There is no better time to engage with technology than now.

Chris Lyons, the president of Web3 Media at a16z crypto, has taken the stage at the AFROTECH™ Conference 2025 in Houston, which is reaching students, founders, technologists, and creators from all walks of life. He encouraged attendees to embrace today’s advancements in tech.

Drawing from his roots in the music industry, where he once worked as a sound engineer, he references Soulja Boy as a prime example of embracing technology. The rapper used music production software Fruity Loops, now known as FL Studio, to release his debut hit “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” which was created using the program’s stock sounds, notes VICE.

“I grew up in Atlanta, and I remember hearing Soulja Boy first coming out for this. He was recording literally in his bathroom. And when I used to work in a studio, you literally had to go to a physical recording studio,” Lyons explained.

“But by having the software and having the equipment makes things 10 times easier for more people to have access to go put out their work,” he continued.

To no surprise, AI will play a major role in shaping the future across industries and will create a new bottom line, Lyons projects.

“There’s going to be a change in the space and change in the industry, but the bottom line is you’re going to see an industry, a class that has never existed,” Lyons said on the stage.

As a result of this, he believes there’s no better time than now to be involved.

“Fast forward to where we are today. Honestly, I feel like there’s no better time to be into technology … and to leverage these tools because you have companies like Runway, for example, that make it so that you don’t even have to know how to code … You can literally just prompt an idea that will eventually turn into your next iPhone app or your next mobile web product. People are looking for people who know how to use the tools to get ahead as opposed to thinking through the old school days of ‘I have a startup and in order for me to actually build this company, I’m going to need five software engineers,’ when literally you can have one person and three lines of code get 10 steps ahead,” he said.

With more information and tools at everyone’s fingertips, Lyons doubled down on the importance of leveraging the moment. This will be key in the next wave of innovation and ensuring we are not left out of opportunities in wealth building and ownership.

“At the end of the day, we need to make sure that we’re owners of our products. We need to make sure that we are understanding where the next generation of wealth is happening. Obviously, it’s within the technology industry,” Lyons explained.

“Anybody could have bought Bitcoin at $100, at $1,000, at $10,000, at $100,000. The only reason you did or didn’t is because of the access to the information. And so, making sure that we’re keeping ourselves connected as a community as we’re sharing the game, I consider it a free game,” he continued.

It’s not too late to be a part of the movement. Secure your ticket for the conference today.