Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Welcome to INa Insights, where prominent leaders and influencers shaping the industrial and industrial technology sector discuss topics that are critical for executives, boards and investors. InA Insights is brought to you by Ina AI, a firm focused on working with industrial companies to make them unrivaled. Segment of one leaders to learn more about Ina Aihdev, please visit our website at www. Dot Ina dot AI.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: Good morning and welcome to another episode of our Titanium economy podcast series presented by INa. Today. We are honored to host Miss Deepthi Vachani, senior vice president and general manager of automotive at Arm and board member at Excelis Technologies. Deepti leads the organization responsible for delivering arm based solutions that drive new opportunities in automotive. As a leader in the semiconductor industry, she also contributes her expertise to Excelis technologies. Deepthi has had a distinguished career holding key positions at intel and Texas Instruments. Before joining Arm, she is also active in the Womens Leadership Council for the Global Semiconductor Association. Deepti, we are delighted to have you with us today. Welcome and excited to hear your insights and experiences.
[00:01:32] Speaker C: Thank you for having me.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: Awesome. So let's get started with talking about Arm. For the benefit of our listeners, could you provide an overview of what the company does?
[00:01:43] Speaker C: So, Arm is a 30 year old company. We started in a garage in Cambridge, really focused on creating the lowest power compute. At that time, we were looking at the mobile phone and how do we create the lowest power compute for what is going to be the future of mobile? As you can see, that journey and the phone's been. It's been an amazing journey to now what we have is a computer and a smartphone in our hands. And that low power origin of our company has really, truly propelled into everything that we do. The first processor that we created for the mobile phone was ran only on latency power. If you think about that, that's just amazing. And so that low power, great performance philosophy of compute has now propelled into many different areas, areas like infrastructure. So you'll see Arm based compute platforms and infrastructure in the automotive, as you spoke about, which is the area that I spend time on, of course, client, that is laptop and mobile phones and large screen compute. So think of gaming and everything else that goes around that. And then iote, everywhere you go there is an arm based device, whether it's in your thermostat or your vacuum cleaner, anything that has a brain is most probably an arm based design. We have the largest ecosystem, one of the largest ecosystems and developers with over 20 million developers. And as such, it's a great platform to develop from.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: Sounds interesting. And let's focus on the automotive part that you mentioned, Deepti, since you lead that, how does arms technology play into the evolving nature of the automotive space?
[00:03:46] Speaker C: Gosh, if you think about what happened in the smartphone, which is your phone became smarter, everything you needed in your hand was software defined. So you got software updates on a regular basis. What we were able to do there, we're now translating into the car. And the car is becoming just big compute platform, which has all the capabilities that your smartphone has and more. It's safe, it's secure, it's real time, and it can, in times, avoid accidents, drive for you, and in the future, actually be autonomous driving. And so as compute expands in the car, as we start to see more and more requirements for compute, and if you think about the car, it's just not about cpu compute, which is often how we think about it. It's just the brain. But we also have to do graphics. We have cameras, and those things require unique, different kinds of compute. And arm has a whole host of compute. So we create system solutions for the car. The other thing that's happening in the car is the expansion of AI.
You see AI and how AI is growing in the car, probably more visibly than you, than you can see anywhere else in your daily life, right? The car now avoids lane change, now avoids accidents, can autonomously drive in certain situations by itself. That's all artificial intelligence. And wherever there is growth of artificial intelligence, you'll see growth of cpu compute, you'll see Arm, because there's an element of AI, as well as cpu, graphics processors, image processors that all go together to create that platform.
[00:05:25] Speaker B: And this computing space is very competitive. Companies, including Qualcomm, Nvidia, AMD, are all part of this ecosystem. Could you talk a little bit about how Arm fits into that ecosystem?
[00:05:39] Speaker C: Yeah. And that's what's amazing about what I get to do, right? Think about companies like Nvidia, Qualcomm, text instruments, a whole host of companies out there that make semiconductor solutions based on arm technology.
