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Hina Dixit’s curiosity in supporting individuals and fixing issues has its roots in her household’s name workplace enterprise, the place she helped individuals place phone calls when she was rising up in India. Later, after incomes her bachelor’s diploma in pc science, she was rapidly recruited into the tech house, the place her problem-solving and customer support abilities have served her properly as each a software program engineer and tech investor. From a developer position at Symantec, to mission chief at Apple, to an AI investor position at Samsung Subsequent, Hina continues to leverage her communication and connection abilities in searching for out and supporting improvements in synthetic intelligence, in addition to robotics, Web3, and different tech sectors.
On this episode of the Me, Myself, and AI podcast, Hina shares the standards she considers when making investments in new entrepreneurial ventures. She additionally highlights the main focus areas which might be of most curiosity proper now, explains why she enjoys mentoring different technologists, and shares her views on what the way forward for AI appears like.
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Transcript
Shervin Khodabandeh: How does one expertise chief method AI investments? Discover out her 5 standards on at the moment’s episode.
Hina Dixit: I’m Hina Dixit from Samsung Subsequent, and also you’re listening to Me, Myself, and AI.
Sam Ransbotham: Welcome to Me, Myself, and AI, a podcast on synthetic intelligence in enterprise. Every episode, we introduce you to somebody innovating with AI. I’m Sam Ransbotham, professor of analytics at Boston Faculty. I’m additionally the AI and enterprise technique visitor editor at MIT Sloan Administration Evaluate.
Shervin Khodabandeh: And I’m Shervin Khodabandeh, senior companion with BCG and one of many leaders of our AI enterprise. Collectively, MIT SMR and BCG have been researching and publishing on AI since 2017, interviewing a whole bunch of practitioners and surveying hundreds of firms on what it takes to construct and to deploy and scale AI capabilities and actually remodel the way in which organizations function.
Sam Ransbotham: On at the moment’s episode, we have now Hina Dixit, an investor at Samsung Subsequent. Hina, thanks for becoming a member of us. Welcome.
Hina Dixit: Thanks a lot. It’s a pleasure being right here with you.
Sam Ransbotham: Most of our listeners are probably aware of Samsung — large South Korean multinational, plenty of client electronics — however individuals could also be much less aware of Samsung Subsequent, so let’s begin there. Are you able to describe what Samsung Subsequent is and what your position is?
Hina Dixit: Yeah, completely. Samsung Subsequent is the non-public fairness or enterprise capital arm of Samsung. We are usually stage-agnostic, however on the similar time, we have now six focus areas the place we make investments. AI is considered one of them. We additionally put money into fintech, blockchain, and infrastructure, and media tech as properly, together with well being tech.
Together with these six focus areas, we are inclined to make increasingly more discovered investments concerning the ever-changing, dynamic world as properly. So if you happen to or anybody has a cool concept, please be happy to achieve out.
Sam Ransbotham: I ought to’ve ready extra and had a number of pitches prepared in order that we might’ve put you on the spot right here whereas we have been recording and get you on file there. So, what, precisely, do you do, although?
Hina Dixit: I at the moment lead the AI funding section space. If there’s any deal which is related to AI, I have a tendency to steer that deal and in addition work on the funding technique for Samsung Subsequent.
Whenever you head out to those startup demos, to those pitches and expos, you will notice hundreds of startups. Now, how do you guarantee that you’re centered on the proper areas which matter to Samsung? It must also propel innovation additional; [instead of simply] furthering the innovation, it must also be usable. In order that’s why having a paradigm will provide help to make these sound selections, the place you’ll be able to truly prioritize sure areas forward of time in comparison with different buyers, and perceive which of the present applied sciences shall be booming, say, a number of years from now. And accordingly, you are inclined to section and perceive that, OK, these are my top-priority areas.
On the similar time, I’m very, very keen about mentoring entrepreneurs, mentoring fellow individuals in tech. I come from a tech background, so I can all the time perceive the hiccups individuals face when they’re shifting from individual-contributor roles or administration roles in these large techs and shifting ahead to a startup entrepreneurial journey. I like connecting with them and serving to them out.
Shervin Khodabandeh: That’s actually great, Hina. So I wish to discuss each stuff you mentioned, each the mentoring, but in addition I wish to return to the way you choose an funding. I imply, clearly, the place you’re sitting, you’re looking at hundreds of alternatives in all probability, proper? And so that you talked about there are some guiding rules when it comes to the way you prioritize the place to focus and what matches strategically with Samsung, however inform us extra about the way you choose an funding when you’ve already gone by means of that filter, that “OK, it’s the proper factor for the corporate. We wish to do it.” Now you’re truly evaluating an AI firm. Inform us the way you choose. What are the elements you take into account?
