The Spiro Circle

In a world where AI is transforming industries, Israeli startup Verbit stands out by operating in the legal transcription space. Founded in 2017, Verbit has been at the forefront of AI-driven transcription and captioning, offering accuracy and insights. Today, Verbit’s technology is tailored for the legal sector, a field that’s famously slow to innovate and that demands precision and accountabilit...

When S Capital first backed Run:ai in 2018, there was no AI boom to ride. Large language models weren’t part of the mainstream vocabulary and ChatGPT was still far into the future. GPUs were powerful but inefficient, and the problem Run:ai set out to solve, orchestrating and optimizing GPU usage at scale, was largely invisible. “The word of AI was not as it is considered today,” investor Aya Peter...

Today’s episode looks at HS2 — the UK’s massive high-speed rail project that promised to connect London with major cities across the country. HS2 was meant to boost economic growth, cut travel times, and modernize the transit network. Instead, it became a lightning rod for political debate: skyrocketing costs, environmental concerns, shifting government commitments, and fierce disagreement about w...

Recently, I spoke to Yonatan Sela, Partner at Square Peg. Today, he invests in Israeli companies, but he used to be an entrepreneur and founder himself. Before Square Peg, Yonatan helped build YouNow into a consumer live-streaming platform; he co-founded Props, a decentralized protocol designed to give users ownership in consumer apps; and he worked across early-stage investing, consulting, and pr...

In today’s tech landscape, deeptech has emerged as a critical player in shaping the future. To understand this better, I recently sat down with Doron Zauer, General Partner at Earth and Beyond Ventures. Together, we discussed the significance of deeptech and its growing influence, particularly in Israel and Startup Nation. Deeptech refers to technologies based on significant scientific advances an...

Exciting news has hit The Spiro Circle: We have partnered with Forbes to broadcast stories from Israel’s high-tech sector. We start with Salt Security. Meet Co-Founder and CEO Roey Eliyahu: he turned a meeting with Sam Altman into a $1.4 billion cyber company. In 2016, Salt Security Co-founder and CEO Roey Eliyahu spotted a risk few others were focused on. As the internet evolved and companies bec...

In the evolving world of healthcare and pharmaceuticals, the intersection of AI and drug discovery has become a focal point for innovation - especially in Israel. This week, I spoke to AION Labs CEO Mati Gill, who shares insights on how the venture studio is transforming the landscape of drug development through collaboration and cutting-edge technology. Founded by global pharmaceutical partners P...

This week, I spoke to Keshet CEO Maya Natan about Israel’s philanthropic efforts and how it helps citizens and corporations donate money and assets. Keshet is a donor-advised fund that offers a wide range of services to facilitate philanthropic giving, including advisory, operational, and strategic services. In 2024, it reached NIS 880 million ($270 million) of assets managed, and helped 155 donor...

In this episode, Founder and CEO of Foodini, Dylan McDonnell, shares his journey from being a corporate lawyer to founding a tech company focused on providing transparency in food ingredients for those with dietary restrictions. There are 33 million Americans who live with a variety of dietary restrictions, whether it’s an allergy, a religious choice, or even women who are pregnant. Dylan himself...

I’ve been interested in deepfake technology recently. We’ve all been exposed to it: fraudulent audio or video content usually created by AI. Our aunts and uncles might believe every meme they see on Facebook or other social media channels, but it can be a lot more nefarious. Deepfakes can trick us into believing fake news, they can mimic our voices to trick banks or insurance companies, or they ca...

There is so much in life that can be broken down into the simple understanding that everything is a form of storytelling - and that communication rests on the ears of the receiver. It was a lesson I first learned while I was reading Surrounded by Idiots: The Four Types of Human Behavior by Thomas Erikson. And it was reinforced this week when I spoke with Ben Wiener, Managing Partner at Jumpspeed V...

This episode is sure to raise a few eyebrows. I wanted to better understand society’s reaction to feminism, but through the experience of women who are balancing their work and personal life. No better person expressed concern for the current infrastructure in place more than Dr. Stephanie Wilson, founder of She’s In Business , a global not-for-profit business platform. Dr. Wilson is a PhD in Busi...

I’ve been thinking a lot about trauma recently. As we reach the second anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, we can see now the effect and damage that the war is having on the country and its people, not just on a macro level, but on the single, granular level felt by each person. Trauma can manifest both collectively and individually, and how we respond to that trauma comes in how...

Note: This episode is the final of three recorded interviews conducted on the same day using a new platform. Some growing pains were expected, and this final edit is a bit rougher than I’d like, including some intermittent sound issues that could not be removed. Thanks for your patience as we refine the process — future episodes will appear smoother. - JS. A few weeks ago, I spoke with Erel Herzog...

Anyone who knows me understands just how much I love food. Good cuisine is nice, but bad dishes are sometimes even better! Anything from dining out with friends to ordering in on a lonely evening gets me excited to try new things. But another thing people know about me is that I absolutely hate to cook! It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, but I just find it too stressful, creative, and consuming....

Note: This episode is the first of three recorded on a new platform. Some growing pains were expected, and the final edit is a bit rougher than I’d like. Thanks for your patience as we refine the process — future episodes will appear smoother. - JS. For 45 years, non-profit Beit Issie Shapiro has been a pioneering leader and innovator in the field of disabilities, and championed equal opportunity,...

This week, I sat down with Derek Crager for a conversation on the intersection of neurodiversity and artificial intelligence. Both topics are often misunderstood by the wider public, sometimes leading to misinformation, stigma, or even apprehension. We explore how embracing different ways of thinking can unlock new opportunities in technology, why AI might be uniquely positioned to support neurodi...

This week I listened to a podcast about the virtue of justice. It was hosted by Ryan Holiday and featured a conversation with Rutger Bregman - two of my favorite writers! The conversation was called “You’re Not Wasting Time, You’re Wasting Your Life,” and it talked about moral ambition, the truth about success, work, and impact. It tied in nicely with a separate conversation I had with my recent g...

Welcome back to The Spiro Circle , where today I want to dive deep into identity, culture, and the people shaping Jewish life today. With Tu B’Av right around the corner (for those who don’t know, think ‘Israel’s Valentine’s Day’), I was excited to speak with Aleeza Ben Shalom: Matchmaker, dating coach, author, and star of Netflix’s Jewish Matchmaking . She has helped thousands of Jews navigate th...

Today, I wanted to dive into another episode from the CTech BiblioTech archive. This time, I am highlighting my conversation with Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, author of “I, Human: AI, Automation, and the Quest to Reclaim What Makes Us Unique”, which was recorded in August 2023. The book is an exploration of how AI will change our lives and what we can do to ensure we maintain our personalities and...

The Voice of the People , a global initiative spearheaded by President Isaac Herzog to unite and empower Jewish communities worldwide. The organization recently released its 2025 Jewish Landscape Report based on responses from over 10,000 Jews across six continents. The results were shocking. It revealed that rising antisemitism - across campuses, workplaces, and social media - has overtaken all o...

We all have incentives. I have an incentive to produce this podcast well enough so that I attract more readers and listeners, and hopefully, you have an incentive to tune into new episodes with a goal to learn something or get enjoyment from it. I also carry personal incentives, such as being a good father, husband, brother, son, colleague, and member of my community. Some incentives are more cyni...

Today, I want to share a conversation with Josh Wheeler, founder of Be Broadcast , about the state of UK broadcast media and, notably, how it covers certain topics. The conversation follows a report written by  Be Broadcast  that outlines how TV and radio stations in the UK approach their reporting on climate change [linked below]. It was a 6-month analysis examining media coverage for events such...

This week, I spoke with Hillel Fuld, an American Israeli business technology advisor. A lot of you are probably already familiar with Hillel. He's got a large social media following online where he talks about all things Israeli high-tech, Startup Nation, Zionism, but also Israel's fight with Hamas. Importantly, he's also fighting for its reputation as it struggles to gain sympathy among young peo...

Today, I wanted to dive into another episode from the CTech BiblioTech archive. This time, my conversation with Nimrod Vromen, author of “Prompting Happiness: A Guide to Prompting a Life Worth Living” recorded in July, 2024. The book is an exploration of the human condition and the pursuit of true happiness. Nimrod navigates the complexities of midlife challenges, leveraging the potential of AI to...