Chris Nelson on AI Dev Workflows

In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I chat with Chris Nelson, co-founder and principal engineer at Launch Scout, about leveraging AI tools for Elixir development and how these technologies are transforming developer workflows. Chris brings over a decade of Elixir experience to the conversation, sharing valuable insights on how consultancies can integrate AI to dramatically increase productivity.

Chris discusses the inflection point where AI tools became truly valuable for production work, highlighting how features like Claude AI and Cursor's agent mode with test-driven capabilities transformed his team's approach to development. We explore the unpredictable nature of large language models, structured approaches to AI-assisted coding, and how Launch Scout measured a 4x productivity increase on a real client project using these tools effectively. The conversation includes practical examples of how experienced developers can guide AI to create robust, production-ready code while maintaining critical thinking skills.

Our discussion extends to Web Assembly components and Chris's work on the WASM library, which enables Elixir developers to securely run code written in various languages within their applications. Chris explains how WASM leverages OTP supervision for resilient system design and opens up new possibilities for customizable platforms. We also explore the advantages of Elixir and LiveView for rapid application development, comparing it to microservices approaches and reflecting on the remarkable stability of Elixir applications in production.

Whether you're curious about integrating AI into your development workflow or exploring the cutting edge of Elixir's ecosystem, this conversation offers practical insights and real-world experiences from years of professional Elixir development at scale.

Resources Mentioned:
- Launch Scout:https://launchscout.com/
- Cursor:https://cursor.sh/
- Claude AI:https://anthropic.com/claude
- WASMEx:https://github.com/tessi/wasmex
- LiveState:https://hexdocs.pm/live_state/readme.html

Connect with Chris:
- X:https://x.com/superchris
- LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-nelson-038875/
- Website:https://launchscout.com/
- GitHub:https://github.com/superchris

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