Becker Business Podcast

AI Founder of the Month: Sriram Muralidharan

Date: October 21, 2025
Host: Scott Becker
Guest: Sriram Muralidharan, Co-Founder & CEO (Stealth enterprise AI startup)

Episode Overview

This episode spotlights Sriram Muralidharan, a seasoned AI leader with extensive experience at Tesla, Kumir, and various Silicon Valley startups. As Becker Business’s “AI Startup of the Month,” Sriram shares his journey, insights on the current and future states of enterprise AI, practical leadership in transformative technology adoption, and advice for attracting top AI talent. He also briefly discusses his current stealth-mode venture and what’s next.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Sriram’s Background and Philosophy (00:36)

• Trajectory: Began at Tesla (Model X program); over a decade building and scaling enterprise AI.
• Leadership Approach: "Leadership is all about not... deploying AI, but having the conviction to pursue greater outcomes." (00:52)
• Core Belief: Transforming “chaos into organized chaos and eventually into scalable motions” is fundamental for AI innovation.

Where AI Is Impactful Versus Overhyped (01:44)

• Enterprise AI’s Reality: Despite hype, enterprise adoption is lagging—metrics and real-world impact often misaligned with optics.
• Adoption Shift: The move is from “AI as a feature” to “AI as a foundation” of business operations.
• Concrete Example:
  • Banking Chatbots: Evolving from basic chatbots to context-aware assistants that can autonomously handle tasks (e.g., freeze a lost card or replace it).
  • Key insight: These changes create “new operating models which reduce a lot of time and have got new business impact.” (03:18)

The Evolution of AI in Enterprise (04:00)

• Wave of Adoption: Anticipates a shift from point solutions to deeply embedded, context-aware systems.
• Illustration: References Waymo—the leap from traditional taxis to a seamlessly integrated AI-driven ride experience.

What Excites Sriram Most in AI Right Now (04:42)

• Winning Formula: "Most context-aware systems and the human AI collaboration layer will win." (04:44)
• Technical Vision: Tomorrow’s AI should:
  • Grasp deep context (what, why, prior attempts, definition of success).
  • Possess memory and learn from interactions.
  • Exhibit independent judgment.
• User Experience: AI should become “a natural extension of how they already work and not foreign technologies which they have to learn.” (05:28)
• Defining the Next Decade: The integration into natural workflows—not forcing users to “push a button to do AI”—will shape adoption.

Leadership for AI Adoption (06:43)

• The Crucial Ingredient: Trust & Psychological Safety
  • Trust is central to adoption; “If I’m not able to trust it, I’m not going to adopt it. It’s as simple as that.” (06:57)
• Three Pillars of Effective AI Leadership:
  1. Translation: Turn AI buzzwords into relatable, humane benefits (“Make invisible things visible.”).
  2. Trust: Be transparent about AI’s limits—“If you overpromise AI perfection, you’re going to lose people.” (08:03)
  3. Transformation: AI isn’t a tool you deploy once; it’s an evolving system—“It’s about continuously learning from within the team, from your customers.” (08:50)

Investment Trends in AI (09:45)

• Investor Sentiment: “Investors are tired of just another tool. They want purpose-built AI which can solve problems at scale...” (09:49)
• Market Outlook: Customers and investors seek solutions that embed naturally into existing workflows, not superficial “AI” add-ons.
• Investment Shifts: Increasing openness to AI-related spending as solutions become more practical and less artificial.

Attracting and Retaining Top AI Talent (10:41)

• Purpose and Ownership: “AI talent today... want a purpose, they want extreme ownership.” (10:45)
• Mission-Focus: Beyond technical specs, tie individual contributions to end-user impact.
• Culture & Growth: Retention is driven by offering opportunities for mastery, experimentation, and visible career growth.
• Pace vs. Quality: “If speed becomes your company's moat, then you don’t really have a moat. Speed should be part of your culture, not a feature…” (12:27)
• Analogy: “Best teams... will come out building internal flywheels of curiosity... like a high performing sports team.” (12:23)

Current Work and Upcoming Announcements (13:03)

• Industry Focus: Currently working with enterprises on predictive intelligence and workflow embedding.
• Stealth Status: “That’s all I could say about it today because we’re still kind of in the stealth space…” (13:08)
• What’s Next: Watch for updates on company launch via LinkedIn.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "It's not about deploying AI, but having the conviction to pursue greater outcomes."
  — Sriram Muralidharan, (00:53)

• “For enterprise, it’s all about quality and reliability. Nothing else matters more.”
  — Sriram Muralidharan, (02:05)

• “We’re moving from AI as a feature to AI as a foundation of how companies roll.”
  — Sriram Muralidharan, (02:17)

• "I believe the most context aware systems and the human AI collaboration layer will win."
  — Sriram Muralidharan, (04:44)

• “If I’m not able to trust it, I’m not going to adopt it. It’s as simple as that.”
  — Sriram Muralidharan, (06:57)

• “If speed becomes your company's moat, then you don’t really have a moat. Speed should be part of your culture, not a feature of what you’re offering...”
  — Sriram Muralidharan, (12:27)

• “AI isn’t a one time implementation, but more of a living system that evolves with your user workforce.”
  — Sriram Muralidharan, (08:56)

Timestamps for Major Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------------|:---------:| | Sriram’s Background & Leadership Philosophy | 00:36 | | Enterprise AI: Impact & Overhype | 01:44 | | Enterprise Adoption and Evolution | 04:00 | | Excitement for the Future & Human-AI Collaboration | 04:42 | | Leadership for AI Adoption | 06:43 | | Investment Trends in AI | 09:45 | | Attracting & Retaining AI Talent | 10:41 | | Current Industries and ‘Stealth’ Venture | 13:03 | | Final Thoughts & What’s Next | 13:38 |

Closing

Sriram Muralidharan encourages listeners to stay connected for updates as his company emerges from stealth mode and reaffirms his commitment to building meaningful, scalable AI solutions. Host Scott Becker thanks Sriram for his insights and leadership in shaping the new wave of enterprise AI.