AI Summary
5 min readAI Can Write Code. Why Isn’t Software Better?
The opening question of this episode is not rhetorical: "Where the fuck is all the automation?" Diogo Almeida, founder of TypeSafe, has spent years wrestling with a paradox that bothers him deeply. AI models are remarkably intelligent—capable of passing difficult exams, generating plausible answers to absurd questions, and writing code on demand—yet the software we use every day has barely changed. Customer service is still largely manual. Basic workflows remain unautomated. The disconnect, Almeida argues, is not about the models being too weak. It is about how we are using them.
The Wrong Target: Coding Agents vs. Smarter Software
Almeida makes a sharp distinction between two very different goals. The current wave of AI coding tools—Claude Code, Codex, Cursor—are what he calls "just-in-time software." They generate code faster, but the code itself is the same kind of software we already have. It does the same things, just more quickly. As Ben Horowitz puts it in the conversation, "It doesn't matter how much AI coding agents you use. The software actually isn't getting better. Maybe you're running it faster."
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
Never miss an episode of a16z Show
Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **The Automation Paradox** - Diogo introduces the central question: "Where the fuck is all the automation?" AI is incredibly smart but useless for real-world productive tasks.
- 2 (02:10) **Defining the Problem: "Where the Fuck Is All the Automation?"** - Diogo gives his elevator pitch, framing the tragedy of having "diamond in the rough" AI that can't do productive work.
- 3 (03:16) **The Core Distinction: In-Time Software vs. Smart Software** - Diogo contrasts cloud code/codex (which produce the same kind of software faster) with his vision of "smart software."
- 4 (04:56) **The Critical Nuance: Superempowering Engineers, Not Replacing Them** - Diogo emphasizes that Jev is not about replacing engineers but giving them a fundamentally new capability.
- 5 (06:56) **The Venn Diagram: Where AI and Code Intersect** - Diogo explains his design philosophy: AI is good at some things (like classifiers) and bad at others (like extrapolated floats).
- 6 (08:29) **Intelligence Per Dollar: The North Star** - Diogo explains his design trade-offs, prioritizing "intelligence per dollar" over "intelligence per second."
- 7 (09:10) **The Alchemy of Diogo's Journey** - Diogo shares his unusual path from mathlete and Kaggle winner to AI researcher at Google Brain and OpenAI.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
a16z’s Ben Horowitz and Martin Casado sit down with TypeSafe AI founder Diogo Almeida to ask a simple question: AI has become remarkably capable, so where is all the automation?
Diogo argues that coding agents may help us write software faster, but the software they produce still largely works the way software always has. TypeSafe is taking a different approach with Jev: putting intelligence inside software itself, so developers can build programs that reason about intent and make probabilistic decisions rather than simply generate text for a human to interpret.
They discuss why reliability is the key to making AI genuinely programmable, how this could open a new era of probabilistic software, and why established SaaS companies may be particularly well positioned to benefit. Ultimately, Diogo’s goal is straightforward: technology that can reliably “do what I mean.”
Resources:
Follow Diogo Almeida: https://x.com/CompleteSkeptic
Learn more about TypeSafe AI: https://typesafe.ai/
Follow TypeSafe AI: https://x.com/typesafeai
Follow Ben Horowitz on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz
Follow Martin Casado on X: https://x.com/martin_casado
Stay Updated:
Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube
Find a16z on X
Find a16z on LinkedIn
Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify
Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.