In this episode of The Venture Capital Podcast (VC.fm), hosts Peter Harris and Jon Bradshaw talk with Wally Wang, Founding Managing Partner at Scale Asia Ventures and a Business Insider Seed 100 (2025) investor, about identifying AI winners early — and scaling them across the U.S. and Asia (Japan, Korea, APAC).

Wally brings a unique mix of experience as a machine learning scientist (NYU / CMU / Microsoft), a former operator (YC-backed Pebble, acquired by Fitbit), and an enterprise founder who helped grow DataVisor (raised $150M+). Today, he backs AI infrastructure, enterprise AI agents, cybersecurity, developer tools, and robotics, with a strong cross-border thesis that helps founders expand globally and access strategic distribution partners in Asia.

We discuss:

• How to evaluate “real” AI founders vs hype
• AI moats: why product-market fit isn’t enough anymore
• What actually creates defensibility in enterprise AI (data, trust, workflows, integrations)
• Build vs buy in AI: when enterprises DIY vs purchase software
• Why vertical AI agents are safer than horizontal AI wrappers
• Cross-border expansion strategy: U.S. → Asia vs Asia → U.S.
• Robotics + physical AI opportunities and Asia’s hardware advantage
• Why enterprise + government budgets are still under-targeted