After New York-based The Cru acquired the Mentor Method in September of 2022, Joseph Kopser suggested that Janice Omadeke write a book about mentorship.

Omadeke founded the Mentor Method in 2015 in Washington, D.C. The business created mentorship software to engage, retain and develop talented and diverse employees. She moved the startup to Austin in 2018. Kopser served as a mentor to Omadeke and became the Chief Growth Officer of The Mentor Method.

Omadeke is among the fewer than 100 black women founders who have led a startup and raised more than $1 million in venture capital funding.

“I think one of my superpowers is just staying open to whatever is supposed to be next,” Omadeke said. So, when Wiley representatives approached her about writing a book about mentorship, she said yes.

Wiley published Omadeke’s book “Mentorship Unlocked: The Science and Art of Setting Yourself Up for Success”  with an official release date of April 2, 2024. The book is about mentorship, including what it is, how to find a qualified mentor, and how to make mentorship work for the benefit of everyone.

On Monday evening, Chris Hyams, CEO of Indeed, hosted a book launch event for Omadeke at The Indeed Tower in downtown Austin. About 200 people attended the event, which featured a fireside chat between Omadeke and Hyams. The talk highlighted practical insights around inclusive mentorship, Omadeke’s journey and her vision for empowering professionals from all backgrounds.

Hyams noted that Omadeke is vulnerable and open in the book about her experiences. Omadeke said it’s essential to be open as a mentor, to create a safe space for the mentee to grow, make mistakes, and share their fears and aspirations.

Omadeke also notes that mentorship is not easily accessible to many underrepresented groups, and it’s essential to make it more inclusive.

Hyams noted that Omadeke’s book provides a comprehensive framework for mentorship. It outlines seven different types of mentors one may need at different career stages and provides detailed guidance on how to write an email to a potential mentor to ask for mentorship.

“I wouldn’t be here without the help of incredible mentors like Joseph Kopser, Hugh Forrest and Jan Ryan, and others,” Omadeke said.

Omadeke said a person needs seven types of mentors: the company insider, skills master, money-minded, industry, network, influential, and peer mentors. In the book, Omadeke said she aims to help readers see themselves reflected and provides a roadmap for them to navigate their unique professional journeys confidently. She drew heavily from her experience after graduating and spending the first few years in corporate America.

When Omadeke signed up to participate in a mentorship program at her workplace in 2009, the organizers said they didn’t have anyone for her.

“Which actually meant that they didn’t have a woman or a person of color,” Omadeke said. Everyone was a straight white male, and that’s fine in mentorship, by the way. But the organizers of that program felt that race and gender were a stronger determining factor of mentorship than the fact that I’m smarter than everybody else who signed up.”

A male executive saw that and started mentoring Omadeke on the side, unofficially, and not through the program, but he saw her potential and encouraged her.

“I was my first pancake in terms of the framework written in Mentorship Unlocked,” Omadeke said.

Omadeke said she is committed to continued learning and growth and using her experiences to impact her next career opportunity. She also encouraged everyone to stay open to new opportunities, even if they don’t feel fully ready.

Following the talk, several people in the Austin entrepreneurial ecosystem commented on how Omadeke and her book have brought valuable insights to Austin.

“Janice is what Austin has been missing since I arrived in 1993,” said William Hurley, known as Whurley, CEO and Co-Founder of Strangeworks. “There’s not a strong enough mentorship community. A lot of people think they can’t mentor, or they just won’t because they don’t have time. And in her book, she describes exactly how people can give what time they have to drive the careers of those who need that opportunity to have mentorship.”

Preston James, Founder of DivInc, an Austin-based accelerator for women and people of color, praised Omadeke’s entrepreneurial drive and focus on mentorship. When James met Omadeke, she was in Washington, D.C. He encouraged her to move to Austin. In 2018, she won Capital Factory’s pitch competition for female founders, which came with a $100,000 investment. That same year, she also won Mass Challenge’s pitch competition, worth $50,000.

James, who spent a decade working for Dell, saw a massive need for mentorship in corporate America.

“I think anybody who’s tried to make their way and understand the importance of mentorship at various different stages throughout their career and in life, in general, this book captures the essence of that,” James said. I recommend it to everybody.”

James said he’s getting a copy of the book for his niece, who is graduating from Arizona State this spring.

“It’s a make or break for any individual who is serious about their professional growth,”  James said.

