Sangeet Paul Choudary

Dubai

Contributor at Platforms, AI, and the Economics of BigTech

Author, Platform Revolution | 4x HBR Top 10 | Advisor to 50 of the Fortune500 Tweets on AI, platform ecosystems, BigTech. Also: https://t.co/jRd5PzfzHn

Articles

Hype as Infrastructure [Guest]

1 week ago | artificialintelligencemadesimple.substack.com | Sangeet Paul Choudary

It takes time to create work that’s clear, independent, and genuinely useful. If you’ve found value in this newsletter, consider becoming a paid subscriber. It helps me dive deeper into research, reach more people, stay free from ads/hidden agendas, and supports my crippling chocolate milk addiction. We run on a “pay what you can” model—so if you believe in the mission, there’s likely a plan that fits (over here).
The fugu guide to jobs in a world of AI

3 weeks ago | platforms.substack.com | Sangeet Paul Choudary

In Japan, a licensed fugu chef occupies a unique position in the food economy. Preparing this pufferfish requires years of training and certification. And that’s because eating the dish comes with the risk of fatal poisoning. You would expect that a meal that had the possibility to kill you wouldn’t have nay takers. This is the fugu paradox. People pay a premium not despite the risk, but precisely because of it.
Don't sell shovels, sell treasure maps

1 month ago | platforms.substack.com | Sangeet Paul Choudary

In 1849, a swarm of men poured into California, lured by rumours of rivers filled with gold. This was the Gold Rush, where everyone rushed toward the same valleys and set up camp beside the same creeks. All drunk on the same hype. All nodding in unison to create consensus theatre. The smarter ones didn’t dig at all. They sold shovels instead. Somehow, that’s the metaphor that stays on every time we talk about a gold rush. In a gold rush, they say, don’t dig for gold. Sell shovels instead.
Humans as 'luxury goods' in the age of AI

1 month ago | platforms.substack.com | Sangeet Paul Choudary

A bottle of wine sells for $80 in stores. The restaurant charges $400. It still sells. And people go back for more. The sommelier tells them a story about the vineyard, about a sixth-generation family continuing a tradition. Some of it might be true. It doesn’t really matter. The wine tastes better now. The diners think they’re paying for wine. What they’re actually buying is the sommelier; his vibe, his wit, his ability to make them feel like connoisseurs. The sommelier isn’t in the wine business.
The vibe coding paradox

1 month ago | platforms.substack.com | Sangeet Paul Choudary

The economics of abundance are a funny thing!With the fall of the Berlin Wall, much of Eastern Europe experienced a rapid shift from censorship to expression. What followed alongside the political transformation was an explosion in media as previously underground pamphlets became national newspapers and long-suppressed ideas started showing up on public forums, free from restrictions. The barriers to expression had fallen.
The many fallacies of 'AI won't take your job, but someone using AI will'

1 month ago | platforms.substack.com | Sangeet Paul Choudary

In the years between the two World Wars, France built The Maginot Line - a line of fortifications stretching along its eastern border. The Maginot Line was an unshakable defence; a masterpiece of military design comprising underground bunkers and armored gun turrets, with rail lines connecting garrisons. It was built to prevent the kind of trench warfare that had devastated Europe barely a generation earlier. It was, by all accounts, a perfect answer to the wrong question.
When answers get cheap, good questions are the new scarcity

2 months ago | platforms.substack.com | Sangeet Paul Choudary

In 19th-century Paris, the Académie des Beaux-Arts defined what counted as legitimate art. Realism, the prevailing standard, emphasized precision and visual accuracy. Success was based on how well you aligned with these norms. The system rewarded consistency, not experimentation. The invention of photography in the 1830s and 1840s began to challenge this standard. At first, photography seemed like a threat to painters.
AI and the strategic value of hype

2 months ago | platforms.substack.com | Sangeet Paul Choudary

In medieval warfare, survival was determined by how well you could keep enemies out. Castles were surrounded by moats, designed to slow down invaders. The moat was the barrier that gave you time and leverage. You won by making conquest harder than it was worth. Warren Buffett made the metaphor famous in investing circles. The best businesses, he said, have economic moats, which come in many forms - network effects, learning effects, regulatory capture, resource control, and so on.
Reshuffle - My next book is now available for pre-order

2 months ago | platforms.substack.com | Sangeet Paul Choudary

My next book Reshuffle is now available for pre-orders. There is no dearth of books on AI. But Reshuffle is different because it doesn’t try to explain the impact of AI through the familiar lenses of automation and productivity. At best, these lenses help uncover first-order effects of AI.
The AI 'arms race' fallacy

Feb 4, 2025 | platforms.substack.com | Sangeet Paul Choudary

Marc Andreessen calls DeepSeek AI’s Sputnik moment. Yes, it did catch the US unprepared but that’s where the ‘space race’ analogy ends. Today's AI race is not merely an 'arms race' nor is DeepSeek easily explained away as just a Sputnik moment. This race is playing out against the larger backdrop of more than a decade of technology infrastructure export by the largest economies around the world.