
Norton Neo: The AI Browser That Thinks Before You Do
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Dr. Tamara Nall
What happens when CyberSecurity meets generative AI at global scale? Today on Lead with AI, I'm joined by Howie Hsu, Chief AI and Innovation Officer at Gen Digital, the Fortune 500 company behind Household names that I know you've heard of like Norton, Avast, Lifelock and more. Howie isn't just an AI leader. He's helped build the modern Internet as we know it. From founding VMware's networking stack to scaling AI and Zscaler and Palo Alto's networks to co founding TrustPath, he spent his career turning cutting edge innovation into market moving impact. At Gen Digital. He's tackling one of the biggest challenges in tech today. How to build personal AI systems people can trust in a world increasingly run by algorithms we don't control. This is an episode about digital freedom, cybersecurity at scale and why AI innovation is nothing without integrity. And what's even greater is that yesterday they launched Norton Neo and we're one of the first platforms where it is being introduced and announced. Let's dive in.
Welcome to lead with AI. I'm Dr. Tamara Nall. In each episode we will take you behind the scenes with visionary leaders shaping the future of AI across public and private sectors. Join us as we explore groundbreaking projects and innovations that are transforming industries and making a real impact on on people's lives. Let's dive in.
Hi everyone, how are you? It is Dr. T, your host on Lee with AI and I'm excited to have a great conversation with Howie Hsu who is the Chief AI and Innovation Officer at Gen Digital. Hi Howie, how are you?
Howie Hsu
Good, Good. Hi Tamara.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Dr. T. Yes, thank you so much. So we all know about the products that Gen Digital has. So we're really excited about all of the great advancements that we're going to talk about today. And most of our guests, if not all of them, use your product. So this is so exciting. I feel very honored to be talking to you today.
Howie Hsu
Yes, many people may not know or may not know the name of GenDigital, our company name, but the product. Right. You are talking about Norton, Lifelock, Moneyline, it's just everywhere.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Yes, absolutely. So let's talk about, let's start with who you are. Tell us a little bit about who you are at your core and why you're so excited about all the innovation that you have at Gen Digital and all of the breakthroughs that the company is building.
Howie Hsu
Yeah, you know, I'm a computer technologist by training. I've done a lot of the computer technology, cloud, cybersecurity in my early career. In the last 10 years, I transitioned my career into AI, you know, at least back then. And I thought, oh, you know, this is a pretty hot field these days. People say, hey, you know, you came to this field so early. That's very interesting for me to hear that feedback. But anyhow, you know, I started a company in AI cybersecurity, which was acquired by a public company called the Zscaler. I was there. And then I was the senior VP of AI at Palo Alto Networks. Right before this job, a year ago, I joined Janeto and the company that does so many consumer stuff.
Dr. Tamara Nall
That's amazing. And when consumers first experiment, like you said, we know about LifeLock, I have it, we know about Norton, I have it. But what's the jaw dropping moment when people first experience, experience your product that haven't used it before and they realize this, wow, this really changes everything for my life.
Howie Hsu
Well, just to give people the peace of mind. Yeah, right. You know, it's not about tick tock. You're right. Give you immediate satisfaction of something. This is really a product, give you the peace of mind to make sure your identity, your, you know, computer, your device is protected. You are in good hands. Really. That is the, you know, that is the nature of the product. Now that being said, you know, we just launched brand new products, right? You know, in browser that I think started, you know, as a company, we started laying out or giving people the products that people would immediately see. Wow, that's interesting.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Right, right, right. So tell us a little bit. So it's Norton Neo. Tell us a little bit about that.
Howie Hsu
Yes, we actually just launched that this week, yesterday, 20, 24 hours ago. The notion is very simple, right? You know, browser has been there for the last 30 years. Netscape invented 30 years ago. Believe it or not, where I sit, my office, my building is where Netscape IPO'd 30 years ago.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Oh wow.
