GeekWire

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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How are companies really using AI? And is it truly working? AWS Vice President Francessca Vasquez joins the GeekWire Podcast to talk about what companies are actually doing with AI today, and what's holding them back. We discuss real-world deployments, lessons from AWS customers across industries, and the challenges and opportunities in scaling generative and agentic AI.

Related Stories and Links: 

• Amazon gives $100M boost to AWS Generative AI Innovation Center, betting on agentic AI
• Gartner: Over 40% of Agentic AI Projects Will Be Canceled by End of 2027
• AWS News Blog: Top announcements of the AWS Summit in New York, 2025
• Amazon cuts hundreds of AWS cloud jobs after strategic review, says AI wasn’t the main factor
• Meta snags Seattle startup co-founder for Zuckerberg’s elite superintelligence team

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

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On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we’re joined by Colin Sebastian, senior research analyst at Baird and one of the most respected voices in tech and internet investing. We dive into how Amazon, Google, and Meta are positioning themselves in the AI era — from Amazon’s Alexa+ and infrastructure strategy, to Google’s balancing act between search and generative chatbots, to Meta’s AI talent push.

Colin also shares his take on the broader investment climate, how he separates hype from lasting value, and how AI is reshaping his own research process. Plus, we get his outlook on the next wave in gaming, the signals he’s watching in the data, and how today’s AI boom compares to the dot-com era that marked the start of his career.

See these research disclosures for Colin Sebastian and Baird.

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

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This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Executive coach and former Microsoft leader Sabina Nawaz talks about her book, You’re the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need) — and why she believes pressure, not power, is what truly corrupts leaders.

We discuss the thinning layer of middle management, how AI tools are changing the landscape, and why many younger workers no longer aspire to lead. Sabina shares actionable strategies from the book, including Micro Habits, the power of Blank Space, and how managers can stop micromanaging and start serving as the “container, not the content.”

She also reflects on her time advising Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer — including a memorable moment involving an umlaut — and explains why getting promoted might be the riskiest moment in your career.

Topics Covered:

• Why pressure is more dangerous than power
• Managing when the middle layer disappears
• The double-edged sword of AI-powered management
• Tools: Micro Habits, the Yes List, Blank Space
• Communication fault lines and “sage speak”
• Leadership lessons from Gates and Ballmer
• How to lead without burning out

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, our guest is Hanson Hosein — an Emmy Award-winning journalist, filmmaker, and communication strategist who has spent his career making sense of the world in times of change.

His latest project is American Dignity, a short documentary that follows the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement from Seattle to Selma to Washington D.C., and considers what those lessons mean for America today.

He started out as an NBC News correspondent, reporting from conflict zones in the Middle East and the Balkans. Later, he founded the Communication Leadership program at the University of Washington and became an early voice for digital storytelling, using technology to find new ways of reaching audiences.

We visit his self-contained studio on the former site of a chicken coop, and talk about how he made this film as a one-person operation, what he learned along the way, and where he thinks media is headed. We also dig into how AI is changing the creative process and what it takes to tell meaningful stories in this new world.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.