# Stay open to new tools without giving up your craft Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/s/stay-open-to-new-tools-without-giving-up-your-craft/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy. - Speaker: [Kevin Scott](https://realalpha.app/builders/kevin-scott/) · Kevin Scott is CTO of Microsoft. · Chief technology officer at Microsoft, previously SVP of engineering and operations at LinkedIn and VP at AdMob. - Host: [Dan Shipper](https://realalpha.app/people/dan-shipper/) · Co-founder & CEO, Every · Sold his first startup, Firefly, to Pegasystems; writes Every's Chain of Thought. - Show: AI & I - Episode: [Microsoft’s Vision for an Internet Made for Agents With CTO Kevin Scott (Best of the Pod)](https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/), Aug 12, 2026 - Moment: 15:36 to 20:57 of the episode (5 min), playing on https://realalpha.app/s/stay-open-to-new-tools-without-giving-up-your-craft/; the episode from there: https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/?t=936 ## Quote > “And so, you know, just like **be curious, try stuff**. Like, and if it works for you, use it. And if it doesn't, don't.” > — [Kevin Scott](https://realalpha.app/builders/kevin-scott/) at [20:41](https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/?t=1241) · AI & I ## Takeaways 1. Strong opinions about craft are normal and useful. 2. People choose tools based on whether they value process or outcome. 3. Scott wishes he had learned to use 3D printers sooner. ## About this segment Kevin Scott sees craft as personal: makers can value process or results differently. He recalls resisting 3D printers and regretting the delay, and recommends trying tools before ruling them out. From “Microsoft’s Vision for an Internet Made for Agents With CTO Kevin Scott (Best of the Pod)”, Aug 12, 2026. [Watch the full episode](https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/) ## Transcript From the transcript AI & I publishes with the episode. [15:40](https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/?t=940) One other thing that I'm curious about is it just seems pretty clear that software engineering is changing. Yeah. And you're someone who's been involved in software engineering for a long time. Yeah. And you're someone who also, I think, cares a lot about like the craft of things, like the craft of how things are made. We were talking earlier about you're making you do a lot of ceramics, you make your own bags like you're you love having your hands in things. [16:06](https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/?t=966) And I think one of the knocks on, you know, using agents for coding is like it gets rid of some of that feeling or something like that, which. I don't necessarily agree with, but I'm sort of curious for you, like as someone who cares about the craft of code, looking into this future of coding with agents, like how does that, how do you feel about that? Well, so let me start by saying that I... I love the fact that my people and like when I say my people, I mean, you know, makers writ large. [16:36](https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/?t=996) So software engineers or mechanical engineers or woodworkers or potters or, you know, just sort of pick your thing where people are trying to create things from raw materials or nothing. If you are really passionate about what you do, you're going to have very strong opinions about how you do it. The tools that you use, the materials that you use, like how things get put together. It is a necessary thing for you to be great at your job. [17:05](https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/?t=1025) The interesting thing is people have lots and lots of different opinions. And like one of the events you said, like, I've been doing it for a long time. Like I am like I'm an old fart. Like I wrote my first program when I was 12, which means I've been programming for 41 years. And so the thing that you get to see when you've been doing a thing for a very long time is like this is not the first moment in the past four decades where. [17:30](https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/?t=1050) the nature of software development has changed in a non-trivial way and where people have very strong opinions about the change and what it means. And so, you know, I think the reality is that people will have choice. You know, like I still, when I go into a text editor, I probably shouldn't say this because like we make, you know, Visual Studio Code, like, I'm such an old recalcitrant fart that I still use VI. [18:00](https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/?t=1080) I use Vim at least. But my text editor of choice is this extremely antiquated thing. And I just refuse to go use something different. Even though... I know for sure that that is sub-optimizing a part of what I'm doing. And I make the decision anyway, because like I get to choose. And then in other aspects of my making, like either software or something else that I'm doing, like I will be like, okay, The important thing here is not the way that I'm doing this particular part of it. [18:34](https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/?t=1114) It's the outcome that I'm trying to get to. And like I'm going to use the most powerful or most convenient way to go get to the outcome. And like, you know, I don't care who's going to throw rocks at me for doing it. And like it's literally everywhere. Like I've been a woodworker for almost as long as I've been a programmer. And when I was a teenager, like the big debate was like, oh, are you a real woodworker? [19:02](https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/?t=1142) If you use power tools like, you know, real woodworkers only use hand tools. Right. There's still a little bit of that debate today, but like the real debate is like, are you a real woodworker if you use CNC tools, like computer controlled power tools versus just power tools? And I understand it. Like, I actually think it's interesting, the debate itself. But like sometimes like people are going to make different choices because like they value something different than you do. [19:33](https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/?t=1173) If you value the process more than you value the outcome, like sometimes you'll make decisions. different decisions and people who value the outcome more than the process and i think the like is it are you a real woodworker a real programmer you're sort of saying like you're only real if you do it the way i grew up doing it when you ask that question in a lot of ways you know um but but it's just so varied right and like so the thing that i will say is like i would never in a million years tell anyone not to have strong opinions about their craft like have them like it's great Like the advice that I would give people and like this is not me telling what it's just advice, like things that I found useful for myself is just have an open mind. [20:11](https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/?t=1211) You know, when the tools are changing, I can't even tell you like the number of times where I have looked at a new technology in some other like non-software dimension of making. that came along where I'm like, like, I don't want to learn like 3D printers. Like I waited forever to learn how to use 3D printers. And like, I regret it. Like I should have started earlier. Like they're so damn useful for almost everything that I do. [20:40](https://realalpha.app/v/jBGo33Jkids/?t=1240) And for a whole variety of complicated reasons, like I didn't let myself be curious about that, which is odd. And so, you know, just like be curious, try stuff. Like, and if it works for you, use it. And if it doesn't, don't. Yeah. What do you think is the future of software engineering agents?