High Agency: The Podcast for AI Builders

Eric Simons, co-founder and CEO of StackBlitz and Bolt.new, shares the incredible journey of Bolt.new, which skyrocketed to $40M ARR in just five months. He discusses creating an AI that builds full-stack applications from simple prompts and the rollercoaster ride from near failure to rapid success. Topics include the challenges of explosive growth, the evolution of AI in software development, and future directions for AI integration in businesses. Eric also emphasizes the importance of hands-on experience in building AI applications for sustainable success.

Patrick Leung, CTO of Faro Health and former leader at Google, discusses revolutionizing clinical trial design with AI. He reveals how AI transforms regulatory document generation and captures insights from past trials, showcasing the importance of collaboration between clinical experts and engineers. Leung addresses the high costs of trials, challenges with traditional metrics, and the role of structured data extraction in enhancing outcomes. He also dives into AI's capabilities and the hiring challenges faced in the field.

In this episode, Raza is joined by Shahriar Tajbakhsh, the co-founder of Metaview. They discuss how Metaview’s AI scribe automates interview note-taking, how AI agents can surface top candidates from thousands of resumes, and why hiring managers should think of AI as a co-worker, not just a tool. Raza's recomended reading: Creating a LLM-as-a-Judge That Drives Business Results.Chapters:00:00 - Introduction03:32 - How AI Co-Workers Are Transforming Recruiting06:21 - Inside MetaView: AI Scribe and Workflow Automation09:11 - Unlocking Hiring Insights with AI-Driven Conversations11:30 - Balancing AI Innovation and User Adoption14:05 - Metaview’s Tech Stack and the Role of LLMs18:29 - How MetaView Generates Superhuman Interview Notes23:18 - The Challenges of Building Reliable AI Hiring Agents32:40 - The Future of AI in Hiring: Automating Job Descriptions40:26 - AI Co-Workers That Work While You Sleep47:08 - Why Vertical AI Will Win Over General AI Agents50:24 - The Underrated Power of Graph-Based AI------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Humanloop is the LLM evals platform for enterprises. We give you the tools that top teams use to ship and scale AI with confidence. To find out more go to humanloop.com 

Zach Lloyd, CEO and founder of Warp and former Google tech lead, shares insights on redefining the developer experience with AI. He discusses how Warp is transforming command line interactions through AI-driven features like natural language communication and auto-suggestions. Zach delves into the challenges of integrating AI safely and effectively, the evolution of coding workflows, and the importance of adapting developer behavior. He also highlights the potential for local models and the future of AI in software development.

Will Bryk, Co-founder and CEO of Exa, shares his vision on revolutionizing search engines with AI. He critiques traditional models like Google, emphasizing that they can't handle complex queries effectively. The discussion dives into Exa's GPU cluster and its innovative tools for advanced coding and research. Will predicts AI will surpass human mathematicians by 2026 and discusses implications for jobs and automation. He also offers advice for fellow entrepreneurs navigating the fast-paced AI landscape.

Jesse Zhang, CEO of Decagon AI, is pioneering AI agents for customer support, reshaping how businesses engage with clients. He shares his early passion for large language models and the playful experiments that sparked his company’s innovations. The conversation dives into the challenges of scaling AI technology, emphasizing the need for customer feedback and data sensitivity. Jesse also forecasts the future of AI, addressing both its potential hype and the transformative implications for enterprise support systems.

Ryan Salva, Senior Director of Product at Google and former lead for GitHub Copilot, shares his journey in creating this groundbreaking AI coding tool. He discusses the fine line between novice and expert developer expectations from AI, revealing the double-edged sword of predictive text. Salva also reflects on the rapid evolution of AI tools, the future of developer roles amidst rising automation, and the necessity of effective evaluation methods in AI development. His insights point to a transformative future for software engineering.

James Theuerkauf, CEO of Syrup Tech, and Sara Ittelson, Partner at Accel, share their insights on the challenges of building AI-first companies. They dive into innovative demand forecasting in retail, enhancing decision-making with AI. The duo discusses leveraging unconventional data to boost business performance and the evolving role of generative AI in shaping industries. They emphasize the importance of adaptability and a problem-centric mindset for AI entrepreneurs, ultimately arguing that AI's transformative potential is often underappreciated.

Noam Rubin, a Software Developer at Vanta, specializes in creating AI tools for security and compliance. He shares fascinating insights into using data-driven strategies for building AI features. Discover how customer feedback and rapid prototyping are vital in transforming ideas into practical tools. Noam explains the importance of integrating AI into compliance workflows, maintaining product quality through iterative testing, and educating engineers to democratize AI. His experiences highlight the balance between innovation, user empathy, and technical accuracy.

In this episode of High Agency, former OpenAI researcher Stan Polu shares his journey from AI research to founding Dust, an enterprise AI platform. Stan offers a contrarian view on the future of AI, suggesting we may be hitting a plateau in model capabilities since GPT-4. He discusses why startups should focus on product-market fit before investing in GPUs, shares practical lessons for building AI products, and predicts increased competition between AI labs and API developers. Chapters:00:00 - Introducing Dust: an enterprise AI platform06:07 - From Stripe to OpenAI: Stan's journey10:29 - Why research wasn't enough: building Dust15:10 -  Best practices for building an AI product20:50 - Is prompt engineering here to stay23:40 - Understanding language models and their limitations32:56 - Predictions for AI in 202539:53 - Measuring progress toward AGI42:26 - The true value of AI technology--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Humanloop is the LLM evals platform for enterprises. We give you the tools that top teams use to ship and scale AI with confidence. To find out more go to humanloop.com