From Physics to AI: CEO of Humanloop Discusses Scaling an AI-focused Startup

Join Raza Habib, CEO of Humanloop, as he shares his journey from physics to machine learning, and how he co-founded Humanloop to help companies build AI products with large language models.

1. Raza Habib, co-founder and CEO of Humanloop, and Jordan Burgess, co-founder and chief product officer, discuss the origins and development of their company.
2. Humanloop helps companies build and improve AI products using large language models.
3. The idea for Humanloop came from a successful sales experiment: after two days, they had ten paying customers interested in AI evaluation tools.
4. Raza has a background in physics and studied machine learning for his master's and Ph.D., becoming increasingly convinced that AI would be one of humanity's greatest achievements.
5. Jordan has always been interested in technology and started building websites as a teenager, eventually studying machine learning with the intention of focusing on artificial intelligence.
6. Humanloop initially focused on NLP (Natural Language Processing) tools, but after many discussions and iterations, they found their niche in AI evaluation.
7. The first version of Humanloop was an annotation UI for training natural language models, but they later realized that prompt engineering would be more important.
8. The current product helps product teams develop and improve their AI applications without relying heavily on engineers.
9. Humanloop addresses two main challenges: prompt engineering, versioning, and management; and evaluation of AI systems' behavior.
10. The company has grown significantly since its launch in October 2022, with a userbase growth of 60x, doubled revenue last quarter, and $7 million in funding from top investors.
11. Raza and Jordan met at UCL, where they spent weeks brainstorming and refining their ideas on whiteboards before settling on Humanloop's focus.
12. Both co-founders emphasize the importance of understanding customer needs and pain points to develop a successful product.
13. The AI field is fascinating due to its technological, biological, and philosophical implications, as well as its potential impact on society.
14. Humanloop's target customers are companies building AI products that need help evaluating and improving their systems' performance.
15. Raza and Jordan believe that startups should avoid hiring too many people before achieving product-market fit and should stay flexible to iterate based on customer feedback.
16. Overambitious projects, like creating reliable AI agents, can be challenging in the current landscape but are likely the future of AI development.
17. Companies must build for the future capabilities of AI models while being mindful of the rapidly evolving technology.
18. Humanloop's founders encourage startups to embrace AI trends and improvements instead of being overwhelmed by them.
19. The AI wave is exciting and challenging, but it offers incredible opportunities for those who can ride it successfully.
20. Both co-founders feel passionate about their work in AI and believe that surfing this wave is the best possible use of their skills and interests.

Source: EO via YouTube

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