No one had tackled this topic until Janice said Jan Ryan, a partner at Capital Factory, a serial entrepreneur and a professor at UT who teaches the popular “Women in Entrepreneurship” course. Ryan recommends the book to students and everyone, no matter what career stage.

“She is bringing to life information people need to know no matter where they are in their careers. Finding the right killer mentor you’ve always dreamed about is now possible,” Ryan said. Read this book because it shows you how to get there, and it’s a two-way street. It’s not just about you. That’s why she’s successful. She understands that.”

“Janice is a hero to us all,” said Hugh Forrest, Co-President and Chief Programming Officer at South by Southwest. The mentoring concept she advocates so eloquently is so important to many different people at many levels of their careers. So, it’s a fantastic book for all of us to enjoy.”

Omadeke did a fireside chat with Kim Scott, the bestselling author of Radical Respect, at SXSW 2024. Following her talk, Omadeke did a book signing and sold out of her book.

“We had 40 copies, and they all went,” Forrest said. “We probably could have sold a lot more. It was great to have her part of the event. She served as the host of the innovation awards in 2023. She’s been very involved in SXSW for many, many years.”

At SXSW, OpenAI’s vice president of consumer product and head of ChatGPT Peter Deng discussed the role of humans in the age of AI.

Deng previously worked at Instagram, Uber, and Airtable before joining OpenAI. He is a father of four. And in a fireside chat with Josh Constine, consumer VC at SignalFire and former TechCrunch editor, he discusses AI and humanity’s co-evolution.

Here are the key takeaways from the talk:

1. AI can make us more human by allowing us to deepen our curiosities and ask more significant questions about existence, consciousness, mortality, etc. It acts as a “perpetual professor” to help crystallize our thoughts.
2. AI, like ChatGPT, should assist humans, remove friction in tasks like writing or coding, and be a flexible tool to remove barriers so humans can focus on higher ambitions.
3. AI should adopt each user’s values and ideals rather than projecting any particular culture’s values. Core values should include seeking truth, being helpful, and instilling human values like empathy.
4. Safety and ethics must be baked into AI development, with responsible, cautious deployment even if core development accelerates rapidly.
5. Basic versions of AI, like ChatGPT, should always be free and widely accessible to improve AI literacy globally.
6. Disclosure of AI involvement should be the norm for personal communications, art, politics, etc. Even if we may care less about disclosure for some commercial uses in the future.
7. People should constantly experiment with new AI tools, and enterprises should set “experimentation budgets” to empower employees to find AI use cases.
8. The goal is coevolution – AI evolving responsibly alongside accelerating human understanding and trust in the technology through widespread access and transparency.

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At SXSW, Ray Kurzweil painted an exciting but potentially scary vision of the imminent singularity driven by accelerating computing power and AI capabilities. Nick Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, interviewed Kurzweil.

Kurzweil’s latest book, “The Singularity is Nearer,” will be released in June. The singularity is the point at which machines’ intelligence and humans merge.

Here are seven key takeaways from Ray Kurzweil’s talk at SXSW:

1. Kurzweil believes we are rapidly approaching the singularity, where artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence. He predicts this will occur around 2045.
2. The exponential growth in computing power, as described by Moore’s Law, is enabling significant advances in AI, like large language models, and will continue driving progress toward artificial general intelligence (AGI).
3. Kurzweil is very optimistic about the future benefits of AI and technology in areas like longevity, wealth creation, and eradicating poverty and disease. He believes technology has been an overwhelming force for good historically.
4. After AGI is achieved, brain-computer interfaces and nanotechnology will be critical for merging human intelligence with AI systems.
5. Ethical risks and challenges with advanced AI need to be grappled with, such as the potential for an advanced AI system to pursue a catastrophic goal like converting all matter to paperclips.
6. Kurzweil argues that conscious experience is not scientifically definable, so simulating the brain’s neural connections is sufficient to recreate human-level intelligence.
7. After the singularity, Kurzweil envisions humans being able to back up their minds and potentially live indefinitely by being recreated from these backups if their biological bodies die.

The Singularity Is Nearer featuring Ray Kurzweil | SXSW 2024

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Aaron Thweatt, a former employee of AECOM, Activision Blizzard, SpaceX, and DoorDash, founded Respark Coaching to empower individuals to manage conversations effectively.

In the latest episode of Ideas to Invoices, Thweatt discusses his belief that managing conversations is the most powerful skill set one can learn, driving multiple facets of life and work. He also believes the most crucial conversation is the one with oneself.