Howie Hsu
This is the very place, you know, so this is a very special place. But browser didn't change that much, right? You browse the Internet, sure, maybe it's sped up, you know, things like that. But fundamentally, the browser you saw 30 years ago versus the browser you saw now, it's not much different. What we are trying to do is look, in the AI era, everything will be disrupted, right? One of the things that will be disrupted is this 30 year old browser. What is the key difference? I'll just say one thing because I'm pretty sure the audience wanted to know more than what north and Neil. The one thing is the browser of the past or the current browser you are using. Basically, you are in the driver's seat. You say, I go to this website, this news website. Website. That's it, right? We are talking about a browser. Actually understands you, learns you, and then be ahead of you. My CEO Vincent one day said, hey, I. I not only need a browser that's fast, but I also need a browser that's actually ahead of me. Right. I feel like before I go somewhere, boom, it's already there. Or give you the shortcut, give you the reminder, you know, when I forget something, right. It's going to remind you. Well, it's sort of. You read something, it will tell you, hey, maybe this is something you wanted to know. It's almost like you have the world's expert or Superman sitting next to you when you read things, when you do things. Right? Think about it. What's the next time? What's the last time you have a Superman, literally a Superman sitting next to you when you actually browse? That's the kind of the, you know, we want people to be able to reimagine the browsing experience. That's what north and Neil is about.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Wow. So literally I just go and open up my laptop or my tablet and it's already can predict what. What it thinks I want to look at.
Howie Hsu
Yeah, you know, of course, it's a journey. Right. You know, it's not like the not in Hill does everything. Anything I just said today. But that is really, I believe for the next 10 years what people deserve for the browser. You know, they don't deserve a browser. Just, you know, be, you know, going up website fast. Right. You know, we are. Look, you know, you have way more information, way much more information than you are able to process today. Right. You know, whether news or your personal information or this and that you really need a Superman or personal assistant or, you know, using the popular word these days, the aging to help you. You really need that. Right. So we believe that a browser is almost a necessary component, at least on the desktop. And the browser should be just a thousand times smarter than the browser we have known in the last 30 years.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Wow, that's amazing. Now, we're all curious because like you said, there's so much changing. And how do y' all stay on top of all of the changing security vulnerabilities, et cetera, to make us safe? So if I were to open up the hood of your products of the company, what is the brain doing and how does it all work?
Howie Hsu
That's very interesting. So think about Norton. Neo, right? NEO is exactly what I just mentioned to you in terms of the vision. But the reason we kind of have Norton here is actually we have a world class intelligence, cybersecurity intelligence. When it comes to, you know, anti phishing, anti scam, you know, though this is a good website or not, we already have a world class research lab that give us the latest up to date, you know, the URL you can, you cannot visit, that sort of thing. So we actually marry this AI technology with, you know, our world class, you know, intelligence. So you know, Norton +neo is just to give you the AI in a safe way, right? You know, we actually have done plenty of researches. It's not just us, you know, everyone does a lot of researches, right? Only 39 people, only 39% of the people trust AI, which is unfortunate, right? But that's a reality. So we wanted to bring the peace of mind when it comes to AI. So that's one aspect. But the other aspect, like I said, it's, you know, when people consume AI, it's actually a lot of friction, a lot of cognitive efforts for instance, right? Everyone have been, you know, most people have been using ChatGPT, but guess what? People are fundamentally are not very good at asking questions. You know, human beings are not very good asking questions, let's admit it, right? You know, that's for thousands or more than thousands of years. So when it comes to ChatGPT, sure, you know, it's good, it's great. But you know, if you have to have a lot of the cognitive efforts, we're not really consuming this technology in to maximize the value out of it, right? So the intention of the NEO or the next generation browser is so that you get a value of ChatGPT without proactively asking a lot of questions by human, but proactively by the Superman, but the personal assistant on the side. So when you marry that and the safety, I think it's going to be incredible for consumers out there, for people out there for the next decade.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Right now you say you've been at the company now for just about a year, a little over a year. Talk to us about results that you've seen that gave you chills or you jumped up and down and did your victory dance or something that is like wow, you know, this is why I'm here and this is why this company is so, so amazing. Something that gave you chills?
