"This feels like 1996": Why a16z's Martin Casado believes the AI boom still has years to run (General Partner)

Martin Casado has lived through multiple tech waves—first as a founder, now as a16z’s leading voice on AI and infrastructure. He helped pioneer software-defined networking, then moved from academia to entrepreneurship, and today backs founders building at the frontier of technology as a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. In this conversation, Martin shares his unique perspective on the AI boom, his market-first investment philosophy, and why he believes we’re still in the early days of AI’s impact.We explore:• Martin’s path from game engines and simulations to investing at Andreessen Horowitz• Why Martin believes we’re only in “1996” of the AI boom cycle with years to run before any bubble• Why Martin approaches investing “from markets in” rather than “from companies out”• Why the AI coding market represents a potential $3 trillion opportunity• The transformation of Andreessen Horowitz from a small generalist partnership to a specialized 600-person organization• The concerning dominance of Chinese companies in open source AI models• Why Martin thinks AGI discussions encourage “lazy thinking” and obscure meaningful conversations• How World Labs is solving the 3D representation problem that could unlock robotics, VR, and more—Thank you to the partners who make this possibleAuth0: Secure access for everyone.