Applications of AI: from ordering wine to discovering new medicines – perspectives from two VCs

Tuesday, April 24, 2018 - 3:35 pm

There's a lot of recent hype around AI and much discussion about what we can expect from these emerging technologies in the next decade. While some fear of the technology's power, others see it as an opportunity to improve business and even entire industries. As two investors involved in the space, Joanne and James will share their insights on the enterprise AI landscape, including the critical elements of any startup’s AI strategy, sift through what is hype and what isn’t, and share the most promising business applications of AI. Joanne will also zoom in on conversational AI, sharing examples of chatbots in the real world, the market evolution of the technology, and the implications for your business, and James will focus on opportunities at the intersection of computation + biology, including drug discovery.

Applications of AI: from ordering wine to discovering new medicines – perspectives from two VCs

Joanne Chen
Partner
Foundation Capital

Joanne invests in next generation AI, MarTech, Conversational UI, VR and SaaS companies. She is a close advisor to the team at Mya, an AI-driven conversational UI for recruitment, as well as Custora, Localytics, Yozio, Simppler, AdRise, Immersv and ZenGaming. Prior to her venture career, she worked as an engineer at Cisco Systems Inc., and was a co-founder of the mobile educational games company Learning Yard. She has a B.S. from University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth.

James Hardiman
Partner
Data Collective
James has developed, applied, and invested in frontier technology and large-scale analytics for more than a decade. His experience spans R&D in new materials and semiconductor processing to sales and marketing strategy for life science and healthcare companies. At DCVC, he is interested in companies applying artificial intelligence to vertical problems, technologies that allow us to better understand biological systems, and automation. James holds a BS in Engineering Physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.