Tantra's Mantra with Prakash Sangam

At CES 2026, Lenovo showcased an exciting new AI innovation called QIRA, redefining what personalized technology can offer. This powerful, system-level feature works seamlessly across devices and platforms, enhancing user experience like never before, and it’s now being rolled out on select Lenovo devices.

In this episode, I had the privilege of speaking with Jeff Snow, the Head of Product and AI Ecosystem at Lenovo. We explored the inspiring vision behind QIRA, its capabilities, and how Lenovo is uniquely positioned to offer such an experience. Join us as we dive into how QIRA gathers insights, de...

At CES 2026, Lenovo showcased an exciting new AI innovation called QIRA, redefining what personalized technology can offer. This powerful, system-level feature works seamlessly across devices and platforms, enhancing user experience like never before, and it’s now being rolled out on select Lenovo devices.

In this episode, I had the privilege of speaking with Jeff Snow, the Head of Product and AI Ecosystem at Lenovo. We explored the inspiring vision behind QIRA, its capabilities, and how Lenovo is uniquely positioned to offer such an experience. Join us as we dive into how QIRA gathers insights, de...

At CES 2026, Lenovo showcased an exciting new AI innovation called QIRA, redefining what personalized technology can offer. This powerful, system-level feature works seamlessly across devices and platforms, enhancing user experience like never before, and it’s now being rolled out on select Lenovo devices.

In this episode, I had the privilege of speaking with Jeff Snow, the Head of Product and AI Ecosystem at Lenovo. We explored the inspiring vision behind QIRA, its capabilities, and how Lenovo is uniquely positioned to offer such an experience. Join us as we dive into how QIRA gathers insights, de...

For many years, RFID technology has been used by leading retailers such as Walmart, Macy's, and Lowe's. CVS, Zara, and others for theft prevention. But now, it is ready to go beyond this limited use case and transform supply chain logistics.

In the episode, I talk to Gagan Luthra, VP of Product and Strategy at RAIN RFID leader Impinj, about the history of technology, how it is currently being used, how it is evolving to support complex supply chain use cases, including Gen2X performance enhancements, new form factors, higher processing power, and more.  We also delve i...

Just like everything else, AI is profoundly transforming the security landscape. It is increasing the attack surface, sophistication, and impact. while also providing more potent tools to increase security.  In enterprise PCs, security and device management apps (as part of the Corp Image) significantly reduce performance. AIPCs promise to run apps more efficiently on NPUs.

In the episode, I talk to Nima Baiati, VP of Commercial Software and Security at Lenovo, about the evolving PC security landscape, the impact of AI, and the challenges of migrating security apps to the NPU.  We also delve into how to in...

This year's MWC took place as the telecom industry is at a crossroads, with additional monetization of 5G beyond mobile broadband less certain, smartphone growth flattening, AI influence increasing, and more questions than answers about the future.

In this episode, Neil Shah of Counterpoint Research, Leonard Lee of Next Curve, and I discuss our experience at the event, and analyze the traction and monetization of 5G Advanced, Autonomous Networks, compare and contrast the progress of Western and Asian markets, the opportunity for AI for telecom, early use cases, and the prospect of RAN for AI. 6G and...

Telecom was one of the earliest users of AI, long before its marketing hype and even before it was known by that name. The recent advancements are further propelling AI's use.

In this episode, I talk to Dan Warren, Director of Communications Research at Samsung, regarding the role of AI in telecom networks. We discuss its role in network operations, AI for RAN, AI with RAN, and AI on RAN concepts; how software-based networking and virtualization (vRAN/Open RAN) enable AI; who will develop and implement AI models; the scope of standardization; and more.

We...

The mind-numbing investment in AI and the sky-high valuations of the companies involved have led many to wonder whether AI has become a bubble.

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Riad Hartani, who is an advisor, investor, and a longtime time industry participant, on what is driving the investment - real market demand or FOMO, who is making those them, ongoing circular investment and risks, especially in Neoclouds, RoI concerns, consumer vs. enterprise AI dynamics,  whether AI is a bubble, what could be early indicators of a burst, if any, who will be worst affected, and m...

Qualcomm surprised the IoT market by announcing the acquisition of the open-source hardware champion, with a huge hobbyist/enthusiast builder ecosystem.

