State of Docs Podcast

Technical writing isn't disappearing in the age of AI — it's being redefined. In this episode of the State of Docs podcast, host Tal Gluck talks with Fabrizio Ferri Benedetti, Principal Technical Writer at Elastic and author of the documentation blog Passo.uno, about the human's role in AI-era documentation: where writers still matter, where the work is being automated, and how technical writers stay valuable as the craft changes.Fabrizio borrows a phrase from Isaac Asimov — "carbon and iron" — to describe what the most valuable technical writers will be: not human or machine, but a fluent combination of both. We talk about why the "human in the loop" is the question keeping him up at night, how documentation is splitting into content written for machines and content written for humans, why writers "should have gotten nerdier earlier," and why human authorship — a real name and a real face on the docs — becomes more valuable, not less, as AI-generated content floods the web.In this conversation, we answer:- How is AI changing the role of the technical writer?- What skills do technical writers need to stay relevant in the age of AI?- Will AI replace technical writers?- How do you prove the value of documentation to leadership?- What is documentation observability, and how do you measure docs impact?- How should documentation be written differently for humans and for LLMs?Topics covered: AI in technical writing, the future of the technical writer role, human-in-the-loop documentation, writing docs for LLMs, documentation observability and metrics, docs as a product, content strategy and system thinking, and career advice for technical writers.Check out Fabrizio's blog at: https://passo.uno/State of Docs is an annual research initiative tracking trends in technical writing, developer documentation, and knowledge management. This podcast releases the full conversations behind the report. Read the 2026 report here: https://www.stateofdocs.com/2026GitBook transforms documentation into an intelligent knowledge system that connects content, context, and AI — so your docs don't just exist, they actively learn and get better over time. Learn more:Learn more:✨ Get started for free: https://app.gitbook.com/join📚 Explore the docs: https://gitbook.com/docs🌐 Visit GitBook: https://gitbook.com

Good documentation doesn't just support your product — it is your product. In this episode of the State of Docs podcast, we talk with Shahed Nasser, Head of DX at Medusa, about how a developer-first open source platform thinks about documentation: building a custom docs platform from scratch, measuring what actually matters (hint: it's not page views), and why the best feedback about your docs often has nothing to do with your docs directly.We also get into AI — not just as a writing tool, but as a lens for finding knowledge gaps, simulating user journeys, and understanding why good documentation is more critical in the AI era, not less.This conversation took place a couple of months ago, and some of Shahed's workflows have evolved in that time. You can read more about that here: https://medusajs.com/blog/up-to-date-docs-with-agentic-automation/Topics covered: technical writing workflow, docs as a product, measuring documentation impact, indirect feedback, AI in technical writing, search analytics, developer experience, open source documentation, and the future of the technical writer role.State of Docs is an annual research initiative tracking trends in technical writing, developer documentation, and knowledge management. This podcast shares some of the fuller conversations behind the report. Read the 2026 report: https://www.stateofdocs.com/2026Learn more about Medusa: https://medusajs.com/GitBook transforms documentation into an intelligent knowledge system that connects content, context, and AI — so your docs don’t just exist, they actively learn and get better over time.Learn more:✨ Get started for free: https://app.gitbook.com/join📚 Explore the docs: https://gitbook.com/docs🌐 Visit GitBook: https://gitbook.com

Technical writing is changing fast — and not in the ways most people expect. In this episode of the State of Docs podcast, we talk with Sarah Dugan, GitBook's first dedicated technical writing and documentation lead, about the evolving role of technical writers in AI-powered products, how developer documentation is becoming a core driver of product success, and what it takes to build a documentation strategy that actually scales. Topics covered: AI in technical writing, docs as a product, measuring documentation impact, developer documentation best practices, and the future of the technical writer role. State of Docs is an annual research initiative tracking trends in technical writing, developer documentation, and knowledge management. This podcast releases the full conversations behind the report. Read the 2026 report here: https://www.stateofdocs.com/2026GitBook transforms documentation into an intelligent knowledge system that connects content, context, and AI — so your docs don’t just exist, they actively learn and get better over time.Learn more:✨ Get started for free: https://app.gitbook.com/join📚 Explore the docs: https://gitbook.com/docs🌐 Visit GitBook: https://gitbook.com