EPISODE · Mar 28, 2026 · 45 MIN
#112 Carmine Paolino on RubyLLM, Chat with Work, and Building AI Products Solo
from PreVetted Podcast · host Federico Ramallo
Carmine Paolino is an AI builder and founder based in Berlin. He co-founded Freshflow to help supermarkets reduce food waste, built RubyLLM, an open source library that makes working with LLMs in Ruby feel simple and elegant, and is now building Chat with Work, a workplace knowledge assistant that connects tools like Google Drive and Slack so teams can find answers without guessing where information lives.In this episode, Carmine talks about what it means to build AI products as a solo founder, and how he went from thinking he could not build a company on his own to shipping two products. He explains the “all knowing coworker” idea behind Chat with Work: less time searching, better onboarding, and context that follows you across follow up questions.He also breaks down why Ruby is a serious language for AI, what was missing before RubyLLM existed, and his philosophy of building for yourself first. On the technical side, he covers streaming with Hotwire, fiber-based concurrency, and how to keep a Rails stack simple while handling real LLM workloads.Outside of code, Carmine produces electronic music and DJs in Berlin. The same instinct that drives his engineering, curiosity, craftsmanship, and building things that feel right, shows up in both.About Carmine Paolino 🤖🎵🇩🇪AI Builder, Founder of Chat with Work and Creator of RubyLLM | Berlin- 🌐 https://paolino.me/- 🐦 https://x.com/paolino- 💎 https://rubyllm.com/- 💼 https://chatwithwork.com/About Federico Ramallo ✨👨💻🌎🚀 Software Engineering Manager | 🛠 Founder of DensityLabs.io & PreVetted.ai | 🤝 Connecting 🇺🇸 U.S. teams with top nearshore 🌎 LATAM engineers- 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/framallo/- 🌐 https://densitylabs.io- ✅ https://prevetted.ai🎙 PreVetted Podcast 🎧📡- 🎯 https://prevetted.ai/podcast- 🐦 https://x.com/PrevettedPod- 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/prevetted-podcast00:00 Introduction to Carmine Paolino and His Journey05:33 Transition to Linux and Learning Programming Languages10:45 Founding Fresh Flow and Current AI Projects15:52 Technical Insights on Ruby LLM and Chat with Work22:16 Understanding Ruby's Threading and Fiber Efficiency27:10 The Beauty of IO Multiplexing and Fiber Implementation31:40 Finding the Balance Between Complexity and Performance36:17 Innovative Use Cases for Chat with Work
What this episode covers
Carmine Paolino is an AI builder and founder based in Berlin. He co-founded Freshflow to help supermarkets reduce food waste, built RubyLLM, an open source library that makes working with LLMs in Ruby feel simple and elegant, and is now building Chat with Work, a workplace knowledge assistant that connects tools like Google Drive and Slack so teams can find answers without guessing where information lives.In this episode, Carmine talks about what it means to build AI products as a solo founder, and how he went from thinking he could not build a company on his own to shipping two products. He explains the “all knowing coworker” idea behind Chat with Work: less time searching, better onboarding, and context that follows you across follow up questions.He also breaks down why Ruby is a serious language for AI, what was missing before RubyLLM existed, and his philosophy of building for yourself first. On the technical side, he covers streaming with Hotwire, fiber-based concurrency, and how to keep a Rails stack simple while handling real LLM workloads.Outside of code, Carmine produces electronic music and DJs in Berlin. The same instinct that drives his engineering, curiosity, craftsmanship, and building things that feel right, shows up in both.About Carmine Paolino 🤖🎵🇩🇪AI Builder, Founder of Chat with Work and Creator of RubyLLM | Berlin- 🌐 https://paolino.me/- 🐦 https://x.com/paolino- 💎 https://rubyllm.com/- 💼 https://chatwithwork.com/About Federico Ramallo ✨👨💻🌎🚀 Software Engineering Manager | 🛠 Founder of DensityLabs.io & PreVetted.ai | 🤝 Connecting 🇺🇸 U.S. teams with top nearshore 🌎 LATAM engineers- 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/framallo/- 🌐 https://densitylabs.io- ✅ https://prevetted.ai🎙 PreVetted Podcast 🎧📡- 🎯 https://prevetted.ai/podcast- 🐦 https://x.com/PrevettedPod- 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/prevetted-podcast00:00 Introduction to Carmine Paolino and His Journey05:33 Transition to Linux and Learning Programming Languages10:45 Founding Fresh Flow and Current AI Projects15:52 Technical Insights on Ruby LLM and Chat with Work22:16 Understanding Ruby's Threading and Fiber Efficiency27:10 The Beauty of IO Multiplexing and Fiber Implementation31:40 Finding the Balance Between Complexity and Performance36:17 Innovative Use Cases for Chat with Work
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#112 Carmine Paolino on RubyLLM, Chat with Work, and Building AI Products Solo
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