Workflow | Tom Karels

Workflow

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This video captures a speaker, Dan Shipper, Co-founder & CEO of Every, delivering a presentation at the AI Engineer Code Summit. Shipper enthusiastically shares his company's approach to building an "AI-native company," emphasizing that the playbook for this is still being invented. He highlights Every's success in running six business units and four software products with only 15 full-time employees, with 99% of their code written by AI agents. This unique setup allows individual developers to build and maintain complex production applications, a feat he claims would have been impossible even a year ago. Shipper outlines Every's "compounding engineering" process, a four-step loop of Plan, Delegate, Assess, and Codify. He explains that unlike traditional engineering where each new feature makes the next harder, compounding engineering aims to make each subsequent feature easier to build by codifying tacit knowledge into prompts for AI agents. This approach fosters parallel work, rapid prototyping of risky ideas, a demo-driven culture, and enables easier knowledge sharing among developers, allowing them to work with their preferred tech stacks and languages. Key takeaways include the 10x productivity difference with 100% AI adoption, the ability for a single engineer to manage complex products, the iterative nature of compounding engineering, and the emergence of non-obvious second-order effects like managers contributing code and seamless onboarding for new hires. Shipper concludes by inviting the audience to explore Every's offerings to stay at the cutting edge of AI.

AI-native company compounding engineering

Introduction and Personal Anecdote

The speaker, Dan Shipper, Co-founder & CEO of Every, introduces himself as the last speaker of the day.
He expresses surprise at the audience size, jokingly referencing a tweet about AI FOMO in New York vs. San Francisco, affirming his love for New York.

The AI-Native Playbook is Being Invented

Shipper states that there is no existing playbook for building AI-native companies, or if there is, he doesn't have it.
He believes "What an AI-native company even is is being invented right now by all of us."
His talk will offer "dispatches from the frontier" based on Every's experiences.

10x Difference with 100% AI Engineers

Timestamps

00:00

IntroductionSpeaker Dan Shipper introduces himself and the topic of AI-native companies.

00:30

AI-Native Playbook is Being InventedShipper explains that the methods for AI-native companies are still being developed, and he will share insights from Every.

02:09

10x Productivity with 100% AI EngineersHighlights the significant productivity difference when all engineers adopt AI.

03:07

About EveryDetails Every's operations: 6 business units, 4 software products, 15 employees, 99% AI-written code.

04:04

Single-Developer ApplicationsShowcases complex apps (Cora, Monologue, Spiral) built and maintained by single developers using AI.

05:57

Benefits of AI-Native EngineeringDiscusses parallel work, rapid prototyping, and a demo-driven culture.

08:11

Compounding Engineering ProcessIntroduces Every's 4-step loop: Plan, Delegate, Assess, Codify, designed to make future features easier to build.

11:00

Target Audience

Software engineers, engineering managers, CTOs, startup founders, AI researchers, and anyone interested in the future of software development and organizational productivity with AI.

Use Cases

-Adopting AI tools for enhanced developer productivity.
-Restructuring engineering teams for AI-native workflows.
-Rapid prototyping and experimentation with AI-generated code.
-Leveraging AI for knowledge sharing and onboarding in technical organizations.
-Enabling non-coding roles (e.g., managers) to contribute to technical projects.

Key Topics