When everyone speaks software: Tessl’s vision for AI native development

The biggest shifts in technology often start with a simple question: what if we ditched incremental improvements, and thought about how to do things from first principles? When Henry Ford dared to imagine transport beyond the horse-drawn carriage, the car went on to reshape the social and economic fabric of our world. This is what Tessl is doing for developers: building software’s answer to the car.

Tessl is pioneering what its founder, Guy Podjarny (‘Guypo’), calls ‘AI native development’. His ‘aha’ moment came while working on the AI strategy at his previous company, Snyk. He saw that while lots of AI-powered products could automate, optimize and even supercharge software developers, these tools were still anchored in existing ways of working. No one had taken a blank sheet of paper, and thought about the best way to make software, given all the technology we now have at our disposal.

Tessl is Guypo’s answer. Instead of developers writing code directly, they’ll type what they want in natural language, and AI can implement it. It’s hard to overstate how significant this shift is, from ‘code-centric’ to ‘spec-centric’ development. It’s the biggest to date of all previous paradigm shifts in software creation. From punch cards to C++, Java and .NET, each generation of developers has traded some level of control for ease of creation and wider access.

So what does this mean for developers? Guypo’s vision isn’t about eliminating software development jobs, but transforming them. He sees developers evolving along two primary paths: some will become more product-focused, developing a deeper understanding of user needs and business problems. Others will evolve into architects, focusing on system design and trade-offs. The common thread? More creative satisfaction and less tedium for developers, who will be freed from much of the routine and time-consuming work of coding, bug-fixing and maintaining software.

The opportunity is clear, but why is Index betting that Tessl will be the one to crack it? In large part, because of Guypo and his unique understanding of developer communities. We’ve known him for over a decade, ever since Carlos worked at GoCardless around the corner from him in London. At the time, Guypo was getting Snyk off the ground, helping developers to identify vulnerabilities in their code. He went on to grow Snyk into a multi-billion dollar, category-defining global company. We witnessed firsthand Snyk’s dramatic impact on Tel Aviv’s cybersecurity ecosystem, where the company built much of its early engineering and security expertise. With Snyk, Guypo didn’t just build a security tool to help developers identify vulnerabilities in their code. He changed how developers think about security in the first place, turning it from an afterthought into a core aspect of software quality.

Once again, what Tessl is proposing isn’t a new tool: it’s a movement. It’s about recapturing some of the creative, freewheeling energy of the early days of engineering, which has been inevitably squeezed as the sector has become more standardized and professional. Guypo and his team think of themselves as a catalyst for a new way of making software, working alongside a community of practitioners, hobbyists and tinkerers who want to co-create this reality with them.

Perhaps most excitingly, Tessl points us toward a future where software creation becomes a new form of literacy – as fundamental to expressing ideas and solving problems as writing is today. We’re inspired by this vision, and thrilled to support Guypo and his team as they strive to make development as accessible, natural and powerful as putting thoughts into words.