Lincode Labs’ Rajesh Iyengar on Scaling AI, Smart Factories and Solving Manufacturing’s Hardest Gaps

In this episode of The Victory Show, host Rachel Lee sits down with Rajesh Iyengar, Founder and CEO of Lincode Labs, to unpack how AI and machine learning can transform traditional manufacturing into truly intelligent factory floors. Rajesh shares his journey from data centers and cybersecurity into building multiple AI startups—and how a handful of conversations with manufacturers revealed a massive, underserved opportunity in surface defect detection. He explains why manufacturing is fundamentally different from healthcare or retail, why one-size-fits-all AI models fail on factory floors, and how Linode Labs built a repeatable platform that adapts to unique environments without sacrificing scale. From retrofitting AI into live production lines to balancing hardware, software, and human inspection, this conversation dives deep into what it really takes to productize deep tech, build teams across disciplines, bootstrap before raising capital, and define victory as a series of hard-earned breakthroughs—not overnight wins.