The Information's TITV

Zig Serafin, CEO of Qualtrics, shares insights on their $6.75 billion acquisition of Press Ganey Forsta, emphasizing healthcare analytics and AI strategies. Misha Laskin, CEO of Reflection AI, discusses their $2 billion funding round, exploring the advantages of open AI models for enterprises. Meanwhile, Aaron Dignan reflects on winding down his AI startup Plum, addressing the challenges of market timing and monetization. The episode also delves into the revival of e-commerce, highlighting successful new brands and evolving strategies in a shifting landscape.

Justin Lopas, COO of Base Power, shares insights on their recent $1 billion funding round and how distributed batteries can tackle rising energy demands from data centers. Sara Germano, a sports business reporter, discusses the game-changing automated ball-strike system in MLB, alongside fan-driven AI-generated content transforming viewer engagement. Sheel Mohnot from Better Tomorrow Ventures dives into his firm's new $140 million fintech fund, revealing market trends and pressures shaping the industry, including the evolving dynamics with big tech and Trump's influence.

Todd Olson, Founder and CEO of Pendo, shares insights into the heightened anxiety among tech founders in the thriving AI market. He emphasizes the importance of staying focused on fundamentals, despite the excitement surrounding AI advancements. Olson notes a shift in software usage patterns, with AI acting as a co-pilot, yet highlights more cautious growth forecasts. In addition, the conversation touches on merit-based hiring strategies from MeritFirst, aimed at reducing bias and validating candidates through real work assessments.

Join Alex Vannoni, Head of Healthcare Product at Whoop, as he dives into the exciting launch of the Advanced Labs blood-test product. This innovative service offers a comprehensive 65+ biomarker panel integrated with Whoop's wearables. Alex discusses the value of personalized insights over generic lab services and the importance of licensed clinician reviews. He also shares Whoop's vision for combining non-invasive data with intermittent blood tests, pushing the boundaries of health tracking.

Austin Lyons, a Senior Analyst at Creative Strategies, delves into the implications of the OpenAI-AMD compute deal for the chip market, highlighting AMD's strategic counter to NVIDIA. He explains how heterogeneous compute opens paths for AI chip startups, yet identifies challenges against NVIDIA's flexible GPUs. M13's Anna Barber discusses startup opportunities in finance and healthcare despite OpenAI's dominance. Lastly, Crescendo's Matt Price talks about transforming contact centers with AI, illustrating the shift towards AI-native operations and improved customer trust.

Brian Schimpf, co-founder and CEO of Anduril, discusses the company’s rapid growth and innovative defense technology, including counter-drone systems and space capabilities. He highlights the impact of geopolitical instability on demand for defense solutions and the balancing act of operational and ethical considerations. The conversation shifts to predictions for the future of AI, with discussions on vertical applications in healthcare and law, as well as insights into Reed Jobs’ unique career trajectory and investment focus.

Saanya Ojha, a Partner at Bain Capital Ventures, dives into OpenAI's Sora 2 launch, revealing its social and copyright implications. Jamin Ball from Altimeter Capital shares his concerns about the rapid revenue growth of AI companies, emphasizing retention risks. Francis Aquila, an M&A expert, discusses current market dynamics, including an uptick in mega deals and acqui-hire trends. Lastly, Ty Haney from Outdoor Voices talks about relaunching the brand with a new community-focused commerce model that engages superfans.

Nick Patience, VP of AI at The Futurum Group, dives into DeepSeek's v3.2 model, exploring its efficiency gains and competitive stance against Chinese giants like Alibaba. Zeb Evans, CEO of ClickUp, discusses the evolving data wars and predicts a future dominated by 'super software' that integrates AI and various applications. They also touch on TikTok's potential US leadership, the challenges ahead, and what user data safety looks like in this shifting landscape.

Join Jeanne DeWitt Grosser, COO of Vercel, as she reveals Vercel's ambitious goal of becoming the 'AWS of AI' following a $300M funding round. She discusses the transformative potential of their new cloud services and the impact of the Claude Sonnet 4.5 model on coding. Also featuring Sean Nandy from AWS, who explains the practical applications of AI agents that can autonomously manage complex tasks and share insights from a case study where F1's downtime was reduced by 86% through agent-assisted analysis.

Cory Weinberg, Deputy Bureau Chief of Finance at The Information, dives into EA's monumental $55 billion buyout, dissecting the financial giants behind the deal, including Jared Kushner's Affinity. Rodney Brooks, founder of Robust AI and co-creator of iRobot, shares a technical reality check on humanoid robots, discussing their challenges with dexterity, safety risks, and the evolution of robot design. The conversation also touches on NVIDIA's race in AI as driven by competitive fears and the hurdles of corporate data access in AI projects.