Advances in AI are occurring at a pace we haven’t seen before in Silicon Valley. How do we know what’s real versus hype? What does it mean for large software incumbents? And how are the top investors and builders thinking about the new possibilities? This week, we talk with two of my partners at 8VC, Alex Kolicich and Jack Moshkovich, who are on the ground working with the leading AI talent to get their perspective on what’s really happening.

Alex Kolicich is a Partner at 8VC, where he specializes in IT and Bio-IT investments. Prior, he was a Partner at Formation 8 and worked alongside Peter Thiel at Mithril Capital Management. Alex was also an engineer and early-product advisor at Clarium, Palantir, and Google. Jack Moshkovich began his career at 8VC and helps lead our investment practice alongside Alex out of San Francisco, where he focuses on enterprise software.

We begin with Silicon Valley’s most recent technological wave: smart enterprise. In 2013, we published our smart enterprise thesis, predicting the B2B software explosion that drove tremendous value creation over the past decade. Now, we’re entering the next landmark shift: the AI wave. Learn why AI is fundamentally disruptive (you can find our thesis here), and the enormous leap from data retrieval to automated decision making and from linear to non-linear problem solving. Next, we dive into the six layers of the AI investment stack, and why we are focused on level five: the application layer. We dissect the tremendous opportunities for AI-native upstarts, as well as the challenges — and upside — for smart enterprise pioneers that can reorient around AI. Finally, we discuss some of the key questions in the years ahead: When and where will we see massive productivity gains in the economy? Will LLMs become commodities, or is each frontier model sufficiently differentiated? And are we entering a bubble, or is the AI wave just getting started?

00:00 Episode intro

01:40 Smart enterprise thesis

04:00 Did enterprise software dramatically boost productivity?

08:30 Understanding the AI wave

11:45 Are LLMs becoming commodities?

17:10 OpenAI vs Anthropic vs Meta vs Grok

20:30 Frontier models vs enterprise incumbents

25:20 What did Palantir get right?

32:30 AI case studies/new possibilities

43:00 The most surprising aspect of the AI wave

46:10 Are we entering a bubble? Or just getting started?

52:40 Biggest concern with AI

58:00 Biggest reason for optimism

When Kevin Mandia’s phone rings, it’s often a Fortune 500 CEO or government leader with a billion-dollar problem. How did he become the go-to expert in cybersecurity? What new threats from AI led him back into the arena? And what is he building to protect the good guys?

Kevin began his career in the U.S. Air Force, defending the U.S. military from some of the earliest cyber attacks. He went on to found and lead Mandiant, scaling it into an industry leader which Google acquired in 2022 for over $5 billion. In 2013, he famously exposed China’s massive state-sponsored cyber espionage inside America. Kevin has also served on the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) and the CISA Cybersecurity Advisory Committee. He recently launched Armadin to address new AI possibilities in the cyber domain.

To begin, Kevin takes us behind the scenes of the early cyber skirmishes in the 1990s, and what it was like confronting some of the first cyber incursions from Russia and China, as well as the rise of criminal cyber enterprises. In the early 2000s, Kevin noticed glaring gaps in conventional antivirus approaches and launched Mandiant. Learn how he quickly became the first person that CEOs and governments would call if they’d been hacked. After scaling Mandiant and exiting to Google, Kevin is now back in the arena building cutting-edge solutions to new AI cyber threats. He explains the dramatic increase in the productivity and sophistication of AI agents, and why it’s upending how we build cyber defenses. Find out what he’s most worried about in 2026, and what steps governments and CEOs need to take to secure their networks and infrastructure.

0:00 Episode intro

01:30 Kevin's journey into cyber; early attacks from Russia & China

05:00 The evolution of cyber espionage and crime

08:00 Founding Mandiant; why Fortune 500 CEOs call Kevin

13:30 What's it like getting hacked by Russia?

21:30 AI hackers are here; Kevin's warning

27:00 Protecting critical infrastructure; harnessing AI for cyber defense

31:30 Engineers vs AI agents

36:40 Optimism for the future

America’s capital markets are the envy of the world, but in recent years, misguided policies have driven innovation offshore and stifled the number of companies going public. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins is reversing course. What’s his plan to make IPOs great again? What will it take for America to become the crypto capital of the world? And does he think we should expand access to private markets for retail investors?

