Scott Kennedy

On Agent Dev & The Case for The Engineer’s Creative Process Agent development pulls engineers closer to the headspace of artist - and my bet is if engineers embrace and protect their creative processes, we unlock the next level of innovation in this agentic era. In machine learning, the saying goes, "it is more art than science." Building agents is a non-deterministic process that adds significant variance into systems. Engineers would be well-served to hone their creative process. The best engineers will become artists. 1. Building isn’t linear. Building agent infrastructure is far from linear. Engineers often experience a cycle of frustration and eventual breakthroughs. While not perfect, these reasoning systems are now stable enough for integration into our tools and lives. The history of AI, from machine learning to deep learning, has always involved non-linear development. Today's agent infrastructure development is even less linear, requiring engineers to understand complex semantic translations and carefully manage user rollouts to avoid failures. 2. Building with a relationship to the work. With new forms of intelligence come new relationships. Engineers must navigate a relationship to work that involves agent memory and understanding. What is it to build a system that knows you? When people feel understood, they feel loved. What is it to love the systems we’re creating? How does a creative process help? A non-linear process and a relationship to the work are the territories of the artist. Engineers, trained towards control, must embrace uncertainty, risk embarrassment, and accept that their efforts might yield unexpected results. We’re glimpsing a creator's role in a system that understands. While engineers have largely operated in a logical space, they are now called to form a heart connection with the systems they build. A creative process helps artists endure challenges and breathe life into their work. It involves a commitment to creating, discipline, and accepting that one can only control the process, not the outcome. Agent development pulls engineers closer to the mindset of artists. If engineers embrace and protect their creative processes, we can unlock the next level of innovation in society. Read more on this on my Twitter: https://x.com/ashebytes

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At the core of effective engineering leadership is the ability to stay connected with your team. This is perhaps the most challenging aspect because retaining the respect of your people is difficult unless you remain technically involved yourself. In my journey as an engineering leader, staying true to the individual contributor role that originally earned their respect has kept me close. This approach extends beyond technical expertise; it's about maintaining a deep connection with the core activities that propel product development forward at Gearflow. One of my biggest professional fears is becoming irrelevant or disconnected from my team and our work. This fear motivates me to continually reinvent and retool in response to market demands. Next month, I'll be sharing about my adventures generating synthetic data recently. And while I'm no expert when I start preparing for these talks, the process is incredibly valuable. It's less about delivering a perfect talk and more about how the preparation expands my thinking and exposes me to new capabilities. This helps me connect the dots to opportunities at Gearflow that bring real innovation to our customers. Speaking regularly holds me accountable and pushes me to learn ahead of the curve, ensuring I remain relevant and impactful day-to-day. Every talk is a journey of discovery, helping me to lead with humility, communicate clearly, and inspire a culture of innovation through a deep, technical understanding of our work.

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Over the past few months at Assembled, we've been exploring how Large Language Models (LLMs) can enhance our engineering workflows. One area where they've made a significant impact is in writing comprehensive tests. Traditionally, writing thorough tests can be time consuming and sometimes gets sidelined due to tight deadlines. By leveraging LLMs, we've been able to generate robust tests much more quickly—tasks that used to take hours now take just minutes. This shift has brought: - Increased adoption of testing: Engineers who previously wrote fewer tests are now consistently incorporating them into their workflow. - Time savings: We've collectively saved hundreds of hours, allowing us to focus more on developing new features and refining existing ones. - Enhanced code quality: Our codebase is better tested, giving us greater confidence in our deployments. I've shared more about our approach, including examples and lessons learned, in a recent blog post. 👉 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gKw3djQu We're excited about the progress we're making and the insights we've gained. If you're interested in the intersection of LLMs and software engineering, or if you're passionate about building tools that transform customer support, I'd love to connect. P.S. We're hiring! Check out our open roles: https://lnkd.in/gSr_wqV7

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Since launching last Fall, its been incredible to see all the many workflows and integrations that companies are building with Lucid's Developer Platform. We've seen companies build automated processes and deeply linked templates that help with Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Engineering teams get the most out of Lucid. Come learn how to get started building from two of our engineers on the API teams who help engineers build these integrations every day.

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🌟 Big news! Amplication AI is now on Product Hunt and we need your support. Jovu is ready to change how developers build apps. If you’re excited about making coding easier and more efficient, support us and spread the word! Visit us here: https://lnkd.in/dDtzUQCg and check Jovu yourself (link at first comment) Amplication #productlaunch #aicodegeneration

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Recent progress at Argon is bringing the "intelligence abundance" take on AI to the forefront for our users. People are seeing work that takes them 100+ hours get generated in minutes Reactions range from excitement to fear. Usually, it's a mix of the two

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The AI eval tooling space is a maze! Josh Chen messaged me a few weeks ago with the below. To save others from the same experience, we put together a blog that reviews a few popular options and simplifies the choices in LLM evaluation tools. Check out our guide here: https://lnkd.in/eGxmA75V LangChain Braintrust Langfuse (YC W23)

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BIG UPDATE: I’m thrilled to welcome Jorgen P. as the new CTO at Popl 🥳 📈 Jorgen is one of the most talented, organized, and humble engineers + leaders I have ever met. He embodies the true definition of a 10X engineer, and I couldn’t be more delighted to have him now driving our engineering roadmap and team towards our next stage of growth. As a technical founder, I’ve come to appreciate how crucial it is to find the right CTO. This important piece of the puzzle allows technical founders to focus more on leadership, vision, and growth. More depth, less breadth. Jorgen, welcome aboard. Onward 🚀

