Velan T.

The AI revolution demands a seamless, unified ecosystem to unleash its full potential. The fragmented landscape of software and hardware has long been a bottleneck, until now. I’m thrilled to celebrate Chris Lattner, Tim Davis, and the exceptional Modular team on their latest funding round, a testament to their audacious mission to redefine AI development. Chris and Tim possess a rare combination of deep technical expertise and an unwavering commitment to solving one of the most significant challenges in technology. At GV (Google Ventures), we invest in founders as much as their vision, and Chris is a true force of nature. As I shared with WIRED’s Lauren Goode, he’s fiercely opinionated, relentlessly driven, and often brilliantly right - a combination with industry-shaping potential. The Modular team is addressing the complexity of AI development head-on, building what Chris aptly calls the “Android for generative AI hardware.” Much more pithy than what I've referred to as "Kubernetes for chips". They are creating the unified, high-performance AI engine the industry has been waiting for, a platform that allows increasingly-heterogeneous hardware and software to operate as one. We at GV have proudly backed Modular since leading their Series A, and are thrilled to join their Series C. This new capital will fuel their mission to scale the platform, grow their world-class team, and continue to deliver the infrastructure shaping the future of AI development globally. Here’s to Modular! They’re not just building a company, they're laying the foundations for a platform that will define how AI is built and deployed for decades to come. 🚀

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The AI ecosystem is moving fast and that includes the companies behind it. I spoke with Jeff Mills, President of iMerit Technology on The Ravit Show about what recent founder exits and shifting strategies from big players mean for the data annotation and labeling industry!!!! Jeff explained that in a market where trust and longevity matter more than ever, companies building high-stakes AI products cannot afford to rely on unstable or short-term partners. The risk is not just disruption, it is potential failure of entire AI initiatives if the data foundation is compromised. We also discussed what AI companies should look for in a data quality partner today. With innovation moving at breakneck speed, reliability, scalability, and domain expertise are just as critical as technology. It is not about one-off projects but about building trusted, long-term partnerships that evolve with the industry. Jeff highlighted what sets iMerit apart from the dozens of vendors in the market: a proven ability to deliver high-quality data pipelines at scale, a focus on trust, and a commitment to supporting customers as their needs shift from simple annotation toward powering complex AI systems. The takeaway: as AI advances, data quality remains the foundation. And choosing the right partner may determine not only the success of your current models, but your ability to innovate sustainably in the years ahead. What do you think? #data #ai #imerit #ai4 #theravitshow

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Why 95% of GenAI Pilots Fail and What Sales Leaders Should Do Differently MIT’s latest study revealed a tough truth: 95% of generative AI pilots are failing in enterprises. Most pilots never move beyond “cool demos” because they aren’t anchored in workflows, real data, or measurable outcomes. For sales leaders, this should hit close to home. You don’t need another shiny tool. You need AI that finds right prospects, ramps reps faster, closes deals, and makes quota attainment predictable. Here’s how to think about GenAI and Agentic AI depending on where you are today: 👉 If you’ve already failed once: Stop treating AI like a side project. Reframe it around specific sales pains: rep churn, onboarding time, missed quotas. Pilot with a clear success metric (e.g., “reduce ramp time from 6 months to 3”). 👉 If you’re currently evaluating: Look past vendors promising “AI magic.” Ask: Can this system plug into my actual sales workflows? Does it learn from my product, my objections, my deals? If not, it will stay a demo. 👉 If you’re still on the fence: You don’t have to boil the ocean. Start with an AI Sales Enablement Agent that helps reps with objections, roleplays, and competitive positioning. Low risk, fast ROI, and easy to measure. ✔ The value of AI in sales isn’t about “using AI.” It’s about building an AI manager inside your team, one that scales coaching, accelerates onboarding, and removes guesswork from hitting targets. Sales leaders: stop asking “Should I try AI?” The real question is “Where in my sales motion can AI act as my best-performing sales rep, sales manager or sales leader?” That’s where the value is. Full Read: https://lnkd.in/ek6MaXGS #GenAI #AI #AgenticAI #Sales #SalesEnablement #EnterpriseReady #SalesLedership

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I caught up with Kathryn Ayers Wickenhauser, MBA, FACHDM, CHPC, Chief Strategy Officer at DirectTrust, on the HIMSS25 show floor to talk about something that matters more than any buzzword right now: 👉 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁. While AI, FHIR, and TEFCA dominate headlines, what really stood out this year was the growing urgency for collaboration across the industry. Not just technical integration — but true alignment across competitors, innovators, and institutions. DirectTrust is making that real. 💬 6 billion+ secure health messages 💬 3 million+ direct addresses 💬 300,000+ organizations connected 💬 And a nonprofit model 501c(6), built to bring competitors together — legally and meaningfully. Kathryn discussed how DirectTrust is enabling secure communication, digital identity, and independent accreditation to scale trust across the healthcare ecosystem. Check it out! #HIMSS25 #SoHCInsights #throwback Slice of Healthcare HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition

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The rise of autonomous agents presents one of the most exciting and complex challenges in AI today. One of the main and hard question is how we scale AI agentic systems safely while ensuring accountability, trust, and long-term value? I recently joined Cognizant's The Agent Effect podcast to dig into that very question alongside Lisa Bechtold, Ph.D., LL.M. , Zurich Insurance’s Global Head of AI Governance. We explored what enterprise leaders need to consider when deploying AI agents at scale, and why thoughtful governance isn't just a safety net. It's a business enabler. Tune in to the episode. Spotify - https://lnkd.in/gDTh7wTq Apple: https://lnkd.in/gjhefN3V #TheAgentEffect #AIAgents #AgenticSafety #ResponsibleAI

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