Beginner's Mind
Blueprints for Builders and Investors
Hosted by Christian Soschner
From pre-seed to post-IPO, every company—especially in deep tech, biotech, AI, and climate tech—lives or dies by the frameworks it follows.
On Beginner’s Mind, Christian Soschner uncovers the leadership principles behind the world’s most impactful companies—through deep-dive interviews, strategic book reviews, and patterns drawn from history’s greatest business, military, and political minds.
With over 200 interviews, panels, and livestreams, the show ranks in the Top 10% globally—and is recognized as the #1 deep tech podcast.
With 35+ years across M&A, company building, board roles, business schools, ultrarunning, and martial arts, Christian brings a rare lens:
What it really takes to turn breakthrough science into business—how to grow it, lead it, and shape the world around it.
🎙 Expect each episode to deliver:
- Founder & Investor Blueprints: How breakthrough technologies scale from lab to IPO
- Historical & Biographical Frameworks: Timeless playbooks from the world's great builders
- Leadership & Communication Mastery: Tools to inspire, persuade, and lead at scale
Whether you're building the next biotech success, investing in AI, or leading a climate tech company through hypergrowth—this podcast gives you the edge.
Listen in. Apply what matters. Build companies that last.
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Beginner's Mind
EP 164 - Kat Kozyrytska: AI in Pharma Is a Yesterday Problem – Why Ethical Frameworks Can’t Wait
Imagine waking up to find your company’s most valuable IP leaked—not by hackers, but by the very AI tools you trusted.
This isn’t a distant scenario; it’s happening inside pharma and biotech right now.
And the cost isn’t just financial—it’s patient lives, broken trust, and an industry on the edge of losing credibility.
In this episode, Kat Kozyrytska shares how leaders can act before invisible risks become catastrophic. From her personal journey in post-Soviet Ukraine to building frameworks in global biotech, Kat reveals why “yesterday problems” with AI demand urgent attention today.
You’ll learn how data privacy failures propagate quietly, why embedding organizational values into AI is essential, and how collaboration across companies can safeguard innovation and accelerate therapies.
The future of biotech won’t be secured by hype or speed—but by trust, ethics, and the courage to act before it’s too late.
🎧 What You’ll Learn in This Episode
1️⃣ Why “yesterday problems” with AI in pharma are already costing billions
2️⃣ How data privacy failures silently erode trust, IP, and patient safety
3️⃣ The difference between collaboration and competition in biotech innovation
4️⃣ Why embedding organizational values into AI is no longer optional
5️⃣ The future of drug discovery, clinical trials, and manufacturing in an AI-first world
👤 About Kat Kozyrytska
Kat Kozyrytska is the Founder of the Cell Therapy Manufacturability Program and a global thought leader at the intersection of biotech and AI. With roots in Ukraine and a career spanning MIT, Stanford, Thermo Fisher, Sartorius, and global biotech startups, she bridges technical depth with ethical foresight.
💬 Quotes That Might Change How You Think
(00:14:50) "AI can amplify good or bad behaviors — the choice is ours."
(00:38:14) "Discovering dark personalities is like learning Santa isn’t real — traumatic, but suddenly everything makes sense."
(01:03:26) "AI speaks with absolute confidence, but confidence is not the same as truth."
(01:20:22) "AI gives us a rare chance to embed ethics and values into innovation."
(01:57:01) "If personalized therapies work better, we have an ethical duty to deliver them."
🧭 Timestamps to Explore
(00:05:16) From Math to Medicine – Kat’s unexpected path from equations to biotech leadership
(00:09:38) Inside a Nobel Lab – How neuroscience breakthroughs shaped her ethical lens
(00:12:27) Shadow AI – Why biotech leaders can’t wait to govern hidden systems
(00:23:03) Data Sharing Paradox – Collaboration vs confidentiality in pharma innovation
(00:31:31) Neurobiology of Manipulation – How dark personalities exploit human trust
(00:41:18) Hidden Privacy Risks – What your everyday data footprint really reveals
(00:52:17) Soviet Control vs American Individualism – Lessons for AI governance today
(00:57:30) The Danger of One Answer – Why converging on a single AI truth is risky
(01:02:51) Confidence ≠ Expertise – Rethinking how we trust AI in science
(01:18:16) Embedding Core Values – How leaders can align AI with human ethics
(01:51:28) Breaking Down Silos – Th
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