Ep 46. Beyond Apps: Why the Next Tech Revolution Must Tackle Energy, Food, and Poverty

Send us Fan MailIn this riveting new episode of Money Majlis, Suvo Sarkar welcomes Pablos Holman, the legendary hacker, inventor, and futurist whose creativity transforms science fiction into the fabric of our daily lives. Suvo engages Pablos in a conversation that reveals why the world’s biggest crises require not just incremental “apps,” but audacious, moonshot technologies that redefine what’s possible for humanity. Pablos’s career is a journey across innovation’s wildest frontiers: from pioneering cryptocurrency in the early 1990s and building spaceships at Blue Origin with Jeff Bezos, to serving as chief provocateur at Intellectual Ventures Lab, where he and his teams invent everything from nuclear reactors powered by waste to laser-based systems for eradicating malaria mosquitoes. Arguing that software alone cannot feed, clothe, or power humanity, Pablos frames deep tech as the force multiplier the world needs—technologies that target fundamental human needs like energy, clean water, food, and infrastructure, not just digital convenience. You will be enthralled as Pablos recounts his role as a go-to problem solver for visionaries such as Bill Gates, who entrusted him with some of the world’s hardest humanitarian challenges. The story of his “mosquito-zapping laser” is both bizarre and inspiring, exemplifying how radical ideas, cross-disciplinary brains, and relentless experimentation can tackle problems ignored by the status quo. For Pablos, true impact is achieved when innovation moves beyond surface-level disruption and addresses the root causes of poverty, disease, and inequality. This episode also dives deep into the philosophy of failure—why real innovation is born from environments that encourage wild experimentation and accept that 99 ideas must fall for one world-changing breakthrough to rise. Pablos’s investment approach in “shots on goal” contrasts the short-term, market-risk pursuits of Silicon Valley, pointing instead to the vast untapped markets in shipping, energy, agriculture, and durable goods that await visionary inventors and funders. Suvo and Pablos challenge listeners to rethink not just the ethics of invention, but the need for new frameworks of open collaboration and long-term thinking. The path to abundance, say both host and guest, lies not in regulating technologies we don’t yet understand, but in fostering curious minds and bold institutions willing to solve global-scale challenges for future generations. Tune in for a masterclass in courage, creativity, and compassion from one of technology’s great mavericks.  And remember to visit www.moneymajlis.com to redeem your complimentary GiveCard for a charity of your choice. Produced by : PoddsterGiving partner: Goodworld