Tantra's Mantra with Prakash Sangam

Just like everything else, AI is profoundly transforming the security landscape. It is increasing the attack surface, sophistication, and impact. while also providing more potent tools to increase security. In enterprise PCs, security and device management apps (as part of the Corp Image) significantly reduce performance. AIPCs promise to run apps more efficiently on NPUs. In the episode, I talk to Nima Baiati, VP of Commercial Software and Security at Lenovo, about the evolving PC security landscape, the impact of AI, and the challenges of migrating security apps to the NPU. We also delve into how to incentivize ISVs to prioritize migration, how Lenovo can serve as a model for the industry, and the expected timelines for the NPU migration. Index: 00:00 - Intro 02:10 - Guest intro (Nima Baiati) 03:17 - Changing landscape of endpoint security, especially with the advent of AI 02:23 - How is Lenovo addressing the changing landscape, both from traditional and AI-enhanced threat vectors? - ThinkShield - a comprehensive platform ensuring security from the supply chain, hardware, and software 11:01 - AI: the double-edged sword- tremendous capability to both create & fight security risk 12:53 - AIPCs and the promise of NPU for running security and device management functions more efficiently 14:00 - NPU migration challenges - Three forks ISVs should run through: 1) Re-architecting and optimizing ML models; 2)Instruction set variability between NPU vendors; 3) Testing and performance optimization. How Lenovo helps ISVs in migration 16:36 - Awareness about the benefits NPU among the stakeholders (ISVs, CIO/CSO/IT Managers, OEMs) 19:20 - Business model challenge of ISV in migrating security applications to NPU - Lots of work but no new revenue. 22:26 - Do enterprises (CIO, IT Managers) have to do anything to accomplish migration to NPU? How Lenovo works closely with ISVs and enterprise customers to bring mutually beneficial solutions 25:31 - How to incentivize ISVs to prioritize migration, e.g., include it in their KPI? 28:03 - How Lenovo's size and scale uniquely position it to be the leader and drive this for the industry, and pave the road 29:01 - Should the NPU migration be driven as an industry initiative? Is there a need for standardization, etc.? 31:08 - How is Agentic AI affecting security? - Huge role for automation, rapid response, but agents completely taking over security is a fantasy. Human intervention 35:01 - Latest trends in the security landscape - AI privacy, AI Governance, automation detection and remediation, management and orchestration of devices and environments, etc. 36:47 - What is the timeline for the industry to substantially migrate security apps to NPU? 39:50 - Closing

This year's MWC took place as the telecom industry is at a crossroads, with additional monetization of 5G beyond mobile broadband less certain, smartphone growth flattening, AI influence increasing, and more questions than answers about the future. In this episode, Neil Shah of Counterpoint Research, Leonard Lee of Next Curve, and I discuss our experience at the event, and analyze the traction and monetization of 5G Advanced, Autonomous Networks, compare and contrast the progress of Western and Asian markets, the opportunity for AI for telecom, early use cases, and the prospect of RAN for AI. 6G and more. We also delve into whether telcos are better positioned for the sovereign AI and Data Center market. Index: 00:00 - Intro 00:35 - Guest intro (Neil Shah, Leonard Lee) 01:10 - MWC attendance 02:23 - Major themes of the event - 5G Advanced, AI, Autonomous Networks, 6G 07:00 - AI Ops for operators (AI for Telco) - Customer Care, Marketing, Billing, HR, Network Management, etc. 14:43 - AI for Networks Ops - Challenges,(data for AI) opportunities, and progress so far 17:38 - Autonomous Networks - Chinese operators at Level-4 (pockets), others at Level-2/2.5 21:30 - Current status of AI - Frank talk by Samsung Network executives on the current status 23:14 - Challenges of extending Autonomous Networks beyond China (by Chinese vendors), need for monetization opportunities 25:56 - Can the 5G Advanced monetization use case, successful in China, work in the US/Europe? 29:42 - RAN for AI, feasibility of GPU at Base stations, and challenges (power, weight, space) 33:29 - 6G - Qualcomm sensing demos, Ericsson/Apple - 5G/6G spectrum sharing (MRS) demo, uplink, need for monetization going beyond wireless service 41:25 - Are operators better positioned to offer Sovereign AI Data Centers - Deutsche Telekom's strategy, similar approach by Middle East /Korea, Is sovereignty is about data or also includes models? 50:50 - Did MWC 2026 move the needle for operators? 52:35 - Closing

