Pioneers of AI

Love, dating, and AI — what could go wrong? Or right? In this Valentine’s Day special, Rana el Kaliouby and a series of expert guests explore how AI is reshaping romance. First, Will Wu, former Chief Technology Officer at Match Group, gives us a peek at how AI is already at work in apps like Tinder and Hinge, helping users choose their best profile pictures and refining match recommendations. Next...

We may have reached the “ChatGPT moment” in agentic AI. Over the past couple weeks, an open-source AI agent called OpenClaw (previously known as Clawdbot) has taken the AI world by storm. It boasts nearly 200,000 stars on Github and has adopters scrambling to buy Mac Minis to run the program locally. The lobster-themed agent works like an ultra-fast, super-smart personal assistant capable of answe...

Winter Olympic success depends on having the right team, on and off the ice. Canadian gold medal skier and current Chef de Mission of the Canadian Olympic team Jennifer Heil knows this firsthand. She credits her success to her drive, her training, and the high-level coordination between her coaches, doctors, nutritionists and psychologists. After retiring from competition, Heil set her sights on e...

Anthropologists theorize that the human brain is only wired to maintain around 150 relationships and remember 1,500 people. But AI can help expand our natural capacity through ‘relationship intelligence.’ Caroline Dell — co-founder and CEO of Goodword — is building a tool to do just that. By cataloging conversations and connections across platforms, these AI tools can help us make the most of our...

Advances in robotics have lagged strides in software for many years. So far, only a few companies seem to have cracked the code to get robots working in the world, at scale. Raffaello D’Andrea is behind several success stories in that vein. His Kiva Systems was acquired by Amazon to move inventory around warehouses, and his newest firm, Verity, uses AI drones to improve warehouse efficiency and sa...

SaaS companies made work easier by revolutionizing enterprise software. But AI is starting to actually do the work for us. So what role do legacy SaaS platforms have in the AI era? Pioneers of AI sat down with Box CEO and co-founder Aaron Levie to discuss how his 20-year-old, 4 billion dollar company is back in startup mode to keep up with AI. Levie refers to the current moment as the third wave i...

Dr. Shiv Rao wears many hats. When he’s not pulling a clinical shift as a cardiologist or obsessing over the latest Rick Rubin album, he’s running his $5.3 billion company, Abridge. It’s an AI company that summarizes medical conversations, freeing up clinicians from clerical work and allowing them to focus on their patients instead. It’s a novel idea: humanize healthcare by outsourcing busy work t...

How should leaders prepare for AI’s accelerating impact on work and everyday life? AI scientist, entrepreneur, and Pioneers of AI host Dr. Rana El Kaliouby returns to Rapid Response to share her predictions for the year ahead — from physical AI entering the real world to what it means to onboard AI into your org chart. El Kaliouby also cuts through today’s biggest AI headlines, including the chatb...

The AI boom wouldn’t have been possible without decades of academic research. And now that huge sums of money are flowing into R&D, it’s companies – not just universities – on the cutting edge of AI innovation. What does that mean for the future of AI research and the relationship between industry and academia? Rana sat down with a panel of experts who have a foot in both worlds, in another st...

Chances are, you’ve used computer chips from the company Arm. The UK firm’s CPUs are in almost every smartphone, plus a ton of laptops, cars, even refrigerators – not to mention their integral role around AI infrastructure in data centers. Pioneers of AI host Rana el Kaliouby sat down with Arm CEO Rene Haas recently, live on stage at Fortune Brainstorm AI in San Francisco. He shared insights on th...

We’ve all heard the hype, but what does the data say about the AI gold rush? According to Peter Walker, Head of Insights for Carta, around 40 percent of the money they see being raised goes to AI companies. A master of data visualization, Walker takes investment information from the over 55,000 start-ups on Carta and turns it into digestible figures. He joins Pioneers of AI to break down where pri...

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, is starting an AI-driven transformation that it says will impact every aspect of shopping and operations. Suresh Kumar, Walmart's Chief Technology Officer and Chief Development Officer, leads that effort. Kumar joins Pioneers of AI to take us inside Walmart’s adoption of robotics and AI in its warehouses, stores, and beyond, plus the company’s partnership wit...

