Zero Shot

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UPDATED WEEKLY

Join Brady Ng, Praveen Gopal Krishnan, and Rohin Dharmakumar of The Ken as they discuss the big ideas in artificial intelligence. You’ll get the macro view, explore their experiments in practical applications, go deeper than the news coverage you’ve seen, and hear about the implications of the latest developments. Nothing is off the table.

2 DAYS AGO

Will Sarvam be to AI what PhonePe became for UPI? No.

Pick any conversation on AI in India, one project keeps coming up again and again: UPI. Every major stakeholder — across government and industry — seems to be interested in replicating the success story of the payments interface. Praveen Gopal Krishnan argues that Sarvam AI — the startup that is a VC darling and government favourite at once — is at the heart of this narrative. Here is the problem. The UPI moment came to India in very specific circumstances. We did catch “lightning in a bottle” as Rohin Dharmakumar puts it. But it is unlikely to happen again. The AI supply chain is fundamentally different. There are many moving parts and a range of use cases to be solved for. A state-led centralised approach — with a main character around which everything pivots — is not the answer. What are the alternatives? Competing AI companies. The government enabling innovation in a diffused manner. Research incentives. Encouraging competition so that Indian AI companies are at par with the best in the world. There is precedent to this. Brady Ng, our resident China expert and tech nerd, gives us a history lesson. And if you have been wondering where the foundational model is, Sarvam AI is expected to unveil one soon. We will cover that ground when that happens. Until then, tune in for a round up of India’s AI strategy and its main company. ------Zeus, the mascot of Zero Shot, was generated using AI. Everything else is made by humans, just like all articles, columns, newsletters, and other podcasts created by The Ken. This episode was produced by Vidhatri Rao and edited by Rajiv CN. Share your comments, critiques and suggestions with us at zeroshot@the-ken.com. Or write in just to say hi. We would love to hear from you! ------ Additional Resources: Sarvam AI’s Rs 10,000 crore pivot India’s ‘UPI Moment’ in AI has Arrived For AI, India can build on the Aadhaar-UPI model Voice AI is India's next UPI moment: Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani The Economic Survey PhonePe dominates payments but loses money. Now what? AI is not UPI: Why going by the UPI model risks stalling progress on artificial intelligence

51 min
28 JAN

Google has the driver’s seat in the AI race. Who will trip it?

“Imagine the AI race is a giant F1 race where the biggest AI companies are driving in their souped-up racing vehicles around the track again and again…” Rohin Dharmakumar sets the scene. Who’s winning this? Google, he argues. OpenAI and Anthropic are on the cusp of their IPOs and are doing whatever they can to generate revenue. Microsoft is trying to integrate Copilot into everything and is primarily in the enterprise game. Meta’s AI efforts are stuck in a loop of ads and more ads. That leaves Google — “the 800-pound gorilla”. Google’s LLM Gemini now has 650 million users. Gmail — where Gemini is integrated — has a 25 to 40% market share globally, depending on who you ask. What about Android? 70% market share. YouTube? 97%. And search stands at 90% — basically the entire market. The company’s shares are moving up and up. Then, there is the latest news that affirms Google’s lead: Apple will now use Gemini models to roll out its much awaited Siri updates. It clearly has a handle on everything in the AI supply chain — from research to application to distribution. Pretty solid, right? Brady Ng has a different take — and Praveen Gopal Krishnan is in agreement. But only partly. Tune in! ---------- Zeus, the mascot of Zero Shot, was generated using AI. Everything else is made by humans, just like all articles, columns, newsletters, and other podcasts created by The Ken. This episode was produced by Vidhatri Rao and edited by Rajiv CN. Share your comments, critiques and suggestions with us at zeroshot@the-ken.com. Or write in just to say hi. We would love to hear from you! ---------- Additional Reading: The Seven Basic Plots Inside Apple’s AI Shake-Up and Its Plans for Two New Versions of SiriThe TPU battle Anthropic rolls out Claude AI for finance, integrates with Excel to rival Microsoft CopilotOpenAI Seeks Premium Prices in Early Ads Push

50 min
31/12/2025

Taking aim for 2026

It’s the end of 2025, so we don’t have a full episode of Zero Shot for you today. This podcast launched in September, and we’ve produced 14 episodes for you so far. We’ve covered a wide range of topics, and our conversations—between Praveen, Rohin, and Brady—only work because you’re willing to sit with the complexities we wade into. We know artificial intelligence will move fast in 2026, so we’ll keep asking the questions that matter in this AI hype cycle. We’re glad you’re coming along with us. So, thank you, and we’ll be back next week. As always, if you’d like to get in touch with any or all of our hosts, please drop us a note at zeroshot@the-ken.com. We respond to all messages. The cover art of Zero Shot is generated by AI. Everything else is made by humans, just like all articles, columns, newsletters, and other podcasts created by The Ken.

2 min
23/09/2025

Introducing Zero Shot

Join Brady Ng, Praveen Gopal Krishnan, and Rohin Dharmakumar of The Ken as they discuss the big ideas in artificial intelligence. You’ll get the macro view, explore their experiments in practical applications, go deeper than the news coverage you’ve seen, and hear about the implications of the latest developments. Nothing is off the table.

2 min

See All (21)

Join Brady Ng, Praveen Gopal Krishnan, and Rohin Dharmakumar of The Ken as they discuss the big ideas in artificial intelligence. You’ll get the macro view, explore their experiments in practical applications, go deeper than the news coverage you’ve seen, and hear about the implications of the latest developments. Nothing is off the table.