#221 Varun Mohan: The AI Tool That’s Changing How Code is Written (Codeium)

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Nov 25, 2024

Varun Mohan, Co-founder and CEO of Codeium, is revolutionizing coding with AI-powered tools. He discusses how generative AI enhances software development, enabling real-time code completion and application building. Varun highlights the challenges of managing large codebases and evolving legacy systems like COBOL. The innovative Cascade feature in their IDE, Windsurf, merges human insights with AI capabilities for seamless coding. He also sheds light on AI's potential in onboarding developers and improving coding practices while addressing the competitive landscape.

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ANECDOTE

Codeium's Origin Story

Varun Mohan, Codeium's CEO, shared his journey from autonomous vehicles to GPU virtualization with ExaFunction.
ExaFunction pivoted to Codeium, an AI coding tool, after recognizing the transformative potential of generative AI.

INSIGHT

Windsurf and Cascade

Codeium's Windsurf IDE integrates an AI agent called Cascade, enabling end-to-end task completion and continuous coding.
Unlike ChatGPT, Cascade reasons about large codebases, merging human and AI capabilities for seamless development.

INSIGHT

Codeium's Model Mix

Codeium uses a mix of proprietary and third-party models, including OpenAI and Anthropic, for various tasks.
Proprietary models handle keystroke-level code completion and refactoring, while third-party models focus on high-level planning.

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In this episode of the Eye on AI podcast, Varun Mohan, Co-Founder and CEO of Codeium, shares the journey behind building one of the most innovative AI-powered coding tools available today.

Varun joins Craig Smith to explore the future of software development, the evolution of Codeium, and how generative AI is revolutionizing the way developers interact with codebases.

As a leader in AI and software engineering, Varun discusses how Codeium integrates advanced AI to enable real-time code completion, refactoring, and even end-to-end application building. From processing billions of lines of code to making complex legacy systems like COBOL more accessible, Codeium is empowering developers to work smarter and faster.

We delve into the challenges of managing massive codebases, the importance of maintaining security and self-hosted solutions, and how tools like Codeium stand apart from competitors like Copilot and CodeWhisperer. Varun also introduces **Cascade**, the AI assistant within Codeium’s custom IDE, Windsurf, which merges human ingenuity with AI's reasoning capabilities for a seamless coding experience.

Other fascinating topics include the role of AI in onboarding developers to complex systems, its ability to handle rare programming languages, and how Codeium is reshaping the software lifecycle from design to deployment.

Learn how Codeium is redefining the possibilities of software development with AI, and what the future holds as this technology continues to evolve.

Don’t miss this deep dive into AI-powered innovation with Varun Mohan. Like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more episodes exploring cutting-edge advancements in AI!

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(00:00) Introduction to Varun Mohan and Codeium

(05:32) Introducing Codeium: AI-powered coding revolution

(08:42) Competing with Copilot and CodeWhisperer

(11:46) Using Codeium to streamline software development

(14:01) Features of Cascade: Refactoring and automation

(17:26) Building applications from scratch with Codeium

(22:00) Enterprise adoption and recognition by JPMorgan Chase

(23:14) The pivot to Codeium and lessons learned

(24:32) The vision for Codeium’s future