And so that's the beauty of what we get to do in arm, is we have the largest ecosystem of partners. These are partners of ours, where we provide technology, and they innovate on top of our technology. So you may have heard the latest Nvidia. These devices are based on arms compute. That's public knowledge. And so again, we have a whole host of companies, and again, one of the largest ecosystems in the world, the most pervasive compute platform in the world, in which we work with these companies to help them innovate. On top of our technology.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: Sounds great. And Deepi, like you mentioned, arm has been around for more than 30 years and has established itself a leader in compute technology.
What factors, as per you, have contributed to its success?
[00:06:48] Speaker C: Well, that's a perfect question.
Follow on question to the last question. It's the ecosystem. The ecosystem is the key to our success. And I will say that from multiple elements, and let's talk about what we mean by that one. It's one of the most pervasive compute platforms in the world. So 100% of the world's connected people interact with arm in some way. So imagine that you, me, all of us that are in some way connected are interacting with arm technology. So because of that pervasiveness, because we were partners with all of these other companies that innovate on top of us, we now have this compute everywhere. Then from that compute everywhere, we have developers developing on top of our compute. So I said 20 million developers on top of arms compute. So they write software, they write software on our compute and make all of these things work. And a lot of that software is just open and available in ecosystem. And so when you get an Arm based platform, you already have a development platform, you have software that just works, right, IP that just works with our technology and you can build faster and get to market faster. And the other thing, you know, with our pervasiveness of our technology and the fact that it's everywhere, you know, it's just going to work. It's been tested over time. It is true. Over 70% of our R and D is in just verification and qualification, because we have to make it just work if it's going to be everywhere.
And so that ecosystem of software, hardware developers, IP, all of that works together. And because it's just easy and it just works, that of course propels our success. And then now with AI, wherever there is AI, there's an arm, because you need compute as well as acceleration. And so that's the beauty of the next phase of where we're going in this technology with artificial intelligence.
[00:08:56] Speaker B: Absolutely. And Deepi, you talking about the pervasiveness in the ecosystem leads me to my next question. The website mentions that 70% of the world's population uses arm based products. Could you bring that to life for our listeners?
[00:09:14] Speaker C: Yeah. So the stat is 70% of arm, 70% of users have an arm based, are interfacing with arm based technology, 100% of those that are actually connected, because you have to imagine the world, we're not all connected. Hopefully we'll get there. Not every individual is connected. And so I will give you. Do you have a mobile phone?
[00:09:33] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:09:35] Speaker C: Okay, well, there you go. Do you drive a car? Do you ride in a car?
[00:09:40] Speaker B: I do, yes.
[00:09:42] Speaker C: Don't drive it, you may ride in it, which, there you go, is an arm technology. Do you have any kind of smart thermostat in your home? Probably an arm technology. I don't know if you've seen those little Dyson vacuum cleaners that go around your house and vacuum for you. Well, there you go. Arm technology. Your laptop, possibly arm technology, right? And then where all this data goes, where's it going? Into this infamous cloud that's up there that is everywhere and pervasive.
That could be armed technology as well. And so, as you can imagine, you get pretty quickly to 100% of people that are connected in some way. Right.
[00:10:21] Speaker B: So, Deepi, I would like to now switch gears a little bit to talk about the semiconductor industry, because so many interesting things are happening there. Like you mentioned earlier. Right. The industry is at a pivotal point. And there are several factors, external factors mostly, that seem to be influencing that. How do you envision these external factors shaping the industry's future?
