OpenAI’s Codex has already shipped hundreds of thousands of pull requests in its first month. But what is it really, and how will coding agents change the future of software? In this episode, General Partner Anjney Midha goes behind the scenes with one of Codex’s product leads- Alexander Embiricos - to unpack its origin story, why its PR success rate is so high, the safety challenges of autonomous agents, and what this all means for developers, students, and the future of coding. Timecodes: 0:00 Intro: The Vision for AI Agents 1:25 Codex’s Origin and Naming 3:20 Early Prototypes and Agent Form Factors 6:00 Cloud Agents: Safety and Security 9:40 Prompt Injection and Attack Vectors 12:00 PR Merging: Metrics and Transparency 17:00 The Future of Code Review and Automation 20:00 User Adoption: Internal vs. External Surprises 22:00 Multi-Turn Interactions and Product Learnings 29:30 Best-of-N, Slot Machine Analogy, and Creativity 33:00 Human Taste, Iteration, and Collaboration 40:00 AI’s Impact on Software Engineering Careers 45:00 Education, CS Degrees, and AI Integration 49:00 Prototyping, Hackathons, and Speed to Magic 55:00 Legacy Code, Modernization, and Global Adoption 1:00:00 Enterprise, Security, and Air-Gapped Environments 1:05:00 Product Roadmap and Future of Codex 1:10:00 Advice for Founders and Startups 1:15:00 Education Reform and Project-Based Learning 1:20:00 Hiring, Building, and New Grad Advice Resources: Find Alex on X: https://x.com/embirico Find Anjney on X: https://twitter.com/AnjneyMidha 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. Stay Updated: Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts Follow our host: https://twitter.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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