Howie Hsu
Sure. You know this company has a 500 million users, that's like amazing, right? You know, we are talking about 500 million users when we do a product. Right. I've been a product person for the last almost three decades. Right. You know, I always feel like I'm one of the best technologists, the best person to do a product. But in the very humble sort of the way I feel like, wow, you know, just being, being able to develop the best product, it's not enough. You have to distribute it, you have to get things out, you have to get people aware of it. Right. So the fact that we have assembled an amazing group of people, a small group of people to do this amazing product, that's great. But that's not enough. We kind of live in the big company with 500 million users. Now that being said, let's be honest, innovation in the big company is never easy. On the paper, it's sort of a no brainer. In reality, 99% of the time it's actually doesn't work the way we kind of wanted it. Right. That's always the case. So here's the kind of my boss, you know, the CEO of the company and I actually literally discussed intensively that's a year ago and I'm going to celebrate my one year anniversary soon. In this company we discuss intensively how do we innovate in the big company. Right. You know, because it's not easy. It's not, it's a. Yep. It's a path most of the people failed or have not taken. So there is tremendous innovation just for doing a brand new AI product in a large company. I mean, you think about it, right? Google invented some of the great AI technologies like Transformer model, but boom, OpenAI started a ChatGPT, not Google. Why is that? Google probably has 10x100x more AI people than OpenAI at the time. Why is that? This is the indication that it's hard to do innovation in the big company. I wouldn't say we decode everything, but I think, you know, if there's one thing I'm super proud, it's just not, not just, you know, beyond the product side is we kind of decoded, you know, let me just say, you know, at least half or at least a good portion of how to innovate in a big company, that's something I'm pretty proud of. You know, we will share that more of that story with outsiders.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Yes. No, that is amazing. That absolutely is amazing. Now you're working with some powerful tools and you know, there's this big push or thought around ethics. So how do you make sure that you don't cross any ethical lines and that you protect the human and in the loop of your innovation.
Howie Hsu
This is a very good question. You know, I always work in the enterprise product, right? You know, enterprise product. I wouldn't say there's a less worry. It's sort of a. Privacy or not is a relatively less concern because usually you work on a product, always working within the enterprise, right? You know, you don't worry about what data collect or what data not to collect because all the data belong to the company anyways, right? So that's sort of the world I came from, right? In the new world I have been living in the last one year. It's very interesting, right? You know, 500 million users, you know, pretty much every one of them is just consumer out there users out there. What data do we collect? What's our responsibility? You know, do we want to do, you know, how to use the data is something that we have to think over and over. And I have to say that by, you know, some of our engineers came from our Norton Vast lifelog side of the product divisions, right? You know, they came to my team in the last one year. I learned a lot, right? You know, because whenever I kind of wanted to collect some data, the immediate question is why do we want to collect data? Do we have an alternative? That's not my instinct from day one, however, this is, you know, they are kind of influencing me now. That being said, I'm also influencing them as well. Hey, there is a lot of value in data. If we use the data safely, right? Intelligently, we are providing the value. So you see that there are two groups of people, they have different points of view, different background or valid background or valid approaches, sort of. We're thinking about, hey, how do we do a new product in the AI era, right, without data, don't do AI, right? Because you know, how, how interesting is that? But we can't, you know, abuse the data for sure, but not even. It's more than that, right? You know, if you are not careful, you know that the data can be leaked, it can be misused, right? So what are the. All the hoops around it? So we have to think a lot more. So I kind of learned a lot. I think I also influenced my team a lot in terms of, hey, don't just let the data sit there, right? Let it be useful to the user or to the owner of the data.
