Best Rajat Suri Podcasts (2025)

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The AI Superconnector Transforming The Future Of Networking With Andrew D’Souza (Founder & CEO, Boardy) 51:09

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6h ago51:09

51:09

Andrew D'Souza is the founder and CEO of Boardy AI, an AI "super connector" that helps founders, investors, and operators make high-value introductions through voice conversations. Previously, Andrew co-founded and scaled Clearco (formerly ClearBank) from a YC Fellowship company to over $100M in revenue and 600 employees across 11 countries before …

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Building an AI Business Beyond the Hype with Jesse Zhang from Decagon 48:41

5d ago48:41

48:41

How do you build a sustainable AI business when investors are throwing money at anything with "AI" in the pitch deck? We're bringing back one of our best episodes featuring Jesse Zhang (Decagon AI CEO). This is a strategic conversation that centers on the business challenges of building an enterprise AI company that can sustain beyond the current h…

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Inside David Gu’s $38M Raise: The Pivot That Put Recall.ai on the Map 54:50

12d ago54:50

54:50

David Gu is the co-founder and CEO of Recall.ai, building conversation recording infrastructure that powers over 1,000 AI companies. Fresh off announcing a $38 million Series B led by Bessemer, David shares the journey from a Winter 2020 Y Combinator call recording tool to becoming the backbone of AI conversation intelligence. What you'll learn: Ho…

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Building and Selling in "Impossible" Markets with WePay's Bill Clerico 47:17

22d ago47:17

47:17

Bill Clerico is the founder and former CEO of WePay, which he sold to JPMorgan Chase for $400 million, and is now founding managing partner of Convective Capital, investing in wildfire risk management and physical resilience technologies. Starting WePay during the 2008 financial crisis when VCs said "no one makes money in payments except PayPal," B…

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Frugality, Grit, and Scale: Inside Joris Poort’s Founder Playbook 51:14

26d ago51:14

51:14

Joris Poort is the CEO of Rescale, a digital engineering platform that provides supercomputing capabilities for engineers and scientists designing rockets, drugs, and computer chips. Starting from Y Combinator in 2012, Rescale has grown over 14 years to serve major aerospace and life sciences companies with over 200 employees and a platform that co…

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Building in Defense Tech and Sovereign AI with Mattermost's Ian Tien 55:07

1M ago55:07

55:07

Ian Tien is the co-founder and CEO of Mattermost, an open-source collaboration platform that has evolved from a Slack alternative to essential infrastructure for government and defense organizations worldwide. Starting from a failed HTML5 gaming platform at Y Combinator, Mattermost now serves over 4,000 contributors, employs 120 people, and operate…

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Building Enterprise AI That Actually Works with Glean's Arvind Jain 52:04

1M ago52:04

52:04

Arvind Jain is the founder and CEO of Glean, building enterprise AI that connects to all internal company data, and co-founder of Rubrik, which recently went public. Starting as an enterprise search company in 2019, Glean has evolved into what Arvind calls "a more powerful version of ChatGPT inside your company," now approaching 1,000 employees and…

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The Best Hack to Product Market Fit With Hiten Shah (Crazy Egg, KISSmetrics, Nira, sold to Dropbox) 55:22

2M ago55:22

55:22

We’re bringing you a rerun of one of our most well-received episodes, featuring the incredible insights from serial entrepreneur Hiten Shah. What happens when the ultimate startup veteran joins a 3,000-person company after 20 years of founding his own? In this candid conversation, Mercury CEO Immad Akhund and serial founder Raj Suri sit down with H…

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The Anti-Social Media Strategy: Steve Huffman on Building Reddit Differently 53:22

2M ago53:22

53:22

This week, we're re-airing our conversation with Reddit CEO Steve Huffman about building one of the internet's most essential platforms over 20 years. Steve Huffman is the co-founder and CEO of Reddit, one of the internet's most essential platforms with 100 million daily active users and a $20 billion public market valuation. Over 20 years, Steve h…

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Building the Future We Actually Want with Gmail Creator Paul Buchheit 46:03

2M ago46:03

46:03

Bringing back one of the most loved episodes of Founders in Arms! In this episode, Immad and Raj welcome Silicon Valley legend Paul Buchheit. As the creator of Gmail, an early Google pioneer, and a Y Combinator partner, Paul shares his unique perspectives on the rapidly evolving AI landscape and its implications for startups and society. The conver…