Telecom was one of the earliest users of AI, long before its marketing hype and even before it was known by that name. The recent advancements are further propelling AI's use. In this episode, I talk to Dan Warren, Director of Communications Research at Samsung, regarding the role of AI in telecom networks. We discuss its role in network operations, AI for RAN, AI with RAN, and AI on RAN concepts; how software-based networking and virtualization (vRAN/Open RAN) enable AI; who will develop and implement AI models; the scope of standardization; and more. We also delve into the investment challenges for 5G operators to leverage AI, whether AI will encourage a larger role for Hyperscalers in telecom, and whether large-scale AI implementation can start with 5G/5G Advanced or will have to wait for 6G. Highlights: 00:00 - Intro 02:10 - Guest intro (Dan Warren) 03:22 - Samsung Network's categorization of the role of AI - Networks for AI, AI for networks 04:44 - Current interesting use cases of AI - RAN energy efficiency, complex capacity, and coverage optimization 06:40 - The current status of use of AI in telecom, major industry focus areas - optimizing opex and capex, experience enhancement 90:15 - Critical role of software-based networking and virtualization in enabling AI 12:48 - Are legacy networks w/o software-based networks out of luck for AI? 15:40 - How to decide where to run AI workload - where is the AI compute needed? 19:05 - Who will develop AI models for telecom? - property vs. standard, differentiation etc. 24:35 - Dichotomy between AI differentiation, open networking, and offering AI as a service layer 26:55 - Samsung's approach to AI as a service/software leveraging its software-based networking legacy. Might be different for more established players? 29:06 - Does today's architecture (e.g., SMO) have hooks for managing AI end-to-end? 30:01 - Data challenge of operators for AI - different forms, formats, sources, granularity, etc. Will things like NWDAF solve it? 31:50 - Operator understanding of the AI challenges ahead - transforming from a hardware operator to a software management company 34:36 - Is the investment needed for AI an impediment to its adoption? Worries of the fast-moving and changing AI landscape 38:46 - AI on RAN - Samsung Network's views 40:43 - AI on RAN - operators moving from telecom service providers to AI (edge) Data Center/infra providers - Does it make sense? 43:19 - AI timing - Will large-scale deployments wait for 6G, or can start with 5G? 45:16 - Closing

The mind-numbing investment in AI and the sky-high valuations of the companies involved have led many to wonder whether AI has become a bubble. In this episode, I talk to Dr. Riad Hartani, who is an advisor, investor, and a longtime time industry participant, on what is driving the investment - real market demand or FOMO, who is making those them, ongoing circular investment and risks, especially in Neoclouds, RoI concerns, consumer vs. enterprise AI dynamics, whether AI is a bubble, what could be early indicators of a burst, if any, who will be worst affected, and more. We also compare and contrast the current AI situation with the Dot-com bubble.

Qualcomm surprised the IoT market by announcing the acquisition of the open-source hardware champion, with a huge hobbyist/enthusiast builder ecosystem. In this episode, I talk to Qualcomm's VP of Product Management, Industrial and IoT BU, Manvinder (Manny) Singh, about the reasoning for the acquisition, challenges of the IoT industry, how AI is changing the game, what Qualcomm brings to the ecosystem, how AI Hub and the other acquisition, Edge Impulse, fit together with Arduino, and more. We also delve into what will and will not change for the Arduino's open-source spirit, as well as the ecosystem, which primarily utilizes microcontrollers and low-power processors. Also, check out Episode 59- Discussion with CEO of Edge AI Foundation: https://bit.ly/TantrasMantra_ep59

Lenovo Global Industry Analyst Conference (GIAC) 2025 was held in October 2025 at the company's US Headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a three-day event packed with Keynote Addresses, numerous panels, and breakout sessions discussing Lenovo's AI strategy and roadmap, while highlighting its market and technology leadership. There was a good amount of dialogue, Q&A, and exchange of ideas and views between the company's executives and analysts. In this episode, Anurag Agrawal of Techaisle, Leonard Lee of Next Curve, and I recap and analyze the event, discussing how "One-Lenovo" and "Hybrid AI" strategies are moving from concept to reality, how the company is challenging itself to evolve the PC industry despite its >20 quarters of market leadership, how its Neptune warm water cooled system is leading the data center market, and how its solutions and services business binds all the pieces together and helping it become a solutions company. We also delve into the remarkable progress of Motorola Mobility and explore how its sponsorships with FIFA and Formula 1 are helping to elevate the company's stature, as well as showcase its technological prowess.

