The Best AI Coding Tools to Use in 2025 | Colin Matthews

Behind the Craft

34:01

I think you could probably go back and track the stages of grief, probably that is what I went through. But I think if you do it right, you end up at acceptance. And that's where I ended up. And that's not to say that I've fully accepted the idea that the golden toad is extinct. Personally, I do still hold out hope that it could still be out there in those forests." - Trevor Ritland This conversation is with Trevor Ritland, who—along with his twin brother Kyle—authored The Golden Toad . The book chronicles their remarkable journey into Costa Rica’s cloud forest, once home to hundreds of brilliant golden toads that would emerge for just a few weeks each year—until, one day, they vanished without a trace. What began as a search for a lost species soon became something much more profound: a confrontation with ecological grief, a meditation on hope, and a powerful call to protect the natural world while we still can. Links: SpeciesUnite.com Kyle and Trevor: https://kyleandtrevor.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adventureterm/ Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222249677-the-golden-toad Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Toad-Ecological-Mystery-Species/dp/163576996…

about a year ago 43:45

MP3•Episode home

Colin Matthews has taught 1000+ students on how to prototype apps with AI. In this interview, we demoed the best AI coding tools for each use case - from prototyping to production apps.

This episode is brought to you by Vanta — Join 9K+ companies like Atlassian who use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real-time. Get $1000 off at https://vanta.com/peter

Timestamps:

(01:02) The current state of AI coding tools and what to expect (06:43) Text-to-prototype showdown: Bolt vs. V0 vs. Lovable vs. Replit(09:09) The surprising winner for Figma-to-prototype conversion (17:30) Building JavaScript games with a single prompt (24:28) Full-stack app development: Cursor vs. Windsurf (32:57) Our recommendations for each AI coding use case (35:34) Why enterprise players could dominate the AI prototype market (39:29) Can non-engineers really build production apps with AI?Where to find Colin:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinmatthews-pm/Course: https://maven.com/tech-for-product/tech-fundamentals

Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/an-opinionated-guide-on-which-ai-coding-tool-2025

📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

64 episodes

#Tech #Peter Yang

The Best AI Coding Tools to Use in 2025 | Colin Matthews

Behind the Craft

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

Colin Matthews has taught 1000+ students on how to prototype apps with AI. In this interview, we demoed the best AI coding tools for each use case - from prototyping to production apps.

This episode is brought to you by Vanta — Join 9K+ companies like Atlassian who use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real-time. Get $1000 off at https://vanta.com/peter

Timestamps:

Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/an-opinionated-guide-on-which-ai-coding-tool-2025

📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

64 episodes

#Tech #Peter Yang

All episodes

Behind the Craft

1
Is This the First AI Analyst That Actually Works? | James Evans (Amplitude) 41:57

1 day ago41:57

41:57

Today, I want to share a new episode with James Evans. James is the Head of AI for Amplitude, the leading product analytics platform. We had a great chat about why nobody has built a good AI analyst yet and why he’s betting on AI agents that can monitor your product 24/7. James also shared some real talk about whether AI will displace PM and analyst jobs. Timestamps: (00:00) Why nobody has built a good AI data analyst yet (03:32) The biggest problem with product analytics today (06:13) Live demo: AI agents that monitor your website 24/7 (21:48) The hardest parts of building AI analytics products (25:21) How to evaluate AI agents that run experiments (32:53) AI product pricing strategies that actually work (35:42) Should data scientists worry about their jobs? (38:04) Non-obvious advice for building AI products Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/is-this-the-first-ai-analyst-that-actually-works-amplitude-james-evans Where to find James: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-evans-7086b3126/ Website: https://amplitude.com/ai 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!…

