In this fascinating episode of Cutting Through the Clutter, host Cyndee Woolley sits down with Josephus Visser, a member of the technical staff at OpenAI, where he works on the supercomputing platform that trains models like ChatGPT. With approximately 35 years of experience at tech giants Google, Amazon, Meta, and now OpenAI, Yas brings a unique perspective on technology leadership.
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Yas has managed global technical teams, designed highly reliable distributed systems, conducted over 500 technical interviews, and shares practical wisdom through his Wednesday Wisdom newsletter and podcast.
Key Insights:
Yas reveals OpenAI’s vision-driven leadership culture where exceptionally smart people are empowered to forge ahead with minimal management. The conversation explores infrastructure security threats from nation-state actors, challenges of remote work culture, and how to effectively prompt AI tools for better results—treating interactions like conversations with multiple follow-ups rather than single questions.
Yas shares his philosophy of “intentionality” and “quality is fitness for use,” explaining why choosing the right tool matters. He offers practical wisdom on using AI as part of your process rather than an endpoint, warning that if your job only consists of synthesizing existing information, AI will replace you.
His advice for entrepreneurs? We’re in a time of experimentation. Start learning and dabbling with AI to discover what it can do for your specific use case. Don’t wait—the not-so-obvious applications are still being discovered.
Perfect for tech leaders, entrepreneurs curious about AI implementation, and anyone interested in preparing for technology’s future.
Links and Resources:
Website: www.Josvisser.substack.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josvisser1/
