AI is the fastest-growing industry that Accenture’s CTIO Paul Daugherty has ever experienced. He joins Azeem Azhar to discuss how AI can help businesses across a broad range of industries enhance the value they offer customers. Paul’s 2018 bestselling book Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI laid the foundations for companies that want to harness AI to help innovate and grow quickly. Paul and Azeem also discuss: AI as a general-purpose technology and how to set priorities for its ...
May 22, 2019•36 min•Ep. 8
Director of the Humans and Autonomy Lab at Duke University and one of the first female fighter pilots, professor Missy Cummings debates the current state of autonomy with Azeem Azhar . Taking a stance of techno-realism, Missy explains why we’re not even close to developing Level 5 autonomy in driving and why robotic surgery is still not safe. In this podcast, Missy and Azeem also discuss: The nonlinear upward movement across levels of automation. While early developments may take similar amounts...
May 15, 2019•39 min•Ep. 7
Michigan State University senior vice president Stephen Hsu , a theoretical physicist and the founder of Genomic Prediction, demonstrates how the machine learning revolution, combined with the dramatic fall in the cost of human genome sequencing, is driving a transformation in our relationship with our genes. Stephen and Azeem Azhar explore how the technology works, what predictions can and cannot yet be made (and why), and the ethical challenges created by this technology. In this podcast, Azee...
May 08, 2019•36 min•Ep. 6
With healthcare under extreme commercial and political pressure, the doctor-patient relationship is at a low point — and risks further deterioration. But digital technologies promise to revolutionize the daily delivery of care. Renowned digital medicine pioneer Dr. Eric Topol and Azeem Azhar discuss what this could mean for medical professionals, patients, and national healthcare systems. In this podcast, Eric and Azeem also discuss: Issues of access: equality of access and coping with different...
May 01, 2019•33 min•Ep. 5
“We haven’t really understood the power of the state,” argues economist Mariana Mazzucato , warning that this has impacted the rising inequality in wealth creation and distribution. Mariana and Azeem Azhar discuss the role of government in innovation and business growth, risk-taking as the new mentality of bureaucracy, and how the benefits of entrepreneurial innovation have been misread. Above all, the case is made for a new theory of value in today’s economy. In this conversation, Mariana and A...
Apr 24, 2019•31 min•Ep. 4
Our society has become increasingly reliant on data, but its value is not accessible to all. Of the 16 billion terabytes of data created globally in 2016, only 1% was analyzed. Among other discrepancies, the growing data monopolies concentrate power over certain technologies such as artificial intelligence precluding their positive impact on society. Trent McConaghy , AI researcher and the founder of the decentralized data exchange, Ocean Protocol, is aiming to solve this by enabling individuals...
Apr 17, 2019•33 min•Ep. 3
“Intelligence is central to everything humans do, and artificial intelligence should be no exception.” With these words, Joanna Bryson urges for stronger professional standards for software engineers and experts designing intelligent-like systems. Joanna is a tenured associate professor at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, where she founded the Bath Intelligence Systems group. She is one of the world’s leading AI researchers, uniting the perspectives of computer science, psychology, ...
Apr 10, 2019•32 min•Ep. 2
In the late 1800’s, three innovation platforms shaped the world as we know it today: the telephone, electricity, and the internal combustion engine. Today, five powerful innovation platforms are accelerating at the same time: DNA sequencing, robotics, energy storage, deep learning, and blockchain technology. Cathie Wood , CEO and CIO of ArkInvest, is leading the way in investing in disruptive technologies at a time when many investors are holding back due to uncertainty. Azeem Azhar and Cathie d...
Apr 03, 2019•37 min•Ep. 1
Parag Khanna is a leading international relations expert and the author of The Future Is Asian: Commerce, Conflict and Culture in the 21st Century . Azeem Azhar and Parag discuss the law of technology diffusion, break common myths about Asia’s development, and question whether the future belongs to cities or nation-states. www.exponentialview.co
Feb 06, 2019•35 min•Ep. 18
Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish author and human rights activist. She has published 16 books, 10 of which are novels. The New York Review of Books called her latest novel, Three Daughters of Eve , a “marvelous lesson in multiculturalist angst, the clash between modernity and tradition, and the vicissitudes of personal struggle.” Elif and Azeem Azhar discuss the polarization of culture springing out of the foundations of the open internet, and the ways to tackle the pervasive issu...
