In this episode of the Effortless Podcast, hosts Dheeraj Pandey and Amit Prakash sit down with Alex Dimakis, a renowned AI researcher and professor at UC Berkeley. With a background in deep learning, graphical models, and foundational AI frameworks, Alex provides unparalleled insights into the evolving landscape of AI.
The discussion delves into the detailing of foundation models, modular AI architectures, fine-tuning, and the role of synthetic data in post-training. They also explore practical applications, challenges in creating reasoning frameworks, and the future of AI specialization and generalization.
As Alex puts it, "To deep seek or not, that’s the $1 trillion question." Tune in to hear his take on how companies can bridge the gap between large generalist models and smaller specialized agents to achieve meaningful AI outcomes.
Key Topics and Chapter Markers:

• Introduction to Alex Dimakis & His Journey [0:00]
• From Foundation Models to Modular AI Systems [6:00]
• Fine-Tuning vs. Prompting: Understanding Post-Training [15:00]
• Synthetic Data in AI Development: Challenges and Solutions [25:00]
• The Role of Reasoning and Chain of Thought in AI [45:00]
• AI's Future: Specialized Models vs. General Systems [1:05:00]
• Alex’s Reflections on AI Research and Innovation [1:20:00]

Hosts:

• Dheeraj Pandey: Co-founder and CEO at DevRev, formerly Co-founder and CEO of Nutanix. A tech visionary with a deep interest in AI and systems thinking.
• Amit Prakash: Co-founder and CTO at ThoughtSpot, formerly at Google AdSense and Bing, with extensive expertise in analytics and large-scale systems.

Guest:
Alex Dimakis: Professor at UC Berkeley and co-founder of Bespoke Labs, Alex has made significant contributions to deep learning, machine learning infrastructure, and the development of AI reasoning frameworks.

Follow the Hosts and the Guest:

• Dheeraj Pandey:
  
  • LinkedIn: Dheeraj Pandey
  • Twitter: @dheeraj
    
• Amit Prakash:
  
  • LinkedIn: Amit Prakash
  • Twitter: @amitp42
    
• Alex Shtoyanov:
  
  • LinkedIn: Alex Dimakis
  • Twitter: @AlexGDimakis

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