Dr. Tamara Nall
That's great. That is absolutely great. And ethics is so very important. And the fact that you're thinking about that at the forefront of, of all of your initiatives and breakthroughs is absolutely amazing. So let's talk about the big future. Let's say five years from now, 2030. What does a future power by all of your tech feel like to the normal person? I mean you talked about like Superman and the browser is there some. And you definitely are a futuristic thinker, obviously as innovation officer. So what is something that you see in the future that would surprise us or amaze us in terms of what we can expect from the company?
Howie Hsu
Not much. Nothing. Because five years from now we reach the AGI, we just sit there. Money will fly, the sky, food will fly everywhere. We just have everything. No, just kidding. Look, I think five years is a very long time in the AI area.
Dr. Tamara Nall
That's true.
Howie Hsu
I would say, you know, it's almost like you are asking me this question 50 years ago, 50 years from now, what would the world look like? Right.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Yeah.
Howie Hsu
So we all sort of know it's a huge difference. I want to say five years from now that would be approximated the difference, you know, in this world. So it's kind of a, in some ways scary, but in some ways super exciting. Right. So your specific question though is what would the world, would it look like?
Dr. Tamara Nall
Yeah. How will the world or how does the future power by all of your innovation and your tech feel like to the everyday person? What would that feel like to me? A good example was one that you mentioned in terms of a browser that thinks for me. Are there other futuristic things that might be, you know, unimaginable now that we, that you're thinking of in terms of the future of the company?
Howie Hsu
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I'm not sure five years from now, but approximately five to ten years that horizon. I, you know, I have more confidence to say I think pretty much everything will be disrupted in that five to ten year horizon. You know, three big areas that we sort of know that that's so touching to our lives. Transportation, health, health care and education. Right. No matter what you deal with these three things, I would say self driving or robo taxi will be a lot more on the road than today. Right. Today in San Francisco, in various parts of the world, you already see that. But in five to 10 years it's going to be, I wouldn't say ubiquitous, but it's going to be a lot more common. So that's health care. I wouldn't say we will cure everything we know today, but we will on the path of understanding majority or a lot of the disease we, you know, have today. Right, right. So that's the health care. There is a reason that Nobel Prize, the chemistry, you know, was awarded to an AI scientist or a few AI scientists last year, right? That education is a tough one. So far we haven't seen big sort of impacts of AI in the education. I wouldn't say none, but however, if you go to high school, you go to elementary school, you go to college, you ask teachers, you ask the students, what are you doing fundamentally differently today versus before. I would say so far AI has not impacted it that much. Everyone or Most people using ChatGPT. But guess what? Textbook is the same exam is almost the same, right? I think five to ten years from now we are going to start seeing or see the sign of big shift. Education is tougher for another reason. Let me tell you, because this is one area that the technology, not just AI technology, the technology or high technology in the recent years have not touched this area as much as, I mean think about it, right? We invented the Internet in the last 50 years, but guess what? Internet fundamentally changed the way we teach in the elementary school, in the high school it augmented but not fundamentally changed it, right? And honestly the education system, you know, in US and honestly in the worldwide has not changed for even for 100 years. That's kind of my observation. I believe, I believe AI is going to change it in the big time, but we are going to start seeing that in five to ten years.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Got it? Okay, well how are you now change? I'm have to change my question and not ask by 2030 but just ask the future because like you said, everything is so ever changing. So I'm going to edit my question but and thank you for that. So, you know, you have over 500 million consumers, customers, but that's not everybody, you know, there's still a huge customer base that you could still target. So for those who might say, oh, I don't care about protection, I don't care about, you know, whether or not someone is stealing my identity or something like that, what make them a believer? What's the one thing that our listeners can try, build or explore this week with one of your products to get a taste of your AI magic and the power behind it?
