The MonkCast

Rachel Stephens sits down with Audrey Bian, Principal Product Marketing Manager at Broadcom, to explore how vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) is helping enterprises modernize their applications without rebuilding their infrastructure from scratch.Audrey breaks down how VKS bridges the gap between traditional VM workloads and modern containerized applications on a single unified platform. For additional information please visit: - https://vmware.com/vksThis RedMonk conversation is sponsored by VMware by Broadcom.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/vks-audrey-bian/Topics covered:- What is VKS and how does it the VMware stack?- Cloud admins vs. platform engineers- VKS and TCO- What's new in VKS 3.6?

In this episode of the MonkCast, RedMonk Senior Analyst Kate Holterhoff sits down with Chris Williams, Global Developer Relations Manager at HashiCorp, for a wide-ranging conversation that covers everything from tech certifications to corporate espionage (sort of). Chris traces his career from data center crawler and hands-on infrastructure engineer to podcaster, community builder, and accidental DevRel professional. They dig into the enduring value of certifications in the age of AI, the origin story of the vBrownBag podcast ("nerd show and tell"), and how wearing 18 hats across competing vendor communities is actually a feature, not a bug. Equal parts therapy, smoke jumping, and a game of Clue, Chris's career arc is a testament to curiosity, community, and the surprising power of asking dumb questions in a room full of experts.IBM is a RedMonk client, but this episode is independent and unsponsored.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/from-data-center-crawler-to-devrel-with-chris-williamsChapters00:00 Introduction and Background04:12 The Value of Certifications in Tech10:23 The Evolution of Learning and Upskilling12:46 DevRel Journey and Community Engagement15:53 AWS Hero Program and Community Impact21:44 Navigating Multiple Roles in Tech23:38 Navigating Career Transitions28:20 The Role of a Cloud Therapist32:56 Consulting: The Thrill of New Challenges

Infrastructure gets written off as table stakes, but if you've actually shipped software, you know how much pain comes from the friction between layers of the stack. In this RedMonk Conversation, Rachel Stephens sits down with Jay Thontakudi, Principal Product Marketing Manager at Broadcom, to dig into why the partnership between VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) and Canonical is more than "Linux runs on VMware."The conversation gets at a problem most enterprises quietly live with: developers build on Ubuntu, then watch their code land on a different Linux distribution in staging and production. Jay and Rachel talk through what it means to close that gap, and why treating the hypervisor and the OS as one supported thing rather than two vendors pointing fingers is as much a security story as it is a developer experience one.For additional information please visit: - https://vmware.com/products/cloud-infrastructure/vmware-cloud-foundation- https://canonical.comThis RedMonk conversation is sponsored by VMware by Broadcom.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/ubuntu-on-vcf/Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction02:06 - What is VCF?03:55 - The Broadcom & Canonical Partnership 05:58 - Why Ubuntu? Bridging the Dev-to-Production Disconnect 08:18 - Security & Stability: A Unified Stack and Support Model 10:12 - Why Developer Experience is Security 11:21 - VMware's Open Source Strategy15:24 - Conclusion & Upcoming Technical Deep Dive

Stephen O'Grady sits down with Adam Jacob, CEO and Co-Founder of System Initiative, for a candid conversation about what it actually feels like to build software in the age of AI agents. Adam describes his team's decision to go "absolute AI maximalist," letting a five-person crew produce 150,000 lines of TypeScript that no human has fully read, and why that experience broke every assumption he had about estimation, trust, risk, and team dynamics. The two trace the emergence of three distinct camps in the developer world: skeptics, cautious adopters still treating AI as fancy autocomplete, and a growing third group who are no longer writing the software they ship but instead building the systems that build it. Adam argues the shift is less about cost reduction than raw velocity—an orders-of-magnitude increase in pressure that will burst every existing process, compliance framework, and social norm in software development. Along the way, they explore why the old practice of user acceptance testing is suddenly relevant again, why domain-driven design matters more than ever when you can't read every line of code, and why the magnitude of this transition may rival the transistor. Adam closes with practical career advice for engineers: learn software architecture, study systems design, and start building agents at home, because the people who understand how to construct the machine that constructs the software will define the next era.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/adam-jacob-ai-maximalistChapters00:00 Introduction to AI and Reality01:42 Adam's Journey with AI05:19 The Shift to AI Maximalism09:49 The Three Camps of AI Users12:41 Building Software with AI19:23 Implications of AI on Software Development23:52 Navigating the Evolving Landscape of Software Development29:38 The Impact of AI on Software Engineering35:15 The Infinite Demand for Software43:41 Career Advice for Aspiring Engineers

