William A. Adams - Path To Tequity
Welcome to Rise Urban Nation with host Taryell Simmons. In this episode, Taryell sits down with William A. Adams, a Silicon Valley OG and longtime Microsoft software engineer who coined the word "tequity," an equity share in technology. They cover his path from digging sprinkler ditches to the Office of the CTO at Microsoft, a rapid-fire round of tech questions, blockchain hype, the future of work and why Black technologists need to build their own tables.
"If you don't get in there and program the machine, the machine's going to program you."
William and his brother started a software company in 1984 and were so rare as Black founders in tech that the Computer History Museum featured them: "I'm a museum piece."
He did sales calls with Steve Jobs during the NeXT era, then joined Microsoft in 1998 to help create XML.
Microsoft's Azure cloud once used "a Rhode Island amount of power," which is why he says programmers should pick algorithms that use less energy.
On crypto speculation: "You walked into the casino, now they turned the lights off. It's time to go."
"You're not going to get a seat at the table. We need to build our own tables."
Tequity and representation: Why Black professionals in tech still sit mostly in non-decision-making roles, with core engineering representation around two to three percent, and why an equity share in technology matters.
Finding your tech angle: Tech has eaten the world, from finance to agriculture, so start with your passion and find the technology inside it.
Privacy and trust: Why William unplugs his Alexa, chose Apple as his "security partner," limits cookies and treats his phone as a digital wallet.
Climate and code: Energy-efficient algorithms, data center power use and using machine learning to design for the planet instead of profit.
Blockchain beyond hype: The greater fool theory behind most crypto, NFTs as titles for homes and cars, and why he favors the Algorand network.
The future of work: His Workforce 2050 paper, computers writing code, the growing value of humanities and social sciences, and coded bias in AI.
Pick something you already love, such as games, food or finance, and explore the technology behind it.
Explore a new career while you still have a job: be methodical, use nights and weekends, and keep your resume warm.
Know your values so you can tell when a company or path is out of alignment with who you are, and leave when it is.
Reduce your digital footprint by limiting cookies, unplugging always-listening devices and choosing which companies you trust with your data.
Get involved in AI and machine learning now, so your community's data and priorities are in the systems that will shape the future.
William A. Adams is a software engineering trailblazer, award-winning DEI innovator and philanthropist with more than 35 years of professional computer engineering experience, including about 24 years at Microsoft. After rolling out critical XML code across many of Microsoft's core products, he was named the first Technical Advisor to CTO Kevin Scott, and he spent three years building the Engineering Excellence program in Hyderabad, India. As an intrapreneur, he has founded global initiatives that change how underserved communities access tech jobs and careers. Find him at https://www.william-a-adams.com/, on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/thewilliamaadams, at https://podcastguests.com/expert/williamaadams/ and on Twitter at @LeapToTech.
Taryell Simmons: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another episode of Rise Urban Nation. I'm your host, Taryell Simmons, and I've got a special guest with us today, Mr. William A. Adams. What does the A stand for?
William A. Adams: Albert.
Taryell Simmons: There you go. For those who don't know you, William, who is William A. Adams?
William A. Adams: I'm a 57-year-old Black dude who is OG from Silicon Valley. I've had thirty-five-plus years of professional computer engineering experience, I ran my own business, and I've been at Microsoft for about 24 years. I build software, teams and businesses, and I have a profound interest in uplifting melanin-enhanced people through an equity share in technology. So I created this word, tequity. I was in tech before the internet and cell phones existed, and now, instead of sitting at the beach sipping mai tais, I'm spending my waning days in tech trying to pull along the next generation.
Taryell Simmons: I'm going to steal that word, because so many people have built billion-dollar businesses inside tech companies without any equity. Before we jumped on, we were talking about Coded Bias, the Netflix documentary.
William A. Adams: Right. If you don't get in there and program the machine, the machine's going to program you.
Taryell Simmons: What was it like when you started, and what do you see now?
William A. Adams: My brother and I started a company in 1984, and we were so rare that the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley did a piece on us. I'm a museum piece. That's how rare we were. I've always had a career where I'm the only one. Even at Microsoft, only in the last five or seven years have I seen more Black people, and usually in sales, marketing and HR, the non-decision-making roles. In core tech, it's two, three percent, and that's gone up maybe a percent in 20 years. Back in the day we had a hard time even getting a bank account. Not a loan, just an account. You definitely had to be good, and that's true today: you have to be great. Nothing is given to you.
