
Behind The Tech with Kevin Scott
Behind the Tech invites listeners to geek out with an amazing line-up of tech heroes, inventors and innovators. Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott takes tech enthusiasts behind-the-scenes to meet AI experts, computer scientists, authors, musicians, digital leaders, bioengineers and neuroscientists who have made discoveries, built tools, and literally helped make our modern world possible.
Latest episodes

May 28, 2020 • 1h 5min
Dr. Eric Horvitz: Chief Scientific Officer, Microsoft
Microsoft’s first Chief Scientific Officer, Technical Fellow and world-renowned AI researcher, Dr. Eric Horvitz, gives us an insider’s look into how the experts are approaching the fight against Covid-19. Learn how AI and bioscience are playing a critical role in gaining insights into the best way to approach this pandemic and prepare for future challenges. Click here for full transcript of this episode. Listen to other Microsoft podcasts at aka.ms/microsoft/podcasts

Apr 14, 2020 • 42min
Kevin Scott and Reprogramming the American Dream
Listen in for a sneak peek into Kevin's new book “Reprogramming the American Dream.” Co-author Greg Shaw interviews Kevin about the future of AI and how it can evolve to better serve us all, from rural America to Silicon Valley. Kevin Scott Visit our site for more info: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/behind-the-tech

Mar 19, 2020 • 1h 5min
Percy Liang: Stanford University Professor, technologist, and researcher in AI
We talk with Stanford University Professor Percy Liang. They discuss the challenges of conversational AI and the latest leading-edge efforts to enable people to speak naturally with computers. Visit our site for more info: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/behind-the-tech Listen and subscribe to other Microsoft podcasts at aka.ms/microsoft/podcasts

Jan 30, 2020 • 1h 11min
Chris Urmson: Aurora CEO - Autonomous Driving
Learn about the latest thinking for autonomous driving technology from Aurora CEO Chris Urmson, who led Google’s self-driving car program. This former Carnegie Mellon professor also tells us about his days with DARPA and shares predictions for 2020 and beyond. Listen to other Microsoft podcasts at aka.ms/microsoft/podcasts

Dec 20, 2019 • 1h 7min
Behind the Tech: 2019 Year in Review
To wrap up the year, we revisit podcast conversations with a few of the incredible thinkers and innovators who have been on the show. Topics range from the democratization of artificial intelligence, to the challenges of social media and the internet. You may also hear some surprising things these folks do in their free time when they’re not changing the course of tech history in some fascinating way.

Nov 21, 2019 • 1h 8min
Danny Hillis: Inventor, entrepreneur, scientist
If you’ve heard of the 10,000 Year Clock, you know Danny. He’s a computer scientist, who pioneered parallel computers and their use in artificial intelligence. Danny founded Thinking Machines Corporation, a parallel supercomputer manufacturer, and was a fellow at Walt Disney Imagineering.

Oct 24, 2019 • 1h 3min
danah boyd: Researcher, activist, tech scholar
danah is a partner researcher at Microsoft Research, and founder of Data & Society. Her work examines where technology and society intersect. Kevin and danah discuss the dangers of a “move fast and break things” culture. Today, her research focuses on reducing weaknesses in sociotechnical systems.

Sep 26, 2019 • 59min
Neha Narkhede: Author, entrepreneur and Confluent cofounder
Neha is cofounder and CTO of Confluent, a company whose mission is to help other companies use Apache Kafka to adopt modern streaming infrastructure. Check out our other shows about technology, visit: The Intrazone: https://aka.ms/TheIntrazone Sync Up, a OneDrive podcast: http://aka.ms/syncup

Aug 22, 2019 • 59min
Sam Altman: Entrepreneurial prodigy, Y Combinator President and OpenAI CEO
Sam started his first company at 19 – and has launched many more since then. From Y Combinator to OpenAI, his insights and determination spark inspiration. Hear Sam’s ideas about career motivation, and why he thinks the human brain may be replicable in silicon.

Jul 26, 2019 • 1h 7min
Bill Coughran: Bell Labs researcher, Google executive, Sequoia Capital VC
Bill is one of Kevin’s engineering heroes. Listen as they talk careers, leadership and scaling teams – as well as a revolution in computer architecture and the resurgence of tech from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Find out what Bill, a partner at Sequoia Capital, says about tech trends to watch.
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