zachdavis

[zachdavis @zachdavis]

💯 Was just talking about this with a company today. Once you’ve gotten on board with agentic engineering you want to bring those same learnings and processes to other functions.

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

At the most product-forward companies, the whole company is starting to work like an engineering team. Marketing, recruiting, finance, ops. The work is visible, owned, and increasingly done with agents.

[zachdavis @zachdavis]

I still can't shake the image of codex chatting with our CRM's in-product agent to get something done via browser use.

[zachdavis @zachdavis]

If you're still building an AI chatbot into your established product in fall of 2026, I have a very important question for you: Why?

[zachdavis @zachdavis]

Just feels like browser use is going to make this obsolete before you finish. The models and harnesses are there, the adoption is not (many enterprises don't have browser use enabled). But you're chasing a dying form factor.

[claire vo 🖤 @clairevo]

So many shout outs to How I AI guests from other HIAI guests. @zachdavis inspired by @jameygannon, @graceclarke inspired by @businessbarista and @trq212, and most importantly @JJEnglert inspired by @clairevo

[claire vo 🖤 @clairevo]

it’s approximately one million degrees inside but our @lennysan how I happy hour is a smash hit!

Turns out @cxodev and @Amplitude_HQ can throw and AI party!

[Yana Welinder @yanabana]

In SF for @lennysan's Summit 🏕️ this week?

Join @clairevo’s “How I AI” HH!

I’ll be demoing how I use Astra and Images 2.5 to build a fashion startup.

I shared my AI workflows on the How I AI podcast just a week ago.

But new model releases have already changed how I work. I’ve got lots of new stuff to show you.

I’ll be joined by other all-star guests from the pod, including:
✨ @zachdavis, Engineering Leader at https://t.co/zxJ24FUwOx
✨ @Jacob__Newman, Principal PM at @Amplitude_HQ
✨ @yourgirlhils, Founder at writerbuilder
✨ @graceclarke, Educator at AI for Normal People

Can’t wait to see you there!

[zachdavis @zachdavis]

Okay, late to the party but finally had the time and inclination to try Astra out today and…it’s fine?

It set up a GitHub app through Vercel (browser use) like magic, so yes on computer use.

But for brownfield software engineering tasks? Haven’t felt it yet.

[zachdavis @zachdavis]

This is so cool and interesting!

[Don Pettit @astro_Pettit]

I have spent 23 years documenting the global LED transition of city lighting from space.

Across my 4 missions to the ISS, I have photographed every major city on Earth, building a data set of the gradual replacement of sodium vapor lighting with LEDs.

The warmer, yellow-orange of gas discharge lamps has been phased out worldwide to multi-colored LEDs, citing energy savings and environmental reasons.

Widespread adoption has markedly changed the way our cities look from orbit, and as many have pointed out, how they feel to those on the ground!

Here is a collection of the most striking before-and-after photos I have observed:

[zachdavis @zachdavis]

There’s just a big gap between “what we said we were going to build” and “what was actually built”, even in the world of agentic code generation.

Unless your specs/plans are sufficiently detailed to remove all doubt, in which case I think you’re actually doing code review?

[zachdavis @zachdavis]

I don’t really understand the “we don’t review code, we review plans” discourse? I mean, good for you, but we’ve had spec reviews for years and I never once felt like that made code review obsolete?

[zachdavis @zachdavis]

A+ theory. Why are we complicating everything? Because it makes us feel better.

I _also_ think a lot engineers are wired this way, to tweak and poke even if it “just works”. It’s part of understanding. But the “too easy” theory is top notch.

[Amp @AmpCode]

@thorstenball's pet theory on why engineers are so busy tweaking skills and tools and workflows:

"Because it can't be that easy, right?"

[Nate Berkopec @nateberkopec]

True a year ago and still true now:

Agents think that the way you solve 99% of problems is Just Add More Code.

Your job is to fight against that.

[CXO.dev @cxodev]

Your codebase isn’t ready to tokenmaxx.

(Neither is your team.)

@clairevo + @zachdavis will help you get there 👇

[claire vo 🖤 @clairevo]

DON'T MISS: The next cohort of "Executive Playbook for AI in Engineering, Product, and Design" is now open for our October 3-4 session on @MavenHQ

In this @cxodev course, @zachdavis and I teach execs what it really takes to change how your team ships with AI (and no, it's not just tokenmaxxing.)

You'll get
- prework and readiness assessments that find your AI gaps now
- two half days of high signal tactics + AMAs from AI-native operators
- a room of 50 of your VP+ peers
- 90 days of open office hours to help you put it in practice

Featured on @lennysan's List as a top AI course for leaders https://t.co/py974tjJwg

Attend with your team and get 20% off.

Registration open now → https://t.co/MUg3dVaWYU

[zachdavis @zachdavis]

This is such a simple illustration of what’s really going on underneath the overheated toxenmaxxing discourse.

It’s still a good idea to grow the number of sessions per user. And then there’s a bunch of stuff you need to shrink or optimize to keep costs in check.

[Uber Engineering @UberEng]

https://t.co/4E91KTbzDU

[zachdavis @zachdavis]

This. So much this.

[Addy Osmani @addyosmani]

"Good culture is a prerequisite for everything else. But when it comes to AI, it amplifies everything you already have"

https://t.co/FSZvwPp6Jo by @gregorojstersek

A team's culture determines whether speed compounds or just gets you to the wrong place sooner.

[zachdavis @zachdavis]

Sorry, what now? This both makes sense and hurts my brain. Bringing new meaning to psuedo-random

[Will Peng @wp]

I can confirm this actually works!? For divergent design explorations

[zachdavis @zachdavis]

I do agree that “everyone is going to have personal software” isn’t going to happen, or happen like that. But if everyone has a personal agent that can write code to do things behind the scenes and you don’t have to know or care…

[zachdavis @zachdavis]

This is interesting but I don’t buy the premise that personal agents must be idiot proof for mass adoption. Social media isn’t idiot proof, it’s just easy and addicting. You can still do things you didn’t mean to or regret later.

[wordgrammer @wordgrammer]

https://t.co/DEwsU0YzRE