Amjad Masad is cofounder and CEO of Replit. In this fireside, Amjad and Balaji talk about their shared interest in educating the developers of the developing world, the history and future of Replit, and how the physical world is becoming more programmable. OUTLINE 0:58 - Shared interest in developers from the developing world 3:38 - Replit pioneered the paradigm of going from idea to software 5:16 - Amjad on how Balaji helped when Replit hit hard times 6:42 - Balaji's favorite Replit story 10:19 - Make it so you can program in English 12:30 - 20th century education model is melting 23:00 - Physical world is becoming more programmable 26:30 - Network School as a template for other startup societies LINKS Network State Conference: https://ns.com/conference Full Network State Conference 2025 playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJg2RipiXz8oDoMPCsmOVI_UEaSNbgjA6
Will AI and AI agents replace God, steal your job, and change your future? Amjad Masad, Bret Weinstein, and Daniel Priestley debate the terrifying warning signs, and why you need to understand them now. In this debate, they explain: ▫️Why AI threatens 50% of the global workforce. ▫️How AI agents are already replacing millions of jobs and how to use them to your advantage. ▫️How AI will disrupt creative industries and hijack human consciousness. ▫️The critical skills that will matter most in the AI-powered future. ▫️What parents must teach their kids now to survive the AI age. ▫️How to harness AI’s power ethically. 00:00 Intro 07:03 What Is an AI Agent? 09:00 Who Is Bret and What Are His Views on AI? 12:48 Who Is Dan? 14:31 Where Are the Boundaries? 15:46 What Could AI Potentially Do? 16:50 Bret's Concerns: AI and a New Species 19:22 The Disruptive Potential of AI in Its Current Form 20:22 Is AI Just a Tool? 21:27 Those Who Leverage AI Will Be the Winners 25:04 What Abuse Are We Currently Seeing? 30:46 The Collateral Damage of AI 38:57 What Will Happen to Humans? 42:05 Which Jobs Will Be Replaced by AI? 45:23 Could AI Development Affect Western Economies? 48:49 Is AI Removing Our Agency? 57:28 Will Authenticity Be More Valued in the AI Era? 59:05 Will Markets Become Fairer or More Unbalanced? 01:03:34 The Economic Displacement 01:05:34 Worldcoin and the Case for Universal Basic Income 01:11:36 Are We Losing Meaning and Purpose? 01:14:34 AI's Impact on Loneliness, Relationships, and Connection 01:18:47 Can Education Adapt to the AI Era? 01:25:57 What Should AI Teach Our Children? 01:31:08 Ads 01:32:09 Is This Inevitable? 01:38:07 Will We Start Living Like House Cats? 01:44:33 Hyper-Changing World: Are We Designed for It? 01:50:14 The 5 Key Threats of AI 01:51:40 Deepfakes and AI Scams 01:59:32 An Optimistic Take on the AI Era 02:03:26 AI for Business Opportunities 02:08:23 Ads 02:10:21 AI Autonomous Weapons 02:17:48 Do We Live Among Aliens or in a Simulation? 02:21:20 How to Live a Good Life in the AI Era 📣 100 CEOs: Ready to think like a CEO? Gain access to the 100 CEOs newsletter here: https://bit.ly/100-ceos-megaphone 📔 The 1% Diary is back - limited time only: https://bit.ly/3YFbJbt 🎴 The Diary Of A CEO Conversation Cards (Second Edition): https://g2ul0.app.link/f31dsUttKKb 📧 Get email updates: https://bit.ly/diary-of-a-ceo-yt Follow Steven: https://g2ul0.app.link/gnGqL4IsKKb Follow Amjad: X - https://bit.ly/3SsT92D Website - https://bit.ly/44y7YIO Follow Daniel: X - https://bit.ly/4jZRa1S Instagram - https://bit.ly/3F2Q8mK Website - https://bit.ly/3Ssg6mG Follow Bret: X - https://bit.ly/3EVAHwH You can purchase Daniel’s book, ‘Scorecard Marketing: The four-step playbook for getting better leads and bigger profits’, here: https://amzn.to/45aByEa You can purchase Bret’s book, ‘A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life’, here: https://amzn.to/4dcJoPU Research document: https://stevenbartlett.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/DOAC-AI-debate-Independent-Research-further-reading.pdf Sponsors: Vivobarefoot - https://vivobarefoot.com/DOAC with code DIARY20 for 20% off Shopify - https://shopify.com/bartlett
