The reboot of Silicon Valley

KERA's Think

KERA

Society & Culture, 071003, Kera, Think, Krysboyd

4.8 • 861 Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today’s Silicon Valley is far from the tech utopia many of us may still have in our minds. Mike Isaac, Silicon Valley and technology reporter for The New York Times, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the transformation of the cushy Silicon Valley work style to a more serious tone where A.I. dominates the conversation, how the pandemic changed the work vibes there, and why it might be a harbinger for how we will all work in the near future. His article is “Silicon Valley Is in Its ‘Hard Tech’ Era.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Stories about people getting quickly and ridiculously wealthy in tech jobs are legendary.
0:15.0	For a long time, those tales were especially alluring because the spoils of Silicon Valley didn't go
0:20.8	exclusively to the visionaries who founded companies. The idea for many a
0:25.7	parent delighted when their kids majored in computer science was that
0:29.6	virtually any tech job could be a fast track to easy street. These days not so
0:35.2	much. From KERA in Dallas, this is Think.
0:38.9	I'm Chris Boyd.
0:40.3	Mike Isaac is Silicon Valley and technology reporter for the New York Times, and he has noted
0:45.1	some remarkable changes as artificial intelligence edges out other aspects of the tech
0:50.3	industry in the competition for investment dollars.
0:53.3	This moment is not only remaking hiring practices, but even reshaping where companies set up shop
0:59.1	and where their employees' political interests fall.
1:02.5	His article about this is titled Silicon Valley is in its hard tech era.
1:07.1	Mike, welcome to think.
1:09.1	Hey, thanks for having me.
1:10.5	You open this article by reminding us of a scene from the HBO satire Silicon Valley from 2014.
1:17.7	I'm in year three of a five-year deal, and Matt, you got like three years left?
1:21.9	Yeah.
1:22.5	We all got acquired by Huli.
1:24.2	When we didn't work out, none of us got reassigned because Gavin believes in this
1:29.5	Japanese form of management where not being assigned is the most shameful outcome.
1:37.1	Yeah, it does feel uncomfortable.
	...

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