May 15, 2020
Balan Ayyar is the Founder and CEO of Percipient.ai, a Silicon
Valley based artificial intelligence firm focused on delivering
products and solutions for the most pressing intelligence and
national security challenges. We have been tracking this leader for
years and have watched him inspire many to achieve great things.
His leadership in senior officer roles in the US Air Force (he is a
retired Brigadier General) included tours in combat zones and
commands back in the US, including at one point leading the entire
Air Force recruiting system. His visionary leadership in the
corporate world resulted in the creation of a new firm providing
new AI capabilities that are already serving some of the most
critical missions in the nation. He is a disciplined visionary with
an incredible thurst for learning and a knack for connecting with
others.
We loved the fact that we recorded him while he was at his desk
and when we started asking about what he is reading he could
quickly grab his favorite books and give his his insights. It is
also always great to talk to a real Air Force leader about the OODA
Loop and the model of continuous action and how it applies to not
just military ops but business.
Topics we covered included:
- How the national security establishment needs to change to get
ready for the new world - Views on the struggle between open societies and
closed/dictatorship/communist societies and how that relationship
is
changing now. - Role that AI can play to accelerate the return of our
economy - Concepts for getting classified information to users where ever
they are, including at their homes. Seems technically feasible, and
seems like the risk/reward equation may have shifted a bit
recently. - Ideas on how US tech firms can better support the nation in the
new economy. - Lessons learned from leadership of Percipient that could be
helpful to other CEOs or other leaders in government.
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