Carter Huffman

@MIT alum | Formerly @NASA @NASAJPL | Current CEO & Co-founder of @Modulate_ai

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

I used to teach spacecraft to see.

Now I teach software to listen.

@modulate_ai recently raised $25M, led by Future Ventures, to build the listening layer for AI.

Cosmology → JPL → voice. Here’s the path 🧵

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

@TheAtlantic’s @Tyrangiel on the @mastersofscale Summit stage brought the theme of agency front and center for the second last session of the day.

He highlighted that we have agency in shaping the future of #AI in two important ways:

1. Prioritizing properly defining what we DON’T want AI to do. The AI we DON’T want.
2. Asserting what we DO want it to achieve. This is equally important.

With safety and empathy at the center, AI can dramatically improve lives.

The future of AI is a choice. OUR choice.

#MoSSummit @modulate_ai

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

As a first time CEO, it’s pretty awesome to watch @Google’s former CEO @ericschmidt talk about leadership and #AI.

Leadership doesn’t happen by accident. It’s a privilege and with that privilege comes responsibility.

The question isn’t just what you can accomplish with your position, power and influence. It’s what you choose to do with them and who you lift up along the way!🙌

Another powerful reminder from the @mastersofscale Summit stage.

#MoSSummit @modulate_ai

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

Human connection matters!! And it shouldn’t be an afterthought. Perhaps my favorite recurring theme at the @mastersofscale Summit in #SanFrancisco: Keep humans at the center. Always.

As #AI becomes more capable, human agency, creativity and judgment become even more important.

Especially when the stakes are high, humans MUST remain in the loop.

The goal isn’t to remove people from the equation. It’s to empower them.

Technology should amplify human potential, not diminish it.

What do you think?🤔

#MoSSummit @modulate_ai

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

Another recurring theme at the @mastersofscale Summit: #AI is about choices, not inevitabilities.❗️

Almost all sessions so far have asked a version of these questions⬇️
What happens to our cognitive abilities when we surrender more of our thinking to AI? Do they atrophy? How do we prevent that?

What do we choose to surrender to technology…and what do we protect?🤔

Do we use AI to augment human potential or replace it? For example: Do we dismantle education as we know it, or reimagine it for the better?

These aren’t predetermined outcomes. They’re choices.

We have agency. We get to decide. And those decisions matter.

#MoSSummit @IuliaNandrea @modulate_ai

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

.@karaswisher and @netflix’s co-founder @reedhastings cracking jokes on the @mastersofscale Summit stage and reliving Netflix’s startup roots and how touch and go that journey can be.🙃

Love hearing what Reed has learned over the years and it’s pretty simple:
💭 Startups take a lot of imagination. Be creative. Be bold.
⏩ When you’re in a climate when things are constantly changing, you have to be willing to bet forward.
‼️ If you’re willing to be radical, you have to get some stuff wrong. And be comfortable with that.

#MoSSummit @modulate_ai

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

Watching the incredible @ariel_ekblaw, CEO of @aurelia_labs, on stage with @reidhoffman @mastersofscale Summit nerd out about space! My kind of convo!! She even mentioned @NASA and @NASAJPL 🙌

One of the powerful examples she cited around the idea of the possible benefits of space to help us here on earth 🌏 — is how @Merck used microgravity aboard the ISS to advance Keytruda’s formulation…helping turn lengthy cancer treatment infusions into one-minute injections!!🤯👏
#MoSSummit @modulate_ai

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

.@Walmart president & CEO John Furner on the @mastersofscale stage at #MoSSummit bringing up a reoccurring theme here: alignment. It’s not only vital to have personal alignment, but what does it mean to have #AI alignment?

How do you MAINTAIN alignment during change in an organization, big or small?

As a startup, for @modulate_ai, change is inevitable and par for the course. In the age of AI, it’s often at rocket speed🚀 But it’s how you grow. The ability to pivot, adapt and be flexible is paramount, but proper alignment? That might just be the secret sauce!🙃

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

Loved the kickoff @mastersofscale Summit conversation between @reidhoffman and @OpenAI’s @thefriley highlighting the theme of “Our Agency. Now.”

There’s a lot of fear right now about #AI: people are worried it will take their jobs or cognition or agency. But what if we reframed how we look at agency and deemed it a mindset? Agency as a mindset in the age of AI. What could this unlock for companies? Or for people in their personal & professional lives every day?

#MoSSummit @modulate_ai

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

Loved meeting @kaliouby, @natlikethat, @gabizij & Eric Cohen last night! More awesome convos to come!!

@IuliaNandrea @modulate_ai

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

In a world increasingly powered by #AI, there’s something really powerful about getting people in the same room!

Human connection is a central pillar of #MastersOfScale Summit. And it’s a reminder of something we think about a lot at @modulate_ai: that AI is getting remarkably good at talking🗣️But meaningful communication is about more than words.

How do we make sure #VoiceAI strengthens human connection rather than replacing it? #MoSSummit

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

In a world increasingly powered by #AI, there’s something really powerful about getting people in the same room!

Human connection is a central pillar of #MastersOfScale Summit. And it’s a reminder of something we think about a lot at @modulate_ai: that AI is getting remarkably good at talking🗣️But meaningful communication is about more than words.

How do we make sure #VoiceAI strengthens human connection rather than replacing it? #MoSSummit

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

I talk to an AI voice assistant every day. It’s genuinely useful.
But when I say “wait, that’s not what I meant,” it keeps talking for about four more seconds.

A human would stop instantly. Or get called rude.

That’s where voice AI is right now: useful, but still young. It fails in ways people don’t expect and don’t know how to design around. One day it’s perfect. The next it’s mispronouncing words, stuttering, lagging, talking over you.

The catch is that most of that never shows up in a transcript. The words look fine. The conversation wasn’t.

If you’re running voice agents across thousands of calls, you can’t read your way to these failures.

You have to listen.

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

.@modulate_ai’s spirit animal is here in #SF in the form of this colorful column @mastersofscale Summit😜…boasting a rather large reminder that the future is bright and the future is ours!!📈🚀

#MoSSummit

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

In #SF at the @mastersofscale Summit with my CoS @IuliaNandrea kicking things off right…with a little Q&A and a high five🙌

What happens when #AI stops being a tool we use and starts becoming an active participant in how we communicate? I want to hear your thoughts @X community!

#MoSSummit #VoiceAI @modulate_ai

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

If you missed my @LinkedIn live with @donlterry, you can watch it anytime here⬇️
https://t.co/993fBXWw1X

@modulate_ai

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

Live in 1 hour.

Voice fraud is getting better at sounding human. We’re talking about what gives it away anyway.

3PM ET: https://t.co/DGwgsZpe84

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

@donlterry see you online soon! Really looking forward to this conversation!!

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

Plot twist: Even at #MoSSummit, the AI agents won’t stop calling!🤖📞

Taking a quick Summit break today to go live with our @modulate_ai CRO Don Terry at 3PM ET!

On the agenda: AI callers, voice fraud and why hanging up on the future certainly isn’t the answer.

Join us on LinkedIn Live!🎙️⬇️

https://t.co/Ir4porbVW3

[Carter Huffman @whuffman]

Plot twist: Even at #MoSSummit, the AI agents won’t stop calling!🤖📞

Taking a quick Summit break today to go live with our @modulate_ai CRO Don Terry at 3PM ET!

On the agenda: AI callers, voice fraud and why hanging up on the future certainly isn’t the answer.

Join us on LinkedIn Live!🎙️⬇️

https://t.co/Ir4porbVW3