#250 HeyGen CTO Rong Yan On AI Video Generation And The Language Challenge SlatorPod podcast

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#250 HeyGen CTO Rong Yan on AI Video Generation and the Language Challenge

3d ago 43:44

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Rong Yan, CTO of HeyGen, joins SlatorPod to recount the company’s transformation from a Metaverse-focused startup to leading the emerging field of AI video generation.

Rong recounts HeyGen’s beginnings and the pivot to its current avatar model, which saw ARR go from zero to USD 1m within six months.

Rong attributes HeyGen’s success to its emphasis on three key elements: quality, consistency, and controllability. The company’s newest model, Avatar IV, enables full-body video generation with natural gestures, synchronized audio, and emotion to speech.

While some of the platform’s growth has been viral, Rong believes sustained success comes from building something users truly value, with a focus on pushing video quality from 70% to 95%.

The platform extends beyond avatars, offering translation, voice cloning, and real-time interactivity. Its dynamic duration feature adjusts translated speech to fit original video timing, preserving realism. Rather than build everything from scratch, HeyGen integrates external models with its own orchestration and user data, optimizing output across languages and contexts.

Rong emphasized that HeyGen’s long-term vision is not entertainment or Hollywood, but helping everyday professionals, especially marketers and educators, who lack traditional video production skills.

Looking ahead, Rong sees video agents, tools that generate complete videos from simple prompts, as the next frontier, driving accessibility and transforming storytelling through AI.

Chapters

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Professional Background as HeyGen's CTO (00:00:57)

3. HeyGen's Elevator Pitch (00:04:03)

4. The Founding of HeyGen (00:05:30)

5. Viral Growth and Success (00:07:48)

6. Avatar IV Launch (00:11:12)

7. Future Vision for Avatar Creation (00:13:46)

8. Complexity of Video AI Products (00:16:09)

9. Dynamic Duration Feature (00:19:54)

10. Computational Intensity of Video Generation (00:21:29)

11. Initial Use Case and Evolution (00:23:54)

12. Cultural Differences in Avatar Usage (00:26:37)

13. Partnership with HubSpot and Marketing Use Cases (00:29:57)

14. Competition and Market Positioning (00:32:25)

15. Thoughts on Expanding Into Entertainment (00:34:37)

16. Partnership Potential with LSPs (00:37:13)

17. Managing Risks with AI Video Generation Technology (00:39:35)

18. What Rong is Excited for in 2025 (00:41:36)

250 episodes

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