[A8C] - Reflections - Jan 2025
A summary of my recent study notes and reflections in the world of tech. Currently, a lot around Compute, AI, and the Future of Technology Investing
Table of Contents:
Reflections
Study Notes this Month
Book Recommendation
Recent Reflections
Some of the topics that occupy a lot of my attention these days are the future intersections between Compute, Communication, and Autonomous AI (agents).
With Compute increasingly becoming not just a technological advantage at the Nation State Level, it also shapes a lot of our Communication mechanisms.
We increasingly communicate with AI and digital systems for information, rather than with a human arbiter for that information, and hence the way we think about knowledge custodians is changing.
The example I often use these days is that of a CEO of a large energy or manufacturing company.
Today, that CEO gets information about the state of affairs through a number of direct reports, information gate keepers, reports, and various systems.
What we are seeing now, however, is increasingly the ability of CEOs to speak directly with their assets and plants.
A CEO will very soon be able to wake up in the morning, whip up a tablet/laptop/phone/VR/whatever, and ask
“Good morning, my dear factory. How are we doing today? Where can we improve operations right now, and where are there untapped value pools?” And the factory will answer directly back through a tech-stack of AI Agents, Communication Systems, and powered by a large pool of Computing Power.
Just imagine how that will impact organizational structures, power balances, and business model
Recommendations this Month
As you can guess from the Reflections above, a lot of my research currently revolves around Compute, AI x Crypto, Robotics, The Future of AI, Technology Investing, and Deep Tech. So here are a few of my favourite readings of late:
State of AI Report 2024 - Air Street Capital
What makes technology research commercially viable? - SpecTech Newsletter
What’s Missing for Robot Foundation Models? - by Ted Xiao
State of Crypto Report 2024 - by a16z
Book Recommendation
One of the books that made the biggest impression on me in 2024 was “The Sovereign Individual" by James Dale Davidson & Lord William Rees-Mogg (foreword by Peter Thiel)
First written a few decades ago, the book argues that the Semiconductor will completely disrupt the modern concept of the Nation State as the Individual gains the power of mobility and digital freedom.
No longer tied to the “tyranny of geography”, the Individual frees themselves from the monopoly of power of the Nation State through the new reality create by the semiconductor and the Internet.
Quite an interesting read.
About the Author
Working at the interface between frontier technology and rapidly evolving business models, I work to develop the frameworks, tools, and mental models to keep up and get ahead in our Technological World.
Having trained as a robotics engineer but also worked on the business / finance side for over a decade, I seek to understand those few asymmetric developments that truly shape our world