At KubeCon EU 2026 in Amsterdam, James Governor sits down with VMware by Broadcom's Timmy Carr and Himanshu Singh to unpack how VMware is tackling two of the biggest challenges facing European enterprises today: complexity and sovereignty. The conversation explores how VCF and VKS are designed to simplify Kubernetes adoption for IT and platform teams, offering a fully declarative API that unifies the management of VMs, containers, and AI workloads under one consistent operational model. The discussion then turns to digital sovereignty, where Timmy and Himanshu explain how VCF's flexible deployment options—from on-prem data centers to sovereign cloud providers—help organizations keep data and workloads within regulatory boundaries. They also dig into VMware's ecosystem strategy, emphasizing CNCF-certified compatibility and recent validations with partners aimed at ensuring VKS can serve as a drop-in replacement for any Kubernetes runtime.This RedMonk conversation is sponsored by VMware by Broadcom.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/sovereignty-meets-simplicity-for-vmware-by-broadcom-at-kubecon-eu-2026Chapters:00:00 Introductions from KubeCon EU Amsterdam 00:47 Cloud-Native Complexity Needs Simplification 01:44 VCF and VKS Simplify Kubernetes 04:04 Declarative APIs for Platform Teams 05:21 Digital Sovereignty in Europe Today 05:55 Deploying VCF for Sovereign Clouds 07:47 Private AI, Security, and Compliance 09:36 Building the Partner Ecosystem 10:05 Bring Your Own CNI 12:09 Validations with F5, Tigera, Kong 14:16 Drop-In Kubernetes Runtime Replacement 14:45 Wrap-Up and Final Thoughts

James Governor of RedMonk sits down with VMware by Broadcom's Dilpreet Bindra and Zach Shepherd at KubeCon Europe 2026 in Amsterdam to unpack what they call "the best kept secret in the industry": VMware by Broadcom's deep, sustained contributions to the CNCF and Kubernetes ecosystem. The conversation covers VMware's shift to exposing Cluster API directly as a product commitment, the etcd diagnostic tooling they've open-sourced for the whole community, and the journey of Velero from an internal project to a CNCF sandbox project with maintainers from Red Hat, Microsoft, and beyond. The trio also digs into the significance of CNCF's new AI platform conformance program, VKS's certification as a Kubernetes AI platform, and why workload portability matters more than ever as the AI tooling landscape explodes. Dilpreet and Zach close with what's got them buzzing at the biggest KubeCon Europe yet — from llm-d's CNCF sandbox acceptance to the quality of customer conversations happening on the show floor.This RedMonk conversation is sponsored by VMware by Broadcom.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/vmware-by-broadcoms-open-source-story-at-kubecon-eu-2026/Chapters:00:00 Introductions: Meet Dilpreet Bindra and Zach Shepherd from VMware by Broadcom01:07 The Best Kept Secret: VMware's History as a Top CNCF Contributor01:50 Betting on Cluster API: Moving from Proprietary to Open Source02:24 Chopping Wood, Carrying Water: Earning Community Trust03:04 The Chop Wood Carry Water Award and VMware's Track Record03:45 The etcd Story: Open-Sourcing Support Tools for the Whole Ecosystem04:52 Leading Projects vs. Sharing Ownership05:46 Velero's Evolution: From VMware Project to CNCF Sandbox06:24 What Is Velero? Kubernetes-Native Backup and Restore07:13 Diverse Maintainership: Red Hat, Microsoft, and Beyond07:57 Why Contributing Velero to the CNCF Is a Strategic Investment, Not a Giveaway08:34 AI, Kubernetes, and the Infrastructure Boom09:06 VKS as a Certified Kubernetes AI Platform and Why Portability Matters10:17 CNCF AI Compliance and the Promise of Workload Portability10:46 KubeCon EU 2026: The Biggest One Yet11:11 What's Most Exciting: llm-d Joins the CNCF Sandbox11:34 Booth Energy and the Depth of Customer Conversations12:07 Wrap-Up

In this RedMonk Conversation, Rachel Stephens sits down with Boris Bialek, VP of Industries and Global Field CTO at MongoDB, to explore why data remains the unshakable foundation beneath the fast-moving world of AI. Boris paints a vivid picture of an industry where every sector—from banking to automotive to insurance—is racing to adopt AI simultaneously, often betting on the "whole racetrack" at once. The conversation traces the rapid evolution from chatbots to RAG architectures to MCP servers and agentic systems, all within roughly 18 months, and asks: what should enterprises actually anchor to when the layers above keep shifting? Boris makes the case that while LLMs, frameworks, and protocols will come and go, your data is the one asset you truly own and control. Along the way, they dig into real-world use cases like predictive maintenance on factory floors and intelligent airline customer service, the role of real-time vectorization and embedded models (including MongoDB's acquisition of Voyage AI), and the critical importance of encryption and governance when machines start talking to machines. The takeaway: building a strong, unified data platform isn't just a database decision — it's the strategic foundation for enterprise AI transformation.This RedMonk conversation is sponsored by MongoDBShow notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/ai-data-boris-bialek/Chapters:00:00 Introduction to the Conversation01:23 Navigating the Rapidly Evolving Tech Landscape04:38 The Importance of Data Ownership11:22 Unified Data Platforms and AI Integration17:34 The Evolution of AI and Agentic Systems23:15 Compliance, Governance, and Data Security25:27 Conclusion: The Central Role of Data