Hina Dixit: I are inclined to give attention to essential elements for me personally. Each investor on the market has a really completely different method of investing. Some individuals are very intuition-driven, and I’ve seen such buyers make actually nice selections. Some individuals are very theory-driven, and a few individuals are inclined to take it as they go.
I’m a mixture of all of them. I are inclined to make these sound, discovered selections the place I’m very snug and I do know the house very properly. One factor that’s all the time essential for me is the crew. Is there a proper product-team match right here? Are these people able to constructing these nice merchandise that they’re promising? I feel that’s a vital parameter for me.
After which, shifting on to the issue itself: Is that this ache level actually [going to be] legitimate in few years? The ache level must be there. The following factor is the technical innovation. Now, that’s vital, as a result of that serves as a mode for you, or mode for these entrepreneurs, proper? In any other case, any large tech [company] can simply go in and create what they’ve created. We wish to have a strong mode round these merchandise that they’re constructing and a few form of novelty.
After which, shifting from technical innovation and the mode, clearly there must be an honest market measurement. You may be constructing an superior product, however on the similar time, the market sizing [might be] very small. It turns into actually exhausting to scale that type of product. Even when it’s not monetizable, it must be fixing a really strong ache level, plus the influence of that specific resolution must be international. And that’s one other issue for me, the place I are inclined to make my very own choice that, OK, that is one thing which goes to vary all the pieces that we do at the moment.
Shervin Khodabandeh: Inform us extra concerning the crew, as a result of expertise is one facet, however how do you suss out each the aptitude of the crew itself after which how properly the crew works with one another? I imply, numerous startups have crew points, proper?
Hina Dixit: Yeah.
Shervin Khodabandeh: How do you look into that?
Hina Dixit: Certain. I feel it’s a really deep query, and I feel it comes from my days at Apple. Apple has a really startuplike tradition in a few of their group, and right here I’m talking concerning the tradition as a result of there have been so many learnings from them. After I began, there was a really open tradition the place individuals would come on the weekends to assist and mentor you and provide help to. They wouldn’t even ask for any type of credit score. They’d provide help to transfer ahead, and on the similar time, they won’t simply cease there. They are going to empower you. They are going to join you with the proper connections throughout the group.
I type of felt that it is vitally tough for individuals to be that selfless and simply give attention to making the product nice, however I feel that’s what the spirit of Apple is, and I are inclined to see an identical spirit in founders if I do know that they’re very, very product-driven, or they’re very, very goal-driven when it comes to [their] crew. Then I are inclined to get that sense, OK, these guys will assist one another.
Sam Ransbotham: You’ve bought some intensive expertise on this space. You talked about Apple a few occasions. Inform us a bit about how you bought to the place you are actually from the place you began.
Hina Dixit: I come from a really humble household background. So whereas my dad would work very exhausting, I might assist them out with our household enterprise, which was a small public name workplace, or a PCO, the place individuals [went] and used to make phone calls. So I used to take a seat there, and I used to make these requires individuals, deal with the purchasers, and allow them to make these cellphone calls, and that was an excellent studying level for me as a result of I discovered tips on how to speak to individuals.
From being a really introverted baby, I grew to become very public-facing, proper then and there. … Like, OK, these are my clients. They’re prime precedence. I must serve them, assist them, and that’s the place I feel a few of these qualities that I [espouse] or these passions that I’ve — that I like serving to individuals, I like fixing conflicts — in all probability come up.
I did my highschool from Kanpur [City in India], which is Mercy Memorial College, and after my highschool, I went to a girls’s faculty as a result of my mother and father have been a bit conservative but. I used to be the primary lady in all the household of my dad’s aspect who went outdoors of town with the intention to get an schooling.
It was immensely enjoyable. It was a really secure and safe surroundings. Clearly, it was very aggressive — we ladies are usually very aggressive — and on the similar time, I made nice pals there, and I discovered a lot from my classmates at the moment. We used to commerce on these varied concepts, and we used to create these JavaServer Pages-based purposes, internet purposes for on-line quizzing, check banks, writing academic articles.
I keep in mind, even shopping for a Starbucks espresso at the moment was a really, very far-off thought as a result of it was so costly for me, and I used to work a number of jobs on the similar time. After which I used to be positioned at Symantec six months forward of commencement. In order that took some stress off of me, and Symantec was a terrific start line for me. I used to be of their knowledge loss prevention crew. I discovered considerably from all of the mentors there. I nonetheless share nice relationships with all of them. After which Apple occurred, and the remaining is historical past.
