AI Fireside Chat

Malte Ubl (CTO of Vercel) on AI-Driven DX, Google Search, and the Future of Web Dev with V0

In this episode, we sit down with Malte Ubl, CTO of Vercel, for an in-depth fireside chat covering the intersection of AI, developer experience (DX), and the evolving landscape of web development. Malte shares his journey from labeling floppy disks in northern Germany to leading engineering at Google Search, and now, shaping the future of developer tools at Vercel. We dive into: * How Malte got into computer science and his early work with Smalltalk and web pages * The unique story of how he ended up at Google—and what happened on day one * Lessons from building front-end infrastructure at Google, including the birth of frameworks used in nearly every Google product today * The culture shift he experienced joining Vercel and rediscovering the joy of working with passionate teams * Behind the scenes of Vercel’s AI SDK and the V0 product—how they were built, what worked, what didn’t, and how they’re being adopted * Why Vercel chose a composite model architecture for AI, and how it enables fast iteration without training their own foundation models * The shift to evals-driven development and how it’s changing how AI-native products are built and measured * Opening Vercel's Berlin office and thoughts on the US vs. EU tech ecosystems * Malte’s candid take on the current state (and future) of Google Search, and how LLMs are reshaping information retrieval Whether you’re building AI products, using Next.js, or just curious about the future of developer tooling, this is an unmissable conversation with one of the industry’s most forward-thinking engineering leaders.

Lucas Hild (CTO of Knowunity) on the Future of AI in Education & Their Journey Co-Founding with just 18 years old.

Empowering Education: How Knowunity is Revolutionizing Student Learning Globally. Join us in this deep dive with Lucas, CTO and co-founder of Knowunity, as he shares the groundbreaking journey of building a global learning platform from high school to serving over 20 million students across 17 countries. Discover how No Unity started with solving small educational inefficiencies and evolved into a sophisticated, AI-driven daily learning companion. Learn about the challenges and triumphs in product development, international expansion, and the strategic applications of AI in improving personalized student experiences. Gain insights into the importance of adapting to local educational needs, the pivotal role of hiring the right team, and Lucas's vision for the future of education in the AI era. Don’t miss this inspiring story of innovation and ambition in the edtech space.

Seb Hapte-Selassie (Co-Founder of telli) on YCombinator & Defensibility on the AI Application Layer

In this interview, we sit down with Seb, co-founder of Telli — a Berlin-based Y Combinator startup recently backed by Cherry Ventures — to explore his journey building cutting-edge voice agents for B2C companies.Seb shares how his passion for technology evolved into founding Telli, the challenges and breakthroughs of building AI-driven voice technology, and the key technical decisions that have shaped their platform so far. We also dive into Telli’s early fundraising experience, what it’s like building a company in Europe today, and how being part of Y Combinator influenced their trajectory.Beyond the tech, Seb reflects on the emotional side of early-stage building, the lessons he's learned from working closely with customers, and his vision for how AI will reshape the way companies interact with their users.Whether you're a founder, engineer, or just curious about the next wave of AI startups, this conversation is packed with insight, hard-won lessons, and a look at the future of voice technology.

Erik Muttersbach (Co-Founder of Forto & Zauber) on Building Companies in Europe, His Journey building a Unicorn Startup & Much More

In this interview, we sit down with Erik Muttersbach, founder of Forto, to dive into his journey from early tech curiosity to building one of Europe’s most prominent logistics tech companies. Erik shares how he found his way into computer science, what drew him to the complex world of freight, and how he scaled Forto from an engineering-first perspective. We explore the pivotal technical decisions — both the wins and the mistakes — that shaped Forto’s platform, as well as the emotional and strategic challenges of stepping back from day-to-day operations. Now back in the founder seat, Erik opens up about the drive behind his new venture, what he's building, and how lessons from Forto are shaping his approach the second time around. He also shares his thoughts on Europe’s evolving tech ecosystem, the unique strengths (and ongoing hurdles) of building on this side of the Atlantic, and how the latest developments in AI are transforming early-stage engineering and product strategy. Whether you're a founder, engineer, or just curious about the future of tech in Europe, this conversation is full of insight, reflection, and forward-looking energy. https://techeurope.io [https://techeurope.io]

Julius Lipp (Co-Founder of Mixedbread) on The Future of AI-Powered Search & a Unified World Model

In this interview, we sit down with Julius Lipp, the driving force behind Mixbread, to explore the exciting world of AI. Julius shares his insights on building a cutting-edge AI company, the challenges and opportunities in the field, and his vision for the future of search. He explains Mixbread's mission to create a unified world model, capable of encoding diverse data modalities into a single, comprehensive representation. Discover how this groundbreaking technology could transform search as we know it and unlock new possibilities in AI applications. https://techeurope.io [https://techeurope.io] https://llmstudios.de