How to Shape the Future of AI (Naveen Rao, VP of Generative AI at Databricks)
Dec 22, 2023
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Naveen Rao, Co-founder of MosaicML and head of Generative AI at Databricks, shares insights on AI landscape, MosaicML acquisition, urgent AI questions, and future of generative AI. He reflects on past successes, challenges, and offers valuable lessons for founders navigating the AI moment.
Assembling a diverse, motivated team with adjacent skills leads to significant startup success.
Transition from researcher to chief narrator is crucial for convincing investors and customers in entrepreneurship.
Navigating the startup journey involves making strategic business bets and facing challenges in company acquisitions.
Deep dives
Building a Motivated Team with Diverse Backgrounds
The podcast episode discusses the success of assembling a motivated team with diverse backgrounds in a startup. By hiring smart individuals with adjacent skills to the main problem, the team managed to bring together people who were highly motivated to learn. This approach allowed for a unique blend of expertise, where employees had the necessary mental horsepower and were eager to delve into the specific space, leading to significant achievements.
Transition to a Chief Narrator Role in Business
A key point highlighted in the podcast is the transition an entrepreneur undergoes from being a researcher to becoming a chief narrator. The speaker emphasizes the shift in focus towards convincing investors, employees, and customers to invest in, join, and purchase products from the company. This evolution in responsibilities marks a critical stage where understanding people, especially investors and customers, becomes paramount for business success.
Navigating the Startup Journey towards Company Acquisitions
The episode delves into navigating the startup journey leading to company acquisitions, as showcased by the guest's experiences. From founding successful companies to being acquired by industry giants like Intel and Databricks, the guest's journey reflects the evolving landscape of AI. Insights and frameworks that guided decision-making in making strategic business bets, such as the acquisition of Mosaic ML by Databricks, are thoroughly discussed, shedding light on the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurial endeavors.
Navigating the Partnership Journey
The podcast episode explores the journey of forming a partnership, highlighting the importance of trust, shared values, and a common goal in collaborating with like-minded individuals. The speaker reflects on the rapid decision-making process that led to the successful alignment of visions and the swift closure of a major deal within 62 days. The emphasis is placed on the chemistry between founding teams, the strategic economics of the partnership, and the synergistic opportunities that arise when complementary skills and resources merge.
Challenges and Opportunities in AI Regulation
The discussion delves into the complexities of regulating AI technologies and the importance of governance and transparency within the industry. The conversation touches upon the recent developments at OpenAI, emphasizing the significance of thoughtful governance to handle risks effectively. The speaker highlights the need to understand motives and risks associated with corporate structures and stresses the role of continuous learning, feedback loops, and ethical considerations in developing truly autonomous systems. Additionally, insights are provided on the evolving landscape of AI technologies and the imperative shift towards scalable solutions to address dynamic market demands.
My guest this month is Naveen Rao, the co-founder of MosaicML and current head of Generative AI at Databricks.
Naveen's journey is unique, as it echoes the evolution of AI itself. He’s best known for founding and selling two successful companies. The first, Nervana, an AI-focused chip company, was acquired by Intel for $400 million in 2016. The second, MosaicML, was acquired by Databricks in June for $1.3 billion.
In our conversation, we unpack the insights and frameworks that led Naveen to make these bets in the first place. We begin by exploring his long history in AI research and startups, from his early days at Qualcomm, his founding of Nervana, and the genesis of MosaicML.
We then turn to the complexities of the ever-changing AI landscape and go behind the scenes of MosaicML’s acquisition by Databricks. We close with Naveen’s takes on the most urgent questions in AI, including the recent tumult at OpenAI, the road to AGI, the role of regulation, and where he thinks generative AI will go next.
What struck me most is Naveen’s remarkable ability to not only anticipate the future but also actively pave the path toward it. For founders looking to navigate our current AI moment, this episode is full of valuable lessons.
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