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Build Infrastructure, Not Features: Farhan Thawar (Shopify) 1:07:40

2M ago1:07:40

1:07:40

Shopify VP of Engineering Farhan Thawar reveals how to build and scale high-performance engineering teams in the age of AI. Drawing from his experience managing over 1,000 engineers remotely, Farhan shares Shopify's unique approach to weekly demos over burndown charts, their controversial decision to hire 1,000 interns in 2025, and why they're movi…

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Can Copyright Survive the Machine Era? With Trip Adler (Co-Founder & CEO, Created by Humans) 39:53

2M ago39:53

39:53

Trip Adler is the founder and CEO of Created by Humans, a new marketplace helping rights holders license their works for AI training, reference, and transformation. Before this, he spent 17 years building Scribd, pioneering book subscriptions and navigating complex copyright challenges. Now, he’s tackling one of the most urgent questions in AI: how…

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Building Space's Future With Ryan Westerdahl (Turion Space) 38:13

3M ago38:13

38:13

Ryan Westerdahl is the founder and CEO of Turion Space, designing and building satellites for resilient space infrastructure with a focus on space domain awareness and orbital debris removal. After nine years at SpaceX working on failure analysis across multiple departments, Ryan founded Turion in 2021 with the ultimate goal of asteroid mining. The…

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What Serial Entrepreneurs Know That Others Don't: Rajat Suri (Lyft, Presto, Lima, Tribe) 53:58

3M ago53:58

53:58

Serial entrepreneur Rajat Suri, who co-founded Zimride/Lyft and took Presto public, shares hard-won lessons from 20 years of scaling companies. Discover how he completely changed his career trajectory from wanting to be a doctor to entrepreneurship, why technical founders must branch out beyond engineering, and the surprising origin story of ride-s…

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Designing for Generosity: Adam Nash on Building Products with Heart 57:17

3M ago57:17

57:17

Adam Nash is the founder and CEO of Daffy, a donor-advised fund platform that's democratizing charitable giving for everyday Americans. Previously, he served as CEO of Wealthfront, where he helped grow the robo-advisor from $80 million to over $80 billion in assets under management. Before that, he held senior product roles at LinkedIn, eBay, and A…

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How Washington Really Works: Innovation Policy with Alec Stapp 51:28

3M ago51:28

51:28

Alec Stapp is the Co-CEO of the Institute for Progress, a non-partisan innovation policy think tank in Washington D.C. works to accelerate and shape the direction of scientific, technological, and industrial progress. Headquartered in Washington D.C., IFP works with policymakers across the political spectrum to make it easier to build the future in…

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Pre-Selling Your Way to Space with Topher Haddad (Albedo) 54:30

3M ago54:30

54:30

Topher Haddad is the co-founder and CEO of Albedo, building satellites that fly in very low Earth orbit (VLEO) at 275km—twice as close as traditional imaging satellites. This proximity enables commercial imagery at resolutions previously only available from classified government systems or expensive aircraft operations. What you'll learn: How VLEO …

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David vs Goliath in the Wearables Industry with Eric Migicovsky (Core Devices, Pebble, Beeper) 56:14

4M ago56:14

56:14

Eric Migicovsky is the Founder of Core Devices, and the original founder of Pebble, the pioneering smartwatch that raised $10 million on Kickstarter before being acquired. Eric has launched Core Devices to continue building the smartwatch platform he believes in, complete with Google's newly open-sourced Pebble operating system. What you'll learn: …

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Why AI Guardrails Don't Work: Cybersecurity Mental Models With Sounil Yu (Knostic AI) 33:28

4M ago33:28

33:28

Every AI guardrail gets broken, but that's not the real problem. Cybersecurity framework creator Sounil Yu reveals why traditional security approaches fail in the knowledge age and how enterprise AI deployments create dangerous "oversharing" vulnerabilities that most organizations don't even recognize. Learn the DIKW pyramid framework for understan…

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Startup to State: Sahil Lavingia on Gumroad, Profitability, and His Time at DOGE 54:41

4M ago54:41

54:41

Sahil Lavingia is the founder and CEO of Gumroad, a platform that helps creators sell digital products and has facilitated over $1 billion in creator earnings. After raising a $7M Series A from Kleiner Perkins, Sahil took the unconventional path of transitioning from venture-backed growth to a profitable, dividend-paying company—and even spent time…

