This Week in Startups
This Week in Startups

SO MANY THINGS need to go right just so you can watch a TikTok! | E2215

November 26, 2025

AI Summary

5 min read

🎙️ The Voices & The Context

  • The Format: This podcast episode is a dynamic interview featuring Jason Calacanis and guests, offering both insightful industry discussions and casual banter.
  • The Key Players:
    • Gu Rao: CEO and co-founder of Newbird AI, a startup focused on enhancing IT operations through AI.
    • Mike Velardo: From Subject AI, which aims to transform education with personalized AI tools.
    • Alexander Wang: Former CEO of Scale AI, discussing the past AI landscape in a flashback segment.
  • The Vibe: The overall tone is educational and engaging, with moments of humor sprinkled throughout.

🗝️ Key Themes & Topics

  • AI in IT Operations: The podcast discusses how generative AI can alleviate the complexities of IT operations, especially in cloud environments. Gu Rao elaborates on the need for AI engineers to troubleshoot issues that arise from the increasing complexity of IT systems.
  • Education Technology: Mike Velardo shares how Subject AI is revolutionizing education by providing personalized, engaging learning experiences powered by AI, facilitating better interactions between teachers and students.
  • Historical Perspective on AI: The episode includes a flashback to Alexander Wang’s insights from 2019 on the AI landscape, exploring predictions about autonomous systems and the future of AI

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

What you'll learn

  • 1 `(00:00)` **🎙️ Introduction: Gu Rao**
  • 2 `(02:44)` **Complexity in IT Operations**
  • 3 `(04:48)` **The Role of Engineers in IT**
  • 4 `(06:04)` **Software Behind Popular Apps**
  • 5 `(08:11)` **Maintaining Infrastructure**
  • 6 `(09:33)` **Agentic Systems in IT Operations**
  • 7 `(10:00)` **IT Operations vs. Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)**

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Register here to join Founder University Japan’s kickoff! 👉🏻 https://luma.com/cm0x90mkToday’s show: On TWiST, Alex is chatting with Neubird CEO Gou Rao about the intricate complexity of IT Ops, and the vast amount of layers and components that have to be delivered very quickly to your phone in order to stream a simple video clip.Neubird has developed Hawkeye, an AI “engineer” that uses “context engineering” to isolate and troubleshoot problems, while still keeping costs down. Loading up a video to show your friends may SOUND straightforward, but it’s actually, as Alex notes, a miracle anything on the internet works at all.PLUS we’ve got Subject AI CEO Michael Vilardo stopping by to tell us how the app uses gamification to keep kids learning and engaged. NOTE TO FOUNDERS: Mike got invited on the show because he sends email updates to his “dream investors,” including Jason. It’s a solid best practice!Finally, we’re flashing back to a remarkably prescient 2019 interview with then-Scale AI chief Alexandr Wang, who tells us why he thinks the AI Doomsday scenarios — AND the elaborate AGI promises — are both way overblown.Timestamps:(3:19) Neubird asks: What if we took AI tools and applied them to IT ops?(5:17) Why does IT ops seem to get so much more complicated over time?(6:14) Gou walks us through all the various components that need to be delivered when you post a simple TikTok video(8:41) Why agentic systems (like Hawkeye) are the ideal tool for monitoring metrics, logs, traces and alerts(10:05) CLA - Get started with CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors now at https://claconnect.com/tech(11:17) How is IT Ops different from Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)?(12:36) Is Hawkeye an AI Agent or an “Engineer”? How we decide what to call our “co-pilot.”(16:07) How “context engineering” helps Hawkeye isolate problems, and keeps inference costs down(17:27) Is Hawkeye plug and play? Or does it need to be trained on a specific system?(18:59) How Neubird measures Hawkeye’s overall effectiveness(19:59) Perspective AI: Real insights, straight from your customers, and your first two months are on us. Just go to http://getperspective.ai/twist(21:47) Hawkeye can diagnose and make recommendations, or go in and fix the problem itself, if you like!(24:27) What Gou thinks about the pace of AI innovation: Has it slowed? Are we in a lull?(25:41) LLMs already have a lot of knowledge, but how do we enhance their EQ?(28:58) TIP FOR FOUNDERS: Send updates to your “dream” investors! That’s how Mike got on the show!(30:20) Uber AI Solutions - Your trusted partner to get AI to work in the real world. Book a demo with them TODAY at https://Uber.com/twist⁠(31:21) The importance of branding… Why Mike pivoted to Subject.ai(33:43) How Subject helps bring teachers and

This Week in Startups

More from this podcast

This Week in Startups →