Dev Interrupted How leaders win over their team’s biggest AI skeptics | Superhuman’s Loic Houssier
Oct 28, 2025
Loic Houssier, Head of Engineering at Superhuman, shares insights on cultivating AI adoption in skeptical engineering teams. He discusses using a respected internal champion to shift perspectives on AI tools. Highlights include surprising productivity boosts like faster ramp-ups and quick creation of internal tools. Loic emphasizes a bottom-up approach through an AI Guild and the importance of blending trust with simple metrics for measuring success. A fascinating real-world example showcases AI transforming a lengthy compliance task into a 90-minute task.
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Improve Inputs, Not Outputs, To Reduce Slop
- Fix upstream context and prompts instead of tweaking AI outputs to reduce errors and hallucinations.
- Invest time in building tight guardrails and rich context for the model to improve results.
Leverage Respected Skeptics As Internal Champions
- Use a respected internal skeptic to evaluate AI before mandating tools across the org.
- Let that engineer trial tools, adopt what works, and share outcomes to shift team perception quickly.
Big Wins Came From Ramp‑Up And Disposable Tools
- The largest velocity gains came from faster ramp-up on unfamiliar codebases and quick internal tooling creation.
- Engineers used AI to build disposable utilities that saved hours without needing production polish.