In this episode of Speed, host Keith Lucas talks with Yaniv Bernstein about what's actually changed for founders building with AI, why taking on technical debt aggressively is often the right call, how Vera balances speed with the trust required to help families navigate care for aging parents, and his go-to method for turning around a team that's gotten stuck.

Speed: Moving Fast Towards What Matters is a six-episode limited series featuring six startup founders and operators who exemplify personal speed and have wrestled with it organizationally — exploring the systematic principles of speed and the critical tactics that make it sustainable as you scale.

In this episode

• 0:00 — Welcome, and introducing Yaniv Bernstein
• 1:45 — Speed today vs. a year ago: the 5-10x jump from agentic coding
• 6:50 — What Yaniv wishes every startup leader understood about speed — and why technical debt is often "good debt"
• 14:05 — Delivering speed and trust together at Vera
• 18:05 — How to turn around a team that's stuck — and why more process usually isn't the fix
• 24:04 — Recovery: using AI as a thought partner to get unstuck

The Guest: Yaniv Bernstein

Yaniv Bernstein is the Founder & CTO of Vera, an early-stage startup devoted to supporting people who are looking after aging parents. He's spent nearly 20 years in tech, including a decade as a software engineer and engineering leader at Google, followed by roles as a scale-up VP of Engineering and COO. A two-time founder, Yaniv has invested in and advised numerous startups, and co-hosts The Startup Podcast.

Connect with Yaniv:

• linkedin.com/in/ybernstein
• https://vera.guide/

The Host: Keith Lucas

Keith Lucas joined Roblox as employee #7 and later served as CPO and CTO, leading product, engineering, and operations as the company scaled. He went on to serve as COO of Instrumental and now advises leaders across AI, gaming, creator platforms, and enterprise technology. He is also the author of IMPACT and host of Speed.

Connect with Keith:

• linkedin.com/in/kvlucas
• https://keithvlucas.com/

Get the book: Impact — https://keithvlucas.com/impact/

Contact us: speed@keithvlucas.com

CREDITS

Produced by : Leah Barnum

Social Media: Julia Guagliardi - www.stillwaters-creative.com

Editor: Jon Keur - www.wayfarerecording.com

Content Designer: Natalie Leroux - www.studioeightyseven.com

Studio lighting/Setup - www.175productions.com