In this conversation, RedMonk's Kate Holterhoff talks to Mike Basios, CTO and Co-founder of TurinTech AI, about the new set of problems AI is introducing for engineering organisations, and what happens when you treat your entire stack—application code, data pipelines, inference systems, agent workflows, GPU and CPU kernels—as measurable artifacts that can be systematically validated and continuously improved. Mike explains how AI is fundamentally changing both how engineering gets done and what engineering is being asked to deliver. The conversation explores a central tension: while AI tools have made individual developers dramatically more productive, that velocity is creating a growing backlog of unreviewed, unoptimized code, and an infrastructure that was never designed to support the dozens of concurrent agents a single developer might now depend on. Mike argues that the engineering role is shifting from problem-solving to outcome-verification, and that teams who don't define what "good" looks like before they build will struggle to compete as the quality of the solution, not the speed of its creation, becomes the key differentiator. TurinTech's answer to this challenge is a measurement-first platform that applies evolutionary, self-improving techniques to continuously benchmark and optimize code across any domain where performance can be quantified.This RedMonk conversation is sponsored by TurinTech AI.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/mike-basios-on-why-ai-era-engineering-needs-a-measurement-first-approachChapters:00:00 The Impact of AI on Software Engineering03:41 Shifting Roles: Engineers as AI Managers07:35 Infrastructure Challenges in AI Development11:10 Reliability and Performance of AI Systems19:09 Measuring Success in AI Optimization26:27 The Future of AI in Software Development

In this episode of the MonkCast, RedMonk senior analyst Kate Holterhoff sits down with Kin Lane, API Evangelist and Co-Founder & Chief Community Officer (CCO) for Naftiko, to untangle one of the most pressing questions in developer tooling today: what happens to APIs and SDKs when AI enters the picture? Kin traces the SDK from its origins in the REST API era of 2008, through the recurring (and always premature) declarations of its death, to its current identity crisis in an age of AI co-pilots, MCP servers, and agentic IDEs. The conversation explores how OpenAPI specs are being used to shrink context windows and why AI might generate bespoke, single-purpose SDKs on the fly rather than shipping monolithic language-specific kits.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/sdks-in-the-ai-era-with-kin-lane/Chapters00:00 Introduction to APIs and SDKs06:36 The Evolution of SDKs in the AI Era10:08 Future of SDK Generation and Automation17:20 Business Alignment and SDK Development20:09 The Role of IDEs and MCPs in SDKs26:07 SDKs for AI Agents vs. Human Developers29:15 The Power of Language in Technology30:40 Navigating Determinism and Non-Determinism in AI35:29 The Role of Abstraction Layers in Development39:00 API Governance: Bridging Gaps in Development46:22 Designing APIs for AI Misuse50:52 The Evolving Identity of Developers58:07 Where to Follow Kin Lane's Insights

In this RedMonk conversation, Stu Miniman, Senior Director of Market Insights, Hybrid Platforms at Red Hat, shares his extensive tech industry experience and insights with Kate Holterhoff. Stu discusses behind-the-scenes stories from his time as an industry analyst at theCUBE. As a seasoned expert in networking, virtualization, and cloud computing, he also chats about how networking challenges are being addressed in the Kubernetes ecosystem, the impact of AI, and the future of the industry analyst role.Red Hat is a RedMonk client, but this video is unsponsored and independent.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/clouderatti-to-thecube-stu-miniman/Chapters00:00 Introduction and Background06:18 The Evolution of EMC and Its Impact14:17 Networking in the Kubernetes Ecosystem22:07 The Role of an Analyst28:57 AI: Opportunities and Challenges35:03 The Cube: A Journey Through Live Production40:57 Preparation and Connection with Guests46:27 Building Relationships and Networking53:51 Analysts vs Influencers: A Blurred Line01:05:18 Wrapping Up and Future Engagements

In this RedMonk conversation, Kate Holterhoff speaks with Ansgar Lindwedel, Director of Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) Ecosystem Development at the Eclipse Foundation. They discuss the concept of Software Defined Vehicles, the evolution of software in the automotive industry, and the challenges faced by developers. Ansgar explains the importance of the Eclipse SDV working group, the trade-offs of proprietary operating systems, and the role of open source in building competencies. They also touch on safety in open source software development, the ecosystem of Eclipse SDV, the impact of AI on automotive development, and the future roadmap for the community.This RedMonk Conversation is sponsored by the Eclipse Foundation.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/eclipse-sdv-ansgar-lindwedel/Chapters00:00 Introduction to Software Defined Vehicles02:10 The Evolution of Software in Automotive05:02 Eclipse SDV Working Group Overview08:49 Challenges in Automotive Development Tools11:57 The Shift to Open Source in Automotive16:32 Functional Safety in Open Source Software19:12 The Ecosystem of Eclipse SDV31:58 The Role of AI in Automotive Development36:21 Future Roadmap and Transformative Changes

