In this episode, Amir speaks with Anna Patterson, founder of Ceramic AI, about what it truly means to lead an AI-first company. They unpack the differences between engineering and AI leadership, the chaos and creativity of early-stage research, how Ceramic AI is betting on emerging talent, and why managing AI roadmaps is an exercise in uncertainty and invention. Anna also shares perspectives from her experience at Google and how search engine wars inform today’s AI landscape.💡 Key Takeaways:AI Leadership = Research LeadershipManaging AI projects is less like traditional engineering and more like guiding research — with unknowns, pivots, and breakthroughs.Invention and Market Fit Are Separate RisksStartups must solve both: the technical challenge and the business case. Success in one doesn't guarantee the other.Competing with Giants Means Betting on TalentCeramic AI doesn’t try to match OpenAI or Anthropic on salaries. Instead, they hire promising but overlooked researchers and invest in their growth.Motivation is Self-DrivenPeople with deep academic or research backgrounds bring strong self-motivation — a must-have trait in early-stage, high-risk AI environments.Vertical AI and Pointed Models Are the FutureRather than aiming to compete broadly, building specialized models for specific workflows could be the path for emerging players.⏱️ Timestamped Highlights:00:38 – Ceramic AI’s efficient training stack for long-context models01:29 – Why AI leadership mirrors research more than engineering03:37 – Managing a roadmap when invention and success are uncertain05:34 – Staying competitive when Big Tech might absorb your feature07:10 – Prepping new hires for startup chaos08:49 – How Ceramic AI hires promising talent that others overlook10:37 – Breakdown of the AI infrastructure pipeline: from pretraining to inference12:57 – Lessons from search engine wars and how they might reflect AI’sn evolutio14:42 – The messy near-future of models: distillation, specialization, and competition16:08 – Keeping morale and creativity high with flexibility, fun, and sleep18:22 – Balancing coding and leadership as a technical founder19:31 – How Anna envisions her evolving role at Ceramic AI🛠️ Mentioned Resources:Contact Anna: anna@ceramic.ai🎯 Career Tips (discussed):Bet on Early Talent: If you're early in your career and not yet established, smaller companies might be more willing to take a chance on your potential than large labs.Be Startup-Ready: Know what you’re getting into. Embrace ambiguity, multiple directions, and creative chaos — especially in AI startups.Stay Curious and Motivated: A research mindset — driven by deep curiosity and self-direction — is essential in a domain where there’s no guaranteed outcome.💬 Quote:“One thing about researchers… there's a deep self-motivation. Nobody is dying for you to graduate. You have to want it — deeply.” – Anna Patterson