#11 Gayathri Radhakrishnan on the state of AI ventures and corporate venture capital

As Director Venture Capital for Micron's $100M AI Fund, Gayathri, or just „G“, is actively investing in startups that apply AI to solve critical problems in the areas of manufacturing, healthcare and automotive. She brings over 20 years of multi-disciplinary experience across product management, product marketing, corporate strategy, M&A and venture investments in large Fortune 500 companies such as Dell and Corning and in startups. She has also worked as an early stage investor at Earlybird Venture Capital, a premier European venture capital fund based in Germany. G has seen the development of AI from day one of her career and understands the field from a technical as well as a business perspective.

We dedicate a major part of our conversation to the current state of AI ventures: the issue of „AI wash“, specific challenges for AI-based ventures and in which applications AI can already create significant value & impact. Wa also try to understand how the „crystal ball“ of venture capitalists works and whether AI might help here as well. Finally, we touch upon the benefits of corporate-startup-partnerships and the key lessons that G derives from her current role at Micron.