Category: Podcast

48. Mark Papermaster, CTO and EVP at AMD

48. Mark Papermaster, CTO and EVP at AMD

AMD’s Mark Papermaster, CTO and EVP, talked with me about his background, AMD’s history, and how the company came to position itself as a “bankable supplier” with one of the most diverse semiconductor portfolios for the age of AI: CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs, accelerators, custom development, and with rack-scale systems with the pending acquisition of ZT Systems.  A focus on performance and open-ness are AMD’s guiding lights.  Needless to say, we discussed DeepSeek AI, too.  

Note the “skip to” audio time stamps below.  You can read the related article here in 3 minutes.     

Host: Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners.  

On some podcast players you can click to jump to the timestamps below. 

(0:00) Introduction to AMD 

(7:23) Mark’s background and lessons from the iPhone and iPod 

(15:10) The whole banana, or a comprehensive solution suite   

(23:32) DeepSeek AI and the benefit of constraints 

(27:37) Software and an open approach 

(32:30) Balancing investing in innovation and margins 

 

47. Steve Patton, Americas Automotive Sector Leader at EY

47. Steve Patton, Americas Automotive Sector Leader at EY

Steve Patton shares EY’s perspective on how consumer demand and regulations shape the automotive landscape.  We touch on Chinese car makers, sustainability, electrification, autonomy and logistics.  Is sustainability self-sustaining, or does it still need regulatory incentives?  Steve explains.  

Note the “skip to” audio time stamps below.  You can read the related article here in 3 minutes.     

EY Transportation group is here.  Host: Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners.  

On some podcast players you can click to jump to the timestamps below. 

(0:00) Introduction to Steve and EY 

(5:42) Sustainability, regulation 

(16:37) Supply chain and fulfillment   

(20:32) Connectivity, especially in industrial applications 

(31:27) EVs and Chinese car companies 

(45:18) Predictions and hopes 

46. CES 2025, Marinated

46. CES 2025, Marinated

With the advantage of letting a few days pass before collecting my thoughts, two themes came into focus.  First, the rise of Chinese auto companies, and the mainstreaming of electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles and IoT were starkly clear.  Second, I explain why there seems to me to be a correlation between exhibitor behavior and their business prospects.  This isn’t investment advice, of course.  

Host: Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners.  

Other posts regarding CES: Chris Stallman, VC; Marc Amblard, Mobility Adviser.   

 

 

45. Everybody Still Hates Tesla, Part 2

45. Everybody Still Hates Tesla, Part 2

Has any company made a bigger impact on the automotive sector in the last decade than Tesla? Love them or hate them, in electrification, auto dealership structure and passenger car autonomy Tesla has masterfully used the extraordinary latitude it’s been afforded by investors to disrupt of the industry.  We revisit and offer updated commentary from our original Everybody Hates Tesla episodes of a few years ago.  

Note the “skip to” audio time stamps below.  You can read the related article here in 1 minute.      

Host: Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners.  

On some podcast players you can click to jump to the timestamps below. 

(0:00) Updated introduction 

(4:41) Beginning of “Everybody Hates Tesla, Part 2”  

(5:08) Supply chain 

(17:41) Dealerships 

(21:39) Self-driving 

Link to Ben Thompson’s Stratechery article on Waymo vs Tesla approaches to self-driving.  

44. Everybody Still Hates Tesla, Part 1

44. Everybody Still Hates Tesla, Part 1

Has any company made a bigger impact on the automotive sector in the last decade than Tesla? Love them or hate them, Tesla has masterfully used the extraordinary latitude it’s been afforded by investors and customers to disrupt the profit, supply and dealership structure of the industry.  This latitude is also potentially the Company’s biggest weakness, contributing to Groundhog Day execution problems and unnecessary “self-driving” claims. We revisit and offer updated commentary from our original Everybody Hates Tesla episodes of a few years ago.  

Note the “skip to” audio time stamps below.  You can read the related article here in 3 minutes.     

Host: Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners.  

On some podcast players you can click to jump to the timestamps below. 

(0:00) Updated introduction 

(6:27) Beginning of “Everybody Hates Tesla, Part 1”  

(10:00) Electrification 

(15:40) EVs are inherently premium vehicles

43. Georges Massing, Head of Automated Driving, Mercedes-Benz AG.

43. Georges Massing, Head of Automated Driving, Mercedes-Benz AG.

Can your AI make life-and-death decisions? Mercedes-Benz’s Drive Pilot can.  Does your AI vendor take legal responsibility for those life-and-death decisions? Mercedes does.  Drive Pilot is the only certified Level 3 passenger car system globally.  Georges Massing, global head of the company’s automated driving and cabin technologies, tells us how.  We hear his thoughts on how the technology ecosystem can work with Mercedes.

