Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith

Latest Episodes:

Yves Ubelmann: Saving our heritage, one digital twin at a time Feb 08, 2024

Show notes

Yves Ubelmann is a technologist, artist, and architect who is on a mission to digitally preserve the world’s cultural and natural heritage. He is the founder and CEO of Iconem, a company that creates stunning 3D models of endangered sites and environments. In this episode, Brad and Yves take a boat trip through Venice, touring the subject of his most ambitious project: an AI-generated digital twin of one of the world’s most magnificent cities. Inspired by his grandfather’s work to restore war-damaged heritage sites in France, Yves shares how he is using AI to memorialize the world’s heritage in 3D and raising awareness of the effects of climate change on our planet.

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U.S. Ambassador Nate Fick: Choosing a radio over a rifle in combat Jan 08, 2024

Show notes

As the United States’ first Ambassador-at-Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy, Nathaniel Fick is leading a tech-centered global diplomatic mission. Nate brings extraordinary depth to this important role in contemporary foreign policy – not as a career diplomat, but from a wide range of experiences: a Classics graduate from Dartmouth, a Marine leader in Afghanistan and Iraq, a venture capitalist, and a CEO for a cybersecurity firm.

As we kick off 2024, we discuss his priorities for the year ahead, why he'd always choose his radio over his rifle, the parallels between philosophy and AI policy, and an inspiring call for each of us to find time for national service.

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Ben Rhodes: The enduring power of language in the era of AI Nov 30, 2023

Show notes

Ben Rhodes had a front-row seat to one of the great transformations of our time - how people consume and react to information on social media. From his post as Deputy National Security Advisor and speechwriter serving under Barack Obama, Ben watched, as this technology evolved from a democratizing force of the Arab Spring to a weapon used to spread disinformation and divide societies.

In this episode, the bestselling author and podcaster discusses the transformative technology of today, Artificial Intelligence. He shares his perspective on how we can develop and deploy AI to serve society and help solve some of society’s biggest challenges while staying clear-eyed so that we can anticipate risk and navigate new challenges.

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His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama: The journey from gaming to government Oct 04, 2023

Show notes

As a young child, His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama developed his confidence and leadership skills through video games, which sparked his passion for history, strategy, and problem-solving.

Today, he’s putting these skills to use as the first in the world to hold a cabinet level position on AI as the Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications in the United Arab Emirates.

In this episode of Tools & Weapons, H.E. Omar Sultan Al Olama highlights how the region’s rich history and its aspirations for the future shape its embrace of AI. He shares how the elements that make a great game apply to leading transformational change. And he emphasizes the importance of AI education programs for government decision-makers, not just school kids.

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U.S. Ambassador Meg Whitman: Leading with the right questions Sep 07, 2023

Show notes

Throughout her impressive career leading businesses, nonprofits, and now as the U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, Meg Whitman has been driven by a simple question: "What are we going to do about it?" This relentless focus on action propelled her as she transformed eBay from a fledgling startup into a global e-commerce powerhouse and guided her as CEO navigating HP through a high-stakes corporate split. In this episode, she shares how her mother's experience becoming a certified airplane mechanic during WWII instilled in her the courage to take on big challenges, like building diplomatic bridges in Africa’s burgeoning Silicon Savanah.

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Kevin Scott: Putting AI into the hands of people everywhere Aug 03, 2023

Show notes

Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer, Kevin Scott, believes that for AI to benefit everyone, humans must be at the center of its development. His philosophy was shaped by his rural Virginia roots, where he belonged to a hardworking community that used creativity, perseverance, and curiosity to support each other and tackle practical challenges.

In this episode, we talk about how a culture grounded in human values can lead to safer products, how AI can increase access to critical services like education and medicine, and what Chopin’s G Minor Ballade can teach us about AI and human connection.

Click here to read the full transcript.

Click here to find out more about Kevin's book, Reprogramming the American Dream: From Rural America to Silicon Valley - Making AI Serve Us All.

First Vice President Nadia Calviño: Architecting Spain’s AI future Jun 21, 2023

Show notes

Nadia Calviño is a world leader who has earned a reputation for getting things done. As Spain’s First Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, she created the first national agency for regulating AI. In this episode, she explains how she rearchitected Spain’s economy to embrace AI in every sector while protecting citizens’ digital privacy and safety. They discuss how she is ensuring that Spain’s digital transformation uplifts everyone, the importance of digital skilling for people of all ages and genders, and Spain’s groundbreaking charter on digital rights, which is becoming a blueprint not only across Europe and the Spanish-speaking world, but globally.

Click here for the episode transcript.

Governing AI: A blueprint for our future May 30, 2023

Show notes

AI may be the most consequential technology advance of our lifetime. Rapid advances are creating new opportunities, challenges, and questions that require the public and private sectors to come together to ensure that this technology serves the public good. In this special episode, recorded as part of an event hosted by Microsoft in Washington D.C., I share how AI is leading to new breakthroughs in research, healthcare, and productivity, the guardrails required to ensure accountability and transparency, and a five-point blueprint to help create AI Policy, Law, and Regulation.

Click here for the episode transcript.

Governing AI: A Blueprint for the Future

Watch the video: https://www.linkedin.com/events/governingai-ablueprintforaipoli7066550853603639296/about/

Read the executive summary: https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2023/05/25/how-do-we-best-govern-ai/

Download the full report: https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RW14Gtw

Join the discussion: https://www.linkedin.com/events/governingai-ablueprintforaipoli7066550853603639296/comments/

Strive Masiyiwa: A vision to connect Africa’s greatest asset — its youth — to the world Mar 05, 2023

Show notes

At a time when most Africans had not yet heard the sound of a ringing telephone, Strive Masiyiwa, an impatient young engineer, successfully challenged Zimbabwe’s state-run telecoms monopoly to get the licenses he needed to launch Econet Wireless. The court’s decision reverberated across Africa, clearing the way for private sector operators to enter this new mobile technology industry and connect people across the continent for the first time. Residing in South Africa and the UK since 2000, the successful tech tycoon, recognized as one of the “50 Most Influential People” and one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders,” now drives his pan-African vision. Today, with the same persistence, he and his companies set their sights to ensure that all 1.3 billion+ Africans get access to digital infrastructure, close the digital skills gap, and invest in the continent’s young entrepreneurs to find innovative solutions for healthcare and food insecurity.

Click here to read the full transcript.

Carol Ann Browne: Turning the tables on Brad Smith Feb 15, 2023

Show notes

Brad and Carol Ann discovered that riding in an autonomous vehicle as it learns to navigate the streets of London can be a bit nerve-wracking. But these hands-on experiences are crucial to understanding the impact that AI's sudden surge has on everyday life at the intersection of technology and society. In this episode, Brad's co-author, chief of staff, and long-time colleague Carol Ann Browne puts him in the hot seat to discuss the tech issues and trends that they are witnessing together in real time. They discuss the war in Ukraine, the global economy, climate change, and why responsibility must be at the center of AI development.

Click here for the episode transcript.

You can read more about the initiatives discussed in the episode through the links below:

(04:28) Olena Zelenska Foundation

(07:28) Planet

(07:32) The Clooney Foundation for Justice

(11:52) Climeworks

(11:57) Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund

(15:31) OpenAI

(21:51) Responsible AI at Microsoft

(28:11) Wayve

(29:58) SEEDS