WEBVTT 00:00:04.919 --> 00:00:08.599 Today, we're diving into the fascinating world 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:12.619 of technology with John Greenwood, a luminary 00:00:12.619 --> 00:00:16.000 in the tech industry and the chief technology 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.600 officer at Kronos Fusion Energy. With over two 00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:24.440 decades of experience, John's career is a testament 00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:28.899 to innovation and creativity, seamlessly blending 00:00:28.899 --> 00:00:33.070 IT, web, mobile, and software application development. 00:00:34.030 --> 00:00:39.009 His career is a rich tapestry, woven with diverse 00:00:39.009 --> 00:00:42.570 experiences across sectors like consumer electronics, 00:00:43.810 --> 00:00:47.429 entertainment, graphics, and many more, contributing 00:00:47.429 --> 00:00:51.289 to companies and working alongside notable names 00:00:51.289 --> 00:00:55.950 like Disney, IBM, and a few other musicians currently 00:00:55.950 --> 00:01:00.890 in your playlist. Known for his dynamic approach 00:01:00.890 --> 00:01:04.689 and versatile skill set, John has been instrumental 00:01:04.689 --> 00:01:09.450 in spearheading digital transformations, enhancing 00:01:09.450 --> 00:01:13.230 data analytics, and pioneering new product designs 00:01:13.230 --> 00:01:18.629 and development. His extensive background encompasses 00:01:18.629 --> 00:01:22.409 innovation, solution and service development, 00:01:23.250 --> 00:01:28.379 digital transformation, and much more. At Kronos 00:01:28.379 --> 00:01:32.079 Fusion Energy, John's visionary leadership and 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:35.659 deep technological expertise are driving the 00:01:35.659 --> 00:01:38.959 development of the smart fusion energy generator, 00:01:39.620 --> 00:01:43.159 steering our company towards realizing a sustainable 00:01:43.159 --> 00:01:47.680 and clean future. His approach is not just about 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:51.200 advancing technology, but about creating a positive 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:55.540 impact on the world. It's personal too. I must 00:01:55.540 --> 00:01:58.760 know. John was kind enough to give me a job at 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:01.459 Live Nation Entertainment over a decade ago. 00:02:02.500 --> 00:02:05.939 Our team at Live Nation was an overarching team 00:02:05.939 --> 00:02:10.539 of superstars, and John was our leader. We were 00:02:10.539 --> 00:02:13.020 charged with designing, building, and launching 00:02:13.020 --> 00:02:18.639 complex, multifaceted technology that streamlined 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:23.000 hundreds, if not tens of thousands of internal 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:28.099 and external business processes. I have always 00:02:28.099 --> 00:02:31.259 known John to be a great leader, an exceptional 00:02:31.259 --> 00:02:35.740 technologist, an avid environmentalist, and an 00:02:35.740 --> 00:02:39.360 all -around great human. And so, when Cronus 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:42.900 needed a CTO to build the first -ever fusion 00:02:42.900 --> 00:02:47.180 energy ERP system, I knew John was our wild card 00:02:47.180 --> 00:02:51.199 that could make near -impossible, cutting -edge 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:55.909 technology a reality. It's not just his professional 00:02:55.909 --> 00:02:59.069 achievements that set John apart. His passion 00:02:59.069 --> 00:03:03.030 for music, art and innovation continues to drive 00:03:03.030 --> 00:03:06.949 him towards exploring and integrating new technologies 00:03:06.949 --> 00:03:12.569 in unique ways. Join us as we explore John Greenwood's 00:03:12.569 --> 00:03:16.289 fascinating journey, his insights on the future 00:03:16.289 --> 00:03:21.229 of technology and his relentless pursuit of innovation 00:03:21.229 --> 00:03:29.669 across various sectors. Here's John. John, you 00:03:29.669 --> 00:03:32.669 are like a heavy hitter in the technology industry. 00:03:32.830 --> 00:03:35.789 What got you interested? What got you interested 00:03:35.789 --> 00:03:42.370 in what you do? So I suppose that I was originally 00:03:42.370 --> 00:03:46.009 following in my father's footsteps. He was an 00:03:46.009 --> 00:03:50.370 artist and a musician by trade. And that's what 00:03:50.370 --> 00:03:53.340 I wanted to do. And I was a musician, pretty 00:03:53.340 --> 00:03:56.039 successful musician. We were able to open for 00:03:56.039 --> 00:04:00.219 some big bands, go on tour. But I got an opportunity 00:04:00.219 --> 00:04:04.860 to join a company called Micrographics. Micrographics 00:04:04.860 --> 00:04:08.400 had written the world's first vector -based drawing 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:11.460 program for the IBM computer. And I joined them 00:04:11.460 --> 00:04:17.819 a few years later in 86. and was able to work 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:20.240 on a program called InnoVision, which was a CAD 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:24.699 program, a drawing program. And we launched it 00:04:24.699 --> 00:04:27.879 before Windows 1 .0, and we became the first 00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:31.500 commercially available Windows application ever. 00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:36.579 And so I was very interested in kind of incorporating 00:04:36.579 --> 00:04:41.949 the art side of my brain with... with this business 00:04:41.949 --> 00:04:46.350 and we went on to develop Windows Draw and Windows 00:04:46.350 --> 00:04:51.769 Graph. We went on to go public. During my time 00:04:51.769 --> 00:04:55.860 there, I did start there as an artist. I didn't 00:04:55.860 --> 00:04:59.899 quite get the vector based drawing feel as an 00:04:59.899 --> 00:05:02.240 artist. I kind of wanted to do more freeform. 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:05.620 So I started traversing different roles within 00:05:05.620 --> 00:05:10.240 the company and I was in sales. I started their 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:13.399 inside sales group and their dealer programs, 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:18.139 visiting dealers, setting them up. I worked in 00:05:18.139 --> 00:05:21.100 tech support, program management, release management. 00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:24.860 quality assurance and finally software development 00:05:24.860 --> 00:05:28.139 and R &D. I think I was there for six or seven 00:05:28.139 --> 00:05:32.100 years and I think I discovered early on through 00:05:32.100 --> 00:05:34.500 that experience the intersection of creativity 00:05:34.500 --> 00:05:38.819 and tech. I was able to identify how technology 00:05:38.819 --> 00:05:42.699 can make your life better which directly translates 00:05:42.699 --> 00:05:45.519 into how it can make life better for co -workers 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:48.740 and your clients and customers. when working 00:05:48.740 --> 00:05:50.980 on whatever product or solution you're developing. 00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:55.899 So I think that was engrained in me early and 00:05:55.899 --> 00:05:59.500 it kind of facilitated that passion approach 00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:02.759 to wanting to work with technology, but still 00:06:02.759 --> 00:06:07.240 getting to have that creative side. That's awesome. 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:11.800 Yeah. You've been in entertainment, you've been 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:16.879 in manufacturing, you've been in gaming. How 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:22.500 does one translate their work between all of 00:06:22.500 --> 00:06:27.420 the different industries? It requires a nuanced 00:06:27.420 --> 00:06:31.079 approach that takes into account the unique challenges 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:33.959 and opportunities and requirements of each industry. 