Best Munawar Podcasts (2026)

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Intelligent Robots in 2026: Are We There Yet? with Nikita Rudin - #760 1:06:37

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4d ago1:06:37

1:06:37

Today, we're joined by Nikita Rudin, co-founder and CEO of Flexion Robotics to discuss the gap between current robotic capabilities and what’s required to deploy fully autonomous robots in the real world. Nikita explains how reinforcement learning and simulation have driven rapid progress in robot locomotion—and why locomotion is still far from “so…

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Defying labels and learning to lead: With Parisa Zander 38:14

6d ago38:14

38:14

This week on Catalyst Tammy chats with Parisa Zander, a seasoned professional in the tech industry who recently retired after a successful career spanning nearly three decades at companies like Meta, Samsung and Microsoft. Parisa discusses the challenges of being a woman in tech, the importance of finding one's voice, and the values that guide her …

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From the archives: Reinventing the healthcare experience with Keena Patel-Moran 33:14

13d ago33:14

33:14

In this episode from the archives Tammy sits down with Keena Patel-Moran, the Healthcare and Lifesciences Industry Lead at Launch by NTT DATA. Keena and Tammy discuss ways to improve the industry and give patients the support they need and deserve. They discuss why doctors should look beyond just symptoms and make a case that improving healthcare p…

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Five themes that defined 2025: With Tammy Soares 11:21

21d ago11:21

11:21

This week on Catalyst, Tammy recaps her favourite moments from the past year. She recaps the key themes that came up time and time again across conversations with almost 50 leaders across various industries - the human side of AI, authentic leadership, designing with people not for people, reinventing work and technology as possibility. There was m…

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Rethinking Pre-Training for Agentic AI with Aakanksha Chowdhery - #759 52:54

26d ago52:54

52:54

Today, we're joined by Aakanksha Chowdhery, member of technical staff at Reflection, to explore the fundamental shifts required to build true agentic AI. While the industry has largely focused on post-training techniques to improve reasoning, Aakanksha draws on her experience leading pre-training efforts for Google’s PaLM and early Gemini models to…

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Building trust in AI with small language models: With Namee Oberst 39:40

28d ago39:40

39:40

This week on Catalyst Tammy speaks with Namee Oberst, co-founder of LLMWare about her unique journey into AI. Namee spent years as a corporate attorney and is now developing small language models for legal and financial organizations. She’s solving for the pain points that she experienced for years. Namee and Tammy discuss the importance of small l…

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How Danial’s Food Videos Hit 2–5 Million Views Without a Studio Ft. Danial | 488 | TBT 1:19:55

25d ago1:19:55

1:19:55

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit with Muhammad Danial, the creator who unintentionally turned simple kitchen experiments into one of Pakistan’s most engaging food communities. From growing up as a quiet kid dealing with OCD, to finding confidence through a camera, to balancing the pressure of online fame with the weight of personal …

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Inside Daari Mooch: From Beard Oil to a $3M Brand in Pakistan Ft. Ibrahim Shaukat | 487 | TBT 1:39:52

1M ago1:39:52

1:39:52

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit with Ibrahim Shaukat, the founder, who turned Daari Mooch from a small beard-oil experiment into one of Pakistan’s most recognized grooming brands. From building products in a market that didn’t exist, to opening their own salon, to navigating Pakistan’s unpredictable retail landscape, Ibrahim breaks…

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Gingko Retail Power $350 MILLION Ecommerce Orders Every Year Ft. Obaid Arshad | 486 | TBT 1:51:11

27d ago1:51:11

1:51:11

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we speak with Obaid Arshad, Founder & CEO of Gingko Retail, Pakistan’s biggest ecommerce operating platform and the largest order aggregator in the country. We Explore: Less than 1% of Pakistan’s commerce has moved online How Gingko Retail became Pakistan’s largest ecommerce enabler 214+ merchants using the…

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Why Vision Language Models Ignore What They See with Munawar Hayat - #758 57:40

1M ago57:40

57:40

In this episode, we’re joined by Munawar Hayat, researcher at Qualcomm AI Research, to discuss a series of papers presented at NeurIPS 2025 focusing on multimodal and generative AI. We dive into the persistent challenge of object hallucination in Vision-Language Models (VLMs), why models often discard visual information in favor of pre-trained lang…

