How OpenAI's Codex Team Builds with Codex (43 Min) | Alex & Romain

How OpenAI's Codex Team Builds with Codex (43 Min) | Alex & Romain

Author: Peter Yang April 5, 2026 Duration: 43:16

Alex is the product lead for Codex and Romain runs developer experience. They gave me a rare inside look at how the Codex team operates, including how they build products with Codex and how they ship without traditional specs and roadmaps. Alex also has some spicy takes on the future of PM and what actually matters when hiring.


We talked about:

(00:00) Live demo: Building a game in seconds with Codex Spark

(04:29) "For specs, we write like 10 bullets and that's it"

(08:09) "Our designers now write more code than eng 6 months ago"

(15:30) "We plan short and long term, never medium term"

(22:11) How Alex actually spends his day as Codex PM

(32:06) The traditional career ladder no longer makes sense

(39:20) What the Codex team looks for when hiring (it's not your resume)


Thanks to our sponsors:

Linear: AI agents for modern teams https://linear.app/behind-the-craft

Granola: AI meeting notes that don't suck https://granola.ai/peter

Replit: From 0 to full stack app in 2 min https://replit.com/?utm_source=creator&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=creator_program&utm_content=peteryang


📌 Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/inside-openais-codex-team-how-they-ship-with-ai-agents-alex-romain


Where to find Alex and Romain:

Alex: https://x.com/embirico

Romain: https://x.com/romainhuet

Website: https://openai.com/codex/


Subscribe to this channel - more interviews coming soon!


For anyone building the future, Behind the Craft is a conversation with Peter Yang that moves beyond theory and into the tangible details of creation. This podcast lives in the messy, rewarding space where ideas become real products. Each episode is built on candid interviews with experts who have been in the trenches, dissecting the pivotal decisions, the unexpected hurdles, and the hard-won lessons that rarely make it into a polished case study. You’ll hear the unvarnished stories behind the features and companies shaping our world, focusing on the practical frameworks and mental models that effective product leaders and creators rely on daily. It’s about understanding the craft from the inside out-the strategic shifts, the team dynamics, the user insights that truly move the needle. Tune in for a direct, no-fluff dialogue designed to accelerate your own journey, providing actionable guidance you can apply immediately to level up your own work. This is where the blueprint meets the build.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Behind the Craft
Podcast Episodes
How to Become an AI First PM and Designer | Paul Adams (CPO Intercom) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:55
My guest today is Paul Adams, Chief Product Officer of Intercom. When ChatGPT launched, Paul and the Intercom team blew up their roadmap to go all in on AI. Since then, they’ve built an AI-first customer service suite th…
The Best Product Designer I Ever Worked With | Alex Cornell (Meta AI) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:06
My guest today is Alex Cornell, Director of Design at Meta AI. Alex is one of the best product designers I’ve ever worked with. He helped design Facebook, Substack, Linear, and an app for family and friends called Cocoon…
Inside How Figma Builds AI Products | Yuhki Yamashita (CPO Figma) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:55
My guest today is Yuhki Yamashita, Chief Product Officer of Figma. Yuhki and I talked about how Figma: - Created a culture where employees love their craft - Builds AI products to solve real user problems - Plans to make…
Building the World's Most Wearable AI | Dan Siroker (CEO Limitless) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:44
My guest today is Dan Siroker, CEO of Limitless. In just 24 hours after launch, Dan and team sold over 10,000 AI pendants to help people augment their memory with what they’ve seen, said, and heard - making Limitless arg…
How the Best AI Products Grow | Brian Balfour (CEO Reforge) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:14
My guest today is Brian Balfour, CEO of Reforge. Brian and I did a deep dive into how 4 of the best AI products grew so fast. We spoke about: Why ChatGPT is investing in custom GPTs How Midjourney grew to $200M ARR despi…
How to Crack Your Product Strategy | Jackie Bavaro (PM Author) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:37
My guest today is Jackie Bavaro, author of Cracking the PM Career and Cracking the PM Interview, two of the most popular books on product management out there. Jackie was also head of PM at Asana. I spoke to Jackie about…
How the PM Role is Changing in 2024 | PM Expert Panel [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:27
My guests today are Sanchan (ex-general manager at Airbnb), Nickey (Product Director at Duolingo) and John (Senior Director at Toast). We talked about: 1. How the PM role is changing 2. Our favorite PM use cases for AI 3…
The journey from SVP to solopreneur | Elena Verna (Dropbox) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:25
Elena Verna is a solopreneur who has served as head of growth at Dropbox, Amplitude, Miro, and more. Elena and I talked about: 1. Why she left a full-time role to work for herself 2. The five laws of growth and how they…

«1...678910