[00:10:47] Speaker C: Well, you know, I've been in the industry for quite some time. I don't want to explain exactly, because I might be aging myself here, but we've seen all kinds of cycles in this industry. And at this point during COVID we experienced what was a supply constraint, right. Supply issues with supply. And what that's done in this industry is. It's interesting. Hardly. Do you read about chips and semiconductor on the front page of the newspaper, right? Even my mother was asking me about what's going on with the supply, availability and semiconductors. And I'm like, where did you get this? Right? And so it's just made us, it's made us aware of how dependent we are on this technology in our everyday life. You take your car to the shop and it can't be fixed for six months because they can't get parts, right? And so that, and you realize, wow, why is that? Well, it's because they can't get chips or semiconductors. And so what this has done is made at the forefront of what we're talking about. And then you see all of, in different various forms, concerned about how do we make sure we have manufacturing capabilities in this technology. So that's become the forefront of our conversations. And then artificial intelligence, it's wonderful that we're now starting to talk about artificial intelligence in the realm of what's ethical what we want to consider our boundaries to be, what are our values? And so we're having all of these conversations as a result of now just everyday person being more aware of how dependent we are and how much it impacts our lives. And so that's one element of just awareness of it. The second is, you know, every day what we do and, you know, there's lots of conversations about AI and are we worried about it and how is it going to, how do we actually control it and all those elements. And let's put that just for a moment and pause. Also realize all the benefit that we're getting from it, right? Getting the safety inside of a car, right. If you most, if you know anyone, I have family that have passed away in a car accident, an ability to make that just safer and easier and giving people access to transportation that may not, or expanding the availability of connectivity, right. I think there's a lot of wonderful ways in which climate change, right? And how we look at AI and how it improves our agricultural and how we use our natural resources. Healthcare, there's not an industry in the world where that's not, in some way, we're not having that conversation. Healthcare is an area that's going to completely transform in our lifetime, right? In my kid's lifetime, I have no idea. But at least we'll see the impact in our lifetime how healthcare is going to get better as a result of what we can do in AI. So that's the other element we have on one side with AI, the conversation about what's right and we should be having those conversations. What are our values? What are ethics? How do we make sure that it's truly available and I, and completely accessible to everyone? And then the second element of all the improvements that they can make with that technology, right?
[00:14:16] Speaker B: Right, absolutely. And Deepi, like you mentioned, semiconductor industry, it's been seeing changes since the very beginning, right? So what does it mean for the different players in the industry to continue to stay abreast with all of the emerging changes, the trends and technologies?
[00:14:35] Speaker C: It's a really interesting dynamic and anyone that really knows exactly how that's going to play off is probably specifically wrong.
It's hard to really totally know. The ecosystem is in complete transformation and who controls what. And I'll speak maybe for a moment for, let's say, the automotive space as an example. That's what I do day in and day out. Normally, the automotive space, there is a car manufacturer who then hires a tier one in the world. And then the tier one works with semiconductor companies. And then the semiconductor company provides silicon to the tier one. The tier one creates a platform, writes software on top, hands that over to the OEM, and the car manufacturer puts it all together.
Well, in the world of AI, in the world of software defined vehicles, what does that look like? Is the tier one doing with the OEM, which is a car manufacturer? Are they going to do more of that? In a world where these new autonomous companies are popping up everywhere, there's one for every letter of the Alphabet. Are they going to control more of the future where software and hardware goes? Right, where are the players and how is this all going to settle out? Is a very interesting question. And that's the automotive space. Imagine healthcare, same kind of conversation we're having. Hospitals, doctors, technology. Usually it's something that we only spoke about in the it suite of maybe one of the companies there. Now it's being spoken about in the boardrooms of these big healthcare companies as to what are we doing with AI, how are we going to use that? And so, and do we need more control over that? That's a conversation that's being had at these boardrooms, right? And so it's an interesting place that we're in. The explosion of software is clear who's going to be the ones that are going to write the software or the company themselves, or they're going to use the ecosystem? I guess it's probably going to be a mix. And the question is what, which part of that, the details matter there, right? And so it'll probably be a mix, but it's an, it's just an amazing, wonderful, exciting time to be in this industry because everything is fresh, everything is new. We got new companies, startups coming up with just magnificent ways of doing this. I mean, is there a day where these cars that are riding around the road to collect data? I don't know if you see them in your cities, but you may, you see these cars that are funny looking with big lidars on top, driving around the roads to collect data. Is there a day where AI can simulate that data for you so you won't have to drive on road to collect data? Maybe there's a way to get automated data. So the world is just an amazing time to be in the world. And the power of being in a company like arm for me is we get to have conversations that are 1020 years out. Because by the time we create IP or even let's say we design an architecture, then we create IP and then IPC, Silicon, we're 1015 years out from the problems we're trying to solve in the industry. And so I get to have blessed to have these conversations with the C suite to talk about where you want to go, what technologies are you going to need 1015 years from now? And honestly, a lot of them don't know. Right? Don't know. So we make some educated guesses sometimes because we know directionally where it's going and then we start to fill in the blank. So it's an amazing time to be in the industry. It's the pace at which we're moving, the pace at which these conversations are having and people really are paying attention.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: Awesome, Suditi, great time in the conversation to focus on your story. Tell us a little bit about life before AAM and we'll come to aam as well.
