About Steve Chazin

For thirty years, I've helped build the technologies that changed how the world works. Now I'm focused on making sure everyone can use them.

About Steve Chazin

My Story

Artificial intelligence is one of the most transformative technology of our lifetimes, yet most people writing about AI are either trying to sell you something or scare you. I'm not interested in either. I just want to help regular people understand what's actually happening and what it means for their lives.

My goal is simple: become the person who makes complicated tech feel human and approachable. I want to be that trusted neighbor you turn to when you have a question about tech. I want to be the expert news programs call when they need someone to explain AI without all the jargon or hyperbole.

Who am I?

I graduated with a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University and went straight into building defensive missile technology at Raytheon. Five years on, I joined Apple during their darkest decade and resigned nearly ten years later when they were rudderless and adrift. Then, Steve Jobs came back and asked me to help him save Apple. I worked alongside people who reimagined what technology could do, and I learned something critical: the best tech is the tech that disappears. The stuff that just works. The thing you trust.

How did I get here?

Over three decades, I've led teams at some of the most influential companies in tech:

  • Cisco - I reimagined WebEx into the collaboration tool millions use today, while building a team collaboration tool that predated Slack
  • Salesforce - I led the integration of Dimdim's revolutionary web conferencing technology, bringing web chat to millions of people inside their browsers. While there, I earned a cool patent on a screensharing feature I'm sure you've used before.
  • Symantec - I was their first VP/GM for Cloud, bringing simple file sync and share tools to PC users, and where I earned another patent for simple, yet secure file sharing.
  • Alarm.com - I lead our next-gen sensing and AI solutions for home security, and helped build health and wellness products that keep millions of families safe. I'm particularly proud of this patent for turning the phone in your pocket into a sensor so you know at a glance that your loved ones are safe.
  • Avid - I helped saved this legendary film editing company from being destroyed by Apple because Steve Jobs wanted Final Cut Pro to "drive a truck" through their business (He was upset Avid moved from Mac to PC during the days when Apple was on death's doorstep). My biggest career win was out-marketing Steve Jobs while growing Avid's business. That was followed by my biggest career fail: building a video sharing site "Make.tv" long before YouTube launched, but being unable to get the Avid management team to see how this would change the world (and help them sell more editing tools.) "Why would anyone want to post video online?" This was 2004.

Here's my pattern: I kept building things before the world was ready for them. File sharing before Dropbox. Video sharing before YouTube. Collaboration tools before Slack. Cloud computing before "the cloud" was even a phrase.

I've launched four startups. I've led teams of 500+. I've scaled businesses from $0 to $1.3 billion. I gave keynotes to rooms full of doctors and executives in more than 20 countries. I was on ABC News, Fox News, and BBC television talking about where technology is heading. Heck, I was even in a documentary talking about my former boss/foe, Steve Jobs, and have an IMDB entry I never knew I needed.

But the moments I am most proud of is when someone walks up after a talk and says "I finally get it." Or when a neighbor asks me for advice where I can help them through their tech issue. Or after I learn something new that I simply must share with others because I know it can improve their lives. That is what I am chasing with this site.

When I was 7, my dad brought home technology from his lab that made me ask: 'How can wires think?' Fifty years later, I used AI to help save him when he fell in his Florida home. And now I'm building AI-powered bedtime stories for my grand daughter. I've lived the full arc - from punch cards to ChatGPT, from fearing technology to embracing it. And I'm here to help you do the same. - Steve Chazin

Why the focus on AI?

The Mac was the "Computer for the rest of us." It made hard technology accessible to everyone. I want to do the same for Artificial Intelligence, and make it simple for everyone. That's why my tagline is "AI for the rest of us." For the past fifty years, truly harnessing computer technology required speaking the machine's language. Learning to code. Thinking in logic and syntax.

That era is over.

AI is the first technology that speaks our language. You don't need to learn Python or JavaScript. You need to learn how to ask good questions and recognize good answers. That's it.

This is what I call the Digital RenAIssance. A moment as significant as the printing press or the internet, where the barrier between what you imagine and what you create disappears. Where "Vibe Coders" - people who can clearly describe what they want - can become as powerful as traditional programmers. And where normal people who have never coded in their lives, can become Vibe Coders.

I built an AI-powered bedtime story app called Dream Weaver to prove it. Not because I'm a developer (I'm not), but because AI let me turn an idea I had to brighten the day of my grand daughter into reality just by describing it clearly.

If I can do that, anyone can.

What I Do Now

I write about AI at stevechazin.com and on my weekly newsletter, Tomorrow, Explained. I make videos at youtube.com/@skytechio. I share insights on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn.

My content is free because I believe this knowledge should be accessible to everyone. Not just people who can afford conferences or consultants. Not just people with computer science degrees.

Everyone.

Because AI is going to reshape work, creativity, healthcare, education, and daily life whether we're ready or not. The question isn't whether it happens. The question is whether we help people adapt faster than technology changes.

I’m a Pragmatic Optimist.

I've been around long enough to see every major technology shift trigger fear. The internet was going to destroy privacy. Calculators were going to destroy thinking. Email was going to kill communication. Smartphones were going to ruin an entire generation.

And yet, here we are. Connected, informed, and empowered in ways previous generations couldn't imagine.

AI will be the same. Yes, it will disrupt jobs. Yes, it raises ethical questions. Yes, we need to be thoughtful about how we deploy it.

But it will also cure diseases, personalize education, eliminate drudgery, and unlock human potential in ways we can't yet imagine.

I choose to focus on that future. Not because I'm naive, but because I've watched technology empower billions of people over the past three decades. This time won't be different. It'll just be faster.

Let's Talk

Steve Chazin doing his thing at a Keynote in Dallas, TX

I'm building a speaking career around AI for everyday people. If you're looking for someone who can explain complex technology in plain language, who has the credentials to back it up, and who genuinely believes in the optimistic future AI can create, let's connect.

Subscribe to my newsletter Tomorrow, Explained at stevechazin.com and join me in exploring this remarkable moment in history.

Welcome to the Digital RenAIssance.

Thank you!

Steve

Steve Chazin makes AI make sense. After three decades leading tech teams
at companies like Apple and Salesforce, he's on a mission to show regular
people how to use AI without fear or confusion. No hype. No doom. Welcome
to the Digital RenAIssance.