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The West Sold Us a Lie — Pakistan Is the Real Opportunity | Ft. Asfandyar Waraich | 485 | TBT 1:52:50

28d ago1:52:50

1:52:50

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit down with a rapidly growing digital creator to unpack his journey from childhood struggles and losing his father at a young age to building a full-time career in online content creation From early exposure abroad to returning home, he explains why social media gave him more earning power than settlin…

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How to automate without leaving people behind: With Jamie Sermon 36:09

1M ago36:09

36:09

This week on Catalyst, Tammy is joined by Jamie Sermon, the Vice President of Engineering, Robotics and Automation at UPS. Jamie has been at UPS for over 15 years and knows the company intimately. He also knows that you can't solve logistics problems if you're not thinking about the customer at every step. Jamie shares how his upbringing in the Bah…

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Software Finder Founders: We Get 250,000 Targeted Visitors A Month From SEO ALONE!! | 484 | TBT 1:53:10

1M ago1:53:10

1:53:10

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit down with Shane and Adnan, founders of Software Finder — a global marketplace for buying and selling software, like an OLX for software buyers. With 350+ employees across 4 countries and more than 250,000 targeted monthly visitors, Software Finder has quietly become one of Pakistan’s most successful …

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Pakistan’s BIGGEST Startup Success Story: vyro.ai Ft. Ahmed Abubakar | 483 | TBT 2:26:42

1M ago2:26:42

2:26:42

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit down with Ahmed Abubakar, Founder of Imagine Art - a Pakistan-built GenAI creative suite used by millions worldwide and competing for #1–#2 positions in global design app charts, right next to Canva. Today, Imagine does $30M+ ARR, with a major portion of revenue coming from the US and international m…

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Delivery Riders Are Barely Surviving!! Ft.Umer Munawar | 482 | TBT 1:56:45

1M ago1:56:45

1:56:45

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit down with Umer Munawar, Co-Founder of SmartLane, one of Pakistan’s fastest-growing logistics aggregation platforms. Umer shares how he exited Finja and jumped straight into solving Pakistan’s most chaotic industry - e-commerce logistics. From integrating 31 courier companies, to processing thousands …

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ONLY People Using AI Will Survive!! Ft. Nayab Babar | 481 | TBT 2:15:27

1M ago2:15:27

2:15:27

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit down with Nayab Babar, Chief Investment Officer at the Pakistan Startup Fund, the man shaping how capital flows into Pakistan’s next generation of startups. Nayab shares how Warcraft strategy games trained his problem-solving mindset, how his perspective on racism changed, and why he believes exposur…

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Scaling Agentic Inference Across Heterogeneous Compute with Zain Asgar - #757 48:44

1M ago48:44

48:44

In this episode, Zain Asgar, co-founder and CEO of Gimlet Labs, joins us to discuss the heterogeneous AI inference across diverse hardware. Zain argues that the current industry standard of running all AI workloads on high-end GPUs is unsustainable for agents, which consume significantly more tokens than traditional LLM applications. We explore Gim…

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From the archives: Leaders breaking the mold with Jessica Hartley 42:18

1M ago42:18

42:18

In this episode from the archives Tammy is joined by Jessica Hartley, the Head of Design and Customer Experience for CCB Finance, Tech and Data Analytics at JPMorganChase. Jessica has over 20 years of experience helping clients leverage digital innovation and is passionate about driving employee engagement and culture. Tammy and Jessica talk about …

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We Built Pakistan’s BIGGEST Donut Brand!! Ft. Rayyan Sohail | 480 | TBT 2:00:15

1M ago2:00:15

2:00:15

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit down with Rayyan, the entrepreneur behind one of Pakistan’s fastest-growing food brands - OD. From a disciplined childhood in madrassah to running his father’s company at a young age, Rayyan’s journey is a mix of family pressure, resilience, and a deep desire to build something of his own. He shares …

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Salesflo Founder: AI Will DESTROY Pakistan’s Freelancing Boom!! | 479 | TBT 2:13:26

1M ago2:13:26

2:13:26

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit down with Yasir Suleman Memon, Founder & CEO of Salesflo, one of Pakistan’s biggest enterprise SaaS companies, now used globally across multiple markets. We explore: Why second-tier Pakistani cities never developed How AI is reversing Pakistan’s freelancing boom Why Pakistani founders lack “IPO hunge…

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From the archives: Customer centered growth with Donald Chestnut 40:39