Sam Ransbotham: One factor that’s fascinating: As you have been saying that, I used to be enthusiastic about the way you tied your publicity to customer support by means of that very early name workplace job.
On the similar time, a lot of what we’re speaking about with synthetic intelligence … it strikes me that the type of job that might be suspect or probably to get replaced, and I’ve to surprise, how does the subsequent Hina Dixit come alongside with out that have if we don’t have these introductory buyer service-oriented jobs to study these abilities?
Hina Dixit: Yeah, I get the query. This has been a grave thought, and lots of people are coming ahead and discussing it. However I feel AI will not be going to exchange individuals. AI goes to empower individuals, and that’s the thought course of I come from. Simply because telephones grew to become related, it didn’t imply that [the mail was] not related anymore. We nonetheless order Amazon packages, and we nonetheless get our payments within the mail and whatnot, and that’s how I feel we will push mankind. That’s how we carry on pushing each … mile towards the final word aim of humankind’s future, proper?
Transferring to the final word aim there, I feel no person ought to blindly belief that, OK, AI goes to exchange their job, however they need to have the ability to study AI. And that’s one of many issues the place I’ve been specializing in: discovering these actually cool applied sciences which may also help individuals ramp up on AI.
Like, why do individuals want to write down any single piece of code with the intention to use AI? Why can’t this be so simple as taking a look at an Excel sheet? Why can’t this be as accessible [as a] consumer interface, which could be very simply programmable by simply any enterprise consumer on the market? So discovering that type of interface between AI and the present customers, that could be a very important piece the place I feel buyers ought to give attention to, as a result of the final word aim right here is to normalize the utilization of AI and make that publicly out there and on the similar time accessible as properly.
Shervin Khodabandeh: I feel it is a very, superb level. That imaginative and prescient you painted is definitely fairly interesting. It was, the human factor of AI was round making the expertise higher, sooner, cheaper, or [writing] the next-generation algorithm, which in fact, we nonetheless do, however that’s going to be increasingly more within the R&D and innovation zone. I feel, as you’re saying, the utilization of AI will go from people’ position as programmers and writers of code to extra working at that interface, of getting these constructing blocks and connecting these constructing blocks that AI gives to unravel present issues, however extra importantly, as you’re saying, enthusiastic about “What else can we do with this? How do you innovate, now that you’ve got all this at your fingertips?”
Hina Dixit: Yeah. I type of assume the identical method, as a result of anyone … you understand, consider Excel. Anyone can simply leap into Excel and make purposes out of it. I do know there are a bunch of cool apps coming round productiveness proper now that are backed by AI.
Shervin Khodabandeh: Share with us a bit your view on the best areas of expertise that you’re taking a look at proper now. What piques your curiosity as of late with all the pieces that’s happening with cyber and Web3 and quantum computing and all the pieces else? Are you able to share particular investments or areas you’re taking a look at?
Hina Dixit: Certain. We’re centered loads on infrastructure items of Web3, and on the similar time, we’re additionally focusing loads on the AI facet of Web3. So can we use these decentralized methods with the intention to make compute environment friendly? That’s a query that we try to … reply proper now. We’re additionally making an attempt to dive in deeper on the health-tech aspect, the place we wish to digitize the traditional well being paradigm, and we wish to empower customers on the market and provides them extra correct suggestions, possibly of their weight loss program, possibly join them to the proper brokers or medical doctors or nurses.
The main focus is on empowering the people. That’s the place I feel we try to focus. After which clearly there’s meta-tech facet, which is the metaverse. We’re making an attempt to know, how straightforward wouldn’t it be to transform any picture right into a 3D asset and place it within the metaverse? After which, how will we make this metaverse accessible, similar to the true world?
It appears surreal, however on the similar time, there’s a lot exhausting work and analysis for each facet of this. We’re additionally focusing loads on the fintech perspective and making an attempt to empower these LatAm [Latin American] nations, discovering a method they will construct very sustainable and secure credit-scoring methods in Asia, for instance, [and in] India, East Asia, and LatAm nations. So constructing numerous infrastructure round fintech in LatAm nations and Asian nations is one other factor that we’re specializing in.
Sam Ransbotham: Yeah, I feel that infrastructure’s notably fascinating as a result of that’s an space the place synthetic intelligence could make a distinction, when you will get some scale by means of an infrastructure. It’s a type of conditions that it looks like it opens up new prospects when the economics change — when issues that have been now not attainable turn into attainable. Are there different issues that you simply’re engaged on which might be subsequent within the portfolio? What are we going to see from Samsung Subsequent subsequent?