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Two Decades of Reddit: Steve Huffman on Building the Front Page of the Internet 53:22

4M ago53:22

53:22

Steve Huffman is the co-founder and CEO of Reddit, one of the internet's most essential platforms with 100 million daily active users and a $20 billion public market valuation. Over 20 years, Steve has guided Reddit through multiple existential challenges, from early acquisition to content moderation crises to competing with AI-generated content. W…

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How Tech Leaders Can Navigate AI's Transformation with Y Combinator’s Michael Seibel 1:04:32

4M ago1:04:32

1:04:32

Michael Seibel, partner emeritus at Y Combinator, reveals how founders can thrive in the rapidly changing AI landscape by discarding outdated assumptions and embracing new possibilities. Drawing from his experience supporting thousands of startups, Seibel explains why traditional office hours remain critical for redirecting founder focus and unlock…

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Building the Future of Public Safety Tech with Rahul Sidhu 37:49

4M ago37:49

37:49

Rahul Sidhu is the co-founder and CEO of Aerodome, which was acquired by Flock Safety for a reported $300M in October 2024—just 17 months after founding. A reserve police officer turned serial entrepreneur, Rahul built his drone-as-first-responder platform by combining deep public safety expertise with cutting-edge technology to revolutionize emerg…

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From Software to Nuclear: Matt Loszak's Mission to Mass-Manufacture Clean Energy 48:15

4M ago48:15

48:15

Matt Loszak is the co-founder and CEO of Aalo Atomics, building factory-manufactured small modular nuclear reactors designed to power AI data centers. In just 18 months, Aalo has grown from 2 people to 50 employees with a 40,000 square foot factory and a completed full-scale non-nuclear reactor prototype. What you'll learn: How Aalo's liquid metal …

1
Rethinking Digital Resilience with Kyndryl's Kris Lovejoy 55:58

5M ago55:58

55:58

Digital infrastructure is at a critical turning point. Kris Lovejoy, security & resiliency global practice leader at Kyndryl, reveals why organizations must fundamentally reimagine their approach to security in an era of unprecedented volatility. Discover why some financial institutions are reversing course from public cloud, how European technolog…

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Duolingo’s CTO on Building the World’s Most Addictive Learning App 32:35

5M ago32:35

32:35

Severin Hacker, co-founder and CTO of Duolingo, joins Immad Akhund and Raj Suri to unpack how Duolingo became the world’s most engaging education platform. They explore how Duolingo leverages AI to personalize learning, the company's obsession with retention, and why relentless experimentation is at the heart of its product strategy. Severin also s…

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Meta's Hardball Acquisitions, Apple's App Store Defeat, and Why Tariffs Will Trigger a Recession 34:48

5M ago34:48

34:48

In this founders-only episode of Founders in Arms, Immad Akhund and Raj Suri analyze Meta's aggressive acquisition playbook alongside other major tech developments reshaping the industry landscape. The conversation begins with how Zuckerberg's "buy or get crushed" approach to acquisitions leaves founders with an impossible choice: accept a lucrativ…

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How Top Leaders Balance Urgency vs. Importance: Building Cultures That Last With HR Veteran Melanie Hughes 58:06

5M ago58:06

58:06

HR executive Melanie Hughes reveals why most leaders fail at creating lasting cultural change by focusing on what's urgent instead of what's important. Drawing from 20+ years of experience at startups and Fortune 500 companies, she shares practical frameworks for developing high-potential talent, making strategic decisions that stick, and implement…

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S2E3 - The Future of Investing: Why Money Alone Won’t Cut It with Chris Petkas (Contrarian Capital), Bogdan Savonea (Blindspot) and Matei Psatta (Blindspot) 33:30

5M ago33:30

33:30

Episode Notes In this episode, we sit down with Chris Petkas, General Partner at Contrarian Capital, to dive deep into why "boring businesses" are the real backbone of the economy—and why they're ripe for innovation. We explore how Contrarian Capital is funding the digitization of small businesses, building audience-driven flywheels, and helping po…

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From Rice Krispies to $36M Series B: Dan Hobbs on Building Safety AI, Enterprise Sales, and Leading Across Borders 37:21

