Mission Over Money & The State of Defense Tech with Palantir's Shyam Sankar | E1908
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.2 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 4 March 2024
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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Todays show:
Jason joins Palantir's Shyam Sankar to discuss how the US has avoided another terrorist attack since 9/11 (7:59), the role of AI and robotics in the battlefield (22:34), the future of defense tech (53:48), and more!
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Timestamps:
(0:00) Jason joins Shyam Sankar of Palantir. (3:04) - Silcon valley’s shift in perception around defense tech and Palantir. (5:09) - Palentir being born out of 9/11 and the realization of the countries vulnerabilities. (7:59) How the US has managed to avoid another terrorist attack and what role Palantir's products played. (9:33) NetSuite - Download your free KPI Checklist at http://www.NetSuite.com/twist (10:48) One major failure regarding 9/11 attack. (11:55) The Gotham Platform: Palantir's first product and how it borrowed from PayPal. (18:12) The most valuable role software could play in defense tech. (18:57) Northwest Registered Agent - Get a 60% discount on your next LLC at - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist (19:52) How defense tech data collection has changed over the years. (22:34) The role of AI and robotics play in the battlefield. (29:22) Imagine AI LIVE - Get 20% off tickets at http://www.imagineai.live/twist (30:38) The autopilot approach of LLMs at Palantir and the analogy of self-driving cars. (33:28) Palantir's huge early wins with AI integration. (38:01) The defense potential of LLMs and real time interpretation in the field. (39:51) The importance of RF in the modern battlefield. (45:32) Discussing Putin’s serious threat. (48:54) How the defense industrial base was managed and consolidated after WWII (53:48) The future of defense tech, the speed of innovation and enemy adaptation.
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Check out Palantir Technologies: https://www.palantir.com/
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Follow Shyam:
X: https://twitter.com/ssankar
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shyamsankar/
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(29:22) Imagine AI LIVE - Get 20% off tickets at http://www.imagineai.live/twist
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Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | There was a Colonel John Boyd, a very famous military tactician. |
| 0:03.2 | He came up with the concept of the Uda Loop. |
| 0:05.2 | Terrain doesn't fight wars, machines don't fight wars, humans do. |
| 0:08.4 | And the Uda Loop is Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. |
| 0:11.2 | It's all about decision advantage, and the speed at which you can go |
| 0:14.2 | through this loop he initially developed in the context of dog fighting with |
| 0:17.6 | airplanes but speed at which you can go through this loop is the determinative |
| 0:20.9 | factor if you can win or not so your your ability to go through the Oodaloop |
| 0:24.4 | to develop a drone that behaves differently |
| 0:27.0 | and is resilient in different ways |
| 0:28.6 | before the enemy can adapt to you, |
| 0:30.3 | that's the only thing that's going to matter. |
| 0:31.6 | So I would not place a huge premium on any |
| 0:33.7 | specific technologies, although there are ones that are going to matter. It's really |
| 0:37.8 | gearing up and measuring ourselves, our programs, our investments, through adaptability, |
| 0:42.4 | and how quickly can we iterate on these concepts. programs, our investments, through adaptability, |
| 0:42.6 | and how quickly can we iterate on these concepts |
| 0:45.0 | at the pace of the fight, and the one who does |
| 0:47.4 | at first, fastest, is gonna be the winner. |
| 0:50.8 | This week in startups is brought to you by Net Suite. |
| 0:54.0 | Once your business gets to a certain size, the cracks start to emerge. |
| 0:58.0 | Things you used to do in a day, take a week. |
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