
Chain of Thought
Introducing Chain of Thought, the podcast for software engineers and leaders that demystifies artificial intelligence.
Join us each week as we tell the stories of the people building the AI revolution, unravel actionable strategies and share practical techniques for building effective GenerativeAI applications.
Latest episodes

Jan 29, 2025 • 34min
AI, Open Source & Developer Safety | Block’s Rizel Scarlett
As DeepSeek so aptly demonstrated, AI doesn’t need to be closed source to be successful.
This week, Rizel Scarlett, a Staff Developer Advocate at Block, joins Conor Bronsdon to discuss the intersections between AI, open source, and developer advocacy. Rizel shares her journey into the world of AI, her passion for empowering developers, and her work on Block's new AI initiative, Goose, an on-machine developer agent designed to automate engineering tasks and enhance productivity.
Conor and Rizel also explore how AI can enable psychological safety, especially for junior developers. Building on this theme of community, they also dive into topics such as responsible AI development, ethical considerations in AI, and the impact of community involvement when building open source developer tools.
Chapters:
00:00 Rizel's Role at Block
02:41 Introducing Goose: Block's AI Agent
06:30 Psychological Safety and AI for Developers
11:24 AI Tools and Team Dynamics
17:28 Open Source AI and Community Involvement
25:29 Future of AI in Developer Communities
27:47 Responsible and Ethical Use of AI
31:34 Conclusion
Follow
Conor Bronsdon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorbronsdon/
Rizel Scarlett
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rizel-bobb-semple/
Website: https://blackgirlbytes.dev/
Show Notes
Learn more about Goose: https://block.github.io/goose/

Jan 15, 2025 • 33min
AI in 2025: Agents & The Rise of Evaluation Driven Development
"In the next three to five years, every piece of software that is built on this planet will have some sort of AI baked into it." - Atin Sanyal
Chain of Thought is back for its second season, and this episode dives headfirst into the possibilities AI holds for 2025 and beyond. Join Conor Bronson as he chats with Galileo co-founders Yash Sheth (COO) and Atindriyo Sanyal (CTO) about major trends to look for this year. These include AI finding its product "tool stack" fit, generation latency decreasing, AI agents, their potential to revolutionize code generation and other industries, and the crucial role of robust evaluation tools in ensuring the responsible and effective deployment of these agents.
Yash and Atin also highlight Galileo's focus on building trust and security in AI applications through scalable evaluation intelligence. They emphasize the importance of quantifying application behavior, enforcing metrics in production, and adapting to the evolving needs of AI development.
Finally, they discuss Galileo's vision for the future and their active pursuit of partnerships in 2025 to contribute to a more reliable and trustworthy AI ecosystem.
Chapters:
00:00 AI Trends and Predictions for 2025
02:55 Advancements in LLMs and Code Generation
05:16 Challenges and Opportunities in AI Development
10:40 Evaluating AI Agents and Applications
16:07 Building Evaluation Intelligence
23:41 Research Opportunities
29:50 Advice for Leveraging AI in 2025
32:00 Closing Remarks
Show Notes:
Check out Galileo
Follow Yash
Follow Atin
Follow Conor

Jan 8, 2025 • 35min
Now is the Time to Build | Weaviate’s Bob van Luijt
Join Bob van Luijt, CEO and co-founder of Weaviate, an AI-native database innovator, as he dives into the future of AI infrastructure. He passionately asserts that now is the time to build and adapt to evolving tech. Bob discusses the importance of generative feedback loops and agent architectures, which could revolutionize data management. They also tackle the challenges of documentation and developer experience as key factors for successful AI implementation. Prepare for insights that inspire action and innovation in the AI landscape!

Dec 18, 2024 • 42min
How AI Assistants Can Enhance Human Connection | Twilio’s Vinnie Giarrusso
Vinnie Giarrusso, Principal Software Engineer at Twilio, discusses how AI assistants can enrich human connection rather than replace it. He presents AI as 'async junior digital employees' that handle mundane tasks, freeing humans for meaningful interactions. The conversation dives into the potential of AI in education, emphasizing personalized learning and the disruption of traditional mentorship. Vinnie also highlights Twilio's partnership with Galileo, aiming to innovate AI integration and empower users. This thought-provoking dialogue blends technology with human experiences.

