
The a16z Show
The a16z Show discusses tech and culture trends, news, and the future – especially as ‘software eats the world’. It features industry experts, business leaders, and other interesting thinkers and voices from around the world. This show is produced by Andreessen Horowitz (aka “a16z”), a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm. Multiple episodes are released every week.
Episodes
Is Software Losing Its Head?
Seema Amble, Steven Sinofsky, and Elena Burger unpack one of the biggest questions facing enterprise software: what happens when AI agents become the primary users of software instead of humans?
The conversation explores the rise of "headless" software, why APIs and agentic workflows are reshaping enterprise applications, and whether traditional SaaS products are becoming systems of record rather
Don’t Follow Your Passion | Ben Horowitz’s Advice for New Graduates
In this commencement address to Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science Class of 2015, Ben Horowitz challenges some of the most common advice given to graduates.
Rather than urging students to “follow their passion,” Horowitz argues that people should focus on developing their strengths and making meaningful contributions to the world. Drawing on stories from
a16z Goes Global: Why American Tech Must Lead the World
Ben Horowitz is joined by Anne Neuberger, Raghu Raghuram, and Jen Kha to discuss a16z's expanding international strategy and the growing role technology plays in economic growth, national security, and global partnerships.
The conversation explores why America's technology leadership matters beyond Silicon Valley, how AI is reshaping relationships between governments and the private sector, and wh
Outsmarting Uber: Why Bolt Wins in Europe
What does it take to build a global mobility company from a country of just 1.3 million people?
Markus Villig, founder and CEO of Bolt, joins the show to share how he scaled from Estonia to 50+ countries, navigating early scrappy days, a near-bankruptcy from expanding too fast, and the hard-won lessons behind Bolt’s capital-efficient growth.
They also discuss building in Europe vs. the U.S., compe
Rick Rubin on AI, Creativity, and The Way of Code
Rick Rubin joins Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Anjney Midha, and Erik Torenberg to discuss creativity, artificial intelligence, and his book The Way of Code, which reimagines the Tao Te Ching for the age of AI.
The conversation explores vibe coding, remix culture, artistic process, entrepreneurship, and what AI changes, and doesn't change, about creativity. Rubin argues that AI is best understood
Building AI for Creators | Luma & Phota Labs
Yoko Li speaks with Luma's Head of Applied Research Matt Tancik and Phota Labs cofounder and CTO Zach Xia about how AI is changing creativity, photography, and the tools people use to make art.
The conversation explores the evolving relationship between artists and AI, from image generation and personalization to creative workflows, controllability, and agentic design tools.
They discuss personal
Beyond P(doom): Marc Andreessen - Betting on America
Marc Andreessen joins CSIS's Navin Girishankar for a wide-ranging conversation on artificial intelligence, productivity growth, industrial policy, and America's technological future.
Andreessen argues that while AI has already begun reshaping the economy, the largest impacts are still ahead. He explores how AI could dramatically expand access to expertise, improve productivity, and transform indus
AI Is Crossing the Frontier of Human Knowledge | Kevin Weil
Kevin Weil, the previous CPO & Vice President of Science at OpenAI, joins Speedrun to discuss the future of AI, scientific discovery, and startup building.
After helping build products at Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, Weil is now focused on one of AI's most ambitious applications: accelerating science itself. He explains why modern AI models are beginning to solve problems that sit beyond the
Marc Andreessen on AI, Technology, and the Future of Humanity
Michael Malice sits down with Marc Andreessen to discuss artificial intelligence, technological progress, economic growth, and the future of human flourishing.
Drawing on decades of experience spanning the birth of the commercial internet through today’s AI boom, Andreessen argues that many of the most common fears about technology are rooted in a misunderstanding of how innovation creates opportu
What Happens to Design After AI?
Anish Acharya speaks with Microsoft VP of Design John Maeda and Impeccable founder and CEO Paul Bakaus about how AI is changing the practice of design.
