Why the Next AI Revolution Will Happen Off-Screen: Samsara CEO Sanjit Biswas

Sanjit Biswas is one of the rare founders who has scaled AI in the physical world – first with Meraki, and now with Samsara, a $20B+ public company with sensors deployed across millions of vehicles and job sites. Capturing 90 billion miles of driving data each year, Samsara operates at a scale matched only by a small handful of companies. Sanjit discusses why physical AI is fundamentally different from cloud-based AI, from running inference on two- to ten-watt edge devices to managing the messy diversity of real-world data—weather, road conditions, and the long tail of human behavior. He also shares how advances in foundation models unlock new capabilities like video reasoning, why distributed compute at the edge still beats centralized data centers for many autonomy workloads, and how AI is beginning to coach frontline workers—not just detect risk, but recognize good driving and improve fuel efficiency. Sanjit also explains why connectivity, sensors, and compute were the original “why now” for Samsara, and how those compounding curves will reshape logistics, field service, construction, and every asset-heavy industry. Hosted by Sonya Huang and Pat Grady, Sequoia Capital