In this presentation, Delphi CEO Dara Ladjevardian explains how the idea of recreating a mind—first encountered in Ray Kurzweil’s How to Create a Mind—led her to build a digital version of her late grandfather’s mind for personal advice. She uses that experience to illustrate the limits of traditional media (books, videos, podcasts) which cannot answer specific, context‑dependent questions. Ladjevardian introduces Delphi’s core product: “conversational media,” a scalable, interactive digital replica of a person’s knowledge that can be accessed via text, call, or video. She demonstrates the concept by calling an AI persona named “Arnold,” who gives founder‑focused fitness advice, showcasing how users can have real‑time, personalized conversations with expert replicas. The talk then expands to real‑world use cases—creators like Jay Shetty, doctors such as Mark Hyman, and countless entrepreneurs and public figures—who use Delphi to monetize expertise, handle repetitive queries, and surface new insights. Ladjevardian frames the technology as a modern Library of Alexandria where any mind, from Nobel laureates to plumbers, can be consulted directly, emphasizing AI as a tool that amplifies human wisdom rather than replaces it. She concludes by linking back to her grandfather’s teaching about teaching people to fish, asserting that Delphi now lets us scale that teaching across generations.
Chapters
In 2014, I read How to Create a Mind by Ray Kurzweil, where he says that one day technology could be used to recreate your mind and make it available to others. Years later, I'm deep in the midst of my first startup. I had no mentors. I felt alone, isolated, and lost. I remembered Kurzweil's vision, and I desperately wished for it to be true because because I knew exactly who I wanted to speak to: my grandfather. My grandfather was one of the most successful entrepreneurs in pre-revolution Iran. At his peak, he had 30,000 employees, but he was put on the hit list by the Ayatollah and had to flee to the US with close to nothing. I wanted to be able to ask him, "What would you do in my situation?" And I had a book about him, but this is not a question a book could answer. And he had had a stroke a couple years prior, So I couldn't ask him myself. Remembering Kurzweil's vision and inspired by the capabilities of LLMs, I created a digital version of his mind that I could talk to and ask for advice. And this experience got me thinking about the ways in which we consume information. Reading books, watching YouTube videos, listening to podcasts, scanning LinkedIn profiles, these traditional media sources can reach millions, but you can't ask them a question. They don't adapt to ever-changing circumstances of our lives. So at Delphi, we've created a new form of media, conversational media, that combines the scalability of traditional media and the personalization of one-on-one conversation. You can create a digital version of your mind that people can talk to, or you can connect with others, your role models, top experts, even your great-grandparents in any language, geography, or time zone., and we make it easy. You connect your content, sit down for an interview mode, and we create an interactive version of you that others can text, call, or FaceTime. Already we have creators like Jay Shetty, doctors like Mark Hyman, and thousands of other business owners, creators, celebrities, even Cardinals using Delphi to scale their impact, monetize their expertise, handle repetitive questions, and surface new insights. Whatever problem you have today, there's someone out there who has been there before. And with Delphi, you can find them, ask a question, continue the conversation. In short, it's media you can talk to. Let me tell you what I mean. Now, due to time constraints, I can only call one of these people, and I thought Arnold would be the most interesting. So let's give our friend a call.
Hey, this is AI Arnold. What's on your mind today?
Hey Arnold, I'm a founder grinding 7 days a week. How can I make working out non-negotiable?
Tara, if the Pope and the President can work out, so can you. When I was building my career, I made training non-negotiable. By owning my mornings. Reg Park taught me this: wake up before the world does, and that time is yours. Even when I was filming 12-Hour Days or running California, I trained first thing. Set your alarm 30 minutes earlier and make it a ritual. Do it and you'll see how unstoppable you feel.
All right, thank you, Arnold. All right, so now I'm going to I'm gonna start working out more. Now, in the world Delphi builds, instead of Googling how to raise a Series A and reading generic blog posts, you can have a real conversation with a founder who's been there before. Instead of catching up on the latest parenting advice, you can have a conversation with an experienced parent who understands your specific situation. And if you have an entirely new situation, that you're trying to overcome, your digital mind can find the best person in the world that has navigated that challenge. It's like a living Library of Alexandria, except instead of knowledge trapped in scrolls, everyone can talk to anyone. From Nobel Prize winners to plumbers, from founders to parents, every mind matters. While big tech giants are using AI to automate you, we believe AI is best by putting it in your hands to amplify what makes you most human, your mind. My grandfather used to say it's always better to teach someone how to fish versus give them one. At Delphi, we can now scale our minds the same way we scale software and providing answers that only come from great conversations so that we can explore and educate across generations. And that's something I hope both my grandfather and maybe even Kurzweil would be proud of. Thank you.
