Lessons from Building Tagged.com + AI-Driven Database Optimization with Johann Schleier-Smith

Today, we’re joined by Johann Schleier-Smith. Johann co-founded Tagged during the early days of social media, a time when building scalable systems for the web was uncharted territory. Back then, cloud computing didn’t exist—everything ran on on-premises servers or in co-located data centers. We discuss the challenges of scaling Tagged and draw parallels to the current wave of innovation around Generative AI and large language models. Johann shares how building with these technologies feels like a similar uphill climb. We also dive into his new venture, CrystalDBA, and how it’s leveraging AI to optimize databases, making advanced database management accessible to everyone.