From Writing Code to Designing Intelligence

From Writing Code to Designing Intelligence A thought-provoking episode of What Growth Takes!

In this episode, Jaswinder Ahuja, former Corporate VP & India MD at Cadence Design Systems and a 35-year veteran at the intersection of technology, leadership, and policy, joins Dolon Mitra to explore what's really happening beneath the surface of the AI boom.

After this, you might rethink where AI's real value actually lies and who is really responsible for making sure people are not left behind.

Here are the key takeaways:

• We're still in the "infrastructure" layer of AI — the real value sits above it: Most AI investment today is going into chips and power, the foundation layer. Jaswinder says the internet played out the same way: infrastructure first, real value later. The next layer, agentic AI included, is where the bigger opportunity lives, and it hasn't fully arrived yet.
• Technology moves at the speed of trust, not capability: Self-driving cars have had the technology for over a decade but still aren't everywhere, because nobody has agreed on full gamut of liabilities. AI adoption works the same way: it is not how smart the tech is, it is how ready the rules and ethics are.
• Keeping people in the equation is bigger than any one company: Businesses will chase the bottom line, and that's not a flaw. That is exactly why policy, society, and leadership matter. They rae what keeps people at the center as AI scales.

Whether you're building in tech, leading a team through disruption, or just trying to make sense of where AI is really headed, this conversation offers a rare, grounded perspective from someone who has spent three decades inside the industry shaping it.

About the Speaker:
Jaswinder Ahuja is the former Corporate VP and India Managing Director at Cadence Design Systems, He is a founding member of the VLSI Society of India, former Chairman of the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association, and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from VLSI Society of India. He now works with startups and venture capital firms shaping semiconductor industry strategy.

About the Host:
Dolon Mitra, her work centres on leadership capability that hasn't kept pace with a fast-scaling business, and leadership that looks strong on paper but isn't converting into real performance. She helps organizations close both gaps, so leadership growth keeps pace with the business, and shows up where it matters most, the results.