AI + a16z: “Anyone Can Code Now” - Netlify CEO Talks AI Agents

Date: November 28, 2025
Participants:

• Matt Billman (CEO & Founder, Netlify)
• Martin Casado (General Partner, a16z, Host)

Episode Overview

This episode explores how generative AI and autonomous agents are fundamentally reshaping software creation and who gets to participate in it. Through a wide-ranging discussion between Netlify CEO Matt Billman and a16z general partner Martin Casado, the conversation covers the explosive growth in non-developer users, the shift from “user experience” (UX) to “agent experience” (AX), and why the definition of a “developer” is being rewritten as AI makes programming accessible to billions.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Changing Definition of “Developer” (00:00–02:00; 16:21–19:24)

• Historically, being a developer meant writing code and understanding complex programming languages.
  • Matt Billman: “What defined a developer at its core used to be being able to write code and understand programming languages. And suddenly that part of being a developer is getting way less important. Software development will just be a skill, just like with writing.” (00:21)
• AI erases technical barriers, enabling anyone (not just “developers”) to create software.
• Core differentiators will be: clarity of thought, systems thinking, and knowing what needs to be built—not syntax knowledge.

Agent Experience (AX): A New Product Frontier (03:30–05:29)

• AX is the “agent experience”—optimizing products for both human and AI agent users.
• Documentation, onboarding, APIs, and flows need to be accessible and actionable by AI agents, not just humans.
  • Matt Billman: “Whatever that means. Right. Like, doesn't necessarily mean that there's like some soul behind it ... but it obviously has some. Like, it's like actually attempting to figure out how to do stuff with our product in an autonomous way ... documentation …[is] no longer just for like a person, it's also for a person asking an agent to do stuff.” (03:36)

Netlify’s Explosive Growth and New User Demographics (07:33–13:47)

• Netlify signups grew from 3,000 to 16,000 per day, driven mostly by non-developers: marketers, designers, PMs.
  • Matt Billman: “A year ago, we were sitting at around 3,000 signups a day ... Today we're sitting at around 16,000 a day.” (10:41–10:42)
• Only a small fraction (4%) of the growth is from integrations with agent builders; the rest is organic, as more people leverage AI to build/code.
• Product onboarding data now shows a significant mix of non-developer personas.

AI as Daily Copilot for Professionals and Novices (15:02–17:44; 33:00–35:09)

• Netlify added “Why Did It Fail?” LLM analysis in build pipelines.
  • 25% of users use “Copy to LLM” to debug.
  • Matt Billman: “When we put that button in, we saw that like 25% of everyone that clicked, why did it fail? Clicked copy to LLM.” (15:04)
• Both pros and beginners lean on language models to navigate frameworks and APIs:
  • Martin Casado: “It was ... remarkable to me is like the LLMs actually know it. So ... I want to be like, oh, like what are the netlify commands ... and it actually knows it. … Even for ... professional developers, they're using LLMs to debug.” (15:43)

The Disappearing Barrier Between Idea and Software (21:26–23:09; 36:22–41:41)

• AI removes “frustration cost” and tedium from entry-level coding.
• The result: a new influx of creators—many with non-traditional backgrounds—building off remix, experimentation, and curiosity instead of years spent learning syntax.
• Matt Billman: "There's people building, like, really cool, like, WebGL games and so on that they could like, just never managed to build before. … I see a lot of people having fun building crazy stuff." (36:22)

The Future of the Web: Agents, Browsers, and Human-AI Partnership (21:30–23:39; 38:15–47:39)

• Impact of agent-based access and consumption patterns (content negotiation, serving markdown to agents, etc.).
• Future browsers will increasingly have built-in AI, sometimes acting as autonomous agents, sometimes as collaborators.
  • Matt Billman: “I think browsers will evolve really dramatically from this and we'll have much more like that originally concept of a user agent on the web is getting real ... we're going to have like all of these different ways of consuming the web.” (43:43)
• People are forming emotional “preferences” for their AI agents/assistants and want to interact with the web through their own AI channel.
  • Matt Billman: “You see people ... really have a preference. Right. Like, and they don't want to go to like the bank's AI ... They just want to interact in that way.” (46:43)

The “Dead Web Theory” and the Creative Rebirth of the Internet (35:29–41:41)

• The so-called “dead web” theory—that only bots will interact with sites—doesn’t match the current explosion of creative, weird, and wonderful human-made sites.
  • Matt Billman: “I really don't believe in [the dead web theory]. ... I see the opposite happening now ... There's also just way more people having fun building crazy stuff.” (35:51)
• The web is becoming more vibrant and diverse, with software creation democratized like never before.

