Microsoft Research Podcast

Researchers across the Microsoft research community

An ongoing series of conversations bringing you right up to the cutting edge of Microsoft Research.

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23 episodes
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Thursday · length unknown
Microsoft Research Focus – Edition #97
Host Sowbhagya Suresh shares some of the latest news and cutting-edge research from across Microsoft—from understanding the challenges facing coding agents to uncovering how people use AI at work and improving extended-range weather forecasting. Show notes Research Focus newsletter on LinkedIn Microsoft Research Podcast
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October 20 · 38 min
Called to serve: Tech, research, and positive impact with Chris White
Lab Director Chris White has worked on research challenges with real-world implications—from new approaches to wartime data analysis to tools for combating human trafficking. He talks to program manager Weishung Liu about the influences that led to the work and more. Show notes
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October 6 · 39 min
What AI gets wrong and what failure teaches us
Jennifer Neville did not want to go into computer science—but that’s exactly where she landed. Neville discusses the starts and stops that led to her professional sweet spot and her work identifying “surprising failures” making it hard for AI to handle complexity. Show notes
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April 20 · 1 hr 1 min
Can we AI our way to a more sustainable world?
Doug Burger, sustainability expert Amy Luers, and optimization researcher Ishai Menache examine the global emissions implications of datacenter operations, efficiency gains, and AI's potential across electrification, materials, and food systems. Show notes
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April 9 · 54 min
Ideas: Steering AI toward the work future we want
Microsoft Chief Scientist Jaime Teevan and researchers Jenna Butler, Jake Hofman, and Rebecca Janssen unpack the New Future of Work Report 2025 and explore the ideal AI-driven working world. Plus, is AI a tool or a collaborator? And why the answer matters. Show notes
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March 23 · 1 hr 8 min
Will machines ever be intelligent?
Are machines truly intelligent? AI researchers Subutai Ahmad and Nicolò Fusi join Doug Burger to compare transformer-based AI with the human brain, exploring continual learning, efficiency, and whether today’s models are on a path toward human intelligence. The Shape of Things to Come podcast series
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March 3 · 2 min
Trailer: The Shape of Things to Come
Microsoft research lead Doug Burger introduces his new podcast series, The Shape of Things to Come, an exploration into the fundamental truths about AI and how the technology will reshape the future. The Shape of Things to Come podcast series
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Dec 1, 2025 · 56 min
Ideas: Community building, machine learning, and the future of AI
As the Women in Machine Learning Workshop (WiML) marks its 20th annual gathering, cofounders, friends, and collaborators Jenn Wortman Vaughan and Hanna Wallach reflect on WiML’s evolution, navigating the field of ML, and their work in responsible AI. Show notes
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Oct 6, 2025 · 52 min
Ideas: More AI-resilient biosecurity with the Paraphrase Project
Microsoft’s Eric Horvitz and guests Bruce Wittmann, Tessa Alexanian, and James Diggans discuss the Paraphrase Project—a red-teaming effort that exposed and secured a biosecurity vulnerability in AI-driven protein design. The work offers a model for addressing AI’s dual-use risks. Show notes
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Aug 21, 2025 · 1 hr 18 min
Coauthor roundtable: Reflecting on healthcare economics, biomedical research, and medical education
For the series finale, Peter Lee, Carey Goldberg, and Dr. Zak Kohane compare their predictions to insights from the series’ most recent guests, including experts on AI’s economic and societal impact, leaders in AI-driven medicine, and doctors in training. Show notes
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Aug 7, 2025 · 1 hr 15 min
Reimagining healthcare delivery and public health with AI
Former Washington State Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah and Mayo Clinic CEO Dr. Gianrico Farrugia explore how healthcare leaders are approaching AI when it comes to public health, care delivery, the healthcare-research connection, and the patient experience. Show notes
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Jul 24, 2025 · 1 hr 16 min
Navigating medical education in the era of generative AI
Next-generation physicians Morgan Cheatham and Daniel Chen discuss how generative AI is transforming medical education, exploring how students and attending physicians integrate new tools while navigating questions on trust, training, and responsibility. Show notes
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Jul 21, 2025 · 29 min
AI Testing and Evaluation: Reflections
In the series finale, Amanda Craig Deckard returns to examine what Microsoft has learned about testing as a governance tool. She also explores the roles of rigor, standardization, and interpretability in testing and what’s next for Microsoft’s AI governance work. Show notes: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/podcast/ai-testing-and-evaluation-reflections/
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Jul 14, 2025 · 34 min
AI Testing and Evaluation: Learnings from cybersecurity
Drawing on his previous work as the UK’s cybersecurity chief, Professor Ciaran Martin explores differentiated standards and public-private partnerships in cybersecurity, and Microsoft’s Tori Westerhoff examines the insights through an AI red-teaming lens. Show notes
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Jul 10, 2025 · 1 hr 31 min
How AI will accelerate biomedical research and discovery
Daphne Koller, Noubar Afeyan, and Dr. Eric Topol, leaders in AI-driven medicine, discuss how AI is changing biomedical research and discovery, from accelerating drug target identification and biotech R&D to helping pursue the “holy grail” of a virtual cell. Show notes
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Jul 7, 2025 · 49 min
AI Testing and Evaluation: Learnings from pharmaceuticals and medical devices
Professors Daniel Carpenter and Timo Minssen explore evolving pharma and medical device regulation, including the role of clinical trials, while Microsoft applied scientist Chad Atalla shares where AI governance stakeholders might find inspiration in the fields. Show notes
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Jun 30, 2025 · 34 min
AI Testing and Evaluation: Learnings from genome editing
In this episode, Alta Charo, emerita professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, joins Sullivan for a conversation on the evolving landscape of genome editing and its regulatory implications. Drawing on decades of experience in biotechnology policy, Charo emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between hazards and risks and describes the field's approach to regulating applications of technology rather than the technology itself. The discussion also explores opportunities and challenges in biotech’s multi-agency oversight model and the role of international coordination. Later, Daniel Kluttz, a partner general manager in Microsoft's Office of Responsible AI, joins Sullivan to discuss how insights from genome editing could inform more nuanced and robust governance frameworks for emerging technologies like AI.
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Jun 23, 2025 · 20 min
AI Testing and Evaluation: Learnings from Science and Industry
In the introductory episode of this new series, host Kathleen Sullivan and Senior Director Amanda Craig Deckard explore Microsoft’s efforts to draw on the experience of other domains to help advance the role of AI testing and evaluation as a governance tool.
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Jun 12, 2025 · 43 min
The AI Revolution in Medicine, Revisited: How AI is reshaping the future of healthcare and medical research
Technologists Bill Gates and Sébastien Bubeck discuss the state of generative AI in medicine, how access to “medical intelligence” might help empower people across healthcare, and how AI’s accelerating improvements are likely to affect both delivery and discovery.
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May 29, 2025 · 1 hr 18 min
What AI's impact on individuals means for the health workforce and industry
Ethan Mollick and Azeem Azhar, thought leaders at the forefront of AI’s influence on work, education, and society, discuss the impact of AI at the individual level and what that means for the healthcare workforce and the organizations and systems in medicine.
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