Howie Hsu
Well, my initial answer would be everything, right? You want to protect your identity, you want to protect your mobile, you want to protect everything. But since we just launched the Norton Neo yesterday, right, 24 hours ago, I'm going to stick to that. I believe that like you said, 500 million users are our users, our customers. But guess what, we are kind of in this browser world. In the browser market, Chrome alone, Google Chrome alone has almost 4 billion users. And that is the market we want to get into. Right. So here's one thing I'm very confident. I always tell my team, each technology, each product has its own life. By the way, speaking of that, Norton is probably one of the rare beast that has a life spanning across multiple decades and still stay strong, right? Still stay as a dominant player. That's actually, I don't know how many. It's definitely single digit, maybe, you know, a handful or maybe less than a handful. Technology can claim that not even, you know, Google and Facebook, they spend, you know, maybe two decades or three decades, but not like more than that.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Right, right.
Howie Hsu
So any coming back to North Neo? Right, look, we look at North Neo as the entry door to the digital world for consumer. Right? You do anything, you want to know what's going on with the outside world. You want to read the email, you want to plan your things, it's your entry door to your digital world. So I want to say this is something that everyone should start experiencing the new way of interacting with the digital world today. And I'm very confident that Norton Neo is creating a new product category. That new product category is disrupting the Google Chrome of the world. Google Chrome replaced Microsoft Internet Explorer about 10, 15 years ago, and then Internet Explorer replaced the Netscape. Right. Today we carry the Chrome torch of the Netscape and then sort of have the next generation of the browser. So we are very excited. I think each, each, you know, of your audience should be excited. That's the new world that we are in. Right? A new entry door to your digital world.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Yes, I'm going to definitely try it because the thought of a browser knowing and predicting what I want is amazing.
Howie Hsu
And I have thought we actually have very limited, you know, sort of the initially activated, you know, some small number of users, but because you are so excited, you get a priority list.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Yay. Thank you. I love that. That's amazing.
Howie Hsu
Yeah, we only charge $500 for the activation. No, just kidding. You know, I was telling people, you know, my team members are joking with me, hey, you know, you need activation code. What if people don't have it? You know, are people going to sell it on the community, ebay or not? I said, let's not worry about that. Let the, you know, real interested user try it out, give us feedback, evolve this product. I'm a product builder, you know, I would love to work with you and then your audience.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Absolutely, absolutely. Y' all heard it Here first and we'll get to how you can get in contact to be a part of that as soon as we.
Howie Hsu
And the number 16 on the, you know, Apple podcast yesterday and the rising. Right. So yes, when your user started using not in new and then they the value you are going to rise from 16 to number one.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Woohoo. Yes, yes, I feel it, Howie. Absolutely, absolutely. And what he's talking about everybody, is that last week we hit number 16 in the text section on Apple podcasts and that's huge because there are a lot of podcasts that don't hit the charts. And we hit the charts. And so we have to say thank you to all of our listeners as well as to our guests, our exciting guests like you, Howie. So thank you so, so very much. So I have a question that I call and our listeners are very familiar with this called From One Genius to Another. So our last guest has a question for you Howie, and I have to read it because it is rather long but interesting. And the question for you is, as AI agents get better at making decisions across unstructured real world workflows, what role do you think human judgment will play in business operations five years from now? And how do we train people to lead in that world?
