Azeem Azhar's Exponential View

Latest Episodes:

Building Better Cities After Covid-19 May 20, 2020

Show notes

Cities drive prosperity. But during the Covid-19 pandemic, they also have become crucibles of disease. Sameh Wahba, the World Bank’s Global Director of Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience, and Land, joins Azeem Azhar to discuss how the World Bank partners with technologists to help cities on the frontline of the pandemic, and how the dynamism of urban density can be harnessed to build livable and inclusive cities of the future.

They also address:

Why the inexorable trend towards urbanization will not be stopped by Covid-19.
Why more densely populated cities are not necessarily the worst affected.
How satellite imagery, 3D maps, and AI are helping cities manage transmission hotspots.

Further reading:

“Now Is the Time to Embrace Density” (New York Times, 2020)
“Cities are on the front lines of COVID-19” (World Bank Blog, 2020)
“Competitive Cities for Jobs and Growth: What, Who and How” (Global Urban Lecture, 2017)

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Note: We updated one sentence in this interview for clarity.

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Fei-Fei Li’s Mission to Transform Healthcare AI May 13, 2020

Show notes

After ImageNet transformed AI vision, superstar Stanford computer science professor Fei-Fei Li has turned her attention to advancing healthcare. Fei-Fei Li, co-director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute, is leading the next generation of interdisciplinary technologists.

She joins Azeem Azhar to explore her journey from pioneering AI vision to her current focus on healthcare, and to discuss the need to craft AI systems that enhance human flourishing.

They also discuss:

How AI technologies could support the isolated and elderly during the pandemic.
Why machine values must mirror human values, and how to embed that connection.
What allowed Li’s — and the industry’s — early naivete to the dangers of facial recognition.
Why Li’s health technologists must work with doctors and patients, not just medical data.

Further reading:

“Fei-Fei Li’s Quest to Make AI Better for Humanity” (Wired, 2018)
“AI Pioneer Fei-Fei Li on Building Benevolent Machines” (Wall Street Journal, 2019)
“AI, Accountability, and Power” (Exponential View podcast with Meredith Whitaker, 2019)

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How Nasdaq is Growing the World’s Digital Marketplace May 06, 2020

Show notes

Nasdaq has evolved from being the world’s first digital marketplace to a global technology company. CEO Adena Friedman joins Azeem Azhar to discuss how their digital operation has become the model for markets around the world, the surprising importance of regulation as a driver of innovation, and how Nasdaq prepared to keep functioning during the pandemic lockdown.

They also discuss:

The infrastructure that allows Nasdaq to reliably maintain data rates thousands of times faster than the internet and traffic volumes many times higher than Google searches.
How smart regulation played a vital role in the evolution of Nasdaq’s resilience.
Why the Nordic states exemplify a healthy balance between government and business.

Further reading:

“What’s the Future of Capitalism?” (TED Talk, 2019)
“Interview with Adena Friedman on COVID-19” (The Economic Club of Washington DC, 2020)
“Technology Companies and the New Recession” (Exponential View podcast, 2020)

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The Digital Future of the Supply Chain Apr 29, 2020

Show notes

Global supply chains are efficient, but fragile. How can we make them more robust, flexible, and sustainable? Pamela Mar, EVP for Knowledge and Applications at the Fung Group, joins Azeem Azhar to explore the technological and economic changes needed to improve these vital networks of production and distribution.

They discuss:

The lessons about mass production and specialization we’re learning with the Covid-19 crisis.
How digitization can build trust along the supply chain.
Why automation is an opportunity to move from mass production to mass customization.

Further reading:

“Reinventing Fashion” (Chatham House Panel Discussion, 2018)
“Meet the Eco-Business A-Listers: Pamela Mar” (Eco-Business, 2020)
“The State of Fashion – Coronavirus Update” (McKinsey and Business of Fashion, 2020)

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Lessons for an Aging World Apr 27, 2020

Show notes

For the first time in history, there are more people on the planet over 65 years old, than under five. How do we adapt to this demographic transformation? Camilla Cavendish, award-winning journalist and former Director of Public Policy for UK Prime Minister David Cameron, joins Azeem Azhar to explore the immense cost and new potential of this brave old world.

They discuss:

The huge wealth gap opening up between older and younger people.
What we can learn from the Okinawan concept of “ikigai” or “life purpose”.
Why meaningful relationships are the single most important factor in long-term wellbeing.