Behind the Craft

1
Canva Co-Founder: The AI Playbook Behind the World's Most Popular Design Tool | Cameron Adams 48:00

9 days ago48:00

48:00

Today, I want to share a new episode with Cameron Adams.Cameron leads product for Canva where people are creating 1B+ designs every month. We talked about how AI will transform design and why he believes in prototypes over PRDs and coaches over managers. I also loved hearing Cam’s stories about Canva’s rubber ducky easter egg and what a bike accident taught him about persistence. This episode is brought to you by Vanta — Join 9K+ companies like Atlassian who use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real-time. Get $1000 off at https://vanta.com/peter Timestamps: (00:00) Will AI democratize design? (06:32) How Canva runs AI evaluations for its product (10:17) Moving beyond chat boxes to visual AI interfaces (22:23) Why Canva skips PRDs and goes straight to prototypes (29:08) The rubber duck Easter egg that became a cultural icon (33:13) Keeping craft and quality as a priority as the team grows (35:32) Why Canva gives everyone executive coaching, not just managers (39:23) How AI is blurring boundaries between PM and design (43:26) The bike accident story that almost derailed Canva's launch Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/canva-co-founder-ai-playbook-most-popular-design-tool-cameron-adams Where to find Cameron: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themaninblue/ Website: https://www.canva.com/ai-assistant/ 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!…

Behind the Craft

1
How OpenAI's Head of Business Products Uses ChatGPT to Save Time at Work | Nate Gonzalez 45:55

23 days ago45:55

45:55

Today, I want to share a new episode with Nate Gonzalez.Nate leads ChatGPT for Work which is now used by 92% of Fortune 500 companies. In our chat, he reveals how OpenAI runs with less than 30 PMs, what they look for in new hires, how he personally uses ChatGPT to save time at work, and more. Timestamps:(00:00) 92% of Fortune 500 companies already use ChatGPT (02:06) OpenAI's latest features for ChatGPT at work (14:52) Why OpenAI has less than 30 PMs for 5,000 employees (15:58) What traits OpenAI looks for when hiring PMs (18:31) The 10-minute AI hack that changed how Nate works (25:56) The most surprising thing about working at OpenAI (29:48) The biggest barriers to AI adoption and how to overcome them (38:36) Using ChatGPT roleplay to prep for important meetings (41:04) ChatGPT's future: From assistant to trusted coworker (43:06) The specific skill that will keep your job safe in the AI eraGet the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-openais-head-of-business-products-uses-chatgpt-at-work-nate-gonzalezWhere to find Nate: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nate-gonzalez/ Website: https://openai.com/chatgpt/enterprise/📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!…

Behind the Craft

1
Complete Vibe Coding Tutorial: Build a Full Stack App in 30 Min with AI | Matt Palmer 51:54

30 days ago51:54

51:54

Matt Palmer is the Head of Developer Relations at Replit and a vibe coding expert. He showed me how to build an app to help busy parents find kid-friendly places (playgrounds, hikes) nearby in just 30 minutes without writing a single line of code. We covered frontend, API, databases, authentication, security and more.Timestamps: (00:00) The 3 core traits that make successful vibe coders (02:32) Start with vibe PMing before vibe coding (05:17) Don't just give AI text prompts, do this instead (25:01) How Replit Agent debugs and tests for you (28:15) You have to be comfortable with failure (33:33) Adding login and databases with one magic prompt (46:43) Where vibe coding is headed (spoiler: AI agents) (48:28) Agency, curiosity, and courage: the vibe coder mindset Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/complete-ai-vibe-coding-tutorial-build-full-stack-app-replit-matt-palmer Where to find Matt Palmer: X: https://x.com/mattppal LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/matt-palmer/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@mattpalmer 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!…

Behind the Craft

1
Complete AI Course on Prompting, Evals, RAG, and Fine-Tuning | Adam Loving (Meta) 46:21

5 weeks ago46:21

46:21

Adam Loving (Meta) has helped 100s of companies craft AI products. Our interview is a complete, beginner friendly AI course on how to use prompting, evals, RAG, and fine-tuning to build great AI products. Timestamps: (00:00) The 2 types of AI optimizations every PM needs to know (02:52) 4 tips to craft compelling AI prompts (07:14) 4 types of AI evaluations to consider (12:06) The scoring trick for advanced AI evaluations (21:50) Retrieval augmented generation explained (27:29) Is fine-tuning basically lobotomizing your AI model? (30:31) Now I finally understand vector databases (41:40) Why Meta thinks open source will win (44:04) Adam's best advice after leading 100s of AI integrationsWhere to find Adam: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamloving/ Website: https://www.llama.com/Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/complete-ai-course-on-prompting-evals-rag-fine-tuning-adam-loving📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!…