Thweatt emphasizes the importance of communication in addressing performance issues within startups. He advises founders to have clear standards and processes to avoid misunderstandings and effectively handle HR issues.

On customer feedback, Thweatt stresses its importance in the early stages of a startup for product development and the need to balance customer desires with the company’s vision.

Regarding layoffs and restructuring, Thweatt highlights the need for founders to communicate empathetically and supportively, offering the example of Airbnb’s sensitive approach as a model.

In handling ethical concerns, he advises founders to investigate and address issues decisively, ensuring that the company culture prevents such problems from reoccurring.

On the challenges of virtual workspaces, he suggests building a culture that values emotional intelligence (EQ) and training managers to handle difficult conversations effectively.

Lastly, Thweatt recommends Chris Voss’s book “Never Split the Difference” for learning about tactical empathy and its application in business. He also mentions co-authoring a book with Voss on employing empathy in business practices.

To contact Aaron Thweat, visit the Respark Coaching website or follow him on all social platforms at @aaronthweatt

The entire podcast is posted below. You can also download it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Google, iHeartMeadia, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Aaron Thweat, Founder of Respark Coaching

Aaron Thweatt is a dynamic executive coach and seasoned HR professional who strongly believes in the power of an individual’s potential. His mission is to create meaningful connections between talent, ambition, and purpose by empowering executives and entrepreneurs to bridge the gaps in their personal and business lives, allowing them to thrive in their zone of genius.

At SXSW, Amy Webb’s talk emphasized the significance of identifying and responding to fundamental technological trends, especially those related to AI, the interconnectedness of devices, and biotech.

1. Trends vs. Temporary Changes: Webb distinguishes between fleeting societal fads (like fashion and TikTok trends) and significant, long-term trends that show a change in direction over time. She emphasizes the importance of focusing on these impactful trends for future planning.
2. The Role of Data and Research: To identify meaningful trends, the Future Today Institute utilizes data, research, signals, and modeling. Combined with an understanding of uncertainties, these elements help predict future possibilities.
3. A Unique Moment in Time: Webb feels that the current moment is distinct due to the rapid evolution of technology, particularly in the creation and use of software and the development of generative AI.
4. Generational Perspective on Technology: She notes that every generation experiences unique technological advancements and that we are currently witnessing a momentous shift.
5. General Purpose Technologies (GPT): Webb identifies three primary areas of technological development—artificial intelligence, the connected ecosystem of things, and biotechnology. She argues that these technologies have become pervasive, influencing every aspect of the economy and society, similar to past GPTs like electricity, the steam engine, and the internet.
6. The Technology Supercycle refers to an extended period of heightened demand that leads to substantial economic changes. Unlike past cycles driven by a single technology, Webb believes we are now experiencing a supercycle powered by multiple converging technologies.
7. Convergence of Technologies: The convergence of AI, biotech, and the connected ecosystem has led to significant breakthroughs, creating new markets and attracting investments and talent.
8. Challenges for Leaders: Webb discusses how uncertainty and short-term planning horizons are crippling decision-makers, leading to fear and a reactive mode of operation rather than proactive, strategic thinking.
9. Strategic Foresight: She advocates for a more systematic approach to future planning beyond trend analysis, including scenario planning and strategies that ensure organizational resilience against unforeseen disruptions.
10. Accountability in AI: Webb criticizes the lack of accountability in AI development and points out ongoing bias and ethical development issues. She calls for an incentive overhaul and better management of technology’s societal impact.
11. Concept to Concrete AI: Looking forward, Webb predicts that AI will evolve from requiring specific prompts to being able to work with broad concepts, allowing for more creative and iterative collaboration between AI and humans.
12. Unsecured AI: The talk touches on the risks associated with open-source AI models that lack security, potentially leading to harmful outcomes.
13. Need for Regulation and Accountability: Webb stresses the urgency for establishing an accountability chain in AI development, especially as we approach artificial general intelligence.
14. The Everything Engine: AI is characterized as the “everything engine” embedded in all aspects of life and services, highlighting the need for comprehensive data to fuel this engine.
15. Empowerment and Agency: Despite the challenges, Webb expresses optimism that individuals and organizations can exercise control over their futures by working collectively through the transitions technology drives.
16. The Transition Generation: She labels the current generation as “Gen T” (Transition Generation), signifying everyone has a role in shaping a society that will look drastically different after this technological transition.
17. AI as the Everything Engine: AI is becoming deeply integrated into all aspects of life and services, a foundational element that improves and streamlines various processes.
18. Data Necessity: AI’s growth and effectiveness are heavily dependent on data, and as such, the demand for high-quality, diverse datasets is increasing. We need new types of data beyond text, including sensory and visual data, to train more sophisticated AI models.
19. Large Action Models (LAMs): LAMs represent a shift from predicting speech to predicting actions and behaviors. Numerous sensors in our environment will be required to collect the data necessary for these predictions.
20. Connectables: This term refers to a network of interconnected devices that collect data to further AI capabilities. This ecosystem will likely expand with wearables, smart devices, and sensors.
21. Growth of Devices: There will be an influx of devices, some of which may seem unnecessary or odd until the market stabilizes around beneficial technologies.
22. AI-First Devices: New devices are being created to continuously learn from our behaviors in real time, moving us towards more personalized and anticipatory technology.
23. Face Computers: Devices like smart glasses will become more common, equipped with numerous sensors to capture detailed information about our environment and behaviors.
24. Challenges and Risks: These advancements may have potential downsides, including privacy, security, and socio-economic divides exacerbated by technology.
25. Connectables and Large Action Models: These will enable more efficient data collection and AI training but will consume more power and require more advanced hardware.
26. Biotechnology Link: AI, connectables, and biotechnology are interlinked, with biotechnology potentially moving us beyond silicon-based computing to more efficient biological systems.
27. Generative Biology: Following generative AI, generative biology will allow us to design and create biological organisms and materials, opening up vast possibilities for medicine and materials science.
28. Bio Computers: Computers grown from human cells may be the future, raising ethical and practical questions about procuring and using biological materials for computing.
29. Actionable Steps: Amy Webb encourages a proactive approach to navigating these trends, including government and business strategies, to manage the transition and ensure societal benefits.
30. Fight for the Future: Individuals are urged to become informed and share knowledge to proactively shape the technology super cycle for the good of humanity rather than passively experiencing its effects.