In this episode, I talk to Qualcomm's VP of Product Management, Industrial and IoT BU, Manvinder (Manny) Singh, about the reasoning for the acquisition, challenges of the IoT industry, how AI is changing the game, what Qualcomm brings to the ecosystem, how AI Hub and the other acquisition, Edge Impulse, fit together with Arduino, and more.

We also delve into what will and will not change for the Arduino's open-source spirit, as well as...

Qualcomm surprised the IoT market by announcing the acquisition of the open-source hardware champion, with a huge hobbyist/enthusiast builder ecosystem.

In this episode, I talk to Qualcomm's VP of Product Management, Industrial and IoT BU, Manvinder (Manny) Singh, about the reasoning for the acquisition, challenges of the IoT industry, how AI is changing the game, what Qualcomm brings to the ecosystem, how AI Hub and the other acquisition, Edge Impulse, fit together with Arduino, and more.

We also delve into what will and will not change for the Arduino's open-source spirit, as well as...

Qualcomm surprised the IoT market by announcing the acquisition of the open-source hardware champion, with a huge hobbyist/enthusiast builder ecosystem.

In this episode, I talk to Qualcomm's VP of Product Management, Industrial and IoT BU, Manvinder (Manny) Singh, about the reasoning for the acquisition, challenges of the IoT industry, how AI is changing the game, what Qualcomm brings to the ecosystem, how AI Hub and the other acquisition, Edge Impulse, fit together with Arduino, and more.

We also delve into what will and will not change for the Arduino's open-source spirit, as well as...

Qualcomm surprised the IoT market by announcing the acquisition of the open-source hardware champion, with a huge hobbyist/enthusiast builder ecosystem.

In this episode, I talk to Qualcomm's VP of Product Management, Industrial and IoT BU, Manvinder (Manny) Singh, about the reasoning for the acquisition, challenges of the IoT industry, how AI is changing the game, what Qualcomm brings to the ecosystem, how AI Hub and the other acquisition, Edge Impulse, fit together with Arduino, and more.

We also delve into what will and will not change for the Arduino's open-source spirit, as well as...

Qualcomm surprised the IoT market by announcing the acquisition of the open-source hardware champion, with a huge hobbyist/enthusiast builder ecosystem.

In this episode, I talk to Qualcomm's VP of Product Management, Industrial and IoT BU, Manvinder (Manny) Singh, about the reasoning for the acquisition, challenges of the IoT industry, how AI is changing the game, what Qualcomm brings to the ecosystem, how AI Hub and the other acquisition, Edge Impulse, fit together with Arduino, and more.

We also delve into what will and will not change for the Arduino's open-source spirit, as well as...

Lenovo Global Industry Analyst Conference (GIAC) 2025 was held in October 2025 at the company's US Headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a three-day event packed with Keynote Addresses, numerous panels, and breakout sessions discussing Lenovo's AI strategy and roadmap, while highlighting its market and technology leadership. There was a good amount of dialogue, Q&A, and exchange of ideas and views between the company's executives and analysts. 

 In this episode, Anurag Agrawal of Techaisle, Leonard Lee of Next Curve, and I recap and analyze the event, discussing how "One-Lenovo" and "Hybrid AI" strategies are moving from concept to...

Huawei organized two major events in September 2025. The first, Huawei Connect 2025, was a larger public event for customers, partners, media, analysts, and everyone else. The second, Analyst Talks, was a small, private analyst-only event. Both were held in Shanghai, China, and showcased the company's technology prowess and progress in the global AI race.

In the episode, I discuss the key takeaways from both events with Peter Jarich, a fellow analyst and Head of GSMA Intelligence. 

We delve into Huawei's progress in AI despite challenges, how it is coping with limited access to the latest technology, t...

After more than a decade of a dull period, the PC industry has seen some excitement, with AIPCs, Windows on Arm, the resurgence of Intel, and more. Amidst all this, Lenovo has continued to lead the market and brought excitement with its new concept devices, such as 360-degree display laptops, Rollable, VertiFlex, and others.

In this episode, I talk to Tom Butler, Lenovo's VP of Worldwide Commercial Portfolio, about AIPC traction, limited use of on-device AI capabilities & evolution, and the journey of introducing new concept devices, and more. 

