Is there anything from your reporting of his visit that sticks with you?
Modi’s vision of transforming India into "digital India" was significant, but what stuck with me was how much he was trying to appeal to Indian Americans who have been in Silicon Valley a long time. He wants them to invest in India. He called them not a brain drain, but a brain gain, a deposit that he can cash in on. He made it clear that opportunities are growing in India and that he wants them to open offices in India or come back to live. India is one of the fastest-growing economies; that was at the heart of his message. He also wants startups to bring their manufacturing to India, so he spent a lot of time with Indian American startup founders. It’s not just the big companies. He’s looking at the whole ecosystem.

Can you share some stories you have in the pipeline?
We’ll be looking at Silicon Valley gearing up to enter Cuba. We are also working on stories about surveillance; Homeland Security and the CIA are moving into Silicon Valley, opening offices here to get a piece of the startup action. And, of course, we’ll look at the economics of the Super Bowl. It’s really interesting: Silicon Valley essentially hijacked a lot of the Super Bowl activities from San Francisco, which nobody was expecting. The teams are staying in Silicon Valley and are going to practice at Stanford and San Jose State. And the big, nationally televised media night will be at SAP Center [in San Jose] the week before the Super Bowl. Nobody in their wildest dreams expected San Jose and Santa Clara County to get this much attention!

We’ll end things on a light note. Do you have a guilty pleasure?
My guilty pleasure is going to Santa Cruz on Sunday mornings and boogie boarding. It makes me feel like a kid, and it's very relaxing.

I’m wondering where the guilt comes from. Do you feel like you should be doing something else instead? Or that it’s not something you should do as an adult?
Well, you don’t see that many adults boogie boarding. I’m out there with the 10-year-olds!

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Interview: Beth Willon