Amy Webb Launches 2024 Emerging Tech Trend Report | SXSW 2024

Portuguese and Spanish language translations for SXSW 2024 Keynotes and Featured Sessions presented by Itaú Join Amy Webb for the launch of the Future Today Institute’s 17th edition of its Tech Trends Report and a deep dive into all the tech trends you’ll need to follow in 2024.

A new robotics accelerator is beginning to take shape just down the street from the massive Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing plant.

It’s the Hays Innovation Center for Advanced Manufacturing, known as HICAM, and last Thursday, the project’s developers held an event at the 50,000-square-foot building to unveil the new accelerator program. HICAM supports Its startups in the areas of advanced manufacturing, robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence companies.

The building is in the SH 130 corridor in East Austin. HICAM, a nonprofit center for advanced manufacturing, sits on a seven-acre campus at 6201 Quinn Lake Trail. HICAM focuses on fostering economic development and workforce development in East Austin.

The center is named in memory of Warren Hayes, an Austin entrepreneur who pioneered large-scale modular building development and founded the SH130 Municipal Management District.

HICAM seeks to promote and expand advanced manufacturing capabilities in the U.S., particularly in the Texas Triangle, which is projected to account for many of the nation’s new manufacturing ventures.

HICAM offers industrial space to startups building hardware that needs room.

Space in Austin has changed a lot, and HICAM meets a need for industrial space for manufacturing companies, said Joshua Bear, founder and CEO of Capital Factory.

“There is an opportunity here in Texas to bring back manufacturing,” Bear said. He said Central Texas is emerging as the centerpiece of the advanced manufacturing sector.

HICAM is in a strategic partnership with Capital Factory and plans to announce other partnerships soon.

“This project is a vital step toward expanding cutting-edge manufacturing operations within the Texas Triangle, anchored by San Antonio, Houston, and the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, with the greater Austin region serving as a major technology hub,” Marc Spier, HICAM’s board chair, said.

Spier said the plan will drive advanced manufacturing back to the U.S. and Texas, particularly with HICAM leading that regional effort.

“If we do things right, the companies that leave here will be incredibly successful,” Spier said.

Spier said there are many milestones. This is the first, he said, and there will be more later this year.

Executive Director Marcus Metzger will operate HICAM. He previously served as executive director and founding member of Future Space NYC, a multi-purpose co-working incubator focused on the creative technology industry. He also headed a digital fabrication business in New York, specializing in custom-manufacturing interactive installations for world-class museums and Fortune 100 businesses. He also runs NeoForge, a robotic additive manufacturing startup.

