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Inside OpenAI | Logan Kilpatrick (head of developer relations)

Logan Kilpatrick leads developer relations at OpenAI, supporting developers building with the OpenAI API and ChatGPT. He is also on the board of directors at NumFOCUS, the nonprofit organization that supports open source projects like Jupyter, Pandas, NumPy, and more. Before OpenAI, Logan was a machine-learning engineer at Apple and advised NASA on open source policy. In our conversation, we discuss: • OpenAI’s fast-paced and innovative work environment • The value of high agency and high urgency in your employees • Tips for writing better ChatGPT prompts • How the GPT Store is doing • OpenAI’s planning process and decision-making criteria • Where OpenAI is heading in the next few years • Insight into OpenAI’s B2B offerings • Why Logan “measures in hundreds” — Brought to you by: • Hex—Helping teams ask and answer data questions by working together: https://www.hex.tech/lenny • Whimsical—The iterative product workspace: https://whimsical.com/lenny • Arcade Software—Create effortlessly beautiful demos in minutes: https://arcade.software/lenny Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-openai-logan-kilpatrick-head Where to find Logan Kilpatrick: • X: https://twitter.com/OfficialLoganK • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logankilpatrick/ • Website: https://logank.ai/ Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Logan’s background (03:49) The impact of recent events on OpenAI’s team and culture (08:20) Exciting developments in AI interfaces (09:52) Using OpenAI tools to make companies more efficient (13:04) Examples of using AI effectively (18:35) Prompt engineering (22:12) How to write better prompts (26:05) The launch of GPTs and the OpenAI Store (32:10) The importance of high agency and urgency (34:35) OpenAI’s ability to move fast and ship high-quality products (35:56) OpenAI’s planning process and decision-making criteria (40:22) The importance of real-time communication (42:33) OpenAI’s team and growth (44:47) Future developments at OpenAI (47:42) GPT-5 and building toward the future (50:38) OpenAI’s enterprise offering and the value of sharing custom applications (52:30) New updates and features from OpenAI (55:09) How to leverage OpenAI’s technology in products (58:26) Encouragement for building with AI (59:30) Lightning round Referenced: • OpenAI: https://openai.com/ • Sam Altman on X: https://twitter.com/sama • Greg Brockman on X: https://twitter.com/gdb • tldraw: https://www.tldraw.com/ • Harvey: https://www.harvey.ai/ • Boost Your Productivity with Generative AI: https://hbr.org/2023/06/boost-your-productivity-with-generative-ai • Research: quantifying GitHub Copilot’s impact on developer productivity and happiness: https://github.blog/2022-09-07-research-quantifying-github-copilots-impact-on-developer-productivity-and-happiness/ • Lesson learnt from the DPD AI Chatbot swearing blunder: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lesson-learnt-from-dpd-ai-chatbot-swearing-blunder-kitty-sz57e/ • Dennis Yang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennisyang/ • Tim Ferriss’s blog: https://tim.blog/ • Tyler Cowen on X: https://twitter.com/tylercowen • Tom Cruise on X: https://twitter.com/TomCruise • Canva: https://www.canva.com/ • Zapier: https://zapier.com/ • Siqi Chen on X: https://twitter.com/blader • Runway: https://runway.com/ • Universal Primer: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-GbLbctpPz-universal-primer • “I didn’t expect ChatGPT to get so good” | Unconfuse Me with Bill Gates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Ymdc6EdKw • Microsoft Azure: https://azure.microsoft.com/ • Lennybot: https://www.lennybot.com/ • Visual Electric: https://visualelectric.com/ • DALL-E: https://openai.com/research/dall-e • The One World Schoolhouse: https://www.amazon.com/One-World-Schoolhouse-Education-Reimagined/dp/1455508373/ref=sr_1_1 • Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams: https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-Unlocking-Dreams/dp/1501144324 • Gran Turismo: https://www.netflix.com/title/81672085 • Gran Turismo video game: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/gran-turismo/ • Manta sleep mask: https://mantasleep.com/products/manta-sleep-mask • WAOAW sleep mask: https://www.amazon.com/WAOAW-Sleep-Sleeping-Blocking-Blindfold/dp/B09712FSLY Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Logan KilpatrickguestLenny Rachitskyhost
Feb 8, 20241h 8mWatch on YouTube ↗

Episode Details

EPISODE INFO

Released
February 8, 2024
Duration
1h 8m
Channel
Lenny's Podcast
Watch on YouTube
▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Logan Kilpatrick leads developer relations at OpenAI, supporting developers building with the OpenAI API and ChatGPT. He is also on the board of directors at NumFOCUS, the nonprofit organization that supports open source projects like Jupyter, Pandas, NumPy, and more. Before OpenAI, Logan was a machine-learning engineer at Apple and advised NASA on open source policy. In our conversation, we discuss:

  • OpenAI’s fast-paced and innovative work environment
  • The value of high agency and high urgency in your employees
  • Tips for writing better ChatGPT prompts
  • How the GPT Store is doing
  • OpenAI’s planning process and decision-making criteria
  • Where OpenAI is heading in the next few years
  • Insight into OpenAI’s B2B offerings
  • Why Logan “measures in hundreds”

— Brought to you by:

Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-openai-logan-kilpatrick-head Where to find Logan Kilpatrick:

Where to find Lenny:

In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Logan’s background (03:49) The impact of recent events on OpenAI’s team and culture (08:20) Exciting developments in AI interfaces (09:52) Using OpenAI tools to make companies more efficient (13:04) Examples of using AI effectively (18:35) Prompt engineering (22:12) How to write better prompts (26:05) The launch of GPTs and the OpenAI Store (32:10) The importance of high agency and urgency (34:35) OpenAI’s ability to move fast and ship high-quality products (35:56) OpenAI’s planning process and decision-making criteria (40:22) The importance of real-time communication (42:33) OpenAI’s team and growth (44:47) Future developments at OpenAI (47:42) GPT-5 and building toward the future (50:38) OpenAI’s enterprise offering and the value of sharing custom applications (52:30) New updates and features from OpenAI (55:09) How to leverage OpenAI’s technology in products (58:26) Encouragement for building with AI (59:30) Lightning round Referenced:

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

SPEAKERS

  • Logan Kilpatrick

    guest
  • Lenny Rachitsky

    host

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Lenny's Podcast, featuring Logan Kilpatrick and Lenny Rachitsky, Inside OpenAI | Logan Kilpatrick (head of developer relations) explores inside OpenAI: Culture, GPTs, and the Future of AI Products Logan Kilpatrick, head of developer relations at OpenAI, discusses OpenAI’s internal culture, how they ship products quickly, and what they look for in new hires. He explains how developers and companies are using ChatGPT, GPTs, and the API today, and where he sees the biggest opportunities for new products. The conversation dives into prompt engineering best practices, new multimodal and agent-like interfaces, and where OpenAI will focus versus where startups should build. Logan also reflects on the Sam Altman board crisis, why it ultimately strengthened the company, and how OpenAI thinks about planning, metrics, and the path toward AGI.

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