Reid Hoffman on AI’s new tune, Davos, and the need for CEO courage
Masters of Scale
WaitWhat
4.6 • 4.4K Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2026
⏱️ 37 minutes
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Summary
As global leaders disperse from the World Economic Forum, LinkedIn co-founder and tech investor Reid Hoffman joins Rapid Response to break down the biggest challenges and opportunities facing business today, from political headwinds tied to immigration and geopolitics to AI’s real-time impact on industries like music and healthcare. Hoffman also explains why fears of a tech bubble aren’t shaping his investing, what it really means to be an AI-first organization, and why this moment calls for CEOs to speak up and show courage.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | People like to have a cause-celeb and kind of virtue signaling of, I'm really good, and that AI thing is bad. |
| 0:09.0 | It's the greatest human amplifier for quality of life that's been built in human history. |
| 0:15.3 | You're saying, go somewhere else. |
| 0:17.1 | It's like the Bernie Sanders stupid. |
| 0:19.2 | No data centers here. |
| 0:20.0 | Build them on Canada. Have Canada get all the economic benefit. Let's make the Bernie Sanders stupid. No data centers here. Build them all in Canada. |
| 0:21.2 | Have Canada get all the economic benefit. Let's make sure we Americans don't. It's crazy thinking. |
| 0:26.9 | It's stupid thinking. You have responsibilities. They're commensurate with your power. And so you need to speak up. |
| 0:32.6 | I myself get regularly called out by the White House. We need to be speaking up and we need to be figuring out how to solve our problems together. |
| 0:49.1 | That's Reid Hoffman, of course, founding host of Masters of Scale, co-founder of LinkedIn and tech investor. I've had |
| 0:56.0 | Reid as a guest on the show many times. Rarely has he been this animated with the World |
| 1:02.0 | Economic Forum in Davos as a backdrop. Reid and I talk about the latest in AI as well as the leadership |
| 1:08.3 | challenges and opportunities facing the business community. |
| 1:11.8 | We talk about music and medical care, how the prospect of a tech bubble is and isn't impacting |
| 1:17.8 | his own investing right now. And we dip into the roadblocks posed by political headwinds, |
| 1:23.2 | from ICE activities to Denmark. It's been a busy start to 2026, so let's get to it. |
| 1:29.7 | I'm Bob Safian, and this is Rapid Response. |
| 1:38.6 | I'm Bob Safian. |
| 1:40.0 | I'm here with Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, partner at Greylock, founding host of Master's Scale, co-host of podcast Possible. |
| 1:48.5 | Reid, great as always, to chat with you. |
| 1:51.3 | It is always great to see you, Bob. |
| 1:53.6 | I have to start by thanking you. |
... |
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