Pioneer Series

Thomas Fortoul

A series of conversations with today's pioneers. Entrepreneurs, industry experts, investors, politicians, artists and everything in between, these people are shaping the world of tomorrow.

  1. 05/14/2025

    #10 - Iulian Serban: PhD to $14M Raised and Korbit AI, The Future of AI in Software Engineering

    Meet Iulian Serban. From coding at 12 to raising $14M with Khosla and Bengio. Here's his crazy story: In 2014, he started his PhD at Mila under Yoshua Bengio In 2017, he co-founded Korbit AI. It was the first AI-powered tutor, before ChatGPT existed. 2 years later, they raised $2M+ and grew to 20,000+ users. But they hit a wall, they struggled with engagement. So Iulian pivoted: AI code reviews for engineers. And it clicked. In 2023, they raised $11.3M and are growing like crazy. I spoke with Iulian on his story, the future of education with AI, and the implications of agents in the workforce. Chapters: 0:00 The Power of Technology in Modern Times 1:31 The Journey of Iulian Serban 1:54 What is Korbit AI? 02:37 The Value of Learning to Code 05:47 Early Beginnings in Tech 11:43 Theoretical vs. Practical Knowledge 14:02 Transition from Research to Entrepreneurship 17:48 The Evolution of Korbit AI 25:13 Challenges and Opportunities in Education 27:32 The Role of Universities and Self-Learning 32:20 Corporate Learning and Employee Development 37:07 Pivoting to Code Management 37:49 Building and Testing POCs 38:48 Focusing on Bug Detection 40:14 Understanding User Feedback 43:51 Launching the Product 44:35 Targeting Engineering Managers 47:41 The Role of AI in Code Reviews 49:52 Future of AI and Product Management 58:50 Virtual Personas and AI Agents 01:12:42 Concluding Thoughts and Future Steps

    1h 16m
  2. 04/29/2025

    #8 - Nao Yukawa: Unlocking Human Potential with AI

    We dive deep into the intersection of health and productivity with Nao Yukawa, co-founder of Lifestack and DeMind. Nao has a fascinating journey, from studying in Japan to moving to San Francisco and New York, navigating the startup world during the pandemic, and developing the revolutionary AI-integrated calendar app, Lifestack. This episode is packed with insights on innovation, the startup landscape, and the future potential of brain-computer interfaces.Chapters0:00 Introduction to Health-Driven Productivity1:13 Exploring Lifestack: The AI-Integrated Calendar App3:00 From Japan to San Francisco: An Entrepreneurial Journey5:47 A Meditation Crypto App8:31 Founding DeMind: A New Beginning13:04 The Vision Behind Lifestack20:09 Insights from the Startup Ecosystem23:41 Learning from New York vs. San Francisco24:51 Experiences with VCs and Funding27:23 Visa Challenges and Entrepreneurial Journey30:10 Influential Books and Recommendations37:08 Future Plans for Lifestack43:36 Personal Goals and Future StepsEpisode Links:Nao's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naoyukawa/Lifestack: https://lifestack.ai/Podcast Links:Substack: https://thinkingthomas.substack.com/⁠ X/Twitter: https://x.com/fortoulthomas⁠Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4nUcKzoV5nHhwFqZrIit9wApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinking-tech/id1797833313LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-fortoul/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ONyHJ7p13KQrYyOH1WPAh

    46 min

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A series of conversations with today's pioneers. Entrepreneurs, industry experts, investors, politicians, artists and everything in between, these people are shaping the world of tomorrow.