In this RedMonk conversation, Chris Corriere, Founder of Ecology Computing and an organizer of Devopsdays Atlanta, shares his unique perspective on socio-technical systems, complexity in computing, and the future of DevOps practices with Kate Holterhoff. They discuss how ecological thinking influences technology and how mapping tools like Cynefin and Wardley Maps can help navigate complex environments.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/chris-corriere-complexity/Chapters00:00 Introduction and Guest Background00:27 Chris Corriere's Ecological Perspective on Technology02:11 Socio-technical Mathematics and Complexity02:40 Mathematics in Computing and AI04:32 AI, Agency, and Autonomy in Systems05:42 Math Skills for Developers and Data Scientists06:57 Platform Engineering and Source Control09:09 Open Source Projects and Enterprise Work11:04 The Role of Git and Version Control12:23 Greenfield Projects and Tech Debt13:35 Understanding Cynefin and Wardley Mapping18:54 What is Cynefin? Its Origins and Meaning19:54 Chaos, Disorder, and Platform Salvage21:38 Mapping the Tech Environment with Wardley25:41 Mapping Space Technologies and Quantum Computing27:02 DevOps Days Atlanta and Future Themes29:30 The Future of AI, Education, and Community31:13 Closing Remarks and Contact Info

In this RedMonk Conversation, senior analyst Kate Holterhoff is joined by Alex Moore, Executive Director of Open Web Advocacy (OWA), to unpack why the web has struggled to compete with native apps on mobile and what regulators are finally doing about it. Moore traces OWA’s origins from frustrated engineers to a global advocacy group. They explore the technical, economic, and competitive implications of blocking web apps on iOS, from developer productivity and install friction to security myths and the future of innovation. The discussion spans WebAssembly, PWAs vs. native apps, and major regulatory efforts like the EU’s Digital Markets Act, the UK’s DMCC, Japan’s Smartphone Act, and the US DOJ case against Apple.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/alex-moore-open-web-advocacy/Chapters00:00 Introduction to Open Web Advocacy02:48 The Formation and Goals of OWA05:17 Apple's Dominance in Mobile Development07:45 Web Apps vs. Native Apps: The Debate10:39 The Future of Web Apps12:55 Security Concerns and Apple's App Store19:56 Conclusion and Future Outlook22:14 Security in Native vs Web Environments23:30 Advocacy Work and Legislative Landscape24:02 Digital Markets Act and Its Implications28:56 Global Movements: Japan and US Cases Against Apple32:08 Getting Involved: Advocacy and Community Engagement35:23 Call to Action: Pushing for Change in the Tech Landscape37:52 The Future of Tinkering and Innovation

In this episode of RedMonk Conversations, Rachel Stephens (Research Director at RedMonk) sits down with Özer Dondurmacıoğlu, VP of Product Marketing at GitLab, to discuss GitLab’s vision for intelligent orchestration across the software development lifecycle.AI coding may be accelerating how quickly developers generate code, but what happens to code review, security scanning, compliance, testing, governance, and release coordination when code volume increases? Learn more about GitLab's vision for leveling up the SDLC.This is a RedMonk video, sponsored by GitLab.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/gitlab-platform/

In this RedMonk conversation, Kate Holterhoff chats with Daniel Stenberg, founder of the curl project, about the challenges and implications of AI-generated code in open source software, focusing particularly on the phenomenon known as AI Slop. They discuss the impact of AI on bug reporting, the effectiveness of bug bounty systems, and the importance of community engagement. Daniel shares insights on how AI can be both a tool for good and a source of problems, emphasizing the need for communication and collaboration in the open source community. The conversation also touches on the role of platforms like GitHub and the future of open source in an AI-driven world.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/daniel-stenberg-ai-onslop/Chapters00:00 Introduction to Curl and AI Slop01:54 The Rise of AI Slop in Open Source05:39 Defining AI Slop and Its Impact07:07 Understanding Bug Bounty Systems09:27 The Importance of Curl in the Tech Ecosystem11:48 Positive Uses of AI in Open Source15:19 Navigating AI Tools and Their Limitations17:29 Community Engagement and Best Practices19:11 Leadership in the Face of AI Challenges22:11 Future Considerations for Open Source and AI23:45 Navigating the AI Landscape27:01 GitHub's Role in AI Contributions30:45 The Future of AI and Open Source33:53 Empowering Engineering Leaders37:42 The State of Open Source in the AI Era

