High Agency is the podcast for AI builders. If you’re trying to understand how to successfully build AI products with Large Language Models and Generative AI th...
$100M raised: How Decagon is building better AI agents I Jesse Zhang
In this episode, Jesse Zhang joins Raza to discuss building cutting-edge AI agents for customer support. They explore how his early passion for LLMs led to creating a company that’s transforming the way businesses like Rippling, Duolingo, and Webflow interact with customers. Jesse breaks down the challenges of scaling AI systems, the importance of customer feedback, and his predictions for the future of AI.Chapters:00:00 - Introduction and Jesse Zhang's Background 01:17 - First Exposure to LLMs and Building Early Projects 04:32 - Decagon’s Rapid Growth and Differentiation in AI 06:37 - Understanding Decagon’s AI Customer Support Product 10:21 - Challenges in Building High-Performance AI Systems 13:14 - Evolution from Simple RAG to Agent Architectures 16:54 - Measuring Accuracy with Evals and Customer Feedback 19:05 - Balancing Customization and Reusability Across Clients 22:35 - Handling Customer Data and Incremental Deployment 25:21 - Restructuring Support Teams for AI Integration 27:03 - Team Composition and the Role of Domain Expertise 29:19 - Advice for New AI Builders: Customer-Driven Development 32:21 - Key Insights on AI Agents and Enterprise Adoption 36:34 - Predictions for AI Advancements in 2025 39:41 - Is AI Overhyped or Underhyped? 41:07 - Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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
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41:45
How GitHub Copilot Became the First LLM-Powered Developer Tool with Ryan Salva
On this week's episode, former GitHub Copilot lead Ryan Salva breaks down how AI coding tools became ubiquitous almost overnight. They discuss the critical differences between what novice and expert developers expect from AI, why starting with predictive text was both a blessing and a curse, and how the rapid adoption of AI assistance is reshaping the future of software development.Chapters:00:00 - Introduction 01:09 - The Creation of GitHub Copilot 05:39 - From Prototype to Product: Challenges in Scaling 07:37 - How GitHub Copilot Works Behind the Scenes 11:18 - Metrics That Matter: Evaluating AI Success 14:43 - Building Momentum: What It Feels Like to Launch a Hit 17:51 - The Evolution of AI Tools for Developers 21:13 - Evaluations and Testing in AI Development 26:00 - The Role of Automation and the Future of Coding 30:53 - Will Engineers Still Write Code in the Future? 33:16 - Advice for Aspiring AI Builders 36:51 - Is AI Overhyped or Underhyped? 38:17 - Closing Reflections ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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
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38:53
What Gives an AI Founder Staying Power I James Theuerkauf, CEO of Syrup Tech I Sara Ittelson, Partner at Accel
In this week's episode, Raza speaks with James Theuerkauf, CEO of Syrup Tech, and Sara Ittelson, Partner at Accel, to explore the challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs in this transformative era. They discuss building AI-first companies and the lessons learned from scaling in a rapidly evolving space. With practical tips on leveraging data, creating competitive advantages, and sustaining passion for the long haul, this episode offers invaluable guidance for founders in AI.Chapters:00:00 - Introduction and Guest Backgrounds 01:27 - Syrup Tech’s Approach to AI in Retail 03:29 - The Role of AI in Demand Forecasting 08:49 - Building Effective AI Systems and Teams 15:30 - How Generative AI is Shaping Businesses 19:18 - Advice for Founders in the AI Era 28:15 - Building an AI-First Company 33:26 - Innovations and Trends in AI 38:47 - Is AI Overhyped or Underhyped? 42:46 - Closing Thoughts and Reflections--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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
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43:36
How to build great AI products with Vanta Software Developer Noam Rubin
In this episode, Noam Rubin, a Software Developer at Vanta reveals how his team uses data-driven strategies to design, test, and improve cutting-edge AI features. Learn how customer insights, rapid prototyping, and iterative development transform raw ideas into tools that make compliance and security easier for businesses everywhere.Chapters:00:00 - Introduction02:47 - The process of building AI products at Vanta04:51 - The role of customer feedback in product development06:59 - Integrating AI into security and compliance workflows08:06 - Using data specifications to guide product development10:10 - Collaborating with subject matter experts to refine AI models12:14 - Iterative testing and refining AI features14:10 - Quality control and ensuring AI accuracy16:00 - The importance of dogfooding and internal feedback loops18:23 - Scaling AI features and rolling them out to wider audiences20:50 - Educating engineers and democratizing AI at Vanta22:20 - Key lessons learned from building AI products24:12 - Maintaining AI quality through continuous feedback26:00 - The future of AI in business and product development
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40:57
Predictions for AI in 2025 I Ex-OpenAI, Ex-Stripe researcher Stanislav Polu
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
High Agency is the podcast for AI builders. If you’re trying to understand how to successfully build AI products with Large Language Models and Generative AI then this podcast is made for you. Each week we interview leaders at companies building on the frontier who have already succeeded with AI in production. We share their stories, lessons and playbooks so you can build more quickly and with confidence.
AI is moving incredibly fast and no-one is truly an expert yet, High Agency is for people who are learning by doing and will share knowledge through the community.
Where to find us: https://hubs.ly/Q02z2HR40
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