20VC: Airtable Sold for $1.285BN | Leo Achenbrenner's Situational Awareness Blows Up | Moonshot AI Raises $3.5B at $35B | Anthropic Model Breaches Three Companies' Security | Big Tech Earnings: Why Palantir Beat The Rest
Special Guest: Nikesh Arora, CEO @ Palo Alto Networks.
AGENDA:
04:50 Airtable Sold to Bending Spoons for $1.285B 17:00 Leo Aschenbrenner's Situational Awareness Blows Up as Citadel Buys His $16BN Book 22:30 Anthropic's AI Models Breach Three Companies as Cyber Threat Accelerates 33:35 Moonshot AI Raises $3.5B at $35B as Chinese Models Crush AI Prices 38:05 Valar Atomics Triples to $6B as Sequoia Bets on Nuclear Power for AI 42:50 OpenAI and Anthropic Could Trigger a Massive Public-Market Dislocation 52:55 Big Tech and Palantir Earnings Ignite the Next Phase of the AI Gold Rush 1:04:30 Procore Buys DroneDeploy for $900M in a High-Stakes 12x Revenue Bet 1:10:55 Scale AI Hits $1.5B ARR After the Meta Deal Left It for Dead
20VC: Nikesh Arora on the Frontier Model Problem: Breadth vs Depth | The Future of Token Costs | Memory Becoming the Moat | Where Value Accrues: Infra, Models, or Apps? | Why Enterprise AI is Not Ready & Systems of Record vs Systems of Intelligence
Nikesh Arora is the Chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks, the global cybersecurity leader. Since taking over in 2018, he has transformed the company from an $18 billion market cap business into one worth more than $225BN with more than 21,000 employees globally. Previously, Nikesh was President and COO of SoftBank, where he worked alongside Masayoshi Son and helped shape the firm's technology investment strategy.
AGENDA:
00:00 Why AI Token Prices Will Fall 90% — And Why That's Bullish for AI
07:40 The Frontier Model Problem: Breadth vs Depth in AI
11:30 Most Enterprises Are Using AI Completely Wrong
13:10 Why AI Could Cut Marketing, HR & Finance Teams in Half
16:00 AI Applications Will Have Opinions — SaaS Never Did
20:00 OpenAI, Anthropic & The Most Important Valuation Question in Tech
24:00 The Real Business Model of AI: Transaction Revenue Beats Advertising
25:10 Why Token Prices Must Collapse
28:20 Where Value Actually Accrues in AI: Models, Memory or Apps?
29:00 Why Memory Becomes the Biggest Moat in AI
32:00 Why Every Enterprise Should Be Scared Right Now
33:15 Should Governments Regulate Frontier AI Models?
37:10 Why Brian Armstrong's AI-First Playbook Doesn't Work Everywhere
40:00 The Biggest AI Mistake CEOs Are Making Today
42:00 How Nikesh Creates Darwinian Competition Inside Palo Alto
43:00 Do AI Companies Really Need Forward-Deployed Engineers?
45:00 Why Enterprise AI Products Still Aren't Ready
52:00 Systems of Record vs Systems of Intelligence: The Future of Software
54:00 Why AI Applications Will Replace Traditional SaaS Workflows
58:00 What Nikesh Learned From Google That Still Matters Today
1:04:00 From $200 and Two Suitcases to Running a $225B Company
1:10:00 Happiness, Gratitude and Why Tomorrow Matters More Than Ten Years From Now
Nikesh Arora: Mythos is Real, Analytical SaaS is Dead, and Google can be a $10T company
(0:00) Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora joins the Besties!
(0:47) Claude Mythos found years of vulnerabilities in Palo Alto's code in weeks
(5:15) Are cyber defenders losing the race against AI attackers?
(6:50) Analytical SaaS is dead, so what survives the AI wave?
(14:06) If models become a utility, where will the money be made?
(20:35) Armchair CEO: Nikesh rates Waymo, Google, and OpenAI
(28:22) Palo Alto's M&A playbook and the path to $1 trillion
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A.I. Safety Is So Back + Mythos Mayhem with Nikesh Arora + Hot Mess Express
This week, between the president’s negotiations in China and a potential executive order, we discuss why the Trump administration seems to be changing its tune on A.I. safety. Then, Nikesh Arora, chief executive of Palo Alto Networks, the largest cybersecurity company in the world, gives us a firsthand account of where we stand in the race to secure the internet. And finally, we run through some of the wildest headlines of the week in a round of Hot Mess Express.
Guest:
Nikesh Arora, chief executive and chairman of Palo Alto Networks.
Additional Reading:
White House Considers Vetting A.I. Models Before They Are Released
Chief Executives to Accompany Trump to China
Is Anthropic’s New A.I. Really That Scary? It Depends Whom You Ask.
Venmo Finally Takes Privacy Seriously
Amazon Staff Use A.I. Tool for Unnecessary Tasks to Inflate Usage Scores
Graduates Boo Commencement Speech About A.I.
Dua Lipa Files $15 Million Suit Against Samsung for Using Her Face to Sell TVs
EBay Rejects GameStop’s $55 Billion Takeover Bid
Shein, Temu Trade Blows as UK Trial Spotlights Supply Chains
People Are Seriously Pissed That Grindr Outed Them With Its Latest Madonna Advert
Sam Altman Testifies That Elon Musk Wanted Control of OpenAI
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Pax Silica: Inside the Trump Administration’s Tech Strategy with US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg
Securing AI dominance requires more than just semiconductors; it demands a complete overhaul of how the West manages everything that goes into them, from rare earth minerals to actuators. Enter: Pax Silica. Sarah Guo and Elad Gil sit down with US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg to discuss the launch and expansion of Pax Silica, a 14-country economic security coalition designed to secure the entire AI supply chain. Jacob talks about the creation of a forward-deployed industrial base in the Philippines, where 4,000 acres will be developed into an “economic security zone.” He also compares and contrasts Pax Silica with China’s Belt and Road initiative, explains how the US plans to reindustrialize through automation and robotics, and explores how the Trump administration envisions making these policies durable across future presidencies. Plus, we hear why Jacob believes America to be a “global underdog.”
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Chapters:
00:00 – Cold Open
00:41 – Jacob Helberg Introduction
01:02 – Pax Silica’s Mission
03:51 – Investing in AI Chip Supply Chains
05:43 – Comparing Pax Silica to China’s Belt and Road Initiative
12:38 – Pax Silica’s Value Proposition
14:38 – US vs. Partnered Manufacturing
19:10 – Rare Earth Mineral Pricing
22:16 – Role of Venture Capital in Pax Silica
24:50 – Near vs. Long-Term Priorities
27:09 – Making AI Policy Durable
28:09 – How Policies Impact Entrepreneurs
31:00 – Trump’s Entrepreneurial Administration
33:00 – Why America is a Global Underdog
38:00 – Conclusion
AI, Supply Chains, and the Future of Economic Power
Erik Torenberg sits down with Jacob Helberg to discuss AI, manufacturing, supply chains, and the new geopolitics of technology. Drawing on themes from Helberg’s book The Wires of War, they explore why hardware, industrial capacity, and secure supply chains have become central to both economic strength and national security.
They also unpack what it means to “win the AI race” — from model leadership and global adoption to energy, compute, tariffs, and reindustrialization in the U.S.
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The Impact of AI, from Business Models to Cybersecurity, with Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora
Between the future of search, the biggest threats in cybersecurity, and the jobs and platforms of tomorrow, Nikesh Arora sees one common thread connecting and transforming them all—AI. Sarah Guo and Elad Gil sit down with Nikesh Arora, CEO of cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks and former Chief Business Officer of Google, to talk about a wide array of topics from agentic AI to leadership. Nikesh dives into the future of search, the disruptive potential of AI agents for existing business models, and how AI has both compressed the timeline for cyberattacks as well as fundamentally shifted defense strategies in cybersecurity. Plus, Nikesh shares his leadership philosophy, and why he’s so optimistic about AI.
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Chapters:
00:00 – Nikesh Arora Introduction
00:39 – Nikesh on the Future of Search
04:46 – Shifting to an Agentic Model of Search
08:12 – AI-as-a-Service
16:55 – State of Enterprise Adoption
20:15 – Gen AI and Cybersecurity
27:35 – New Problems in Cybersecurity in the AI Age
29:53 – Deepfakes, Spearfishing, and Other Attacks
32:56 – Expanding Products at Palo Alto
35:49 – AI Agents and Human Replaceability
44:28 – Nikesh’s Thoughts on Growth at Scale
46:52 – Nikesh’s Leadership Tips
51:14 – Nikesh on Ambition
54:18 – Nikesh’s Thoughts on AI
58:21 – Conclusion
Reshaping America’s Economy for the Superintelligence Century with Jacob Helberg
AI doomers say that the technology will be the ultimate job-killer. But Jacob Helberg wants people to see AI as a tech that will boost, not replace, human workers and give them superpowers. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jacob Helberg joins Sarah Guo and Elad Gil to talk about AI’s role in reshoring manufacturing in America, supply chain security, and transforming the US energy grid. He also discusses the CapEx revolution, why he sees opportunity for tech and energy partnerships in the Middle East, and the path to more nuclear energy for the US. Plus, the three explore what the “superintelligence century” could look like.
