What the AI sandwich is The AI sandwich is a mental model for deciding where to invest your own attention when working with AI agents. Humans handle the two outer layers: they frame the problem at the start and elevate the result at the end. The middle layer — the work itself — is the part that is increasingly solved and can be handed off to AI. Kieran Klaassen and Dan Shipper build this case directly in the conversation captured here[^dd391357@0]. How it shows up in this channel's material The sandwich also functions as a design philosophy inside Compound Engineering. In the v3.20 release discussion, Kieran Klaassen and Trevin Chow explain how the multi-model workflow — including the new ce-pov (Oracle) and ce-explain skills — is built around the “AI sandwich” idea, so that the system accumulates knowledge rather than burning tokens[^38395538@0]. Why it matters The model tells you where your attention is best spent: - Start (bread layer one): frame the problem precisely. - Middle (the filling): delegate increasingly solved work to agents. - End (bread layer two): elevate, review, and refine what comes back. - The AI sandwich = humans frame at the start, AI does the middle, humans elevate at the end. - It is both a personal attention-allocation model and a design philosophy in Compound Engineering's multi-model workflow. - Work in the middle is treated as increasingly solved and handoff-ready.