Great stories outlast technology but AI is reshaping who gets to tell them, how they’re made, and how far they travel. That tension between storytelling and deep tech sat at the heart of our latest Zero Hour conversation.

A big thank you to Shalini Govil-Pai (Product & AI leader at Google, with an incredible journey from Pixar Animation Studios to YouTube to Google TV) and Raj Pai (Founder & Partner at Paiconic Capital , NASA technologist and deep-tech entrepreneur) for joining us for this insightful session.

Here are a few takeaway that stayed with us:

Technology can’t fix a bad story whether it’s Toy Story or an AI-first product, resonance with the audience matters more than the sophistication of the tech

The democratisation of storytelling — from YouTube to micro-dramas and live creator platforms, more people than ever can tell stories, but separating signal from noise is the real challenge

Curiosity as a career engine — careers built across chips, data, cloud, aerospace, and AI all compound when you keep tinkering, learning, and riding new waves

Relationships as real career capital — long-term trust, personal “boards of advisors,” and non-transactional networks quietly power the biggest inflection points