Jan 30, 2019•27 min•Ep. 17
Marietje Schaake is a Dutch politician and member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Netherlands. The Wall Street Journal called her “Europe’s most wired politician,” and Politico named her the “ultimate digital MEP.” Marietje is a member of the Committee on International Trade and the vice chair of the Delegation for Relations with the U.S. She established a Digital Agenda intergroup, gathering members of the Parliament who are interested in addressing the future of digital technologies....
Jan 23, 2019•37 min•Ep. 16
Emil Eifrem is the CEO and cofounder of Neo4j, the graph database platform powering some of the largest companies today. Emil is the creator of the property graph model, and he coined the term “graph database” to describe the technology that would change how we understand big data. Neo4j’s technology was used to reveal the rogue offshore financial relationships in the largest journalist leak ever, the Panama Papers. www.exponentialview.co
Jan 16, 2019•51 min•Ep. 15
Jack Clark serves as the policy director at OpenAI. He has contributed to the development of the AI Index, an AI forecasting and progress initiative that is part of the Stanford One Hundred Year Study on AI. Azeem Azhar and Jack discuss the state of artificial intelligence development, the geopolitics of technology, and the implications of automation on society. www.exponentialview.co
Dec 26, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 14
Gina Neff is a senior research fellow and associate professor at the University of Oxford. She studies innovation, the digital transformation of industries, and how new technologies impact work. Gina has published three books: Self-Tracking in 2016, Surviving the New Economy in 2015, and Venture Labor in 2012. Gina and Azeem Azhar discuss technology development from a sociological perspective, as well as the implications of self-tracking for the individual and society. www.exponentialview.co...
Dec 19, 2018•40 min•Ep. 13
Michael Liebreich is a leading global expert on clean energy and transportation, smart infrastructure, technology, climate finance, and sustainable development. He founded New Energy Finance in 2004, which was acquired by Bloomberg in 2009. Michael and Azeem Azhar discuss the significance of the U.S. National Climate Assessment and IPCC’s report, the importance of staying below two degrees, and the role of exponential technologies in transitioning to renewables. www.exponentialview.co...
Dec 13, 2018•57 min•Ep. 12
Casper Klynge is the world’s first tech ambassador, with a global mandate and staff in Copenhagen, Silicon Valley, and Beijing. His appointment as the Danish tech ambassador in 2017 marked a new phase in diplomacy and international relations, and was the first time a nation-state deployed an ambassador to represent its citizens to the world’s most powerful technology companies. Casper and Azeem Azhar assess the current alignment between some of the largest technology companies and nation-states,...
Dec 06, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 11
Kate Raworth is a senior visiting research associate at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute, where she teaches environmental change and management. She is also a senior associate at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. Kate is focused on exploring the economic mindset needed to address the 21st century’s social and ecological challenges. Kate and Azeem discuss the Doughnut economics framework as the essence of rethinking economics for a world inhabited by 10 bill...
Nov 28, 2018•55 min•Ep. 10
Anousheh Ansari is the world’s first female private space explorer and the first Iranian astronaut in space. She is the CEO of XPrize Foundation, an organization that supports radical breakthrough solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. Azeem Azhar and Anousheh discuss the ways space development could help us tackle climate change and pollution and achieve sustainable crypto mining. Anousheh shares about her journey to become a space explorer and her time at the Inter...
