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First interview with Scale AI’s CEO: $14B Meta deal, what’s working in enterprise AI, and what frontier labs are building next | Jason Droege

Overview

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First interview with Scale AI’s CEO: $14B Meta deal, what’s working in enterprise AI, and what frontier labs are building next | Jason Droege

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Oct 09
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Oct 09
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

Jason Droege is the CEO of Scale AI, a company that provides foundational training data to every major AI lab. He previously co-founded Scour with Travis Kalanick and built Uber Eats from idea to $20 billion in revenue. In this conversation, Jason shares l...

Highlights

In this insightful conversation, Jason Droege, the new CEO of Scale AI and a seasoned entrepreneur with roots in early tech ventures and Uber Eats' explosive growth, reflects on the evolving intersection of human expertise and artificial intelligence. He dives into the realities of building transformative companies, from navigating legal battles and operational challenges to shaping the future of AI through strategic leadership and deep customer understanding.
06:04
Everything in business is negotiable.
15:18
80% of the expert network has a bachelor's degree or greater, and 15% have a PhD or greater.
17:02
The best AI experts come through grassroots referral networks, not traditional hiring channels.
27:22
AI must understand context-specific meanings in enterprise documents to make reliable decisions.
31:03
Humans are adaptable, and history shows people can adjust to technological changes
31:22
Evals establish what 'good' looks like for AI systems
35:25
AI will move from knowing things to doing things in the next two to three years.
46:14
Restaurants achieve high incremental gross margins when delivery demand scales without added labor costs.
48:19
Founders should question why they have a particular insight and why they are the ones to pursue it
50:45
Founders need sustained motivation and knowledge of proven business models like marketplaces, SaaS, and network effects to succeed.
55:07
Luck is an important part of the business game
58:30
The exclusive McDonald's partnership was a turning point that validated the business model.
1:00:13
High gross margins combined with healthy churn indicate a valuable, differentiated idea.
1:04:49
The best entrepreneurs focus on not losing before aiming to win.
1:11:34
Believe in people systems, not rule-based systems.
1:12:11
Jason uses AI as a tutor to learn new concepts efficiently due to limited access to in-house experts.
1:19:30
The end is never the end — survival comes before thriving.

Chapters

Introduction to Jason Droege
00:00
Jason’s early career and lessons learned
06:01
The current state of Scale AI
10:27
The shift to expert data labeling
12:37
Challenges and strategies in finding experts
17:02
Reinforcement learning and AI environments
18:48
The future of AI and human involvement
28:18
The role of evals
31:21
What AI models will look like in the next few years
35:25
Building Uber Eats and understanding customer needs
41:43
The importance of independent thinking
48:19
Setting high standards for new businesses
50:45
Exploring and selecting business ideas
53:03
The McDonald’s story
57:07
The role of gross margins in business feasibility
1:00:13
Why Jason says, “Not losing is a precursor to winning”
1:04:49
Hiring and building teams
1:09:12
AI corner
1:12:11
Lightning round and final thoughts
1:14:47

Transcript

Lenny Rachitsky: There's been a lot of talk these days about AI not delivering on the promise that we hear, especially at enterprises. Jason Droege: These things take six to 12 months to get them truly robust enough, where an important process can be auto...