Vermilion Cliffs Notes: Why MCP Is the 100x Leap for AI Dev Tools | Tori Seindenstein, CEO of Tadata

In this episode of Vermilion Cliff Notes, Ashley Smith sits down with Tori Seindenstein, CEO and Co-founder of Tadata, to talk about how the AI developer tools stack is evolving and what it takes to build in the middle of a fast-moving market.

Tori’s story is shaped by years of building technical products, navigating both open source communities and enterprise adoption. Now at Tadata, she’s helping companies embrace MCP (Model Context Protocol) as the next layer of AI connectivity, while scaling one of the most popular new repos on GitHub. Along the way, she’s seen firsthand how executives are struggling to keep products relevant, why open source is the new enterprise wedge, and how modern GTM for dev tools is being rewritten by community trust and platforms like Reddit.

If you’re a technical founder, developer advocate, or operator trying to build AI products that last, this one’s for you.

🧭 Topics Covered:

Why MCP is the 100x leap for AI connectivity
How executives are navigating chaos in the AI shift
Open source as the new enterprise wedge
Modern GTM: community, Reddit, and transitive trust
Lessons from building Tadata’s open source momentum

📎 Full transcript & blog post: https://vermilioncliffs.substack.com/

Chapter Timestamps
00:00 – Intro and welcome
01:20 – Tori’s origin story and first startup exposure
04:00 – Why MCP is the 100x improvement
08:33 – Executives facing chaos in the AI shift
16:10 – Open source as the new enterprise wedge
21:33 – Reddit over billboards: modern GTM for dev tools
23:40 – What’s next for Tadata and AI experience design
29:46 – Rapid-fire: tech stack, advice, and underrated lessons