EVN Disrupt

Narek Amirkhanyan joins us to discuss the success of his podcast, reArrange. We explored why podcasting is a unique medium and how it fundamentally differs from traditional audio formats like interviews and radio shows. Narek shared the story behind starting reArrange and how podcasts have increasingly become part of Armenia's culture over the past five years. Finally, we discussed the responsibilities podcast hosts have in crafting conversations that are both informative and factual, as well as the challenges that arise from the informal nature of podcasting. The post Narek Amirkhanyan: The Art of Conversation appeared first on EVN Report.

Hrant Khachatrian, founder and director of YerevaNN, a machine learning research lab, joins us to discuss the lab’s various research directions and their strategic importance for Armenia. Currently, YerevaNN focuses on machine learning applications in chemistry and robotics. Hrant explained how each of these areas fits within the global AI research landscape and why Armenia has the potential to be competitive in them. Finally, we discussed Armenia’s recent acquisition of a GPU-based supercomputer and how it will support the goal of establishing a competitive AI research environment in Armenia. The post Hrant Khachatrian: Armenia’s AI Research Landscape appeared first on EVN Report.

Sassine Ghazi, President and CEO of Synopsys, joins us to discuss the company’s 20th anniversary in Armenia. Synopsys, an electronic design automation (EDA) company, expanded its operations to Armenia in 2004 after acquiring local companies in the field. Sassine shares how the Armenian branch has grown to over 1,200 employees and become integral to the company's global operations through continuous investment in local talent. We also explored trends in the semiconductor industry, including the exponential demand for more computational resources driven by advancements in artificial intelligence systems. The post Sassine Ghazi: Synopsys in Armenia appeared first on EVN Report.

Chinar Movsisyan, founder and CEO of Feedback Intelligence (formerly known as Manot), joins us to discuss how to build more reliable large language model (LLM) applications. She shared her four-year journey as a founder and the decision to pivot her company from computer vision to LLMs. Feedback Intelligence helps LLM application developers identify scenarios where their models may fail during user interactions and offers insights on how to address these challenges. Lastly, we discussed the current state of the AI market and how entrepreneurs should consider defensibility in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. The post Chinar Movsisyan: Feedback Intelligence appeared first on EVN Report.

Sargis Karapetyan, the CEO of the Union of Advanced Technologies (UATE) joins us to discuss the various components of the organization, including education, outreach, policymaking, and the DigiTec Expo. Sargis also spoke about the importance of expanding the scope of DigiTec to include greater participation from the international tech community. The post Sargis Karapetyan: UATE and Its Vision appeared first on EVN Report.

Tigran Atoyan, the founder and CEO of Haibrid, joins us to discuss how his company helps academics, writers and anyone doing research online curate and manage sources and information more efficiently. We discussed the product’s workflow and the planned AI integrations, as well as the bigger vision for the company which involves data protection and privacy for browsing history. Lastly, Tigran shares with us his thoughts on building an AI company in an era where the technology behind these applications has become commodified. The post Tigran Atoyan: Making Research Easier with AI appeared first on EVN Report.

Zareh Zurabyan, head of the Americas division at eLabNext, joins us to discuss how the company has integrated generative AI workflows into their digital notebook solution for scientists. He addressed some of the main challenges hindering wider AI adoption in biotech, particularly privacy concerns related to data handling. We also explored Zareh’s journey to becoming an investor and the trends he’s most excited about in the biotech sector. The post Zareh Zurabyan: Biotech in 2024 appeared first on EVN Report.

Hayk Karapetyan, executive director of the organizing committee for the World Conference on Innovation and Technology 2024 (WCIT), joins the podcast to discuss this premier tech event coming to Yerevan this October. Hayk shared insights on the impact that hosting WCIT in 2019 had on Armenia's tech ecosystem and outlined this year's agenda. With the global tech community set to be focused on Yerevan, Hayk emphasized why this is a pivotal opportunity for Armenian tech to showcase its strengths, branding the country as an ideal place to develop advanced technologies and commercialize them globally. The post Hayk Karapetyan: Hosting WCIT 2024 appeared first on EVN Report.

Perouz Taslakian, a research scientist at Service Now, and Erik Arakelyan, a Ph.D. student at the University of Copenhagen, discuss the recently held “Summer School on Large Language Models (LLMs)”. The program brought together researchers from around the world in the field of AI to Yerevan to teach a week-long summer school on the most recent advancements in LLMs. Perouz and Erik talk about the program’s impact in advancing research and scientific ecosystems, and how to strengthen collaboration between the Armenian diaspora and local students, engineers and scientists in Armenia. Finally, Perouz and Erik share insights on advancing AI research in the country. The post Perouz Taslakian & Erik Arakelyan: LLM Summer School appeared first on EVN Report.

Khachatur Gharibyan, the co-founder and CTO of NolanAI, joins us to discuss how their AI platform assists screenwriters, producers, and directors in the pre-production phase of filmmaking. We discussed how their product utilizes AI to assist in the creative process of writing screenplays. Additionally, it generates images of scenes based on the script to aid in visualizing the story even before filming starts. Finally, we had an engaging conversation about the capabilities of AI systems to be creative and the origins of creativity itself. The post Khachatur Gharibyan: Injecting AI in Filmmaking appeared first on EVN Report.