Reed Hastings & Kara Swisher on Netflix’s rise and AI’s next wave | Masters of Scale Summit 2026

The gist

1. Hastings says he stepped down as CEO three and a half years ago, after 25 years in the role, because he wanted a life beyond work, including philanthropy.
2. He calls splitting DVD and streaming in the 2011 Qwikster episode his one big wrong call, mainly because Netflix didn't grandfather existing customers' pricing.
3. Hastings spends 10 minutes a day, often while walking the dog or exercising, imagining Netflix has crashed and asking what he did to cause it.
4. On AI, Hastings, an Anthropic board member, says regulation would lower the chance of a harmful incident that could trigger harsh limits on the technology.
5. Hastings predicts AI tutors will be teaching kids one-to-one within two to four years, replacing tutoring that now costs about 100 dollars an hour.