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Chapters:
00:00 – Jacob Helberg Introduction
00:50 – Jacob’s Agenda for Capitol Hill
01:53 – Reshoring the American Supply Chain
04:38 – Areas of CapEx Growth
06:56 – Importance of Supply Chain Security
08:52 – Reshoring Rare Earth Minerals
11:12 – How AI Can Help America Reindustrialize
15:37 – AI and Productivity Gains
17:38 – The Superintelligence Century
22:56 – Creating an Open Source AI Ecosystem
24:41 – The Middle East and AI
26:24 – Growing Energy Resources in the US
28:28 – The Path to More Nuclear Energy in the US
35:50 – Essential Domains for Strategy and Security
38:20 – The Tech Industry and the Administration
40:29 – Conclusion
Winning the AI Race Part 1: Michael Kratsios, Kelly Loeffler, Chris Power, Shyam Sankar, Paul Buchheit, Jake Loosararian
(0:00) The besties introduce the day with Jacob Helberg
(9:08) Michael Kratsios, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
(18:24) Chris Power, Hadrian
(35:15) Jake Loosararian, Gecko Robotics
(44:37) Shyam Sankar, Palantir
(1:00:33) Paul Buchheit, Y Combinator
(1:13:35) Kelly Loeffler, Administrator of the Small Business Administration
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Palo Alto Networks’ Nikesh Arora: AI, Security and the New World Order
Palo Alto Networks’s CEO Nikesh Arora dispels DeepSeek hype by detailing all of the guardrails enterprises need to have in place to give AI agents “arms and legs.” No matter the model, deploying applications for precision-use cases means superimposing better controls. Arora emphasizes that the real challenge isn’t just blocking threats but matching the accelerated pace of AI-powered attacks, requiring a fundamental shift from prevention-focused to real-time detection and response systems. CISOs are risk managers, but legacy companies competing with more risk-tolerant startups need to move quickly and embrace change.
Hosted by: Sonya Huang and Pat Grady, Sequoia Capital
Mentioned in this episode:
Cortex XSIAM: Security operations and incident remediation platform from Palo Alto Networks
Smart Talks with IBM: How AI Can Accelerate Cybersecurity
In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell speaks with Jason Kelley, GM, Strategic Partners and Ecosystems at IBM, and Kristy Friedrichs, SVP and Chief Partnership Officer at Palo Alto Networks. They discuss the challenges and opportunities that the rapid development of AI brings to the cybersecurity space. Jason and Kristy also underscore how implementing a zero trust strategy can help enterprises enhance cyber resiliency and simplify operations. Together, IBM and Palo Alto Networks are delivering fully integrated, open, end-to-end security solutions to enterprises.
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20VC: Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora on How to Create and Sustain Competitive Advantage and Defensibility | What Makes Masa Son a Genius Investor of Our Time | How the Best Leaders Communicate and Delegate
Nikesh Arora is the CEO @ Palo Alto Networks, the leading cybersecurity company in the world with a market cap of $102BN. Before joining Palo Alto Networks, Nikesh was the President and COO of SoftBank Group. Before that, he spent ten years at Google as a senior exec, and President of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Before that Nikesh was CMO for the T-Mobile International Division of Deutsche Telekom AG. Nikesh serves on the board of Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. Previously, he served on the boards of SoftBank, Sprint, Colgate-Palmolive Inc., Yahoo! Japan and Tipping Point.
In Today's Episode with Nikesh Arora We Discuss:
1. From Investing with Masa @ Softbank to CEO of Largest Cyber Company:
What are Nikesh's biggest lessons from working and investing with Masa @ Softbank?
What are Nikesh's biggest takeaways from 10 years at Google and working with Eric Schmidt?
What does Nikesh know now that he wishes he had known when he started his career?