The conversation explores the relationship between design and technology, the rise of AI-powered creative tools, and whether automation raises the floor, the ceiling, or both. Maeda and Bakaus discuss software craftsmanship, taste, creative judgmen
What’s Next for Consumer AI? | Josh Elman Joins a16z
Anish Acharya sits down with Josh Elman to discuss the future of consumer technology and Josh's decision to join a16z.
Over the past two decades, Elman has helped shape some of the most important consumer technology products and companies, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Robinhood, Discord, Musical.ly, TikTok, and Apple. Drawing on those experiences, he reflects on how technology has evolve
Jake Paul & Anti Fund: From Creator to Investor
Jake Paul and Geoff Woo join the podcast to announce Anti Fund’s new $100 million growth fund and discuss the evolution of their investment strategy.
The conversation covers the fund’s portfolio, including investments in companies such as SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, Anduril, Cognition, Etched, and Modal, as well as the lessons they’ve learned backing founders and identifying emerging technologies.
The New Rules of Media | Marc Andreessen & Ben Horowitz
Recorded live at the New Media Summit, Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Erik Torenberg, and Gaby Goldberg discuss how media, communication, and influence are changing in the internet era.
The conversation explores the shift from legacy media to creator-led platforms, why authenticity has become a competitive advantage, and how founders can build audiences by communicating directly with customers, em
The Fintech Playbook for Latin America
Angela Strange and Gabriel Vásquez speak with Addi founder and CEO Santiago Suárez about building one of Latin America's largest financial platforms.
What began as a buy now, pay later product has evolved into a broader ecosystem spanning payments, commerce, logistics, and now banking. Serving millions of consumers and tens of thousands of merchants, Addi sits at the intersection of financial serv
Jack Altman on Product-Market Fit
Jack Altman joins Speedrun to discuss product-market fit, customer feedback, hiring, fundraising, and the realities of building an enduring company.
Drawing on his experience building Lattice from startup to multi-billion-dollar company, Altman explains how founders should think about customer requests, when to pivot, and why some of the hardest decisions come from balancing conviction with market
AI, Design, and the Power of Open Models
Yoko Li and Justine Moore speak with Ideogram founder and CEO Mohammad Norouzi about image generation models, design workflows, and the evolving relationship between AI and creative work.
The conversation covers Ideogram's decision to release an open-weight model, the challenges of generating text and layouts within images, and why controllability has become an increasingly important area of resea
Samo Burja on Growth, Energy, and AI
Theo Jaffee speaks with Samo Burja, founder of Bismarck Analysis, about AI, industrial capacity, economic growth, and the institutions that shape civilization.
The conversation explores how AI’s demand for compute, energy, and infrastructure could trigger a new wave of industrial expansion, benefiting sectors far beyond technology. Burja argues that AI is not just a software story but a demand sho
Designing the Physical World with AI
Erin Price-Wright speaks with Alex Modon, cofounder and CEO at Unlimited Industries, and Davide Asnaghi, CEO at Diode Computers, about how AI is moving from software into the physical world. They discuss automating construction and electronics design, using code and simulation to model real-world systems, and how incentives and manufacturing constraints shape adoption. They also examine what it ta
Tyler Cowen & Alex Tabarrok on AI, Jobs, and Economic Growth
Wyatt Thomson of OpenAI speaks with economists Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok about AI, labor markets, and the future of economic growth.
The conversation explores one of the most common fears surrounding AI: that increasingly capable systems will eliminate jobs. Cowen and Tabarrok argue instead that economic growth remains the key variable. Throughout history, productivity-enhancing technologies h
AI Eats the World? A Reality Check with Benedict Evans
Erik Torenberg speaks with tech analyst Benedict Evans about the current state of AI, what has changed over the past year, and which questions remain unanswered.