Adam D’Angelo (Quora/Poe) thinks we're 5 years from automating remote work. Amjad Masad (Replit) thinks we're brute-forcing intelligence without understanding it. In this conversation, two technical founders who are building the AI future disagree on almost everything: whether LLMs are hitting limits, if we're anywhere close to AGI, and what happens when entry-level jobs disappear but experts remain irreplaceable. They dig into the uncomfortable reality that AI might create a "missing middle" in the job market, why everyone in SF is suddenly too focused on getting rich to do weird experiments, and whether consciousness research has been abandoned for prompt engineering. Plus: Why coding agents can now run for 20+ hours straight, the return of the "sovereign individual" thesis, and the surprising sophistication of everyday users juggling multiple AIs. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 00:41 The Bearishness Paradox: "I don't know what people are talking about" 04:25 "Functional AGI" - Brute Forcing Your Way to Automation 11:18 "We are in a human expertise regime" 15:31 The Weird Equilibrium: Automating Entry-Level but Not Experts 17:22 The Expert Data Paradox 24:44 The Sovereign Individual: A Prediction Framework for the AI Era 28:51 "Vastly increased what a single person can do" 45:04 "It's gonna be the decade of agents" 49:01 Managing Tens of Agents in Parallel 52:56 "I actually think vibe coding is unbelievably high potential" 58:47 Claude 4.5's Strange New Awareness Resources Follow Amjad on X: https://x.com/amasad Follow Adam on X: https://x.com/adamdangelo Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Amjad Masad is the co-founder and CEO of Replit, a browser-based coding environment that allows anyone to write and deploy code. Replit has 34 million users globally and is one of the fastest-growing developer communities in the world. Prior to Replit, Amjad worked at Facebook, where he led the JavaScript infrastructure team and contributed to popular open-source developer tools. Additionally, he played a key role as a founding engineer at the online coding school Codecademy. In our conversation, Amjad shares: • A live demo of Replit in action • How Replit’s AI agent can build full-stack web applications from a simple text prompt • The implications of AI-powered development for product managers, designers, and engineers • How this might reshape companies and careers • Why being “generative” will become an increasingly valuable skill • “Amjad’s law” and how learning to debug AI-generated code is becoming ever more valuable • Much more — Brought to you by: • WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs: https://workos.com/lenny • Persona—A global leader in digital identity verification: https://withpersona.com/lenny • LinkedIn Ads—Reach professionals and drive results for your business: https://www.linkedin.com/podlenny Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad Where to find Amjad Masad: • X: https://x.com/amasad • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amjadmasad/ • Website: https://amasad.me/ Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction to Amjad Masad and Replit (02:41) The vision and challenges of Replit (06:50) Replit’s growth and user stories (10:49) Demo of Replit’s capabilities (16:51) Building and iterating with Replit (25:04) Real-world applications and use cases (30:13) The technology stack (33:48) The evolution of Replit and its capabilities (39:36) The future of AI in software development (44:04) Skills for the future: generative thinking and coding (47:26) Amjad’s law (50:36) Replit’s new developments and future plans Referenced: • Replit: https://replit.com/ • Cursor: https://www.cursor.com • Aman Mathur on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aman-mathur/ • Node: https://nodejs.org/en • Claude: https://claude.ai/ • Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/ • Wasm: https://webassembly.org/ • Figma: https://www.figma.com/ • Codecademy: https://www.codecademy.com/ • Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/news • Paul Graham’s website: https://www.paulgraham.com/ • Jevons paradox: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox • Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/ • Open AI: https://openai.com/ • Amjad’s tweet about “society of models”: https://x.com/amasad/status/1568941103709290496 • About HCI: https://www.designdisciplin.com/p/hci-profession • Taylor Swift’s website: https://www.taylorswift.com/ • Andrew Wilkinson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/awilkinson/ • Haya Odeh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haya-odeh-b0725928/ • Amjad’s law: https://x.com/snowmaker/status/1847377464705896544 • Ray Kurzweil’s website: https://www.thekurzweillibrary.com/ • God of the gaps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Amjad Masad started Replit to make programming accessible to anyone, anywhere. What began as a tool for learning to code has grown into a platform pushing the limits of AI-assisted software creation and recently surpassed $100M in ARR. On The Breakdown with Tom and Dave, Amjad shares the journey from his early days in Jordan, working on open-source projects, to leading Replit through major pivots from "teach a billion people to code" to "let anyone