Hina Dixit: We’re shifting into robotics as properly. I did put money into one of many firms, referred to as Integral AI, and they’re making an attempt to make use of these giant AI fashions or basis fashions [to train] their robots. However on the similar time, robotics is one other space the place we wish to give attention to the buyer robotics facet, so any cool startups on the market constructing these cool client robots, please be happy to achieve out to us, and we’ll be completely happy to leap in and assist out.
Sam Ransbotham: Hina, we’ve bought a section the place we ask you a sequence of questions, and these are speculated to be rapid-fire. Simply give us the very first thing that involves your thoughts.
Hina Dixit: OK.
Sam Ransbotham: You’ve bought a previous profession that’s over a decade of being concerned in these applied sciences. What’s your proudest AI second? What’s the factor on this portfolio that you simply’re proudest of that includes AI?
Hina Dixit: I feel I’ll should say Stability AI as a result of earlier than that, there have been numerous analysis communities round, however on the similar time, there was no method that anyone might go and commercialize these analysis works. And I actually worth Emad Mostaque’s work there — that he acknowledged this drawback and he bought these analysis services collectively with the intention to begin commercializing and construct extra strong client finish merchandise.
Sam Ransbotham: We’ve been very constructive about synthetic intelligence at the moment, however is there something that worries you about AI?
Hina Dixit: I feel one factor that worries me is that we have now seen a latest burst of those giant language model-based apps, and that does embrace ChatGPT. I like their work, however on the similar time, there are different ache factors. After which, clearly, there are copyright points that we have to remedy, there are safety points. So these are among the different areas we try to give attention to, and making an attempt to know how these ache factors could be resolved.
Sam Ransbotham: What’s your favourite exercise that doesn’t contain expertise?
Hina Dixit: It’s principally gardening in my home. I simply discover that very therapeutic, and, secondly, I like enjoying with my canine, Jimmy. He’s completely lovable.
Sam Ransbotham: What was the primary profession you wished? What did you wish to be if you grew up?
Hina Dixit: I’ve all the time wished to be a startup founder. I used to be 8 once I manifested that … I might be a founder, I might be constructing nice merchandise, and I might be serving to out different individuals. So ever since I used to be 8, [I’ve been] chasing that dream.
Sam Ransbotham: What’s your best want for synthetic intelligence sooner or later? What are you hoping we will achieve from this?
Hina Dixit: My largest want for AI can be enabling frequent sense in a roundabout way, as a result of these giant AI fashions, they do have some AI capabilities when they are often put collectively in conjunction. We all know from the latest PaLM research paper that Google published that, OK, there’s a method of getting these a number of multimodels work collectively with the intention to create extra smart data and dependable data on the market for customers to consider in, and so they principally used it to coach their robots.
In order that’s one utility, however loads can come ahead from that specific analysis work that Google revealed, together with chain-of-thought prompting as properly. How do you utilize these a number of fashions to work collectively with the intention to carry out higher in real-world and unstructured environments? So that might be very cool to see.
Sam Ransbotham: OK, yeah, that appears so thrilling to me, too, as a result of we initially had the generative AI adversarial fashions, the place, sure, we discovered tips on how to play chess actually rapidly, or we discovered by means of a recreation, however the universe that has expanded from the concept that we will have bazillions of those fashions working type of with and in opposition to one another — that appears very pure to, properly, the way in which that we as people or present biology works. It looks like there’s numerous potential for that.
Hina Dixit: Yeah, yeah.
Sam Ransbotham: Properly, Hina, thanks for taking the time to speak with us at the moment. I feel that there’s heaps — truly, notably out of your background — that’s inspiring to individuals. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us.
Shervin Khodabandeh: Yeah, thanks a lot.
Hina Dixit: Thanks a lot for having me. It was a pleasure.
Sam Ransbotham: Thanks for listening. On our subsequent episode, Shervin and I communicate with Elizabeth Anne Watkins, analysis scientist at Intel Labs. Please be part of us.
Allison Ryder: Thanks for listening to Me, Myself, and AI. We consider, such as you, that the dialog about AI implementation doesn’t begin and cease with this podcast. That’s why we’ve created a gaggle on LinkedIn particularly for listeners such as you. It’s referred to as AI for Leaders, and if you happen to be part of us, you’ll be able to chat with present creators and hosts, ask your personal questions, share your insights, and achieve entry to useful assets about AI implementation from MIT SMR and BCG. You’ll be able to entry it by visiting mitsmr.com/AIforLeaders. We’ll put that hyperlink within the present notes, and we hope to see you there.
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