Lukas Biewald | You think you're late, but you're early | Learning from Machine Learning #13

On this episode of Learning from Machine Learning, I had the privilege of speaking with Lukas Biewald, co-founder and CEO of Weights & Biases. We traced his journey from programming games as a kid to building one of the most essential tools in AI development today. Lukas's career demonstrates that conviction often matters more than consensus—from surviving the AI winter in the mid-2000s when he was coached to remove "AI" from investor pitches, to the AlphaGo moment that changed everything and led him to take an unpaid internship at OpenAI in his thirties.Lukas's philosophy on "automating the automation" reveals why AI developers have become the most powerful people within organizations—they're a smaller market but wield disproportionate influence. He shares his view that "if you zoom out, AI is so underhyped, you can't hype it enough." The recursive potential of machines improving machines is barely understood, yet it represents "the most powerful technology you could possibly build."Most importantly, Lukas's philosophy that "feedback loops are your units of work" transforms how we approach both machine learning and life. He explains the necessity to stay technical as a leader: "If you're going to work for me, you better be able to do the IC job. And I do not know how companies function without that mindset." His advice to his younger self cuts through common doubts in emerging technologies: "you think you're late, but you're early." In a world racing towards progress at all costs, this reminder couldn't be more relevant.Thank you for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share with a friend or colleague. ---Available on all podcast platforms:https://rss.com/podcasts/learning-from-machine-learning/Available on Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/@learningfrommachinelearningAvailable on Substack:https://mindfulmachines.substack.com/---Chapters00:00 Open00:46 Early Fascination with AI03:57 Founding CrowdFlower During AI Winter09:22 The AlphaGo Awakening16:02 Birth of Weights & Biases23:50 The LLM Revolution's Impact29:12 CoreWeave Acquisition & Future Vision32:56 The Entrepreneurship Philosophy37:29 Technical Leadership Philosophy49:01 The Future of Software Development53:07 Leadership Lessons & Career Advice1:00:38 Life Lessons from Machine Learning1:01:46 Closing Thoughts & Gratitude---ReferencesGödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden BraidGenius MakersWeights & BiasesCrowdFlower/Figure 8 (now part of Appen)OpenAICoreWeaveScale AIGitHubGoogleStanford UniversityY CombinatorDaphne Koller - Stanford Professor, Co-founder of CourseraLee Sedol - Professional Go player defeated by AlphaGo---A machine learning podcast that explores more than just algorithms and data: Life lessons from the experts. Welcome to "Learning from Machine Learning," a podcast about the insights gained from a career in the field of Machine Learning and Data Science. In each episode, industry experts, entrepreneurs and practitioners will share their experiences and advice on what it takes to succeed in this rapidly-evolving field.