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Benedict Evans

Benedict Evans

About

Benedict Evans is one of the most influential technology analysts in the industry. He spent years as a partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) where he became known for his annual "State of Tech" presentations that synthesize macro trends in technology.

His analysis is characterized by historical perspective - he consistently draws parallels between current technology cycles and previous platform shifts (PC, internet, mobile, cloud) to separate signal from noise.

Key Perspectives

Platform Shift Framework: Evans applies lessons from previous technology transitions to understand AI. Some industries were completely transformed by mobile; others barely noticed. AI will likely follow similar patterns.

Usage vs. Capability Gap: His observation that ChatGPT has 900M users but most can't think of what to do with it highlights the gap between power users and mainstream adoption - a pattern seen in every previous platform shift.

Bubble Pragmatism: "If we're not in a bubble now, we will be." Evans sees bubbles as potentially productive if they build useful infrastructure, not just as speculation to avoid.

AGI Skepticism: On AGI timelines, he notes it's either "already here and just small software" or "5 years away and will always be 5 years away."