Steve Jarrett is one of the rare technologists who has built products at every stage of the mobile revolution — from General Magic and Audible to Philips and the iPod team at Apple, to Chief AI Officer at Orange, where he oversaw AI strategy for 300 million customers across 26 countries. In this conversation, he brings that depth to the questions that matter most right now: how AI should be governed, who gets left behind when it isn’t, and what the EU AI Act gets right and wrong. He also shares hard-won lessons on innovation methodology, why simpler models often beat complex ones, and his thoughts on future societal impacts of AI.
In this episode:
What it was like inside General Magic — and the lesson Steve carried with him: “The world is built by people.”
Building the first app store at Philips with Tony Fadell — years before Apple’s App Store existed
Creating Audible’s first mobile audio player and the first mobile web browser
Joining the iPod team at Apple and building the first version of CarPlay
The AI digital divide: what happens when AI reaches places where people earn five euros a month and speak languages no model understands
Open-weight vs. closed AI models — and the national security trade-offs Europe is navigating
EU AI Act: what it gets right, what it gets wrong, and why governance matters
“Don’t use AI if you don’t have to” — why simpler methods are more explainable, more repeatable, and generate less CO2
On-device AI, privacy, and the future of the smartphone
Tony Fadell’s innovation methodology and what Steve Jobs actually taught the people around him
About Steve Jarrett:
Steve Jarrett is a serial technology innovator who began his career at General Magic and went on to help build the first commercial app store (at Philips, with Tony Fadell), the first mobile audio app (at Audible), and the first mobile web browser. He later joined the iPod team at Apple and supported the first version of CarPlay. Most recently, he served as Chief AI Officer at Orange Group, in Paris, overseeing AI strategy for 300 million customers across 26 countries.
Resources & Links:
Steve Jarrett on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevejarrett/
Steve Blank's Customer Development: https://steveblank.com/
Eric Ries's Lean Startup Methodology: https://leanstartup.co/
The audio-only link of the interview here in Substack, on Spotify, and in Apple Podcasts is edited for length. The full-length version of the interview is the video we post on YouTube …which also includes some fun bits between Steve and Hersh, who were quite the pranksters back at Magic. Enjoy!
