SparX by Mukesh Bansal

What happens when AI stops answering your questions and starts acting on your behalf?Mukesh Bansal and Peeyush Ranjan, co-founder of Fermi.ai and former Google and Flipkart executive, explore the race to build personal AI agents, how they could transform the way we shop, work and use the internet and what this shift means for India. From UPI and agent-led commerce to privacy, security and the future of jobs, this conversation examines the opportunities and risks of a world where AI does more than just respond.

What if the energy crisis has a solution that could change the future of humanity?Nuclear fusion powers the Sun. Now, scientists and startups are racing to recreate it on Earth and the stakes go far beyond electricity.In this episode of SparX, Mukesh Bansal explores the science behind fusion, the breakthroughs bringing it closer to reality, and why billions of dollars are flowing into the race. He also looks at what this could mean for AI’s growing energy needs, India’s energy independence, and the next generation of deep-tech startups.CHAPTERS:00:00 Introduction01:26 Why Nuclear Fusion Could Change the World05:27 What Is Nuclear Fusion?10:25 Nuclear Fission Explained13:47 The History and Risks of Nuclear Energy18:27 The First Fusion Reaction on Earth21:16 How a Tokamak Reactor Works26:41 Major Fusion Breakthroughs: JET and ITER27:43 The Fusion Race: Why Billions Are Pouring In30:14 The Companies Racing to Commercialise Fusion32:18 Is Nuclear Fusion Finally Within Reach?33:16 The Different Approaches to Fusion37:25 Why Nuclear Fusion Is Still So Hard38:13 India's Opportunity in the Fusion Race39:24 What the Shanti Bill Could Mean for Nuclear Energy40:51 Opportunities for Indian Startups

AI is getting better at answering questions. But what happens when it starts asking and solving the questions scientists haven’t answered yet?In this episode of SparX, Mukesh Bansal sits down with Paras Chopra, founder of Wingify and Lossfunk, to explore AI research, scientific discovery, consciousness, and India’s place in the global AI race.

AI is getting better at answering questions. But what happens when it starts asking and solving the questions scientists haven’t answered yet?In this episode of SparX, Mukesh Bansal sits down with Paras Chopra, founder of Wingify and Lossfunk, to explore AI research, scientific discovery, consciousness, and India’s place in the global AI race.

What will it take to build robots that can truly operate in the real world? 🤖In this episode of SparX, Mukesh Bansal is joined by Sergey Levine, computer scientist and co-founder of Physical Intelligence, to explore the future of AI and robotics and why giving machines physical intelligence is one of the hardest problems in AI.From Moravec’s Paradox and imitation learning to general-purpose robots and robot learning, we explore why AI that can write, reason and talk still struggles with the physical world, and what it will take to build robots that can learn, adapt, and perform a wide range of tasks.Whether you’re an AI enthusiast, robotics researcher, builder, or simply curious about where AI is headed, this conversation offers a glimpse into the next frontier of artificial intelligence.In this episode, we discuss:* Why physical intelligence is so difficult* Moravec’s Paradox and what it tells us about AI* How robots learn from human demonstrations* The race toward general-purpose robots* Why robots struggle to generalize to new environments* What the future of AI-powered robotics could look likeThe next breakthrough in AI will be physical.

What does the roadmap to a "Viksit Bharat 2047" look like from the very top? 🇮🇳In this special episode of SparX, Mukesh Bansal is joined by Professor Ajay Sood, the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister of India. As a key architect of India’s scientific policy and a Padmashri awardee, Professor Sood offers an exclusive look into the government’s strategic vision for technology as the ultimate pillar of national sovereignty and economic growth.From the explosion of space-tech startups like Skyroot to the revolutionary ₹1 Lakh Crore R\&D fund, we dive deep into the missions that are positioning India as a global leader. We explore the critical convergence of AI and Quantum Computing, the strategic importance of Semiconductor Mission 2.0, and how India is navigating complex geopolitical supply chains.Whether you are a deep-tech entrepreneur, a student of science, or curious about India's technological future, this conversation provides a masterclass on the "Golden Age of Indian Science."In this episode, we discuss:The Vision for 2047: How Science & Tech are the primary engines for a developed India.Deep Tech Sovereignty: Why India must choose its global partners carefully while building indigenous strength.The Quantum Leap: India’s proactive National Quantum Mission and its synergy with AI.Semiconductors & Nuclear Energy: Building a full-fledged ecosystem and the future of Fusion energy.Democratizing Science: The "One Nation One Subscription" initiative and creating a culture that celebrates science like a festival.