5M ago37:21

37:21

In this episode of Founders in Arms, Immad Akhund and Raj Suri speak with Dan Hobbs, co-founder and CEO of Protex AI, a company using computer vision to identify safety risks in warehouses and factories before accidents happen. Dan shares his journey from bootstrapping his first startup (where he survived on store-brand Rice Krispies for three week…

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S2E2 - Beyond the Billboard: How AI is Disrupting OOH Marketing with Lina Maggi and Matei Psatta 25:28

5M ago25:28

25:28

Episode Notes Welcome to "Beyond the Billboard," a talk during Lumos House to how AI is reshaping the future of Out-of-Home (OOH) marketing. Join Lina Maggi, SVP of Partnership at BCN Visuals, and Matei Psatta, CMO and co-founder of Blindspot, as they talk about groundbreaking innovations in Out-Of-Home advertising technology. Curated specifically …

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Building Meaningful Tech for the Next Generation With Jay Shah 53:00

5M ago53:00

53:00

In this episode, Jay Shah joins Immad and Raj to talk about his new startup, Poppy—a screenless, AI-native phone designed for kids. He shares what led him to pivot from enterprise SaaS to building hardware in his basement, why he believes kid-first tech needs a rethink, and how intentional design can create healthier relationships with technology. …

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The Business Leader's Guide to Cyber Resilience With MIT’s Keri Pearlson 58:50

5M ago58:50

58:50

MIT Principal Research Scientist Dr. Keri Pearlson reveals why traditional cybersecurity approaches fail and how organizations can build true cyber resilience beyond technical solutions. Drawing from her extensive research with Fortune 500 companies and government agencies, she shares practical frameworks for creating a security-conscious culture, …

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S2E1 - The AI Playbook with Chris Petkas (Contrarian Capital) , Alex Seutin (Drillbit) & Alex Jekowsky (Cents) 58:34

6M ago58:34

58:34

Episode Notes Learn how the top operators are leveraging AI to build and scale successfully. This session goes beyond theory, diving into real-world strategies for integrating AI into businesses, optimizing workflows, and unlocking new efficiencies. Don’t miss this deep dive into value creation in overlooked sectors and the next wave of AI adoption…

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Trade Wars & Supply Chain Disruptions: Ryan Petersen on Navigating the 145% China Tariffs 54:44

6M ago54:44

54:44

In this episode of Founders in Arms, Immad Akhund and Raj Suri speak with Ryan Petersen, co-founder and CEO of Flexport, about the recent implementation of 104% tariffs on Chinese imports. Ryan shares insights on how businesses are responding to this trade crisis, strategies for supply chain adaptation, and the broader implications for US-China com…

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Building a Consumer Network First and Monetizing Later with ClassDojo's Sam Chaudhary 54:08

6M ago54:08

54:08

"Schools try really hard to do all these jobs equally well for all kids, and it's a completely impossible task." ClassDojo CEO Sam Chaudhary shares how his education platform reached 50 million students by making the counterintuitive decision to spend seven years building a network before monetizing. In this revealing conversation with Immad Akhund…

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Rethinking Tech Leadership With Weaviate's Bob Van Luijit 36:20

6M ago36:20

36:20

Bob van Lujit, CEO of vector database pioneer Weaviate, reveals how technical founders can successfully transition to effective business leaders by mastering three core responsibilities: articulating vision, building exceptional teams, and securing funding. Bob shares his counterintuitive approach to customer-centricity through "empathy" rather tha…

1
Special Episode—Unpacking Mercury's $300M Series C with Guest Host, Hiten Shah 56:16

6M ago56:16

56:16

"The bar was really low in banking—we're not talking rocket science here. We built a product that reached a reasonable standard." Mercury CEO Immad Akhund reveals how a focus on solving basic user experience problems enabled his company to secure a $300M Series C at a $3.5B valuation. In this revealing episode, Hiten Shah (founder of Crazy Egg, KIS…

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Exploring Abundance From 10x Intelligence With Paul Buchheit 54:36

6M ago54:36

54:36

Are we mentally prepared for what happens when intelligence becomes an abundant resource rather than a scarce one? Hosts Immad Akhund (Mercury CEO) and Raj Suri (Lima/Tribe co-founder) welcome back Paul Buchheit—Gmail creator and former Y Combinator partner—for our most requested follow-up episode. Together they dive into how exponentially increasi…