In this conversation, Stephen O'Grady and Rob Hirschfeld discuss the complexities of bare metal automation, the role of platform teams, and the importance of observability and governance in managing infrastructure. They explore the challenges of integrating open source solutions with bare metal and emphasize the need for specialized support in this area. The discussion highlights the evolving landscape of infrastructure management and the necessity for collaboration and expertise.This video is sponsored by RackN.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/navigating-bare-metal-automation-with-rob-hirschfeld/

In this RedMonk Conversation, Wes Bos, co-host of Syntax, chats with Kate Holterhoff about why he predicts 2026 is the year design makes a comeback. They explore why the design of exceptional websites like landonorris.com can be a critical differentiator in the digital space, particularly as AI tools simplify the creation of visually appealing websites. Wes emphasizes that while the baseline for web design has improved, the challenge now lies in creating unique and engaging user experiences that stand out in a sea of similar-looking sites. He highlights the importance of usability and the need for developers to invest time in thoughtful design, moving beyond cookie-cutter solutions to create memorable web experiences.Sentry is a RedMonk client, but this is an unpaid content.Show Notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/wes-bos-design-2026/00:00 Introduction to Wes Bos and Predictions for 202609:53 Keeping Up with Design Trends17:27 Performance Insights from the Lando Norris Website23:28 Understanding ROI in Design29:38 The Balance Between Design and Authenticity35:48 The Challenges of AI in Design and Development

Modern software systems are frequently described as “complicated,” but that framing obscures the nature of the challenge. Complicated systems can be decomposed, reasoned about, and managed through clearer processes and better tooling. Complex systems cannot. They are shaped by a web of technical interdependencies, incentives, institutional history, and human behavior, and they often fail in ways that are difficult or impossible to predict.In this RedMonk Conversation, Rachel Stephens and guests David Pollak, Chris Petrilli, and Æva Black explore how complexity emerges across large organizations, open source ecosystems, and security-critical infrastructure. Drawing on experiences from enterprise environments and open source communities, the discussion examines why transparency, incentive structures, and institutional knowledge matter more than formal process, and why many attempts to control complexity instead amplify it.show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/complexity/

In this conversation, Rachel Stephens, the research director at RedMonk, discusses the evolution of observability in the tech industry. She highlights:- the shift from traditional monitoring to a broader understanding of data collection and analysis- the importance of OpenTelemetry as a standard for data ingestion- the challenges organizations face in managing and analyzing vast amounts of data- how AI is enhancing observability, particularly in helping users query data more effectively and derive insights without needing extensive technical knowledgeShow notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/observability-dynatrace/

In this RedMonk conversation, Mark Fussell, CEO of Diagrid, discusses Dapr, a runtime designed to simplify the development of distributed applications, with James Governor. Mark shares insights from his extensive experience in the field, including the importance of community contributions and the role of observability through OpenTelemetry. The discussion also touches on the future of Dapr in the context of agentic systems, the rise of programming languages like TypeScript, and the ongoing trend of application modernization.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/mark-fussell-on-dapr-simple-apis-distributed-systems/

In this RedMonk conversation, Mike Hartington, Developer Advocate at Prisma, chats mobile development with Kate Holterhoff. They discuss mobile frameworks, the challenges of cross-platform development, and why CI/CD is so hard for deploying mobile apps.Show Notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/mike-hartington-on-the-state-of-mobile-development/

In this RedMonk Conversation, James Governor sits down with Kun Chen, Lead Principal Engineer at Atlassian, to explore what “context engineering” really means in practice—and why it matters far more than one-shot “vibe coding” demos for real software teams. Drawing on Atlassian’s internal experience building Rovo Dev, Kun explains how AI agents become genuinely useful when they are grounded in the lived context of professional development: Jira history, pull requests, CI/CD pipelines, incidents, and organizational standards. The discussion covers how Rovo Dev reduces developer toil, integrates directly into existing workflows and leverages emerging standards such as MCP to stay extensible. Along the way, they dig into hard engineering tradeoffs around models, tokens, cost, and signal-to-noise in code review, and look ahead to a future where AI agents take on more autonomy—shifting the bottleneck from writing code to deciding what’s worth building.This RedMonk conversation is sponsored by Atlassian.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/context-engineering-in-practice-how-atlassian-is-building-ai-for-real-developer-work-with-kun-chen/

In this RedMonk Conversation, Rachel Stephens sits down with Zach Lloyd, CEO of Warp, to unpack how the terminal has evolved from an overlooked productivity bottleneck into the center of the agentic development workflow. Zach traces Warp’s journey from reimagining the terminal for broader developer accessibility to redefining it as an “agentic development environment” (ADE), designed around prompting, reviewing, and collaborating with AI agents rather than hand-editing code. The conversation explores why the terminal is uniquely positioned in the software stack, how Warp blends elements of terminals and IDEs without being either, and what this shift means for collaboration, context management and automation. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/12/16/zach-lloyd/

