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How Amplitude built an internal AI tool that the whole company’s obsessed with (and how you can too) | Wade Chambers

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How Amplitude built an internal AI tool that the whole company’s obsessed with (and how you can too) | Wade Chambers

How I AI

2025/08/11
How I AI

How I AI

2025/08/11
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

Wade Chambers, Chief Engineering Officer at Amplitude, shares how his team built Moda—an internal AI tool that gives employees access to enterprise data across multiple systems, enabling faster product development and decision-making while fostering cross-...

Highlights

In this episode, Claire Vo sits down with Wade Chambers, Chief Engineering Officer at Amplitude, to explore how his team rapidly developed Moda—an internal AI tool that revolutionized access to enterprise data and streamlined product development workflows. The conversation dives into the technical and cultural strategies behind Moda’s creation, as well as its impact on cross-functional collaboration and decision-making.
04:30
Wade believes building internally is worth the effort if not over-engineered
04:56
Moda was built in 3-4 weeks and helps unlock internal data for PRDs and other artifacts
07:19
The tool's public visibility, ability to accelerate thinking, and the social proof of colleagues' use contributed to its rapid adoption.
09:18
Moda can search internal and public knowledge sources, cites sources, and can be accessed via Slack or a proprietary interface.
10:58
Multiple company departments use the AI product for various purposes.
15:54
AI startups need more than speed; security, compliance, and transparency are crucial
17:49
Moda's proprietary interface allows product managers to create PRDs and do deep research.
23:24
Moda expands a prompt into a full PRD with detailed requirements and prototypes
27:30
AI-generated documents require human review to ensure quality and alignment.
29:09
Using Moda, tasks that previously took weeks can now be completed in a single meeting, increasing overall team velocity.
32:37
Team members swap roles in a demo, with designers acting as engineers, engineers as product managers, and product managers as designers.
34:38
Wade built Moda, an internal AI tool, in a few weeks with minimal resources.
36:03
AI can help deal with tech debt more effectively and reduce engineers' toil.

Chapters

Introduction to Wade Chambers
00:00
The build vs. buy decision for internal AI tools
02:53
What Moda is and how it works
04:55
The social engineering approach to adoption
07:19
Demo of Moda in Slack
09:17
Data sources Moda has access to
10:58
Analyzing customer feedback themes with Moda
12:43
Behind the scenes: how Moda works technically
17:41
Creating a PRD from a single customer insight
23:24
How teams actually use AI-generated PRDs
27:30
Impact on product development velocity
29:09
Engineers, designers, and PMs swapping roles
32:37
Recap of creating Moda
34:38
Lightning round and final thoughts
36:00

Transcript

Wade Chambers: I started showing a couple of people internally. It's like, oh, this is really cool. You got to look at this thing. And then, a week later, it seemed like the entire company was using it. Moda is that internal tool that we have that unlocks ...