Andrew Ng has been a leading voice in AI for over a decade. As Managing General Partner at AI Fund, and co-founder of Coursera and DeepLearning, among other roles, Ng has shaped the modern AI landscape and spread AI education to the masses. Onstage at this year’s Masters of Scale Summit, he sat down with former US Chief Data Scientist and now General Partner at GreatPoint Ventures, DJ Patil, to di...

Mark Cuban has spent decades as a serial entrepreneur and investor, with one of the best track records on the planet (including celebrity status on ABC’s Shark Tank ). His success stems in part from an ability to spot opportunity early — and now he’s bringing that approach to AI. Cuban is backing AI companies that he sees taking bold swings and reimagining how we live. He joins Pioneers of AI for...

What’s the role of semiconductors—and the companies that make them—in powering human progress? What does it look like to innovate thoughtfully in a landscape where the demand for power may be higher than the supply? With AI evolving faster and faster, how can we keep up? Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO Lisa Su joins the show to talk about hardware, global manufacturing, and risk-taking. She share...

Discovering new medicines has long been a slow, inefficient, and expensive process. Siddhartha Mukherjee, esteemed cancer biologist and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Emperor of All Maladies , is looking to change that. That’s why he partnered with Reid Hoffman to found Manas AI, a company that uses AI to accelerate drug discovery and develop life-saving cures faster and cheaper. He...

AI is rapidly changing what it means to be human, but is AI development truly human-centered? According to Aza Raskin, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, the answer is largely “no.” The man who invented the “infinite scroll” is now working to understand why the most powerful technology so often fails to prioritize the human experience and our collective well-being. Raskin is also lead...

How we decide to live with AI, at home or at work, will greatly impact our personal and professional futures. Baratunde Thurston, a comedian, writer, and commentator, has had a long career exploring what a harmonious relationship between human beings and our machines could look like. Now, as host and co-creator of the podcast Life with Machines, he explores what it means to live and collaborate we...

Educators around the world are wrangling with AI in learning. At Alpha School, a private K-12 school based in Texas, students use AI-driven software to complete core subjects in about two hours’ time. They spend the rest of the school day with guides for social-emotional learning, project-based work, and life skills. Joe Liemandt, longtime software developer and investor, serves as the principal o...

“Vibe coding” is taking software development by storm, allowing users to build apps by simply chatting with AI. These tools will transform how digital products and companies are created – and who gets to create them. Anton Osika is the co-founder and CEO of Lovable, a vibe coding platform that’s garnered a reported $4 billion valuation since its founding in 2023. Host Dr. Rana el Kaliouby sat down...

AI tools are disrupting all types of creative content, and Runway AI is a pioneer making major waves in Hollywood. In this episode of Rapid Response, Runway’s co-founder & CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela dissects the company’s breakneck growth, the risks and responsibilities of AI tool makers, and how AI is redefining both business expectations and our notion of creativity. Visit the Rapid Response w...

Law is one of the oldest professions in the world, a storied occupation steeped in traditions, where innovation can be challenging. Gabe Pereyra wants to change that with the power of AI. As Co-founder and President of Harvey, he’s creating legal AI tools that augment lawyers in their daily work, from drafting proposals to conducting research. Pereyra joins Pioneers of AI to discuss how Harvey sup...

Personal health and wellness tools are on the rise as more people take ownership of their physical and mental well-being. Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post, believes AI is the key to unlocking small behavior changes for healthier living. As CEO and founder of Thrive Global, she has partnered with Sam Altman to launch Thrive AI Health, a personalized AI health coach designed to...

Responsible AI is more than a buzzword, it’s a guiding principle at Microsoft. Sarah Bird, Chief Product Officer of Responsible AI, leads the company’s efforts to build and deploy AI products with responsibility at the core. She and her team bring standards across the company’s AI efforts, and have played a central role in building Microsoft Copilot and GitHub Copilot. Bird joins Pioneers of AI to...

WndrCo is a venture capital firm that views storytelling as the foundation of every successful business, and for good reason. Its founding partner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, helped build DreamWorks into one of the most celebrated animation studios in the world. He is joined at the helm by ChenLi Wang, WndrCo’s managing partner and one of the earliest hires at Dropbox. Together, they sit down with Pionee...