India's Chips and AI Journey: A Journey We Will Make Together
Reflections on launching 'Chai and Chips' - a podcast born from curiosity and the drive to understand.
A Puzzle That Won't Leave Me Alone
After two decades in the semiconductor industry, from Mumbai to Asia to Bengaluru to Seattle and back to Bengaluru, one persistent thought lingers: India houses ~20-25% of the world’s chip designers, yet most of us don’t understand why semiconductors matter.
This realization led me to ask: How did we get here? And more importantly, what does this mean for India’s future in the tech world?
These questions led me down a rabbit hole that eventually became "Chai and Chips"—India's first semiconductor and AI podcast. I don’t have all the answers but what I do have is an unwavering curiosity, and I believe that curiosity will take us on a fun, exploratory journey together.
A World Powered by Chips
Semiconductors are the backbone of our modern world. From the alarm on my phone to my Perplexity query to the car that (hopefully) starts each morning – all depend on chips. Yet, despite their ubiquity, when I talk to people about chips, I see confusion, a glazed look.
We are in the middle of one of the most profound technological shifts in history, and too many are watching from the sidelines.
Three experiences particularly shaped my thinking:
The COVID Wake-Up Call: When chip shortages brought entire industries to a halt, suddenly everyone was asking, "What are semiconductors?" It struck me that we only notice infrastructure when it breaks.
The Geopolitics Lesson: Recent events have made it clear how much control over chip production can shape global economies. I started asking: What would it mean for India to have more control over these critical technologies?
The Talent Paradox: Working with brilliant Indian engineers who design chips for global companies, I sometimes wondered: What would it take for them to design not just for the world, but for India’s growth?
I don't have all the answers to these questions. That's precisely why I want to explore them.
My Hypotheses and Learning Approach
Here’s what I believe:
India has more deep tech opportunities than we realize, but we need to better understand and harness them.
The stories of technology leaders, of failures, perseverance, and innovation contain valuable lessons for anyone building something new.
Making complex topics accessible doesn’t require dumbing them down. We need to find ways to simplify without losing depth.
Understanding these technologies is about more than careers; it’s about understanding the forces shaping our world.
But these are just hypotheses, and I’m eager to test them through conversation and exploration. Chai and Chips is about learning in public. Posing questions, testing assumptions, and discovering new perspectives together. I want to share learnings from the brightest minds, experts, and leaders from across industries be it technology, business, research or geopolitics.
What I Want to Uncover With You
With Chai and Chips, I want to take you on a journey of discovery. I want to be someone asking better questions and inviting others to do the same.
This won’t be about the sanitized, corporate version of events, but about the real stories, about failures, breakthroughs, and the unexpected twists, exploring questions like:
What can we learn from ecosystems like Silicon Valley, Taiwan, China and Israel?
Why haven’t more Indian semiconductor and deep tech companies scaled globally?
What pressing challenges in India can semiconductors solve?
How is AI reshaping everything we thought we knew about computing? And what role will India play in this transformation?
I’ve mapped out about 30 different areas I’d love to explore, such as:
What happens when Moore's Law ends?
Where are the women leaders in Indian deep tech?
What are the ethical implications of our technology choices?
How can India best position itself in the new world order of AI-driven innovation?
I’m approaching this with what I hope is appropriate humility. Twenty years in this industry has taught me how much I don't know. These topics will push us to think critically, confront difficult questions, and hopefully, uncover some solutions along the way.
An Invitation to Join Me
I invite you to join me as we explore these areas in my podcast Chai and Chips. I'm hoping to create conversations that are meaningful enough for people who work in these industries, but accessible enough for anyone who's curious about how technology shapes our world.
Lastly, I realise that you can’t be starting a new thing and be good at it at the same time. Though I may not be a world class podcast host yet, I'm committed to getting better with each conversation. Look forward to audience feedback on how I can make the show better.
If this resonates with you, I'd love to have you join the journey. You can watch our launch teaser here: India’s Chip & AI Moment: Geopolitics, Innovation & the Silicon Race 🇮🇳⚡
What questions are you curious about? What would you like to understand better about the technologies shaping our world?