Putting New Ideas to Work The SJSU international cohort finishes with AI pitches, real teams, and a Silicon Valley send-off A few weeks ago I wrote about welcoming a remarkable group of students to San José State University—young people from a variety of countries in Asia and Europe such as Korea, Japan, Germany, Italy, China, and Mongolia, here to study science, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley. This past week that program came to a happy close. They stood in front of SJSU faculty and industry experts and presented the startup projects they had built in a pressure-packed couple of weeks. Many of the ideas used AI. The range was ambitious and specific: generative AI optimization for GEO/SEO, AI market-matching for spaces and services, AI-based elderly care monitoring, pet-care AI, AI-secured smart homes, AI sports coaching, and AI transportation applications. The ideas were strong. The demos were real. Innovation, at its core, is putting new ideas to work—and that is exactly what they did. What made the day memorable was not only the technology. English is not their native language, yet they presented with clarity and composure. Inside their teams they used English to plan, argue, revise, and ship—and they put Google Translate through its paces along the way. Different country cultures and personalities were in the same rooms, under the same deadlines, and they got along. They became productive teams. That is harder than it looks. It is also the part of Silicon Valley that does not show up on a campus tour or a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge. You learn it by building something with people who do not start from the same language, the same assumptions, or the same working style—and still finding a way through. These are the same themes I write about in AI L4IR: Leadership and the 4th Industrial Revolution and that we work on through the AI Institute of Silicon Valley: AI folding into hardware, software, the internet, and the edge, and teams learning how to adopt it with speed and discipline. Watching this cohort do that in miniature, in a few intense weeks, was inspiring. It is an experience I believe they will carry forward for the rest of their lives. Thanks to all the students; to the faculty from around the world; and to our own Silicon Valley team of close colleagues who made this program possible. It was a privilege to be part of it. See photos of the group below.

Santa Cruz Works New Tech on April 1 at Chaminade includes a rare Steve Jobs appearance for Apple’s 50th anniversary. ;-) If you plan on going, send me a message. 7:00 pm - Company presentations, plus 2 more to be announced soon Bandit Systems: Security should stop problems before they become expensive headaches. Bandit Systems’ RealTime Remote Guard Service uses AI video analytics, cameras, patented audio systems, and trained operators to resolve 98% of crime and trespassing incidents in under 60 seconds. Cora Nexus AI: Customer Success agents that actually do the manual work to serve and grow your customers. So your teams can focus on the human, relationship-driven work to drive growth. mimofit: mimofit is building a home-based training system for people with Parkinson’s and related conditions. By combining adaptive exercise, neuroplasticity research, and simple at-home use, the company aims to make meaningful therapy more accessible and more consistent. Subsense: Subsense is developing a non-surgical, minimally invasive brain-computer interface that uses biocompatible nanoparticles and a wearable headset to read and write neural signals. Starting with neurological disorders like Parkinson’s and epilepsy, the company aims to build a scalable platform for future human-AI interaction, communication, and cognitive enhancement. The Hidden Singing Superpower: Fresh from UCSC Grad Slam 2026, Matt Evans explores a fascinating question: why does music remain so durable in memory even as other memories fade? His work looks at the surprising accuracy of internal musical recall and what that reveals about the brain. Vispo AI: Vispo helps founders manage the legal foundations of a startup without drowning in paperwork or legal bills. Its AI-powered platform guides users through incorporation, SAFE financing, and compliance, acting like a legal co-pilot built specifically for early-stage companies. https://www.santacruzworks.org/news/santa-cruz-works-new-tech-april-2026

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