Episode 28: Podcast with Tenstorrent COO Keith Witek on smart data processing, and the future of AI

Audio Version - For our 28th episode of “This Is Our Mission,” Rob Telson hosted a wide-ranging discussion between Tenstorrent COO Keith Witek and Brainchip CMO Nandan Nayampally. Their conversation explored the compute landscape, trends in AI, and differences and commonalities between the two companies’ approaches.
Witek holds degrees in Business, Computing, Electrical Engineering, and Law and has several patents. Prior to Tenstorrent, he ran Strategic Alliances for Google consumer electronics, was SVP of Corporate Development and General Counsel at SiFive, was Director of Technology Enablement and Associate General Counsel at Tesla, was Corporate VP of Strategy and Corporate Development at AMD, and had many other teaching, legal, and engineering roles. Witek serves on the board of entrepreneurial hub StartingBlock Madison.
Nayampally’s career has been immersed in the semiconductor arena, starting with AMD. He spent most of his career in IP - first with Denali Software and then at Arm - building the CPU business and later running the Client Line of Business as VP and General Manager, giving him expert insight into the waves and trends in compute. He also worked at Amazon as Alexa’s Head of SDK Products. Nayampally holds degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, and the University of Texas at Austin.
In this episode, you can get their views on:
Why AI is here to stay
Real-life impacts of AI, like reducing car-related fatalities and personalizing healthcare
Challenges that currently limit the scalability of AI, such as massive data loads and the slowing of Moore’s Law
How innovators in the industry, including BrainChip and Tenstorrent, are overcoming these barriers
Which deployment models for technology hold the most promise, including a discussion on chiplets
And lots more
Tune in for the full podcast to get details on these topics-and to hear which song each participant would play on the electric guitar collection visible on the wall behind Witek during the podcast.