This week, we’re honored to feature a conversation with Paul Atkins, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also served as a commissioner at the SEC from 2002 to 2008, and worked on the staff of two SEC chairmen from 1990 to 1994. Prior to returning to the SEC in 2025, Chairman Atkins was the founder and chief executive of Patomak Global Partners, a financial services firm he founded in 2009.

We begin with Chairman Atkins’ visit to Texas, the significance of Texas’ new business courts, and the importance of innovation in our financial markets. Whereas his predecessor, Gary Gensler, took an adversarial, regulation-by-enforcement approach, he’s embracing new technologies and regulatory clarity. In this vein, the Chairman lays out his strategy for making IPOs great again. Learn why the number of public companies has dropped by nearly half since 2007, and how Chairman Atkins is reforming the rules around litigation and corporate governance to deter activists from harassing America’s builders. We also discuss President Trump’s vision for making America the crypto capital of the world, and what it looks like to provide clear guidelines that promote innovation and protect investors. Finally, we explore the steps he’s taking to enable retail investors to access private markets and other alternative assets.

0:00 Episode intro

1:35 Texas' new business courts / evolution of U.S. markets

7:20 The SEC's new approach to crypto

16:00 Making IPOs and public companies great again

25:00 Weaponization of shareholder proposals and ESG

32:10 National security concerns / China's bad actions

36:30 New rules for retail investors & private companies

44:35 Optimism for America's future

First, he digitized the entire federal retirement process, cutting it from six months to a few days. Now, he’s overhauling the U.S. government’s online presence, one website at a time. And Joe Gebbia has been in Washington, D.C. less than a year! Learn why he stepped up to serve, and the impact our best minds can have on D.C., in a conversation with our nation’s first Chief Design Officer.

As co-founder of Airbnb, Joe turned a living-room experiment into a multi-billion dollar global brand. Then, he launched Samara, helping homeowners reimagine their yards with state-of-the-art Accessory Dwelling Units. He also sits on the boards of Airbnb, Airbnb.org, and Tesla. Last February, he joined Elon Musk and the DOGE team in D.C. to overhaul retirement for federal workers, before setting his sights on modernizing the nation’s 27,000 .gov websites.

We begin with Joe’s journey to D.C., and how a former Democrat came to support President Trump and take on problems that have plagued government for decades. His first challenge: federal retirement and “the mine” — a storage facility inside a Pennsylvania mountain that houses all federal employees’ retirement paperwork. Learn how Joe worked alongside career civil servants to transform a broken, six-month slog into a digital-only process that takes mere days. Now, he’s set his sights even higher: overhauling the government’s digital portals and delivering an Airbnb-like experience, starting with the Trump Gold Card, TrumpRX.gov, and, more recently, RealFood.gov and TrumpAccounts.gov. We go inside the Oval Office and Joe reveals his conversations with Pres. Trump on the importance of aesthetics, functionality, and design. Drawing inspiration from President Nixon’s beautification initiative, he worked with Pres. Trump to launch the government’s first digital makeover. It’s inspiring to see Joe’s leadership, and if you, or someone you know, wants to join his elite team of designers and engineers, there are a few spots remaining.

00:00 Episode intro

01:15 Lifelong Democrat to Trump White House

07:50 Text from Elon / Joining DOGE

10:20 “The Mine” & fixing federal retirement

13:50 “What if we did it in a week?”

21:45 What happened to DOGE?

23:30 Becoming America’s Chief Design Officer

26:45 Inside the Oval Office with Pres. Trump

31:00 Fixing 27,000 .gov websites

34:00 Making America beautiful & functional again

Emil Michael directs the U.S. military’s research and development of advanced technologies. Previously, he led global business growth for Uber — one of the fastest moving organizations in Silicon Valley history. Can he bring that startup speed to the Department of War? What are the six critical areas of innovation he’s prioritizing? And how is he investing in these key technologies to bolster the defense industrial base?

We’re honored to go inside the Pentagon for a special episode with Emil Michael, Chief Technology Officer and Under Secretary of War for Research & Engineering. He oversees the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Office of Strategic Capital, and other critical organizations. Prior, he helped scale multiple businesses, including D-Wave Systems, Tellme Networks, and Uber Technologies. Earlier in his career, he also served as a White House Fellow and later on the Defense Business Board.