[00:18:33] Speaker C: Yeah. So, gosh, where did I start? I was born in India. I came over as a child. I spent most of my early years in Texas, which led me to Texas instruments.
I spent about. I got my degree in computer engineering. I was the only woman in my graduating class.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:18:54] Speaker C: And also interesting and kind of sad all at the same time.
I spent about 17 years at Texas Instruments prior to this, I was at intel and most recently in arm. And it's just. It's been an amazing journey.
A lot of what I focus on now is, again, personally, how can I spend this time to truly leave a legacy of technology and impact that I can make in the industry and then a legacy on how I can help the next generation of women and girls coming up in this space, it's still not where it needs to be. There's still. There's still behavior we should need to shut down. It's still happening. We made a lot of progress, but we're not there yet. And, you know, it's okay. I keep telling myself it's a marathon, not a sprint, that we keep doing this. And a lot of why I do what I do with these podcasts or being present is a lot of it's just showing up. Showing up and being who you are and being good at what you do hopefully gives somebody that hears this somewhere that says, you know, I can do that too. Like it's possible, right? Representation matters. When we see people that maybe look like us, talk like us, look differently, maybe they're not like that. Everyone we see on in these semiconductor companies that maybe they can do it, too.
[00:20:27] Speaker B: And Niti, you talked about leaving behind a legacy of lasting impact and technology changes in the industry while you're at our. But when the opportunity came by, what excited you? About a couple of things.
[00:20:41] Speaker C: Number one, most important, one of the most important things you think about is the people you're going to work with. You spend more time with the people at work than you do with your own family.
Most of us, I do, and it is. Renee Haas is our CEO. We have an incredible executive team. We've built this thing. We've transformed this company over the last. I've been here six years in this six. In this time frame, we were private, then we went public.
We were public, then we went private, and then we went public again. And in that timeframe, it's just been an incredible journey of transformation, of how this technology is truly paid. You know, most of us, we were pervasive. 30 years of work to get us this pervasive. It's really now that people know what we do, what we did, and where we are, you ask the question, can you give me an example of where arm is? Because you say 70% of the world's technology, it's in everything you do, but you weren't aware of that. And so we're finally having those conversations. And so that's on the company side. And then I said earlier, we get to have conversations that are 15 years out from where the company's going. We're driving the pace of innovation. Right. And that's a wonderful place to be because you get to make an impact. You get to make an impact on the speed of that innovation. Innovation and then the ecosystem element of it.
There are very few companies in the world in some way we're not partnering with, in some way, some technology companies in the world that we're not partnering with. So we have this invisible hand behind the scenes that really is enabling their innovation. And when you see you created something and someone does something with it, something that's 100 times better, wow. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing what they created, right. And with their creativity. And so this element of having this impact pervasively across multiple industries, across multiple regions, across ten to 15 years out time frames. Right. What better place to be?
[00:22:52] Speaker B: Absolutely. And, deepi, you talked about having women leaders in this industry, and you're a member of the Women's Leadership Council for the Global Semiconductor association. Can you tell us about some of your insights on how do we foster more leadership opportunities for women in this space?
