Personality, humanism, poke, and raising the ceiling
Why are dentists so into vibe coding? Where's the Steve Jobs of this era? In this episode of Hallway Chat, Fraser and Nabeel discuss the viral AI assistant Poke, within the broader context of the rise of niche AI applications. They also talk about the importance of specialization in AI applications, AI’s role in advancing scientific discovery and societal progress, and the future of AI in creative fields like music and art. Plus, a compelling use case for AI-enabled accessibility.
(00:00) - Cold Open
(02:28) - Exploring Poke, a New Email Assistant
(06:41) - The Role of Personality in AI Products
(09:33) - Raising the Floor on AI Email Assistants
(11:00) - The Future of AI Assistants
(14:55) - Customer-Centric Product Development
(28:00) - The Evolution of Coding AI
(30:22) - Specialized AI Applications
(31:59) - The Impact of Open World Agents
(36:53) - Raising the Bar in AI Innovation
(45:51) - Teaching AI Ethics
(49:26) - The Future of AI in Creative Industries
(52:29) - AI and Accessibility
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52:53
Be Water, Ubiquity over Ownership
In this episode of Hallway Chat, Nabeel and Fraser unpack the emerging power of tool use, reasoning traces, and code execution in modern models. They reflect on how startups can stay ahead in a market that feels like it changes every 90 days, and what product choices separate the winners from the also-rans.The conversation spans Conductor’s clever planning/execution design, Notion’s everywhere-at-once API strategy, and the subtle ways models persuade us—sometimes too effectively. Along the way, they explore how founders should handle VCs circling during competitive raises, why misinformation concerns may be shifting, and why Fraser still turns to Gemini for certain jobs despite its quirks.It’s a candid look at the red-ocean dynamics of AI, the importance of owning your narrative, and how the future of work may mean managing a team of agents as naturally as we once managed people.
(00:00) - Cold Open: Not Owning the UI
(00:28) - Welcome Back + Era Check
(01:26) - Tool Use Crosses the Rubicon
(02:24) - Code + Browse + Reasoning = The New Triumverate
(04:47) - Steerability & Plan Mode UX
(05:46) - Why Code-Writing Hasn't Infiltrated Apps (Yet)
(07:55) - Be Water: Notion's Everywhere Strategy
(08:55) - Managing Many Agents Is... Tiring
(15:41) - Model Divergence & The Need for a Picker
(20:19) - Red-Ocean Reality & Controlling the Narrative
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25:19
Building Open World AI w/Andrew Mason
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
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
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.
Canada - english