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:38.000 I know that one thing that's always bothered 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:42.699 me is from time to time, if I was looking to 00:06:42.699 --> 00:06:46.500 work with another company, Some companies would 00:06:46.500 --> 00:06:49.259 be really hard headed and say, well, you have 00:06:49.259 --> 00:06:51.779 to have mortgage industry experience or you have 00:06:51.779 --> 00:06:55.480 to have FinTech experience. And what I've done 00:06:55.480 --> 00:06:58.819 is set out to disprove that. And then I've worked 00:06:58.819 --> 00:07:02.079 with graphics companies, entertainment companies. 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:05.680 I worked for nearly five years at a big law firm, 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:08.939 one of the biggest law firms in the world, office 00:07:08.939 --> 00:07:14.060 products, ticketing. toy company, retail, e -commerce. 00:07:14.439 --> 00:07:17.959 So in doing that, it's made it a lot easier for 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:20.959 me to pick up gigs here and there with companies 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:23.100 that otherwise would just kind of look at your 00:07:23.100 --> 00:07:25.620 experience and say, no, you don't have that. 00:07:26.920 --> 00:07:29.779 But you still need to have that passion. And 00:07:29.779 --> 00:07:33.579 I've always had it, regardless of what it was. 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:36.079 And a good example is the law firm. That might 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:38.660 sound a little dry for somebody that's worked 00:07:38.660 --> 00:07:44.139 in graphics and entertainment. But the role was 00:07:44.139 --> 00:07:47.759 Chief Digital and Innovation Officer. And that 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:51.199 also really drives me. The whole digital transformation 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:55.879 piece to me is creative. It's getting in there 00:07:55.879 --> 00:07:58.800 and figuring out how you can streamline operations, 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:02.579 streamline business processes, using technology 00:08:02.579 --> 00:08:06.720 and tools to help facilitate making things better 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:13.000 for folks. I've been able to easily kind of translate 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:15.279 that to different business types and it hasn't 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:23.680 been a problem for me. Wow. Yeah. How does you 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:27.379 must have seen quite a bit of an evolution within 00:08:27.379 --> 00:08:31.819 technology just from, you know, the 1980s to 00:08:31.819 --> 00:08:38.039 where we are now talking about AI machine learning. 00:08:38.460 --> 00:08:43.259 quantum computing, how do you stay on top of 00:08:43.259 --> 00:08:48.240 it? How do you consistently learn? Is it something 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:51.539 you are built with or do you work hard on it? 00:08:51.940 --> 00:08:57.720 Yeah, actually to the point of the last question, 00:08:59.019 --> 00:09:02.879 it becomes easier for me because of traversing 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:07.100 all these different companies and industries. 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:12.100 in these different spaces. So I'm able to more 00:09:12.100 --> 00:09:15.840 easily like continuously monitor the industry 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:19.840 trends, merging technologies and regulatory changes 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:23.480 that impact technological strategies in each 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:26.840 of these sectors. So if I see, I'm constantly, 00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:30.179 if you follow on LinkedIn, for instance, I'm 00:09:30.179 --> 00:09:33.840 constantly posting. stories that I find interesting 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:36.279 in digital transformation and innovation, but 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:39.340 a lot of those, again, traverse different industries 00:09:39.340 --> 00:09:43.360 like legal. Maybe some things I post is on GDPR 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:47.159 and the changes to GDPR, or there's new EU laws 00:09:47.159 --> 00:09:50.240 that are passed this week. I don't know if you 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:53.220 saw those. Those are very interesting to me, 00:09:53.259 --> 00:09:56.679 but those traverse all sorts of industries. They 00:09:56.679 --> 00:09:59.179 touch on legal, of course. They touch on compliance 00:09:59.179 --> 00:10:05.169 and regulatory. but they also touch on all these 00:10:05.169 --> 00:10:07.990 other industries I've worked on. So I stay connected 00:10:07.990 --> 00:10:11.909 with industries, associations, I attend conferences 00:10:11.909 --> 00:10:15.070 and engage in knowledge sharing forums to stay 00:10:15.070 --> 00:10:18.210 informed and adapt strategies. I'm part of a 00:10:18.210 --> 00:10:22.029 collective of folks that are continually reaching 00:10:22.029 --> 00:10:25.309 out and helping each other to understand the 00:10:25.309 --> 00:10:29.840 ever -changing landscape. you know the anti -technology 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:36.000 so yeah so so it's like you're naturally interested 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:39.039 in it and you're good at it and yeah your friends 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:43.840 do it yeah i get that that's pretty cool um what 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:46.679 what is like the most innovative project you 00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:49.720 think like in your lifetime what has been the 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:57.059 most fun challenging um You know, so after I 00:10:57.059 --> 00:11:02.000 left Minder Graphics, I actually left with the 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:04.840 president and COO. And again, we'd gone public, 00:11:05.139 --> 00:11:07.879 very successful company. I've learned a lot of 00:11:07.879 --> 00:11:11.000 things there. I'm very lucky to have joined that 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:14.419 company. But he wanted to leave and start a multimedia 00:11:14.419 --> 00:11:18.899 company. And this was right down my alley, of 00:11:18.899 --> 00:11:22.879 course. We actually even brought in some very 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:27.419 famous musicians and producers. But I was the 00:11:27.419 --> 00:11:31.059 third employee in that company. And it was called 00:11:31.059 --> 00:11:35.399 Seventh Level. It was a startup. And at the time, 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:38.500 companies like Brøderbund and Disney were releasing 00:11:38.500 --> 00:11:41.460 interactive titles with a few hundred sales of 00:11:41.460 --> 00:11:45.919 animation and 8 -bit mono audio, which is unheard 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:48.700 of in today's day and time. But these were the 00:11:48.700 --> 00:11:53.519 big the big interactive gaming and title houses 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:57.600 at the time. It was very rudimentary stuff. And 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:00.820 our vision and mission was to create interactive 00:12:00.820 --> 00:12:03.679 titles, at least when we started for children. 