Our next guest is a bold dreamer.

When Martin Vechev graduated in Computer Science from Cambridge university he dreamt of creating a world-class research center in his homeland Bulgaria.

Today, his dream is a reality. Martin Vechev is the architect of The Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology (INSAIT) in Sofia. The deep tech institute was created in collaboration with two of the world's leading tech universities, Zurich and Lausanne. It is supported by tech giants like Google, Amazon, Deep Mind, and the Bulgarian government.

Prof. Martin Vechev combines several unique talents - he’s a tech entrepreneur, a professor at ETH Zurich, and an award-winning researcher. His efforts are in the field of building secure and fair Artificial Intelligence.

He has co-founded 3 startups in the area of Safe AI, blockchain security, and AI for Code. He has exited two of them already.

In this episode of The Recursive podcast, we get to take a look inside his mind.

In his conversation with Irina, prof. Martin Vechev shares why it was never his dream to become an entrepreneur, but rather to create an impact on science, his students, and the world.

You’ll also learn:

💸 Why did he drop the opportunity to earn money in Canada to follow his passion back to Bulgaria and work at a place where he can learn the most?

🤔 Why problem definition is more important than problem-solving in the world of science and research?

🚀 How his lifelong dream of INSAIT came to life; (“You declare to the world what you want to do because this binds you to your decision. Even if you fail, you either make it or you learn something”)