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When Customer Success Fails: How to Build Customer-Centric Organizations With Pete Oelschlaeger 1:09:30

6M ago1:09:30

1:09:30

Your customer success strategy might be creating more problems than it solves. Customer success veteran Pete Oelschlaeger, who has led CS teams at Tanium, Contrast Security, and now Ambient AI, reveals why traditional organizational structures create dangerous blind spots where customer issues fall through the cracks. Learn how to identify when you…

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Startup Wisdom That Goes Against The Grain With SafeGraph's Auren Hoffman 55:50

7M ago55:50

55:50

"The worst thing you can do is hire executives," declares Auren Hoffman in this eye-opening conversation about startup talent strategy. As a successful founder turned investor, Auren brings a unique dual perspective on how to build elite teams, properly compensate founders, and navigate fundraising. He reveals why he deliberately structures Flex Ca…

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Winning the Founder Mental Game with Pilot’s Waseem Daher 45:19

7M ago45:19

45:19

Being small isn't a disadvantage—it's your superpower. Just one provocative sentiment from this episode that challenges conventional startup wisdom and delves into the mindset behind entrepreneurial success. Waseem Daher brings insights from his journey across three successful startups—KSplice (acquired by Oracle), Zulip (acquired by Dropbox), and …

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Unconventional Truths About Leading Tech Teams with Becky Center 43:24

7M ago43:24

43:24

Former Indiegogo CEO Becky Center shares hard-earned lessons from her journey through Groupon's hypergrowth, her transition to first-time CEO, and her experience leading teams through modern tech's most pressing challenges. Gain practical frameworks for avoiding the "hobby role" trap, leveraging remote work to level the leadership playing field, an…

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How AI and China Are Reshaping Biotech with Hannu Rajaniemi of Helix Nanotechnologies 52:21

7M ago52:21

52:21

Why do even the most sophisticated tech investors often shy away from biotech? It often seems like an impenetrable maze of regulations, clinical trials, and complex science. Enter Hannu Rajaniemi, who brings a refreshingly clear perspective to the world of biotech. As both the CEO of Helix Nanotechnologies and a bestselling science fiction author, …

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Building Resilient Teams With Versatile Co-founder Meirav Oren 56:11

7M ago56:11

56:11

Meirav Oren, co-founder and chairwoman of Versatile, left Intel to build a company that’s transforming the construction industry through data-driven innovation. Crane-mounted sensor and vision systems are revolutionizing job site safety and efficiency, while delivering pivotal insights on operational success. Meirav delves into practical leadership…

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Raw Wisdom for Modern Founders With Serial Founder Hiten Shah 55:22

7M ago55:22

55:22

What happens when the ultimate startup veteran joins a 3,000-person company? In this gripping episode, Mercury CEO Immad Akhund and serial founder Rajat Suri sit down with serial entrepreneur Hiten Shah (Crazy Egg, KISSmetrics, Nira, sold to Dropbox) for a candid conversation about founder identity over the course of an entire career. Get practical…

1
Making Startups Financially Savvy With Recruiter.com’s Jesse Tinsley 45:39

8M ago45:39

45:39

As founders of VC-backed startups face tough choices between down rounds and running out of cash, Jesse Tinsley is turning unprofitable startups profitable at incredible speed by tossing out the typical M&A playbook. Jesse is a prominent entrepreneur and investor in the HR technology and recruitment industry. He is Founder and CEO of multiple succe…

1
DeepSeek and the Future of AI with Academia's Richard Price 52:13

8M ago52:13

52:13

Join Immad Akhund and Raj Suri as they dive deep into the implications of DeepSeek and the rapidly evolving AI landscape with Richard Price, founder and CEO of Academia.edu. The conversation explores the fascinating shift in AI development costs, with DeepSeek challenging assumptions about the resources needed to build frontier models. Richard shar…

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Building the Future of Computer Vision AI with OpenSpace's Jeevan Kalanithi 47:40

8M ago47:40

47:40

Join Raj Suri as he sits down with Jeevan Kalanithi, co-founder and CEO of OpenSpace AI, to explore the revolutionary impact of computer vision technology in construction and beyond. From his early days at MIT Media Lab to founding innovative startups, Jeevan shares insights on how OpenSpace is transforming construction site management through spat…