WEBVTT - Businessweek Extra - Tom Siebel

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. We're delighted

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<v Speaker 1>to have back with us. Tom Siebel. He's founder and

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<v Speaker 1>CEO at C three dot AI. He's author of the

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<v Speaker 1>book Digital Transformation, Survive and Thrive in an Era of

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<v Speaker 1>Mass Extinction. Tom joining us on the phone from Woodside, California. Tom,

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<v Speaker 1>welcome back. Um. We hope you're doing well. Your family

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<v Speaker 1>is doing well, doing great, Carol, nice to talk with you. Well.

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<v Speaker 1>Tell us we want to get into a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>things with you. What's what's your world like right now

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<v Speaker 1>in California? Well, in northern California, I would say that

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<v Speaker 1>we've been there's really been very little impact from COVID

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<v Speaker 1>In the county that I'm in San Mateo County, there

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<v Speaker 1>are this would be everything went in North Apollo Alto

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<v Speaker 1>and Silicon Valley. We have three quarters of a million

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<v Speaker 1>people as the population. There are seventeen hundred hospital beds,

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<v Speaker 1>and on any given day there might be fifty people

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<v Speaker 1>hospitalized with COVID. If I look at Santa Clara County,

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<v Speaker 1>which is the county immediately south of US, where there's

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<v Speaker 1>roughly two million people, that would be everything from Paulo

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<v Speaker 1>Alto to San Jose, there's about two million people four

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<v Speaker 1>thousand hospital beds. On any given day, there'll be a

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and fifty people hospitalized for COVID in San Mateo County.

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<v Speaker 1>I believe there are no people on ventilators. So, um,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, most people in the town that I live in, Woodside,

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<v Speaker 1>there have been ten people diagnosed with COVID, So it

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<v Speaker 1>kind of missed us. Well. I mean, there's an argument

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<v Speaker 1>meant to be made, I think Tom, and I'm guessing

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<v Speaker 1>some of your local lawmakers would make it, which is,

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<v Speaker 1>you guys did the right thing. I mean you sort

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<v Speaker 1>of shut it down pretty early in the entire Bay area, right,

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<v Speaker 1>We did shut it down early, and it kind of

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<v Speaker 1>you know, I think the purpose for shutting it down

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<v Speaker 1>was to keep from overwhelming the hospital systems, and we

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<v Speaker 1>never got close to that. I mean, out of sev

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<v Speaker 1>hospital deads on an e given day, fifty might be

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<v Speaker 1>occupied with in this county, fifty might be occupied with

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<v Speaker 1>COVID patients. So it uh, you know, maybe it worked.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm you know, there's lots of different opinions on this,

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<v Speaker 1>but it kind of never happened here. Yeah. Interesting. Interesting, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>let's hope it stays that way. Yeah, exactly, Um, lesson learned,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, in terms of a playbook for for how

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<v Speaker 1>to do it. Are you guys in the studio or

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<v Speaker 1>you're doing this from Paul, we're doing it from home.

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<v Speaker 1>We're getting from you guys are a professional operation? Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>it's seamless professionalists of congratulations. Well, thank thank you. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>we well we've gotten good at it. We're at the

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<v Speaker 1>end of our ninth week doing this from home, so

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<v Speaker 1>I mean kudos to our team who got us all

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<v Speaker 1>set up. But it is sort of it's an amazing

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<v Speaker 1>tribute to technology, Tom, which you know far more about

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<v Speaker 1>than we do. So let's talk about how technology is

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<v Speaker 1>maybe helping us get our arms around this. We were

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<v Speaker 1>talking with you earlier in the year about cyber attacks.

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<v Speaker 1>We've got a different sort of attack on our hands now. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>And I do wonder how technology and this whole concept

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<v Speaker 1>of a data lake help us understand how that's being

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<v Speaker 1>used here. Well, you know, you recall that one of

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<v Speaker 1>the things we spoke of when I was with you

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<v Speaker 1>last in New York was the area of precision medicine. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>and precision medicine unquestionably will be one of the largest

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<v Speaker 1>commercial and industrial applications of artificial intelligence. So we can

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<v Speaker 1>use this for a disease prediction, adverse drug reaction, genome

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<v Speaker 1>specific medical protocols AI assisted diagnosis. So this is the

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<v Speaker 1>largest and most rapidly growing segment of the U. S

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<v Speaker 1>economy and many economies, and AI is going to impact

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<v Speaker 1>medicine in a huge way. Now enter COVID. So this

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<v Speaker 1>is a really unique opportunity UH to apply AI to

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<v Speaker 1>contribute to this dialogue. And we looked at all the

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<v Speaker 1>you know, everybody has just been guessing uh and uh.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know, as you change from you one TV

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<v Speaker 1>channel to another, and you listen to Neil Ferguson at

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<v Speaker 1>King's College or the person at Stanford, and one person

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<v Speaker 1>says the morbidity rate is going to be between two

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<v Speaker 1>percent and five percent. And another expert with the same

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<v Speaker 1>level of expertise says, the morbidity rate is gonna be

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<v Speaker 1>gonna be like, you know, one one one percent. What

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<v Speaker 1>is a policymaker to do. Well, what we did is

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<v Speaker 1>we formed a coalition that we call the C three

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<v Speaker 1>AI Digital Transformation Institute, and we founded this with Microsoft.

