The U.S. tech and startup community was stunned by an executive order last week imposing a $100,000 fee for employers seeking new H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers, a program heavily used by the technology industry.  

This move brings a longstanding debate back to the forefront: are skilled immigrants taking American jobs, or are they a vital engine for innovation and economic growth?

Our guest this week has a strong point of view on this topic. Shirish Nadkarni is a serial entrepreneur and Microsoft veteran who founded companies acquired by BlackBerry and Rosetta Stone. An immigrant himself, he just released a timely new book, The Indian American Tech Success Story, which makes the case that immigrant founders, particularly from India, are one of America's greatest economic assets — creating far more jobs than they could ever be accused of taking.

Related Links and Stories

• Startup leaders warn new $100K H-1B visa fee will hurt U.S. entrepreneurship and innovation
• New TiE Seattle president on how the $100K H-1B fee could snuff out entrepreneurial flame
• Will new U.S. visa fee boost Canada’s tech sector? B.C. sees an opening against Seattle and Silicon Valley

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; Edited by Curt Milton.

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This week on the GeekWire Podcast: How artificial intelligence is reshaping media and advertising, and what it says about the future of the creative process. Our guest is Jay Richman, an Amazon vice president of product and technology who leads the technology team developing AI tools used by sellers and brands to create and deploy ads across Amazon's platforms.

His career has tracked the evolution of digital media, from early apps for the Palm Pilot to the first wave of streaming at NBC Universal, and the reinvention of podcast ads and monetization at Spotify.

Richman, who's based in New York, was in town this week for Amazon's Accelerate seller conference, where he announced new agentic AI capabilities within Amazon's Creative Studio.

Related Post: Amazon unveils new agentic AI tools for sellers amid heightened scrutiny

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Audio editing by Curt Milton.

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This week: Executive coach and AI strategist Mark Briggs explains why your "personal operating system" needs an upgrade, and how to use AI to get more time back in your day.

He shares practical tips for turning scattered notes into a powerful knowledge base and discusses how AI can act as a collaborator to fight procrastination and provide instant feedback. 

Plus, we play a game of "Bot or Not" to see if you can tell the difference between a human and an AI assistant, and learn how better productivity can lead to achieving personal goals.

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; Edited by Curt Milton.

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This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his NBA team, the Clippers, face scrutiny over an alleged salary-cap dodge tied to star Kawhi Leonard. We unpack the report and Ballmer’s emphatic denial, while reflecting on his history in tech and sports. 

Also: OpenAI's surprise $1.1 billion acquisition of Seattle startup Statsig, and what it says about the AI talent wars. Plus, the ironic role of Microsoft’s own antitrust past in the landmark ruling against Google’s search monopoly this week.

Seattle journalist, radio host and bar owner Mike Lewis joins GeekWire's Todd Bishop for this episode, which also features a highlight from a segment with KUOW's Kim Malcolm. 

Related Stories

• OpenAI acquires Statsig for $1.1B, names CEO to key role in surprise exit for Seattle-area unicorn
• ‘Absurd’: Steve Ballmer responds to report that Clippers funneled money to star player via endorsement deal
• Pablo Torre details his investigation on "Pablo Torre Finds Out."
• ESPN's Ramona Shelburne interviews Steve Ballmer.
• Google antitrust ruling gives Microsoft a shaky bridge over search giant’s competitive moat
• KUOW: Is the Google antitrust ruling a ‘big whiff,’ or an advantage for rivals like Microsoft?

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In light of his estate's launch of the new $3.1 billion Fund for Science and Technology, we revisit a classic 2011 interview with the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen to explore the "Idea Man" mindset that continues to shape his legacy. The conversation reveals the personal motivations behind his "big bet" philanthropy, his candid thoughts on his partnership with Bill Gates, and his passion for everything from brain science to jamming with rock stars.

Related stories and links: 

• Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s final act: New $3.1B foundation bets big on science and tech
• In an age of billionaire backlash, Paul Allen’s lasting legacy stands out in Seattle

With GeekWire's Todd Bishop and Kurt Schlosser.

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What does Seattle gain — and lose — in times of dramatic change? University of Washington Foster School of Business marketing professor Jeff Shulman has spent years studying that question, as host of the Seattle Growth Podcast, director of the Product Management Center, and a civic voice on issues ranging from housing affordability to the campaign to bring back the Sonics.