Behind the Craft

1
How to Advance Your Career Without Managing People | Sam Gregg-Wallace 40:34

6 weeks ago40:34

40:34

Today, I want to share a new episode with Sam Gregg-Wallace.As VP of Talent at Shopify, Sam is building a radical career system where ICs are paid the same as managers, AI usage is mandatory, and employees can advance their career by mastering their craft. If you’re tired of the corporate ladder, then this episode is for you.Timestamps: (00:00) It's time to kick down the traditional corporate ladder (02:00) Shopify's dual career path for crafters and managers (04:32) Live demo: Why Shopify employees have "mastery points" (09:07) "Show me the outcome and I'll show you the incentive" (17:00) Live demo: Employees choose their equity/cash split every quarter (24:04) She made one video and got hired in 20 hours (27:36) Driving AI adoption in Shopify after Tobi's AI memo (32:01) Shopify's "low distraction" mode internal operating system (39:22) 3 rules to build a crafter's paradise at your company Where to find Sam: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samgreggwallace/ Website: https://www.shopify.com/news/mastery Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-to-advance-your-career-without-managing-shopify📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!…

Behind the Craft

1
From Idea to Product in 30 Min Using AI Agents (Full Tutorial) | Claire Vo 51:57

7 weeks ago51:57

51:57

Claire is the Chief Product Officer of LaunchDarkly, founder of ChatPRD , and host of the How I AI podcast. No product leader uses AI as much as Claire so I was thrilled to get her to demo how she builds a new feature with AI agents and how she’s advising PMs to adapt to AI in the next 18 months. This episode is brought to you by Vanta — Join 9K+ companies like Atlassian who use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real-time. Get $1000 off at https://vanta.com/peterTimestamps: (00:00) Why traditional PM is dead (and what's coming next) (01:46) Live demo: Building a new feature using ChatPRD and Devin (05:34) The prompting trick that makes AI work like a real team member (08:08) Why Devin has replaced Cursor for 70% of Claire's coding needs (21:05) How Claire uses AI to build product strategy (34:22) Balancing CPO duties, side projects, and family (37:24) The real reason product management jobs are changing (42:43) 3 skills that will future-proof your PM career in the AI era (50:05) Why we’re entering the year of multiplayer AI agents Where to find Claire: X: https://x.com/clairevo Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4aRP2XSavdtrLG5FZoonOKGet the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-to-become-an-ai-product-leader-claire-vo Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/from-idea-to-product-in-30min-using-ai-agents-claire-vo…

Behind the Craft

1
Figma's AI Prototyping Tool is Here and...It's a MUST TRY | David Kossnick 43:07

8 weeks ago43:07

43:07

David is the Head of AI Product at Figma and gave me an exclusive demo of Figma Make, Figma’s new AI prototyping tool. We had a great chat about how Make stands out from other tools and how it works under the hood, including a deep dive on evals. This episode is brought to you by Merge — Merge gives SaaS companies like Ramp and Drata a single API to launch over 200 product integrations fast. Book a meeting via https://www.merge.dev/peteryang and get a $50 Amazon gift card when you attend. Timestamps: (00:00) Building the best design-to-prototype tool in the market (03:17) Demo: From static image to interactive solar system (06:05) 3 ways that Make stands out from other prototyping tools (12:01) How Make actually works behind the scenes (15:21) 4 types of evals to improve Make's AI prototypes (17:40) How the "Great Bakeoff" transformed the product (23:29) The biggest product challenges in building Make (27:23) Why prototypes are now the gold standard for design (35:07) How Figma learned from its past AI mistakes (40:36) Demo: Drawing apps, games, and more with Make Where to find David: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidkossnick/ Website: https://www.figma.com/make/ Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/figmas-make-ai-prototyping-tool-is-here 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!…

