It’s the end of 2025, so we don’t have a full episode of Zero Shot for you today.

This podcast launched in September, and we’ve produced 14 episodes for you so far. We’ve covered a wide range of topics, and our conversations—between Praveen, Rohin, and Brady—only work because you’re willing to sit with the complexities we wade into.

We know artificial intelligence will move fast in 2026, so we’ll keep asking the questions that matter in this AI hype cycle. We’re glad you’re coming along with us.

So, thank you, and we’ll be back next week.

As always, if you’d like to get in touch with any or all of our hosts, please drop us a note at zeroshot@the-ken.com. We respond to all messages.

The cover art of Zero Shot is generated by AI. Everything else is made by humans, just like all articles, columns, newsletters, and other podcasts created by The Ken.

Welcome to Zero Shot, The Ken’s weekly podcast that interprets the latest big moves in artificial intelligence—in India and around the world.

This week, Praveen is on leave, but our two other co-hosts held down the fort.

Brady took inspiration from the tagline of a game show, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, to consider some of the wild claims and projections made by OpenAI. Aside from CEO Sam Altman’s public statements, he considered CFO Sarah Friar’s past professional moves, where she made similar (but not as exaggerated) claims about revenue projections when she was Nextdoor’s CEO. It’s a bit of information that retail investors could consider when OpenAI prepares to go public.

Then, Rohin described how AI products lost their novelty in 2025, entering the trough of disillusionment as described by the Gartner hype cycle. This presents an opportunity for companies that can develop products with an “anti-AI premium”, where the absence of artificial intelligence could find fans in customers.

The cover art of Zero Shot is generated by AI. Everything else is made by humans, just like all articles, columns, newsletters, and other podcasts created by The Ken.

If you have comments, critiques, or suggestions, you should share them with us! Write in at zeroshot@the-ken.com. We respond to every listener who contacts us.

Additional Reading

Whose Line Is It Anyway?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whose_Line_Is_It_Anyway%3F_(American_TV_series)

Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre by Keith Johnstone
https://www.amazon.com/Impro-Improvisation-Theatre-Keith-Johnstone/dp/0878301178

Why OpenAI went into crisis PR mode (in November)
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/06/tech/openai-backtracks-government-support-chip-investments

Nextdoor secures dismissal with prejudice in securities class action
https://www.cooley.com/news/coverage/2025/2025-11-20-nextdoor-secures-dismissal-with-prejudice-in-securities-class-action

‘How to disable all the AI features in Firefox to increase performance?’
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1556081/how-to-disable-all-the-ai-features-in-firefox-to-increase-performance

The Gartner hype cycle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gartner_hype_cycle

Eugen Rochko: ‘I've finally switched to the @Vivaldi browser.’
https://mas.to/@Gargron@mastodon.social/115737483372515885

Meta tolerates rampant ad fraud from China to safeguard billions in revenue
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/meta-tolerates-rampant-ad-fraud-china-safeguard-billions-revenue-2025-12-15/

LG will let TV owners delete Microsoft Copilot after customer outcry
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-18/lg-will-let-tv-owners-delete-microsoft-copilot-after-customer-complaints

Welcome back to Zero Shot, where Brady, Praveen, and Rohin take on the big ideas and latest developments in artificial intelligence every Wednesday.

This week, Praveen looks at a new future career in India—the energy engineer. With Amazon and Microsoft committing to a combined $52.5 billion of investments in India, these tech giants’ data centres will require immense power. India currently doesn’t produce enough renewable energy to service this demand, and even if there were enough power, there are other hurdles.

Rohin considers how SaaS companies are contending with an existential crisis. If their clients can replace their software with AI agents, then what value do SaaS companies hold in the future? Some providers have opted to insert AI capabilities into their products and raise their prices, but that is not sustainable in the long run.

Brady looked at Broadcom’s stock slump and provided another way to think about the AI investment bubble. The company designs chips for Google. Its revenue has shot up but the company is trapped in fulfilling contracts with lower margins. This all comes down to the picks-and-shovels vendors being unable to capture value in the AI supply chain. It’s another sign that the likes of Google, Microsoft, and Meta will reap the biggest benefits, no matter how the business of AI transforms in the coming years.

The cover art of Zero Shot is generated by AI. Everything else is made by humans.

We love to hear from our listeners! If you have comments, critiques, or suggestions, write to us at zeroshot@the-ken.com.

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Additional Reading

Tower of the Sun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_the_Sun

I’m Kenyan. I don’t write like ChatGPT. ChatGPT writes like me
https://marcusolang.substack.com/p/im-kenyan-i-dont-write-like-chatgpt

The Ken’s Case-Build Competition: Disrupt the Incumbents
https://the-ken.com/case-competition-2025/submissions/

Microsoft and Amazon’s multibillion-dollar bets on India
https://www.ft.com/content/d564ba34-7514-43ca-90db-b4fa01737a10

India’s e-bus dream is finally coming to life. The power grid can’t keep up
https://the-ken.com/story/indias-e-bus-dream-is-finally-coming-to-life-no-one-told-the-power-grid/

AI agents are starting to eat SaaS
https://martinalderson.com/posts/ai-agents-are-starting-to-eat-saas/

Broadcom tumbles 11% despite blockbuster earnings as ‘AI angst’ weighs on Oracle, Nvidia
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/12/broadcom-tumbles-10percent-after-earnings-as-ai-trade-sells-off-.html

Global funds view Indian stocks as a top hedge against AI risks
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-14/global-funds-view-indian-stocks-as-a-top-hedge-against-ai-risks