Matt Wahl

Product at @SlackHQ. Proud @khanacademy and @stanford alum.

[Matt Wahl @wahl]

Thrilled to join the @SlackHQ Product team to help build simpler, more pleasant, more productive 📱🖥 apps. And: https://t.co/K2rc94dVk8 🚀‼️

[Matt Wahl @wahl]

@benspringwater 🙌 So excited for Sabbath!

[Christina Cacioppo @christinacaci]

I’ve been building with Claude Cowork lately, and I figured I’d share my thoughts so far. I chose Cowork over Claude Code to see what it’s like to write code but never read it. Some early thoughts:

1. I’m using natural language, instead of code, but it’s still software development. I don’t need to worry about syntax, but the concepts underlying “traditional” software still matter: observability, client-server splits, pipelines, databases, logging, etc. Non-developers still need to think like engineers to be successful vibe coders – the syntax is gone, but the judgment isn’t (yet?)

2. The primary difference between vibe coding and “traditional” software is non-determinism. Traditional software teaches deterministic thinking – you can run the same function with the same inputs as many times as you want, and the output will always be the same. (When I was learning to code, I found this one of the stranger things; most other experiences in the world aren’t so deterministic!) Agent-driven software is not deterministic – ask an LLM the same question several times, and you will get several answers. The models’ laziness and tendency to cut corners – especially when inference is scarce – adds another twist. Understanding where to demand determinism from your software agents requires judgment.

3. I borrowed the concept of zero trust from security – the principle that an actor or system is only trusted after verification and never by default – to figure out when to demand determinism. I presumed model outputs unreliable until verified with human-in-the-loop checkpoints, retry logic with comparison (LLM as judge), or (deterministic) verification scripts. I realized observability, logging, and verification have to be first-class features of a vibe-coded system if it is to be reliable. Memory doesn’t cut it.

4. I did a lot of debugging through the models’ reasoning traces, which wasn't ideal. I imagine these interactions will improve a lot. If I were building an IDE for agentic coding, I’d start here.

5. What counts as a database? Cowork uses the local file system as the database, which is lazy and convenient and makes for fast prototyping, and comes with tradeoffs: the file system doesn’t enforce data schemas, and laziness means corners get cut. The input and output checks I built at each pipeline stage were repetitive but functional. If I kept pushing, I’d end up rebuilding versions of data integrity, normalization, indexing, query optimization, etc. over the local file system.

6. The tight coupling of the local machine as the client, server, database, etc. works when developing for yourself. To share work with others, you need a better client <> server split. When I asked Cowork to port my system to the cloud, it immediately suggested moving everything to Google Drive – swapping my local file system for a cloud file system. I had to coax it toward the architecture of a simple web app.

7. Cowork doesn’t use or expect version control, which makes tracking changes and multi-agent work near impossible. Developing without version control makes clear why we invented it. Version control is alive and well in the age of software agents.

It feels like there’s a new iteration of systems design to be uncovered when building with agents. It’s not wholly new, and most of the primitives and principles of the past are still useful, but they need to be reassembled when some steps are deterministic and others aren’t. I’m excited to see what we uncover.

[Christina Cacioppo @christinacaci]

It took us two years to grow from $10 mm to $100 mm in Annual Recurring Revenue and 15 months to reach $200 mm. Nine months later, we crossed $300 mm. Vanta’s growth rate increased each of the past four quarters – compounding really is the eighth wonder of the world!

“But wait,” you might be thinking. “How does a software company founded before 2022 *increase* its growth rate?” Narrative violation!

[Ben Kamens @kamens]

1/ I just launched something I’ve been building with my 7-year-old daughter this year!

https://t.co/zm47d5mkM9: personalized activity books where every puzzle / maze / challenge is custom crafted around your kid’s interests.

(Discount code at end of thread!)

[Matt Wahl @wahl]

👏👏👏 https://t.co/jFeYP6MRXk

[Ben Kamens @kamens]

1/ Proud to announce our team, funding, and ambitious mission @SpringDiscovery — we're fighting back against the diseases of old age by accelerating the discovery of anti-aging therapies:

https://t.co/hp1e5mBS9u (paywall)

[Matt Wahl @wahl]

@peterpham @aunder Sorry to hear -- we had seen some issues on s8 &amp; note 8. Should you see again, use /feedback and we will do our best to fix.

[Matt Wahl @wahl]

@peterpham @aunder 👍🏼 will DM -- would love to understand how we can make Slack work better for you

[Matt Wahl @wahl]

@aunder @peterpham 👋🏼 On Android: Swipe right to open the left sidebar &gt; tap ▼ in top-left to show Starred Items.

A few more to-do ideas: https://t.co/YC17w6JPHX

[Bill Gates @BillGates]

1/ There’s no denying that 2017 was a really tough year... but it also delivered some amazing moments of hope and progress. Here are some inspiring tweets that you may have missed…

[Matt Wahl @wahl]

@jess @tdrobbo 🤩 congrats you two!!

[deray @deray]

Today we launch a new platform to give *1.6 million people* in Florida the ability to vote. 283,000 petition signatures are needed to put voting rights on the FL ballot. Here’s how you can help: https://t.co/SaHcgJ7xte

[Patagonia @patagonia]

This is the largest elimination of protected land in American history.
Take Action: https://t.co/biZPxo7PHh
#BearsEars

[Matt Wahl @wahl]

@dylanvee Such a good pairing 🍷👏

[Matt Wahl @wahl]

@orienwu @mari4ju @aunder Yikes, sorry. Have a fix aimed at making this better coming up — sign up for our beta &amp; let us know: https://t.co/Ts59zpjury

[U.S. Air Force @usairforce]

"If you can't treat someone with dignity and respect--then you need to get out."-Lt. Gen. Jay B. Silveria, Superintendent @AF_Academy

[Matt Wahl @wahl]

@ptr Congrats!! 🎉🎉

[Matt Wahl @wahl]

@chicalashaw 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[Matt Wahl @wahl]

🔄🚀 https://t.co/JYNaaSu3vJ

[Slack @SlackHQ]

New and exciting: Shared Channels offer a brand new way to work with teams outside your own. #changelog https://t.co/A6uYxKuvl0

[Matt Wahl @wahl]

📬🚚 https://t.co/oq1T0pKPIV

[April Underwood @aunder]

Are you the pioneer on your team helping move conversations out of email and into @slackhq? If so, you’ll like this: https://t.co/nECx4eXYYX