Sabrina Halper Show OpenAI’s Isa Fulford on Building Deep Research, ChatGPT’s Agent, and the Future of the Internet
25 snips
Nov 14, 2025 
Isa Fulford, a rising star at OpenAI, discusses her journey from childhood violin discipline to leading the Deep Research team. She reveals insights on building the ChatGPT Agent and how AI is evolving into tools that can automate complex tasks. Isa predicts a future where AI agents act on our behalf, enhancing communication and efficiency online. She also addresses safety concerns and the implications of powerful models, emphasizing a shift from doing tasks to managing them. Her experience illustrates the thrilling potential of AI for personal and professional growth.
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Daily Practice Shaped Her Discipline
- Isa describes practicing violin daily as a child and how her mother never let her skip practice.
- She credits that discipline with shaping her focus and obsessive pursuit of excellence in work.
Chain‑of‑Thought Enabled Real Agents
- Reasoning-focused training (chain-of-thought) revealed models that can backtrack and actually solve problems.
- Isa saw this as the capability that would enable practical agents, not just demos.
Janky Demo Became A Real Product Signal
- Isa recounts building a janky web demo for research and coding agents that people actually used.
- Early internal users depended on it and would message the team when it went down, signaling product-market fit.