We begin with Emil’s decision to join the Trump administration, and why he believes this is a generational opportunity to transform the culture and pace of innovation inside the Pentagon. Learn how he rolled out GenAI.mil (Google’s Gemini) to the entire force — roughly three million people — in a matter of months. Next, we dive into his decision to pare down the all-important Critical Technologies List, which drives the Pentagon’s R&D spending, from 14 areas to six. Then, we discuss the Department’s shift to a “commercial first” approach and what that means for the defense industrial base. Finally, we cover his priorities for the Office of Strategic Capital, plus how he’s thinking about talent and encouraging our best and brightest to step up and serve the country.

[NOTE: This episode was recorded prior to the United States capture and extradition of Nicolas Maduro]

00:00 Episode intro

01:40 Time to disrupt the Pentagon

04:20 What did you learn from your first threat briefing?

06:30 Can you bring Uber speed to Dept of War?

08:45 Redefining the Critical Technologies List

13:30 Hypersonics and Golden Dome

18:00 Commercial first approach and changing the culture

23:00 How to recruit the best talent into government

28:45 Optimism for the future

Chris Sununu is an MIT-educated engineer who won four terms as governor of New Hampshire. Now, he's leading the charge for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. What are his key lessons in political leadership? Why is he telling Harvard students to be wary of AI? And are real fiscal constraints on Washington, D.C. close to becoming reality? The former governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu is now the President and CEO of Airlines for America and National Chair and Board Member of Balanced Budget Now, which has secured 27 of 34 states required to call a convention for a constitutional amendment. They're on the cusp of landing several more states and closing in on a convention of states, which he hopes will pressure Congress to step in and pass an amendment through the traditional process. This is a generational opportunity to upend how D.C. operates; my friends and I are supporting their work and hope you will too. We begin with Gov. Sununu's path to politics, and how he succeeded in lowering taxes, expanding school choice, and combating an opioid epidemic with a sharply divided state legislature. Next, we talk about the right political strategies for cutting wasteful spending, lessons from DOGE, and what he would do differently to make DOGE an enduring movement. Then, we dive into his efforts to get a balanced budget amendment across the finish line. Learn why nearly all states (even California, albeit it plays games with pension math) have a balanced budget requirement and what it will take to get D.C. on board. Finally, we discuss the AI revolution and why he's bullish on plumbers and welders over students pursuing "elite" white-collar professions. As Gov. Sununu suggests, more tradespeople and fewer lawyers might not be a bad thing for our society.

00:00 Episode intro

01:34 MIT engineer turned governor

06:35 Fighting special interests

12:50 Lessons from DOGE

16:37 Forcing a Balanced Budget Amendment

26:00 AI and welders vs lawyers

29:00 Making a Balanced Budget Amendment a reality

This week, OPM Director Scott Kupor launched the U.S. Tech Force to recruit an elite cohort of engineering talent into the federal government. What will it take to make public service cool again? What can he do to ensure the government hires, fires, and promotes based on performance? And what is he doing on merit and aptitude tests that could be one of the most important reforms of Trump’s entire presidency?

We’re joined by Scott for a timely conversation about Tech Force, his role as Director of the Office of Personnel Management, and key civil service reforms. Previously, Scott built one of the leading venture capital firms as Managing Partner of Andreessen Horowitz. He also penned “Secrets of Sand Hill Road,” a definitive guide for raising capital and navigating the startup world.

We begin our conversation with the importance of Tech Force — a two-year program designed to surge top programmers and designers into Washington, D.C. and create an enduring talent pipeline between the public and private sectors. Next, we explore Scott’s career in Silicon Valley, how he helped build a16z from the ground up, and the lessons he’s bringing to the White House. Then, we dive into his ambitious OPM agenda, starting with addressing rampant performance inflation, improving incentives for top performers, and removing artificial barriers, like years of service or college degrees, so we can get the best talent into the right jobs. Finally, we revisit the Pendleton Act of 1883 and how to bring merit back into civil service. Learn how Scott overturned a consent decree that will allow him to bring aptitude tests back into federal hiring — this could be one of the most consequential achievements of the Trump entire presidency!

For decades, Philip Howard has been sounding the alarm: our government is broken, and tinkering around the edges won’t work. We need a new operating system. How did it break? What do both parties get wrong? And what will it take to revive the American spirit?

