

Microsoft Research Podcast
Researchers across the Microsoft research community
An ongoing series of conversations bringing you right up to the cutting edge of Microsoft Research.
Episodes
Mentioned books

4 snips
Mar 31, 2025 • 1h 4min
Ideas: Accelerating Foundation Models Research: AI for all
Mohamed Idris, an Assistant Professor of Medicine, researches how AI can tackle health disparities, particularly in cancer care. Cesar Torres, an Assistant Professor in Computer Science and director of the Hybrid Atelier, explores technology's intersection with creativity. They discuss the Accelerating Foundation Models Research program's potential to democratize AI access. Their conversation covers innovative AI solutions for marginalized communities, the importance of cultural relevance in AI development, and the role of interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing societal challenges.

16 snips
Mar 20, 2025 • 1h 17min
The AI Revolution in Medicine, Revisited: The reality of generative AI in the clinic
In a compelling discussion, Dr. Christopher Longhurst, Chief Clinical and Innovation Officer at UC San Diego Health, and Dr. Sara Murray, Chief Health AI Officer at UC San Francisco Health, dive into the transformative role of AI in medicine. They explore how generative AI is changing patient communication, enhancing clinician efficiency, and addressing documentation burdens. The conversation highlights ethical AI deployment, the integration of AI scribes, and the importance of human oversight in clinical settings, showcasing the exciting yet complex future of healthcare technology.

Mar 6, 2025 • 12min
The AI Revolution in Medicine, Revisited: An Introduction
Discover how generative AI is reshaping healthcare and the vital role it plays in patient care dynamics. Follow the host's emotional journey from skepticism to recognition of AI's potential. Delve into the ethical dilemmas and collaborative efforts essential for harnessing this technology's transformative power. This engaging discussion highlights not just the tech but redefines what it truly means to care for patients.

41 snips
Feb 19, 2025 • 57min
Ideas: Quantum computing redefined with Chetan Nayak
Chetan Nayak, Technical Fellow of Quantum Hardware at Microsoft Quantum, discusses revolutionary breakthroughs in quantum computing. He highlights the creation of the first topoconductor and its role in advancing QPU architecture. Nayak explains how unique properties of Majorana zero modes could reshape scalability in quantum systems. The conversation also touches on the relationship between quantum computing and AI, emphasizing the need for new materials and innovative measurement techniques to push the boundaries of technology.

Feb 11, 2025 • 26min
Ideas: Building AI for population-scale systems with Akshay Nambi
In this episode, guest host Chris Stetkiewicz talks with Microsoft Principal Researcher Akshay Nambi about his focus on developing AI-driven technology that addresses real-world challenges at scale. Drawing on firsthand experiences, Nambi combines his expertise in electronics and computer science to create systems that enhance road safety, agriculture, and energy infrastructure. He’s currently working on AI-powered tools to improve education, including a digital assistant that can help teachers work more efficiently and create effective lesson plans and solutions to help improve the accuracy of models underpinning AI tutors.

Jan 23, 2025 • 45min
Ideas: Bug hunting with Shan Lu
Struggles with programming languages helped research manager Shan Lu find her calling as a bug hunter. She discusses one bug that really haunted her, the thousands she’s identified since, and how she’s turning to LLMs to help make software more reliable.

Jan 16, 2025 • 50min
Ideas: AI for materials discovery with Tian Xie and Ziheng Lu
How do you generate and test materials that don’t exist yet? Researchers Tian Xie and Ziheng Lu share the story behind MatterGen and MatterSim, AI tools poised to transform materials discovery and help drive advances in energy, manufacturing, and sustainability.

Dec 19, 2024 • 51min
Ideas: AI and democracy with Madeleine Daepp and Robert Osazuwa Ness
Madeleine Daepp, a Microsoft senior researcher specializing in generative AI's political impact, and Robert Osazuwa Ness, who focuses on the reliability of large language models, delve into AI's role in democracy. They discuss the challenges of disinformation, especially during elections, and emphasize the innovations in Taiwan and India’s voting systems. The conversation also highlights the dual-edged nature of AI—its potential benefits and risks—alongside the necessity for media literacy and innovative solutions to combat misinformation.

Dec 17, 2024 • 18min
NeurIPS 2024: The co-evolution of AI and systems with Lidong Zhou
Just after his NeurIPS 2024 keynote on the co-evolution of systems and AI, Microsoft CVP Lidong Zhou joins the podcast to discuss how rapidly advancing AI impacts the systems supporting it and the opportunities to use AI to enhance systems engineering itself.Learn more:Verus: A Practical Foundation for Systems Verification | Publication, November 2024SuperBench: Improving Cloud AI Infrastructure Reliability with Proactive Validation | Publication, July 2024BitNet: Scaling 1-bit Transformers for Large Language Models | Publication, October 2023

Dec 13, 2024 • 22min
NeurIPS 2024: AI for Science with Chris Bishop
In this special edition of the podcast, Technical Fellow and Microsoft Research AI for Science Director Chris Bishop joins guest host Eliza Strickland in the Microsoft Booth at the 38th annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) in Vancouver, British Columbia, to talk about deep learning’s potential to improve the speed and scale at which scientific advancements can be made.