On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, Shulman joins us to talk about Seattle’s place in the global AI boom, why the city has struggled to produce superstar startups, what AI means for marketing and education, and how civic identity, tech and sports have fueled the region.

RELATED STORIES

• Seattle is a global AI hub — but where are the superstar startups?
• Despite status as a global tech hub, Seattle passengers still can’t hail a driverless ride
• Ken Griffey Jr. Wants Role in Bringing Seattle Sonics Back

Seattle Now Podcast: Casual Friday with Todd Bishop and Jeff Shulman

Also check out the Seattle Growth Podcast and "On the Brink" documentary. 

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; Edited by Curt Milton

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Our guests this week: Adam Brotman and Andy Sack, co-authors of the book AI First: The Playbook for a Future-Proof Business and Brand. 

Brotman was Starbucks’ chief digital officer and later co-CEO of J.Crew. Sack is a founder, investor, and longtime advisor to tech leaders. Together, they run Forum3, a company that helps brands rethink loyalty and customer engagement.

For their book, they interviewed experts including Bill Gates, Sam Altman, Reid Hoffman and Ethan Mollick, and spent time with companies that have had early success with AI implementation.

We talk about their "holy sh*t" moment with Sam Altman, how Moderna achieved 80% employee participation through AI contests, the CEO who supercharged sales by using AI to analyze call transcripts, and what leaders should actually be doing to roll out AI within their organizations.

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop.

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Longtime University of Washington computer science professor Ed Lazowska — newly retired at 75 after nearly a half-century on the faculty — joins us to discuss the evolution of computer science, how AI is changing what and how students learn, why specialization is rising, the role of universities in Seattle’s tech economy, and what he plans to tackle next across teaching, advising, and policy.

Read more on GeekWire.

With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. Edited by Curt Milton.

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This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Microsoft soars past Wall Street expectations, briefly hitting a $4 trillion valuation, while Amazon faces sharper scrutiny over its AI strategy. Todd Bishop and John Cook break down the contrasting earnings results, analyst reactions, and what it all means for the future of AI — and Seattle's place in it. Plus: insights from Microsoft's Mustafa Suleyman on the future of Copilot, a throwback lesson from the Zune era, and a guestbook entry that shows just how mainstream ChatGPT has become. 

Related stories and links

• Microsoft plans record $30B in quarterly capital spending
• Microsoft cut product R&D jobs, added operations roles over the past year
• Microsoft beats expectations, says Azure revenue tops $75B annually
• Internal memo: Nadella urges long-term thinking as Azure marks 15 years
• Microsoft reaches $4 trillion valuation after big earnings report
• Amazon Web Services profits squeezed amid AI spending surge
• Amazon tops Q2 estimates with $167.7B in revenue, $18.2B in profits
• Can Seattle own the AI era? 20 investors and founders weigh the potential

From Startup to Exit: Microsoft@50: Birth of Xbox, with Chief Xbox Officer, Robbie Bach

Colin & Samir Podcast with Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman

Tim Ferriss Podcast with Expedia and Zillow co-founder Rich Barton

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Our guest this week is Brad Anderson — a tech engineering and product leader who spent more than 17 years at Microsoft and is now approaching 5 years at Qualtrics, the experience management technology company, where he’s president of products, user experience, engineering, and security.

I’ve known Brad for a while, in fact I’ve been on two of his shows back when he was an enterprise mobility and cloud technology leader at Microsoft, and it was all the rage for executives to have their own video shows. 

• There was “Lunch Break with Brad Anderson,” where he drove his guests around the streets of Redmond in his Tesla, introducing me to "Insane Mode" at the time.
• And there was “The Ship Room,” where he talked about the cloud and played games with guests, challenging me to distinguish real startup names from fake ones. 

For this week’s show, I went to the Qualtrics Tower in downtown Seattle to talk with Brad about how he thinks about building tech today — how AI is starting to change the way products come together, and how expectations are shifting for both the people using the tools and the people building them.

I also turn the tables on Brad in the final segment with a game about cloud and AI terms called "Real or Ridiculous" — stick around to play along.

But first, he reminded me about the random case of mistaken identity that brought us together in the first place, back in the day. Listen to the show to hear the story, and see the related post on GeekWire to read highlights. — GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop

Edited by Curt Milton.

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