2. What Makes the Most Valuable Businesses in the World:
How does Nikesh think about competition and monopolies?
How does Nikesh assess the idea of defensibility, moats and sustaining competitive advantages?
What are the most common reasons why incumbents are overtaken?
How have Palo Alto Networks been so successful in their M&A strategy?
What has worked in M&A? What has not worked? What is their process?
3. What Makes the Best Leaders in the World:
Does Nikesh agree that the best CEOs are the best resource allocators?
How do the best leaders communicate with large teams at scale?
How do the best leaders approach decision-making? What is Nikesh's framework?
How does Nikesh approach the idea of delegation? What does he delegate vs what does he not?
4. Behind the CEO: Nikesh Arora: Husband and Father:
How does Nikesh reflect on his own relationship to money today?
What are Nikesh's biggest lessons in what it takes to bring children up in a world of affluence and ensure they have hunger and ambition?
What are some of Nikesh's biggest lessons on parenting?
How does Nikesh reflect on what it takes to have a great marriage?
EP 88: Nikesh Arora (CEO, Palo Alto Networks): The CEO that Revolutionized Palo Alto Networks To ~$100B
Nikesh Arora became the CEO of Palo Alto Networks with no cybersecurity domain expertise and has grown the company from $18B to nearly $100B in under 6 years. In the episode, we discuss some of the greatest learnings from revolutionizing Palo Alto Networks into a powerhouse, his celebrated M&A strategy, and stories from his wide-ranging career path.
Prior to Palo Alto Networks, Nikesh was Chairman and COO of Softbank, working alongside Masa to make investments. Before that, he spent time scaling T-Mobile in Europe as CMO then spent a decade at Google as CBO. Hear how Nikesh has consistently succeeded in each new role and built a prolific career across industries.
(0:00) Intro
(1:13) The Benefits of Being a Generalist
(2:20) Acquiring Domain Expertise
(4:05) The Constant Learning Curve in Cybersecurity
(5:07) Understanding the Cybersecurity Industry
(9:19) Nikesh's 3 Rules For M&A
(20:04) The Role of Marketing and Storytelling in Tech
(24:57) Leadership and Management in Large Companies
(35:49) The Challenge of Scaling and Managing People
(36:43) Transitioning Roles and the Importance of Skill Sets
(38:01) The Art of Making Successful Career Choices
(38:36) The Journey from Analyst to Tech Entrepreneur
(43:44) The Impact of Artificial Intelligence in Business
(50:43) The Importance of Product Obsession in Tech Leadership
(52:52) The Journey from India to the U.S. and the Pursuit of Education
(1:01:04) Venturing into the World of Investment and Venture Capital
(1:05:54) The Mission-Driven Aspect of Cybersecurity
(1:07:21) Romanticizing the Past: A Perspective on Life and Career
Produced: Rashad Assir & Leah Clapper
Mixed and edited: Justin Hrabovsky
Executive Producer: Josh Machiz
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About the Show
Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode, Logan goes behind the scenes with world-class entrepreneurs and investors. If you're interested in the real inside baseball of tech, entrepreneurship, and start-up investing, tune in every Friday for new episodes.
Executive Producer: Rashad Assir
Producer: Leah Clapper
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About the Show
Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode of The Logan Bartlett Show, we sit down with the people behind today’s most important startups and extract the tactics, lessons, and frameworks they’ve learned the hard way. Conversations span hiring to GTM, product, growth, fundraising and everything in between - collectively forming the ultimate playbook to make you a better CEO, investor or board member.
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Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora on cybersecurity in the age of AI | E1806
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Today’s show:
Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora joins Jason to discuss his time as head of Google Europe (2:26), strategies learned from Larry Page (15:23), precision AI’s role in cybersecurity (43:14), and much more!
