External Transcript Summary: Gary Sheng & Mark Baciak - Business Updates and Strategic Developments

Date: September 24, 2025
Participants: Gary Sheng (@gary-sheng.md), Mark Baciak (@mark-baciak.md)
Duration: Extended strategic update call
Context: Catch-up call covering Mark's Neural Fabric acquisition by Cisco, EKTA launch, Vatican developments, and future collaboration opportunities

Executive Summary

This transcript captures a comprehensive business update from Mark Baciak to Gary Sheng, covering the successful acquisition of Neural Fabric by Cisco, the launch of his new sovereign AI company EKTA, significant Vatican AI developments, and ongoing strategic partnerships. The conversation reveals Mark's transition from successful exit to building his next-generation AI venture, with major contracts pending with Bloomberg, Swiss government, and continued Vatican collaboration. The discussion also exposes the vindication of Gary's earlier warnings about John Devidos and establishes a foundation for renewed collaboration between Gary and Mark.

Key Themes

1. Neural Fabric Acquisition by Cisco

Deal Closure and Terms:

• Acquisition closing first week of October 2025
• Multiple bidder situation: "Yeah, we had a different buyer, and then Cisco came in"
• Cisco's leadership offer: "Cisco wanted me to actually be in charge of AI for them, like the chief AI guy for Cisco. And so they basically offered me like an $8 million signing bonus, plus all this other stuff"
• Mark's strategic decision: "I said no" - choosing independence over corporate role

John Devidos Exposure:

• Cap table revelation during acquisition process
• Significant misrepresentation: "So John Devidos... He had told me that he was only given 3% of the shares of neural fabric, right? And then I get to see the true cap table... And then it turns out that he was given 30%"
• Pattern of deception: "So how could you lie to somebody like, and he not only lied to me, but he also lied to everybody else"
• Departure from company: "Yeah, so he basically quit neural fabric, had to give back his shares"

2. EKTA Launch and Sovereign AI Strategy

Company Formation:

• New venture: "I started EKTA, so E-K-T-A dot AI, E-K-T-A-I"
• Focus area: "Sovereign AI, yeah" - building models for governments
• Financial outcome: "I cash out. I get a clean exit with Cisco, and at the same time, I'm on to my next affair with Ecta doing some really cool shit"

Funding and Structure:

• Current funding round: "we're doing a $20 million raise for 16.7% of the company"
• Self-funded start: "Tommy and I both jointly threw in funds and pre-seeded it"
• International structure: "we're about ready to set up a Swiss entity, and all the IP and all the patents are going to be held in Switzerland"

3. Bloomberg Partnership Development

Challenging Initial Meeting:

• Bloomberg team skepticism: "we have 400 to 500 Ph.D.s working on AI. There's nothing that you're going to say that's going to impress us"
• Technical validation: Mark's architecture presentation overcame initial resistance
• Decision-maker identification: "I quickly figure out who the decision-makers are... I spend the next two hours pretty much just talking to him"

Strategic Partnership Success:

• Behind-the-scenes validation: "the word is that it went really well, but they're trying to figure out how to justify their jobs"
• Credit-sharing strategy: "we're not here to steal the glory. I said, look what we did with Longbeard... They got complete credit for it"
• Investment integration: "they're raising their Series A, and then we had them double the Series A to write us into the contract because that doubling, all that money is going to go to us"

4. Vatican AI Developments Under Pope Leo

Papal Transition Impact:

• New leadership: Pope Leo replacing Pope Francis
• Restoration of relationships: "Castle Gandolfo... that's now being resurrected, by the way, under Pope Leo"
• Continued secrecy requirements: "I'm still under papal secrecy, so I got to be cautious of what I say"

Major Upcoming Events:

• World Economic Forum presentation: "I'll be co-presenting with the Vatican at the World Economic Forum in January"
• Historic Bloomberg House visit: "we're going to have the Vatican then go to Bloomberg House for the first time ever, and then we're all, all of us are going to present to the world on AI together"
• Current digitization work: "right now we're actually digitizing the entire Vatican archives as we speak"

Tom Slushe's Return:

• Fundraising success: "Tom Slushe actually came through for the Pope Leo, and he got him a billion dollars"
• EKTA integration: "Tom's now joined ECTA as a chief commercialization officer"
• High-net-worth access: "high net worth individuals who literally got to write the first check for ECTA... Because if Tom says he's got to do something, they're just like, yeah, it's going to happen"

5. Government and International Contracts

Swiss Government Opportunity:

• Contract prediction: "we just got word from Accenture that it looks like we're going to win the contract for all of Swiss government AI"
• Timing alignment: "we'll be at the WEF in Switzerland having just one AI for Switzerland"

US Government Fast-Track:

• Accelerated approval process: "NASA, and also with the intelligence community to fast track both GSA's Schedule 70 as well as the soup contract"
• Timeline compression: "we're going to go on soup and GSA in the next 30 days. And that is typically a two- to four-year process"

Middle Eastern Expansion:

• Qatar opportunity: "Qatar reached out to us and wanted us to actually take over and digitize their entire Middle Eastern archives as well"
• Reputation building: "because of the Vatican and the work that we're doing there, that's kind of... that got around. And now people are looking at us as the de-facto people who they can only trust"