00:12:04.419 --> 00:12:07.919 So educational interactive titles with much improved 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:11.399 audio and visuals. And so we set out to develop 00:12:11.399 --> 00:12:15.539 an AV engine that would allow us to produce titles 00:12:15.539 --> 00:12:19.980 in 16 -bit stereo. for things like sound effects 00:12:19.980 --> 00:12:23.220 and maybe dialogue. And in the cases where we 00:12:23.220 --> 00:12:25.720 were going to use key songs in the title with, 00:12:26.220 --> 00:12:30.360 we had people, yes, John Anderson from Yes sang 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:32.480 songs, children's songs. We had David Gilmore 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:36.460 from Pink Floyd playing in the title. Howie Mandel 00:12:36.460 --> 00:12:38.860 was our main character that took the children 00:12:38.860 --> 00:12:42.269 throughout the title. And in those cases, we 00:12:42.269 --> 00:12:46.830 used CD quality audio, or 44 .1 kilohertz, 16 00:12:46.830 --> 00:12:49.610 -bit stereo, which again, unheard of at the time. 00:12:50.029 --> 00:12:52.649 And then moreover, again, these other titles 00:12:52.649 --> 00:12:54.809 had a few hundred cells of animation. And this 00:12:54.809 --> 00:12:57.409 is Disney we're talking about. Our first title 00:12:57.409 --> 00:13:00.990 contained 12 ,000 cells of animation. And this 00:13:00.990 --> 00:13:05.149 allowed us to launch titles that were what you 00:13:05.149 --> 00:13:08.029 call on 24 Hollywood quality. So it's like watching 00:13:08.029 --> 00:13:11.269 a Saturday morning cartoon. And then we were 00:13:11.269 --> 00:13:13.970 able also to localize that into 13 different 00:13:13.970 --> 00:13:17.750 country languages. And it was very popular. We 00:13:17.750 --> 00:13:22.490 also did things like reuse of cells and tweening. 00:13:22.590 --> 00:13:26.710 Tweening is when you create key cells, a key 00:13:26.710 --> 00:13:30.049 character cell, but then automatically create 00:13:30.049 --> 00:13:33.169 the cells in between, which speeds up the development 00:13:33.169 --> 00:13:37.210 process. And folks like Disney took attention 00:13:37.210 --> 00:13:40.720 immediately. They hired us to create games for 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:43.559 them, including some of the Lion King games like 00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:47.500 Timon and Bumba's Jungle games. I was able to 00:13:47.500 --> 00:13:50.799 create the world's first Mix Mode or Orange Book 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:54.000 CD -ROM for Windows. So I was interviewed by 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:57.720 CD Magazine for that. And then we just went on 00:13:57.720 --> 00:14:01.659 to use that AV engine and that experience and 00:14:01.659 --> 00:14:05.159 continue to improve on it to create other... 00:14:05.340 --> 00:14:10.179 Little Howie, Little Howie Mandel titles, for 00:14:10.179 --> 00:14:12.820 which we won a presidential award from George 00:14:12.820 --> 00:14:15.500 Bush for a lot of the children's stuff. But then 00:14:15.500 --> 00:14:18.600 we got into other things for older children and 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:21.980 adults, a virtual reality series, and then eventually 00:14:21.980 --> 00:14:24.419 produced all the Monty Python interactive titles. 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:29.279 And much like micrographics, I kind of traversed 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:31.679 through different roles at that company. So when 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:34.059 I started, I started up their QA and release 00:14:34.059 --> 00:14:37.539 management group. but then I got into some coding, 00:14:38.179 --> 00:14:39.840 you know, actually doing some programming and 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:42.500 scripting on the titles, and eventually became 00:14:42.500 --> 00:14:45.120 a producer, and I was a producer for Monty Python's 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:48.399 Quest for the Holy Grail, and we actually won 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:52.360 at the Cannes Film Festival the first year they 00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:55.720 had an award for video games, and we won for 00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:59.539 Quest for the Holy Grail, so super, super, yeah, 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:04.649 super, super fun, very innovative. very challenging 00:15:04.649 --> 00:15:07.370 lot of hours put in on that on that company and 00:15:07.370 --> 00:15:10.009 we did take that company public as well we actually 00:15:10.009 --> 00:15:15.649 did a secondary public offering so yeah um it's 00:15:15.649 --> 00:15:20.750 almost like you seek to be in the forefront of 00:15:20.750 --> 00:15:25.590 ideas and innovations technologically um it almost 00:15:25.590 --> 00:15:27.970 feels like you have some sort of instinctual 00:15:27.970 --> 00:15:32.809 insight that allows you to see uh the next move 00:15:32.809 --> 00:15:36.610 in the game, so to speak, technologically speaking, 00:15:36.809 --> 00:15:39.070 just kind of looking at your resume and the evolution 00:15:39.070 --> 00:15:42.929 of it. That's pretty cool. And it shows passion. 00:15:43.710 --> 00:15:47.730 There are passion projects for you. Right. Yeah, 00:15:47.789 --> 00:15:50.830 absolutely. I always try to find some level of 00:15:50.830 --> 00:15:53.129 passion in whatever I do. And I've been lucky 00:15:53.129 --> 00:15:56.789 enough to find these organizations like Bicronos 00:15:56.789 --> 00:16:00.049 Fusion Energy that I'm passionate about. It shows, 00:16:00.289 --> 00:16:04.350 John, it definitely shows. So all of these, like 00:16:04.350 --> 00:16:08.750 you've seen so many full cycle management or 00:16:08.750 --> 00:16:13.950 full cycle build of a lot of technologies. I'm 00:16:13.950 --> 00:16:17.450 sure with the advent of AI and AI doing some 00:16:17.450 --> 00:16:20.210 of the programming now, helping with data scrubbing, 00:16:20.269 --> 00:16:22.649 all of the ETL processes that we used to hire 00:16:22.649 --> 00:16:28.509 people for. is now almost autonomous and optimizes 00:16:28.509 --> 00:16:32.649 itself, et cetera. How does a software development 00:16:32.649 --> 00:16:36.470 lifecycle, how is it gonna evolve over the next 00:16:36.470 --> 00:16:41.110 20 years? Just speculate. Yeah, that's a good 00:16:41.110 --> 00:16:45.029 question. I'm not entirely sure how it'll evolve 00:16:45.029 --> 00:16:47.009 over the next 20 years. That's pretty far out, 00:16:47.490 --> 00:16:51.450 but for easily the first half of my career. in 00:16:51.450 --> 00:16:54.169 a lot of our careers, waterfall SDLC was king. 00:16:54.789 --> 00:16:57.490 And to some extent it still exists, especially 00:16:57.490 --> 00:17:01.190 in the realms of legal and government and manufacturing 00:17:01.190 --> 00:17:03.669 projects, which I've worked on all of those in 00:17:03.669 --> 00:17:07.869 the last few gigs I've been in. However, to your 00:17:07.869 --> 00:17:10.369 point with the advent of things like DevOps, 00:17:10.829 --> 00:17:15.400 low code, AI. we've embarked on cultural philosophies 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:18.180 and practices and tools that increase our ability 00:17:18.180 --> 00:17:20.740 to deliver applications and services at high 00:17:20.740 --> 00:17:25.079 velocity. So evolving and improving products 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:28.099 at a faster pace than organizations using traditional 00:17:28.099 --> 00:17:30.779 software development and infrastructure management 00:17:30.779 --> 00:17:36.200 processes can. Automated testing frameworks also 00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:39.680 factor into this. I used to manage, as you know, 00:17:39.900 --> 00:17:43.579 Frank, a large QA organizations at a number of 00:17:43.579 --> 00:17:48.000 my roles. And these have all but gone away. It's 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:51.740 tough to find like a VP of quality assurance 00:17:51.740 --> 00:17:54.380 or anything because the developers are building 00:17:54.380 --> 00:17:58.019 these automated testing harnesses into the code 00:17:58.019 --> 00:18:01.500 that they write. And to your point again, now 00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:05.359 with AI actually generating code and doing code 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:08.839 reviews and testing. artificial intelligence 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:11.380 is changing the programming landscape and the 00:18:11.380 --> 00:18:14.380 future of coding by making code generation and 00:18:14.380 --> 00:18:18.180 optimization much better. Code snippet generation 00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:21.240 and performance optimization are two tasks that 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:24.299 developers can automate now with the help of 00:18:24.299 --> 00:18:28.640 AI -powered coding tools. AI can analyze big 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:31.740 data sets and find patterns to boost code quality 00:18:31.740 --> 00:18:34.589 and efficiency. And the tools can suggest better 00:18:34.589 --> 00:18:37.269 code structures and warn developers of possible 00:18:37.269 --> 00:18:39.789 cybersecurity risks. I was looking at one of 00:18:39.789 --> 00:18:42.289 these the other day. I think it's called Devon, 00:18:42.329 --> 00:18:45.930 if I remember correctly. But I was very surprised 00:18:45.930 --> 00:18:48.069 that it was not only generating the code, but 00:18:48.069 --> 00:18:51.869 also going in and debugging and looking at cyber 00:18:51.869 --> 00:18:55.069 security and endpoint protections. But it can 00:18:55.069 --> 00:18:58.430 also predict future issues using past data, right? 00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:04.079 doing predictive analytics based on the data 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:08.019 workload. And it can lead to a better final product 00:19:08.019 --> 00:19:10.640 or solution and a smoother, more efficient development 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:14.680 process. That said, I still believe humans are 00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:16.980 the creative element that's missing in the chain. 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:20.440 So AI, at least currently, doesn't have that 00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:22.740 creative element intact. I'm not seeing it at 00:19:22.740 --> 00:19:24.519 least, and I've played around with it a fair 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:28.579 amount. While AI is automating a lot of these 00:19:28.579 --> 00:19:31.720 tasks, the notion of AI replacing programmers 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:35.339 is still more of a speculation than a reality 00:19:35.339 --> 00:19:38.460 due to the irreplaceable human creativity problem 00:19:38.460 --> 00:19:44.119 solving skills. Right. I think it'll make things 00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:47.660 faster and easier, but I don't think it's actually 00:19:47.660 --> 00:19:50.079 going to replace human beings. I think you have 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:53.039 to know what you're doing to even communicate 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:58.119 with it properly. Right. Yeah, it's like, I tell 00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:01.819 my wife, my wife's an artist and a poet. She 00:20:01.819 --> 00:20:04.819 made her a poet. And I've tried, but I haven't 00:20:04.819 --> 00:20:08.660 convinced her yet that she constantly wants to 00:20:08.660 --> 00:20:11.319 spawn new ideas. And I said, you really should 00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:15.519 use generative AI to at least get you kickstarted. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:18.039 You don't have to use the content that's generated, 00:20:18.140 --> 00:20:21.519 but it gives you ideas to press on and move forward. 00:20:23.170 --> 00:20:32.650 Right, yeah. Yeah, that's interesting. You know, 00:20:32.650 --> 00:20:37.390 I talk to gamers and a lot of people when they 00:20:37.390 --> 00:20:42.390 play video games, they think that the next step 00:20:42.390 --> 00:20:47.009 is somehow programmed in. And the truth of it 00:20:47.009 --> 00:20:50.569 is the programming for the program is in there. 00:20:50.730 --> 00:20:54.329 but the actual visuals and everything is actually 00:20:54.329 --> 00:20:57.589 built as you play through the game. And I think 00:20:57.589 --> 00:21:01.130 a lot of people quite understand how well our 00:21:01.130 --> 00:21:04.569 sort of predictive modeling has gotten, even 00:21:04.569 --> 00:21:07.950 when it comes to predicting not only your gaming 00:21:07.950 --> 00:21:10.690 moves, but the visuals that then show up, the 00:21:10.690 --> 00:21:15.150 characters that then show up. All of that is 00:21:15.150 --> 00:21:20.250 almost like a machine learning model. Right. 00:21:20.490 --> 00:21:23.230 Right. And that's interesting because like, you 00:21:23.230 --> 00:21:25.529 know, you go from playing like Pac -Man, not 00:21:25.529 --> 00:21:29.390 just less than four decades ago and the constraints 00:21:29.390 --> 00:21:31.789 of video games then. And now you see this whole 00:21:31.789 --> 00:21:36.450 other world. And I saw a demo of the Apple Apple 00:21:36.450 --> 00:21:40.029 Pro headset and it was mind blowing. It was mind 00:21:40.029 --> 00:21:44.769 blowing. It is. It's crazy. I was almost terrifyingly 00:21:44.769 --> 00:21:47.089 good. It was almost like, you know what? That's 00:21:47.089 --> 00:21:48.880 it. Like, I don't think I'm going to leave my 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:51.180 house during my retirement. Like, it's getting 00:21:51.180 --> 00:21:54.500 over. Yeah, it's moving at an incredible pace 00:21:54.500 --> 00:21:59.279 right now. All right, yeah. Yeah, I think as 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:01.880 technology people, like, we're all excited about 00:22:01.880 --> 00:22:04.599 it, but there are a lot of people that see a 00:22:04.599 --> 00:22:07.900 lot of doom and gloom, which I don't get. I only 00:22:07.900 --> 00:22:10.339 see the upside, so maybe I'm the problem item. 00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:17.099 So... John, you've generated a lot of intellectual 00:22:17.099 --> 00:22:19.819 property out there with some of these ways where 00:22:19.819 --> 00:22:23.839 you've married technology and art and technology 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:29.539 and music and things like that. Do you have time 00:22:29.539 --> 00:22:32.079 for your music, by the way? How do you make time? 00:22:32.980 --> 00:22:39.630 I haven't as much as I want to. I was a lead 00:22:39.630 --> 00:22:43.250 singer in the band back in the 80s, but it was 00:22:43.250 --> 00:22:46.730 after I stopped doing that so much that I started 00:22:46.730 --> 00:22:49.910 playing guitar more. And I've performed here 00:22:49.910 --> 00:22:54.890 and there. I was lucky enough to do a gig at 00:22:54.890 --> 00:22:57.190 the House of Blues on Sunset before they tore 00:22:57.190 --> 00:22:59.750 that down, because that was kind of a landmark 00:22:59.750 --> 00:23:02.710 for House of Blues. And then some other clubs 00:23:02.710 --> 00:23:05.690 are around here. But I try. I need to make more 00:23:05.690 --> 00:23:09.940 time for it. Have you have you had a chance to 00:23:09.940 --> 00:23:13.180 try the app where you it you train it with your 00:23:13.180 --> 00:23:16.240 voice? And then you just tell it the song and 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:18.900 it'll sing that song in your voice. I have not. 