Metzger said HICAM plans to select 5 to 10 companies in its initial cohort and hopes to graduate those companies within a one-to-three-year timeline.

“Our goal is to facilitate the rapid growth of promising hardware and manufacturing startups, seeing them graduate from our accelerator and into their manufacturing facilities in Central Texas,” Metzger said.

HICAM also plans to establish classrooms and educational partnerships with local academic institutions to build on the successes of existing workforce development programs. The education track will span six to nine months and focus on skill acquisition in robotics, high-tech manufacturing, digital fabrication workflows, and computer-controlled machines.

Graduates of the program will earn a certificate, verifying their skill set and career readiness in advanced manufacturing fields. Moreover, businesses operating within the accelerator will actively contribute to curriculum development, leadership, skill sharing, and machine supervision to ensure a targeted skills pipeline. The accelerator also develops a specialized track to integrate veterans and active-duty military personnel into the workforce using similar educational frameworks.

In 2022, Austin voters approved a $750 million bond for all ACC campuses. Still, it included building a new campus focused on skilled trades at the college’s Southeast Travis County land near the Austin-Bergstrom Airport, said Molly Beth Malcolm, executive vice chancellor of operations and public affairs at Austin Community College. She said that ACC increasingly focuses on training students for highly skilled advanced manufacturing jobs.

Austin is becoming a hub for AI and robotics. The University of Texas’ Robotics Center has spun out two robot startups: Diligent Robotics, which makes Moxi, which assists in hospitals, and Apptronik, which makes Apollo, a humanoid robot used by Mercedes Benz in its manufacturing plants.

Colossal Biosciences announced Tuesday that it has hired a key executive, Ancient DNA Expert Beth Shapiro, as its Chief Science Officer.

Shapiro’s joining Colossal full-time will help the company meet its de-extinction and species preservation goals.

Shapiro, an internationally renowned evolutionary molecular biologist, is a leader in paleogenomics and ancient DNA and will oversee the continued expansion of the company’s de-extinction and conservation science teams. She is also a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Award winner and National Geographic Explorer.

“Our efforts to apply our de-extinction technologies to help save critically endangered species is just as important to us as bringing back the iconic mammoth, thylacine, and dodo,” said Ben Lamm, Co-Founder and CEO of Colossal.

Lamm founded Colossal Biosciences in 2021 with George Church, a Harvard geneticist and pioneer in personal genomics and synthetic biology. Today, Colossal has 128 employees, more than 30 funded postdocs in major academic labs, and 60 advisory board members. The company is based in Dallas but has offices in Austin, Boston, Santa Cruz, California, and Melbourne, Australia.

Shapiro previously served as Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and lead of the Paleogenomics Lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Lamm said she will continue to work out of Santa Cruz and travel to Colossal’s other labs and offices as needed.

“Beth and I have developed an incredible relationship over the past few years. I’m extremely impressed by her intellect, drive, and the rigor of her scientific research,” Lamm said in a news release. “I know she will continue to push our scientific research programs further and is the best fit for the role. It’s a dream to work so closely with Beth, and I know our species leads feel the same.”

“I’ve been an advisor to Colossal since just after the company launched and am excited now to step in full-time to support the team’s groundbreaking work,” Shapiro said in a news release. “It’s thrilling to see the research we’ve been doing in the labs not only seeing the light of day but being applied to science that will positively impact the planet.”

As an advisor to Colossal for the past two years, Shapiro helped launch the company’s Dodo and Avian Genomics Group. She also developed, along with Colossal team members, the international scientific advisory board. And she served as the lead paleogeneticist. In that role, she secured samples and generated DNA data that Colossal uses as part of all species groups.

“I have worked with Beth for over 20 years and am continually impressed by her contributions to the field of paleogenetics. I cannot be more excited about Beth joining Colossal, as this will not only help accelerate Colossal’s de-extinction efforts but will also provide an even more direct link between my ancient mammoth research and Eriona’s and George’s teams. I look forward to continuing our collaboration with Colossal to refine our target list of which genes make mammoths unique compared to other elephant lineages,” Dalen,  Professor of Evolutionary Genetics at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, one of the research leaders at the Center for Palaeogenetics in Stockholm, and leading Woolly Mammoth expert, said in a news release. 

Apollo, a humanoid robot designed and made in Austin, will soon assist in Mercedes-Benz’s manufacturing line.

