The High Flyers Podcast with Vidit Agarwal

#272 Dylan Babbs: Profound’s CTO on the New Rules of AI Marketing, Maps Obsession & “Swimming Downstream”

Aug 24, 2026
Guest
Dylan Babbs
Dylan Babbs, Co-founder and CTO of Profound and former Uber design engineer and maps specialist, shares his maps-driven product lens and how design+engineering sped growth. He recounts leaving big tech, founding Profound, and scaling from $1M to $33M ARR. They discuss why founders should “swim downstream,” the rise of marketing engineers, AI reshaping marketing, and Profound’s focus on speed and vertical moats.
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INSIGHT

Why Maps Hooked A Design Engineer

  • Maps combine engineering, cartographic design, geography and culture, making them the
ANECDOTE

Architecture Training Shaped UI Taste

  • Dylan's early architecture obsession influenced his UI taste and spatial thinking in product design.
  • Living in Valencia and drawing buildings gave him a visual vocabulary he later applied to fast software prototyping.
ANECDOTE

Learning To Fly Recalibrated Risk Appetite

  • During COVID Dylan moved to Puerto Rico to learn to fly, biking to the local airport and training mornings before work.
  • The year-long pilot training became a deliberate challenge that taught him to 'run towards the anxiety.'
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