Gou Rao is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of NeuBird, where he's building Hawkeye—an AI-powered site reliability engineer designed to identify, diagnose, and resolve IT infrastructure issues. He previously co-founded Portworx, which was acquired by Pure Storage for $370 million in 2020. In 2024, NeuBird raised a $22.5 million seed extension from M12, Microsoft’s venture arm, following a $22 million seed round led by Mayfield, Stepstone Group, and Prosperity7 Ventures. Gou holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Bangalore University and a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Gou Rao’s journey from late-night support calls to co-founding NeuBird and building Hawkeye, an AI-powered site reliability engineer.
• Why diagnosing IT issues is 99% of the problem—and how Hawkeye helps SREs move from noise to actionable insight in minutes.
• The shift from chatbots to agentic systems—and why reasoning, not just automation, is the next frontier for enterprise AI.
• How AI can reduce burnout by eliminating repetitive incident response tasks, freeing teams to focus on creativity and automation.
• The importance of transparency, explainability, and human oversight in deploying AI systems with agency.
• Gou’s reflections on entrepreneurship, including why “mistakes are an asset” and how jumping into the unknown can lead to your biggest breakthroughs.

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter: https://aiandwork.beehiiv.com/subscribe
• Connect with Gou on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gouthamrao/
• AI fun fact article: https://www.hrdive.com/news/anthropic-report-AI-software-engineers-automation-augmentation/739833/
• On becoming an investor and discovering amazing companies: https://www.buzzsprout.com/520474/episodes/7446373

Ravi Malick is the Global CIO at Box, where he leads IT strategy, compliance, and customer advocacy for the enterprise content management platform. Before joining Box, he served as SVP & CIO at Vistra Corp., where he oversaw the integration of three major acquisitions that more than doubled the company’s size. Earlier in his career, he held leadership roles at Energy Future Holdings, including VP of Business Technology at TXU Energy. Ravi earned a BA in Political Science from Brown University and remains active in philanthropic efforts outside of work.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Ravi Malick’s nonlinear path from investment banking and consulting to becoming Global CIO at Box—and how each chapter shaped his leadership style.
• What makes Box’s “people-first” culture stand out in Silicon Valley and why Ravi believes authenticity and inclusion are key to long-term success.
• The challenges of leading IT at a company with 3,000 tech-savvy employees—and how Ravi balances innovation with governance.
• How he’s approaching AI adoption internally, from quick wins to long-term strategy, while keeping a sharp focus on business outcomes.
• What the “agentic workforce” could mean for scalability, productivity, and the structure of tomorrow’s teams.
• How Ravi sees the future of work: multi-role careers, voice-first workflows, and AI-powered teams built around passion and outcomes.

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter: https://aiandwork.beehiiv.com/subscribe
• Connect with Ravi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravimalick/
• AI fun fact article: https://www.engineering.com/rip-saas-long-live-ai-as-a-service/
• On how AI supports thousands of employees at a rapidly growing global company: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/parul-saini-ubers-global-head-of-enterprise-apps/id1476885647?i=1000599377300

Rafie Faruq is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of Genie, a platform launched in 2017 to make high-quality legal documents accessible through open-source tools.

Since then, Genie has served over 100,000 users across 120 jurisdictions and recently raised an $18M Series A from Google Ventures and Khosla Ventures. Rafie holds an MSc in Machine Learning, has advised the Law Policy Commission, contributed to the Law Society, and represented the Ministry of Justice on international trade missions.

He also teaches meditation and is a mentor to many seeking meaning and clarity in life.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Rafie Faruq’s unconventional path from bond trader to AI entrepreneur and what drove him to apply machine learning to legal access.
  
  
• How his early research on generative models led to new ways of thinking about document creation and automation.
  
  
• Why he believes the current definition of intelligence is outdated—and what a more human-centered version could look like.
  
  
• The role of emotional intelligence, purpose, and social connection in a future shaped by automation.
  
  
• What it means to build a business rooted in spiritual principles—and how Rafie applies concepts like rhythm, balance, and nature to team building.
  
  
• His reflections on power, responsibility, and why founders should see themselves as stewards of broader societal change.

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter: https://aiandwork.beehiiv.com/subscribe
• Connect with Rafie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rfaruq/
• AI fun fact article: https://www.mixonline.com/blog/mix-blog-who-wrote-that-ai-and-copyright-law
• On Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/linda-rottenberg-endeavor-co-founder-and-ceo/id1476885647?i=1000517670973