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<v Speaker 1>We funded this to a two and of about four

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<v Speaker 1>hundred million dollars, and we aggregated the human capital at

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<v Speaker 1>m I T. Carnegie, Mellon, Princeton, the University of Chicago,

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<v Speaker 1>the University of Illinois, and UM and you see Berkeley

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<v Speaker 1>to engage in large scale research on applying AI to

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<v Speaker 1>mitigate COVID pandemic. And so this is AI and machine

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<v Speaker 1>learning models to mitigate disease, bioinformatic modeling and simulation of propagation.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's a that's a major initiative. It's underway, it's

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<v Speaker 1>really exciting, and that is one of the efforts that

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<v Speaker 1>we've been engaged in. All Right, our guest at this

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<v Speaker 1>hour is Tom Seebel, founder and CEO at C three

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<v Speaker 1>dot AI, author of Digital Transformation, Survive and Thrive in

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<v Speaker 1>an Era of Mass Extinction. He joins us on the

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<v Speaker 1>phone from Woodside, California. So, Tom, you really laid out

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<v Speaker 1>what data Lake is all about. What's your goal? So

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<v Speaker 1>this is you know, COVID nineteen data collection. What are

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<v Speaker 1>you hoping that it does or what do you expected

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<v Speaker 1>to do? And and what's a time timeline on it? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>in order to perform data science in order to get

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<v Speaker 1>accurate prediction whether it be course of disease or the

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<v Speaker 1>effocacy of social mitigations. These sitis need data. So what

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<v Speaker 1>we have done in the past month is we have

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<v Speaker 1>taken the twenty two largest data sources that are available

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<v Speaker 1>in the world about COVID from JOHNS. Hopkins and coord

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen and the New York Times, in the Milligan Institute

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<v Speaker 1>and what have you. These are ct scans, These are

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<v Speaker 1>mortality data, core morbidity coursive disease, and we have aggregated

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<v Speaker 1>those data into a unified, federated image that we've made available.

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<v Speaker 1>This is called the C three AI COVID nineteen Data Lake,

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<v Speaker 1>and we've made this resource available to the world at

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<v Speaker 1>no cost to be able to do research, and we've

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<v Speaker 1>we've had so this is by far the world's largest

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<v Speaker 1>copus uh uh corpus of COVID data available researchers. This

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<v Speaker 1>is being powered by our friends at AWS who provided

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<v Speaker 1>the the cloud platform to do it. And I think

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<v Speaker 1>this will be an enormously important resource for people to research,

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<v Speaker 1>to do research, understand the course of the disease and

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<v Speaker 1>control that this epidemic and other epidemics like it. I mean, Tom,

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<v Speaker 1>it's interesting, you know, and we wanted to talk to

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<v Speaker 1>you a lot about Silicon Valley sort of what's going

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<v Speaker 1>on there, But and maybe as a bridge to that,

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<v Speaker 1>it does feel like there is this dare I say,

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<v Speaker 1>And maybe I'm just optimistic here on a Friday afternoon,

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<v Speaker 1>but you know, this sort of spirit of collaboration and

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<v Speaker 1>maybe urgent collaboration that's happening around this particular pandemic. And

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know why that is, if it's just sort

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<v Speaker 1>of the scope and scale of it, if it's because

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<v Speaker 1>it is so dynamic and fast moving, and the effect

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<v Speaker 1>economically and on our individual lives has has been so traumatic.

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<v Speaker 1>Am I overstating that? You think? No, I think you've daled.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think we're dealing with an ex essential event

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<v Speaker 1>for people, for families, for communities, and for companies. And

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<v Speaker 1>company and individuals are pulling together. Research institutions are pulling together,

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<v Speaker 1>Countries are pulling together in concerted, extraordinarily large scale efforts

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<v Speaker 1>to understand the pandemic and control it. And it's I

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<v Speaker 1>think it's very you know, it's very inspiring to watch

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<v Speaker 1>it happen, and it's uh and it's it's really exciting

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<v Speaker 1>to be able to be part of it. Well, and

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<v Speaker 1>I do wonder. I mean, you know, speaking of silicon value,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, this is kind of old school silicon value.

