Behind The Tech with Kevin Scott

Latest Episodes:

Rana el Kaliouby, Founder of Affectiva, Deputy CEO of Smart Eye, and Emotion AI Pioneer Feb 14, 2023

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Empathy and emotions are at the center of how we connect and communicate as humans—in fact, 93 percent of how we communicate is accomplished through non-verbal means. Emotion AI (a subset of AI that measures, understands, simulates and reacts to human emotions) pioneer Rana el Kaliouby is on a mission to bring more emotional intelligence to the digital world. In this episode, Kevin talks with Rana about her upbringing and how she got into tech, her experience and challenges co-founding Affectiva and as Deputy CEO of Smart Eye, and the importance of infusing IQ and EQ into technology.

Rana el Kaliouby | Smart Eye

Kevin Scott

Behind the Tech with Kevin Scott

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Tobi Lütke: CEO and Founder, Shopify Jan 03, 2023

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Tobi Lütke, CEO and founder of the Canadian multinational e-commerce platform Shopify, is always looking for the tools he can use to build a better company. Since his early days running an online snowboard shop from his carport, Tobi has envisioned himself as fundamentally a craftsman first and a business exec second, a mindset that he has used to solve a wide variety of problems over the course of his career. In this episode, he joins Kevin to talk about applying computer science and engineering techniques to build and scale a company, the idea of bringing an 'apprentice mindset' to his work, and how his daily practice of writing code and tinkering in his home lab inspires him to be a more creative leader.

Tobi Lütke | Shopify

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Behind the Tech with Kevin Scott

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Year in Review 2022 Dec 20, 2022

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As 2022 winds down, we revisit some of the year's most inspirational and fascinating conversations with makers, engineers, award-winning sci-fi authors, and tech leaders—discussing topics ranging from building diversity into the ways we do work, to what the metaverse looks like now and far into the future, to imagining robots that know what you need before you do.

Kevin Scott

Behind the Tech with Kevin Scott

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Randall Munroe: XKCD Cartoonist, Author, & Physicist Sep 05, 2022

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XKCD is one of our favorite webcomics - and it started out as doodles in Randall Munroe's college notebooks. Munroe describes his work as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language." In this episode, he joins Kevin to talk about how he got started, where his inspiration comes from and his latest book, What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. Find out why a surprising number of cartoonists are physicists by training, explore the joy of seeking answers to seemingly impossible questions, and much more!

Sam Schillace: Deputy CTO, Microsoft Aug 10, 2022

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Have you ever wondered who was behind the creation of Google Docs? Kevin talks with Sam Schillace, one of the people who launched the transformational – and at the time controversial – idea 16 years ago. Today, Sam is an engineering Corporate VP focusing on consumer product culture and next generation productivity who stresses the importance of asking "What if?" questions. Kevin and Sam talk career advice, the fact that there's always tension in high functioning teams and why we're on the cusp of a new technological era.

Kevin Scott

Behind the Tech with Kevin Scott

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Simone Giertz: Inventor, entrepreneur & robotics enthusiast Jul 05, 2022

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This 31-year old YouTube phenom constantly pushes the envelope with her unique inventions – from her Every Day Calendar or a screwdriver ring to the world's 'worst' jigsaw puzzle. Kevin talks with Simone about how she gets the inspiration to make the things she creates, as well as challenges she faces as a product manufacturer. Learn about her future plans in this exciting episode.

Simone Giertz on YouTube

Yetch Store

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Behind the Tech with Kevin Scott

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Phil Spencer: CEO, Microsoft Gaming Jun 06, 2022

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Producing a blockbuster video game like Halo can be even more complex, creative, - and costly - than making a major motion picture. Kevin talks with Phil Spencer, a 34-year veteran of Microsoft, about video games as an art form, and how critical feedback is to game design. Phil shares some of his favorite games, describes the first program he ever wrote and even divulges his gamer tag!

Kevin Scott

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David Baszucki: Co-Founder and CEO, Roblox May 09, 2022

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Imagine what more than 50 million daily users on a gaming platform can create! David Baszucki is an entrepreneur, engineer and inventor who co-founded Roblox. Anyone with kids likely knows that Roblox is an online game creation platform that lets users design their own games, play games created by others, and even get paid for their creations. Roblox has helped millions of up-and-coming game developers learn the basics of their domain and work on their talents. Kevin and David talk about the potential of these real time connection technology platforms – and what's in store for our future!

David Baszucki | Roblox

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David Baszucki: Co-Founder and CEO, Roblox May 09, 2022

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David Baszucki | Roblox

Kevin Scott

Behind the Tech with Kevin Scott

Discover and listen to other Microsoft podcasts.

David Baszucki: Co-Founder and CEO, Roblox May 09, 2022

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