Latent Space: The AI Engineer Podcast

Truly Serverless Infra for AI Engineers - with Erik Bernhardsson of Modal

25 snips
Feb 16, 2024
In this episode, Erik Bernhardsson, founder of Modal and former tech leader at Spotify, dives into his journey from building tools like Annoy and Luigi to launching a startup focused on high-performance cloud solutions. He discusses the evolution of AI infrastructure and the unique challenges of developing efficient tools for data teams. Erik also explores the competitive landscape of AI services, the shift towards serverless environments, and the importance of adapting to new developer needs. Insights into navigating cloud startup challenges provide further depth.
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ANECDOTE

Spotify Beginnings

  • Erik Bernhardsson's data career began with a master's thesis on music recommendation systems at Spotify.
  • He joined when Spotify was a 30-person startup and built an early recommendation prototype.
INSIGHT

Vector Database Foresight

  • Building Annoy, an early vector database, in 2012 stemmed from Erik Bernhardsson's belief in the future importance of vectors.
  • Years later, the vector database field exploded, proving his foresight.
INSIGHT

Postmodern Data Stack

  • Modal aims to create a "postmodern data stack" addressing data teams' unique needs.
  • Existing data stacks have point solutions that don't integrate well, leading teams to build internal workarounds.
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