The conversation covers coding agents, foundation models, AI infrastructure spending, software economics, and the tension between today's AI excitement and the long-term realities of technology adoption. Evans discusses why coding has eme
Building Search for AI Agents with Exa CEO Will Bryk
Sarah Wang speaks with Exa cofounder and CEO Will Bryk about building search infrastructure for the AI era.
The conversation covers Exa’s origins, why traditional search engines were not designed for AI agents, and how search changes when the user is no longer a human but an autonomous system. They discuss retrieval, agent workflows, coding agents, data access, and why search may become a foundati
AI Agents and the Fight for Customer Data
Martin Casado speaks with George Fraser, cofounder and CEO of Fivetran, about the future of data infrastructure in the age of AI.
The conversation covers Fivetran’s merger with dbt, the changing role of data platforms, and why Fraser believes many companies are overestimating the threat AI poses to enterprise software. They discuss open data access, the backlash against AI agents accessing systems
Balaji and Steven Glinert on Network States, Supply Chains, and Allied Coalition Strategy
Theo Jaffee and Sophia Puccini speak with Balaji Srinivasan and Steven Glinert about the shifting balance of power between nations, networks, and technology.
The conversation covers China’s industrial rise, America’s manufacturing challenges, the role of alliances in a multipolar world, and whether the internet is becoming a political force independent of traditional nation states. They discuss su
Steven Sinofsky on AI PCs, NVIDIA, and the Future of Computing
Theo Jaffee speaks with Steven Sinofsky about the next generation of personal computing and the growing role of AI-native hardware.
The conversation covers NVIDIA’s entry into the PC market, Microsoft’s strategy for AI-powered devices, Apple’s hardware roadmap, and the long-running tension between backward compatibility and platform reinvention. Sinofsky explains why AI may fundamentally change ho
Building AI Agents for Enterprise Operations
Anish Acharya and Olivia Moore speak with Pablo Palafox and Luis Paarup about the challenges of deploying AI agents in operationally complex industries.
The conversation covers the evolution of voice AI, enterprise workflows, and why logistics became an early proving ground for agent-based systems. They discuss context, coordination, and execution inside large organizations, as well as the role of
Why $1B Exits are Dead
David George, General Partner at a16z, and David Clark, CIO at VenCap, discuss how AI is reshaping venture capital and the technology industry itself. They examine why today’s AI companies are scaling faster than any previous generation of startups, and why the eventual outcomes may be significantly larger than most investors currently expect.
The conversation covers frontier AI models, coding age
Stablecoins, AI Agents, and The Future of Global Banking
Angela Strange speaks with Dileep Thazhmon, founder and CEO of Jeeves, about building a global financial operating system for enterprises across Latin America using stablecoins and AI.
The conversation covers the challenges of building localized financial infrastructure across 25 countries, from regulation and payments to underwriting and compliance. They also discuss why stablecoin adoption is ac
Marc Rowan on Private Markets, Software Repricing, and Capital Allocation
In 1990, Marc Rowan walked out of Drexel with his belongings in a cardboard box. Within a year, Apollo was managing $6 billion.
David Haber speaks with Marc Rowan, Cofounder, CEO, and Chair of Apollo Global Management, about building Apollo into one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers and how private capital is reshaping the global economy.
The conversation covers the rise of private
Robin Hanson on Prediction Markets, Gambling, and the Future of Forecasting
Theo Jaffee and Sophia Puccini speak with economist Robin Hanson about prediction markets, gambling, and why he believes speculative markets are one of the most powerful tools humans have for aggregating information and forecasting outcomes.
The conversation begins with Minnesota’s recent law criminalizing prediction markets before expanding into the broader backlash surrounding platforms like Kal
Why AI Isn’t Killing SaaS Yet
Originally aired on MTS segment, Monetary Matters, Jack Farley and Max Wiethe speak with Ara Kharazian, Lead Economist at Ramp, about what real business spending data says about AI adoption, why the “SaaSpocalypse” narrative is overblown, and how companies are actually buying and deploying AI tools. They also discuss Anthropic overtaking OpenAI in Ramp’s AI Index, token-based pricing, AI productiv
Hugging Face's Clem Delangue on Open Source AI and the LLM Bubble | MTS Live
Clem Delangue joins MTS to discuss the global open-source AI landscape, the current large language model bubble, and the future of consumer robotics.
