079 - Pushpa: The Rise

[A TEASER TO OUR NEW SPINOFF VIDEO ONLY WEEKLY PODCAST ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON IN AI -- 20 MINUTES, NO FLUFF AITE.FM] SUBSCRIBE AT AITE.FM  Following our bold predictions about AI (https://telugubytes.com/087-tsunai-warning) and its impact on everything two weeks ago - Dhruv and Ravi couldn't contain their existential angst and decided to do a 20 min weekly recap with everything going on with AI in their day-to-day lives. plus a rotating crew of guests jumping in to share what's hitting different for them.  This week we are joined by Sai N and Chandra Kuchi

Dhruv and Ravi are back to talk about the rise of agentic AI — their experience with Claude Code and Cursor, what agents actually are, and why they think a tsunami is coming for software engineers and knowledge workers. The Tsunami Warning The feeling since late 2025 — prapancham roju roju ki maripotundi The COVID masks analogy — we are those people now Why the folks back home aren't feeling it yet Timeline — How We Got Here GPT-2 (2020) → ChatGPT (2022) → Cursor (2023) → Claude Code & Opus 4.5 (2025) The Evolution of AI Coding Chat interface — copy-paste snippets from ChatGPT Assisted coding — Cursor tab-complete, you drive, model navigates Agentic coding — the agent drives, you're the passenger Cursor vs Claude Code — why Claude Code wins The Autopilot vs FSD analogy WTF is a Model? Giant N-dimensional matrices with weights Text in, everything out Bigger model, better responses WTF is an Agent? Model = brain, Agent = human Agent uses the model to operate tools — like a robot with a task Inference and Context Engineering Sessions, prompting, context windows SWE = Context Engineering + Verification Engineering Memory, Skills, and the Matrix Kung-Fu analogy Agent Harnesses Claude Code, Cursor, Agent SDKs Programming in English It's fun, addictive, and an art Communication skills over coding skills Good taste, strong architecture, trash your prior beliefs My Thesis — And How It Was Wrong Thought it'd hit "IT workers" first, not Big Tech But the tsunami hits the coast first — US and Big Tech have closed loops Tesla car Dharavi slums lo nadavadhu — we paved 6-lane roads for AI Knowledge Work, Manufacturing and Farming Any work where you can "close the loop" is at risk Manufacturing with QC — robots were always there, programming them was hard Farming — mostly done What is Still Scarce? Ideas, customer acquisition, creative content, land Creating software is no longer scarce Ippudu Em Cheyyamantaru Saar? We don't need SWEs, we need builders Product sense, distributed systems, build-sell-ship quickly The existential dread — we don't have 10 years, or 5, or even 2 Collective mental health crisis and economic reshaping ahead The fire storm is coming

This episode was recorded in December 2023 but published in June 2025 (sorry, listeners!) Dhruv and Ravi dive deep into Sandeep Reddy Vanga's blockbuster Animal and what worked / didn't work for them. Maharshi's AI OS - a reality in 2023 Editor's note: This is even more impressive in late 2025 as we publish this Arjun Reddy - Revisited SRV's obsessive defense of Arjun Reddy Animal - Expectations Deep Dive Animal Park Why was it such a blockbuster?

Expectations on Game Changer The fall of Shankar The Shankar Formula GC - What went wrong Positives and Suggestions Other comments Closing thoughts

On the eve of India's opening match, Praveen, Aravind and Dhruv do a curtainraiser episode. We talk the tournament's timing, dew factor, thoughts on each squad, Team India team combinations and predictions. Enjoy! Lack of buzz - IPL and cricket overload? Organization of the tournament - BCCI & ICC Dew factor - playing in Oct/Nov in India Round robin format - pros and cons Squads - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Sri Lanka South Africa at 6 New Zealand at 5 Pakistan at 4 Australia at 3 England at 2 India at 1 Team India combinations Our predictions

Dhruv and Ravi review the other films of 2022: Shyam Singha Roy Ante Sundaraniki Ori Devuda and Paagal Skylab F3 Vikram Ponniyin Selvan I Sarkaru Vaari Paata DJ Tillu A star is born Favorite punchlines

Dhruv, Ravi and Aravind critique 2022 pan-Indian films starting with the name K - KGF Chapter 2, Kantara and Karthikeya 2 KGF: Chapter 2 Delivers on expectations? Drawbacks Kantara Why it became a blockbuster Drawbacks Karthikeya 2 Hype Drawbacks

Dhruv and Ravi review two pan-indian period romantic films from 2022 - Radhye Shyam and Sita Ramam. Intro Radhye Shyam Buzz Story What went wrong? Sita Ramam What went right?

Dhruv, Ravi and Aravind review India's biggest film of 2022 and Oscar contender - SS Rajamouli's RRR starring NTR and Ram Charan. Intro Viewing Experience in India and US (and meeting SSR) First Half Our issues with the film "Gun Uncle" - the gun-thirsty villager in RRR Ajay Devgn Flashback Performances - NTR and RC Other thoughts Tiger memes

Continuing on our Movies of 2022 series, Aravind, Dhruv and Ravi go over Pushpa: The Rise - the Sukumar & Allu Arjun blockbuster.