OpenAI's ex-B2B CTO on Keeping AI Aligned

How close are we to AGI, and what happens when AI systems stop behaving the way we expect?

Srinivas Narayanan, former CTO of B2B Engineering at OpenAI and former VP of Engineering at Facebook, joins South Park Commons Partner Prateek Mehta for a wide-ranging conversation on his Minus One to Zero journey, enterprise AI adoption, and AI safety.

They discuss the career choices that took him from two startups to Facebook and OpenAI, why a beginner’s mindset has mattered along the way, what is slowing AI adoption inside large companies, and how builders should think about reward hacking, alignment, and increasingly autonomous AI systems.

1. Srinivas Narayanan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srinivasnarayanan/ 
2. Prateek Mehta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateek-mehta-a571972/ 
3. South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply

Chapters:

(00:01:26) - How Close Are We to AGI? 

(00:02:26) - From IIT Madras to AI and OpenAI 

(00:07:32) - How to Find Problems Worth Spending a Decade On 

(00:12:38) - Building OpenAI Without a Playbook 

(00:15:24) - How OpenAI Built a High-Talent, High-Agency Team 

(00:18:12) - What’s Holding Back Enterprise AI Adoption 

(00:29:12) - The Future of AI Beyond the Digital World 

(00:36:42) - The Real Risks of AI and How to Think About Safety