The co-founder and former CEO of Siri spoke Thursday on campus about the innovation and research behind the world’s first commercialized virtual personal assistant.
In the Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center, Dag Kittlaus explained to a standing-room only audience how the Siri technology became synonymous with Apple’s iPhone.
“We had a story-book kind of story when it comes to start-ups,” Kittlaus said. “Three weeks after we launched, I got a call from Steve Jobs. He ended up calling me about 40 times in the next two weeks trying to buy the company.”
Kittlaus said that Siri’s success is rooted in its uniqueness: the fact that it is a “do-engine,” not a search engine. With Siri, iPhone users can make verbal requests that elicit general answers from Siri herself or cause her to pull up online results.
“It’s all about knowing how to turn a spark into the next big thing,” he said. “That’s the marriage of engineering and entrepreneurship.”
Three years after Apple acquired Siri, there is still nothing that truly rivals the technology, Kittlaus said.
After speaking for about 45 minutes, Kittlaus took questions from the audience, which consisted primarily of McCormick engineering students. The open-forum portion of the evening focused on Kittlaus’ ideas about the future of technology.
“Pretty soon we’ll be printing pizza, a new pair of shoes from our home printers,” he said.
NU students were impressed with Kittlaus’ achivements in the world of technology. After hearing Kittlaus speak, McCormick freshman Bryanna Yeh said she understands the importance of staying one step ahead of the rest when it comes to engineering innovations.
“You really have to have a vision and look to the future a lot,” she said.
McCormick freshman Kai Kasprick called Kittlaus an “inspiration.”
“There are so many possible options for the future and so many areas to get into,” Kasprick said. “If you have an idea, you can go anywhere with it.”
Kittlaus said people need to keep up with the rapid changes that characterize today’s technology industry. Introducing a new version of the iPhone every year since its release in 2007, Apple demonstrates the importance of a forward-thinking mindset, he said.
“People can’t keep their heads down,” he said. “We’re talking about completely changing the way the world works. You guys are going to be a part of making this happen. This is a crazy time coming.”