*
Time stamps:
(0:00) Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora joins Jason
(2:26) Becoming head of Google Europe and meeting Eric Schmidt, Larry Page and Sergey Brin
(10:15) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at https://openphone.com/twist
(11:46) Maintaining Google’s culture in Europe and the hiring process
(15:23) Applying strategies learned from Larry Page to Palo Alto Networks
(17:59) Sub-categories of EQ manifested in the workplace
(22:12) Embroker - Use code TWIST to get an extra 10% off insurance at https://Embroker.com/twist
(23:41) What led Nikesh to be CEO of one of the top Cybersecurity firms
(30:24) Cybersecurity against artificial intelligence
(35:31) The SEC’s mandate on breach reporting
(38:35) LinkSquares - The go-to for all your legal needs, learn more at https://linksquares.com/twist
(39:51) The SEC’s mandate on breach reporting continued
(45:54) Gains from AI and what it means for organizations
(43:14) Precision AI’s role in security
(53:14) The future of AI technology and the battle of the chatbots
(57:41) Nikesh’s time at SoftBank working directly with Masayoshi Son
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#133 CEO Palo Alto Networks, Nikesh Arora: Create Certainty
Guest: Nikesh Arora, CEO and Chairman of Palo Alto Networks
Nikesh Arora has been in the C-Suite for more than two decades, including a 10-year stint as Google’s chief business officer and — most recently — five years as Palo Alto Networks’ CEO. But the COVID-19 pandemic made him radically reconsider the gap between the executive floor and the rest of the company. “There was a tremendous amount of anxiety and fear and uncertainty,” he says, “and this person I was talking to says, ‘Listen, your job as a leader is to create certainty.’ [...] It’s simple: Tell your employees you have their back.” That’s why, for the past 30 months, Nikesh has been making time to virtually meet thousands of Palo Alto Networks employees on Zoom; he gets candid feedback, communicates company goals, and provides a safe space for everyone to bond.
In this episode, Nikesh and Joubin discuss honest CEOs, not having a career plan, process vs. outcomes, remaining independent inside Google, organizational superpowers, understanding your competitors, “evergreen companies,” the ChatGPT disruption, integrating product and sales, blindfolded communication, Evian water, cloud vs. on-prem security, and problem solvers vs. problem representers.
In this episode, we cover:
Amazing people at Google (02:15)
T-Motion and T-Mobile (04:05)
“You cannot control the outcome” (07:36)
Growing up in India (11:12)
400+ rejection letters (14:38)
Loving what you do (18:26)
Joining Google (19:55)
Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt (24:16)
Relocating to “the mothership” (27:01)
“He’s not Googly enough” (28:26)
Profit, innovation, and paranoia (31:12)
Cybersecurity and AI (34:04)
SoftBank CEO Masa Son (38:54)
Joining Palo Alto Networks (43:04)
Hiring as home-building (47:04)
“Nobody comes to work to screw up” (50:25)
Product and the power of marketing (53:28)
Cybersecurity “swim lanes” (56:36)
M&A strategy (01:01:14)
The two schools of due diligence (01:05:05)
Moving past problems (01:07:42)
Creating certainty for employees (01:10:59)
Links:
Connect with NikeshTwitter
LinkedIn
Connect with JoubinTwitter
LinkedIn
Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm
US inherits China’s Bitcoin Mining Dynasty + Jacob Helberg on the “New Cold War” with China | E1303
Jason does a short news segment on China’s Bitcoin Mining hash rate falling to 0 and how the U.S. is now the largest mining hub (1:59). Then, Jacob Helberg author of "The Wires of War: Technology and the Global Struggle for Power," joins to discuss China's long-term goals (9:03), the United States' lack of preparedness, the struggle for control of front-end and backend technologies (32:22), plus much more.
E1105: Unpacking the US/China Relationship with Foreign Policy & Technology Expert Jacob Helberg
FOLLOW Jacob: https://twitter.com/jacobhelberg
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VP of Sales at Palo Alto Networks, Jeff StClair : Discovering, Recruiting, and Coaching Sales Talent
In this episode, Jeff StClair, currently VP of Sales at Palo Alto Networks and most recently VP Sales at Evident.io shares his thoughts on how startups can more effectively discover, attract, and retain top talent, and in doing so take their organizations to new heights. We also dive deep into what makes a great sales rep.
In this episode of Go to Market Grit, we cover:
Key qualities that Jeff looks for when recruiting sales associates.
Why hiring should be a group effort for startups, with team members agreeing on new reps before bringing them on board.
Considerations for hiring in a startup environment, versus an organization that’s growing at scale.
The importance of nurturing and developing talented sales associates, by giving them opportunities to continuously challenge themselves to work beyond their capacity.
Why top tier sales associates typically make poor managers and leaders -— and what it takes to thrive in a leadership role.
The difficulty — and importance — of building a competitive team that integrity and a strong culture.
Links
Connect with JeffLinkedIn
Prisma Cloud
Palo Alto Networks
Connect with JoubinTwitter
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Email: gtmg@kleinerperkins.com
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