Originally aired on MTS, Theo Jaffee and Sofia Puccini speak with Clément Delangue, CEO at Hugging Face, about the global open-source AI race, why he believes the real bubble is in API-based large language models, and how robotics could become the ne
How Superhuman Took Over Silicon Valley Email
Rahul Vohra is the founder and CEO of Superhuman, the premium email client for power users. He previously built the Gmail plug-in Reportive and sold it to LinkedIn. He began somewhere unexpected though, as a game designer on RuneScape. In this conversation, Rahul breaks down why most founders misunderstand product market fit, why premium can actually hurt your business, and how deliberate constrai
Marc Andreessen on AI, California, and the Future of America | Joe Rogan
Marc Andreessen joins Joe Rogan for a conversation on AI, politics, technology, and the future of American society. They discuss how artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from novelty to infrastructure, and why Andreessen believes its long-term impact will be overwhelmingly positive despite growing public fear around automation and surveillance.
The conversation covers the explosion of AI codi
Rebuilding The American Shipyard
Erin Price-Wright speaks with Michael Duffey and Dino Mavrookas about what it will take to rebuild the American defense industrial base for a new era of competition. As production capacity becomes a central constraint, they outline how the system must shift toward speed, scale, and modern manufacturing.
The conversation covers the role of autonomy in both defense systems and industrial processes,
The Plan to Make American Crime Obsolete
David Ulevitch speaks with Col. Jeffrey Glover and Rahul Sidhu about how AI, drones, and sensor networks are reshaping public safety and what it takes to bring new technology into law enforcement at scale. As departments face staffing shortages, burnout, and rising complexity, they examine how the right tools can make officers more effective, safer, and better supported.
The conversation covers ho
Vitalik Buterin on Human Agency in the AI Era
Sophia Dew and Binji Pande speak with Vitalik Buterin about technology, human agency, and how the internet is changing the way people think, build, and relate to the world around them. Drawing from his writings and personal reflections, Buterin discusses how his worldview has evolved over the last decade, from creating Ethereum as a teenager to thinking more deeply about the social and philosophic
Ben Horowitz - "Your ONLY job is Right Product, Right Time"
Ben Horowitz shares lessons from building and scaling companies, drawing on his experience as a founder and CEO. He explains why a founder’s primary responsibility comes down to one thing: delivering the right product at the right time.
The conversation covers how strategy actually develops in practice, why a company’s story is inseparable from its strategy, and how founders should think about hir
Energy, Minerals, and the Physical Stack Behind AI
Erin Price-Wright speaks with Turner Caldwell and Drew Baglino about what it will take to close America's critical minerals gap and modernize the power infrastructure that underpins the AI economy. With the US more than 50 years behind China in critical mineral supply and grid infrastructure built on systems designed a century ago, they examine where the real bottlenecks are and how to move faster
Lloyd Blankfein on Risk, Crisis, and Leadership
David Haber speaks with Lloyd Blankfein, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, about leadership, risk, and navigating moments of extreme uncertainty. Drawing on his experience leading Goldman through the financial crisis, Blankfein shares how organizations can build resilience, make decisions under pressure, and maintain culture while scaling.
They discuss the importance of risk management as both a discip
Marc Andreessen on Builder Culture in the Age of AI
Erik Torenberg speaks with Marc Andreessen about the state of AI, media, and the broader cultural and economic shifts shaping the internet. They discuss how narratives around AI, from fear to hype, are influencing public perception, and why real-world usage tells a very different story.
