Agents Of Tech

Is the U.S. LOSING the AI race to China?

China and the U.S. are neck and neck in the AI race for global dominance. Former OpenAI board member Helen Toner (now at Georgetown’s CSET) joins us in Washington, D.C. to break down China vs U.S. strategies—open-source diffusion vs big tech global dominance— and what “winning” actually means.

Helen has recently spent time in China and works at the center of U.S. AI policy—offering a rare insi...

Has OpenAI made the WRONG bet?

Gary Marcus argues that OpenAI is taking the wrong approach - and the AI bubble is real. We walk through why GPT-5 underwhelmed, where the scaling paradigm breaks, and what might really get us to AGI.

Gary explains:
– Why the economics don’t add up for current AI
– Why GPT-5 isn’t as good as expected
– The core LLM limitations and why the scaling paradigm fails
– Why AI won’t take y...

AI agents can’t easily talk to each other. To solve this, Cisco has joined forces with Google, Dell, Oracle, and Red Hat to launch AGNTCY, the open-source Internet of Agents. It’s designed so agents from different organizations can discover, trust, and work together - and it’s now donated to the Linux Foundation for neutral governance.

Vijoy Pandey, Senior VP and GM of Outshift by Cisco, explains how AGNTCY tackles interoperabil...

AI is changing the way we do biology. But can it crack one of the toughest challenges in science — drug discovery?

In this episode of Agents of Tech, we speak with Professor Charlotte Deane, MBE, University of Oxford, one of the UK’s leading computational biologists. As a co-lead of OpenBind, Charlotte is helping build the global data infrastructure needed to accelerate drug discovery with AI.

From the role of open science to...

Can artificial intelligence replace scientists? At Stanford University, Professor James Zou is leading research on AI scientists, virtual labs, and digital researchers that are already transforming biology and medicine.
In this episode of Agents of Tech, recorded live at ISMB/ECCB in Liverpool, James explains how his lab is building virtual research teams powered by AI. These “digital scientists” act like a real lab, with specia...

In this exclusive Agents of Tech interview from ISMB/ECCB in Liverpool, we sit down with Dr. John Jumper, Nobel Laureate and leader of the groundbreaking AlphaFold project at Google DeepMind.
Discover how AlphaFold reshaped molecular biology by accurately predicting protein structures, and hear Jumper's vision for using AI to not just predict biology, but design it. Join us as we explore the future of computational biology, ...

In this episode of Agents of Tech, we dive into agentic AI, a new kind of artificial intelligence designed to enhance human agency rather than automate people out of the loop.
We’re joined by Dr. Niloufar Salehi, Assistant Professor at UC Berkeley and Chief Product Officer at Across AI. Her work spans healthcare, education, criminal justice, and the creative industries. She explains why most AI systems misunderstand how people actua...

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing scientific research—but can it really replace human scientists? In this episode of Agents of Tech, we speak with Professor José Penadés and Dr. Tiago Costa from Imperial College London about their groundbreaking collaboration with Google's Gemini 2.0 AI co-scientist.
Within just two days, AI unraveled a scientific mystery they'd spent years exploring. But what does this rapid su...

Is generative AI replacing workers—or helping them thrive?

In this episode of Agents of Tech, we explore how AI is transforming the global workforce. Economist Lindsey Raymond (Microsoft Research), co-author of a groundbreaking study with Erik Brynjolfsson and Danielle Li, joins us to unpack how AI tools are boosting productivity, equalizing skills, and reshaping the modern job.

We cover:

• AI’s impact on job creation and a...

Can AI help us survive extreme weather and climate change—or is it part of the problem?
In this episode of Agents of Tech, we speak to Professor Auroop Ganguly, Director of AI for Climate and Sustainability at Northeastern University, about how artificial intelligence is being used to predict disasters, improve infrastructure resilience, and shape sustainable climate policy.
🌀 We discuss:
• How AI predicts floods, wildfir...

We’re entering an era where AI systems don’t just follow prompts—they act independently. But what happens when we hand over too much control?
In this episode of Agents of Tech, our hosts Stephen Horn, Autria Godfrey and Laila Rizvi sit down with Margaret Mitchell, Chief Ethics Scientist at Hugging Face and one of the world’s leading voices on AI ethics. Together, they explore what autonomy really means in artificial intelligence—and...

In this episode of Agents of Tech, hosts Autria Godfrey and Stephen Horn dive deep into one of AI’s most pressing challenges: energy consumption. With the release of DeepSeek and rising concerns over compute power and costs, the race to build efficient AI is heating up.We speak to two pioneering researchers:Dr. Shreyas Sen (Purdue University), who’s developing nervous-system-inspired chips that connect wearables with ultra-low ener...

What if a virtual version of you could help cure disease?
In this episode of Agents of Tech, hosts Autria Godfrey and Stephen Horn explore the fascinating world of digital twins—virtual replicas of real-world entities that are revolutionizing industries, especially healthcare. From their origins in NASA’s Apollo missions to accelerating clinical trials today, digital twins are changing how we predict, prevent, and personalize tr...

Welcome to Agents of Tech, where we explore the innovations shaping tomorrow. In this episode, we dive into how digital twins are transforming personalized medicine, featuring Terry Poon, CTO of Twin Health.
From reversing disease to real-time metabolic modeling, learn how AI, wearables and data-driven empathy are creating a new era of preventative healthcare.
🔗 Subscribe for more conversations with the visionaries behind to...

Welcome to Agents of Tech! In this episode, we dive into the future of data storage with the visionary Dr. Stuart Parkin. A pioneer in spintronics and the inventor of racetrack memory, Dr. Parkin’s groundbreaking work has shaped the way we store and process data in the digital age. With AI’s insatiable demand for data, how do we keep up? Dr. Parkin shares insights into the challenges of traditional storage, the revolutionary potent...

AI is advancing at a breakneck pace, but how will we store the massive amounts of data it requires? In this episode of Agents of Tech, hosts Autria Godfrey, Stephen Horn, and Laila Rizvi explore the growing demand for AI data storage and the innovations shaping the future.

💡 We break down:
- The Stargate Project, a $500 billion AI infrastructure investment
- DeepSeek AI, a cost-efficient rival to ChatGPT?
- The next fr...

In this episode of Agents of Tech, we explore the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence and its intersection with cybersecurity. Our host, Autria Godfrey, is joined by Dr. Siwei Lyu, Director of the University at Buffalo Media Forensics Lab, and Dr. Damon McCoy, Co-Director of the NYU Center for Cybersecurity, to discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by AI.
From the dangers of deepfakes and their rol...

Join us on this episode of Agents of Tech as we explore the transformative potential of quantum science with the brilliant Professor Erica Carlson from Purdue University. 🎙️ Discover how quantum mechanics is shaping the future of technology, tackling global challenges like climate change, energy efficiency, and more. With engaging insights into superconductors, quantum materials, and neuromorphic computing, this conversation will ...

In this episode of Agents of Tech, Stephen Horn and Autria Godfrey explore the rapidly evolving world of Artificial Intelligence and ask the pressing questions: Can we trust AI? Is it safe? AI is becoming deeply embedded in every aspect of our lives, from healthcare to transportation, but how do we ensure it aligns with ethical principles and remains trustworthy?
Featuring insights from:
Dr. Shyam Sundar, Director of the Center for S...