Replit CEO Amjad Masad on What Young People Should Learn in the AI Era
About this episode
From the show’s notesErik Torenberg sits down with Replit founder and CEO Amjad Masad and Horowitz and Andreessen Academy co-founder and CEO Gagan Biyani to ask what education should look like for a generation growing up with AI.
Amjad argues that one of the most valuable things young people bring to society is their willingness to question deeply held assumptions. They discuss how education could create more room for that instinct through project-based learning, intellectual side quests, and giving students the freedom to follow an idea deeply rather than optimizing around grades and credentials.
Read the show’s notes in full
They also explore whether young founders are being pushed to professionalize too early, why Amjad thinks starting a company can sometimes be a form of “premature optimization,” and how curiosity led him from learning chess to experimenting with AI that can conduct machine-learning research.
Finally, they discuss trust, judgment, and what it means to develop as a person, not just a builder, including why being contrarian and ambitious still needs to be balanced with the ability to work with other people.
Timestamps:
Resources:
Follow Amjad Masad on X: x.com/amasad
Follow Gagan Biyani on X:
x.com/gaganbiyani
Learn more about HAA:
a16z.news/p/introducing-the-hor…
Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends!
Find a16z on X: twitter.com/a16z
Find a16z on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/a16z