Behind the Craft

1
The Best AI Coding Tools to Use in 2025 | Colin Matthews 43:45

9 weeks ago43:45

43:45

Colin Matthews has taught 1000+ students on how to prototype apps with AI. In this interview, we demoed the best AI coding tools for each use case - from prototyping to production apps. This episode is brought to you by Vanta — Join 9K+ companies like Atlassian who use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real-time. Get $1000 off at https://vanta.com/peter Timestamps: (01:02) The current state of AI coding tools and what to expect (06:43) Text-to-prototype showdown: Bolt vs. V0 vs. Lovable vs. Replit(09:09) The surprising winner for Figma-to-prototype conversion (17:30) Building JavaScript games with a single prompt (24:28) Full-stack app development: Cursor vs. Windsurf (32:57) Our recommendations for each AI coding use case (35:34) Why enterprise players could dominate the AI prototype market (39:29) Can non-engineers really build production apps with AI?Where to find Colin:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinmatthews-pm/Course: https://maven.com/tech-for-product/tech-fundamentals Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/an-opinionated-guide-on-which-ai-coding-tool-2025 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!…

Behind the Craft

1
5 Harsh Truths About Wealth You Don't Want to Realize Too Late | Sahil Bloom 45:01

10 weeks ago45:01

45:01

Sahil is the founder, investor, and New York Times bestselling author of The Five Types of Wealth. In our chat, he shares some profound life lessons that will be a wake-up call for any high achiever in tech and exactly how he grew to 1M+ followers.Timestamps:(00:00) The one thing high-achievers are missing (02:58) The five types of wealth that create a truly rich life (08:31) The conversation that completely changed Sahil's POV (13:38) What would make him instantly reject a $100M job offer (17:33) Hidden insecurities of the world's most successful people (19:04) The devastating truth about how little time you have with your kids (26:54) This 85-year Harvard study reveals the key to living longer (34:10) Sahil's creator journey and the drivers of his million-follower growth (41:05) The framework for deciding what to delegate vs. do yourselfWhere to find Sahil:YouTube: @Sahil_Bloom Book: https://www.the5typesofwealth.com/ Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/5-harsh-truths-about-wealth-you-dont-want-to-realize-too-late 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!…

Behind the Craft

1
He Built Uber Eats to $25B, Now He's Pushing AI Beyond Chat | Stephen Chau 57:05

13 weeks ago57:05

57:05

My guest today is Stephen Chau.Stephen is the co-founder of Cove, a Sequoia-backed startup that lets you interact with AI through a ground-breaking visual interface instead of chat. We had a great chat about why the future of AI is generative UI, how to build great AI products, and how he scaled Uber Eats from $0 to $25B.This episode is brought to you by Merge — Merge gives SaaS companies like Ramp and Drata a single API to launch over 200 product integrations fast. Book a meeting via https://www.merge.dev/peteryang and get a $50 Amazon gift card when you attend.Timestamps: (00:00) The future of AI is generative UI (01:53) Demoing Cove's visual AI interface for trip planning (05:02) Beyond chatbots: Co-creating with AI in a natural way (09:01) Context-aware AI that updates content automatically (11:11) Putting AI to the test to list premium Japanese snacks (14:02) Building AI apps directly within your workspace (16:35) Demoing real world use cases for visual AI interfaces (27:39) Generative UI and just-in-time AI apps (31:16) Why chatbots are the "DOS stage" of AI interfaces (45:44) The secret to building Uber Eats to $25B (54:51) The best way to build your AI product senseGet the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/he-built-uber-eats-now-pushing-ai-beyond-chat-stephen-chauWhere to find Stephen:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenchau/Website: https://cove.ai/📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!…

