Apr 01, 2026

"We're Not Writing Code by Hand Anymore. That's Over." | Owen Jennings & David Haber - The a16z Show

Owen Jennings, Executive Officer at Block, details the company's radical restructuring (40% workforce reduction) driven by AI's impact on productivity. He explains how Block is now operating with smaller squads, leveraging internal AI tools like Goose and Builder Bot, and shipping AI-native products like Money Bot and Manager Bot to deliver personalized, generative UIs for millions of users, emphasizing a future where unique understanding forms the ultimate business moat.

Sep 22, 2025

More is Less: Extra Features in Contactless Payments Break Security

Tom Chothia and George Pavlides discuss how proprietary, uncoordinated features built on top of the core EMV specification by companies like Apple, Google, Square, Visa, and Mastercard lead to significant security vulnerabilities. They detail how these "black box" additions create subtle interactions and mismatches, enabling attacks that bypass authentication, allow high-value fraudulent offline transactions, and leave merchants vulnerable to significant financial loss.