Andrew Holz

The Prolific Output of Wes McKinney in the Age of Agentic Engineering - Posit Wes McKinney is shipping open source projects faster than ever, using AI coding agents to build across Python, Go, Swift, and Rust... and he's having more fun than he's had in years.

Interesting writeup from Rich (of GT fame) on what Wes McKinney has unlocked with rise of LLMs. posit.co/blog/the-pro.... I have thoughts about what this type of development means for teams and processes. Need to share some of them soon! Moving target!

posit::glimpse() Newsletter – February 2026 - Posit This edition covers major updates from Posit, including new versions of ggplot2, ellmer, and dplyr.

The newest edition of posit::glimpse() is here! 🚀

Read a roundup of major #RStats & #Python updates: ggplot2 4.0.0, dplyr 1.2.0, ellmer 0.4.0, Positron native Jupyter Notebook support , and more.

🎟️ Plus, registration for posit::conf(2026) is officially OPEN!

Find it here: posit.co/blog/posit-g...

YouTube video by Posit PBC querychat in Python: Query Your Data with Natural Language | Shiny + LLMs | Veerle van Leemput

I really love querychat as a way to leverage the flexibility of LLMs but in a safe controlled way. Building dashboards in Python? This excellent walk through by Veerle is _worth_ checking out. youtu.be/AntqhLhw4BM?...
If you "just wish it had the option to..." PLEASE REACH OUT! WE ARE LISTENING!

Surprise I wrote another quarto revealjs extension. Now giving you more fragments to use!

Easy to use fragments with conventional syntax. Works on headers, whole slides and on a letter-by-letter basis

github.com/EmilHvitfeld...
#quarto

I think the Turing test with real world implications is -- can an AI agent _appear_ more productive than an apathetic human in a broken system _appears_.

Have you used HR systems?!?

Open source all the things.

Amazing post on an amazing session. Thank you so much for sharing Emily!

Models continue to improve at a good clip. Great to see Simon and Sara bring independant, no agenda numbers to the table. I wonder how long this can go on and how many "niches" will get focused attention.

Which LLM writes the best R code? - Posit The vitals package delivers a dedicated framework for measuring how well Large Language Models perform with code.

New data from @sara-altman.bsky.social & @simonpcouch.com, using the vitals and ellmer packages, looks at LLM performance metrics for #RStats.

👀 Sneak peek: Claude Opus 4.5, Claude Sonnet 4.5, & OpenAI GPT-5 lead in generating correct R code.

Read the full breakdown: posit.co/blog/r-llm-e...

Isabel Z is killing it giving a talk on data tools as the keynote speaker at pydata Boston! Let’s go!

I put together two roundups from posit::conf(2025):

• Shiny talks + full workshop materials
shiny.posit.co/blog/posts/c...

• Quarto talks playlist and summaries
quarto.org/docs/blog/po...

When plotting, LLMs see what they expect to see - Posit Data science agents need to accurately read plots even when the content contradicts their expectations. Our testing shows today's LLMs still struggle here.

Introducing bluffbench, a new tool to evaluate how well LLMs actually see data plots.

When we trick LLMs with secret #RStats transformations, they can miss the visual contradiction.

bluffbench helps us measure this "blind spot" in AI coding agents. Learn more: posit.co/blog/introdu...

PyData Boston 2025

I am looking forward to PyData Boston in a few weeks. If anyone is going and wants to meet up please let me know. I will be sitting at the Posit table quite a bit of the time. I went to the last few PyData NYCs so it will be interesting to see how it differs. pydata.org/boston2025

Python Open-Source Developer Posit is hiring a Python open-source developer to create more data analysis tools.

We're hiring an open-source #python developer focused on modeling APIs!

tidyverse.org/blog/2025/11...

#numpy #scipy #scikitlearn

How long before I can get a credit card with a reward program paying out in Anthropic or OpenAI token credits?

Shiny - Build Your First LLM App with Shiny for Python or R Shiny is a package that makes it easy to create interactive web apps using R and Python.

In case you missed it in all the posit::conf 2025 content, checking out part 3 of Veerle van Leemput's series on building your first AI powered app is worth checking out! shiny.posit.co/blog/posts/s...

Shiny - Talking to LLMs: From Prompt to Response Shiny is a package that makes it easy to create interactive web apps using R and Python.

Part two of Veerle van Leemput's exploration of LLMs is out. Her exposition is so clear and easy to follow even if you are not likely to use Shiny its worth checking out! shiny.posit.co/blog/posts/s...

Obviously this does not replace manual EDA... but it lowers the bar to taking a quick look so much engaging with data you would not otherwise becomes a real option.

Collaborate > automate. Databot logo alongside screenshot of Positron.

Introducing Databot: an AI assistant for exploratory data analysis in #Python and #RStats!

A research preview in Positron, Databot is a tireless pair programmer to help you explore data.

Learn more about this tool and our philosophy behind it:

🤖 posit.co/blog/introdu...
⚠️ posit.co/blog/databot...

Posit Posit's latest glimpse newsletter highlights new product releases, including the Positron IDE and several new LLM-powered tools.

Finally got Glimpse out focused on what the Posit open source team has been up to. Turns out its quite a bit! posit.co/blog/posit-g...
I continue to be happy with the approach we (Posit) are taking with LLMs and AI. Too impactful to ignore but focus on useful and safe as much as possible.

You might be in a certain kind of family if... as leftovers are being put away in the fridge there is an involved discussion on if the fridge is LIFO or FIFO and if that is family member specific. Then the undeniable trump card is played and its really MDFO (Most Delicious) for everyone.

This is fantastic! Really looking forward to using this … like tomorrow! Let’s gooooo!

Yahs!!!!!!!

Shiny - What LLMs Actually Do (and What They Don’t) Shiny is a package that makes it easy to create interactive web apps using R and Python.

Announcing a new blog series on LLMs from @veerle.hypebright.nl!

Part 1: "What LLMs Actually Do (and What They Don't)" breaks down complex concepts like transformers, hallucinations, and RAG in simple terms.

Check it out here: shiny.posit.co/blog/posts/s...

#RStats #LLM #PythonProgramming

Posit This blog post evaluates various large language models (LLMs) for their Python code generation capabilities, focusing on Pandas-related problems from the DS-1000 dataset.

Testing work or apps that leverage LLMs is disturbingly difficult. At Posit we have been exploring how to do this as we explore RESPONSIBLE usage of LLMs in data science. Sara and Simon share some findings about which models play nice with Pandas. 🐼

posit.co/blog/python-...

RECIPE PLEASE! Brown butter is a cheat code and adding milk solids is ... a double?

RAGs seem to be pretty easy to do _poorly_, but sensible defaults and a smooth path to genuine value is much harder.

Awesome to hear Ragnar performed well.
How much of a lift was it to get those good results with tidymodels docs is the real question.

Ever wonder about the mind behind Pandas & Apache Arrow? 🤔 Ep. 2 of #TheTestSet (Part 1!) unpacks @wesmckinney.com's journey, including his speedrunning past! What makes good tools good?

🎧 Listen at thetestset.co, on Spotify, or Apple Podcasts

#Python #DataEngineering #OpenSource #PodcastLaunch

Let’s be clear. LLMs do not hallucinate.

LLMs are not trying to be correct, they are trying to be plausible.