Daniel Loreto grew up in Venezuela, but moved around a lot and lived in 6 different countries. He is married with 2 kids, ages 8 and 5, which keeps him busy. Being based out of Austin, TX, he and his family like to spend time outdoors, on Lake Austin and Lake Travis. When it comes to food, he enjoys good sushi and eating healthy. And nowadays, he sticks to nonfiction reading, in order to learn something.
As part of running an team, Daniel had to create a platform engineering squad to support the development process. What nagged him about this was that he felt like he was recreating the wheel, having done this many times before. He figured someone should solve these problem by building products to make cloud dev delightful.
Today, we are kicking off a new series entitled Minting Unicorns - Blockchain, AI and Dubai, sponsored by the City of Dubai.
Dubai is the new global center of gravity, connecting the world in a way few places can. As a hub for trade, tourism, innovation, and finance, Dubai offers the ideal environment for startups and scale-ups to thrive. Entrepreneurs find a home here, whether in health-tech, fintech, AI, or renewable energy, supported by SME-focused programs that empower high-potential companies to scale globally. From flexible regulations to tax incentives, world-class infrastructure to access to global investors managing $1 trillion, Dubai understands what businesses need to scale fast.
In this episode, we are speaking with Raakin Iqbal (aka Rock N Roll), CEO & Co-founder of Nucleus AI. Raakin is not only going to tell us about how Nucleus is building pre-AGI, but also how the ecosystem in Dubai is supporting their growth and success.
Questions:
What is Nucleus AI? What do you do?
Nucleus AI is often described as a Pre-AGI platform. Could you explain how this sets you apart from other AI solutions currently available in the market?
I am interested in how your system manages to "comprehend operational intricacies" instead of simply automating tasks.
How does your company’s approach to advanced AI strategies align with organizations like OpenAI, Anthropic and DeepMind? Can you name some proof-of-concepts to illustrate to this end?
What is the difference between Generative AI and AGI in your view, and why is Nucleus AI focusing on AGI?
Talk to us about the biggest challenges and opportunities in the development of AGI, and how is Nucleus AI approaching them?
Could you share some concrete examples of how your platform has enhanced efficiency for enterprises and government bodies within Dubai?
Dr. Marwan of the Dubai Blockchain Center spoke about the convergence of blockchain and AI. How do you foresee this synergy advancing within Dubai and potentially on a global scale? What role do you see Nucleus AI playing in the broader AI and blockchain ecosystem of Dubai?
How does Nucleus AI play a role as a possible use case using advanced AI for H.H. Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum's 0 Bureaucracy Government Vision?
How would you describe Dubai’s ecosystem for artificial intelligence and machine learning innovation and product development?
With Dubai’s advanced AI initiatives like the AI Campus and other licensing programs- how has Nucleus AI benefited from this environment esp. in your pursuit of AGI?
What advice would you give to the U.S.-based AI startups considering Dubai for expansion?
Matt Garman is the CEO of Amazon Web Services. Garman joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss Amazon's AI strategy and future plans. Tune in to hear Garman's insights on AWS's AI chips, partnerships with leading AI companies including OpenAI, the ROI of generative AI, and how AWS is helping customers leverage AI while managing costs. We also cover AWS's investment in nuclear energy, the current state of the cloud market, and Amazon's culture challenges Hit play for a wide-ranging and in-depth conversation with the executive leading the world's largest cloud computing operation.
Nick Mistry lives in the suburbs of Maryland, outside of Washington, DC. He has always been fascinated by cyber security, but most of all, its intersection with emerging technology. Outside of tech, he enjoys reading about human nature, through biographies of past leaders. He highly recommends the book Founding Brothers, which highlights the start of the US. He also enjoys spending time with his family outdoors, especially during the fall in the Northeast.
Around the time of the log4j exploit, Nick found himself troubled by the fact that people did not know if these exploits were included in their software. He spent months diving deep into this issue and talking with people in the industry, and eventually he connected with a prior colleague, working on this very concept.
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Elon Musk tries to stop OpenAI from going for-profit 2) Should OpenAI be able to convert to for profit? 3) Should OpenAI be able to prevent investors from investing in competitors 4) What happens if OpenAI delays the for-profit conversion 5) State of GenAI 6) Musk's xAI raise and scale up 7) Artists leak OpenAI's Sora 8) Sora is actually pretty good 9) Evaluating Marx Benioff's agent pitch with Agentforce 10) Salesforce vs. Klarna 11) Klarna IPO awaits 12) Australia's teen social media ban 13) Huawei Mate 70 and its HarmonyOS 14) Temu's Black Friday deals 15) Alex almost buys an ebike
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Ambar van der Wath—who leads investor relations at one of Africa's leading accelerator slash VC firms, Baobab Network—discusses with Andile Masuku how the firm is creating accessible entry points for cautious investors interested in early-stage African tech startups.
Episode Overview:
Picture this: You're an international investor curious about African tech, but you're not quite ready to write million-dollar checks or commit to a 7-year fund lockup. That's exactly the puzzle Baobab Network is solving with their new-ish investment vehicle - allowing investors to back a batch of startups for as little as $20K.
Key topics:
Innovation in early-stage investment vehicles
Market education and investor development
Secondary markets and exit opportunities
Equity considerations for early-stage founders
The strategic role of venture debt
Risk management across African markets
Notable points:
1. Baobab Network is spreading bets across 16 markets (and counting)
2. Their portfolio has hit 60 companies, with half joining in just the last two years
3. They're actively hunting for founders who didn't go to Harvard (their words, not ours)
4. Sometimes they even manage early exits - Van der Wath shares about a secondary sale just 14 months post-investment
Through their innovative batch investment approach, Baobab Network is creating what Van der Wath describes as a "trusted layer" between international capital and African startups. Listen in for her insights on secondary markets.
The episode provides valuable insights for anyone interested in African tech investment, especially newcomers exploring the ecosystem for the first time.
Image credit: Nerene Grobler via Unsplash
Marc Benioff is the CEO and co-founder of Salesforce. Benioff joins Big Technology Podcast for a wide ranging discussion on AI agents, automation, and the future of labor. In this episode, we discuss his vision for AI agents and how they'll transform the way companies interact with customers. Tune in to hear why Benioff believes the future isn't about personal AI assistants, but rather company-specific agents built on robust data systems that can take effective action on our behalf. We also cover his thoughts on Microsoft's Copilot, Klarna's provocative statements about abandoning traditional software, whether he'll sell Time Magazine, and what happened with Elon's purchase of Twitter. Hit play for an illuminating conversation about the future of work, enterprise software, and how AI might create a new era of business productivity.
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Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice.
For weekly updates on the show, sign up for the pod newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6901970121829801984/
Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack? Here’s 40% off for the first year: https://tinyurl.com/bigtechnology
Questions? Feedback? Write to: bigtechnologypodcast@gmail.com
