Why India’s Smartest Engineers Are Choosing Open Source Over AI Hype | Zerodha CTO Kailash Nadh

In conversation with Technology Journalist Vandana Nair, Kailash Nadh, CTO of Zerodha, India’s largest broking company, decodes AI and open-source culture in India. Kailash shares his insights on why Zerodha has always prioritised open-source technologies over trendy AI solutions, and how this decision has shaped their journey to becoming India’s largest stock brokerage firm. With a small but highly efficient tech team, Zerodha has scaled its operations by focusing on first principles, free and open-source software, and a cautious approach to AI integration. In this interview, Kailash offers a brutally honest take on the current AI hype cycle, the future of AI and jobs in India, and the challenges of adopting AI responsibly in critical sectors like finance. He also discusses the rise of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), the growing influence of India’s open-source community, and why he believes the smartest engineers are choosing open-source innovation over AI hype. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast, a startup founder, or someone curious about the future of technology in India, this is a conversation packed with deep insights and thought-provoking ideas. #fintech #zerodha #zerodhalivetrading Chapters: 00:00 - 01:17 - Intro 01:18 - 04:26 - Tech Journey 04:27 - 5:27 - Open Source Infra 05:28 - 06:14 - Reliance on Open Source 06:15 - 07:25 -  Open Source Database 07:28 - 09:42 -  AI integration at Zerodha 09:43 - 10:45 - Jobs with AI 10:46 -12:39 -  AI in Finance 12:40 -14:14 - AI Bubble and hype circle 14:15 -16:01 - Google Search 16:02 - 20:18- AI agents 20:19 - 21:26  Multimodality 21:27- 26:14 - FOSS 26:15 - 29:24- India's Open Source Community 29:25 - 31:36- Evolution of learning 31:37 - 32:59-  AI Predictions 33:00- 35:34 -  AGI 35:35 - 39:38 - Knowing Kailash Nadh