Why AI code optimization needs production-grounded benchmarks

Datadog built DODO (Datadog Observability-Driven Optimizer) to ground AI code optimization benchmarks in live production telemetry. DODO uses CPU profiles and real production call samples to generate Go micro-benchmarks with ≥98% similarity to production. Three optimizations cut over 8% of a critical service's total CPU cost, saving O(10k) cores around the clock.