Crypto exchange Binance’s Chief Product Officer discusses AI, superbikes and what excites him today
Absolutely no one can say with certainty what artificial intelligence (AI) will do. It could be the boost to brain power humanity needs to solve its most intractable problems, or the tool that allows us to destroy ourselves. For now, though, concerns about AI are a bit more prosaic. Should your crypto firm implement AI to save costs? Can you trust this machine to audit a financial contract?
This article is excerpted from The Node newsletter, which will send two issues daily during the Consensus 2023 conference with the biggest news from the event. You can subscribe to get the whole newsletter here or get IRL or virtual tickets for Consensus 2023 here.
Mayur Kamat, Chief Product Officer at Binance, is a long-time veteran of the tech industry. He has seen several trends take hold and transform the world: the rise of mobile, crypto and now AI. CoinDesk spoke with him during Consensus to get a sense of how the world’s largest crypto exchange plans to use AI and other “aha” moments in technology.
Why do you think crypto startups should start using AI in their operations?
What we are seeing with the recent developments with generative AI, every company in the world will have to include it in their roadmap or risk being outclassed by their existing and upcoming competitors. Crypto startups are no exception. The good news is that crypto startups are usually small, nimble and hungry
Can you tell me about the product development cycle for Bicasso? When did you get the idea and how long did it take to develop?
It was pretty quick. The idea started around November 2022 and by December 2022 we had a working prototype. We launched a small MVP [minimum viable product] and the response from the community blew us away. So now we will continue to expand our scope and reach. Bicasso is an experiment to explore the boundaries between Web3 and [generative] AI. If AI can create amazing works of art, how do we distinguish it from second-generation AI and human works of art? How do we establish ownership and authenticity in this new world? NFTs can play a huge role in this space.
When it comes to the Binance product development cycle, we don’t have a standard template. We have teams that turn zero into products like Bicasso or Binance Tax. Others make small improvements to the user experience. And many teams are working to improve know-your-customer (KYC) and compliance. They all have different requirements and follow the process that allows us to be fast, but also flexible.
Is AI a risk to crypto in general, given that there are countless incentives to exploit cryptographic networks using AI and much less to use AI as a white-hat hacker?
AI is a transformative technology, similar to how the internet was. It will be used for both positive and negative. Will it provide new tools for people to abuse this technology? Yes. Will it enable new scenarios for Web3? Absolutely. We need good players to adopt the technology faster and stay at the forefront.
Do you remember your first “aha” moment where you had an epiphany about the power/importance of technology?
I’m old, so this goes back a while. [laughs] Growing up in India, it was very difficult and expensive to buy music, especially English music. I remember the first time I put a CD I got from a friend and used an Mp3 ripper to create [an] Mp3 out of it. The fact that music can now be digitized and sent to anyone around the world within minutes blew my mind.
I had a similar epiphany on Web3 recently. My helper sends a significant portion of her salary home to the Philippines. Every month she queues for an hour at a local money exchange and pays 8% to send money home to her daughter. I showed her how to do it via crypto and the fees associated with it. And she had the same expression that I had when I made the Mp3. We live in magical times.
Grew up in Washington [state]how aware or proud of Microsoft were people?
Microsoft was my first job. I joined as an intern and loved it so much that I never interviewed with another company during my senior year and joined them straight out of undergrad. Microsoft in 2003 was top technology. My grandmother in India knew about Bill Gates. As an intern, I got to go to his house and spend some time with him. I felt on top of the world when I was hired there as one of the first product managers (PM). It’s still a fantastic company to work for. Some of my friends who joined me are still working there after 20 years.
I had a similar feeling when I joined Binance as a product manager. My grandmother sadly passed away a few years ago, but if she was alive she would have heard of CZ [CEO Changpeng Zhao].
As someone with a career in the field, would you say crypto is part of the broader tech industry?
Crypto is as technological as it gets. It is a new platform to encapsulate wealth and enable freedom of money. It uses the core cryptographic principles that enable modern security and commerce, and extends them to create new scenarios. Would you ask a similar question to someone working in AI?
What is the least discussed, most important technology in 2023?
I don’t think stablecoins get their attention. Stablecoins at scale will have a similar impact as email did. It makes money across borders as e-mails are communicated across borders.
Do you have a favorite Web3 app?
I’m a big fan of PancakeSwap. It is a comprehensive decentralized exchange (DEX), yet so fun and playful.
What do you think of the Solana phone or the idea of something similar?
I have been working with mobile for a while. I was involved in building early versions of Android and working with global phone manufacturers. Hardware is largely a low-margin business for anyone whose name doesn’t start with Apple. It is also a very slow business. It takes two years from the concept until you see users using it. Two years is decade in the crypto world. That said, I’m always curious when someone does something out of the ordinary. So excited to see how well [the Solana phone] do.
Do you think there is an end goal for technology?
Growing and pushing boundaries is what makes humans different from other species. We have evolved to have intelligence and are now pushing the boundaries of what intelligence means for machines. The world tomorrow will be different from yesterday. It may or may not be better, depending on who you ask. It will make us uncomfortable, and that’s where the best innovation happens
In three words or less, describe your view of crypto in the US
Binance doesn’t operate in the US and it’s been a while since I’ve left the US, so I don’t really have much more to say here than the average layman.
Anything you want to mention?
Would love viewer feedback on Binance products. We release something new every day (#BinanceBuild on Twitter) and feedback makes us better!
