SPCX-For Whom The Bell Tolls

`AI Startups: Why Technical Excellence Without Business Focus Fails` How many technical teams at an early-stage AI startup can accurately describe their ideal customer? According to Alexander Berkovich, a principal engineer with close to 20 years across HP Research Labs, GE Healthcare, and Blackmagic Design: close to zero. That gap — between building impressive technology and building what clients actually need — is where AI startups quietly lose. Stewart Tinson talks to Alexander about the structural, cultural, and human factors that determine whether a technical team and its business leadership can function as one. Speaker: Alexander Berkovich, AI startup advisor and former principal engineer (HP Research Labs, GE Healthcare, Blackmagic Design, Akridata) You’ll learn: • Why hiring cheaper, junior technical staff to preserve runway slows development and increases churn • How documentation and process actively accelerate speed — not slow it down • Why “technically difficult” often means something entirely different to the CEO and CTO • How to structure POC feedback loops so client insight reaches the product roadmap • What a non-technical founder should actually look for when hiring a CTO • Why the business case — not the technology — must be your starting point Key topics: Tech-business gap • Startup hiring • Documentation & process • MVP scoping • CEO-CTO communication • ICP awareness • POC feedback • Founder-CTO relationship • AI differentiation • Team culture For CTOs, technical founders, and early-stage investors who need to understand why brilliant technology alone doesn’t build a company.