From his early work in physics and mathematical simulation to leading Vision Pro development at Apple, Amit Jain has consistently pushed the boundaries of how computers process and understand our world. Now as the founder and CEO of Luma AI, he's tackling an even bigger challenge: building what he calls a "universal imagination engine." In this episode of Barrchives, Amit shares his perspective on why unified AI models outperform specialized ones, how visual data transforms AI reasoning, and what it takes to build infrastructure capable of training on millions of videos. But underlying these technical insights is a broader vision about technology's role in human progress.

Naveen Rao, VP of AI at Databricks, has a rich background in AI hardware and software, having previously founded Nervana and MosaicML. He shares his journey from a childhood fascination with science fiction to innovating in AI. The conversation dives into the distinct playbooks required for deep tech versus SaaS, emphasizing a deeper understanding of problems. He discusses the shifting landscape of AI post-ChatGPT, the synergy between hardware and software, and the future of AI training and decision-making, advocating for breakthrough innovations to navigate evolving demands.

Tristan Handy’s move to develop dbt Labs meant stepping away from steady consulting revenue to build a product. With support from an open-source community and interest from enterprise clients, dbt quickly found a growing user base. By 2019, it had become a go-to tool for data professionals looking to streamline workflows and prepare data for AI. Today, dbt Labs serves over 50,000 teams globally, with dbt Cloud helping organizations tackle modern analytics and AI needs through data transformation, observability, and orchestration. In this episode of Barrchives, Tristan discusses how dbt is adapting to support the evolving demands of today’s data ecosystems. He shares insights on how data teams can move beyond manual, repetitive tasks to create environments where data becomes a valuable, collaborative asset. From AI’s potential as an analytical “thought partner” to the emerging standards reshaping data access, Tristan explores the shifts making data infrastructure more adaptable and effective.

Cristóbal Valenzuela, CEO and co-founder of Runway, is using AI to open up new pathways of expressing creativity. Cristóbal founded Runway with the idea that AI could expand the boundaries of what is possible in storytelling. This vision transformed the company from a model marketplace into a unique toolkit for artists, filmmakers, and creators that brings their visions to life.

Quinn Slack co-founded Sourcegraph to address the challenges his team faced in their own projects. After simplifying their internal process for navigating complex codebases, they realized that while smaller companies might not see this as a pressing issue, many enterprises did. Sourcegraph is the leading code intelligence platform that revolutionizes how developers understand, fix, and automate their code. By leveraging AI through Cody, their AI coding assistant, Sourcegraph enables developers to easily navigate large codebases, locate relevant code snippets, and gain historical context—all while streamlining bug fixes, code refactoring, and performance improvements in a single interface. Don’t miss this episode of Barrchives where Quinn discusses the evolution of Sourcegraph, the critical role of context in coding, and how AI is set to transform the role of the developer.

Guillermo Rauch is changing the way frontend developers work. Guillermo Rauch started his first online business at just 11 years old in Argentina. A couple successful exits later, he’s now founder and CEO of Vercel. Vercel provides tools and cloud infrastructure for developers to build and scale a more personalized web. This episode of Barrchives gets into how and why Vercel’s AI products – v0 and AI SDK – were built, how AI will enable a more personalized web, and why AI will dramatically shift the future of frontend cloud.

Amjad Masad and Michele Catasta are lifelong developers on a mission to change how people learn to code. Amjad is the Founder & CEO of Replit. His journey started in Jordan, where he taught himself to code despite barely having internet access. That drive eventually led to Replit, a platform now used by millions to make it easier for developers to jump right into coding. Michele, President of Replit, previously led AI research at Google and helps develop tools like Replit Agent that handle the boring parts of coding, so developers can be put their energy into being creative with their skills to solve real problems. They joined me on the very first episode of Barrchives to share their vision for the future of programming, the role AI plays in shaping it, and the tough decisions that have defined Replit’s strategy.