Chain of Thought | AI Agents, Infrastructure & Engineering

As AI redefines how products are built and customers are understood, what are the core strategies engineering leaders use to drive innovation and create lasting value?Join Conor Bronsdon as he welcomes Wade Chambers, Chief Engineering Officer at Amplitude, to explore these critical questions. Wade shares how Amplitude is leveraging AI to deepen customer understanding and enhance product experiences, transforming raw data into actionable insights across their platform. He also discusses their approach to navigating constant change while building an adaptable, high-performing engineering culture that thrives in the current AI landscape.The conversation explores Amplitude's strategy for building a sustainable AI advantage through proprietary data, deep domain expertise, and robust feedback loops, moving beyond superficial AI applications. Wade offers insights on fostering an AI-ready engineering culture through empowerment and clear alignment, alongside exploring the exciting potential of agentic AI to create proactive, intelligent copilots for product teams. He then details Amplitude’s successful approach to integrating specialized AI talent, drawing key lessons from their acquisition of Command AI.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome01:55 Understanding and Acting on Data with AI06:42 Amplitude's Unique Position in the Market08:36 Differentiation and Competitive Advantage09:58 Incorporating Customer Feedback12:48 Evaluating AI Outcomes17:21 Agentic AI and Future Prospects21:38 Acquiring and Integrating AI Talent28:44 Building a Culture of Innovation37:21 Advice for Leaders and Individual Contributors43:26 The Future of AI in the Workplace45:38 Closing ThoughtsFollow the hostsFollow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Atin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Conor⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Vikram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Yash⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Today's Guest(s)LinkedIn: Wade ChambersWebsite: amplitude.comCheck out Galileo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Try Galileo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Agent Leaderboard

Show Notes

As AI redefines how products are built and customers are understood, what are the core strategies engineering leaders use to drive innovation and create lasting value?

Join Conor Bronsdon as he welcomes Wade Chambers, Chief Engineering Officer at Amplitude, to explore these critical questions. Wade shares how Amplitude is leveraging AI to deepen customer understanding and enhance product experiences, transforming raw data into actionable insights across their platform. He also discusses their approach to navigating constant change while building an adaptable, high-performing engineering culture that thrives in the current AI landscape.

The conversation explores Amplitude's strategy for building a sustainable AI advantage through proprietary data, deep domain expertise, and robust feedback loops, moving beyond superficial AI applications. Wade offers insights on fostering an AI-ready engineering culture through empowerment and clear alignment, alongside exploring the exciting potential of agentic AI to create proactive, intelligent copilots for product teams. He then details Amplitude’s successful approach to integrating specialized AI talent, drawing key lessons from their acquisition of Command AI.


Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome

01:55 Understanding and Acting on Data with AI

06:42 Amplitude's Unique Position in the Market

08:36 Differentiation and Competitive Advantage

09:58 Incorporating Customer Feedback

12:48 Evaluating AI Outcomes

17:21 Agentic AI and Future Prospects

21:38 Acquiring and Integrating AI Talent

28:44 Building a Culture of Innovation

37:21 Advice for Leaders and Individual Contributors

43:26 The Future of AI in the Workplace

45:38 Closing Thoughts


Follow the hosts

Follow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Atin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Conor⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Vikram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Yash⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


Follow Today's Guest(s)

LinkedIn: Wade Chambers

Website: amplitude.com


Check out Galileo

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Try Galileo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠Agent Leaderboard


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.