Azeem Azhar's Exponential View

Renewable energy is the future of power, but relying on solar, wind, etc. will require a more reliable and resilient grid. Effective energy storage would make it possible to smooth out discrepancies in supply and demand, and harness renewable power more efficiently. A range of technologies are being developed and refined with that mission in mind, including large-scale lithium-ion batteries and cl...

Hopin is one of the fastest-growing startups in history. Founder and CEO Johnny Boufarhat joins Azeem Azhar to talk about how he grew the virtual events company from six employees in February 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, to more than eight hundred, and a valuation of almost $8 billion, a year and a half later. Johnny explains how he seized the opportunity presented by the pandemic,...

The transition to a greener economy is absolutely essential for the future of life as we know it. Governments and companies have committed to net-zero emissions by 2050, but it’s not clear how they plan to get there – or how much it will cost. Today’s guest, though, has some idea. Michele Della Vigna runs the Carbonomics research program at Goldman Sachs, which looks at the economics behind a tran...

Ford has been making cars for 118 years — nearly all of them with internal combustion engines. It now faces the biggest challenge in its history. As the electric vehicle (EV) revolution accelerates and people rethink their relationships with cars, both automotive incumbents and upstarts are planning for a radically different world. Ford’s chief product platform and operations officer Hau Thai-Tang...

The climate crisis is the defining issue of our age, and to fight it effectively, we’ll have to redesign our world. That requires money and technological innovation – but it also demands knowledge of local communities, and policymaking. Dawn Lippert works at the intersection of all of those issues. She’s the founder and CEO of Elemental Excelerator, a non-profit incubator that helps climate-focuse...

Google, Facebook, Apple, and Uber are just some of the enormous companies that derive part of their value from network effects: The more users they have, the more value they provide. Network effects aren’t new. The basic principles that underpinned faxes and phone lines also underpin social media. But rapid technological change has made network effects more prevalent and more powerful than ever be...

Kim Stanley Robinson , the legendary science-fiction novelist, has a private utopian hope: “to dodge a mass extinction event.” He joins Azeem Azhar to explore his recent novel, The Ministry For the Future , and what it would take for institutions, individuals, and emerging technologies to save millions of lives. They also discuss: When civil disobedience and direct climate action may become a mora...

Facebook serves 34 percent of the world’s population and decides who to block and what to censor. How should governments regulate this startling power? Nick Clegg , the UK’s former deputy prime minister and now vice president of Global Affairs and Communications at Facebook, joins Azeem Azhar to explore how governments might reassert control in the exponential age. They also discuss: The major reg...

Visa processes more than 500 million transactions every day. How is the world’s largest digital payment platform adapting to new technologies and fresh competition? Charlotte Hogg , executive vice president and CEO of its European operations, joins Azeem Azhar to explore the evolving ecosystem of digital payments. They also discuss: Why Visa should be seen as a platform-based technology company li...

From predictive policing to automated credit scoring, algorithms applied on a massive scale, gone unchecked, represent a serious threat to our society. Dr. Rumman Chowdhury , director of Machine Learning Ethics, Transparency and Accountability at Twitter, joins Azeem Azhar to explore how businesses can practice responsible AI to minimize unintended bias and the risk of harm. They also discuss: How...

AI hackers are coming, and it’s not just our computer networks at risk – our laws and regulations are also vulnerable. Bruce Schneier , internationally renowned security technologist and fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, joins Azeem Azhar to explore how humans have always exploited loopholes in rule-based systems, and how that will change as AIs become more powerfu...

Could we have a financial industry without banks or brokers? That’s the vision of decentralized finance – or DeFi – in which financial products are built from tamper-proof digital smart contracts interacting with blockchains. Sergey Nazarov , co-founder of Chainlink, joins Azeem Azhar to explore the promise of this emerging sector to bring greater transparency, control, and yield for both customer...

AI can offer a new type of competitive advantage, but entrepreneurs need to know what it is and how to unlock it. Ash Fontana , author of The AI First Company and managing director at Zetta Venture Partners – a firm that exclusively invests in early-stage AI startups, joins Azeem Azhar to explore the risks and rewards of applying AI to business problems. They also discuss: Why the high up-front co...

