How Coinbase scaled AI to 1,000+ engineers | Chintan Turakhia | How I AI

The podcast explores how large engineering organizations can successfully adopt and scale AI tools. Chintan Turakhia, Senior Director of Engineering at Coinbase, shares strategies for driving AI adoption within a large engineering team. A key approach involves a hands-on leadership style, where leaders demonstrate the practical benefits of AI tools by actively using them and showing, not just telling, their value. Turakhia emphasizes focusing on use cases that eliminate engineers' "shit work," such as unit tests and linting, to free them for more engaging tasks. He also highlights the importance of measuring the impact of AI adoption by tracking the time from ticket to feature release, and encourages experimentation and breaking traditional rules to accelerate development cycles.

Outlines

Part 1: AI Adoption and Leadership Conviction

Part 2: Tactical Implementation: The "Show, Don't Tell" Approach

Part 3: Scaling Velocity: The PR Speed Run

Part 4: Metrics and Development Cycles

Part 5: Deep Dive: Analyzing Usage with Cursor

Part 6: Gamification and the Leader's Role

Part 7: Automated Workflows and Feedback Loops

Part 8: Building the "Super Builder" Ecosystem

Part 9: Personal Use Cases and Closing

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How Coinbase scaled AI to 1,000+ engineers | Chintan Turakhia

How I AI

Part 1: AI Adoption and Leadership Conviction

00:00Overcoming Skepticism: AI Adoption as a Necessity in Engineering

Overcoming Skepticism: AI Adoption as a Necessity in Engineering

00:34Leadership Conviction and Practical Implementation for AI Transformation

Leadership Conviction and Practical Implementation for AI Transformation

00:58Driving AI Adoption and Higher Velocity in Engineering Organizations

Driving AI Adoption and Higher Velocity in Engineering Organizations

Part 2: Tactical Implementation: The "Show, Don't Tell" Approach

03:17Rewriting a Product with AI: From Self-Custody Wallet to Social Consumer App

Rewriting a Product with AI: From Self-Custody Wallet to Social Consumer App

07:20Hands-on Leadership: Showing Engineers the Value of AI Tools

Hands-on Leadership: Showing Engineers the Value of AI Tools

08:24Overcoming Initial Resistance: Demonstrating AI's Practical Benefits

Overcoming Initial Resistance: Demonstrating AI's Practical Benefits

11:36Building Momentum: Cursor Wins Channel and the Power of Shared Success

Building Momentum: Cursor Wins Channel and the Power of Shared Success

Part 3: Scaling Velocity: The PR Speed Run

12:32The PR Speed Run: A Tactical Technique for Organizational Transformation

The PR Speed Run: A Tactical Technique for Organizational Transformation

14:41Breaking the Rules: Empowering Engineers to Ship Code

Breaking the Rules: Empowering Engineers to Ship Code

15:29Adapting to AI: Breaking Rules and Reducing Coordination Overhead

Adapting to AI: Breaking Rules and Reducing Coordination Overhead

Part 4: Metrics and Development Cycles

16:35Measuring AI Impact: Time from Ticket to User

Measuring AI Impact: Time from Ticket to User

17:22Compressing Development Cycles: From Feedback to OTA Updates

Compressing Development Cycles: From Feedback to OTA Updates

18:30Real-Time Feedback: Fixing Bugs During User Calls

Real-Time Feedback: Fixing Bugs During User Calls

19:00Tactical Techniques: High Conviction, Toil Focus, and Shared Channels

Tactical Techniques: High Conviction, Toil Focus, and Shared Channels

Part 5: Deep Dive: Analyzing Usage with Cursor

19:54Using Cursor to Analyze Cursor Usage: Understanding Adoption Patterns

Using Cursor to Analyze Cursor Usage: Understanding Adoption Patterns

20:45Nuanced Cohorting Analysis: Human Behavior and Analytics with LLMs

Nuanced Cohorting Analysis: Human Behavior and Analytics with LLMs

22:53Cursor as a Daily Operating System: Data Accessibility and Cohort Identification

Cursor as a Daily Operating System: Data Accessibility and Cohort Identification

25:15From Raw Data to Visual Insights: A Multi-Agent Workflow

From Raw Data to Visual Insights: A Multi-Agent Workflow

26:08Identifying Power Users: Uncovering Key Behaviors and Metrics

Identifying Power Users: Uncovering Key Behaviors and Metrics

Part 6: Gamification and the Leader's Role

27:32Creating a Playbook: Guiding Users to Become Super Users

Creating a Playbook: Guiding Users to Become Super Users

29:00From Deep Analysis to Slack Posts: Streamlining Communication

From Deep Analysis to Slack Posts: Streamlining Communication

29:55The Leader's Role: Guiding Change and Accelerating Impact

The Leader's Role: Guiding Change and Accelerating Impact

31:28Motivational Statements: Gamifying AI Adoption

Motivational Statements: Gamifying AI Adoption

33:34Driving Adoption: Using the Tool to Understand and Improve Usage

Driving Adoption: Using the Tool to Understand and Improve Usage

Part 7: Automated Workflows and Feedback Loops

34:46Solving Problems with Code: Empowering Leaders to Act

Solving Problems with Code: Empowering Leaders to Act

35:20The Velocity Creation of Fun Tasks: Fast Feedback Loops and High Quality

The Velocity Creation of Fun Tasks: Fast Feedback Loops and High Quality

36:00Compressing Feedback Loops: From User Input to Rapid Iteration

Compressing Feedback Loops: From User Input to Rapid Iteration

37:39The Feedback Cafe: Capturing Live User Input

The Feedback Cafe: Capturing Live User Input

38:49Capturing Feedback Live: Building a Tool to Streamline the Process

Capturing Feedback Live: Building a Tool to Streamline the Process

40:07From Bug Report to Linear Ticket: Automating Issue Tracking

From Bug Report to Linear Ticket: Automating Issue Tracking

41:17From Linear Ticket to PR: Automating Code Generation

From Linear Ticket to PR: Automating Code Generation

42:27Eliminating Filters: Capturing Everything and Burning Through It

Eliminating Filters: Capturing Everything and Burning Through It

Part 8: Building the "Super Builder" Ecosystem

43:31The Super Builder: Creating More Super Builders

The Super Builder: Creating More Super Builders

45:03Context is Key: Integrating Linear and Slack for AI Workflows

Context is Key: Integrating Linear and Slack for AI Workflows

47:10Career Advice: Become an AI Leader in Your Organization

Career Advice: Become an AI Leader in Your Organization