Chain of Thought | AI Agents, Infrastructure & Engineering

How is an open ecosystem powering the next generation of AI for developers and leaders?Broadcasting live from the heart of the action at AMD's Advancing AI 2025, Chain of Thought host Conor Bronsdon welcomes AMD’s Anush Elangovan, VP of AI Software, and Sharon Zhou, VP of AI. They unpack AMD's groundbreaking transformation from a hardware giant to a leader in full-stack AI, committed to an open ecosystem. Discover how new MI350 GPUs deliver mind-blowing performance with advanced data types and why ROCm 7 and AMD Developer Cloud offer Day Zero support for frontier models.Then Conor welcomes Sharon Zhou, VP of AI at AMD, to discuss making AMD's powerful software stack truly accessible and how to drive developer curiosity. Sharon explains strategies for creating a "happy path" for community contributions, fostering engagement through teaching, and listening to developers at every stage. She shares her predictions for the future, including the rise of self-improving AI, the critical role of heterogeneous compute, and the potential of "vibes based feedback" to guide models. This vision for democratizing access to high-performance AI, driven by a deep understanding of the developer journey, promises to unlock the next generation of applications.Chapters:00:00 Live from AMD's Advancing AI 2025 Event00:30 Introduction to Anush Elangovan01:38 The MI350 GPU Series Unveiled04:57 CDNA4 Architecture Explained07:00 The Future of AI Infrastructure08:32 AMD's Developer Cloud and ROCm 711:50 Cultural Shift at AMD14:48 Open Source and Community Contributions18:35 Software Longevity and Ecosystem Strategy22:19 AI Agents and Performance Gains27:36 AI's Role in Solving Power Challenges28:11 Thanking Anush28:42 Introduction to Sharon Zhou29:45 Sharon's Focus at AMD30:39 Engaging Developers with AMD's AI Tools31:24 Listening to the AI Community33:56 Open Source and AI Development45:04 Future of AI and Self-Improving Models48:04 Final Thoughts and FarewellFollow the hostsFollow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Atin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Conor⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Vikram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Yash⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Today's Guest(s)Anush Elangovan: LinkedInSharon Zhou: LinkedInAMD Official Site: amd.comAMD Developer Resources: AMD Developer CentralCheck out Galileo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Try Galileo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Agent Leaderboard

Show Notes

How is an open ecosystem powering the next generation of AI for developers and leaders?

Broadcasting live from the heart of the action at AMD's Advancing AI 2025, Chain of Thought host Conor Bronsdon welcomes AMD’s Anush Elangovan, VP of AI Software, and Sharon Zhou, VP of AI. They unpack AMD's groundbreaking transformation from a hardware giant to a leader in full-stack AI, committed to an open ecosystem. Discover how new MI350 GPUs deliver mind-blowing performance with advanced data types and why ROCm 7 and AMD Developer Cloud offer Day Zero support for frontier models.

Then Conor welcomes Sharon Zhou, VP of AI at AMD, to discuss making AMD's powerful software stack truly accessible and how to drive developer curiosity. Sharon explains strategies for creating a "happy path" for community contributions, fostering engagement through teaching, and listening to developers at every stage. She shares her predictions for the future, including the rise of self-improving AI, the critical role of heterogeneous compute, and the potential of "vibes based feedback" to guide models. This vision for democratizing access to high-performance AI, driven by a deep understanding of the developer journey, promises to unlock the next generation of applications.


Chapters:

00:00 Live from AMD's Advancing AI 2025 Event

00:30 Introduction to Anush Elangovan

01:38 The MI350 GPU Series Unveiled

04:57 CDNA4 Architecture Explained

07:00 The Future of AI Infrastructure

08:32 AMD's Developer Cloud and ROCm 7

11:50 Cultural Shift at AMD

14:48 Open Source and Community Contributions

18:35 Software Longevity and Ecosystem Strategy

22:19 AI Agents and Performance Gains

27:36 AI's Role in Solving Power Challenges

28:11 Thanking Anush

28:42 Introduction to Sharon Zhou

29:45 Sharon's Focus at AMD

30:39 Engaging Developers with AMD's AI Tools

31:24 Listening to the AI Community

33:56 Open Source and AI Development

45:04 Future of AI and Self-Improving Models

48:04 Final Thoughts and Farewell


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Follow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Atin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Conor⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Vikram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Yash⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


Follow Today's Guest(s)

Anush Elangovan: LinkedIn

Sharon Zhou: LinkedIn

AMD Official Site: amd.com

AMD Developer Resources: AMD Developer Central


Check out Galileo

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Try Galileo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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What is Chain of Thought | AI Agents, Infrastructure & Engineering?

AI is reshaping infrastructure, strategy, and entire industries. Host Conor Bronsdon talks to the engineers, founders, and researchers building breakthrough AI systems about what it actually takes to ship AI in production, where the opportunities lie, and how leaders should think about the strategic bets ahead.

Chain of Thought translates technical depth into actionable insights for builders and decision-makers. New episodes bi-weekly.

Conor Bronsdon is an angel investor in AI and dev tools, Head of Technical Ecosystem at Modular, and previously led growth at AI startups Galileo and LinearB.