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:24.160 It's called Dub AI. I literally trained it with 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:26.700 my voice and I made it sing like Whitney Houston's 00:23:26.700 --> 00:23:29.019 I Will Always Love You and I was blown away. 00:23:29.099 --> 00:23:31.759 There's no way I can do that in real life, but 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:35.299 I sound so good. That's super interesting. Yeah, 00:23:35.299 --> 00:23:41.059 I have a ton of patents in my name, and it was 00:23:41.059 --> 00:23:44.559 always frustrating to me that a lot of them came 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:47.460 under Gateway. I think I've got one at Sony and 00:23:47.460 --> 00:23:49.960 some other places, but the vast majority was 00:23:49.960 --> 00:23:53.599 when I was with Gateway Computer, and they had 00:23:53.599 --> 00:24:00.960 a brilliant way to go about generating IP. They 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:04.579 had an intellectual property program where you 00:24:04.579 --> 00:24:08.420 turned the IP in. They also made it part of your 00:24:08.420 --> 00:24:11.240 bonus, actually. And they did bonuses quarterly, 00:24:11.460 --> 00:24:14.680 which I thought was unique to them versus other 00:24:14.680 --> 00:24:17.200 companies. But they actually tried to get you 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:20.420 to work with other people to help generate IP, 00:24:20.579 --> 00:24:26.220 which was very successful. Sometimes I would 00:24:26.220 --> 00:24:30.440 come up with things that were outside maybe a 00:24:30.440 --> 00:24:34.940 little bit of what they did and your remark about 00:24:34.940 --> 00:24:39.460 the voice AI piece reminded me. I came up with 00:24:39.460 --> 00:24:43.359 something where you could play guitar. But as 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:45.500 you were playing guitar, whatever notes you were 00:24:45.500 --> 00:24:48.339 playing were automatically registered on this 00:24:48.339 --> 00:24:51.519 tool, this solution. You know, recorded everything, 00:24:51.940 --> 00:24:53.619 recorded the tempo, everything, so that you can 00:24:53.619 --> 00:24:57.660 kind of go back. Because as I grew up, you know, 00:24:57.759 --> 00:25:01.940 as a musician, a lot of times in our band, a 00:25:01.940 --> 00:25:05.279 guitar player may start playing a solo for something 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:07.690 that you guys have written. And then you get 00:25:07.690 --> 00:25:10.170 done, you're like, Oh, my God, that was fantastic. 00:25:10.250 --> 00:25:13.150 You know, what was that? And they just kind of 00:25:13.150 --> 00:25:14.970 shrug their shoulders and go, I don't know, I 00:25:14.970 --> 00:25:18.190 just kind of did it on the fly. And that was 00:25:18.190 --> 00:25:22.960 great. Can you do it again? I don't know. You 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:26.099 know, I don't think so. So this invention was 00:25:26.099 --> 00:25:29.599 kind of to record the actual notes that you were 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:31.539 playing, the tempo you were playing, the keys, 00:25:31.940 --> 00:25:34.740 everything, and Gateway passed on that, right? 00:25:35.059 --> 00:25:38.720 Well, many years later, of course, other inventions 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:41.220 came up where people were using that. So I've 00:25:41.220 --> 00:25:44.819 done the same thing with keyboards. I actually 00:25:44.819 --> 00:25:48.200 have an invention I can show you where I turned 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:51.880 into Gateway for a foldable, compactable phone. 00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:55.319 which I believe isn't the same. Yeah, that does 00:25:55.319 --> 00:26:00.240 that now. But this was back in 1996 or 97 that 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:02.160 I turned that in. So it was a phone that folded 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:06.460 in three parts. And so it was frustrating sometimes, 00:26:06.819 --> 00:26:09.940 but moreover, it was very rewarding because they 00:26:09.940 --> 00:26:13.299 actually paid you for specific milestones as 00:26:13.299 --> 00:26:17.640 you created things. You'd go to an invention 00:26:17.640 --> 00:26:22.710 board. I eventually... did so much and was privy 00:26:22.710 --> 00:26:26.490 to the process so much that I joined that intellectual 00:26:26.490 --> 00:26:29.329 property board and was able to review other patents 00:26:29.329 --> 00:26:31.910 that other people were turning in. But as you 00:26:31.910 --> 00:26:35.710 go in, you've just got to make sure that you 00:26:35.710 --> 00:26:39.369 approach the creation and the protection of the 00:26:39.369 --> 00:26:43.970 IP. And as much as possible, it's good to be 00:26:43.970 --> 00:26:48.630 in a collaborative environment. Every so often, 00:26:48.730 --> 00:26:51.089 you'll hear a success story like Sony, right? 00:26:51.089 --> 00:26:52.970 They did the Walkman. I don't know if you know 00:26:52.970 --> 00:26:56.470 that story, but I can't remember the guy's name, 00:26:56.509 --> 00:27:00.730 but it was a guy and maybe a few other people, 00:27:00.750 --> 00:27:02.990 and they literally went and locked themselves 00:27:02.990 --> 00:27:05.849 in a room and worked on this in a vacuum. And 00:27:05.849 --> 00:27:09.069 it was obviously a great success for Sony so 00:27:09.069 --> 00:27:12.170 many years ago, but it's hard to replicate that 00:27:12.170 --> 00:27:16.890 sort of thing. Apple's done it at times. as well, 00:27:17.069 --> 00:27:20.430 but I find that a more collaborative environment 00:27:20.430 --> 00:27:23.490 is helpful, especially because I wasn't a hardcore 00:27:23.490 --> 00:27:25.730 programmer. So if I came up with stuff, I would 00:27:25.730 --> 00:27:28.509 go and work with my counterparts, my friends 00:27:28.509 --> 00:27:32.109 at Gateway as an example, and say, is this possible? 00:27:32.569 --> 00:27:35.029 I know it's unique because I don't see things 00:27:35.029 --> 00:27:37.769 out there and I know it's novel, but is this 00:27:37.769 --> 00:27:41.329 possible to generate this piece of hardware or 00:27:41.329 --> 00:27:44.599 this software process? And at times then you 00:27:44.599 --> 00:27:47.380 can sign them on and then they become co -inventors 00:27:47.380 --> 00:27:52.799 with you. But you just need to be cognizant to 00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:55.640 register your copyrights, trademarks, patents, 00:27:56.500 --> 00:28:00.720 register business product or domain names, create 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:03.539 confidentially non -disclosure licensing contracts 00:28:03.539 --> 00:28:06.960 for employees and partners. But it's important 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:09.680 and a lot of companies have gotten away from 00:28:09.680 --> 00:28:14.890 it, but IP is very important. Yeah, we definitely 00:28:14.890 --> 00:28:24.390 think so. We spoke to a company, I want to say 00:28:24.390 --> 00:28:27.390 about two to three weeks ago, and they were making, 00:28:27.529 --> 00:28:30.150 they call it sapphire screens, but they were 00:28:30.150 --> 00:28:32.670 making these ultra strong screens that could 00:28:32.670 --> 00:28:36.269 go on your phone and would also be foldable. 00:28:37.180 --> 00:28:41.059 producing these screens requires, producing that 00:28:41.059 --> 00:28:44.680 material requires like industrial heat of almost 00:28:44.680 --> 00:28:48.220 200 degrees centigrade. So we were having conversations 00:28:48.220 --> 00:28:51.059 with them about potentially using fusion energy, 00:28:51.400 --> 00:28:54.079 like an industrial generator to help them process 00:28:54.079 --> 00:28:59.579 those things. So it's interesting to hear about 00:28:59.579 --> 00:29:05.259 like the origins of that technology. Wow. Yeah. 