The MAD Podcast with Matt Turck

Eléonore Crespo, Co-CEO of Pigment, is at the forefront of revolutionizing financial management with her $400 million AI platform. She discusses how Pigment enhances decision-making for companies like Coca-Cola and Uber using its innovative three-agent system. Eléonore argues that Excel will remain relevant, primarily as a user interface, and explains her choice to build from Paris. She highlights the potential for AI to create more CFO positions, making the case for a future where enterprises become increasingly autonomous.

Cristóbal Valenzuela, CEO & Co-Founder of Runway, dives into the revolutionary changes AI is bringing to the filmmaking landscape. He discusses the meteoric rise of AI film festivals, with submissions soaring from 300 to 6,000. Cristóbal highlights how Hollywood is increasingly adopting AI technologies, transforming storytelling and production. He also explores the balance between human creativity and accessible AI tools, emphasizing the evolving narrative possibilities in an AI-driven future.

Chris Pedregal, Co-founder and CEO of Granola, shares insights from transforming a simple idea into a favored AI tool for meeting notes. He discusses the power of community feedback, the importance of simplicity in design, and the lessons learned from onboarding users. With a focus on privacy and productivity, he reveals their tech stack choices and future plans, including dynamic documents and an AI coach. He also touches on the benefits of building an AI startup in London, highlighting local talent and a unique approach to product development.

Boris Cherny, creator of Claude Code at Anthropic, shares the fascinating journey of transforming a simple productivity tool into a $400 million AI coding powerhouse. He discusses how Claude Code uses an innovative terminal approach, enabling AI to plan, edit, and manage coding projects efficiently. Cherny reveals stories of drastically reduced onboarding times and highlights Claude's user-friendly design, making powerful coding accessible for non-coders. The conversation dives into the evolving role of AI in coding, advocating for a balanced partnership between humans and intelligent tools.

Misha Laskin, co-founder and CEO of Reflection AI and former DeepMind researcher, dives into the future of enterprise superintelligence. He envisions a digital brain that retains knowledge like a principal engineer. The conversation covers breakthroughs in AI, the role of coding in achieving superintelligence, and the innovative Asimov tool designed to streamline software development. Misha also shares his fascinating journey from a physics prodigy in a Manhattan-Project town to leading AI projects, and discusses the fierce talent competition in the AI startup landscape.

Emily Glassberg Sands, Head of Information at Stripe, dives into the transformative world of agentic commerce. She discusses how autonomous buying bots are set to change online shopping dynamics, emphasizing intention over clicks. Emily sheds light on Stripe's innovative AI foundation model that significantly enhances fraud detection. She also reveals insights on the rapid growth of AI startups, noting their swift international success. The discussion highlights the importance of robust data infrastructures and the shift towards usage-based pricing models in this new AI-driven landscape.

David Waltcher, a colleague at FirstMark, shares insights on the seismic shifts brought by generative AI in engineering. He discusses how tools like GitHub Copilot are transforming coding practices for millions of developers. Waltcher highlights that while AI boosts productivity by 30-50%, it introduces new security vulnerabilities and complicates traditional QA processes. He notes the rising demand for skills like code review and emphasizes the parallels between today's AI advancements and historical innovations, urging CTOs to rethink team dynamics in this evolving landscape.

Guillermo Rauch, CEO of Vercel and legendary engineer, discusses the groundbreaking text-to-app platform V0, which has generated over 100 million applications. He explains 'vibe coding,' making software accessible to non-engineers and emphasizes the importance of AI in automating development processes. Guillermo highlights Vercel's rapid growth and success with clients like Walmart and Nike, and the need for businesses to adapt in a world where the next app creators may not write any code at all. He shares insights on balancing life and tech leadership, and the evolving skills needed in software development.

Brendan Humphreys, CTO at Canva and a key player in leading 2,300 engineers, unveils the magic behind Canva’s explosive growth, achieving $3 billion in ARR. He discusses the rapid rollout of AI features like Canva Code, reflecting on their integration of diverse AI models. Brendan shares insights into the challenges of managing a global team, optimizing engineering productivity with AI tools, and maintaining company culture while scaling. He emphasizes Canva's vision for the future, blending innovation with social responsibility.

Thomas Dohmke, CEO of GitHub, shares his journey in transforming the company after its $7.5B acquisition by Microsoft into a powerhouse. He delves into the AI coding gold rush, discussing how GitHub's Copilot empowers developers, even young gamers, to code effortlessly. The conversation highlights the competitive landscape with Cursor's valuation and the rise of coding agents that could handle 90% of coding tasks by 2025. Dohmke also analyzes the shifting dynamics in SaaS and the future role of AI in streamlining coding workflows.