Azeem Azhar's Exponential View

Azeem Azhar

5.0 (537)
TECHNOLOGY

How will the future unfold? What is the impact of AI and other exponential technologies on business & society? Join Azeem Azhar, founder of Exponential View, on his quest to demistify the era of exponential change.

10 JUN

OpenAI’s CPO on what’s coming next: Hardware, GPT-5, Jony Ive, agents, more

This week, I'm speaking with Kevin Weil, Chief Product Officer at OpenAI, who is steering product development at what might be the world's most important company right now. We talk about: (00:00) Episode trailer (01:37) OpenAI's latest launches (03:43) What it's like being CPO of OpenAI (04:34) How AI will reshape our lives (07:23) How young people use AI differently (09:29) Addressing fears about AI (11:47) Kevin's "Oh sh!t" moment (14:11) Why have so many models within ChatGPT? (18:19) The unpredictability of AI product progress (24:47) Understanding model “evals” (27:21) How important is prompt engineering? (29:18) Defining “AI agent” (37:00) Why OpenAI views coding as a prime target use-case (41:24) The "next model test” for any AI startup (46:06) Jony Ive's role at OpenAI (47:50) OpenAI's hardware vision (50:41) Quickfire questions (52:43) When will we get AGI? Kevin's links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinweil/ Twitter/X: @kevinweil Azeem's links: Substack: https://www.exponentialview.co/ Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azhar Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem Our new show: This was originally recorded for "Friday with Azeem Azhar", a new show that takes place every Friday at 9am PT and 12pm ET. You can tune in through Exponential View on Substack. Produced by supermix.io and EPIIPLUS1 Ltd.

54 min
4 JUN

Tyler Cowen on how AI will reorder economies, schools, and spirituality

Economist and polymath Tyler Cowen challenges Silicon Valley's optimistic projections about AI-driven economic growth. We explore what could slow AI's economic impact, despite its remarkable capabilities – and where humans find the new normal amidst major shifts. Timestamps: (00:00) Episode trailer (01:47) The problem with Silicon Valley's AI-driven growth projections (06:02) The institutional bottleneck to AI progress (10:49) Markets aren’t pricing in a radical AI future (12:53) Are we heading for a great job displacement? (17:02) Is GDP still worth talking about? (19:11) Who does AI benefit most? (21:11) Will AI cause a human identity crisis? (27:11) The education system’s failure to adapt (35:34) How the Gulf could become a geopolitical powerhouse (39:10) Could AI change religion? (46:46) Closing thoughts Tyler's links: Marginal Revolution Blog: https://marginalrevolution.com/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/tylercowen Azeem's links: Substack: https://www.exponentialview.co/ Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azhar Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem Our new show This was originally recorded for "Friday with Azeem Azhar", a new show that takes place every Friday at 9am PT and 12pm ET. You can tune in through Exponential View on Substack. Produced by supermix.io and EPIIPLUS1 LTD

49 min
28 MAY

GitHub CEO on what AI means for developer salaries, SaaS, and more

Thomas Dohmke, CEO of GitHub, joins Azeem to explore how AI is fundamentally transforming software development. In this episode you'll hear: (01:50) What’s left for developers in the age of AI? (04:54) How GitHub Copilot unlocks flow state (07:09) Three big shifts in how engineers work today (10:47) Is software development art or assembly line? (15:26) Why developers are climbing the abstraction ladder (19:35) Have we already lost control of the code? (23:15) What it’s actually like to work with AI coding agents (39:35) Welcome to the age of ultra-personalized software(45:37) Building the next-generation web Thomas's links: GitHub: https://github.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtom/Twitter/X: https://x.com/ashtomAzeem's links: Substack: https://www.exponentialview.co/Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azharTwitter/X: https://x.com/azeemOur new show This was originally recorded for "Friday with Azeem Azhar", a new show that takes place every Friday at 9am PT and 12pm ET. You can tune in through Exponential View on Substack. Produced by supermix.io and EPIIPLUS1 Ltd

54 min
21 MAY

Inside Box’s AI playbook with founder & CEO Aaron Levie

Aaron Levie, CEO & co-founder of Box, joins Azeem Azhar to explore how an “AI-first” mindset is reshaping every layer of Box – from product road-maps to pricing – and what that teaches the rest of us about building faster, smarter organisations. Timestamps: (00:00) Episode trailer (02:04) The "lump of labor fallacy" in sci-fi books (07:37) When individual productivity gains don’t translate to teams (12:32) Box’s Friday AI demos (21:23) How agents might redefine 100 years of management science (26:37) A lesson on AI innovation from the early days of Ford (29:52) Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, and Sergey Brin are coding again? (35:16) Pricing in a post-AI agent world (38:43) Cheaper tokens, heavier usage: AI’s margin math (43:02) Solving AI’s verifiability problem (48:24) How Aaron uses AI in his personal life Aaron's links: Box: https://www.box.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boxaaron/X/Twitter: https://x.com/levieAzeem’s links: Substack: https://www.exponentialview.co/Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azharX/Twitter: https://x.com/azeemThis conversation was recorded for “Friday with Azeem Azhar”, live every Friday at 9 am PT / 12 pm ET. Catch it via Exponential View on Substack. Produced by supermix.io and EPIIPLUS1 Ltd

