Behind the Craft

Micky is a full-stack engineer who has taught 100K+ people how to build with AI. In our episode, he walked me through his 4-step agentic engineering workflow to avoid pumping out slop: Isolate every task, build to a clear structure, prove via validation loops, and ship after agents review your PRs or escalate to you for a manual look.Micky and I talked about:(00:00) Why most software factories pump out slop(02:06) Step 1 (Isolate): How to run multiple agents at once(07:18) Step 2 (Build): Give agents a structure to build on(10:44) Step 3 (Prove): Build agentic validation loops(16:48) The one step Micky never hands to agents(21:30) Step 4 (Ship): Getting agents to review PRs reliably(28:20) Why Micky doesn't write specs(33:08) Comparing Astra and Fable for coding(43:08) Are AI skills obsolete with today's models?Thanks to our sponsors:Wispr Flow: 4x faster than typing with your voice https://ref.wisprflow.ai/peteryangRiverside: All-in-one AI studio for podcasts and video https://creators.riverside.com/PeterYang📌 Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/agentic-engineering-workflow-ras-micWhere to find Micky:X: https://x.com/RasmicYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RasMicSkills: https://github.com/michaelshimeles/skillsSubscribe to this channel - more interviews coming soon!

Copy my best AI workflows to save time and automate busywork: https://www.behindthecraft.com🤝 Subscribe to my practical AI newsletter read by 150K+ professionals: https://creatoreconomy.soPeng and Lauren are the lead designer and engineer for Grok Bot at SpaceXAI. In our interview, they showed me 14 bots that they use for work and life, from a design bot that helps Peng mock up designs to an entire team of engineering bots that help Lauren ship faster.Peng, Lauren, and I talked about:(00:00) The bots that the Grok Bot team actually uses(01:23) Peng’s chief of staff bot buys supplies and lists gear(06:31) Putting PM, design, and eng bots in the same room(10:07) Turning a street photo into a diorama on Peng’s website(14:16) How Lauren’s bots test their own work before merging(17:59) Dr. Eggbot, Lauren’s bot that designs and audits your bots(21:27) The assistant bot that booked Lauren’s multi-city trip(25:22) Eng bots that sometimes land PRs before Lauren reads them(38:59) How to trust your bots with more work, one skill at a timeThanks to our sponsors:Granola: AI meeting notes that don’t suck https://granola.ai/peterRiverside: All-in-one AI studio for podcasts and video https://creators.riverside.com/PeterYang📌 Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/grok-bot-team-14-best-bots-peng-zheng-lauren-tanWhere to find Peng Zheng:X: https://x.com/pengzheng_Website: https://www.pengzhe.ng/Where to find Lauren Tan:X: https://x.com/potetoDr. Eggbot: https://x.ai/bot/marketplace/bots/dr-eggbot-v2Subscribe to this channel - more interviews coming soon!

Pedro is widely respected as one of the most AI-pilled CEOs out there. His hot take is that “agents” is a terrible name. Instead, he showed me what you should build: AI employees that have a defined job, skills, manager, and budget. Pedro also did a live demo of how he still uses OpenClaw to stay on top of his $5B business.Pedro and I talked about:(00:00) Build AI employees, not AI agents(05:23) Why Pedro spends half his time reviewing work(12:32) Live demo: Jim, Brex’s AI recruiting employee(21:24) Why Brex makes engineers build with AI in interviews(22:33) CrabTrap: How to stop AI employees from leaking data(27:30) The tokenmaxxing bill is coming. Here’s how to control it(40:45) Live demo: Pedro’s OpenClaw system runs his lifeThanks to our sponsors:Riverside: All-in-one AI studio for podcasts and video https://creators.riverside.com/PeterYangLinear: The AI agent platform for modern teams https://linear.app/behind-the-craft📌 Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/stop-building-ai-agents-build-ai-employees-insead-pedro-franceschi-brexWhere to find Pedro:X: https://x.com/pedroh96LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pfranceschi/Subscribe to this channel - more interviews coming soon!