We also delve into how sustainability is c...

Edge AI has been hailed as the future of AI. However, it is yet to take off, and most of today's investment is directed towards cloud AI. Notwithstanding that, some green shoots are emerging.

In the episode, I talk to Pete Bernard, CEO of the industry association, Edge AI Foundation, on the reasons behind the slow growth of Edge AI, the challenges the industry is facing, and what use cases and early segments are seeing traction. We also delve into the vision and mission of the foundation, exploring how it is helping the industry address challenges while...

Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold7 is a "no-compromise" foldable tablet-phone, and the ultimate productivity device, giving the category the best chance to be mainstream. 

In this episode, I talk to Tyler Gipson, newly minted Head of Mobile B2B Sales at Samsung America, about the company's B2B/Enterprise strategy, how he plans to translate Samsung's consumer brand equity into B2B leadership, role of foldables, especially Z Fold7, and services such as Galaxy AI, Knox and Dex in enterprises, as well as plans to address the hefty price-tag of Z Fold7, which is the only remaining hurdle f...

This year's Apple developers conference, WWDC, was held from June 9th to 13th. It saw many interesting announcements, including a harmonized version naming across all the OSs, interesting Apple Intelligence, and other features supported on Apple products. 

In this episode, Next Curve's Leonard Lee and I discuss the event's key takeaways, including Apple opening access to its on-device LLM to app developers, Apple Intelligence, iPadOS crossing the boundary into Laptop territory, new features coming to MacOS, and how many VisionOS features are entering other products. We also delve into some of the misses, including Siri, minimal focus o...

Network APIs are heralded as a game changer in the ongoing struggle of 5G operators to make a good return on their enormous investments in building these highly capable networks. Unlike previous attempts, stars might be aligning this time to make APIs successful. Aduna was formed by a collaborative effort between Infra major Ericsson and scores of handpicked large global 5G operators.

In this episode, I speak to Anthony Bartolo, CEO of Aduna. We discuss the reasons for Aduna's existence, how it collaborates with the GSMA's Open Gateway initiative and the Linux Foundation's CAMARA project, typical use...

AI is jumping from one hype cycle to another. First, it was simple AI, then came Generative AI, and currently, we are reeling from Agentic AI. The new term is already lurking—Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

 Actually, AGI is pretty old, dating back to the early 2000s. What is it, and why is it gathering attention now? I talk to the person who came up with the very term--Peter Voss, CEO & Chief Scientist at Aigo.ai.

We delve into how AGI mimics human learning functions, how it differs from Gen AI, why it is cost- and...

Industrial technology giant Honeywell is redefining the noble barcode scanner for the industrial age.

In this episode, I speak to Theodore Newman, Senior Manager of Global Application Engineering, and Steph Hobley-Lloyd, Global Offering Manager, about Honeywell's Swift Decoder SDK. We discuss the needs of barcode scanners for industrial and enterprise use cases, focusing on rapid, high-accuracy batch scanning, integrating the functionality into various types of devices and machines, and how Swift Decoder's flexibility and multi-OS support address these needs. Additionally, we explore how the upcoming support for AI will significantly expand its utility and applications.  

Cadence is well known for its Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools. However, it is also building its silicon business, with a collection of various IP blocks, and recently announced a system chipset in collaboration with Arm. 

In this episode, I talk to David Glasco, VP of Compute Solutions Group at Cadence, about the silicon business, product portfolio, target segments, Chiplets market and its evolution, and other topics. We also delve into the company's latest system Chiplet announcement, acquisition of Secure IC, how it fits into its silicon strategy, and more. 

Samsung launched its latest flagship Galaxy S25 Series smartphones during its Unpacked event in Jan 2025. This Gen AI powerhouse phone is powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile platform, customized for Galaxy. 

In this episode, I talk to Chris Patrick, SVP and GM of Qualcomm's Handsets and Wearables business. We discuss the company's long-standing collaboration with Samsung, enabling Galaxy AI on S25 phones, collaboration with Google for optimizing Gemini AI models for the Snapdragon platform, and more. We dig deeper into specific customizations Qualcomm has done for Galaxy, the evolution of AI and NPU capabilities, and what t...