build software." He discusses the evolving nature of programming, the future of work, and the next generation of human-computer collaboration. Apply to Y Combinator: https://ycombinator.com/apply Work at a startup: https://workatastartup.com Chapters: 00:38 - From YC to Replit: The Early Days 02:00 - A Billion Developers: Pre-LLM Vision 02:58 - Betting the Company on Agents 04:20 - AI Autonomy Jumps (Claude 3.x → 4.0) 05:22 - Computer Use: The Last Mile 06:40 - Sampling & Branching for Reliability 10:00 - Non-Engineers Shipping Software 12:10 - Security & Safe Components 17:40 - Where Replit Fits (Cursor ↔ No-Code) 18:50 - Ambient Building & Mobile Workflows 23:00 - AI in Meetings & Granola Maximalism 32:00 - Should Kids Still Learn to Code? 33:52 - DIY SaaS & The Vertical SaaS Crunch 34:46 - Final Advice for Founders
On the a16z Podcast, Amjad Masad explains that coding is "a tide that raises all boats," and that there's now a shift in the industry's impact from minimal to meaningful with the help of AI tools like ChatGPT. Catch the full episode: https://youtu.be/ji5rdhzT53o Follow Amjad on Twitter: https://twitter.com/amasad Stay Updated: * Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z * Find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z * Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ * Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Amjad Masad, founder and CEO of Replit, joins a16z’s Marc Andreessen and Erik Torenberg to discuss the new world of AI agents, the future of programming, and how software itself is beginning to build software. They trace the history of computing to the rise of AI agents that can now plan, reason, and code for hours without breaking, and explore how Replit is making it possible for anyone to create complex applications in natural language. Amjad explains how RL unlocked reasoning for modern models, why verification loops changed everything, whether LLMs are hitting diminishing returns, and if “good enough” AI might actually block progress toward true general intelligence. 00:00 Intro 00:37 Programming in Plain English 03:00 The Vision Behind Replit 05:15 From Machine Code to English Code 07:00 Building Apps with AI Agents 09:30 When the Agent Becomes the Programmer 11:00 Long-Horizon Reasoning and Coherence 13:45 Reinforcement Learning and Problem Solving 17:30 The Verification Loop and Multi-Agent Systems 21:15 Watching AI Work Like a Human Programmer 23:45 From Stochastic Parrots to Real Reasoning 26:00 Why Coding Is Advancing Faster Than Other Fields 30:15 Verifiable Domains: Math, Code, and Physics 33:45 The AGI Debate: Are We on Track? 37:45 Transfer Learning and the Limits of Human Intelligence 41:15 Functional AGI and Automating Labor 45:20 GPT-5, Diminishing Returns, and Lost “Humanity” 53:10 Creativity, Reasoning, and Finding Truth in AI 57:30 The Origins of Replit and Early Coding Days 01:03:00 Hacking His University and Getting Caught 01:08:00 The Redemption and Lessons Learned for the AI Age Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Resources: Follow Amjad on X: https://x.com/amasad Follow Marc on X: https://x.com/pmarca Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Thanks to rapid development in LLM’s, we are now at the point where AI is able to follow prompts and generate code to build functional custom software. So how does the tech landscape change when the ability to code is democratized? In this episode of the Lightcone, the hosts speak with Amjad Masad, the CEO of Replit, an AI-powered software development and deployment platform, to see how coding power can be given to everyday users. Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 0:00 Intro 1:15 Making an app with Replit 6:19 Feel the AGI, personal software era 8:07 Having AI code the way humans do 9:51 You should still learn to code! 11:42 The underlying tech 17:19 The path to AGI 19:41 What users made with Replit 25:56 Challenges in resetting the org 33:29 Future plans 36:12 Outro
Replit is the leading no-code app builder for consumers and enterprise, letting anyone with an idea build real, deployed software using natural language. The company just raised a $400 million Series D at a $9 billion valuation. In this episode of Founder Firesides, co-founder and CEO Amjad Masad sat down with YC's Andrew Miklas to talk about Replit's 10-year journey from browser IDE to vibe coding platform, why the people getting the most value aren't traditional devs but founders and domain experts closest to the problem, and what Agent 4 unlocks with parallel agents, built-in design, and the ability to run your entire company on Replit. 0:28 – Anyone Can Build Software 2:14 – The Rise of AI-Native Builders 4:52 – Not Just Developers Anymore 7:18 – What People Are Actually Building 10:36 – How Replit Is Spreading Everywhere 14:02 – What You Can Build (and What You Can’t) 19:22 – YC, Growth, and Early Lessons 23:18 – From Vibe Coding to Autonomous Agents 29:44 – The Future: Everyone Becomes a Builder 36:12 – What Skills Matter Now Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs
A small minority – likely less than 1% – of the world can code. Yet also widely known that the skillset yields outsized returns, with developers generating some of the highest paying salaries out there. But even this field is quickly shifting, especially with the advent of wide-scale AI. Today we get to chat with Amjad Masad, CEO and founder of Replit, about these foundational shifts. We dive into how Replit has integrated AI into its platform and the implications on both current and future developers. It’s easier than ever to learn to code, but is it still worthwhile? And does the 10x engineer really exist? Listen in to find out. Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 02:02 - What is Replit? 04:30 - Stories behind Replit 12:02 - The software hero’s journey 14:24 - Making coding fun 17:02 - AI powering software 21:03 - Training your own models 23:40 - Building UX around AI 26:03 - The developer landscape 29:43 - The 1000x engineer 32:39 - Should you still learn to code? 36:56 - What does AI enable? 43:40 - Developing on mobile 46:21 - A software labor market 49:42 - Differentiating a marketplace 51:39 - Building new market dynamics 54:10 - Looking ahead Resources: * Replit: https://replit.com/ * Replit Ghostwriter: https://replit.com/site/ghostwriter * Replit Bounties: https://replit.com/bounties * Find Amjad on Twitter: https://twitter.com/amasad Stay Updated: * Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z * Find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z * Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ * Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Amjad Masad is the co-founder & CEO of Replit, now valued at $3B after a recent $250M Series C. He's spent nearly a decade making programming accessible to all—and with the rise of AI, that vision is closer than ever. In this talk from AI Startup School on June 17, 2025, Amjad traces the arc of computing from mainframes to personal computers to a future where AI agents can create software on demand. He explains why the value of traditional software will approach zero, fundamentally reshaping how companies are built and how work gets done. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs Chapters: 00:22 - Evolution of Computing 01:27 - The Rise of Software Engineering 02:16 - Replit's Vision: Making Programming Accessible 02:42 - The Role of AI in Software Development 04:32 - Challenges and Infrastructure for AI Agents 05:03 - Building a Scalable and Secure Environment 06:08 - Future of Software Engineering Agents 09:25 - Autonomy Levels in AI Agents 15:56 - Predictions for the Software Market 18:31 - Impact on Business and Employment 19:58 - The Role of Generalist Employees 26:00 - Audience Q&A
Recorded live at the New Media Summit, Erik Torenberg sits down with Replit founder and CEO Amjad Masad to discuss founder-led storytelling, building in public, and the role of media in company building. Masad reflects on Replit’s decade-long journey, including the years before the company’s recent breakout growth, and explains why communicating a vision can be just as important as executing on it. He argues that for many founders, especially those building ambitious products ahead of the market, telling a compelling story is often necessary to attract talent, capital, and early believers. The conversation explores social media, authenticity, public communication, company-building, and how founders can develop a voice that resonates beyond their product. Along the way, Masad shares lessons from building Replit, navigating controversy, and why he believes founders should think carefully about when to go direct and what story they're trying to tell. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:52 - How Going Direct Saved Replit 02:38 - Improv, Exposure Therapy & Making Mistakes Early 05:20 - Build in Public & the Power of Authenticity 08:40 - Being Uncancellable: Why Retreating Is the Real Risk 13:21 - When to Respond & When to Let It Go 17:39 - Does Every CEO Need to Be an Influencer? 19:38 - Platform Strategy: X vs Instagram vs YouTube 22:53 - Understanding the Meta: How to Actually Go Viral Resources: Follow Amjad Masad on X: https://x.com/amasad Follow Erik Torenberg on X: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see http://a16z.com/disclosures.