Howie Hsu
Yeah, that's a very good question, but that's a tricky one. The reason it's a tricky one is for the following reason. We all have a workflow, right? Especially for knowledge worker. We get up in the morning, check email, using certain software as a service systems, whether we are in the financial department, the marketing department, we all have certain workflow. Microsoft Office or Google Workplace, you name it, that's our workflow. When you ask me what we are going to do with AI providing so much value, I want to say let's assume for a second the workflow is going to be very different to begin with. We cannot use the current workflow. And I say, hey, this portion using human judgment and then the rest will be automated. I think that's kind of a pigeonholed us into last generation workflow. And I say, hey, what are we going to do? What will human beings are going to do? To me that's almost the wrong way to frame what we should be thinking, right? Which we should be thinking is almost, I want to say almost everything we know today in terms of the process like check email reply, email, all that sort of thing. A lot of things will be automated, but that doesn't mean we don't have work, we don't have job to do. It means that we have to disentangle a lot of the things. Let's say we have 50 things we do today. We need to break down those tasks into 300 or maybe even 500 different smallest subtasks. And among those 500 subtasks, I want to say 450 of them is going to be automated. And the 50 of them, you know, humans are still going to work on it. Keep in mind that, that 50 things is no longer the same. You know, 50 things we know today. Right. So what I'm trying to say is, look, you know, Microsoft CEO Satya, you know, said something a few months ago which really resonated with me. Everyone is worried about, I want to say everyone, a lot of people worried about, hey, what am I going to do? Am I going to lose my job? You know, especially as a knowledge, you know, worker. And then he said something that's very interesting. He said, don't be confused between knowledge worker and the knowledge work. A lot of the knowledge work is going to be automated, Right. But doesn't mean knowledge workers are going to be automated. Right. So what you are going to see is we are going to totally, you know, reassemble, you know, break down our day to day thing. Right? Our 50 things we are doing today is going to be broken down, reassembled, reimagined, and then we land up another 50 things. That 50 things is different from the 50 things we are doing today. And we are still going to be busy. We are still going to, you know, arguably, potentially, you know, we are going to be less busy only because, you know, there is more automation so that we have, human beings have more free time. That's possible, right? Think about it, right? You know, 100 years ago, there's no such notion that, you know, you can take two days off because if you are a farmer, which 90, you know, 100 plus years ago, 90% of people were farmers. You can't say, you know, I don't care about this, you know, my, my farm, you know, on Saturday, Sunday, right. You know, it doesn't work that way. So you have to, you know, almost think about it every day. But because of automation, because of this and that, you know, I would say, I don't know, 90% or, you know, some good percentage people have two days off. I do imagine because of AI, we may have three days off. That I can see that.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Right.
Howie Hsu
But that doesn't mean knowledge worker will not have anything to do. Another example is, you know, before, right. 100 plus years ago, it's kind of horse ride you know, people serving the horse ride that they all lost job when cars were invented. Right. But guess what, think about the car ecosystem, automobile ecosystem, right there. There are far more jobs today in the ecosystem than people, you know, serving the horse rides, you know, back 100 plus years ago.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Right.
Howie Hsu
But, but keep in mind that those people at that time did we imagined what the ecosystem would look like with the automobile ecosystem. We didn't. Right. So when we sort of march into this robo taxi self driving world, I want to say we don't even know we have to reimagine. And then that reimagination is really tough. Right. And so going back to your question, you know, I don't think it's about, hey, here's what we are doing today. What portion is left for human beings? I think that's the wrong framing to think about. The right framing is we reimagine the future world is right. And then in that new world, most of us, at least not me, you know, can totally imagine it yet how do we think about where the human with what? What's the job for human?
Dr. Tamara Nall
I love that. I absolutely love that. And that is a great perspective. It was a difficult question, but you simplified it and gave a different perspective. So I really appreciate that.
Howie Hsu
Once you have Norton Neo, this is easy.
Dr. Tamara Nall
That's easy. There we go. Y' all heard it here. Norton Neo.
Howie Hsu
Yes, yes, absolutely.
Dr. Tamara Nall
I'm telling you, it's going to spike up when people listen for sure. That is amazing, Howie. You're absolutely right. So now we're going to move into our bonus rapid fire. I am going to shoot off four questions and you're going to quickly respond to them. The first one is Most overrated Tech trend.
Howie Hsu
AI.
Dr. Tamara Nall
AI. Okay, I can't ask you for an explanation, but okay. Most under hyped AI Breakthrough AI. Okay, One book everyone should read.
