# Andrej Karpathy and AI systems

> Canonical source: [Andrej Karpathy and AI systems](https://www.answer.cloud/pages/andrej-karpathy-and-ai-systems-hosted/)

If you care about AEO, you need to understand how AI systems work. Andrej Karpathy is the best teacher I’ve found on this. His Ycombinator “Build for Agents” talk strongly influenced how we’re building at answer.cloud.

If you’re serious about AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), you should have a solid understanding of how AI systems work.

Andrej Karpathy is my favorite teacher on this subject. He has a rare ability to explain how AI systems work in a way that’s both substantive and approachable.

I’m sharing his Y Combinator talk here, deep-linked to the “Build for Agents” section. That segment, in particular, heavily influenced how we’re thinking about product direction at [answer.cloud](https://www.answer.cloud/).

In a few areas (.txt files!), we’re ahead of the curve based on Karpathy’s recommendations. Give it a listen and let me know if you agree.

[![Screenshot 2026-01-27 at 10.38.25 AM.png](https://www.answer.cloud/assets/cms/article-23894-85bc0bbc09e7.png)](https://youtu.be/LCEmiRjPEtQ?si=uBnYMG5nIXmBXMY6&t=2018)

[Youtube](https://youtu.be/LCEmiRjPEtQ?si=uBnYMG5nIXmBXMY6&t=2018)
[Ycombinator](https://www.ycombinator.com/library/MW-andrej-karpathy-software-is-changing-again)