From Budapest to Silicon Valley – Balint Pasztor’s Journey to Humanise AI
- Brainz Magazine
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Written by Mark Sephton, Business Mentor
Mark Sephton is a personal mentor to entrepreneurs. His mission to help others has seen him break into global markets while working with startups and millionaire entrepreneurs around the world. Mark's love for entrepreneurship has been expressed through serving as the TV host of the show “One More Round.”
My passion lies in helping leaders uncover their inner story and navigate the complex, evolving relationship between humanity and technology. My work is about finding the human truth inside the machine, the narrative that guides our progress. This focus often puts me in the path of extraordinary innovators who aren't just reacting to technological change, but actively driving it. I recently met one such visionary, and our conversation perfectly illuminated this narrative divide.
It was with Balint Pasztor, founder of DiffuseDrive. While I'm focused on the story, the strategic and emotional framework for leaders facing the future, Balint is focused on the system. His company is fundamentally reshaping how we think about data, AI, and the future of automation. Balint and his team turn the abstract world of synthetic data into a tangible, competitive advantage, helping Fortune 500s and fast-scaling startups bridge the gap between simulation and reality. Together, our work forms a crucial dialogue: I help leaders understand why they are changing, while DiffuseDrive gives them the tools to execute how unlocking safer, smarter, and faster systems for the modern world.
DiffuseDrive was born from your vision to close the “simulation-to-reality gap.” What new possibilities do you see opening up as that gap narrows?
The founding idea behind DiffuseDrive came from a fundamental industry problem: real-world data is scarce, expensive, and often unsafe or improbable to capture at scale. Every company developing autonomous systems faces this constraint, regardless in niche applications like in defence or in everyday applications like cars. The lack of diverse, high-fidelity training data slows progress and limits reliability in the field.
Our technology solves that by combining generative AI with physics-true realism to create vast, photorealistic datasets that replicate complex, real-world conditions. This approach allows organisations to train and validate AI systems that can perform safely and intelligently long before they are deployed.
As the simulation-to-reality gap closes or you practically cannot distinguish between real-world and generated data we unlock new possibilities for automotive, robotics, defence, and aerospace applications, sectors where perception, precision, and safety are non-negotiable. These are the domains driving the rise of Physical AI, replacing dull, dangerous, or even deadly tasks and elevating the human to the next level.
You’ve spoken before about the importance of diversity in data. How do you ensure that synthetic data doesn’t inherit the same biases found in real-world datasets?
Bias is an inherent risk in any dataset, whether real or synthetic. The key is to recognise it early and design against it. At DiffuseDrive, we first reverse engineer peak AI performance and intentionally generate data ranging across diverse and adversarial conditions that span different geographies, lighting, climates, and cultural contexts. This ensures the model learns to generalise rather than memorise or overfit.
We also benchmark our synthetic datasets against human and edge-case reviews to maintain fairness and accuracy. Diversity is not a checkbox; it is an engineering principle that guides how we build and validate our systems.
AI is moving fast, how do you balance innovation with ethical responsibility when your technology could impact areas like defence and autonomous systems?
Every powerful technology comes with built-in responsibility. AI that perceives, decides, and acts must be developed with transparency and deep understanding of the implications. Our technology is designed to enhance human judgment, not replace it. In critical sectors like defence and autonomy, that means providing visibility, accountability, and control.
As a founder, what personal habits or mindsets help you stay grounded while leading in such a high-pressure, high-tech space?
Leading a frontier-tech company calls for vision and technical discipline. I aspire to remain, in many ways, the chief product officer, not just the CEO. That keeps me tethered to the core mission, and ensures decisions stay connected to product, data, and engineering realities.
I prefer building a culture of autonomy: hiring people who can take ownership and run without being micromanaged. As long as scale allows, I stay in the loop without taking over, trusting the team to move fast and iteratively.
I also lean on coaching and therapy. It is one of my strongest routines. These practices help me stay aware of my decisions, my mindset, and how I’m leading my co-founder and my teammates. In a high-stakes environment, self-reflection is of utmost importance, it isn’t a luxury.
You often compare training AI to teaching a child. What do you think the next generation of engineers needs to learn to build “smarter” AI responsibly?