Dec 11, 2024 • 51min
Lessons from Deploying AI at Enterprise Scale | ServiceTitan, Indeed & Twilio
This week, a panel of experts (Mehmet Murat Ezbiderli, ServiceTitan; Grant Ledford, Indeed; and Vinnie Giarrusso, Twilio) join Atin Sanyal (CTO, Galileo) and Conor Bronsdon (Developer Awareness, Galileo) to explore the challenges and opportunities of deploying GenAI at enterprise scale in a conversation that's a wake-up call for any business leader looking to harness the power of AI.
Together, Atin & Conor break down key considerations like performance, cost, and model selection, emphasizing the need for robust evaluation frameworks and a shift in developer mindset.
Atin then sits down with our panel of AI engineering experts to discuss their firsthand experiences with enterprise AI, including the trade-offs of building AI systems, the evolving tools and frameworks available, and the impact these technologies are having on their organizations.
Chapters:
00:00 Enterprise Scale Deployment
05:17 Cost, Performance, and Model Selection
08:59 Building and Integrating GenAI Systems
15:26 Emerging Enterprise Use Cases
18:12 Predictions for AI in 2025
27:28 Panel Discussion: Deploying AI at Enterprise Scale
31:19 Gen AI Solutions and Challenges
33:12 Building & Deploying Traditional Infrastructure vs GenAI Infrastructure
34:36 How to Assemble Your GenAI Stack
40:39 Today's Best GenAI Use Cases
48:15 Enterprise AI Trends for 2025
50:36 Closing Remarks and Future Outlook
Follow:
Atin Sanyal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atinsanyal/
Mehmet Murat Ezbiderli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehmet-murat-ezbiderli-b894a49/
Grant Ledford: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grant-ledford-36b146a5/
Vinnie Giarrusso: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinniegiarrusso/
Show notes:
Watch all of Productionize: https://www.galileo.ai/genai-productionize-2-0

Dec 4, 2024 • 48min
Practical Lessons for GenAI Evals | Chip Huyen & Vivienne Zhang
As AI agents and multimodal models become more prevalent, understanding how to evaluate GenAI is no longer optional – it's essential.
Generative AI introduces new complexities in assessment compared to traditional software, and this week on Chain of Thought we’re joined by Chip Huyen (Storyteller, Tép Studio), Vivienne Zhang (Senior Product Manager, Generative AI Software, Nvidia) for a discussion on AI evaluation best practices.
Before we hear from our guests, Vikram Chatterji (CEO, Galileo) and Conor Bronsdon (Developer Awareness, Galileo) give their takes on the complexities of AI evals and how to overcome them through the use of objective criteria in evaluating open-ended tasks, the role of hallucinations in AI models, and the importance of human-in-the-loop systems.
Afterwards, Chip and Vivienne sit down with Atin Sanyal (Co-Founder & CTO, Galileo) to explore common evaluation approaches, best practices for building frameworks, and implementation lessons. They also discuss the nuances of evaluating AI coding assistants and agentic systems.
Chapters:
00:00 Challenges in Evaluating Generative AI
05:45 Evaluating AI Agents
13:08 Are Hallucinations Bad?
17:12 Human in the Loop Systems
20:49 Panel discussion begins
22:57 Challenges in Evaluating Intelligent Systems
24:37 User Feedback and Iterative Improvement
26:47 Post-Deployment Evaluations and Common Mistakes
28:52 Hallucinations in AI: Definitions and Challenges
34:17 Evaluating AI Coding Assistants
38:15 Agentic Systems: Use Cases and Evaluations
43:00 Trends in AI Models and Hardware
45:42 Future of AI in Enterprises
47:16 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Follow:
Vikram Chatterji: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikram-chatterji/
Atin Sanyal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atinsanyal/
Conor Bronsdon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorbronsdon/
Chip Huyen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiphuyen/
Vivienne Zhang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/viviennejiaozhang/
Show notes:
Watch all of Productionize 2.0: https://www.galileo.ai/genai-productionize-2-0

Nov 27, 2024 • 41min
The Real ROI of Enterprise AI | HP, ServiceNow & Accenture
The “ROI of AI” has been marketed as a panacea, a near-magical solution to all business problems.
Following that promise, many companies have invested heavily in AI over the past year and are now asking themselves, “What is the return on my AI investment?”
This week on Chain of Thought, Galileo’s CEO, Vikram Chatterji joins Conor Bronsdon to discuss AI's value proposition, from the initial hype to the current search for tangible returns, offering insights into how businesses can identify the right AI use cases to maximize their investment.
Next, we’re joined by a panel of AI experts to discuss the ROI of Enterprise AI, featuring Alex Klug, Head of Product, Data Science & AI at HP; Sriram Palapudi, Sr. Dir, ML Platform Engineering at ServiceNow; and Jay Subrahmonia, Global MD for AI Research & Products at Accenture.
Together, they explore effective implementation strategies, how to measure the returns of AI adoption in the enterprise, and why AI's ROI isn't always just about the bottom line.
Chapters:
00:00 Current State of AI Investments
03:59 Challenges and Solutions in AI Implementation
08:30 Identifying and Prioritizing AI Use Cases
10:53 Ensuring Trust and Explainability in AI
15:29 Measuring ROI and Efficiency Gains
21:10 Panel Discussion Begins
21:54 Trust and Risk Management at HP
23:27 Accenture's Approach to Operationalizing AI
26:06 ServiceNow's Trade-offs and Prioritization
31:17 Measuring the success of AI for customers
36:29 Frameworks and Best Practices
40:57 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Follow:
Vikram Chatterji: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikram-chatterji/
Conor Bronsdon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorbronsdon/
Alex Klug: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-klug-67ba3655/
Sriram Palapudi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sriram-palapudi-11294b1/
Jay Subrahmonia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayashree-subrahmonia-99963a/
Show notes:
Watch all of Productionize 2.0: https://www.galileo.ai/genai-productionize-2-0