This year, CES saw its highest attendance in the post-COVID era, attracting 141,000 attendees. As usual, the event saw many announcements across technology and product categories. Although AI was everywhere and IoT had a huge presence (albeit without that name), there wasn't a dominant theme.

In this episode, Leonard Lee of Next Curve and I analyze what we saw and heard and try to understand the key takeaways. 
We also discuss how automotive exhibits have changed, how industrial participation is increasing, and how CES has become a non-Chinese global show. 

Microsoft tried to redefine PCs in 2025 with the introduction of AI-infused Copilot+ PCs. Lenovo was among the top OEMs to embrace the concept and introduce a wide range of Copilot+ PCs powered by Qualcomm, Intel, and AMD SoCs.

In this episode, I speak to Steve Long, SVP of Commercial Business at Lenovo, on traction in the Enterprises, market drivers, new AI use cases, improving the performance of existing functions, the positive effect of Windows 11 refresh, choice of SoC vendors, and more. We also delve deep into how Lenovo employs Gen AI use cases in its operations to...

Electronic Data Automation (EDA) Tools and their providers, like Cadence, are not widely known but play a critical role in the semiconductor industry. 

In the episode, I talk to Rob Knoth, Group Director of Strategy and New Ventures at Cadence, about the EDA Tools ecosystem, the company's announcements at the Supercomputing 2024 event, its symbiotic relationship with AI powerhouse Nvidia, application of EDA tools beyond semiconductors and more. 

Ericsson held its Analyst Conference on Nov. 7, 2024, at its D-15 Labs Innovation Center in Santa Clara, CA. It was a packed event with many interesting sessions with speakers from Ericsson and scores of its partners, including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Meta, AWS, Google Cloud, Dell, Intel, and others. The theme of the event was "Programable High Performance Networks." As expected, the emphasis was on programmability, to scale the network up and down to make it fit the use cases, network scenarios, apps, and service needs.

In this episode, Leonard Lee of Next Curve and I discuss Network...

The Lenovo Tech World and Global Industry Analyst Conference were held in Bellevue (Seattle) from October 15th to 17th, 2024. During these events, the company showcased its vision for the industry through its "Hybrid AI" approach, technology, products, and services, as well as its broad industry partnerships.

In this episode, Leonard Lee of Next Curve and I discuss how Lenovo, with its "pocket-to-cloud" offerings, is well positioned for "Hybrid AI," how it is accelerating AI adoption by practicing what it preaches in its own operations, its entry into the Automotive space, Server water cooling leadership, reimagining Motorola's smartphone...

Lenovo Innovation World 2024 was held in Berlin on September 4th—5th. During this event, the company announced a slew of Copilot+ PCs powered by the new Intel Core Ultra 400v, AMD Ryzen AI 300, and Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus (8-core) SoCs.

In this episode, I talk to Olivier Blanchard, Research Director, Futurum Research, about the various SoCs, their strengths and weaknesses, the need for OEMs to position them well, specifically what Lenovo should do to maintain its formidable market leadership, and finally, key takeaways from the event.

Also, check out the reviews of these Copilot+ PCs po...

For the first time, an AMD executive joins our podcast. In this episode, I sit down with Salil Raje, SVP and GM of Adaptive and Embedded Computing Group at AMD. As a pioneer in the FPGA market, Salil provides unique insights into the industry's current landscape and AMD's strategic direction.

We delve into the status of Xilinx's integration into AMD after two years of acquisition, the challenges and opportunities of Edge computing/AI, and how AMD's upcoming Versal 2 platform aims to revolutionize this space.

Galaxy Unpacked, held in July 2024, unveiled a robust lineup of devices, including two groundbreaking foldable smartphones, a trio of advanced wearables, and innovative earbuds.

In this episode, I talk to Blake Gaiser, Samsung's Director of Smartphone Product Management, about the journey and evolution of the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6, how Watch 7, Ultra, and Galaxy Ring are coming at a stage when the line between consumer and medical devices is blurring, what made Samsung make a bold design change for Buds 3, and finally, the company's overarching strategy for Galaxy AI.

Also, please check out...

