Boz to the Future Episode 26: The Future According to Ed Catmull

Welcome back to another episode of Boz to the Future. In this episode, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth sits down with Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar, former president of Disney Animation, and one of the most influential figures in the history of computer graphics. The conversation spans Ed's remarkable six-decade journey at the intersection of art and technology, from pioneering foundational 3D graphics techniques to leading some of the most beloved storytelling studios in the world. Along the way, they explore what it means to pursue a long-term vision, why the perceived divide between art and technology is a "false dichotomy," and what today's AI moment can learn from previous technology cycles.

Ed Catmull is a rare figure who has earned both an Academy Award and a Turing Award —recognition of his extraordinary contributions to both the art and science of filmmaking. He co-founded Pixar, served as president of Walt Disney Animation Studios, and invented foundational computer graphics techniques including the Z-buffer, texture mapping, and Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces that power virtually every 3D film and video game today. He’s also the author of Creativity, Inc., a bestselling book on building and sustaining creative cultures, which was revised in 2023 with new insights from his career.

One of the episode's most striking themes is Ed's lifelong rejection of the artificial boundary between technical and creative disciplines. Reflecting on his early decision to pivot from animation to physics, and eventually to computer science, Ed shared: "I didn't think they were incongruous. And I actually think it's a societal problem that people would think that the arts and the technology, one or the other, but there's an incongruity between them." This principle guided how he built teams at Pixar and Disney, bringing together world-class artists and engineers who defied stereotypes about their respective skills.

The conversation also turned to the challenge of managing innovation over long time horizons, a topic close to home for Meta's work on the next computing platform. Boz noted that Reality Labs is now over a decade into its vision for VR and AR, but Ed's journey to the first computer-animated feature film took even longer. Ed emphasized the importance of intellectual humility throughout that process: "I believe my guess is about half of these new ideas will be wrong too, and that'll probably continue for the rest of my life... if you know you're wrong half the time, and you let go of things that don't work faster, you spend less time on it. The ratio doesn't change, the amount of time you spend on it changes."

When the discussion turned to AI, Ed offered a perspective grounded in decades of watching technology cycles unfold, including the early days of computer graphics when hype often outpaced reality. 

"We're going to do this with AI right now," he said. "While we can talk about exponential change in technology and so forth, the other exponential change that's taking place is exponential growth of hype."

Ed and Boz also reflected on the challenge of staying grounded while genuinely embracing transformative technology, acknowledging AI's remarkable potential while remaining honest about the work still ahead. Their advice: embrace what you do not know and get to know it so you’re well-equipped to handle what comes next.

Watch the episode on Meta's YouTube channel, or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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