Founder Catalyst leadership strategy and AI

Registering a private limited company feels like the right first step. It looks official. It signals seriousness. But in most early-stage situations, it is one of the most expensive distractions a founder can choose. In this short, I share what I tell founders who are spending weeks navigating ROC filings, professional fees, and compliance paperwork before they have even validated their idea. A so...

Recorded in June 2026 at The Founder Catalyst studio in Chennai, this episode brings together real fears that eight founders are carrying about AI, and works through each one with practical, grounded answers. I am joined by my friend of over thirty years, Vineeth Vijayaraghavan, who advises VCs, family offices, and startups on AI and technology strategy. Instead of our usual interview format, we s...

This may be a one-off incident or the start of the 21st-century AI arms race. But it certainly highlights the need for founders and business leaders to think seriously about local AI models, national data centres and sovereign AI capabilities. It may also mean learning to innovate with smaller, older-generation models rather than relying entirely on the latest frontier models. The risk is not just...

Recently, a founder in India shared what happened when his team deployed AI voice calls at scale. Three lessons jumped out at me that apply to every AI deployment, not just voice. Perfection triggers suspicion. Speed of iteration is the real edge. And your best vendor cannot replace your own domain expertise. Listen to this short clip for the full breakdown.

Most founders know within the first few days when a new hire is a bad fit. But they wait, hope it resolves itself, and quietly absorb the cost. That is the real mistake. A ridiculously oversized fedora hat made me think about this. Short listen, practical lesson. If you are a CXO or a senior leader looking for a candid outside perspective on team and talent decisions, reach out at thefoundercataly...

Gen Z is entering the workforce carrying a weight that most of us did not face at their age. Wars, geopolitical friction, tariffs, job displacement from AI, and serious doubts about whether a college degree still means anything. That is a lot of background noise to manage while trying to prove yourself in a new role. In this short clip, I share why empathy is not optional for CEOs today. Not the k...

Over 92,000 technology jobs have been cut globally in the early months of 2026. Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and others are restructuring while pouring money into AI infrastructure. Venkatarangan is not surprised by the layoffs. He is surprised by the sequencing around them. In this episode, he draws on a defining moment from the 2008 financial crisis, when more than half of Vishwak's revenue disa...

A Kwality Walls advertisement saying "Made with Milk" turns out to be a surprisingly sharp lens for looking at Indian IT services. In this episode, Venkatarangan draws a parallel between a consumer brand quietly repositioning after years of market drift and the Indian IT industry facing its own version of the same reckoning. The category is moving. Client conversations have already chang...

Pope Leo XIV released a roughly 200-page encyclical on artificial intelligence, with technical input from Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic. The AI industry will not alter its roadmaps because of this. But the previous five encyclicals — on workers' rights, Cold War peace, birth control, economic inequality, and the environment — each shaped public discourse in ways that outlasted the...