Howie Hsu
I want to recommend Elon Musk's book, the Autography. The reason is not because I love him. I do not love him. It's just for us to decode what happens, why Elon Musk is able to do certain things. So I think I recommend that.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Okay, perfect. What is the boldest AI prediction you believe?
Howie Hsu
I believe AI scientists will win all of the remaining Nobel Prize categories that AI scientists have not won yet. Keep in mind, last year AI scientists won two categories, Physics and chemistry.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Got it? Now you're going to be one of them. Is that a goal?
Howie Hsu
We will see. If I use nothing new enough, maybe I have a chance.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Amazing. That's amazing. Well, Howie, I so appreciate your time today. I definitely learned a lot. It was so fun, very much fun. And I, and I enjoy that. That's one reason why I love being a host, because I get to meet interesting people. Kudos to all the things that you're doing and I am particularly honored because Norton Neo released yesterday and so we're one of the few platforms where it was announced and I am, you know, when I started this podcast, I just wanted to talk about late breaking AI developments and I didn't think that I would be a part of history with you in Gen Digital. So I'm so appreciative and I am very, very thankful. So how can people get to your products, get in contact with you? Where should they follow? Tell us all the different channels.
Howie Hsu
Look, you know Norton Neo, when you search it, you know you, you will find it or go to NeoToday AI directly. Now this is a little bit friction, a little bit tough, but once you have Norton Neo, then you can find those information much easier.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Yes.
Howie Hsu
You don't even need to look around. It will just jump to the right place. Right, right time, potentially. Right, you know, be ahead of you.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Yes.
Howie Hsu
So that's kind of a. Yeah. Try out NEO today AI NGO today.
Dr. Tamara Nall
AI Absolutely. You heard it here. Everyone support Norton Neo, not just for the company, but for yourself. I have so many of their products and I'm very happy. So thank you again, Howie, and best wishes on all the latest and new developments that are coming out with the company.
Howie Hsu
And by the way, let me say one, and say one last thing.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Yes.
Howie Hsu
And I saw you lead with AI.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Yes.
Howie Hsu
When you ask me, hey, most underrated technology, most overhyped technology. I said AI. I literally believe that it's both overhyped and underhyped at the same time. I truly believe that we can spend another episode or one day to discuss why I think that way. But I truly, truly believe that, yes.
Dr. Tamara Nall
It was a great answer and you're the only one that has answered it that way. And it made me think and I'm like, you know what, he's right. So that's good. Thank you so much, Hallie.
Howie Hsu
Have a nice one.
Dr. Tamara Nall
All right.
Howie Hsu
Have a nice long weekend.
Dr. Tamara Nall
Yes, thank you.
Thanks for tuning in to lead with AI. I'll see you next time as we continue exploring the cutting edge innovations shaping AI across the public and private sectors. Until then, keep leading with AI.
Podcast Summary: Lead With AI – "Norton Neo: The AI Browser That Thinks Before You Do"
Podcast Information:
In the latest episode of Lead With AI, Dr. Tamara Nall engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Howie Hsu, the Chief AI and Innovation Officer at Gen Digital—the Fortune 500 company behind renowned brands like Norton, Avast, and LifeLock. The episode, titled "Norton Neo: The AI Browser That Thinks Before You Do," delves deep into the intersection of cybersecurity and generative AI, exploring how these fields converge to create innovative solutions for today's digital challenges.
Dr. Nall begins by highlighting Howie Hsu's extensive background in technology and AI. She introduces him as a pivotal figure who has significantly contributed to building the modern Internet, from founding VMware's networking stack to scaling AI at Zscaler and Palo Alto Networks, and co-founding TrustPath. With over 25 years in data analytics and a doctorate in AI and machine learning, Howie's expertise positions him as a leader tackling one of the most pressing issues in technology: building trustworthy personal AI systems in an era dominated by uncontrolled algorithms.