Behind the Craft

1
I Built a $100M Company in 3 Years by Betting on AI Agents | Arvind Jain (CEO Glean) 37:43

16 weeks ago37:43

37:43

My guest today is Arvind Jain. Arvind is the CEO of Glean and believes every employee should have a team of AI agents to help them get work done. We had a great chat about how AI agents will impact work and Arvind’s top lessons from scaling Glean to $100M ARR in 3 years. This episode is brought to you by Merge — Merge gives SaaS companies like Ramp and Drata a single API to launch over 200 product integrations fast. Book a meeting via www.merge.dev/peteryang and get a $50 Amazon gift card when you attend. Timestamps: (00:00) How to find job security with AI (03:10) Everyone will manage a team of AI agents (05:53) Is PM well positioned to thrive with AI? (10:27) How anyone can build powerful AI agents now (12:28) Three real barriers to enterprise AI adoption (17:34) How Glean reached $100M ARR in only 3 years (22:52) Making AI work with messy internal company data (26:51) Critical skills you need to build to craft AI products (33:33) Are 5-year plans completely worthless? (36:12) Glean's vision is to give everyone an AI team Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/100m-company-in-3-years-ai-agents-glean-arvind-jain Where to find Arvind: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jain-arvind/ Website: https://www.glean.com/ 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!…

Behind the Craft

1
Exclusive: Inside the Best AI Model for Coding and Writing | Scott White (Anthropic) 45:23

17 weeks ago45:23

45:23

My guest today is Scott White.Scott is the Head of Product for Claude at Anthropic, and I’m excited to be the first to interview him about the hybrid reasoning AI model Claude 3.7 Sonnet. Scott also gave me a behind-the-scenes look at how Anthropic builds AI products, the most essential skills in the AI era, and how Claude will evolve from assistant to agent.This episode is brought to you by Vanta — Join 9,000+ companies like Atlassian and Quora, and use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real time. Get $1000 off at vanta.com/peterScott and I talked about:(00:00) How Claude will evolve from assistant to agent(01:58) Inside Claude 3.7: The first hybrid reasoning AI(04:51) How Claude became best in class at coding(08:50) Top 3 ways that Scott uses Claude to build Claude(13:49) PMs can now design and collapse the talent stack(17:00) Will AI models become commoditized, and Claude's personality (22:34) How to work with AI researchers(27:20) Step by step how Scott builds AI product(32:37) Why every PM must master writing AI evals(35:53) If Mike Krieger has brought Instagram's principles to Anthropic(38:41) How to get hired at Anthropic(43:01) Flipping the script on Claude's futureGet the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/inside-the-best-ai-model-for-coding-claude-scott-white Where to find Scott:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottiewhite/Website: https://claude.ai/ 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!…

Behind the Craft

1
AI Does 90% of My Work Now as a Product Leader | Yana Welinder (Kraftful) 36:56

18 weeks ago36:56

36:56

My guest today is Yana Welinder.Yana is the CEO of Kraftful, an AI product that helps 50,000 product teams extract insights from user reviews and surveys. She’s also a power user of ChatGPT and did a live demo of her top AI workflows for Deep Research and Operator.Timestamps:(00:00) At this point, I’m not doing anything without AI(01:38) Live demo of Operator automating product work(08:07) Using Deep Research for competitive analysis(11:05) Unlocking Deep Research to get medical advice(13:29) More everyday use cases for AI you might not know about(19:07) The key problem with AI startups(22:32) What should the PM actually do if AI will do everything?(25:36) The ups and downs of being an AI founder(29:02) How to balance prompting, RAG, fine-tuning, and evals(32:09) The right time horizon to plan for AIGet the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/ai-does-my-work-now-as-a-product-leader-yanaWhere to find Yana: X: https://x.com/yanatweets Website: https://www.kraftful.com/📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!…

Behind the Craft

1
We were going to shut down our company…now we’re worth $700M | Eric Simons (Bolt) 48:22

19 weeks ago48:22