As CEO of FIRY, Andrew Paradise sees AI’s impact from the top down, across how he leads, how each of our business units operates, and how we hire.
“AI has fundamentally changed how I work day to day,” he said. “It dramatically increased my speed of execution. It’s helped me pressure test strategies in real time. I can explore different scenarios and ideas before I bring it to the team.”
He points to Skillz as one clear proof point. Two years ago, about 20% of the code written across Skillz’s engineering team came from AI. Last year, that number climbed to 50 to 60%. Last month, it hit 96.6%.
“It changes how we run engineering,” Andrew said. “It’s incredible when you think about the realities of what it means for building ideas into production-ready technologies.”
A force multiplier, not a threat
That speed shows up in what Andrew no longer has to do. Less time stuck on first drafts. Less manual work. More time editing, refining, and focusing on higher-leverage decisions.
He calls it an adapt-or-die technology for the industry, and he wants people at FIRY to hear that as an opportunity, not a threat.
“I think you shouldn’t be afraid at all about using AI,” he said. “You should say this is a force multiplier for me as an employee. And once you do become more productive to the company, we can put you into higher-value work.”
AI built into the platform, not bolted on
That same AI-forward posture shows up in the products themselves, especially at RZR. Our adtech platform was built from day one around AI and machine learning models that drive media buying and player acquisition, not as an add-on feature, but as the core of how it operates. Within FIRY’s three-sided network, RZR’s job is to bring players in efficiently, and it does that by leaning on AI more heavily than most platforms in the space.
That makes RZR a good example of what Andrew means when he talks about AI as a core competency. It is not just a skill people are expected to bring to the table. It is baked into how the business itself is designed to compete.
Why AI is now a baseline expectation
That mindset is built into how we hire. AI fluency is now a core competency every person has to demonstrate to join the team, across Skillz, RZR, and Beamable alike.
The logic follows directly from the engineering numbers. When a technology can take on the majority of production code, the value an individual contributor adds shifts. It moves away from manual execution and toward judgment, direction, and problem framing. That is the skill FIRY is hiring and promoting for now.
Mindset over tools
Andrew draws a clear line between the specific AI products people use and the way they think about using them.
“Honestly, the specific tools matter less than the mindset,” he said. “It’s really about trying to think about how you can program the AI to remove friction and increase output in everything you do in your day-to-day.”
That is the piece he wants people to take away most. AI is not a shortcut around thinking. It is a way to spend more time thinking about the things that actually matter.