Company
Date Published
Author
Yash Bagal
Word count
691
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

Wix is incorporating AI into its engineering processes by treating it as a productivity tool akin to a junior developer, useful for tasks like repetitive edits and documentation rather than making architectural decisions. Chief Architect Yoav Abrahami emphasizes the importance of defining guardrails and exposing internal systems to guide AI copilots effectively. With over 100 engineers focused on improving developer velocity, AI is layered into their optimization efforts, and its integration is frequently tested through proof-of-concept trials, guided by both quantitative metrics and developer feedback. The primary challenge lies in user experience design rather than the technical aspects of AI, as demonstrated by the year-long design process for their AI site-builder, Astro. Abrahami highlights the ongoing hype cycle in AI code generation, advocating for experimentation and iteration to discover real use cases. He foresees AI chat interfaces as the next major distribution channel, emphasizing the importance of structuring products and documentation for AI readability. Overall, Abrahami argues that while AI won't solve every problem, not leveraging it would be a significant oversight for engineering leaders.