This is the fourth episode in our series, focused on analyzing the introduction of CoPilot+ PCs. In this, I discuss with Pooja Sathe, Director and category leader of Worldwide Commercial AI PCs at market leader Lenovo, about their "Windows on Arm" journey with Qualcomm from the early beginnings until Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus SoCs, the design principles behind CoPilot+ PCs, customer feedback, target enterprise profiles, and personas for these PCs, and what the future competitive landscape will look like when Intel and AMD SoCs enter the market.

We also delve into Lenovo's efforts to ensure a...

The ever-expanding edge computing landscape is a tangled web of diverse hardware, software,  and ecosystems. In this episode, I talk to Muneyb Minhazuddin, VP and GM of Network and Edge at Intel, about the challenges of Edge and how Intel's Tiber Edge AI platform helps its customers manage it. 

We delve into the need for Tiber, how it can simplify the complexities of Edge AI, go-to-market strategy, traction so far, the real-life applications and use cases, collaboration with Hyperscalers, Intel's new strategy on selling software, what the future holds, and more. 

In this episode, Leonard Lee of Next Curve joins me in discussing and analyzing the key takeaways from Computex and Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference.

Computex Buzz: CoPilot+ PCs Take Center Stage:
We explore how CoPilot+ PCs overshadowed everything at Computex, show and tell of Qualcomm, the announcement of Lunarlake by Intel, Ryzen Gen3 of AMD, both powering X86-based CoPilot+ PCs, opportunities during back-to-school season, changing competitive landscape by Holiday season and more.

Apple Intelligence Announcement:
We delve into Apple Intelligence, its current standing against competition, Apple's collaboration with Open AI, security and...

This is the third in the series of Tantra's mantra episodes analyzing the CoPilot+ PCs from the market, SoC, and OEM perspectives. 
In this episode, I talk to Hassan Anjum, Head of Product Management for Samsung New Computing Business, which covers the Galaxy Book series of premium laptops. 

We discuss the needs of premium PC customers, why Windows on Arm is different this time, app compatibility, competitive landscape, Samsung differentiation, positioning when CoPilot+ PCs with Intel and AMD arrive later in the year, and much more. 

Hassan says this will be Samsung's biggest PC lau...

This is the third in the series of Tantra's mantra episodes analyzing the CoPilot+ PCs from the market, SoC, and OEM perspectives. 
In this episode, I talk to Hassan Anjum, Head of Product Management for Samsung New Computing Business, which covers the Galaxy Book series of premium laptops. 

We discuss the needs of premium PC customers, why Windows on Arm is different this time, app compatibility, competitive landscape, Samsung differentiation, positioning when CoPilot+ PCs with Intel and AMD arrive later in the year, and much more. 

Hassan says this will be Samsung's biggest PC lau...

This is the third in the series of Tantra's mantra episodes analyzing the CoPilot+ PCs from the market, SoC, and OEM perspectives. 
In this episode, I talk to Hassan Anjum, Head of Product Management for Samsung New Computing Business, which covers the Galaxy Book series of premium laptops. 

We discuss the needs of premium PC customers, why Windows on Arm is different this time, app compatibility, competitive landscape, Samsung differentiation, positioning when CoPilot+ PCs with Intel and AMD arrive later in the year, and much more. 

Hassan says this will be Samsung's biggest PC lau...

This is the third in the series of Tantra's mantra episodes analyzing the CoPilot+ PCs from the market, SoC, and OEM perspectives. 
In this episode, I talk to Hassan Anjum, Head of Product Management for Samsung New Computing Business, which covers the Galaxy Book series of premium laptops. 

We discuss the needs of premium PC customers, why Windows on Arm is different this time, app compatibility, competitive landscape, Samsung differentiation, positioning when CoPilot+ PCs with Intel and AMD arrive later in the year, and much more. 

Hassan says this will be Samsung's biggest PC lau...

TELUS will be the first operator to use Open RAN for not only new 5G deployment but also to replace the legacy 4G network. Although the Government mandate necessitated the replacement, it was still a bold decision. TELUS will also be a multi-vendor true Open RAN deployment, with radios, cloud platform, RAN software, servers, and processors, all coming from different vendors. It expects almost 50% of the network to be Open RAN by the end of 2025.

In this episode, I talk to Nazim Benhadid, CTO of TELUS, on the factors that led to choosing Open RAN, their large-scale...