The MonkCast

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/

Mike Hartington, a Developer Advocate at Prisma and a veteran in mobile development, shares insights with Kate Holterhoff. They tackle the intricacies of cross-platform frameworks and the challenges of CI/CD in mobile app deployment. Mike discusses Ionic's web-first approach, explores the competition among frameworks like React Native and Flutter, and debates the reality of managing a single codebase. They also delve into the role of AI in development, app monetization strategies, and the ongoing complexities of app store dynamics.

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/