Apptronik, which makes Apollo, signed a deal with Mercedes-Benz to provide its Apollo humanoid robots in logistics to bring parts to the production line for workers to assemble, according to a news release. Apollo will also deliver the totes of kitted parts later in manufacturing.

Apptronik’s Apollo humanoid robots can be used in Mercedes-Benz’s existing plants, so the carmaker can deploy them immediately without redesigning its plants. This allows the carmaker to automate some physically demanding, repetitive, and dull tasks for which it is increasingly hard to find reliable workers.

“When we set out to build Apollo, an agreement like the one we’re announcing today with Mercedes-Benz was a dream scenario,” Jeff Cardenas, Co-founder and CEO of Apollo, said in a news release. Mercedes plans to use robotics and Apollo to automate some low-skill, physically challenging, manual labor—a model use case that we’ll see other organizations replicate in the months and years.”

Apollo is a 5-foot, 8-inch-tall robot that weighs 160 pounds and can lift 55 pounds. It is built to operate alongside people in industrial spaces. According to the company, Apollo’s computing power allows leading AI companies to solve use cases outside the ones that Apptronik will initially solve.

“To build the most desirable cars, we continually evolve the future of automotive production. Advancements in robotics and AI have also opened up new opportunities for us. We are exploring new possibilities with the use of robotics to support our skilled workforce in manufacturing. This is a new frontier, and we want to understand the potential both for robotic and automotive manufacturing to fill labor gaps in areas such as low-skill, repetitive, and physically demanding work and to free up our highly skilled team members on the line to build the world’s most desirable cars,” Jorg Burzer, board member of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, production, quality, and supply chain management.

Apptronik, founded in 2016, spun out of the University of Texas’ Human Centered Robotics Lab. The company initially developed general-purpose robots for NASA.

Michael Dell sold stamps at auctions to make extra money as a kid.

At 16, he started driving his parents’ old station wagon to the Harris County courthouse to collect data on marriage licenses to target newlyweds and sell newspaper subscriptions. He then hired some of his high school buddies to check the filings in the surrounding counties and get more addresses.

“It worked really well,” Dell said.

It was the humble beginning of what would later become the global computer maker Dell Technologies, which reported revenues of $102 billion in 2023. Round Rock-based Dell is also one of Austin’s largest technology companies, with more than 14,000 local employees. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dell has become the world’s 12th richest person, with a personal fortune of $104 billion.

At 19, Dell started his eponymous computer company in his freshman dorm at the University of Texas. He later dropped out. This year, the company turns 40 years old, and Dell, 59, spoke about his entrepreneurial journey during a fireside chat on Thursday at South by Southwest. The featured session: “Businesss, Life and the Magic of Austin: A Conversation with Michael Dell.”

Dell said he’s learned a lot throughout the years, especially how to build a team, surround himself with intelligent people, and keep learning

“I learned that integrity and reputation are the most valuable things, and it takes a long time to build them up, and it’s really easy to destroy them,” Dell said.

He said Dell’s success was due to its customer-focused approach. He learned from customers’ challenges, problems, opportunities, and unmet needs.

Dell said making mistakes, iterating, trying new things, and experimenting contributed to the company’s success.

Dell said he was fortunate to attract great people to sign up for Dell’s grand adventure, and Austin was a great place to attract people.

Today, Dell is the leader in infrastructure products and server storage, but its first couple of attempts at creating those products could have been more successful, Dell said. Dell had its version of Unix, and that turned out not to be a great idea. Dell also tried to get into the smartphone business, but that did not work. In his latest book, “Play Nice, But Win,” Dell recounts many failures and learnings, he said.

Dell said it’s OK to make mistakes but not repeat them; learn from them.

Dell said he remembered going to Japan a lot in the ’80s, and they were developing amazing things, but nobody needed them. Dell iterated into this idea of pragmatic innovation. The customer can’t consistently articulate what the future solution is, but they can usually articulate the pain or the problem they’re having and trying to solve, he said.

“But you have to be agile, flexible, and continually adaptive because you’re going to get it wrong. Just accept that, deal with it, and be able to change quickly and iterate,” Dell said.

Along the way, Dell Technologies went from a public company to a private one. At one point, people threatened to take the company away from Dell.

Going private was a way of liberating the company, reinvigorating the entrepreneurial spirit, and accelerating Dell’s transformation,” Dell said.

