Chain of Thought | AI Agents, Infrastructure & Engineering

As DeepSeek so aptly demonstrated, AI doesn’t need to be closed source to be successful.This week, Rizel Scarlett, a Staff Developer Advocate at Block, joins Conor Bronsdon to discuss the intersections between AI, open source, and developer advocacy. Rizel shares her journey into the world of AI, her passion for empowering developers, and her work on Block's new AI initiative, Goose, an on-machine developer agent designed to automate engineering tasks and enhance productivity.Conor and Rizel also explore how AI can enable psychological safety, especially for junior developers. Building on this theme of community, they also dive into topics such as responsible AI development, ethical considerations in AI, and the impact of community involvement when building open source developer tools.Chapters:00:00 Rizel's Role at Block02:41 Introducing Goose: Block's AI Agent06:30 Psychological Safety and AI for Developers11:24 AI Tools and Team Dynamics17:28 Open Source AI and Community Involvement25:29 Future of AI in Developer Communities27:47 Responsible and Ethical Use of AI31:34 Conclusion Follow Conor Bronsdon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorbronsdon/Rizel Scarlett : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rizel-bobb-semple/Rizel's website: https://blackgirlbytes.dev/Show NotesLearn more about Goose: https://block.github.io/goose/

Show Notes

As DeepSeek so aptly demonstrated, AI doesn’t need to be closed source to be successful.

This week, Rizel Scarlett, a Staff Developer Advocate at Block, joins Conor Bronsdon to discuss the intersections between AI, open source, and developer advocacy. Rizel shares her journey into the world of AI, her passion for empowering developers, and her work on Block's new AI initiative, Goose, an on-machine developer agent designed to automate engineering tasks and enhance productivity.

Conor and Rizel also explore how AI can enable psychological safety, especially for junior developers. Building on this theme of community, they also dive into topics such as responsible AI development, ethical considerations in AI, and the impact of community involvement when building open source developer tools.

Chapters:00:00 Rizel's Role at Block02:41 Introducing Goose: Block's AI Agent06:30 Psychological Safety and AI for Developers11:24 AI Tools and Team Dynamics17:28 Open Source AI and Community Involvement25:29 Future of AI in Developer Communities27:47 Responsible and Ethical Use of AI31:34 Conclusion Follow Conor Bronsdon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorbronsdon/

Rizel Scarlett : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rizel-bobb-semple/Rizel's website: https://blackgirlbytes.dev/


Show Notes

Learn more about Goose: https://block.github.io/goose/

What is Chain of Thought | AI Agents, Infrastructure & Engineering?

AI is reshaping infrastructure, strategy, and entire industries. Host Conor Bronsdon talks to the engineers, founders, and researchers building breakthrough AI systems about what it actually takes to ship AI in production, where the opportunities lie, and how leaders should think about the strategic bets ahead.

Chain of Thought translates technical depth into actionable insights for builders and decision-makers. New episodes bi-weekly.

Conor Bronsdon is an angel investor in AI and dev tools, Head of Technical Ecosystem at Modular, and previously led growth at AI startups Galileo and LinearB.