The conversation covers AI’s impact on jobs and productivity, the rise of “AI-native” builders, and why increase
Ben Horowitz on the Next Technology Era
David Ulevitch speaks with Ben Horowitz about what it means to lead the technology industry at scale, and the responsibilities that come with it. Following the firm’s largest-ever fundraise, they discuss how venture capital, technology, and national strategy are increasingly intertwined.
The conversation covers America’s role in the next technological revolution, from AI to advanced manufacturing,
Crypto Fund 5: We Raised $2.2B. Here’s Why.
Robert Hackett speaks with the general partners at a16z crypto about the launch of their fifth crypto fund and the current state of the industry. They reflect on how crypto has evolved from an ideological movement into a more pragmatic, product-focused ecosystem, shaped by real-world use cases and increasing regulatory clarity.
The conversation covers the rise of stablecoins, onchain finance, and
The New Space Race: NASA, Artemis, and the Race to the Moon
Morgan Brennan speaks with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman about the next phase of American space exploration and the urgency behind returning to the moon. They discuss the Artemis program, the challenges of cost, speed, and execution, and how a new competitive landscape is reshaping NASA’s priorities.
The conversation covers the role of public-private partnerships, the rise of commercial space
Building Blackstone, Backing Costco, with Tony James
David Haber speaks with Tony James about building enduring firms across multiple eras of finance. From joining DLJ when it was a subscale firm to helping grow Blackstone into one of the largest asset managers in the world, James reflects on the decisions, structures, and cultural principles that enabled long-term success.
They discuss the origins of leveraged buyouts, the evolution of private mark
Sarah Rogers: Free Speech, AI Diplomacy, and What America Owes Its Allies
Katherine Boyle speaks with Sarah Rogers, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, about the intersection of AI, free speech, and global information systems. They discuss how major technological shifts, from the printing press to the internet to AI, have reshaped communication and power, and why this moment may be even more consequential.
Recorded at the a16z American Dynamism Summit, the conversatio
Balaji and Taylor Lorenz on AI and Media
Theo Jaffee speaks with Balaji Srinivasan and Taylor Lorenz about how AI is reshaping media, trust, and online communication. Building on prior public disagreements between the two, the conversation revisits core tensions around media, technology, and power in a rapidly changing information environment.
They discuss the breakdown of traditional information systems, the rise of AI-generated content
Workday’s Last Workday? AI and the Future of Enterprise Software
Elena Burger speaks with Joe Schmidt, partner on the enterprise team at a16z, about the future of enterprise software in the age of AI. Using Workday as a case study, they discuss why many of today’s most important enterprise systems feel broken, how platform shifts reshape entire categories, and what an AI-native replacement might look like.
The conversation covers the limits of legacy SaaS, why
The Shift in Global Drug Development
Theo Jaffee and Gabriel Dickinson speak with Cremieux about China’s rapid rise to the top of global clinical trial output. They discuss the regulatory reforms that accelerated China’s progress, the surge in novel drug development, and what the US would need to change to stay competitive in biomedical innovation.
Resources:
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John and Patrick Collison on Stripe's Growth, Agent Commerce, and the Future of Software
This interview with Stripe cofounders John and Patrick Collison originally aired on TBPN. They discuss Stripe's 34% growth and new employee tender offer, how agent commerce and stablecoins may require high-throughput blockchains built for millions of transactions per second, and why the economics of software are shifting from mass-produced products to bespoke, on-demand systems cooked fresh at the
Ben Horowitz on Venture Capital and AI
Anjney Midha, founder of AMP PBC, speaks with Ben Horowitz, cofounder of a16z, about how venture capital changed from a small, relationship-driven business into a scalable system for backing new technology companies. They discuss network effects, firm design, leadership, culture, and how AI is reshaping both the capital race and the kinds of companies that can be built now.
Resources:
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AI Inside the Enterprise
Steven Sinofsky, board partner at a16z, Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, and Martin Casado, general partner at a16z, discuss the reality of AI inside enterprises. They cover the gap between Silicon Valley and the rest of the world, why most AI initiatives fail in large organizations, and how agents, infrastructure, and workflows are evolving beyond the hype.
