RIP to RPA: How AI Makes Operations Work

Intelligent automation is transforming industries by tackling messy, unstructured workflows that traditional Robotic Process Automation (RPA) couldn’t handle. In this episode, a16z partner Kimberly Tan discusses the shift from rigid RPA systems to AI-powered agents and why this evolution unlocks massive opportunities in legacy markets. Drawing on her article “RIP to RPA: The Rise of … Read more

Building Substack: Reinventing Media Through the Inbox

Email, a technology from 1971, is powering one of today’s most disruptive media platforms. In this episode, Substack cofounder and CEO Chris Best joins a16z General Partner Andrew Chen to discuss the origins and evolution of Substack, a platform redefining media and empowering creators to connect directly with their audiences. They dive into how Substack’s … Read more

Crypto Trends for 2025: Stablecoins, App Stores, UX, and More

with @sambroner @meigga @darenmatsuoka @jneu_net @chrislyons and @rhhackett @smc90 Welcome to our special end-of-year episodes — which also look ahead to 2025 —  covering our annual Big Ideas lists, where various a16z crypto team members share what they are personally excited about. (You can see the firmwide list, also including all the trends of the … Read more

Super Staffing Healthcare, Codifying Compliance, & Scaling Services

As we prepare to step into 2025, the possibilities for applied AI are reshaping industries in profound ways.  In this episode, a16z General Partners Julie Yoo and Angela Strange, and Partner Joe Schmidt, dive into the transformative power of AI across healthcare, fintech, and traditional service sectors. We explore: Super Staffing for Healthcare: How AI … Read more

Jobs of the Future, Harnessing Earth Observation, & Gaming Tech Advances

As 2025 begins, industries are evolving at unprecedented speed: robots are revolutionizing manufacturing, terabytes of earth observation data are driving new possibilities, and gaming technology is transforming how we design, train, and innovate across sectors. In this episode, a16z General Partner Erin Price-Wright, Engineering Fellow Millen Anand, and Partner Troy Kirwin discuss the trends reshaping … Read more

Scaling Shopify: Tobias Lütke and Ben Horowitz on Building a Global Giant

In this episode of Web3 with a16z, Shopify CEO and cofounder Tobias Lütke joins a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz for a conversation recorded live at the a16z crypto Founders Summit. Together, they explore what it takes to build a breakout startup in a competitive market, the changing landscape of retail, and how to drive workplace change … Read more

How AI is Transforming Labor Markets

Did you know the U.S. nurse labor market is over $600 billion annually, but the dedicated software market for nurses is almost zero? In this episode General Partners Alex Rampell, David Haber, and Angela Strange discuss how AI is revolutionizing labor by automating tasks traditionally done by humans. They’ll trace the evolution of cloud eras … Read more