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In skateboarding, a bigspin is an advanced trick in which the board spins 360 degrees and the rider spins 180. It looks like a swirl of action but requires a high degree of control. It is beautiful to watch when done well.

Chris landed his first bigspin when he was 14. He is no longer confident that he has that particular skill, but we are bringing that same mix of precision, enthusiasm, and joy to helping people succeed with GenAI.

(This is Chris in the photo – he's still got it!)

We founded Bigspin because we believe that the full potential of generative AI will only be realized if we empower subject matter experts (SMEs) to shape solutions themselves.

Moritz and Chris have worked together for over 15 years, through many eras of AI – Chris as a professor at Stanford and Moritz as a researcher and entrepreneur. Time and again, they have seen that the largest improvements to AI systems come not from AI algorithms and architectures, but rather from the contributions of SMEs and business stakeholders.

Before the Generative AI revolution, when “AI” consisted mainly of simple predictive models, these SMEs had to contribute mainly by labeling data. We forced them to talk like machines because we didn’t have any other options. Their insights and goals were often compromised as a result.

GenAI holds the promise of substantially improving this situation. We can put these experts in the driver’s seat, empowering them to shape AI behavior collaboratively and move confidently towards expressive and reliable systems. However, we have seen that old development patterns still prevail. SMEs are too often pushed to contribute only via data labeling, comments on system behavior, and other kinds of arms-length participation in AI development. These patterns are a legacy of previous eras of AI, and we should leave them behind. 

With Bigspin, we are remaking AI development. The key to success now is domain expertise, and the crucial development steps involve collaboration not coding.