“At Deepnote, we don’t want engineers who just write code. We want product builders. People who understand the customer, challenge assumptions, make good technical decisions, and ship things that matter.
Andy is a great example of that.
What makes him unusual is his combination of strong engineering skills and deep product design experience. He doesn’t treat product, design, and engineering as separate disciplines. He can take an ambiguous problem, figure out what we should actually build, own the technical architecture, and drive it all the way into production.
I saw this firsthand in our AI work. Andy helped shape our AI strategy and drove several important initiatives, from re-architecting our AI client codebase and overhauling the AI experience to leading AI Chat from concept to production. His contributions went well beyond implementation. He proactively challenged technical decisions, evaluated tradeoffs between model capabilities, inference costs, and product experience, and pushed for solutions that made sense for both our users and the business.
What I particularly valued was his judgment. I trusted Andy to make difficult product and technical decisions independently, including knowing when to push for something ambitious and when a simpler solution would deliver more value.
That’s a rare combination, and exactly the kind of engineer you want on a team building ambitious products. I’d happily work with Andy again.”
“I worked with Andy for more than a year and a half at Deepnote. I still remember seeing him tackle an architectural overhaul of our entire client-side codebase with a combination of codemods and LLMs, which blew my mind even as a senior engineer (remember, this was back when using LLMs for coding was unusual). His work streamlined frontend development for the whole team and laid the groundwork for dark mode, a highly requested feature. He drove the project autonomously, partnering with our lead product designer.
Later, he joined the team where I was the tech lead. He brought that same ownership to Deepnote’s AI editing and review experience, turning new UI patterns like streamed AI responses and conversational follow-ups into an innovative interface.
I’d trust Andy to own complex engineering initiatives, from shaping the product experience through architecture and implementation.”
“I had the pleasure of working with Andy on my team at Deepnote, and he was a standout engineer. He was always helpful and present in technical discussions, and he made collaboration across teams easier for everyone involved.
Andy was our go-to person for deep technical analysis.
He has a real knack for breaking complicated problems into incremental, achievable deliveries while keeping the final goal in sight, so the team kept shipping without getting lost in the weeds. He argued his positions well, both within the team and across teams, and he defended shared priorities calmly and with sound reasoning.
He’s a capable engineer with broad, hands-on experience: system design, performance optimization, UX and usability, and AI. What I valued most is that he connects these areas instead of treating them as separate silos, which leads to better decisions and better products.
Any team would be lucky to have Andy, and I’d gladly work with him again.”
Andy
Jakubowski
Senior Software Engineer
AI Products | Developer Tools
“Exactly the kind of engineer you want on a team building ambitious products.”
“I’d trust Andy to own complex engineering initiatives.”
“Andy was our go-to person for deep technical analysis.”
About Me
I’m a software engineer focused on AI products and developer tools.
I enjoy figuring out how things work, solving difficult problems, and building software that people find useful.
At Deepnote, I was one of the early engineers working on AI. I led AI Chat from concept to production, building everything from data models and APIs to context retrieval, streaming responses, and the interface. I also rebuilt the AI frontend architecture, helped shape the company’s AI strategy, and made large notebooks load 7× faster.
Before becoming a software engineer, I spent over a decade in product design, eventually reaching Staff level and working with companies like Mercedes-Benz, GetYourGuide, and Red Bull. I was already writing code and building prototypes back then, so moving into engineering felt like a natural next step.
That experience has turned out to be incredibly useful in engineering. I talk to customers, work directly with founders, and help figure out what to build when the requirements aren’t clear. I think a lot about tradeoffs, both technical and product-related. Sometimes the right answer is a better architecture. Sometimes it’s a simpler solution, or realizing that the problem wasn’t quite what we thought it was.
More on LinkedIn →Deepnote is a collaborative notebook for data science and analytics. I joined in 2023 and became one of the early engineers working on its AI features.
