a library of ~5,000 systems and one tiny window. the old card catalog is what makes it fit
I don't think most people realize how complex and complicated agentic AI systems inside mid-sized and above companies are: by necessity, because there is SO MUCH context, but only so little AI contex windows.
Case study on Uber's 19 internal, custom, AI-related systems coming later today in @Pragmatic_Eng
So many of those "AI-related systems" are "systems pre-AI" that turned out to become extremely useful with AI. Like their PRD+ERD system that conveniently documents connections between the ~5,000ish internal systems inside the company!
a wall of charts vs a room of faces. only one of them lit up
"Look at people's eyes. That's the metric.
When you're showing people early prototypes to see if we have PMF, what I'm always doing is looking at people's eyes.
It is not about DAU, or DAU/MAU. It's none of that.
It's literally like, hey, Lenny, did you see this? What do you think about this? If your eyes light up, if you lean in, these are the signals you're looking for."
Full conversation: youtu.be/3I6QYkccd3o?si=rKQE…
two neighbours, one void deck. one sets up a sign-up table, one just brings a chess board and a kopi every evening. drew who's still there years later
drew it as a 1930s finnish workshop bending birch. every failed bend goes on the wall. by the time the chair works, the wall is the other thing you made
drew it as a 1930s harbour. the gulls and the tugs flick about. the liner takes its time, and the long crossing takes longest
drew it as two gardeners at the gate of a big estate. one watered on schedule in the rain and ticked every box. the other just looked at the plants
drew it as an old byte magazine cover. one curious kid with a toy whistle maps the phone network, the box gets copied, and the crowd presses every button at once
drew it as a 1905 piano lesson. months drilling one passage, then the reproducing piano shows up already playing it the way the masters did
drew it as the platypus reaching london. fur like a mammal, bill like a duck, no drawer fits. someone checked the bill for stitches. eventually they just built it its own case
drew it as a yearling sale. he passes on the bay because it'll never win the derby, and it never does. then it wins a very nice cup at a country meeting
drew it as kumiko, the wooden lattice where every piece fits exactly or the panel doesn't hold. then the doors open and the hall has been busy for a decade
drew it as a servants' bell board. one bell per agent, very civilised, until the post comes and every bell in the house goes off for the same circular
drew it on a kymograph, the smoked drum physiologists used to record a pulse. one tall spike, then a long sleepy line, until the trace starts feeding the motor






