Resources:
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Martin Shkreli on AI, Pharma, and What Actually Matters
Erik Torenberg speaks with Martin Shkreli, American investor and businessman, about how he sees the AI landscape, from OpenAI to Anthropic, and what actually matters beyond the hype. They also talk through the future of computing, the limits of “vibe coding,” and why biotech and pharma remain some of the toughest industries to get right.
Resources:
Follow Martin on X: https://x.com/MartinShkreli
Balaji Srinivasan: Prove Correct, Not Just Go Direct
Erik Torenberg and Theo Jaffee speak with Balaji Srinivasan, angel investor, entrepreneur, and author of The Network State, about how AI is transforming media, eroding trust, and reshaping how information is created and verified. They discuss why systems like hiring, journalism, and online communication are breaking under synthetic content, and what replaces them. The conversation also examines th
Marc Andreessen: Monitoring the Situation and the Future of Media
Erik Torenberg and Theo Jaffee speak with Marc Andreessen, cofounder and general partner at a16z, about the launch of Monitoring the Situation (MTS), a new, always-on media network on X. They discuss the rise of the “current thing,” how narratives spread in real time, and why internet-native media is reshaping politics, culture, and attention.
Resources:
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Rethinking Git for the Age of Coding Agents with GitHub Cofounder Scott Chacon
Matt Bornstein speaks with Scott Chacon, cofounder of GitHub and CEO of GitButler, about why Git's user interface has barely changed since 2005, how GitButler is rethinking version control for both humans and AI agents, and what the "next GitHub" might actually look like. They cover parallel branches, agent-optimized CLI design, the future of code review, and why the best engineers of the future w
Network Effects, AI Costs, and the Future of Consumer Investing with Anish Acharya on The Kevin Rose Show
This episode originally aired on The Kevin Rose Show. Kevin Rose speaks with Anish Acharya, general partner at a16z, about how AI is rewriting the rules of consumer software, the defensibility of network effects in a world where anyone can spin up an app in 48 hours, and why the real threat to consumer founders may be the cost of inference, not competition. They also discuss model pricing, the fut
The System Behind Self-Driving: Waymo’s Dmitri Dolgov
Waymo is now delivering hundreds of thousands of fully autonomous rides each week — but getting there required more than better models. It meant building a complete system for training, evaluating, and deploying a driver in the real world.
In this episode — originally aired on the Cheeky Pint podcast — Waymo Co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov joins John Collison to break down how self-driving actually works tod
Technology, Culture, and the Next AI Interface with signüll
Erik Torenberg and Anish Acharya, general partners at a16z, speak with signüll about how technology reshapes culture, relationships, and the products we build. The conversation covers tacit knowledge versus intellectual knowledge, dating apps and their effect on human connection, AI relationships, why Claude feels artisan while other models feel utilitarian, and what consumer founders should actua
Replit's CEO on Vibe Coding, Wealth Building, and What Most People Get Wrong About AI
Jack Neel speaks with Amjad Masad, CEO at Replit, about how AI is making it easier than ever to build and ship software without a technical background. They discuss Replit's rise from a browser-based coding tool to a platform generating $250 million in annual revenue, why Masad turned down a $1 billion acquisition offer, and his case for why AI represents empowerment rather than existential risk.
Ben Horowitz on AI Infrastructure, Economics and The New Laws of Software
Recorded live at the a16z Fintech Connect conference in Deer Valley, Alex Rampell speaks with Ben Horowitz, cofounder and general partner at a16z, about how AI has rewritten the fundamental rules of software competition, why crypto infrastructure will become essential in an AI-dominated world, and what the future holds for venture capital.
