Deep Learning Solutions for Semiconductor Fabs

Welcome to the 216th episode of our Momenta Digital Thread podcast series, a platform where we bring you the most innovative minds in the tech industry. Today, we have the privilege of hosting an extraordinary guest, Sumit Sanyal, the Co-Founder and CEO of minds.ai. This startup is revolutionizing the semiconductor manufacturing industry with its cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence technology. We’re excited to announce that Momenta has recently invested in minds.ai.

Sumit is no stranger to success in high technology. With a rich history of designing enterprise software, machine learning, embedded software, systems on a chip, and high-performance computing, he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our discussion today. His expertise in these areas is not just theoretical but backed by practical experience and a proven track record.

Sumit is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, one of the premier engineering institutes globally. This educational background has undoubtedly played a significant role in shaping his technical acumen and entrepreneurial spirit.

Today, we are fortunate to have Sumit with us on our Digital Thread podcast. He will share his insights, experiences, and vision for the future of technology, particularly in the realm of Artificial Intelligence. We believe that his unique perspective will provide our listeners with valuable insights and inspire them to explore new frontiers in technology.

 Discussion Points:

• What would you consider your digital thread (the one or more thematic threads that define your digital industry journey)?
• Your engineering expertise spans a wide range, from designing enterprise software to creating System-on-a-Chip (SoC) designs for digital signal processing (DSP), wireless, and audio applications. What do you believe has been the key to your versatility in engineering?
• In your previous engineering role before joining minds.ai, you were involved in designing a superior System-on-a-Chip (SoC) for audio/speech processing using deep neural networks. Can we consider this as the starting point of your journey into the field of Artificial Intelligence?
• Tell us about the origin story of minds.ai, which you founded in 2014.
• Your key product, Maestro applies supervised learning, reinforcement learning, and generative AI to key pain points in the semiconductor industry. What have been some of your notable use cases and wins?
• Regarding ‘generative AI’, it seems that with the popularization of ChatGPT, most are familiar with the power of such tools. How do you see these being applied in industrial settings such as a semiconductor fab?
• You describe minds.ai as “using AI to optimize some of the most important industries on the planet and doing so with zero downtime and zero disruption to established workflows.” What is this ‘zero downtime’ value proposition in practice?
• How do you know when an organization is ready to adopt your solution, and what best practices have you seen in realizing that potential value?
• Your focus on semiconductor fabs puts you at the forefront of the push to re-shore semiconductor manufacturing back into the US. Where do you see the greatest opportunities in this space?
• In closing, could you share where you find your inspiration and which books have inspired you most? (e.g., book recommendations, articles, podcasts, people, etc.)