Shawn Ryan Show
#190 Shyam Sankar - Chief Technology Officer of Palantir: The Future of Warfare
10 Apr 2025
Shyam Sankar is the Chief Technology Officer at Palantir Technologies. A builder at heart, he’s spent over 20 years designing and deploying cutting-edge software and AI for both government and private sector partners. As Palantir’s 13th hire, Shyam helped take the company from scrappy startup to S&P 500 powerhouse. A relentless opponent of inefficiency and red tape, Shyam has made it his mission to overhaul the institutions holding America back—starting with the government. His focus? The Defense Reformation: a bold effort to transform how the U.S. military buys, builds, and fights so we can win—and keep winning. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: https://roka.com - use code SRS https://tryarmra.com/SRS https://BetterHelp.com/SRS https://Blackbuffalo.com https://boncharge.com/SRS https://MeetFabric.com/SHAWN https://ShawnLikesGold.com | 855-936-GOLD https://Helixsleep.com/SRS https://hexclad.com/SRS https://hillsdale.edu/SRS https://PatriotMobile.com/SRS | 972-PATRIOT https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/SRS Download the app today and use code SRS https://RocketMoney.com/SRS Shyam Sankar Links: X - https://x.com/ssankar Substack - https://www.shyamsankar.com LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shyamsankar On The Defense Reformation - https://18theses.com First Breakfast - https://www.firstbreakfast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Full Episode
With AI and the AI revolution, people think, oh, it's going to make the median person better. That's true. But it's going to make the very best person superhuman.
Hot news right now is the tariffs just came out yesterday. I'm just curious, what are your thoughts on that?
When Rocket Man was rattling his saber in 2017, the Army wanted to answer the question, how many tanks are there in the Army? That is a three-week data call. Are you serious? So Operation Paperclip was our covert action to bring the very best scientists from Nazi Germany to the US to enable our defense program, in particular our rocket and space program.
How worried do we need to be about China? Sham Sankar, welcome to the show, man. Great to be here. Thanks for having me, Sean. Yeah, my pleasure. We had Joe on, what, maybe...
four months ago ish and uh man i'm just fascinated with with what you guys are doing over at palantir and uh it is just i'm super excited about this interview and i want to dive more into that and you've got a hell of a life story so i'm really excited to do this thank you for coming thank you but uh everybody starts off with an introduction here so
Shyam Sankar, Chief Technology Officer and employee number 13 of Palantir Technologies. BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University and an MS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University. Spent over two decades building and delivering disruptive software and AI solutions for the government and the private sector.
widely known as the sworn enemy of slowness and slayer of bureaucracy. I love that. Dedicated your career to upending institutions that are failing American people, starting with the government. The Defense Reformation is your manifesto, which you can read at 18thesis.com. Your goal is to fix the way our military buys weapons and wages war so that America can always win.
And you have a quote that I really like. My parents' journey showed me that America is not a place where everything is perfect, but is a place where anything is possible. Love that quote, man. But, you know, I just have, I got a ton of respect for you. I mean, from where you've grown up, which we'll dive into, to where you are today. And it's just, it's fascinating.
And I think it brings a lot of hope. I mean, you've earned everything that you've accomplished. And I just, I absolutely love these type of stories. So once again, thank you for being here.
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