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Tobi Lütke on AI, taste and learning: interview summary

Shopify CEO: This Is Your Edge Against AI

The Knowledge Project Podcast · Sep 15, 2026 · about 65 min

Uploaded Sep 15, 2026 · 191.4K views (as of Oct 30, 2026)

Good value given

He says very few people at Shopify write code by hand now, though it still matters at the hardest edges.
Offices were great at 'osmosis learning', so Shopify mixed junior and senior engineers in small pods.
He warns against 'short-termism': chasing what moves the stock price instead of long-term work.
To change something about yourself, he suggests writing the goal as if it's already done, over and over.
Great experts often pick moves by a sense of beauty, which he sees as a form of taste.

What does Tobi Lütke see as your edge against AI?

Taste and judgment. He compares it to chess players who say they only looked at one line because it seemed beautiful. He thinks people who build a strong sense of what good looks like, and who keep learning alongside AI tools, will have the edge.

Worth watching?Good value given. A thoughtful, wide conversation with Shane Parrish on AI, learning and long-term thinking. The ideas on taste and short-termism are worth the hour. There are a couple of sponsor reads.

ActionableLessons

Actionable

Pair a junior and a senior person on one task this week.
Write one personal goal as already achieved, by hand, every day for a week.
List one long-term investment you've been putting off for short-term results.
Use an AI tool on a real task and judge the output against your own taste.

Lessons

Taste is a skill you can build.
Learning spreads through closeness, so design for it.
Short-term feedback can pull you off long-term goals.
How you talk to yourself shapes what you become.

Quick answer

Tobi Lütke sat down with The Knowledge Project Podcast for this interview, published Sep 15, 2026. Here's our summary in our own words: a verdict, the answer to the big question, 5 takeaways, Actionable and Lessons tabs, then the stories, frameworks and how to use them.

What 125x is: 125x is a web app at 125x.app. You connect your YouTube subscriptions, and it gives you a feed of the latest videos from the channels you follow, each with a summary: a verdict, the 5 key takeaways, and the spoiler, plus Actionable and Lessons tabs with more tips. You read that and decide what's actually worth opening.

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Watch the interview

Watch on YouTube: Shopify CEO: This Is Your Edge Against AI

Channel: The Knowledge Project Podcast. Published Sep 15, 2026. About 65 minutes.

Who is Tobi Lütke?

Tobi Lütke co-founded Shopify, which started as an online snowboard shop, and is its CEO. He grew up in Germany and lives in Toronto.

He spoke with Shane Parrish on The Knowledge Project in September 2026.

Key stories from the interview

He explains how the team designed offices around small pods of five to eight people.
He shares how he got over a lack of public speaking practice.
He pushes back on the idea that people can't shape superintelligence.
He uses chess and Go players to explain judgment by beauty.

Frameworks and ideas

Osmosis learning.
Short-termism vs long-term investment.
Write the goal as already done.

In their words (paraphrased)

The number of people he knows at Shopify who still write code by hand is vanishingly small.
If you want to change something about yourself, write that it has been accomplished, over and over.
Experts often say they looked at one line because it seemed beautiful.

How to apply this

Set up one learning pod at work.
Pick a long-term project and protect time for it.
Keep a daily line of your goal in a notebook.

A note on this summary

This page reports what was said in the interview, in our own words. Lines under 'In their words' are paraphrased from the transcript, so check the video for exact wording.

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FAQ: questions people ask

What is Tobi Lütke's edge against AI?

Taste and judgment, built over time, combined with using AI tools well.

What is short-termism?

Lütke's term for chasing quick feedback, like stock price, over long-term investment.

Is this Tobi Lütke interview worth watching?

Good value given. It's wide-ranging and full of ideas.