One of my biggest projects was rebuilding Deepnote’s AI editing experience. The existing architecture made it difficult to support more complex interactions, so I introduced state machines to coordinate generating, reviewing, editing, and running code. This included streaming AI-generated changes directly into the notebook editor and supporting conversational follow-ups. Weekly AI adoption among paying customers increased by about 30% following the redesign.
I also led the first version of AI Chat, from figuring out what we should build to getting it into production. I designed and implemented persistent conversations, data models and APIs, client-side state synchronization, notebook and project context, retrieval over Deepnote’s documentation, and streaming AI responses. I co-authored the company’s 2025 AI strategy and worked on the economics of running AI in production, including evaluating model providers and reducing unnecessary inference costs.
Outside of AI, I worked on making Deepnote faster and easier to develop. I made large notebooks load 7× faster, bringing load times below half a second, and reduced typing latency by up to 30%. I also led the engineering rollout of a company-wide UI system, using semantic design tokens, AST-based codemods, and lint rules to migrate the existing codebase and keep it consistent. That work later helped make dark mode possible.
Visit Deepnote →Smoother Deepnote AI
A demo of the redesigned AI editing and review experience.
Beyond AI chatbots: how we tripled engagement with Deepnote AI
By Gabor Szalai, Head of Product Management. How we brought AI into everyday notebook workflows.
Handling invalid JSON in Anthropic’s fine-grained tool streaming
How I repaired malformed streamed tool calls before they reached application state.
AI Chat
My launch post and demo of a persistent, context-aware assistant.
Colors, Modes, Themes
By Peter Kocur, Head of Design. The semantic color system we built together.
Modules in Deepnote AI
A demo of AI using existing modules instead of rewriting code and SQL.
In design tools, I could move boxes around and stay focused on what I was making. With Flexbox, I kept getting stuck: why did an item shrink, and where did that extra space come from? Inspired by Bret Victor’s work, I built Flexbox Land to make those hidden parts visible.
I reimplemented the CSS Flexbox layout algorithm in JavaScript to reconstruct layout state the browser doesn’t expose directly.
To recover otherwise inaccessible layout information, I developed techniques for probing the browser’s own layout and measurement behavior through controlled DOM and style changes.
That work became FlexRay, a layout inspector that works with existing HTML and CSS, visualizing item geometry, spacing, flex lines, and alignment.
Beyond the inspector, I shipped Flexbox Land end to end, integrating FlexRay into 250 coding playgrounds across 50 lessons, with 500+ original illustrations.
Projects
Statechart Watch
A replica of the Citizen Quartz Multi Alarm III watch based on David Harel’s 1987 paper introducing statecharts
Demo →GitHub →Twitter thread →
Tokenhost 3000
Manage design styles in a web app and access them through an API or a live WebSocket connection
GitHub →
Writing
Keeping CLAUDE.md out of shared Git repos
Add it to $GIT_DIR/info/exclude so it stays local
Handling invalid JSON in Anthropic’s fine-grained tool streaming
Practical strategies for repairing streamed tool calls
Ink bleed effect with SVG filters
Creating a lo-fi print effect with CSS and SVG filters.
Alfred custom web searches
Get faster access to docs, assets, browser compatibility and package info.
How I use MindNode
MindNode is great at summarizing videos, learning, and helping you remember things.
You can do anything, but not everything
Life after Launch School’s Core curriculum
Stay focused on Core — my Launch School story
Process is just as important as fundamentals at Launch School.
I’m building a new product to make Flexbox easier to learn
Becoming a Flexbox pro is hard. I’d like to create a place that makes learning easier.
Design Work
CloseTIER hired me in 2018 to design, prototype, and document their first in-house app.
I built multiple complex prototypes and worked with the founders to perfect the user experience.
We mixed periods of focused work, short check-ins, and longer deep dives. That yielded best results.
The extendable design system we built and documented made it easy for future teams to pick up where we left off.
The apps launched about 4 months after we finished. The iOS version hit #1 in Germany one day after launching.
CloseDoodle hired me in 2016 to improve their native apps designed for frequent users.
We’d deliver everything the website had, but better. We’d make it the best version of Doodle.
