Navigating Tech and Chaos with Tyler Wells

From Software People Stories by PM Power Consulting

May 8, 2026 · 50 min

About this episode

Tyler Wells discusses his extensive experience in software and the innovative approaches of Brain Grid in AI-assisted development.

My guest today is Tyler Wells, co-founder of Brain Grid. Tyler recounts 25+ years in software, from an early IBM XT to work across military communications, startups, Skype/Microsoft, and seven and a half years at Twilio building video and SRE organizations, before founding Propel Data (which didn’t find product-market fit) and then Brain Grid. He describes an experiment-driven approach to building high-performance systems by defining hypotheses, creating a “steel thread” MVP, and prioritizing observability for 2:00 AM incidents. He discusses how AI coding shifts focus from typing code to architecture, documentation, critical thinking, and red-teaming plans, while warning that agents need guidance on separation of concerns and DRY to avoid refactor side effects. Brain Grid emerged from using Cursor agents during Propel’s wind-down and aims to generate detailed specs, acceptance criteria, and validation loops so agents implement features reliably, with attention to token efficiency. He also covers co-founder traits, chaos engineering, compliance challenges for solopreneurs, career advice, and staying grounded through exercise, cooking, and family. Tyler Wells is the Co-founder and…

People in this episode

Guest: Tyler Wells

Topics covered

software development
AI in tech
high-performance systems
chaos engineering
career advice
product management

Keywords

AI coding
observability
MVP
engineering teams
requirements breakdown
task management
chaos engineering
career advice

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Brain Grid, IBM, Skype, Microsoft, Twilio, Propel Data, Cursor