49 min
14 MAY

China’s catching up to US AI… Here’s why it won’t matter

Lennart Heim, a researcher and information scientist at RAND Corporation, joins Azeem Azhar to unpack a provocative claim: China is catching up with US AI capabilities, but it doesn't matter. Timestamps: (00:00) Episode trailer (01:19) Lennart’s core thesis (03:26) Why compute matters so much (07:31) The investment split between model R&D and model execution (11:18) How test-time compute impacts costs (16:14) The geopolitics of compute (21:32) Why does the U.S have more compute capacity than China? (25:01) The trade-off between economic needs and national-security needs (31:54) How technology change might shift the battlegrounds (35:33) Dealing with compute and power concentration (48:19) Concluding quick-fire question Lennart's links: Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/ohlennartPersonal blog: https://heim.xyz/Azeem's links: Substack: https://www.exponentialview.co/Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azharTwitter/X: https://x.com/azeemThis was originally recorded for "Friday with Azeem Azhar", a new show that takes place every Friday at 9am PT and 12pm ET. You can tune in through Exponential View on Substack. Produced by supermix.io and EPIIPLUS1 Ltd

49 min
7 MAY

What does Spain’s blackout mean for the future of clean energy?

Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy, joins Azeem to discuss the Iberian blackout and how we can create a more stable, flexible, and resilient energy grid for the future. This conversation digs into grid technology, market structures, and the real opportunities of the clean energy transition. (00:00) Episode trailer (01:38) What caused the Iberian blackout? (04:55) Managing load in traditional vs renewable grids (11:57) The role of market incentives (18:13) Greg's social experiments within the UK grid (23:49) How the "virtual power plant" is becoming a reality (26:59) The path to completing the renewable energy transition (33:15) Are lobbyists slowing down the transition? (36:26) What does the next 5-10 years look like? (40:42) Why the name "Octopus?" Greg's links: Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/g__jLinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/gregsjacksonOctopus Energy: https://octopus.energy/Azeem's links: Substack: https://www.exponentialview.co/Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azharTwitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

42 min
30 APR

The difference between early and late AI adopters

Physicist and entrepreneur Steve Hsu, whose startup Superfocus tackles hallucination problems in large language models, joins Azeem to discuss AI agents, hallucination challenges and what happens when technology meets labor markets. They discuss: (01:31) The deeper shift that Superfocus represents (07:00) Will models overcome hallucination? (10:15) AI Agents can replace 80-90% of call center calls (12:27) What it’s like showing customer support AI to customer support people (22:36) China's mayors are like mini CEOs (30:05) What will matter most in the supposed "AI race"? (35:58) DeepSeek was not part of the Chinese Government (38:23) How open source will change the future of deployment (40:59) What the public doesn't understand about AI tail risk (48:01) How AI plush toys can teach French to 2-year-olds This was originally recorded for "Friday with Azeem Azhar", a new show that takes place every Friday at 9am PT and 12pm ET. You can tune in through Exponential View on Substack. Produced by supermix.io and EPIIPLUS1 Ltd

50 min
23 APR

Sir Niall Ferguson decodes Trump, China, and the new world order

Sir Niall Ferguson, renowned historian and Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, joins Azeem Azhar to discuss the evolving relationship between the U.S. and China, Trump's foreign policy doctrine, and what the new global economic and security order might look like. (00:00) What most analysts are missing about Trump (05:43) The win-win outcome in Europe–U.S relations (11:17) How the U.S. is reestablishing deterrence (15:50) Can the U.S. economy weather the impact of tariffs? (23:33) Niall's read on China (29:29) How is China performing in tech? (33:35) What might happen with Taiwan (42:43) Predictions for the coming world order Sir Niall Ferguson's links: Substack: Time MachineBooks: War of the World, Doom: The Politics of CatastropheTwitter/X: https://x.com/nfergusAzeem's links: Substack: https://www.exponentialview.co/ Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azhar Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem Our new show This was originally recorded for "Friday with Azeem Azhar" on 28 March. Produced by supermix.io and EPIIPLUS1 Ltd

52 min

See All (197)

Azeem Azhar

Host

5

out of 5

537 Ratings

A Fantastic Knowledge-Dense Tech Podcast

05/06/2021

talhatayyab

Factual, informative, exciting, and clearly made with a lot of care and thought. Can’t wait for the book coming this September!
Generally banal

22/06/2022

OohAhhPaulMcGrath

Generally banal techno-utopianism
Brilliant and important

16/04/2021

Tamaramamara

Everyone should be listening, regardless of political or other leaning. These are highly informed and important conversations that are future-focused yet grounded in today. Azeem is sensitive to different levels of knowledge and always unpicks termiology and acronymns; he also does a very good job of guiding the conversation with unbiased view. I wish I had his vernacular. Keep the diversity of content and people contributing to it coming!
Always worth a listen

24/03/2021

moo_oose

Great guests, fascinating topics and well edited (I hate podcasts that assume your time is cheap and waffle on indefinitely). My only criticism is that sometimes tough questions get avoided (presumably the only way corporate PR departments will approve interviews?). You can’t have everything I guess!

How will the future unfold? What is the impact of AI and other exponential technologies on business & society? Join Azeem Azhar, founder of Exponential View, on his quest to demistify the era of exponential change.