How AI is rewriting the startup playbook
Just as the cloud helped a previous generation of startups launch without having to invest huge sums in hardware to build their companies, AI makes it even easier by letting a founder describe their idea and have AI agents help build it. But as AI speeds up getting that initial idea off the ground faster than ever, it raises questions about the role of the cloud provider in this new world.
I spoke to Darren Mowry, head of startups at Google Cloud, recently on the FastForward on PPN podcast about this changing role and how the cloud companies have to adapt quickly in a rapidly changing landscape. Mowry knows from whence he speaks having worked at Amazon and Microsoft in the past before joining Google Cloud 6 years ago.
One thing that hasn't changed is that the cloud providers like Google know where their strength lies and that's letting startup founders focus on building (especially as it becomes easier to do so). "We can come to founders and say, 'Why don't you return your focus to the core of what you intended to build and let us bring you all of the other aspects that you may need into this unified platform.' But don't try to build your own infra. Don't try to build your own models. Right? We have a pretty successful cloud and data platform," Mowry told FastForward on PPN.
He says it's got to be about more than cloud credits to lure the startup to the platform these days. "We're all going to offer credits. Credits are not differentiating, right? The way that we help you get value from those credits is what's differentiating," he said.
He says it really comes down to providing human expertise beyond the infrastructure, helping founders understand how to build a business, control costs and stay focused. That includes helping them find enterprise customers and get to market, turning their ideas into viable businesses.
"We're going to continue to add tooling and automation to the platform for every founder, but we're also going to make sure we have people out in the ecosystem helping people make intelligent decisions as well," he said.
We also talked about why Mowry sees the AI labs as increasingly important competitors to traditional cloud providers and why he's particularly excited about the possibilities of physical AI.
You can watch the full podcast here:
