Pittsburgh weekly roundup: A dual investor-founder’s career journey; AI implementation at a law firm; Three Mile Island-Microsoft deal

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A dual investor-founder on pitching AI

Nearly every company today wants to brag that it has AI. The tech’s skyrocketing popularity turned into a buzzword — seemingly, a necessity to nail down funding. 

We spoke with Ani Kapuria, principal at Wexford-based Blue Tree VC, to hear more about his career journey for our latest How I Got Here, but I also got his perspective on the tech. 

After a brief stint as a founding engineer to a decade in the consulting business, Kapuria, 38, recently completed his master’s of business administration at Carnegie Mellon University while working in venture capital. 

“That operator experience has been very useful to take an operator look in relation to the companies, as opposed to a more financial and higher level view,” he told Technical.ly. 

➡️ Read on for more details about Kapuria’s career journey

A local law firm lets AI do the menial work

In heavily regulated industries, leaders approach innovation cautiously. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it, for fear of adding a tangled mess to carefully crafted systems. 

Not at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, though. After many data privacy considerations and a sandbox period to test the tech, the law firm implemented a ChatGPT-run bot to help workers review large sets of regulatory documents and more.

Since launching the assistant, attorneys have developed creative applications, leading to several “lightbulb” moments, like a workflow to compare multiple contract versions and automatically flag key differences.

➡️ Find out how Buchanan took the AI assistant from idea to reality

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News Incubator: What else to know

• Three Mile Island will fire up its reactors in 2028, in a landmark deal with Microsoft to power its AI efforts. Despite its location close to Harrisburg, the effort will have economic ripple effects across the state. [Technical.ly]

• Vice President Kamala Harris spoke in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, laying out her economic plans if she lands the presidency and Pennsylvania’s fit in the political landscape. Watch the full speech here. [PBS]

• CMU professor Philip LeDuc, who researches new approaches to medical diagnostics, won a fellowship with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The honor is best known for once recognizing Thomas Edison. [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]

• Check out this guide to making Pittsburgh a robotics and AI hub, from Matt Smith, chief growth officer at Allegheny Conference on Community Development. He talked about the institutions and companies fueling the scene in a recent Q&A. [Robotics Tomorrow/Technical.ly]

• Pearl Street Technologies, based in Pittsburgh, won startup of the year at RE+. The clean energy event honored the utility software company for its innovation approach to backlog management. [Business Wire]

• Wexford-based Coeptis Therapeutics got an extension to make right with the 
Nasdaq and keep its place on the stock market. The company’s spot is at risk after it failed to keep a minimum bid price of $1 per share. [Coeptis]

• US Steel won over an arbitration board after disputes with the labor union. The disagreement related to the possible Nippon Steel merger, and the union not receiving notification of the agreement before it was reached. [US Steel/United Steelworkers]

On the Calendar

• Carnegie Mellon University and Innovation Works are teaming up on Sept. 26 to host the seventh annual AI & Robotics Venture Fair. [Learn more]

• On Sept. 27, Pittsburgh Technology Council will host TechFest, a professional development event targeting southwestern PA residents working in software. The Homestead event costs $55 to $170. [Sign up]

• The next B2B Software Meetup will take place on Sept. 30 at Alloy 26 North Side. [Find out more]

• Princeton University’s Nathalie de Leon will be in Pittsburgh to speak on her quantum computing lab and it’s research. The event will take place on Oct. 1 at CMU. [More information]

• Hacktoberfest 2024 begins on Oct. 1, and runs through the rest of the month. There will be weekly virtual meetups every Monday, and one in-person get-together on Oct. 14. [Details here]

• Partner event: Attend the AI Horizons Summit on Oct. 14 in Bakery Square. The $275 event will feature high-profile speakers like Gov. Josh Shapiro and former CNN Tech Correspondent Laurie Segall. [Register]