Why AI Can Write Code But Can’t Keep It Running (Yet)

AI can write production code in minutes. But can it debug and operate that code when something goes wrong? Grepr CEO Jad Naous argues that running real-world systems is a fundamentally harder challenge, with unpredictable workloads, failures, and countless possible states. Jad joins a16z General Partner Martin Casado to discuss how coding agents have transformed engineering inside his 10-person team, including projects that once took six months and now take roughly 10 days. They also explore whether AI can troubleshoot production systems by detecting changes, forming hypotheses, and running experiments, and why the best engineers may be gaining the most leverage from AI. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:54 From Stanford to founding Grepr 07:23 Why observability got so expensive 10:15 How AI is changing engineering 18:25 Jad's AI stack and workflow 22:55 A six-month project in ten days 24:55 Can AI reason about operations? 30:10 How Grepr catches incidents early 42:16 Why security is the harder problem 53:33 What comes after code Resources: Follow Jad Naous on X: https://x.com/jadtnaous Follow Martin Casado on X: https://x.com/martin_casado Learn more about Grepr: https://www.grepr.ai/ 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.

Martin CasadohostJad Naousguest

Oct 16, 202658mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: October 16, 2026
Duration: 58m
Channel: a16z
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

AI can write production code in minutes. But can it debug and operate that code when something goes wrong? Grepr CEO Jad Naous argues that running real-world systems is a fundamentally harder challenge, with unpredictable workloads, failures, and countless possible states. Jad joins a16z General Partner Martin Casado to discuss how coding agents have transformed engineering inside his 10-person team, including projects that once took six months and now take roughly 10 days. They also explore whether AI can troubleshoot production systems by detecting changes, forming hypotheses, and running experiments, and why the best engineers may be gaining the most leverage from AI. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:54 From Stanford to founding Grepr 07:23 Why observability got so expensive 10:15 How AI is changing engineering 18:25 Jad's AI stack and workflow 22:55 A six-month project in ten days 24:55 Can AI reason about operations? 30:10 How Grepr catches incidents early 42:16 Why security is the harder problem 53:33 What comes after code Resources: Follow Jad Naous on X: https://x.com/jadtnaous Follow Martin Casado on X: https://x.com/martin_casado Learn more about Grepr: https://www.grepr.ai/ 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.

SPEAKERS

Martin Casado
host
General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and co-founder of Nicira, focused on networking and infrastructure.
Jad Naous
guest
Founder/CEO of Grepr and systems/infra expert with prior work spanning Stanford/MIT research, AppDynamics, and Andreessen Horowitz.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of a16z, featuring Martin Casado and Jad Naous, Why AI Can Write Code But Can’t Keep It Running (Yet) explores aI writes code fast, but ops needs change-detection workflows Jad Naous traces Grepr’s founding to a widespread push to cut infrastructure spend, where engineering leaders repeatedly singled out observability costs as the most painful line item.

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