Description- Is superintelligence a few years away, and would we even notice if the systems we built started to matter morally?- Nick Bostrom is the philosopher who put superintelligence on the map. His 2014 book defined the field, and his recent Deep Utopia asks the harder question: what is life for once machines can do everything better than us?- In this episode of Sparks, he tells [Host] that we don't have superintelligence yet but are seeing limited forms of AGI, that frontier labs using AI to accelerate their own research could trigger recursive self-improvement, and that he can no longer rule out timelines of just a few years. He argues the outcome is likely to be either very good or very bad, walks through the three ways it fails, and explains why he now works on problems that only matter over the next 6 to 18 months — philosophy, as he puts it, with a deadline.-We also get into full unemployment as a destination rather than a disaster, what an education system looks like when it isn't producing workers, why suppressing deception in a model makes it more likely to claim consciousness, and why building trust with AI systems now may be a safety measure rather than sentiment.

India just carved its name into the history of space.In this episode of SparX by Mukesh Bansal, we sit down with Pawan Chandana, Co-founder & CEO of Skyroot Aerospace, just days after the company achieved a historic milestone - becoming the first private Indian company to successfully launch a satellite into orbit on its very first attempt.Chapters0:00 - Introduction 0:59 – History, Made in India06:14 – The Cold Message That Started It All 09:34 – The Lowest Point: COVID and the Investors Who Believed 12:38 – Building Rockets Was Illegal? 15:10 – The 20-Something Team launching rockets in space17:44 – Advice for Deep Tech Founders & India's New Funding Ecosystem20:01 – Inside Mission Control: Pre-Launch Checks to the 5-Minute Hold 24:53 – Stage-by-Stage: Liftoff Through the 15-Minute Journey to Orbit 29:32 – The Self-Destruct System, and Everything That Could Go Wrong33:56 – Stage Separations Explained: The Riskiest Moments of the Flight 47:30 – The Failure That Almost Derailed Everything52:20 – What's Next for Skyroot? 59:15 – Lessons From ISRO's Failures 1:02:20 – Skyroot's Ripple Effect on Startups1:04:56 – India's Next Deep Tech Bets & Opportunities1:09:06 – "This Is India's Skyroot Moment" Pawan shares the untold story behind Skyroot's remarkable journey—from a LinkedIn message that led to Mukesh Bansal becoming one of Skyroot's earliest believers, to raising capital during the toughest days of the pandemic, building one of the world's most advanced private rocket programs, and the emotional moments inside mission control during launch. There was no revenue, no roadmap, no guarantee — just conviction that these founders wouldn't quit. That was enough for Mukesh Bansal to back them back in 2018, and today that conviction has made history. The conversation goes deep into entrepreneurship, deep-tech investing, India's emerging innovation ecosystem, and the future of private space exploration.Whether you're a founder, engineer, investor, student, or simply fascinated by rockets and innovation, this episode offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at one of the most important milestones in India's startup history.If you enjoyed this conversation, don't forget to Like, Subscribe, and share the episode with someone passionate about entrepreneurship, science, innovation, or space technology.

Can India build the next SpaceX?From building satellites at just 19 years old to founding Dhruva Space, one of India's pioneering private space companies, Sanjay Nekkanti shares the incredible journey behind India's emerging space revolution.In this episode of SparX, we explore how India's decades of investment through ISRO laid the foundation for a new generation of private space startups that are now building world-class technology designed, engineered, and manufactured in India.In this episode you'll learn:How Sanjay built satellites while still a studentWhy India's Chandrayaan mission inspired a new generationThe story behind founding Dhruva SpaceThe challenges of building deep-tech startups in IndiaWhy manufacturing is India's biggest opportunityThe evolution of India's private space ecosystemLessons on perseverance, innovation, and long-term thinkingWhat the future of the global space economy looks likeIf you enjoyed this conversation, Like, Subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more conversations with India's most inspiring founders, innovators, scientists, and business leaders.

Tanay built a 72% habit-forming product that changed how millions compute. In 12 months, Wispr Flow went from side project to 40% MoM growth, beating OpenAI's model, while staying obsessively focused on one thing. Inside: how to build products people can't live without, why focus kills you if you lose it, and what happens when a 28-year-old founder thinks from first principles instead of copying Silicon Valley playbooks.