When Computers Learn Humans (Not the Other Way Around)
“Not all hard things are valuable, but most valuable things are hard. And in areas that are really, really important to society, healthcare, education, climate, it takes a long time to do anything that's material.”
In this episode, Halle Tecco talks to Vinod Khosla— visionary venture capitalist, tech entrepreneur, and healthcare investor. Vinod shares his vision for using AI to enable a hundred touchpoints every hundred days with a patient. We discuss making healthcare more accessible, enabling personalized care, and what he worries could go wrong.
We cover:
Revisiting his 2012 prediction that AI could replace 80% of what doctors do and more
How AI will enable computers to learn and adapt to humans, not the other way around
The potential for AI to replicate expertise, reduce misdiagnosis, and guide patients to the most effective treatments
How changing billing codes is key to AI adoption in healthcare
Real-world examples of AI in action, from mental health intake interviews to cardiac MRI analysis
The importance of guardrails and being vigilant about unintended consequences as AI advances rapidly
Advice for healthcare founders on solving hard problems in healthcare
Show notes:
Vinod’s 2012 article “Do We Need Doctors Or Algorithms?”
Vinod’s recent TED Talk: 12 predictions for the future of technology
WSJ article mentioned: Insurers Pocketed $50 Billion From Medicare for Diseases No Doctor Treated
Follow Vinod on X.
About our guest:
Vinod is an entrepreneur, investor and technologist. He is the founder of Khosla Ventures, a firm focused on assisting entrepreneurs to build impactful technology-based disruptive companies. Vinod grew up dreaming of being an entrepreneur, despite being from an Indian army household with no business or technology connections. Since the age of 16, when he first heard about the founding of Intel, he dreamt of starting his own technology company.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi, Vinod failed to start a soy milk company to service the many people in India who did not have refrigerators. Instead, he came to the U.S. to further his academic studies and received a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. His startup dreams led him to Silicon Valley, where he received an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Upon graduation, Vinod co-founded Daisy Systems, the first significant computer-aided design system for electrical engineers. The company went on to achieve significant revenue, profits and an IPO. Then, driven by the frustration of having to design the computer hardware on which the Daisy software needed to be built, he started the standards-based Sun Microsystems in 1982 to build workstations for software developers. As the founding CEO of Sun, he pioneered open systems and commercial RISC processors. Sun Microsystems was funded by Vinod’s longtime friend and board member John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers (KPCB).
In 1986, Vinod joined KPCB as a general partner. While there, he played a crucial role in taking on Intel’s monopoly by building and growing semiconductor company, Nexgen, which eventually was acquired by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Nexgen/AMD was the only microprocessor to have significant success against Intel. Thereafter, Vinod helped incubate the idea and business plan for Juniper Networks to take on Cisco System’s dominance of the router market. The company went on to give KPCB a 2,500x return on its early investment. Vinod also was involved in the formulation of the early advertising-based search strategy for Excite. He helped transform the moribund telecommunications business and its archaic SONET implementations with Cerent Corporation, which was acquired by Cisco Systems in 1999 for $7.2 billion.
In 2004, driven by the need for flexibility to accommodate four growing children, the desire to be more experimental and to fund sometimes imprudent “science experiments,” Vinod formed Khosla Ventures to focus on both for-profit and social impact investments. His goals remain the same: work and learn from fun and knowledgeable entrepreneurs, build impactful companies by leveraging innovation and spend time with a partnership that makes a difference. Vinod has a passion for nascent technologies that have beneficial effects and economic impact on society. He works closely with many KV companies as they face transitions or key decisions.
Vinod is driven by the belief that technology is a positive force multiplier to accelerate societal reinvention in food, health, climate, energy transportation, education, housing finance, media, retail and entertainment for billions around the globe. His greatest passion lies in being a mentor to entrepreneurs who are building companies to tackle society’s largest challenges. He was also a supporter of several microfinance organizations in India and Africa.
Vinod sits on the board of Breakthrough Energy Ventures and is a charter member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), a non-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals that was founded in 1992 and has more than 40 chapters in nine countries today. He is a founding board member of the Indian School of Business (ISB).
Vinod holds a bachelor of technology degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi, India, a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
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