We ran extensive user interviews and usability testing. Designed an iMessage app. Increased poll creation by 30 %. Launched a full visual redesign. Lifted ratings from ~4.0 to 4.6–4.8 out of 5 stars.
Our incremental process was very rewarding. I had such a great time working with all the talented people at Doodle.
CloseReimagined Red Bull TV which later won a Google Play Award for Best TV Experience. Prototyped complex remote-operated TV UI, autoplay, a minimized player, and more. Built a design system spanning Web, native apps, TV.
CloseShipped Bertha, an app for finding and paying at gas stations. Focused on map navigation and finding gas on the road. Designed a color coding system for pricing. Introduced in-depth interviews and user testing to the company.
CloseDesigned, user tested, and launched the first native apps for the SoftBank-backed unicorn travel startup. Drove customer retention by designing an in-app ticket feature. Collaborated on a cross-platform design style guide.
GetYourGuide lets you book tours and activities. I was hired to design native apps to accompany their website.
I assisted the launch of both apps, and later worked on adding new features and refining existing ones.
User testing in particular was a huge part of all our efforts. I learned a lot working with the experienced team at GetYourGuide.
Testimonials
“Andy is a designer who knows what it means to design for impact.
He deeply understands when to be pragmatic and yet always keep the customer at the heart of his work.
He does this through a proven process that’s focussed on validation.
That process transforms complex problems into easy to understand concepts that result in delightful experiences with real, measurable impact.”
“Great designer, quick prototyper, and master of the customer-centric approach.
On top of his exceptional experience with mobile and web UX, Andy is a great team player loved by developers, and has a fantastic personality.
If you’re lucky enough to get to work with him, your chances of success will grow exponentially.”
“I am a Senior iOS developer and have worked closely with Andy to improve the user experience of Bertha, an app we developed at Mercedes-Benz.io.
I've experienced Andy as a passionate UX designer with a strong user focus.
In his work he loves direct interaction with developers.
He has excellent observation and interviewing skills running user testing sessions.”
“Probably the best team mate I've ever had as a product designer. He documents everything. It’s easy for anyone to pick up where he left off — a great asset for a freelancer.
He’ll plan his day upfront, tune out every distraction, and won’t waste time doing trivial tasks. He doesn’t waste your money.
He' very diplomatic, approachable, respectful, authentic, and has a good sense of humour. I sensed most of these qualities the first day we met and he hasn't changed since. We ended up becoming friends.
And just to wrap up... he’s very open minded, eager to learn, and open for feedback. All important traits to have as a colleague.”
“Andy is the best designer I have worked with.
He doesn’t only deliver excellent works but also cares about the development of his fellow colleagues.
When I started working with Andy, I was just starting my career as a product designer. He mentored me by sharing his knowledge in design tools, user research methodology, design system, and more. He even gave me some coding lessons!
What I've learned from him helped me to become a designer I am today and I am so glad I met Andy at one of my very first design jobs!”
Personal Note
Hey
How’s your day going so far? I hope everything’s great. If it’s not, I hope it does get better soon.
Did you eat breakfast today? It’s supposed to be an important meal. I probably had a piece of toast with vegan spread on it, and a fried egg. I almost always have that. It’s nothing special and I usually get pretty hungry before noon. Then I have to pester people around me to come eat lunch early. They think I’m crazy.
We’re on a rock in space
You’re reading this message using your eyeballs, which evolved over millions of years. Think about that. Pretty amazing, right?
We haven’t yet found anything like us in the Universe. Anything alive.
Us humans, we’re good at finding patterns and grouping things. We form tribes. But ultimately, we’re all made of the same stuff. Star stuff.
I feel grateful for being alive today. And lucky I get to do what I do.
Technology can improve people’s lives, but it can also make them worse. Even when our intentions are good.
So I think we all have a responsibility to constantly improve ourselves, achieve mastery, and make this planet a better place for future life.
Bookshelf
I buy a lot of books and never read them. Remember Sapiens? Yep. Anyway, here are some books I did read and they are awesome.
Check out my favorite books →Make contact
