The Pause That Can Save The World | Shekhar Natarajan | TEDxForbesPark
Can we build artificial intelligence that's not just smart, but good? After losing his father and welcoming his son, he discovered that the pause between "can we?" and "should we?" might be where humanity's future lies, in machines that choose love over logic, purpose over profit. He is not just a technologist—he’s a rearchitect of how the world moves. With over 150 patents and 25 years of leadership at Walmart, Disney, and Coca-Cola, Shekhar has quietly shaped the logistics systems that power our everyday lives. From pioneering large-scale crowdsourced delivery to designing the invisible infrastructure behind billion-dollar networks, his innovations have redefined the very physics of movement—blending precision with purpose.Born in India and educated at Georgia Tech, MIT, Harvard Business School, and IESE, Shekhar’s most formative education came in a single-room home shared with seven others. It was there that he learned the most vital law of systems: they must serve people first.Today, as a tech founder and visionary, Shekhar is leading a moral rebellion in AI. He is not just optimizing networks—he’s rebuilding them with ethics, equity, and empathy at their core. In an era of automation and speed, he insists on one non-negotiable: systems must feel. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
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