What is software? Traditionally, the answer seemed simple: software is code that tells computers what to do. But with the rise of large language models and AI assistants, that definition may be starting to expand.

In this episode of East Meets West, I explore an idea that fascinates me as an engineer: software is becoming an interface to human knowledge. Books, technical manuals, processes, equations and scientific concepts no longer have to remain static information on a page. AI can help turn them into conversations, visualizations, simulations and interactive experiences.

Using electrical engineering as an example, I look at how software can make invisible and abstract concepts more accessible—and what this could mean for education, engineering and knowledge transfer. I also explore how AI could reduce barriers between languages and cultures, allowing knowledge created in China, Switzerland, Vietnam or anywhere else to travel more easily across borders.

Does this mean that knowledge itself is becoming software? Or are we creating something even more interesting: a new interface between humanity and everything we have learned?

An episode about software, books, engineering, AI, East and West—and how the way we interact with knowledge may be about to change fundamentally.

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

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What drives people to spend their time building software that anyone can use — sometimes without being paid?

In this episode, I explore the fascinating world of open-source software, using Linux as an example of how a personal project can grow into global infrastructure used by individuals, governments, and some of the world’s largest corporations.

But this is about more than software. Why do people voluntarily contribute their knowledge and time? Is it passion, learning, reputation, career opportunities — or the desire to create something bigger than themselves?

I also look at open source as a form of cooperation across borders. Developers from different countries, cultures, companies, and political systems can work together on the same project, connected not by nationality but by a shared problem and shared rules.

And this leads to an even bigger question: Is open source in some ways similar to democracy?

Both depend on participation, transparency, rules, trust, disagreement, and people willing to contribute to something that benefits others.

An episode about Linux — but ultimately about human motivation, globalization, cooperation, freedom, and what we can build together.

Was passiert mit uns, wenn die Welt immer schneller wird?

Künstliche Intelligenz ermöglicht uns, Informationen in Sekunden zu finden, komplexe Fragen schneller zu beantworten und immer mehr in immer kürzerer Zeit zu erledigen. Doch unser Kopf muss mit dieser Geschwindigkeit mithalten – und das kostet Aufmerksamkeit und Energie.

In dieser persönlichen Episode von East Meets Swiss spreche ich darüber, warum Meditation für mich seit rund zehn Jahren ein wichtiges Gegengewicht dazu ist. Es geht um Dankbarkeit für Dinge, die wir oft als selbstverständlich betrachten, um Gesundheit, die kleinen Freuden des Lebens und um Demut – nicht als Gegenteil von Mut, sondern als die Fähigkeit anzuerkennen, dass wir nicht alles wissen und nicht alles kontrollieren können.

Und schließlich geht es um etwas, das auch im Zeitalter der KI nicht verschwinden wird: das menschliche Miteinander. Wo Menschen zusammenleben, entstehen unterschiedliche Perspektiven und Konflikte. Deshalb werden Zuhören, miteinander reden und die Bereitschaft, an Beziehungen zu arbeiten, vielleicht wichtiger denn je.

Eine Episode über KI und Entschleunigung, Meditation und Dankbarkeit – und darüber, warum wir gleichzeitig Mut und Demut brauchen.

What if a better working life doesn’t always require a new job?

In this episode of East Meets Swiss, I explore the idea of job crafting — the practice of actively shaping your current job to better fit your strengths, interests, relationships, and sense of purpose.

We look at three important dimensions of job crafting: changing the tasks we focus on, building meaningful relationships at work, and changing the way we understand the purpose of what we do.

From an engineer’s perspective, job crafting is almost like optimizing a system within existing constraints. We cannot control everything about our workplace, but there may be more parameters we can influence than we realize.

This episode also goes beyond work. It asks a broader question that I want East Meets Swiss to explore: How can we live a positive life without constantly believing that happiness is somewhere else?

Perhaps the answer lies somewhere between ambition and contentment — appreciating what we have while continuing to shape what we can.

You may not always need to find a better job. Sometimes, you can make the job you already have a little more your own.

Wie wichtig ist Networking für Ingenieurinnen und Ingenieure wirklich?

In dieser Folge beschäftige ich mich mit beruflichen Netzwerken aus der Perspektive eines Elektroingenieurs in der Schweiz. Dabei geht es nicht nur um LinkedIn, Fachverbände oder Networking-Events, sondern um die Frage, was ein gutes berufliches Netzwerk überhaupt ausmacht.

Welche Rolle spielt ein Netzwerk bei der Stellensuche? Wie hilft es uns, Entwicklungen im Arbeitsmarkt und in der Industrie besser zu verstehen? Wann lohnen sich bezahlte Mitgliedschaften und Fachveranstaltungen? Und warum kann internationales Networking gerade für Ingenieure in der Schweiz besonders wertvoll sein?

Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt dieser Folge liegt auf der gemeinsamen Sprache. Was passiert, wenn wir beim Networking plötzlich feststellen, dass wir dieselbe Muttersprache sprechen? Wie beeinflusst Sprache Vertrauen und persönliche Nähe? Und warum kann auch die technische Fachsprache eine Verbindung zwischen Ingenieuren schaffen, selbst wenn sie aus völlig unterschiedlichen Ländern und Kulturen kommen?

Ausserdem geht es um die Frage, wann Networking im Berufsleben besonders wichtig ist – am Anfang, in der Mitte oder gegen Ende der Karriere – und wann der zeitliche Aufwand den Nutzen möglicherweise nicht mehr rechtfertigt.

Denn vielleicht bedeutet gutes Networking am Ende nicht, möglichst viele Menschen zu kennen.

Vielleicht bedeutet es vielmehr, die richtigen Beziehungen aufzubauen, Wissen auszutauschen und immer wieder eine gemeinsame Sprache zu finden.

For engineers, technical knowledge is essential — but is it enough?

In this episode, I explore why professional networking matters for engineers, particularly from the perspective of working in Switzerland. I look at networking not as collecting contacts or attending events simply to be seen, but as building genuine professional relationships over the course of a career.

I discuss paid and unpaid networking opportunities, professional societies, technical events, international networking, and the role a strong network can play when looking for a new job or trying to understand where the engineering market is heading.

I also explore when networking is most valuable — at the beginning, middle, or later stages of an engineering career — and where the limits are. After all, networking takes time, and not every event or connection is worth the effort.

Ultimately, this episode asks a simple question: What does a useful professional network actually look like for an engineer?

Is language just a tool for communication, or does it shape how we experience reality? In this episode of East Meets Swiss, we journey through five languages—Chinese, Vietnamese, German, French, and English—to uncover how grammar, kinship terms, and structure influence cultural philosophies, relationships, and everyday cross-cultural misunderstandings.

Wie viel in unserem Leben ist wirklich das Ergebnis unserer eigenen Entscheidungen – und wie viel wurde bereits bestimmt, bevor wir überhaupt geboren wurden?

In dieser Episode von East Meets Swiss beschäftige ich mich mit Privilegien, die wir uns meistens nicht selbst ausgesucht haben: dem Land, in dem wir aufwachsen, der Familie, in die wir geboren werden, unserer Gesundheit, Bildung, unseren Möglichkeiten und unserem sozialen Umfeld.

Mit Blick auf die Schweiz, China und andere ostasiatische Gesellschaften geht es um unterschiedliche Vorstellungen von Erfolg, Verantwortung und ungleichen Startbedingungen. Wie können wir unsere eigenen Vorteile erkennen, ohne uns dafür schuldig zu fühlen? Und wie sprechen wir respektvoll mit Menschen, deren Voraussetzungen ganz andere waren?

Es geht dabei nicht darum, persönliche Leistung kleinzureden. Vielmehr geht es um die Erkenntnis, dass harte Arbeit und Privilegien gleichzeitig existieren können – und um die Frage, welche Verantwortung wir für die Karten tragen, die uns das Leben gegeben hat.

How much of our life is really the result of our own choices — and how much was decided before we were even born?

In this episode of East Meets Swiss, I reflect on the privileges we rarely choose ourselves: the country we grow up in, the family we are born into, our health, education, opportunities and social environment.

Looking at Switzerland, China and other East Asian societies, I explore how different cultures think about success, responsibility and unequal starting conditions. What does it mean to recognize our own advantages without feeling guilty about them? And how can we speak respectfully with people whose circumstances have been very different from our own?

This episode is not about diminishing personal achievement. It is about understanding that hard work and privilege can exist at the same time — and asking what responsibility comes with the cards we have been dealt.

What does China have to do with the everyday life of an engineer working in Switzerland? Perhaps much more than we think.

In this first episode, I explore why China has become increasingly relevant to the world around me—from engineering, manufacturing and artificial intelligence to automation, mobility and global supply chains.

Working as an engineer in Switzerland while having Vietnamese roots gives me an interesting position from which to look East. I grew up in Europe, my professional world is shaped by Swiss and European industry, yet culturally I also have a connection to Asia. China sits at the intersection of many of the changes I see happening around me.

Rather than trying to explain China from the outside, this podcast is about curiosity and conversation. I want to understand what is happening in China, what Europeans may be missing, and how people in China see developments in Europe.

This first episode is the starting point of that journey—and an introduction to the conversations with people from China that will follow.

China may be thousands of kilometres away. But for an engineer in Switzerland, it is closer than you think.