Further reading:

“The New Science of Aging” (Exponential View podcast, 2020)
“Extra Time: 10 Lessons for An Ageing World Camilla Cavendish” (2019)
“We are prioritising the old and will have to make it up to the young” (Financial Times, 2020)
“The Three Cleavages” (Azeem Azhar, 2020)

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The New Science of Aging Apr 22, 2020

Show notes

We have long assumed aging is inevitable, but is it? Professor David Sinclair, founder of the Sinclair Lab at Harvard’s Medical School and author of the bestselling “Lifespan: Why We Age — and Why We Don’t Have To,” joins Azeem Azhar to discuss emerging research that promises to radically slow down aging.

Their conversation covers:

What the Information Theory of Aging is and how it shifts the paradigm on biomarkers of aging.
Why periodically stressing your body can promote health and longevity.
Which supplements might arrest the three biochemical pathways implicated in aging.

Further reading:

“Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To” (Talks at Google, 2019)
“This is why we need to start treating ageing as a disease” (Wired, 2018)
“Has Harvard’s David Sinclair Found the Fountain of Youth?” (Boston Magazine, 2017)

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Navigating Covid-19 in a Digital Republic (with President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid) Apr 20, 2020

Show notes

In Estonia, the only public service not available online is marriage. Dubbed the “digital republic”, Estonia has the most advanced e-government in the world and nurtures a vibrant start-up community. Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia, joins Azeem Azhar to explore how legal and technological innovations have helped to build e-Estonia, and how this digital republic is navigating the Covid-19 pandemic.

They explore:

How Covid-19 could accelerate technology development and implementation.
How Estonia has achieved astonishing transparency and privacy in digital government.
How Estonia combats constant cyber threats.

Further reading:

“Estonia, the Digital Republic” (New Yorker, 2017)
“Why Estonia Was Poised to Handle How a Pandemic Would Change Everything” (New Yorker, 2020)
“Can AI Be a Fair Judge in Court? Estonia Thinks So” (Wired, 2019)
The Official Website for E-Estonia

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The Drive to Decarbonize Apr 15, 2020

Show notes

Clean energy is now cheaper than coal, and its uptake is accelerating. But can we get to zero emissions in time? Investor and technologist Ramez Naam joins Azeem Azhar to discuss how technological innovation and economies of scale are accelerating us towards a zero-carbon future, as well as the major challenges that remain.

They also cover:

The virtuous cycle that drove the falling price of clean energy.
How the Covid-19 pandemic could be an opportunity for massive government investment in clean energy infrastructure.
Three strategies to overcome the renewable energy storage problem.
Why industrial production of steel, concrete, and plastics remains the biggest challenge.

Further reading:

“The Third Phase of Clean Energy Will Be the Most Disruptive Yet” (Rameez Naam, 2019)
“Solar Power Is Sustainable for the Economy, Too” (Wired, 2020)
“How Germany helped make renewable energy cheap for the rest of the world” (Vox, 2020)
“How industry can move toward a low-carbon future” (McKinsey, 2018)

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Inside Alphabet’s X: Nurturing Radical Creativity Apr 08, 2020

Show notes

X, Alphabet Inc.’s “moonshot factory,” dares to solve big problems with breakthrough technologies. Most of their projects fail. But some — like self-driving cars and the AI that powers Google — are already changing the world. CEO Astro Teller joins Azeem Azhar to explain how he built a culture of radical creativity, where employees are encouraged to dream — and to fail — big.

In this episode they explore:

Why allowing the right amount of chaos is vital for flourishing creativity.
The five basic principles at the heart of X.
Why innovation dies if only success is rewarded.
What inspiration Astro takes from Willy Wonka.

Further reading:

- “Inside X, Google’s top-secret moonshot factory” (Wired, 2020)
- “Astro Teller on How to Handle Failure” (Wired, 2019)
- “Astro Teller, ‘Captain of Moonshots’ at Alphabet’s X, Is on a Roll” (WSJ, 2018)

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The Next Trillion-Dollar Market Apr 01, 2020

Show notes

Biotech is gathering pace: AI systems are simulating novel materials, new genomic technologies are enabling precision bioengineering, and automation is executing production on a massive scale. Softbank Vision Fund Senior Managing Partner, Deep Nishar tells Azeem Azhar why biotech is the next trillion-dollar market, and what breakthroughs to expect.

In this episode they also discuss:

Why emerging biotech and AI, together, would help control and stop coronavirus-like outbreaks in the future.
What new materials and medicines are coming out of the “virtuous cycle” of research and funding that is now taking off.
What the rest of the world should learn from China’s vigorous development of AI technologies.

Further reading: