The Infra Pod

Sammy Sdu, CEO of Eventual and creator of the Daft platform, dives into the dilemmas of processing unstructured and multimodal data. He shares his journey from self-driving car research to founding Eventual, detailing his frustrations with Spark. Sammy discusses how to maintain data integrity in complex workflows and explores the impact of LLMs and agents on data pipelines. With insights into real-world applications, he highlights the shift toward accessible multimodal tools and the future of data engineering.

Anurag Goal, CEO of Render and former early Stripe engineer, shares insights on building a modern cloud platform. He discusses his transition from Stripe, driven by frustrations with low-level infra work. Anurag emphasizes the need for high-level developer tools and the mission to simplify cloud complexity. He explains concepts like progressive disclosure and how Render fosters product taste while maintaining flexibility. The conversation also explores how agents and LLMs are transforming development practices, signaling a shift in the software lifecycle.

Welcome to Episode 53 of The Infra Pod! Hosts Tim from Essence and Ian from Keycard are joined by special guest Alex Eagle, CEO and co-founder of Aspect Build. In this episode, Alex shares his journey from working on Angular at Google to founding a company around Bazel, Google's open-source build tool. The conversation dives deep into the challenges and motivations behind building developer infrastructure, the evolution of CI/CD systems, and the unique strengths and hurdles of adopting Bazel in organizations of all sizes.The trio explores the future of software development, the impact of AI on coding and build systems, and the ongoing debate between monorepos and polyrepos. Alex also discusses Aspect's mission to make Bazel more accessible and the broader implications for developer productivity in an agentic, AI-driven world. Whether you're a platform engineer, open-source enthusiast, or just curious about the future of build tools, this episode is packed with insights and spicy predictions for the future of developer infrastructure.00:00 – Introduction & Guest BackgroundTim and Ian introduce Alex Eagle, who shares his journey from Google to founding Aspect Build.04:20 – Why Bazel?Alex explains the motivation behind focusing on Bazel, its challenges, and the analogy to municipal infrastructure.10:55 – Bazel in the Real WorldDiscussion on Bazel’s adoption, who should use it, and the hurdles organizations face.21:06 – The Future: AI, Agents, and Build SystemsExploring how AI and agentic coding are changing developer infrastructure and Bazel’s evolving role.43:01 – Closing & TakeawaysFinal thoughts, how to learn more about Aspect and Bazel, and episode wrap-up.

In this episode of the Infra Pod, hosts Tim (Essence VC) and Ian (CEO of Keycard) sat down with Lucas Thelosen, founder of Gravity and former head of product for data and AI at Google. Lucas shares his journey from leading teams at Google and Looker to launching Gravity, a company focused on bridging the gap between business users and data through generative AI.The conversation dives deep into the challenges of data analysis in modern organizations, the evolution of AI-powered tools like Orion, and how generative AI is transforming the way companies leverage their data. Lucas discusses the importance of semantic layers, onboarding AI agents, and the future of data teams in a world where AI can automate complex analysis and reporting.

Join host Tim Chen (Essence VC) and Ian Livingston (Keycard.sh) as they sat down with Ivan Burazin, CEO and co-founder of Daytona to explore the cutting edge of agent-native infrastructure. From the origins of Daytona to the challenges and opportunities of building for autonomous agents, this episode dives deep into the tools, use cases, and visionary thinking shaping the next generation of infrastructure. Whether you’re a developer, founder, or tech enthusiast, you’ll gain insights into the trends, pivots, and bold ideas driving the future of AI and cloud platforms.

Hunter Leath, CEO of Archil, is on a mission to redefine cloud storage, particularly for AI applications. He discusses the limitations of current storage solutions like S3 and the revolutionary potential of using SSDs and custom protocols. Hunter highlights the complexities of managing unstructured data and why trust in infrastructure is critical. The conversation also ventures into future possibilities for file storage as well as practical applications ranging from serverless Jupyter notebooks to the demands of continuous integration and delivery.

Discover how Blacksmith is revolutionizing CI/CD by transforming gaming PCs into high-performance serverless compute resources. The team dives into the challenges faced by traditional CI systems, the advantages of using GitHub Actions, and the impact of AI on code generation. Aditya shares insights on optimizing CI workflows with innovative hardware choices and the future of observability in CI. Get ready for bold predictions and spicy takes on the evolving landscape of continuous integration!

Dive into the world of AI memory and discover its revolutionary potential. Charles from Letta discusses how long-term memory can enhance productivity tools and coding assistants. The concept of 'sleep time compute' is explored, highlighting continuous AI efficiency. Future trends suggest shared memory could outperform models in importance, shaping the way software interacts with users and improves collaboration. Tune in to learn about the early stages of AI memory technology and the challenges that lie ahead in creating more effective systems.

The conversation dives deep into DBOS’s mission to enhance software reliability and durability. Insights on utilizing Postgres as a robust backbone for modern applications steal the show. The guests share innovative tools like workflow visualization and a time travel debugger that streamline system reliability. They tackle the complexities of integrating AI into traditional systems, emphasizing trust and user strategies. Future predictions suggest a shift towards serverless solutions and the expanding role of Postgres in both transaction and analytical realms.

Join Tim from Essence VC and Ian from Keycard as they sit down with Gilad Kleinman (CEO of Epsio), to explore the next generation incremental query engine they're building. Gilad shares his journey from a software developer focusing on low-level Linux kernel development to identifying fundamental gaps in data processing. They delve into the philosophical questions regarding data complexity and redundancy, discuss the theoretical advancements propelling their project, and highlight the practical issues faced by companies in achieving efficient, scalable data queries.00:35 Journey to Building Epsio03:33 Tackling Incremental Processing10:08 User Experience in Data Systems17:24 Scaling and Integration Challenges18:43 AI and the Future of Database Management32:21 Spicy Hot Take!