Resources:
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Building Agents at Home: Parenting, Work, and Benevolent Neglect
Katherine Boyle and Sarah Wang speak with Jesse Genet, a startup founder and family builder, about building 11 AI agents while homeschooling four young children. Jesse runs agents across roles ranging from coding to curriculum planning to household management, and she shares how agent architecture, logging systems, and “benevolent neglect” parenting have changed her life as both a founder and a mo
What Running Windows at Microsoft Taught Steven Sinofsky About Apple
Theo Jaffee speaks with Steven Sinofsky, board partner at a16z and former president of the Windows division at Microsoft, about Apple's 50th anniversary, the cultural differences that separated Apple and Microsoft, why the MacBook Neo puts Windows laptops in a difficult position, and what the history of computing design reveals about where hardware and software are headed.
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Who Controls AI Acceleration? Vitalik Buterin and Guillaume Verdon Debate
Eddy Lazzarin speaks with Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, and Guillaume Verdon, founder and CEO of Extropic, about whether AI progress can or should be steered, the risks of concentrated power, and what open source and decentralization mean for who benefits from increasingly powerful systems. This episode originally aired on the a16z crypto podcast.
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The Agent Era: Building Software Beyond Chat with Box CEO Aaron Levie
Erik Torenberg, Steve Sinofsky, and Martin Casado speak to Aaron Levie, CEO at Box, about what happens to enterprise software when agents become the primary users. They discuss why coding agents succeed where other knowledge work agents struggle, what abstraction layers mean for the workforce, and how data access and systems of record must change in an agent-first world.
Resources:
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Balaji on Why AI Raises the Cost of Verification
a16z general partner Erik Torenberg speaks with Balaji Srinivasan, angel investor and entrepreneur, about why AI simultaneously reduces the cost of creation and increases the cost of verification, and what that tension means for the shape of the AI economy. They discuss why AI drives companies toward the "trusted tribe" model of the Chinese internet, why physical world tasks are easier to automate
Peter Yang on Small Teams, Coding Agents, and Why Human Ambition Has No Ceiling
Anish Acharya speaks with Peter Yang, creator and product lead at Roblox, about how personal AI agents are replacing the apps we open every day, why coding agents feel like slot machines, and what happens when the cost of building software drops to near zero. They discuss why future companies will stay radically small, how the IDE is becoming a thinking tool rather than a making tool, and why huma
Marc Andreessen on AI Winters and Agent Breakthroughs
This episode originally aired on the Latent Space Podcast. swyx and Alessio Fanelli speak with Marc Andreessen about the arc of AI from its origins in 1943 to today's breakthroughs in reasoning, coding agents, and self-improvement. They cover the parallels between AI scaling laws and Moore's Law, the architectural insight behind Claude Code and the Unix shell, the coming supply crunch in compute,
Alex Blania on Proof of Human and Building World's Identity Network
a16z's Ben Horowitz and Erik Torenberg speak with Alex Blania, cofounder and CEO of Tools for Humanity, World, and cofounder of Merge Labs. World is building the largest real human network, a proof-of-human layer for the AI era. They cover the technical challenge of proving human uniqueness at scale using iris biometrics, the privacy architecture behind World ID, and why platforms from social netw
What Happens When a Public Company Goes All In on AI
David Haber speaks with Owen Jennings, executive officer and business lead at Block, about how the company rebuilt itself around AI agents, small squads, and internal tools like Goose and Builder Bot after restructuring more than 40% of its workforce. They discuss what it took to execute a major restructuring, how teams of three are now doing what teams of 14 used to, and how Block is shipping AI-
How Radiant and Heron Are Rethinking Power Generation and Delivery
a16z general partners Erin Price-Wright and Erik Torenberg speak with Doug Bernauer, founder and CEO of Radiant, and Drew Baglino, founder and CEO of Heron, about rebuilding American energy infrastructure. They discuss portable micro nuclear reactors, solid state power electronics, why delivery rather than generation is the real bottleneck, the case for modular manufacturing, and whether data cent