Huawei organized two major events in September 2025. The first, Huawei Connect 2025, was a larger public event for customers, partners, media, analysts, and everyone else. The second, Analyst Talks, was a small, private analyst-only event. Both were held in Shanghai, China, and showcased the company's technology prowess and progress in the global AI race. In the episode, I discuss the key takeaways from both events with Peter Jarich, a fellow analyst and Head of GSMA Intelligence. We delve into Huawei's progress in AI despite challenges, how it is coping with limited access to the latest technology, the parallel Chinese tech ecosystem, 5G Advanced progress at Chinese operators, how AI is shaping the evolution, the company's impressive antenna/hardware innovations, and more.

After more than a decade of a dull period, the PC industry has seen some excitement, with AIPCs, Windows on Arm, the resurgence of Intel, and more. Amidst all this, Lenovo has continued to lead the market and brought excitement with its new concept devices, such as 360-degree display laptops, Rollable, VertiFlex, and others. In this episode, I talk to Tom Butler, Lenovo's VP of Worldwide Commercial Portfolio, about AIPC traction, limited use of on-device AI capabilities & evolution, and the journey of introducing new concept devices, and more. We also delve into how sustainability is core to Lenovo, including easy repairability and, even from a business perspective, sometimes counterintuitive measures that extend the life of PCs.

Edge AI has been hailed as the future of AI. However, it is yet to take off, and most of today's investment is directed towards cloud AI. Notwithstanding that, some green shoots are emerging. In the episode, I talk to Pete Bernard, CEO of the industry association, Edge AI Foundation, on the reasons behind the slow growth of Edge AI, the challenges the industry is facing, and what use cases and early segments are seeing traction. We also delve into the vision and mission of the foundation, exploring how it is helping the industry address challenges while harnessing opportunities, and what the future holds.

Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold7 is a "no-compromise" foldable tablet-phone, and the ultimate productivity device, giving the category the best chance to be mainstream. In this episode, I talk to Tyler Gipson, newly minted Head of Mobile B2B Sales at Samsung America, about the company's B2B/Enterprise strategy, how he plans to translate Samsung's consumer brand equity into B2B leadership, role of foldables, especially Z Fold7, and services such as Galaxy AI, Knox and Dex in enterprises, as well as plans to address the hefty price-tag of Z Fold7, which is the only remaining hurdle for the device. Also, don't forget to check out: Galaxy Z Fold7 review — A 'no-compromise' foldable tablet-phone- https://bit.ly/3Ulxxq0 Tantra's Notes Blog - Recapping and Analyzing Galaxy Unpacked- https://bit.ly/44L8RgD

This year's Apple developers conference, WWDC, was held from June 9th to 13th. It saw many interesting announcements, including a harmonized version naming across all the OSs, interesting Apple Intelligence, and other features supported on Apple products. In this episode, Next Curve's Leonard Lee and I discuss the event's key takeaways, including Apple opening access to its on-device LLM to app developers, Apple Intelligence, iPadOS crossing the boundary into Laptop territory, new features coming to MacOS, and how many VisionOS features are entering other products. We also delve into some of the misses, including Siri, minimal focus on Agentic AI, and others.

Network APIs are heralded as a game changer in the ongoing struggle of 5G operators to make a good return on their enormous investments in building these highly capable networks. Unlike previous attempts, stars might be aligning this time to make APIs successful. Aduna was formed by a collaborative effort between Infra major Ericsson and scores of handpicked large global 5G operators. In this episode, I speak to Anthony Bartolo, CEO of Aduna. We discuss the reasons for Aduna's existence, how it collaborates with the GSMA's Open Gateway initiative and the Linux Foundation's CAMARA project, typical use cases, target verticals, traction so far, the role of hyperscalers, who have their own large app ecosystems, which is crucial for API proliferation, and more. We also delve into Aduna's business and revenue model, how other players can join, what the future holds, and how the company defines the success of this effort.

