Interview: Siqi Chen, the founder and CEO of Runway

Interview: Siqi Chen, the founder and CEO of Runway

Can you explain the concept of ‘ambient intelligence' and how it differentiates Runway from other AI-driven financial platforms?

Ambient Intelligence is a completely new expression of how AI can be used in products. Most products treat AI as a separate creature right now—it’s either an agent working on its own, or a chat interface you have to talk to. Those are the default experiences, but there’s another way to do it: by making the AI invisible. If you look at how people actually use AI at work, GitHub Copilot is probably the most widely used tool. It isn’t a separate chatbot or agent. It’s more subtle, and so deeply embedded in GitHub’s platform that it just makes what you’re doing faster and more efficient. With the current capabilities of AI models, that kind of seamless integration is a much better expression of AI.

What inspired you to create Runway, and what key challenges in financial planning are you aiming to address with this platform?

In 2020, when I was the CEO of Sandbox VR, our revenue dropped to zero after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Nobody knew how long the pandemic would last, so we needed to create multiple contingency plans for emergency funding—ranging from 3 months to 2 years. We had to create those scenarios manually in Google Sheets, using email and Slack to collaborate. It was such a clunky and error-prone process, that I asked my CFO if there was a better tool for this task. He said: “No, this is it.” I couldn’t believe it. We had tools like Notion, Figma, and Airtable, but nothing built specifically for finance.

How does Runway’s Ambient Intelligence proactively support finance teams without being intrusive?

The short answer: by not turning AI into a separate creature—like an agent or a chatbot—that you have to interact with. Ambient Intelligence is invisible; it’s part of your everyday experience with Runway. It works quietly in the background, without interrupting. It’s built into the platform, so it can anticipate intent and help you without being prompted. In the same way the GitHub Copilot autocompletes your code, or Apple Intelligence solves formulas as you write them, Runway’s Ambient Intelligence makes your work clearer, faster, and more efficient.

Could you elaborate on the ‘Driver Explanations' feature and how it enhances understanding across the organization?

In any business model, the drivers are interconnected and form a complex network. That means you have to trace a driver through the entire model to understand how it’s calculated and what it impacts. The way people do that today is by digging through spreadsheets and tracing everything manually. Understanding a single formula is not enough; you have to know how one driver impacts others, and how the entire network is structured. That’s how you build deep intuition about the business and identify the levers you can pull. Runway claims to turn hours-long tasks into seconds. Can you share specific examples or metrics that highlight this improvement This was a quote from one of our customers Andrew Maher, Head of Finance at Superhuman. Read the full story here. “With Runway, we saw our efficiency skyrocket with a 50X to 100X improvement, turning hours-long tasks into seconds,” said Andrew Maher, Head of Finance, Superhuman. “Complex financial models were distilled into clear, actionable insights, making it easier to respond quickly to key executives. Runway was like adding a touch of magic to our financial strategy, turning data into actionable intelligence—imagine having a co-pilot in finance that brings critical insights alongside number crunching.”

How does Runway’s integration with existing business tools like accounting software and CRM systems enhance its functionality?

We give you a holistic understanding of your business by pulling in both data and context. Runway integrates with over 650 of the most common tools, and we go beyond usual integrations like general ledgers and HR systems. We connect with CRMs, databases, spreadsheets, and even project management software like Jira.