In this RedMonk Conversation, James Governor interviews Jamie Dobson, Co-Founder of Container Solutions, about his book Visionaries, Rebels and Machines, which traces the evolution of computing technology from 1799 through Edison's workshops, Bell Labs, Xerox PARC, to the modern cloud, creating what he describes as a "relay race of stories" that has not been comprehensively told. The discussion underscores the critical role of leadership in shaping technology's impact on society. James and Jamie ultimately call for ensuring that technological progress translates into broader societal benefits rather than repeating the mistakes of previous industrial revolutions.Show Notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/12/09/jamie-dobson/

In this New Builders conversation, RedMonk's Stephen O'Grady chats with Ali Spittel, head of DevRel at AWS, about the importance of developer experience, how the role of developers is evolving, and the new challenges tand opportunities devs face in the AI era. They explore how AWS is focusing on meeting developers' needs, the significance of events, and the balance between developer and buyer perspectives. Ali shares insights on the future of development, emphasizing the need for AWS to listen to developers and adapt to their changing requirements. This is a RedMonk video, sponsored by Amazon. Show Notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/aws-developer-experience-state-of-the-nation-with-ali-spittel/

In this New Builders conversation, RedMonk's Kate Holterhoff speaks with Jessie VanderVeen, Global Head of Product Marketing, Agentic AI, Developer Experience and Ali Maaz, Head of WW GTM, Agentic AI and Developer Experience about how AWS is approaching the crowded agentic IDE market. They discuss the importance of customer obsession, AWS's unique launch strategy for their agentic IDE Kiro, and the lessons learned from integrating AI into developer workflows. Their conversation touches on the balance between speed and reliability in AI development, the evolving definition of developers, and the future of developer workflows with AI, emphasizing the need for authenticity in marketing AI tools to developers. This is a RedMonk video, sponsored by Amazon. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/inside-awss-agentic-ai-marketing-strategy-with-ali-maaz-jessie-vanderveen/

In this New Builders conversation, Al Harris, Principal Engineer at AWS, discusses the development of a natural language system aimed at helping developers translate specifications into code and vice versa, particularly as it relates to AWS's agentic IDE, Kiro. The conversation explores the significance of this translation process, the challenges faced in natural language processing, and the potential future of software development with AI integration. This is a RedMonk video, sponsored by Amazon. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/al-harris-on-kiro-and-spec-driven-development/

In this New Builders conversation, RedMonk's James Governor speaks with Deepak Singh, VP of Agents and Experience at AWS, about the evolution of developer tools, particularly in the context of generative AI and the introduction of Kiro. They discuss the journey of AWS in the container space, the importance of developer experience, and how AI is reshaping the way developers work. Deepak shares insights into the challenges of governance and collaboration in AI development, emphasizing the need for tools that facilitate teamwork and innovation. This is a RedMonk video, sponsored by Amazon. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/from-containers-to-kiro-ai-and-dx-at-aws-with-deepak-singh/

In this RedMonk conversation, Alex Russell, Partner Product Architect at Microsoft, discusses the state of mobile development, focusing on JavaScript performance, the state of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), and the impact of major players like Apple (iOS) and Google (Android). They explore the importance of management in addressing web performance issues, the role of web standards in shaping the future, and the implications of AI on web development. Alex emphasizes the need for restraint in JavaScript usage and the importance of creating user-friendly web experiences, particularly on mobile devices. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/11/24/alex-russell/

Java turned 30 this year, and we're celebrating. In this RedMonk conversation, Sharat Chander, Senior Director of Java Product Management & Developer Engagement at Oracle, stopped by to discuss this milestone with Kate Holterhoff. They chat about the history of this language, how perceptions of Java within the tech industry continue to evolve, and the importance of community, consistency, and authenticity for ensuring that Java thrives for the next 30 years. This RedMonk video is sponsored by Oracle. Show Notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/11/20/rmc-java-30-sharat-chander/

James Governor sits down with Anush Elangovan, VP of AI at AMD, to dig into the fast-evolving world of local LLMs, edge hardware, and the future of AI-powered developer experience. They cover: Why local LLMs are exploding in adoption -Privacy, data sovereignty, and on-device intelligence Running 120B-parameter models on AMD Strix Halo laptops The software stack Anush uses: ROCm, Llama.cpp, Ollama, ComfyUI, PyTorch & more How AMD is approaching AI-driven developer tools, coding agents, and predictive ops The role of custom silicon, inference-optimized chips, and next-gen laptops What ROCm actually is (and why developers should care) If you're curious about the future of on-device AI, developer workflows, or AMD's AI strategy, this is a must-watch. This podcast was sponsored by AMD.

