3 ms·

This is a good reminder that every org is different. However some companies like Microsoft are aggressively pushing AI tools internally, to a degree that is alm

by tdeck 1y ago

This is a good reminder that every org is different. However some companies like Microsoft are aggressively pushing AI tools internally, to a degree that is almost cringe.

bjt12345 1y ago
But this is often a mixture of these two things. The tools are often cringe because the capex was laughable. E.g. one solution, the trial was done using public LLMs and then they switched over to an internally built LLM which is terrible. Or, secondly, the process is often cringe because the corporate aims are laughable. I've had an argument with a manager making a multi-million dollar investment in a zero coding solution that we ended up throwing in the bin years later. They argued that they are going with this bad product because "they don't want to have to manage a team of developers". They responded "this product costs millions of dollars, how dare you?" How dare me indeed... They promptly left the company but it took 5 years before it was finally canned, and plenty of people wasted 5 years of their career on a dead-end product.
throwaway2037 1y ago
I don't want to shill for LLMs-for-devs, but I think this is excellent corporate strategy by Microsoft. They are dog-fooding LLMs-for-devs. In a sense, this is R&D using real world tests. It is a product manager's dream. The Google web-based office productivity suite is similar. I heard a rumor that at some point Google senior mgmt said that nearly all employees (excluding accounting) must use Google Docs. I am sure that they fixed a huge number of bugs plus added missing/blocking feature, which made the product much more competitive vs MSFT Office. Fifteen years ago, Google Docs was a curiosity -- an experiment for just how complex web apps could become. Today, Google Docs is the premiere choice for new small businesses. It is cheaper than MSFT Office, and "good enough".
- singron 1y ago
  Google docs has gotten a little better in that time, but it's honestly surprisingly unchanged. I think what really changed is that we all stopped wanting to layout docs for printing and became happier with the simpler feature set (along with collaboration and distribution).

by tdeck 1y ago

This is a good reminder that every org is different. However some companies like Microsoft are aggressively pushing AI tools internally, to a degree that is almost cringe.

bjt12345 1y ago

But this is often a mixture of these two things. The tools are often cringe because the capex was laughable. E.g. one solution, the trial was done using public LLMs and then they switched over to an internally built LLM which is terrible. Or, secondly, the process is often cringe because the corporate aims are laughable. I've had an argument with a manager making a multi-million dollar investment in a zero coding solution that we ended up throwing in the bin years later. They argued that they are going with this bad product because "they don't want to have to manage a team of developers". They responded "this product costs millions of dollars, how dare you?" How dare me indeed... They promptly left the company but it took 5 years before it was finally canned, and plenty of people wasted 5 years of their career on a dead-end product.

throwaway2037 1y ago

I don't want to shill for LLMs-for-devs, but I think this is excellent corporate strategy by Microsoft. They are dog-fooding LLMs-for-devs. In a sense, this is R&D using real world tests. It is a product manager's dream. The Google web-based office productivity suite is similar. I heard a rumor that at some point Google senior mgmt said that nearly all employees (excluding accounting) must use Google Docs. I am sure that they fixed a huge number of bugs plus added missing/blocking feature, which made the product much more competitive vs MSFT Office. Fifteen years ago, Google Docs was a curiosity -- an experiment for just how complex web apps could become. Today, Google Docs is the premiere choice for new small businesses. It is cheaper than MSFT Office, and "good enough".

singron 1y ago
Google docs has gotten a little better in that time, but it's honestly surprisingly unchanged. I think what really changed is that we all stopped wanting to layout docs for printing and became happier with the simpler feature set (along with collaboration and distribution).