You can read the related article here in 3 minutes.

Mercedes-Benz’s global website is here.  Host: Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners.

On some podcast players you can click to jump to the timestamps below.

(0:00) Introduction to Mercedes

(4:05) Introduction to Georges Massing

(12:50) The Mercedes brand

(17:42) The user interface

(23:25) Autonomy

(44:38) Mercedes & the ecosystem

42. The Future of Transportation: Insights from Reilly Brennan of Trucks VC

42. The Future of Transportation: Insights from Reilly Brennan of Trucks VC

Reilly Brennan, author of the must-read Future of Transportation newsletter and partner at Trucks VC, returns to Tech Cars Machines for a discussion on recent trends in transportation investing. We discuss financing round sizes and valuations, AI in autonomy and robotics, the promise of hydrogen combustion engines, the EV market, and much more.  

Host:  Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners 

Timestamps:

  • (0:00) Introduction 
  • (2:35) Overview of Trucks VC and market trends 
  • (9:19) Discussion on capital investment dynamics 
  • (12:00) Private and public market investment trends 
  • (20:00) Insights on AI and robotics 
  • (27:00) The rise of hydrogen combustion engines 
  • (36:00) Predictions and industry insights 

Links: 

39. Chris Creed, DOE Loan Programs Office: big loans, EVs, batteries, energy transition, US infrastructure, lithium, commercial liftoff

39. Chris Creed, DOE Loan Programs Office: big loans, EVs, batteries, energy transition, US infrastructure, lithium, commercial liftoff

Interested in a piece of a $400 billion pie from which Tesla once took a $465MM bite?  Chris Creed, Chief Investment Officer of the Department of Energy’s Loan Program’s Office spoke to me about how the pie is made available to innovators or scalers in renewable energy and energy infrastructure.  He discussed suitable projects, financial metrics and loan terms.   Recent LPO facilities include the subject of our Episode 33, the ACES Delta hydrogen storage program,  $2.2BN for Nevada’s Thacker Lithium Mine, and GM’s Ultium and Ford’s BlueOval battery efforts.  Chris works with Jigar Shah, Director of the LPO and co-founder of Sun Edison.  

You can read the related article here in 3 minutes.    The LPO monthly activity report is here.  

Time stamps below. On some podcast players you can click the timestamp to jump to it.

(0:00) Introduction

(2:26) Chris Creed and intro to the LPO

(6:30) Chris’ background

(9:55) “Bridge to bankability”; innovation; infrastructure

(14:40) The kinds of risks LPO will take

(21:57) Terms, conditions & diligence

(27:01) Community benefits

(29:19) The role of large/small companies and private debt/equity

(36:37) Related Tech Cars Machines episodes

Host: Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners. 

38. Dr. Jeffrey Goldmeer, Global Hydrogen Value Chain Leader, GE Vernova

38. Dr. Jeffrey Goldmeer, Global Hydrogen Value Chain Leader, GE Vernova

GE’s “fuels guy” and current Global Hydrogen Value Chain Leader at GE Vernova, Dr. Jeffrey Goldmeer, shares his 23 years of experience and insight on energy generation, energy transition, the electric grid, and the role of hydrogen.

We got technical in an accessible way about electric grid characteristics and how the transition to carbon-free sources influences them. One thousand six hundred miles of existing hydrogen pipeline, 50+ years of experience burning hydrogen as a fuel (100,000+ hours at one GE installation alone), and a vast ammonia transport network for fertilizers imply that technical breakthroughs aren’t the main gating items — infrastructure investments and subsidies are.  Jeff is a natural teacher and host of the Cutting Carbon podcast.

You can read the related article here in 4 minutes.

The Cutting Carbon podcast is here.

GE Vernova’s hydrogen-fueled turbines website page is here and very informative.

Host: Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners.

37. Neil Banwart, CIO, Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen

37. Neil Banwart, CIO, Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen

You get a billion! And you get a billion! And YOU get a billion! (repeat 4 more times).

The Department of Energy recently announced seven recipients of a total $7 billion who will build hydrogen hubs around the U.S.  The auto and steel sectors, concentrated around Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, are covered by the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2).  Neil Banwart, MachH2’s CIO, talked with Ali Tabibian about how the hub will use scale to demonstrate the economics of hydrogen across diversified production methods and applications.  We discussed green, blue, pink and white hydrogen, and applications in heavy-duty transportation, marine and air travel.  We touched on the program’s commitment to social justice as the Inflation Reduction Act prescribes.

You can read the related article here in 3 minutes.

Host: Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners.