Insights from WSJ Tech Live California 2025

By Ed Frank

Last week I had the privilege of attending 𝗪𝗦𝗝 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗮, an exclusive, invitation-only event with leading CEOs, investors, thought leaders and entrepreneurs. The event was hosted by The Wall Street Journal in California’s stunning Napa Valley.

Here are my key takeaways from the conference:

• 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱’𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹’𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:

Assaf Rappaport, Co-Founder and CEO of cloud security platform Wiz, spoke on the backstory behind the largest hashtag#tech deal in history: the company’s $32B acquisition by Google. Assaf gave us an insight into how he and the company achieved velocity so quickly, from being a graduate of Unit 8200 – Israel’s elite military intelligence unit – to identifying a market need and culture of entrepreneurship and innovation in Israel.

• 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁:

𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩: Michael Kratsios, Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, discussed the Trump administration’s tech and hashtag#AI strategy at a pivotal moment in the U.S.-China AI race;

𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚: Paul Testa, Chief Health Informatics Officer, NYU Langone Health, shared his insights on the role of AI in using the largest health data set to improve healthcare - from patient communication to treatment.

𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨: Bill Schlough, CIO, San Francisco Giants, illustrated how the Giants have been at the forefront of innovation in sports, from ABS - Automated Ball-Strike System - to fan involvement.

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙀𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚: Aparna Bawa, COO Zoom, spoke on customer engagement to close deals in the AI era.

𝙆𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚: Sarah Friar, CFO, OpenAI, explored the economics of hashtag#artificialintelligence against the background of over 800 million weekly users worldwide relying on ChatGPT analysis for personal and commercial use.

𝙄𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: Laela Sturdy, Managing Partner at CapitalG, the multibillion-dollar independent growth fund of Google parent company Alphabet, spoke on investing in AI applications impacting key elements of our lives.

𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙏𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙮: Michael J. Wolf, CEO at Activate Consulting, addressed how he views spatial computing as the next major platform shift: The world’s largest tech companies are investing heavily in VR/MR headsets and AI-powered glasses.

• 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 – 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗶𝗻:

Kate Johnson, CEO of Lumen Technologies, a global technology company driving AI-powered innovation at scale, shared her valuable leadership lessons, including how to pivot from a position of playing not to lose to one of winning; considering disruption as a battlefield; and creating a Mission of Value.

Roll on WSJ Tech Live 2026!