AI learns through exposure, repetition, and feedback, much like a child. But the quality of that experience defines how it develops. At DiffuseDrive, we focus on giving AI a rich “education” through synthetic environments that mirror the physical world with precision.
Our platform generates high-fidelity, real-world grade datasets that capture objects, their movement, across conditions, temporal, and spatial interaction. Engineers can train vision, navigation, and control systems across millions of rare and safety-critical scenarios such as extreme weather, low-visibility conditions, battlefield complexity, or industrial hazards without the cost or risk of physical testing.
The next generation of engineers must understand that data is context, not absolute truth. They should build systems that can test assumptions, identify uncertainty, and adapt. The way AI is built today in a data-scarce environment is going to pass, and the next generation of AI/ML algorithms will come alive in a new era, where peak performance is second to none.
DiffuseDrive’s technology saves companies years of data collection in hours. What’s the next frontier for you, what problem do you most want to solve next?
We have shortened the time required to generate high-quality data from years to hours. Today, most systems can see and mimic autonomous behaviour; the next step is to make them truly autonomous, behave the same way as what you expect from a high-performing human or more.
We are developing models that will help AI learn from virtual experience as effectively as from real-world observation, innovation in robotics, transportation, and defence will move at an entirely new pace.
You moved from Hungary to Silicon Valley to scale your vision. What has living and building in that environment taught you about ambition, resilience, and leadership?
In Hungary, I learned precision, persistence, and grit, through schooling, sport (hockey, floorball), and pushing myself in structured environments. That foundation shaped how I approach challenges.
Silicon Valley taught me how to scale, how to embrace risk, and how to adapt quickly. Here failure isn’t a stigma; it’s data. It’s feedback. You learn, you pivot, you try again. Resilience comes not from never failing, but from failing fast and bouncing back stronger.
Ambition in Silicon Valley looks different, it’s not about chasing status, it’s about coupling ambition with iteration and exposure to uncertainty. You have to put yourself in the path of possibility, even if success isn’t guaranteed. I feel fortunate that luck has played a part in our journey, but luck favours the bold.
That philosophy guides my leadership and DiffuseDrive’s culture: stay bold (try things, even imperfectly), stay humble (fail, learn, and adapt), and keep building relentlessly.
My conversation with Balint Pasztor revealed the human side of one of the most complex frontiers in technology. Beneath the algorithms and synthetic datasets lies a simple but profound pursuit to make machines not just intelligent, but full of empathy in design and purpose. From Budapest’s structured discipline to Silicon Valley’s culture of trial and error, Balint’s journey reflects the dual nature of innovation itself: grounded in precision, yet driven by imagination.
DiffuseDrive’s mission to bridge the simulation-to-reality gap isn’t just a technical breakthrough, it’s a philosophical one. It asks how we can teach AI to see the world as richly and responsibly as we do, creating systems that increase the human potential rather than replace it. Balint’s work shows that the true power of AI isn’t found in automation alone, but in awareness, awareness of bias, of context, and of the responsibility that comes with innovation.
In an era where speed often trumps reflection, Balint stands as a reminder that the future belongs to those who can blend courage with conscience. His story embodies the essence of humanising AI: leading with vision, learning through failure, and never losing sight of the human spirit behind the machine.
Follow Mark on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Visit his website or email him. You can also buy his books Inside Job & Plot Twist on Amazon!
Mark Sephton, Business Mentor Mark Sephton is a personal mentor to entrepreneurs. His mission to help others has seen him break into global markets while working with startups and millionaire entrepreneurs around the world. Mark's love for entrepreneurship has been expressed through serving as the TV host of the show “One More Round.” When not on the big screen, Mark is a regular contributor to Entrepreneur Magazine and a speaker for corporate events, entrepreneurship summits, and major conferences worldwide. His expertise in personal and professional development has positioned him as an expert in the industry, resulting in transformational experiences for audiences, clients, and businesses alike. Drawing from personal experiences, Mark has taken the essence of what he has experienced and built a business that helps draw out the magnificent potential that every person holds, using his GPS system to highlight blind spots, efficiencies, and deficiencies. He is also the author of two personal development books, “Inside Job” and “Plot Twist,” and is elated at the opportunity to continue to teach and influence through writing for Brainz magazine.
.jpg)
