Nabeel and Fraser sit down with Andrew Mason, founder of Descript, for a deep dive into evolution "open world agents" in AI products. The trio uses the recent Airtable re-founding as a lens to look at open world agent architecture, what makes a great AI-enhanced user experience, and how Descript is embracing agent-first workflows as well. From the positioning of chat windows to the philosophy of “rewiring” users for AI, this conversation explores the strategic decisions shaping the next generation of software tools—and what it really takes to build a product users trust, understand, and love.
(00:00) - Open World AI w/ Andrew Mason
(00:47) - Introduction and Guest
(01:01) - Discussing Airtable's AI Implementation
(01:49) - "Cursor for X"
(03:35) - The Challenge of Surfacing AI Work
(05:08) - Review States and AI Adoption
(07:05) - Airtable's Refounding Moment
(08:13) - Open World Agents vs Agents on Rails
(10:56) - The Power of Chat as Primary Interface
(37:55) - Feature Discovery Through AI
(45:25) - The Future of Product Design with AI
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51:39
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51:39
Making the perfect backpack. Craft in the age of AI.
Craft in the age of AI. Nabeel and Fraser start with a dive into what makes the Boundary backpack so great. They explore how AI is changing the way we do customer research, the importance of obsessive attention to detail, and why great founders still need great taste. Along the way, they debate what it takes to recreate the creative magic of “1930s Paris” for modern product builders.
(00:00) - Opening
(00:27) - Backpacks and Craft
(05:36) - AI's potential role in product refinement and customer research
(08:42) - The Down Power Wash Dish Spray?
(10:08) - Consumer packaged goods and the importance of user research
(15:38) - Creating environments that foster creativity and innovation
(35:21) - The importance of solving fundamental problems in startups
(37:47) - Microsoft Teams as a signal about founders
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41:18
AI Severance: One Memory or Many?
In this episode of Hallway Chat, Nabeel and Fraser explore the future of AI through the lenses of memory, context, and product design. They debate whether users will maintain separate AIs for work and home, why visually verifiable output is critical to product success, and how startups should behave in a world where the best models become commodities. From the case for uneconomical AI to the trade-off between 500 average agents and one brilliant one, they unpack what it takes to build great AI products—and when, if ever, VCs should preempt funding rounds.
(00:00) - Chapter 1
(01:54) - Will AI Democratize Like the iPhone?
(03:03) - Should You Burn Tokens to Win?
(06:25) - The Case for Going Big with Compute
(09:09) - 500 Agents or One Genius?
(18:19) - The Importance of Proof of Work
(19:49) - Building the Right UI for Agents
(22:23) - Visualizing AI Output: A Design Challenge
(33:37) - Memory Wars: Work AI vs. Personal AI
(35:01) - Consumer Benefit > Privacy?
(37:36) - Whats at stake, your memory
(45:28) - Model Switching as a Feature, Not a Bug
(53:53) - VC Talk: When to Preempt a Round
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1:01:02
State of AI and Games
Nabeel and Fraser debrief on GDC and the opportunities for innovation beyond the conservative approaches in an industry going through a funk. They touch on the experiences at the recent GDC, including the growth of AI in gaming and the recurring challenges faced by developers. The discussion also covers the competitive landscape of AI startups, the importance of stacking wins, and the nuanced differences between building games and software products. Notably, they highlight the intriguing possibility of a vibrant game creation ecosystem driven by new model capabilities and the compelling idea of making game creation itself a multiplayer experience.(00:00) - Introduction: Bridging the Gap in the Gaming Industry
(00:35) - GDC Week Highlights and Reflections
(01:41) - Challenges and Innovations in AI and Gaming
(03:50) - The Broken Ecosystem of Game Distribution
(07:45) - The Future of Game Development and Creativity
(19:59) - The Future of Multiplayer Coding
(21:09) - The Magic of New Capabilities
(22:07) - From Capabilities to Durable Products
(23:39) - Stacking Wins for Long-Term Success
(33:54) - Innovations in the Gaming Industry
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39:48
Building an Interestingness Leaderboard
We have evals for AI models, what about AI products? Today, Nabeel and Fraser talk about building computer games through vibe coding, and just when we might see a breakout success of an AI-built game. Through this discussion, they also explore what building a platform that curates weird AI experiments might look like, particularly one that builders could use for discovery and inspiration.
(00:00) - Ep. 33 - Do we need a leaderboard for AI products
(01:32) - Exploring Vibe Coding and Community Building
(03:41) - AI Gaming and Future Prospects
(07:36) - separate cross talk
(09:28) - Creating an AI Meta
(11:31) - Exploring AI Apps and Platforms
(15:10) - Building a Curated AI Product Platform
Fraser & Nabeel explore what it means to build great products in this new world of AI.
Two former founders, now VCs, have an off-the-cuff conversation with friends about the new AI products that are worth trying, emerging patterns, and how founders are navigating a world that’s changing every week.
Fraser is the former Head of Product at OpenAI, where he managed the teams that shipped ChatGPT and DALL-E, and is now an investor at Spark Capital. Nabeel is a former founder and CEO, now an investor at Spark, and has served on the boards of Discord, Postmates, Cruise, Descript, and Adept.
It's like your weekly dinner party on what's happening in artificial intelligence.
USA