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<v Speaker 1>In some ways. It's obviously a very competitive place. But

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<v Speaker 1>I mean you have witnessed the other you know, sort

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<v Speaker 1>of the best of Silicon Valley, I would imagine in

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<v Speaker 1>some ways. I'm sure you've seen some other stuff too,

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<v Speaker 1>but uh, you know, you understand the ethos of the place.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that everything what is going on with COVID globally,

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<v Speaker 1>this is a test, Okay, this is a test of

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<v Speaker 1>us as people. This is a test of our families.

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<v Speaker 1>It's the test of our social structure, is the test

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<v Speaker 1>of our government's Okay, and when our government structures and

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<v Speaker 1>you know, hopefully when history is written, we will all

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<v Speaker 1>have passed this test. But I think this is an

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<v Speaker 1>opportunity for all of us to be our best, to

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<v Speaker 1>be the best we can be, Okay, and and and

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<v Speaker 1>and and and solve this problem because it is solvable. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's right, but it's you can do it better

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<v Speaker 1>and quicker, right if we all work together, and that

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<v Speaker 1>we're staying amazing collaboration through what we're doing with the

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<v Speaker 1>Digital Transformation Institut in the COVID data lake. We are

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<v Speaker 1>in active cooperation with organizations all around the planet, World

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<v Speaker 1>Health Organization, you, NEST, GOO, c d C, NIH, Stanford University,

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<v Speaker 1>you name it. Everybody is leaning forward and all they

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<v Speaker 1>wanted Microsoft, AWS, IBM all when you when you call him,

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<v Speaker 1>you ask him to help, all the answer is always

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<v Speaker 1>how to Tom, how can we help? And so it's uh,

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<v Speaker 1>it's really really been um inspiring to see this develop

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<v Speaker 1>and I think we're we can expect to see UM

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<v Speaker 1>you know, I think highly efficacious solutions forthcoming in a

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<v Speaker 1>reasonably short period time. Well that's what I wanted to

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<v Speaker 1>ask you, because the time frames certainly has been one

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<v Speaker 1>that we've heard everything even Bill gatesway in you know,

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<v Speaker 1>everything from as soon as nine months to you know,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe eighteen months President talking about a vaccine by the

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<v Speaker 1>beginning of the year. So I do wonder what you're hearing,

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<v Speaker 1>UM from the community, this global cooperative community, about a

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<v Speaker 1>real time frame, because everybody we seem to talk to you,

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<v Speaker 1>Tom says, you know, we just talked about UM with

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<v Speaker 1>the head of the Broadway you know, theater, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>industry that it's not until we get a vaccine. We've

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<v Speaker 1>talked with Bob Crandell used to head up American airlines.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't open up airlines really until you get a vaccine.

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<v Speaker 1>So what do you hear about a real time frame

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<v Speaker 1>about that specific sickly? Oh, I think there are lots

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<v Speaker 1>of ways to deal with this disease other than disease,

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<v Speaker 1>other than vaccine, and we are dealing with it today

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<v Speaker 1>and there's but there's lots of questions about which of

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<v Speaker 1>these which of these techniques are efficacious, and which are not.

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<v Speaker 1>And if we have a large enough data sets, we

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<v Speaker 1>can tell which are effications and which are not, and

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<v Speaker 1>we can we can mitigate the spread of disease, we

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<v Speaker 1>can save lives. And this is this is before the

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<v Speaker 1>advent of a vaccine, which is obviously a year or

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<v Speaker 1>two off because that's how long it takes. But this

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<v Speaker 1>is I mean, this is a natural application of artificial

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<v Speaker 1>intelligence and data science and now we are aggregating the

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<v Speaker 1>data so people can make better informed, more accurate decisions,

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<v Speaker 1>and more more accurate policy decisions. That was Tom Siebel,

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<v Speaker 1>founder and CEO at C three dot AI and of

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<v Speaker 1>course founder of Siebel Systems. I mean, this is someone

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<v Speaker 1>again who has seen so much in the world of

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<v Speaker 1>innovation and technology, and now he's trying to apply that

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<v Speaker 1>to the virus, right, and it's all about data and Jason,

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's safe to say that that's how we

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<v Speaker 1>ultimately get ahead of this. Absolutely really enjoyed that conversation.

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<v Speaker 1>You've been listening to Bloomberg Business Week Extra. Be sure

0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:12.360
<v Speaker 1>to tune into Bloomberg Business Week Radio Live Monday through

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<v Speaker 1>Friday at two pm Wall Street Time. I'm Bloomberg Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Carol Masser and I'm Jason Kelly. This is Bloomberg