DeepSeek is a MacGyver moment — not a Sputnik moment — for America

In 1957, Russia launched Sputnik, the first artificial Earth satellite, heralding the dawn of Space Age.

This was a “Sputnik moment” for America, the Frontier Nation that prides itself of keep pushing the frontiers of knowledge and innovation.

The result was a “space race” between US and Russia, with both outspending each other in R&D to dominate and lead space exploration.

But DeepSeek gatecrashing into the exclusive AI club dominated by Western tech players is NOT a Sputnik moment for America.

Rather, DeepSeek is a MacGyver moment for America.

Just like MacGyver who can ingeniously innovate “better with less” (using limited resources available around him), DeepSeek relied on existing technologies and talents to develop a low-cost and faster AI model.

MacGyver was not just a frugal innovator.

He was endowed with a jugaad mindset — the gutsy (and cunning) art of transforming adversity into opportunity.

MacGyver embodies what I call creative resilience: the ingenious capacity to creatively solve problems under extreme constraints.

If American Big Tech firms want to compete with DeepSeek and other Chinese frugal AI rivals, they need to rekindle the jugaad spirit in their staid organizations.

In 2012, I wrote a detailed article for PorchLight, explaining why US firms should stop obsessing about investing more in R&D and focus on making their corporate CULTURE agile and frugal.

Read my article titled “Rebooting America’s Innovation Engine”.

Here is intro:

“The motto ‘innovate or die’ held true for US firms in 20th century.

In 21st century, ‘innovate faster, better, and cheaper — or die’ is your new mantra.

Sadly, Corporate America is just not equipped to do that.

Why not? For 3 simple reasons:

1) US firms’ R&D system is way too costly to maintain

2) US firms rely on “structured” innovation processes that can’t deliver the agility and speed needed in a fast-paced and volatile world;

3) US firms believe “knowledge is power” — hence they do innovation in secret R&D labs rather than open up the innovation process and harness the creativity of all their employees, customers, partners.

Due to these limiting factors, US firms have seen their innovation performance steadily decline over the last decade.

But there is hope … if US firms trade profligacy, rigidity, and elitism — which characterize their current innovation model — for frugality, flexibility, and inclusivity.

To make this shift, however, US firms must embrace a new mindset — a frugal and flexible mindset that sees opportunity in adversity and enables you to do more with less.

This is the mindset of MacGyver, the secret agent in the popular TV series of 1980s who carries no gun and relies purely on his ingenuity to fix complex problems using limited resources at hand — usually duct tape and a Swiss Army knife.

Corporate America needs more MacGyvers to regain its ‘innovation mojo’ and achieve faster results in today’s VUCA world.”