Brooke Joseph on joining OpenAI through an acquired startup

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TLDR
Julia Fedorin interviews Brooke Joseph, who left Waterloo without graduating, interned at 12-person Sky, joined OpenAI when it acquired Sky, and researches computer-use agents.
Best for
Students and early-career engineers weighing a small-startup job against finishing a degree.
The tip
Skip to 18:54 for computer use explained, then 25:14 for when not to let an agent use your computer.
Start here
  1. Start at 18:54, where computer use is explained.
  2. Then 25:14, on when not to let an agent use your computer.
  3. For the career story, 03:43 covers why she takes roles she’s “unqualified” for.

postThe source

Julia Fedorin@juliafedorin

She left Waterloo without graduating. Now she's a Member of Technical Staff at @OpenAI.

@BrookeaJoseph joined a 12-person startup called @skybysoftware as an intern. Six months later, OpenAI acquired it. Now she does agent post-training research on computer use full-time, teaching models to click, type, and operate any software a human can.

I sat down with her in Washington Square Park to get into:

  • Why she takes jobs she's "unqualified" for and how you build that confidence
  • What makes software feel magical
  • Why computer use is the road to AGI
  • When you should not let an agent use your computer
  • How she learns and why she still does it by hand

𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Intro: Washington Square Park (02:00) Her First Job: Her Dad's Produce Store (03:43) Why She Takes Roles She's "Unqualified" For (07:12) Why Sweden: Building Edge ML for Volvo & Siemens (11:18) What Made Sky Magical (14:19) Ari, Konrad, and Asking "Why" Relentlessly (17:28) Six Months In: OpenAI Acquires Sky (18:54) Computer Use, Explained (20:14) Why Computer Use Is the Road to AGI (25:14) When Not to Let an Agent Use Your Computer (29:32) The "Never Satisfied" Mindset (35:40) Her Love of Math, and Mr. White (45:32) Her Curiosity Deep-Dive System (52:29) Post-AGI Plans: A Bakery in Paris

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