Marc Andreessen on Evaluating Founders and AI's Consumer Surplus
This episode originally aired on The Twenty Minute VC with Harry Stebbings. Marc Andreessen explains why learning from past investment mistakes can be a trap, shares his framework for evaluating founder greatness through IQ, courage, and drive, and makes the case that venture investors should back the person over the business plan. They also discuss why AI is reconcentrating the tech industry in S
The SpaceX and Tesla Playbook for Hard Tech Startups
Erin Price-Wright speaks with Chandler Luzsicza, founder and CEO of Galadyne, and Turner Caldwell, cofounder and CEO of Mariana Minerals, about what they actually learned building Starship and Tesla's lithium refinery, and how those lessons translate to their own startups. They cover decision velocity, flat organizations, critical path management, vertical integration, hiring for high-talent-densi
Security, Resilience, and the Future of Mobile Infrastructure
David Ulevitch speaks with Justin Fanelli, CTO of the Navy, and John Doyle, founder and CEO at Cape, about how the Navy is transforming its approach to technology adoption, from running bootcamps for program managers to piloting commercial solutions in months instead of years. They discuss the Salt Typhoon breach that exposed China's infiltration of American cellular networks, how Cape built a sec
Submarines and the Future of Defense Manufacturing
David Ulevitch speaks with Chris Power, founder and CEO at Hadrian, and Vice Admiral Robert Gaucher, the Pentagon's first direct reporting portfolio manager for submarines, at the opening of Hadrian's Factory Four in Cherokee, Alabama. They discuss the state of America's submarine industrial base, why the Navy now needs more than five times the manufacturing capacity it had a decade ago, and how s
The Missing Power Layer of Modern Warfare
Erin Price-Wright speaks with Adam Warmoth, founder and CEO of Chariot Defense, and Alex Miller, CTO of the U.S. Army, about the power crisis at the heart of modern military operations. As the battlefield becomes more distributed and electronics-heavy, the Army's legacy power infrastructure, built around diesel generators and lead-acid batteries, is struggling to keep up. They examine how commerci
Why Every Satellite Needs Earth | Northwood CEO on a16z
Bridgit Mendler, Co-founder and CEO of Northwood, joins a16z’s Erik Torenberg to discuss the critical but overlooked bottleneck in space: ground infrastructure. Northwood is building the systems that connect satellites back to Earth, enabling faster, more scalable space missions.
They cover Bridgit’s unconventional path to founding a space company, why vertical integration matters in hard tech, an
Inside Palantir: Building Software That Matters with Shyam Sankar
In this conversation, Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer at Palantir Technologies, discusses his new book Mobilize, his commission in the U.S. Army, and why he believes the most important thing America can do right now is inspire its latent heretics to step forward. He also breaks down how he thinks about the SaaS market under AI pressure, what the "alpha versus beta software" distinction mean
AI Just Gave You Superpowers — Now What?
A new paper, “Some Simple Economics of AGI,” is making the rounds—Web3 with a16z we sat down with author Christian Catalini (MIT Crypto Economics Lab) and Eddy Lazzarin (CTO of a16z crypto), in conversation with Robert Hackett, to unpack what AGI could mean for work and markets.
EPISODE NOTES:
A hot paper — "Some Simple Economics of AGI" — has been making the rounds, so we sat down with the autho
AI, Supply Chains, and the Future of Economic Power
Erik Torenberg sits down with Jacob Helberg to discuss AI, manufacturing, supply chains, and the new geopolitics of technology. Drawing on themes from Helberg’s book The Wires of War, they explore why hardware, industrial capacity, and secure supply chains have become central to both economic strength and national security.
They also unpack what it means to “win the AI race” — from model leadershi
What's Missing Between LLMs and AGI - Vishal Misra & Martin Casado
Vishal Misra returns to explain his latest research on how LLMs actually work under the hood. He walks through experiments showing that transformers update their predictions in a precise, mathematically predictable way as they process new information, explains why this still doesn't mean they're conscious, and describes what's actually required for AGI: the ability to keep learning after training
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