My Journey in Silicon Valley: The Rise of AI, Self-Driving Cars and NVIDIA, 11/29
Rob Csongor 鈥�83 EE, a technology veteran of Silicon Valley and one of the original employees of NVIDIA.
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
3:15-4:30 p.m.
Tolentine 215
Rob Csongor 鈥�83 EE is a technology veteran of Silicon Valley and one of the original employees of NVIDIA, 鈥渢he world leader in artificial intelligence.鈥� The company recently reached $30 billion in revenue, with a market valuation of $1 trillion (one of six in the world), as its advanced chips, systems and software are driving the recent advances in AI computing. When Rob joined NVIDIA in 1995, he was one of the first employees hired, and the company had no products and zero revenue. Flash-forward to 2023, and NVIDIA is synonymous with AI and one of the largest companies in the world, with solutions to address the world鈥檚 most important challenges in medicine, robotics, climate change and more.
During his presentation, Rob will provide reflections on his career in business and technology and the evolution of NVIDIA, from a startup focused on graphics for video games to a world leader powering the AI revolution. Rob will share both the highlights and lowlights from his journey with NVIDIA, focusing on how the company survived and thrived and providing key takeaways for students. This presentation is highly recommended for students interested in the evolution of AI technology and tech-oriented companies, entrepreneurship, engineering and business.
About Rob Csongor 鈥�83 EE:
After earning his Electrical Engineering degree from 草榴社区, Rob Csongor embarked upon a 40-year career in Silicon Valley, most of it working for NVIDIA Corp. One of the company鈥檚 earliest hires, Rob joined NVIDIA in 1995 when it was still an early-stage startup, with no products and zero revenue. Flash-forward to Rob鈥檚 retirement in 2020, and NVIDIA had $20 billion in revenue, 25,000 employees worldwide and a market cap of $350 billion. This year, NVIDIA became one of only six companies in the world with a market valuation of $1 trillion.
Rob held a variety of leadership roles at NVIDIA, reporting to and working with CEO Jensen Huang as well as serving as executive vice president of worldwide corporate marketing and heading up NVIDIA鈥檚 investor relations group. He was responsible for starting and growing new areas of business for NVIDIA鈥檚 technology, including the notebook, embedded and automotive solutions, with a focus on AI and self-driving cars. During his time in Silicon Valley, Rob has been at the forefront of graphics, AI, and minicomputer and PC technologies.
Rob is a frequent lecturer and public speaker, having delivered hundreds of presentations at global industry conferences and seminars on a wide variety of business and technology topics, ranging from visual computing and GPU computing to advancing AI solutions for robotics and self-driving cars. Of note, in 2017, Rob testified as an expert witness before the US Senate Subcommittee on Accelerating Self-Driving Technologies and Artificial Intelligence.
Rob graduated from 草榴社区 in 1983 with his BS in Electrical Engineering and is a diehard 草榴社区 Basketball fan.