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:10.119 What do you think about what's happening in terms 00:29:10.119 --> 00:29:13.839 of like our superconducting capability in America? 00:29:14.019 --> 00:29:21.119 I know that how do you feel about that? As it 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:26.640 relates to Just the future of the availability 00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:34.099 of these superconductors in order to have computing 00:29:34.099 --> 00:29:37.119 follow Moore's law in the future. I mean, so 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:40.660 if we're talking about things like quantum, if 00:29:40.660 --> 00:29:42.559 we're talking about things like quantum computing 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:46.920 and AI, all of these things require not only 00:29:46.920 --> 00:29:51.119 huge amounts of energy, but they require computing 00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:55.839 that we don't have the capacity to produce right 00:29:55.839 --> 00:29:57.980 now. And I know a lot of startups are working 00:29:57.980 --> 00:30:03.079 on it. Yeah, so I mean, if you're talking about 00:30:03.079 --> 00:30:06.759 kind of the internet, I don't have a strong opinion 00:30:06.759 --> 00:30:09.960 on some of the, you know, these countries that 00:30:09.960 --> 00:30:12.140 you brought up and, you know, that there's always 00:30:12.140 --> 00:30:15.119 a danger there and that comes into the regulatory 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:18.180 and the compliance and moreover the security 00:30:18.180 --> 00:30:20.880 piece. But if you're talking about the intersection 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:25.799 of technology and these energy pieces evolving, 00:30:26.460 --> 00:30:30.809 to your point. High performance computing is 00:30:30.809 --> 00:30:35.049 one to look at and advanced simulation techniques 00:30:35.049 --> 00:30:38.890 being essential for modeling and optimizing these 00:30:38.890 --> 00:30:42.289 fusion reactors and their designs and the plasma 00:30:42.289 --> 00:30:47.529 behaviors. Computational modeling, which enables 00:30:47.529 --> 00:30:50.269 the scientists and engineers to simulate complex 00:30:50.269 --> 00:30:54.529 dynamics and optimize the reactor performances. 00:30:55.009 --> 00:30:59.869 That's all going to be crucial. to predict the 00:30:59.869 --> 00:31:02.809 behavior of fusion reactions under different 00:31:02.809 --> 00:31:07.029 operating conditions. We've seen things like 00:31:07.029 --> 00:31:13.089 what was it, the Japanese reactor that had an 00:31:13.089 --> 00:31:15.250 issue when it flooded, things of this nature. 00:31:16.130 --> 00:31:18.789 So high -performance computing models in that 00:31:18.789 --> 00:31:22.029 respect are gonna be helpful. The development 00:31:22.029 --> 00:31:24.529 of advanced materials and engineering techniques, 00:31:24.529 --> 00:31:28.369 I know that... I shared something with everyone 00:31:28.369 --> 00:31:32.730 at CREMIS on AI being used, you know, to help 00:31:32.730 --> 00:31:36.250 find new materials, you know, not too long ago. 00:31:37.069 --> 00:31:40.490 So those materials and engineering techniques 00:31:40.490 --> 00:31:42.710 are going to be critical for building and operating 00:31:42.710 --> 00:31:46.829 fusion reactors, innovations in material sciences, 00:31:47.829 --> 00:31:50.549 like high -temperature superconductors and evading 00:31:50.549 --> 00:31:53.869 ceramics and all these sorts of things. that 00:31:53.869 --> 00:31:57.910 were all in that article that I shared, but AI 00:31:57.910 --> 00:32:00.650 is gonna factor into it heavily. It's gonna be 00:32:00.650 --> 00:32:03.450 very interesting to watch this space and how 00:32:03.450 --> 00:32:06.470 AI and machine learning can be impactful to it. 00:32:06.750 --> 00:32:09.910 But as far as the others, the other part of that 00:32:09.910 --> 00:32:13.750 question, I think it's all about security. It's 00:32:13.750 --> 00:32:18.670 gonna be crucial that we secure all of this. 00:32:19.369 --> 00:32:28.180 It's tough. A lot of these countries are way 00:32:28.180 --> 00:32:32.380 ahead of us in terms of the hacking and the breaches 00:32:32.380 --> 00:32:35.619 that they're performing in a lot of these companies. 00:32:35.799 --> 00:32:38.000 And it's tough to stay ahead of the curve on 00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:40.319 that. I really haven't seen anybody that's been 00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:43.259 able to stay ahead of the curve. It's been more 00:32:43.259 --> 00:32:47.799 reactionary. That's true. That's true. And I 00:32:47.799 --> 00:32:51.019 think the fear is that you know, like we we rely 00:32:51.019 --> 00:32:55.980 a lot on Taiwan and for for our computer chips 00:32:55.980 --> 00:32:59.779 and things like that and so that so one wonders 00:32:59.779 --> 00:33:05.740 that like if we for Yeah, yeah, no, I I understand 00:33:05.740 --> 00:33:08.799 I understand the concern and and gateway for 00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:12.000 instance, we got a fair amount of our chips from 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:15.630 from Taiwan as well. So there's always that danger 00:33:15.630 --> 00:33:19.150 of that marketing, I'm sorry, that market kind 00:33:19.150 --> 00:33:23.950 of closing up to you based on geographical concerns 00:33:23.950 --> 00:33:28.369 and politics as well. Cyber security is a big 00:33:28.369 --> 00:33:32.089 thing for us and we're heavily relying on you 00:33:32.089 --> 00:33:35.609 for all that, John. What do you think? Not only 00:33:35.609 --> 00:33:41.009 do we as a nuclear energy company have regulatory 00:33:41.009 --> 00:33:45.859 things, that we need to worry about. And so there's 00:33:45.859 --> 00:33:48.539 a lot of compliance around that. But you hear 00:33:48.539 --> 00:33:51.759 about cyber attacks all the time. In terms of 00:33:51.759 --> 00:33:58.740 an energy asset, I worry about cybersecurity. 00:33:59.259 --> 00:34:03.859 What do you think? How can we really ensure that 00:34:03.859 --> 00:34:09.219 we're protected? Is there a way? What I've really 00:34:09.219 --> 00:34:12.730 fallen back on So in regards to compliance in 00:34:12.730 --> 00:34:15.369 general, so compliance first, let me just say, 00:34:16.050 --> 00:34:19.590 I've had a lot of experience with ADA and GDPR, 00:34:19.769 --> 00:34:24.190 CCPA, HIPAA, PCI, FedBrand, all these, especially 00:34:24.190 --> 00:34:26.570 in roles they've served in within legal, finance, 00:34:26.829 --> 00:34:32.130 retail arenas. Same thing goes with security. 00:34:33.349 --> 00:34:35.829 The compliance and security pieces are hand in 00:34:35.829 --> 00:34:38.940 hand. You've got to do a full assessment of solutions 00:34:38.940 --> 00:34:42.139 and the infrastructure coupled with continued 00:34:42.139 --> 00:34:45.099 audits to evaluate the adherence to regulatory 00:34:45.099 --> 00:34:48.599 requirements and endpoints in the security piece. 00:34:49.900 --> 00:34:52.519 Everything as far as compliance and regulatory 00:34:52.519 --> 00:34:57.800 is constantly changing. On the flip side of the 00:34:57.800 --> 00:35:00.940 coin, on the security piece, the threats are 00:35:00.940 --> 00:35:03.920 constantly changing. As soon as we figure out 00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:11.150 a way to... shut an organization down or plug 00:35:11.150 --> 00:35:15.510 up an area that could be breached, they find 00:35:15.510 --> 00:35:21.010 a new way in. So you have to really work on a 00:35:21.010 --> 00:35:24.309 regular basis to ensure that all these things 00:35:24.309 --> 00:35:28.449 have been plugged up. I've had very good luck 00:35:28.449 --> 00:35:33.750 with certain tools. that I've worked in recently 00:35:33.750 --> 00:35:38.010 are very concerned over breaches and hacking. 