Notable Quote:
The heart of the discussion centers around Norton Neo, Gen Digital's groundbreaking AI-powered browser launched just a day before the podcast recording. Howie emphasizes that traditional browsers have remained largely unchanged for three decades, with incremental improvements in speed and functionality. Norton Neo aims to disrupt this stagnation by integrating advanced AI that "understands you, learns you, and then be ahead of you" ([05:15] Howie Hsu).
He describes Norton Neo as not just a tool for browsing but as a "personal assistant" that anticipates user needs, offers reminders, and provides shortcuts that enhance the overall digital experience. The vision is to transform the browser into an intelligent companion, akin to having "the world's expert or Superman sitting next to you" while navigating the web ([05:15] Howie Hsu).
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Dr. Nall and Howie discuss the challenges of fostering innovation within a large corporation. Despite Gen Digital's vast user base of 500 million, bringing new products like Norton Neo to market involves navigating corporate inertia. Howie shares insights into decoding innovation within a big company, highlighting the complex dynamics that often impede the seamless introduction of cutting-edge technologies.
He reflects on the rarity of successful innovation in large organizations by referencing Google's endeavors versus OpenAI's breakthrough with ChatGPT, underscoring the inherent difficulties within established companies to pivot and adapt swiftly.
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A significant portion of the conversation addresses the ethical implications of AI in cybersecurity. Howie emphasizes the importance of data privacy and responsible AI usage. Transitioning from enterprise products, where data concerns are minimal due to corporate ownership, to consumer-facing products like Norton Neo, introduces new challenges regarding data collection and usage.
He discusses the balance between leveraging data to enhance AI capabilities and ensuring that data is not misused or leaked. Howie also touches on the cognitive efforts required by users to interact with AI tools like ChatGPT and how Norton Neo aims to minimize this by proactively assisting users without demanding extensive input.
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Dr. Nall probes Howie’s vision for the future, specifically looking five to ten years ahead. Howie predicts significant disruptions in three key areas: transportation, healthcare, and education. He anticipates the widespread adoption of self-driving vehicles, advancements in medical research and disease understanding, and transformative changes in the education system driven by AI.
He underscores that while AI will automate many tasks, it will also necessitate a reimagining of workflows and human roles, rather than simply replacing human judgment. Howie envisions a future where AI augments human capabilities, leading to more efficient and intelligent systems that free up human time for more meaningful endeavors.
Notable Quote:
Addressing potential skeptics, Howie advocates for experiencing Norton Neo as a gateway to the digital world. He draws parallels between the evolution of web browsers and the transformative potential of Norton Neo, positioning it as the "entry door to your digital world". By integrating AI seamlessly into browsing, Norton Neo aims to offer unparalleled convenience and security, encouraging users to adopt and trust AI-driven solutions.
Notable Quote:
In the bonus segment, Rapid Fire, Howie responds to quick questions that shed light on his personal perspectives and predictions:
Most Overhyped Tech Trend:
Most Underrated AI Breakthrough:
One Book Everyone Should Read:
Boldest AI Prediction:
Notable Quote:
Dr. Nall wraps up the episode by expressing her appreciation for Howie’s insights and the groundbreaking advancements at Gen Digital through Norton Neo. She encourages listeners to explore Norton Neo and experience firsthand the AI-driven transformation of their browsing experience. The episode not only highlights the innovative strides in AI and cybersecurity but also emphasizes the importance of ethical considerations and the future landscape shaped by intelligent technologies.
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Final Thoughts:
This episode of Lead With AI offers a comprehensive exploration of how Gen Digital is pioneering the next generation of web browsing through Norton Neo. By integrating advanced AI with robust cybersecurity measures, Norton Neo represents a significant leap towards enhancing digital freedom and personal security. Howie Hsu's forward-thinking perspectives provide valuable insights into the future of AI, its ethical implications, and the transformative potential it holds for various industries. For listeners eager to understand the tangible impacts of AI and stay ahead in the digital age, this episode is an indispensable resource.