071 — Matt Dickens (CPO, Gearset): Moving beyond AI's veneer of value

After 70 episodes, Jack finally gets Gearset's CPO and co-founder Matt Dickens! 

The conversation goes deep on what it means to build something people want to use, as well as why most teams, whether they're building product or building on Salesforce, are asking the wrong questions. 

Matt shares his honest take on AI. Why the barrier to doing things has never been lower, why that's not the same as the barrier to doing something valuable, and why verticalized AI solutions will win out over general purpose tools for teams that actually want ROI. 

Tune in for a rare peek behind the curtain from someone who thinks about these problems every single day.

00:00 Intro & Meet Matt Dickens
00:44 From EA Game Dev to Gearset Co-Founder
02:23 The Founding Story: How Gearset Was Born Inside Redgate
04:48 Why the Salesforce Ecosystem Is Unlike Any Other
06:02 Salesforce Teams vs. Traditional Software Engineering
09:52 How the Salesforce DevOps Landscape Has Shifted
11:23 How Gearset's Own DevOps Practices Have Evolved
12:41 Building Products People Actually Want to Use
16:44 What "Job to Be Done" Really Means at Gearset
20:36 Advice for Junior Salesforce Professionals in the Age of AI
22:02 Expose Your Ignorance: The Most Underrated Career Skill
26:13 Lead with Curiosity: Jack & Matt's Shared Philosophy
28:44 AI in the Salesforce Ecosystem: The Opportunity & The Trap
33:20 General Purpose vs. Verticalized AI Tools
41:29 How Gearset Is Thinking About AI
46:51 Closing Advice for the Salesforce Ecosystem
52:13 Wrap Up