TechSurge: Deep Tech VC Podcast

• Leading Through Chaos: John Chambers on Tariffs, Cyber Threats, & the AI Supercycle

  Competition, growth, tariffs, hacks, AI – what does it take to be an effective leader today? John Chambers, former CEO and Executive Chairman of Cisco and founder of JC2 Ventures, joins TechSurge host Sriram Viswanathan to share valuable wisdom on leading and growing businesses through times of significant change. As a leader who has transitioned from the c-suite to venture capital and now mentoring founders in emerging technology sectors, John has seen it all. He shares lessons from his time leading one of the world’s most influential networking companies at Cisco (the most valuable company in the world at the time), revealing what he learned while growing it from a challenger networking company into a $50 billion tech powerhouse, sharing how Cisco achieved and maintained its market leadership, particularly his bold M&A strategies. John offers hard‑won insights on navigating major technology shifts in AI, cloud, security, and more. Today’s founders and executives will find practical frameworks, real‑world war stories, and counterintuitive advice to help survive and thrive in an era of continual disruption. If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits.Links:Explore John Chambers' family office and venture firm at JC2 VenturesRead John Chambers' book “Connecting the Dots” on AmazonDiscover the organization John chaired for eight years US-India Strategic Partnership ForumLearn about the company John and Sriram have invested in together at ParkourSCFind out about the deep fake detection company Pin DropLearn about the cybersecurity company Rubrik

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• China, Funding Cuts, & Campus Controversy: Is U.S. Tech Leadership Falling Behind?

  MIT President Emeritus Dr. Rafael Reif joins host Michael Marks for a discussion about the state of U.S. competitiveness in technology, university research funding, current immigration policy, and more. Reif explains why universities remain the innovation engines of economies, educating top talent and generating the foundational research that powers emerging tech and creates new industries. He candidly assesses U.S.-China competition, warns that Chinese research output is rapidly outpacing our own, and urges renewed federal investment. The discussion explores how restrictive immigration policies threaten the flow of global talent into the U.S and his own impression of current policies as an immigrant from Venezuela himself. As a TSMC board member, Reif also touches on the strategic need for domestic semiconductor fabs, Intel’s path forward, and TSMC’s edge in advancing cutting-edge nodes. Lastly, he addresses gaps in the venture capital funding space and why he created MIT’s The Engine incubator model to fund “tough tech” startups, which helped launch breakthroughs like Commonwealth Fusion Systems.If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits.Connect with Rafael Reif on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/l-rafael-rief-b8977b231Dive deeper into Reif’s career, publications, and awards. Read his full biography https://reif.mit.edu/biography Read Rafael's recent op-ed about government R&D funding: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/17/opinion/science-technology-research-development/Read Rafael's speech about the role of universities in building a strong U.S. economy: https://reif.mit.edu/speeches-writing/strong-universities-make-strong-united-statesExplore how MIT’s Engine incubator is fueling “tough tech” startups like fusion power. Learn about The Engine https://engine.xyz/Watch Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ plan to deliver commercial fusion energy. Discover CFS https://cfs.energy/Understand the roadmap to a 400 MW fusion pilot plant. Read the MIT News report https://news.mit.edu/2024/commonwealth-fusion-systems-unveils-worlds-first-fusion-power-plant-1217

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• Inside Microsoft's Trillion Dollar Playbook with Chief Strategy Officer Bobby Yerramilli-Rao

  Bobby Yerramilli-Rao, Chief Strategy Officer at Microsoft, joins TechSurge host Sriram Viswanathan to offer a rare glimpse into the strategic playbook of one of the world’s most powerful tech companies. Bobby shares how the company navigates today’s biggest technology paradigm shifts, placing bets with trillion-dollar implications. Touching on Microsoft’s AI strategy, OpenAI partnership, quantum computing, its approach to acquisitions, and much more, this candid and wide-ranging conversation is not to be missed. If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits.

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• Scaling the AI Era: Next-Gen Data Storage Solutions with Pure Storage CEO Charlie Giancarlo

  In this episode of TechSurge, host Sriram Viswanathan sits down with Charlie Giancarlo, Chairman and CEO of Pure Storage, to discuss the evolution and future of data storage in the digital age. Charlie shares insights from his career spanning his pivotal role in Cisco's success as a networking pioneer, to his leadership in transforming Pure Storage into a leader in innovative storage solutions.They explore the evolution of data center infrastructure, and the critical role of storage architecture in enabling AI and cloud technologies. Charlie also explains how Pure Storage's software-driven approach is creating new efficiencies and opportunities for enterprises, offering a compelling vision for a unified "data cloud" that breaks down data silos and unlocks new insights.This episode delves into the intersections of networking, compute, storage, and AI, providing an essential perspective for anyone interested in the future of technology infrastructure.If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits.Links:Pure Storage Official Website: Explore Pure Storage's innovative data storage solutions. Pure Storage DataCharlie Giancarlo's Biography: Learn more about Charlie Giancarlo, Chairman and CEO of Pure Storage. ​Charlie GiancarloPortworx by Pure Storage: Discover Portworx, the Kubernetes data services platform acquired by Pure Storage. ​Wikipedia Portworx ASBIS – IT DistributorFlashBlade//EXA Announcement: Read about Pure Storage's FlashBlade//EXA, designed for high-performance computing and AI workloads. FlashBlade//EXA: The Future of AI and HPC Storage Performance

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• Why AI Isn't Ready to Make Medicines

  Many in venture capital and biopharma are anointing artificial intelligence the savior of drug discovery—but what can AI actually do?In this eye-opening episode, Michael Marks sits down with Mike Nohaile, CEO of Prellis Biologics, to explore the hype versus reality in AI-enabled drug discovery. Mike details why, despite significant breakthroughs like AlphaFold and recent Nobel Prize win for computational protein design, fully AI-generated medicines still present challenges. He also discusses why we urgently need more effective medicines and details Prellis’ unique system which combines laser printed human organoids and an externalized human immune system with AI, enabling the discovery of fully human antibodies. If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits.Links:Explore Prellis Biologicshttps://prellisbio.com/Understand AlphaFold, DeepMind’s AI model for predicting protein structureshttps://deepmind.google/alphafoldRead about the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2024/press-release/ 

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