In this RedMonk conversation, David Mytton, CEO of Arcjet, chats security and developer experience with James Governor. They discuss the importance of integrating security as a feature in developer workflows, the challenges developers face with traditional security tools, and the need for innovation in this space. David shares insights on how Arcjet aims to make security seamless and developer-friendly, akin to other modern development tools. The discussion also touches on the startup journey of Arcjet, its funding, and the evolving landscape of developer tools. This RedMonk conversation is sponsored by Arcjet. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/11/18/rmc-david-mytton/

In this RedMonk conversation, Jack Bridger, host of Scaling Devtools and Developer Experience at Layercode, chats with Kate Holterhoff about founders. Jack shares insights from his interviews with founders on the importance of understanding users, overcoming fear in business, and challenges faced in the startup ecosystem. They also discuss marketing strategies around the role of differentiation, and the debate between bootstrapping and seeking venture capital, and the necessity of sales teams in DevTools. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/11/13/rmc-jack-bridger/

In this RedMonk conversation, Deb Nicholson, Executive Director of the Python Software Foundation, discusses the PSF's responsibilities, recent challenges with a government grant proposal, and the community's strong support with Kate Holterhoff. The conversation highlights the importance of cybersecurity in open source, the role of PyPI, and the evolving landscape of programming languages. Deb emphasizes the PSF's mission to support the global Python community and the significance of educational initiatives in teaching Python effectively. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/rem-deb-nicholson-psf

In this RedMonk Conversation from IBM's TechXchange conference, Matt Rodkey speaks about and demos Bob, IBM's newly announced agentic IDE, with RedMonk senior analyst Kate Holterhoff. Currently in private preview, Bob is designed to help enterprise developers navigate complex codebases and modernization challenges. Rodkey emphasizes that Bob's differentiation lies in addressing enterprise deployment needs—security compliance, regulatory requirements like HIPAA and FedRAMP, and production readiness—rather than just code generation. This RedMonk video is sponsored by IBM. Show Notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/rmc-bob-matt-rodkey-ibm-techxchange/

What happens when you build an ultra low-latency compute platform and then realize the round trips are going to kill you? Absent changing physics or your cap table: you partner! This RedMonk Conversation explores how Fermyon - a platform that compiles serverless compute into Wasm - partnered with Akamai - a company that started out as a CDN and has evolved into a full-fledged alternative cloud - to build a better together story. Join RedMonk's Research Director Rachel Stephens, Fermyon CEO Matt Butcher, and Akamai's Director of Product Management Allen Duet to discuss the future of serverless computing at the edge. This RedMonk video is sponsored by Akamai. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/akamai-fermyon/

In this RedMonk conversation, Austin Parker, Director of Open Source at Honeycomb and a maintainer of the OpenTelemetry project, chats AI, Olly, and OTel with Kate Holterhoff. They explore the implications of AI on SREs and observability practitioners, the development of honeycomb's MCP server, and the challenges vendors face in adapting to changes in the observability space. The discussion also touches on the balance between speed and quality in feedback, the complexities introduced by software abstractions, and the future role of OpenTelemetry in the AI-driven observability space. Honeycomb is a RedMonk client, but this content is unsponsored. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/10/23/rmc-austin-parker/

In this RedMonk Conversation on the Road at IBM TechXchange 2025, RedMonk's Stephen O'Grady chats with Kate Soule, IBM's Director of Technical Product Management for Granite about the newly announced Granite 4.0 family of large language models. Soule explains IBM's strategic focus on small, efficient models that are open sourced under Apache 2, highlighting how these models achieve better performance than previous generations while reducing costs and improving latency through new architecture and training approaches. This RedMonk video is sponsored by IBM. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/rmc-ibm-techxchange-granite-kate-soule/

In this RedMonk conversation, Pascal Martin, principal software engineer at Bedrock Streaming, and Valentin Clavreul, principal backend engineer at Bedrock Streaming, discuss the evolution of streaming architectures and their partnership with Fastly as a crucial element in optimizing performance with RedMonk's James Governor. They explore the challenges of scaling streaming services, the transition from PHP to Go for backend development, and the importance of interoperability with AWS and edge compute. The discussion also highlights the significance of observability in ensuring reliable architectures and the preparations needed for major sporting events like the Euros. This RedMonk Conversation is sponsored by Fastly. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/bedrock-streaming-from-cdn-to-compute-for-50m-people-watching-the-euros/