He said There were awkward moments when Dell was curious if he was supposed to go to the office or talk to the management team. The uncertainty inflicted on Dell’s team and its customers was painful, but Dell managed to get through that.

“Going private was a way of accelerating the transformation, and then a couple of years later, we got to the point where we were experiencing once again strong positive growth and momentum, and so returning to the public markets allowed us to simplify the capital structure and the ownership structure,” Dell said.

Dell said another part of Dell’s success is creating a good company culture that fosters innovation. The culture that allows Dell to develop great products, he said.

He said that bringing artificial intelligence to the enterprise is Dell’s enormous priority for the future.

“And it’s a big platform shift, and it’s just beginning,” he said.

Dell’s customers also want to bring AI to their data and not the data to their AI in a public cloud, so that’s undoubtedly a massive priority, he said.

“That’s on top of all the things we’re doing around modern data centers and multi-cloud edge, which is a really big deal because you know everything in the physical world is becoming intelligent and connected,” Dell said. He said about 75% of enterprise data is still on-premise or on devices and the edge.

Dell also sees AI empowering creators. He says he’s a technology optimist. AI is happening ten times faster than the Internet.

“In almost no time, we will have 5 billion people with PCs and phones accessing AI, and that’s pretty cool,” Dell said. And if you think about this, the cost of having a cognitive superpower as your friend enabling whatever you’re trying to do is approaching 0, and that’s a really interesting thought.”

Dell said AI will tremendously impact education, healthcare, science, and every aspect of humanity.

“Nobody knows what the true impact of AI will be, Dell said. “But I’m very excited about it and optimistic because technology has always been about enabling human potential, making us healthier, making us safer, making us more successful in everything we’re trying to do.”

Dell also said AI regulation should encourage innovation rather than slow it down.

“Any time you have an emergent technology that’s evolving super-fast, it’s a big challenge for regulators because if you think about regulation, let’s say last year regarding AI, just look at the dizzying pace of improvement that occurred last year. It’s gonna be hard for the regulators to imagine how fast it’s evolving,” Dell said.

In addition to the technology, Austin has evolved incredibly, doubling in size every decade for the past four decades, Dell said.

“But I think it’s kept a lot of its character, and it’s been an incredible attractor of people with talent,” Dell said.

Dell said technology has played a major role in all the great things that have happened in the world and certainly here in central Texas.

SXSW started with music, then moved to film and television, and now it is interactive with technology. In Central Texas, you have this great combination of innovative businesses, Dell said. Texas’ great universities and 1.6 million college students fueled the region’s growth.

“I believe entrepreneurs go where their ideas can flourish and are welcome,” Dell said. Talent goes where there’s opportunity. Capital goes where it’s treated well, and it turns out Texas is a great place for that.”

Dell said Austin has been a hub of innovation. It has attracted the best and brightest minds, new ideas, companies, and opportunities.

Dell also mentioned that the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation started 25 years ago and that they donated to Austin.

“Much more to come on in the future, by the way,” Dell said.

Dell said the last 40 years have been incredible and exciting.

“But I think it’s all just the pregame show for what’s to come,” he said. “When I think about the future and all the technology will play in the world, I think about the incredible innovations we’re already starting to see in healthcare driven by technology. As we use all this cognitive power and explore the mysteries of the universe, maybe with the combination of quantum technology, wow, there’s never been a better time to be alive right now.”

When asked where he sees Austin in 25 years, Dell said it will continue to grow.

“Will it double every decade for the next three decades? I don’t know, maybe,” Dell said. We certainly have land in the broader area to do that, and if you think about the overall country, populations have been moving South and southwest for quite some time.”

Dell said Texas has been an amicable environment, and that’s why all this migration and growth are happening. Dell said the University of Texas and other universities in Texas have played a critical role in its development.

” If you find great companies, there’s always a great university nearby,” Dell said.

Dell said finding the right balance between growth, development, and livability is essential, and Austin has managed that pretty well.

“All the things that make our city great and wonderful, all the things that I loved when I first came here a little over 40 years ago, and a lot of those things are still there,” he said.

Lisa Su has led Advanced Micro Devices as its Chief Executive Officer for a decade to much success.

AMD’s revenues were $5.5 billion in 2014 and $22 billion last year.

Among its other accomplishments, today, an AMD CPU powers the world’s fastest supercomputer, Frontier, at Oak Ridge National Labs.

Although the company’s headquarters are based in California, Su lives in Austin and runs AMD from its sprawling campus on the Southside.