Nov 21, 2018•45 min•Ep. 9
Lisa Witter is an award-winning executive, a serial entrepreneur, and the cofounder and executive chairman of Apolitical, a network that helps public servants around the world share inspiring ideas, solutions to challenges, and the best professional resources and opportunities. Azeem and Lisa discuss reviving trust in government, the road map for building the public service workforce of the future, and the role of agile in governance. www.exponentialview.co
Nov 14, 2018•35 min•Ep. 8
Matthew Taylor is the chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts, a UK organization committed to finding practical solutions to societal problems. Before leading the RSA, Matthew was the chief adviser on political strategy to former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Azeem and Matthew Taylor discuss the well-being economy, the meaning of good work in an age of automation, and the state of democracy. www.exponentialview.co
Nov 07, 2018•49 min•Ep. 7
Azeem Azhar speaks with Andrew Yang , an entrepreneur and author who is running for president in the 2020 U.S. election. At the heart of Andrew’s platform is the “freedom dividend,” a universal basic income of $1,000, payable to all Americans every month. Azeem and Andrew discuss the core ideas behind Andrew’s platform, why they are necessary, and how to get there. www.exponentialview.co
Oct 31, 2018•54 min•Ep. 6
Azeem speaks with Reid Hoffman , “the sage of Silicon Valley.” Reid is an internet entrepreneur, executive, and investor best known as the cofounder of LinkedIn. Reid and Azeem discuss the business culture of Silicon Valley, in particular the concept of “blitzscaling.” They dive deep into Silicon Valley’s attitudes toward government, the role of the state in innovation, and maintaining techno-optimism. www.exponentialview.co
Oct 24, 2018•55 min•Ep. 5
Azeem Azhar speaks with entrepreneur and investor Elad Gil about Silicon Valley, scaling companies from 10 to 10,000 employees, the state of blockchain, and how blockchain and artificial intelligence will overlap. Elad is a serial entrepreneur, an operating executive, an investor, and an adviser to private companies including Airbnb, Pinterest, Square, and Stripe. Elad was the VP of corporate strategy at Twitter, and previously was on the mobile team at Google. www.exponentialview.co...
Oct 17, 2018•44 min•Ep. 4
Azeem Azhar speaks with Dr. Mariarosaria Taddeo , deputy director of the Digital Ethics Lab at the Oxford Internet Institute. Dr. Taddeo is a philosopher, an ethicist, and a researcher focusing on cyber conflicts, cybersecurity, and the ethics of data science. Cyber attacks are escalating in frequency, sophistication, and impact. Azeem and Dr. Taddeo unpack the state of cybersecurity and warfare, the complex symbiosis between governments and criminal actors, and the ways digital technologies are...
Oct 10, 2018•54 min•Ep. 3
Azeem Azhar speaks with venture capitalist Bill Janeway about the three-player game between the mission-driven state, financial speculators, and markets in the innovation economy. Are we stuck on the dark side of this configuration? How do we move forward? www.exponentialview.co
Oct 03, 2018•1 hr•Ep. 2
Azeem Azhar speaks with Kai-Fu Lee , a VC investor, technology executive, and one of the most prominent figures in the Chinese internet sector and AI. They discuss the Chinese government’s techno-utilitarian approach to technology, the ambition of China’s technology founders, and the future of job automation. www.exponentialview.co
Sep 26, 2018•51 min•Ep. 1
Azeem Azhar’s Exponential View podcast is back, exploring the intersection of political economy and exponential technologies.
Sep 22, 2018•5 min
A recording of an Exponential View salon held in London in May 2017. “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter,” said Winston Churchill. But whatever you think of it, democracy has served us well. An increase in democracy is almost always matched by an increase in GDP. According to MIT economist Daron Acemoglu, a country that switches from autocracy to democracy achieves about 20% higher GDP per capita over roughly a 30-year period. Yet data from t...
Jun 03, 2017•2 hr 38 min•Ep. 11
With more than 40% market share in mobile games, 1 billion monthly active users, and 2.6 billion unique devices, the game development platform Unity has a profoundly important role in booming gaming and VR markets. Azeem Azhar talks with Dr. Danny Lange , VP of AI and machine learning at Unity, about the role of these technologies in revolutionizing the ways games are developed and monetized. Dr. Lange talks about the significance of the undergoing paradigm shift in computing, the OODA loop in m...
May 26, 2017•47 min•Ep. 10
For the tech community, code has an almost exclusively uniform meaning: a set of instructions, until recently written only by humans, that specify any action a computer should execute. In his most recent book, The Code Economy: A Forty-Thousand-Year History , Philip Auerswald talks about “code” in a broader meaning of the word — it is the “how” of human productivity, the manner in which we create, refine, and implement the infrastructure that forms a human society. The advancements of code, from...
May 09, 2017•41 min•Ep. 9
