Adam Wenchel, CEO at Arthur AI, on building AI guardrails, the last mile problem, and coaching code bots

Dev Propulsion Labs

Adam Wenchel has been building AI infrastructure since before it was cool. As CEO and co-founder of Arthur AI, he's spent six years solving the "last mile problem" - getting AI from impressive demos to reliable production systems. In this conversation, we dive deep into why Adam open sources million-dollar tools, how his enterprise experience at Capital One shaped his approach to developer empathy, and his provocative prediction that we'll soon need fewer developers but better "code bot coaches."

What we cover:

- Why the gap between 90% demo accuracy and 99% production reliability is make-or-break for AI adoption

- The strategic decision to open source Arthur Shield and Bench instead of keeping them proprietary

- How working inside a 50,000-person company taught him to build better developer tools

- Whether AI will eliminate junior developers (and why the answer isn't what you think)

- The future of software development: from 50-person teams to 5 expert coaches

- What makes the perfect developer tool (hint: simplicity + a sprinkle of cleverness)

Adam's journey from acquiring a 5-person startup to Capital One to building Arthur offers rare insights into both enterprise AI deployment and the evolving landscape of developer productivity. If you're building AI tools, selling to enterprises, or wondering how to future-proof your development career, this conversation is packed with actionable wisdom.

Links:

- Website: https://www.arthur.ai/

- GitHub: https://github.com/arthur-ai/arthur-engine

- Adam Wenchel on X: https://x.com/apwenchel

- Evil Martians on X: https://x.com/evilmartians

- Victoria Melnikova on X: https://x.com/vmelnikova_en