What The Under 30 Summit Revealed About The Future Of Tech, Investing, Defense, And Entertainment

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Business is changing: New technologies like social media, streaming and now AI have been transforming our industries over the last 20 years. This week, Forbes brought together thousands of the brightest young minds and seasoned veterans to talk about how those changes have jumpstarted their careers, as well as what’s to come.

Hemant Taneja, CEO and managing partner at General Catalyst, took the stage to rehash his journey to becoming one of the world’s top investors—and most sought-after sources for funding advice. Taneja was an early backer of some of the biggest names in tech today, like Stripe, Snap, Anduril, Grammarly and Gusto. Now, he says AI will be at the core of most of the startups investors are considering.

“The role of technology is becoming more and more profound… we’re now thinking about a completely different level of efficacy in society,” he told Forbes’ Steven Bertoni on stage. He added that the transformation has led him to ask himself and his portfolio companies questions like: “How do we rethink work?” “How do we drive abundance with AI?” “What is the cultural norm going to be when you have this second species that perhaps is not conscious, but is as intelligent and complementary to us?”

The same questions have impacted all sorts of startups. Take Brinc Drones, for instance, which was founded by Under 30 alum Blake Resnick. Resnick gave the audience a demo to show how AI is helping him deploy drones to emergency situations and act as first responders’ additional eyes and ears. He’s raised over $150 million and his entire supply chain is housed on American soil. It was no easy feat, given China’s dominance in drone tech and components. But as a public safety company serving 911 responders, sourcing domestically was a must.

Even industries that have been historically hesitant about the usage of AI are leaning in. Take Zoe Wrenn, Under 30 alum and founder of Tamber, a music platform that uses AI to help artists produce and improve their music (without any synthetic sounds). She has more than $3 million in funding from investors like M13, Rachhouse VC and the musical group Rüfüs Du Sol.

As a solo founder, she shared her best bits of advice for raising money in today’s AI-hungry climate: “It’s easy to take the right money from the wrong people,” she said, adding that finding investors who truly understand the mission of the startup (which in her case includes understanding the importance of a creator’s role in the business development process) is just as important as the dollar figure.

But not all thoughts on AI were positive, especially when it came to the actors in the room. They’re particularly conscious of the impact AI might have on their work.

“I don’t love AI, to be completely honest, I do think it’s concerning since there was a whole strike for this, or things like AI actresses,” said Marissa Bode, who starred in Wicked last year. “Acting is a craft that people have worked on for centuries. When things like AI, which should be remembered as ‘artificial’ intelligence, are taking away [opportunities] from real people,” we should at least take pause, she said.

They’re not shying away from new forms of entertainment all together, though. The streaming economy, for instance, was also top of mind. Actor Lili Reinhart spoke about her production company, Small Victory Productions’ first-look deal with Amazon Studios. And Netflix and Apple TV+ also got a shoutout: “I’m very grateful for streaming because now there’s a lot more opportunities,” said Keyla Monterroso Mejia, who stars in The Studio from Apple TV+. “In network TV, there’s like three slots per hour…” whereas with streaming, it’s hundreds of shows being developed. “That means more job opportunities, more auditions.”

Read more about the conversations, debates, and insights revealed at this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit at the event’s live blog, here.

More later,

Alex and Zoya

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Lister Lowdown (U30 Summit Edition)

-When asked by Forbes’ Randall Lane if he planned to run for president again, 2024 presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy didn’t hold back: “Plans are stupid,” he said kicking off the 2025 Forbes Under 30 Summit in Columbus, Ohio. Speaking to a packed audience of young entrepreneurs, Ramaswamy emphasized that life rarely unfolds the way we expect, and plans often don’t turn into reality. Still, he’s living proof that living spontaneously pays off. A 2014 Under 30 alum, Ramaswamy has since built a $1.3 billion fortune.

-Lucy Guo, the youngest self-made woman billionaire, revealed a new talent at the 2025 Forbes Under 30 Summit: DJing. She closed out the iconic Under 30 Music Festival on Sunday night with a high energy set. The next day, Guo also took the stage to talk about her entrepreneurial journey, reflecting on her early obsession with making money. She made her fortune of $1.4 billion as a cofounder of the breakout company Scale AI (which she has since left) and now leads Passes, a platform allowing creators to monetize their content.

-Hollywood & Entertainment alum Lili Reinhart closed out the Under 30 Summit with a conversation on how entertainment and entrepreneurship work in harmony. Best known for her breakout role on TV series Riverdale, Reinhart opened up about the pressures of long-term contracts and her drive to tell stories about women overcoming depression and anxiety. She also revealed how her own battle with acne fueled those struggles, which then inspired her to create her skincare brand Personal Day. Today, the line is carried in 700 Ulta stores nationwide.

-2023 Under 30 lister Sophie Beren brought her Gen Z–focused media platform, The Conversationalist, to the Summit, where she interviewed a lineup of standout speakers including Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee, actor Anna Cathcart and creators Josh Richards and Brianna LaPaglia. As part of her interviews, Beren invited each guest to put their own spin on the iconic phrase “Thirty, Flirty and Thriving.” Some standout answers included Claudia Sulewski, creator and founder of Cyklar, who said, “30, getting eight hours of sleep and gratitude,” and Suni Lee, who went with, “Twenty, successful and random.”

The Takeaways

These were the biggest themes covered at the Forbes 2025 Under 30 Summit.

-AI will change everything. It was no surprise that artificial intelligence dominated the conversation at this year’s Summit. General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja predicted that the companies being built today could shape the world “for centuries to come.” That bold vision was echoed in real-world examples, like a demo of Blake Resnick’s AI-powered drones that now serve as the eyes and ears for 911 responders in more than 50 U.S. cities. On the investment side, Index Ventures partner Jahanvi Sardana broke down how this AI revolution gets funded. She said the real catalyst isn’t just the tech, but the drive of the founders behind it.

–The creator economy is the next frontier. Creators aren’t just making content, they’re building companies. Emily Oberg shared how she transformed a simple Instagram account into Sporty & Rich, now with a flagship store in Soho. Comedian Jake Shane highlighted how the podcast boom is evolving into live, revenue-generating events. And founders like Jacie DeHoop, cofounder of The Gist, are proving that brand deals aren’t limited to influencers—her women-in-sports newsletter now partners with major names like SoulCycle and Lululemon.

–Gen Z runs the world. Don’t sleep on Gen Z. According to NielsenIQ, Gen Z is projected to have $12 trillion in spending power by 2030. And brands know it—Amy Liu, founder of Tower 28, spoke at the Summit about how this generation isn’t just the most online and most willing to shop, but they’re also “leading the pack” and influencing older generations to shop more. Gen Z’s power isn’t limited to digital or physical consumption either. Climate activist Xiye Bastida, for example, talked about how she leans heavily on Gen Z to help spread the message of the climate crisis.