Dev Interrupted Your AI demo is a lie (and how to make it real) | Arcade’s Alex Salazar
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Sep 9, 2025 Join Alex Salazar, CEO of Arcade and an expert in secure AI tools, as he dives into the pitfalls of flashy AI demos versus production-ready systems. He reveals the 'demo killers' that lead to project failures, like inconsistency and security flaws. Alex shares a surprising solution—dialing up determinism in AI tools—showing how constrained tasks can enhance reliability. This engaging talk is a must-listen for anyone wanting their AI to act securely and effectively in real-world applications.
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Demo Is Just The Starting Line
- A working AI demo is only about 1% of the engineering journey to production.
- Moving from demo to production often requires redesigning the product entirely due to reliability and trust needs.
Arcade Pivoted From SRE Agent To Tool Auth
- Arcade started as an SRE agent that could diagnose production issues from alerts.
- They pivoted after realizing production reliability and security demanded a separate tool-execution and authorization product.
Four Constraints Kill Agent Projects
- Four demo killers frequently block agents: inconsistency, security, cost, and latency.
- These constraints force trade-offs that demo builders often ignore until scaling.