Paying Engineers like Salespeople – Arman Hezarkhani, Tenex

The talk posits that the traditional Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is becoming obsolete, predicting that by 2026, most code will be generated by advanced AI systems overseen by engineers. This shift moves from current tools like code assistants, which are seen as powerful but potentially dangerous like power tools, towards more precise, automated systems akin to CNC machines. The core argument is that AI will fundamentally reshape technology organizations and the economy, enabling unprecedented productivity and new ways of building software.

This talk draws parallels between building self-driving cars and developing AI agents, emphasizing that agents, like robots, operate in complex environments and require more than just sophisticated models. The core thesis is that the 99% of work beyond the AI model—encompassing infrastructure, tooling, feedback loops, and robust offline stacks—is crucial for reliable agent development and deployment.

Poolside is developing AI models from scratch, focusing on pairing next-token prediction with reinforcement learning to bridge the gap between models and human intelligence. Their second-generation model, Malibu agent, is designed for high-consequence code environments, demonstrating capabilities in code conversion, testing, and feature implementation. The company emphasizes building foundational intelligence and scaling it, with plans for public API access and integration with platforms like Amazon Bedrock.

This talk argues that despite the rapid advancements in AI, the fundamental principles of building successful products remain unchanged. The speaker contends that AI does not inherently solve the core challenges of product development, such as capturing user attention, guiding them to a product's value, and retaining them long-term. Instead, these critical aspects still require human creativity, strategic thinking, and relentless execution.

This talk argues that AI copilots for tech architecture represent the highest ROI use case currently underutilized by organizations. While coding copilots have become standard, an architecture co-pilot can prevent costly mistakes by ensuring development efforts are directed correctly from the outset. This approach aims to move beyond tribal knowledge and gut instinct, providing data-backed guidance for architectural decisions.