Add in the beef stew meat, garlic powder, kosher salt, thyme, and black pepper. Stir and cook until all sides of the beef stew meat has a nice brown sear on it.
Put the lid on the Instant pot and set the valve to the 'sealed' position. Cook on HIGH pressure for 17 minutes. When the cook time is done, let the instant pot do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes.