next generation of female entrepreneurs.

Yudkowsky vs Hanson — Singularity Debate

Yudkowsky, Hanson

Eliezer Yudkowsky and Robin Hanson debated whether artificial superintelligence will emerge from a rapid, localized intelligence explosion or a gradual, decentralized accumulation across the global economy. While Yudkowsky argued that a small team could leverage hardware speed differentials to achieve a self-improving monopoly, Hanson countered that historical innovation patterns and the need for vast content would force AI development to remain integrated and shared. The post-debate audience vote shifted by seven voters to the "against" position, reflecting a narrow move toward Hanson's view that physical infrastructure and economic leakage prevent a single entity from instantly dominating the future.

The Bitcoin Network Effect

The speaker advocates for viewing blockchain entities as autonomous software mechanisms rather than legal corporations, highlighting their distinct lack of liability and governance attributes. While Bitcoin dominates through strong network effects, successful altcoins must offer unique functional advantages to coexist, and regulatory pressure currently targets intermediaries rather than the decentralized protocol itself. Future adoption hinges on resolving transaction latency through layer-2 solutions and mitigating volatility, with international remittances identified as the primary catalyst for non-speculative utility alongside a reevaluation of monetary policy as a fixed-supply asset.