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New Post: Waymo expands robotaxi coverage in Los Angeles and San Francisco - https://lnkd.in/gN2MJTWA - Waymo, the Alphabet-owned self-driving car company, is adding another 10 square miles to its robotaxi service area to include cities surrounding San Francisco.  The move, which adds Daly City, Broadmoor and Colma, pushes its total commercial service territory to about 55 square miles. Waymo said Tuesday it is also adding 16 square miles of new robotaxi © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. - #news #business #world -------------------------------------------------- #MagicTheGathering #macos #mac #tradingcardgame - SellingIt(.)org ---> https://sellingit.org

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📚 Elad Gil’s Vision: An AI Library of Alexandria for the Digital Age In a thought-provoking episode of American Optimist, Elad Gil—early investor and co-founder behind iconic companies like Airbnb, Stripe, Notion, and Coinbase—sat down with Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, to discuss a fascinating new AI project. Elad’s latest project? Creating a modern-day AI Library of Alexandria. Imagine 1,000 timeless works, all off copyright, translated into 100 languages and transformed into audiobooks. But there’s a twist: AI will bring each book to life as an interactive persona. Readers will not only absorb knowledge but also engage directly with AI versions of history’s greatest thinkers, exploring ideas in a revolutionary way. Elad envisions a future where AI becomes a bridge to knowledge, making these works accessible and interactive, empowering people to learn from history’s most influential figures in their own language. 💬 What do you think about using AI to preserve and bring classic literature to life? Could this redefine how we engage with timeless ideas? #AILibrary #AIInnovation #DigitalLibrary #ArtificialIntelligence #EducationRevolution #CognitiveTech #FutureOfLearning #TechAndHumanities

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We've set up a number of #Scala bounties for our #OSS projects w/ algora.io This round focuses on #OpenTelemetry integration in Tapir & sttp, resiliency in Ox and a requested Tapir feature: verifying #OpenAPI schemas. Give it a go! :) Full list: https://lnkd.in/dsJwRPZ2 

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How did you meet your co-founder at LendAPI? It’s one of the most frequently asked questions, and I truly believe the stars were aligned at that time. I feel blessed to have Tim as a partner on this journey. Here is the story: https://lnkd.in/gDeFYQG8 #fintech #startup

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I've been playing around with creating an opinionated AI Deep Tech Scale to help non-experts think about their strategy. Exploring this scale: Understanding how companies strategize their identity, team structures, costs, and activities is important. Success isn't confined to creating "God Models"; companies can achieve significant success by "connecting power to the people" and maintaining model agnosticism. For example, some might argue that SaaS companies are merely wrappers around database technologies, yet it's undeniable that they have generated significant value. #AI #DeepTech #Strategy #NonExperts #SaaS 

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Last week our team traveled to SF 🌉 for a week-long hackathon. We had one goal: make the Fillout editor "silky smooth". Here’s the result! ↪️ Undo + redo (cmd + Z) in the editor 🚀 Instant publish button 🔀 Easier answer piping and logic We redesigned Fillout’s “reference picker” from the ground up. 👀 Improved accessibility and “esc” to close popups 📄 Improved page navigation bar It’s easier to rename, reorder and add new pages. 🐛 Fixes and improvements - Zapier support for payments + scheduling. - Support for "update" forms with Monday.com integration. - Workspaces load faster on home page. - "Esc" to exit preview mode and close popups. That’s a wrap 🎁 How did we do? What should we improve next? Let me know below 👇

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Today we launched the world's first DevEx platform - is a game changer for 30M+ devs! 👩‍💻 Wow, what a fantastic job on the new release! This was a massive team effort, and I’m beyond proud of what we’ve achieved. 🎉 Today’s launch also introduces support for Google Gemini to help developers generate and interpret complex commit messages, adding to our previous support of the OpenAI and Anthropic AI models. ✨ #DevEx #DeveloperExperience #GitKraken #GitLens #Announcement #GoogleIO

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🚀 Exciting News! We've just launched Amplication AI on Product Hunt! Meet Jovu, your new AI-powered assistant that simplifies backend development. Please show some love & support by visiting our page and sharing your feedback. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/dmbDmDi9 and check Jovu yourself (link at first comment) #amplication #productlaunch #aicodegeneration

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Today at #MetaConnect, we made announcements of @raybanmeta's innovations: * A new limited edition Wayfarer Shiny Transparent frame so you can show off the tech inside them.  * Ask Meta AI to do more, like remembering or taking actions based on what you see * Send Voice Messages - record and send a voice message while staying present and connecting with others in a more personal and expressive way. Join us as we redefine the future of eyewear and technology. Explore more at https://lnkd.in/ghJEBrFF When we’re building products at Meta, Inclusivity is top of mind. It’s one of the reasons I love working here. Today, we announced at #MetaConnect our new partnership with Be My Eyes, giving blind or low vision people the chance to connect with sighted volunteers & enabling hands-free POV calling to get help in real-time. #RayBanMeta Learn More: https://lnkd.in/gTw4QNyr #RayBanMeta #Smartglasses

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