In this episode of Builders Wanted, we are joined by Deepak Singh, Vice President of Developer Agents and Experiences at AWS, and Inbal Shani, Chief Product Officer and Head of R&D at Twilio. They discuss what it means to build with AI, the evolution of developer tools, and how they are assisting customers in leveraging AI for customer engagement and innovation. The conversation covers the importance of curiosity, adaptability, and trust in this new era of AI-powered development.

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Key Takeaways:

• Developers need to be curious and adaptable to thrive in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
• Successful AI implementation relies on building trust, simplifying processes, and focusing on customer outcomes.
• Enabling experimentation while managing risk helps organizations fully leverage the potential of AI.

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“It is very easy for a dev team or a product team to say, ah, this is the best way of doing something and we are going to follow this through wherever we want to. Instead of working with customers to understand, do you even care? I think with AI it's very important to take constraints away.  So if you combine listening to customers and unconstraining your thinking, you can accomplish a lot.” – Deepak Singh

“  When you're using AI, you need to understand that using a model, training a model, having the data, having a feedback loop, all of that is not a magical thing that just happens by itself. It requires investment and you need to be serious about it. When looking to take AI into production, you need to understand what is the complexity of the problem you're trying to solve, and how to deploy the right AI solution to really solve that problem versus swinging by.” – Inbal Shani

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Episode Timestamps:

‍*(02:35) - What it means to be a builder and the hardest part about building tools

‍*(10:50) - The most exciting shift happening in the developer ecosystem

‍*(21:17) - How to manage risk with the pace of innovation

‍*(26:15) - What people underestimate about building AI products at scale

‍*(40:57) - A recent signal that excites Deepak and Inbal about the future

‍*(43:52) - Quick hits

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Links:

Connect with Deepak on LinkedIn

Connect with Inbal on LinkedIn

Connect with Kailey on LinkedIn

Learn more about Caspian Studios

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Sponsor

Builders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what’s next? Learn more at twilio.com.

In this episode of Builders Wanted, we’re joined by Eric Helmer, Chief Technology Officer at Rimini Street. Eric shares his insights on how to modernize mission-critical systems without compromising performance. Learn about the misconceptions about tech modernization, the importance of agility and flexibility in tech stacks, and the shift from reactive to proactive IT roles.

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Key Takeaways:

• The importance of modernizing critical systems without diving headfirst into vendor-driven migrations to the cloud.
• Transparency in operations and involving end-users early in the process can build trust and ensure smoother transitions.
• By optimizing existing configurations and processes before implementing new technologies, organizations can achieve significant cost savings and efficiency gains.

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“ When you show organizations that you genuinely want to help them by showing them all the different options that they have in an agnostic way, it's a really best way to build fantastic relationships and keep that engagement simple and strategic. You have to figure out where you're going to spend your budgets. You have to take the emotion out of it. You gotta take tradition out of it and boil it down to data points that create obvious best choices.” – Eric Helmer

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Episode Timestamps:

‍*(02:08) - How Eric defines his mission as a builder

‍*(06:12) - One major shift in how IT leaders approach long-term transformation

‍*(13:49) - How Eric keeps customer engagement simple and strategic

‍*(22:05) - A recent transformation Eric is proud of

‍*(28:19) - A low-profile change that made a surprising difference

‍*(36:27) - One thing every CIO should start or stop doing

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‍Links:

Connect with Eric on LinkedIn

Connect with Kailey on LinkedIn

Learn more about Caspian Studios

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Sponsor

Builders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what’s next? Learn more at twilio.com.

In this episode of Builders Wanted, we sit down with Dar Miranda, VP of Customer Engagement at DailyPay, to delve into the innovative strategies behind real-time financial management for workers. Explore how financial stress impacts employee engagement, the shift towards employee-centric pay models, and the bold moves Daily Pay is making to transform traditional payroll systems.

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Key Takeaways:

• DailyPay’s mission to provide employees faster, more flexible access to earned wages.
• Financial stress causes a significant impact on employees' focus, productivity, and job satisfaction.
• The integration of AI will help solve customer problems and drive growth, but will not replace humans.

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“ The trend that I'm watching most closely is the integration of AI to proactively solve customer problems, but also unlock new growth avenues. So it's not just about reactively answering questions or the ability to reactively answer questions quickly, it's about shifting AI from this like cost center efficiency play  to a revenue and loyalty driver.” – Dar Miranda

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Episode Timestamps:

‍*(05:36) - The boldest thing DailyPay is building right now

‍*(11:25) - The surprising way users engage with DailyPay

‍*(21:15) - Where Dar draws the line between automation and human connection

‍*(32:01) - A CX trend Dar is watching closely

‍*(36:27) - What every CX leader should start or stop doing

‍*(38:55) - Dar’s advice for builders creating empathetic customer experiences

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Links:

Connect with Dar on LinkedIn

Connect with Kailey on LinkedIn

Learn more about Caspian Studios

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Sponsor

Builders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what’s next? Learn more at twilio.com.