On Monday, she joined Ryan Patel on stage as the keynote speaker at South by Southwest. She talked about AMD’s role in technology innovation, its commitment to partnerships and open collaboration, and its vision for the future of Artificial Intelligence and computing.

To start, Su recounted her time as a student at MIT and her love of semiconductors from the beginning of college.

“Yes, that’s true; I was a nerd at heart,” Su said.

In one of her first jobs in college, she worked in a semiconductor lab, making tiny chips the size of a dime or quarter.

“I was just amazed at everything you could do with them,” she said. “I was in semiconductors when it wasn’t sexy, and I would say I don’t know that it’s sexy now, but it’s sexier.”

AMD’s chips and technology are used in Hollywood to make films. In a surprise appearance, director David Conley appeared on stage to discuss AMD’s technology in filmmaking. The night before, he was at the Academy Awards, where his film War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko, won best animated short film.

“It’s so great to be working with the best in the industry, and that’s what we enjoy,” Su said.

She said making feature films requires special effects that require tremendous computing power, and AMD chips are used in the process. Films like Avatar 2 used AMD chips.

Conley said he wanted to highlight the work that AMD is doing to help filmmakers create images that are more fantastic than they could have even thought about 30 years ago.

“These images are possible because we have a partnership with a company like AMD that gives us the leverage and the insights. They work with our teams, and we work with their teams to help optimize everything,” Conley said.

Conley said using AI in the entertainment industry is still a sensitive subject. Many people misunderstand it.

“I also want to make sure that artists understand that AI is a tool and that this is not about replacing artists,” Conley said. He said the future of films is more active entertainment with the intersection of games because gaming visual effects and movie-making are all the same.

“I want to jump from video games to movies,” he said. “I want to go from active entertainment to passive entertainment, and I want to go into real-time entertainment, and that is where films are going to be in three to five years, and we’re not going to be able to do that with the help of companies like AMD where we get real-time processing and real-time rendering and a lot of AI.”

AMD also partners with Adobe to optimize hardware and software for content creators. Generative AI can bring the whole content creation process to the next level, Su said. It gives creators more products so they can do more at a higher quality in less time.

Su said AI is the most critical technology that has come on the scene over at least the last 50 years. AI, and generative AI, has become the most important thing, and there’s a good reason for that, frankly, she said. ChatGPT came on board 14 months ago, and it just captured everyone’s imagination, she said.

“AI has always existed, but the ability to make AI so simple that you can just say, hey, you know, I want to know what I should do in Austin, TX, this weekend, for example, having that possibility only comes with a tremendous amount of computing power,” Su said.

Su showed one of AMD’s latest generation processors, a generative AI chip called MI 300, which has 153 billion transistors.

AI PCs aim to ensure that everyone has their own AI capability and doesn’t have to go to the cloud. But they can operate off their data. You can ask it questions, and it’ll answer for you faster in a private manner because maybe you don’t want your data going everywhere, Su said.

“It’s just the beginning of what I think is the ability to make us much more productive,” Su said.

AMD also partners with Microsoft, leading the way with Copilot, which runs Azure in the cloud. AMD is also partners with HP and Lenovo.

“Our goal is to make this super easy for all of you guys to use, and that’s the promise of AI PCs,” Su said.

“One of the things about AI that I’d like to say is that people are worried that AI is going to replace people’s jobs and stuff like that,” Su said. That’s not the way I think about it. Companies that learn how to leverage AI will win over companies that are not leveraging AI.”

Su said AMD wants to be at the forefront of using AI in every aspect of its business. “We’re using it to design chips,” she said.

Su said AMD is using AI to design faster chips and make them more reliable. It is also using AI to build better software. Su told AMD’s engineering team to increase the number of products the company can produce annually using AI. AMD also uses AI in HR, finance, and customer service.

This is a way of moving up the food chain because we’re allowing our team to have AI do some of the less fun things so that we can add higher value for our employees.

Su said everyone needs an AI strategy. It’s OK if it’s not perfect because everyone is learning.

“I’m learning new things about what technology can do and how we need to shape our entire ecosystem, our work, and our next-generation products as well, so that’s what makes it fun,” Su said.

Su uses Microsoft Copilot to summarize meetings and track action items, but she doesn’t use it to write her emails. She said she’s still experimenting with the software.

Su said AI is moving incredibly fast, and AMD’s approach is to have an open ecosystem and support open source.

“We believe that no company has the answer to everything,” she said.