Philip is the Founder of the Common Good, best-selling author, and one of the leaders in government and legal reform. His book “The Death of Common Sense” became a powerful force for bipartisan reforms in the 1990s between President Bill Clinton and Congressional Republicans. I’ve followed his work for many years, and his newest book, “Saving Can-Do,” offers important frameworks for injecting accountability and human judgement back into governance.

We begin with the genesis of the red tape state, and why Philip believes the collective guilt of the 1960s led to well-intentioned but ill-designed policies that broke the government. He explains how law began to supplant human judgment, politicians stopped making hard decisions, and governance was outsourced to an instruction manual run by the professional class. Case in point: there are now 150 million words of binding federal rules, most added post-1970. The U.S Constitution, by contrast, is 7,500 words. Next, we dive into his new book, beginning with what makes the American “can-do” attitude unique. Then, he offers solutions for reinstating human authority into our institutions. And finally, a new framework for enabling America to build again. Philip makes the compelling case that what our republic needs most of all is a return to accountability over compliance, amateurs over professionals, and liberty over safetyism.

Michael Kratsios is the man of the hour, charged by President Trump to usher in the golden age of AI and American innovation. How is the White House approaching this revolution in technology? What does AI mean for the American worker? How do we stay ahead of China — and also persuade other nations to adopt U.S. tech over Chinese?

We hosted this conversation at the 2025 Cicero Institute Courage Awards, where we recognize bold policymakers on both sides of the aisle for standing up to special interests and fighting for liberty. Amid the regulatory battle over AI, we were honored to feature Michael, who currently serves as Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and a Senior Advisor to President Trump. In the first Trump term, he was the nation’s Chief Technology Officer and later acting Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering. He started his career working for Peter Thiel, first at Clarium Capital and later Thiel Capital.

We began our conversation with Michael’s journey to the White House, and his role leading the White House’s science and technology policy agenda. He outlined three key areas to winning the AI race: the right regulatory frameworks, the necessary infrastructure, and international engagement. How do we not only stay ahead of China but also persuade other nations to adopt our AI stack? Michael lays out the strategy. He also makes the case for a federal AI standard and explains why a patchwork of laws stifles innovation, hamstringing the upstarts and entrenching the incumbents. Finally, he lays out what AI will mean for the American worker, and as the man in charge of overseeing AI, quantum, space, and more, he reveals what keeps him up at night. We have a generational opportunity with AI to bring down the cost of living and lift up millions of lives; we’re grateful to have leaders like Michael at the helm.

Do great men alter the course of history, or is everything more bottom-up than we realize? Or both? We credit Thomas Edison for the light bulb, but what about the 20 competitors that were right on his heels? What can the evolution of language, biology, and complex systems teach us about entrepreneurship, investing, and the conditions for human progress?

Matt Ridley’s writings have influenced how builders, investors, and policymakers understand the world, myself included. A former member of the House of Lords, The Viscount Ridley is a prolific columnist and author whose works range from The Rational Optimist and The Evolution of Everything to The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature. An intellectual army of one, Matt has taught millions that the free exchange of ideas produces the next great innovation, not top-down policies, no matter how well-intentioned. He’s also been a rare voice of courage in the United Kingdom, fighting against free speech crackdowns, insane energy policies, and corrosive regulations.

We begin with Matt’s dire warning about the UK and its rapid descent into economic stagnation and cultural turmoil. Is this great civilization doomed? Learn where Matt sees glimmers of hope, and get a preview of his next book on the future of the West. Then, we dive into lessons from Matt’s great works, from the impact of mating choices in birds and other fascinating scientific research to the evolution of ideas and conditions for innovation. If Steve Jobs didn’t exist, would there have been a pioneer of the personal computer? Matt says yes, and you’ll hear his compelling case. His frameworks have helped shape how some of us think about technological revolutions and strategy. We also cover the AI race with China, including Matt’s perspective on industrial policy and why he believes China is not as strong as many think. Finally, we spar over religion -- Matt’s a longtime atheist -- and whether America can survive as a post-religious society.

00:00 Episode intro

01:45 Is the UK doomed?

11:40 Matt’s next book and why he’s touring the US

16:29 The extraordinary implications of Charles Darwin’s strangest idea

22:00 Industrial policy & tech race with China

27:45 Evolution of everything vs Great Man Theory

35:20 Can a post-religious America survive?

39:20 Reasons for optimism