Philip Su on Building at Meta & OpenAI — and How to Thrive in the Age of AI

Heresy

Philip Su is an engineer and leader who helped build Microsoft, Facebook, and OpenAI from the inside. In this episode, he shares hard-earned lessons on thriving in the AI era — and staying human through it all.

We cover:

• How AI is reshaping software careers (and what to do about it)

• Why “good enough” is no longer safe

• The dangerous gap between exponential tech and human systems

• Burnout, identity, and what working in an Amazon warehouse taught him

• The rise of agentic tools, LLMs, and what CS students need to know now

Whether you’re an engineer, founder, or future-oriented thinker, this conversation will challenge your assumptions — and help you find a better path forward.