2M ago40:39

40:39

In this episode from the archives Tammy sit down with Donald Chestnut. Donald has worked at some of the world’s largest brands like Unilever, Target, Disney, General Motors and Coke and is now writing a book on why companies should move away from customer experience and towards customer centered growth. Tammy and Donald talk about his people-first …

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Game Sports Founder: Pakistanis DON'T Care About Any Other Sport Except CRICKET!! | 478 | TBT 1:48:19

2M ago1:48:19

1:48:19

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we’re joined by the founder of Game Sports Management, one of Pakistan’s few companies trying to turn athletes into real commercial brands. From managing Wasim Akram to building a full sports business, he shares the why Pakistan’s athletes never grow, why our sports ecosystem is broken, and how countries li…

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ALETHIA AI Founder: We Made Muzamil’s AI Avatar & Asked WHO HE’D VOTE FOR!! | 477 | TBT 1:56:08

2M ago1:56:08

1:56:08

CHECK OUT MY AI AVATAR: https://muzamil.alethia.ai/ In this episode, we sit down with Arif Khan, Founder & CEO of ALETHIA AI, the global startup building real-time interactive AI agents, with a major part of the technology being developed in Pakistan. We Explore: Creating AI versions of real people How Muzamil’s own AI avatar was trained Using AI f…

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Proactive Agents for the Web with Devi Parikh - #756 56:04

2M ago56:04

56:04

Today, we're joined by Devi Parikh, co-founder and co-CEO of Yutori, to discuss browser use models and a future where we interact with the web through proactive, autonomous agents. We explore the technical challenges of creating reliable web agents, the advantages of visually-grounded models that operate on screenshots rather than the browser’s mor…

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The power of the story: With Kainoa Horcajo 37:15

2M ago37:15

37:15

This week on Catalyst Tammy is joined by speaker, storyteller and cultural wayfinder Kainoa Horcajo. Through his firm Mo’olelo Group, Kainoa has found a way to transform Hawaiian wisdom into business insights and experience design. Kainoa and Tammy discuss the importance of storytelling and how finding the why and the how is the most important thin…

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Ziyad Parekh: We Process As Many Transactions As HBL!! | 476 | TBT 2:20:06

2M ago2:20:06

2:20:06

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit down with Ziyad Parekh, Co-Founder & CEO of Safepay, one of Pakistan’s most exciting fintech startups and a Y-Combinator backed startup. Ziyad shares how he went from Karachi to New York and why he left everything to return home and build Pakistan’s version of Stripe. We uncover how Safepay survived …

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Khazanay Founder: Reimagining Landa Bazaar For Gen Z | 475 | TBT 1:28:23

2M ago1:28:23

1:28:23

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit down with Usman Saleem, Co-Founder & CEO of Khazanay, Pakistan’s biggest used sneaker and thrift brand. Usman shares his journey from losing his father at an early age, working graphic design jobs for just ₨8,000 a month, to building one of Pakistan’s most disruptive retail startups. We talk about: H…

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AI Orchestration for Smart Cities and the Enterprise with Robin Braun and Luke Norris - #755 54:46

2M ago54:46

54:46

Today, we're joined by Robin Braun, VP of AI business development for hybrid cloud at HPE, and Luke Norris, co-founder and CEO of Kamiwaza, to discuss how AI systems can be used to automate complex workflows and unlock value from legacy enterprise data. Robin and Luke detail high-impact use cases from HPE and Kamiwaza’s collaboration on an “Agentic…

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The art of corporate collaboration: With Murphy Freelen 36:53

2M ago36:53

36:53

This week on Catalyst Tammy is joined by longtime friend and recent addition to the Launch by NTT DATA team to lead, Murphy Freelen. Murphy has a proven track record of bringing together multi-disciplinary teams to deliver breakthrough innovative solutions. Murphy reflects on her personal journey working in the music and media industries and how th…

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Manto Founder: We’re Building Pakistan’s FIRST Mass Premium Fashion Brand!! | 474 | TBT 2:09:40

2M ago2:09:40

2:09:40

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we’re joined by Salman Parekh, Founder of Manto, Pakistan’s most distinct fashion brand redefining local identity through design, storytelling, and craftsmanship. From launching limited hand-drawn collections to sustaining a premium yet local brand in a low-growth economy. We explore: How Manto built its ow…

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Building an AI Mathematician with Carina Hong - #754 55:52

