Shift AI Podcast Boaz Ashkenazy

In this episode of Shift AI, Kirby Winfield General Partner at Ascend.vc shares his journey from founding multiple successful startups to becoming a leading AI investor and outlines lessons learned, insights on the Seattle startup ecosystem, and his optimistic yet pragmatic views on generative AI and the future of work.

Summary of topics covered:


Background and early career: Kirby gained experience as an entrepreneur early in his career through founding multiple companies.
Transition to Venture capital: Looking for a new challenge, Kirby leveraged his experience operating startups to co-found Ascend and advise other founders.
Investment thesis and framework for evaluating AI opportunities: Kirby evaluates AI opportunities through the lens of whether they present applied or foundational uses of the technology.
Portfolio companies: Two of Ascend's portfolio companies applying AI in novel ways are Overland for autonomous vehicles and Clarity for detecting deepfakes.
Incumbent tech companies and AI: Kirby believes startups should focus on radically improving problems rather than competing directly with incumbent features to succeed against large companies.
Seattle's potential as a tech hub: Seattle is poised to become a major tech hub to rival Silicon Valley as its startup ecosystem matures and attracts more founders and engineers.
Mentors and influences: Guidance from mentors like John Keister and Oren Etzioni helped Kirby navigate different stages of his career in startups and investing.
Future of work and AI: Kirby is optimistic AI could automate drudgery and unleash human potential but acknowledges change will be gradual and new challenges will emerge.

Connect with Kirby Winfield


⁠Twitter⁠
⁠LinkedIn⁠

Connect with Boaz Ashkenazy


⁠Twitter⁠
⁠LinkedIn⁠
Email: ⁠shift@simplyaugmented.com⁠




---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shift-ai/message

In this episode of Shift AI, Zohar Dayan SVP Product at Vimeo shares his experience as a startup founder, how he was early to ML with video and how the Vimeo acquisition is pushing to integrate AI into the video creation process.


01:57 - Dayan talks about his early start with technology, founding Wibbitz in college, and its connection to text-to-video concepts.
02:31 - Zohar explains his role at Vimeo as SVP of Product and GM of their Israel office, focusing on connecting product, engineering, and design teams.
06:14 - He shares insights into his family background, noting his father's low-tech entrepreneurship and his mother's involvement in the arts.
06:57 - Zohar reflects on the journey leading to Vimeo's acquisition of his company and the evolution of the digital landscape since 2009.
10:21 - He discusses the use of AI and machine learning at Wibbitz and the advancements in generative AI that are shaping the industry.
12:13 - Dayan expresses enthusiasm for AI's potential to redefine creativity and originality, while also voicing concerns about its power.
21:07 - Zohar predicts the future of video consumption and content engagement, focusing on efficiency and leveraging AI.
24:23 - He describes the future of work as "human connection," emphasizing the importance of fostering connections in remote and startup environments.

Connect with Zohar Dayan


⁠Twitter⁠
⁠LinkedIn⁠

Connect with Boaz Ashkenazy


⁠Twitter⁠
⁠LinkedIn⁠
Email: ⁠shift@simplyaugmented.com⁠


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shift-ai/message

In this episode of Shift AI, Dr. Vasi Philomin, VP of Generative AI at Amazon Web Services (AWS) shares his experience as a visionary in machine learning and AI, his insights on applying generative AI at Amazon/AWS, and his thoughts on the ethical dimensions and future potential of AI technologies.



Highlights from Vasi’s comments, edited for context and clarity:


Early work experiences: Pioneered connected lighting at Philips Lighting with the City Touch system at Philips Lighting, enabling remote management of city lighting grids and achieving global adoption.
First Paying Job: During a summer internship at Benz in Germany, Vasi delved into computer vision for autonomous navigation.
Family Life: Growing up in a family of medical professionals, I diverged into a math-focused area of computer science, specifically AI, supported by my family despite our different professional paths.
Amazon & Generative AI: At Amazon, we identified three key themes in applying generative AI: the diversity of AI models for different use cases, the need for enterprises to differentiate themselves, and the balance of cost-effectiveness and value.
Amazon Bedrock: Bedrock aims to apply technologies like generative AI at scale. Offering choice, customization, and custom chips for improved generative AI applications.
Human and AI Congruence: AI should handle tedious tasks, allowing humans to focus on complex problems. While human oversight is still essential for verifying AI outputs and augmenting productivity.
Amazon Code Whisper: Created to address the challenges of new programming languages, Code Whisperer enhances developer productivity, with recent updates for customization to internal code bases.
Mentors: Azriel Rosenfield, my grad school advisor, taught me discipline, while Jeffery Cassis at Philips Lighting taught me a more inclusive approach to collaboration and problem-solving.
Future of Work: Generative AI is set to bring transformational productivity, surpassing the internet in impact, tackling complex problems, and augmenting human performance at an unprecedented scale.



