Jamal Khawaja from Symplii.ai
From Energytech Startups by collide.
February 17, 2026 · 55 min · Episode 91
About this episode
Jamal Khawaja discusses his journey in tech and the evolution of AI, focusing on its recent practical applications and the challenges in the job market.
Jamal Khawaja, founder and managing director of Symplii.ai, sits down to talk about his journey from studying scorpion mating habits in Brazil (seriously) to 25 years in tech at IBM, Deloitte, and Accenture before starting his own AI company. He breaks down why AI has been around since the 1960s but only recently became useful, how emergent capabilities let models do things they were never programmed for, and why entry-level jobs are facing the roughest market he's ever seen. Jamal explains his pivot from building an AI marketplace to focusing on last mile AI solutions for small companies, walks through a real example of AI agents listening to law firm client calls to auto-fill forms, and shares why being AI-first means doing the work yourself instead of delegating it to interns. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 - Welcome and Jamal's background 02:12…
People in this episode
Guest: Jamal Khawaja
Topics covered
- AI technology
- startup culture
- career transitions
- emergent capabilities
- entry-level job market
Keywords
- AI
- Symplii.ai
- startup
- technology
- job market
- emergent capabilities
- Houston
- career
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Symplii.ai, IBM, Deloitte, Accenture
Places: Brazil, Houston
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