Using forests to offset a company’s carbon emissions has been dismissed as “greenwashing.” But Diego Saez Gil argues that a verifiable and transparent global market in carbon credits is a vital tool to mitigate climate change. In part 2 of their discussion, he joins Azeem Azhar to explore how his company, Pachama, uses technology to connect farmers and ecologists with climate-conscious corporation...

How do we build a market for carbon offsets that is both trustworthy and effective? Diego Saez Gil , co-founder and CEO of Pachama, believes he has the answer. In part 1 of the conversation, Diego joins Azeem Azhar to explore how AI, satellites, and LiDAR can be leveraged to verify the conservation efforts of farmers, NGOs, and governments and help lay the foundation for sustainable work against c...

Kenneth Cukier , senior editor at the Economist , and Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger , professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the University of Oxford, argue that because AI systems have no causal model of the world, they lack the human capacity for imagination and decision-making. Azeem Azhar explores their contention that we should not rely on AI to provide solutions to our problems. Rath...

In less than a decade France has gone from tech backwater to the startup engine of the EU. It recently celebrated its 12th company to achieve a $1 billion valuation and is well on the way to President Macron’s goal of “25 unicorns by 2025.” Kat Borlongan , director of La French Tech, joins Azeem Azhar to explore how her government taskforce has been working to effectively drive growth in the Frenc...

Turning a corporate climate pledge into reality is a complex endeavor. Watershed, a software startup co-founded by Christian Anderson , is committed to using data to cut corporate emissions fast. In conversation with Azeem Azhar , Christian shares the challenges of putting this dream into practice. They also discuss: The role of network effects in the net-zero transition. How Watershed’s data busi...

Livestock is responsible for 15 percent of global greenhouse emissions. Could meat grown in labs offer a sustainable – and palatable – future? Didier Toubia , CEO and co-founder of cultured meat start-up Aleph Farms, joins Azeem Azhar to explore the biotech, ethics, and economics of making beef without cows. They also discuss: Why food security and public health are driving the development of alte...

AI is not just code and algorithms. It’s an industry built on a global network of resource extraction, human labor, and data collection. Kate Crawford , senior principal researcher at Microsoft Research and research professor of communication and science and technology studies at USC Annenberg, joins Azeem Azhar to explore the far-reaching impacts of AI and to consider the urgent case for proper g...

IonQ is the first company solely focused on quantum computing to go public, with its quantum computers accessible via the cloud today. The company’s co-founder/chief scientist Chris Monroe and president/CEO Peter Chapman join Azeem Azhar to explore how they turned cutting-edge research into a scalable product. They also discuss the engineering challenges that remain before quantum systems not only...

Meltem Demirors , Chief Strategy Officer at CoinShares, joins Azeem Azhar to explore the potential and politics of cryptocurrencies: from the ideological origins of Bitcoin to the new wave of decentralized financial products that could disrupt traditional finance. They also discuss: Why the values of the Cypherpunk community are enshrined in Bitcoin’s design. How the Decentralized Finance movement...

Atlassian, the enterprise software innovator, is helping to drive disruption across the world of work. Co-founder and co-CEO, Scott Farquhar , joins Azeem Azhar to explain how, during a global pandemic, they nearly doubled the size of their workforce, why the workplace will never be the same after Covid-19, and what the implications are for companies and employees who increasingly operate remotely...

Cade Metz , technology correspondent at The New York Times, joins Azeem Azhar to discuss his new book Genius Makers . In it, he tells the story of the pioneers who brought AI out of academic labs, sparking a Big Tech arms race and transforming our everyday lives.   They also discuss: How deep learning went from an unworkable concept to fueling the AI boom. Why bias and prejudice “baked in” to an A...

What are universities for? Are they an elite pipeline for elite jobs, or can they meet the needs of societies transforming amid technological advances? Azeem Azhar explores the role of higher education in research, innovation, and progress with Geraint Rees , Dean of Faculty of Life Sciences at University College London and a leader of their AI strategy. They also discuss: How University College L...