Andrew Ambrosino leads development of the Codex desktop app at OpenAI. Nearly 100% of OpenAI employees—not just engineers—now use Codex weekly. A lifelong builder with a background spanning engineering, design, product management, and founding companies, he is now responsible for turning the Codex desktop experience into what he calls “the best desktop app that has ever existed, full stop.”

In our in-depth conversation, we discuss: 1. Why AI has completely flipped the product development process 2. What “taste” really means as a professional skill, and why it is emerging as the most valuable capability in an AI-first workplace 3. Why Andrew believes the Codex app would have failed if they launched it last November (vs. in February) 4. The “zone defense” model for how product managers at OpenAI operate when everyone can build anything 5. How roles are collapsed on Andrew’s team, and why eliminating the concept of roles entirely is a big mistake 6. How Andrew uses Codex to run his own workflows 7. The vision for a home base that coordinates work across ChatGPT, Codex, and the tools people already use. — Brought to you by: WorkOS—Make your app enterprise-ready, with SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more Mercury—Radically different banking, now with Command — Episode transcript: lennysnewsletter.com/p/openais-… — Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1… — Where to find Andrew Ambrosino: • X: x.com/ajambrosino • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ajambrosino • Website: ambrosino.io — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: • X: • LinkedIn: — In this episode, we cover: — References: — Production and marketing by . For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. — Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.