6. Technical Innovation Validation

MIT Research Alignment:

• Predictive accuracy: "then MIT publishes a paper, like, late last week, and basically they were saying that you need to do neural symbolic training if you want your model to have any type of efficacy"
• Market timing: "I'm sitting here laughing, like, guys, is there anything that I touched that MIT doesn't lift?"
• Technical leadership: Mark's architectures and approaches consistently preceding academic research

7. Strategic Relationship Management

Credit and Recognition Strategy:

• Intentional background role: "you guys aren't saying shit about building the model for them... we chose not to be"
• Trust building: "Bloomberg to basically take us in because they realized... you guys aren't even named in there"
• Behind-the-scenes impact: Mark's models running major systems without public attribution

Team Building Philosophy:

• Quality over quantity: Response to Gary's question about hiring AI researchers
• Organic development: "Teams are built because you got... you got a strong personality or two or an idea that everyone wants to rally around"
• Contrast with acquisition strategies: "I'm not Mark Zuckerberg... I think how he builds is he buys loyalty. He doesn't earn it"

8. John Devidos Pattern Recognition

White House Meeting Cancellation:

• Attempted leveraging: "he's trying to finagle a meeting with the general counsel for Trump... He thinks he wants to be the AI advocate for them"
• Last-minute withdrawal: "at the last second, he's like, oh, I'm not doing it. I'm canceling it all. He's like, they're all captured. They're no good"
• Pattern identification: "I'm just like, hmm, do I see a pattern here?... I've seen this playbook already"

Gary's Early Warning Vindication:

• Acknowledgment: "you were one of the first people who actually gave me the heads up on Devados, by the way"
• Validation of instincts: Gary's early concerns about Devidos proven accurate through subsequent events

9. Future Collaboration Framework

Gary's Strategic Positioning:

• Renewed engagement: "let's collaborate again. I don't know what the right time is, but as the Leo stuff ramps up, I'm giving it all to God. I want to contribute to Christendom in different ways"
• Support role definition: "just treat me as someone that could be a right hand on a lot of these initiatives where you're obviously leading and giving most of the speeches and everything, but I can amplify your efforts"

Mark's Response:

• Immediate opportunity: "Momentarily, actually. Yeah, great. I mean, good timing, to be quite candid"
• Background recognition: "since you've got a background in the space, you'd be a natural fit into this"
• Strategic understanding: "And you saw the bigger picture of what we were doing"

November Meeting Planning:

• Matthew's event: Both confirmed attendance at early November event hosted by Matthew Sanders
• In-person reunion: "Well, that's the latest I would see you then... We live in the same country, but we keep meeting up in Rome"

Business and Strategic Insights

Acquisition Strategy

• Mark's decision to reject Cisco's leadership offer demonstrates strategic long-term thinking over immediate financial gain
• The Neural Fabric acquisition provides both financial resources and validation for his next venture

Partnership Development

• Mark's approach to Bloomberg partnership shows sophisticated stakeholder management and credit-sharing strategy
• Understanding of institutional politics and decision-making processes drives successful outcomes

International Positioning

• Swiss entity structure for IP protection and sovereign AI positioning
• Vatican relationships providing credibility and access to global religious and governmental networks

Technology Leadership

• Mark's consistent prediction of AI development trends, validated by subsequent MIT research
• Neural symbolic training and domain-specific AI specialization proving market-ready

Relationship Dynamics

Trust and Validation

• Gary's early warning about John Devidos proved accurate, strengthening Mark's trust in Gary's judgment
• Mark's willingness to share sensitive business information indicates high level of confidence in relationship

Strategic Alignment

• Both parties recognize mutual value in collaboration on Vatican and broader Christian technology initiatives
• Gary's desire to contribute to Christendom aligns with Mark's Vatican AI work

Communication Patterns

• Direct, strategic communication style focusing on substantive business and partnership opportunities
• Mutual respect for each other's expertise and judgment demonstrated throughout conversation

Future Implications

Immediate Opportunities

1. Vatican AI Projects: Gary's potential involvement in digitization and AI development work
2. EKTA Growth: Collaboration opportunities as EKTA scales with new contracts
3. November Meeting: In-person strategy session at Matthew's event

Long-term Strategic Partnership

• Gary positioned as strategic advisor and amplifier for Mark's initiatives
• Potential for expanded collaboration as Vatican AI projects and EKTA grow
• Alignment on Christian technology development and global religious institution support

Market Positioning

• Mark's EKTA positioned for significant growth with multiple government contracts
• Vatican relationships providing unique market access and credibility
• Swiss positioning offering regulatory and IP advantages

Conclusion

This transcript captures Mark Baciak at a pivotal moment of transition from successful exit to building his next major venture, with EKTA positioned for significant growth through multiple high-value government and institutional contracts. The vindication of Gary's early concerns about John Devidos strengthens their relationship, while Mark's invitation for renewed collaboration suggests significant opportunities ahead. The conversation demonstrates the convergence of technical innovation, strategic relationship management, and institutional access that positions both parties for impactful collaboration in the faith-based technology sector.

The combination of Mark's Vatican AI expertise, government contract pipeline, and Gary's strategic thinking and amplification capabilities creates a compelling foundation for meaningful collaboration in advancing Christian technology applications globally.