Human Skills Still Matter: Tenacity, Taste, and Systems Thinking (19:24–21:17; 56:26–57:06)

• It’s still about persistence: “In the past, before all of this AI, when people asked what to do to be a good developer, I said, like, just have a really high tolerance for frustration.” (56:26)
• AI doesn’t magically remove the need to iterate, debug, or learn—just shifts where the effort and creativity go.

Economic and Pricing Implications of AI Agents (25:16–29:08)

• Industry is shifting toward usage- or credit-based models due to unpredictable AI agent behavior/costs.
  • Matt Billman: “Everybody is starting to build credit models … In reality everybody's kind of like usage based right now. ... Over time ... we start getting better at figuring out elements that feels more aligned to value than just pure token usage.” (26:22–27:28)

Philosophies: AI as a Developer Replacement vs. AI as a Developer Multiplier (48:40–50:23)

• Rather than replacing developers, Netlify’s philosophy is about multiplying human capability and making everyone a developer.
  • Matt Billman: “There is that mindset of ... tools that claim ... the AI is your developer, outsourced developer, and you outsource it. Our approach has really been like, you are now a developer ... we are like helping billions of people become developers and take part in this practice of building software.” (48:40–50:23)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On redefining “developer”:
  • “What actually makes you a developer anymore? The answer ... has nothing to do with code.” (Podcast Host, 01:42)
• On AI agent partnership:
  • “The consumption layer is definitely going to include AI ... People will ... have history with their ChatGPT or Claude and they really have a preference ... They just want to interact in that way.” (Matt Billman, 46:18–46:43)
• CEO coding with AI:
  • “I want to make it my mission to become an equally good developer without writing any code myself. … It's really fun. … I do a lot of pull requests now, and it probably annoys the team a lot.” (Matt Billman, 32:37–34:48)
• On persistence and AI:
  • “It's probably still the same. You still got to be just like, okay, it didn't work, but I'm going to try again ... And you got to just have that kind of ... tenacity of like, just keep going.” (Matt Billman, 56:49–57:06)
• On the current web renaissance:
  • “The future is going to be weirder, wilder and more wonderful than we could imagine.” (Martin Casado, 38:15)

Timestamps for Major Segments

| Time | Segment/Topic | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–02:00 | What is a developer? How AI is changing software creation. | | 03:30–05:29 | The concept of AX (Agent Experience). | | 07:33–13:47 | Exponential user growth; demographics shift at Netlify. | | 15:02–17:44 | AI copilots, debugging, and changing daily work. | | 19:24–21:17 | Disappearing technical barriers; new entrants. | | 21:30–23:39 | Browsers, access patterns, and AI integration. | | 25:16–29:08 | Pricing, economic impact of agent-driven software. | | 33:00–35:09 | CEO as developer, new ways of building, async coding. | | 35:29–41:41 | Human creativity, "dead web" theory, and the web’s rebirth. | | 43:43–47:39 | Prognosis: agent-driven future, browsers, and consumption. | | 48:40–50:23 | AI multipliers: philosophical differences in product design. | | 51:08–52:53 | Letting go, working with AI, and the creative process. | | 56:26–57:06 | "High tolerance for frustration" still applies. |

Takeaways for Listeners

• The technical wall around software creation is coming down—AI will empower millions (or billions) to become creators.
• True software skill will be about insight, problem framing, and judgment, not rote code writing.
• AI agents have become users in their own right; building for them (“AX”) is now critical.
• The web is having a creative renaissance—not dying—because anyone can now ship ideas into reality.
• Persistence, curiosity, and a willingness to iterate matter as much as ever—just the tools have changed.