Connect with Vasi Philomin


⁠LinkedIn⁠

Connect with Boaz Ashkenazy


⁠Twitter⁠
⁠LinkedIn⁠
Email: ⁠shift@simplyaugmented.com⁠



Additional Resources


AWS re:Invent
GA of Amazon Bedrock (blog, press release)
AWS joins the UN summit on generative AI
AWS at the White House: Our commitment to the responsible use of AI
AWS reaffirms its commitment to responsible generative AI


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shift-ai/message

In this episode of Shift AI, Karthik Ramakrishnan Chief Product Officer from Armilla AI shares his experience with a startup that empowers enterprises to test and fix their AI models to ensure they release trustworthy products to the market.



In this episode of the Shift AI podcast, we cover the following topics:



02:22 How Karthik's eductation let to working in startups, an IPO; and his pursuit of success as a entrepreneur.

04:40 Family of orgin, Dad was a paper recycling entrepreneur in the Middle East.

08:16 Building trust in AI models for better decisions.

11:14 AI Model training data, rights, and testing of AI responsibly.

12:57 Why are businesses enthusiastic about AI's potential and risks.

16:14 AI designs leading to products that can engage with humans.

21:29 AI advances will make life easier through efficiency.

23:52 2 words describing the future of work and responsible AI



armilla.ai - https://armilla.ai/

simplyaugmetned.ai - https://simplyaugmented.ai

shiftapodcast.com - http://shiftaipodcast.com


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shift-ai/message

In this episode of Shift AI, Rand Fishkin, Co-founder and CEO at SparkToro, shares his experience as a successful entrepreneur and offers insightful perspectives on the current state of generative AI, the challenges faced by VC-backed businesses and the importance of prioritizing the lives of founders and team members.

sparktoro.com
shitaipodcast.com
simplyaugmented.com



Connect with Rand Fishkin


⁠Twitter⁠
⁠LinkedIn⁠



Connect with Boaz Ashkenazy


⁠Twitter⁠
⁠LinkedIn⁠
Email: ⁠shift@simplyaugmented.com⁠



simplyaugmented.com

shiftaipodcast.com


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shift-ai/message

In this episode of Shift AI, Neil Mandt, 5-time Emmy Award Winning Producer, shares his experience as a Hollywood producer and director, his take on the implications of AI on our society in the future and how the Studio industry is changing to accomodate this shift.

In this episode of the Shift AI podcast, we cover the following topics:


Introduction to experience and background including with Run DMC and Guiness Book of World Record
Neil's first job that he actually got paid for the work that he did as a teenager making commercials
Neil's parents and upbringing in Detroit and his family influence on work and media and success
Work in the early days of AI, VR and AR and the projects that are firing him up
True Crime for AR and AI and Apple Vision Pro and Chat GPT
How AI is changing and transforming the media business in Hollywood and examples of how this will happen
How this will effect the writers guild and TV/film editors as well as reality TV production
Neil's position on the writers stike in Hollywood and how they are going to be affected by AI and why the issue should be punted
The Neil Mandt online courses about how to succeed in Hollywood is discussed
AI and 3D multi-modal conversation is discussed and predictions are made for the future of text to 3D, including haptic gaming
How experiential content will convert to sales and make money using AR and AI
Neil talks about the self generating Seinfeld sitcom that get generated continuously every 30 minutes
Neil talks about how he has mentored others and who has had a big influence on him throughout his career like Mark Shapiro,Steve Borenstein (ESPN)
Future predictions and the emerging technology that Neil is the most excited about in the future, AR Mojo Vision contact lenses, intellectual property rights
The way that spatial experiences will be a huge tool for social media influencers to tag the world in 3D. Website drm.la

Connect with Neil Mandt


⁠NeilMandt.com
Twitter⁠
⁠LinkedIn⁠

Connect with Boaz Ashkenazy


⁠Twitter⁠
⁠LinkedIn⁠
Email: ⁠shift@simplyaugmented.com




---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shift-ai/message