What does it really take for international founders to succeed in the U.S.? In this episode, Laurent Rains, Managing Director at Alchemist Accelerator, joins host Ravi Belani to unpack the challenges and opportunities facing global startups today.

You’ll learn:

• Why diversity is a competitive advantage — but only if it’s real.

• What international founders must unlearn when entering the U.S. market.

• How AI is reshaping outbound sales and founder workflows.

• Why Silicon Valley still holds the edge in global innovation.

• The nuanced role of governments in startup ecosystems around the world.

  
  

Whether you're launching in a new market or scaling across borders, this episode is packed with sharp insights and global perspective.

We’d love to know what you think!
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Most enterprise AI projects today are built on models that can recognize and generate patterns — but what happens when pattern recognition isn’t enough?

In this episode of the Alchemist Influencer Series, Vin Sharma, CEO and Founder of Vijil (and former AWS, Intel, and HP exec), joins Ravi Belani to explore the deeper realities of AI adoption — especially in regulated industries like banking, legal, and insurance.

Drawing from his time leading deep learning at AWS and studying the philosophy of technology, Vin shares why trust is the critical missing piece — and why AI systems must be reliable, secure, and safe before being deployed in mission-critical environments.

You’ll learn:

• Why most LLM-based agents will hit failure modes in industries that matter

• How society and regulation shape the future of AI — not just tech breakthroughs

• What “trustworthy AI” really means (and how to build for it)

• How Vin’s company Vijil is tackling this head-on with enterprise-ready agents

• Lessons from Amazon’s writing culture and how it shaped his startup playbook

If you care about the future of AI, safety, and real-world deployment, don’t miss this conversation.

📣 We’d love your feedback! Please take a moment to fill out our short form:
https://bit.ly/3H4XkiJ

In this episode, Garuda Ventures co-founder Rishi Taparia joins Alchemist Accelerator CEO Ravi Belani to explore why the promise of AI teammates often stalls in the real world. Drawing on his experience as a VC, operator, and startup builder, Rishi explains why psychological friction, status dynamics, and expectation mismatches are bigger barriers than the tech itself.

You’ll learn:

• Why “AI teammates” are fundamentally different from tools—and why that matters

• How expectations vs. reality derails enterprise adoption

• Why status loss makes managers hesitant to deploy AI agents

• What startups need to understand before selling AI into the enterprise

• How to build trust and credibility inside slow-moving organizations

  
  

If you're building AI for the enterprise—or selling into it—this conversation will challenge your assumptions and give you a more grounded GTM strategy.

We’d love to know what you think of the podcast!
Please take 1 minute to complete our short feedback form:👉 https://bit.ly/3H4XkiJ