Videos
As a businessman, engineer, and philanthropist, Robert F. Smith has been invited to speak on a wide range of issues.
At the 2019 World Economic Forum “Realizing the Data Economy,” Robert F. Smith and panelist Dr. Joanna Bryson discuss the importance and practicability of artificial intelligence (AI) software. AI, Bryson states, has been and can continue to be used in the initial stages of the hiring process to help extinguish prejudice or racial bias.
Before introducing the panelists of the 2019 World Economic Forum panel “Realizing the Data Economy” in Davos, Robert F. Smith speaks about the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its implications of the data economy and data security.
Robert F. Smith discusses the importance of building a new and diverse generation of leaders, starting with ensuring students in all communities have the support they need to pursue future opportunities. According to Smith, overcoming racism has always been the biggest issue he’s had to face personally. His mission is to ensure the next generation of leaders can get ahead.
Robert F. Smith shares his parents’ inspiring legacy and lessons learned. Both school teachers and his mother, a principal, Smith’s parents taught him the value of education. Committed to helping their community, his parents focused on ensuring the children in their community had the academic preparation they needed to succeed in life. As the first generation in his family within the country to have all of their rights, Smith continues to be inspired by his family and those who have fought for civil rights to create a better society.
Robert F. Smith joined Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press to discuss the devastating toll coronavirus has had on communities of color, and how new software can help increase Payment Protection Program loans to minority-owned businesses.
The Breakfast Club invited Smith to speak about how new software can help minority-owned small businesses more easily access the Payment Protection Program funds to secure much-needed relief for their business impacted by coronavirus.
In a speech to the 2019 graduating class, Robert F. Smith surprised the audience by committing to pay off the student loan debt of the entire class.
Watch Robert F. Smith’s acceptance speech of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, which was awarded to him in 2019 in part for his philanthropic donation to Morehouse 2019 graduating class and the impact it had in making college more affordable for students at the historically black university.
At the Hutchins Center Honors, Robert F. Smith is awarded the highest honor in the field of African and African American studies, The W. E. B. Du Bois Medal.
Andrew Ross Sorkin (CNBC) talks with Robert F. Smith, CEO of Vista Equity Partners, about the impacts of technology on wealth and income disparity at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Smith is a long-standing proponent of the World Economic Forum. He has been invited to speak at a variety of sessions and interviews at the annual meeting over the years.
