On this episode of Deployed, we sit down with Ajit Varma, VP of Product at Mozilla Firefox, and former product leader at Google, Meta, Square, and WhatsApp. 

Ajit brings a unique perspective: while venture-backed AI browsers race to build what increasingly look like walled gardens, Mozilla has spent months quietly shipping privacy-first AI features that put user choice above everything else.

It's a thoughtful conversation with candid insights into why Firefox offers multiple AI chat providers in their sidebar instead of forcing users into a single model (and how this philosophical stance shapes every technical decision they make), the reality that privacy-preserving AI requires completely rethinking architecture, and why their AI features prioritize on-device processing whenever possible. 

We also get into the technical challenges that come with balancing local and cloud AI (users want SOTA quality but also want their data to stay private), the business model constraints of being a nonprofit foundation competing against VC-funded competitors who can burn cash on flashy features, and why Mozilla believes keeping the web open matters more than winning the AI browser wars.

Whether you're interested in privacy and the open web or just trying to understand what it takes to integrate cutting-edge AI into existing products, Ajit's perspective offers practical lessons from someone navigating a challenging balancing act.