[00:23:15] Speaker C: Well, one is for us, as women leaders, being present, lending a helping hand. Right. And being accessible and available to others that are dealing with this. That's personally, on a personal level, what I think all of us can do. Second is looking at systematically opening the conversations around what are the things we're doing unintentionally, unintentionally. That's preventing diversity in these companies to move up to succeed.
It's not today. What I find is it's not like anyone's, you know, there's always the exception, but. But holistically, people aren't trying to prevent women from succeeding or seeing that progress. There's no, I like to choose my world, and my world is not full of ill intentioned people there. People mean well, but there's a lot of things we do subconsciously, unintentionally, that, or even in our processes within our companies that are just built a certain way over years, and we need to just look in the mirror and see what are we doing. These elements of, you got to be working 24/7 nobody works 24/7 yes, I sleep okay. So, no, that's not reasonable. And yes, both men and women have children. It's just not the woman that has children. So we need to make that a conversation. So again, systematic changes, then. The last thing I would say is the men in the industry, remember, we're still a small percentage. How are you advocating, how are you advocating for the women? And so I always say, you've got to. We need to talk, have these conversations with men. A lot of men come to me and say, what can I do? How can I help? Because I want. They may have daughters, they may have sisters. Of course, you know, I want to make this better. And I say, you know, advocate. When you see in a meeting, woman gets talked over a mansplain, stop the meeting and say, let her speak. Your advocacy will be loud and clear. It will show so much in that. Right. So speak up. Speak up when you see this, and it'll be so much better that you spoke. And she had to defend herself. Right. Second, mentor. Not just mentor, but sponsor. When she's not in the room, say, have you considered so and so for the role? Have we thought about her? Can she do it? Yeah, she's not perfect, but nor is any of the men either. Right. So can we have a conversation about her capabilities? Can we take a chance on her? Right. We take. Sometimes it takes a leap of faith and then support her when she's in that role. Give her the access to all of the, all of the technical stuff, the support available to her, because she may not have a community like the men do. So I think there's a lot of stuff that. And that's what I find, that's why I'm so optimistic is because of the number of men that come to me and say, how can I help, what can I do differently? And if that works between what we can do as women, we're a small percentage. The biggest impact is going to come from the men. If we can get them to help as well, we can make a difference.
[00:26:44] Speaker B: Absolutely. All excellent ideas, Deepti. So to close this, Deepti, just one place where we need your final thoughts. So the semiconductor industry is part of this broader industrial tech sector, or the titanium economy as we like to call it, with all of the forces that are in play for the sector, especially within the US.
What do you see as the future of this titanium economy?
[00:27:11] Speaker C: I said it earlier and I will go on record to say AI is not a bubble. It is transforming our lives and it's going to be in every aspect of our lives in some way or another. This technology and how it's progressing is here to stay. We need to think about as a result of that, we need to think about things differently, you know, where we use, how we use our natural resources. Because I today requires a significant amount of power. If we continue going on the trend that we're going on today, we will not be able to see the dreams that we have for AI because there won't be enough power in the world to manage the level of AI that we need. And as a result, we need to think. And this is one of the things we worked very, very hard on at arm and a significant amount on R and D. I talked about the low power technology. Wherever there is AI, there's arm. And so we have a responsibility to ensure that we're creating the lowest power technology available and get you the maximum compute possible, because we're going to be thinking about power and our natural resources differently. We have to. We have to as a result of the power consumption of what AI is going to need.
[00:28:27] Speaker B: Awesome. Thank you so much, Deepti. It was lovely to talk to you and hear your thoughts, especially on the industry and also on having more women leaders in the industry appreciate this and.
[00:28:38] Speaker C: Getting the men to participate.
Thank you.
[00:28:42] Speaker B: Thank you so much.
[00:28:48] Speaker A: Thanks for listening to INa Insights. Please visit Ina AI for more podcasts, publications and events on developments shaping the industrial and industrial technology sector.