AI is jumping from one hype cycle to another. First, it was simple AI, then came Generative AI, and currently, we are reeling from Agentic AI. The new term is already lurking—Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Actually, AGI is pretty old, dating back to the early 2000s. What is it, and why is it gathering attention now? I talk to the person who came up with the very term--Peter Voss, CEO & Chief Scientist at Aigo.ai. We delve into how AGI mimics human learning functions, how it differs from Gen AI, why it is cost- and power-efficient by orders of magnitude, whether today's Gen AI can evolve into AGI, and more. We also discuss whether AGI's human-like learning can create cyborgs and Skynet.

Industrial technology giant Honeywell is redefining the noble barcode scanner for the industrial age. In this episode, I speak to Theodore Newman, Senior Manager of Global Application Engineering, and Steph Hobley-Lloyd, Global Offering Manager, about Honeywell's Swift Decoder SDK. We discuss the needs of barcode scanners for industrial and enterprise use cases, focusing on rapid, high-accuracy batch scanning, integrating the functionality into various types of devices and machines, and how Swift Decoder's flexibility and multi-OS support address these needs. Additionally, we explore how the upcoming support for AI will significantly expand its utility and applications.

Cadence is well known for its Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools. However, it is also building its silicon business, with a collection of various IP blocks, and recently announced a system chipset in collaboration with Arm. In this episode, I talk to David Glasco, VP of Compute Solutions Group at Cadence, about the silicon business, product portfolio, target segments, Chiplets market and its evolution, and other topics. We also delve into the company's latest system Chiplet announcement, acquisition of Secure IC, how it fits into its silicon strategy, and more.

Samsung launched its latest flagship Galaxy S25 Series smartphones during its Unpacked event in Jan 2025. This Gen AI powerhouse phone is powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile platform, customized for Galaxy. In this episode, I talk to Chris Patrick, SVP and GM of Qualcomm's Handsets and Wearables business. We discuss the company's long-standing collaboration with Samsung, enabling Galaxy AI on S25 phones, collaboration with Google for optimizing Gemini AI models for the Snapdragon platform, and more. We dig deeper into specific customizations Qualcomm has done for Galaxy, the evolution of AI and NPU capabilities, and what the future holds. Also, don't forget to check out my review of Galaxy S25 Ultra here: Buy it for performance, and Keep it for Galaxy AI. (https://bit.ly/40SXYr3)

This year, CES saw its highest attendance in the post-COVID era, attracting 141,000 attendees. As usual, the event saw many announcements across technology and product categories. Although AI was everywhere and IoT had a huge presence (albeit without that name), there wasn't a dominant theme. In this episode, Leonard Lee of Next Curve and I analyze what we saw and heard and try to understand the key takeaways. We also discuss how automotive exhibits have changed, how industrial participation is increasing, and how CES has become a non-Chinese global show.

Microsoft tried to redefine PCs in 2025 with the introduction of AI-infused Copilot+ PCs. Lenovo was among the top OEMs to embrace the concept and introduce a wide range of Copilot+ PCs powered by Qualcomm, Intel, and AMD SoCs. In this episode, I speak to Steve Long, SVP of Commercial Business at Lenovo, on traction in the Enterprises, market drivers, new AI use cases, improving the performance of existing functions, the positive effect of Windows 11 refresh, choice of SoC vendors, and more. We also delve deep into how Lenovo employs Gen AI use cases in its operations to showcase key use cases and demonstrate the value they bring to enterprises. Check out our Copilot+ PC coverage so far here: https://bit.ly/3PByw2R

Electronic Data Automation (EDA) Tools and their providers, like Cadence, are not widely known but play a critical role in the semiconductor industry. In the episode, I talk to Rob Knoth, Group Director of Strategy and New Ventures at Cadence, about the EDA Tools ecosystem, the company's announcements at the Supercomputing 2024 event, its symbiotic relationship with AI powerhouse Nvidia, application of EDA tools beyond semiconductors and more.