Immad Akhund

Described AI as lowering barriers for entrepreneurs: "AI is collapsing the friction between an idea and a company faster than anything I have seen in my career. We are going to see more founders in the next five years than in the last twenty." Mercury launched AI-powered tools including Mercury Command and Mercury Books while keeping human reviewers for final approvals. Positioned AI as enabling more startups rather than replacing workers, reflecting optimistic view of AI impact.

Built Mercury into a $5B+ company while explicitly rejecting Silicon Valley's intensive work culture. Described as "anti-996" (rejecting 9am-9pm, 6 days/week work patterns). On hiring philosophy: "That's not the culture of Mercury. We are all about hiring humble people that want to be helpful, that are low ego." Scaled from 30 employees at COVID start to 500+ while maintaining culture through deliberate quarterly team gatherings and intentional remote practices.

Built Mercury to 500+ employees as explicitly remote-first while Silicon Valley returned to in-person work. Stated in 2023: "We are remote-first rather than hybrid. Most of the meetings people have are on Zoom." Defended approach: "from an employee perspective, it's just clearly, I think in most cases, better—most people want the flexibility." Acknowledged remote requires intentionality: "We have everyone get together at least four times a year. Being remote, it's not cheap."