Cristóbal Valenzuela, CEO and co-founder of Runway, is using AI to open up new pathways of expressing creativity.
Cristóbal founded Runway with the idea that AI could expand the boundaries of what is possible in storytelling. This vision transformed the company from a model marketplace into a unique toolkit for artists, filmmakers, and creators that brings their visions to life.
In this episode, Cristóbal shares Runway’s approach to building infrastructure in-house, structuring the company itself like a neural network, and using AI as a tool for personal expression rather than just high-stakes production.
Catch the full episode to hear Cristóbal’s thoughts on how Runway is building a culture that thrives on adaptability and creative exploration, and what that means for AI’s role in personal creativity.
Read on for five key takeaways that highlight his approach and vision.
In Cristóbal's Words:
"We tend to run Runway as a neural network, almost as a model itself. You gather data, you have some weights, you use the data to modify the weights... Runway operates like that, where we look for people who can change their weights and the way they work with others as new data comes in."
Each team member at Runway is encouraged to “adjust their weights”—their roles, skills, and interactions—as new information and needs arise. To support this approach, Cristóbal hires people who are comfortable with change, valuing qualities like humility and curiosity. This mindset allows the team to function as a cohesive, evolving network, ready to navigate the constantly advancing field of AI.
In Cristóbal's Words:
"There’s a new use case, which is people making things for an audience of one, themselves. You're making videos, you're making films, not for sharing or to think of yourself as a filmmaker... These tools and models have become for many an exercise for their creative minds."
Runway’s technology encourages creativity for its own sake. Creating professional-grade video was once something that required a specialized background. Runway’s tools are making movie-making more accessible and intuitive. They empower users to experiment privately, without the pressure of sharing the outcome. By reducing friction and making tools intuitive, Runway enables creativity to become a personal exercise, connecting users with their own ideas and artistic impulses in a liberating, self-directed way.
In Cristóbal's Words:
"If you think of a model as speaking one language and we humans speak another language, you need to find ways of finding the common ground… The symbols and the representations need to be matching... So the challenge is, well, how do you find the common language?"
To make AI truly intuitive, Runway is pioneering solutions that simplify how humans and models interact. Cristóbal envisions tools that enable a more natural “dialogue” with AI, allowing users to guide creative output as they would direct an artist. By developing ways to intuitively “translate” ideas into actions, Runway gives creators seamless control, making advanced AI feel accessible and responsive.
In Cristóbal's Words:
"I prefer building everything from scratch… we tend to build a lot of our infrastructure, like our inference, our training, our data processing stack. And all the things that we do are mostly in-house... If there's an issue at every part of the stack, you can just go in and change it because you own it."
Cristóbal’s full-stack philosophy goes beyond just control—it’s about embedding deep technical understanding and agility within the team. This approach allows Runway to not only anticipate future needs but also to experiment with new ideas directly within their infrastructure. By maintaining this level of ownership, the team can iterate on their systems more freely.
In Cristóbal's Words:
"You operate as a research organization... experimenting, running with assumptions, testing things. If you don’t have an objective to optimize for, it might be just chaos... It’s about experimenting while holding a long-term objective."
Runway approaches experimentation with a commitment to discovery that goes beyond immediate gains. With a research-driven focus, Cristóbal builds a team culture where big-picture goals guide every experiment, ensuring that even the most unconventional ideas align with Runway’s vision for AI. This method allows Runway to explore possibilities that other companies might overlook, transforming experimentation into a disciplined pursuit of innovation.
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