2M ago55:52

55:52

In this episode, Carina Hong, founder and CEO of Axiom, joins us to discuss her work building an "AI Mathematician." Carina explains why this is a pivotal moment for AI in mathematics, citing a convergence of three key areas: the advanced reasoning capabilities of modern LLMs, the rise of formal proof languages like Lean, and breakthroughs in code …

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Outcomes without ego: With Jason Warner 41:53

2M ago41:53

41:53

This week on Catalyst Tammy is joined by Jason Warner, co-founder and CEO of Poolside. Jason has over 20 years of experience leading teams and developing innovative technologies including GitHub Co-pilot, and he’s done that all while leading with heart. In this episode, Jason emphasizes the importance of empathetic leadership and why treating peopl…

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Maha Shahzad: I Built a PROFITABLE Startup Without a DEGREE!! | 473 | TBT 1:38:47

2M ago1:38:47

1:38:47

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we’re joined by Maha Shahzad, the founder & CEO of Buscaro — Pakistan’s first tech-enabled bus-sharing startup that’s making everyday commuting safer, smarter, and more affordable for thousands of Pakistanis. From doing odd jobs to fund her education, to building a profitable transport startup without a deg…

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Pakistan’s Entertainment Powerhouse: ARY's Journey to 66 Billion Views Ft. Jerjees Seja | 472 | TBT 1:58:59

2M ago1:58:59

1:58:59

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we’re joined by Jerjees Seja, CEO of ARY Digital Network, one of Pakistan’s most iconic media leaders. From shaping the country’s TV and drama landscape to building ARY into a powerhouse of entertainment, Jerjees shares his journey of transforming Pakistan’s media industry. We discuss: How Pakistan’s privat…

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Arif Lakhani: You Can Buy ANYTHING On Installments In Pakistan!! | 471 | TBT 1:45:36

2M ago1:45:36

1:45:36

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we’re joined by Arif Lakhani, Co-Founder of QistBazaar, Pakistan’s fastest-growing fintech platform making anything, from bikes to fridges, available on easy installments. We explore: How QistBazaar gives access to credit without traditional banking Why 90% of startup funding never enters Pakistan’s economy…

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High-Efficiency Diffusion Models for On-Device Image Generation and Editing with Hung Bui - #753 52:23

3M ago52:23

52:23

In this episode, Hung Bui, Technology Vice President at Qualcomm, joins us to explore the latest high-efficiency techniques for running generative AI, particularly diffusion models, on-device. We dive deep into the technical challenges of deploying these models, which are powerful but computationally expensive due to their iterative sampling proces…

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From the archives: Driving community engagement with Martina Lee Strickland 36:06

3M ago36:06

36:06

In this episode from the archives Tammy sits down with Martina Lee Strickland. Martina is a unicorn in the healthcare industry. She’s worked in the industry for over 20 years and is now the Chief Growth Officer at Clever Care Health Plan, a healthcare company that provides culturally-sensitive Medicare options. She joins Tammy to talk about her wor…

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Myco Founder: 30M Registered Users Across the Globe!! | 470 | TBT 1:59:25

2M ago1:59:25

1:59:25

Find out more about Endeavor: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://pakistan.endeavor.org⁠⁠ In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we’re joined by Umair Masoom Usmani, the Founder of Myco, a rapidly growing OTT and creator-monetization platform redefining how people consume, fund, and earn from content across emerging markets. After leaving Dubai’s corporate comfort, Uma…

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Vibe Coding's Uncanny Valley with Alexandre Pesant - #752 1:12:36

3M ago1:12:36

1:12:36

Today, we're joined by Alexandre Pesant, AI lead at Lovable, who joins us to discuss the evolution and practice of vibe coding. Alex shares his take on how AI is enabling a shift in software development from typing characters to expressing intent, creating a new layer of abstraction similar to how high-level code compiles to machine code. We explor…

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Scents N Stories CEO: We Have 40+ OUTLETS Across PAKISTAN! | 469 | TBT 2:06:57

3M ago2:06:57

2:06:57

Find out more about Endeavor: ⁠⁠⁠https://pakistan.endeavor.org⁠⁠ In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we’re joined by Saad Afridi, the Founder & CEO of Scents N Stories, Pakistan’s leading fragrance brand with over 40 outlets, 300+ employees, and one of the top 5 players in the country’s perfume market. From starting with men’s grooming produc…

