The AI Pivot: With Chris White of Prefect & Bryan Bischof of Hex
Nov 7, 2023 · 35:16
Chris White (CTO of Prefect) and Bryan Bischof (Head of AI at Hex) detail how their non-AI startups successfully pivoted to integrate AI, arguing that ruthless prioritization and deep product integration are key. White explains Prefect built the open-source Marvin project to learn from LLM experimenters, while adding AI features like error summaries to its core orchestration product, but had to restrain over-enthusiasm from engineers. Bischof describes Hex's Magic feature as an augmentation, not a separate product, and explains they built their own evaluation system but chose not to build a vector database, and killed a promising feature called Crystal Ball to avoid splitting the product experience. They both emphasize machine-to-machine interfaces and typed outputs, and caution that the work is often tedious data engineering. Their hot takes: White says stop building chat interfaces, AI is a tool; Bischof warns that the journey is boring but worth it.
