DevOps Paradox

#326: Microservices architecture has evolved far beyond simple distributed systems, but most development teams are still rebuilding the same foundational patterns over and over again. Mark Fussell, co-founder of Dapr and Diagrid, explains how his team at Microsoft identified this repetitive reinvention problem and created a solution that abstracts away the complexity of service discovery, messaging, state management, and security w...

#325: KubeCon NA 2025 wrapped in Atlanta with unseasonably cold weather and some significant shifts in the cloud native ecosystem. The conference showed fewer vendors backing CNCF projects on the show floor, with key concerns emerging around maintainer burnout—exemplified by NGINX Ingress being deprecated despite running on 40% of Kubernetes clusters worldwide. The event revealed a maturing ecosystem where AI moved from buzzword to...

#324: Kubernetes has reached a mature state where boring releases signal stability rather than stagnation. While the platform continues evolving with features like in-place resource updates in version 1.33, the real challenge lies in optimizing AI workloads that demand significantly more resources than traditional applications. The discussion reveals how auto-scaling capabilities become crucial for managing these resource-intensive...

#323: Vibe coding - the practice of giving AI a high-level description and letting it build applications unsupervised - has become increasingly popular among non-developers looking to quickly prototype ideas. While this approach excels at rapid prototyping and getting small, focused applications running, it creates significant security risks when deployed to production without proper oversight. The fundamental issue isn't with AI c...

#322: Peer-to-peer technology represents a fundamental shift in how we think about data sovereignty and application architecture. Rather than relying on centralized servers and trusting specific endpoints, peer-to-peer systems allow users to verify data authenticity regardless of its source. This approach eliminates the traditional point-to-point communication model where data flows from a specific server to your device, instead cr...

#321: Model Context Protocol (MCP) represents a fundamental shift in how AI agents interact with tools and systems. Rather than forcing models to guess the best approach for tasks like creating AWS resources, MCP provides structured context that guides agents toward organization-specific workflows and tools. The protocol serves as an API for agents, allowing them to understand not just what you want to accomplish, but how your comp...

#320: In this episode, Darin and Viktor are joined by Jim Hirschauer, Head of Product Marketing at Xurrent, for a deep dive into the realities of incident management in today's complex IT environments. While dashboards and monitoring tools have become ubiquitous in operations centers, the panel discusses why these visualizations alone often fall short when it comes to actually resolving incidents.

Drawing on decades of experience, ...

#319: The AI infrastructure landscape is evolving rapidly, but the gap between marketing hype and practical reality remains significant. While vendors promise revolutionary changes with each new model release, the true challenge lies not in accessing more powerful AI tools, but in developing the organizational workflows and individual expertise needed to use them effectively. Most people claiming AI proficiency are barely scratchin...

#318: In this episode, we explore how AI is fundamentally reshaping the world of API development and testing with Tom Akehurst, CTO & Co-founder at WireMock. As AI agents become more prevalent in software development, the tools and practices around API design, testing, and maintenance are evolving rapidly. Tom shares insights on how WireMock is adapting to this new landscape and what it means for developers and organizations buildi...

#317: The often-overlooked human impact of AI's rapid advancement is creating unprecedented disruption across industries. Unlike previous technological shifts that affected one profession at a time, AI is poised to disrupt multiple sectors simultaneously, creating unprecedented challenges for workers, companies, and society. This episode covers why junior positions are already being eliminated, how domain knowledge becomes more val...

#316: In this episode, Darin and Viktor speak with Avery Pennarun, CEO at Tailscale, on the evolving technology landscape, specifically focusing on the challenges and advancements in VPNs and connectivity. Avery discusses the limitations of traditional VPNs, the advantages of Tailscale's unique approach to creating a secure virtual network, and the importance of maintaining a stable computing platform without compromising security....

#315: In this episode, the discussion centers around the critical importance of design over mere code writing in software development. The hosts reflect on their experience with coding tools like Cursor and Claude Code, noting their pros, cons, and the efficiency brought by AI in handling coding chores. They highlight the paradigm shift in developer tasks from writing code to managing and designing projects, comparing it to the rol...

#314: Geoffrey Huck joins Darin and Viktor to discuss the ins and outs of building a speaking career, starting from small meetups and leading up to major conferences. He shares his personal experiences, tips on overcoming fear of public speaking, and the importance of community engagement in the developer industry. Geoffrey emphasizes the need to keep slides minimal and engaging, and highlights the benefits of starting with small p...

#313: In this episode, Darin shares his recent experiences using AI tools Cursor and Claude Code to improve and refactor Jenkins plugins. After receiving a recommendation to try out Cursor for code improvements, he tests it alongside Claude Code, comparing their functionalities and effectiveness. He describes his process and observations, noting that both tools helped identify performance improvements in the code. While Cursor prov...

#312: In this episode, the discussion focuses on the complexities and strategic considerations of migrating from VMWare to platforms like KubeVirt and OpenStack. Kevin Jackson, Director of Product Management at Trilio, joins the discussion to share insights on the challenges, benefits, and operational implications of such migrations. Topics include the intricacies of managing virtualization and cloud environments, the potential pit...

#311: In this episode, Viktor and Darin delve into the transformative impact of AI on project development. Viktor discusses how AI tools like Claude Code and Taskmaster have significantly reduced the time required for project development, bringing it down from a month to just a few days. They explore the components of AI-driven development, such as LLMs, agents, and MCP servers, and the roles they play. Viktor shares his personal e...

#310: In this episode, Darin and Viktor sit down with Tim Beattie, co-founder and CEO of Stellafai, to chat about the myths and realities of DevOps and Agile in today's workplaces. They dive into how DevOps and Agile should be seen more as philosophies rather than just titles on a business card. Tim shares his take on why roles like DevOps Engineer can actually create more silos and how the real goal should be about breaking down t...

#309: In this episode, Darin and Viktor discuss their personal experiences and insights related to the rapid advancements in AI technology, particularly focused on AI agents like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Claude Code. They examine the paradigm shift in development practices due to these technologies, providing a critical evaluation of their effectiveness and efficiency. The conversation delves into the role of agents, how they op...

#308: In this episode, hosts Darin and Viktor are joined by guest Ricardo Castro to delve into the complexities and misconceptions surrounding Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD). The discussion begins with Ricardo's insights from a previous talk on the overestimation of automated systems in CI/CD and transitions into a broader conversation about the true essence of CI/CD practices. Key points include the cri...