What one AI CEO learned by working 20 feet from Apple's Steve Jobs

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Learning from tech's grandmaster.

It’s not often that one can absorb life and business lessons from an all-time great. But Chet Kapoor , chairman and CEO of AI company DataStax , has the distinct pleasure of being in a rarified group.

During his time at the computer company NeXT from 1989 to 1993, which Steve Jobs founded in 1985 and sold to Apple ( AAPL ) in 1997, Kapoor was the self-professed “person that got coffee for the person that made coffee."

Kapoor said he learned lessons that stayed with him well into his leadership career.

The former IBM ( IBM ) and Google ( GOOG ) exec says in business, inspiration is rarely a problem, but actually reaching innovation is hard. Pushing people to innovate and sweat the details is what Jobs did best.

“Innovation doesn’t happen by saying please go out and do this, you have to push people and get them to a place where they will deliver on something they didn’t think they could deliver on," Kapoor said.

Before Jobs died in 2011 from complications tied to pancreatic cancer, he was considered an inspiration and mentor to many in the business and tech fields. Despite his illness, he continued to innovate on products such as the iPad and iPhone.

That drive at any cost highlights one of the many lessons Kapoor picked up from working near Jobs in the office.

“He always got up in the morning thinking about what people needed, not what people wanted," Kapoor added.

Noting that consumers would be stuck with BlackBerry ( BB ) technology or Nokia ( NOK ) phones without Jobs, Kapoor stressed Jobs's “relentless obsession for what people needed" is something that still influences Kapoor's own work.

Kapoor also praised Jobs for his dedication to changing the world.

“I believe it’s about making a dent on the universe,” he said. “I learned from Steve [to ask], ‘Are you changing the world? Are you really thinking about it from the user’s perspective, from a societal perspective, and going off and making that happen?” he asked.

The ability to put those questions to work is part of what inspires Kapoor.

“I love building product businesses that developers love, the products that developers love, and change the trajectory of the enterprises that they work for,” he said.

Another valuable lesson that comes courtesy of Jobs is making “sure you are very clear on what you’re doing this for,” said Kapoor. “A lot of people in Silicon Valley get stuck where they actually build really cool tech. But the problem is it’s technology. It’s a solution looking for a problem.”

Today, Apple is the most valuable company in the world with a market cap of $3.43 trillion according to Yahoo Finance data . The company is entering the AI age while raking in billions of dollars each day on the back of Jobs's creations.

As for the privately held DataStax, it has raised a solid $305 million in capital to support its growth plans. The company's last reported valuation stood at $1.6 billion following a $115 million capital raise in 2022.

Brian Sozzi fields insight-filled conversations and chats with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid . Find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service .