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From the archives: On empowering design teams with Dani Snyder 38:02

3M ago38:02

38:02

On this episode from the archives, Dani Snyder talks leading design teams out of their silos As someone who started out as an industrial designer and who is now the Head of Design AI, Servicing and Communications at JPMorganChase, Dani Snyder deeply understands the design process and organizational design. This week Dani joins Tammy to talk about h…

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Saad Riaz: How Kickstart Became Pakistan’s LARGEST Coworking Space | 468 | TBT 1:35:46

3M ago1:35:46

1:35:46

Find out more about Endeavor: ⁠⁠https://pakistan.endeavor.org⁠ In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we’re joined by Saad Riaz, Co-Founder of Kickstart Pakistan, the country’s one of the largest coworking network powering thousands of professionals and businesses every day. Saad opens up about how Kickstart survived Pakistan’s toughest economic…

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Dipitt Founder: We Export To 33 COUNTRIES From Pakistan!! | 467 | TBT 1:38:29

3M ago1:38:29

1:38:29

Find out more about Endeavor: ⁠https://pakistan.endeavor.org⁠ In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we’re joined by Syed Zeeshan Haider, the Founder and Director of Dipitt, Pakistan’s No.1 sauce brand exporting to over 33 countries worldwide. A LUMS graduate and engineer by training, Zeeshan began his career managing top tobacco brands before m…

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Dataflow Computing for AI Inference with Kunle Olukotun - #751 57:37

3M ago57:37

57:37

In this episode, we're joined by Kunle Olukotun, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Stanford University and co-founder and chief technologist at Sambanova Systems, to discuss reconfigurable dataflow architectures for AI inference. Kunle explains the core idea of building computers that are dynamically configured to match th…

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From the archives: Scaling responsible AI with Noelle Russell 43:16

3M ago43:16

43:16

Noelle Russell compares AI to a baby tiger, it’s super cute when it’s small but it can quickly grow into something huge and dangerous. As the CEO and founder of the AI Leadership Institute and as an early developer on Amazon Alexa, Noelle has a deep understanding of scaling and selling AI. This week Noelle joins Tammy to discuss why she’s so passio…

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DAYYAN: People LOVED A 13 Year Old Doing EDGY Comedy!! | 465 | TBT 1:38:13

3M ago1:38:13

1:38:13

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we’re joined by Dayyan, a young, super-talented and rising stand-up comedian and content creator known for his sharp wit and humor. From small open mics to sold-out shows, Dayyan shares his unfiltered journey through Pakistan’s evolving stand-up scene, the struggles, the experiments, and the state of comedy…

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KTrade Chairman: BlackRock Invests In Pakistan Via KTrade!! | 464 | TBT 1:42:58

3M ago1:42:58

1:42:58

Find out more about Endeavor: ⁠https://pakistan.endeavor.org⁠ In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we’re joined by Ali Farid Khawaja, Chairman of KTrade Securities, Pakistan’s leading investment platform enabling thousands of Pakistanis to invest smartly and become part of the country’s growing capital markets. With a global background in fina…

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Sannan Saleh: Pakistan’s Media Industry Needs More Writers! | 463 | TBT 1:38:55

3M ago1:38:55

1:38:55

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we’re joined by Sannan Saleh, a filmmaker, storyteller, and creative producer who’s worked with global giants like Comedy Central in Los Angeles before returning to Pakistan. Sannan shares an unfiltered look at the real state of Pakistan’s entertainment industry, its creative challenges, and the opportuniti…

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Recurrence and Attention for Long-Context Transformers with Jacob Buckman - #750 57:23

3M ago57:23

57:23

Today, we're joined by Jacob Buckman, co-founder and CEO of Manifest AI to discuss achieving long context in transformers. We discuss the bottlenecks of scaling context length and recent techniques to overcome them, including windowed attention, grouped query attention, and latent space attention. We explore the idea of weight-state balance and the…

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Gen Z, AI and shaping the new workforce: With Sarina Malik 32:10

3M ago32:10

32:10

This week on Catalyst Tammy is joined by Sarina Malik, a recent graduate from Columbia University, to discuss the role of AI in shaping the future workforce. They discuss the challenges faced by Gen Z in entering the job market, the importance of AI literacy, and the ethical implications of using AI in education and beyond. Serena shares her experi…