In this conversation, Rachel Stephens (Research Director at RedMonk) and Mike Milinkovich (Executive Director, Eclipse Foundation) discuss the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). Mike explains the law, its implications for the software industry – particularly open source software – and the responsibilities it places on manufacturers. This episode covers: the evolution of the CRA from a “near-death experience for open source” in its initial drafts to a “workable piece of legislation” understanding the responsibilities the legislation places upon different industry roles exploring the CRA's potential impacts on open source communities discussing how to get prepared This discussion is emphatically important if you sell software into a European market. Come listen to Mike to help understand the new legal obligations that come with the CRA. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/10/8/rmc-cra-ecplisefoundation

In this RedMonk conversation, Taylor Barnett-Torabi , Staff Product Manager at Netlify, and Lyle Schemmerling, Senior Software Engineer at FusionAuth, discuss the impact of large language models (LLMs) on developer experience with Kate Holterhoff. They chat about the evolution of agent experience (AX), the integration of LLMs into documentation, and the challenges of ensuring that documentation remains relevant and secure in a rapidly changing landscape. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/09/30/rmc-taylor-barnett-torabi-lyle-schemmerling/

In this MonkCast with the Monks episode, RedMonk analysts Rachel Stephens, Kate Holterhoff, and James Governor discuss the current 'grumpy era' of AI, where developers are questioning the ROI of AI tools and their effectiveness. They check in on AI code assistants, vibe coding, agentic IDEs, AI spec-driven development, and the AI Engineer. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/09/11/ais-grumpy-fun-era/

In this RedMonk conversation, Emily Winck, Staff Engineer at CallRail, and Jess Burns, Engineering Manager at 1Password, join Kate Holterhoff to reflect on their shared experiences working on the engineering team at a digital marketing agency. In addition to trading war stories, they discuss the gender balance in engineering teams, how agency life compares to SaaS companies, the Covid19 pandemic, challenges of remote work, bootcamps, hiring, and the impact of AI on software development. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/09/04/emily-winck-jess-burns/

In this New Builders conversation, Kate Holterhoff speaks with Clare Liguori, Senior Principal Software Engineer at AWS, about Kiro. They discuss Kiro's Vibe and Spec modes, and how these both factor into better coding practices and outcomes for developers. Clare explains the importance of requirements in software development, the collaborative nature of spec-driven development, as well as Kiro's roadmap. This is a RedMonk video, sponsored by Amazon. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/tnb-clare-liguori-kiro-ai-spec-driven-software-development/

In this RedMonk Conversation, James Governor talks with Prashanth Shenoy, VP of Marketing for Broadcom's VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF). They discuss the impact of VMware's integration into Broadcom, including the shift from perpetual licenses to subscriptions, portfolio and ecosystem simplification, and the evolving role of cloud admins, platform engineers, and developers. Shenoy outlines how VCF supports both VM and containerized workloads, integrates Kubernetes services, and enables flexible developer experiences. The conversation also explores VMware's Private AI strategy with NVIDIA, addressing digital sovereignty, GPU virtualization, and performance benchmarks for AI workloads.

In this MonkCast episode, Martin Rojas, UI Architect at PlayOn Sports and ReactATL Organizer, joins Kate Holterhoff to chat about the tech meetup scene, leveraging AI to enhance sports broadcasting, AI Guilds (not Dungeons & Dragons!), Micro frontends, React, and More!Show notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/08/19/martin-rojas/

In this conversation, Rachel Stephens is joined by Bowen Wang, Principal Product Marketing Manager at AWS. They discuss the newly enhanced AWS Free Tier program, which provides new customers with a zero-cost environment to experiment and learn about AWS services. That's right: no surprise billing! Come learn about how new customers can sign up for a zero-cost environment for up to six months and can receive up to $200 in credits upon sign up. For more information visit https://aws.amazon.com/free/ Here's the Corey Quinn post referenced by Bowen: https://www.duckbillgroup.com/blog/aws-finally-fixes-its-free-tier-problem/

In this RedMonk conversation, Jason Torres, Community Evangelist at Torc, chats developer communities with Kate Holterhoff. They discuss the dynamics of attending tech conferences, the role of Torc in the tech community, the current hiring landscape for developers, the globalization of tech hiring, the impact of social media on career growth, and the significance of authenticity in online presence. The discussion also touches on the future of developer advocacy and the challenges faced in the tech industry today. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/08/05/jason-torres/

In this conversation, Rachel Stephens interviews Kat Cosgrove – a prominent figure in the Kubernetes community – to discuss her journey into Kubernetes, the structure of the release team, and the role of corporate contributions in governing the project. They explore the expectations surrounding open source projects, the importance of sustainability, and the challenges faced by maintainers in the ecosystem. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/kat-cosgrove-shipping-kubernetes/

In this RedMonk conversation, Shawn (swyx) Wang discusses the evolving role of the AI Engineer with Kate Holterhoff. They chat about the definition of an AI Engineer, the differences between AI Engineers and traditional software developers, vibe coding, frontend observability, and the AI Engineer World's Fair. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/07/23/shawn-swyx-wang-ai-engineer/