Taryell Simmons: How do we get more young people into those decision-making roles?
William A. Adams: Tech has eaten the world. When I started, tech meant IBM, close to hardware. Then the personal computer shifted it toward software. Now every company is tech: JPMorgan, insurance, agriculture. So ask, what is your passion? Food, agriculture, finance? There is a tech angle to that. In agriculture they use machine learning and robotics, the tractors are automated, and the logistics from field to market are all software. Then decide whether you're into the user interface, the database or the machine learning, and dive in.
Taryell Simmons: Every sector even has its own acronym now, like FinTech.
William A. Adams: Agritech, fintech, insurtech. Black hair tech.
Taryell Simmons: I don't get a techie on all the time. Does it bother you that your tech is always listening?
William A. Adams: I recently decided our whole house is going to be Apple products. Do I trust Amazon or Google with my conversations? Not really, because they monetize my data. When our Alexa isn't being used, we unplug it. You're just talking, you don't say "Alexa," and it goes, "I'm sorry, I can't play that song." You were listening, weren't you? So I'm choosing who my security partner is, because they're in your home.
Taryell Simmons: iPhone or Android?
William A. Adams: iPhone, because of trust. My phone has credit cards and my bank account. It's my digital wallet, so who do you trust with your financial life? I work for Microsoft, but as a consumer I go with the best consumer product, and that's Apple. And I'm slow to upgrade. The new one is really a $900 camera, and I've already got the previous $900 camera. Five-year rotation program.
Taryell Simmons: Favorite movie about technology?
William A. Adams: Johnny Mnemonic, the old Keanu Reeves movie about him getting a bunch of data in his head.
Taryell Simmons: A great app more people should use?
William A. Adams: It's only 7 a.m. for me! I use Strava to track my bike rides and runs. Anything that helps your daily life.
Taryell Simmons: Do you accept cookies?
William A. Adams: I try not to. Accepting is saying, please track me. Years ago I created a program I called "NSA in a box" that tracked every website you went to and everything you downloaded, and you had no clue. Your devices are not secure. If you're on the internet, everyone knows what you're doing, but you can reduce the surface area.
Taryell Simmons: How can technology help us solve global warming?
William A. Adams: It starts with things as mundane as code. To sort a billion names, one algorithm might use 500 watts and another 50 watts. A programmer who cares can choose. We once looked at Azure, Microsoft's cloud, and it used a Rhode Island amount of power. So first, technologists should use algorithms that use less power, not just the fastest ones. Second, use that power wisely: have machine learning show us the turbine design that reduces energy use, not just the one that maximizes profit. Most of what we do is optimized for profit, so we have to turn the knob and give up a little profit to save the planet.
Taryell Simmons: Young people think they go straight into their dream job. What was your first job?
William A. Adams: Digging ditches to install sprinklers in our new neighborhood. My brother was the prime contractor, and he paid us in pizza. Then I delivered newspapers, drove a van for a friend's family business and worked at Disneyland in high school. In college I managed the computer store at UC Berkeley and saw the birth of the Macintosh. Around then, my brother and I started Adamation, doing custom software. Along came NeXT, Steve Jobs's company after he left Apple, and we did sales calls with Steve Jobs to his top customers. Running your own company, you're mostly starving. After about twelve years I had a kid on the way, so in 1998 I joined Microsoft to help create XML. In 2006 I moved to India to help our engineers become better engineers, and in 2010 I came back and did some of the first services on Azure.
Taryell Simmons: What made you fall in love with tech?
William A. Adams: At 12, in 1976, an uncle who worked for the Navy gave me a Commodore PET, one of the first personal computers. No disk drive; I saved programs on a cassette tape. Even at five I was saying I'd own an electronics company. I was a shy introvert, and a computer does what you tell it. It's a direct form of self-expression. The computer was manna from heaven for me.
Taryell Simmons: What steps would you give the next generation?
William A. Adams: It's still about passion. A lot of young people get in through gaming. My first programs just made a block move around the screen. Today you can throw a game together in a web browser with some JavaScript. And look at what's coming: machine learning, AI, diffusion images where you type words and get a picture of a cow going into space on a bicycle. Play with it. Don't go backwards to flipping switches and punch cards. Look forward and explore.
