Ex-Gojek CTO: Why the Age of AI Rewards Builders as Judgment Becomes Expensive

If expertise is becoming almost free, why is judgment becoming the most expensive skill in tech? Ajey Gore, former Gojek CTO, explains why the age of AI agents rewards builders over typists.

In this episode, Ajey Gore, former Group CTO of Gojek and Operating Partner at Peak XV Partners, explains why coding agents are forcing software teams to rethink what “correct” really means. He argues that as expertise becomes cheap, judgment becomes the scarcest and most valuable skill in engineering. Ajey walks through why the classic developer-to-reviewer workflow no longer makes sense when agents can generate thousands of lines a day, and why trunk-based development, feature flags, and rigorous testing matter more than ever. He also shares how he built ClawStation solo, coordinating specialized AI agents through story cards instead of writing code by hand. The conversation covers why most organizations still fail to see returns from AI adoption, and what happens when leaders cut headcount without redesigning how work actually flows.

Key topics discussed:

• Why judgment, not typing speed, is now the scarce skill
• The workflow mistake behind most failed AI adoption
• How Ajey built ClawStation solo without writing code
• Why he advocates trunk-based development to replace PRs
• The real risk of cutting headcount before rethinking work
• Why “earning time” matters as much as earning money
• Southeast Asia’s surprising advantage in the AI era

Timestamps:

• (00:00:00) Trailer & Intro
• (00:04:10) What Has Life Been Like Since Leaving Peak XV?
• (00:09:02) Why Should You Create Slack Instead of Always Running Full Speed?
• (00:13:47) Why Being Uncomfortable and Replaceable Makes You More Valuable
• (00:18:12) Why Earning Time Matters as Much as Earning Money
• (00:24:57) Why Is This the Age of Builders, Not Typists?
• (00:40:55) What Should You Not Do While Navigating the AI Revolution?
• (00:50:07) What Are the Top Engineering Practices Needed to Leverage the AI Revolution?
• (00:55:09) How Did Ajey Build ClawStation Solo Using Story Cards and Agent Roles?
• (00:58:57) How Can Developers Successfully Let Go of Writing Code by Hand?
• (01:02:29) Why Do 95% of Organizations Fail to See AI ROI?
• (01:08:49) What Are the Real Dangers of AI-Driven Layoffs?
• (01:12:20) What Does the Future Hold for the Southeast Asian Tech Scene?
• (01:15:29) What Must We Do to Avoid Losing Our Fundamental Thinking Skills to AI?
• (01:19:25) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom

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Ajey Gore’s Bio
Ajey Gore is a technologist, builder, and founder who has spent two decades turning engineering into scale. As Group CTO of Gojek, he grew the platform from 300K to 120M monthly orders and built a 2,000-strong engineering org powering one of Southeast Asia’s largest super-apps. He was an early employee at ThoughtWorks India, founded CodeIgnition (acquired by Gojek), and served as Operating Partner at Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India & SEA), advising founders across the region. Today he builds and advises at the intersection of AI, infrastructure, and product — and is a hands-on practitioner who still ships code.

Follow Ajey:

• Website – ajeygore.in
• X / Twitter – x.com/ajeygore
• LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/ajeygore
• ClawStation – clawstation.ai

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