00:35:38.090 --> 00:35:40.630 I know everyone is, but when you're working at 00:35:40.630 --> 00:35:42.809 one of the biggest law firms in the world where 00:35:42.809 --> 00:35:45.090 they're handling, they have tens of thousands 00:35:45.090 --> 00:35:47.130 of clients and they're handling their matters, 00:35:47.750 --> 00:35:50.750 they obviously don't want to be breached because 00:35:50.750 --> 00:35:53.610 it's not just their data, it's all their clients' 00:35:54.210 --> 00:35:58.389 data. And it's critical and it's very private 00:35:58.389 --> 00:36:01.460 data. It just can't be out there. constantly 00:36:01.460 --> 00:36:04.940 having to keep up with protecting those endpoints. 00:36:06.599 --> 00:36:10.960 Yeah, it's gonna be an interesting decade for 00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:13.320 computing. I mean, it always is an interesting 00:36:13.320 --> 00:36:16.880 decade for computing, I guess, but I feel like 00:36:16.880 --> 00:36:23.199 now, especially so, you know, about five years 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:26.539 ago, I used to talk about using five, maybe six 00:36:26.539 --> 00:36:29.139 years ago, I used to talk about using AI machine 00:36:29.139 --> 00:36:31.619 learning and even quantum computing for fusion 00:36:31.619 --> 00:36:35.599 energy and I used to I spoke at an event at Harvard 00:36:35.599 --> 00:36:38.599 and I heard snickering in the back of the room 00:36:38.599 --> 00:36:41.280 like people thought that this was an impossibility 00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:46.519 and now it's in the ethos of fusion energy as 00:36:46.519 --> 00:36:49.519 how how are we going to use a quantum computing 00:36:49.519 --> 00:36:52.269 lab and their opening of quantum computing lab 00:36:52.269 --> 00:36:56.309 in Princeton dedicated to fusion energy. And 00:36:56.309 --> 00:36:59.329 this happened just a week ago. And it made me 00:36:59.329 --> 00:37:03.630 so happy to see this. Because it was proof that 00:37:03.630 --> 00:37:08.349 I'm not crazy. So that's always good. So that's 00:37:08.349 --> 00:37:13.159 always good. But it was cool to see that. You 00:37:13.159 --> 00:37:15.460 know, I've always seen quantum computing, like 00:37:15.460 --> 00:37:17.900 I've seen quantum computing being applied in 00:37:17.900 --> 00:37:20.019 a financial sense, like algorithmic trading. 00:37:20.300 --> 00:37:23.360 That's really what I've seen. I've seen friends 00:37:23.360 --> 00:37:30.320 use it for drug manufacturing and, you know, 00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:34.119 like basically health research, like cancer research. 00:37:34.139 --> 00:37:39.340 I've seen that. So these are the two areas where 00:37:39.340 --> 00:37:42.099 quantum computing has really taken off and excelled, 00:37:42.099 --> 00:37:45.300 I think. I've heard a lot of talk about quantum 00:37:45.300 --> 00:37:48.119 encryption and how they're going to be quantum 00:37:48.119 --> 00:37:50.260 encryption programs that are going to be for 00:37:50.260 --> 00:37:53.780 banking and hospital use in the future because 00:37:53.780 --> 00:37:58.340 we're going to need it. So I really want fusion 00:37:58.340 --> 00:38:02.380 energy to be like that fourth leg for this. And 00:38:02.380 --> 00:38:04.960 I feel like there's a lot of room, like you said, 00:38:05.019 --> 00:38:11.739 like that supercomputer that at Google that synthesized 00:38:11.739 --> 00:38:16.539 material uh, compositions of 380 ,000 materials 00:38:16.539 --> 00:38:19.239 using the right way. That's phenomenal. Like 00:38:19.239 --> 00:38:22.039 now I think, Hey, what happens if we stick that 00:38:22.039 --> 00:38:25.980 into a quantum computer and speed up that process 00:38:25.980 --> 00:38:30.239 and give it 200 more variables as to like creating 00:38:30.239 --> 00:38:32.519 the perfect product? And I mean, the perfect 00:38:32.519 --> 00:38:35.420 material and wow, like that blows my mind. I 00:38:35.420 --> 00:38:39.679 want to do that badly. Yeah, it's super interesting 00:38:39.679 --> 00:38:42.860 to watch this space. It's all kind of coming 00:38:42.860 --> 00:38:47.599 together in the best ways. So what do you think 00:38:47.599 --> 00:38:52.039 about fusion energy, John? What makes you interested 00:38:52.039 --> 00:38:59.039 in fusion? Well, I mean, that's kind of been 00:38:59.039 --> 00:39:02.840 the holy grail, right? And so that, again, it 00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:05.460 kind of drives into the passion parts of it. 00:39:08.139 --> 00:39:13.820 I'm very interested in energy in general. I'm 00:39:13.820 --> 00:39:17.860 striving personally to get off the grid if I 00:39:17.860 --> 00:39:21.940 can. I live on a very large property kind of 00:39:21.940 --> 00:39:24.159 on a little mountain top and the only thing we 00:39:24.159 --> 00:39:29.480 have here right now still is our Southern California 00:39:29.480 --> 00:39:32.539 Edison is supplying electricity. I'd like to 00:39:32.539 --> 00:39:37.190 get out of that business too. We're on propane. 00:39:37.369 --> 00:39:41.809 I've got Starlink for my internet. I'd like to 00:39:41.809 --> 00:39:44.650 install solar and battery backups and all that 00:39:44.650 --> 00:39:49.929 sort of thing. So I'm very interested in an energy 00:39:49.929 --> 00:39:55.789 future where we can create unlimited energy and 00:39:55.789 --> 00:40:00.110 as clean as possible to drive a lot of these 00:40:00.110 --> 00:40:03.559 clean energy. and help everybody get to the point 00:40:03.559 --> 00:40:05.599 where they can kind of jettison that technology. 00:40:07.280 --> 00:40:12.440 Yeah. Yeah, I think it'll be super cool. I think 00:40:12.440 --> 00:40:16.079 10 years from now, we'll circle back and have 00:40:16.079 --> 00:40:21.059 a conversation about how we use computing to 00:40:21.059 --> 00:40:24.800 crack fusion energy for humanity. I think, you 00:40:24.800 --> 00:40:27.159 know, as a team, we're all environmentalists, 00:40:27.219 --> 00:40:29.860 like we're so I think it's that basic passion 00:40:29.860 --> 00:40:34.260 that drives us. Yeah, I think it's going to be 00:40:34.260 --> 00:40:38.320 super interesting to see what the emerging technologies 00:40:38.320 --> 00:40:42.280 and trends are. To your point, you know, I don't 00:40:42.280 --> 00:40:44.800 have a crystal ball, so I don't know 20 years 00:40:44.800 --> 00:40:48.519 out, right? But right now, you know, in the here 00:40:48.519 --> 00:40:54.119 and now, I have to say digitalization and Internet 00:40:54.119 --> 00:40:56.800 of things is going to factor heavily into this. 00:40:56.860 --> 00:41:01.150 You know, I go out to Palm Springs a lot too, 00:41:01.309 --> 00:41:03.989 and Joshua Tree. I'm actually on the board of 00:41:03.989 --> 00:41:06.909 the National Joshua Tree National Park Association. 00:41:07.909 --> 00:41:10.170 And if you go out there, which I think you've 00:41:10.170 --> 00:41:12.409 gone out there, right Priyanka? That's my favorite 00:41:12.409 --> 00:41:17.489 place on earth, man. It's ours too. And as you 00:41:17.489 --> 00:41:19.309 know, when you're driving out there, you can't 00:41:19.309 --> 00:41:21.469 miss them. You see all the windmills, right? 00:41:21.849 --> 00:41:26.159 The wind turbines. And those have become more 00:41:26.159 --> 00:41:29.000 and more Internet of Things pieces. If you look 00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:31.820 at them, you see all kinds of devices on that 00:41:31.820 --> 00:41:35.460 are measuring things. If something fails, those 00:41:35.460 --> 00:41:38.199 things can catch fire through friction and they'll 00:41:38.199 --> 00:41:41.320 shut them down beforehand. So AI is being used. 00:41:41.980 --> 00:41:44.900 But just the digitalization of that in the energy 00:41:44.900 --> 00:41:47.139 sector for things like Internet of Things and 00:41:47.139 --> 00:41:49.510 artificial intelligence. they're really going 00:41:49.510 --> 00:41:52.449 to enable more efficient and intelligent energy 00:41:52.449 --> 00:41:55.269 management. You've got things like smart meters 00:41:55.269 --> 00:41:59.309 and sensors and internet thing devices that provide 00:41:59.309 --> 00:42:02.710 real -time data on energy consumption, enabling 00:42:02.710 --> 00:42:05.469 predictive maintenance, as I mentioned a moment 00:42:05.469 --> 00:42:09.889 ago, demand response, energy optimization strategies. 