Nov 20, 2024 • 40min
GenAI Predictions for 2025 | Databricks & Cohere
Will 2025 be the year open-source LLMs catch up with their closed-source rivals? Will an established set of best practices for evaluating AI emerge?
This week on Chain of Thought, we break out the crystal ball and give our biggest AI predictions for 2025. Listen as Sara Hooker, VP of Research at Cohere and Head of Cohere for AI predicts a trend towards smaller, more optimized AI models; Craig Wiley, Senior Director of Product, Mosaic AI at Databricks, dives into the future of multimodal AI; and Galileo’s CEO, Vikram Chatterji, shares his predictions, including the rise of open-source LLMs.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:01 Vikram's top 3 predictions
06:19 AI and nuclear energy
08:30 Giving power back to the people
13:46 Craig's predictions
20:46 The "era of toolification"
30:38 Sara's predictions
35:07 AI safety
Follow:
Vikram Chatterji: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikram-chatterji/
Yash Sheth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yash-sheth-/
Conor Bronsdon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorbronsdon/
Sara Hooker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sararosehooker/
Craig Wiley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigwiley/
Show notes:
Watch all of Productionize 2.0: https://www.galileo.ai/genai-productionize-2-0

Nov 13, 2024 • 31min
Got Agents? | Weaviate, Unstructured & crewAI
AI agents have quickly emerged as the next ‘hot thing’ in AI, but what constitutes an AI agent and do they live up to the hype?
Join Brian Raymond, founder & CEO at Unstructured.io, Bob van Luijt, co-founder & CEO at Weaviate, and João Moura, founder at crewAI as they discuss the shift to agentic workflows, dissect their architecture, and tackle real-world challenges in agent deployment.
From data management tips to generative feedback loops, this episode is your essential guide to operationalizing agents effectively.
Chapters:
00:00 Defining AI Agents
01:16 Components of Agentic Architecture
02:16 Challenges and Solutions in Agent Deployment
03:58 Data Management and Quality Issues
05:23 Operationalizing Agents in Production
06:56 API and Security Considerations
09:04 Multimodal Information and Agentic Workflows
12:42 Future of Agentic Workflows
20:20 Best Practices for Agentic Strategies
25:30 Generative Feedback Loops
28:29 Agentic Evaluations
Follow:
Yash Sheth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yash-sheth-
Bob van Luijt: https://nl.linkedin.com/in/bobvanluijt
Brian Raymond: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-s-raymond
João Moura: https://br.linkedin.com/in/joaomdmoura
Show notes:
Watch all of Productionize 2.0: https://www.galileo.ai/genai-productionize-2-0

Nov 6, 2024 • 49min
Trust, Regulation & the Road Ahead | Writer's May Habib
From ChatGPT's search engine to Google's AI-powered code generation, artificial intelligence is transforming how we build and deploy technology.
In this inaugural episode of Chain of Thought, the co-founders of Galileo explore the state of AI, from open-source models to establishing trust in enterprise applications. Plus, tune in for a segment on the impact of the Presidential election on AI regulation. The episode culminates with an interview of May Habib, CEO of Writer, who shares practical insights on implementing generative AI at scale.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Chain of Thought Podcast
01:27 Big News in AI: ChatGPT and Anthropic
06:34 Open Source vs Proprietary AI
12:17 The Importance of Trust in AI
20:12 Challenges in AI Development and Deployment
22:07 The Role of Human Input in AI Development
28:45 The Future of AI Regulation
34:41 Interview with May Habib co-founder & CEO at Writer
40:01 What’s Writer’s secret sauce?
43:31 Challenges in productionizing GenAI
48:08 Conclusion
Follow:
Vikram Chatterji: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikram-chatterji/
Atin Sanyal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atinsanyal/
Yash Sheth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yash-sheth-/
Conor Bronsdon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorbronsdon/
May Habib: https://www.linkedin.com/in/may-habib/
Show notes:
Watch all of Productionize 2.0: https://www.galileo.ai/genai-productionize-2-0
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