Taryell Simmons: What are your thoughts on blockchain and cryptocurrency?
William A. Adams: Buy you some Algo. The trick is sifting through the hype. If you bought an NFT in the last two years, you probably lost your shirt, because 98% of crypto is the greater fool theory: someone behind me will pay more. Bitcoin replacing gold? You think the US is going to let that happen? But the core technology is real. An NFT is like a fingerprint that says there's only one of these. Imagine your home or car title as an NFT that you transfer when you sell. Networks charge transaction fees, and Algorand is less than a penny per transaction while others cost dollars. Algorand is also built so quantum computers won't crack your wallet. Get off Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. Blockchain and NFTs are the sauce, and that is the future.
Taryell Simmons: People say Ethereum is here to stay because of its use cases.
William A. Adams: Ethereum just moved to proof of stake, but Algorand was already there, without the forking and merging, and it's cheaper. Don't believe the hype. Stop trying to become a billionaire for free. You walked into the casino, now they turned the lights off. It's time to go.
Taryell Simmons: What's one good lesson life has taught you?
William A. Adams: Something I learned at forty: have a good reason for living. There may be no universal truth, but you should have a good compass, because it makes decisions easier and keeps you out of a whole lot of trouble. It's an evolutionary process; you can't rush it. Discover who you are and know your values, so when something doesn't seem right, you know why. Then get out.
Taryell Simmons: I learned that too, when companies weren't aligned with my values. What about people in their twenties or thirties who want to go back to a passion in tech?
William A. Adams: It's better to try something new when you've got a rock to stand on. Explore while you still have a job. It's hard to explore when your kids are asking when you're going to eat, and there are a million people trying to do what you're doing. So be methodical. Want to open a massage business? Go to massage school while you have a day job, because it takes a year and then you won't have customers for a while. Work nights and weekends. My brother would say just jump off the cliff, but not everyone wants to be in the wilderness for ten years with a family.
Taryell Simmons: Social media makes it look glamorous.
William A. Adams: "I'm going to be a TikToker." Probably not. You could be an NBA star too. But keep that resume warm.
Taryell Simmons: What do you see on the horizon for the tech industry?
William A. Adams: In 2018, as a technical advisor in the Office of the CTO at Microsoft, I wrote a paper called Workforce 2050. Work is going to transform way faster than we think. I've made tons of money writing code for decades, and that's going to disappear. If computers can play chess, they can code. You're not that special. You'll ask for a report on poverty and long-term health outcomes that would take five people six months, and get it in two seconds. So humanities, psychology and social sciences become more important, and they need to get into the programming. If we don't want Skynet, the computer has to write code in service to humanity. And if we don't create a data union to get Black data into the system, we're going to be oppressed by it. It can be scary, so let's not cower. Let's get into it.
Taryell Simmons: Since George Floyd and COVID, more companies seem invested in diversity, equity and inclusion.
William A. Adams: Yes and no. Most are checkboxing it: I hired a hundred Black people, didn't put any of them in positions of power, let's carry on. When the economy's down, that hiring decreases. They're not going to give you a hand; you need your own hand. You're not going to get a seat at the table. We need to build our own tables. Police robots are coming. Whose neighborhood do you think they'll police first? Coded bias. You need to jump in and start swimming.
Taryell Simmons: What are you working on, and where can people find you?
William A. Adams: My website, william-a-adams.com, has my socials, podcasts, writing, appearances and my blog. My projects are about tequity: getting people into tech and, most importantly, building tech businesses, with our own patents and equity in our own companies. I want us to get acquired, because that's how you make millionaires.
Taryell Simmons: Alexa or Siri?
William A. Adams: Siri. We just went through the whole Apple thing. I don't bring Alexa into my car. Siri's on my wrist.
Taryell Simmons: Any last words of wisdom?
William A. Adams: Let's all be kind and love each other for a better planet. And live an intentional life. Don't walk through life asleep, at any age. If George Floyd didn't wake you up, wake up. This game is not rigged for you.
Taryell Simmons: Wherever your passion lies, get you some tequity.
William A. Adams: Intergenerational wealth development through tequity.
Taryell Simmons: Love it. Thank you again, William. That's it for this edition of Rise Urban Nation. We'll catch you next time.
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