00:42:10.449 --> 00:42:13.829 Another one is the integration of AI and predictive 00:42:13.829 --> 00:42:17.780 analytics into energy management systems. It's 00:42:17.780 --> 00:42:20.079 going to enable more efficient operation and 00:42:20.079 --> 00:42:23.719 optimization of energy assets, AI algorithms 00:42:23.719 --> 00:42:26.480 to analyze vast amounts of data in real time 00:42:26.480 --> 00:42:29.639 to predict energy demand and optimize energy 00:42:29.639 --> 00:42:33.880 production and improve grid reliability and contribute 00:42:33.880 --> 00:42:36.480 to overall energy efficiency and sustainability. 00:42:37.679 --> 00:42:43.610 Another one that, you know, I... was into this 00:42:43.610 --> 00:42:46.670 a lot, I need to make more time for it, is blockchain. 00:42:47.010 --> 00:42:50.110 So I got pretty heavily into it when I was at 00:42:50.110 --> 00:42:53.630 the big law firm. And I actually became kind 00:42:53.630 --> 00:42:55.909 of a blockchain expert there. And when people 00:42:55.909 --> 00:42:58.789 hear blockchain, you know, a lot of people hear, 00:42:58.789 --> 00:43:02.630 you know, NFTs and Bitcoin and things of that 00:43:02.630 --> 00:43:06.800 nature. Blockchain, as you know, is so much more 00:43:06.800 --> 00:43:08.980 than that. And it's the underlying technology 00:43:08.980 --> 00:43:11.900 that drives all those things, which may or may 00:43:11.900 --> 00:43:14.659 not be a success. Those things, I mean, NFTs 00:43:14.659 --> 00:43:18.260 and Bitcoin. But blockchain technology offers, 00:43:18.260 --> 00:43:21.139 you know, new opportunities for peer -to -peer 00:43:21.139 --> 00:43:24.659 energy trading, decentralized energy systems, 00:43:25.199 --> 00:43:29.079 and transparent energy transactions. You know, 00:43:29.260 --> 00:43:32.500 blockchain enabled platforms. would enable consumers 00:43:32.500 --> 00:43:35.019 to buy and sell renewable energy directly with 00:43:35.019 --> 00:43:38.179 each other. They could foster greater energy 00:43:38.179 --> 00:43:40.739 independence to our point that we were talking 00:43:40.739 --> 00:43:45.480 about earlier. Resilience and really democratization 00:43:45.480 --> 00:43:49.940 of the energy markets. So I think that blockchain 00:43:49.940 --> 00:43:52.579 is going to factor into a lot of different industries, 00:43:53.119 --> 00:43:56.119 but I think that for proneness, it's going to 00:43:56.119 --> 00:43:59.340 be another key element. Right definitely like 00:43:59.340 --> 00:44:02.079 contracts management things like that at a large 00:44:02.079 --> 00:44:06.780 scale. Yeah, exactly And record -keeping and 00:44:06.780 --> 00:44:09.579 source of truth. That's that's amazing on on 00:44:09.579 --> 00:44:13.719 the on the flip side of it I was I'm in the process 00:44:13.719 --> 00:44:16.719 I kind of have it about 70 % done but I'm in 00:44:16.719 --> 00:44:20.460 the process of writing an article about the future 00:44:20.460 --> 00:44:24.760 of cryptocurrency and how you need fusion energy 00:44:24.760 --> 00:44:27.719 for for such a thing to take off because there 00:44:27.719 --> 00:44:31.079 is there are huge energy constraints when it 00:44:31.079 --> 00:44:35.840 comes to crypto mining. It's been a huge drain 00:44:35.840 --> 00:44:39.199 on the grid in like small cities and people have 00:44:39.199 --> 00:44:42.059 done all kinds of shady things to leverage energy 00:44:42.059 --> 00:44:45.599 prices in different locations. I was reading 00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:47.840 something yesterday and I wish I had the exact 00:44:47.840 --> 00:44:53.329 numbers but the water. that use to pool a lot 00:44:53.329 --> 00:44:56.050 of these systems. I'm pretty sure I read that 00:44:56.050 --> 00:44:59.349 there was as much water was consumed by the state 00:44:59.349 --> 00:45:08.150 of Idaho in a year. So it's tough. You're absolutely 00:45:08.150 --> 00:45:12.670 right. That's a great point. Well, I'm hopeful 00:45:12.670 --> 00:45:14.889 for the future. I think we can make it happen. 00:45:16.840 --> 00:45:20.480 I have friends that are very curious about the 00:45:20.480 --> 00:45:25.340 field. What would a young person trying to get 00:45:25.340 --> 00:45:29.300 into computing and AI and maybe even fusion energy, 00:45:29.619 --> 00:45:33.519 what should they know? Yeah, on the fusion energy 00:45:33.519 --> 00:45:36.500 part, I mean, I think you'd know better than 00:45:36.500 --> 00:45:41.039 I would at this stage at least. But just in technology 00:45:41.039 --> 00:45:45.139 in general, there's so many unique solutions 00:45:45.139 --> 00:45:51.710 out there. When the whole AI and generative AI 00:45:51.710 --> 00:45:56.130 thing started, there was only one or two solutions 00:45:56.130 --> 00:45:58.590 out there that you can play with. And as you 00:45:58.590 --> 00:46:02.210 know now, they're popping up almost daily. You 00:46:02.210 --> 00:46:05.909 can now generate text -based videos, right? You 00:46:05.909 --> 00:46:08.929 type in some prompt text and get a full video 00:46:08.929 --> 00:46:14.920 out of it. What was it? Sora AI. And you know, 00:46:14.960 --> 00:46:18.079 chat GPT, there's a new version. Like I said, 00:46:18.159 --> 00:46:22.860 it's almost daily. You know, Google, Musk is, 00:46:22.860 --> 00:46:25.679 you know, doing his thing as well. So I would 00:46:25.679 --> 00:46:29.619 really encourage people to, a lot of these solutions 00:46:29.619 --> 00:46:32.519 are free, at least the base models, and to get 00:46:32.519 --> 00:46:35.880 them and play with them. And to my point earlier, 00:46:36.159 --> 00:46:39.599 you know, with my wife, even if you've got an 00:46:39.599 --> 00:46:42.809 aversion to you know, generating things and then 00:46:42.809 --> 00:46:47.130 using that as your own work, that's not necessarily 00:46:47.130 --> 00:46:50.309 how you have to use it. You can use it to spawn 00:46:50.309 --> 00:46:54.909 new ideas, to spawn a spring point, right, to 00:46:54.909 --> 00:46:58.250 spring off of it and create something new. So, 00:46:59.329 --> 00:47:01.730 and artists, same thing, right? I know a lot 00:47:01.730 --> 00:47:06.110 of artists are scared right now of the generative 00:47:06.110 --> 00:47:10.659 AI, you know, replacing them. I think as with 00:47:10.659 --> 00:47:14.920 bank ATMs and everything else in our past and 00:47:14.920 --> 00:47:20.780 PCs even, you know, it's a tool. And it's up 00:47:20.780 --> 00:47:25.320 to us how we use that tool. And I think people 00:47:25.320 --> 00:47:28.079 are going to start to realize this, that it's 00:47:28.079 --> 00:47:30.699 actually something that I would encourage people 00:47:30.699 --> 00:47:34.059 to use to make things, make their lives easier, 00:47:34.599 --> 00:47:36.940 right? Circling full back to where we started 00:47:36.940 --> 00:47:40.139 this conversation. you know, how do you make 00:47:40.139 --> 00:47:43.219 your life easier? How do you streamline things 00:47:43.219 --> 00:47:45.900 so that you have time to do other things? How 00:47:45.900 --> 00:47:49.380 do you generate, help yourself generate new ideas 00:47:49.380 --> 00:47:52.280 by using these new technologies? So I would encourage 00:47:52.280 --> 00:47:55.960 people to start there and kind of play around 00:47:55.960 --> 00:47:58.159 with some of these tools and learn these tools 00:47:58.159 --> 00:48:02.280 because they're not going away, right? They're 00:48:02.280 --> 00:48:08.409 going to continue to grow and scale. Yeah, that's 00:48:08.409 --> 00:48:11.909 awesome. Thank you so much, John. Of course. 00:48:12.349 --> 00:48:13.030 Thank you guys