The Tools Are Smarter. Are You? ft. YK Sugi | S02 E12
Mon Mar 31 2025
Today we welcome YK Sugi—engineer, educator, and the mind behind CSS Dojo—for the final episode of season two.
We talk about his journey from YouTube dev tutorials to building one of Sourcegraph’s most-used AI tools, and how the role of DevRel has changed (and in some cases, disappeared). YK also breaks down how senior engineers are actually using AI, why fundamentals still matter, and how Agent Chat was born during a company hackathon.
If you’re curious about AI devtools, the future of DevRel, or just want to hear how a former YouTuber accidentally shipped a flagship feature—this one's for you.
Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player - https://www.backendbanter.fm
YK’s X: https://x.com/ykdojo
YK's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ykdojo/
Sourcegraph's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Sourcegraph/featured
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro and Meeting YK
03:05 - Starting Out with CSS Dojo
05:36 - DevRel Burnout and Market Whiplash
11:40 - Building Agent Chat at Sourcegraph
13:52 - Claude, Cursor, and AI Tool Comparisons
21:52 - AI Use: Juniors vs. Seniors
26:22 - Designing Dev Tools That Think
37:56 - Will AI Consolidate the Tooling Ecosystem?
44:21 - Should Codebases Change for AI?
50:52 - Advice for Learners, DevRels, and Job Seekers
01:07:02 - Outro and Where to find YK's work
Like & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!
More
Today we welcome YK Sugi—engineer, educator, and the mind behind CSS Dojo—for the final episode of season two. We talk about his journey from YouTube dev tutorials to building one of Sourcegraph’s most-used AI tools, and how the role of DevRel has changed (and in some cases, disappeared). YK also breaks down how senior engineers are actually using AI, why fundamentals still matter, and how Agent Chat was born during a company hackathon. If you’re curious about AI devtools, the future of DevRel, or just want to hear how a former YouTuber accidentally shipped a flagship feature—this one's for you. Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player - https://www.backendbanter.fm YK’s X: https://x.com/ykdojo YK's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ykdojo/ Sourcegraph's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Sourcegraph/featured Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro and Meeting YK 03:05 - Starting Out with CSS Dojo 05:36 - DevRel Burnout and Market Whiplash 11:40 - Building Agent Chat at Sourcegraph 13:52 - Claude, Cursor, and AI Tool Comparisons 21:52 - AI Use: Juniors vs. Seniors 26:22 - Designing Dev Tools That Think 37:56 - Will AI Consolidate the Tooling Ecosystem? 44:21 - Should Codebases Change for AI? 50:52 - Advice for Learners, DevRels, and Job Seekers 01:07:02 - Outro and Where to find YK's work Like & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!